Anderson Cooper Demolishes Birther Claims In Interview With Texas Rep. Leo Berman (VIDEO)

Anderson Cooper demolished the claims behind the "birther" movement in an interview with Texas State Representative Leo Berman on his Monday show.

Berman is sponsoring a bill to require that all presidential candidates produce a valid birth certificate to get on the presidential ballot in Texas -- a clear reference to the claim that Barack Obama is not a natural-born citizen of the United States, and has falsified his birth records.

The two sparred for over 12 minutes, and Cooper methodically refuted each claim Berman made, from the validity of the birth certificate that the Hawaiian government released to the dates in which Obama traveled to Pakistan.

"I mean, you're basing legislation on stuff that's basically just rumors and -- and stuff that's been proven to be false," Cooper told Berman,

WATCH:

Comments

[Basingstoke]

05:57 PM on 01/14/2011

In one sense, this interview is quite chilling: It shows what a completely brazen and shameless liar Leo Berman is. He says things that are demonstrably untrue without any embarrassment, and is oblivious to the facts that are presented to him.

Anderson Cooper is a professional journalist and has the facts available at his fingertips-but imagine a typical voter, who has not the resources of Anderson Cooper, and is not so well informed, but naturally assumes that what Berman says with such confidence is probably true: They don't stand a chance of not being duped by sociopath politicians like Berman.

[BrentW1]

04:57 PM on 01/14/2011

Cooper did the interview because he's somehow threatened by this proposed law. What harm will the law do ?

[zydecoguru]

11:57 AM on 12/28/2010

well, we have now confirmed that common sense and basic intelligence is NOT a requirement for elected office.

[Raelerin]

01:10 PM on 12/15/2010

I wrote Berman and told him that I, as a white woman, who has to listen to old white men talk at work all day every day, knew that he was really just furious that a black man was in the White House, and his response was to tell me that I must be one of the 46% of the US citizens who never worked for a living and just lived off the government.

I'm not sure what's more amusing: that he presumes I live off the government or that he believes 46% of the citizens do!

It would be laughable if people like him weren't serious, but they really are. I truly fear for this country if his ilk gains control everywhere.

[nenaivugal]

10:30 AM on 12/13/2010

This is nothing but a white man from the south has a big EGO and is not just yet ready to accept that a Blackman is President of USA. PERIOD

[Renee Hargrove]

01:42 AM on 12/07/2010

LOL. I love Anderson Cooper.
Does this elderly gentlemen even know what Internet rumors are?

[quisp65]

11:35 PM on 12/06/2010

Wonder why CNN is going after this? There are all sort of extreme positions and I have never met one person that believed he wasn't a citizen. I guess they are trying to paint republicans as believing this stuff.

[RPDash]

10:18 PM on 12/06/2010

Hey Fox Noise, take some lessons from AC on how to be a real journalist. Facts and not opinions, I enjoy the "keeping them honest".

[quisp65]

11:41 PM on 12/06/2010

90% of what you hear on the "news" these days is really just political commentary shows and not news at all. This going after birthers is the equivalent of what HP does by showing all the extremes and trying to make it look like the main stream of the other side.

[JohnRawlsInOveralls]

04:12 PM on 12/06/2010

The fact that Hillary and the RNC both failed to pursue this before his inauguration speaks volumes.

But I do love how spin- and narrative-conscious Berman was. He knew he was losing on the actual issue of where Obama was born, so he began trying to shift focus to the "fact" that the major media outlets were not covering the issue.

If he couldn't sell one part of the narrative (Obama's a foreigner), he was going to sell some other part (liberal media bias). Classic sales.

[Gerald Ward]

03:57 PM on 12/06/2010

Sometimes it happens. A reporter will call BS right there on the spot as it's being spewed. It doesn't happen often but you've just seen it here. Bravo to you Anderson Cooper. Rachel Maddow, say thanks for joining the club, the no BS here club.

[mgray34]

12:23 PM on 12/06/2010

Extreme blind ignorance or Exploitation of a trumped up controversy to hide your racist agenda. Take your pick. Birthers and people who subscribe to this view point fall into these two categories, period.

Does anyone think that the CIA, State Department, Dept. of Immigration and all those other agencies who verify this stuff let something like this slip by? All these agencies with all the resources and hardware to determine whether Obama is a citizen or not, and some dork looking on the internet finds out something that these agencies couldn't? Come on!

Not to mention Obama's enemies during the campaign. Do you think that Hillary wouldn't have used this in the primary if there were any validity to this?

This, for the time being, is the most powerful country on the planet. The President of the United States is the leader of the free world. Does any rational person think the government would make such a blunder? Obama has probably been one of the most vetted Presidents in history and someone overlooked this?

Like I said, extreme blind ignorance or malicious racial intent. There are no other explanations.

[Grimmsd]

05:52 PM on 12/06/2010

Well, we did elect George W. Bush... twice. So e obviously aren't blunder proof.

[JJovana]

01:29 AM on 12/06/2010

I love it when smart people prevail. When sanity, reason and rationale overcome ignorance and what it seems personal hate.

[GypsyChic]

01:00 AM on 12/06/2010

Excellently done. I wish we saw more reporting like this... you know.. actual journalism.

[bart4u]

11:34 PM on 12/05/2010

He got his information from Fox News. Man did that guy look stupid. This is sad when we elect uneducated people for office.

[Reiner-von-Sinn]

12:55 PM on 12/05/2010

Berman you have to clear your name. Make a public statement proving your innocence. Provide documentation that you are not involved!