In a discussion about the war in Gaza Thursday morning, CNN This Morning co-host Sara Sidner attempted to emotionally blackmail Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL) into agreeing with the pro-Palestinian calls for immediate ceasefire while Hamas still retained hundreds of hostages, including Americans.
Sidner led into the discussion pitting Vice President Kamala Harris’s call for “immediate ceasefire” against President Biden’s pro-Israel stance, in an attempt to show Schultz that the administration was as divided on this issue as the rest of America. “There is confusion I think a little bit of the administration’s stance on a ceasefire. We heard from Vice President Kamala Harris, who came out very forcefully and publicly saying an immediate ceasefire needs to happen, right now,” she said.
Schultz quickly responded that while Harris used the words “immediate ceasefire” in a speech the other day, the VP also noted that it would be at least six weeks. Recognizing Sidner’s conversational direction, Schultz explained to Sidner why the administration was supportive of Israel.
Block quote: This is essential that the hostages can be released, that we can make sure that a threat that exists to Israel, who are from an entity that is sworn to its destruction can be eradicated and that we can make sure that there's a negotiation for a longer term, eventual a longer term ceasefire. But there's no country on Earth that should be expected to have—to live with the terrorist threat on their border. An entity like Hamas that is sworn to Israel's destruction, sworn to the eradication of the Jewish people and is still holding one hundred and thirty-three hostages, including five Americans, and several remains of Americans that need to be released now.
Further pushing against the pro-Israel stance, Sidner tried to emotionally manipulate Schultz by showing her graphs that compared Gazan children’s deaths in the last four months versus children’s deaths in the last four years. Sidner asked Schultz if “something like this and seeing those images will change the Biden administration's policy towards Israel? Push it to do something different?”
As if using statistics pulled from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Ministry of Health wasn’t embarrassing enough, Sidner also completely failed in her attempt to force Schultz to either say something seemingly heartless or agree that Israel was evil.
Schultz defended the administration’s position on the war, saying that, as allies, the U.S. supports “Israel's absolute right to defend its people and to ensure that this threat is eradicated.”
She also countered Sidner’s statistics with a much-needed reminder that it was Hamas that started this war, it is Hamas that is pushing Palestinians to the frontlines of the war, and it is Hamas that has still not returned the hostages.
Block quote: It is devastating that there are children being killed, that anyone is being killed. But let's remember that these are victims of Hamas as well. Hamas—this entire conflict could end tomorrow. Hamas, let's remember, Hamas attacked Israel on October 7th, 1,200 Israelis slaughtered, raped. You have 250 of their people held hostage, including six Americans that were held hostage. It's absolutely essential that Hamas release the hostages.
With an overly exaggerated expression of despair, Sidner whined, “But the argument that it isn't tolerable to have, you know, bombs raining from the sky and killing up to 30,000 people. I mean, that's not Hamas, that is the Israelis who are doing that to Gaza.”
Slapping her with a necessary reality check, Schultz reminded Sidner that this is, in fact, a war. Not only that, but also it’s a war that could have an immediate ceasefire, should Hamas choose to return the hostages.
Sidner’s attempt to push all of the blame on Israel instead of acknowledging the acts of terrorism from Hamas reveals the damaging effects of watching too much propaganda on TikTok instead of conducting actual research.
The full transcript can be read here.
CNN News Central
3/14/2024
8:38:26-8:42:23
SARA SIDNER: And I do want to talk to you about where there's confusion. There is confusion I think a little bit of the administration’s stance on a ceasefire. We heard from Vice President Kamala Harris, who came out very forcefully and publicly saying an immediate ceasefire needs to happen, right now—
DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ: Within six weeks. I mean, for six weeks.
SIDNER: But she, she used the words “immediate ceasefire” and we haven't heard the same exact thing publicly from President Biden, so why? Why, why isn't the messaging the same from the two of them?
SCHULTZ: Well, I mean the messag—I, I listened to Vice President Harris's speech. What she said was, she used the term “immediate,” but she also said for six weeks. That they are consistently for a temporary pause in the fighting to ensure, and this is essential that the hostages can be released, that we can make sure that a threat that exists to Israel, who are from an entity that is sworn to its destruction can be eradicated and that we can make sure that there's a negotiation for a longer term, eventual a longer term ceasefire.
But there's no country on Earth that should be expected to have—to live with the terrorist threat on their border. An entity like Hamas that is sworn to Israel's destruction, sworn to the eradication of the Jewish people and is still holding one hundred and thirty-three hostages, including five Americans, and several remains of Americans that need to be released now.
SIDNER: There is, of course, a lot of pushback there and we heard this actually from Joe Biden is just the numbers of people killed, the numbers of Palestinians killed, and the devastation that they're seeing, and what's going to happen in the end. And I do want to show you some numbers that came out that were startling, disturbing. It's the number of children that were killed.
And there's this graph here. The children killed in conflicts, and the number of children killed in Gaza in the past four months is now more than the number of children killed in conflicts over the past four years around the world.
Do you think something like this and seeing those images will change the Biden administration's policy towards Israel? Push it to do something different?
SCHULTZ: It is devastating that there are children being killed, that anyone is being killed. But let's remember that these are victims of Hamas as well. Hamas—this entire conflict could end tomorrow. Hamas, let's remember, Hamas attacked Israel on October 7th, 1,200 Israelis slaughtered, raped. You have 250 of their people held hostage, including six Americans that were held hostage. It's absolutely essential that Hamas release the hostages.
And at the same time, we are at the table every day because of our close relationship with Israel, working together side-by-side to make sure we can have a peace, a ceasefire with release of the hostages negotiated, while also supporting Israel's absolute right to defend its people and to ensure that this threat is eradicated.
Remember Hamas, after October 7th said, “October 7th was the first time, and that there'd be a second, third, and 1000th time.” That is not a tolerable situation that any country should expect to have to live with.
SIDNER: But the argument that it isn't tolerable to have, you know, bombs raining from the sky and killing up to 30,000 people. I mean, that's not Hamas, that is the Israelis who are doing that—
SCHULTZ: Well—
SIDNER: —to Gaza.
SCHULTZ: They're, they're engaged in a war. War is horrific. But there is a way out of the war, where Hamas needs to accept the deal that's on the table. Israel and the United States and Hamas representatives and Qatar they've been negotiating over how we can get to a ceasefire and Hamas needs to accept that deal and release the hostages and save their own people who they have subjected to this war.
SIDNER: Who they haven't built shelters for…
(crosstalk)
SCHULTZ: And using as human shields.
