Less than an hour before polls closed in the first three states on Super Tuesday, CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley declared that it marked “likely the last chance for challengers to catch the frontrunners, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.”
Pelley continued this on-going media slant toward Trump and Clinton from the very start of the program with two CBS News colleagues at his side: “Norah O'Donnell, John Dickerson, and I are coming to you tonight from CBS News election headquarters at a turning point in this presidential campaign. It is likely the last chance for challengers to catch the frontrunners, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.”
Later in the show, Pelley inquired with Dickerson about his expectations for the GOP race and Dickerson observed that “we have Donald Trump and the men who would like to stop his steam roller” who “need to win” in order to keep their donors and supporters from jumping ship (to Trump).
“That's one of the challenges we're look for. In the larger picture, though, in talking to Republicans, they talk about a Trump realignment of the party so every time we get a new result, we get to see how he's remaking the Republican Party in his own image,” Dickerson added.
To his credit, only near the end of the segment did Dickerson highlight the massive opposition to Trump in the GOP among “main street Republicans” and conservatives:
Yes it's not just main street Republicans. It is also the conservatives who say he is not one. Paul Ryan had to speak out the second time about this election, the second time about Donald Trump. Once it was about his ban on Muslim immigration. Now, he's talking about his lack of a response when asked about the KKK. It's an amazing thing. The person who is marching towards the nomination in the Republican Party is at odds with the Speaker, he's at odds with Nikki Haley, the Governor of South Carolina....He is headed towards the nomination but he is in conflict with his party.
The relevant portions of the transcript from the CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley on March 1 can be found below.
CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley
March 1, 20166:31 p.m. Eastern
SCOTT PELLEY: Norah O'Donnell, John Dickerson, and I are coming to you tonight from CBS News election headquarters at a turning point in this presidential campaign. It is likely the last chance for challengers to catch the frontrunners, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. No candidate can clinch the nomination tonight, but voters in 12 states are choosing nearly half the delegates needed for the Republican nomination, and more than a third needed for the Democrats.
(....)
6:35 p.m. Eastern
PELLEY: Joining us for election night tonight are Norah O'Donnell, co-host of CBS This Morning and John Dickerson, our CBS News political director and anchor of Face the Nation. John, what are we expecting to the Republican side?
JOHN DICKERON: Well tonight, we have Donald Trump and the men who would like to stop his steam roller. Now, to do that, they need to win, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio need to win somewhere. If they can't win, they need a story, something they can take to their donors and their voters and say, “please hang in there with me.” That's one of the challenges we're look for. In the larger picture, though, in talking to Republicans, they talk about a Trump realignment of the party so every time we get a new result, we get to see how he's remaking the Republican Party in his own image.
PELLEY: And, Norah, what do we expect to see for the Democrats?
NORAH O’DONNELL: This is also the biggest night for Democrats and Hillary Clinton is hoping to cement her lead, but of the 12 states voting tonight, Bernie Sanders is trying to do well in five of them. He told John on Face the Nation on Sunday he hoped to win in Minnesota, Colorado, and Oklahoma and do well in Massachusetts. If Hillary Clinton can do well in those states, win one of those states, it would suggest that Sanders' momentum has fizzled. The test for Sanders has always been can he expand beyond his base, his liberal base? Can we do well among minority voters? Minority voters are the bullwork of Democratic Party and a lot of the states we see tonight have a large share of voters. That’s why Hillary Clinton is going to have a good night tonight.
PELLEY: John, the Republican establishment is apoplectic about Trump.
DICKERSON: Yes it's not just main street Republicans. It is also the conservatives who say he is not one. Paul Ryan had to speak out the second time about this election, the second time about Donald Trump. Once it was about his ban on Muslim immigration. Now, he's talking about his lack of a response when asked about the KKK. It's an amazing thing. The person who is marching towards the nomination in the Republican Party is at odds with the Speaker, he's at odds with Nikki Haley, the Governor of South Carolina, who gave the Republican response to the President at the State of the Union. He's attacked the three most popular Republicans in Texas politics. He is headed towards the nomination but he is in conflict with his party.
PELLEY: Norah, in a lot of these states, people have been voting for weeks because states allow early voting. What impact do you think that will have?
O’DONNELL: So I think this might be one of the most fascinating storylines of the night. As many as 40 percent of the electorate in these states has already voted by early and absentee voting. So one of the thing I'm going to be looking for is how the late deciders break, specifically in the Republican Party, given the controversy about Trump over the last week, and the amped up attacks from Rubio and Cruz. Do some of those late deciders break for them? And will it effect the margin of victory in some of these key states in order to stop that steamrolling by Trump.
