ABC, NBC Ignore Obama’s Immigration Rant; CBS Pits Obama, Boehner Against GOP
The broadcast network morning newscasts came and went on Tuesday with NBC’s Today and ABC’s Good Morning America ignoring President Obama’s latest rant against Republicans. This was despite the fact that both broke their regular scheduling on Monday to cover remarks in full. [MP3 audio here]
For it’s part, CBS This Morning devoted a full 2 minutes and 45 seconds to Obama’s rant against House Republicans for refusing to accept his parameters for immigration reform and bucking their own Speaker on his willingness to take up the matter. In his report, CBS News senior White House correspondent Bill Plante cast Obama in a heroic light, heralding how:
[t]he president went to the Rose Garden and teed off on Republicans and Congress for not allowing a vote on the immigration reform bill even though many members personally supported it. As a result, he says, he will take matters into his own hands.
Plante also included examples of issues in which President Obama has issued executive actions during his presidency, including energy emissions, gun control, and the minimum wage. On that subject, Plante neglected to mention the news from the week prior in which Boehner announced that he will seek to file a lawsuit against the president for issuing executive orders that are circumventing Congress and the eroding of the law.
Regarding the content of what Obama’s executive orders would do, Plante said that it would take steps “to slow deportations and look for ways to provide temporary legal status and work permits.” These steps, he said, “is something the president warned Congress he would do if they didn't.”
The complete transcript of the segment is transcribed below.
CBS This Morning
July 1, 2014
7:16 a.m. Eastern
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Border Crisis; U.S. To Move Some Illegal Immigration From TX to CA]
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, the first plane transferring undocumented immigrants from Texas to the San Diego area is set to take off today.
[ON-SCREEN: Map of Rio Grande Valley in Texas and Murrieta, California]
140 people will be flown from the Rio Grande Valley area to Murrieta, California, for processing. It’s part of the process for the influx of immigrants cupping to the U.S. illegally.
CHARLIE ROSE: President Obama has vowed bound to fix the immigration system, even if it means going at it alone.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: The New York Times: Obama Says He'll Order Action to Aid Immigrants; USA Today: Obama Rips GOP on Immigrations, Says He Will Act Alone; Chicago Tribune: "Obama Says to Reform Immigration on His Own, Bypassing Congress]
Bill Plante is at the White House where President Obama is blaming the Republicans for inaction. Bill, good morning.
BILL PLANTE: Good morning, the president went to the Rose Garden and teed off on Republicans and Congress for not allowing a vote on the immigration reform bill even though many members personally supported it. As a result, he says, he will take matters into his own hands.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Border Battle; Obama Vows to Act on Immigration if Congress Won't]
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: That's just politics. Plain and simple.
PLANTE: The president said that because Speaker John Boehner informed him last week that the House would not vote on immigration this year, he will take action on his own.
OBAMA: I don't prefer taking administrative action. I'd rather see permanent fixes to the issue we face. Certainly, that's true on immigration. And that's why today, I'm beginning a new effort to fix as much of our immigration system as I can on my own. Without Congress.
PLANTE: That effort will include increased resources for border security and a request for the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security to find additional actions.
OBAMA: If Congress will not do their job, at least we can do ours. I expect the recommendations before the end of the summer and I intend to adopt those recommendations without further delay.
PLANTE: It's been clear for weeks now that a vote on immigration reform was unlikely. Speaker Boehner mocked his own members' fear of the political repercussions.
SPEAKER JOHN BOEHNER: Here's the attitude. Oh, don't make me do this. Oh, this is too hard. You should hear them. You know, we get elected to make choices.
PLANTE: This move continues President Obama's unapologetic efforts to go around an uncooperative Congress, issuing executive actions including a 30% cut in carbon pollution from power plants, more than 23 executive actions on gun safety and a raise in the minimum wage for federal contractors.
[ON-SCREEN GRAPHICS: Power plant with "30% cut in power plant pollution," Hand gun with "23+ actions on gun safety," and a red, white, and blue dollar sign with "Increase minimum wage for federal contractors"]
OBAMA: If House Republicans are really concerned about me taking too many executive actions, the best solution to that is passing bills.
PLANTE: Now, what this means for immigration, according to a White House official, is an effort to slow deportations and look for ways to provide temporary legal status and work permits. This is something the president warned Congress he would do if they didn't. Charlie.
ROSE: Bill, thanks.
— Curtis Houck is News Analyst at the Media Research Center. Follow Curtis Houck on Twitter.
