The networks on Tuesday night cheered the floor of the Democratic National Convention being “covered with shards of glass” as Hillary Clinton prompts “historic,” “happy tears.” ABC opened live coverage of the 10pm hour with triumphant music and an announcer who proclaimed, “Right now, here in the City of Brotherly Love, you're looking at history... The political glass ceiling, shattered.”
Reporter Cecilia Vega praised, “After what happened here today, there will be a generation of children who will grow up knowing that a woman can have a shot at the White House in this country.”
Evening News anchor Scott Pelley on CBS began by extolling, “Night two of the convention, the floor is covered with shards of glass. Hillary Clinton has shattered another ceiling for women.” He breathlessly related, “What a historic night for America. The Democrats have nominated a woman to be the 45th president of the United States, Hillary Rodham Clinton.”
Democratic donor Gayle King promoted the different types of sobbing at the convention: “Happy tears in the room for Hillary Clinton and I mean a lot of tears. One man, a delegate from South Carolina, told me that he went into the ugly cry which means sobbing uncontrollably.”
Norah O’Donnell echoed this sentiment, retelling, “I was up with four women when... the delegates put her over the top. They were crying, they were holding hands. This is a historic moment.”
On NBC, Nightly News anchor Lester Holt framed Clinton around America’s founding: “History in the birth place of American democracy. Hillary Clinton shatters a barrier, becoming the first woman to win the nomination of a major U.S. party.”
NBC veteran Tom Brokaw said of the candidate’s husband: “The question is can this magician of American politics, Bill Clinton, take something else out of the hat and say, ‘This is the real Hillary?’”
What were the networks doing at this time last week, during the Republican convention? They warned of a “dark,” “divisive” night and suggested Donald Trump is heading for a landslide loss. ABC wondered if Chris Christie was inciting a “mob.”
Partial transcripts below:
CBS Democratic National Convention
07/26/16
10:00:26 p.m.SCOTT PELLEY: Night two of the convention, the floor is covered with shards of glass. Hillary Clinton has shattered another ceiling for women.
(....)
10:01:39 p.m.
PELLEY: What a historic night for America. The Democrats have nominated a woman to be the 45th president of the United States, Hillary Rodham Clinton.
(....)
10:02:26 p.m.KING: Scott and Norah, happy tears in the room for Hillary Clinton and I mean a lot of tears. One man, a delegate from South Carolina, told me that he went into the ugly cry which means sobbing uncontrollably. The 17-year-old girl from Tennessee who gets to vote for the first time in November, she'll be 18 then and she can't wait to vote for Hillary Clinton. The mother and daughter duo from California who were pulling for two different candidates. Daughter was for Bernie, mom was for Hillary tonight they united behind Hillary Clinton big time. They are many stories in this room, but one of the ones that stood up for me the most. The 75-year-old woman, she turned 75 last week. She said she knew this date was coming. She just didn't think that she would be alive to see it and now she is here. They tell me tonight they have reset the table in American politics.
(....)
10:07:07 p.m.
CHARLIE ROSE: He can. I mean, he is the best retail politics in America and he knows how to do that and he will be the person who will be able to sit and talk how this affects you and how she can make a difference in your life.
(....)
10:09:47 p.m.
NORAH O’DONNELL: Bob, I was up with four women when this convention put — the delegates put her over the top. They were crying, they were holding hands. This is a historic moment.
BOB SCHIEFFER: It is truly historic and we should — that is the headline here.
ABC Democratic National Convention
07/26/16
10:00:18 p.m.VOICE-OVER ANNOUNCER: Right now, here in the City of Brotherly Love, you're looking at history.
INDEPENDENT SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS (Vt.): Madam Chair, I move that Hillary Clinton be selected as the nominee of the Democratic Party for president of the United States.
VOICE-OVER ANNOUNCER: The political glass ceiling, shattered.
DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSWOMAN MARCIA FUDGE (Ohio): All in favor of the motion, say aye.
VOICE-OVER ANNOUNCER: Hillary Clinton, the first woman ever, nominated to lead our country.
FUDGE: The ayes have it.
VOICE-OVER ANNOUNCER: So, how do the Democrats top a day like this? Well, hold on because her husband is about to walk into the spotlight.
(....)
10:02:09 p.m.
CECILIA VEGA: George, electrifying is the only way to describe what happened down here today. Yes, there has been talk about this hall being divided. Yes, they are Bernie Sanders supporters who are in here tonight who are still angry, but right now, this is an energized crowd. We saw people crying today at what they witnessed. I saw a woman holding a sign with a picture of the White House that said, bye-bye glass ceiling. From Hillary Clinton today, after all of this happened, a one-word response on Twitter. The word history and George, after what happened here today, there will be a generation of children who will grow up knowing that a woman can have a shot at the White House in this country.
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NBC live coverage
7/26/16
10:00LESTER HOLT: Tonight from Philadelphia, history in the birth place of American democracy. Hillary Clinton shatters a barrier, becoming the first woman to win the nomination of a major U.S. party and Bernie Sanders makes it official in a dramatic show of solidarity.
...
HOLT: A very good evening on this dramatic night in Philadelphia. For the first time in American history, a woman will lead a major U.S. Political party as its nominee for president. During an at times a highly emotional roll call vote on the floor of the Democratic convention before us, Larry Sanders cast his vote for his younger brother Bernie, and Bernie taking the floor to make it official. It was a show of solidarity that had this arena roaring with applause. Moments from now, Bill Clinton will take the stage, the goal to talk about a more personal side of his wife.
10:06
LESTER HOLT: I want to turn to Tom Brokaw. Let's talk about Bill Clinton and what he may deliver here. He was — When he first came onto the campaign trail, he was seen as her not-so-secret weapon. Can he deliver still?
TOM BROKAW: Well, you never underestimate what bill Clinton can do at a podium. We've watched that for a long, long time. No one thought that he could recover from the Monica Lewinsky scandal, for example. But he came back, won again. He was very highly regarded in the last ten years by a lot of people who were not necessarily Democrats. Look, every convention is like a biology experiment, it has a half-life. You don't know what's going to happen from day to day. What they're trying to do is construct something where they end up with the peak on Thursday night. And Bill Clinton will be an extraordinarily important part of that. Everybody will look at the two of them and say, “We know everything there is to know about them.” Tonight the question is can this magician of American politics, Bill Clinton, take something else out of the hat and say, “This is the real Hillary.” That's going to be an enormous challenge.
