For 20 minutes and 25 seconds, the entirety of their Wednesday evening airtime, that’s how much time CBS Evening News dedicated to hawking impeachment to their viewers. The time was used to gush about Democratic speeches, mock White House spin, decry the President’s anger, chide Americans unwilling to go along, and boast about the lack of impartiality from Senate Democrats running for President.
“As we come on the air, we are moments from history. For just the third time in history, the House of Representatives stands ready to impeach a president after hours of debate,” touted anchor Norah O’Donnell at the top of the program. “Our team is covering all angles of this momentous day…”
After noting impeachment would be largely a party-line vote (downplaying the bipartisan opposition), chief congressional correspondent Nancy Cordes hyped how “lawmakers have been invoking the founders, the bible, even World War II, to try to convey just how significant this is.”
In the second segment, a report on President Trump’s reaction to the day’s debate, White House correspondent Paula Reid appeared to enjoy Trump’s anger and mock the White House’s “spin”:
Sources inside the White House say the President is upset his legacy will now be tarnished by impeachment and his name will forever be linked with the last president ever to be impeached, Bill Clinton. But the President's advisers tried to spin a different story.
After a report about how Trump was likely to rail against impeachment at a rally in Michigan, O’Donnell spoke with chief White House correspondent Major Garret and Face the Nation moderator Margaret Brennan.
O’Donnell remarked on how polite former presidents were during their impeachments. “Nixon resigned before this vote could be taken, a vote like today. Bill Clinton, we saw him. He apologized. He was contrite,” she commended. Meanwhile, she decried how, “This President is... Irate, angry, fighting back, sending a personal letter to Speaker Pelosi. And tonight, I think we're going to see him on fire amongst his supporters.”
“This is the politicians of absolutism. Absolutely nothing wrong, no nuance, no room for argument. That's the President's position,” lamented Garrett.
In a follow-up segment about how the public was reacting, correspondent Dean Reynolds huffed: “As history was made in Washington today, a divided country dug in.” And after reporting that voters in a Dallas café weren’t buying the arguments for impeachment, he lashed out by suggesting their “stubborn partisanship is cleaving the country.”
They also flaunted the network’s hypocrisy. While CBS News spent the morning attacking Senate Republicans for announcing they intended to shoot down impeachment, political correspondent Ed O’Keefe was celebrating the Senate Democrats running for president who came out in support of impeachment months ago.
“The calls for impeachment began in April with Senator Elizabeth Warren after the release of the Mueller report,” he recalled. “One by one, her opponents jumped on board.” Adding: “Tomorrow night, some of them will battle it out on the debate stage here in California. But today, the Democratic presidential candidates agree on impeaching President Trump.”
In stark contrast, ABC’s World News Tonight only spent 10 minutes and 32 seconds on impeachment. It gave them enough time to report on other important stories including a deadly stabbing spree in Oregon and a massive drug bust made by the U.S. Coast Guard. NBC Nightly News didn’t even air. NBC chose to just continue broadcasting the House impeachment debate.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CBS Evening News
December 18, 2019
6:31:36 p.m. EasternNORAH O’DONNELL: Good evening, and thank you so much for joining us. As we come on the air, we are moments from history. For just the third time in history, the House of Representatives stands ready to impeach a president after hours of debate. President Donald Trump may soon join Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson on that historic list, and in both cases, the Senate voted not remove them.
Members are considering two articles: Abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, all stemming from charges that President Trump pressured Ukraine to investigate Trump's political rival. In other words, enlisted foreign interference in a U.S. election. The vote is expected to follow party lines.
President Trump remains defiant, repeatedly claiming that he did nothing wrong, and he calls the impeachment an attempted coup and an assault on America. This all comes amid the backdrop of the impending 2020 presidential election, and tonight, as the House prepares to vote, the President is preparing to take the stage at a campaign rally in Michigan.
Our team is covering all angles of this momentous day, and Nancy Cordes leads us off from the Capitol. Nancy.
NANCY CORDES: Norah, these upcoming votes on impeachment are going to come down largely on party lines with all but a couple of Democrats voting yes. Today, lawmakers have been invoking the founders, the bible, even World War II, to try to convey just how significant this is.
(…)
6:37:24 p.m. Eastern
PAULA REID: Sources inside the White House say the President is upset his legacy will now be tarnished by impeachment and his name will forever be linked with the last president ever to be impeached, Bill Clinton. But the President's advisers tried to spin a different story.
(…)
6:44:26 p.m. Eastern
O’DONNELL: And finally, you know, Nixon resigned before this vote could be taken, a vote like today. Bill Clinton, we saw him. He apologized. He was contrite. This President is... Irate, angry, fighting back, sending a personal letter to Speaker Pelosi. And tonight, I think we're going to see him on fire amongst his supporters.
MAJOR GARRETT: This is the politicians of absolutism. Absolutely nothing wrong, no nuance, no room for argument. That's the President's position.
(…)
6:45:12 p.m. Eastern
DEAN REYNOLDS: As history was made in Washington today, a divided country dug in.
(…)
REYNOLDS: But at P.J.'s Cafe in Dallas, TV monitors told an impeachment story almost no one was buying.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: The Commie-crats are trying to overthrow a duly elected president that we put in office.
REYNOLDS: The responses confirmed that stubborn partisanship is cleaving the country. The latest CBS News polling shows 42 percent favor the President’s removal while 42 percent do not.
(…)
6:47:49 p.m. Eastern
ED O’KEEFE: Tomorrow night, some of them will battle it out on the debate stage here in California. But today, the Democratic presidential candidates agree on impeaching President Trump.
(…)
O’KEEFE: The calls for impeachment began in April with Senator Elizabeth Warren after the release of the Mueller report.
(…)
O’KEEFE: One by one, her opponents jumped on board. Former Vice President Joe Biden, Mr. Trump's target for an investigation in Ukraine, was the last to do so.
(…)
O’KEEFE: Bernie Sanders is one of five candidates who are also senators. They would have to be in Washington for an impeachment trial, taking them off the campaign trail in the weeks just before voting begins.
(…)
