Katie Couric

Latest Film News

Latest news on Katie Couric

Issues

Scarborough did not challenge McCain's false claim that Eisenhower wrote a "letter of resignation" before D-Day

During a live satellite interview with Sen. John McCain on the October 2 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe, co-host Joe Scarborough did not challenge McCain's false assertion that Gen. Dwight Eisenhower wrote "a letter of resignation from the Army" in case the D-Day invasion failed. The claim, which McCain also made during the September 26 presidential debate, was debunked by PolitiFact.com and an ABCNews.com Political Radar blog post, concluding that, while Eisenhower accepted responsibility in the letter, he did not mention resignation. In his Morning Joe appearance, clipped by ThinkProgress.com blogger Matthew Yglesias, McCain referenced the Eisenhower letters -- one accepting responsibility for failure, the other congratulating the troops for success -- in defense of his demand that Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Christopher Cox resign. At no point did Scarborough question McCain's version of the story. Following the September 26 presidential debate, PolitiFact determined that the text of the note to which McCain "was almost certainly referring" was "not a letter of resignation": McCain went on to link Eisenhower and his letter to McCain's repeated calls in recent days that Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Christopher Cox resign for his role in the financial crisis. McCain was almost certainly referring to this note, which Eisenhower, then the U.S. Army general commanding the Normandy assault, prepared and stuck in his wallet on June 5, 1944, the day before the invasion in case the mission failed. It says: "Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time and place was based on the best information available. The troops, the air and the Navy did all that bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine alone." A noble sentiment -- but not a letter of resignation. "That must be what McCain is referencing," said David Fitzpatrick, a military historian at the University of Michigan. "I never heard that Eisenhower had prepared a letter of resignation. That would be incorrect." The invasion was a success and Eisenhower did not have to use the note. McCain ought not use it either -- at least not as an example of prewritten resignation letter. Though Eisenhower did intend to take responsibility for the failure, that's quite different from preparing to resign his generalship. We find this anecdote to be False. Political Radar also pointed out that "[a]ccording to the National Archives, late on the afternoon of June 5, 1944, Eisenhower scribbled a note intended for release accepting responsibility for the decision to launch the invasion and taking full blame in the event the effort to create a beachhead on the Normandy coast failed. In the letter, Eisenhower takes responsibility but makes no mention of resignation." While Scarborough failed to challenge McCain's falsehood, MSNBC reporters, hosts and guests have pointed out at least three times during the previous week Sen. Joe Biden's misstatement during a September 22 interview with CBS News anchor Katie Couric, when he said, "When the stock market crashed, Franklin Roosevelt got on television and didn't just talk about the princes of greed. He said, 'Look, here's what happened.' " During the 9 a.m. ET hour of the September 29 edition of MSNBC Live, NBC News correspondent Ron Allen said of Biden: "[H]e made a comment about FDR and the Depression when FDR wasn't president then and appearing on TV when TV didn't exist. So, yes, this is the narrative that Joe Biden runs against -- 'Will he make more gaffes?' " During the 5 p.m. ET hour of the September 28 edition of MSNBC Live, Republican strategist Brad Blakeman said of Biden: "Here's a guy who thinks that FDR was president during the Great Depression. Here's a guy who thought there was television ahead of its time in the '20s." Host David Shuster did not point out that Roosevelt in fact was president during the Great Depression, which began in 1929 and lasted throughout the 1930s, with Roosevelt taking office in 1933 and serving until his death in 1945. During the 10 a.m. ET hour of the September 28 edition of MSNBC Live, Republican strategist Ron Christie said, "Senator Biden the other week said that during the financial crisis that President FDR took to the airwaves in 1929 to try to calm the markets. Well, the fact of the matter was he didn't have television in 1929, and Herbert Hoover was the president of the United States. But people don't make that of Mr. Biden." Host Alex Witt went on to say, "Yeah, that was definitely an 'ouch.' " From the September 26 presidential debate: McCAIN: Sure. But -- but let me -- let me point out, I also warned about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and warned about corporate greed and excess, and CEO pay, and all that. A lot of us saw this train wreck coming. But there's also the issue of responsibility. You've mentioned President Dwight David Eisenhower. President Eisenhower, on the night before the Normandy invasion, went into his room, and he wrote out two letters. One of them was a letter congratulating the great members of the military and allies that had conducted and succeeded in the greatest invasion in history, still to this day, and forever. And he wrote out another letter, and that was a letter of resignation from the United States Army for the failure of the landings at Normandy. Somehow we've lost that accountability. I've been heavily criticized because I called for the resignation of the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. We've got to start also holding people accountable, and we've got to reward people who succeed. But somehow in Washington today -- and I'm afraid on Wall Street -- greed is rewarded, excess is rewarded, and corruption -- or certainly failure to carry out our responsibility is rewarded. As president of the United States, people are going to be held accountable in my administration. And I promise you that that will happen. From the 9 a.m. ET hour of the September 29 edition of MSNBC Live: ALLEN: He was against the AIG bailout before he was for it, he made a comment about FDR and the Depression when FDR wasn't president then and appearing on TV when TV didn't exist. So, yes, this is the narrative that Joe Biden runs against -- "Will he make more gaffes?" And I'm sure that he's going to be able to just sort of focus -- they're telling him "be brief, to be to the point." He did pretty well during the Democratic debates. And the other thing is -- the other issue is, of course -- debating a woman, Sarah Palin. What's that going to be like? And, so, Biden's answer is, "I debate strong, smart women in the Senate all the time. What's the big deal?" But, of course, the perception of how he comes off against her -- is he condescending, does he talk down to her, especially because he has so much more experience -- that's gonna be something to watch as well. TAMRON HALL [anchor]: You know, also someone was pointing out his experience -- he has to temper it where it does not come off as -- some criticized Al Gore, "the know-it-all" -- you know, "She doesn't know a lot, she doesn't have a lot of experience, and here I am with all the answers." From the 5 p.m. ET hour of the September 28 edition of MSNBC Live: SHUSTER: We're moving ahead, of course, and moving focusing this Thursday on the vice-presidential debate between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden. And I gotta ask you, Brad, I mean, there's been so much of a buzz in Washington about Sarah Palin's performance in these sit-down interviews -- she hasn't really been asked some of the difficult, detailed questions about this very bailout package. Are you satisfied with where Sarah Palin is heading into Thursday's debate? BLAKEMAN: I am satisfied. I think she'll be well-prepared, and I think the human gaffe machine, Biden, should offer some very interesting insights into his perspective on history. Here's a guy who thinks that FDR was president during the Great Depression. Here's a guy who thought there was television ahead of its time in the '20s. This guy -- it should be very entertaining, to say the least. But Sarah Palin is more qualified to be vice president than Barack Obama is to be president. SHUSTER: How can you say that, when Barack Obama has been through 20-some debates, he's run an organization that's raised hundreds of millions of dollars, he's had to run this organization for a year-and-a-half? Do you really believe that -- BLAKEMAN: Here's how I can say that. Sarah Palin -- CHRIS KOFINIS [Democratic strategist]: I think, Brad -- I think Brad just wrote -- BLAKEMAN: -- Sarah Palin has run a state -- billion and billions of dollars. Sarah Palin has been a mayor. Barack Obama has never worked in the private sector. He's worked as a state senator -- SHUSTER: That's not true. He worked at a law firm. KOFINIS: Brad, Brad -- BLAKEMAN: -- we're electing a state senator as president. From the 10 a.m. ET hour of the September 28 edition of MSNBC Live: WITT: But, you know, Ron, you gotta at this point forget the 37 million who watched her. Are you at all concerned about what's been described as some rough media interviews this last week has colored people's opinions of her? CHRISTIE: No, Alex, I'm not. I think that everybody going through the electoral process, you hit a patch here and there. What I find more astounding is that Senator Biden the other week said that during the financial crisis that President FDR took to the airwaves in 1929 to try to calm the markets. Well, the fact of the matter was he didn't have television in 1929, and Herbert Hoover was the president of the United States. But people don't make that of Mr. Biden. Everyone seems to want to be out to get Governor Palin. I think there's a certain degree of unfairness in the coverage, and I think she's ready for Thursday. WITT: OK. So, yeah, that was definitely an 'ouch.' So, Chris [Kofinis], keeping in mind that one, what does Joe Biden need to do, other than make mistakes like that, to reach all those undecideds out there? From the October 2 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe: JIM CRAMER: You've called for the resignation or firing of Christopher Cox, the SEC chairman. He has been quite inept and has hurt Wall Street. Would you go as far as to that say perhaps [Federal Reserve chairman] Ben Bernanke should be replaced, given the fact he was worried about inflation when we have a deflationary spiral like 1932 happening? McCAIN: I'm not overall pleased with his performance, but I think it's a little bit different from the person -- the individual specifically assigned to regulate. And Chris Cox is a fine and honorable man, don't get me wrong -- but when the captain is asleep in the cabin and the ship runs aground, it's the captain that's still responsible. Accountability. Dwight David Eisenhower, the night before the invasion of Normandy, wrote out two letters -- one praising the men and women for their success who made that that incredible invasion possible, and the other a letter of resignation from the Army in case it had failed, taking full responsibility. We need more leaders like Dwight David Eisenhower. SCARBOROUGH: Senator McCain, I had a friend yesterday email me a 2003 New York Times article where the Bush administration and some leaders on Capitol Hill were expressing concern already about Fannie and Freddie, said we needed to take more control of it. Barney Frank was very critical, saying that nothing was wrong with Fannie and Freddie. Other Democrats said that that was the wrong step to take. Let me ask you, where were you in 2003, when the White House and Treasury officials started warning -- that's five years ago -- started warning about problems that were inside of Fannie and Freddie? McCAIN: I was -- I was partially engaged. Let me say that I also had those same concerns.
Published: Fri, 03 Oct 2008 21:46:31 GMT - Source: Mediamatters.Org - Read the article

Issues

NBC's Todd falsely claimed 9th Circuit "wants to get rid of the Pledge" of Allegiance

On the October 2 edition of MSNBC's Hardball, NBC political director Chuck Todd falsely claimed that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit "wants to get rid of the Pledge" of Allegiance. In fact, in the case that Todd was referring to, Newdow v. U.S. Congress, a three-judge 9th Circuit panel did not decide that the entire Pledge of Allegiance was unconstitutional, but rather "h[e]ld that ... the 1954 Act adding the words 'under God' to the Pledge ... violate[s] the Establishment Clause" of the First Amendment. As the 9th Circuit noted, before the 1954 act, the Pledge of Allegiance was: "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." The court did not find anything unconstitutional about the remaining language of the pledge. (The Supreme Court subsequently vacated the 9th Circuit's decision, on the grounds that the plaintiff, Michael Newdow, did not have standing to bring the case.) Todd made his comment while discussing Gov. Sarah Palin's response to this question from CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric: "What other Supreme Court decisions do you disagree with?" In addition, during the discussion, host Chris Matthews falsely suggested that the Supreme Court has "outlaw[ed] prayer in public school." Palin, Matthews said, has "never heard of the Brown case, she's never heard of 'separate but equal' being outlawed by the Supreme Court, never heard outlawing prayer in public school, never heard of any of the Supreme Court decisions like Dred Scott." In fact, as Media Matters for America has noted, the Supreme Court's 1962 Engel v. Vitale decision and successive cases in the field did not prohibit all prayer in public school; rather, Engel barred state-sponsored prayer. As the Supreme Court stated in its 2000 decision in Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe, "[N]othing in the Constitution as interpreted by this Court prohibits any public school student from voluntarily praying at any time before, during, or after the schoolday. But the religious liberty protected by the Constitution is abridged when the State affirmatively sponsors the particular religious practice of prayer." From the October 2 edition of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews: MATTHEWS: Let's take a look at Sarah Palin the other night -- last night on CBS with Katie Couric. She was asked about the Supreme Court and showed very little knowledge of that topic. Let's take a look. [begin video clip] COURIC: What other Supreme Court decisions do you disagree with? PALIN: Well, let's see. There's -- of course, in the great history of America, there have been rulings that there's never going to be absolute consensus by every American. And there are those issues, again, like Roe v. Wade, where I believe are best held on a state level and addressed there. So, you know, going through the history of America, there would be others, but -- COURIC: Can you think of any? PALIN: Well, I would think of any, again, that could be best be dealt with on a more local level, maybe I would take issue with. But, you know, as a mayor and then as a governor and even as a vice president, if I'm so privileged to serve, wouldn't be in a position of changing those things, but in supporting the law of the land as it reads today. [end video clip] MATTHEWS: I'm dying. I'm dying, Chuck. I mean, it reminds me of the president's press secretary that didn't -- never heard of the Cuban missile crisis. She's never heard of the Brown case, she's never heard of "separate but equal" being outlawed by the Supreme Court, never heard outlawing prayer in public school, never heard of any of the Supreme Court decisions like Dred Scott. None of them came to mind. TODD: And you know what's going to frustrate some social conservatives? She comes from a state that is a part of the most liberal circuit court in the country, the 9th Circuit, the circuit that makes conservatives crazy, the circuit that wants to get rid of the pledge, the circuit that wants to -- MATTHEWS: San Francisco. TODD: Exactly. Alaska's part of that circuit. In fact, they wish they weren't, and they have judges that live in Fairbanks. And had she pivoted the answer, had she said, "You know what? I'm not going to sit here and tell you how many Supreme Court cases I can recite. I can tell you what -- how frustrating it is to deal with the liberal 9th Circuit." Can I just tell you, conservatives would have loved it, the conservative elites would have loved it, because it would have shown some, some knowledge on that point.
Published: Fri, 03 Oct 2008 04:39:52 GMT - Source: Mediamatters.Org - Read the article

Issues

CBS asserted "Democrats and many in the media" question "Palin's readiness to be president," but not that many questions came from conservatives

A September 29 CBSNews.com article asserted that "[Gov. Sarah] Palin's readiness to be president in the event she and [Sen. John] McCain are elected and McCain becomes incapacitated has been widely questioned by Democrats and many in the media," but did not note that many of those who were "question[ing]" Palin's readiness are conservatives. In fact, as CBS Early Show national correspondent Jeff Glor noted during the September 29 edition of The Early Show, "even some conservatives are concerned, including syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker, who said Palin is 'clearly out of our league' and called for the Alaska governor to leave the race." Earlier, Early Show co-host Maggie Rodriguez stated: "[T]he question a lot of Americans are asking this morning, including some prominent Republicans, is whether Sarah Palin is ready." On September 26, Parker wrote: "As we've seen and heard more from John McCain's running mate, it is increasingly clear that Palin is a problem. Quick study or not, she doesn't know enough about economics and foreign policy to make Americans comfortable with a President Palin should conditions warrant her promotion." Parker later wrote: "Palin's recent interviews with Charles Gibson, Sean Hannity, and now Katie Couric have all revealed an attractive, earnest, confident candidate. Who Is Clearly Out Of Her League." She concluded: "Only Palin can save McCain, her party, and the country she loves. She can bow out for personal reasons, perhaps because she wants to spend more time with her newborn. No one would criticize a mother who puts her family first. Do it for your country." Numerous other conservative media figures also have expressed concerns about Palin's readiness to be vice president. For instance: As the website Raw Story and others have noted, on the September 28 edition of the NBC syndicated Chris Matthews Show, New York Times columnist David Brooks stated: I admire Sarah Palin for many things. Not many of us put our careers on the line to challenge something. And she put her career on the line to challenge the corrupt Republican Alaska establishment. So, I give her a lot of credit for that. But is she ready to be vice president? Based on what we've seen with the Katie Couric interview, it's embarrassing. It's painful to watch those things. You want to turn them off. And, so, I just think that's the fundamental fact. She is a very talented politician who was brought to the national limelight before she was ready, and it's just a problem. In a September 26 column, National Review editor Rich Lowry wrote: "Does Palin know enough to be a national candidate right now? No, but she can be mostly walled off from the press." Earlier in the column, he said McCain was "making moves that mark him as different, but can be seen as risky or gimmicky, whether choosing Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential nominee or canceling the first day of the Republican Convention during Hurricane Gustav." Additionally, in a September 13 post on National Review Online's The Corner blog, Lowry said of Palin's interview with ABC News' Charles Gibson: "[T]his was a merely adequate performance. The foreign-policy session was a white-knuckle affair. She barely got through it and showed no knowledge more than an inch deep." Lowry later added: "The fact still remains that she very likely didn't know any of the possible definitions of the Bush doctrine. I can't imagine if Obama had picked Gov. Tim Kaine [VA] and he had had a similar moment, conservatives would have rushed to say that the Bush doctrine is just too amorphous and complicated for him to know anything about it. [italics in original]" Lowry added: "Palin seemed weak on economic and budgetary policy too, talking in the vaguest generalities. She was much better, and positively good, on the social issues -- which are dear to her and she's thought about -- and anything having to do with her personally or with her record in Alaska." And he concluded: "I understand how we all want to be protective of her -- I feel the same impulse -- but let's not be patronizing. I believe the truly pro-Palin position is to think she can, should, and will do better than this." In a September 13 blog posting, titled "Sarah The Unready," Ross Douthat, conservative blogger and senior editor at The Atlantic stated of Palin's interview with Gibson: "[S]he seemed about an inch deep on every issue outside her comfort zone." He further stated that Gibson's questions "were all questions that a vice-presidential nominee needs to be able to answer." Douthat added: "There's no way to look at her performance as anything save supporting evidence for the non-hysterical critique of her candidacy -- that it's just too much, too soon -- and a splash of cold water for those of us with high hopes for her future on the national stage." In his September 5 Washington Post column, Charles Krauthammer stated that "the choice of Palin remains deeply problematic." Krauthammer later stated: The vice president's only constitutional duty of any significance is to become president at a moment's notice. Palin is not ready. Nor is Obama. But with Palin, the case against Obama evaporates." George Will stated in a September 3 Washington Post column that "the man who would be the oldest to embark on a first presidential term has chosen as his possible successor a person of negligible experience." He later wrote: "Clearly, experience is not sufficient to prove a person 'qualified' for the presidency." In an August 29 column in the National Post, columnist and former speechwriter for President Bush David Frum asserted that "she [Palin] has zero foreign policy experience, and no record on national security issues." He went on to say that "Mr. McCain's supporters argue that he is more serious about national security than Barack Obama. But the selection of Sarah Palin invites the question: How serious can he be if he would place such a neophyte second in line to the presidency?" He further claims that "if anything were to happen to a President McCain, the destiny of the free world would be placed in the hands of a woman who until the day before Friday was a small-town mayor." Frum concluded his column by stating: "Ms. Palin is a bold pick, and probably a shrewd one. It's not nearly so clear that she is a responsible pick, or a wise one." From the September 29 CBSNews.com article: A month ago, Sally and Chuck Heath's third child, Sarah Palin, a self-proclaimed hockey mom and wildly popular governor of Alaska, was thrust into the national spotlight when John McCain picked her to be his running mate. In the time since, Palin's readiness to be president in the event she and McCain are elected and McCain becomes incapacitated has been widely questioned by Democrats and many in the media. But, in an exclusive interview at their home in Wasilla, Alaska, the Heaths told Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith their daughter is, indeed, ready to occupy the Oval Office at a moment's notice. From the September 29 edition of CBS' The Early Show: HARRY SMITH [co-host]: You bet. Now here's Maggie. RODRIGUEZ: Thank you, Harry. You can bet the vice-presidential candidates will be asked about the bailout during their debate on Thursday. But the question a lot of Americans are asking this morning, including some prominent Republicans, is whether Sarah Palin is ready. Early Show national correspondent Jeff Glor is in Columbus, Ohio. Jeff, good morning. GLOR: Maggie, good morning to you. This is a state -- Ohio -- that could, once again, decide this election. It's one of the reasons why we're here. It's one of the reasons why John McCain and Sarah Palin will be here today as the campaign deals with these continued questions. [begin video clip] GLOR: Sarah Palin has mostly been kept away from reporters, but the interviews she has done are raising eyebrows. PALIN: It is from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right there. GLOR: The most recent, with Katie Couric, provoked widespread criticism from liberals on the Web and a lampooning on Saturday Night Live: TINA FEY: Katie, I'd like to use one of my lifelines. AMY POEHLER: You don't have any lifelines. FEY: Well, in that case, I'm just gonna have to get back to you. GLOR: But even some conservatives are concerned, including syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker, who said Palin is "clearly out of our league" and called for the Alaska governor to leave the race. ALEX BURNS [Politico reporter]: I think there are a small number of people who will publicly say that they're worried about her abilities as a candidate. I think there's a larger number of people who privately express kind of muted criticism and concern. GLOR: McCain himself was asked about the chatter on Sunday. McCAIN: I'm so excited about the reaction that Sarah Palin has gotten across this country -- huge turnouts, enthusiasm, excitement. She knows how to communicate directly with people. They respond in a way that I've seldom seen. [end video clip] GLOR: Palin will be interviewed again today by Katie Couric -- which you can see on the Evening News -- and then Palin is off for a couple of days of debate preparation in Arizona before Thursday's much anticipated vice-presidential debate in St. Louis. Maggie. RODRIGUEZ: CBS' Jeff Glor in Ohio. Thank you, Jeff.
Published: Thu, 02 Oct 2008 23:05:59 GMT - Source: Mediamatters.Org - Read the article

• Webmasters: Add these headlines to your site