Morning Shows Applaud Yesterday’s Closed Senate Session, Ignore History

The broadcast network morning shows did segments today concerning yesterday’s surprise “closed session” in the Senate demanded by Democratic minority leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada). All three appeared quite pleased with what occurred while suggesting that it was a big win for the Democrats, and indicating that the Republicans were very angered by “the stunt.” However, even though they have now had almost a day to research the history of such events, much like what was reported by NewsBusters yesterday, not one of the programs discussed just how rare these sessions are, or questioned why this subject matter warranted a closed session. (Video links of the CBS and NBC segments to follow.)

Linda Douglass of ABC’s “Good Morning America” started her segment:

“Good morning, Robin. The Democrats got what they wanted. The Senate will publicly review the handling of prewar intelligence. But first, they provoked a meltdown in the Senate. In a surprise attack, Democratic leader Harry Reid forced the Senate to go into a closed secret session to find out what happened to the investigation of the administration's handling of intelligence promised a year and a half ago.”

Chip Reid of NBC’s “The Today Show” concluded his report:

“Democrats say it worked. Over the next two weeks a group of three Republicans and three Democrats will look into how the Bush administration used intelligence before the war and report back to the Senate.”

Wyatt Andrews of CBS’s “The Early Show” began his report:

“Good morning. It was unusual. It was quite dramatic and it seems to have worked. Senate Democrats, who have been groping for a strategy to force the Senate to investigate whether the president manipulated the pre-war intelligence on Iraq found a tough new tactic yesterday when Senator Harry Reid, the minority leader, abruptly closed down the Senate.”

Finally, “Good Morning America” brought George Stephanopoulos on to discuss the ramifications of this event. Even though he stated that this strategy was planned on Halloween night, he curiously added no historic reference concerning such incidents in the Senate, nor did he question whether the topic discussed behind closed doors warranted this maneuver.

CBS Early Show Video Link

NBC Today Show Video Link