All three networks on Friday morning found time for the gossipy, unverified report that Donald Trump yelled at Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. But NBC and ABC are STILL ignoring the news that five top ISIS leaders have been captured in Iraq and 40 more were killed in an air strike.
CBS This Morning on Friday allowed a scant 42 seconds of air time to military win against terror. Co-host Gayle King explained: “Five senior ISIS leaders have been captured in a joint mission involving Iraqi and U.S. backed Syrian-backed forces. Their confessions were broadcast on Iraqi state television.”
She added: “Iraq’s government says it killed another 40 ISIS members in an air strike using information gathered in those interrogations. The five alleged terrorists include one described as a close aide to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al- Baghdadi.”
King noted the Pentagon referring to these arrests as a “significant blow to ISIS.” In a show of priorities, however, CBS devoted two minutes and 27 seconds to Trump apparently screaming at his DHS Secretary for not securing the border fast enough: “The Secretary of Homeland Security nearly quit this week because of a tongue lashing from the President, according to multiple reports.”
ABC’s Good Morning America and NBC’s Today both completely skipped the setback for ISIS. In contrast, Today devoted 1 minute and 4 seconds to the Trump cabinet story. Peter Alexander hyped the report that “the President berated Homeland Security Secretary Kirsten Nielsen during a cabinet meeting, Wednesday, for her failure to adequately secure the nation's borders.”
GMA spent 37 seconds on Nielsen and nothing on ISIS. Cecilia Vega gossiped: “We're told by a source who was in this meeting this week that the President berated her.”
On Thursday’s evening news, the pattern was the same: Only CBS covered the ISIS story. ABC and NBC skipped it.
A transcript of CBS’s ISIS segment, which aired on May 11 at 7:11am, is below:
CBS This Morning
5/11/18
7:11AM ETGAYLE KING: Five senior ISIS leaders have been captured in a joint mission involving Iraqi and U.S. backed Syrian-backed forces. Their confessions were broadcast on Iraqi state television. Iraq’s government says it killed another 40 ISIS members in an air strike using information gathered in those interrogations. The five alleged terrorists include one described as a close aide to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al- Baghdadi
MICHAEL MORELL: I think he would be the one to provide the most intelligence on where Baghdadi might be, what he might be thinking, what his plans might be as far as going forward as a group.
KING: The Pentagon calls these arrests a significant blow to ISIS. All the prisoners are currently being held in Iraqi custody.
