Bad Manner: CNN's Cornish Stacks The Deck Against Hegseth

Johnny Olszewski Audie Cornish CNN This Morning 9-1-26

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll resigned Monday after months of friction with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. On Tuesday's CNN This Morning, here was the lineup that host Audie Cornish chose to discuss it. 

First up was retired Maj. Gen. Randy Manner, who unleashed this anti-Hegseth salvo: 

“We have a very, very hollow and, quite frankly, a B-minus team leading at the top of the military. We are literally in a much, much more dangerous situation. We are much weaker than we were even before 9/11, unfortunately.” 

Cornish treated that as expert diagnosis. She did not mention Manner’s politics. 

Since 2016, Manner has been a strident Trump critic. In 2024, he endorsed Kamala Harris, appeared at the Democratic National Convention, and publicly defended Tim Walz’s National Guard record. 

Cornish then quoted Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.): “Secretary Hegseth is cultivating a culture where dissent is punished, and competence is secondary to personal allegiance.” 

Cornish seconded Reed's take, declaring that she'd like “some other people to have a say, and some people who are willing to have dissent.” 

Cornish later played another clip of Manner. 

“It’s a crisis of leadership even within this administration, within the Department of Defense, and again, it is putting our young men and women in harm’s way unnecessarily. Quite frankly, the Secretary of Defense has got to go.” 

Ashley Davis was the panel's only Republican. Far from defending Hegseth, she called Driscoll “a great guy” with “a lot of integrity,” and said his resignation constituted “a significant criticism of the secretary."

Cornish then brought on Rep. Johnny Olszewski (D-Md.)

“Yeah, I actually agree with the leader [Manner] you had on. It’s time for the secretary to go.” 

 

Cornish then invited Olszewski to respond to Laura Loomer and her recent offensive comments about "ghetto" black women in politics. After Olszewski condemned them as "disgusting and vile," Cornish asked what gave him standing to condemn Loomer when “there are plenty of voices online on the left who have been saying anti-Semitic things.” 

Olszewski: “I can do it because I’ve been a leading voice against antisemitism, too. Hate speech is wrong, regardless of where it comes from.” 

But neither Olszewski nor Cornish named one person on the left. No Mamdani. No Hasan Piker. No El-Sayed. Olszewski got to pose as an equal-opportunity critic without stirring the Democratic pot. 

Let’s summarize. Cornish’s notion of balance was three anti-Hegseth voices — a Kamala-endorsing general, Reed, and Olszewski — plus her own skeptical voice on him. The sole Republican expressed praise only for Driscoll.

Not a word in defense of Hegseth. 

Bad Manner[s], Audie! 

Here's the transcript. 

CNN This Morning 
9/1/26 
6:01 am EDT

AUDIE CORNISH: Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish, and here is where we begin. Another shakeup in military leadership. Multiple sources telling CNN that Army Secretary Dan Driscoll has submitted his resignation to President Trump. 

So the reason behind his departure, quote, "concerns of the Army transformation and readiness," and Hegseth's, quote, "blocking those efforts specifically by firing the generals who were responsible." 

Now, since taking over, Hegseth has fired or forced out several top brass, including the Army Chief of Staff, General Randy George. Six months into the war with Iran, there are questions about how vulnerable this makes the US. 

RANDY MANNER: We have a very, very hollow and, quite frankly, a B-minus team leading at the top of the military. These are very capable officers, but not at the level that they are acting in. And so we are literally in a much, much more dangerous situation. We are much weaker than we were even before 9/11, unfortunately. 

. . . 

CORNISH: Ashley, I want to start with you, because The Atlantic is reporting that sources told them that Trump was surprised by the sheer volume of firings and resignations under Hegseth, and that he has actually expressed concerns about the cuts. 

Why is he surprised, given what Hegseth said going in? And do you think that it's a sign that this White House is concerned? 

ASHLEY DAVIS: Well, I'm just watching the slow drip of Pete Hegseth's story. So whether it's -- I, I have met the Secretary of the Army, and he's a great guy. He's very close with JD Vance. I think that he had a lot of integrity and you know, supposedly he did brief the president before resigning and why he resigned. But -- which is very unusual -- 

CORNISH: I was going to say. 

DAVIS: -- for someone to go around the chain of command to do that. 

CORNISH: And this is not, "I'm leaving for family," like what his... 

DAVIS: No, his is a significant criticism of the secretary. But also, the drip, drip, drip of Hegseth talking about running for president is also probably not sitting well with this administration. 

CORNISH: Oh, like his visit to Iowa the other day or- 

DAVIS: Yeah. Yeah, well, and he's supposedly, there's inside sources that say that he wants to run for president. 

CHUCK ROCHA: And the president was asked about it yesterday. And the president was asking, he was like, "Pete's a nice guy, he's focused on the army, I don't think he's probably gonna run." 

DAVIS: So we'll see if, how long this lasts. I mean, nothing's gonna happen before the, the elections, and then obviously until Iran has some sort of- 

CORNISH: Yeah, but we're in a moment, Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island saying, "Secretary Hegseth is cultivating a culture where dissent is punished and competence is secondary to personal allegiance." 

DAVIS: The Deputy Secretary ss confirmed. 

CORNISH: Yes, but I'm saying, after that, Hegseth's the boss, and that's it. I'd like some other people to have a say, and some people who are willing to have dissent. 

. . . 

Back now to our top story, and the question about military readiness under Pete Hegseth. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is resigning amid tension with the defense secretary. He joins a long list of top brass that's been fired or forced out since Hegseth took over. It's raising concerns about his leadership and where it leaves our military. 

MANNER: It's a crisis of leadership even within this administration, within the Department of Defense. And again, it is putting our young men and women in harm's way unnecessarily. So this is totally inappropriate. Quite frankly, the Secretary of Defense has got to go. 

CORNISH: Joining me now, Democratic Congressman of Maryland, Johnny Olszewski. He also sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, not Armed Services. But I wanted to ask because, most of our foreign affairs these days is military. 

JOHNNY OLSZEWSKI: Absolutely. 

CORNISH: So do you have concerns about Pete Hegseth's leadership? 

OLSZEWSKI: Yeah, I actually agree with the, the leader you had on. It's time for the secretary to go. I mean, I called for his resignation or firing back when he was leaking war plans on Signal. 

And so this has been, leader of our Department of Defense that has clearly been more interested in social media and the spotlight than actually fighting and winning wars and keeping our country safe here at the war. 

. . . 

CORNISH: Can I come back to the influencer thing, talking about Hegseth kind of bringing folks into the Department of Defense. This is fascinating because this administration embraces online influencers very tightly. And one of them has had a hand, reportedly claims to have had a hand, in getting people fired, you know, in the security apparatus. And now she has- made racist comments against some of your, colleagues who are Democrats. A, what was your response when you heard what this person had to say? 

OLSZEWSKI: What Lara Loomer said was disgusting. It was vile, and it shouldn't be hard for leaders of all political stripes to reject, reject that kind of political rhetoric. 

CORNISH: One of the things you hear Republicans say when this conversation has come up in the last couple of hours is, "Wait a second, look, there are plenty of voices online on the left who have been saying antisemitic things, and therefore, how can you come after Laura Loomer in this instance?" 

OLSZEWSKI: I can do it because I've been a leading voice against antisemitism, too. Hate speech is wrong, regardless of where it comes from. 

And that's the problem with our politics today, is that people are afraid to call out what's wrong, wherever it exists. That's why Americans are so frustrated with politics today, because members of Congress don't get anything done. 

We're unwilling to call out what is clearly racist, vile rhetoric, and it's gotta stop, and we, we have to be the ones to stop it.