CNN's Piers Morgan lauded President Obama's "excellent" work during
Hurricane Sandy, and teed up liberal guest Michael Moore to bash
Republicans on global warming. As NewsBusters reported [1] earlier, on his Wednesday night show he didn't once press Moore about his anti-Romney campaign video featuring crude comments from seniors, such as “we will burn this mother-fucker down!” and: “If the Republicans steal this election, I’m going to track down Mitt Romney and give him the world’s biggest cock-punch...right in the nut sack.”
Morgan gushed that "whichever side you're on, you cannot say that
President Obama has not so far done an excellent job." That came after
Moore took a shot at President Bush.
[Video below. Audio here [2].]
"I think we have a President – and believe me after the eight years
before this President, one bumbling mistake after another, and that's
being kind – to have a President who is intelligent and who is
proactive, and who doesn't play politics, who I believe was very sincere
in everything he said about Governor Christie and everything that he
did here today, I think people feel more secure with Barack Obama in the
White House when we have something like this happen," Moore praised
President Obama.
"We've allowed the ignoramuses to run the show on this," Moore said of
Republicans who don't believe in a climate problem. Morgan teed him up
later to continue his rant. "And when you hear many Republicans, it must
be said, say the science is just a load of bunk, what do you say to
them?" he asked Moore.
"These are the same people that say that Adam and Eve rode on dinosaurs
6,000 years ago. Okay. I consider the source," Moore spat back
derisively.
A transcript of the segment, which aired on the October 31 Piers Morgan Tonight at 9:23 p.m. EDT:
PIERS
MORGAN: I think people have been respectful of the incredibly difficult
job the authorities have had and the politician have had. And I think
all the mayors from Bloomberg to Cory Booker to obviously to the
governors involved, have done a terrific job. However, there will be a
tipping (Inaudible) people. If they are out of power come next Tuesday,
for example, this could impact on the election. Maybe people – you know,
you could have said today it benefits the President because he's been
very presidential. And Mitt Romney can't get on television. But you
could say by next Tuesday, if there are millions of people still without
power, feeling angry, you could get a protest vote, couldn't you?
MICHMOORE: First of all, I don't think it's just about Mitt Romney not
being able to get on television. I think we have a President, and
believe me after the eight years before this President, one bumbling
mistake after another, and that's being kind, to have a President who is
intelligent and who is proactive, and who doesn't play politics, who I
believe was very sincere in everything he said about Governor Christie
and everything that he did here today, I think people feel more secure
with Barack Obama in the White House when we have something like this
happen.
We know he's going to take the reigns, get in charge of it, and get
something done. And that -- you know, I'm not trying to make a statement
of how that helps him in the election. I just think it helps us as
American citizens to have somebody like that in the White House who
isn't going to screw around and who's going to do the job we sent him
there to do. That felt really good the last few days.
MORGAN: Well, I certainly -- whichever side you're on, you cannot say
that President Obama has not so far done an excellent job.
(...)
MORGAN: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo making it clear that America
will see more superstorms like Sandy. Are they being caused by global
warming? Back with my special guest, Michael Moore. I heard Michael
Bloomberg saying the same thing, that he in all his time in New York had
never known a more unstable year for weather. And he believed very
firmly it is about global warming. Not enough is being done about this
and it will get worse.
MOORE: Mm-hmm.
MORGAN: What do you think?
MOORE: I think it already has gotten worse. I think we are way down the
road here. We are – we are in big trouble. And we're still having a
debate in Congress as to whether or not there really is global warming.
This is -- this is – I'm – the people, and it's the majority of
Americans – the majority of Americans believe that we've got a climate
problem. And the majority of Americans believe in science.
(Crosstalk)
MOORE: We've allowed the ignoramuses to run the show on this. And this storm should really put an end to that.
MORGAN: Could it possibly be that the fact that we've only been
measuring weather since 1898, could it just be a global cyclical weather
thing that is going down, that actually it's not warming? It is
something that may have happened 500 years ago, 1,000 years ago? You get
pockets of this. And we don't have the records to back that up? Could
it be that?
MOORE: Well, I'll answer the way that Mayor Bloomberg answered this
afternoon. Yeah, it could be that. You want to take the risk? You want
to take the risk of that? What if you are wrong? What if you're wrong
and we're not prepared, like we weren't prepared for this. And we won't
be prepared for the next thing. We weren't prepared for the drought this
summer. This is – how many times do we have to get punched in the face
before we realize, you know what, somebody is punching me in the face.
MORGAN: Let's bring somebody who is used to taking the blow, CNN
meteorologist Chad Myers. Chad, you've been in this game nearly three
decades. Is this global warming that we're seeing? From a meteorological
point of view, is there any other explanation?
CHAD MYERS, CNN meteorologist: It is the prime suspect. I don't have
another one. I mean, maybe particulates in the air, so the rain drops
can -- the moisture can get on the drops and get bigger. But I'll tell
you what, I think probably Sandy would have existed without global
warming. Don't get me wrong. But the water was warmer. The water is one
degree warmer now than it was in 1970. That one degree warmer probably
made the storm 10 percent stronger.
Now that doesn't sound like a big deal. But if you take that 10
percent, you realize that if you double the wind speed from 20 to 40
miles per hour, you have now raised the force of that wind by four
times. And then you go 40 to 80. And now all of a sudden, you're not
just double. You are now 16 times where you were on 20 to 80. So that 10
percent seems like a small number. But that 10 percent was enough of an
increase to make this whole thing a superstorm.
Then you have to get into was there a blocking high over Greenland
because there's no sea ice up there this year? Then that's a whole other
thing. Because without that blocking high, this storm turns out into
the ocean.
(Crosstalk)
MOORE: Chad, I want to ask you a question. We've had 50 degree weather
here in New York this week during this storm. I have never heard of a
hurricane occurring in 50 degree weather. I mean, what – I mean,
seriously, if people are just thinking this is some freak accident of
nature, I just think that's a dangerous road to go down.
MYERS: Yeah. Sandy developed in the tropics. And sometimes the tropics
and the mid-latitudes -- sometimes they don't get together. And what
should have, could have happened, had that blocking high not been there,
it would have turned out to sea and it would have been a big gutter
ball. But that blocking high was there, turned it back to the United
States. And then the cold air that you talked about, Michael, gets
sucked up into this thing, even enhances it more. And we have got
ourselves what we called Superstorm Sandy.
MOORE: Just in case anybody missed it, Chad's last comment, he
mentioned that the sea ice in Greenland is gone. It was gone this
summer, melted.
MORGAN: Do you believe the science is now incontrovertible?
MOORE: Absolutely, absolutely.
MORGAN: And when you hear many Republicans, it must be said, say the science is just a load of bunk, what do you say to them?
MOORE: These are the same people that say that Adam and Eve rode on
dinosaurs 6,000 years ago. Okay. I consider the source. And what I would
say to them is what I just said to you. Let's say that, you know, maybe
you're right, but you want to take the chance that maybe you are not
right? Because what is the harm in preparing or changing our way of life
so that we don't destroy the planet? We are destroying the planet. And
as the emerging third world buys cars and builds cars and does things,
they are going to want the same thing we've had. And that atmosphere of
our isn't going to take it.
-- Matt Hadro is a News Analyst at the Media Research Center