In a pre-recorded report aired three times during Wednesday's New Day, CNN correspondent Manu Raju seemed to assume that criminal suspects who died after confrontations with police were victims of "racial injustice" as he recalled members of the group Mothers of the Movement who appeared on stage at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday.
At 5:11 a.m. ET, after CNN co-host Alisyn Camerota introduced the report referring to the group as "mothers who lost children to gun violence or police encounters," in the report itself, Raju described the group as mothers who "lost their sons and daughters to gun violence and racial injustice."
The words "DEMS CONVENTION TACKLES GUN VIOLENCE & RACIAL INJUSTICE" appeared on screen during part of the report.
The same pre-recorded piece by Raju was repeated shortly after 6:00 a.m. ET with Camerota similarly giving an introduction describing the group as mothers of the victims of "gun violence and confrontations with police," and again after 7:00 a.m. ET when co-host Chris Cuomo used the words "gun violence and police encounters" in a similar setup.
Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Wednesday, July 27, New Day on CNN, with critical portions in bold:
5:11 a.m. ET
ALISYN CAMEROTA: The second night of the Democratic convention featured back-to-back speeches from everyday Americans, and it was designed, of course, to humanize Hillary Clinton. The mothers who lost children to gun violence or police encounters were unifying, and they made an emotional appeal to voters. CNN's Manu Raju has more on the other speeches of the night, besides Bill Clinton's. Good morning, Manu.
MANU RAJU: Good morning, Alisyn. Yeah, these are all part of that same effort to show a different side of Hillary Clinton, something that's not particularly easy for the campaign, given that Clinton has near universal name ID, and that not many voters trust her. Nearly seven in ten voters view her as not honest and not trustworthy, that according to our new CNN/ORG poll. So what we saw last night was speaker after speaker trying to show that softer side of Hillary Clinton.
GENEVA REED-VEAL, MOTHER OF SANDRA BLAND, CLIP #1: She knows that when a young, black life is cut short, it's not just a loss. It's a personal loss. It's a national loss.
REED-VEAL CLIP #2: What a blessing tonight it is to be standing here so that Sandy can still speak through her mamma.
RAJU: The Mothers of the Movement uniting to endorse Hillary Clinton. On the national stage, nine mothers showing strength in numbers after losing their sons and daughters to gun violence and racial injustice. Each of them recalling details of a private meeting they had with Clinton after their lives changed forever.
LUCIA MCBATH, MOTHER OF JORDAN DAVIS: Hillary Clinton isn't afraid to say that black lives matter. She isn't afraid to sit at a table with grieving mothers and bear the full force of our anguish. She doesn't build walls around her heart.
(...)
