On Friday evening, the “big three” networks of ABC, CBS, and NBC all ignored the latest dump of Hillary Clinton’s e-mails from the State Department that included the retroactive classification of 268 e-mails that now makes for one out of every 16 e-mails that have been “released” to the public since her private e-mail server scandal was unearthed in March.
Instead of giving this story even a passing mention, ABC’s World News Tonight and NBC Nightly News had other ideas as they combined to waste 30 seconds hyping viral video of a giant inflatable pumpkin in Arizona that had come loose and tumbled down a road.
As they so often do, the Fox News Channel (FNC) program Special Report with Bret Baier picked up the pieces and had the diligence to inform their viewers of the development and a peek at what the latest e-mails were about in a full report from chief White House correspondent Ed Henry.
Henry explained right off the top of his three-minute-plus segment that “another 268 emails on Hillary Clinton's server have been deemed classified” with the “State Department maintaining they were not marked classified in real-time, but this brings the total to nearly 700 emails with classified information despite the initial denials from Clinton.”
After reporting on Clinton’s latest campaign stops and tension with Black Lives Matter protesters, Henry returned to the e-mail scandal with the news that the White House will not be releasing any of Clinton’s e-mails between herself and President Obama:
Another big development tonight. A senior official confirms the White House has decided they will not release any e-mails between the President and Secretary Clinton until after she leaves office, citing past precedent. I'm told there's a small number of e-mails between the two leaders, mostly non-substantive.
Putting that in context, Henry denoted that “this shows the President knew she was using private email, thought an official notes the onus is on the secretary to preserve those records.”
Baier then prodded Henry to give viewers a further taste as to what’s in the e-mails, and Henry responded by alluding to correspondences between Clinton and Abedin that show she was routinely informed of security at U.S. compounds (despite her emphasis at the Benghazi hearing she was rarely kept in the loop on this subject):
Huma Abedin, at one point, giving information from the Egyptian Foreign Minister and Hillary Clinton says why are you e-mailing me and if she realizes we shouldn't be putting this on e-mail and then a whole bunch is redacted. Also interesting, there at least a couple emails giving Hillary Clinton updates about, you know, a facility in Chile. U.S. facility hit by earthquake, another facility in Kyrgyzstan, there was a security problem. Why is that interesting? Well, those made it to her desk, to her email. At the Benghazi hearing, Hillary Clinton said I usually didn't get those kinds of updates about U.S. compounds. That’s why I didn't know about the 600 requests for more security at Benghazi. So, when you put it together, there’s some interesting differences.
As this writer mentioned earlier, ABC and NBC found the giant rolling pumpkin breaking loose to be far more relevant to viewers. On World News Tonight, anchor David Muir exclaimed: “And the great pumpkin on the move, coming loose in high winds, barreling through an intersection. Oh no — Peoira, Arizona, 25 feet high, 350 pounds, it only bounced, though, for [a] quarter mile.”
Along with that 11-second gem, NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt added 19 seconds of his own airtime touting this video:
And the video of the day comes from Peoria, Arizona. A fright for driver just in time for Halloween. Storm gusts blow a giant, inflatable pumpkin down the street through a busy intersection. It broke free from a business’s Halloween display, bouncing through traffic before finally getting stuck in a neighborhood park.
The relevant portions of the transcript from FNC’s Special Report with Bret Baier on October 30 can be found below.
FNC’s Special Report with Bret Baier
October 30, 2015
6:13 p.m. Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE CAPTION: More Emails Released]
BRET BAIER: Hillary Clinton's campaign is heading south. The Democratic front-runner was in Georgia earlier today and is about to give a speech in Charleston, South Carolina. Back up north, more of her emails are coming out in yet another Friday night document dump. Chief White House correspondent Ed Henry is here with details. Good evening, Ed.
ED HENRY: Good to see you, Bret. Another 268 emails on Hillary Clinton's server have been deemed classified. State Department maintaining they were not marked classified in real-time, but this brings the total to nearly 700 emails with classified information despite the initial denials from Clinton, who also had a little trouble today with black lives matter protesters.
(....)
HENRY: Black lives matter protesters repeatedly tried to disrupt an African-Americans for Clinton rally late anywhere the day while her supporters shouted let her talk.
(....)
HENRY: And while Clinton has insisted only the press cares about her e-mail situation, she was confronted on that Thursday by a voter in New Hampshire.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE VOTER IN NEW HAMPSHIRE: You said earlier that you wanted to end corruption, but how can you do that, after the Whitewater scandals, Benghazi and the deleted emails.
(....)
HENRY: Another big development tonight. A senior official confirms the White House has decided they will not release any e-mails between the President and Secretary Clinton until after she leaves office, citing past precedent. I'm told there's a small number of e-mails between the two leaders, mostly non-substantive. Of course, this shows the President knew she was using private email, thought an official notes the onus is on the secretary to preserve those records.
BAIER: So, we're still going through them? But there’s just interesting exchange every time you get one of these.
HENRY: No doubt about it. Huma Abedin, at one point, giving information from the Egyptian Foreign Minister and Hillary Clinton says why are you e-mailing me and if she realizes we shouldn't be putting this on e-mail and then a whole bunch is redacted. Also interesting, there at least a couple emails giving Hillary Clinton updates about, you know, a facility in Chile. U.S. facility hit by earthquake, another facility in Kyrgyzstan, there was a security problem. Why is that interesting? Well, those made it to her desk, to her email. At the Benghazi hearing, Hillary Clinton said I usually didn't get those kinds of updates about U.S. compounds. That’s why I didn't know about the 600 requests for more security at Benghazi. So, when you put it together, there’s some interesting differences.
