The Big Three's morning newscasts on Monday all offered coverage of the latest Wikileaks release of John Podesta e-mails, but only CBS This Morning pointed out the New York Times's Sunday report on how "Hillary Clinton's inner circle built a web of private and public interest in Haiti and Africa when she was secretary of state. Clinton's State Department chief of staff Cheryl Mills helped a South Korean garment maker open a factory in Haiti. The company then became a Clinton Foundation donor." Charlie Rose spotlighted the newspaper's revelation during a lead-in for its Wikileaks segment. [video below]
During her report, correspondent Julianna Goldman detailed how Mrs. Clinton "delivered [a speech] to Goldman Sachs employees in 2013...[and] says she had 'great relations' with Wall Street as senator." Goldman also zeroed in on the Democrat's apparent flip-flopping on the controversy surrounding the Keystone XL pipeline:
JULIANNA GOLDMAN: The e-mails also show how her campaign grappled with the political ramifications of Clinton changing her stance on the controversial Keystone pipeline.
HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I don't think it's in the best interest of what we need to do to combat climate change.
GOLDMAN: But roughly two weeks before publicly opposing the Keystone pipeline in 2015, Clinton had harsh words for environmentalists; and said activists should 'get a life' while in a meeting with the building trade union.
The CBS journalist later featured two soundbites from UCLA political science professor Lynn Vavreck, who asserted that "without Donald Trump out there stepping on this story, we probably would be talking about the Clinton e-mails more. But that doesn't mean that their effect on voters would be bigger."
On Monday's Today, NBC's Andrea Mitchell also highlighted Mrs. Clinton's Wall Street speeches:
ANDREA MITCHELL: ...[A]s a highly paid speaker, Clinton appears to have told the bankers, 'The people that know the industry better than anybody are the people who work in the industry.' In the e-mails released by Wikileaks — not authenticated by Clinton or NBC News — she also said new banking regulations after the 2008 crisis were passed for 'political reasons,' and 'the jury is still out' on the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law. And a stolen e-mail...to campaign chairman John Podesta and others last October reveals Clinton decided to oppose the TPP trade deal she once supported even before seeing the final version, contrary to her later claim.
However, Mitchell omitted the New York Times reporting on Mills and the Clinton Foundation's shady dealings in Haiti and Africa.
ABC's Cecilia Vega introduced her Wikileaks report on Monday's Good Morning America by touting how "the Clinton campaign calls this a crime reminiscent of WaterGate, but worse." Like Goldman on CBS, Vega mentioned how Mrs. Clinton's "private speeches to Wall Street...seem to contradict her public positions — even this one, claiming Clinton told a private trade union gathering that extreme environmentalists need to — quote, 'get a life.' " However, like Mitchell, she ignored the Times's Sunday article on the Clintons and Mills.
The full transcript of Julianna Goldman's report from CBS This Morning on October 17, 2016:
CHARLIE ROSE: And the New York Times says Hillary Clinton's inner circle built a web of private and public interests in Haiti and Africa when she was secretary of state. Clinton's State Department chief of staff Cheryl Mills helped a South Korean garment maker open a factory in Haiti. The company then became a Clinton Foundation donor. Its chairman invested in the company that Mills started after she left the State Department.
Julianna Goldman shows what the newest documents from Wikileaks reveal about Clinton and her team. Julianna, good morning.
JULIANNA GOLDMAN: Good morning. The release of these apparent e-mails, which CBS has not independently verified, continues to expose some of the more opaque aspects of Hillary Clinton's campaign — including how it's dealt with issues that have made her most vulnerable as a candidate.
GOLDMAN (voice-over): The thousands of hacked e-mails reveal how some of those closest to Hillary Clinton worried early on about the fallout from her use of private e-mail servers while secretary of state. In August 2015 — five months after the story first broke — a former adviser, Neera Tanden, wrote to campaign chairman John Podesta, saying, Clinton's 'inability to just do a national interview and communicate genuine feelings of remorse and regret is now, I fear, becoming a character problem — more so than honesty.'
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (D), VERMONT (from Democratic presidential debate on Univision): I would think that a speech so great that you got paid so much money for, you would like to share it with the American people. (Clinton laughs) So I think she should — so release the transcripts. (audience cheers and applauds)
GOLDMAN: During the primary, Senator Bernie Sanders railed against Clinton for not releasing her paid closed-door speeches to Wall Street banks. In leaked transcripts of remarks that Clinton delivered to Goldman Sachs employees in 2013, she says she had 'great relations' with Wall Street as senator; while suggesting that the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill was, at least, partially created — quote, 'for political reasons.' In another speech, Clinton said, in order to be a successful political negotiator, 'you need both a public and a private position.'
The e-mails also show how her campaign grappled with the political ramifications of Clinton changing her stance on the controversial Keystone pipeline.
HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I don't think it's in the best interest of what we need to do to combat climate change.
GOLDMAN: But roughly two weeks before publicly opposing the Keystone pipeline in 2015, Clinton had harsh words for environmentalists; and said activists should 'get a life' while in a meeting with the building trade union.
DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE (from campaign rally): Wikileaks just came out with lots of really unbelievable things.
GOLDMAN: The Trump campaign has seized on the Wikileaks dump — in part, trying to deflect from the recent sexual assault allegations against Donald Trump.
LYNN VAVRECK, PROFESSOR, UCLA: Without Donald Trump out there stepping on this story, we probably would be talking about the Clinton e-mails more. But that doesn't mean that their effect on voters would be bigger.
GOLDMAN: UCLA political science professor Lynn Vavreck says even with the now daily release of new e-mails, it's unlikely to influence the election results.
VAVRECK: I think that everything we're going to learn — everything we have learned and might learn tomorrow from these e-mails — fall into the category of what people already thought they knew about Hillary Clinton.
GOLDMAN (on-camera): The apparent e-mails also highlight the number of people surrounding the Clinton's vying for influence; and also, infighting — including a scathing criticism of longtime Clinton adviser Sidney Blumenthal from John Podesta himself.
Now, Norah, over the weekend, Clinton's running mate, Tim Kaine, said we can't assume the e-mails from Wikileaks are accurate, and they're just the latest indication that Russia is trying to destabilize the election.
NORAH O'DONNELL: All right. Julianna, thank you so much.
