Friday’s CBS Mornings rightfully touted the successful evacuation of Americans trapped in Israel through the efforts of Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL), a headline you would expect would be getting more attention. However, their broadcast network competitors ignored the story entirely. Rather than cover real news, particularly news that would paint a Republican governor in a positive light, channels like ABC and NBC decided instead to cover irrelevant events.
Across all three hours of NBC’s Today, there was not a single mention of America’s evacuation efforts in Israel. In general, Today spent a fair amount of time on the Israeli-Iranian war, with 5 minutes and 41 seconds of programming dedicated to it. they could have easily inserted the rescues there, but instead NBC wasted their time covering the same pop culture news they had been talking about all week.
Today gave a 5 minute, 5 second segment to more coverage of the 50th anniversary of the movie Jaws. Celebrating the shark conservation efforts inspired by the movie in a segment nearly as long as the entirety of their Middle Eastern coverage, NBC ignored a much more significant story, one that revolved around saving human lives.
In a similar vein, ABC’s Good Morning America turned a blind eye to the story, electing instead to highlight their idea of a feel-good story: queer couples exchanging sperm so as to enable each other to have kids. This was the featured story of Good Morning America’s daily Pride Month celebration, which some days would get more airtime than actual news headlines.
Shark conservation efforts and sperm donors were far from the most pressing issues in America. So why were major news outlets opting to cover them over the rescue of American citizens in Israel? The most obvious explanation was that liberal media did not want to give credit to DeSantis for his efforts.
CBS correspondent Manuel Bojorquez gave the story the proper time, acknowledging DeSantis’ impressive efforts:
[O]ver the last several days, by air, land, and sea, it has been an all-out effort to get these Americans back home. Take a look at the latest flight to arrive here at Tampa International Airport. Landed very early this morning. Some of those evacuees left the country on a cruise ship, reportedly escorted by the Israeli Navy, before boarding a plane in Cyprus. This is one of two flights so far chartered by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is trying to evacuate 1,500 people from Israel.”
But rather than highlight these substantial efforts, stations like NBC and ABC opted to push their typical stories instead. There is no reason this story would not be featured except to maintain an agenda.
Bojorquez, live on the scene as the passengers were let off the plane, interviewed two rescued Americans, who attested to the terrifying conditions they were faced with:
KYLE: I think as we started going to shelters more often, it started to sink in a little bit more, about how serious this conflict was.
RACHEL GREENBAUM: While we were there, we were in shelters. We saw rockets falling. We saw missiles. The alarm was going on over at least four, five times a night. It’s very, very difficult, what Israel is going through. It is brutal.
There was no excuse for networks like NBC and ABC to ignore this story, one that served as testament to the State of Florida’s commitment to protecting its citizens and the citizens of the United States. But instead of giving a Republican governor credit, those networks chose to hide the story, wasting their airtime on irrelevant stories.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read.
CBS Mornings
June 20, 2025
8:04 a.m. ESTGAYLE KING: In the Middle East, Israel attacked more targets in Iran overnight and a missile from Iran caused heavy damage in this Israeli neighborhood. Other countries are rushing to get their citizens out of Israel, including thousands of Americans with a little help from the state of Florida.
[ON SCREEN HEADLINE: Evacuating the Conflict: American Citizens Arriving Back in the U.S. Amid Deadly Strikes]
Manuel Bojorquez is at Tampa International Airport, where these rescue flights are landing. Manuel, good morning to you.
MANUEL BOJORQUEZ: Good morning, Gayle. You know, over the last several days, by air, land, and sea, it has been an all-out effort to get these Americans back home. Take a look at the latest flight to arrive here at Tampa International Airport. Landed very early this morning. Some of those evacuees left the country on a cruise ship, reportedly escorted by the Israeli Navy, before boarding a plane in Cyprus.
This is one of two flights so far chartered by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is trying to evacuate 1,500 people from Israel. Many were on what's called a Birthright Israel trip. And we spoke this morning with two U.S. citizens who describe bunkering in bomb shelters during their time there.
[Cuts to video]
KYLE, EVACUEE: I think as we started going to shelters more often, it started to sink in a little bit more, about how serious this conflict was.
RACHEL GREENBAUM, EVACUEE: While we were there, we were in shelters. We saw rockets falling. We saw missiles. The alarm was going on over at least four, five times a night. [Transition] It’s very, very difficult, what Israel is going through. It is brutal.
[Cuts back to live]
BOJORQUEZ: Several nonprofits have also been enlisted to help. One of them is called Grey Bull Rescues, it’s based right here in Florida. And according to the organization, more than 4,000 people in Israel have signed up to try to be part of one of these evacuation flights, and they believe that number could grow to 6,000 over the weekend. Tony.
TONY DOKOUPIL: Alright, Manny, thank you very much. Appreciate it.
