Just hours ahead of Tuesday’s 2016 Democratic presidential debate on CNN, the network was already in spin mode for Hillary Clinton down to the most minute detail as senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny marveled during The Situation Room at the sight of top Clinton aide Huma Abedin surveying the stage for Clinton to gather “a sense of what this evening is going to be.”
Of course, at no point in the two-minute-plus fawning over Abedin and Clinton was there any mention of Abedin’s role in the Hillary Clinton e-mail scandal or the numerous questions about Abedin’s conduct while working at the State Department.
Asked by Blitzer for the latest happenings inside the debate hall, Zeleny spoke in hushed tones as he reported some new and pertinent details:
One of her top and longest serving aides, Huma Abedin, is waiting in the wings behind me here. She’s taking a couple of photographs of the stage, probably going to show her boss what the stage actually looks like, she's getting a sense of what this evening is going to be[.]
Laying out what Abedin’s boss will want to achieve during the debate, Zeleny gushed that she “wants to show she's ready to be president” since “she's preparing for this moment her entire life.” Concerning the multiple scandals swirling around her, Zeleny hyped: “She also wants to restore some of that trust and credibility that's been eroded over the summer with the e-mails and scandals and other things and she also is trying to show that she is a fighter.”
After outlining the goals for the other four candidates, Zeleny returned to chronicling the blow-by-blow movements of Abedin as she surveys the scene instead of Hillary Clinton herself [emphasis mine]:
And you can see behind me, right now, Huma Abedin is going on stage. She is taking a look at all the podium. Of course, Huma Abedin has really been with Hillary Clinton since she was the First Lady in the White House. She has been her longest serving aide, she’s looking at that podium right now right in the middle of this stage checking it out, looking to left and right and these podiums, Wolf, really so close together. Some 20 inch as part only. So you can see her there, sort of checking out this scene. Interesting, of course, that she came out, that Hillary Clinton herself did not come out. She's preparing for this debate. She’s with her advisers. I can tell you, Huma will be giving her a full report.
Blitzer then wondered aloud why Clinton wouldn’t want to come see the stage for herself to which Zeleny chalked it up to her not wanting to be seen ahead of the debate by pesky members of the press and that she did numerous debates during her failed 2008 campaign:
[S]he knows what it's like, so she does not want any of us to be watching her, sort of look at the stage here. She wants, you know, to be having some private rehearsal time, some private moments. When she takes this stage when the debate begins in just a couple of hours, that is the first time any of us see her. I'm guessing she wants to sort of be relaxing a little bit and does not want to be made up for the moment. So Huma Abedin will report back what the stage looks like, but I'm not surprised at this, Wolf. She's debated so many times. She has all of the information she probably needs.
The relevant portions of the transcript from CNN’s The Situation Room on October 13 can be found below.
CNN’s The Situation Room
October 13, 2015
5:26 p.m. Eastern
JEFF ZELENY: Wolf, they are and Hillary Clinton is not going to do a test run on this stage tonight. One of her top and longest serving aides, Huma Abedin, is waiting in the wings behind me here. She’s taking a couple of photographs of the stage, probably going to show her boss what the stage actually looks like, she's getting a sense of what this evening is going to be, but right, the strategies are different for every candidate. Secretary Clinton, first and foremost, wants to show she's ready to be president. She wants to show she's preparing for this moment her entire life. She also wants to restore some of that trust and credibility that's been eroded over the summer with the e-mails and scandals and other things and she also is trying to show that she is a fighter. You may not like her, in the end, one aide said, but she is going to show she's a fighter for you.
(....)
ZELENY: And you can see behind me, right now, Huma Abedin is going on stage. She is taking a look at all the podium. Of course, Huma Abedin has really been with Hillary Clinton since she was the First Lady in the White House. She has been her longest serving aide, she’s looking at that podium right now right in the middle of this stage checking it out, looking to left and right and these podiums, Wolf, really so close together. Some 20 inch as part only. So you can see her there, sort of checking out this scene. Interesting, of course, that she came out, that Hillary Clinton herself did not come out. She's preparing for this debate. She’s with her advisers. I can tell you, Huma will be giving her a full report. Wolf?
WOLF BLITZER: Well, I don't understand why the candidate herself wouldn't want to go out, take a look at it get a feel for that lectern, see what's going on, get a feel for the room. Any explanation why Huma Abedin, her top aide is doing it, as opposed to Hillary Clinton?
ZELENY: I would assume Hillary Clinton has done so many debates, she did 25 debates in 2008 campaign. We all remember those so well. Some were here in Las Vegas, so she knows what it's like, so she does not want any of us to be watching her, sort of look at the stage here. She wants, you know, to be having some private rehearsal time, some private moments. When she takes this stage when the debate begins in just a couple of hours, that is the first time any of us see her. I'm guessing she wants to sort of be relaxing a little bit and does not want to be made up for the moment. So Huma Abedin will report back what the stage looks like, but I'm not surprised at this, Wolf. She's debated so many times. She has all of the information she probably needs.
BLITZER: Alright, Jeff, thanks very much and there's Huma Abedin at the lectern over there right now.
