debate. it's as opposed to pretending they didn't exist. what we got out of that was a 2016 cycle where people didn't have an answer on whether the iraq war was the right thing to do. howie: the "new york times" because of the jill abramson book, the former executive editor. does that help donald trump or is it background noise? ben: i think it's background noise. there are a lot of media entities that benefited. in the absence of these attacks people might be asking about their ratings. the president is making a significant critique but he's not targeting the right place. there are a number of organizations that reside in silicon valley. the most of powerful