In NBC Nightly News’s coverage of President Obama’s Tuesday meeting with French President Hollande, the newscast complained that Turkey’s decision to shoot down a Russian fighter jet had “managed to overshadow” the “crucial meeting at the White House” and further “derailed” an attempt to forge a more cohesive coalition to fight ISIS with Russia.
Anchor Lester Holt explained at the top of the segment that “the incident with that Russian jet managed to overshadow a crucial meeting at the White House today” as Hollande arrived in Washington “before going onto Moscow to push for a united response against ISIS for the attacks in Paris.”
Holt added as he tossed to chief foreign affairs correspondent and MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell that the “mission did not go as planned” due to the unforeseen event around the Turkish/Syria border.
Mitchell then boasted for the President: “President Obama, widely criticized for not condemning the Paris attacks strongly enough, tried to make up for it today, pledging to escalate the war against ISIS.”
As for Hollande, Mitchell mentioned that he told reporters the world “must act,” but “Turkey’s shoot down of the Russian plane” instead “derailed” “his hopes of drawing Obama and Vladimir Putin into a new coalition against ISIS.”
The transcript of the segment from November 24's NBC Nightly News can be found below.
NBC Nightly News
November 24, 2015
7:06 p.m. Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE CAPTION: High Stakes]
LESTER HOLT: And the incident with that Russian jet managed to overshadow a crucial meeting at the White House today. French President Hollande came to Washington before going onto Moscow to push for a united response against ISIS for the attacks in Paris, but as our chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell explains, his mission did not go as planned.
ANDREA MITCHELL: President Obama, widely criticized for not condemning the Paris attacks strongly enough, tried to make up for it today, pledging to escalate the war against ISIS.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: It cannot be tolerated. It must be destroyed and we must do it together.
MITCHELL: France's President Hollande said we must act, but his hopes of drawing Obama and Vladimir Putin into a new coalition against ISIS were derailed by Turkey's shoot down of the Russian plane.
OBAMA: Turkey, like every country, has a right to defend its territory and its air space.
MITCHELL: And Obama sharply criticized Putin, who he says is fighting a different enemy than U.S. and France.
OBAMA: The challenge has been Russia's focus on propping up Assad rather than focusing on ISIL. [SCREEN WIPE] Russia right now is a coalition of two — Iran and Russia — supporting Assad.
MITCHELL: Obama is calling on Russia not to escalate with Turkey despite Putin's threats.
FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA MICHAEL MCFAUL: Putin will respond. There is no doubt in my mind. I think it’s highly unlikely that he would attack Turkey, an NATO ally, but I think you could see a response inside of Syria.
MITCHELL: France is ramping up air-strikes against ISIS from a carrier in the Mediterranean.
OBAMA: Make no mistake, we will win and groups like ISIL will lose.
MITCHELL: After all the intelligence failures in France and Belgium, Obama also demanded better intelligence cooperation with France and the rest of Europe, especially the names of passengers flying to the U.S. in order to identify foreign fighters trying to attack the U.S. homeland. Lester.
HOLT: Andrea, thanks.
