CNN's Monday night special "Obama Revealed" included some glowing coverage of the "candidate of hope" Barack Obama and a thumbs-up to his controversial auto bailout that cost taxpayers $14 billion.
Correspondent Jessica Yellin began the special by touting the "candidate of hope" that "inherits a nation in crisis." She added that Obama is a "leader driven to make history" and "cool under pressure." [Video below the break.]
"Ultimately, the bailout saved jobs and it provided the industry a safety net," Yellin reported on Obama's auto bailout that cost taxpayers $14 billion. "But the President was not effective at selling it," she continued with a typical liberal excuse for the unpopularity of an Obama policy.
"The President normally known for his caution had chosen the riskiest course possible, and it paid off," Yellin cooed over the killing of Osama bin Laden, hyping the President's decision.
Yellin also ignored the controversy of another Obama directive in office, his executive order delaying deportation of some children of illegal immigrants.
A partial transcript of the CNN special "Obama Revealed," which aired on August 3 at 8:00 p.m. EDT, is as follows:
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN chief White House correspondent: A candidate of hope.
President BARACK OBAMA: On this date, we have chosen hope over fear.
YELLIN: Inherits a nation in crisis.
DAVID AXELROD, senior campaign adviser: The briefing was absolutely chilling.
OBAMA: My first job when I first came into office was making sure we didn't get into a Great Depression.
YELLIN: A leader driven to make history.
OBAMA: Health care reform cannot wait.
DAVID MARANISS, author, "Barack Obama: The Story": He doesn't want to just be another president. He wanted to be a great president.
YELLIN: Cool under pressure.
HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: It was a huge risk that the President took.
OBAMA: The United States killed Osama bin Laden.
YELLIN: His presidency marked by political division.
Speaker Boehner, he says you flinched.
OBAMA: I'm sure that's his version of events.
Rep. JOHN BOEHNER (R), House Speaker: I think the biggest failure is the President's unwillingness to listen to the American people.
YELLIN: A man whose style would both help him and hurt him as a leader.
(...)
YELLIN: He bailed out the auto industry anyway in a wildly unpopular move opposed by nearly three quarters of Americans, as well as his future Republican opponent Mitt Romney. At first the restructuring of the industry cost thousands their jobs.
OBAMA: You know, when you look at everything from the auto bailout, which was very unpopular at the time and if I'd been leading with emotions or had my political hat on, we might not have done what saved a million jobs.
YELLIN: Ultimately, the bailout saved jobs and it provided the industry a safety net. But the President was not effective at selling it.
(...)
YELLIN: While the President got credit in the Latino community for appointing Sonya Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, he lost points for deporting more undocumented immigrants than any administration in history, and for failing to pass the immigration reform he promised. When Republicans blocked a bill that would let the children of undocumented immigrants stay in the U.S., the President did not use his power to make them legal on his own.
MARANISS: I think a lot of people came in with that sort of narrower focus on what he would do for them. Not really understanding that he's more pragmatic perhaps than they expected.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We deserve!
CROWD: We deserve!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Full equality!
CROWD: Full equality!
YELLIN: For gay Americans, different issues, same response.
OBAMA: And we are –
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: – "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"! Stop (Inaudible).
OBAMA: Now –
It's good to see you.
CROWD: Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can!
YELLIN: Candidate Obama had promised a repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." But as President, he asked gay Americans to wait patiently.
OBAMA: But as commander in chief, in time of war, I do have a responsibility to see that this change is administered in a practical way and a way that takes over the long term.
JARRETT: He went through a process because he wanted to get by it. He didn't want to just repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," he wanted to make sure that gays could serve in the military proudly, and without being alienated or ostracized, and have the support.
YELLIN: The repeal would pass Congress, but after almost two years. It was change on the President's time frame.
OBAMA: That's why I believe this is the right thing to do for our military. That's why I believe it is the right thing to do period.
JARRETT: I think that the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," was one of his largest civil rights accomplishments. And the fact you haven't heard any stories about any problems is an indication that sometimes it's better to do it over a slower process than to do it expeditiously.
(...)
YELLIN: The president normally known for his caution had chosen the riskiest course possible, and it paid off.
OBAMA: I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda.
(...)
YELLIN: Seared after losing the grand bargain, and his bid for bipartisanship, the President turned his attention to a new battle.
CROWD: Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!
YELLIN: The election.
BRINKLEY: I think his naivete has been finally squashed. And I don't think you'll see that naive "Yes, we can" man of 2008 ever again.
YELLIN: Barreling into 2012, he shifted focus from wooing the other side to winning back disappointed supporters. Chief among them, women voters.
OBAMA: Every woman should be in control of the decisions that affect her own health, period.
YELLIN: He stood by his controversial decision to make most health care plans cover contraception. And he often reminds women he acted early to protect equal pay.
OBAMA: Upholding the principle of equal pay for equal work was the first bill I signed into law. The Lily Ledbetter Act, first bill I signed.
YELLIN: Then, gays and lesbians.
PROTESTERS: Hey, Obama, don't you know? Homophobia's got to go.
YELLIN: The President said little on the topic of gay marriage for three years. Then on Good Morning America –
OBAMA: For me personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married.
BRINKLEY: He is not a person that likes to leave the box but when he does he's done it decisively. I mean I think his embracing of gay marriage was very bold.
YELLIN: Next, Latinos, an essential voting bloc. He had failed to press immigration reform.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No more lies.
YELLIN: Then, this June –
VALERIE JARRETT, senior adviser: He said, OK, enough is enough. And now we're going to take administrative action.
YELLIN: – his administration temporarily halted the deportation of the children of undocumented immigrants.
