Tuesday’s CBS Mornings presented something for everyone on Israel vs. Hamas as, along with another anti-Israel, pro-Hamas report from CBS foreign correspondent Debora Patta griping about global concern for Israel over Iran’s missile and drone attacks “distracted…from the misery of Gaza”, co-host Tony Dokoupil stated the obvious (but isn’t on the left) that pro-Hamas protesters blocking roads in the U.S. are not protected by the First Amendment.
Patta was cued up by co-host and Democratic donor Gayle King, who claimed there’s “disagreement among Israelis over what should happen next” in response “to Iran’s massive missile and drone attack on Israel.”
Instead of criticizing Iran, Patta blamed Israel by downplaying Iran’s attempted show of force: “Engineered for maximum effect but resulting in minimal damage, the Iranian assault has triggered global calls for restraint.”
The South African reporter went to a former Israeli general to claim Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — as opposed to Hamas or Iran — is a threat to Israel’s existence. In other words, someone with Netanyahu Derangement Syndrome (click “expand”):
PATTA: Retired two-star Israeli Nimrod Sheffer does not believe Prime Minister Netanyahu is the right person to make such a critical decision.
NIMROD SHEFFER: So, if you ask me if Netanyahu is a risk to the state of Israel, my opinion is yes.
PATTA: He believes Netanyahu has a vested interest in prolonging the war in Gaza and escalating the conflict in Iran in order to stay in power.
HEFFER: If you’re retaliating just to show that you’re strong enough, it’s the wrong idea. It’s the wrong strategy.
Patta then performed a sob story about Hamas-controlled (and supporting) Gaza, whining “[t]he fear of an all-out regional war has distracted the attention away from the misery of Gaza” and “extreme hunger stalk[ing]” Palestinians, adding (click “expand”):
There are still regular air strikes, each day bringing new grief and fresh drama….More aid is arriving, but it is not enough. They are desperate cues. This bakery in the north reopened for the first time in more than six months of war after the World Food Program brought in fuel and flour. Food prices have soared, and those who can’t afford the rising costs are frantically trying to access their money. Banks are running out of cash.
With both an unfinished war in Gaza and escalating tensions with Iran, Israel is weighing how to respond to the assault. Senior experts have told us the war cabinet must balance retaliation with ensuring it does not fracture the international alliance it has built up against Tehran.
Prior to this, featured co-host Vladimir Duthiers had a news brief on what he described as “pro-Palestinian protests that disrupted traffic in major U.S. cities yesterday” such as on San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, the Brooklyn Bridge, and roads leading into Chicago’s O’Hare airport.
In other words, terrorist sympathizers painted as totally harmless.
Dokoupil interjected with a two-sentence reality check: “Stopping traffic is not a protected First Amendment right. This is something different.”
Duthiers and King were both awkwardly left to interject with the former giving an “indeed” and the latter saying, “mmhmm.”
Aside from Dokoupil, the liberal journalists on NBC’s Today were much more in line with Duthiers in giving almost dry descriptions of the terrorist supporters.
In opening teases, co-host Hoda Kotb merely said the Middle East tensions “spill[ed] over into the streets here at home” with “protesters demanding a ceasefire in Gaza blocking traffic on roads, bridges and airports” to the point that “[s]ome” would-be airport passengers” were “forced to abandon their cars and walk”.
Kotb also had an opening tease in the second hour that described these thugs as “protests calling for a ceasefire ramp[ing] up” their hooliganism “in cities across the U.S.”
Co-host Savannah Guthrie struck the same note: “Here at home, protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, disrupted cities nationwide yesterday, shutting down major roads, snarling traffic.”
In the first hour, chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel reported in a voice-over from Israel that, over in the U.S., “pro-Palestinian protesters took to the streets, blocking traffic from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco to Seattle, Chicago’s O’Hare airport, and New York to demand a ceasefire.”
Engel had a liveshot in the second hour with similar verbiage: “And all of this is playing out domestically in the United States with those protests, as you mentioned, pro-Palestinian demonstrators shutting down roads, coast to coast, yesterday[.]”
To see the relevant transcripts from April 16, click here (for CBS) and here (for NBC).