Erin Burnett said, "I HAVE (past tense) smelled alcohol

[BigmanPigman]

on your breath". NOT, "I SMELL alcohol on your breath". She has been misquoted all day. Here is the video clip (:19) and check it for yourself. I heard it live today and heard it the correct way. Ari Melber said to Lawrence on his show tonight that Nunberg did NOT smell like alcohol on his show 30 min earlier. In the past Erin may have smelled it. As I said that the guy is extremely stressed out and that can make someone act and behave in odd ways and exhibit poor judgment. He is scared and probably exhausted. I am not making excuses for him or defending him. I am just clarifying what she actually said.

[bettyellen]

1. She was clearly asking about TODAY. So if she said smelled, she meant today.

[gratuitous]

3. That's how I heard it

She asks him directly whether he's schnockered because, quote, "I have smelled alcohol," meaning that while the two of them were sitting right there and then.

[Alea]

7. That's how I took it

Meaning, during the interview "I have smelled alcohol"

Anyway it was a crazy strange interview lol

[msongs]

2. so the guy had a glass of wine. big deal about nothing based on fact in evidence nt

[bettyellen]

6. He was loose as a goose!

[whathehell]

27. Lol...If that's what 'a glass of wine' can do

I'm swearing off the stuff. The guy is a flaming jackass.

[lapfog_1]

4. The complete statement (context)

"Your sitting very close to me, we talked earlier about what people in the white house were saying about you, about whether you were drinking or on drugs or whatever had happened today. Talking to you, I have smelled alcohol on your breath."

So that strongly indicates that she smelled alcohol on his breath right then.

He immediately denies it and that would have been the opportunity to clarify the question or apologize for any misunderstanding, instead we get this.

"You haven't had a drink, so that's not..."

[miyazaki]

5. Hell I need a drink after watching this whole segment.

I'm sure the lady does too.

[whathehell]

28. LOL

[Blue Owl]

8. Absolut Nunberg

n/t

[tblue37]

9. No, that's present perfect tense--used for something that started in the past and

continues into the present.

Of course, that's if the person is using it correctly, but often it is misused, and when speaking without a prepared text, people often make mistakes.

[Straw Man]

12. Close.

No, that's present perfect tense--used for something that started in the past and

continues into the present.

That's one use of the present perfect. There are others. It depends on the verb. The usage you describe would be appropriate for verbs that indicate something that happens over a period of time, as in "I have lived here since 2015." Notice that this usage generally has a time expression, as in "I have smelled alcohol on your breath since the moment you walked in."

To generalize, present perfect is used to describe an event in the past from the perspective of the present moment. Think of it as something that has now become part of one's "experience bank," as in "I've been there" or "I've (already) seen that movie."

Unless they had a prior acquaintance, her saying "I have smelled alcohol on your breath" without a time expression means that she's not smelling it at the present moment -- in which case she'd say "I smell alcohol..." -- but has smelled it at some point in their conversation. (See what I did there?)

[LisaL]

23. Present perfect tense can be used to describe something that started in the past and is still

happening.

"You can use the present perfect to talk about the duration of something that started in the past is still happening."

https://www.grammarly.com/blog/present-perfect-tense/

[Straw Man]

40. Right. And it can be used for other purposes as well.

As I noted, when it is used in the way you describe, it usually requires a time expression, e.g. "for a long time," "since ...," and so on. Here's the example from your link (with my bolding on the time expression):

She has had the chickenpox since Tuesday.

There is no time expression in the quote from the interview, in which case its meaning is more properly described in the first part of the definition from the link (with my bolding again):

The present perfect tense refers to an action or state that either occurred at an indefinite time in the past (e.g., we have talked before) or began in the past and continued to the present time (e.g., he has grown impatient over the last hour).

[Control-Z]

10. I'm not sure why it matters.

A legal substance used by an adult. Something done in most businesses at one time or another. Some far more often than others. But why are we shaming this guy for the "normal" and understandable part of his behavior.

This guy needs looking after. He's in bad shape with or without alcohol.

[whathehell]

29. Maybe a breath mint would help..

Last edited Tue Mar 6, 2018, 09:53 AM - Edit history (1)

.

[PCIntern]

33. I agree

Some vast percentage of this country could not survive without daily doses of alcohol. So what else is new?

[EffieBlack]

39. I dont think anyone is trying to shame him for drinking

They’re trying to find a logical explanation for his bizarre behavior. The possibility that he may have been impaired may do that.

[hlthe2b]

11. drinking does not equate to drunk, though something was definitely wrong with him

I personally think he was acting "manic" which made me wonder whether he is bipolar. Of course drugs could also be at play.

Still, even if he had had a drink that doesn't mean he was intoxicated or even, necessarily under the influence.

Still, it surely looked like a meltdown to me, or else he's one hell of an actor. If the latter, then why?

[melman]

13. 'I'm sitting very close to you'

She's saying she smelled it then. Her meaning could not be more clear.

[wishstar]

14. At any rate, her disclosure gives him cover and excuse for Trump/Fox to dismiss him as drunk

Fox had Carter Page's dismissive response soon after the alcohol remark.

[BigmanPigman]

16. Carter Page should talk.

Twice he went on MSNBC and blabbed like an idiot to Chris Hayes. Chris even told him, "I hope you're innocent for your sake because what you're saying is pretty incriminating". He and Nunberg did the same extremely stupid thing on public TV. These are not rocket scientists here folks. I can't believe Russia would be so stupid as to choose Page to be their double agent.

[melman]

17. Her disclosure?

Is it Erin Burnett's job to cover for this guy?

[wishstar]

18. Whatever her intent, the result was that her remark gave him cover

for Trump crowd to excuse all of his remarks as nonsense and try to shut down any discussion of the accusations he made against some of the Trumpers

[hexola]

20. There were dozens of remarks about his sobriety on DU

And this was long before Erin Burnett got her turn at him.

We didn't need her to ask - but it did confirm what a lot of people were already thinking.

So - it seemed a fair question.

[oberliner]

15. Is it normal to say something like that?

It seems not.

[tavernier]

19. I picture them ALL snockered after 2 p.m.

My only bewilderment was that Erin seemed surprised to smell alcohol on a politician’s breath.

[whathehell]

30. He's not a politician

He's a marketing analyst.

[tavernier]

31. Hes up to his butt crack in politics.

He should stick to marketing potato chips.

[whathehell]

36. As are many, but that still doesn't make him a politician

He is a dirt bag, though.

[obamanut2012]

21. Wrong, she smelled it then

As evidenced by her saying she was in close proximity to him THEN.

[LisaL]

22. No. Like others pointed out, she was using present perfect tense.

Not past tense.

[hexola]

24. I think the usage is like this: "At various points in this interview, I have smelled alcohol..."

That's not exactly what she said - but that's how I took her remark.

She was referring to the time frame of the interview - but not that moment.

[VOX]

25. Later on Lawrence ODonnell, John Heileman said that hes talked a lot with Nunberg quite a lot...

And that this (as we saw him) is just how he is, it’s how he talks. Apparently no liquor or psychotropic drugs are necessary for him to enter this state of complete un-awareness.

[samnsara]

26. i took it she was smelling it today..just whiffs here and there

[treestar]

32. Now that I've seen some of the videos,

I don't get the idea he is drunk or melting down. He is taking a very silly position and acting like an idiot, but the grand melt down described seems exaggerated.

[betsuni]

34. ...

[jberryhill]

35. That interpretation makes zero contextual sense

[CottonBear]

37. Someone should email Ms. Burnett for clarification of her statement.

She’s the only one who can tell us exactly what she experienced in that interview.

[LexVegas]

38. I am glad you have stepped up to defend this piece of shit.