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CNNW Reliable Sources February 5, 2012



major news outlet breathlessly reports that donald trump is on the verge of a big endorsement. >> we don't expect him to say he is running for president, but politico and others are saying he is ready to back newt gingrich. >> hours later the donald backs romney. how did the press get it so wrong? plus, facebook files for a monster public offering. is sharing information with your friends now more powerful than the mega corporations of the media? i'm howard kurtz, and this is "reliable sources." at a time the votes were counted in florida this week, the pundits have decided that mitt romney had all but wrapped up the republican nomination. newt gingrich might keep the race interesting, or so they hope, but have no real chance to win. romney hit the television circuit for what was supposed to be a victory lap, and the man who once said i enjoy being able to fire people, did it again. or did he? here is the exchange on cnn. >> by the way, i'm in this race because i care about americans. i'm not concerned about the very poor. we have a safety net there. if it needs repair, i'll fix it. i'm not concerned about the very rich. they're doing just fine. i'm concerned about the very heart of america, the 90%, 95% of americans who right now are struggling. >> i you just said i'm not concerned about the very poor. i think there are a lot of very poor americans who are struggling who say that sounds odd. >> that and not romney's primary victory soon became the hot media story. >> you don't say that stuff unless you have a tin ear, politically. you have to realize that that stuff is going tb used by europe independents, but it also signals that this is how mitt romney truly feels. >> he gets keep deeper and deeper into this pit of strange talk. he is talking about being president of all the people, and he is basically writing off people he doesn't think bshgs he doesn't care about. >> politically he comes across as a detached fdufus, and this comment today just feeds into a perception of him. >> are journalists showing their bias against romney, the rich guy, and what about that huge blunder with donald trump? jounks now here in washington jonathan martin, senior political reporter for politico. christina belatoni, political editor for pbs's "news hour" and michael sheerer, political correspondent for the "new york times". all this media hyper ventilation over a poor choice of words by romney, was it justified, or did it get at something deeper? >> well, i think it's justified in the sense that it wasn't just this isolated gaff. this is part of a collection of misstatements he has made when it comes to issues relating to put his personal wealth, but also just sensitivity towards money in general, and so i think in that sense it's fair game to talk about what he said. in terms of this specific episode, we all than he has used this sort of phraseology before, and so i think in that sense it's a tad unfair to pile on. i do think you have to look at the broader context over the last three months how many things like this he has said. >> if it's a tad unfair to pile on, michael sheerer, and he talked about the safety net, why did many in the press play it as i don't really care about the poor? >> i didn't disagree with jonathan's broader point about the broader context, but i think this was not the shining moment for the presses here. i think, you know, there was way too much taking this -- taking the democratic line on this that what he meant or what he said was that he didn't care about poor people. that's not what he said. none of us believe that, you know, that that's really what he said. we've all heard him say that before, and i think that, you know, you can sort of justify as the press, well, i'm writing about it because it's the broader context, but at the end of the day it got -- it got reported broadly as he doesn't care about poor people, and i don't think that's fap where are. >> it's the snow ball effect too. it's really this tail wagging the dog. you are seeing that every single outlet is make this the story, have you to make a decision about how do you cover it, and, you know, in some cases i think it can open up a bigger discussion about, well, is there a safety net for the poor? >> let me just stay with this for one minute. did this get so much attraction that romney is rich, cold, and aloof on the problems of regular americans? >> reporters do that all the time. they try to look for confirming narratives, and that is -- >> kind of troubling, isn't it? >> it's absolutely troubling. i think it's a better conversation to talk about the policy proposals under it, but it is difficult when you have the democrats certainly exercising this and romney himself having to address it. >> he first kind of defended what he said, and then 48 hours later said he misspoke, so he dug himself a deeper hole as well. >> he did. his folks pushed back really hard pointing he had used this phraseology before, but when the candidate himself says to jon rolston, i misspoke in that intufr, obviously -- >> with the reporter in nevada. >> john rolston, it makes us look justified for jumping on it. my editor had a smart piece this week about this faux indig nation industry that has been created here in the political media culture, and both sides do it now where they jump on something that the opposition says and pretend to be outraged and even offended by it, but, you know what, they're not outraged or offended. they're gleeful because they have an opportunity to score political points. >> i think, look, he had -- romney had no choice by the end after the barrage that had happened for two days but to sort of do damage control. we all could have made the choice that, you know, that john harris suggested, which is not to -- not to buy into the whole thing and hold back. sdoo except that journalists that pick up on jonathan's phrase have a weakness or people might even say a strong freshness for this faux indig nation industry because it gives more sound bytes that we can play on television. >> politicians all fundraise off of it on both sides, and context is not the business of politics. it should be our business. >> in speaking of context, did we miss an opportunity? most outlites, not all, to do a deeper dive on the question of the poor and the safety net and what would romney do to that safety net and has he embraced certain proposals like that by congressman paul ryan, that would perhaps further shred or stretch that safety net for poor folks? >> i will promote the news hour a little bit because we did have a discussion about poverty the very next night looking at this issue, but it's also an opportunity to look at how americans see themselves. how many people want to be part of the middle class? they wouldn't want to say, well, i'm the very poor, and so that's a bigger conversation, and i would hope that in the next debate, this would maybe get a little bit more than just the back and forth. >> you all seem complicated about this. on the one hand you are saying this is the way the political media culture works. on the other hand, you seem a little embarrassed by it. >> look, i think that, you know, the too often the media gets into a defensive crouch over everything that we do, and, you know, in my opinion and i'm sure, you know, there are some of our colleagues who might disagree, but in my opinion this wasn't the best example of what we did. >> you may want to get deeper into a defensive crouch because i'm going to move now to the donald, and the big, big story about who he was going to endorse this week. let me start with this chronology. this is the story that moved on the associated press wire. real estate mogul and reality show star donald trump intends to endorse newt gingrich according to a source close to gingrich's campaign. trump is set to announce his support sunday in las vegas. the ap had plenty of company. the new york sometimes, wall street journal, and politico also cited unnamed sources that the donald would throw his support to newt. cnn's paul steinhauser had this report. >> wonderful our affiliates said that trump will be endorsing newt gingrich. we've reached out to the trump karch and gingrich camp. neither of them are denying this. then came the big day with trump endorsing mitt romney. >> i got to tell you, i was a little surprised that you endorsed mitt romney because over these past several months not everything you always said about him was positive. >> wrl, first of all, it is political talk, and second of all, he has done a great job, and i have done ae good job, and i have created a big condition, and he has done a really good job and put a lot of people to work. >> why would politico, among others rely on self-serving -- >> look, i mean, i think, you know, the "new york times", politico, a.p., all of us, were doing what we do. we're trying to break news, and in these circumstances, when you talk to a campaign that is poised to get the endorsement, you are going on their word, and in this case their word apparently wasn't that good. that's what we do sometimes. it's unfortunate, but i think, howie, if i could pivot, the broader story and honestly outraged about this as michael is about the romney gaff, why are we enabling donald trump so much in the media? especially i have to say -- especially on tv. we all do it in print certainly, but tv just cannot get enough of this guy. >> well, before we complete this pivot, i want to go to a conventional -- john harris said, "i think some sources thought they knew more than they really did," in terms whaf they were feeding you and other reporters. isn't this a moment for the "new york times" and others where the question really is two-fold. who cares who donald trump endorses? do you really care? how about not just taking it from sources close to the gingrich camp, which had an obvious interest in spinning this thing. >> maybe we should talk about mitt romney's poor comment. >> it's worse for newt now, right? i think, you know, this gets to the question of how many sources, how much sourcing should editors of all of our different organizations have taken a deep breath and questioned the reporters who were coming back and saying i have a source that says this or that. you know, clearly an embarrassment, i think, for those of us who went with it. >> don't forget that herman cain was going to endorse newt gingrich months before he actually did, and there's been a lot of sort of breathless be the first, be the ones to do this, and it happens all the time on twitter, but when news outlets go with it, it is a problem. >> i'm with jonathan on who cares what donald trump, you know -- >> there's polling in the last couple of days indicating that it was a negative for romney. the more people said that they would be less likely to support a candidate endorsed by trump. leaving that aside, trump is a big name. he is a showman. he knows how to get press. at the same time, the reason when you say who cares, we all enable donald trump because he is good for ratings, he is good for circulation. he is more interesting to write about than a thoughtful piece about the safety net for poor people. >> and the american people do pay attention to this. he has a very popular television show. >> you're defend it? >> no, actually, i think it's a mistake. i think the press sort of gives the american people what they say they want to watch, and then we continue feeding that, and the whole trump thing from the very beginning, was he going to run for president, was it a big stunt, why are we polling him in presidential polls. this man was never going to be president, and it's nonsense that we all feed into it because people respond to it. >> coming back to the act of having that story, why take the risk of being wrong when we're all going to find out in a few hours anyway? is it that we're all afraid that the other guy is going to get this ten minutes earlier? >> there is that competitive pressure now. there's no question about it. we are beholden to our sources, though, and when multiple news outlets have solid sources saying that their campaign is going to get the endorsement, well, typically the campaigns know if they're going to get an endorsement the next day from a public figure, and that's usually pretty solid. >> didn't your colleagues feel burned by this transaction? >> i think all of us felt burned, absolutely. what i think the gingrich campaign by putting out word that they're going to get an endorsement that they weren't going to get, not only hurt themselves because they looked bad in terms of they didn't get the endorsement, obviously, but also angering the reporters out there who put their neck on the line here. >> i'm going to button up this segment with you, jonathan martin. you also had an interesting story this week about mitt romney's campaign, which kind of parted ways with the debate coach. now, brett o'donnell who is credited for helping romney and those two florida debates. he did strongly there. let's talk about the campaign feelings about the "new york times" and who gets the credit for romney's debate performance? >> the story on politico on friday that i wrote was about how the romney campaign or circle thought that during the course of the florida primary this new debate advisor brett o'donnell was getting too much credit in news accounts about romney's improved florida debate performances, and so he was kind of set as an example out there and pushed out. part of this story was that big "new york times" story that michael's colleagues wrote a week ago sunday sort of was about how romney came back and destroyed newt in florida. one of the romney advisors, stewart stevens, called brett o'donnell, which when the story was posted on-line and had o'donnell call jim rutenburg, one of the story's co-authors, to have his, o'donnell's role, in the comeback downplayed in the piece. >> i thought that was a fascinating behind the scene peek. usually people try to get more credit, and here's the campaign pressuring the former debate coach to call the new york sometimes and give him less credit. i've got to take a break here. when we come back, barack obama hangs out at google. plus, taking video questions from ordinary folks. is the white house making journalists obsolete? 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[ female announcer ] discover what's next in your life. get this free travel bag when you join at aarp.org/jointoday. get this free travel bag when you join this was the gulf's best tourism season in years. all because so many people came to louisiana... they came to see us in florida... make that alabama... make that mississippi. the best part of the gulf is wherever you choose... and now is a great time to discover it. this year millions of people did. we set all kinds of records. next year we're out to do even better. so come on down to louisiana... florida... alabama... mississippi. we can't wait to see you. brought to you by bp and all of us who call the gulf home. there were no journalists involved. the president was hanging out at google plus, one of the newest social networking web sites dealing with questions like this one. >> my question to you is why does the government continue to issue and extend h1b visas when there are tons of americans, just like my husband, with no job? >> if you send me your his's resume, i would be interested in finding out exactly what's happening right there. >> christina, to be clear, google picked the questioners, not the white house. the people at google don't pretend to be journalists. what are you feeling about the white house stage this high profile and no journal is involved whatsoever? >> it's not any different than having a town hall and preselecting people for questions. the president likes environments like this. now, i often think that real people and not journalists tend to ask better questions of politicians than we do because they're not thinking about process and thinking about their headline, but this is an area where the white house is far more comfortable being able to do that, and he is able to really showcase the real guy sort of kitchen table conversation. >> one woman said i have been unemployed for five years, and what are you going to do for me? michael, you have been a white house correspondent. reporters who cover this guy for a living, they don't get as many opportunities to shout questions at home as under some previous presidents. >> i think, you know, all of us who cover presidents want more access, more opportunities to direct questions. i will say that, you know, this is one of those examples, though, this google plus thing, where even without the -- those of us that do this for a living, he actually made news, right? i mean, his response to that woman's question indicated a sort of sense of surprise that her husband was not, you know -- was not able to get a job and then the republican candidate mitt romney and others latched on to it saying how could he be surprised? that shows he is detached. there are ways that news can develop even in these kinds of settings. >> yeah. now, look, this is the latest it rags over the centuries for how presidents find ways to go around the press corps, and this is sort of the latest greatest because it seizes on new technology. what president bush tried to do with the regional tv interviews -- >> at least there was some sem blens of journalistic involvement in those? >> but going around white house press corps. >> absolutely. >> facebook chats and all of these things. >> the president has made very clear he has no like or real wanting to talk to his press corps, and there are presidents that -- exactly. yet, he does want to have, you know, off the record discussions with journalists over lunch just sort of to talk out issues and schmooze and just talk about big thinking instead of actually answering our questions. >> does the average person care whether journalists are involved? it looks like he is taking questions from americans. >> it's funny because the easy answer is no, they could care less, but i think they doment accountability in their leaders, and i think if you probe them, they would say yes. the vast folks that do accountability are journalists. >> there will be a journalist talking to the president of the united states today. matt lauer. nbc has the super bowl this year, and there will be the pregame interview with obama, which i guess is done every year that he has been in office. is this an important -- given the huge audience. is this an important outlet for the president, or is he just the warm-up act for madonna here? >> i mean, look, it's smart by the white house. he has done that on other sporting venues as well because it's big audiences and it's sort of a more real america kind of audience as well than you might get in a more political show. you know, i wouldn't expect much hard-hitting, you know, journalism. >> i love matt lauer. he is a hard-hitting journalist. >> no criticism of him, but it's not the setting. >> i don't know if he will ask super tough questions. >> will o'reilly had very tough questions for the president, and then quite a back and forth. >> even in an interview, i mean, this is a top notch politician just like anybody who gets in front of a cam are. they're never going to make real news or get into some giant sparring match with whoever is interviewing them. that just doesn't happen. obama is going to answer questions, and it will be mildly interesting. maybe. >> questions about the game. >> can you say right now the last question will be giants or patriots? he will prob

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