ABC’s Good Morning America hosts continued to reminisce on Tuesday, preparing for co-anchor Diane Sawyer’s final show on Friday. Weatherman Sam Champion touted the morning show host’s 2004 defense of Howard Dean and his famous Dean Scream: Recounting the segment, Sawyer proudly asserted, "Howard Dean deserved that moment of correction. He did." [Audio available here.]
Champion reconstructed the Sawyer piece on a rally where the then-presidential candidate uttered a well-remembered "Yeah!" Champion recounted, "...When I looked back at all the things where Diane has always asked questions on both sides, all sides of an event- and I think it was, kind of, really intuitive to see the Howard Dean scream and say, ‘Wait a minute. We're not seeing the whole thing.’" He added, "And people are making more out of this than maybe they should be."
The show then featured a clip of Sawyer’s 2004 GMA segment:
DIANE SAWYER: This is the scream Howard Dean says became famous after the media played it nearly 700 times in just a few days. And not only that, his camp adds, what we heard on the air, was not a reflection on the way it sounded in the room.
HOWARD DEAN: And Michigan-
SAWYER: I noticed that on it, he's holding a hand-held microphone, one designed to filter out background noise. And what about the scream as we all heard it?
DEAN: Yeahhh!
Sawyer described her attempt to defend Dean as a "real quest." News anchor Chris Cuomo opined, "Somewhere Howard Dean is clapping, too."
Monday’s reminiscing included a look back at Sawyer’s 2006 trip to North Korea, but skipped her fawning tour of a state-run school. Will all of these remembrances involve some sort of liberal "highlight?" Since Champion asserted that Sawyer asks "questions on both sides, on all sides of an event," surely ABC will come up with some tough critiques of liberals.
Sawyer will become the new host of World News on December 21. To read the MRC’s comprehensive Profile in Bias on the host, go here.
A transcript of the segment, which aired at 7:50am EST on December 8, follows:
SAM CHAMPION: This was something, when I looked back at all the things where Diane has always asked questions on both sides, all sides of an event- and I think it was, kind of, really intuitive to see the Howard Dean scream and say, "Wait a minute. We're not seeing the whole thing. And people are making more out of this than maybe they should be."
[File footage from 2004.]
DIANE SAWYER: This is the scream Howard Dean says became famous after the media played it nearly 700 times in just a few days. And not only that, his camp adds, what we heard on the air, was not a reflection on the way it sounded in the room.
HOWARD DEAN: And Michigan-
SAWYER: I noticed that on it, he's holding a hand-held microphone, one designed to filter out background noise. And what about the scream as we all heard it?
DEAN: Yeahhh!
SAWYER: Well, listen to how it was in the room. [Audio of the crowd noise.] The so-called scream couldn't really be heard at all. [File footage ends.] And I want- do we have a camera on Anna Robertson, who is also leaving our family. And Anna produced that piece with me. It was a real quest for the two of us. And she made it happen. So, yay, Anna.
CHRIS CUOMO: Somewhere Howard Dean is clapping, too.
SAWYER: Howard Dean deserved that moment of correction. He did.
