The journalists at CBS This Morning on Wednesday agreed with Barack Obama: White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest is a good looking man. This not-so confrontational assessment came as Earnest bragged about the importance of “friction” between any White House and the press corp. Reporting live from the briefing room, co-host Charlie Rose touted Obama’s praise of Earnest: “He's just got that all-American matinee good-looking thing going. That's helpful, let's face it, a face made for television.”
Co-host Gayle King agreed, gushing, “I loved Charlie's beginning with you about matinee good looks, because I picked up on that too.” She continued, “Also, the President said that you're man of great integrity and that you are just a good man. I sense yesterday, Josh, you seemed to feel a little nostalgic when you've had dustups with the press.”
Perhaps realizing there should be a question somewhere, King wondered, “How are you feeling? Were you feeling nostalgic yesterday?” It was at this point that Earnest claimed that the relationship between the Obama White House and the press has been adversarial:
JOSH EARNEST: One of my principle responsibilities around here has been to try to manage the relationship between the White House press corp and the White House and it's not been entirely friendly. But it's — there is supposed to be friction in that relationship. The day that the White House press corps walks into my office and says we're totally satisfied with what you guys are doing.... that’s the day you guys are not doing your job.
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Rose didn’t exactly grill Earnest on the commuting of Chelsea Manning. After noting that the Secretary of Defense opposed the idea, he wondered, “Was [Obama] concerned that people might take it the wrong way?”
It wasn’t until Rose mentioned the fact that Secretary of State John Kerry won’t be attending Donald Trump’s inauguration that the journalist got a little tougher: “But how does the president feel about that? The Secretary of State not respecting the new President.”
A transcript of the segment is below:
CBS TM
1/18/17
8:04:37GAYLE KING: Josh Earnest took over as press secretary in 2014. He's delivered more than 350 briefings in that role. Thank you very much. He has confronted and engaged reporters on a wide range of issues from Iran to health issues, even award shows.
NORAH O’DONNELL: During a final briefing yesterday his boss gave him a surprise send-off.
BARACK OBAMA: He is not only a great press secretary, but more importantly he's a really, really good man and I'm really, really proud of him. So, Josh, congratulations.
JOSH EARNEST: Thank you, sir.
O’DONNELL: Josh Earnest joins us this morning from the White House briefing room with our own Charlie Rose. Good morning to you both.
CHARLIE ROSE: Thank you, Norah. You were surprised yesterday Josh. Good to have you here this morning. Surprised when the President comes in.
EARNEST: I was.
ROSE: Not only what he said, but this is also what he said beyond the fact that you are his friend. He said, “He's just got that all-American matinee good-looking thing going. That's helpful, let's face it, a face made for television.”
EARNEST: Listen, to have the President come out yesterday was such a humbling experience and I have so much respect for him both as a president of the United States, but also as a man himself, somebody who takes care of his family, has fulfilled his responsibility to the country and has got a clear vision of where the country needs to go. I've been so inspired by him. I admire him so much. That's why his compliments meant so much to me yesterday.
ROSE: Let's talk about some important decisions, the Chelsea manning decision.
EARNEST: Yeah. Sure.
ROSE: It's controversial. You heard what Paul Ryan said and John McCain.
EARNEST: Yeah.
ROSE: And even the Secretary of Defense has said to have opposed it. Was this a decision that the President took with consideration?
EARNEST: Yes.
ROSE: And was he concerned that people might take it the wrong way?
EARNEST: Well, I think President Obama was interested in making sure justice was serve and what you have in the case of Chelsea Manning is a young woman who has acknowledged that she committed crimes. She took responsibility for committing those crimes. She expressed remorse for committing those crimes, and has spent most of the last seven years behind bars at Leavenworth. So I think you would be hard-pressed to say the justice system went easy on her. But I've got to say it's outrageous for Republicans to say that Chelsea Manning deserves more serious punishment because of her concern with WikiLeaks when they endorsed a man for President of the United States who praised WikiLeaks, who encouraged people to go and check out with WikiLeaks and who encouraged WikiLeaks to collude with Russians to hack his opponents. It’s outrageous for them to suggest that somehow right now that what Chelsea Manning did is worse than what the man who they endorsed for president did.
ROSE: Is there any connection, there is this speculation that Julian Assange will be released because of what happened here?
ASSANGE: Listen. Right now Julian Assange is somebody who's on the lam from authorities in Europe and he's holed up in an embassy. I can’t speak to —
ROSE: He has no connection to this decision?
ASSANGE: I can tell you that Mr. Assange's comments had no bearing whatsoever on this decision by the President of the United States. Or his future. There's nothing that Mr. Assange could say or do that would have any impact on the President's impact to make sure justice was served.
ROSE: Norah? Gayle?
KING: Hey, Josh, you said yesterday. Hey, Josh good to see you.
EARNEST: Hey, Gayle.
KING: I loved Charlie’s beginning with you about matinee good looks, because I picked up on that too. And also, the President said that you're man of great integrity and that you are just a good man. I sense yesterday, Josh, you seemed to feel a little nostalgic when you've had dustups with the press. How are you feeling? Were you feeling nostalgic yesterday?
EARNEST: Yeah. It's hard not to feel nostalgic around here over the last couple of weeks. Certainly the President's farewell address he delivered to the country from Chicago a couple of weeks ago I think really kicked off a couple of weeks of nostalgia around here. This has been an amazing run and it has been a remarkable opportunity to have served a President that I so deeply believe in. And, you know, one of my principle responsibilities around here has been to try to manage the relationship between the White House press corp and the White House and it's not been entirely friendly. But it's — there is supposed to be friction in that relationship. The day that the White House press corps walks into my office and says we're totally satisfied with what you guys are doing —
ROSE: You’re not doing your job.
EARNEST: That's right. That’s the day you guys are not doing your job.
KING: And now they are talking about moving the White House press corps to a different location. How do you feel about that? To the executive office building?
EARNEST: Well, I think having the most effective, experienced, informed press corps in the world located in the West Wing in a position to hold people accountable directly is really good for our democracy. That kind of accountability made President Obama a better president and I think that's a system that's worth protecting.
ROSE: Here's a question. John Kerry has announced he's not coming to the inauguration. Are there any other cabinet members from this administration or high officials that are not attending the inauguration of the President-elect Donald Trump?
EARNEST: I have to admit I don't know what the plans are for all the cabinet officials on Friday. President Obama and his wife will obviously be there.
ROSE: But how does the president feel about that? The Secretary of State not respecting the new president.
EARNEST: Well, listen. I can't speak to Secretary Kerry's plans and I'm not sure what went into them. I don't know the reasoning for his decision. What I can tell you is it's — it should be pretty obvious to everybody President Obama has profound political differences with the incoming president. But after the election President Obama instructed all of us to set aside our own personal feelings and fulfill our institutional responsibilities to the American people, to set aside those feelings and ensure the next administration can get off to a running start. We have engaged in a transition process with them that has lived up to that and President Obama's participation will be the culmination of that effort to put the country's interests ahead of his own personal, political interests.
ROSE: Two things. Number one, a poll shows he's back at 60 percent, the highest rating this president has had since 2009. Secondly, he's having his last press conference. Should we expect anything surprising?
EARNEST: Well, listen. I think part of the reason the president wants to have a final press conference and the reason he's going to be standing here in just a few hours is that he wants to bid farewell to the press corps and show them the respect he believes they've earned for the role they've played in his administration over the last eight years. Again, it's not because he's been pleased with all the stories and coverage of his administration but rather because he believes the work they do is so critical to the success of our democracy and the President believes that that relationship and role is worth respecting and he's going to pay respect to it right here at this podium around 2:00 this afternoon.
KING: Josh, one more thing. How often do president Obama and President-elect trump speak? Do they speak on a regular basis?
EARNEST: They don't have a set schedule for their conversations but since the day after the election, they've had an opportunity to speak with some frequency.
