1. Perturbed Reid Scolds ABC's Tapper for Questioning Withdrawal ABC's Jake Tapper on Thursday night raised the prediction "genocide" will result after a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, a forecast Tapper put to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid at a Capitol Hill news conference: "Do you think the Iraqi people will be safer with U.S. troops out?" Reid didn't respond to the point, leading Tapper to retort in the exchange played on World News: "You didn't answer my question." A perturbed Reid, presumably not used to challenging questions from the Washington press corps, chastised Tapper: "This isn't a debate. We're answering... continue reading
1. ABC: 'Petraeus Optimistic' on Iraq 'If Pols Give Him Enough Time' On ABC's World News on Wednesday night, reporter Terry McCarthy gave time to how moves in Washington, DC to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq will undermine progress against al Qaeda. Reporter Terry McCarthy, who traveled with General David Petraeus in the Sunni Triangle's al Qaeda stronghold south of Baghdad, highlighted how the commander of all forces in Iraq "is still very optimistic about the military battle, if the politicians give him enough time." McCarthy asked him: "Are you concerned that the U.S. political clock could start ticking... continue reading
1. Nets Blame Stance on Iraq, Not Immigration, for McCain's Setbacks Tuesday's CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News blamed Republican presidential candidate John McCain's reduced fundraising and low rank in the polls, which led two top advisers to leave the campaign, on McCain's view that U.S. troops must stay in Iraq -- not on how out of step he is with conservatives on the immigration bill he crafted with Ted Kennedy. CBS anchor Katie Couric declared: "No public figure has supported the President's Iraq policy more than Senator John McCain, and he's paid a heavy price for that. His... continue reading
1. Gore Thanks NBC for 'Live Earth' Coverage, Curry Urges Him to Run Appearing with Today news reader and Dateline anchor Ann Curry during NBC's prime time coverage Saturday of Al Gore's "Live Earth" concerts, Gore gave a shout out to the network for its donation to his global warming cause, as Gore told Curry: "Thanks for what NBC has been doing." Curry didn't exactly deliver a hard-hitting interview. When he declared the concerts "the largest global entertainment event in all of history," she congratulated him before pressing him about running for President, suggesting that "without you there will not... continue reading
1. Reversal of 'Eavesdropping' Ruling Ignored After Bush Loss Touted Last August, when one federal judge ruled unconstitutional the monitoring of U.S. phone calls with suspected terrorists overseas, the ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscasts all highlighted the defeat for the Bush administration. But on Friday, after an appeals court overturned the earlier decision, ABC and CBS were silent while NBC again distorted the policy as "domestic spying." Last August 17, ABC's World News anchor Charles Gibson teased: "A federal judge tells the Bush administration one of its main terror-fighting tools violates the Constitution." Gibson introduced the story of the... continue reading
1. Panic Over Possible Pardon, ABC Contrasts Libby to Cocaine Dealer Broadcast network anchors and reporters on Tuesday night seemed to be in a near panic over the possibility President Bush might yet pardon Lewis "Scooter" Libby, while ABC's Martha Raddatz illustrated special treatment for Libby by highlighting a man sentenced to 20 years for selling cocaine, whose commutation request Bush rejected, and Martha Stewart who served five months for violations similar to Libby's. With "Libby PARDON?" on screen, NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams warned that Bush is "not ruling out the possibility of a full pardon." Bush remarked... continue reading
1. AM Wrap: CBS Puts 'Libby Pardon' On Screen, ABC: 'Above the Law?' The Tuesday broadcast network morning shows all led with President Bush's commutation of the 30-month prison sentence for Lewis "Scooter" Libby, but CBS displayed "Libby Pardon" on screen throughout a report from Bill Plante; over video of Bush and then Libby ABC put "Above the Law?" on screen to frame its coverage; and both CBS and NBC featured Hillary Clinton's slam at Bush's "cronyism" -- yet failed to bring up the name Marc Rich. NBC's Meredith Vieira scolded Bill Kristol for daring to describe Joe Wilson's claims,... continue reading
1. Olbermann: For Commutation in 'Crime of Century' Bush Must Resign On Monday's Countdown, MSNBC host Keith Olbermann opened his show railing against President Bush, contending that the President "lied us into a war" and "needlessly killed 3,584 of our family and friends and neighbors" as the Countdown host attacked the President for commuting the sentence of Lewis "Scooter" Libby, referring to Libby's involvement in the "greatest crime of this young century." Olbermann later tagged Bush as "Worst Person of the World," and announced that he will call on President Bush and Vice President Cheney to resign in a "Special... continue reading
1. CBS: Immigration Loss Shows Bush a 'Dead Duck,' NBC: DC Broken CBS on Thursday night emphasized how the demise of the immigration vote was a defeat for President Bush, but NBC's Tim Russert argued that essentially all of Washington was now lame, not just the President. Even though top Senate Democrats like Ted Kennedy and Harry Reid, plus a few Republicans like John McCain had also fought for the measure and failed, CBS White House correspondent Jim Axelrod asserted that the vote marked "a defining day in the Bush presidency." CBS's resident historian (and John Kerry biographer) Douglas Brinkley... continue reading
1. Morning Shows Invite Edwards to Continue Raging Against Coulter All three broadcast network morning shows on Thursday featured Elizabeth Edwards, wife of Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, to let her continue her campaign against conservative columnist and author Ann Coulter, and all three programs seemed to agree with Edwards' indictment of Coulter's conservative rhetoric. On NBC, David Gregory complained that "this whole episode, I think, is a reminder to a lot of people about why they don't like politics." Over on ABC, fill-in host Chris Cuomo suggested Edwards had lowered herself by even talking with Coulter: "You decided to... continue reading