CBS Helps Democrat Boost Gun Control Bill; Asks Republican About Obama's Golf Game
On Tuesday's CBS This Morning, Charlie Rose and Norah
O'Donnell pressed Senator Joe Manchin about a possible new push for gun
control in Congress. Rose wondered how Manchin and his allies could make
legislation "more palatable to those people who may be afraid of it," while O'Donnell bluntly asked the Democrat, "Are you frustrated with the NRA?"
Manchin was their only guest on the gun issue. The CBS anchors had an
opportunity to provide balance by asking Senator Bob Corker about his support for gun rights. Instead, Rose and Gayle King peppered the Republican with questions about his recent game of golf with President Obama: "Do you pull out all of the stops to beat him, or do you think, he's the President – I'm going to let him win this one?" [audio available here; video below]
O'Donnell and Rose spent the majority of the Manchin segment on how he might reintroduce his firearms regulations in the Senate. The PBS veteran first asked, "What is possible, in your judgment, to get [gun control] passed through the Senate?" When the West Virginia politician initially replied, "I truly believe the background check bill is possible to get passed", Rose interrupted his guest mid-answer and stated, "But not the one that failed last time." The CBS journalist followed up with his "more palatable" question.
Later
in the segment, O'Donnell pointed out that "there was just a huge NRA
convention over the weekend in Houston, where the new president of the
NRA, Jim Porter, said that this expanded push for background checks is
an all-out revenge on gun owners. There was a lot of rhetoric about your bill at this convention."
Manchin asserted that his bill "treats a law-abiding gun owner – like
myself, and a lot of my friends in the NRA...the way they should be
treated, as a law-abiding gun owner." The anchor then asked her "are you
frustrated with the NRA" question.
Almost an hour later, the CBS morning show brought on Senator Corker,
and led with two consecutive questions about his golf outing with the
President, before moving onto the issue of the civil war in Syria.
However, King had to get in one more question about the bipartisan trip
to the greens at the end of the interview. Overall, they asked three
questions about golf, versus two on Syra:
CHARLIE ROSE: So, what did you learn about the President from his golf game, and what did you learn about what he intends to do? (Rose and Norah O'Donnell laugh)
SEN. BOB CORKER, (R), TENNESSEE: Well, you know, it was mostly golf. He
was easy to be around, and candidly, it was a lot of fun. And
obviously, Saxby's [Chambliss] hole-in-one on 11 was – was just perfect.
It was – it was a great day. It really was.
ROSE: So, what did you shoot, and what did the President shoot?
CORKER: You know, we had to stop on number 15 because we had votes on
the Senate floor, unfortunately. We tried to get the President to put
them off. But in any event, we all played well. The President played
well. He was good to be around – and everybody did. I think they've
announced publicly – we don't say much about these things – but Saxby
and I took a little money off of him. (Rose and O'Donnell laugh) So, it
was good.
NORAH O'DONNELL: There was betting involved. Well, Senator, I want to
ask you about Secretary of State [John] Kerry, who arrives in Moscow
this morning. You're on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Do you
think that this administration needs to move further, in terms of arming
the opposition [in Syria]? What's next?
[CBS News Graphic: "Crisis In Syria: Senator Corker On Arming The Rebels"]
CORKER: I do think we'll be arming the opposition shortly. We're doing a
lot more there on the ground than really is known, but we do have to
change the equation. I think you all know the moderate opposition groups
that we support are not as good at fighting. They're not as good at
delivering humanitarian aid, and we need to change the balance. And they
need to be reaching out to the Alawite population that supports Assad. I
think if we can cause that to happen, Russia will be far more open to
some kind of political resolve, where – where Assad is removed. But we –
we've got to change the balance there, and I do think we'll be arming
the rebels soon.
ROSE: And can you do that without those weapons falling into the hands-
CORKER: Well, you know, a lot of it, Charlie, at this point is actually
– it's almost symbolic. I mean, we have the extremists, as you know. A
nightmare would be al-Nusra, if you will, gaining control of Syria.
That's worse than Assad being there. So, I think we can. We've known for
a long time which of the groups are more moderate and more secular. You
never have total control. But I think it's time for us to begin
changing the balance, and I think that's the right way to do it.
GAYLE KING: Senator, before you go, when you played President – when
you played golf with the President of the United States, do you pull out
all of the stops to beat him, or do you think, he's the President – I'm
going to let him – I'm going to let him win this one? (O'Donnell
laughs)
CORKER: You know, I've got to be honest: I played pretty well
yesterday, and I tried to make every putt. I really did. And look, the
president – again, he wants that. It was a great match. He and [Mark]
Udall played Saxby and myself, and it was a lot of fun. And we did talk
about some public policy issues – so constructive in every way.
Obviously, we all committed not to give a read out on that, but – no, we
play to win.
