Put it, many in the media badly screw up when it came to that terrible bombing of the Hospital Grounds in gaza city. New york times, and the paper was not alone, ran this Banner Headline israeli strike kills hundreds in hospital, palestinians say. At least theres that attribution, but that really means hamas said it. The Terrorist Group that controls the gaza government with, that launched the war with unspeakable atrocities, that that has a long history of deception. Well, it turns out the accusation wasnt true. Israel never targeted the hospital. What sense would that make in its hamas that carries out massacres. Israeli intelligence said it was an errant rocket fired if from within gaza by the Palestinian Islamic jihad, and President Biden backed that up citing pentagon intelligence. Based on what ive seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you. Howard israels channel 12 the later showed video of a rocket being launched near the hospital and the explosion outside the building moments later. And even days later, some american outlets are still indulging in he said she said. Facts dont seem to matter in a war on terror. A protests erupted across the middle east by those who dont recognize israels right to exist. What would have been far better, and some in the media did this, would be to say theres been a terrible explosion at this hospital, we dont know whos responsible, but well be back to you as soon as we learn more. Im howard kurtz and this is mediabuzz. Howard during his visit to israel, joe biden comforted Community Leaders and victims of hamas violence and also gave a passionate speech. It has brought to the surface painful memories and scars left by millennia of antisemitism and of genocide of the jewish people. The world watched then, it knew and the world did nothing. We will not stand by and do nothing again. Everybody knows what hamas does. Their whole point is to maximize civilian casualties to create global disgust about the jews. No matter what the jews do, thats whats going to happen. President joe bidens trip was more than what you saw, powerful, Tangible Reaffirmation of the strength and durability of the u. S. Israeli alliance. The leaders of egypt, jordan and the somewhat moderate palestinian fatah party, they have all canceled their meetings with joe which is nothing but a complete humiliation for our country and especially the president of the United States. In my memory, a president has not been canceled by arab leaders. This is truly considered by just about everybody an unmitigated disaster. The situation is obviously a powder keg. And when the media and then lawmakers like Rashida TlaibJust Mindlessly repeat the hamas propaganda, it creates volatility around the world. I say, all in all, it was a hell of a great trip for President Biden. Howard joining us now to an rise the coverage, Mollie Hemingway and in las vegas laura fink, ceo of rebel communicationses. Mollie, have much of the media especially in the days after the terrible bombing outside the hospital in gaza taken cover, so to speak, by reducing it to one side says this, the other side says that . Yeah. They have in no way taken responsibility for their own regurgitation of lies from a terrorist organization. When youre covering a war, it is very difficult. Theres a fog. Even when youre dealing with conventional wars like the one between ukraine and russia. You can have mistakes that way. Here we have israel, a democracy with internal criticism and a terrorist organization, a group weve identified as terrorists for 26 years or so which has a track record of lying about casualties, lying about all sorts of things. And even the they didnt, you know, they regurgitated this claim that 500 people were killed and the hospital reduced to rubble. Thats something that would be difficult to determine, it would take not just minutes or hours even, but days or weeks to figure out exactly how many people. So even just by the normal journalistic standards, they should not have regurgitated this hamas propaganda, and no one has taken responsibility for the damage they caused by repeating those lies. Howard right. And the hospital itself was barely damaged. Ap, cnn, reuters were among those going with the initial blaming of the israelis. Laura, when theres footage of a rocket being launched near the hospital and right after that theres an explosion, why dont the media declare, all right, this is no longer contested, israel is not responsible for what happened at the hospital . You know, its clear here that the greater the velocity of the story, the greater that journalism needs to proceed we caution, which is hard to do. What i found particularly striking with that video you referenced, howie, and in the response after the mistakes were made was the lack of accountability and followup. And i think that hurts the integrity of media and then peoples ability to trust the them particularly in these fragile situations where the repetition of Terrorist Propaganda has tremendous impact not just here, but especially with the neighboring arab countries. So this was a huge mistake by u. S. Media and other International Outlets like the bbc and one that i hope they will address. Now, i think a lot of credit twos to those that were able to come out and say where their mistakes were made, but those were few and far between. Howard i agree with you about the lack of accountability. And by the way, Israeli Military also intercepted a phone call between hamas operatives saying it was an Islamic Jihad rocket. Some conservative commentators have hailed the president , did he at least succeed in reassuring Israel Of Rock Solid support . I think that part went well in part. The Biden Administration does want to show support to israel, but they also want to have them not do a fully intensive takeover of gaza. Howard exercise restraint, yeah. So they have a complicated thing. The hack of success in that trip though should partially be blamed on the media. The failure to get some of these visits was a result of lies and false reporting by the media about who was responsible for what turned out to not even be a strike on a hospital. Howard i agree with you on that. It turned out that, you know, there were those that didnt want to believe the facts, obviously, but it became politically impossible, i think, for the arab leaders to meet with the president. Laura, the president did on this trip to tel aviv and in la in a later call with egypts leader, el sisi, win an agreement to allow some humanitarian aid into gaza which began yesterday after delays. Because, as you know, theres a mushrooming humanitarian crisis there because of the blockade and also because a half million gaza residents have left the north due to israeli warningses. So can we say that the president did at least accomplish this even though its a Maul Fraction of whats needed a small fraction of whats needed . Its a small frank, but its a beginning, and i think his physical presence, his ability to use his lifetime of Foreign Policy experience and leverage that to insure that often enemies talking to one another and getting that aid through to the Palestinian People, this is a war that will not just be fought with rockets, it will also be fought with the opinions of people on the ground and the plight of the american excuse me, the plight of the Palestinian People is central as is the 1400 israelis who were murdered by a militant terrorist organization. So President Biden is working with Secretary Of State blinken and others to insure that this fragile situation does not if explode further into the region. This a delicate balance. Humanitarian aid is critical, and its currently on the ground getting into palestine. Howard yeah. Everythings about not turning it into a wider war, but thats not something the u. S. Can control. Mollie, the is the press too easy on democratic lawmakers like Rashida Tlaib who said israel bombed the hospital, slipped away from reporters and spoke at a rally blaming biden and israel for genocide, and its its all a lie . Well, yes, theyre very easy on her. Those lies told by her and other people have caused major problems. A lot of people in the world falsely believe that israel bombed a hospital, that they did not bomb, because of her lies and is other lies. The used as pop taliban da. There is something propaganda. They always like to talk about how theres disruption in the gop. Weve got a Democrat Party that has some of the most radical elements in the world currently sitting in congress, running campuses, running media organizations. And suddenly the media arent interested in all this internal distrust. Howard thats a fair point. Also the example of joe biden standing up in this instance to the far left of his party. Laura, it was a huge story, understandably, when hamas released two american hostages, a here and daughter from illinois, because some reaction must have been, see, theyre not heartless guys. Theyre still, of course, holding more than 200 hostages. We can put up a picture, by the way, of the israelis escorting them to safety. Obviously, it is news. But are the media in a way being used for hamas propaganda here . Well, i think really everyone can applaud the release of those two hostages and the work that it took with the qatari government, with the Israeli Government and all of the unseen work of the Biden Administration and of these International Teams to work to make that happen. Were going to continue to need to see these delicate negotiations happen here while the conflict continues to brew. So it is, in fact, heartening to see that two hostages were released, but it also underscores the fact that there are hundreds more that remain in danger. It does feel like theres a little bit of an issue here where we have with the Biden Administration a complete problem in this region that we did not have urn the previous administration. Under the previous administration. And were told that joe biden is this great diplomat. We have a horrific situation in israel, we also have problems in ukraine and and russia, Problems Brewing in china. The proof is in the eating of the butted, and this is something that the in the pudding, and the media seem to be holding him to a lower standard of what success is in the region versus the Trump Administration where you had peace accords being signed with countries neighboring israel, where you had a different approach to the Palestinian Conflict that had resulted in Great Success for israel and the region as a lowell. That is not coming through in how the media are covering biden, his trip and what hes doing here. Howard yeah. Fair point of criticism, i think, is how President Biden has a dealt with iran which obviously has been funding, training hamas, hezbollah in lebanon, maybe a second front in the war. On these two women that were released, turns out they are relatives of longtime nbc correspondent Mark Fletcher who disclosed this on the air, if we can put that up, and probably thats why they were picked over everyone else. But you can, you know, i guess my question to you, laura, is the hatred and hostility in the middle east has been going on for 5,000 years. So i dont know how much of it can with laid at ride ifens doorstep. Can at President Bidens doorstep. I think thats right, howie. I also think i had the privilege of being in israel for a full month and not only staying in tel aviv and jerusalem, but also visiting jordan and visiting the west bank. You can palpably feel the plight of the Palestinian People as they exist in this segregated space that is tightly controlled, and i was also present when there were rockets that had to be interrupted by the iron dome and the from skillty of the israeli state. Is this is not something that started under joe bidens administration. However it is, we are at an a Inflection Point where Hope Arefully we as a united world can come together and address it. Howard hopefully. Ahead, peter doocy on the president s trip. But when we come back, why is joe biden suddenly being accessible to journalists . W he next trip to the loo colace is the brand you need to soften stools were all agreed 2 should be easy to do trust colace to soften stools, with no stimulants, for comfortable relief. Sleep more deeply. And wake up rejuvenated. With purples new mattresses fall asleep 20 faster have less aches and pains and sleep uninterrupted. Visit purple. Com or a store near you. vo Verizon Small Business days are back. From october 16th to the 22nd. Get a free tech check and special offers. Like a free 5g phone. Plus, switch, keep your number, and get up to 300 off. With verizon business. Its your business. Its your verizon. Im sholeh, and i lost 75 pounds with golo. I went from a size 20 to a size 6. Before golo, nothing seemed to work. I was exercising for over an hour every day. It was really discouraging. But golos so easy, the weight just falls off. Heres why you should switch from chrome to duckduckgo. Duckduckgo is a browser you download to your mobile and desktop devices. Unlike chrome, the Duckduckgo Browser has privacy builtin. It comes with a private alternative to google search, which doesnâ– t spy on your searches, and it blocks cookies and creepy ads. And theres no catch. Its free. We make money from ads, but they dont follow you around. Join the millions of people taking back their privacy by Downloading Duckduckgo On Mobile and desktop today. Howard the week began with a rare president ial interview is. Joe biden on 60 minutes. Is it tyke for a ceasefire . Time for a ceasefiresome. Look, theres a fundamental difference. Israel is going after a group of people who engaged in barbarism that is as consequential as the holocaust. Howard and on the way back from israel, biden spoke to reporters on Air Force One on the record and on camera. Not many people thought we could get this done, and not many people want to be associated with failure because had we gone and this failed, then, you know, the United States failed, my presidency failed, etc. Which would be a legitimate criticism. Howard and then what was only bidens second prime Time Oval Office address. Hamas and putin represent different threats, but they share or this in common they both want to completely annihilate a neighboring democracy, completely annihilate it. I refuse to let that happen. Howard mollie, i know the media are mostly proukraine, and so what do you make of biden using to value office to pitch 100 billion package including aid to ukraine, aid to israel as well as taiwan and Border Security saying both countries face annihilation . Yeah. We learned after the fact that joe biden had wanted to give a Speechen On Funding for ukraine, and thats because a lot of americans do not really support the massive amounts of funding that are going to that proxy war. But when he announceed the speech, i think people reasonably assumed it was going to be a speech on israel, and and it seemed like he kind of tacked on that israel portion to talk what he really wanted to talk about which was his desire that we continue to really increase the funding to that war in ukraine that already people think, 150 billion, thats a lot. Hes asking for 60 billion more. A little bit of a confused speech, but i think they could have telegraphed what was happening better. Howard there were some leaks before the speech, and clearly the president felt like he was trying to tie the two together. 20 Million People watched that address, laura, but in an age where people get their news from facebook and tiktok and group chats, is the speech from the white house still an effective form of communication . Well, with a Disago A Regated Media Environment is, theres no one strategy you can pursue that is going to be deemed highly effective. But its certainly something that biden, President Biden rose to the occasion on. The Oval Office Address continues to have gravity even when it is sliced and diced and distributed over social media. And President Biden was making the cause for funding for ukraine the case for funding for ukraine, funding for israel and taiwan and Border Security. This is really about American National security, and that was his message to the american people, that investing in these areas now will secure potentially other conflicts from coming up and that, ultimately, are to the benefit of the american people. He will continue to make that case as the weeks and months ahead. What he has to contend with though is the Kiss Function dysfunction and the disarray of republicans as they c