Morning Show Wrap

N E W Y O R K, June 17, 2004 —
-- A product of Noted Now and The Note

Evening Newscasts Wrap

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Leads

The morning shows led with the 9/11 Commission and the most recent car bombing in Baghdad.

9/11 Commission Report

Lisa Meyers' report on the 9/11 Commission's report for NBC's "Today Show" explicitly played up the political implications in a negative light for President Bush, saying that the 9/11 Commission's report "contradicted Bush Administration claims of links between Iraq and Al Qaeda." Meyers reported that Sen. John Kerry seized on the report as "proof the American people were misled."

9/11 Commissioner John Lehman conceded on CBS' "Early Show" that the panel's report establishes that there was "no participation of Iraq, at least we have no evidence of it, in the plot itself." At the same time, Lehman maintained, "In years past, particularly when Osama and Al Qaeda were in Sudan there were contacts. There was an effort to cooperate in training in weapons particularly. We don't know what weapons might have been provided. We do have very strong evidence that Iraqi intelligence provided help in at least the X Gas training. There were traces of EMTA found at Osama's place. And so it's a mixed picture."

ABC's Brian Ross reported for "Good Morning America" that there's still a debate about where Flight 93 was headed but that the Capitol "seems to be the most likely target." Ross reported that in addition to the difficulties of picking out the White House from the air, Bin Laden and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed viewed Congress as the source of support for Israel.

On CNN's "American Morning," 9/11 Commissioners John Lehman and Richard Ben-Veniste previewed today's hearing and discussed their finding that al Qaeda had no link with Saddam Hussein. Lehman said today's staff statement would discuss the communication breakdown on the morning of Sept. 11. "It's a picture of a lack of preparation between the FAA and the Air Force," Lehman said. "But would [better communication] have saved lives? Had they been better trained and organized to cooperate, it's possible that [American Airlines flight] 77 might have been intercepted, it would have been a very very close, call even under the best of cooperation."

On yesterday's statement, Ben-Veniste said he could not understand why the "myth" that al Qaeda was connected to Saddam Hussein continues to be stated as fact. "This information seems to have crept into the public domain," Ben-Veniste said. "The President of the United States said so in September of last year. So it's mystifying how this myth continues to be perpetrated. But the fact is that this bipartisan commission… has found no evidence that Iraq was involved. In fact the White House was provided with an advance copy of the commission statement and had no objection to the content therein."

On "Fox and Friends," Tim Roemer said two things "struck him" about Al Qaeda "their flexibility and their adaptability." Roemer said what he found "chilling" was that Al Qaeda operatives chose Sept. 11 specifically because they wanted the Capitol full of members of Congress. Roemer said where Flight 93 was headed is a "big mystery" but he thinks it was probably headed to the Capitol and he wondered whether Flight 93 would have been shot down if it had not crashed.

The Clinton Factor

CBS' Byron Pitts had a piece on how Kerry "mentions the former President as often as possible." SOTs were taken of Kerry saying that "not one young American was dying in a war overseas when Clinton was president" and talking about his role in helping to pass Clinton's economic program with Sen. Hillary Clinton standing in the background during their Harlem event. The piece included sound from Kerry media consultant Tad Devine expressing confidence that Kerry will talk about his policies in the course of his book tour and that it will be a welcome contrast with the policies of the Bush Administration. Sound was taken from former President Clinton praising Kerry's war record by saying, "In the Vietnam era, when most young men, including the President, the Vice President and me didn't go, John Kerry said: 'send me'."

Lanny Davis, Clinton's former special counsel, was interviewed about the Clinton record on the CBS "Early Show." Davis scolded CBS' Hannah Storm for not asking the economic policies that created 23 million new jobs and that earned Clinton a 65 percent approval rating when he left office. In what felt like a flashback of the 1990s, Davis asserted the public separates private behavior and public performance. Davis also confirmed Clinton's own claims that the former president never considered resigning. "Not a bit," Davis said.

All three networks played up President Clinton's interview with CBS' Dan Rather, especially his "just because I could" comment about his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

Fahrenheit 911

NBC's "Today Show" looked at the coming release of Fahrenheit 911 and the backlash it has provoked from conservative groups that have published the email addresses of movie executives in order to deter them from carrying the film in their theaters. There were interviews with Howard Kaloogian and Adam Ruben of MoveOn.org.

Dangerous Narcotics

Francine Haight, whose son died from a drug overdose, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein discussed legislation to combat dangerous narcotics on NBC's "Today Show."

Veepstakes

In the 9 am block, NBC's Ann Curry interviewed the Wall Street Journal's John Harwood and The American Cause's Bay Buchanan for a "political pulse" segment.

Harwood called Edwards "the betting favorite" to be Kerry's running mate but said there are concerns about whether he can "deliver his home state." Harwood said another possibility is Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri who comes from a state that is more attainable for the Democrats.

Buchanan said Tom Vilsack is "an interesting possibility out there" and that he will "definitely deliver that state of Iowa." She called him an attractive person with a compelling story that will "add interest to the campaign for several weeks that will be lots of help for Kerry."

Buchanan quipped that it was too bad that Kerry wasn't going to pick Gen. Wesley Clark because he would "sink that ticket like a rock."