On Monday, both NBC’s Today CBS MorningsWhile promoting Huma Abedin’s new memoir, longtime aide to Hillary Clinton, the CBS broadcast also lamented the fact that the scandals around Anthony Weiner might have cost Clinton her 2016 election. The CBS coverage even imagined an alternate reality where the Democrat “could be in her second term as president right now.”
“For the last decade Huma Abedin has been defined in the public eye by those closest to her. Her work as a long-time aide to Hillary Clinton and her marriage to disgraced former Congressman Anthony Weiner put her in a harsh spotlight at times,” co-host Savannah Guthrie declared on NBC’s TodayShe introduced Abedin to the audience.
Guthrie reminded the viewers of this during a taped interview before the live interview. Abedin and Weiner “separated in 2016, just months before the FBI reopened its case into Clinton’s e-mails, after some e-mails between Clinton and Abedin were found on Weiner’s computer, a development celebrated by Clinton’s opponent.”
An anchor reminded Clinton of how she bitterly blamed this development for Donald Trump’s defeat. “The former Democratic nominee saying on Today in 2017 she believed the FBI investigation into the e-mail scandal, announced shortly before the election, led directly to her loss.”Clinton’s whining was the soundbite “I think the determining factor was the intervention by Comey on October 28th.”
In that same 2017 interview, Guthrie’s disgraced former co-host Matt Lauer asked Clinton if Trump “stole the election” from her. This was before leftist media considered such questions to be dangerous to democracy. The friendly chat also include softballs from Guthrie, like asking the failed candidate: “How’s your pain?”
On Monday, Guthrie pressed Abedin on whether she felt “guilty” for supposedly being to blame for Clinton losing the election:
Things got very complicated when, late in the campaign in 2016, some e-mails between you and Hillary Clinton were discovered on Anthony Weiner’s laptopThey had been sent to him, according to the investigation, in order that he could make them available for you. In any case, James Comey had reopened an e-mail probe 11 days before Election Day. Hillary Clinton stated that this was what contributed to and was the reason for her loss. You’ve said in the book that you will carry that to your grave. Do you feel guilty?
Abedin confirmed: “I felt – I lived with a tremendous amount of guilt.”
Wrapping up the exchange, Guthrie eagerly wondered about Abedin’s future political plans: “But what do you see for your future?…Think you’ll run for office one of these days?” Abedin initially replied: “I’m not saying no to anything.” However, after Guthrie got excited by the prospect, Abedin switched to, “I don’t know.”
There are more CBS Mornings, co-host Nate Burleson touted: “…the first television interview with Huma Abedin, Hillary Clinton’s longtime aide. Abedin talked with CBS Evening News anchor and managing editor Norah O’Donnell to discuss her new book, The Best of Both/And – A Life in Many Worlds.”
Initial airing of the interview was on CBS Sunday Morning, but the Monday morning show highlighted excerpts of O’Donnell’s 12-minute profile piece:
Abedin’s two lives truly came crashing together.Weiner was found to be sexting underage with a girl, and FBI agents discovered e-mails that involved Hillary Clinton on Weiner’s laptop ….Just 11 days before the election, FBI Director James Comey announced he was reopening an investigation into Clinton’s e-mails. Although he would close the probe just two days prior to Election Day, many believed the damage was done …. The probe was closed two days before Election Day, but many considered the damage done.But, there has been no end to the discussion about her defeat.
Turning to Abedin, O’Donnell wistfully observed: “Hillary Clinton could be in her second term as president right now.”Abedin lamented “That is a thought that crosses my mind probably more than it crosses hers. That is something that lives here that I think I’m going to take to my grave.”
Appearing on the broadcast after the taped segment, O’Donnell told her colleagues: “…that giant question mark, which we talk about in this interview – did her relationship with Anthony Weiner and those discovered e-mails on his laptop somehow lead to Hillary Clinton’s defeat? It’s utterly fascinating.” Co-host Gayle King remarked: “It is still an ongoing question that many people still debate to this day.”
NBC’s 12-minute effort to sell Abedin’s book was brought to viewers by Walmart, CBS’s six-and-a-half-minute push was brought to viewers by Uber. These advertisers can be criticized by you.
Here is a partial transcript of the November 1 segment on NBC’s TodayDisplay:
8:10 AM ET
SAVANNAH GUTRIE – Huma Abedin is a person most people have seen as she has developed over the years. She was a long-time Clinton aide and married to Anthony Weiner, a disgraced ex-Congressman. Through it all she has kept quiet until now. Huma is out with a new memoir, it’s called The Best of Both/And – A Life in Many WorldsThank you. We’re gonna talk to her in just a moment, but first, more on her journey.
Huma Abedin is a well-known figure in politics for many decades. Making a name for herself as Hillary Clinton’s right-hand woman, with some calling her Clinton’s second daughter. Abedin started as a White House intern in 1996 before following Clinton to the Senate, the State Department, then back to the campaign trail as a top adviser for Clinton’s 2016 presidential run.
HILLARY CLINTON: Help us fight!
GUTHRIE: But it wasn’t until Abedin’s personal life became consumed by scandal that she found herself in the spotlight.
ANTHONY WEINER: I’m deeply sorry for the pain this has caused my wife Huma and our family.
GUTHRIE – In 2011, Anthony Weiner, her ex-husband, resigned as Congressman after he confessed to sending sexually explicit photographs to several women.
(…)
8.12 am ET
GUTHRIE: The couple separated in 2016, just months before the FBI reopened its case into Clinton’s e-mails, after some e-mails between Clinton and Abedin were found on Weiner’s computer, a development celebrated by Clinton’s opponent.
DONALD TRUMP [OCTOBER 31, 2016]Huma, thank you. Good morning job, Huma.
GUTHRIE: Former Democratic nominee stated on Today that she believes the FBI probe into her e-mail scandal which was announced just before the election led to her defeat.
HILLARY CLINTON [SEPTEMBER 13, 2017]: I believe the decisive factor was Comey’s October 28th intervention.
(…)
8:18 AM ET
GUTHRIE: All this time this is all happening, it would be enough for any one person, you’re also at the heights of political power, there’s a presidential campaign going on. Your role as a senior advisor to Hillary Clinton was ironic because Hillary Clinton had gone through scandal and had to face infidelity. Was she able to give you some advice at that time? Did she say, “Huma, leave him,” or did she – what was her thought then?
HUMA ABEDIN: I have had the privilege of working for her for 25 years and I would say – and I think anybody who works for Hillary would say this – is whenever I’ve had any personal challenges or really any challenges, she has approached the conversation with me as a friend first and a boss second. And she showed every time that, “I am here for you, I support you, whatever your decision is. We are all here for you.”
GUTHRIE: Things got very complicated when, late in the campaign in 2016, some e-mails between you and Hillary Clinton were discovered on Anthony Weiner’s laptop, they had been forwarded, the investigation found, so that he could print them for you. James Comey opened the investigation again 11 days prior to Election Day. Hillary Clinton said that she believed this contributed and was the decisive factor in her defeat. You’ve said in the book that you will carry that to your grave. Do you feel guilty?
ABEDIN: I felt – I lived with a tremendous amount of guilt. It was shocking to me that the FBI announced this extraordinary announcement 10 days prior to the election. This broke the precedent of previous FBI directors. That experience really struck me because the year prior, after hearing that the FBI was beginning an investigation into my case, I hadn’t heard anything from anyone. Even though I had offered to volunteer, they didn’t respond. I didn’t understand why nobody tried to reach me. This is why, therefore, it will be carried to my grave.
(…)
8.22 am ET
GUTHRIE : This is about you. I knew we wouldn’t have time to cover it all. However, what are your plans for the future?
I am excited for this new chapter. I am doing the thing with you, Savannah, that for my entire adult life I was terrified of, which is putting myself out there and being in public and so I’m really looking forward to my next chapter.
GUTHRIE: Think you’ll run for office one of these days?
ABEDIN (I am following Shonda Rhimes. This is my year to say yes). I’m not saying no to anything.
GUTHRIE: Wow, okay, you’re making a little news there at the end. Yes.
ABEDIN: Well, that was, I don’t know.
GUTHRIE: Ok, fine. Okay, that’s great. You’ll have to answer it again in the next interview. Huma Abedin – Thank you very much. It was an honor to have you as a guest.
ABEDIN: Thanks, Savannah.
GUTHRIE The Best of Both/And – A Life in Many Worlds and it’s out tomorrow.
Below is a transcript from the segment of November 1, 2009. CBS MorningsYou can find this link:
8:35 AM ET
NATE BURLESON: Now turning to the first television interview with Huma Abedin, Hillary Clinton’s longtime aide. Abedin spoke with CBS Evening News anchor and managing editor Norah O’Donnell to discuss her new book, The Best of Both/And – A Life in Many WorldsIt is available at. It’s published by Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, a division of ViacomCBS. You could go on. CBS Sunday MorningAbedin talked about her marital problems with Anthony Weiner (a former New York congressman) and the impact that this scandal had on her job.
NORAH O’DONNELL: By 2016, Anthony Weiner and Huma Abedin were officially separated. Another bombshell was released a month after Hillary Clinton won the Democratic nomination for President.
(…)
8.36 am ET
O’DONNELL: A few weeks later, Abedin’s two lives truly came crashing together. Weiner was found to be sexting underage with a girl, and FBI agents discovered e-mails that involved Hillary Clinton on Weiner’s laptop.UNIDENTIFIED RESPORTER: Is there any reaction to this FBI investigation?Thank you!
O’DONNELL: Just 11 days before the election, FBI Director James Comey announced he was reopening an investigation into Clinton’s e-mails. The probe would be closed by Comey two days prior to Election Day. However, many felt the damage was done. You write, “This man Weiner was going to ruin me, and now he was going jeopardize Hillary Clinton’s chances of winning the presidency.” And then you write you called Anthony Weiner and you said what?
HUMA ABEDIN: “‘Anthony,’ I said, wanting to shake him through the phone, if she loses this election, it will be because of you and me. One line was written in my notebook that night — I don’t know how I will survive. Help me God.” Yeah.
DONALD TRUMP: I’ve just received a call from Secretary Clinton.
O’DONNELL: It all ended, of course, with Hillary Clinton losing to Donald Trump. But, there has been no end to the discussion about her defeat. Hillary Clinton may be serving her second term right now as President.
ABEDIN – That thought crosses mine more often than hers. That is something that lives here that I think I’m going to take to my grave.
O’DONNELL: When you say take it to your grave, do you mean because you think about something you could have done to help fix the situation, make it better? Because you’re kind of in that fix-it role.
O’DONNELL I have reconciled – and it took me a while to reconcile – that it was not all my fault. That was the truth. I don’t believe that anymore. It’s more a sense of an ache in the heart.
BURLESON: Norah O’Donnell is joining us right now, good morning. Norah’s interview is honest and very revealing. Are they just promoting her book or are there deeper reasons?
O’DONNELL: I do think it’s deeper than that. Huma Abedin, I believe, is someone who was a private person for 25 years, primarily as an aide to Hillary Clinton. Her husband, however, ran for New York City mayor. But I – I asked her, I said, this is your first television interview. The interview was her first television interview. Sunday morningIt was. And she said she did it because she said she realized that if you don’t tell your story, someone else is writing your history.
It’s one of the strongest interviews I’ve ever conducted. The book is actually one of the best books I’ve ever read. I’m not in the business of pushing someone’s book, but she is a fascinating person that I’ve known, you know, as someone who was with Hillary Clinton, I’m a reporter, but I didn’t know her personally. The book begins with her parents: her Pakistani mother and her Indian father. Both Fulbright scholars. Saudi Arabia, where I grew up. Really never, ever having a boyfriend until Anthony Weiner, is really the only man she’s been with.
And then, of course, living her life in this very public scandal, and that giant question mark, which we talk about in this interview – did her relationship with Anthony Weiner and those discovered e-mails on his laptop somehow lead to Hillary Clinton’s defeat? It’s utterly fascinating.
GAYLE KING: The question is one that people continue to debate.
(…)
8.40 am ET
O’DONNELL: I did ask her what’s next, and she kept talking about a reawakening, a rebirth. I wonder whether there is something different in the future for Huma Abedin, whether it’s a different role or a job where it’s a life in public service as a political candidate herself. Those are all possible options for Huma Abedin’s future.
(…)
8.41 am ET
KING: All right, I’m cheering on Huma. We are grateful, Norah.
BURLESON: No doubt. Norah, great stuff.
KING: No.
BURLESON – Thank you very much. You can also see the full interview with Huma Abedin on tonight’s show. CBS Evening News
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