CNN's Jack Cafferty, on Monday afternoon's The Situation Room, took a cheap shot at Karl Rove's weight and expressed delight in the possibility Rove will be indicted. Just past 3pm EDT, Cafferty announced his question of the hour: “What should Karl Rove do if he is indicted?” Cafferty then answered his own question: “He might want to get measured for one of those extra large orange jump suits, Wolf, 'cause looking at old Karl, I'm not sure that he'd, they'd be able to zip him into the regular size one." Wolf Blitzer pointed out: “He's actually lost some weight. I think he's in pretty good shape." Cafferty conceded: "Oh, well then maybe just the regular off the shelf large would handle it for him." Blitzer then cautioned the indictment might not come: "Yeah, but you know, it's still a big if. It's still a big if." A giddy Cafferty replied: "Oh, I understand. I'm, I'm just hoping you know. I love, I love to see those kinds of things happen. It does wonders for me."
Just under a month ago, Cafferty took a shot at Tom Delay: "Has he been indicted yet?" And then a week later insisted that "I had no inside information on DeLay's upcoming indictment,” but boasted of how “it's probably a piece of videotape that I'm going to hang onto." (Full transcript, and links to his earlier comments, follow.)
Video excerpt: Real or Windows Media
# The Thursday, September 22 MRC CyberAlert reported:
“Cafferty's cheap shot at House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. After Jack Cafferty read some viewer e-mails, on Wednesday's (September 21) The Situation Room on CNN, about ideas on how to pay for Katrina, anchor Wolf Blitzer noted DeLay's silly claim that 'there's no pork' and 'everything is essential' in the federal budget. That prompted Cafferty to ask: 'Has he been indicted yet?' That broke up Blitzer who chucked through his wrap-up of the segment: 'Well, we'll leave that alone. Jack Cafferty, thank you very much.'"
For video of that exchange, check the above-linked CyberAlert item (for both Real and Windows Media), or this September 21 NewsBusters posting (with the same Real clip plus a link to an external source for Windows Media.)
# The Thursday, September 29 MRC CyberAlert followed up:
“Hours after the indictment of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay was revealed, CNN's Jack Cafferty boasted of his 'flip' comment a week earlier: 'Has he been indicted yet?' On Wednesday's The Situation Room, Cafferty insisted 'I had no inside information on DeLay's upcoming indictment. A lot of you laughed out loud. It was an off-hand comment. Some of you wrote and were highly critical of what I said. But it's probably a piece of videotape that I'm going to hang onto.' Cafferty moved on to his new question of the hour to which he elicited e-mail comments: 'So here's the question today. Should Tom DeLay resign from Congress? Not from his leadership role, from the House of Representatives?" Later in the hour, Cafferty wisecracked: 'Has Tom DeLay resigned yet? Wolf?'"
# NewsBusters Executive Editor Matthew Sheffield alerted me to Cafferty's Monday slams on Rove and the MRC's Megan McCormack tracked down the 3:09pm EDT comments so she could provide this transcript checked against what aired:
Jack Cafferty, via remote from Manhattan: “Karl Rove, the Deputy White House Chief-of Staff, may have a plan B. According to our colleagues over there at Time magazine, if Rove is indicted in the CIA leak case he would immediately resign or possibly go on unpaid leave. Now they don't know, they don't say in the story whether or not he could stay on as a consultant, like that guy Brown over there at FEMA. Time sources say that the resignation is the most likely outcome. By breaking his ties with the White House, one source says that Rove would then have more time to fight whatever charges could come out of this thing. Rove’s lawyer, Robert Luskin, says there is, quote, ‘absolutely no truth whatsoever,’ unquote, to the Time magazine report. Here's the question. What should Karl Rove do if he is indicted? Now, you can e-mail us your thoughts at Caffertyfile@CNN.com or you can go to CNN.com/Caffertyfile. Both those addresses will get you to the same place. We’ll read some here. He might want to, he might want to get measured for one of those extra large orange jump suits, Wolf, 'cause looking at old Karl, I'm not sure that he’d, they'd be able to zip him into the regular size one.”
Wolf Blitzer, anchoring from DC: “He's actually lost some weight. I think he's in pretty good shape.”
Cafferty: “Oh, well then maybe just the regular off the shelf large would handle it for him.”
Blitzer: “Yeah, but you know, it’s still a big if. It’s still a big if.”
Cafferty: “Oh, I understand. I'm, I’m just hoping you know. I love, I love to see those kinds of things happen. It does wonders for me.”
Blitzer, bemused: “All right, Jack. We’ll get back to you. Thank you very much.”
