On Wednesday, House Republicans held two critical hearings on behalf of the American people: the first was to find the origin of the COVID pandemic, and the other was to hold officials accountable for the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan. Despite COVID killing over 1.1 million Americans, the Wednesday evening and Thursday morning newscasts of CBS and NBC completely ignored the hearing. Meanwhile, ABC’s evening and morning newscasts were uninterested in the emotional testimony of a Marine who witnessed the deadly incompetence of the Biden administration in Afghanistan.
Instead of reporting on the COVID hearing Wednesday evening, CBS Evening News was busy with the latest drama from the British royal family while NBC Nightly News was looking for UFOs again. CBS Mornings and NBC’s Today were more concerned with Syracuse University basketball coach Jim Boeheim’s retirement Thursday morning.
Over on ABC’s World News Tonight and Good Morning America, senior congressional correspondent Rachel Scott delivered sober reports about the content of the hearing; including the growing suspicion that COVID-19 had escaped a lab and the concerns against so-called “gain of function” research.
“House Republicans ramping up their investigation into the origins of COVID-19 holding their first hearing on Capitol Hill. The three witnesses they called made a forceful argument that it started with an accidental lab leak in Wuhan, China,” she reported.
She even included a soundbite of Dr. Jamie Metzl of the Atlantic Council, who testified that “There’s no smoking gun proving a laboratory origin hypothesis but the growing body of evidence suggests a gun that is at least very warm to the touch.”
She even treated Republican concerns regarding the use and funding of gain-of-function research with respect:
SCOTT: With no clear consensus, the focus turns to advanced biomedical labs like that one in Wuhan. Some experts warning the work that goes on there could be dangerous, especially research called gain-of-function where viruses are enhanced to study their potential impact in the world.
DR. ROBERT REDFIELD (CDC Director, Trump): While many believe that gain of function research is critical to get ahead of viruses by developing vaccines, in this case, I believe it was the exact opposite.
She did note: “Other experts warn those labs are necessary and safe.”
As for the Afghanistan hearing, ABC maintained their silence choosing instead to hype the Oscars Thursday morning. Meanwhile, NBC had finally decided to inform their viewers of the hearing, giving it less than a minute (55 seconds).
“An injured U.S. Marine gave emotional testimony yesterday at a House hearing into chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Marine Corps Sergeant Tyler Vargas Andrews said his superiors ignored his warnings about a suicide attack at the Kabul airport, moments before a bomb went off, killing 13 U.S. service members,” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie announced before going to a soundbite of Vargas.
She then defended the Biden administration by attempting to refute how “The Republican chairman says the 2021 evacuation resulted from a failure of leadership by the Biden administration. Democrats say the disorganized withdrawal resulted from the policies of numerous presidents both Republican and Democrat.”
CBS decided to move on from the Afghanistan hearing after they covered it Wednesday evening.
The broadcast networks’ disinterest in these hearings was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Vicks on ABC, Verizon on CBS, and Progressive on NBC. Their contact information is linked.
The transcripts are below, click "expand" to read:
ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir
03/08/23
6:31:48 p.m. [TEASE]
11 seconds
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: COVID-19 Origins?]
DAVID MUIR: Tough questions on the Hill tonight about the origins of COVID-19 and will Americans ever get an answer? What the former CDC director from the Trump administration said today, and Dr. Fauci’s response.
(....)
6:41:25 p.m.
2 minutes and 18 seconds
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Investigating COVID-19 Origins]
MUIR: Back here in the U.S., on Capitol Hill, tough questions about the origin of COVID-19 and will Americans ever get a clear answer? House Republicans holding their first public hearing on the origins. Their first witnesses all testifying that they believe it came from an accidental leak at a Chinese lab. What the former CDC director from the Trump administration said today, and Dr. Anthony Fauci’s response tonight. Rachel Scott on the Hill for us.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Breaking News; Investigating COVID-19 Origins; House Republicans Explore Lab Leak Theory]
RACHEL SCOTT: Tonight, Republicans ramping up their investigation into the origins of COVID-19, holding their first public hearing to tackle the burning question — where did the virus come from?
CONGRESSMAN BRAD WENSTRUP (R-OH): Discovering the origins is vital. It matters for the future of the world.
SCOTT: All three witnesses invited by Republicans argued the virus was a result of a lab leak in Wuhan, China.
JAMIE METZL: There is no smoking gun proving a laboratory origin hypothesis, but the growing body of circumstantial evidence suggests a gun that is at very least warm to the touch.
SCOTT: It comes just days after a report that the Department of Energy suspects with low confidence that the pandemic likely started with a lab leak. The FBI agrees, a conclusion they reached with moderate confidence. Dr. Robert Redfield, the former CDC director under President Donald Trump, testified he was excluded from discussions with Dr. Anthony Fauci and other scientists, because he believed that the lab leak theory needed to be investigated.
ROBERT REDFIELD: It was told to me that they wanted a single narrative, and that I obviously had a different point of view.
SCOTT: But Dr. Fauci telling Politico that accusation is “completely untrue,” saying, “no one excluded anyone.” Nearly three years after the pandemic started, the intelligence community is still divided on how it all began. Four other intelligence agencies have determined the virus was more likely spread through natural transmission, a human being exposed to an infected animal. Today, the director of national intelligence was also on Capitol Hill, grilled on when Americans will get an answer.
DNI DIRECTOR AVRIL HAINES: China has not fully cooperated, and we do think that’s a key, critical gap that would help us to understand what exactly happened.
SCOTT: The White House making it clear there is no consensus from the government, but insisting the President wants to get to the bottom of this. And tonight, intelligence officials are warning the mystery itself is a threat. David?
MUIR: All right, Rachel Scott on this again tonight. Rachel, thank you.
ABC’s Good Morning America
03/09/23
7:02:37 a.m. [TEASE]
14 seconds
MICHAEL STRAHAN: Also this morning, we are following the latest from the high-stakes hearing on Capitol Hill.
JUJU CHANG: Absolutely. It’s those enduring questions about the origin of COVID. It took center stage as House Republicans ramp up their investigation. We’ll have the biggest moments from the testimony.
(....)
7:17:26 a.m. [TEASE]
6 seconds
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: We have a lot more coming up. House Republicans ramping up their investigation about COVID-19's origin. We’re going to tell you what we learned from the testimony on Capitol Hill.
(....)
7:30:56 a.m.
2 minutes and 19 seconds
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: New This Morning; Investigating COVID’s Origins; New Testimony on Lab Leak Theory in High-Stakes Capitol Hill Hearing]
STEPHANOPOULOS: We’re going to turn now to the debate over COVID-19 playing out on Capitol Hill. House Republicans held their first hearing on the origin of the pandemic. Senior congressional correspondent Rachel Scott is back with the latest on that. Good morning, Rachel.
RACHEL SCOTT: George, good morning. And it is a burning question, there is no clear consensus on how the pandemic started. House Republicans launching their own investigation as intelligence officials warn the mystery itself is a threat. It’s a question that has haunted health officials for three years: where did COVID-19 come from?
CONGRESSMAN BRAD WENSTRUP (R-OH): The truth is we don’t know the origins of COVID-19 yet for sure.
SCOTT: House Republicans ramping up their investigation into the origins of COVID-19 holding their first hearing on Capitol Hill. The three witnesses they called made a forceful argument that it started with an accidental lab leak in Wuhan, China, including Trump’s former CDC Director, Robert Redfield.
ROBERT REDFIELD: Based on my initial analysis of the data — [SCREEN WIPE] — it indicates that COVID-19 more likely was the result of an accidental lab leak than a result of a natural spillover event.
SCOTT: It’s an assessment two agencies agree with: the Department of Energy with “low confidence,” the FBI with “moderate confidence.”
JAMIE METZL: There’s no smoking gun proving a laboratory origin hypothesis but the growing body of evidence suggests a gun that is at least very warm to the touch.
SCOTT: But four other intelligence agencies believe the virus was more likely spread through natural transmission, a human being exposed to an infected animal. The director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, was also on Capitol Hill pressed by lawmakers in a separate hearing on when Americans would have an answer.
DNI DIRECTOR AVRIL HAINES: China has not fully cooperated, and we do think that’s a key, critical gap that would help us to understand what exactly happened.
SCOTT: With no clear consensus, the focus turns to advanced biomedical labs like that one in Wuhan. Some experts warning the work that goes on there could be dangerous, especially research called gain of function where viruses are enhanced to study their potential impact in the world.
REDFIELD: While many believe that gain of function research is critical to get ahead of viruses by developing vaccines, in this case, I believe it was the exact opposite.
SCOTT: Other experts warn those labs are necessary and safe, so no definitive answer but the intelligence community does agree on one thing: Figuring out how the pandemic started is critical to preventing the next one. George.
STEPHANOPOULOS: It certainly is. Rachel, thanks very much.
NBC’s Today
03/09/23
8:04:31 a.m.
54 seconds
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: News at 8; Marine’s Emotional Testimony on Capitol Hill]
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: An injured U.S. Marine gave emotional testimony yesterday at a House hearing into chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Marine Corps Sergeant Tyler Vargas Andrews said his superiors ignored his warnings about a suicide attack at the Kabul airport, moments before a bomb went off, killing 13 U.S. service members.
TYLER VARGAS ANDREWS: I opened my eyes to Marines dead or unconscious lying around me. [SCREEN WIPE] The withdrawal was a catastrophe in my opinion and there was an inexcusable lack of accountability and negligence.
GUTHRIE: The Republican chairman says the 2021 evacuation resulted from a failure of leadership by the Biden administration. Democrats say the disorganized withdrawal resulted from the policies of numerous presidents both Republican and Democrat.
