Kristen Welker, NBC News White House Correspondent, served as fill-in host on MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports Thursday afternoon and took the opportunity to badger Congressman Peter King (R-N.Y.) over the Democratic Senate Intelligence Committee report on the CIA’s use of enhanced interrogation techniques on suspected terrorists. Speaking to her Republican guest, Welker asked “some of the enhanced techniques that the report found included extended waterboarding, sleep deprivation, rectal rehydration, slapping and stress positions. How is that not torture Congressman?” Despite Congressman King maintaining that “the Justice Department clearly said it was not torture” the NBC reporter continued to pressure the... continue reading
In a Tuesday interview with Texas governor and potential 2016 presidential candidate Rick Perry aired on MSNBC's Morning Joe on Thursday, political reporter Kasie Hunt questioned the Republican's intelligence: "Are you smart enough to be President of the United States?" Perry replied: "I think the standpoint of life's experiences. Running for the presidency is not an IQ test. It is a test of an individual's resolve. It's a test of an individual's philosophy. It's a test of an individual's life's experiences." Earlier in the exchange, Hunt wondered: "If you do run in 2016, do you think you would have any... continue reading
CBS and NBC on Wednesday and Thursday ignored the revelation that a hacking attack has exposed liberal Hollywood executives making racial jokes about Barack Obama. Only ABC's Good Morning America on Thursday noticed that powerful producer Scott Rudin and Sony co-chairwoman Amy Pascal (a high-profile Democrat) mocked the first African American President. Despite the fact that five out of the six evening and morning shows covered the continually unfolding hacking incident, there was only one mention of the nasty jokes aimed at Obama. ABC reporter Cecila Vega explained, "The hacking scandal that has embarrassed movie giant Sony, now even messier... continue reading
The House Select Committee on Benghazi that is looking into the 2012 terror attacks in Libya held another hearing on Wednesday and focused on the lack of sufficient security that was in place in Benghazi which, based on the hearing, remains the case across many State Department facilities. When it came to the major broadcast networks reporting on the hearing, the “big three” of ABC, CBS, and NBC all punted and refused to cover it in any capacity during their evening newscasts. [MP3 audio here ; Video below] An article in USA Today recapped the hearing this way. The hearing... continue reading
The Wednesday editions of NBC Nightly News and ABC's World News Tonight both spotlighted many Democratic lawmakers' objections to portions of a proposed budget compromise in Congress. However, the two evening newscasts couldn't be bothered to mention that many congressional Republicans and their conservative allies also object to parts of the bill, especially on immigration and on social issues . ABC's David Muir gave a brief underlining the "fine print" in the legislation, as a on-screen graphic labeled them, but he only included the impacts on liberal pet projects: [ video below ] DAVID MUIR: An 11th-hour deal from Washington... continue reading
Fusion/Univision anchor Jorge Ramos interviewed President Obama on Tuesdayand spent the interview flaunting his liberal beliefs by constantly hitting the President from the far left on a wide range of issues, including race. After discussing the release of the so-called CIA “torture” report by Senate Democrats, President Obama was asked if he got “angry with” the belief that “many people expected you, probably, to do more on race relations, dealing with white privilege.” [MP3 audio here ; Video below] Just before that, Ramos lamented to the President that race relations in America have not improved because of three high-profile deaths... continue reading
CNN's Anderson Cooper forwarded common liberal talking points on race on the Monday and Tuesday editions of his program. During a two-part interview of Patrick Lynch, the president of the union for New York City police officers, Cooper asserted that " everybody has inherent biases ... biases that, sometimes they're not even aware of " and wondered, " Aren't those amplified amongst those who have power over others? " [ video below ] The anchor gave a similar line the previous Wednesday during a contentious segment with Charles Blow of the New York Times and conservative Dan Bongino, a former... continue reading
Despite ObamaCare architect Jonathan Gruber being grilled by both Republicans and Democrats in a Tuesday congressional hearing over his infamous remarks that the health care law was passed due to "the stupidity of the American voter," none of the Big Three network morning shows on Wednesday made any mention of the latest development in the controversy. While Gruber testifying before Congress about ObamaCare was not a priority, the NBC, ABC, and CBS morning shows all devoted air time to British royal couple William and Kate wrapping up their trip to the U.S. – something NBC's Today dubbed "Will & Kate's... continue reading
Three of the nation's major newspapers downgraded ObamaCare architect Jonathan Gruber's testimony to the U.S. Senate, keeping it off the front page. The Washington Post placed Gruber, best known for assailing "stupid" Americans, on A-4. The New York Times on Wednesday demoted the story to page A-20. After recapping Gruber's comments, Times writer Robert Pear related that the ex-aide argued: I behaved badly, and I will have to live with that, but my own inexcusable arrogance is not a flaw in the Affordable Care Act. The A.C.A. is a milestone accomplishment for our nation that already has provided millions of... continue reading
On Wednesday, Michael Morrell, former Deputy Director of the CIA and current CBS News Senior Security Contributor, appeared on CBS This Morning to discuss the Democrat-led Senate Intelligence Committee report on the CIA’s use of enhanced interrogation techniques against suspected terrorists. While the former CIA official vehemently rejected the contents of the report, co-host Norah O’Donnell did her best to discredit Morrell’s defense of the agency. O’Donnell proclaimed “to me the idea that someone could be waterboarded, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, 183 times and that's not torture, I just don't understand that definition.” The segment began with Morrell offering a strong... continue reading