Hours before President Obama’s final State of the Union address, NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent and MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell took to the airwaves of Tuesday’s NBC Nightly News to complain that Iran seizing 10 U.S. Sailors had created a “frantic” situation for the President that “could not have happened at the worst time.”
Anchor Lester Holt led into Mitchell’s analysis by explaining that Tuesday’s news comes “against the back drop of years of bad history between the U.S. and Iran, but also the delicate nuclear deal” reached between the countries and allies in July 2015.
Asked to elaborate on what transpired on the U.S. side, Mitchell immediately began by lamenting about it overshadowing the President’s speech and his plans to boast about the Iran deal:
It has been frantic. Lester, politically this could not have happened at the worst time, only hours before the state of the union address when the President had planned to talk about the fact that Iran had gotten rid of most of its nuclear fuel and the nuclear deal lifting the sanctions was only days away from being implemented.
Mitchell hyped that “behind the scenes, it was a scramble” with Secretary of State John Kerry suddenly leaving a meeting with diplomats from the Philippines to call Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif to discuss what occurred.
While mentioned that the Iranians have supposedly “promised the release of the sailors,” too much time had passed before “Republican critics like Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio” were able to publically blast the President and ruling that “this exposed his Iran policy.”
Using her final seconds of the segment to continue spinning for the Obama administration, Mitchell declared:
State officials say it proves exactly the opposite that, if this happened a year ago before Kerry and Iran negotiated the deal, hardliners in Iran would make sure the sailors did not get out at all. Lester, they say daylight is when they will get out.
The relevant portion of the transcript from January 12's NBC Nightly News can be found below.
NBC Nightly News
January 12, 2016
7:03 p.m. EasternLESTER HOLT: The story playing out against the back drop of years of bad history between the U.S. And Iran, but also the delicate nuclear deal and, of course, as Mik mentioned, the President about to speak to the nation. Let's go to Andrea Mitchell now, our chief foreign affairs correspondent. What’s been going on behind the scenes today?
ANDREA MITCHELL: It has been frantic. Lester, politically this could not have happened at the worst time, only hours before the State of the Union address when the President had planned to talk about the fact that Iran had gotten rid of most of its nuclear fuel and the nuclear deal lifting the sanctions was only days away from being implemented. So, behind the scenes it was a scramble. Secretary Kerry ran out of a meeting with top officials from the Philippines to call Iran’s Foreign Minister Zarif. Kerry explaining they had sailed into Iranian waters by accident. After a while, Iranian officials called back and promised the release of the sailors promptly, but Republican critics like Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio already are saying this exposed his Iran policy. State officials say it proves exactly the opposite that, if this happened a year ago before Kerry and Iran negotiated the deal, hardliners in Iran would make sure the sailors did not get out at all. Lester, they say daylight is when they will get out.
HOLT: Andrea Mitchell, thank you.
MITCHELL: You bet.
