On Tuesday, hours before the Trump administration announced a gradual end to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration executive order implemented by President Obama, the network morning shows feared the “immigration battle” to come while promoting the “blue-state backlash” as left-wing activists took to the streets in protest.
Opening NBC’s Today, co-host Savannah Guthrie warned “backlash already brewing” against the expected policy change and hyping “a major controversy facing the White House” while introducing a report on the topic minutes later. “It’s a controversial move that’s already creating opposition from the left and many on the far right,” announced White House Correspondent Kristen Welker.
Welker continued: “As Washington gets back to work today, President Trump is setting off a bruising immigration battle, deciding the fate of more than 780,000 young immigrants brought here illegally by their parents.” She touted: “The expected decision already triggering cross-country protests over the holiday weekend and a blue-state backlash, with attorneys general in New York and Washington vowing to sue if the President cancels DACA.”
Noting that “Candidate Trump pledged to repeal the Obama-era program,” Welker teed up a 2015 clip of Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd grilling Trump over the issue in a hostile interview:
CHUCK TODD [MEET THE PRESS/AUGUST 16, 2015]: You’ll rescind the DREAM Act executive order, the DACA?
DONALD TRUMP: We have to. We have to make a whole new set of standards and when people come in they have to come in legally –
TODD: So you’re going to split up families, you’re going to deport children?
She then observed that “As president, he sounded more compassionate,” implying that such compassion had been lost with the upcoming decision on Tuesday.
After Welker proclaimed that the “GOP remains deeply divided” over immigration, co-host Matt Lauer wondered: “Kristen, members of Congress haven’t seen eye to eye on a lot of key topics. What’s the likelihood that they can come up with some kind of fix for DACA?” The reporter emphasized: “Well, look, Matt, in the words of one top Republican who I spoke to, the fight over DACA will either unite the Republican Party or too tear it apart.”
At the top of ABC’s Good Morning America, co-host George Stephanopoulos breathlessly declared: “And the White House just hours away from revealing their immigration plan affecting hundreds of thousands of immigrant young people called DREAMers. Their futures hang in the balance as protests erupt and business leaders put pressure on the President.”
In the report that followed, White House Correspondent Jon Karl explained that the administration’s move would be “putting the burden on Congress to find a way to get them out of limbo.” He sounded the alarm: “...this morning, the nearly 800,000 so-called DREAMers currently living in the U.S. are waiting to hear if they will be stripped of their legal status.”
Heralding how “Protesters are already taking to the streets across the country,” Karl also used the storm devastation in Texas to denounce ending DACA: “In Houston, a large population of DREAMers is also dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. We asked Vice President Pence about them last week when he toured the disaster zone.” A clip followed of the reporter demanding: “There are more than 120,000 DREAMers here in the state of Texas who would lose their legal status as a result of that. Is this really the time to do that?”
Insisting that “pressure is mounting” on the President, Karl cited “more than 350 business and tech leaders, including Apple’s Tim Cook and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg are demanding the President protect the DREAMers, calling them ‘vital to the future of our companies and our economy.’”
On CBS This Morning, co-host Charlie Rose seemed to make a Freudian slip when he mistakenly told viewers: “In a few hours, Attorney General Jeff Sessions is expected to announce the end of a program protecting nearly 800,000 immigrants brought to the United States legally [sic] as children.” Moments later, correspondent Margaret Brennan accurately explained: “Activists outside the White House, Monday night, urged President Trump to uphold legal protections for children whose parents illegally entered the country.”
To CBS’s credit, Brennan actually detailed how “attorneys general from Texas and nine states have threatened to sue if the President does not agree to phase out the DACA program. They argue that DACA is the result of presidential overreach by President Obama who created it through executive action in 2012.”
The biased reports were brought to viewers by Citi, Febreze, and Gain.
Here are excerpts from the September 5 coverage on all three networks:
Today
7:05 AM ET
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: There’s a lot more to get it to this morning, including a major controversy facing the White House. Later this morning, the President is expected to announce his long-awaited decision on DACA. That is a program that protects undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children. NBC’s White House Correspondent Kristen Welker has the latest on this. Kristen, good morning.
KRISTEN WELKER: Hi, Savannah, good morning to you. President Trump previewed the big challenges he faces in an overnight tweet using just four words, “Big week coming up!” And it all starts this morning at the Justice Department when Attorney General Jeff Sessions is expected to announce the President’s plan to end DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, with a six-month delay. It’s a controversial move that’s already creating opposition from the left and many on the far right.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Trump Expected to End “DREAMer” Program; May Phase Out DACA Program With 6-Month Delay]
As Washington gets back to work today, President Trump is setting off a bruising immigration battle, deciding the fate of more than 780,000 young immigrants brought here illegally by their parents. White House sources tell NBC News the President will likely end DACA today with a six-month delay for Congress to come up with a fix. The program protects DREAMers from being deported while they work or attend school.
The expected decision already triggering cross-country protests over the holiday weekend and a blue-state backlash, with attorneys general in New York and Washington vowing to sue if the President cancels DACA.
Candidate Trump pledged to repeal the Obama-era program.
CHUCK TODD [MEET THE PRESS/AUGUST 16, 2015]: You’ll rescind the DREAM Act executive order, the DACA?
DONALD TRUMP: We have to. We have to make a whole new set of standards and when people come in they have to come in legally –
TODD: So you’re going to split up families, you’re going to deport children?
TRUMP: Chuck, Chuck – no, no, we’re going to keep the families together. We have to keep the families together, but they have to go.
TODD: But you’re going to keep them together out?
TRUMP: They have to go.
(...)
Good Morning America
7:10 AM ET
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: And North Korea’s just one of many crucial issues facing the White House and Washington. Today the Trump administration will announce the President’s decision on the fate of the DREAMers, several hundred thousand undocumented immigrants who came here as children. And the President will meet today with congressional leaders on tax return, they hope to reach agreement on a plan to reduce taxes and loopholes by the end of the year. Ahead of that, some daunting deadlines for extending the debt limit, keeping the government open, and providing help to the victims of Hurricane Harvey.
It is a full agenda, so let’s bring in our chief White House Correspondent Jon Karl with more on the President’s decision on the DREAMers. Good morning, Jon.
JON KARL: Good morning, George. The decision will be announced later this morning. I am told that the program that has provided legal status for hundreds of thousands of DREAMers will be phased out over the next six months, putting the burden on Congress to find a way to get them out of limbo.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Trump to Announce “DREAMer” Decision; Facing Bipartisan Pressure Over Immigration Program]
ABC NEWS REPORTER: Should the DREAMers be worried?
DONALD TRUMP: We love the DREAMers. We love everybody.
KARL: That was the President on Friday. But this morning, the nearly 800,000 so-called DREAMers currently living in the U.S. are waiting to hear if they will be stripped of their legal status.
CESAR ESPINOSA [DACA RECIPIENT]: When you love somebody, you protect them and you care for them. And if the administration does decide to rescind the program then that doesn’t show any love or caring for our community.
KARL: Protesters are already taking to the streets across the country. In Houston, a large population of DREAMers is also dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. We asked Vice President Pence about them last week when he toured the disaster zone.
[TO PENCE] There are more than 120,000 DREAMers here in the state of Texas who would lose their legal status as a result of that.
MIKE PENCE: Well –
KARL: Is this really the time to do that?
PENCE: Well, President Trump has said all along that he’s giving very careful consideration to that issue and that when he makes his decision he’ll make it, as he likes to say, with big heart. And I know that he will.
(...)
CBS This Morning
7:07 AM ET
CHARLIE ROSE: In a few hours, Attorney General Jeff Sessions is expected to announce the end of a program protecting nearly 800,000 immigrants brought to the United States legally [sic] as children. CBS News confirms that President Trump plans to let the program known as DACA end. The Obama administration started DACA five years ago. It allows young immigrants to obtain work permits and avoid deportation. Margaret Brennen is the White House where Mr. Trump's decision follows months of debate.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Good morning. Well, the President is expected to gradually wind down DACA, but not immediately rescind permits or deport their recipients. Instead, he’ll urge Congress to craft new laws which begins yet another public fight over whether young undocumented immigrants should get legal protections.
WOMAN: This is impacting all of us here, right?
SECOND WOMAN: These are the children who have made America great.
BRENNAN: Activists outside the White House, Monday night, urged President Trump to uphold legal protections for children whose parents illegally entered the country. Luke Hwang came into the country at age of 11.
LUKE HWANG: These are children who came to this country and call it home.
BRENNAN: President Trump has struggled with the decision, even praising the young immigrants known as Dreamers.
DONALD TRUMP: We love the Dreamers. We love everybody.
BRENNAN: Prominent lawmakers from both parties have encouraged Mr. Trump not to immediately end the program. But attorneys general from Texas and nine states have threatened to sue if the President does not agree to phase out the DACA program. They argue that DACA is the result of presidential overreach by President Obama who created it through executive action in 2012.
(...)
