The anchors of CNN’S New Day made it quite clear what their thoughts were on the potential nomination of Amy Coney Barrett: They aren't pleased. Rather than discuss her credentials or her ability to serve on the highest court in the land, they took the opportunity to bash her views on abortion, ObamaCare, and other social issues.
What used to be the hallmark of honest journalism is just reporting the facts. However, CNN was not even close on Monday, discussing the importance of the liberal ideology and the need to protect it, without so much as mentioning the conservative side of the issues.
During the broadcast, Jeffrey Toobin, who serves as the network’s Chief Legal Analyst, gave a list of the Judge’s “bad policies”:
"We're talking about issues like will there be any regulation of campaign finance in America or will the campaign be deregulated as was suggested in the Citizens United decision. Will Affirmative Action remain an option for universities and employers in America? Will the Federal Government be able to regulate pollution and climate change in the United States?"
This does not seem to be what a “legal analyst should be weighing in on. Mr. Toobin seemed much more interested in pushing the liberal ideology that has been showcased by Joe Biden and the Democratic party during his appearance on the show.
John Berman noted that “ObamaCare right away to be clear, is on the calendar for immediately after the election, so that is something.” Ms. Barrett’s opinions on abortion, Obamacare, and other issues were of much more importance than anything else.
One participant of the panel was Litigator David Boise, who has a long history arguing in front of the Supreme Court, including for Al Gore during Bush vs. Gore back in 2000. This was an opportunity to give an opinion of the potential Supreme Court Justice from someone who has argued in front of that body and could offer a unique perspective.
Instead he took his time to attack the Republicans in the Senate for “politicizing” the Supreme Court through their push to vote on a nominee before the election. This just echoes the statements that were made by Democrat Nominee Joe Biden. The former Litigator also gave a fervent call to fight for the Court saying “you cannot turn the Supreme Court over to the radical right without fighting back.”
Mr. Boise was not the only one pushing for the Democrats to be even more radical, Mr. Toobin also called for more action, calling current Democrats “weak” and “wimps.” Instead of respecting both sides and reporting the news, CNN called for more radical policy to push a liberal agenda of policies.
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A Transcript of the September 21 broadcast is included below:
New Day
09/21/20
8:05 AM ET
JOE JOHNS: So who is the President leaning toward? Our reporting here at CNN has been fairly consistent over the last 24, 48 hours, that Amy Coney Barrett, this is a judge already been vetted by the White House before is the favorite, remains the favorite for a number of reasons, including the fact that she is seen as the safest choice. We're told that the president is leaning toward Amy Coney Barrett, and also that senator Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader who has to push all of this through also has made his choice clear, and that it's Barrett simply because it would help make a very smooth process presumably up on Capitol Hill. Alisyn, back to you
ALYISN CAMEROTA: Joe, thank you for all of that information. Joining us is CNN Chief Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin and Renowned Litigator David Boise. He argued for Al Gore at the Supreme Court in the 2000 Florida Presidential Election Recount. Great to have both of you. Jeffrey Toobin, that bit of breaking news that Joe just reported on out of Kaitlyn Collin’s reporting, Amy Coney Barrett seemed to have leaped frogged the other options in Trump list of favorites, now at the top.
JEFFREY TOOBIN [Chief Legal Analyst]: She's been a favorite of the conservative base since her name surfaced for the Kavanagh vacancy. She is as close as you can find to a guaranteed vote both to overturn Roe versus Wade and to overturn the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare. She is not just a conservative on social issues but on legislative matters. And she has spoken out against John Roberts’ decision to uphold Obamacare I think the stakes of this nomination are very clear. If it is in fact Barrett, she is someone who will implement Donald Trump's agenda across the board and that's why she is the leading candidate.
JOHN BERMAN: I want to give people some more breaking news. President Trump actually, despite what Kayleigh Mcenany just said announced that the nomination will come either Friday or Saturday, the reason being he says he wants to give the nation the appropriate time to mourn the loss of Justice Ginsburg.[…]
CAMEROTA: Jeffrey, in terms of -- there's the epic political battle that we're already engaged in, and then there's the upshot of what this means, for people's lives, something Joe Biden has been bringing up which is the Affordable Care Act is on the docket for November and this decision, whether the seat is filled or not, it will be Obamacare will be affected in November by all of this, as will abortion, as will so many things in this country. This will affect real people's lives.
TOOBIN: And it won't just affect real people's lives for the immediate future. It's going to be decades, and you know, we're talking about issues like will there be any regulation of campaign finance in America or will the campaign be deregulated as was suggested in the Citizens United decision. Will Affirmative Action remain an option for universities and employers in America? Will the Federal Government be able to regulate pollution and climate change in the United States? All of these issues wind up before the supreme court, and this justice will address them for the next three or four decades.
JOHN BERMAN: Obamacare right away to be clear, is on the calendar for immediately after the election, so that is something -- go ahead, Jeffrey.
TOOBIN: And remember, the issue in that case, there's several issues but one very distinct possibility is that the entire statute will be thrown out. That means no protection for preexisting conditions, no lifetime caps on return to life time caps on benefits, no keeping your kids on your insurance until they're 25. All of that goes out the window if this case goes the way Amy Coney Barrett has said it should go, which is get rid of Obamacare.
BERMAN: So, David Boies, this is how Joe Biden is framing this issue going forward. David, how else do you think Democrats should handle this now? They don't have the power in the Senate. They don't control the calendar in any way, so what can and should they do, do you think?
BOIES: I think one of the this they have to do is they have to try to work with the very, very few Republican moderates who are already speaking about the responsibilities here of the Senate. It would be a disgrace after the experience of Merritt Garland, after denying Merritt Garland a vote for over 200 days, they would try to jam through another Supreme Court nomination between now and the election. That level of hypocrisy is something that I think the American people will reject and I think the Democrats in the Senate have to be making the case to their colleagues that the Senate has a responsibility here to act not simply in partisanship, but in what is in the interests in the country and the interests of the institution of the Senate and the Supreme Court. If they crossed this line, if they continue to politicize the Supreme Court as they have, the Democrats have to, once they regain power, they are going to have to address this, and probably address it in a way that people would prefer not to, because what we want to do is we want to have a Supreme Court that is above partisan politics, and over the last four years, beginning with the denial of a vote for Merritt Garland and you heard what all the Republicans said, how you never want to do this in the last year of a presidential campaign, but we're now almost in the last month of a presidential campaign, so I think that if they now flip-flop on that issue, I think that is going to not only take us down a road of diminishing the Senate, diminishing the Supreme Court, but it will take us down a road that requires to rebalance the Supreme Court once the Democrats regain control of congress, and the Republicans of course have now eliminated essentially the filibuster, so the Republicans have taken the step of taking us down to majoritarian rule without any limitations on that. I think they're taking us down a road they're going to rue.
CAMEROTA: It's interesting. Chuck Schumer telegraphed as much, basically saying if Democrats win the Senate, if Democrats win the White House, Katie, bar the door.
TOOBIN: He sort of said that. He said there's nothing off the table. Democrats are great about talking big, but we'll see if he has the, if he and the other Democrats have the guts to do anything, if they retake control of the Senate. Will they really add the two seats on the supreme court?
CAMEROTA: Why wouldn't they? If they're in control, why wouldn't they?
TOOBIN: Because they're weak and they're wimps and they're afraid, and I think you know, the Democrats, you know, we think about Bush V. Gore and which David argued. In 2016, Al Gore said no street protests. This is just a legal process, while David saw in Tallahassee and Washington the Republican forces massing against them, literally on the streets. There is a difference to how Democrats and Republicans go about these fights, and we'll see if Democrats learn anything from Republicans here. Yes, it's interesting that Chuck Schumer said nothing is off the table, but that's not a commitment to do anything.
BERMAN: We have debate rules here, David, we have to give you 20 seconds to weigh in on that.
BOIES: I think Jeffrey is right, Democrats have been extremely cautious, but I think this is a step that can push things over the edge. I don't think the Democrats; I wouldn't call them weak. I would call them cautious, but I think that this is a step over the line. They have taken the Supreme Court down this road of politicization and the only way to rebalance it, you cannot turn the Supreme Court over to the radical right without fighting back.
BERMAN: David Boies, Jeffrey Toobin, we appreciate the discussion. Thank you very much. Jeffrey, we'll forward all the tweets and the text messages from Democrats around the country to your account, so thank you.
TOOBIN: Send them my way, Berman.
