Only ABC Airs Full Good Iraq News Story, NBC Can't Resist Caveat --6/24/2008

1. Only ABC Airs Full Good Iraq News Story, NBC Can't Resist Caveat
The Pentagon on Monday released a quarterly report showing dramatic reductions in violence in Iraq compared to a year earlier, but only ABC aired a full story Monday evening while NBC gave it short-shrift as anchor Brian Williams cited the reduction in violence "by as much as 80 percent" since "before the so-called troop surge." He then added a caveat about how the report "also warns the positive trend here remains, quote, 'fragile, reversible and uneven.'" CBS didn't mention the DOD report, but gave a few seconds to a front page USA Today story on how the number of Americans killed by roadside bombs has plummeted 88 percent. Fill-in ABC anchor Elizabeth Vargas teased: "The government says there's good news from Iraq. Violence is down dramatically, while security and the economy are improving." Terry McCarthy recited how "civilian deaths are down 75 percent since last July. Total security incidents are at their lowest level in over four years." McCarthy credited "a number of reasons for the progress: Better performance by the Iraqi security forces; surprising new leadership by Prime Minister Maliki..." Indeed, McCarthy confirmed the Pentagon's assessment: "For the past three weeks, we've traveled the length of Iraq, from Basra in the south to Mosul in the north, and the reduction in violence is remarkable everywhere."

2. CBS Follows Obama Puff Piece by Depicting McCain as Dumb 'Punk'
On Monday's CBS Early Show, correspondent Jeff Glor did a report on "five things you should know about John McCain" and highlighted details such as: "Number four, a maverick even back in high school, John McCain was nicknamed 'the punk'...A reputation that followed him to the naval academy." During the segment, former USA Today columnist Walter Shapiro added: "John McCain graduated five slots from the bottom of the Annapolis class of 1958." Contrast those bits of information with the hard-hitting facts revealed about Barack Obama during a similar segment on last Wednesday's June 18 show: "Number four -- in addition to enjoying basketball and cycling during down time, Obama loves to play Scrabble...Obama's job as a teenager was at a Baskin Robbins and to this day he does not like ice cream." The segment on Obama also described how he and Michelle met and where he buys his suits.

3. AP's Babington Fears Willie Horton/Helms Attacks on Obama
AP political reporter Charles Babington, who recently touted "ample evidence that Obama is something special," is now warning that Obama is bracing against "race-based ads." Recent examples of "racially tinged" TV images like Obama wearing a turban and native Kenyan gear are "harbingers" of conservative 527-group ads to come, Babington warned in his Monday dispatch titled "Obama braces for race-based ads." Babington then typically recounted the usual liberal-media suspects on racial politics: the Willie Horton ad and the crumpled-letter ad from Jesse Helms. But he ignored acidulous race-baiting liberal commercials like the NAACP in 2000 suggesting that George W. Bush was dragging black victim James Byrd to death behind a pickup all over again, and the Missouri Democratic Party ad in 1998 that claimed: "When you don't vote, you let enough church explode. When you don't vote, you let another cross burn." Babington implied that the history of nasty racial politics is a one-way avenue

4. ABC & CBS Present Inverse Takes on Whether Racism Will Hurt Obama
On Sunday evening, ABC and CBS presented opposite views on whether racism by white voters will hurt Barack Obama on election day, as each network cited its own polling data. On ABC's World News Sunday, referring to a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll, anchor Dan Harris reported that "race does not appear to be a major factor," although he qualified that contention by pausing and adding, "right now." But on the CBS Evening News, correspondent Randall Pinkston more pessimistically referred to the "Bradley Effect," the theory that white voters sometimes lie to pollsters about their willingness to vote for a black candidate. Pinkston also found: "In a recent CBS News poll, for white voters who say race is a factor in their presidential choice, McCain leads Obama by nearly 20 points. It's a major problem for Obama with no easy solution."

5. On Today, Fineman Touts Newsweek's 15 Point Poll Lead for Obama
NBC's Today brought aboard Newsweek's Howard Fineman, on Monday's program, to promote a new poll from his magazine that shows Barack Obama has jumped to a 15 point lead, and even though no other poll shows that big of a gap Fineman boldly bragged: "But we have a tendency, sometimes, to pick up on a trend before others do and...you're probably going to see some movement and I think our poll is the first sign of it." Fineman also seemed to forget about the Jeremiah Wright fiasco, when he declared of Obama's ability to handle the race issue in his campaign: "He's really played it quite brilliantly all the way through."

6. ABC's Roberts Again Puffs 'Powerful Voice' of Elizabeth Edwards
On Monday's Good Morning America, co-host Robin Roberts again interviewed Elizabeth Edwards and lauded her as a "powerful voice" on the issue of health care. The journalist never identified Edwards, the wife of former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, as a "liberal voice" on the subject or questioned the rightness of government run health care. Roberts also failed to ask just where the money to fund universal health care would come from. In an intro, Roberts announced, "[Elizabeth Edwards] has, of course, emerged as a powerful voice in her own right, particularly on the issue of health care." During an April segment, the co-host applauded the "passionate voice" the then-candidate's wife brought to the debate over the issue. On Monday's segment, Roberts only challenged Edwards from the left. Referencing earlier support for Senator Hillary Clinton's universal health care plan, the journalist quizzed, "...You indicated [during the April interview] that you considered Senator Clinton's health care plan a better plan. That you had some concerns about Senator Obama's health care plan. Are you going to partner with him and do you still have those same concerns?"

7. Will Smith on Obama: 'First Time' in Years Good to Be An American
On to promote his new movie Hancock, actor Will Smith was pushed by Today co-host Matt Lauer on Monday to express his support for Barack Obama and the actor/rapper channeled his inner Michelle Obama as he declared it's the "first time" in five to ten years it's been good to be an American overseas: "You know I just, I just came back from Moscow, Berlin, London and Paris and it's the first, I've been there quite a few times in the past five to ten years. And it just hasn't been a good thing to be American. And this is the first time, since Barack has gotten the nomination, that it, it was a good thing."

8. Join 'Web-A-Thon' Thursday to Send Care Packages to Troops Abroad
There are over 180,000 U.S. troops serving bravely in Iraq and Afghanistan and each of them are owed a great deal of gratitude for their service and sacrifice. In a first of its kind Web-A-Thon to raise funds to send the largest shipment of care packages in history to our troops abroad, Move America Forward will Web-cast "From the Front Lines" via streaming video at www.ustream.tv on Thursday, June 26 from 4 PM to midnight EDT (3 PM to 11 PM CDT, 1 PM to 9 PM PDT). The Media Research Center is sponsoring the 5 to 6 PM EDT hour. Founder and President L. Brent Bozell will be interviewed at the top of the hour, around 5:05 PM EDT.

Only ABC Airs Full Good Iraq News Story,
NBC Can't Resist Caveat

The Pentagon on Monday released a quarterly report showing dramatic reductions in violence in Iraq compared to a year earlier, but only ABC aired a full story Monday evening while NBC gave it short-shrift as anchor Brian Williams cited the reduction in violence "by as much as 80 percent" since "before the so-called troop surge." He then added a caveat about how the report "also warns the positive trend here remains, quote, 'fragile, reversible and uneven.'" CBS didn't mention the Department of Defense report, but gave a few seconds to a front page USA Today story on how the number of Americans killed by roadside bombs has plummeted 88 percent from a year ago.

Fill-in ABC anchor Elizabeth Vargas teased, "Report card: The government says there's good news from Iraq. Violence is down dramatically, while security and the economy are improving." Reporter Terry McCarthy recited how "civilian deaths are down 75 percent since last July. Total security incidents are at their lowest level in over four years." McCarthy credited "a number of reasons for the progress: Better performance by the Iraqi security forces; surprising new leadership by Prime Minister Maliki, who's confronting both al-Qaeda and the militias; and the creation of 103,000 Sons of Iraq -- local security forces, many of them recruited from the insurgency." Indeed, McCarthy confirmed the Pentagon's assessment:
"For the past three weeks, we've traveled the length of Iraq, from Basra in the south to Mosul in the north, and the reduction in violence is remarkable everywhere."

McCarthy also highlighted an up side to rising oil prices, the increased revenue is helping Iraq: "One other thing that's going Iraq's way, Elizabeth, the rising price of oil. At over $130* a barrel, the government is generating substantial revenues that it can use to rebuild the economy."

[This item, by the MRC's Brent Baker, was posted Monday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

Couric's short item on the Monday, June 23 CBS Evening News:

"Tonight, dramatic evidence that Iraq has become safer. According to USA Today, last month 11 Americans were killed by roadside bombs. That's down 88 percent from a year ago when 92 Americans were killed. Officials credit better protection and more help from Iraqi forces."

June 23 USA Today article: www.usatoday.com

DOD's story on their report: www.defenselink.mil

The brief report from Brian Williams on the NBC Nightly News:
"The Pentagon reports tonight that overall major violence is down, as much as 80 percent compared with the peak of the violence in that period before the so-called troop surge. The report gives credit to Iraq's own security forces as well, but it also warns the positive trend here remains, quote, 'fragile, reversible and uneven.'"

The NBC Nightly News has been the most reticent of late to acknowledge improvements in Iraq. The June 18 CyberAlert item, "Takes Bombing for NBC to Note 'Letup in Violence of Late in Iraq,'" recounted:

It took a bombing which killed 51 Iraqis for NBC anchor Brian Williams to acknowledge "there's been a letup in the violence of late in Iraq." Unlike his ABC and CBS colleagues, two weeks and a day earlier Williams failed to report the death toll for Americans in Iraq in May was the lowest for any month since the war began. On Tuesday night, however, he announced: "Last night here we reported there were more Americans killed in Afghanistan than in Iraq in the month of May. It's generally believed there's been a letup in the violence of late in Iraq. That is until today."

See: www.mrc.org

Also check the June 17 CyberAlert item "Williams: Afghanistan Deadlier Than Iraq, As If Iraq Not Improving," online at: www.mrc.org

And June 3 CyberAlert posting "NBC Nightly News Spikes News About Fewest Troop Deaths of War," online at: www.mrc.org

The MRC's Brad Wilmouth corrected the closed-captioning against the video to provide this transcript of the story on ABC's World News:

ELIZABETH VARGAS: Now, to Iraq and a report today to Congress about the state of the war there. The Pentagon said that indicators of major violence are down 40 to 80 percent since before the surge began in February of 2007. And while the political and economic situation continues to improve, the situation is fragile and reversible. ABC's Terry McCarthy is in Baghdad tonight.

TERRY McCARTHY: The Iraq war is not over, but according to today's report, the situation on the ground has improved substantially in the past year. Civilian deaths are down 75 percent since last July. Total security incidents are at their lowest level in over four years. And the report notes that many Iraqis are now settling their differences through the political process, rather than with violence.
MICHAEL O'HANLON, THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: They have started to fight in a way that they hadn't before. And so certainly all the progress is tenuous, but the good news is we now have a viable partner fighting with us and for their own country.
McCARTHY: However, the military is careful not to declare victory prematurely.
LIEUTENANT GENERAL LLOYD AUSTIN, III, MULTINATIONAL CORPS-IRAQ: While the improved security is a great achievement, we clearly understand that our progress is fragile, and we continue to work to make this progress irreversible.
McCARTHY: There are a number of reasons for the progress: Better performance by the Iraqi security forces; surprising new leadership by Prime Minister Maliki, who's confronting both al-Qaeda and the militias; and the creation of 103,000 Sons of Iraq -- local security forces, many of them recruited from the insurgency. For the past three weeks, we've traveled the length of Iraq, from Basra in the south to Mosul in the north, and the reduction in violence is remarkable everywhere. In Basra, we walked through neighborhoods that were too dangerous even for the military to patrol last year. In the Hawija area near Kirkuk, the local U.S. commander told us al-Qaeda is defeated in his area. And in Mosul, the last major urban holdout of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, we met today with the mayor, who said his main job now is economic development. "We are inviting companies," he says, "to come invest in the city."
One other thing that's going Iraq's way, Elizabeth, the rising price of oil. At over $130 a barrel, the government is generating substantial revenues that it can use to rebuild the economy.

CBS Follows Obama Puff Piece by Depicting
McCain as Dumb 'Punk'

On Monday's CBS Early Show, correspondent Jeff Glor did a report on "five things you should know about John McCain" and highlighted details such as: "Number four, a maverick even back in high school, John McCain was nicknamed 'the punk'...A reputation that followed him to the naval academy." During the segment, former USA Today columnist Walter Shapiro added: "John McCain graduated five slots from the bottom of the Annapolis class of 1958."

Contrast those bits of information with the hard-hitting facts revealed about Barack Obama during a similar segment on last Wednesday's June 18 show: "Number four -- in addition to enjoying basketball and cycling during down time, Obama loves to play Scrabble...Obama's job as a teenager was at a Baskin Robbins and to this day he does not like ice cream." The segment on Obama also described how he and Michelle met and where he buys his suits.
For the Obama trivia on the June 18 Early Show, check the June 19 CyberAlert: www.mrc.org

Meanwhile, on Monday's show, Glor also focused on McCain being born in Panama: "Number five, McCain was not born in any of the 50 United States...His father had been stationed there by the Navy, creating an eventual source of controversy." Shapiro added: "The Constitution says a President has to be a natural born citizen."

Glor also questioned McCain's skill as a pilot: "Number three, when McCain was not down in Vietnam, it was not his first. It was not his second. But his third plane crash as a pilot." Finally, Glor got to number one: "...when he first ran for Congress he was charged with being a carpet bagger."

[This item, by Kyle Drennen, was posted Monday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

Glor did mention McCain's time as a prisoner of war in Vietnam and Senator Lindsey Graham was quoted throughout the segment, usually defending McCain against the information that Glor was highlighting. Glor also offered this positive assessment at the end of the segment: "I would say with John McCain it's a commitment to country, the idea of service. I mean, this is a man who's done everything, been everywhere all over the world and still there's this desire 'I'm not done yet.'"

Here is the full transcript of the 7:30 half hour segment on the June 23 show:

HARRY SMITH: Last week we showed you the five things you probably didn't know about Barack Obama. Now we continue our series, 'Five Things You Should Know,' this time about John McCain. And here with some interesting political tidbits, Early Show national correspondent Jeff Glor. Good morning.

JEFF GLOR: Harry, good morning to you. So much of John McCain's story is so well-known it was not easy coming up with five things. But here's a list we think might surprise you.
JOHN MCCAIN: I served our country all my adult life and I'm prepared-
GLOR: Number five, McCain was not born in any of the 50 United States.
WALTER SHAPIRO: John McCain is the first presidential candidate to be born in -- wait for the beat -- the Panama Canal Zone.
GLOR: In fact, McCain lived there almost the whole first year of his life. His father had been stationed there by the Navy, creating an eventual source of controversy.
SHAPIRO: The Constitution says a President has to be a natural born citizen.
LINDSEY GRAHAM: I think we all feel really good that being assigned to the Panama Canal by the Navy and being born on a military base where you're doing your duty makes you an American citizen.
GLOR: Number four, a maverick even back in high school, John McCain was nicknamed 'the punk.'
SHAPIRO: There was always the cigarette in the corner of his mouth.
GLOR: A reputation that followed him to the naval academy.
SHAPIRO: John McCain graduated five slots from the bottom of the Annapolis class of 1958.
GRAHAM: I'd love to have met the other four. He's obviously a very bright guy. I think his problems at the naval academy had to do with his maverick streak more than his intellect.
GLOR: Number three, when McCain was not down in Vietnam, it was not his first. It was not his second. But his third plane crash as a pilot.
GRAHAM: I think John represents the spirit of a Navy fighter pilot to the fullest. And I will just end it with that.
GLOR: Number two, McCain's North Vietnamese captors called him the 'crown prince.'
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Who is your father?
JOHN MCCAIN: His name is Admiral John McCain.
GRAHAM: John's dad was in charge of the Pacific.
SHAPIRO: And the Pacific included the air over Vietnam.
GRAHAM: They were going to let him go as a gesture to the United States. And John said basically no.
GLOR: And the number one thing you might not know about John McCain, when he first ran for Congress he was charged with being a carpet bagger.
SHAPIRO: John McCain decided to move to the state of Arizona, a state in which he never lived, and run for the U.S. House in 1982. The Republicans running against him shouted 'carpet bagger, carpet bagger.'
GRAHAM: And I think he had a pretty good reply: 'Well the longest I've stayed anywhere was in Vietnam.' And that put it in perspective.
SHAPIRO: Game, set, and match.
GLOR: Couple other things we learned about John McCain that did not quite make our list. Senator Graham told us that McCain is an avid bird watcher and a huge fan of Borat. And did you know, Harry, that McCain has a budding acting career, appearances in both the movie 'Wedding Crashers' and the TV show, '24.'
SMITH: Next time Borat comes we'll have -- we'll let him wrestle with-
GLOR: I remember seeing that actually-
SMITH: That's right. Last week there was kind of a takeaway about Barack Obama's ambition. What is your sense, your takeaway from the five things you didn't know about John McCain.
GLOR: I would say with John McCain it's a commitment to country, the idea of service. I mean, this is a man who's done everything, been everywhere all over the world and still there's this desire 'I'm not done yet.'
SMITH: Yeah, there you go. Jeff Glor, thanks so much.
GLOR: Sure.

AP's Babington Fears Willie Horton/Helms
Attacks on Obama

AP political reporter Charles Babington, who recently touted "ample evidence that Obama is something special," is now warning that Obama is bracing against "race-based ads." Recent examples of "racially tinged" TV images like Obama wearing a turban and native Kenyan gear are "harbingers" of conservative 527-group ads to come, Babington warned in his Monday dispatch titled "Obama braces for race-based ads." Babington then typically recounted the usual liberal-media suspects on racial politics: the Willie Horton ad and the crumpled-letter ad from Jesse Helms.

But he ignored acidulous race-baiting liberal commercials like the NAACP in 2000 suggesting that George W. Bush was dragging black victim James Byrd to death behind a pickup all over again, and the Missouri Democratic Party ad in 1998 that claimed: "When you don't vote, you let enough church explode. When you don't vote, you let another cross burn." Babington implied that the history of nasty racial politics is a one-way avenue:

A presidential candidate who's named Hussein and wears a turban? A building that's called the White House but run by a black guy?

Those political images and ideas already have found their way onto TV airwaves and campaign buttons, possible harbingers of racially tinged messages in a general election involving the first black candidate to head a major party's ticket....

The Obama campaign vows to fight back fiercely and fast, not repeating John Kerry's mistake of waiting to respond to the 2004 "Swift Boat" ads that Democrats saw as a smear of his military record. McCain's camp is alert for attacks on its man, too....

U.S. politics has a long history of racially charged campaigns. Opponents hit Democrat Michael Dukakis with a now-infamous TV ad showing Willie Horton, a black inmate who raped a white woman while free on a weekend release program that Dukakis had supported.

Former Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., defeated a black opponent after airing an ad in which a white man's hands crumpled a letter informing him that he had lost a job he deserved to a minority.

[This item is adapted from a posting, by the MRC's Tim Graham, on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

Babington left out a few important facts, like the fact that Horton was a convicted murderer, in prison for viciously stabbing a gas-station attendant to death. But Babington telegraphed the media's hypersensitivity will be acute, as one of their favorite professors explained in the next paragraph of the Babington article:

Kathleen Hall Jamieson, an authority on political communications at the University of Pennsylvania, said overt racial references are risky. But more subtle ads might stir doubts in voters' minds that could lead, in part, to racially tinged subjects, she said.

"The appeal that suggests that Senator Obama is 'out of touch with American values' invites audiences to ask what 'American' means," Jamieson said. Are voters being asked to link Obama to Wright's anti-American remarks? she said. "To question his patriotism? To fill in their fears and stereotypes? Foreigner? Muslim? For some, that appeal may elicit race-based reactions."

END of Excerpt

For Babington's June 23 AP story, as posted by WashingtonPost.com: www.washingtonpost.com

The May 19 CyberAlert, "AP: 'There's Ample Evidence that Obama is Something Special,'" recounted:

Catching up with a fawning Associated Press story on Barack Obama from the Saturday before last, "Obama rises from political obscurity to verge of history," on Friday the Wall Street Journal's James Taranto ridiculed the sycophant approach taken by the AP's Charles Babington, formerly of the Washington Post. Babington trumpeted in the May 10 dispatch: "There's ample evidence that Obama is something special, a man who makes difficult tasks look easy, who seems to touch millions of diverse people with a message of hope that somehow doesn't sound Pollyannaish."

See: www.mrc.org

ABC & CBS Present Inverse Takes on Whether
Racism Will Hurt Obama

On Sunday evening, ABC and CBS presented opposite views on whether racism by white voters will hurt Barack Obama on election day, as each network cited its own polling data. On ABC's World News Sunday, referring to a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll, anchor Dan Harris reported that "race does not appear to be a major factor," although he qualified that contention by pausing and adding, "right now." But on the CBS Evening News, correspondent Randall Pinkston more pessimistically referred to the "Bradley Effect," the theory that white voters sometimes lie to pollsters about their willingness to vote for a black candidate. Pinkston also found: "In a recent CBS News poll, for white voters who say race is a factor in their presidential choice, McCain leads Obama by nearly 20 points. It's a major problem for Obama with no easy solution."

But it is also notable that while both reports focused on the possibility that racism by some white voters might hurt Obama, neither report examined black voters who might choose not to vote for a white candidate out of racism toward whites.

[This item, by the MRC's Brad Wilmouth, was posted Sunday on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

On ABC, Harris introduced a report by John Hendren: "Politics next, and a new poll that attempts to answer one of the big questions hanging over this election: How will the racial attitudes of Americans affect the candidacy of Barack Obama? Overall, our poll found Obama leading John McCain by six percentage points. And it also found that race does not appear to be a major factor -- right now."

Hendren opened his report by observing that it was "remarkable" that, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll, "among white voters, the issue of race isn't changing the race for the White House." As evidence Hendren compared the presidential matchup numbers to those of past elections when white Democrats were running: "While Republican John McCain leads Democrat Barack Obama among whites by 12 percentage points, that's roughly the same advantage for a Republican in the past eight elections."

While Hendren reported that "the poll found 3 in 10 voters admit they have some feelings of prejudice," he was upbeat in finding improvement in race relations: "The poll suggests white voters will be no more or less inclined to vote for Obama because of his race. The poll also opens a fascinating window into the state of race relations in America. A record number of whites and blacks say they have a friend of the other race. And just over half of all voters think race relations are good."

The ABC correspondent concluded on a positive note: "African-American voters are optimistic for the future -- 60 percent think Obama's candidacy, win or lose, will help race relations....That kind of enthusiasm could bring black voters to the polls in large numbers in November."

But the CBS Evening News took a more pessimistic view of its own poll findings, and even the ABC News/Washington Post poll. Anchor Russ Mitchell introduced Pinkston's report: "Winning over contributors is one thing. Winning the hearts and minds of voters is yet another. A Washington Post poll tonight finds that 30 percent of voters admitting to some feelings of racial prejudice. An equal percentage saw John McCain's age as an obstacle. This from a recent CBS News poll. Randall Pinkston has more on race, age and Campaign '08."

Referring to McCain's age and Obama's race, Pinkston began by observing: "As the polls show, both candidates have a lot of work to do to convince skeptical voters."

After relaying that many voters see age as an important issue, Pinkston cited a recent statement by Obama in which the Democratic candidate made a relatively rare reference to race: "Obama ... reluctantly speaks publicly about race. But at a Florida fund-raiser on Friday, he acknowledged it will be an issue in the campaign."

Audio of Obama was then played, in which Obama was referring to how he believed Republican opponents would go after him during the campaign: "He's got a funny name. Did I mention he's black?"

Pinkston brought up the "Bradley Effect" theory that white voters often lie to pollsters about their intention to vote for a black candidate, a phenomenon named after former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley who narrowly lost his bid for governor in 1982 despite having a significant lead in the polls. Pinkston: "While most Americans say the nation is ready for a black President, past experience shows that white voters don't always reveal their true feelings to pollsters -- something called the 'Bradley Effect.'"

After a soundbite of George Mason University Professor Michael Fauntroy, Pinkston continued: "In a recent CBS News poll, for white voters who say race is a factor in their presidential choice, McCain leads Obama by nearly 20 points. It's a major problem for Obama with no easy solution."

Below are complete transcripts of the reports from the Sunday June 22 World News on ABC and the CBS Evening News:

From the June 22 World News:

DAN HARRIS: Politics next, and a new poll that attempts to answer one of the big questions hanging over this election: How will the racial attitudes of Americans affect the candidacy of Barack Obama? Overall, our poll found Obama leading John McCain by six percentage points. And it also found that race does not appear to be a major factor -- right now. ABC's John Hendren has the numbers.

JOHN HENDREN: From the Capitol steps to the Hollywood hills, what is remarkable is what is not happening. With the historic candidacy of the nation's first major African-American presidential contender coming just four decades after blacks marched for the right to vote in the South, a new ABC News/Washington Post poll released today concludes that, among white voters, the issue of race isn't changing the race for the White House. While Republican John McCain leads Democrat Barack Obama among whites by 12 percentage points, that's roughly the same advantage for a Republican in the past eight elections.
GARY LANGER, ABC NEWS POLLING DIRECTOR: His support among whites is about average for a Democratic presidential candidate. He'd like to do better, certainly, but race itself, in and of itself, doesn't look to be an impediment.
HENDREN: It's not that race doesn't matter. The poll found 3 in 10 voters admit they have some feelings of prejudice.
UNIDENTIFIED WHITE MAN: I think almost everybody does, you know, I think it's the way we're brought up.
UNIDENTIFIED BLACK WOMAN: I think we all do. I think, you know, it's just a matter of admitting it.
HENDREN: But in the end, the poll suggests white voters will be no more or less inclined to vote for Obama because of his race. The poll also opens a fascinating window into the state of race relations in America. A record number of whites and blacks say they have a friend of the other race. And just over half of all voters think race relations are good.
UNIDENTIFIED BLACK MAN: Well, good, because we have come a long way since segregation.
UNIDENTIFIED WHITE WOMAN: Unfortunately, in certain areas, I think it is more bad than I'd like to see it.
HENDREN: But African-American voters are optimistic for the future -- 60 percent think Obama's candidacy, win or lose, will help race relations.
UNIDENTIFIED BLACK MAN: I didn't think this would happen in my lifetime. I never thought I'd see a black man being elected, you know, for President. He hasn't got elected yet, but I think he will be.
HENDREN: That kind of enthusiasm could bring black voters to the polls in large numbers in November. John Hendren, ABC News, Washington.

From the June 22 CBS Evening News:

RUSS MITCHELL: Winning over contributors is one thing. Winning the hearts and minds of voters is yet another. A Washington Post poll tonight finds that 30 percent of voters admitting to some feelings of racial prejudice. An equal percentage saw John McCain's age as an obstacle. This from a recent CBS News poll. Randall Pinkston has more on race, age and Campaign '08.

RANDALL PINKSTON: Like the Democratic party primary, the November election gives American voters another historic choice -- electing the first African-American President in Barack Obama, or the oldest first-term President in John McCain. Age and race. As the polls show, both candidates have a lot of work to do to convince skeptical voters. The 71-year-old McCain uses humor to diffuse the age issue.
JOHN MCCAIN, FROM SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE: I ask you, what should we be looking for in our next President? Certainly, someone who is very, very, very old. [AUDIENCE LAUGHTER]
PINKSTON: But pollsters say the reality is that age is no laughing matter for voters.
ANDREW KOHUT, PEW RESEARCH CENTER: You get a very large percentage, almost 50 percent, saying that's too old to be President.
PINKSTON: Obama, son of an African father and a white American mother, reluctantly speaks publicly about race. But at a Florida fund-raiser on Friday, he acknowledged it will be an issue in the campaign.
BARACK OBAMA: He's got a funny name. Did I mention he's black?
PINKSTON: While most Americans say the nation is ready for a black President, past experience shows that white voters don't always reveal their true feelings to pollsters -- something called the Bradley Effect.
PROFESSOR MICHAEL FAUNTROY, GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY: The Bradley Effect is named after former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, who, in his California gubernatorial run, was leading by substantial numbers in the polls going into the weekend before the race and lost.
PINKSTON: In a recent CBS News poll, for white voters who say race is a factor in their presidential choice, McCain leads Obama by nearly 20 points. It's a major problem for Obama with no easy solution.
FAUNTROY: He cannot be seen as bringing race into the discussion at all points, but on the other hand, if he continues to ignore it, I think he has a problem.
PINKSTON: Whatever bias may exist in the polling booth, analysts say the race for both candidates comes down to turning out their base and which man can pick up the largest block of independent voters. Randall Pinkston, CBS News, New York.

On Today, Fineman Touts Newsweek's 15
Point Poll Lead for Obama

NBC's Today brought aboard Newsweek's Howard Fineman, on Monday's program, to promote a new poll from his magazine that shows Barack Obama has jumped to a 15 point lead, and even though no other poll shows that big of a gap Fineman boldly bragged: "But we have a tendency, sometimes, to pick up on a trend before others do and...you're probably going to see some movement and I think our poll is the first sign of it." Fineman also seemed to forget about the Jeremiah Wright fiasco, when he declared of Obama's ability to handle the race issue in his campaign: "He's really played it quite brilliantly all the way through."

[This item, by Geoffrey Dickens, was posted Monday morning on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

The following is the full interview segment with Howard Fineman as it occurred on the June 23 Today show:

ANN CURRY: Howard Fineman is Newsweek magazine senior political correspondent. He's also an NBC News analyst. Howard, good morning.
HOWARD FINEMAN: Good morning, Ann.
CURRY: Lots to get to. First, oil. McCain supports, as we just heard, offshore oil drilling and also the summer gas holiday. Obama wants to see tighter regulation on oil speculators. So which candidate is more in touch with the voters on energy, Howard?
FINEMAN: Well according to our poll it's Obama but the McCain forces think they've got a winner here and they're gonna pursue it? In that speech that McCain is going to give out today, in Fresno, he's essentially going to say, "We can't beg or sue our way out of our, our situation with energy," which is a direct shot at Obama's emphasis on going after speculators. McCain talks about it in terms of energy security. He wants to link that to the sort of commander-in-chief role. That's the strategy that McCain people are pursuing. Whether it works or not we'll see but that's what they're doing.
CURRY: But could his strategy about offshore drilling hurt him with independents? I mean is there a possibility that he faces a possible backlash, giving the Democrats an opportunity to tie him even more to George Bush?
FINEMAN: That's the risk, because any time McCain lines up with George Bush on policy it's bad politically because Bush is so unpopular. Interestingly though McCain is taking the risk of talking about this strategy out in California where Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Republican, is steadfast in opposition to offshore drilling for oil. So this is the McCain strategy. They're willing to take the risk. I think they realize they're not gonna do as well among younger voters, who are more environmentally conscious. But you gotta pick who you want to focus on and that's who McCain's focusing on, older voters who are looking for a quicker, more active fix to the energy situation.
CURRY: Meantime your, you just mentioned your, your magazine's poll. "Newsweek" magazine is out with a poll this week that shows Obama ahead by 15 points. Most polls have Obama ahead by about five points. So is your poll off or is there something that's happening that we don't know about?
FINEMAN: Well I think, I think we're picking up some momentum there. I think all polls have slightly different strategies for how they screen for the people that they talk to and so forth. But we have a tendency, sometimes, to pick up on a trend before others do and I would say, given the mood of the country, and given the generic support for Democrats, as Barack Obama puts that new advertising campaign out there, heavy buys in key states, you're probably going to see some movement and I think our poll is the first sign of it.
CURRY: Meantime there is another poll by the Washington Post and ABC News, concerning race. It's headline is that 3 in 10 Americans admit to a race bias. Obama addressed race at a fundraiser in Florida using a little humor. Let's take a listen.

[BEGIN CLIP]
OBAMA: They're going to try to make you afraid. They're going to try to make you afraid of me. They're gonna say, "You know what, he's young, inexperienced and he's got a funny name. Did I mention he's black? He's got a feisty wife."
[END CLIP]

CURRY: Howard, he's taking it head on. It might be a new strategy. What do you think?
FINEMAN: Well anything you can laugh at or with, you're not afraid of. That's the essence of the strategy. Throughout this campaign, from the very beginning, Obama's strategy has been to take this head on, to try to expose it, try to shine a flashlight, shine a light on it and to use humor and acceptance as a way to get beyond what, what has been a tremendous divide in American society. Yes there's racial prejudice out there but Obama's bet, from the beginning, has been that the country, as a whole, wants to show that it has made progress and one way to do it, one way to vote for change is to accept an African-American candidate. He's really played it quite brilliantly all the way through. And I would imagine he's gonna be able to do the same thing now. That's not enough to get him elected but it's enough to neutralize race, as an issue, in the end.
CURRY: Howard Fineman, always a pleasure. Thanks.
FINEMAN: Thank you, Ann.

ABC's Roberts Again Puffs 'Powerful Voice'
of Elizabeth Edwards

On Monday's Good Morning America, co-host Robin Roberts again interviewed Elizabeth Edwards and lauded her as a "powerful voice" on the issue of health care. The journalist never identified Edwards, the wife of former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, as a "liberal voice" on the subject or questioned the rightness of government run health care. Roberts also failed to ask just where the money to fund universal health care would come from.

In an intro, Roberts announced, "[Elizabeth Edwards] has, of course, emerged as a powerful voice in her own right, particularly on the issue of health care." During an April segment, the co-host applauded the "passionate voice" the then-candidate's wife brought to the debate over the issue. On Monday's segment, Roberts only challenged Edwards from the left. Referencing earlier support for Senator Hillary Clinton's universal health care plan, the journalist quizzed, "...You indicated [during the April interview] that you considered Senator Clinton's health care plan a better plan. That you had some concerns about Senator Obama's health care plan. Are you going to partner with him and do you still have those same concerns?"

[This item, by the MRC's Scott Whitlock, was posted Monday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

Another not-so tough question from Roberts included prompting Edwards to vocally support Obama: "Last month when your husband endorsed Senator Obama, many noted that you did not. They did not hear from you. And there was a feeling that maybe you did not back him like your husband did. Is the case? And are you backing Senator Obama now?"

It's not too surprising that Roberts failed to press Edwards in this interview, as she did the same in the aforementioned April 9, 2008 segment. During that piece, the ABC journalist casually related that a new part of Edwards's life now includes "working at the Center for American Progress [CAP]." Of course, Roberts skipped mentioning that CAP is a liberal organization founded by Clinton operative John Podesta. See an April 9 NewsBusters post for more: newsbusters.org

A transcript of the June 23 segment, which aired at 7:15am, follows:

ROBIN ROBERTS: And joining us now from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Elizabeth Edwards. Wife of former Democratic presidential contender John Edwards. She has, of course, emerged as a powerful voice in her own right, particularly on the issue of health care. Elizabeth, good to see you this morning. I know you planned on being here with us live in the studio, but the thunderstorms didn't kind of didn't cooperate at the airport.
ELIZABETH EDWARDS: Bad weather is not letting me get up to see you in person or I was supposed to speak at the Personal Democracy Forum in New York and that's problematic for me too.
ROBERTS: I'm sure. A lot of people want to know first and foremost how are you doing these days? How's your health?
EDWARDS: I'm feeling great. Both my younger children just had tonsillectomies, so I'm a little tired of scooping out ice cream and tending to them. But they're a little better and so am I.
ROBERTS: Oh, good to hear that. You know, it is a big week on the political trail once again with Senator Clinton and Senator Obama coming together, campaigning for the first time later this week. Don't have to tell you about the long nomination process and the hard feelings. Can these two truly work together, do you think?
EDWARDS: I really think that they can. I mean, slips in language are gonna always be a problem and I think the press will focus on that. But if you pay attention to Hillary Clinton's speech when she withdrew from the race, I thought you saw an enormous amount of graciousness at that point, which I think that ability by both candidates, one former candidate and one -- our general election nominee, if we can keep that same feeling going, I think we have a great capacity to heal the bitterness that still might exist. I think that this is going to happen. It will happen before the convention and we'll go into the fall with a united party.
ROBERTS: Last month when your husband endorsed Senator Obama, many noted that you did not. They did not hear from you. And there was a feeling that maybe you did not back him like your husband did. Is the case? And are you backing Senator Obama now?
EDWARDS: I'm backing Senator Obama. I expect to work as hard as I need to, as I'm called on to do to make certain that he is the next president. Already working with his team with respect to health care. Trying to make certain that we get the message out about how much difference it will make in individual Americans' lives if we have a president with the ideas and the vision that Senator Obama has. As opposed to the same old-same old that Senator McCain is suggesting we can live with. I don't think we can.
ROBERTS: Recently, this is what Senator Obama said about McCain's health care plan and the possibility of working with you. This is what he said recently.
SENATOR BARACK OBAMA: We cannot afford that. Not when 47 million Americans already are uninsured. A number that is growing by the day. By the way, I'm going to be partnering up with Elizabeth Edwards. We're going to be figuring all of this out.
ROBERTS: When, the last time I talked with you, Elizabeth, early April in Boston, you indicated at that time that you considered Senator Clinton's health care plan a better plan. That you had some concerns about Senator Obama's health care plan. Are you going to partner with him and do you still have those same concerns?
EDWARDS: I am going to partner with him. The idea is, we want to get to universality. We want to make sure that every American is covered. And you know, the mechanism for doing that, there's going to be disagreement about what that is. I expect that the final solution be worked out in Congress about how it is we get every American covered. And although I have my particular preferences, it makes -- it makes a huge difference whether or not, if Senator Obama's plan or Senator McCain's plan. You know, I have cancer. You have cancer. Preexisting conditions. If you have those kind of conditions, Senator Obama guarantees that you have coverage. Preexisting conditions are covered. Senator McCain's is a lot more problematic and potentially enormously expensive. His latest suggestion about how it is we cover people with preexisting conditions can be enormously expensive and contrary to what Senator McCain says, a huge government-run program.
ROBERTS: Final quick question, your husband, VP, interested in the job? Talking about it, is he?
EDWARDS: Honestly, at home, this is not a subject of conversation at our house. With two tonsillectomies and a lot of other daily life to take care of, this is not a topic of conversation at home. We're both going to work as hard as we can to make certain that Senator Obama is the president. And we'll let's everything else take care of itself.
ROBERTS: Elizabeth Edwards. Thank you as always for your time. We hope you that make it up to New York real soon. I know that you want to. All the best to you.
EDWARDS: Thanks very much.
CHRIS CUOMO: Boy, you know, if they're not talking about it in the home, there's nothing to talk about.
ROBERTS: That's it. That's it.

Will Smith on Obama: 'First Time' in
Years Good to Be An American

[This item, by Geoffrey Dickens, was posted Monday morning, with video, on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

The following is an excerpt from the interview as it aired on the June 23 Today show:

MATT LAUER: Let me get you on the record on politics here, okay? It's been-
WILL SMITH: No.
LAUER: Yeah, please.
(laughter)
LAUER: It's been, you basically come out and said, "Look what I have to do to help Barack Obama win, I'll do." You know, "Call on me."
SMITH: Absolutely.
LAUER: Has he called on you and are, are you supporting Barack Obama 'cause you would've supported anybody the Democrats put forward or that you just think he's the man?
SMITH: You know I just, I just came back from Moscow, Berlin, London and Paris and it's the first, I've been there quite a few times in the past five to 10 years. And it just hasn't been a good thing to be American. And this is the first time, since Barack has gotten the nomination, that it, it was a good thing. You know the-
LAUER: Do you think people can't get behind America led by John McCain?
SMITH: You know I just, there, there are, there are certain ideas that I believe Barack stands for that are fundamental that the forefathers of this country wrote down on paper that we're all supposed to pay attention to, we're not supposed to ignore it and do what we want to do 'cause we have different ideas. And I believe just at his core the, that those ideas just they, they just come of his pores. And I'm, I'm excited to support him.
LAUER: And so the question everybody gets right now, if he calls you and wants you to be his Vice President you will?
SMITH: I will, and you know, I mean, I, I, I love this country and I'll do what I have to do. You know so, if I, if I have to run, you know, America really has an ear fetish. So I think I definitely have the ears for, Barack and I, we could do it.

Join 'Web-A-Thon' Thursday to Send Care
Packages to Troops Abroad

There are over 180,000 U.S. troops serving bravely in Iraq and Afghanistan and each of them are owed a great deal of gratitude for their service and sacrifice. In a first of its kind Web-A-Thon to raise funds to send the largest shipment of care packages in history to our troops abroad, Move America Forward will Web-cast "From the Front Lines" via streaming video at www.ustream.tv on Thursday, June 26 from 4 PM to midnight EDT (3 PM to 11 PM CDT, 1 PM to 9 PM PDT).

The Media Research Center is sponsoring the 5 to 6 PM EDT hour. Founder and President L. Brent Bozell will be interviewed at the top of the hour, around 5:05 PM EDT. Direct address for the live Web-cast: www.ustream.tv

Hosted by Melanie Morgan and Michelle Malkin, guests will include Sean Hannity, Mark Levin and Monica Crowley. Move America Forward's page on the eight-hour event: www.moveamericaforward.org

Tune in to help make "From the Front Lines" a stunning success and a huge morale boost to our troops serving overseas. If you cannot join us on the 26th, you can still participate in this landmark event afterward by ordering goodies and gifts for troops overseas: www.thecampaignstore.com

-- Brent Baker