After they freaked out about President Trump’s national emergency declaration regarding the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border, the Big Three broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC) seemed reluctant to report on new numbers from Customs and Border Protection saying they had caught 76,000 illegal immigrants in February. While The New York Times had it as a front-page story on Wednesday, NBC News completely omitted it from their leading morning and evening news programs.
In contrast, ABC News and CBS News talked about it that morning, but their coverage didn’t even add up to a minute when combined. On ABC’s Good Morning America, co-host George Stephanopoulos delivered a news brief on the numbers lasting 22 seconds:
And as the Senate is set to reject President Trump's emergency declaration to build his border wall, there is a new report that arrests of families have climbed over the last five months. In February alone, 76,000 migrants crossed the border. The most in 11 years and most of the migrants are families with children in urgent need of food, water, and medical care. Customs and Border officials say the situation is now at, quote, “the breaking point.”
During CBS This Morning, co-host John Dickerson delivered a 30-second brief on the immigration news of the day, including Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who was set to testify before Congress. Of that 30 seconds, only 15 were spent noting CBP’s skyrocketing arrest rate.
“This follows a report yesterday by Customs and Border Protection that found more than 76,000 migrants illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border last month. That's the highest number of crossings over this period in 12 years,” he said.
Come Wednesday evening, ABC’s World News Tonight was the only network news program still mentioning anything about immigration, let alone the 76,000 caught illegal immigrants. “Government figures, in fact, show more than 66,000 migrants crossed the border without authorization last month. That is the highest number in 11 years,” reported anchor David Muir in getting the statistic wrong.
Out of the 52 seconds Muir spent talking about the day’s immigration news, only eight of them were about CBP’s arrests. He also dropped Stephanopoulos’s notation that CBP described the situation as at “the breaking point.” Much of Muir’s report constituted a soundbite of a congressman pressing Secretary Nielsen on the administration’s child separation policy.
CBS News stopped talking about the surge in captured illegals when it came to the Evening News. Meanwhile, This Morning co-host Bianna Golodryga once freaked out about the national emergency declaration, saying: “We begin with President Trump who is poised to take action today that could test our 230-year-old system of checks and balances in government.”
Compare that to NBC, who hid those new CBP numbers from viewers while Today co-host Savannah Guthrie previously described the national emergency as an “abuse of power” by President Trump.
The transcripts are below:
ABC’s Good Morning America
March 6, 2019
7:06:36 a.m. EasternGEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: And as the Senate is set to reject President Trump's emergency declaration to build his border wall, there is a new report that arrests of families have climbed over the last five months. In February alone, 76,000 migrants crossed the border. The most in 11 years and most of the migrants are families with children in urgent need of food, water, and medical care. Customs and Border officials say the situation is now at, quote, “the breaking point.”
CBS This Morning
March 6, 2019
7:30:19 a.m. EasternJOHN DICKERSON: Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen is expected to face fierce questioning from a House committee today on the Trump administration's immigration policies. This follows a report yesterday by customs and border protection that found more than 76,000 migrants illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border last month. That's the highest number of crossings over this period in 12 years. The Senate is expected to pass a resolution next week rejecting President Trump's national emergency declaration at the southern border.
ABC’s World News Tonight
March 6, 2019
6:46:48 p.m. EasternDAVID MUIR: And as you know, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen was on capitol hill today, testifying for the first time since President Trump declared a national emergency at the southern border. Government figures, in fact, show more than 66,000 migrants crossed the border without authorization last month. That is the highest number in 11 years.
Nielsen was questioned about the administration's family separation policy. She insisted, though, children are not still being kept in cages.
(…)
