Tracking Liberal Media Bias Since 1996
Wednesday September 19, 2012 @ 12:48 PM ET
NBC and CBS felt compelled Tuesday night to fact check Mitt Romney’s assertion “47 percent of Americans pay no income tax” and both had to acknowledge his accuracy, but then tried to undermine Romney’s point. Noting the statistic had become “Tea Party mantra,” NBC’s Andrea Mitchell allowed “it’s true that approximately 47 percent of Americans do not pay federal income taxes, as Mitt Romney said, but,” she quickly added, “not because they are living off of the 53 percent.” Over on CBS, Anthony Mason relayed how “Roberton Williams with the non-partisan Tax Policy Center says, to be precise, 46.4 percent of Americans pay no federal tax. But,” Mason insisted, “it’s more complicated than that.”
2. Multi-Millionaire Chris Matthews Mocks Mitt Romney By Singing 'If I Were a Rich Man'
In a bizarre display, Chris Matthews began his show on Tuesday by singing "If I Were a Rich Man" as a way of mocking Mitt Romney for being wealthy. Chris Matthews makes an annual salary of $5 million dollars. Matthews opened the program by announcing, "Let me starttonight" by singing a selection from Fiddler on the Roof. Highlighting a leaked video of Romney at a private fund-raiser, he then derided, "It's one thing to be rich and have the majority of voters convinced you're out to help the rich. Is there anything dumber to be caught pandering to your fellow rich?" Later, while talking to journalist Joe Klein, Matthews insulted potential GOP voters, comparing them to the racist TV character Archie Bunker.
3. NYTimes: Hidden Mitt Video Calls Into Question if 'Romney Is, at Base, an Empathetic and Caring Man'
The New York Times' Michael Shear and Michael Barbaro suggest a secretly recorded video of Romney at a fundraiser makes him an uncaring person: "Now, the video has raised the possibility that Mr. Romney’s campaign will be sidetracked, with attention focused again on his proposed tax cuts for the wealthy, the release of his personal tax returns and his ability to connect with middle-class voters. With its unvarnished language, the video seems to undermine what aides have argued is an enduring attribute that would appeal to independent voters: a sense that Mr. Romney is, at base, an empathetic and caring man."
4. CNN Punts on Obama Dereliction In Libya In Favor of Romney Tape
Just how bad is the media's track record this election season? On Monday, CNN's Anderson Cooper led his show with a manufactured Mitt Romney controversy instead of news that the U.S. may have had advance warning on deadly terrorist attacks. Here's how Cooper started his show: "On Libya, late word on what American diplomats may have been told about the threat from Muslim extremists, terrorists, just three days before the attack that killed four Americans in Benghazi. We're going to have that, but first, what could be a campaign blockbuster, what Mitt Romney said to big money donors about President Obama voters when he didn't think cameras were rolling."
5. Only CBS's Crawford Notes Obama 'Spurred Similar Controversy' With His 'Cling to Guns and Religion' Line
On Tuesday's CBS This Morning, Jan Crawford stood out as the only Big Three network journalist to play a clip of Barack Obama's infamous "cling to guns and religion" barb at conservatives, as she covered the recently-released secret recordings of Mitt Romney remarking about the "47 percent of the country who are dependent on government." Crawford remarked that Obama "spurred similar controversy" with the 2008 comment, but neither ABC's Good Morning nor NBC's Today mentioned it in their coverage of the Romney video recordings, which were released by the left-wing magazine Mother Jones.
6. CBS's Norah O'Donnell: Did Romney 'Insult' GOP Voters In Secret Video?
Norah O'Donnell played up the possible negative impact of the hidden camera video of Mitt Romney on Tuesday's CBS This Morning. Regarding the elderly vote, O'Donnell asked 2008 McCain presidential campaign manager Rick Davis, "Did Mitt Romney just insult many of the people who end up voting Republican?" Co-anchor Charlie Rose led the interview of Davis with a question on the impact of the remarks, and threw in the reported splits in the presidential nominee's campaign: "So, how damaging is this, and all these reports of dissension within the Romney camp?" O'Donnell followed up with her "insult" hint about Romney, as she cited figures from the liberal Tax Policy Center.
7. NBC: Motivation for Secret Romney Video 'Not Political,' Just 'Simple Curiosity'
Wrapping up a report for Tuesday's NBC Today about the hidden camera video of Mitt Romney speaking at a fundraiser, national investigative correspondent Michael Isikoff laughably proclaimed: "The source who made the secret video insisted to NBC News that the original motivation was not political but simple curiosity, to see what Romney would say in this unscripted setting." After promoting that assertion, Isikoff added: "But after watching the tape, the source decided the public should hear what Romney said and was encouraged to release it after talks with an Atlanta political researcher names James Carter IV, the grandson of Jimmy Carter..." Isikoff didn't question the fact that Romney made the comments in May but that the video was just released 50 days before the election.
8. The MRC@25: The Worst Media Bias of 2005
The worst bias of 2005: NBC’s Brian Williams equates America’s Founding Fathers with the zealots running Iran; ex-New York Times editor Howell Raines goes on a post-Katrina rant about the human carnage caused by the Bush administration’s “churchgoing populism,” and Ted Turner tries to defend North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il.
Yes, But: NBC and CBS Try to Undermine Romney’s Accurate Observation 47% Escape Income Tax
NBC and CBS felt compelledTuesday night to fact check Mitt Romney’s assertion “47 percent of Americans pay no income tax” and both had to acknowledge his accuracy, but then tried to undermine Romney’s point. Noting the statistic had become “Tea Party mantra,” NBC’s Andrea Mitchell allowed “it’s true that approximately 47 percent of Americans do not pay federal income taxes, as Mitt Romney said, but,” she quickly added, “not because they are living off of the 53 percent.”Over on CBS, Anthony Mason relayed how “Roberton Williams with the non-partisan Tax Policy Center says, to be precise, 46.4 percent of Americans pay no federal tax. But,” Mason insisted, “it’s more complicated than that.”
Mason gave a soundbite to Williams for a non-correction effort to explain away Romney’s concern: “Sixty percent of them are working and pay federal payroll taxes, the taxes that support Social Security and Medicare, so they’re not deadbeats that are not on the tax roll at all.”
NBC’s Mitchell treated the sometimes right of center David Brooks as a fount of wisdom, highlighting his attempt to discredit Romney:
New York Times columnist David Brooks wrote: “Who are these freeloaders? Is it the Iraq War veteran who goes to the VA? Is it the student getting a loan to go to college?” Brooks concluded that the people who receive most of the government spending are not big government lovers, but Republicans, senior citizens, mostly white men with high school degrees. In other words, according to most surveys, they are Romney supporters.CBS’s Mason admitted “nearly half of all Americans -- 49 percent -- now receive some form of government benefits such as Social Security, food stamps, unemployment, Medicare, or Medicaid,” but Romney’s overall point about a growing number of Americans getting more from government than they put in went unexplored by Mitchell and Mason. As the Tax Foundation’s Will Freeland noted in a Tuesday post:
The middle income quintile now receives more in average benefits than it pays in average taxes, after paying net federal taxes (taxes minus transfer benefits) of at least 10% for all of the 1980s and 1990s....Earlier: “Taranto Discredits Media ‘Fact Checkers,’ Shows How They Amplify the Media’s Liberal Bias”
When total federal spending (not just transfer benefits) is considered along with federal taxes, we similarly see that the bottom 60 percent of families received more in government benefits and services than the group paid in federal taxes. Specifically, these 60 percent of families were projected to receive $826 billion more in benefits from total federal spending than they were projected to pay in total federal taxes.
From the September 18 NBC Nightly News, closed-captioning corrected against the video by the MRC’s Brad Wilmouth:
BRIAN WILLIAMS: Romney’s remarks about that 47 percent who pay no income tax set off an immediate flurry of fact checking. And tonight, NBC’s Andrea Mitchell has our “Reality Check.”CBS Evening News:
ANDREA MITCHELL: It started a year ago as a conservative reaction to Occupy Wall Street’s battle cry that they were the 99 percent. Conservative blogger Erick Erickson declared he was the 53 percent, taxpayers subsidizing people, in his words, “so they can hang out on Wall Street and complain.” Others chimed in. It quickly became a Tea Party mantra.
REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R-MN): Today only 53 percent of Americans pay federal income tax; 47 percent of Americans pay nothing.
MITCHELL: What are the facts? It’s true that approximately 47 percent of Americans do not pay federal income taxes as Mitt Romney said. But not because they are living off of the 53 percent.
ROBERTSON WILLIAMS, TAX POLICY CENTER: In fact, about 60 percent of people who don’t pay federal income taxes have jobs. And nearly half the rest are elderly, who are retired. They had jobs and they’re now no longer working. These are hardly people who are sitting around living off the government dole.
MITCHELL: They say 44 percent who don’t pay federal income taxes are elderly, retirees living on Social Security. Another 30 percent get child tax credits and other tax benefits favored by Republicans. A smaller percentage are the very rich, benefiting from special tax breaks for investment income.
Responding to Romney today, New York Timescolumnist David Brooks wrote, “Who are these freeloaders? Is it the Iraq War veteran who goes to the VA? Is it the student getting a loan to go to college?” Brooks concluded that the people who receive most of the government spending are not big government lovers, but Republicans, senior citizens, mostly white men with high school degrees. In other words, according to most surveys, they are Romney supporters. Andrea Mitchell, NBC News, Washington.
SCOTT PELLEY: The tape made us wonder who the 47 percent are who don’t pay federal income taxes. Anthony Mason has been digging into that.-- Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center. Click hereto follow Brent Baker on Twitter.
ANTHONY MASON: When Governor Romney says 47 percent of Americans pay no federal income tax, is he on the money?
ROBERTSON WILLIAMS, TAX POLICY CENTER: Well, it’s roughly accurate. We say last year 46 percent of Americans paid no income tax. So Governor Romney's just about right.MASON: Roberton Williams with the non-partisan Tax Policy Center says, to be precise, 46.4 percent of Americans pay no federal tax. But it’s more complicated than that.
WILLIAMS: Sixty percent of them are working and pay federal payroll taxes, the taxes that support Social Security and Medicare, so they’re not deadbeats that are not on the tax roll at all.
MASON: Many of those not paying federal tax are poor. More than half have annual incomes of less than $16,812. More than 80 percent have incomes under $33,542. And many -- about a quarter -- are also elderly and rely on Social Security. At the fund-raising dinner, Governor
Romney described a group of Americans addicted to government handouts.
MITT ROMNEY: -who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it, that that’s an entitlement
MASON: In fact, nearly half of all Americans -- 49 percent -- now receive some form of government benefits such as Social Security, food stamps, unemployment, Medicare, or Medicaid. In North Carolina, 63-year-old Betty Russell, recently retired from a medical devices
company, is counting on Medicare....
Multi-Millionaire Chris Matthews Mocks Mitt Romney By Singing 'If I Were a Rich Man'
In a bizarre display, Chris Matthews began his show on Tuesday by singing "If I Were a Rich Man" as a way of mocking Mitt Romney for being wealthy. [See video below. MP3 audio here.] Chris Matthews makes an annual salary of $5 million dollars.
Matthews opened the program by announcing, "Let me start tonight" by singing a selection from Fiddler on the Roof.
Highlighting a leaked video of Romney at a private fund-raiser, he then derided, "It's one thing to be rich and have the majority of voters convinced you're out to help the rich. Is there anything dumber to be caught pandering to your fellow rich?"
Later, while talking to journalist Joe Klein, Matthews insulted potential GOP voters, comparing them to the racist TV character Archie Bunker.
Matthews opened the program by announcing, "Let me start tonight" by singing a selection from Fiddler on the Roof.
Highlighting a leaked video of Romney at a private fund-raiser, he then derided, "It's one thing to be rich and have the majority of voters convinced you're out to help the rich. Is there anything dumber to be caught pandering to your fellow rich?"
Later, while talking to journalist Joe Klein, Matthews insulted potential GOP voters, comparing them to the racist TV character Archie Bunker.
NYTimes: Hidden Mitt Video Calls Into Question if 'Romney Is, at Base, an Empathetic and Caring Man'
A secretly recorded video of Mitt Romney speaking at a fundraiser about the "47 percent of the country who are dependent on government," put out last night by the liberal magazine Mother Jones, calls into question whether Romney is "at base, an empathetic and caring man." That's according to the New York Times, which rushed the Monday night breaking news onto Tuesday morning's front page in a story by Michael Shear and Michael Barbaro, "In Video Clip, Romney Calls 47% ‘Dependent’ and Feeling Entitled."
-- Clay Waters is Editor of the MRC's TimesWatch site.
During a private reception with wealthy donors this year, Mitt Romney described almost half of Americans as “people who pay no income tax” and are “dependent upon government.” Those voters, he said, would probably support President Obama because they believe they are “victims” who are “entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it.”
In a brief and hastily called news conference Monday just after 10 p.m., Mr. Romney acknowledged having made the blunt political and cultural assessment, saying it was “not elegantly stated,” but he stood by the substance of the remarks, insisting that he had made similar observations in public without generating controversy.
The Times smoothly segued into Democratic talking points about the latest distraction in the Romney camp, and added a moral chiding.
Now, the video has raised the possibility that Mr. Romney’s campaign will be sidetracked, with attention focused again on his proposed tax cuts for the wealthy, the release of his personal tax returns and his ability to connect with middle-class voters. With its unvarnished language, the video seems to undermine what aides have argued is an enduring attribute that would appeal to independent voters: a sense that Mr. Romney is, at base, an empathetic and caring man.
....
In one clip, Mr. Romney describes how his campaign would not try to appeal to “47 percent of the people” who will vote for Mr. Obama “no matter what.” They are, he says, “dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them.”
He says those people “pay no income tax,” and “so our message of low taxes doesn’t connect.” Mr. Romney adds: “My job is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”
....
Mr. Romney, who has been under fire for releasing only two years of his tax returns, was quickly attacked by the Obama campaign. Jim Messina, Mr. Obama’s campaign manager, said in a statementMonday evening that it was “shocking” that Mr. Romney would “go behind closed doors” to describe nearly half of the country in such terms.
....
Mr. Romney is not the first presidential candidate to be caught speaking candidly at a fund-raiser. Four years ago during the Democratic primary campaign, The Huffington Post published Mr. Obama’s remarks at a San Francisco fund-raiser, saying small-town Pennsylvania voters, bitter over their economic circumstances, “cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them” as a way to explain their frustrations.
Another Tuesday story (page A12) also led with the Romney tape. Jim Rutenberg and Ashley Parker reported that "On a Challenging Day, Romney Seeks to Shift to His Policy Specifics."
The attention paid to the video -- in which he described nearly half of Americans as having a victim mentality and a dependency on government -- further complicated Mr. Romney’s efforts to bring a sharper focus to his campaign and address tensions within his staff.
And a day that began with hope by his campaign that it would be back on the offensive after a couple of weeks largely spent on defense ended with a late-night news briefing where he said his comments, which were surreptitiously recorded before being obtained and presented by the Web site of Mother Jones, were inelegantly stated.
The Times did note Obama's "cling to guns or religion" gaffe during the presidential campaign, caught on audio at a fundraiser in San Francisco on April 6, 2008. When that story broke on the Huffington Post, the paper covered it not on the front but on page A15 of the April 12, 2008 edition, the only mention of the incident in that day's paper, according to a Nexis search. It did make the next day's front page.-- Clay Waters is Editor of the MRC's TimesWatch site.
CNN Punts on Obama Dereliction In Libya In Favor of Romney Tape
Just how bad is the media's track record this election season? On Monday, CNN's Anderson Cooper led his show with a manufactured Mitt Romney controversy instead of news that the U.S. may have had advance warning on deadly terrorist attacks.Here's how Cooper started his show: "On Libya, late word on what American diplomats may have been told about the threat from Muslim extremists, terrorists, just three days before the attack that killed four Americans in Benghazi. We're going to have that, but first, what could be a campaign blockbuster, what Mitt Romney said to big money donors about President Obama voters when he didn't think cameras were rolling."
[Video below. Audio here.]
A possible fatal national security blunder took a backseat to a campaign soundbite leaked by liberal magazine Mother Jones. And Cooper hyped the dire consequences for Mitt Romney, quoting Daily Beast columnist and former Bush consultant Mark McKinnon saying the remark could be "potentially crippling" for Romney.
Cooper later remarked on the Libya terrorist attack, "It sounds like if they [the U.S. embassy] were warned three days before, that's pretty damning, no?" Yet this potentially "damning" story involving national security and the deaths of American diplomats was not deemed as newsworthy as a Republican campaign gaffe.
A brief transcript of the segment, which aired on Anderson Cooper 360 on September 18:
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: We begintonight with breaking news on two fronts tonight. On Libya, late word on what American diplomats may have been told about the threat from Muslim extremists, terrorists, just three days before the attack that killed four Americans in Benghazi. We're going to have that, but first, what could be a campaign blockbuster, when Mitt Romney said to big money donors about President Obama voters when he didn't think cameras were rolling. A camera was rolling, though, and Mother Jones magazine got the video. Here's a portion of it.
(Video Clip)
MITT ROMNEY, Republican presidential candidate: There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the President no matter what. All right. There are 47 percent who are with him who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has the responsibility to care for them, who believe that they're entitled to health care, to food, to housing, you name it. But that's – that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this President no matter what. And I mean the President starts off with 48, 49 – he starts off with a huge number. These are people who pay no income tax."
(End Video Clip)
COOPER: Now we got these quotes from Mother Jones magazine, which obviously has a political slant. The Romney campaign has not denied the substance of what's in the tapes. In the tape, you hear Mitt Romney saying, "My job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them." He also joked that he'd have a better shot if his father, George Romney, the former governor of Michigan and automotive – head of an automotive company had been Mexican. The question now, does the playing of this tape hurt or help his chances?
(Video Clip)
MITT ROMNEY, Republican presidential candidate: There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the President no matter what. All right. There are 47 percent who are with him who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has the responsibility to care for them, who believe that they're entitled to health care, to food, to housing, you name it. But that's – that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this President no matter what. And I mean the President starts off with 48, 49 – he starts off with a huge number. These are people who pay no income tax."
(End Video Clip)
COOPER: Now we got these quotes from Mother Jones magazine, which obviously has a political slant. The Romney campaign has not denied the substance of what's in the tapes. In the tape, you hear Mitt Romney saying, "My job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them." He also joked that he'd have a better shot if his father, George Romney, the former governor of Michigan and automotive – head of an automotive company had been Mexican. The question now, does the playing of this tape hurt or help his chances?
(...)
[8:16]
COOPER: More breaking news now. The attack in Benghazi that killed four Americans, including the U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens might not -- or, I should say, might have been, or excuse me, might not have been preventable, but it should have been foreseeable, according to our reporting.
Our reporting from inside Libya seems to indicate that Libyan officials believe that the extremist threat was growing and say they directly warned American diplomats about it. Now this is new video, the commotion outside the Benghazi consulate where friendly Libyans had just discovered a badly wounded Ambassador Stevens in a room inside.
There are frames that we're not showing of the ambassador still apparently breathing, being taken from the scene to a hospital. Clearly it was a tragedy, but was it a foreseeable and therefore a possibly preventable one? So far the U.S. government's line is that the Benghazi murders were probably a spontaneous, not premeditated reaction to that anti-Muslim video on YouTube.
Our reporting from inside Libya seems to indicate that Libyan officials believe that the extremist threat was growing and say they directly warned American diplomats about it. Now this is new video, the commotion outside the Benghazi consulate where friendly Libyans had just discovered a badly wounded Ambassador Stevens in a room inside.
There are frames that we're not showing of the ambassador still apparently breathing, being taken from the scene to a hospital. Clearly it was a tragedy, but was it a foreseeable and therefore a possibly preventable one? So far the U.S. government's line is that the Benghazi murders were probably a spontaneous, not premeditated reaction to that anti-Muslim video on YouTube.
(...)
COOPER: Arwa, you've been talking to eyewitnesses on the ground there. I understand one eyewitness heard an extremist talk about hitting a second location. Is that true? Have you heard that? And what does that tell you?
ARWA DAMON, CNN senior international correspondent: First of all, we do know that a second location was attacked. That second location was supposed to be the safe house where embassy personnel were evacuated to. This other eyewitness, a young man, arrived on the scene saying that he saw at least two dozen bearded men, part of a known extremist militia here, he said, just on the outskirts, just outside the consulate compound.
They briefly detained him because they said that he did not share their same ideology. And during the few hours that he was in detention he said he heard him talking about the attack on the compound, celebrating it, and then talking about needing to get ready to go out and attack a second compound.
All of this, of course, raising the question as to whether or not this was a pre-planned assault as some members, senior members of the Libyan government are claiming or whether or not it was quite simply a demonstration that turned violent.
COOPER: Arwa, you're hearing that the U.S. should've known about this, that they were warned in advance?
DAMON: Libyan officials are telling us that they were talking to the U.S., telling them, warning them about this growing extremist threat and flat-out admitting that they could not control these extremist militias, actually asking the Americans for help in doing that.
And I spoke to some military officials who say that just three days before the attack took place, they had a meeting with senior employees from the consulate itself where they were talking about this rising threat against western interests. And again, highlighting the point that they themselves could not control these militias, these gangs that roam with pretty much pure impunity. And the ambassador himself was aware of the growing security threat, as well, Anderson.
COOPER: And yet, I mean, his own security detail seemed very small, no?
DAMON: The front line of the compound, if you will, was Libyan guards, but they don't have weapons, they only have walkie-talkies. There are some armed individuals inside, Westerners, we are being told. The U.S., of course, not disclosing that kind of information. But it most certainly is not the kind of security measures that one would imagine would be put in to place in a country where the U.S. is well aware in itself monitoring al Qaeda-affiliated extremist camps in the desert not too far from the city of Benghazi itself.
COOPER: And let me just be clear about it. You're saying that Libyan officials had meetings with U.S. officials inside Libya, warning of potential threats?
DAMON: Libyan officials in Benghazi, military officials that are members of one of the more powerful brigades and battalions, met with officials from the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi three days before the attack took place, they're telling us. This was a meeting that was supposed to be centering around business and the economy. But they are saying that they told the Americans, wait, we can't even be talking about the economy, about bringing Western companies into Libya, especially into Benghazi, because this threat from extremist militias, is growing.
We at this point in time do not have the capabilities to be able to control them or to protect Western interests. And they were asking, as they have been for months, Anderson, the Americans for help in controlling these extremist elements because they know what the consequences are going to be if they become even more powerful than they already are.
ARWA DAMON, CNN senior international correspondent: First of all, we do know that a second location was attacked. That second location was supposed to be the safe house where embassy personnel were evacuated to. This other eyewitness, a young man, arrived on the scene saying that he saw at least two dozen bearded men, part of a known extremist militia here, he said, just on the outskirts, just outside the consulate compound.
They briefly detained him because they said that he did not share their same ideology. And during the few hours that he was in detention he said he heard him talking about the attack on the compound, celebrating it, and then talking about needing to get ready to go out and attack a second compound.
All of this, of course, raising the question as to whether or not this was a pre-planned assault as some members, senior members of the Libyan government are claiming or whether or not it was quite simply a demonstration that turned violent.
COOPER: Arwa, you're hearing that the U.S. should've known about this, that they were warned in advance?
DAMON: Libyan officials are telling us that they were talking to the U.S., telling them, warning them about this growing extremist threat and flat-out admitting that they could not control these extremist militias, actually asking the Americans for help in doing that.
And I spoke to some military officials who say that just three days before the attack took place, they had a meeting with senior employees from the consulate itself where they were talking about this rising threat against western interests. And again, highlighting the point that they themselves could not control these militias, these gangs that roam with pretty much pure impunity. And the ambassador himself was aware of the growing security threat, as well, Anderson.
COOPER: And yet, I mean, his own security detail seemed very small, no?
DAMON: The front line of the compound, if you will, was Libyan guards, but they don't have weapons, they only have walkie-talkies. There are some armed individuals inside, Westerners, we are being told. The U.S., of course, not disclosing that kind of information. But it most certainly is not the kind of security measures that one would imagine would be put in to place in a country where the U.S. is well aware in itself monitoring al Qaeda-affiliated extremist camps in the desert not too far from the city of Benghazi itself.
COOPER: And let me just be clear about it. You're saying that Libyan officials had meetings with U.S. officials inside Libya, warning of potential threats?
DAMON: Libyan officials in Benghazi, military officials that are members of one of the more powerful brigades and battalions, met with officials from the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi three days before the attack took place, they're telling us. This was a meeting that was supposed to be centering around business and the economy. But they are saying that they told the Americans, wait, we can't even be talking about the economy, about bringing Western companies into Libya, especially into Benghazi, because this threat from extremist militias, is growing.
We at this point in time do not have the capabilities to be able to control them or to protect Western interests. And they were asking, as they have been for months, Anderson, the Americans for help in controlling these extremist elements because they know what the consequences are going to be if they become even more powerful than they already are.
(...)
COOPER: Fran Townsend, what do you make of it? I mean it sounds like if they were warned three days before, that's pretty damning, no?
-- Matt Hadro is a News Analyst at the Media Research Center
Only CBS's Crawford Notes Obama 'Spurred Similar Controversy' With His 'Cling to Guns and Religion' Line
On Tuesday's CBS This Morning, Jan Crawford stood out as the only Big Three network journalist to play a clip of Barack Obama's infamous "cling to guns and religion" barb at conservatives, as she covered the recently-released secret recordings of Mitt Romney remarking about the "47 percent of the country who are dependent on government."Crawford remarked that Obama "spurred similar controversy" with the 2008 comment, but neither ABC's Good Morning America nor NBC's Todaymentioned it in their coverage of the Romney video recordings, which were released by the left-wing magazine Mother Jones. [audio of Crawford available here; video below]
In his lead-in for the correspondent's report, anchor Charlie Rose trumpeted the "new headache for Governor Mitt Romney's presidential campaign," echoing ABC's "bombshell" label of the story on GMA. Crawford herself stated that "this video, which was secretly filmed at a Romney fundraiser, is proving to be a big distraction in a very tight presidential race."
The CBS journalist played Obama's "cling to guns and religion" line during the second half of her report, after playing an extended clip from the Mother Jones recording and two sound bites from Romney's press conference reacting to the release. She repeated her "distraction" label near the end of the segment: "Now, of course, all of this is coming as Romney is trying to talk about jobs. That was a point he was making here in Los Angeles at the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, when he spoke to that group yesterday. This is a distraction now for him."
The full transcript of Jan Crawford's report from Tuesday's CBS This Morning:
CHARLIE ROSE: We begin with the new headache for Governor Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. In an online video, Romney says President Obama's base of voters believe they are victims who are entitled to government help, and he said, as a candidate, he's not worried about them.
NORAH O'DONNELL: The Obama campaign jumped on the statement, calling it shocking. This morning, Romney says the wording was bad, but not the message.
Jan Crawford is covering the Romney campaign, and is in Los Angeles this morning. Jan, good morning.
[CBS News Graphic: "Damage Control: Romney Clarifies Remarks About '47%' Of Americans"]
JAN CRAWFORD: Well, good morning, Norah. Good morning, Charlie. This was a week when Romney was really trying to get his campaign back on message. His main message: jobs and the economy - and instead, this video, which was secretly filmed at a Romney fundraiser, is proving to be a big distraction in a very tight presidential race.
ROMNEY (from press conference): It's not elegantly stated - let me put it that way. I'm speaking off the cuff in response to a question, and I'm sure I could state it more clearly and in a more effective way than I did in a setting like that.
CRAWFORD (voice-over): Romney appeared late Monday at a hastily-arranged news conference, addressing a video that surfaced of him earlier in the year at a fundraiser. At the event last May, Romney was making the point that nearly half of all Americans pay no federal income tax, and he characterized them as Obama's supporters, who are are dependent on federal programs.
ROMNEY (from Mother Jones audio recording): There are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they're victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they're entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to - you name it. And they will vote for this president no matter what. These are people who pay no income tax.
CRAWFORD: Romney stood by those remarks last night. He said people who don't pay income tax are not likely to be attracted to his message of lower taxes, so his campaign isn't focusing on them.
ROMNEY (from press conference): I'm talking about the political process of drawing people into my campaign. My campaign is about helping people take more responsibility.
CRAWFORD: The Obama campaign blasted the Romney video in a statement, and sent a fundraising e-mail to supporters, saying, 'The man who spoke these words -- who demonstrates such disgust and disdain for half of our fellow Americans -- is the other side's choice for president of the United States. He wants to lead our country.'
In 2008, then-candidate Obama spurred similar controversy when he was caught on tape at a fundraiser making these comments about conservative voters.
BARACK OBAMA (from audio recording at April 6, 2008 fundraiser in San Francisco): It's not surprising then that they get bitter. They cling to guns or religion or antipathy towards people who aren't like them.
CRAWFORD (on-camera): Now, of course, all of this is coming as Romney is trying to talk about jobs. That was a point he was making here in Los Angeles at the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, when he spoke to that group yesterday. This is a distraction now for him. He heads off today to Utah and Texas. He's just got fundraisers there. Norah and Charlie?
ROSE: Jan, just how troubled are they by this?
CRAWFORD: Oh, they think this is unfortunate - not so much his underlying point, which doesn't really contradict his campaign message, but the way he said it. But there's no plans now to really back off this, to issue an apology, because it does, kind of, square with a lot of romney's message, which is that the president has a campaign that wants more government - big government - and that people are becoming more dependent on government under president obama. That's Romney's message. So, what he said in that fundraiser isn't really at odds with that. But, as he said, it was the way it was phrased.
CRAWFORD: Thank you, Jan. Thank you.
NORAH O'DONNELL: The Obama campaign jumped on the statement, calling it shocking. This morning, Romney says the wording was bad, but not the message.
Jan Crawford is covering the Romney campaign, and is in Los Angeles this morning. Jan, good morning.
[CBS News Graphic: "Damage Control: Romney Clarifies Remarks About '47%' Of Americans"]
JAN CRAWFORD: Well, good morning, Norah. Good morning, Charlie. This was a week when Romney was really trying to get his campaign back on message. His main message: jobs and the economy - and instead, this video, which was secretly filmed at a Romney fundraiser, is proving to be a big distraction in a very tight presidential race.
ROMNEY (from press conference): It's not elegantly stated - let me put it that way. I'm speaking off the cuff in response to a question, and I'm sure I could state it more clearly and in a more effective way than I did in a setting like that.
CRAWFORD (voice-over): Romney appeared late Monday at a hastily-arranged news conference, addressing a video that surfaced of him earlier in the year at a fundraiser. At the event last May, Romney was making the point that nearly half of all Americans pay no federal income tax, and he characterized them as Obama's supporters, who are are dependent on federal programs.
ROMNEY (from Mother Jones audio recording): There are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they're victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they're entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to - you name it. And they will vote for this president no matter what. These are people who pay no income tax.
CRAWFORD: Romney stood by those remarks last night. He said people who don't pay income tax are not likely to be attracted to his message of lower taxes, so his campaign isn't focusing on them.
ROMNEY (from press conference): I'm talking about the political process of drawing people into my campaign. My campaign is about helping people take more responsibility.
CRAWFORD: The Obama campaign blasted the Romney video in a statement, and sent a fundraising e-mail to supporters, saying, 'The man who spoke these words -- who demonstrates such disgust and disdain for half of our fellow Americans -- is the other side's choice for president of the United States. He wants to lead our country.'
In 2008, then-candidate Obama spurred similar controversy when he was caught on tape at a fundraiser making these comments about conservative voters.
BARACK OBAMA (from audio recording at April 6, 2008 fundraiser in San Francisco): It's not surprising then that they get bitter. They cling to guns or religion or antipathy towards people who aren't like them.
CRAWFORD (on-camera): Now, of course, all of this is coming as Romney is trying to talk about jobs. That was a point he was making here in Los Angeles at the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, when he spoke to that group yesterday. This is a distraction now for him. He heads off today to Utah and Texas. He's just got fundraisers there. Norah and Charlie?
ROSE: Jan, just how troubled are they by this?
CRAWFORD: Oh, they think this is unfortunate - not so much his underlying point, which doesn't really contradict his campaign message, but the way he said it. But there's no plans now to really back off this, to issue an apology, because it does, kind of, square with a lot of romney's message, which is that the president has a campaign that wants more government - big government - and that people are becoming more dependent on government under president obama. That's Romney's message. So, what he said in that fundraiser isn't really at odds with that. But, as he said, it was the way it was phrased.
CRAWFORD: Thank you, Jan. Thank you.
CBS's Norah O'Donnell: Did Romney 'Insult' GOP Voters In Secret Video?
Norah O'Donnell played up the possible negative impact of the hidden camera video of Mitt Romney on Tuesday's CBS This Morning. Regarding the elderly vote, O'Donnell asked 2008 McCain presidential campaign manager Rick Davis, "Did Mitt Romney just insult many of the people who end up voting Republican?"Co-anchor Charlie Rose led the interview of Davis with a question on the impact of the remarks, and threw in the reported splits in the presidential nominee's campaign: "So, how damaging is this, and all these reports of dissension within the Romney camp?" O'Donnell followed up with her "insult" hint about Romney, as she cited figures from the liberal Tax Policy Center.
Davis replied that the CBS anchor had "fallen in the same trap that Mitt Romney fell into, and that is saying seniors always vote for Republicans." O'Donnell retorted, "No, no, no - I said a majority of them vote for Republicans. That is true."
After Rose hyped the media narrative about a supposedly struggling Romney campaign, O'Donnell returned to tax reform and pressed her guest on the issue. By his answers, Davis seemingly interpreted the anchor's questions as pushing for a tax increase:
O'DONNELL: Let me ask you about this. Clearly, there's something wrong with our tax code. I think all Americans agree with that. Why not, then, have Mitt Romney make what is an affirmative argument, which is, look, this is the tax code. It's wrong. I'm the candidate for tax reform....I went back and looked at Mitt Romney's speech from the convention. He never said the words 'tax reform' in his speech. Shouldn't the Republican candidate be the candidate who embraces tax reform?
DAVIS: Norah, I think there's no question that our party probably spends as much time as any party in history talking about the failed tax system that we have. And you're right - the statistics alone-
O'DONNELL: But be the champion of tax reform. Why not be the champion of tax reform?
DAVIS: Well, I think that – part of the elements that he's talked about are. I mean, you can't talk about deficit reduction without having a component of tax reform. You can't talk about changing entitlements without knowing that you're going to have an impact on the tax reform-
O'DONNELL: But he didn't say that last night. I mean, he didn't say that....
The CBS anchor didn't quite reach the fever pitch she did with Senator Rob Portman five days earlier. O'Donnell threw out five confrontational questions in just over two half minutes in that interview.DAVIS: Norah, I think there's no question that our party probably spends as much time as any party in history talking about the failed tax system that we have. And you're right - the statistics alone-
O'DONNELL: But be the champion of tax reform. Why not be the champion of tax reform?
DAVIS: Well, I think that – part of the elements that he's talked about are. I mean, you can't talk about deficit reduction without having a component of tax reform. You can't talk about changing entitlements without knowing that you're going to have an impact on the tax reform-
O'DONNELL: But he didn't say that last night. I mean, he didn't say that....
The full transcript of the Rick Davis segment from Tuesday's CBS This Morning:
CHARLIE ROSE: With us now, Rick Davis – he was John McCain's campaign manager when McCain ran for President in 2008. Welcome.
RICK DAVIS, FMR. MCCAIN CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Thank you, Charlie.
[CBS News Graphic: "September Surprise: Secret Video Sends Romney In Damage Control"]
ROSE: So, how damaging is this, and all these reports of dissension within the Romney camp?
DAVIS: Well, the two things are completely unrelated. I think that everybody has their YouTube moment in American politics. You just described the Obama YouTube moment from four years ago. If you're in this game long enough, you're going to have a roomful of donors that – somebody's going to be taking a picture. And it's a lesson to all politicians that there's no such thing as a living room where you can, sort of, let your hair down, and the fact that he let his hair down in a group of donors and it made news isn't really news in itself. But what he does with it is going to be really critical.
This is a character-building moment. I mean, the American public looks in at various times during a campaign, and I promise you they'll be looking in this week, and it may be a fresh opportunity for Mitt Romney, the candidate, to try and connect with voters. You know, this is an issue that has been relevant to him as a candidate, and I think this is an opportunity that he can try to do better.
NORAH O'DONNELL: You know, what's interesting about these moments, too, they're opportunities to learn more about just what the tax system is, and what Romney suggested is that 47 percent of Americans pay no federal income tax, which is true. But it is also true - and we made a graph to help everybody understand - of those 47 percent who don't pay federal income tax, 28 percent still pay some sort of payroll tax-
DAVIS: Payroll tax – right-
[CBS News Graphic: "Income Tax: 53.6% Pay Income Tax; <1 10.3="10.3" 28.3="28.3" 6.9="6.9" br="br" center="center" elderly="elderly" income="income" nonelderly="nonelderly" others="others" pay="pay" payroll="payroll" policy="policy" source:="source:" tax="tax" under="under">
O'DONNELL: And of those that pay no federal income tax and no payroll tax, that's just about 18 percent, of which, a majority are seniors, and seniors vote for Republicans. So, did Mitt Romney just insult many of the people who end up voting Republican?
DAVIS: Well, I think, Norah, you've fallen in the same trap that Mitt Romney fell into, and that is saying seniors always vote for Republicans. Well, they don't-
O'DONNELL: No, no, no - I said a majority of them vote for Republicans. That is true-
DAVIS: Well, in some cases. And so, I think that this is a gross over-evaluation of the American electorate, right? I mean, not half of the American electorate is off the table to Republican voters-
O'DONNELL: Right, right-
DAVIS: Republican voters [sic] don't always get more than half of all the senior voters, and I think everyone needs to take a big step backwards on demographics. You know, they change in every election. Barack Obama ran in this election, so far, as a re-creation of the energy and excitement he had four years ago. It's probably not going to turn out that way for him. And Mitt Romney needs to open up his mind and his campaign's mind and say, you know what? Those candidate – those voters that we thought we couldn't get – reach to - you got to reach out to them now.
ROSE: But are most Republicans disappointed in the Romney campaign so far?
DAVIS: Look, I think that it's endemic in every presidential campaign that there are going to be highs and lows. Right now, obviously, this is a bad day for the Romney campaign, and they're going to have to pivot on this, show new excitement, roll up the sleeves-
ROSE: But we continue to run up into these times in which Republicans are saying, the candidate has to redefine himself. It was supposed to happen at the convention - ran into some problems-
DAVIS: Well, I think the convention actually did a good job of defining Mitt Romney-
ROSE: So, what is the redefinition that has to take place now?
DAVIS: I mean, Ann Romney's is one of the great speeches of any convention-
ROSE: What does Mitt Romney have to do now, to say, this is me and this is who I am?
DAVIS: Yeah. I think that – the problem is, he was ready to launch into more of an articulation of his economic plan, which I think was exactly the right thing to do at this form [sic] of the election. And now, he's going to have to take a step back a little bit, and say, you know what? The reason I have these views about my economic plan is because of who I am. And so, he's going to have to double up that message a little bit. And so, it's maybe a little less defined., but again, maybe the best thing he could have done is to talk about himself a little bit more.
O'DONNELL: Let me ask you about this. Clearly, there's something wrong with our tax code. I think all Americans agree with that. Why not, then, have Mitt Romney make what is an affirmative argument, which is, look, this is the tax code. It's wrong. I'm the candidate for tax reform. I'm going to be make – and able to work with Republicans in Congress, which Barack Obama has not been able to do. And I went back and looked at Mitt Romney's speech from the convention. He never said the words 'tax reform' in his speech. Shouldn't the Republican candidate be the candidate who embraces tax reform?
DAVIS: Norah, I think there's no question that our party probably spends as much time as any party in history talking about the failed tax system that we have. And you're right - the statistics alone-
O'DONNELL: But be the champion of tax reform. Why not be the champion of tax reform?
DAVIS: Well, I think that – part of the elements that he's talked about are. I mean, you can't talk about deficit reduction without having a component of tax reform. You can't talk about changing entitlements without knowing that you're going to have an impact on the tax reform-
O'DONNELL: But he didn't say that last night. I mean, he didn't say that-
DAVIS: Well, that's just semantics. I mean, if you believe that-
O'DONNELL: Or messaging-
DAVIS: The only time people understand that you're talking about taxes is when you say the word [sic] 'tax reform', then you're right. I mean, he probably ought to use that more often if they believe that that's an issue. But you've got to remember, too - he's been under enormous assault from the Obama campaign on his own taxes, on his own tax issues that have probably borne into some of that rationale as to why they don't like to talk about tax reform in that context.
So, it's not in a vacuum. I mean, you can't just say, oh, this campaign started today, and right now, we're going to take a look at it from that perspective. I think you've got to take it in its entirety, and realize that this is a pretty well-formed campaign. Part of what Mitt Romney talked about is what everybody thinks about, which is, we're a pretty widely divided country.
ROSE: Thank you, Rick. Thank you very much.
DAVIS: Thank you.
O'DONNELL: Rick Davis, thank you.
RICK DAVIS, FMR. MCCAIN CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Thank you, Charlie.
[CBS News Graphic: "September Surprise: Secret Video Sends Romney In Damage Control"]
ROSE: So, how damaging is this, and all these reports of dissension within the Romney camp?
DAVIS: Well, the two things are completely unrelated. I think that everybody has their YouTube moment in American politics. You just described the Obama YouTube moment from four years ago. If you're in this game long enough, you're going to have a roomful of donors that – somebody's going to be taking a picture. And it's a lesson to all politicians that there's no such thing as a living room where you can, sort of, let your hair down, and the fact that he let his hair down in a group of donors and it made news isn't really news in itself. But what he does with it is going to be really critical.
This is a character-building moment. I mean, the American public looks in at various times during a campaign, and I promise you they'll be looking in this week, and it may be a fresh opportunity for Mitt Romney, the candidate, to try and connect with voters. You know, this is an issue that has been relevant to him as a candidate, and I think this is an opportunity that he can try to do better.
NORAH O'DONNELL: You know, what's interesting about these moments, too, they're opportunities to learn more about just what the tax system is, and what Romney suggested is that 47 percent of Americans pay no federal income tax, which is true. But it is also true - and we made a graph to help everybody understand - of those 47 percent who don't pay federal income tax, 28 percent still pay some sort of payroll tax-
DAVIS: Payroll tax – right-
[CBS News Graphic: "Income Tax: 53.6% Pay Income Tax; <1 10.3="10.3" 28.3="28.3" 6.9="6.9" br="br" center="center" elderly="elderly" income="income" nonelderly="nonelderly" others="others" pay="pay" payroll="payroll" policy="policy" source:="source:" tax="tax" under="under">
O'DONNELL: And of those that pay no federal income tax and no payroll tax, that's just about 18 percent, of which, a majority are seniors, and seniors vote for Republicans. So, did Mitt Romney just insult many of the people who end up voting Republican?
DAVIS: Well, I think, Norah, you've fallen in the same trap that Mitt Romney fell into, and that is saying seniors always vote for Republicans. Well, they don't-
O'DONNELL: No, no, no - I said a majority of them vote for Republicans. That is true-
DAVIS: Well, in some cases. And so, I think that this is a gross over-evaluation of the American electorate, right? I mean, not half of the American electorate is off the table to Republican voters-
O'DONNELL: Right, right-
DAVIS: Republican voters [sic] don't always get more than half of all the senior voters, and I think everyone needs to take a big step backwards on demographics. You know, they change in every election. Barack Obama ran in this election, so far, as a re-creation of the energy and excitement he had four years ago. It's probably not going to turn out that way for him. And Mitt Romney needs to open up his mind and his campaign's mind and say, you know what? Those candidate – those voters that we thought we couldn't get – reach to - you got to reach out to them now.
ROSE: But are most Republicans disappointed in the Romney campaign so far?
DAVIS: Look, I think that it's endemic in every presidential campaign that there are going to be highs and lows. Right now, obviously, this is a bad day for the Romney campaign, and they're going to have to pivot on this, show new excitement, roll up the sleeves-
ROSE: But we continue to run up into these times in which Republicans are saying, the candidate has to redefine himself. It was supposed to happen at the convention - ran into some problems-
DAVIS: Well, I think the convention actually did a good job of defining Mitt Romney-
ROSE: So, what is the redefinition that has to take place now?
DAVIS: I mean, Ann Romney's is one of the great speeches of any convention-
ROSE: What does Mitt Romney have to do now, to say, this is me and this is who I am?
DAVIS: Yeah. I think that – the problem is, he was ready to launch into more of an articulation of his economic plan, which I think was exactly the right thing to do at this form [sic] of the election. And now, he's going to have to take a step back a little bit, and say, you know what? The reason I have these views about my economic plan is because of who I am. And so, he's going to have to double up that message a little bit. And so, it's maybe a little less defined., but again, maybe the best thing he could have done is to talk about himself a little bit more.
O'DONNELL: Let me ask you about this. Clearly, there's something wrong with our tax code. I think all Americans agree with that. Why not, then, have Mitt Romney make what is an affirmative argument, which is, look, this is the tax code. It's wrong. I'm the candidate for tax reform. I'm going to be make – and able to work with Republicans in Congress, which Barack Obama has not been able to do. And I went back and looked at Mitt Romney's speech from the convention. He never said the words 'tax reform' in his speech. Shouldn't the Republican candidate be the candidate who embraces tax reform?
DAVIS: Norah, I think there's no question that our party probably spends as much time as any party in history talking about the failed tax system that we have. And you're right - the statistics alone-
O'DONNELL: But be the champion of tax reform. Why not be the champion of tax reform?
DAVIS: Well, I think that – part of the elements that he's talked about are. I mean, you can't talk about deficit reduction without having a component of tax reform. You can't talk about changing entitlements without knowing that you're going to have an impact on the tax reform-
O'DONNELL: But he didn't say that last night. I mean, he didn't say that-
DAVIS: Well, that's just semantics. I mean, if you believe that-
O'DONNELL: Or messaging-
DAVIS: The only time people understand that you're talking about taxes is when you say the word [sic] 'tax reform', then you're right. I mean, he probably ought to use that more often if they believe that that's an issue. But you've got to remember, too - he's been under enormous assault from the Obama campaign on his own taxes, on his own tax issues that have probably borne into some of that rationale as to why they don't like to talk about tax reform in that context.
So, it's not in a vacuum. I mean, you can't just say, oh, this campaign started today, and right now, we're going to take a look at it from that perspective. I think you've got to take it in its entirety, and realize that this is a pretty well-formed campaign. Part of what Mitt Romney talked about is what everybody thinks about, which is, we're a pretty widely divided country.
ROSE: Thank you, Rick. Thank you very much.
DAVIS: Thank you.
O'DONNELL: Rick Davis, thank you.
NBC: Motivation for Secret Romney Video 'Not Political,' Just 'Simple Curiosity'
Wrapping up a report for Tuesday's NBC Today about the hidden camera video of Mitt Romney speaking at a fundraiser, national investigative correspondent Michael Isikoff laughably proclaimed: "The source who made the secret video insisted to NBC News that the original motivation was not political but simple curiosity, to see what Romney would say in this unscripted setting." [Listen to the audio]
After promoting that assertion, Isikoff added: "But after watching the tape, the source decided the public should hear what Romney said and was encouraged to release it after talks with an Atlanta political researcher names James Carter IV, the grandson of Jimmy Carter..." Isikoff didn't question the fact that Romney made the comments in May but that the video was just released 50 days before the election.
Early in his report, Isikoff cited the magazine Mother Jones for having initially obtained the video, but did not ascribe any liberal label to the left-wing publication. Reporting the story on Monday's NBC Nightly News, anchor Brian Williams did describe it as a "liberal magazine."
At the top of the show, co-host Matt Lauer declared that Romney was "on the defensive" following the release of the video. Isikoff similarly began his report by announcing that Romney's comments were "now raising tough new questions for his presidential campaign."
Here is a full transcript of the September 18 report:
After promoting that assertion, Isikoff added: "But after watching the tape, the source decided the public should hear what Romney said and was encouraged to release it after talks with an Atlanta political researcher names James Carter IV, the grandson of Jimmy Carter..." Isikoff didn't question the fact that Romney made the comments in May but that the video was just released 50 days before the election.
Early in his report, Isikoff cited the magazine Mother Jones for having initially obtained the video, but did not ascribe any liberal label to the left-wing publication. Reporting the story on Monday's NBC Nightly News, anchor Brian Williams did describe it as a "liberal magazine."
At the top of the show, co-host Matt Lauer declared that Romney was "on the defensive" following the release of the video. Isikoff similarly began his report by announcing that Romney's comments were "now raising tough new questions for his presidential campaign."
Here is a full transcript of the September 18 report:
7:00AM ET TEASE:
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: "Off the cuff," that's how Mitt Romney is describing his comments, secretly recorded at a fundraiser, critical of millions of President Obama's supporters.
MITT ROMNEY: There are 47% who are with him, who are dependent on government, who believe that they are victims.
7:01AM ET TEASE:
MATT LAUER: Big morning in politics here. Mitt Romney is on defensive about those comments secretly recorded at a fundraiser in Florida. We're going to have more on that story straight ahead.
7:03AM ET SEGMENT:
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Here at home, there's a major political story in the presidential race. Mitt Romney defending comments secretly recorded at a private fundraiser in which he criticized Obama supporters as victims who are dependent on government. Michael Isikoff is NBC's national investigative correspondent. Michael, good morning to you.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Romney Responds; Candidate Defends Video Calling Voters "Victims"]
MICHAEL ISIKOFF: Good morning, Savannah. The newly leaked video was taken from a small digital camera concealed on a piece of furniture 20 feet from Romney as he spoke at a Florida fundraiser four months ago, and it's now raising tough new questions for his presidential campaign.
MITT ROMNEY: There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the President no matter what.
ISIKOFF: The video, first obtained by Mother Jones and later by NBC News, shows Romney surrounded by donors in May. NBC News has learned it was secretly recorded at a $50,000-a-plate fundraiser at the Boca Raton, Florida home of private equity mogul Mark Leiter. Asked how he's going to convince voters that they need to take care of themselves, Romney responds:
ROMNEY: Alright, there are 47% who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it. That that's an entitlement, and the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what.
ISIKOFF: Romney concedes he has little chance of winning these voters over because they can't relate to his message of lower taxes and less government.
ROMNEY: These are people who pay no income tax. 47 percent of Americans pay no income tax. So our message of low taxes doesn't connect. So he'll be out there talking about tax cuts for the rich. That's what they sell every four years. And so my job is not to worry about those people, I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives. What I have to do is convince the 5 to 10 percent in the center that are independent, that are thoughtful, that look at voting one way or the other depending upon, in some cases emotion, whether they like the guy or not.
ISIKOFF: Later, asked why he doesn't attack the President more forcefully, Romney says this about swing voters he's targeting:
ROMNEY: Because they voted for him, they don't want to be told that they were wrong, that he's a bad guy, that he did bad things, that's he's corrupt. But those people that we have to get, they want to believe they did the right thing, but he just wasn't up to the task. They love the phrase that, "he's over his head."
ISIKOFF: While the Obama campaign called Romney's comments "shocking," Romney on Monday night responded at a campaign event in California.
ROMNEY: It's not elegantly stated, let me put it that way. I'm speaking off the cuff in response to a question, and I'm sure I could state it more clearly and in a more effective way than I did in a setting like that. The President believes in what I've described as a government-centered society where government plays a larger and larger role, provides for more and more of the needs of individuals, and I happen to believe instead in a free enterprise, free individual society where people pursuing their dreams are able to employ one another, build enterprises, build the strongest economy in the world. I happen to believe that my approach is the approach that will put 23 million people back to work again.
ISIKOFF: At one point in the video, Romney also makes a joke about the background of his famous father, who was born of American parents in Mexico.
ROMNEY: Had he been born of Mexican parents, I'd have a better shot of winning this, but he was...unfortunately born of Americans living in Mexico. They lived there for a number of years and uh, I mean I say that jokingly, but it would be helpful being Latino.
ISIKOFF: The source who made the secret video insisted to NBC News that the original motivation was not political but simple curiosity, to see what Romney would say in this unscripted setting. But after watching the tape, the source decided the public should hear what Romney said and was encouraged to release it after talks with an Atlanta political researcher names James Carter IV, the grandson of Jimmy Carter, a president who is frequently compared by Romney to Barack Obama as an example of a failed president. Savannah.
GUTHRIE: Alright, Michael Isikoff in our Washington newsroom, thank you.
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: "Off the cuff," that's how Mitt Romney is describing his comments, secretly recorded at a fundraiser, critical of millions of President Obama's supporters.
MITT ROMNEY: There are 47% who are with him, who are dependent on government, who believe that they are victims.
7:01AM ET TEASE:
MATT LAUER: Big morning in politics here. Mitt Romney is on defensive about those comments secretly recorded at a fundraiser in Florida. We're going to have more on that story straight ahead.
7:03AM ET SEGMENT:
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Here at home, there's a major political story in the presidential race. Mitt Romney defending comments secretly recorded at a private fundraiser in which he criticized Obama supporters as victims who are dependent on government. Michael Isikoff is NBC's national investigative correspondent. Michael, good morning to you.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Romney Responds; Candidate Defends Video Calling Voters "Victims"]
MICHAEL ISIKOFF: Good morning, Savannah. The newly leaked video was taken from a small digital camera concealed on a piece of furniture 20 feet from Romney as he spoke at a Florida fundraiser four months ago, and it's now raising tough new questions for his presidential campaign.MITT ROMNEY: There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the President no matter what.
ISIKOFF: The video, first obtained by Mother Jones and later by NBC News, shows Romney surrounded by donors in May. NBC News has learned it was secretly recorded at a $50,000-a-plate fundraiser at the Boca Raton, Florida home of private equity mogul Mark Leiter. Asked how he's going to convince voters that they need to take care of themselves, Romney responds:
ROMNEY: Alright, there are 47% who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it. That that's an entitlement, and the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what.
ISIKOFF: Romney concedes he has little chance of winning these voters over because they can't relate to his message of lower taxes and less government.
ROMNEY: These are people who pay no income tax. 47 percent of Americans pay no income tax. So our message of low taxes doesn't connect. So he'll be out there talking about tax cuts for the rich. That's what they sell every four years. And so my job is not to worry about those people, I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives. What I have to do is convince the 5 to 10 percent in the center that are independent, that are thoughtful, that look at voting one way or the other depending upon, in some cases emotion, whether they like the guy or not.
ISIKOFF: Later, asked why he doesn't attack the President more forcefully, Romney says this about swing voters he's targeting:
ROMNEY: Because they voted for him, they don't want to be told that they were wrong, that he's a bad guy, that he did bad things, that's he's corrupt. But those people that we have to get, they want to believe they did the right thing, but he just wasn't up to the task. They love the phrase that, "he's over his head."
ISIKOFF: While the Obama campaign called Romney's comments "shocking," Romney on Monday night responded at a campaign event in California.
ROMNEY: It's not elegantly stated, let me put it that way. I'm speaking off the cuff in response to a question, and I'm sure I could state it more clearly and in a more effective way than I did in a setting like that. The President believes in what I've described as a government-centered society where government plays a larger and larger role, provides for more and more of the needs of individuals, and I happen to believe instead in a free enterprise, free individual society where people pursuing their dreams are able to employ one another, build enterprises, build the strongest economy in the world. I happen to believe that my approach is the approach that will put 23 million people back to work again.
ISIKOFF: At one point in the video, Romney also makes a joke about the background of his famous father, who was born of American parents in Mexico.
ROMNEY: Had he been born of Mexican parents, I'd have a better shot of winning this, but he was...unfortunately born of Americans living in Mexico. They lived there for a number of years and uh, I mean I say that jokingly, but it would be helpful being Latino.
ISIKOFF: The source who made the secret video insisted to NBC News that the original motivation was not political but simple curiosity, to see what Romney would say in this unscripted setting. But after watching the tape, the source decided the public should hear what Romney said and was encouraged to release it after talks with an Atlanta political researcher names James Carter IV, the grandson of Jimmy Carter, a president who is frequently compared by Romney to Barack Obama as an example of a failed president. Savannah.
GUTHRIE: Alright, Michael Isikoff in our Washington newsroom, thank you.
The MRC@25: The Worst Media Bias of 2005
The MRC is showcasing the most egregious bias we have uncovered over the years — four quotes for each of the 25 years of the MRC, 100 quotes total — all leading up to our big 25th Anniversary Gala next week.
Click here for articles recounting the worst of 1988 through 2004. Today, the worst bias of 2005: NBC’s Brian Williams equates America’s Founding Fathers with the zealots running Iran; ex-New York Times editor Howell Raines goes on a post-Katrina rant about the human carnage caused by the Bush administration’s “churchgoing populism,” and Ted Turner tries to defend North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il.
Andrea Mitchell: “It is an iconic picture: American hostages, hands bound and blindfolded, being paraded outside the U.S. embassy in Tehran by their captors. But has one of those student radicals now become Iran’s newly elected President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?...Tonight, U.S. intelligence officials say that they will continue to study this, but may never have definitive proof of what the role was of Iran’s new president, Brian.”
Brian Williams: “Andrea, what would it all matter if proven true? Someone brought up today the first several U.S. Presidents were certainly revolutionaries and might have been called terrorists at the time by the British Crown, after all.”
Mitchell: “Indeed, Brian.”
— NBC Nightly News, June 30, 2005.
“I just want to say: Who are we? We are people who have always been for inspections of prisons, for some degree of human rights, and now we’re defending neither.... We have now violated everything that we stand for. It is the first time in my life I have been ashamed of my country.”
— NPR’s Nina Totenberg, commenting on a front-page Washington Post report that captured terrorists are being held at undisclosed sites, Inside Washington, November 4, 2005.
“The dilatory performance of George Bush during the past week has been outrageous. Almost as unbelievable as Katrina itself is the fact that the leader of the free world has been outshone by the elected leaders of a region renowned for governmental ineptitude....The populism of Huey Long was financially corrupt, but when it came to the welfare of people, it was caring. The churchgoing cultural populism of George Bush has given the United States an administration that worries about the House of Saud and the welfare of oil companies while the poor drown in their attics and their sons and daughters die in foreign deserts.”
— Former New York Times Executive Editor Howell Raines in a Los Angeles Times op-ed, September 1, 2005.
Ted Turner: “I am absolutely convinced that the North Koreans are absolutely sincere. There’s really no reason for them to cheat [on nukes]....I looked them right in the eyes. And they looked like they meant the truth. You know, just because somebody’s done something wrong in the past doesn’t mean they can’t do right in the future or the present. That happens all the, all the time.”
Wolf Blitzer: “But this is one of the most despotic regimes and Kim Jong-Il is one of the worst men on Earth. Isn’t that a fair assessment?”
Turner: “Well, I didn’t get to meet him, but he didn’t look — in the pictures that I’ve seen of him on CNN, he didn’t look too much different than most other people.”
Blitzer: “But, look at the way, look at the way he’s, look at the way he’s treating his own people.”
Turner: “Well, hey, listen. I saw a lot of people over there. They were thin and they were riding bicycles instead of driving in cars, but-”
Blitzer: “A lot of those people are starving.”
Turner: “I didn’t see any, I didn’t see any brutality....”
— Exchange on CNN’s The Situation Room, September 19, 2005.
Click here for articles recounting the worst of 1988 through 2004. Today, the worst bias of 2005: NBC’s Brian Williams equates America’s Founding Fathers with the zealots running Iran; ex-New York Times editor Howell Raines goes on a post-Katrina rant about the human carnage caused by the Bush administration’s “churchgoing populism,” and Ted Turner tries to defend North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il.
Andrea Mitchell: “It is an iconic picture: American hostages, hands bound and blindfolded, being paraded outside the U.S. embassy in Tehran by their captors. But has one of those student radicals now become Iran’s newly elected President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?...Tonight, U.S. intelligence officials say that they will continue to study this, but may never have definitive proof of what the role was of Iran’s new president, Brian.”
Brian Williams: “Andrea, what would it all matter if proven true? Someone brought up today the first several U.S. Presidents were certainly revolutionaries and might have been called terrorists at the time by the British Crown, after all.”
Mitchell: “Indeed, Brian.”
— NBC Nightly News, June 30, 2005.
“I just want to say: Who are we? We are people who have always been for inspections of prisons, for some degree of human rights, and now we’re defending neither.... We have now violated everything that we stand for. It is the first time in my life I have been ashamed of my country.”
— NPR’s Nina Totenberg, commenting on a front-page Washington Post report that captured terrorists are being held at undisclosed sites, Inside Washington, November 4, 2005.
“The dilatory performance of George Bush during the past week has been outrageous. Almost as unbelievable as Katrina itself is the fact that the leader of the free world has been outshone by the elected leaders of a region renowned for governmental ineptitude....The populism of Huey Long was financially corrupt, but when it came to the welfare of people, it was caring. The churchgoing cultural populism of George Bush has given the United States an administration that worries about the House of Saud and the welfare of oil companies while the poor drown in their attics and their sons and daughters die in foreign deserts.”
— Former New York Times Executive Editor Howell Raines in a Los Angeles Times op-ed, September 1, 2005.
Ted Turner: “I am absolutely convinced that the North Koreans are absolutely sincere. There’s really no reason for them to cheat [on nukes]....I looked them right in the eyes. And they looked like they meant the truth. You know, just because somebody’s done something wrong in the past doesn’t mean they can’t do right in the future or the present. That happens all the, all the time.”
Wolf Blitzer: “But this is one of the most despotic regimes and Kim Jong-Il is one of the worst men on Earth. Isn’t that a fair assessment?”
Turner: “Well, I didn’t get to meet him, but he didn’t look — in the pictures that I’ve seen of him on CNN, he didn’t look too much different than most other people.”
Blitzer: “But, look at the way, look at the way he’s, look at the way he’s treating his own people.”
Turner: “Well, hey, listen. I saw a lot of people over there. They were thin and they were riding bicycles instead of driving in cars, but-”
Blitzer: “A lot of those people are starving.”
Turner: “I didn’t see any, I didn’t see any brutality....”
— Exchange on CNN’s The Situation Room, September 19, 2005.
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