CBS This Morning on Monday again allowed Gayle King interview Cory Booker. King and the 2020 Democratic presidential candidate are personal friends and the co-host has been a supporter in the past. Booker jokingly worried he would get “tougher questions.” But instead, King simply wondered if his gun control plan could pass and if Booker will marry his actress girlfriend.
Co-host John Dickerson opened the interview by reminding, “We should also mention that Gayle is good friends with the senator and has supported him in the past.” King complained, “Why should we mention that? I left my Cory Booker t-shirt at home.” As the Washington Free Beacon explained, Booker appeared on the January 17, 2018 and January 26, 2018 editions of the show and there was no public disclosure. (There was disclosure on February 4, 2019 and on Monday.)
Regarding the conflict of interest, the New Jersey senator predicted, “Unfortunately, that means she has to ask me tougher questions.” He needn’t have worried. King wondered about the Democrat’s celebrity girlfriend: “If you become president, will Rosario Dawson become first lady?”
King asked about Booker’s gun control proposals, but only to lament that tighter restrictions haven’t already passed:
You're certainly no stranger, Cory, to gun violence in the city of Newark. I think most people in the country thought after the Newtown shooting, the gun laws would change. After Parkland, the gun laws would change. Nothing people say has changed. Why do you think this is going to be different now? Most politicians stay away from this issue because it’s a hot button issue.
The Free Beacon’s David Rutz noted that in 2012, then-CBS host Charlie Rose quizzed Booker about his close relationship with King. King blurted, “It’s not hooking up, Charlie. No boinking has occurred.”
Regardless of the details of the relationship, King has a long history of supporting Democrats. According to Open Secrets, she’s donated to Barack Obama, the DNC, and Harold Ford Jr. While at CBS, she donated to Obama and attended his birthday party. Most recently, she vacationed with the Obamas.
Here they are at the 2012 New York premiere of Friends With Benefits. (Picture from YouTube.)
A transcript of segment’s questions can be found below. Click “expand” to read more:
CBS This Morning
5/6/19
8:05 a.m. EasternJOHN DICKERSON: Senator Cory Booker is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations committee and a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination. This morning, Booker unveiled his new plan to prevent gun violence in the United States. It calls for a national gun licensing program to keep guns out of the wrong hands. His plan would also ban assault rifles, limit handgun purchases to one a month and close loopholes that allow abusive partners to buy guns. As part of our series, the Road to 2020, Senator Booker joins us first on CBS This Morning to reveal the details of his plan. Good morning, senator. We should also mention that Gayle is good friends with the senator and has supported him in the past.
GAYLE KING: Why should we mention that? I left my Cory Booker t-shirt at home.
SENATOR CORY BOOKER: Unfortunately, that means she has to ask me tougher questions.
DICKERSON: Exactly. Well, we’ve got that out of the way. Senator, tell us first, what do you think of this move in respect to Iran?
BOOKER: I worry about the policy we have with Iran. The president pulled out of an Iran deal, really turning his back on our allies.
(....)
O’DONNELL: But we heard from the National Security Adviser that this threat emerged and likely the last 24 to 48 hours. What was is threat? There is this allusion to a threat against U.S. forces.
(....)
DICKERSON: Let me ask you about your new plan. Why is licensing guns the solution?
(....)
DICKERSON: One of the push backs is you license guns, you make it more difficult for the honorable gun owners to get their — engage in their Second Amendment right and the people who want to get guns and shoot each other in the streets are going to do it anyway because nobody enforces the law.
(....)
KING: You're certainly no stranger, Cory, to gun violence in the city of Newark. I think most people in the country thought after the Newtown shooting, the gun laws would change. After Parkland, the gun laws would change. Nothing people say has changed. Why do you think this is going to be different now? Most politicians stay away from this issue because it’s a hot button issue.
(....)
KING: I'm curious how your campaign is going. Whenever they do the top five candidates, we are now 21 candidates in, you're never in the top five. Are you concerned about that? Are you thinking you're breaking through? Are you thinking you’re doing okay? Because when you look at the numbers, it's like, “Oh, no.”
BOOKER: Well, I have no concern at this point.
KING: Should you be concerned?
(....)
KING: If you become president will Rosario Dawson become first lady?
BOOKER: I knew you were going to ask such a question.
KING: I was just reading —
O’DONNELL: Now, I really want to know the answer.
KING: Do you speak English at the table?
BOOKER: I will talk to you about my love life off the air like we usually do.
DICKERSON: And then Gayle will tell us about it and America.
BOOKER: I thought this was CBS News not TMZ!
KING: Hello to Rosaio is all I’m saying.
BOOKER: Hello to my girlfriend as well.
