Speaking from Switzerland on Monday morning regarding the continuing nuclear negotiations between the United States and Iran, CBS News reporter Margaret Brennan used the term “hardliners” to equate Republicans who oppose a potential deal to those within the Iranian regime.
Appearing on CBS This Morning, Brennan began by highlighting how Secretary of State John Kerry “met this morning for the first time with Iran's top nuclear negotiator since that political firestorm erupted in the U.S. and that has added pressure to close what is already a high stakes negotiation.”
The CBS reporter went on to portray those who oppose a nuclear deal with Iran as “hardliners” who are interfering in the White House’s negotiations:
Among the most vocal hardliners is junior Republican Senator Tom Cotton. His controversial letter to Iran sent last week and signed by 46 other Senate Republicans charged that Congress could undo any deal after President Obama left office.
While Brennan did include an equal number of soundbites from Republicans and Secretary of State John Kerry, nowhere in her report did she suggest that the Obama administration’s plan to reduce sanctions on Iran was in itself “controversial.”
Instead, the CBS reporter quoted White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough slamming the GOP letter as having a “profoundly negative impact on the diplomacy.” Brennan concluded by repeating the same “hardliner” criticism she used on the GOP to describe those within Iran who also oppose the deal:
Kerry said progress has been made on limiting Iran's nuclear technology. Now a major challenge is convincing hardliners in Iran to allow access to nuclear sights and military bases and to persuade them to slow down research and development. The challenge for the U.S. is to get all those assurances and convince Congress to back off.
CBS’s decision to equate GOP “hardliners” with members of the Iranian regime is not surprising given how the network has portrayed the nuclear negotiations in the past. On March 12, CBS’s Nancy Cordes uncritically quoted the Iranian Supreme Leader criticizing the GOP letter as “ridiculous, disgusting, and gross.”
See relevant transcript below.
CBS This Morning
March 16, 2015
GAYLE KING: In Switzerland this morning the Secretary of State John Kerry resumes critical negotiations with Iran to limit its nuclear program. Negotiators face a deadline for a framework deal just two weeks from now. John Kerry is under intense political pressure back home. Margaret Brennan is in Lucerne and Saturday she sat down with Kerry for an interview you'll only see on CBS News. Margaret good morning.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Good morning. Secretary Kerry told me he hopes a deal will be possible in the next few days. He met this morning for the first time with Iran's top nuclear negotiator since that political firestorm erupted in the U.S. and that has added pressure to close what is already a high stakes negotiation. Secretary Kerry has said he'd only accept a deal that guarantees Iran will not build a nuclear weapon, but that assurance has not cooled the political heat back home.
MITCH MCCONNELL: The administration is on the cusp of entering into a very bad deal.
JOHN BARRASSO: A bad deal.
ROY BLUNT: A bad deal.
BRENNAN: Republicans slammed the emerging deal. Among the most vocal hardliners is junior Republican Senator Tom Cotton. His controversial letter to Iran sent last week and signed by 46 other Senate Republicans charged that Congress could undo any deal after President Obama left office.
TOM COTTON: We wanted to be crystal clear that Iran's leaders got the message that in our constitutional system while the president negotiates deals, Congress has to approve them for them to be lasting and binding.
BRENNAN: Iran’s Supreme Leader called it a trick. In an exclusive interview with CBS News, Secretary Kerry said Cotton was wrong and he would tell Iran to dismiss the outcry. So how do you clear the air? Are you going to apologize for this letter?
JOHN KERRY: Not on your life. I'm not going to apologize for an unconstitutional, unthoughtout action by somebody who's been in the United States Senate for 60-some days.BRENNAN: But Congress is making tough negotiations tough negotiations more difficult for the White House. Chief of Staff Denis McDonough wrote a stern letter to Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker arguing that his proposal giving Congress sign-off on a deal would have a “profoundly negative impact on the diplomacy.” And Kerry argued that Congress is fully briefed and should give him room to negotiate.
KERRY: We have been in full discussion with Congress on this. We've been in full discussion with allies in the region. We have had our team go to Israel or meet with Israelis in Washington or elsewhere to brief them regularly in this process. This isn't, you know, a complete mystery.
BRENNAN: Kerry said progress has been made on limiting Iran's nuclear technology. Now a major challenge is convincing hardliners in Iran to allow access to nuclear sights and military bases and to persuade them to slow down research and development. The challenge for the U.S. is to get all those assurances and convince Congress to back off. Jeff?
JEFF GLOR: Margaret, thank you very much.
