At the top of the 9 a.m. et hour on Thursday's NBC Today , the morning show cast devoted a four-minute panel discussion to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton getting emotional during her congressional testimony on Wednesday. News reader Natalie Morales gushed: "She was speaking passionately about, you know, that heat of the moment. And also, you know, I think she just loved those people [who died in Benghazi]. So that was true emotion." [ Listen to the audio ] Co-host Savannah Guthrie observed: "I don't know if there's as much a stigma anymore from public figures crying from time-to-time... continue reading
ABC's Martha Raddatz on Thursday swooned over Hillary Clinton's Senate testimony on Benghazi, lauding the outgoing Secretary of State as " combative, charming, disarming and clearly ready for a fight." The Good Morning America correspondent seemed to enjoy the day as theater, hyping, "It was truly a riveting day on Capitol Hill...with Secretary Clinton as some have never seen her before." Raddatz allowed that Clinton didn't convince "some Republicans," but returned to a style discussion. She continued, "But this was certainly a memorable way to close out her tenure." Focusing on the emotion of the Senate appearance, the journalist empathized... continue reading
At the top of Thursday's NBC Today , co-host Savannah Guthrie hyped Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's performance during congressional testimony on Wednesday: "Vigorous defense. A fired up Hillary Clinton takes on her critics during her testimony about the terror attacks in Benghazi." Introducing a later report, Guthrie described it as "an emotional and at times heated appearance before Congress." [ Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump ] Chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell decried "the hostile interrogation that Republican committee members gave Clinton over Benghazi." The headline on screen throughout the segment declared: "'It's... continue reading
Mark January 23rd as the launch date for the news media’s fresh campaign to have Hillary Clinton replace Barack Obama in the Oval Office in 2017. ABC and NBC, and CBS to a lesser extent, on Wednesday night treated Secretary of State Clinton’s appearances before Senate and House committees not as an chance to explore Obama administration dissembling on Benghazi, but as an opportunity to boost Clinton’s supposed brilliant performance. “The indignation. And then, the tears in her eyes,” ABC anchor Diane Sawyer announced before trumpeting: “It was a valedictory that showed her indignation and emotion as she ends this... continue reading
On his Tuesday night town hall-style show, CNN's Piers Morgan openly pushed for more gun control and liberal journalist Dan Rather chimed in that " there's no excuse to have an assault weapon. " Morgan determined that civilians don't need high-capacity magazines. "So what do you need them for? You don't need them to defend yourself. You're going to spray gun people who come to steal a television set, is he?" [Video below. Audio here .] "Are you going to go hunting with 100 bullets in a magazine, blow a deer to smithereens?" Morgan sneered. Conservative guest Grover Norquist quickly... continue reading
The producer of CNN's Belief Blog lauded President Obama as "exceptional" and a "religious pioneer" for supporting same-sex marriage and hosting his inaugural prayer service at National Cathedral. "Well, I think it's part of what makes Obama exceptional. We think of him as a racial pioneer, the first African-American president, but I think he's also a religious pioneer, " John Blake said of the choice of National Cathedral, which made headlines for announcing it will conduct same-sex marriage ceremonies. [Video below. Audio here .] "So to have a same-sex marriage, to talk about that in such a public way at... continue reading
Wednesday's CBS This Morning set up John Dickerson to brazenly defend his Friday column for the Washington Pos t's Slate.com, " Go for the Throat !", where he concluded that President Obama " can only cement his legacy if he destroys the GOP ." Dickerson fired back at conservative critics of his piece by claiming that he " wasn't trying to give advice. I was trying to highlight, in a very stark way, what seems like an impossible-to-avoid conclusion about this second term ." [audio clips available here ; video below ] The journalist's admitted "very stark" language was apparent... continue reading
During a panel discussion on Wednesday's NBC Today , attorney Star Jones and the network's chief medical editor Nancy Snyderman hyperventilated over Britain's Prince Harry revealing in interviews that he killed Taliban fighters during combat in Afghanistan. Jones fretted: "Why do you need to antagonize the Taliban?" [ Listen to the audio ] Snyderman chimed in: "I thought he jumped the shark when he was shown playing video games and then it was, 'Oh my God, we killed people.'" Co-host Matt Lauer sparked the exchange by wondering: "He talks about his missions, the missions he went on where he was... continue reading
Previewing Hillary Clinton's testimony on the terrorist incident in Benghazi, George Stephanopoulos scoffed at the idea that members of Congress would dare grill the outgoing Secretary of State. Talking to Martha Raddatz on Tuesday, the Good Morning America co-host predicted, "But she's very well practiced at [testifying] and I can't imagine they're really going to beat her up on her last few days as Secretary of State." In fact, Senator Rand Paul did aggressively question Senator Clinton, telling her , "Had I been President at the time and I found out you had not read the cables… I would have... continue reading
On Tuesday's NBC Nightly News , White House correspondent Kristen Welker touted President Obama gearing up for his second term: "An invigorated President Obama joined in a prayer service this morning....On Monday, resolve, defending entitlements and calling for action on climate change and gay rights, a broad liberal agenda." Welker then heralded Obama appeasing the Democratic base in his inaugural address: "The President, once criticized by his own party's left for caving into Republicans, seemed emboldened by his reelection and ready for a fight." A sound bite followed of Time's Michael Duffy happily declaring: "Yesterday's speech at the Capitol was... continue reading