CNN's Piers Morgan lauded President Obama's "excellent" work during Hurricane Sandy, and teed up liberal guest Michael Moore to bash Republicans on global warming. As NewsBusters reported earlier, on his Wednesday night show he didn't once press Moore about his despicable anti-Romney ad.
Morgan gushed that "whichever side you're on, you cannot say that President Obama has not so far done an excellent job." That came after Moore took a shot at President Bush. [Video below the break. Audio here.]
"I think we have a President – and believe me after the eight years before this President, one bumbling mistake after another, and that's being kind – to have a President who is intelligent and who is proactive, and who doesn't play politics, who I believe was very sincere in everything he said about Governor Christie and everything that he did here today, I think people feel more secure with Barack Obama in the White House when we have something like this happen," Moore praised President Obama.
"We've allowed the ignoramuses to run the show on this," Moore said of Republicans who don't believe in a climate problem. Morgan teed him up later to continue his rant. "And when you hear many Republicans, it must be said, say the science is just a load of bunk, what do you say to them?" he asked Moore.
"These are the same people that say that Adam and Eve rode on dinosaurs 6,000 years ago. Okay. I consider the source," Moore spat back derisively.
A transcript of the segment, which aired on November 1 on Piers Morgan Tonight at 9:23 p.m. EDT, is as follows:
MICHMOORE: First of all, I don't think it's just about Mitt Romney not being able to get on television. I think we have a President, and believe me after the eight years before this President, one bumbling mistake after another, and that's being kind, to have a President who is intelligent and who is proactive, and who doesn't play politics, who I believe was very sincere in everything he said about Governor Christie and everything that he did here today, I think people feel more secure with Barack Obama in the White House when we have something like this happen.
We know he's going to take the reigns, get in charge of it, and get something done. And that -- you know, I'm not trying to make a statement of how that helps him in the election. I just think it helps us as American citizens to have somebody like that in the White House who isn't going to screw around and who's going to do the job we sent him there to do. That felt really good the last few days.
MORGAN: Well, I certainly -- whichever side you're on, you cannot say that President Obama has not so far done an excellent job.
(...)
MORGAN: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo making it clear that America will see more superstorms like Sandy. Are they being caused by global warming? Back with my special guest, Michael Moore. I heard Michael Bloomberg saying the same thing, that he in all his time in New York had never known a more unstable year for weather. And he believed very firmly it is about global warming. Not enough is being done about this and it will get worse.
MOORE: Mm-hmm.
MORGAN: What do you think?
MOORE: I think it already has gotten worse. I think we are way down the road here. We are – we are in big trouble. And we're still having a debate in Congress as to whether or not there really is global warming. This is -- this is – I'm – the people, and it's the majority of Americans – the majority of Americans believe that we've got a climate problem. And the majority of Americans believe in science.
(Crosstalk)
MOORE: We've allowed the ignoramuses to run the show on this. And this storm should really put an end to that.
MORGAN: Could it possibly be that the fact that we've only been measuring weather since 1898, could it just be a global cyclical weather thing that is going down, that actually it's not warming? It is something that may have happened 500 years ago, 1,000 years ago? You get pockets of this. And we don't have the records to back that up? Could it be that?
MOORE: Well, I'll answer the way that Mayor Bloomberg answered this afternoon. Yeah, it could be that. You want to take the risk? You want to take the risk of that? What if you are wrong? What if you're wrong and we're not prepared, like we weren't prepared for this. And we won't be prepared for the next thing. We weren't prepared for the drought this summer. This is – how many times do we have to get punched in the face before we realize, you know what, somebody is punching me in the face.
MORGAN: Let's bring somebody who is used to taking the blow, CNN meteorologist Chad Myers. Chad, you've been in this game nearly three decades. Is this global warming that we're seeing? From a meteorological point of view, is there any other explanation?
CHAD MYERS, CNN meteorologist: It is the prime suspect. I don't have another one. I mean, maybe particulates in the air, so the rain drops can -- the moisture can get on the drops and get bigger. But I'll tell you what, I think probably Sandy would have existed without global warming. Don't get me wrong. But the water was warmer. The water is one degree warmer now than it was in 1970. That one degree warmer probably made the storm 10 percent stronger.
Now that doesn't sound like a big deal. But if you take that 10 percent, you realize that if you double the wind speed from 20 to 40 miles per hour, you have now raised the force of that wind by four times. And then you go 40 to 80. And now all of a sudden, you're not just double. You are now 16 times where you were on 20 to 80. So that 10 percent seems like a small number. But that 10 percent was enough of an increase to make this whole thing a superstorm.
Then you have to get into was there a blocking high over Greenland because there's no sea ice up there this year? Then that's a whole other thing. Because without that blocking high, this storm turns out into the ocean.
(Crosstalk)
MOORE: Chad, I want to ask you a question. We've had 50 degree weather here in New York this week during this storm. I have never heard of a hurricane occurring in 50 degree weather. I mean, what – I mean, seriously, if people are just thinking this is some freak accident of nature, I just think that's a dangerous road to go down.
MYERS: Yeah. Sandy developed in the tropics. And sometimes the tropics and the mid-latitudes -- sometimes they don't get together. And what should have, could have happened, had that blocking high not been there, it would have turned out to sea and it would have been a big gutter ball. But that blocking high was there, turned it back to the United States. And then the cold air that you talked about, Michael, gets sucked up into this thing, even enhances it more. And we have got ourselves what we called Superstorm Sandy.
MOORE: Just in case anybody missed it, Chad's last comment, he mentioned that the sea ice in Greenland is gone. It was gone this summer, melted.
MORGAN: Do you believe the science is now incontrovertible?
MOORE: Absolutely, absolutely.
MORGAN: And when you hear many Republicans, it must be said, say the science is just a load of bunk, what do you say to them?
MOORE: These are the same people that say that Adam and Eve rode on dinosaurs 6,000 years ago. Okay. I consider the source. And what I would say to them is what I just said to you. Let's say that, you know, maybe you're right, but you want to take the chance that maybe you are not right? Because what is the harm in preparing or changing our way of life so that we don't destroy the planet? We are destroying the planet. And as the emerging third world buys cars and builds cars and does things, they are going to want the same thing we've had. And that atmosphere of our isn't going to take it.
