Katie Couric’s CBS Evening News interview with Sen. John McCain is getting some attention, not for what was said, but for what was not said, or at least what was not used. During the Couric interview McCain confused the timeline of the U.S. troop surge.
MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann took up the issue last night on Countdown: “CBS curiously, to say the least, left it on the edit room floor,” he said. “It aired Katie Couric’s question, but in response, it aired part of McCain’s answer to the other question instead.”
Of the 14-minute interview, a little less than three minutes was used on the Evening News. A CBS spokesperson tells TVNewser, “As all news organizations do with extended interviews, last night’s Obama and McCain interviews were edited to fit the available time and to give viewers a fair expression of the candidates’ major differences. The full transcript and video were and still are available at CBSNews.com.”
Cable networks MSNBC and CNN have aired segments discussing McCain’s “misstep” today, while Joe Scarborough talked about the media angle of the story this morning, and had some harsh words for his fellow MSNBC host…
> Update, Joe Scarborough responds to TVNewser:
Bloggers are suggesting that I attacked Keith Olbermann this morning regarding a news story. That is simply not true.
Keith is a respected colleague who has built a large and loyal following that has been critical to the success of MSNBC. He has also been a strong supporter of my efforts here. I don’t like the fact that people are misinterpreting this morning’s comments.
Our network is a champion of diverse opinion. We believe America is best served by a vigorous debate in the free marketplace of ideas. That’s why any suggestion that I would attack Keith is way off the mark.
“I know a couple of hosts ran this last night, made a huge deal because a liberal blogger picked it up. I will guarantee the host that ran it, waving their arms had no idea whether the Sunni Awakening or the surge began at the same time,” Scarborough said.
“Anybody that would argue that the Sunni awakening would have survived in Al Anbar Province without the surge, anybody that would make that argument, is so ignorant of the facts on the ground in western Iraq, in Al Anbar Province and what the Sunni Sheiks were doing throughout 2007, that they are too stupid to be on TV. So I hope they don’t carry that argument much longer because it is laughable.”
(via Johnny Dollar)