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By Nicholas Fondacaro
 With the recovery process just beginning in some parts of Texas on Thursday, following the devastation of Hurricane Harvey, President Donald Trump pledged $1 million of his own money to aid relief efforts. Only two of the Big Three Networks (ABC and CBS) found it fitting to report Trump’s act of charity. NBC Nightly News was the only network news show to ignore it, instead, they simply mentioned that Trump planned to visit Houston on Saturday.
In addition to Trump’s pledge, Vice President Mike Pence was in Rockport, Texas to survey the damage, console the people, and personally help with the cleanup.
“President Trump today pledged $1 million of his own money to disaster relief. The White House has asked for suggestions as to where that money should go,” reported Co-Anchor Margaret Brennan in a news brief on CBS Evening News.
Brennan then touted Pence’s on the ground efforts saying: “Today, Vice President Mike Pence comforted victims in Rockport, Texas. Then he got to work, rolled up his sleeves in 90-degree heat and helped clear debris in the city.”
ABC’s fill-in Anchor Tom Llamas also hyped Trump’s pledged donation during World News Tonight. “The White House announcing today that President Trump is pledging to personally donate $1 million to Harvey relief, and he'll return to visit the storm zone this weekend,” he announced at the start of a segment that was partly about the White House’s relief efforts.
“Vice President Pence was hands on in Texas today, helping haul away branches from a damaged home, while its emotional residents looked on,” reported Chief White House Correspondent Jon Karl, who shadowed the VP Thursday. “He hugged hurricane victims and prayed with people outside a battered church. Its front wall ripped off.”
But the positive tone didn’t last long as Karl brought everything back to bitter politics and grilled Pence on the threat of a government shutdown. “We asked about the President's threat to shutdown the government if he doesn't get funding for his border wall. A shutdown that would almost certainly impact recovery efforts,” he stated.
Pence explained that the President was committed to the promises that he made to the voters, but “the priority right now for President Trump and this administration is these families [in Texas].”
“As for the President, he'll be back here in Texas on Saturday, meeting with victims of the storm, something he did not do earlier this week,” jabbed Karl as he was wrapping up his report.
Instead of reporting on Trump’s personal $1 million contribution, NBC decided to spend time gushing over the rumors of a new iPhone said to be announced at an Apple press conference in September.
NBC’s bias by omission was sponsored by Wayfair, Aleve PM, Ace Hardware, Preparation H, and Sprint to name a few.
Transcripts below:
CBS Evening News
August 31, 2017
6:42:44 PM Eastern
MARGARET BRENNAN: President Trump today pledged $1 million of his own money to disaster relief. The White House has asked for suggestions as to where that money should go. The President will be visiting Houston on Saturday. Today, Vice President Mike Pence comforted victims in Rockport, Texas. Then he got to work, rolled up his sleeves in 90-degree heat and helped clear debris in the city, where Harvey made landfall last Friday.
...
ABC
World News Tonight
August 31, 2017
6:42:55 PM Eastern
TOM LLAMAS: The White House announcing today that President Trump is pledging to personally donate $1 million to Harvey relief, and he'll return to visit the storm zone this weekend. Vice President Mike Pence was there today, comforting survivors of the storm and pitching in to help. ABC's Chief White House Correspondent, Jonathan Karl tonight, with an exclusive one-on-one with the Vice President.
 [Cut to video]
JON KARL: Vice President Pence was hands on in Texas today, helping haul away branches from a damaged home, while its emotional residents looked on. He hugged hurricane victims and prayed with people outside a battered church. Its front wall ripped off.
MIKE PENCE: You've inspired the nation by your resilience and by your courage, and we just came here to commend you and to encourage you.
KARL: We joined the Vice President as he surveyed the damage from above in an osprey. As the Vice President promised, Texas will get everything it needs from the federal government. We asked about the President's threat to shutdown the government if he doesn't get funding for his border wall. A shutdown that would almost certainly impact recovery efforts. Is he going to put that threat to the side now and concentrate on rebuilding here?
PENCE: President Trump's made it very clear that we're gonna keep our promise to the American people. We've seen great progress in –
KARL: Even if that means a shutdown?
PENCE: In reducing illegal immigration along our southern border and enforcing our laws. And the President's made it clear that we're going to stand firm. The priority right now for President Trump and this administration is these families.
[Cuts back to live]
KARL: In other words, Tom, the Vice President is not ruling out a government shutdown. As for the President, he'll be back here in Texas on Saturday, meeting with victims of the storm, something he did not do earlier this week. Tom
LLAMAS: All eyes on the President's trip to the region. All right Jon, thank you.
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By Scott Whitlock
The journalists on CBS This Morning on Thursday continued to look for any angle to attack Donald Trump on his response to Hurricane Harvey. The same network that was, just days ago, wondering if the President would be disruptive by visiting Texas is now criticizing him for not visiting flooded areas. On Thursday, Major Garrett derided, “Mr. Trump was criticized for not mentioning those killed in the storm during his Tuesday trip and for not visiting any floor-ravaged areas.”
Portraying Trump as uncaring, Garrett continued, “The fact that he saw no damage first hand did not stop him from claiming on Twitter he witnessed, quote, ‘first hand the horror and devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey.'”
Offering another snarky aside, the journalist chided, “The Vice President during his visit to Rockport today will, unlike the President, visit with victims of Hurricane Harvey and witness first hand actual damage.”
 Yet, on Monday, This Morning co-host Gayle King made the opposite argument, worrying to Texas Governor Greg Abbott that Trump would be a distraction:
Governor, the President has said he will be traveling to Texas as soon as a trip can be made without causing disruption in the wake of this hurricane. Right now, he's scheduled to come tomorrow. Is that the best time for him to come?
Abbott specifically explained Trump’s travel plans to the host: “The place he will be going to will not be Houston. So, it will not be getting into harm’s way or interrupting the evacuations or emergency response in the Houston area.”
 CBS wasn’t the only network trying to have it both ways. On MSNBC, Monday, Katy Tur scolded, “[Donald Trump is] going to Texas tomorrow and there's real concern that his going there is going to have to divert, at least a little bit, some resources away from the rescue effort and toward him.”
Which is it? Is Trump going to Texas too quickly and being a distraction for rescue workers? Or is he selfishly not seeing enough of the state? It can’t be both.
Of course, the answer seems to be: Whatever harms Trump and the Republican agenda. On Wednesday, CBS This Morning guest co-host Margaret Brennan excitedly wondered if Harvey will derail the GOP on taxes and building a wall.
[CBS This Morning’s bias was sponsored by Macy’s, Osteo Bi-Flex and Advil.]
A transcript of the segment is below:
CBS This Morning
8/31/17
7:15am ET
MARGARET BRENNAN: Vice President Pence will go to Texas today to visit people impacted by Harvey and to see the damage. President Trump sent a message of reassurance yesterday during a pitch for tax reform plan at a factory in Missouri. Major Garrett is at the White House. Major, good morning.
MAJOR GARRETT: Good morning. Amidst the Havoc that is Hurricane Harvey, President Trump is trying to generate real momentum for tax reform. Yesterday's speech in Missouri was one of many road show speeches on that topic. The White House is scrambling to pass the tax cut before the end of the year, but there’s less time than means the eye. Only 48 legislative days in the House and Senate.
DONALD TRUMP: [Emphasizing pronunciation] Can I say Missouri or should I say Missouri?
GARRETT: While rescues in the aftermath of Harvey continue in Texas and Louisiana, President Trump flew to Springfield, Missouri to campaign for massive tax cuts. But first he addressed Harvey’s wrath.
TRUMP: To those Americans who have lost love ones, all of America is grieving with you.
GARRETT: Mr. Trump was criticized for not mentioning those killed in the storm during his Tuesday trip and for not visiting any floor-ravaged areas. The fact that he saw no damage first hand did not stop him from claiming on Twitter he witnessed, quote, ‘first hand the horror and devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey.’ On tax reform, the President promised relief for the middle class.
TRUMP: We want to help them take home as much of their money as possible.
GARRETT: But his plan largely includes cuts for the wealthiest Americans, including reducing the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 15 percent and lowering taxes on profits made oversees. But before Congress even addresses tax reform, it must pass a budget, secure funding for Hurricane Harvey relief and raise the debt ceiling. With several House Republicans sitting in front of him, the President said this is a chance for Congress to redeem itself after the failure to pass ObamaCare repeal.
TRUMP: I am fully committed to working with Congress to get this job done. And I don't want to be disappointed by Congress. Do you understand me? Do you understand?
GARRETT: Tax reform, will, by necessity take a back seat to Hurricane Harvey relief. And the Vice President during his visit to Rockport today will, unlike the President, visit with victims of Hurricane Harvey and witness first hand actual damage. Maurice?
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By Kyle Drennen
Filling in for Andrea Mitchell during MSNBC’s 12 p.m. ET hour on Thursday, anchor Kasie Hunt noted that Vice President Mike Pence had just arrived in Texas to tour storm damage and meet with victims of Hurricane Harvey, claiming he was taking “a different tact than the President took when he visited the region on Monday.”
Turning to Obama Communications Director and top Hillary Clinton aide Jennifer Palmieri, Hunt asked: “Is he just trying to make up for a mistake that the President made in your view?” Predictably, Palmieri jumped at the chance to criticize the President: “...the White House staff themselves said it’s important for the VP to go down and to talk specifically to victims. And that probably is something that would have been better, obviously, for the President to do.”
The Democratic partisan also voiced her hope that the hurricane’s aftermath would derail Trump’s agenda:
And it’s gonna impact a lot of issues. Like we see the DACA decision possibly being delayed, which I think would be a good thing because you might not want to rescind protection for Dreamers while Dreamers in Texas are underwater in Houston. So I think the White House will find that this is going to not just be a big issue for them to deal with the clean up, but also impact other political issues they have to deal with.
Moments later, Hunt reiterated “that the Vice President was the one stepping out in front of the administration’s response to this disaster.” She pressed political analyst Elise Jordan: “...what’s your view of what this means, the context of Vice President Mike Pence kind of taking the mantle here for the administration?”
Jordan pushed back on the biased discussion: “I think that it is much easier to advance and execute a high-level dignitary visit when there are a few more days of planning. I think that the criticism of President Trump initially not going, you know, immediately to the eye of the storm, I think it’s pretty unfair.”
On Wednesday, the cast of Morning Joe savaged Trump for his Tuesday visit to Texas, saying there was “something wrong with him” and accusing him of not being “human and empathetic.”
The discussion led by Hunt on Thursday was brought to viewers by American Express, Office Depot, and Liberty Mutual.
Here is a transcript of the August 31 segment:
12:52 PM ET
 KASIE HUNT: And Vice President Mike Pence just landed in Corpus Christi. He’s gonna be meeting with storm victims. President Trump expected to head back to the Gulf Coast on Saturday. Joining me now, MSNBC political analyst Elise Jordan, a former White House aide in the George W. Bush administration, and Jennifer Palmieri, former communications director to President Obama. And we still of course have retired Admiral Thad Allen, the former Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard here with us.
For all of you, Jen, I want to talk to you first about Mike Pence and his visit here, the meeting with victims. This is a different tact than the President took when he visited the region on Monday. Is he just trying to make up for a mistake that the President made in your view?
JENNIFER PALMIERI: I think that it was pretty telling that the White House staff themselves, not even the Vice President’s staff, but the White House staff themselves said it’s important for the VP to go down and to talk specifically to victims. And that probably is something that would have been better, obviously, for the President to do. I imagine even if Trump had done it, Pence would be doing it today, too.
The magnitude of this storm. You know, I worked in White Houses when you had to deal with things like this, nothing the magnitude of Houston, but they’re going to be dealing with this for years, not just months, but years. And Admiral Allen can certainly speak to that with his experience with the BP spill.
And it’s gonna impact a lot of issues. Like we see the DACA decision possibly being delayed, which I think would be a good thing because you might not want to rescind protection for Dreamers while Dreamers in Texas are underwater in Houston. So I think the White House will find that this is going to not just be a big issue for them to deal with the clean up, but also impact other political issues they have to deal with.
HUNT: Yeah, certainly there is a sense that it may impact how congress operates here in the first month of September as they try to get aid down to these victims. I want to show you a little bit of – this was former Texas Governor, now Energy Secretary, Rick Perry spoke to reporters on the plane, on Air Force Two, coming down to Corpus Christi. He was asked a little bit about what it meant that the Vice President was the one stepping out in front of the administration’s response to this disaster. Take a look at his answer to those questions.
RICK PERRY: The President went to the right place. He literally and figuratively waved the flag. The American citizens and Texans know he cares, he’s paying attention.
HUNT: Elise Jordan, what’s your view of what this means, the context of Vice President Mike Pence kind of taking the mantle here for the administration?
ELISE JORDAN: Well, I think that this is also not in the very early hours of the tragedy. And I think that it is much easier to advance and execute a high-level dignitary visit when there are a few more days of planning. I think that the criticism of President Trump initially not going, you know, immediately to the eye of the storm, I think it’s pretty unfair. And I think that it’s important to take a step back and just, you know, think about the resources that are required for one of these visits, and you know, what – the decision-making process that involved.
(...)
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By Curtis Houck
Somehow, CNN thought it’d be an excellent idea to give New Day co-host Chris Cuomo a week-long tryout for a possible primetime show. Needless to say, Cuomo made a fool of himself on Wednesday, pushing fake news about climate change and alleging storms like Hurricane Harvey are happening “every other year.”
Cuomo went down that rabbit hole during his latest duel with White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, stating that “[o]ne of the themes that's coming out of this, and it's not a discussion just to have now, but certainly in the weeks and months as we move forward, is whether or not what happened in Harvey and why it's happening and why these storms happen open up a discussion about the role of climate change.”
When he asked if President Trump “is...open to that conversation,” Conway shot back:
Chris, we're trying to help the people whose lives are literally underwater. And you want to have a conversation about climate change. I mean, that is -- I'm not going to engage in that right now, because I work for a President and a vice President and a country that is very focused on helping the millions of affected Texans and God forbid Louisiana, if it ends up making landfall there.
Cuomo showed his utter clueless and willingness to spread dangerously fake news that somehow climate changes policies (ex. the Paris deal) would “reduce the number of these storms” just as NBC’s Ron Allen did in October 2016.
Pushing even more fake news, Cuomo posed this egregiously loony question to Conway: “Imagine if we could figure out why a hundred-year storm seems to happen every other year and you have all these scientist saying climate change is part of the equation.”
Here’s the facts. No major hurricane (category three and up) had made landfall in the United States before Harvey since 2005 when there were four such hurricanes to make landfall in the U.S. mainland.
Yes, Sandy was one of the costliest hurricanes ever in 2012, but it was a category one at landfall and, naturally, there’s going to be catastrophic damage to an area not used to hurricanes with buildings that weren’t built to sustain Sandy’s conditions.
In addition, the most devastating hurricanes have struck in 1900, 1935, 1969, 1989, 1992, 2005, and 2012. Notice how they’re spaced out and not back-to-back as Cuomo claimed? That’s why Cuomo’s “every other year” statement should be the kind of quote examined by Politifact and Snopes if they were actually concerned about being real fact-checks instead of liberal hacks.
Back to the Cuomo vs. Conway duel, Conway lit into Cuomo for this line of questioning:
CONWAY: Chris, seriously? Are you going to play climatologist tonight? Okay, I’ll tell you what.
CUOMO: It's just a — it’s a question about whether or not the administration is open. It seems the answer is no.
CONWAY: We'll assume — no, I didn't say that, Chris, and you don't need to put words in my mouth.
CUOMO: Well, you berated me for asking the question and made it sound as if I weren't caring about the situation.
CONWAY: No — I’m exposing —
CUOMO: I think the cause of this storm matters.
She then continued, calling out Cuomo as an “amateur climatologist”:
I'm exposing the irony of the conversation. Here's the deal, you play amateur climatologist tonight and I will play professional helper to those in need and continue in my job here as counselor to the President to help listen to the cabinet members, the President, the Vice President, FEMA, DHS, and others, General Kelly, who could not be a better chief of staff equipped for a matter like Harvey because he was at DHS and is accustomed to large-scale operations and such and I will, and we're going to talk to the governors of the two states and the locally elected officials and the NGOs an non-governmental organizations, the faith-based groups, the volunteers on the ground, neighbor-to-neighbors, stranger-to-stranger rescuing each other. I'm going to focus on them for in the short-term, perhaps the long-term.
Boom! Cuomo later tried to save face, arguing that caring about the people affected by Harvey “doesn't mean that you do that to the exclusion of questions of why storms happen” because “[a]t some point that could be part of the conversation. I asked about it, you gave an answer.”
Earlier in the marathon interview, Cuomo insisted on claiming that relitigating the debate over Hurricane Sandy relief was relevant to Harvey because, you know, folks like Cuomo are still bitter and vindictive about how that all panned out four years ago.
Here’s a portion of that exchange:
CUOMO: I am suggesting that he's got to get the GOP in line, because those senators who said it was pork laden like Ted Cruz were wrong. They were playing politics. And that's why Cruz had to change his position after getting three Pinocchios. It wasn't pork laden. Almost all of that money was Sandy related. Listen to Governor Chris Christie, a Republican, as we know. He said they were playing politics, it was cheap and it was wrong. So I'm asking, how does the President avoid that happening again?
CONWAY: So I answered that already. I think you're playing politics now with something like a tragedy and Harvey. I answered you question. The money will be there. We hope that Republican and Democrats will come together and not politicize it. We see a lot of politics being played. I think instead having the same conversation five different ways in the course of the first three four minutes of this interview, you could be putting up 1-800 numbers or websites or giving people information about pet rescues or diapers or meals —
CUOMO: We can do both.
CONWAY: — or water.
For more on Cuomo’s pathetic politicization of Harvey to make himself feel better, my colleague Kristine Marsh compiled moments from not only Wednesday night but throughout the week. Her post can be found here.
Here’s the relevant transcript from CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time on August 30:
CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time
August 30, 2017
9:17 p.m. Eastern
CHRIS CUOMO: Let's talk about delivering help after Harvey. The President says it is a top priority. Do you have a plan to avoid the politics that got in the way of the Sandy money?
 KELLYANNE CONWAY: We hope that everybody puts politics aside, to get help directly to the people in a speedy fashion. I mean, we know, Chris, after the devastating effects of a storm like Harvey, that the recovery, the rebuilding, the relief efforts, they go on infinitely, sometimes it feels like we don't know if it will be weeks, months, years. But this President and Vice President and cabinet stand ready to assist those in need. Housing will be an issue for many people, who are displaced. Their houses are either uninhabitable or destroyed. We know that we've been trying to get food and water to people, over 2.5 million meals. Over 2 million liters of water, as of yesterday, and perhaps more today. Clothing, we know that non-governmental organizations are also helping a great deal. The media are helping to connect people with information. We're grateful for that. But in terms of the funding, we hope that Congress will focus on the President's priority, which is to connect with people in need with the money and the resources that they require to get immediate help, but also to help rebuild their lives.
CUOMO: That's why I ask about the plan. I get the intentions and it's the right intention, especially in this type of emergency situation. But, you know, the cabinet itself is filled with lawmakers who voted against that Sandy money. What will the President do if people play politics with Harvey the way they did with Sandy?
CONWAY: Chris, the President has also said he needs to rely on Congress. We hope it will be bipartisan in nature, so few things in this city have been since we arrived in January. We can't seem to get many Democrats at the table for big, meaningful initiatives and that's very disappointing. Can't have a conversation, let alone a vote on certain things. But we hope when it comes to relief, that the plan will include Democrats and Republicans voting to get that relief. It should also really focus on the task at hand —
CUOMO: Right.
CONWAY: — which is about Harvey and those in the affected areas. So Congress comes back. In the meantime, the President has provided the administration, frankly, is working to coordinate with our local and state officials and also the rest of the administration to access the resources and the capital that we need to provide folks with their immediate relief.
CUOMO: So he's going to have to get the Republicans in line, because they're the ones that blocked the Sandy money last time, Ted Cruz, Ryan, and others. And he's going to have to rethink the FEMA money, isn't he? I mean, making cuts to FEMA and allocating money to the wall, what's the main priority? Harvey or the wall?
CONWAY: Well, Chris, that's not very fair. And I heard you three times in a row get the same sound bite out, so let me reply in kind.
CUOMO: It was the same question just to get a response that's all.
CONWAY: No, that's not fair. I'll answer your question twice. I'll do it a third time. But if you're going to talk about who voted for and against Hurricane Sandy, you have to be fair and reflect the full remarks of the people who say that they voted against what they wanted to vote for hurricane relief, but they voted against what they saw as a pork-laden bill that included many other things. One was for a car for an inspector general. Another was to revamp some building. But they -- this is about getting money to the people.
 (....)
CUOMO: I am suggesting that he's got to get the GOP in line, because those senators who said it was pork laden like Ted Cruz were wrong. They were playing politics. And that's why Cruz had to change his position after getting three Pinocchios. It wasn't pork laden. Almost all of that money was Sandy related. Listen to Governor Chris Christie, a Republican, as we know. He said they were playing politics, it was cheap and it was wrong. So I'm asking, how does the President avoid that happening again?
CONWAY: So I answered that already. I think you're playing politics now with something like a tragedy and Harvey. I answered you question. The money will be there. We hope that Republican and Democrats will come together and not politicize it. We see a lot of politics being played. I think instead having the same conversation five different ways in the course of the first three four minutes of this interview, you could be putting up 1-800 numbers or websites or giving people information about pet rescues or diapers or meals —
CUOMO: We can do both.
CONWAY: — or water.
(....)
CONWAY: Yes, here's the fact. This President isn't just saying the right thing. He will do the right thing and let’s hope that Congress comes together.
CUOMO: And I'm saying in order for him to do it, Congress has to come together.
CONWAY: No kidding.
CUOMO: And we saw the intention with Sandy and they didn't get it done. Donald Trump, then citizen Trump, rightly criticized the Obama administration and Congress for not getting the money done for Sandy because they play politic politics. That's what I'm saying. You don't have to be defensive about the President. I'm not calling him out.
CONWAY: I'm not defensive at all.
CUOMO: I'm saying, how does he control the Congress?
CONWAY: I don't feel defensive at all except for the people in need and my focus is on them.
CUOMO: And that's the urgency.
CONWAY: My focus is on the people who are affected now and —
CUOMO: That's right.
CONWAY: — not something you want to politicize from five years ago.
CUOMO: But that's what happened.
(....)
 CUOMO: Of course, and that's why Chris Christie is making the rounds on television saying in full-throated fashion, don't do it again. You took 60-something days to approve the money because you played politics and you wanted budget set offs and it wasn't a clean bill. Avoid those problems this time. That's all I'm saying. That's not disrespecting the survivors. That is respecting the survivors and making sure they don't get caught up in political mishigas (ph) like happened the last time. That's my point.
CONWAY: Okay.
CUOMO: We agree? Shocking. All right. Let's move on to something else. One of the themes that's coming out of this, and it's not a discussion just to have now, but certainly in the weeks and months as we move forward, is whether or not what happened in Harvey and why it's happening and why these storms happen open up a discussion about the role of climate change. Is the President — is the administration open to that conversation?
CONWAY: Chris, we're trying to help the people whose lives are literally underwater. And you want to have a conversation about climate change. I mean, that is -- I'm not going to engage in that right now, because I work for a President and a vice President and a country that is very focused on helping the millions of affected Texans and God forbid Louisiana, if it end up making landfall there.
CUOMO: Imagine if we could find ways to reduce the number of these storms. Imagine if we could figure out why a hundred-year storm seems to happen every other year and you have all these scientist saying climate change is part of the equation.
CONWAY: Chris, seriously? Are you going to play climatologist tonight? Okay, I’ll tell you what.
CUOMO: It's just a — it’s a question about whether or not the administration is open. It seems the answer is no.
CONWAY: We'll assume — no, I didn't say that, Chris, and you don't need to put words in my mouth.
CUOMO: Well, you berated me for asking the question and made it sound as if I weren't caring about the situation.
CONWAY: No — I’m exposing —
CUOMO: I think the cause of this storm matters.
 CONWAY: — I'm exposing the irony of the conversation. here's the deal, you play amateur climatologist tonightand I will play professional helper to those in need and continue in my job here as counselor to the President to help listen to the cabinet members, the President, the Vice President, FEMA, DHS, and others, General Kelly, who could not be a better chief of staff equipped for a matter like Harvey because he was at DHS and is accustomed to large-scale operations and such and I will, and we're going to talk to the governors of the two states and the locally elected officials and the NGOs an non-governmental organizations, the faith-based groups, the volunteers on the ground, neighbor-to-neighbors, stranger-to-stranger rescuing each other. I'm going to focus on them for in the short-term, perhaps the long-term.
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By Kristine Marsh
 In the midst of the horrific devastation Texans are experiencing due to Hurricane Harvey, CNN New Day host Chris Cuomo can’t stop politicizing the situation. He has spent the entire week badgering Texas Congressmen like Ted Cruz for not voting on a massive, pork-laden relief bill for Hurricane Sandy back in 2013. Ironically, Cuomo’s most often repeated phrase? Republicans “played politics” with Sandy, something it’s reasonable to say Cuomo is now doing himself with Harvey.
Since Monday morning, Cuomo has spent 9 different segments hammering GOP Congressmen over Sandy spending, seeming to take a special interest in bashing Senator Ted Cruz. By contrast, CNN as a network only devoted one interview on Tuesday to badgering a Democrat, Sheila Jackson Lee, for not voting on the Sandy relief bill. And it wasn’t even Chris Cuomo who did the badgering, that time.
Each segment on CNN has been filled with Cuomo making nasty swipes at Republicans, suggesting they were self-serving and even lying about Sandy relief funding. Cuomo’s perseverance at perpetuating this “cold-hearted GOP” narrative was so obnoxious, it deserved a video roundup. Watch the video below to see all the times Cuomo went out of his way to “call out” Republicans and conservatives for not wanting to impose a massive spending bill, filled with pet projects and special interests on taxpayers.
Cuomo doesn’t seriously address Republicans’ concerns about the Sandy relief bill. Instead he just shoots down their argument as “false” because Chris Christie and the liberal fact-checkers at the Washington Post said so. According to several conservative think-tanks, the bill was loaded with pork. The Heritage Foundation even estimated that over 60% of the bill’s budget was not directly related to Sandy.
But facts don’t seem to matter to Cuomo, who let slip that even if the bill was filled with pork, Republicans should’ve voted for it anyway. For example, to Republican Representative Roger Williams on Tuesday night’s Cuomo Prime Time, the CNN host justified spending money on a massive bill, because,“[S]ometimes you need to pay and figure it out later.”
Later in that same interview, Cuomo actually acknowledged that the GOP wanted a clean bill, without pork, but said that was unrealistic:
“Asking for a clean bill is a little bit like asking for all the water for Harvey to disappear tomorrow. It doesn’t happen.”
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By Nicholas Fondacaro
 President Trump ratcheted up the U.S.’s feud with Russia on Thursday when he ordered multiple facilities belonging to the Federation to be shuttered. The move came after 755 American diplomats were expelled from Russia and with the election meddling investigation still looming. But despite this escalation, two of the Big Three Networks (ABC and CBS) failed to cover the story during their evening broadcasts, while NBC used the news to smear the Republican Party as possible Russian conspirators.
“The U.S. is getting new payback against Russia over its meddling in the 2016 election,” touted Anchor Lester Holt during NBC Nightly News. “Today Russia was ordered to shut down three diplomatic sites within the U.S. A move that prompted one Russian official to warn of an escalating diplomatic war.”
According to NBC reporter Peter Alexander, President Trump himself was the one to give the order to the State Department. “Tonight the U.S. retaliating against Russia, ordering the closure of three diplomatic offices in San Francisco, New York, and Washington within 48 hours,” he noted. “Secretary of State Rex Tillerson informing Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in a phone call today.”
“Today's action, not kicking out Russian diplomats, but closing two trade mission annexes and the San Francisco consulate general, the oldest Russian consulate in the U.S. And a prominent Russian lawmaker tonight insisting ‘the U.S. is declaring the hot phase of diplomatic war,’” Alexander added.
Back in July, Russia kicked 755 American diplomats out of the country in retaliation for the U.S. closing some of their stateside facilities it was said where used for spying. When asked about the expelled officials, Trump sarcastically thanked Putin, saying: “I want to thank him because we're trying to cut down on payroll.”
Apparently, Trumps’ sarcasm went right over Alexander’s head, because he seemed to think Trump was serious. “President Trump at the time expressing gratitude,” he claimed. And with a sense of skepticism, he added that “White House aides later dismissing that as a joke.” Alexander was either incredibly thick or purposely misleading about Trump’s statement.
Alexander was absolutely giddy to smear the Republican Party with faceless accusations of federal crimes, towards the end of his report. According to an anonymous source, former Trump Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort took notes on his phone during the infamous Trump Tower meeting with some Russians. And in those notes, it’s alleged, the words “donations” and “RNC” were near each other in some fashion.
“Investigators are now reviewing those notes, trying to determine if there was any talk of foreign donations to the Trump campaign or the Republican Party, contributions that would be illegal,” Alexander declared in a suspicious tone as he wrapped up his report.
Evening though NBC was the only network in the Big Three to report on the Trump administration’s efforts to get tough on Russia, they used the opportunity to use innuendo to insinuate the Republican Party was in on a plot.
Transcript below:
NBC Nightly News
August 31, 2017
7:12:24 PM Eastern
LESTER HOLT: The U.S. is getting new payback against Russia over its meddling in the 2016 election. Today Russia was ordered to shut down three diplomatic sites within the U.S. A move that prompted one Russian official to warn of an escalating diplomatic war. Our Peter Alexander has the latest.
[Cuts to video]
PETER ALEXANDER: Tonight the U.S. retaliating against Russia, ordering the closure of three diplomatic offices in San Francisco, New York, and Washington within 48 hours. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson informing Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in a phone call today. The decision coming from the President himself.
SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS: We've taken a firm and measured action in response to Russia's unfortunate decision earlier this year.
ALEXANDER: That decision from Vladimir Putin last month responding to new U.S. sanctions for Moscow's interfering in the election by expelling 755 American diplomats. President Trump at the time expressing gratitude.
DONALD TRUMP: I want to thank him because we're trying to cut down on payroll.
ALEXANDER: White House aides later dismissing that as a joke. Today's action not kicking out Russian diplomats but closing two trade mission annexes and the San Francisco consulate general, the oldest Russian consulate in the U.S. And a prominent Russian lawmaker tonight insisting “the U.S. is declaring the hot phase of diplomatic war.”
MICHAEL MCFAUL: The Trump administration had to respond. This was the right decision. Regrettable but necessary.
ALEXANDER: Also tonight, NBC News has learned former Trump Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort's notes, typed on a phone from that controversial Trump Tower meeting with Russians during the 2016 campaign, included a reference to political donations and RNC according to sources briefed on the evidence.
[Cuts back to live]
Investigators are now reviewing those notes, trying to determine if there was any talk of foreign donations to the Trump campaign or the Republican Party, contributions that would be illegal. Manafort's spokesman telling NBC News the suggestion is 100 percent false. Peter Alexander, NBC News, the White House.
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