The cast of CBS Mornings oohed and aahed on Tuesday in a response to their interview of Barack Obama where the former president pushed Australian-style gun control and lamented that networks like CBS do not have the power they once did. Nate Burleson claimed the interview made him want to be a better journalist, Tony Dokoupil claimed Obama’s views on guns were “historically” correct and Obama donor and vacation pal Gayle King claimed Obama’s character, integrity, and intelligence are never to be questioned.
Before Tuesday, CBS played a preview clip on Monday that was introduced by Vladimir Duthiers, “In a conversation you'll see only on CBS Mornings Obama said public attitudes around gun rights have to be reshaped.”
In the clip, Obama claimed gun control advocates need to be able to talk to gun rights advocates, “Now part of that work has to be done not just in those communities that already want to do something about gun violence, we have to also actively reach out to communities where gun ownership is an important tradition.”
As Burleson lamented “Guns are as common as garden tools in certain communities,” Obama continued “but, that's not incompatible with us doing something about the flood of military-grade weapons on the streets.”
For the whole interview on Tuesday, Burleson wondered “What is the radical solution and do you believe there's a larger issue at hand that causes fractures among us in this country?”
For all the talk about needing to convince gun owners, Obama did reach for a radical proposal, “In Australia, you had one mass shooting 50 years ago and they said, we're not doing that anymore. That is normally how you would expect a society to respond when your children are at risk.”
Burleson then asked, “Why is it so hard for us to do that?”
Again showing his outreach to gun owners is disingenuous, Obama mourned “Gun ownership in this country became an ideological issue and a partisan issue in ways that it shouldn't be. It has become sort of a proxy for arguments about our culture wars.”
Later on in the interview, Burleson sought to discuss new topics, “Post-presidency, what about this country keeps you up at night?”
For Obama, the issue seemed to be that not every outlet is as soft on him as CBS, “The thing that I'm most worried about is the degree to which we now have a divided conversation in part because we have a divided media, right?”
Obama reminisced, “when I was coming up, you had three TV stations. and people were getting a similar sense of what is true and what isn't, what was real and what was not. Today what I'm most concerned about is the fact that because of the splintering of the media, we almost occupy different realities.”
Being one of those three networks, CBS wasn’t about to challenge that. Instead, back in studio with his fellow co-hosts, Burleson recalled “You know, I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation, specifically the part when he talked about media being fractured and how we now occupy different realities. So there's rarely common ground that we find as a country. When it comes to issues that are ripping us apart.”
Burleson added that “And in working with the media, it gave me a different perspective on what we do, and it also allows me to look in the mirror. How well are we doing the job of making sure that both sides, whatever the spectrum, can at least see truth and then start a conversation after that.”
King then shifted the conversation back to guns, “That’s what’s so scary, that we can’t even agree on the facts anymore and how do you get back to that, I still don’t know. I also like what he said about guns, that we tolerate on a routine basis children getting killed.”
Dokoupil’s then proceeded to assert that:
He's also, you know, he’s quite an academic, he’s a deep reader. He's historically correct in saying the gun debate has become ideological. It was as recently as the late 80s Republican Supreme Court nominees did not interpret the Second Amendment as meaning individual ownership of firearms, but state militias it’s been a cultural and legal shift in interpretation, and that means that we can go back to it, in theory.
King then gushed, “I've heard people say when it comes to Barack Obama, you may never question his character, his integrity, and his intelligence, and I think that was just another example there. I thought that was a great conversation on many different topics.”
This, again, is why having more than three news outlets is a good thing. Just because King has never heard of anyone questioning Obama, doesn’t mean they don’t exist.
Monday's edition of CBS Mornings was sponsored by Vicks and Tuesday's was sponsored by Crest.
Here are transcripts for the May 15 and 16 shows:
CBS Mornings
5/15/2023
7:15 AM ET
VLADIMIR DUTHIERS: In a conversation you'll see only on CBS Mornings Obama said public attitudes around gun rights have to be reshaped.
BARACK OBAMA: Now part of that work has to be done not just in those communities that already want to do something about gun violence, we have to also actively reach out to communities where gun ownership is an important tradition.
NATE BURLESON: Of course.
OBAMA: Right? So –
BURLESON: Guns are as common as garden tools in certain communities.
OBAMA: So, us being able to listen to and speak to those traditions while saying, yes but, that's not incompatible with us doing something about the flood of military-grade weapons on the streets. We can do something about that. What MBK is also about is recognizing that it's not an either/or question, either we eliminate all guns or there's nothing we can do about violence, it's recognition it's a both/and problem.
***
CBS Mornings
5/16/2023
8:00 AM ET
GAYLE KING: We welcome you back to CBS Mornings Coming up in this 8:00 hour, very excited, Nate's exclusive interview with former President Barack Obama. He spoke about his biggest hopes and fears for America and why it's so hard to change the law when it comes to guns.
…
BURLESON: Gun violence is the number one cause of death for children in this country. What is the radical solution and do you believe there's a larger issue at hand that causes fractures among us in this country?
OBAMA: We are unique among advanced, developed nations in tolerating on a routine basis gun violence in the forms of shootings, mass shootings, suicides. In Australia, you had one mass shooting 50 years ago and they said, we're not doing that anymore. That is normally how you would expect a society to respond when your children are at risk.
BURLESON: Why is it so hard for us to do that?
OBAMA: Well, look. I think somehow -- and there are a lot of historical reasons for this. Gun ownership in this country became an ideological issue and a partisan issue in ways that it shouldn't be. It has become sort of a proxy for arguments about our culture wars.
Instead of thinking about it in a very pragmatic way, we end up really arguing about identity and emotion and all kinds of stuff that does not have to do with keeping our children safe. Even in the absence of action at the federal level, you are still seeing communities able to reduce violence by dealing with not just access to guns, but just as importantly, making sure that the young people in these communities feel as if they've got somebody who's paying attention to them. We don't have room for cynicism and we can't give up.
…
BURLESON: Post-presidency, what about this country keeps you up at night?
OBAMA: The thing that I'm most worried about is the degree to which we now have a divided conversation in part because we have a divided media, right? So I'm much older than you, Nate.
BURLESON: You don't look it though.
OBAMA: That's what I was fishing for, but when I was coming up, you had three TV stations—
BURLESON: Yeah.
OBAMA: -- and people were getting a similar sense of what is true and what isn't, what was real and what was not. Today what I'm most concerned about is the fact that because of the splintering of the media, we almost occupy different realities.
If something happens in the past everybody could say, all right, we may disagree on how to solve it, but at least we all agree that, yeah, that's an issue.
Now people will say "well, that didn't happen" or "I don't believe that" and one of the, I think, goals of the Obama Foundation and one of the goals of my post-presidency is how do we return to that common conversation? How can we have a common set of facts? We may disagree on gun violence in terms of what the best prescriptions are, but we can't deny the data—
BURLESON: Yeah.
OBAMA: -- that says the United States has levels of gun violence that are 5, 10, 15 times more than other countries.
BURLESON: Yup.
OBAMA: So if we say it's just a mental health problem, well, it's not like there aren't people with mental health problems in the other countries. What's the difference?
BURLESON: Right.
OBAMA: This is probably the difference. Now, we can have a debate, but at least we've agreed on some facts.
TONY DOKOUPIL: Wow.
BURLESON: You know, I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation, specifically the part when he talked about media being fractured—
KING: Yes.
BURLESON: -- and how we now occupy different realities. So there's rarely common ground that we find as a country. When it comes to issues that are ripping us apart.
KING: Yeah.
BURLESON: And in working with the media, it gave me a different perspective on what we do, and it also allows me to look in the mirror. How well are we doing the job of making sure that both sides, whatever the spectrum, can at least see truth and then start a conversation after that.
KING: Well, that's the thing. I’ve never heard it put that way: a divided conversation. He didn't use the phrase divided country.
BURLESON: Right.
KING: He used the phrase divided conversation. I’ve never heard it put that way and I think it’s—he’s so on point about that. That’s what’s so scary, that we can’t even agree on the facts anymore and how do you get back to that, I still don’t know.
I also like what he said about guns, that we tolerate on a routine basis children getting killed. We tolerate that.
BURLESON: Yeah.
KING: It's so heartbreaking to me.
DOKOUPIL: It’s important to remind ourselves that the goal here, my fine hope and I know yours as well is this table here will be that common conversation in American life and you can have conversations like that.
He's also, you know, he’s quite an academic, he’s a deep reader. He's historically correct in saying the gun debate has become ideological. It was as recently as the late 80s—
KING: Yes.
DOKOUPIL: Republican Supreme Court nominees did not interpret the Second Amendment as meaning individual ownership of firearms, but state militias—
BURLESON: Yeah.
DOKOUPIL: It’s been a cultural and legal shift in interpretation, and that means that we can go back to it, in theory.
KING: No, I've heard people say when it comes to Barack Obama, you may never question his character, his integrity, and his intelligence, and I think that was just another example there. I thought that was a great conversation on many different topics.
