In the immediate wake of the world learning that former Soviet dictator Mikhail Gorbachev was finally acting like a good communist, CNN’s immediate reaction was to air glowing eulogies for a man who led one of the most evil empires in human history. In back-to-back hours on Tuesday, CNN showed “intense sadness” and took part in revisionist history claiming Gorbachev was the one responsible for the fall of the Berlin Wall and ending the Cold War.
Following a video eulogy of Gorbachev’s life by senior international correspondent Matthew Chance, The Lead fill-in host Kasie Hunt looked to former CNN Moscow Bureau chief Jill Dougherty. “Gorbachev was such an extremely influential politician and leader in Russian history,” Hunt touted. “You lived in Russia for about a decade. You met Gorbachev several times. How -- what was your reaction when you heard he passed?”
Dougherty didn’t hold back and admitted she felt “intense sadness” over the death of a brutal leader who violently put down peaceful demonstrations in Lithuania and Latvia. “Gorbachev, I think, in contrast to any previous certainly Soviet leader, was a personal leader. He had extraordinary charisma,” she fondly recalled.
“So, to me, he is the person who absolutely changed history with his own personality, to have that vision that somehow things could change,” Dougherty added, lamenting that the people of Russia don’t share her love:
And it didn't work out the way he wanted it to, but he certainly will go down in history as a person who really reformed and brought Russia out of the darkness, into what eventually became some type of democracy.
We know the problems that exist right now, but Gorbachev certainly, I would hope that Russians eventually, many years from now, will remember him as a person who actually improved Russia and saved Russia from itself at many moments.
“Certainly, he'll be remembered in the West as someone who improved the world,” Hunt asserted.
In the following hour, during The Situation Room, a different eulogy video by international correspondent Phil Black praised a series of advertisements Gorbachev took part in and falsely credited him with the “achievement” of bringing down the Berlin Wall:
This was another fundraising job and it became one of Gorbachev's most famous images. The ad for designer luggage shows him pensively looking out at the remains of the Berlin Wall. Its destruction remains the most iconic achievement of Gorbachev's time in power, and a key reason why he was so respected by the international community.
Black concluded the video by lionizing Gorbachev as “[a] towering international hero branded a domestic failure, a man who changed the world and spent his life working for his country.”
Fill-in anchor Pamela Brown then looked to senior international correspondent Frederik Pleitgen to find out “just how monumental is Gorbachev's legacy?”
“[A]bsolutely gigantic,” Pleitgen proclaimed. “And it's certainly something that really transcends not just obviously, Russia, the former Soviet Union, but then all of Europe and basically the entire world.” He too took part in revisionist history, dismissing President Ronald Reagan and asserting “Mikhail Gorbachev obviously, is credited with being pivotal in bringing down the Iron Curtain and bringing together unity in Europe.”
CNN’s love for another brutal communist dictator was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Air Wick and Wayfair. Their contact information is linked.
The transcripts are below, click “expand” to read:
CNN’s The Lead
August 30, 2022
4:42:16 p.m. Eastern(…)
KASIE HUNT: Now, I want to bring in Jill Dougherty, Russia analyst and the former CNN Moscow Bureau chief.
Jill, thank you so much for spending some time with us. Gorbachev was such an extremely influential politician and leader in Russian history. You lived in Russia for about a decade. You met Gorbachev several times. How -- what was your reaction when you heard he passed?
JILL DOUGHERTY (Russia analyst, former CNN Moscow chief): You know, intense sadness, really, because Gorbachev, I think, in contrast to any previous certainly Soviet leader, was a personal leader. He had extraordinary charisma.
And just on a personal basis, interviewing him, meeting him, and also his relationship which Matthew [Chance] mentioned, with his wife Reisa. He broke the mold when it came to an approachable, personable leader, and that, not to mention, of course, his role in history, which was enormous. If you just look at the Soviet Union itself, and how he changed that.
He changed it with glasnost, which means openness and all of a sudden, publications that nobody could ever read before, they were all over the place. People were reading forbidden literature because there was a complete intellectual opening and a social opening.
And perestroika that's I think the most difficult part of all, because perestroika means rebuilding, and what he wanted to do, and this is where he failed, is to keep the Soviet Union going. He believed that you could reform it, turn it into something like maybe European socialism, but that was impossible, and you know, the Soviet Union collapsed.
And because of that, when people really began to live extremely hard lives, the economy fell apart, there was no structure left anymore to the economy or even societally, people began to blame him. And to this day, many Russians revile him.
So to me, he is the person who absolutely changed history with his own personality, to have that vision that somehow things could change. And it didn't work out the way he wanted it to, but he certainly will go down in history as a person who really reformed and brought Russia out of the darkness, into what eventually became some type of democracy.
We know the problems that exist right now, but Gorbachev certainly, I would hope that Russians eventually, many years from now, will remember him as a person who actually improved Russia and saved Russia from itself at many moments.
HUNT: Certainly, he'll be remembered in the West as someone who improved the world.
(…)
The Situation Room
5:18:51 a.m. EasternPHIL BLACK: This was another fundraising job and it became one of Gorbachev's most famous images. The ad for designer luggage shows him pensively looking out at the remains of the Berlin Wall. Its destruction remains the most iconic achievement of Gorbachev's time in power, and a key reason why he was so respected by the international community.
Some Russians believe one day he will be equally admired by his own people.
IGOR ZEVELEV (political analyst): I think that 100 years from now he will be judged more favorably in my country than he is just -- when he's judged today.
BLACK: A towering international hero branded a domestic failure, a man who changed the world and spent his life working for his country.
[Cuts back to live]
PAMELA BROWN: And let's get more on this breaking news. CNN senior international correspondent Frederik Pleitgen in Moscow and CNN Global Affairs Analyst Susan Glasser, a staff writer for The New Yorker.
So Fred, just how monumental is Gorbachev's legacy?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN: Well, I think it's absolutely gigantic. And it's certainly something that really transcends not just obviously, Russia, the former Soviet Union, but then all of Europe and basically the entire world.
And I think we heard some of that just now in Phil's report about how Mikhail Gorbachev obviously, is credited with being pivotal in bringing down the Iron Curtain and bringing together unity in Europe.
(…)
