CBS Sunday Morning host Jane Pauley seems to have found her new Democrat to gush over for the next four years. After mourning Hillary Clinton’s loss to President Trump, praising Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (CA) return to power, and getting flirty with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, Pauley got cozy with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris as she showcased multiple segments inspired by Harris and her rise to the position.
“Wednesday is also the day we start addressing Kamala Harris as madam vice president, a change that’s the culmination of all she has worked for,” Pauley gushed in her opening tease. The rest of the tease was made up of more praise and quips about Harris’s husband Doug Emhoff (Click “expand”):
PAULEY: An unprecedented vice president for unprecedented times. Kamala Harris and Joe Biden will be sworn into office on Wednesday, facing immense challenges. Is Kamala Harris ready?
HARRIS: I eat “No” for breakfast! [Laughter]
PAULEY: Plus, we'll meet the man who will be by her side.
HARRIS: There was a whole conversation about -- mostly among his friends -- whether he should just be called the first dude.
[Laughter]
PAULEY: First dude.
DOUG EMHOFF: And other names that I can't repeat on national television.
PAULEY: Coming up, the first woman to be vice president and the first second gentleman.
At one point declaring “it might seem that Kamala Harris was born for this moment in history,” Pauley also touted how Harris would be breaking ties in the Senate. “In a Senate now split 50/50 between Democrats and Republicans, as vice president, Harris will cast tie-breaking votes. A split Senate has only happened three times before,” she hyped.
From there, Pauley and Harris both agreed that the Capitol riot proved that the American people were the country’s own worst enemy:
PAULEY: How can you look at that agenda without looking at it through the veil of what we saw on January 6th? When we saw, how did Walt Kelly put it in Pogo, “we've seen the enemy and it is us?”
HARRIS: And it is us.
PAULEY: And that is true no matter which side you are on --
HARRIS: But Jane, this is not new.
Harris also went uncontested when she compared the riot to such infamous events as the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. “It is outrageous, and we will remember it like we have remembered some of the most significant -- December 7. We will remember January 6 – There are certain things we're always going to remember as an attack of the foundations and the fundamental principles and ideals which we hold dear,” Harris proclaimed.
Not long after she let Harris get away with the comparison, Pauley shamelessly doted for Emhoff, unsure of what to call him:
PAULEY: I don't know, do I – do I call you Doug? How do I address you?
EMHOFF: You can call me Doug.
PAULEY: Okay. Doug. Doug.
Look out Cuomo, you have … competition?
The segment on Emhoff along ran for almost seven minutes (6:42) and featured stories about how they were introduced by a mutual friend. There was no such flattery for Mike and Karen Pence four years ago.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CBS’s Sunday Morning
January 17, 2021
9:01:44 a.m. EasternJANE PAULEY: Wednesday is also the day we start addressing Kamala Harris as madam vice president, a change that’s the culmination of all she has worked for, as we discussed when I paid her a visit a few days ago.
KAMALA HARRIS: While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last.
PAULEY: An unprecedented vice president for unprecedented times. Kamala Harris and Joe Biden will be sworn into office on Wednesday, facing immense challenges. Is Kamala Harris ready?
HARRIS: I eat “No” for breakfast! [Laughter]
PAULEY: Plus, we'll meet the man who will be by her side.
HARRIS: There was a whole conversation about -- mostly among his friends -- whether he should just be called the first dude.
[Laughter]
PAULEY: First dude.
DOUG EMHOFF: And other names that I can't repeat on national television.
PAULEY: Coming up, the first woman to be vice president and the first second gentleman.
(…)
10:06:29 a.m. Eastern
PAULEY: In a Senate now split 50/50 between Democrats and Republicans, as vice president, Harris will cast tie-breaking votes. A split Senate has only happened three times before. This one comes after two Democratic Senate victories in the Georgia runoff elections just a day before the Capitol takeover. Still, the obstacles to the incoming administration's long to-do list are enormous.
How can you look at that agenda without looking at it through the veil of what we saw on January 6th? When we saw, how did Walt Kelly put it in Pogo, “we've seen the enemy and it is us?”
HARRIS: And it is us.
PAULEY: And that is true no matter which side you are on --
HARRIS: But Jane, this is not new. It is outrageous, and we will remember it like we have remembered some of the most significant -- December 7. We will remember January 6 – There are certain things we're always going to remember as an attack of the foundations and the fundamental principles and ideals which we hold dear. Yes, I agree with you in that regard. But, c'mon, people walking around carrying the Confederate flag?
This is not new display. We've seen this. We saw this over the course of the last four years. And we’ve seen it in our history and the world's history before.
PAULEY: It might seem that Kamala Harris was born for this moment in history.
(…)
