fast-paced show like "morning joe" is plenty of pressure, but it was nothing compared to what happened when chris licht was hospitalized with a brain hemorrhage. he'll tell us what he learned when he almost died. and cnn's done lemon on why he decides to reveal he is gay and whether that should affect how he's viewed as a journalist. i'm how shouard kurtz, and this "reliable sources." mitch daniels is out. mike huckabee is out. donald trump is out. so the press have decided that they're like a sandlot team trying to play in the majors. pundits chatting. pretty amazing how we see into the future, isn't it? take a look. >> i think the daniels departure really opens up the space for paul ryan like nobody else. ryan's the one guy who has a rendezvous with destiny right now. >> frankly, we're disappointed. now, obviously, we have to start looking. and i was just saying this morning maybe it's time to start drafting paul ryan. >> i just find this the most boring list i've ever seen in my life. pawlenty, the name itself is like polenta. >> among republicans they're saying you've got to be kidding me. this is the 3-2 beer of american politics. >> and how is the press treating those republicans who are actually running? tim pawlenty who became an official candidate this week got this question on the "today" show. >> people often look at you and they say, is there enough charisma there for tim pawlenty to beat barack obama? what's your answer to that? >> i'm not running for entertainer in chief. >> so what should we make of the media's rush to judgment? joining us now here in washington, christina bellantoni for "cq roll call." john, founder of americablog.com, and in new york, senior editor at "national review." christina, these ridiculously early judgments by you and your colleagues, how do you justify them? >> well, i wouldn't necessarily justify them. and i will defend pawlenty in saying that i like polenta, and i don't think that's fair to criticize him based on his name. what this is about is the media, they like to see new people jump in. they like a little razzle dazzle and in the end this benefits the candidates because they can go out to these early states and shake voters' hands and make connections on the ground without all the scrutiny of the press. >> the campaign is just getting under way. >> this is just the game we play every single year. i don't necessarily think that we are good at that. >> are the pundits, john, missing or perhaps ignoring the fact that one of these candidates could catch fire when spring training is over and the regular season actually starts? >> i think they're ignoring it but they're ignoring it on purpose to the degree i think the media is reflecting what the public is feeling and frankly what gop pundits are feeling which you showed earlier. there's a sense these candidates aren't good enough to beat barack obama. the polls are showing that. and when you look at sort of the top three candidates we've had in the news as far as name recognition, you had romney, you had gingrich -- not romney -- you had gingrich, palin and donald trump. all three of which kind of come off a little nutty. and i think the public's reaction and the media's reaction has been not taking it as seriously. >> does it tick you off that the mainstream immediamedia is tras this field? >> i wouldn't say it ticks me off. i think it's understandable. i think a lot of reporters want a shiny, new candidate to play with. i think a lot of conservatives are never satisfied because there's always a flaw with the actual candidates in the primary field. the grass is always greener outside that field. and a lot of liberals want to say it's a weak field because it helps, you know, demoralize the conservatives. so everybody has an interest in saying this is a weak field. what it is is a competitive field that has several candidates in it who are potentially quite strong. in huntsman, romney and pawlenty, you've got three republican governors who outperformed their party in their states who could go the distance. >> right. let me turn back to the junioristjunio journalists. let's turn to romney. mitt romney has what might be called an al gore problem. even if he's being genuine, he seemed ersat. >> i covered the democratic field in 2008, so i didn't get to know him very well, but i think also it's this -- i hate to use the term "boredom," but they're familiar with mitt romney. we've told mitt romney's story in 2008. everybody is looking for the new thing to keep viewers and readers paying attention. and everybody knows that candidates, flash in the pan candidates like donald trump or palin, get clicks. they get more readers. we create this sort of false tension that really isn't fair to anybody. >> that sounds like it's more about ratings and online traffic than it is about seriously covering this presidential contest. but let me stick with this romney question. the media have created this narrative. he goes out without a tie or to a nascar race, the press questions it. >> wait, but i think the press is questioning it because they do know romney. romney did a complete roundabout on gay rights. i remember the '94 campaign. i worked on that campaign. he was claiming he was better on gay rights than ted kennedy. not today he doesn't claim that. this week he claimed he was for the auto bailout when he was against it two years ago. the media knows -- >> a policy basis because he changed his view. >> in his track record and you hear it from republicans, too. >> there is plenty to criticize on romney's record if you want to go after flip-flops and authentici authenticity. the problem is the press has decided that's the narrative about romney and they're slotting things that don't belong there into that story line like what he's wearing at a particular event. that's the problem. just as when the reporters decided that gore was an inauthentic figure or he had a problem with the truth, every trivial little thing became part of that story line. and the candidate was never given a chance to break out of that. >> but this is not unique to romney. i mean, look at what happened with barack obama bowling in pennsylvania. i mean, the press creates these things around candidates, and their rivals play into that. definitely the other republican candidates are trying to portray romney as inauthentic and flip-flopper. the press can create that. there's this tension that's natural and fun to cover and more interesting than trying to delve into what he would really do about auto companies. >> to some degree there is some truth. it's not as bad as an al gore, like yeah, you're twisting his words. hillary clinton goofed off a bosnian thing but she's not a serial liar. this week on the auto bailout, there is a track record there. >> i have no problem with journalists pointing out every single position that he's changed or how he pushed through this health care plan. but i keep hearing these phrases. i keep hearing these phrases, it's more fun to cover this. we're bored. it sounds like this whole thing, which is a fairly serious contest to choose the next president, is being conducted for our entertainment. >> it's theater. i mean, you have to be honest and admit that that has how a lot of peach approach this particularly when it's such a competitive market competing for clips, ads, for viewers. that's what it's about. i think this is the dirty little secret among some net works where they're afraid somebody like pawlenty being asked about his amount of charisma as the nominee, viewers will turn the channel and not pay attention to presidential debates a year from now. >> it's more than a ratings game. i think howard was right, it's personal feelings. reporters didn't like gore as much as they liked bush on the campaign plains and reporters don't like mitt romney partly because they think he's a phony or the proverbial rich kid trying to buy the presidency. >> and then you do, as we touched on earlier, have this almost journalists almost mesmerized by the people not in the race. i wish chris christie would get in, paul ryan, michele bachmann who probably will get in. and now sarah palin with this east coast bus tour stirring up the speculation once again, is the press in danger of being bamboozled by somebody who in the end is probably not going to run? >> i do believe so. i noticed this morning that you had the palin coverage on the front pages of some of the papers. you had, you know, the bus tour. it's not really worthy of a front-page story. but you've got a good photo people like. they're going to turn to that story. they're going to read it because she generates traffic and interest. >> and remember, the same thing in a way happened to obama versus hillary. for the first year, everyone said hillary was inevitable. obama couldn't get a fair shake. then i remember coming on your show. the ones before the election -- actually, before the primaries were resolved and the hillary people were saying it's so unfair. the press is so for obama. they're not for us. and i was, like, we spent a anointing hillary as the winner. it's not partisan but i think it is a common thing that happens. the media goes for one guy or one woman and not the other. >> and from a practical perspective, you talk about the liking or not liking the candidate, hillary clinton faced that in 2008 as well. she finally came back on her plane and she did shots with the reporters. and she danced with the reporters. and you know what? it worked. and the campaign -- the campaign particularly played into that media narrative and then responded to it. >> let me get back to palin. we don't know whether she'll ultimately run. she may not know, but i personally have a hard time see her giving up this sort of lucrative celebrityhood she has. but she has been out of the news. she has been keeping a low profile. so she organizes the bus tour, but she's still on the fox news payroll which means almost by definition she's not running now. and she'd have to get off that payroll if she did run. so what's your take? >> well, i think she loves messing with reporters. and apparently reporters love being messed with. because it's a symbiotic relationship. it's a love/hate thing. and i would not at all be surprised if she ends up not running. but i think she's enjoying flummoxing reporters and also flummoxing the republican establishment which is probably having serious heartburn. >> you say love/hate part. which is the love part? when the ratings and traffic go up? is that the love part? >> that would be the love part and maybe loving the hating. >> speaking of interesting stories and front-page stories, i wanted to ask you about this "new york times" piece on the front page the other day about the tiffany's story. this is, of course, newt gingrich has owed -- had a revolving account where he owed up to $500,000 for jewelry. there she is on the front page, second time in two weeks. and i'm wondering how many voters care about this jewelry thing. reporters certainly care about it. and "b," does this start to look like a vendetta? >> i think that something like tiffany's resonates with people. everybody knows what it is. it's sort of representative of something. people might feel might be telling pollsters -- >> why can't gingrich spend his own money the way he wants? >> sure. and in the end that's probably not going to sway an election up with way or another. but whoever dug up that opposition research through the filings that calista filed as a staffer which is very interesting in itself basically wanted to push forward this idea that newt gingrich is not a man of the people. and that's something that may or may not resonate with people. >> and democrats always get accused of getting $400 haircuts even though in the end we find out, well -- what was it bill clinton supposedly stopped an entire airport for a haircut. >> not supposedly. he got a haircut at l.a.x. and air traffic was stopped. >> i'm not saying these are good things that happen, but christine is right. they happen to sort of everybody. the media does do this. but you know what? the public likes it. the public likes these stories. >> i'm not so sure about that. >> i think they're a bit goofy. >> well, look, i think the problem for gingrich is this. the tiffany's story is more easily comprehensible than a story about medicare and some back-and-forth about what his position is. and this is a story that late-night comedians can latch on to and not let go of. >> let me get a break. when we come back, sarah pal palin's private e-mails publi published in a new book and messages on twitter leaked to a website. should this sort of thing be fair game? frank bailey, a former gubernatorial aide to sara pail, has just published a book with hundreds of her private personal e-mails, and he's been making the television rounds. let's watch. >> you weren't so blind and it's tough as a reader to be very sympathetic. >> you know, brooke, that is absolutely fair. you know, you go into something vesting so much. i mean, you look at this like a relationship that maybe isn't going so well. >> you say it's blind allegiance, but you did all these things. >> i did. i did. >> and then you say, i shouldn't have done it. and i'm trying to say, well, the things that you say you did because you have gotten in a lot of trouble. >> i did. >> why should the media give thisgy a platform? >> well, he's got something interesting to say. he's got information about governor palin. i think he sounds like a disreputable character. i mean, i don't think what he's doing is honorable. but if you're a reporter relating this information you've got and it's not your responsibility to make sure that the person giving it to you is a person of upright character. >> right. the e-mails are authentic. no one's disputed that. john, he did the most hostile interview with him. lawrence o'donnell i thought was easy on him because palin is the target. >> you know, i don't know if it's fair, but i feel like it is fair game in terms of this but also some of the other issues we discuss because i think you're dealing with potential presidential canned da presidential candidates. unfortunately there isn't much privacy when you get to that level. i don't like it, but i think i probably would report on it. >> how about if it's not a presidential candidate but an aide to a possible candidate. rebecca mansour wret a lot of private messages on twitter to somebody she thought was a friend. they were leaked to a conservative website. when she was quoted as saying so-and-so was a dumb ass, taking a swipe at bristol palin, would you have published this? >> that's a good question. i think in this case, palin has such a very small circle of advisers. this is like a campaign manager sending these e-mails. i think you do have to weigh the individual who is sending them. and i think every single instance is a judgment call by editors or the news broadcasters. and in this case because of her prominence within the palin campaign and because of how close she is to the former governor, i would have published them. >> you would have published them. >> it's a bit like wikileaks to some degree. meaning you need to go through the same analysis you would in writing about classified documents that are leaked. these are things intended to be private and exchanged them, but once the press gets them, should you report on them? i think you've got to weigh the cost versus the benefit to the public. >> but then you've had a lot of journalists say in the same website, the daily caller, which published this e-mail group called journalists, you had a lot of journalists saying this is really unfair. we thought we were off the record. like talking to a friends in a bar. but they're not particularly upset that the palin aide's twitter messages got leaked, because why? somebody from the other side. >> e-mail is an e-mail is an e-mail. i think every time you send something out, you have to recognize it could get printed out or forwarded or posted or in the case of a direct message, how many times have people posted that to their whole twitter feed? you have to be smarter than that if you're in politics. >> am i the only one who finds this depressing, anything you write anytime to somebody who you think is a friend could be splashed across somebody's computer screen? >> i think it's depressing that people value confidences so lightly. and i think that if you are governor palin or her aide, you are reconsidering who you're putting your trust in, and maybe you need to put some of those filters up in your personal dealings with people. >> often journalists who report on this or interview the person involved, these days don't seem to worry very much about whether it's a personal betrayal. like give us the goods. give us the really juicy, dirty, sleazy stuff. >> do you think in the past they wouldn't report on it? i guess that's an interesting question. do you think things have changed? >> for example, when had george stephanopoulos left the white house and wrote a book about clinton, it was a tell-all and got $3 million for it, he was widely criticized. and now nobody blinks. we just take it for granted. last question. politico's ben smith actually was offered this collection of twitter messages by rebecca mansour for money. and he wouldn't pay. and tucker carlson said they didn't pay. but there was this great e-mail in which the guy, person, i should say, sorry, ben, it's going to take a lot more than a happy meal and a handshake to get me to betray someone's confidence. because just going to lunch wasn't good enough. i will betray someone's confidence if you send me a check. >> that's pretty bad. to ben's credit and the daily caller's, if they didn't pay, that's great. >> that's what happened with the botox story of the woman who said that she had given her child botox. it's a pretty good lesson. you shouldn't be paying for it. >> what i've concluded is there are no rules anymore, anything goes and unfortunately that's the world we live in. and coming up in the second part of "reliable sources," the oprah era ends. we'll look at her phenomenal popularity and whether she can revive her struggling cable network. plus, a very personal discussion with longtime "morning joe" producer chris licht about the ailment that almost killed him. and later, cnn's don lemon on why he decided to come out of the closet. ♪ you love money ♪ well, you know i love it too ♪ ♪ you love money ♪ well, you know i love it too ♪ ♪ i work so hard at my job ♪ and then i bring it home to you ♪ ♪ i love money in my pocket her morning begins with artitis pain. that's a cofe and two s. . back to sore knees. back to moreills. the day one but hang on... her doctor recommended aleve. st 2il can keep arthritis pain awaall day fewerillshan tylenol. th is laraho chose 2leve anfewells 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