CBS Ruins Crawford’s Respectable Alito Piece By Trashing Justice Over Dobbs Ruling

Longtime CBS News Supreme Court reporter Jan Crawford — whose formal title is senior national correspondent — scored a lengthy, substantive interview with Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito ahead of Tuesday’s release of his memoir So Ordered.

But that was colored over Monday on CBS Mornings by co-host Norah O’Donnell, who smeared Alito by arguing his June 2022 ruling in the Dobbs case overturning Roe v. Wade created a nationwide rise in “maternity care deserts.” O’Donnell also implied his ruling was behind fewer medical students choosing the ob/gyn profession because states now set abortion policy. 

Without Crawford able to defend herself, O’Donnell uncorked this partisan rant by huffing Alito’s ruling was “groundbreaking” in “overturning of essentially 50 years of federal law, and, while you can debate the constitutionality and how it was decided, what’s interesting is the effect it has had in many states where abortion access is restricted.”

It’s always a crock when an elitist journalist tries to couch their progressivism in an either-or proposition, seemingly giving two sides equal weight. In reality, O’Donnell has both thumbs on the scale.

Co-host Nate Burleson offered plenty of mmhmm’s in agreement as O’Donnell argued restoring life in America (as opposed to the depravity of murdering the innocent) has been crippling to pre-natal health:

Less people are applying to ob/gyn residencies because they’re worried about being penalized, that results in less doctors available for maternal care. The March of Dimes just came out — 2026, in their report, said 35 percent of U.S. counties are maternity care deserts.

Asking viewers and her co-hosts to “think about that,” O’Donnell urged legislators to be more pro-“pregnant women” (i.e. restore abortion “access” and expand it through birth): “If you are a pregnant woman, it is harder to go and get maternity care, and this has been one of the real term effects. And so, legislators need to address that issue. We need more people caring for pregnant women.”

“Especially if you are poor,” replied featured co-host Vladimir Duthiers.

Burleson seconded that: “Right about that, Norah.”

While only four minutes aired, more clips were available online, along with a 6,500-word write-up. But that was rendered secondary by the partisan screed.

Crawford’s deep-dive included stops in his private chamber at the Supreme Court and his hometown in South Jersey, where he developed a love of both the law and baseball (specifically, the Philadelphia Phillies).

Here was how Crawford addressed the Dobbs case and the unauthorized leak of his draft opinion on April 2, 2022 (click “expand”):

CRAWFORD: Those qualities formed on that field and here in his high school, where his portrait is on the wall, have helped make Alito one of the Supreme Court’s most influential justices. Author of the 2022 opinion that overturned Roe vs. Wade and sent the issue of abortion back to the states.

ALITO: People on both sides feel very, very strongly about abortion.

CRAWFORD [TO ALITO]: Do you regret writing it?

ALITO: No, not at all.

CRAWFORD: But this institution was tested like never before. [on CBS Mornings, 04/03/22]: Good morning, Tony. An unprecedented leak from the Supreme Court. [Back to voice-over] With a leak of a draft of Alito’s pivotal abortion decision. 

ALITO: The leak has cast a pall over the court to a degree, because we —

CRAWFORD [TO ALITO]: A pall?

ALITO: A pall.

CRAWFORD [TO ALITO]: You can feel it?

ALITO: — I think so because we don’t know who was responsible.

CRAWFORD [TO ALITO]: What does it do, then, to the Court and the relationships on the Court? Does it add tension?

ALITO: It’s something that I don’t think we can get out of our minds.

The interview also addressed President Trump as having repeatedly lashed out at rulings he disagrees with. Alito said the Court is “part of any political movement, and we are not attempting to further any political agenda,” but instead “interpret the Constitution as best we can and apply it in cases that come before us.”

When Crawford asked him “how damaging” partisan attacks are “to the Court,” Alito said they’re “quite damaging” following “a great change in what presidents have said about the Court[.]”

The final portion CBS Mornings aired was Crawford wondering whether Alito’s decisions would have been any different if Donald Trump hadn’t won in 2024, and why he’s remained on the Court at age 76 (click “expand”):

CRAWFORD [TO ALITO]: Would you decide these cases the same way if it weren’t Donald Trump in the White House?

ALITO: I absolutely sincerely believe that I would. I’m not trying to decide cases to help President Trump.

CRAWFORD: Now 76, Alito said he considered retirement earlier this year, but decided against it.

ALITO: Something I think that somebody at my age has to think about every term, but I thought that I could still make a valuable contribution, which is why I became a justice and a judge in the first place.

CRAWFORD [TO ALITO]: Positions that you took years ago are now the law today. Did that factor into your decision on retirement, your influence?

ALITO: It’s hard to give up the opportunity to do something that will — I think will be good for the Constitution and good for the country as long as I’m able to do it.

To see the relevant CBS transcript from October 5, click here.