NBC seems to of have enough of the political scandal which involved an apparent pay-for-play scheme between the Clinton Foundation and the Hillary Clinton’s State Department. During Wednesday’s NBC Nightly News the network failed to mention the scandal at all, even though competitor CBS found new connections. “Clinton's fundraising highlights the apparent blurry lines between her family's charitable work and political ventures,” reported CBS’s Julianna Goldman, “Of the 15 fundraisers Clinton has held over the last week, more than half have been hosted by donors who have also given to the foundation.”
The step by NBC to stop reporting on the Clinton Foundation comes after Nightly News spent the previous evening defending it. Correspondent Andrea Mitchel described the scandal as merely, “A headache for the Clinton campaign that could last until the election and beyond.” Mitchell also noted that, “This would not necessarily violate laws or ethical agreements the Clintons signed.”
Even though Goldman did draw attention to the new connections between the fundraiser attendees and foundation donations, she seemed to be upset that Clinton would have put herself in that position at all. “Her absence [from the campaign trail] has kept her from turning the page on controversies over her e-mail and the Clinton Foundation,” Goldman stated on CBS Evening News.
Meanwhile on ABC’s World News Tonight, correspondent David Wright talked but the fundraiser as a way for Clinton to make it through firestorm:
DAVID WRIGHT: Tonight, under attack, Hillary Clinton's getting a little help from her celebrity friends. Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel hosted a star-studded fundraiser -- $33,000 a ticket. Sports legend Magic Johnson and Cher are raising money, too. Cher even took some pot shots at Donald Trump.
CHER: I've been watching him speak, you know, with the Teleprompters. And it's like, do you remember "Fun with Dick and Jane"? It's like a racist "Fun with Dick and Jane."
Wright even turned to former President Bill Clinton to give him a hand. The ABC reporter played a clip of Bill defending his foundation saying, “We're trying to do good things. If there's something wrong with creating jobs and saving lives, I don't know what it is. I have nothing to say about it, except I'm very proud.”
Transcripts below:
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CBS
Evening News
August 24, 2016
6:39:33 PM EasternMAURISE DUBOIS: And while Trump hunts for votes, Hillary Clinton is mining for money. Julianna Goldman has that.
[Cuts to video]
JULIANNA GOLDMAN: This may be all the public we'll see of Hillary Clinton today as she heads into a private fund raiser in California. Instead of spending the end of August storming battleground states, Clinton is on a money-raising marathon to pay for the fall fight against Donald Trump. But her absence has kept her from turning the page on controversies over her e-mail and the Clinton Foundation, which has raised $2 billion to promote global health and economic development. Instead, she opened herself up to attacks.
DONLAD TRUMP: It's impossible to tell where the Clinton Foundation ends, and the State Department begins.
GOLDMAN: Clinton's fundraising highlights the apparent blurry lines between her family's charitable work and political ventures. Of the 15 fundraisers Clinton has held over the last week, more than half have been hosted by donors who have also given to the foundation, including one today by apple C.E.O. Tim Cook. His cohost, Executive Vice President Lisa Jackson, is on the foundation's board. While Clinton is set to deliver a speech tomorrow in Nevada, her time away from the trail has given Trump other ammunition.
TRUMP: No press conference in, what, 255 day.
HILLARY CLINTON: I think we're ready to take a few questions.
GOLDMAN: That's since December. She sat down for hundreds of interviews, including with 60 Minutes last month. But she hasn't faced the sort of uncontrolled, rapid-fire questioning over the same period in 2008, then Senator Obama held at least four press conferences. Trump has held at least seven.
[Cuts back t0 live]
With Hillary Clinton away from the campaign trail, late today, former President Bill Clinton defended the foundation's work. Maurice, he said, “If there's something wrong with creating jobs and saving lives, I don’t know what it is.”
...
ABC
World News Tonight
August 24, 2016
6:41:49 PM Eastern [2 Minutes 32 Seconds]DAVID MUIR: And meantime this evening, as Donald Trump turns up the heat on Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation, her surrogates out in force. Former president Bill Clinton jumping in tonight. And how the Trump team answered when asked, “Didn’t Donald Trump donate to the Clinton foundation himself?” Here's David Wright.
[Cuts to video]
DAVID WRIGHT: Tonight, under attack, Hillary Clinton's getting a little help from her celebrity friends. Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel hosted a star-studded fundraiser -- $33,000 a ticket. Sports legend Magic Johnson and Cher are raising money, too. Cher even took some pot shots at Donald Trump.
CHER: I've been watching him speak, you know, with the Teleprompters. And it's like, do you remember "Fun with Dick and Jane"? It's like a racist "Fun with Dick and Jane."
WRIGHT: But as Clinton smiles with stars, her team is in full damage control mode, pushing back against tough scrutiny of the Clinton Foundation. The Associated Press reports that as secretary of state, more than half the meetings she had with people outside government were with big donors to the foundation. Donald Trump calls it –
DONALD TRUMP: A vast pay for play scheme.
WRIGHT: But Trump himself has donated. Asked why, his campaign manager said this –
ANDERSON COOPER: Donald Trump himself gave at least $100,000, at least, to the Clinton Foundation. Was he giving that money pay-to-play?
KELLYANNE CONWAY: No, the Clinton Foundation does a lot of good work. And I also want to say that for the record, they do.
COOPER: So he wasn't paying to play?
CONWAY: No, he was not paying-to-play.
WRIGHT: Tonight, Bill Clinton is defending his foundation's work.
BILL CLINTON: We're trying to do good things. If there's something wrong with creating jobs and saving lives, I don't know what it is. I have nothing to say about it, except I'm very proud.
WRIGHT: Clinton's supporters say Trump is in no position to criticize.
TERRY MCAULIFFE: Donald Trump has zero credibility talking about any of these issues until this man releases his taxes.
WRIGHT: Today, Trump's son Eric says, don't hold your breath.
ERIC TRUMP: You would have a bunch of people that know nothing about taxes trying to look through and trying to come up with assumptions on things they know nothing about. It would be foolish to do.
[Cuts back to live]
MUIR: And David Wright is with us live in Brooklyn tonight. David, Clinton's campaign is now defending those meetings she had with foundation donors while she was secretary of state?
WRIGHT: That's right, David. The list includes some notable philanthropists, including Malinda Gates, and also even some Nobel peace prize winners, among them the late Elie Wiesel.
