On Sunday's NBC Meet the Press , moderator David Gregory lobbed this softball to Democratic Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez about the immigration bill being debated in Congress: "...are you going to be able to overcome conservative opposition to the idea of reforming a pathway to citizenship to get meaningful reform?" [ Listen to the audio ] Later on the show, after political director Chuck Todd fretted that the legislation may not pass the House, Gregory seized on comments from South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham on the June 16 broadcast: "[He] was saying it's a death spiral for the GOP if they... continue reading
On her Thursday CNN International show, host Christiane Amanpour relayed President Obama's call for a "global compact" to fight climate change and asked what could be done to "follow" Obama's plea. The White House must be pleased to have such faithful minions in the media. "You just heard what we played from President Obama, his speech in Berlin yesterday, talked about how we must make sure that we avert a final climate disaster ," Amanpour told paleoclimatologist Richard Alley. "So how much, in your mind, is it due to us? And what can one do to follow what President Obama... continue reading
CNN's new morning show New Day hosted only one member of Congress – a Democrat – to discuss the immigration bill on Friday. Co-host Chris Cuomo interviewed Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and pushed for Congress to "get this done." Cuomo let the Senator dodge his question on border security, but pinned her down when asking why amnesty wasn't granted to even more illegal immigrants. "Why leave out a whole year's worth of people who have come into the country?" he asked the Senator. [Video below. Audio here .] "On that issue, though, there's a date, right? December 31st, 2011. If... continue reading
On Thursday's The Last Word on MSNBC, during a segment with food activist Tom Colicchio, substitute host Alex Wagner raised the left-wing activist's stated desire that those who oppose his agenda be labeled as "pro-hunger" as she seemed sympathetic to the idea. Wagner: I want to begin by quoting something you told Time magazine. You said: "Hunger needs to become a voting issue, just like the Second Amendment is or the deficit is. It's time to start labeling people who are not on board with fixing this as pro-hunger." And I wonder, given the conversation in Washington today, in and... continue reading
Norah O'Donnell boosted Politico's slam of the Republican-led House of Representatives on Friday's CBS This Morning , after the body voted down a proposed farm bill. The anchor made the attack in a question to CBS News political director John Dickerson: "John, one more sign of dysfunction in Congress and Washington – the farm bill, which, for two years straight, has failed to pass the House. Explain why this matters to people." Dickerson hyped how the rejected bill " affects all kinds of different parts of the economy ", and asserted that the vote " shows that basically, the House... continue reading
Thursday's CBS Evening News all but hinted that the border security measures included in a new compromise attached to the immigration reform bill in Congress was overkill. Scott Pelley emphasized, "To win over Republicans, negotiators today added a military-style surge for the southern border." NBC's Tamron Hall echoed Pelley on Friday's Today : "It [the bill] would involve fortifying the U.S.-Mexico border and flooding it with a military-style troop surge ." CBS correspondent Nancy Cordes also spotlighted how " the compromise ... spares no expense to fortify the southern border....And it would blanket the border with infrared ground sensors, thermal... continue reading
Introducing a report on Friday's NBC Today , co-host Matt Lauer announced "a significant breakthrough in a bitter fight on Capitol Hill," followed by correspondent Kelly O'Donnell declaring that "immigration is pitting Republican versus Republican." O'Donnell explained that Senate lawmakers "worked late into the night writing a new version of immigration reform with more border security," noting how, "Democrats want to get something passed with a dozen or more Republicans, and that's the hard part." After a sound bite played of Louisiana Senator David Vitter voicing concern over granting amnesty to illegal immigrants without adequate border enforcement, another clip ran... continue reading
On Wednesday's PoliticsNation show, MSNBC host Al Sharpton charged that Republicans are waging a "full-scale war against the poor" because of GOP efforts to reform the food stamp program, and went on to assert that "This party will stop at nothing to tear down the poor. Just as they have time and time again." With the words "The Hunger Shames" in the background, the MSNBC host began the show: Tonight's lead, the "hunger shames." The GOP has been called scary, narrow-minded, out of touch. And yet again today they lived up to their reputation. Fresh off of voting to roll... continue reading
According to pop culture-obsessed Chris Matthews, a good comparison to TV "icon" Tony Soprano is Bill Clinton. While discussing the untimely passing of actor James Gandolfini, the Hardball anchor insisted that if "more politicians could invoke" the personality that the fictional mobster did, "we'd have a lot more popular politicians." Matthews gushed, " I think Clinton had a piece of this. I think we always knew Clinton's problems. He was the most transparent guy ever to be president ." [MP3 audio here .] The liberal journalist proclaimed, "All his problems were human problems," just like Tony. He added, "People today... continue reading
President Obama's speech at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin was much anticipated by the network morning shows on Wednesday. On ABC's Good Morning America , Jonathan Karl announced: "Expectations are high." On CBS This Morning , Major Garrett touted the White House hope that the address would rank among past "famous and memorable speeches." On NBC's Today , Matt Lauer reminisced over the President being "greeted like a rock star" in 2008. [ Listen to the audio ] However, after Obama's lackluster performance on Wednesday, there was nothing but silence on Thursday's morning shows, not even a mention of the... continue reading