Transcripts For FOXNEWSW MediaBuzz 20180129

Raise those questions. It indicates there is clearly something donald trump doesnt want us to see. Trump didnt fire anybody. Not firing someone doesnt sounds like obstruction to me. Howie a fierce media debate over the russia probe. It may be time to declare war outright against the deep state and clear out the upperlevels of the fbi and the Justice Department, i said the rot. When you have fox news declaring war in their words on the fbi and the Justice Department, the deep state there, when you have people talking about secret societies inside of the fbi, that is out of erdogans playbook. Howie is the media speculation out of control . And are some commentators going too far in trashing the fbi . The wall street journal reports serious allegations of Sexual Misconduct on steve win. Megyn kelly takes on jane fonda and her role in the vietnam war. She still says she is not proud of america. So the moral indignation is a bit too much. Howie this is mediabuzz. [ ] after a report that Robert Mueller asked for a highstakes interview, the president said hes looking forward to it. Are you look forward to the Mueller Investigation . Howie when he was asked at the davos conference on the fbi report on him want to go fire Robert Mueller last june. President trump fake news. Typical New York Times, fake story. Howie joining us, Mollie Hemingway. Shelby holliday and capri cafaro. Mollie, the New York Times report has been confirmed by the wall street journal, fox news and others. It doesnt sounds like fake news. Mollie its difficult to say confirmed when you have anonymous sources. When you say donald trump wanted to fire someone he is legally allowed to fire but he didnt fire. This was reported in june, september and december. Why is this big news . Howie if you believe that don mcgann the white House Counsel said i will leave if you fire him. Mollie you have the House Intelligence Committee about to release a report about fisa abuse that members of the house say is chilling, disturbing criminal activity. And you have no collusion with the Trump Administration and russia after a year investigation. In d. C. There is panic and fear overs going to come out with this report. Howie some journalists and liberal commentators are saying he was not telling the truth at the time. Capri some of his closest allies are saying one thing. And thats not unique. We have seen the president change his stories time and again. I disagree as far as the media bringing the story up again to deflect from something else. But i do think there is a concerted effort to create a narrative across different Media Channels to say this is a pattern that President Trump wanted to fire mueller. No, he didnt. The reason why he didnt is balk don mcgann said we saw the same thing with the fbi director reportedly saying he was going to quit. Howie the New York Times says four unnamed officials. The white house didnt deny it. Don mcgann didnt deny it. Its not what we call a hard knockdown. Shelby its all about patterns. So this is just evidence of another attempt by President Trump to knock down the special counsel and knock down the investigation. He did not take that step. The patterns are big. From the media perspective this is big news. There are parallels to watergate. His team has been denying this. Howie mollie, would you agree with he had fired mueller a month after firing comey, that there would have been a political firestorm . Mollie for a year we have had the media claiming there is collusion between trump and russia. Shelby there is evidence of two people who lied to the fbi about russia. Mollie nonstop day in and day out for a year, we have news that the Mueller Probe is not leaking anything about russia collusion, they are leaking about obstructioning. The media are taking that and running with it like they are the doubtfu they are the dutl servants of the Mueller Probe. Capri if they care about the outcome of this investigation, they need to let it take its course. Howie the president doesnt have many defenders on this particular story. But its true, you cant build an obstruction case by pointing to a firing that never happened. Shelby the bar is very high. There has to be an underlying crime. Howie what about mollies points that there is no evidence of collusion with russia. But saying he possibly obstructed or hes acting like he has something to hide. Shelby im not sure the goal post has changed. Two prongs of this investigation have been obstruction of justice conclusion. But collusion is not a crime, treason does not apply. Howie the millions of words by news organizations. Mollie the entire probe is a result of a campaign to claim treason us to collusion with russia to steal an election. Claims made by intelligence Law Enforcement agencies that are under scrutiny and there are reports alleging serious wrongdoing by federal employees as it relates to this. Howie here is something sean hannity said talking about the Justice Department and fbi, people must be held accountable, investigated, indicted. Probably thrown in jail. Fox has come under attack by some at msnbc for beating up on the deep state. Its not fox news, its certain commentators. People who are paid for their opinions. Nevertheless, does some of this go too far . Mollie if you are critiquing certain bad actions by bad people that you are then tarnishing everyone in the agency, thats a straw man armed. There are reports alleging serious wrongdoing by members in the agencies. Capri the texts between the two starcrossed lovers at the fbi have gone the extensive coverage. Howie the people ripping the fbi and Justice Department say they are holding the bureau accountable. Liberal retractors say they are just trying to discredit the Trump Administration. Capri there is a valid argument to be made on both sides. These folks are entitled to their opinion, even though they are a news organization. To potentially speculate, if you undermine those investigating and you say they are not credible, therefore that investigation becomes uncredible. Howie a lot of democrats during the bill clinton impeachment tried to discredit ken starr. Bill kristol of the Weekly Standard says people at fox are going too far. But bill kristol defied donald trump and has since the campaign. Shelby there is an obsession with instant gratification. We dont have all the evidence and all the facts. To light some bits of char koalg on fire before we know all the facts. Mollie after a year of running story after story based on anonymous stories, to say thats not subject fans yaition after running wild with anonymous sources. Howie las vegas billionaire steve wynn. Is President Trump somehow to blame for a crazy caller. You know whats awesome . Gigspeed internet. You know whats not awesome . When only certain people can get it. Lets fix that. Lets give this guy gig really . And these kids, and these guys, him, ah. Oh hello. That lady, these houses yes, yes and yes. And dont forget about them. Uh huh, sure. Still yes xfinity delivers gig speed to more homes than anyone. Now you can get it, too. Welcome to the party. Howie a 19yearold michigan man has been arrested for making repeated calls to cnn in atlanta saying im coming to kill you. Your cast will be gunned down within a number of hours. This is what happens when the president of the united states, donald trump repeatedly attacks members of the press. When you make that baseless, incendiary charge, be aware people are listening to you. Howie emily jashinsky, cathy areu, and. This is scary. I dont think there is anything you can point to that donald trump has said or done that is correctly inciting violence. Sheriff clark saying he punched the media in the face to make them taste their own blood. Thats too far. Howie how are these the president s fault . Kathy he continually calls cnn fake news. Hes calling jim acosta a fool who is a reporter at cnn. He doesnt understand the power of his words and the power of the presidency. He has a tool unlike any other president to get his message out. Emily im not sure how mockery can be held responsible for violence. Kacat. Cathy some are interpreting it as lets take care of the situation. Howie you can have the debate, but how is any politician responsible for nut jobs who commit or threaten violence. Emily when we look at the tragedy that unfolded on the baseball field, that was a progressive who went too far. But unless you can say its specifically violent, its another thing. Howie i dont like the blood on your hands guilt by association and i didnt like it when a Police Officer was shot and they blamed it on Barack Obamas rhetoric. Kathy cathy he was quoting the president s words. Emily the word fake news, how does that incite violence . Cathy this person was motivated by the words that came out of the president s mouth. Emily how is that Donald Trumps fault . Howie well agree to disagree on that. Steve wynn, the casino mogul, numerous accusations of Sexual Misconduct. Accusations he forced employees to have sex over the years. Will the rnc return steve wynns donations the way the democrats did with harvey weinstein. Emily its the appropriate step. Unlike harvey weinstein, steve wynn had a formal position two the rnc, the finance chair. Howie fox news had wynn cohost a special. He had the tie of National Finance chairman which he has given up for the rnc. Howie are you willing to say right now . Cathy im willing to say the media will do the same with wynn as they do with weinstein. I dont think its going to be given any different treatment to wiwynn that was given to weinstein. Howie many of Harvey Weinsteins victims were famous actresses which helped fuel the debate. Ahead, behind the scenes in the war between the white house and the press as we look at some of the disclosures in my new book. A major media blunder about jerrod kushners company blew up but corrections western hard to come howie here is how the liberal magazine mother jones handled the story about the president s soninlaw. Deutsche bank look at suspicious kushner transactions. Washington post, Deutsche Bank flagged suspicious kushner transactions. The german magazine charged Deutsche Bank had flagged suspicious information. But Deutsche Bank called the story wrong and says its taking legal action. The bank telling me they have not submitted any report flag suspicious transactions as suggested by manager magazine. Mother jones included the Bank Statement at the top of the piece along with the corporate statement that the Kushner Companies have done nothing wrong. There is no money laundering. Mother jones didnt address the headline question. But said since we accurately reported the story and included the Deutsche Bank and kushner denials, we see no need for a correction. Kushner tried to distribute its press release through a p. R. News wire and was turned down. The kushner firm told me the curb her report and other incorrect stories are a distraction. Sometimes not even bothering to contact us before running with a story. The medias obsession with attacking the company because kushner works for the president is outrageous. Are both sides damaged by the relentless battles between the president and the media . Howie from the Washington Post to the drunk report, my new book out tomorrow is make some news. Its called media madness. Donald trump, the press and the war over the truth. I try to examine why the coverage of the president is so overwhelmingly negative. When the president pulled out of the paris climate deal. There was a tweet that was withdrawn after the president complained. Mollie this was such a fun book to read. It has so much salacious detail and intrigue about what happened at the white house. Since you dont take side, you can enjoy and trust this read. Whether you like trump or dislike trump. There is plenty in there. Its so rare that you can find a writer that does that. Howie that means a lot to me coming from you. Ivanka trump always got good press until the campaign. She was stunned to realize her liberal friend wanted her to ease their pain, and she was supposed to contradict her fathers position. Somehow she got blamed on social issues. One of many, ivankas unwavering loyalty to a sexual abusers and misogynist. Mollie a common theme is how donald trump breaks norms. But people dont think about how the media threw away so many norms that are important. We didnt talk to Chelsea Clinton about her father. Howie the notion shell turn or father around on issues he ran on. I report about the leaks and the warfare between ivanka and jared and steve bannon. There is a scene where in the oval office in front of the president she accuses steve bannon of leaking against them and he turns around and accuses her of planting leaks. Mollie suggesting she did leak. Howie this was before steve bannon left. Some of the stories as i write in this book are perfectly legitimate. Aggressive reporting on the president is good. I didnt think he should have punched down and attacked Mika Brzezinski of msnbc over her supposed facelift. He said i know what you are going to say, unpresident ial. Mollie a lot of people like to think there is a grand strategy with the way trump acts. But your book suggests thats just who he is. Also he talks about loyalty talking some of his attacks. He clearly thought joe and mika were friend who betrayed him. It helps explain and contexualize some of these attacks we see on the media. Howie negative coverage helps donald trump. He drives the media agenda. Secondly, his supporters think the media dont like him. And they think much of the media disdain them. The 30 , 40 . The Huffington Post had a headline a vote for trump was a hate crime. Let them lose their healthcare, maybe they will learn something this time around. Mollie some people on the right dont understand people identify with trump so when you attack trump they feel its an attack on them. Attacks on republicans make them feel the media is hostile toward them. Howie this constant warfare does hurt both sides. It hurts the medias credibility. One of my concerns is there is lasting damage. I fear there will be lasting damage to the trump presidency, to the media long after donald trump is no longer president. Mollie there is a line from somebody in your book that donald trump may not crazy but he makes people crazy. Donald trump will only be president for another 3 to 7 years. The media need credibility during that time and long after that time. The decisions we make and how we cover people is so important. People need to feel they can trust media to hold people accountable. Howie it was painful to write this book. Some of thigh colleagues are very fair but some of them dont understand how negative this is and whether trump is held to a different standard. Mollie its very important for people to think that true. Howie the justification is hes a different kind of president so we have to treat him differently than anybody who has been in the white house. Liberals beating up on Chuck Schumer over the Government Shutdown. Remember the breathless coverage over Oprah Winfrey . It turned out to be so howie Senate Democrats voted to reopen the government after a stalemate and a Government Shutdown for three days. It showed Chuck Schumer could take a position and hold it for two days. I think the dems are in shock because they didnt get the assist from the media they expected. They were abbott without their costello. It was sad. Howie liberals on your side not happy with the democratic leader. Schumer sells out the resistance. It looks like he lost his media allies. Capri the media has been fair on this. The democrats, progressives are upset, and Chuck Schumer did not do a good job by tying daca to the spending bill. I think the coverage has been accurate. Howie schumers overreach on the dreamers resulted in a rare media win for President Trump. They went in saying he will be blamed for the shutdown because they colorado both houses. Mollie its also true that initial losses arent the same as ultimate losses. This is a long ballgame and there is a lot left to be seen. I didnt see a lot of coverage about how interesting the situation is on the left between the base and the leadership. Howie the latest negotiations on the shutdown, President Trump offered to double the number of dreamers who would have a path to citizenship in exchange for funding the border wall and other immigration tightening measures. I havent seen anyone in the media saying President Trump is serious about the dreamers. Its a whirlwind when you want to keep track of this debate. You saw schumer come back saying im taking the wall off the table. It is a long game and we have no idea where it will end up. But i can tell you who is not winning. The American People. Lets get back to mollies favorite subject. The fbi texts by these two fbi agents having an affair. They not only ripped trump, we learned they said they cant go in loaded for bear with Hillary Clinton because she is going to be our next president. Mollie this is a huge issue. The fbi and the department of justice only turned over a small percentage of the texts. But what we have seen already, there are a lot of things that require more explanation. And the texts were so troubling strzok was removed from the Mueller Probe. What is interesting, they called the russia investigation an insurance policy. We cant afford to take the risk of a trump presidency. They didnt turn over documents to congress because they were so inflammatory. Loretta lynch only allowed comey to make the announcement about clinton because she knew he was going to let her go. There is a lot here to probe and its not one or two texts. Howie even if you think these texts are not as big a deal because they are not the decision makers. The coverage says this does not look good for two senior members of the fbi. Capri there is no question about that. There are many people would think in the united states, myself included, these two individuals are bad apples, bad actors. The coverage is focused on these two individuals. So basically, you know, in my view it should not reflect on the entire operation of the fbi or the department of justice where you have a lot of people working hard every day to insure in an unbiased manner that law is actually occurring. You shouldnt tar everybody who works for the bureau. But what got overheated was the reference to a secret society at the fbi. Ambit turned out to be a sarcastic reference. Its hard to understand all of these comments without the full context of what they were saying. I have heard former members of the fbi come out and say its typical to have offsite meeting. Howie the texts are overplayed or not . Shelby i think the American People deserve to know if the fbi is tainted. Howie capri cafaro, Mollie Hemingway and shelby holliday, thank you very much. Megyn kelly ripped jane fonda over vietnam. Howie one of megyn kellys first interviews when she joined the today show was with jane fonda. She asked jane fonda about her Plastic Surgery and now may gains pushing back hard. Im not in the market for a lesson on what is appropriate from jane fonda. This is a woman whose name is synonymous with outrage. Many of our. Io broadcast criticized our troops and referred to their torture is a understandable. She said how much work have you had, bitch . Howie joining us is carley shimkus. Jane fonda deserves an award for manufactured outrage. After months of pot shots, megyn kelly went after her on vietnam. Carley usually i dont think you should use your tv platform to settle personal scores. But jane fonda went back on the today show and criticized megyn in front of her coworkers. How center jane fonda, i like her movies, but if she is going to keep jabbing megyn about this, perhaps to get attention at the age of 80. She partially apologized going with that antiaircraft gun . Hanoi. Carley no one forced jane fonda to take that picture. People will talk about it when they talk about her life and career. But the Media Coverage was antimegyn kelly. Joy behar called megyn kelly the b word and defended jane fondas hanoi jane moment. I think one of the reasons the ladies on the view defended jane fonda was political. Howie when she goes after dick cheney the press loves her. But if she goats after a liberal she gets bad press. Do you think because she went to nbc that some of her fellow temperature reporters. Carley sometimes the media is trying to continue the narrative of drama surrounding her career at nbc. Megyn kellys show is suppose to be a lighthearted daytime talk show. So the moment where she did criticize jane fonda to that extent is what her show is suppose to be about. Howie you can have a show and do serious stuff and have light were moments, too. Let me ask you about Oprah Winfrey. She told in style magazine she is not running for president. She said its a lot of media speculation. Carley how are we going to survive this . Im not surprised oprah isnt running for president. When you are that popular, why would you ruin it by running for office. If you run for a political position, half the country will hate you. She is doing just fine. Howie journalists all knew this. But they would love to have oprah versus the donald. It was never happening. Now we know for sure. Thanks very much. President trumps harshest critics at espn is off the air. And vanity fair booted frames vo gopi has built her business with her own two hands. Each unique piece comes to life in the same way. A messy, sloppy, splattery way. But now shes found a way to keep her receipts tidy, even when nothing else is. Brand vo snap and sort your expenses with quickbooks and find, on average, 4,340 in tax savings. Smarter Business Tools for the worlds hardest workers. Quickbooks. Backing you. Howie jemele hill who trashed President Trump on twitter was suspend and has now been demoted. Hill is losing her highprofile purchase as cohost of the espn sports center. Shell be writing for their website, out of the tv spotlight. Ryan lizz was, cnn says they fund no reason to keep him off the air. Vanity fair has digitally erased james franco from the cover of its magazine. You can see Reese Witherspoon had three legs and Oprah Winfrey has three hands. But franco is out. We hope you will check out our facebook page. We post my daily columns there. Dont forget to dvr if you happen to be doing Something Different on sundays. Well be back next sunday 11 00 a. M. With the latest this memo of what of answers of elect mate questions its not a hit piece on the department and fbi. Someone out of the Republicanled Congress to look at allegations, i dont want it released yet, i dont. Chris whats the major theme of the speech of the union . I cannot give this man who does not respect me the respect