In report on debate "back-and-forth," CNN's Crowley rearranged Clinton's quotes
On the 4 p.m. ET segment of the October 31 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, senior political correspondent Candy Crowley, reporting on the October 30 Democratic presidential debate, purported to show a "back-and-forth on giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, as proposed in New York" by Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D), but aired quotes by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) out of order, falsely suggesting that Clinton had directly contradicted herself.
The following is the transcript from the CNN report. The portion in all capital letters actually came later in the debate than the portion it precedes in CNN's report:
CROWLEY: And there was this back-and-forth on giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, as proposed in New York.
CLINTON: IT MAKES A LOT OF SENSE. WHAT IS THE GOVERNOR SUPPOSED TO DO? HE IS DEALING WITH A SERIOUS PROBLEM.
[cut indicated by CNN]
CLINTON: I just want to add, I did not say it should be done, but I certainly recognize why Governor Spitzer is trying to do it.
DODD: Now, wait. Wait.
CLINTON: And we have failed --
DODD: Wait a minute.
CLINTON: We have failed.
DODD: No, no, no. You said yes -- you said yes.
CLINTON: No --
DODD: You thought it made sense to do it.
CLINTON: No, I didn't, Chris. But the point is, what are we going to do with all these illegal immigrants?
CROWLEY: Pounce.
The following is the discussion as it actually occurred:
RUSSERT: Senator Clinton, Governor of New York Eliot Spitzer has proposed giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. You told the Nashua, New Hampshire, editorial board it makes a lot of sense. Why does it make a lot of sense to give an illegal immigrant a driver's license?
CLINTON: Well, what Governor Spitzer is trying to do is fill the vacuum left by the failure of this administration to bring about comprehensive immigration reform. We know, in New York, we have several million at any one time who are in New York illegally. They are undocumented workers. They are driving on our roads. The possibility of them having an accident that harms themselves or others is just a matter of the odds -- it's probability. So what Governor Spitzer is trying to do is to fill the vacuum.
I believe we need to get back to comprehensive immigration reform because no state, no matter how well-intentioned, can fill this gap. There needs to be federal action on immigration reform.
RUSSERT: Does anyone here believe an illegal immigrant should not have a driver's license?
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH (OH): Believe what?
RUSSERT: An illegal immigrant should not have a driver's license.
SEN. CHRIS DODD (CT): Well, this is a privilege. And look, I'm as forthright and progressive on immigration policy as anyone here, but we're dealing with a serious problem here. We need to have people come forward. The idea that we're going to extend this privilege here of a driver's license, I think, is troublesome. And I think the American people are reacting to it.
We need to deal with security on our borders; we need to deal with the attraction that draws people here; we need to deal fairly with those who are here -- but this is a privilege. Talk about health care, I have a different opinion. That affects the public health of all of us. But a license is a privilege, and that ought not to be extended, in my view.
CLINTON: Well --
WILLIAMS: Senator, let's --
CLINTON: I just want to add: I did not say that it should be done, but I certainly recognize why Governor Spitzer is trying to do it.
DODD: Now, wait. Wait.
CLINTON: And we have failed --
DODD: Wait a minute.
CLINTON: We have failed --
DODD: No, no, no. You said -- you said yes --
CLINTON: No --
DODD: You thought it made sense to do it.
CLINTON: No, I didn't, Chris. But the point is, what are we going to do with all these illegal immigrants who are driving on the roads?
DODD: Well, that's a legitimate issue. But driver's license goes too far --
CLINTON: Well --
DODD: -- in my view.
CLINTON: Well, you may say that, but what is the identification if somebody runs into you today who is an undocumented worker --
DODD: There's ways of dealing with that.
CLINTON: Well, but --
DODD: This is a privilege, not a right.
CLINTON: Well, what Governor Spitzer has agreed to do is to have three different licenses: one that provides identification for actually going onto airplanes and other kinds of security issues; another, which is an ordinary driver's license; and then, a special card that identifies the people who would be on the road. So, it's not the full privilege.
DODD: That's a bureaucratic nightmare.
RUSSERT: Senator Clinton, I just want to make sure what I heard. Do you, the New York Senator Hillary Clinton, support the New York governor's plan to give illegal immigrants a driver's license? You told the Nashua, New Hampshire, paper it made a lot of sense.
CLINTON: It --
RUSSERT: Do you support his plan?
CLINTON: You know, Tim, this is where everybody plays gotcha. It makes a lot of sense. What is the governor supposed to do? He is dealing with a serious problem. We have failed, and George Bush has failed.
Do I think this is the best thing for any governor to do? No. But do I understand the sense of real desperation, trying to get a handle on this? Remember, in New York, we want to know who's in New York. We want people to come out of the shadows. He's making an honest effort to do it. We should have passed immigration reform.
WILLIAMS: New subject. Senator Edwards, you have young children. As you know, the Internet can be a bit of a cultural Wild West. Assuming a lot of homes don't have parental support, would you be in favor of any government guidelines on Internet content?
EDWARDS: For children and try to protect children and using technology to protect children? I would.
I want to add something that Chris Dodd just said a minute ago, because I don't want it to go unnoticed. Unless I missed something, Senator Clinton said two different things in the course of about two minutes just a few minutes ago, and I think this is a real issue for the country.
I mean, America is looking for a president who will say the same thing, who will be consistent, who will be straight with them. Because what we've had for seven years is doubletalk from Bush and from Cheney, and I think America deserves us to be straight.
the problem with "reform" is all the tough talk comes up front. then when no one is looking, all the enforcement measures are repealed or ignored. the amnesty of 1986, agreed to by all sides, was to be a "one time" deal. and here we are 20 years later with all the same promises.
Exactly, we were fooled before and the two parties who want this "look-away" comprehensive baloney are just riding out the clock........pitiful.
It is so clear that MMfA is supported by Hillary. 7 out of 10 of the items from today directly reference Hillary in the headline. Nevermind that she is actually QUOTED as saying she had a hand in starting MMfA. It is clear the this site is BLATANTLY supporting her, though it claims otherwise.
"7 out of 10 of the items from today directly reference Hillary in the headline"
Allow me to explain, Goodie...
MMFA derives its content from political media broadcasts. Since the debate two nights ago the political media have been analyzing,twisitng, rehashing and commenting on Hillary Clinton's performance in the debate. Have you, uhh, like turned on a television in the past two days...it's 24/7 Hillary.
Perhaps that might explain why you say seven out of ten MMFA items today have featured Hillary Clinton. She's the big newsmaker right now...everybody's talking about her.
Has anyone noticed that the Democrats are having a bi-partisan primary? The Republan talk shows are overflowing with Hillary. Do they really believe that they will bother her? Even their sheep will start asking for more info about the Repug candidates but will they get info, No...because Hillary means money.
What I can't wait to see is when a Democrat becomes president and uses all of this presidents' Executive Orders to drive the Repug party to tears. Watch the babies complain at that point. Talk about Pay-per-View.
You are making an excellent point - MMFA is really a front group for the HRC campaign.
That's all right with me, however, because I love the irony. On the one hand we are supposed to believe that HRC is a smart and tough politician. But on the other hand, MMFA keeps on whining - "STOP PICKING ON HILLARY - SHE'S JUST A GIIIIRRRRLLLLLYYY GIRL!!!!"
Man oh man, it's really funny stuff!
"MMFA keeps on whining - "STOP PICKING ON HILLARY - SHE'S JUST A GIIIIRRRRLLLLLYYY GIRL!!!!""
Wrong. MMFA is saying "if you're going to pick on Senator Clinton then QUOTE HER ACCURATELY and don't expect her to defend YOUR lies."
Whine whine whine - now I'm supposed to believe that HRC is the only politician who is not quoted the way that she wants to be quoted?
MMFA and HRC really need to grow up. Politics is a serious business for adults.
Adults don't like doctored quotes.
Mind backing that up with anything remotely resembling facts? I love how you just come out saying, yes it is a front for HRC...why? your saying it is so makes it so?
GOODFELLAS ..Here is why 7 out of 10 referencces ae related to Hillary ..
Media Matters does the job following the Media and then making sure they were fair and aquerate. Since their job is covering the media it would be quite difficult for them to reference anything other than Hillary as it is all the media covers!
Yesterday I watched Hardball & Tucker on MSNBC and both programs were dominated by Hillary coverage.
Hardball was 60 minutes of Hillary beginning to end!
Tucker was 30 minutes Hillary before a break!
MediaMatters is doing their job! The mainstream news is obsessed with Hillary!
RUSSERT: Senator Clinton, I just want to make sure what I heard. Do you, the New York Senator Hillary Clinton, support the New York governor's plan to give illegal immigrants a driver's license?
Clinton: Well, you know Tim, I'm not nearly as good at talking out of my mouth and my ass at the same time as my husband was but I'll give it a shot. I'm going to waste the next three minutes of your life trying to take both sides of this issue without really taking any side. And if you keep asking me for an answer that anyone would be able to understand, I'm going to go walk off of this stage and go to a fund raiser in Buffalo.
Well it seems Russett has company speaking from his ass and it's you
Dave, if Rudy's, Fred's, Mitt's and Michael's assh*le had been probed as much as Hillary's they'd bee taking off for a fundraiser on planet Mars!
Dave,
Was that supposed to be comedy? If so, it isn't very funny. Usually humor involves taking things to an extreme or out of context to absurdity, but you have just had HRC saying what all political candidates say during a campaign. It's called politics and they all do it. And if the media wishes to point out these thigns then they should do it accurately and even handedly.
This is really funny stuff!
And it's funny because it's so true!!!!
Why do you insist every answer has to be yes or no, black or white? She says she's not opposing the program but she'd like to see a better alternative from the federal government. Is that too complicated for righties to understand?
Five posts, and not one deals with the substance of the article. Just "Everyone knows MM was founded by Hillary," "Everyone knows MM loves Hillary," etc. Operation Shoot the Messenger, Ignore the Message continues it's unabated progress, I guess.
How about addressing the issue- CNN manipulated quotes to make it look like Hillary Clinton was answering questions she wasn't answering. Is that so hard?
jjamel, Hillary never started MM. but she is probably loved by most of the people who read it. including me
CNN manipulated quotes to make it look like Hillary Clinton was answering questions she wasn't answering.
You make a great point - Hillary was NOT answering ANY questions - and it's a lie to say that she was!!!
Russett and Crowley have a way of twisting a story, questions and answers to make the answers seem very screwed up
Candy Crowley has long had a problem with "creating" her own stories.
As for her propensity for putting things out of order, that's why around CNN she's referred to as DANCY LEROWCY.
She gave a bad and very confused answer. It is one of the few I have seen she did not do pat. And now she has to as the front runner pay for it.
Funny thing is on the GOP side of things it is opposite the guys in the cheap seats get beat up. Look at Ron Paul -- while I don't agree with him or think he is sane -- he had taken a helluva beating on very direct, clear and principled answers.
The GOP debate Bizarro politcs at its finest.
Ron Paul didn't so much take a beating at the Republican infomercial as he got stunned silence for actually speaking like an adult.Immediately followed by Julie-Annies rousing applause for his flag-waving pablum.
And I know I'm nit-picking about a pet peeve, but I didn't hear anything Hillary said after she lost me by wandering into what I considered exclusive right-wing territory;the mangled metaphor.
Unless I've been wrong my whole life (and I'm sure somebody will correct me if that's the case), the "carrot and stick", as I learned it from cartoons and The Little Rascals, was the idea of an unattainable goal, the carrot dangled in front of a donkey or horse at the end of a stick, luring them with something perpetually just out of reach.
When did this get mixed up with "Walk softly and carry a big stick"? , i.e., reward vs. punishment? Come on, I want to hear Republicans say "nailing the tip of the iceberg on the head" and "for all intensive purposes", not the slightly less stoopid party.
If I'm totally wrong about this, just tell me. I'm not that sensitive.
Huntington, you are totally wrong. There, I said it.
*sniff*... why did you do that? What about my feelings? ;0)
Candy Crowley has proven that she is a lightweight reporter in general, and now she has proven she is a dishonest one. Why this enormous woman still has a job is beyond me.
Senator Clinton is so scripted. I wonder if she gets the rest needed by the average person, or does she stay up in the evenings studying what she is supposed to say when a question is posed to her. Let’s increase the voting base and allow illegal aliens have driver's licenses. While we are at it, why don't we just change the name of the United States to The People's Republic of Amerika? I find it amazing that one of our law makers doesn't see the problem with issuing driver's licenses to illegal aliens. They do not belong in this country. Before someone replies and tells me that I have no right stating where people do and do not belong; I have done more for this country than the entire Clinton family. I served to protect this country for over 20 years and am proud of my service to her. What was Ms. Clinton doing while I helped provide a blanket of freedom for her to sleep under? None of us will ever know because the records are classified.Why anyone would let Ms. Clinton in the White House, much less allow one to be a senator in my native state. Has New York lost its sense of reality? Experience as being the first lady does not qualify a person to be a candidate for the presidency. You were Bill Clinton's wife, he was the President, now lets let you run the country. I don't think so. There is much hard work that needs to be done as a prelude for the Presidency. Again I will ask; what has Ms. Clinton really completed? Ms. Clinton; count your blessings. If your husband allows those records to become unclassified; my gut feeling is that they will hurt your career. It is my belief that by not exposing those records, former President Clinton is helping and protecting you. Use some other claim to fame as part of your resume which shows that you have completed the hard work it takes to be the President. Show some backbone and make a decision and stand by it. If your husband could do it, I sure you can find a way.
Do the American people a favor and stand down from running for President. It is amazing that your colleagues are assisting the Republican party by exposing your weaknesses. This says much for me. If your own party does not accept you and stand by you; why should the American people? Notice, I spelled American with a “C” not “K.”
"Senator Clinton is so scripted. I wonder if she gets the rest needed by the average person, or does she stay up in the evenings studying what she is supposed to say when a question is posed to her."
Just in case you're unfamiliar with how politicians in America campaign for higher office, every candidate is scripted...every candidate stays up evenings studying (or being told) how to respond when a particular question is posed. If you are that naive I doubt if anyone will give much credence to your scripted right wing ramblings.
BTW, you are the one who sounds as though he needs a good night's sleep.
Just in case you're unfamiliar with how politicians in America campaign for higher office, every candidate is scripted...every candidate stays up evenings studying
Except Thompson.
"Except Thompson."
That's true...because he's in bed by 7:30 every night. ;>)
(I just realized how ironic it is that Fred Thompson is an actor and we're talking about "scripted" politicians. Fred Thompson earns his living reading from scripts. Too funny...)
Bill Clinton turned over everything from his first Bazooka Joe comic to his last E-mail, and still the GOP wasn't satisfied. They want everything and more and the media backs the GOP 100%, saying that everytime a Democrat doesn't produce a document they are covering up guilt.
Meanwhile, Bush tells his aides to ignore subpoenas and Bush almost always refuses to turn over any documents at all. Bush goes beyond the definition of criminal contempt but since he controls the Justice Department, Bush won't allow prosecutions of his own lawbreaking. Bush puts himself above the law.
Does the media talk about Bush? No way, but if Hillary is too slow in turning over notes between her and her husband from years ago its a major scandal.
You didn't provide a blanket of freedom for Hillary. There is no country in the world that wants to militarily take over the US and take away our freedoms. US troops train and fight for the freedom of other people in other countries.
The real threat to freedom here comes from fascists who don't mind the media doctoring quotes and getting dishonestly involved in presidential campaign. The threat to freedom comes from wiretapping and imprisonment without trials and wars based on lies. Its all lies from the right. They are the threat to freedom.
I parodied a FOX mis-quite yesterday. here's the CNN version:
Hypothetical Hillary quote:
"I feel that we need to help the middle class. The upper class benefts from our economic prospeirty. That's why, as president, I will ask them to take on more of the tax burden."
CNN Version:
"The upper class benefts from our economic prospeirty. I feel that we need to help the middle class. That's why, as president, I will ask them to take on more of the tax burden."
Quite a spew PL. The idea that there is some pile of classified hillary ducuments safely hidden sucessfully from Hannity, BillyO, Rush, or some other histerical Hillary hater is a reach. You should do as our example here does and move her quotes arround to support your mutual hatred. Course you wouldn't want to compare shurbs experience pior to taking office with Hillary's.
Took about three days of this sh*t storm by my observation for the cries of pro Hillary bias to emerge. You wingnuts arn't trying hard enough.
I have more years of service to our country than you. How does that become an arbiter of relevence here. I'm certainly relutent to claim anything special for it.
reluctent to claim also. Ugh.
'Notice, I spelled American with a “C” not “K.”'
Well done, and thank you for helping to provide that blanket of freedom for Hillary to sleep under.
Don't make fun. He also provided her with her pillow of liberty and sheets of sekurity. Note, I spelled security with a 'k' for some reason.
I'm sure he's "all man" and wouldn't bother with the dust ruffle of democracy.
Where do you stand vis a vis skeets of security? With or without pillows of lava?
Of course, every politician prepares by rehearsing what they s/he is going to say. But the point is that there has to be something at the core. Hillary changes what she says to suit her audience, becuase, alas, there is nothing at the core. My wife went to school with her and was, and remains, unimpressed.
It doesn’t surprise me that CNN would take someone’s quotes out of context to make a story more sensational. They have done it in the past. Hillary said essentially the same thing a few days earlier: “So I know exactly what Governor Spitzer’s trying to do and it makes a lot of sense, because he’s trying to get people out of the shadows. He’s trying to say, ‘O.K., come forward and we will give you this license.’” (Cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com from 10/18/07) This was the source Russert used when he quoted Hillary in the debate. As the exchange shows in its entirety, this was what Senator Dodd was referring to when he told Hillary “You thought it made sense to do it.” And this is what Hillary denied saying. If CNN was to be completely accurate, it would have shown Russert’s quote in place of Hillary’s quote which was taken out of context.
Either way, it still shows Hillary as a double talker: denying she said something and then saying basically the same thing a few moments latter. This is one of the reasons I don’t want the Clintons back in the White House. We have so many more qualified candidates from both parties that we shouldn’t have to settle for Hillary.
This is really nitpicking. If there was some group out there doing for MMFA what MMFA does for mainstream media, that group might note that perhaps Dodd was not referring to the quote aired by CNN ahead of time, but what she said to the Nashua, New Hampshire, editorial board. But since there was no video clip of that, they just used the version later in the exchange where she basically said the same thing, because Dodd explicitly called her out on it. I mean, it was in the text of the question for crying out loud. Yeah, she said it. Then she denied that she said it. Blatant contradiction. Regardless of the order CNN showed the clips.
Does anyone really think that Hillary gave a straight-forward response in the debate? She confused everyone with her answers. She tried to sit on the fence and not take a position. Most politicians do it, but she takes it to a new level.
Media Matters sure loves shilling for Hillary. This must be the 100th story defending Hillary on this site this week.
100th? Come on, if you're going to act crazy, why not just say a bazillion? It's not like you're protecting your credibility or something.