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1. Williams Tosses Softballs to Obama, Empathizes Over Elitist Image Brian Williams, who slobbered over Barack Obama in their last interview in early January, did so again in a Thursday session excerpted on the NBC Nightly News. Back on January 7, Williams handed Obama a Newsweek with "Inside Obama's Dream Machine" as the cover story and wondered: "How does this feel, of all the honors that have come your way, all the publicity? Who does it make you think of? Is there, is there a loved one?" On Thursday, Williams didn't pose a single challenging question nor mention Jeremiah Wright in any of the ten questions aired, but pulled the same magazine stunt, this time holding up the new Time with a smiling Obama on the cover by the words, "And the Winner* Is..." Williams fondly recalled: "Last time we were together, I handed you a copy of Newsweek, it was the first time you'd held it in your hands with you on the cover. Have you yet held this in your hands?" Obama said he had not, prompting Williams to remind him: "Last time you looked at it and you thought instantly of your mom." Proceeding to cue up Obama for a long recitation on how he's not an elitist, Williams empathized: "You end up with people talking about your bowling score, gutter balls, wearing a tie, wearing a tie with farmers. And how have you dealt with that? Is there an operating theory that guides your life these days?" 2. CNN's Blitzer to Obama: 'Ready to Handle' the 'Assault' from GOP? CNN's Wolf Blitzer, during a much hyped interview of Barack Obama on Thursday's The Situation Room, tried to dismiss facts about the Illinois Senator's as mere opinions. The CNN host also made a prediction about the upcoming general election campaign: "You know they're going to paint you -- the McCain camp, Republicans -- as a classic tax and spend liberal Democrat, that you are going to raise the taxes for the American people, and to spend money like there's no tomorrow when it comes to federal government programs. You ready to handle that kind of assault?" In fact, the National Journal -- not a conservative magazine -- had identified Obama as the most liberal Senator during 2007, so if the Republicans do launch "that kind of assault," it has a basis in Obama's own record in the Senate. 3. NBC's Ann Curry: McCain is Old, He's 71. Did I Mention He's 71? The Today show's Ann Curry interviewed Cindy McCain on Thursday morning and got her to promise that the McCain campaign won't go negative. However Curry, herself, repeatedly pressed a point that is sure to be part of a, not-so-quiet, whisper campaign against the Arizona Senator this fall: that too he's old to be President: "There's never been an older President, at 71....and you've seen, as a wife of a Senator, what that job does to the men elected to it....Can't take away the numbers. 71?" 4. ABC's Cuomo Scolds Clinton's Wolfson for Saying Obama Can't Win Good Morning America news anchor Chris Cuomo on Thursday aggressively told top Hillary Clinton aide Howard Wolfson that it's time for the Senator to get out of the race and allow Barack Obama to begin his general election campaign. At one point, after the communication director suggested that Clinton would do better than Obama in states such as West Virginia, an irritated Cuomo sputtered: "If you're going out there, as communication director of your campaign, telling super delegates Barack can't win against McCain, how is that helping the Democrats?" When Wolfson repeated his argument that Hillary could capture West Virginia, Cuomo helpfully suggested: "And what a great contribution that might be for a vice presidential candidate." Earlier in the segment, the ABC anchor, who is the son of former New York Democratic Governor Mario Cuomo and brother to the state's current Democratic attorney general, insisted: "Why isn't this the time to get out?" Williams Tosses Softballs to Obama, Empathizes Over Elitist Image Brian Williams, who slobbered over Barack Obama in their last interview in early January, did so again in a Thursday session conducted at Washington, DC's Newseum and excerpted on the NBC Nightly News. Back on January 7, Williams handed Obama a Newsweek with "Inside Obama's Dream Machine" as the cover story and wondered: "How does this feel, of all the honors that have come your way, all the publicity? Who does it make you think of? Is there, is there a loved one?" On Thursday, Williams didn't pose a single challenging question nor mention Jeremiah Wright in any of the ten questions aired, but pulled the same magazine stunt, this time holding up the new Time with a smiling Obama on the cover by the words, "And the Winner* Is..." Williams fondly recalled: "Last time we were together, I handed you a copy of Newsweek, it was the first time you'd held it in your hands with you on the cover. Have you yet held this in your hands?" Image of the cover of the May 19 Time magazine: www.time.com Obama said he had not, prompting Williams to remind him: "Last time you looked at it and you thought instantly of your mom." Obama effused: "She'd like that picture. She always encouraged me to smile more." Proceeding to cue up Obama for a long recitation on how he's not an elitist, Williams empathized: "You end up with people talking about your bowling score, gutter balls, wearing a tie, wearing a tie with farmers. And how have you dealt with that? Is there an operating theory that guides your life these days?" Next, Williams pressed Obama three times about putting Hillary Clinton on the ticket, starting with this inquiry: "Have there been internal conversations or any outreach, any contact at all with the Clinton camp about a ticket that would involve Senator Clinton?" Setting up the segment at the top of his newscast, Williams touted how "there's been a measurable change around" Obama, gushing about how "you could see it and feel it in Washington today. The people rushing to him, crowding around him on Capitol Hill" and in "the crowds that greeted him several stories high in the Newseum." [This item, by the MRC's Brent Baker, was posted Thursday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]
(Williams did raise Wright in the full 23-minute interview posted, as Flash video, on MSNBC.com, but not to discuss the substance. Williams was more interested in Obama's strategic mistake and whether he thought there was "valor" in taking the hit: The January 8 CyberAlert item, "Williams Slobbers Over Obama; Couric Counters McCain on Surge," recounted: In interviews aired Monday night, NBC's Brian Williams slobbered over Barack Obama while CBS's Katie Couric told John McCain the surge in Iraq has not been a success and pressed Mitt Romney to apologize for his negative ads. Riding on a bus in New Hampshire the day before the Granite state's primary, Williams showed Obama the Newsweek with the Democratic candidate on the cover and wondered: "How does this feel, of all the honors that have come your way, all the publicity? Who does it make you think of? Is there, is there a loved one?" This week's Newsweek cover has a picture of Obama with an Obama quote: "Our time for change has come." The headline over the cover story by Richard Wolfe, a frequent guest of MSNBC's Keith Olbermann: "Inside Obama's Dream Machine." The subhead hailed Obama as "an icon of hope." Echoing that theme, Williams later observed how "in his stump speech, he now says 'we' instead of 'I.' The implication: What happened in Iowa was the start of a movement."...
For that previous CyberAlert in full: www.mediaresearch.org Transcript of how Williams set up the lead story on the Thursday, May 8 NBC Nightly News, with all of the questions to Obama the newscast aired: BRIAN WILLIAMS: ...As for Barack Obama, there's been a measurable change around him. You could see it and feel it in Washington today. The people rushing to him, crowding around him on Capitol Hill where, among other things, he visited the House of Representatives. These days it's also the house of super-delegates. Then there were the crowds that greeted him several stories high in the Newseum in Washington. He was there to sit down with us today to talk about where this race stands.
WILLIAMS: Are you the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party? MSNBC.com Flash video of the portion which aired on NBC Nightly News: www.msnbc.msn.com Video of the entire 23-minute interview: www.msnbc.msn.com
CNN's Blitzer to Obama: 'Ready to Handle' the 'Assault' from GOP? CNN's Wolf Blitzer, during a much hyped interview of Barack Obama on Thursday's The Situation Room, tried to dismiss facts about the Illinois Senator's as mere opinions. The CNN host also made a prediction about the upcoming general election campaign: "You know they're going to paint you -- the McCain camp, Republicans -- as a classic tax and spend liberal Democrat, that you are going to raise the taxes for the American people, and to spend money like there's no tomorrow when it comes to federal government programs. You ready to handle that kind of assault?" In fact, the National Journal -- not a conservative magazine -- had identified Obama as the most liberal Senator during 2007, so if the Republicans do launch "that kind of assault," it has a basis in Obama's own record in the Senate. NJ's ratings: nj.nationaljournal.com [This item, by the MRC's Matthew Balan, was posted Thursday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]
Twelve minutes later, or about 26 minutes into the 4pm Eastern hour of the playback of the taped interview, after discussing the Iraq war with the Democrat, Blitzer brought up the issue of Israel and its battle with Hamas: "This is going to be a huge difference -- the war in Iraq, the fallout between you and McCain. He also is going after you now today, the 60th anniversary of Israel's independence. He says you're not necessarily endorsing policies that would be good for Israel. He says this, for example. 'I think it's very clear who Hamas wants to be the next President of the United States. I think that people should understand that I will be Hamas's worst nightmare. If Senator Obama is favored by Hamas, I think people can make judgments accordingly.'"
NBC's Ann Curry: McCain is Old, He's 71. Did I Mention He's 71? The Today show's Ann Curry interviewed Cindy McCain on Thursday morning and got her to promise that the McCain campaign won't go negative. However Curry, herself, repeatedly pressed a point that is sure to be part of a, not-so-quiet, whisper campaign against the Arizona Senator this fall: that too he's old to be President: "There's never been an older President, at 71....and you've seen, as a wife of a Senator, what that job does to the men elected to it....Can't take away the numbers. 71?" Curry's obsession:
ANN CURRY: And she laughed when asked if she has any concerns about his age. You're laughing. Why are you smiling about that? [This item, by the MRC's Geoffrey Dickens, was posted Thursday morning on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] The following is the full interview as it occurred on the May 8 Today show: MEREDITH VIEIRA: And now to a Today exclusive. An interview with Cindy McCain, the wife of presumptive Republican nominee John McCain. Ann caught up with her on Wednesday. She's been doing a lot of campaigning for her husband. ANN CURRY: She has. In fact she flew in directly from the campaign trail to our interview, Meredith. With Democrats getting closer to choosing a nominee the spotlight now begins to shine on the general election now just six months away. How nasty might it get? Well Cindy McCain's answer this morning. [On screen headline: "Curry On The Trail, Cindy McCain: We Won't Go Negative"]
CINDY McCAIN: And what you're gonna see is, I, I believe we're going to see a great debate. Which, which the American public deserves, more importantly. None of this negative stuff though. You won't see it come out of our side, at all. Because--
VIEIRA: Very adamant about those tax returns. A lot of people have been wondering if she's gonna release them. She, quite definitively, said no.
ABC's Cuomo Scolds Clinton's Wolfson for Saying Obama Can't Win Good Morning America news anchor Chris Cuomo on Thursday aggressively told top Hillary Clinton aide Howard Wolfson that it's time for the Senator to get out of the race and allow Barack Obama to begin his general election campaign. At one point, after the communication director suggested that Clinton would do better than Obama in states such as West Virginia, an irritated Cuomo sputtered: "If you're going out there, as communication director of your campaign, telling super delegates Barack can't win against McCain, how is that helping the Democrats?" When Wolfson repeated his argument that Hillary could capture West Virginia, Cuomo helpfully suggested: "And what a great contribution that might be for a vice presidential candidate." Earlier in the segment, the ABC anchor, who is the son of former New York Democratic Governor Mario Cuomo and brother to the state's current Democratic attorney general, insisted: "Why isn't this the time to get out?" An ABC graphic, just below Cuomo, reiterated, "Clinton Hangs On: How Can She Remain in Race?" [This item, by the MRC's Scott Whitlock, was posted Thursday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ] A previous piece, which aired right before the Cuomo interrogation of Wolfson, continued the "get out" mantra. GMA co-host Robin Roberts began the first segment by flatly proclaiming: "Many believe that the race should be over." In a tease, she asked, "...Has Barack Obama already crossed the finish line?" Roberts also parroted Cuomo's VP query and asked "This Week" host George Stephanopoulos about the possibility of an Obama/Clinton "super ticket." Reporter Jake Tapper, in his usual snarky tone, derided Clinton's chances: "Defying pundits, party leaders and high school math, Clinton says she remains in it to win it." There is an obvious difference between noting that it doesn't look good for Clinton and aggressively attempting to clear the deck for Senator Obama. And that's what Good Morning America did on Thursday. It's fitting that Cuomo began his interview with Wolfson by stating that there's "a lot of pressure" on Clinton to get out. He then asked: "May be reaching fever pitch?" It certainly is within the media. A transcript of Chris Cuomo's interview with Howard Wolfson, which aired at 7:04am on May 8: CHRIS CUOMO: As we've heard here, a lot of pressure on Senator Hillary Clinton to drop out of the race. May be reaching fever pitch? She says she's standing her ground, so what's the message coming out of the campaign? Who better to ask than Senator Clinton's communication director Howard Wolfson. Howard, thank you very much for joining me this morning. Let me get a quick react from you. The potential cover of Time magazine, can we put it up? "And the winner is," it says. A picture of, who seems to be, Barack Obama. Your reaction? ABC GRAPHIC: Clinton Hangs On: How Can She Remain in Race?
HOWARD WOLFSON: Chris, I can't count the number of times that the pundits decided that Senator Clinton was finished. They did it in New Hampshire. They did it before Ohio. They did it before Pennsylvania. We've got a lot of fight left in us. We believe Senator Clinton is going to be the nominee of this party and the next president. We take the campaign to West Virginia today. It's a key swing state. Senator Clinton has flatly predicted that she would win in West Virginia against John McCain. We're going to show just why in the next couple of days. We hope to do well there and in the upcoming primaries after that.
-- Brent Baker
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