Joining the ubiquitous collage of year-in-reviews from news organizations (including this one), weekday morning MSNBC Live host and NBC chief White House correspondent Hallie Jackson offered one Thursday morning about the Trump presidency. Not surprisingly for a liberal network, it took one jab after another at the President.
The video began with the government shutdown and then immigration. On the latter, Jackson boasted that his “declaration of a national emergency at the border, infuriat[ed] Democrats and instantly setting off a court fight that continues even today.”
North Korea came next with the President leaving February’s Vietnam summit early but became the first sitting President to set foot in North Korea a few months later.
But it was this section on the Mueller Report that reminded us that the liberal media still won’t hold themselves accountable for their years of conspiracy theories and false predictions. That section bled into his attacks on “The Squad,” which Jackson deemed “racist” (click “expand”)
JACKSON: Back home, the investigation that loomed over the White House for two years coming to a close. Robert Mueller concluding Russia did interfere with the 2016 election, but the special counsel did not find “sufficient evidence” that the Trump campaign “coordinated or conspired” with the Kremlin. In his 448-page report, Mueller describes instances in which the President could have obstructed justice without explicitly exonerating him.
ROBERT MUELLER: It is not a witch hunt.
JACKSON: The President insistent —
TRUMP: We went through the greatest political witch hunt in history.
JACKSON: — airing his grievances as he kicked off his 2020 election campaign. A different rally where this chant erupted.
TRUMP RALLY CROWD: Send her back. Send her back. Send her back.
JACKSON: — “send her back,” after the President's racist tweet slamming the so-called Sqwuad, four freshmen lawmakers, all women of color and U.S. citizens.
Alluding to the Dayton and El Paso shootings, Jackson stated that both “sparked calls for changes to gun control laws, but despite the talk, little action.”
On the successful operation to take out ISIS leader Abu Bakar al-Baghdadi, the recap was tinged with both a dig at the details Trump revealed and reveling in the Conan event coming amid impeachment talk (click “expand”):
JACKSON: That same month, another announcement, one of the most significant in the Trump era. The President, in extraordinary detail, describing the death of the world's most wanted terrorist, Abu Bakar al-Baghdadi. [on 10/27] We understand from multiple sources familiar with the matter that the President himself personally approved this operation.
TRUMP: He died like a dog. He died like a coward.
JACKSON: Later on the South Lawn, a photo op with the hero canine who helped commandos in the raid. But by then, a shadow was hanging over the White House, impeachment, as Democrats accuse the President of abusing his power by asking Ukraine for investigations that could help him politically into the Bidens and the 2016 election.
“2019, quite the year. We will see what 2020 will hold,” she concluded after a nod to the Trump administration’s successful USMCA negotiations.
In contrast, the December 19 and 26 editions of CBS This Morning aired a more-balanced look back at all of the top news stories from 2019, both unrelated and related to Trump.
“The impeachment of President Trump ended a year that also saw acts of shocking gun violence along with anniversary celebrations that brought Americans together. Well, this morning, we look back at all of the pivotal people and moments that helped shape 2019,” fill-in co-host Jericka Duncan began prior to the video of news clips.
While MSNBC still tried to spin the Mueller Report’s outcome, CBS was more direct, using clips from that time:
GAYLE KING: President Trump and his supporters say Democrats, they've gone too far with claims of wrongdoing after Robert Mueller found the President did not collude with Russia.
PAULA REID: This is pretty much as good as a not guilty verdict. While the Russia investigation is over, the President's legal problems continue.
Sections followed with clips on impeachment, Democrats seizing the House, “sharp divisions among” 2020 Democrats, U.S. troops leaving Syria, and then an October 28 clip of co-host Anthony Mason about the al-Baghdadi raid that, well, delivered the news without snark: “A daring raid in Syria killed ISIS leader Abu Bakar al-Baghdadi.”
Illegal immigrant detention centers took up the next section and, in a refreshing move, it included then-acting DHS Secretary Kevin McAleenan telling CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell that he was unhappy with the living conditions instead of featuring liberal condemnations.
The recap moved to the August’s mass shootings, but again, it didn’t stray toward gun control like MSNBC did. CBS only did so with the New Zealand attack since they had scored an interview months later with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern following her country’s mass gun confiscation.
To see the relevant transcripts from December 26 below, click “expand.”
MSNBC Live with Hallie Jackson
December 26, 2019
10:49 a.m. Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: 2019: The White House; A Look Back at Trump’s Year]
HALLIE JACKSON: So I am just about done with my third full year covering the Trump administration and my day job over for NBC News at the White House, and somehow in some way, this year has arguably the busiest one yet. And it's been one that's made history from a fight to reopen the federal government to a moment nobody expected at the DMZ to the third impeachment of our country's president. That's just the stuff you haven’t forgotten from 2019. Here's a look at what went down and what comes next. [VOICE-OVER] 2019 started with fireworks over the longest government shutdown in history. [TO TRUMP] Are you still proud to own this shutdown?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I'm very proud of doing what I'm doing. I don't call it a shutdown.
JACKSON: After 35 days over fighting over funding for the border wall, a presidential retreat that reopened the federal government and a State of the Union delayed, but delivered.
TRUMP: It's called the State of the Union. It's in the Constitution.
JACKSON: A week later.
TRUMP: I want to get it done faster. That's all.
JACKSON: A declaration of a national emergency at the border, infuriating Democrats and instantly setting off a court fight that continues even today. Overseas, a spring summit suddenly scrapped early with President Trump leaving Vietnam and his meeting with North Korea's Kim Jong-un without a deal on denuclearization. That relationship repaired enough by the summer for a surprise visit to the DMZ with Donald Trump stepping where no president has before.
TRUMP: It’s a great honor to be here.
JACKSON: Back home, the investigation that loomed over the White House for two years coming to a close. Robert Mueller concluding Russia did interfere with the 2016 election, but the special counsel did not find “sufficient evidence” that the Trump campaign “coordinated or conspired” with the Kremlin. In his 448-page report, Mueller describes instances in which the President could have obstructed justice without explicitly exonerating him.
ROBERT MUELLER: It is not a witch hunt.
JACKSON: The President insistent —
TRUMP: We went through the greatest political witch hunt in history.
JACKSON: — airing his grievances as he kicked off his 2020 election campaign. A different rally where this chant erupted.
TRUMP RALLY CROWD: Send her back. Send her back. Send her back.
JACKSON: — “send her back,” after the President's racist tweet slamming the so-called Sqwuad, four freshmen lawmakers, all women of color and U.S. citizens.
SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS: Again, I'm not going to negotiate up here.
JACKSON: The summer saw the West Wing's revolving door swing again with Press Secretary Sarah Sanders stepping down and Stephanie Grisham stepping in. In August —
DAYTON, OHIO DISPATCHER: They’ve got a mass casualty — looks like nine or 10 shot.
JACKSON: — two devastating shootings stunned the country.
WILLIE GEIST: We are waking up again this morning to a pair of tragedies in America brought on by men with guns.
JACKSON: And sparked calls for changes to gun control laws. But despite the talk —
TRUMP: We have to have meaningful background checks.
JACKSON: — little action.
TRUMP: If you look at background checks [SCREEN WIPE] it wouldn't have stopped any of the last few years’ worth of these mass shootings.
JACKSON: In the fall, foreign policy in focus as President Trump announced he was pulling U.S. troops from Syria.
TRUMP: I'm not going to get involved in a war between Turkey and Syria.
JACKSON: That same month, another announcement, one of the most significant in the Trump era. The President, in extraordinary detail, describing the death of the world's most wanted terrorist, Abu Bakar al-Baghdadi. [on 10/27] We understand from multiple sources familiar with the matter that the President himself personally approved this operation.
TRUMP: He died like a dog. He died like a coward.
JACKSON: Later on the South Lawn, a photo op with the hero canine who helped commandos in the raid. But by then, a shadow was hanging over the White House, impeachment, as Democrats accuse the President of abusing his power by asking Ukraine for investigations that could help him politically into the Bidens and the 2016 election.
HOUSE MINORITY WHIP STEVE SCALISE (R-LA): There was no crime.
CONGRESSMAN ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): The danger persists. The risk is real.
JACKSON: The White House choosing not to cooperate with the House proceedings, and on December 18, Donald Trump became only the third ever impeached President of the United States —
TRUMP: With today's illegal, unconstitutional and partisan impeachment —
JACKSON: — his White House choosing to focus on several political wins like an agreement on the first phase of a trade deal with China to ramp down the trade war that roiled markets this year and the year-end passage of a funding bill that includes the Space Force the President wants, approval of the USMCA, a revised version of NAFTA. Still impeachment looms over 2020, with a trial on the way and Donald Trump hoping to make history again by becoming the first impeached president ever re-elected. [BACK LIVE] 2019, quite the year. We will see what 2020 will hold.
—
CBS This Morning
December 26, 2019 (also aired on December 19)
8:30 a.m. EasternJERICKA DUNCAN: The impeachment of President Trump ended a year that also saw acts of shocking gun violence along with anniversary celebrations that brought Americans together. Well, this morning, we look back at all of the pivotal people and moments that helped shape 2019.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No collusion, no obstruction.
GAYLE KING: President Trump and his supporters say Democrats, they've gone too far with claims of wrongdoing after Robert Mueller found the President did not collude with Russia.
PAULA REID: This is pretty much as good as a not guilty verdict. While the Russia investigation is over, the President's legal problems continue.
TRUMP: I had a perfect phone call. A totally perfect phone call.
KING: President Trump was accused of withholding military aid to Ukraine in exchange for Ukraine investigating the Democrats.
GORDON SONDLAND: Was there a quid pro quo? The answer is yes.
HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI: We passed the two articles of impeachment. The President is impeached.
FIONA HILL: And I did say I think there is all going to blow up. Here we are.
NANCY CORDES: Democrats take control of the House.
CONGRESSWOMAN ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): The entire freshman class was sent here because Americans are sick of how Washington works.
JULIAN CASTRO: Are you forgetting what you said two minutes ago?
KING: Sharp divisions among the Democratic presidential hopefuls.
SENATOR AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): Houston, we have a problem.
TONY DOKUPIL: Candidates are trying to make their mark at this crucial time.
JOE BIDEN: The single most important thing we have to accomplish is defeat Donald Trump.
DOKUPIL: American troops are pulling back to make way for Turkey's planned invasion of northern Syria.
HOLLY WILLIAMS: It has been a tumultuous time.
CHARLIE D’AGATA: It was like a two-minute warning. We had to pack up and get moving because the situation on the ground was about to change dramatically and quickly.
ANTHONY MASON: A daring raid in Syria killed ISIS leader Abu Bakar al-Baghdadi.
TRUMP RALLY CROWD: Send them home! Send them home!
TRUMP: We're closing the border. We'll keep it closed for a long time. I'm not playing games.
MIREYA VILLARREAL: She says there's no way she can go back to her own country. That much more dangerous there. [ Chants ]
MIGUEL BOJORQUEZ: Over 4,000 of the more than 10,000 children in the agency's care are at risk of remaining in custody long term.
OMAR VILLAFRANCA: Reports came out that they were living in horrible conditions.
NORAH O’DONNELL [TO MCALEENAN]: You're saying this is not good enough.
KEVIN MCALEENAN: I've been saying it for a year.
POLICE: Multiple shots fired. Multiple shots fired!
MASON: Massacres in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, happened in startling proximity for a country too familiar with gun violence.
WOMAN AT EL PASO RALLY: We need to love one another again.
SHOOTING SURVIVOR: No children in any world should see things like that. They shouldn't.
REV. SHARON RISHER: You have the hate crime category, you have the church category, you have the school category. Bottom line is, dead is a category.
NEW ZEALAND PM JACINDA ARDERN: This is one of New Zealand's darkest days.
NEW ZEALAND WOMAN: Never thought in my life I'd live to see something like this.
KING: The prime minister vows to reform her country's gun laws in response to the worst mass shooting in the country's modern history.
ARDERN: 51 lives were lost from our Muslim community. And the question was asked, you know, why does anyone need military-style semiautomatic weapons or assault rifles? So that's where we drew the line.
(....)
