Transcripts For CNNW Reliable Sources 20140608 : vimarsana.c

There was this the next morning. He served the United States with honor and distinction. The white house pr operation really failed on this one. The suspicious circumstances of bergdahls disappearance and claims he had been a deserter, have been known for years and yet there was no acknowledgement of that from susan rice. After the prisoner swap, this story got personal and political fast. But it is robert bergdahl, the father, who is also causing controversy. He has learned to speak the language of the taliban and looks like a muslim. Hes also somewhat sympathetic to islam thinking allah right in front of the president. Thank you, bill oreilly for demonstrating how to conduct a Smear Campaign against a military family. It went on and on like that. Many congressional tweets i mentioned, many from republicans, they were deleted. Heres how some of oreillys opponents on msnbc did try to muster a defense. Prisoner exchanges are common place in armed conflict. Ronald reagan gave 1,500 missiles to iran in exchange for prisoners. What do you think . You do the calculation, folks. Do you think 1,500 missiles are more dangerous in hands of those folks than five guys on probation in qatar . It just kept coming back to bergdahl and his family. We saw red news blue knnews pla outside in one network. Any good father who would tell their son to father their conscience and leave men and women on the line. I confess i almost threw my Remote Control at the tv at one point this week. By the end of the week, fox news was asserting that bergdahl converted to islam and declared jihad in captivity. Thats not backed up by other sources. I only bring it up here because were a media show designed to point out media missteps. Lets tackle the administrations missteps. How did the president wind up on the defensive again . Let me ask three excellent guests. Matt lewis, ryan lizza, and gloria borger, cnns chief political analyst. Thank you all for joining me. Thank you. Gloria, let me start with you what you wrote on cnn. Com earlier this week. You said years of internal deliberations have gone into this moment where this prisoner swap occurred. Why did the white house so mismanage this pr situation . Well, i think thats the good question we dont know the answer to. In talking to people at the white house, what i can tell you is i think the rose garden appearance, that triumphant rose garden appearance, it struck a bad cord. The white house was thinking that they were going to get pushback on the National Security side. Why do a swap for five prisoners. What they were trying to do with that white house appearance was put a human face on it. Was to say, look, Sergeant Bergdahl has a mother. He has a father. They havent seen him in five years. And so lets put a human face on it. Instead what that seemed to inspire was a lot about the apparent circumstances in which he left his post and they werent ready for that kind of a firestorm. Matt, you have been recapping all of the conservative reactions on twitter the last few days. What do you think the white house should have done differently . I think the president is pr 101 says you underpromise and overachieve. I think had president obama done what david brooks did on friday in his column, which is to basically say, look, there are problems surrounding, you know we dont quite know what happened. There are questions that linger. It is our policy to bring our men and women home. He left it at that. Had he avoided the rose garden ceremony, he would have been in much better shape. Two things the white house did. One, they kept this among a very small circle of aides and often with a small circle, the less outside views to sort of vet the pr process and the policy process. So they may have had blind spots here. Second, i think what they really didnt anticipate, they did not anticipate bergdahls fellow soldiers coming forward and making some pretty tough accusations against him. That was sort of organized by a republican operative. I think thats one thing they didnt expect at all. I also think the white house did not expect sort of the public outcry from the democratic chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence committee saying it was outrageous that she had not been told in advance. I just think they must have known. They obviously knew this was not going to be swallowed easily by either the public or the press, right . They knew they were giving up five taliban soldiers. I dont think i doubt anyone was sitting in the white house saying well get bergdahl back and everyone is going to love this story. Its going to be great. It was an awful sort of hold your nose deal. But what galoloria was sayins indicative. They thought this would be a win. Let me play a clip of susan rice being interviewed by jim accosta on friday. One about benghazi and one about bergdahl. Are you being upfront with the American People or are you being guided by talking points too much when you go on these programs . Jim, im upfront with the American People and do the best on behalf of my country and do my best to tell facts as we know them. In the case of Bowe Bergdahl for me to condemn him without any opportunity for him to have the chance to tell his side of the story without any due process that we accord any american, that would be inherently unfair. Similarly with benghazi as has been recounted on many occasions, i provided the best information that the u. S. Government had at the time. Susan rice should never appear on another sunday Morning Television show. Is that right, gloria . No. She should go on and she should be armed with the facts and i think that she tried to defend using the words honor and distinction because we dont know any different. What we do know is this is somebody who volunteered to serve his country. So you have to give Sergeant Bergdahl that at the very least and you have to leave the rest to be discovered. I want to put up on screen some graphics from fox news on friday. One banner said bergdahl converted to islam. A lot of this was based on reporting from a secret document obtained by a private Intelligence Company that has not been proven from other sources that the u. S. Government has not corroborated. Ryan, when you saw this report on thursday and you read about is it, what was your reaction to it . The reporter who wrote the original story, ive known him for a long time. I think hes a very good reporter. I was one of his most vocal defenders over an issue of controversy that he was involved in last year. This report does not meet the bar ive been a journalist for 17 years. The sources on this report, i cant think of an outlet i was ever associated with that would have reported this. This is hearsay from terrorists passed through an exfelon and then to the American People. Let me add one more detail to that about what its like to be in captivity. I want to share a story from 2006. Forced to convert to islam at gunpoint on video. Fox news employee. He and his producer were taken hostage for several weeks in gaza. They appeared to convert to islam on video. They said that they did it at gunpoint under threat of death and was later untrue. For fox to go off on length talking about this idea of him converting to islam without knowing strikes me as particularly unfair given that situation in 2006. And by the way, this is somebody who was probably trying to save his life. And none of us can stand here, not one of us can say what we would do in the circumstances in which we felt that we were threatened every single minute. This is one of those stories that could be talked about for days and is being talked about for days and yet i think sometimes it needs fewer hours of coverage because theres so much we dont know. Theres so many answers that we dont have. As a result, you see Something Like on fox. You see the claims about jihad and islam that seem way out ahead of where we actually are. What happens with all political stories now is they get filtered almost 100 through folks as cultural and political biases. Also the fact that we need content. People who are out there getting paid and more and more outlets that we need to keep uncovering something new. By the way, the white house was aware of everything. In this kind of a situation, i think you have a president ial decision that was made and was controversial and what they want to do was put a face on it to downgrade the kind of controversy they were going to get and that didnt work. Gloria borger, matt lewis, ryan lizza, thank you all for joining me. I have to fit in break here. I want to keep this discussion going. As i mentioned, i have a reporter standing by who covered bergdahls case for Rolling Stone years before rest of the other media caught up and is fired up about slant of coverage this week and so i am. Well tell you why right after this. Welcome back. This story is not just about whether he deserted. His actions may have been deplorable. We have to wait to hear his side of the story. Its not just about him. This story is about ending wars that have defined the first 14 years of this american century. It is also about facing the moral and legal consequences of holding so many prisoners for so long at guantanamo bay. Heres something to keep in mind. Something i wish the press made more clear this week in coverage. I fact checked this with the state department on friday. These five taliban prisoners, they were released partly because the Obama Administration concluded it could not press charges against them. It did not have evidence to put them on trial. We, the public, turned away from gitmo. We definitely have turned away from afghanistan. But the press can and the press should pull us back. The press should encourage us to Pay Attention to these issues. I think the media has an educational role to play here. As president obama said on monday, this is what happens at the end of wars. Sometimes thats hard to see when you watch tv and all you hear is fear mongering. News accounts that dont include all of the context here are incomplete. They are worse than that. Misleading to the people watching and reading them which brings me to Something Else misleading. Reporters pretending they discovered something brand new about bergdahls disappearance. A lot of what you heard in the last week was first reported years ago by Rolling Stone magazine. In this 2012 article, Michael Hastings talked about these issues. Unfortunately bergdahl did not get a lot of press attention when he was in captivity. In fact, we talked about that. We called his case under covered here on reliable sources back in february but hastings was on it. Unfortunately he died when his car crash in los angeles last year. He had a partner on this story, a former infantry man named matthew farwell. Farwell was deployed to afghanistan for 16 months. He helped hastings with a lot of reporting about bergdahl and i spoke with him earlier about the press role. Thanks for being here. Thank you for having me. You called this the most important story youve ever written. Why is that . Probably ever will write. It deals with eternal themes. War, captivity, problems, and because we wrote it at a time two years ago Michael Hastings and i wrote this for Rolling Stone, nobody covered it. Nobody cared. And people were being shut up by the white house about it. Tell me what you mean about that. How were they being shut up . One of my white house sources was in charge of coordinating the getting the press to not write about this story. To not talk too much about him. What were the reasons for that . I would think it might be because they were concerned that it would affect the negotiations that were under way. Officially thats the story. But because it reflects badly on the military and on a failed war in afghanistan. Youre saying that the white house and the pentagon as well tried to keep the story of Bowe Bergdahls captivity quiet. What did they say to you . Did they try to do that to you and Michael Hastings as well . Absolutely. Were still being investigated by the fbi. Interesting to think how this story you wrote two years ago with Michael Hastings hasnt ended. Its still something thats ongoing and still being talked about. We agonized about it. Michael and i both considered it the most important thing well ever right. We had a real hard time doing it because the kid was still in captivity. We didnt know if it would help or hurt him and we sat with his parents for 6 1 2 hours. His parents came to my brothers funeral in idaho. We have an emotional bond with these people. I love the bergdahl family. Theyre great people. I dont know bowe. I hope to meet him one day. Im not sure how that will go because im a former infantry man. Well have some issues. But the bergdahl family is a great family. Theyre an allamerican family and all of this stuff thats been coming out about them is disgusting. I think youre referring to people like bill oreilly and sean hannity raising questions about the beard saying he looks muslim. When you heard those comments, how have you reacted . I thought that they are racist first of all. I have muslim friends. They can be good americans as well. But he grew the beard because his son was being held hostage by the taliban and he was trying to get better treatment for his son. This is where i hone in on the point about the public and press not being aware enough of Bowe Bergdahls status for five years. We heard so much this week from pundits who have suddenly decided they know what happened. But where were they during these five years . Exactly. And the other thing that should be brought up is the fact that the soldiers in his unit were under a blanket gag order. A nondisclosure agreement that they were all forced to sign. Thats a very important point so they wouldnt talk about circumstances of his disappearance. They were on the tarmac at bagram signing this paper saying they wouldnt talk about it. So they could go home. And now theyre finally free to talk. We got quite a few of them to talk two years ago. To not be able to talk about your deployment for five years, thats ridiculous. Thats awful. For many years we heard about a disconnect between the press and military. Do you sense that disconnect and what is the significance of it, if so . Absolutely. Theres not only a disconnect between the press and the military and im a former infantry man. I spent five years in the army as a soldier. I pulled the trigger on people in afghanistan. But theres not only a disconnect between the press and the military, theres a disconnect between the American Public and the military. It has bothered me for years that there arent more reporters in afghanistan. Cnn has a bureau. The other networks sort of have bureaus. They dont always have fulltime correspondents in the country. Even though were still fighting a war there. Right. And there arent many independent reporters that are off base that arent embedded with u. S. Forces. Its not enough to be in kabul. You also have to be with the troops youre saying . No. Im saying that you have to not be with the troops. You have to be independent. Look at matthew akins. Hes a Rolling Stone reporter. Hes written for harpers before. He wrote a great story for Rolling Stone that won an award earlier about war crimes committed by u. S. Special forces. And how much press coverage did that get . Hes completely independent. He doesnt buy any line that anybody gives him. And the rest of the people show up to a press briefing at 10 00 a. M. And go eat omelets in the ba bagram airfield. They are reliant on the military for news. President obama said at that press conference earlier in the week. This is what happens at the end of wars. To me thats also the missing context in the past seven days. Thats one of the things i want to say too. When michael was writing that article two years ago, he included the line that it is with bowe this war is likely to end. At the time i was, like, dude, i dont know. It turned out he was really, really present. I miss michael. I wish he were around to talk about this. Im a poor substitute frankly. I wish he was here to see bowe return. I think he would do a hell of an interview with him. Maybe you will. Too early to tell. I agree with you on that 100 . Thank you for being here and sharing this story. Coming up next, did Hillary Clintons aides have a secret meeting with the New York Times to complain about unfair coverage . The answer to that question right after this. Tracks they connect the factories built along the lines. And that means jobs, lots of people, making lots and lots of things. Lets get your business rolling now, everybody sing. Norfolk southern whats your function . Helping this big country move ahead as one Norfolk Southern hows that function . Fame, makes a man take things over fame, lets him loose, hard to swallow fame, puts you there where things are hollow the evolution of luxury continues. The next generation 2015 escalade. Fame and you want to get an mba. But going back to school is hard. Because you work. Now Capella University offers a revolutionary new way to get your degree. Its called flexpath, and its the most direct path, leveraging what youve learned on the job and focusing on what you need to know. So you can get a degree at your pace and graduate at the speed of you. Flexpath from Capella University. Learn about all of our programs at capella. Edu. Trwith secure wifie for your business. It also comes with public wifi for your customers. Not so with internet from the phone company. I would email the phone company to inquire as to why they have shortchanged these customers. But that would require wifi. Switch to comcast Business Internet and get two Wifi Networks included. Comcast business built for business. T minus two days until you can read United States<\/a> with honor and distinction. The white house pr operation really failed on this one. The suspicious circumstances of bergdahls disappearance and claims he had been a deserter, have been known for years and yet there was no acknowledgement of that from susan rice. After the prisoner swap, this story got personal and political fast. But it is robert bergdahl, the father, who is also causing controversy. He has learned to speak the language of the taliban and looks like a muslim. Hes also somewhat sympathetic to islam thinking allah right in front of the president. Thank you, bill oreilly for demonstrating how to conduct a Smear Campaign<\/a> against a military family. It went on and on like that. Many congressional tweets i mentioned, many from republicans, they were deleted. Heres how some of oreillys opponents on msnbc did try to muster a defense. Prisoner exchanges are common place in armed conflict. Ronald reagan gave 1,500 missiles to iran in exchange for prisoners. What do you think . You do the calculation, folks. Do you think 1,500 missiles are more dangerous in hands of those folks than five guys on probation in qatar . It just kept coming back to bergdahl and his family. We saw red news blue knnews pla outside in one network. Any good father who would tell their son to father their conscience and leave men and women on the line. I confess i almost threw my Remote Control<\/a> at the tv at one point this week. By the end of the week, fox news was asserting that bergdahl converted to islam and declared jihad in captivity. Thats not backed up by other sources. I only bring it up here because were a media show designed to point out media missteps. Lets tackle the administrations missteps. How did the president wind up on the defensive again . Let me ask three excellent guests. Matt lewis, ryan lizza, and gloria borger, cnns chief political analyst. Thank you all for joining me. Thank you. Gloria, let me start with you what you wrote on cnn. Com earlier this week. You said years of internal deliberations have gone into this moment where this prisoner swap occurred. Why did the white house so mismanage this pr situation . Well, i think thats the good question we dont know the answer to. In talking to people at the white house, what i can tell you is i think the rose garden appearance, that triumphant rose garden appearance, it struck a bad cord. The white house was thinking that they were going to get pushback on the National Security<\/a> side. Why do a swap for five prisoners. What they were trying to do with that white house appearance was put a human face on it. Was to say, look, Sergeant Bergdahl<\/a> has a mother. He has a father. They havent seen him in five years. And so lets put a human face on it. Instead what that seemed to inspire was a lot about the apparent circumstances in which he left his post and they werent ready for that kind of a firestorm. Matt, you have been recapping all of the conservative reactions on twitter the last few days. What do you think the white house should have done differently . I think the president is pr 101 says you underpromise and overachieve. I think had president obama done what david brooks did on friday in his column, which is to basically say, look, there are problems surrounding, you know we dont quite know what happened. There are questions that linger. It is our policy to bring our men and women home. He left it at that. Had he avoided the rose garden ceremony, he would have been in much better shape. Two things the white house did. One, they kept this among a very small circle of aides and often with a small circle, the less outside views to sort of vet the pr process and the policy process. So they may have had blind spots here. Second, i think what they really didnt anticipate, they did not anticipate bergdahls fellow soldiers coming forward and making some pretty tough accusations against him. That was sort of organized by a republican operative. I think thats one thing they didnt expect at all. I also think the white house did not expect sort of the public outcry from the democratic chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence<\/a> committee saying it was outrageous that she had not been told in advance. I just think they must have known. They obviously knew this was not going to be swallowed easily by either the public or the press, right . They knew they were giving up five taliban soldiers. I dont think i doubt anyone was sitting in the white house saying well get bergdahl back and everyone is going to love this story. Its going to be great. It was an awful sort of hold your nose deal. But what galoloria was sayins indicative. They thought this would be a win. Let me play a clip of susan rice being interviewed by jim accosta on friday. One about benghazi and one about bergdahl. Are you being upfront with the American People<\/a> or are you being guided by talking points too much when you go on these programs . Jim, im upfront with the American People<\/a> and do the best on behalf of my country and do my best to tell facts as we know them. In the case of Bowe Bergdahl<\/a> for me to condemn him without any opportunity for him to have the chance to tell his side of the story without any due process that we accord any american, that would be inherently unfair. Similarly with benghazi as has been recounted on many occasions, i provided the best information that the u. S. Government had at the time. Susan rice should never appear on another sunday Morning Television<\/a> show. Is that right, gloria . No. She should go on and she should be armed with the facts and i think that she tried to defend using the words honor and distinction because we dont know any different. What we do know is this is somebody who volunteered to serve his country. So you have to give Sergeant Bergdahl<\/a> that at the very least and you have to leave the rest to be discovered. I want to put up on screen some graphics from fox news on friday. One banner said bergdahl converted to islam. A lot of this was based on reporting from a secret document obtained by a private Intelligence Company<\/a> that has not been proven from other sources that the u. S. Government has not corroborated. Ryan, when you saw this report on thursday and you read about is it, what was your reaction to it . The reporter who wrote the original story, ive known him for a long time. I think hes a very good reporter. I was one of his most vocal defenders over an issue of controversy that he was involved in last year. This report does not meet the bar ive been a journalist for 17 years. The sources on this report, i cant think of an outlet i was ever associated with that would have reported this. This is hearsay from terrorists passed through an exfelon and then to the American People<\/a>. Let me add one more detail to that about what its like to be in captivity. I want to share a story from 2006. Forced to convert to islam at gunpoint on video. Fox news employee. He and his producer were taken hostage for several weeks in gaza. They appeared to convert to islam on video. They said that they did it at gunpoint under threat of death and was later untrue. For fox to go off on length talking about this idea of him converting to islam without knowing strikes me as particularly unfair given that situation in 2006. And by the way, this is somebody who was probably trying to save his life. And none of us can stand here, not one of us can say what we would do in the circumstances in which we felt that we were threatened every single minute. This is one of those stories that could be talked about for days and is being talked about for days and yet i think sometimes it needs fewer hours of coverage because theres so much we dont know. Theres so many answers that we dont have. As a result, you see Something Like<\/a> on fox. You see the claims about jihad and islam that seem way out ahead of where we actually are. What happens with all political stories now is they get filtered almost 100 through folks as cultural and political biases. Also the fact that we need content. People who are out there getting paid and more and more outlets that we need to keep uncovering something new. By the way, the white house was aware of everything. In this kind of a situation, i think you have a president ial decision that was made and was controversial and what they want to do was put a face on it to downgrade the kind of controversy they were going to get and that didnt work. Gloria borger, matt lewis, ryan lizza, thank you all for joining me. I have to fit in break here. I want to keep this discussion going. As i mentioned, i have a reporter standing by who covered bergdahls case for Rolling Stone<\/a> years before rest of the other media caught up and is fired up about slant of coverage this week and so i am. Well tell you why right after this. Welcome back. This story is not just about whether he deserted. His actions may have been deplorable. We have to wait to hear his side of the story. Its not just about him. This story is about ending wars that have defined the first 14 years of this american century. It is also about facing the moral and legal consequences of holding so many prisoners for so long at guantanamo bay. Heres something to keep in mind. Something i wish the press made more clear this week in coverage. I fact checked this with the state department on friday. These five taliban prisoners, they were released partly because the Obama Administration<\/a> concluded it could not press charges against them. It did not have evidence to put them on trial. We, the public, turned away from gitmo. We definitely have turned away from afghanistan. But the press can and the press should pull us back. The press should encourage us to Pay Attention<\/a> to these issues. I think the media has an educational role to play here. As president obama said on monday, this is what happens at the end of wars. Sometimes thats hard to see when you watch tv and all you hear is fear mongering. News accounts that dont include all of the context here are incomplete. They are worse than that. Misleading to the people watching and reading them which brings me to Something Else<\/a> misleading. Reporters pretending they discovered something brand new about bergdahls disappearance. A lot of what you heard in the last week was first reported years ago by Rolling Stone<\/a> magazine. In this 2012 article, Michael Hastings<\/a> talked about these issues. Unfortunately bergdahl did not get a lot of press attention when he was in captivity. In fact, we talked about that. We called his case under covered here on reliable sources back in february but hastings was on it. Unfortunately he died when his car crash in los angeles last year. He had a partner on this story, a former infantry man named matthew farwell. Farwell was deployed to afghanistan for 16 months. He helped hastings with a lot of reporting about bergdahl and i spoke with him earlier about the press role. Thanks for being here. Thank you for having me. You called this the most important story youve ever written. Why is that . Probably ever will write. It deals with eternal themes. War, captivity, problems, and because we wrote it at a time two years ago Michael Hastings<\/a> and i wrote this for Rolling Stone<\/a>, nobody covered it. Nobody cared. And people were being shut up by the white house about it. Tell me what you mean about that. How were they being shut up . One of my white house sources was in charge of coordinating the getting the press to not write about this story. To not talk too much about him. What were the reasons for that . I would think it might be because they were concerned that it would affect the negotiations that were under way. Officially thats the story. But because it reflects badly on the military and on a failed war in afghanistan. Youre saying that the white house and the pentagon as well tried to keep the story of Bowe Bergdahl<\/a>s captivity quiet. What did they say to you . Did they try to do that to you and Michael Hastings<\/a> as well . Absolutely. Were still being investigated by the fbi. Interesting to think how this story you wrote two years ago with Michael Hastings<\/a> hasnt ended. Its still something thats ongoing and still being talked about. We agonized about it. Michael and i both considered it the most important thing well ever right. We had a real hard time doing it because the kid was still in captivity. We didnt know if it would help or hurt him and we sat with his parents for 6 1 2 hours. His parents came to my brothers funeral in idaho. We have an emotional bond with these people. I love the bergdahl family. Theyre great people. I dont know bowe. I hope to meet him one day. Im not sure how that will go because im a former infantry man. Well have some issues. But the bergdahl family is a great family. Theyre an allamerican family and all of this stuff thats been coming out about them is disgusting. I think youre referring to people like bill oreilly and sean hannity raising questions about the beard saying he looks muslim. When you heard those comments, how have you reacted . I thought that they are racist first of all. I have muslim friends. They can be good americans as well. But he grew the beard because his son was being held hostage by the taliban and he was trying to get better treatment for his son. This is where i hone in on the point about the public and press not being aware enough of Bowe Bergdahl<\/a>s status for five years. We heard so much this week from pundits who have suddenly decided they know what happened. But where were they during these five years . Exactly. And the other thing that should be brought up is the fact that the soldiers in his unit were under a blanket gag order. A nondisclosure agreement that they were all forced to sign. Thats a very important point so they wouldnt talk about circumstances of his disappearance. They were on the tarmac at bagram signing this paper saying they wouldnt talk about it. So they could go home. And now theyre finally free to talk. We got quite a few of them to talk two years ago. To not be able to talk about your deployment for five years, thats ridiculous. Thats awful. For many years we heard about a disconnect between the press and military. Do you sense that disconnect and what is the significance of it, if so . Absolutely. Theres not only a disconnect between the press and the military and im a former infantry man. I spent five years in the army as a soldier. I pulled the trigger on people in afghanistan. But theres not only a disconnect between the press and the military, theres a disconnect between the American Public<\/a> and the military. It has bothered me for years that there arent more reporters in afghanistan. Cnn has a bureau. The other networks sort of have bureaus. They dont always have fulltime correspondents in the country. Even though were still fighting a war there. Right. And there arent many independent reporters that are off base that arent embedded with u. S. Forces. Its not enough to be in kabul. You also have to be with the troops youre saying . No. Im saying that you have to not be with the troops. You have to be independent. Look at matthew akins. Hes a Rolling Stone<\/a> reporter. Hes written for harpers before. He wrote a great story for Rolling Stone<\/a> that won an award earlier about war crimes committed by u. S. Special forces. And how much press coverage did that get . Hes completely independent. He doesnt buy any line that anybody gives him. And the rest of the people show up to a press briefing at 10 00 a. M. And go eat omelets in the ba bagram airfield. They are reliant on the military for news. President obama said at that press conference earlier in the week. This is what happens at the end of wars. To me thats also the missing context in the past seven days. Thats one of the things i want to say too. When michael was writing that article two years ago, he included the line that it is with bowe this war is likely to end. At the time i was, like, dude, i dont know. It turned out he was really, really present. I miss michael. I wish he were around to talk about this. Im a poor substitute frankly. I wish he was here to see bowe return. I think he would do a hell of an interview with him. Maybe you will. Too early to tell. I agree with you on that 100 . Thank you for being here and sharing this story. Coming up next, did Hillary Clintons<\/a> aides have a secret meeting with the New York Times<\/a> to complain about unfair coverage . The answer to that question right after this. Tracks they connect the factories built along the lines. And that means jobs, lots of people, making lots and lots of things. Lets get your business rolling now, everybody sing. Norfolk southern whats your function . Helping this big country move ahead as one Norfolk Southern<\/a> hows that function . Fame, makes a man take things over fame, lets him loose, hard to swallow fame, puts you there where things are hollow the evolution of luxury continues. The next generation 2015 escalade. Fame and you want to get an mba. But going back to school is hard. Because you work. Now Capella University<\/a> offers a revolutionary new way to get your degree. Its called flexpath, and its the most direct path, leveraging what youve learned on the job and focusing on what you need to know. So you can get a degree at your pace and graduate at the speed of you. Flexpath from Capella University<\/a>. Learn about all of our programs at capella. Edu. Trwith secure wifie for your business. It also comes with public wifi for your customers. Not so with internet from the phone company. I would email the phone company to inquire as to why they have shortchanged these customers. But that would require wifi. Switch to comcast Business Internet<\/a> and get two Wifi Networks<\/a> included. Comcast business built for business. T minus two days until you can read Hillary Clintons<\/a> new memoir hard choices if youre so inclined. The Political Press<\/a> has already devoured it and many that read it think its another chapter of a clinton president ial campaign. Its time for tv interviews related to the book. They begin this week with abc which released this snippet to premiere Diane Sawyers<\/a> prime time interview. What would you like to say to karl rove about your brain . That i know he was called bushs brain in one of the books written about him and i wish him well. After diane sawyer, clinton talks with Robin Roberts<\/a> on abcs Good Morning America<\/a> and then jane pauley of cbs, Christiane Amanpour<\/a> here on cnn and a fox news interview. Expert interviewers. Every one of them. All of the interviews except for one are women. You might ask is that a coincidence . I doubt it. You might also ask, would we notice if all of the interviewers were men . Thats a fair question. I think we should notice if that were the case. The fact of the matter is that an alister like clinton whether woman or man, democrat or republican, can choose who gets the interview because Everyone Wants<\/a> the interview. Thats why media reporters scrutinize the selection and so do political reporters. Let me bring in two of them right now. We have the chief National Correspondent<\/a> for the New York Times<\/a> magazine and we have a former cubical mate who is now a National Political<\/a> reporter on the clinton beat. Thank you both for joining me. Amy, let me start with you on this almost all female lineup of interviewers. A conscious choice on the part of clintons aides or a coincidence . As a woman covering Hillary Clinton<\/a>, i hadnt even noticed the lineup from female until some other media organizations pointed it out. I think theres nothing unusual in choosing diane sawyer but you have to look at the context of the rollout of the book. The first excerpt came to vogue on mothers day and how she was excited to become a grandmother and this week we saw People Magazine<\/a> story and Hillary Clinton<\/a> is posing in the kitchen. I think when you look at it in the broader sort of array of things that shes doing around the book, it does sort of make sense. We talked last week about whether the press is taking clintons bait talking about this book before it comes out. Here we are talking about it. Are we falling for their pr strategy . No. The clintons have a built in pr strategy. Theyre the clintons. People are going to cover them. This is clearly a very, very staged rollout. It looks like a president ial campaign more and more every day. At the very least i hope this will put to rest the clinton world claim they should be treated like a private citizens. It seems very much campaigning to me. I think thats how its going to play out. Do they say because theyre not in office right now they should be treated more like private citizens . Yeah. I think thats the general response is that shes not in office and should not be scrutinized like someone in public office. They have come up with coordinated response to the attack this is a Campaign Book<\/a>. They said did you call geithners book a Campaign Book<\/a> or gates a Campaign Book<\/a> . Was there any news in People Magazine<\/a> cover story that came out that was the wave of coverage of the book that came out this week. It shows how low our bar is for news. People said she addresses Monica Lewinsky<\/a> issue in this interview and says i moved on. We need to all look at the future. Im not going to talk about that. With a there news in this cover story . The fact that gates and geithner didnt get that question is wrong. Im saying that with some sarcasm. I can hear it in your voice. There was a story this week about a socalled secret summit between you and your editor and clinton aides complaining about unfair coverage. Is that true . I wont be able to confirm or talk about any meetings. This is part of the broader point this is about clintons and the press. Compared to what . The Obama White House<\/a> has such a Good Relationship<\/a> with the press . To me that sounded like if a meeting happened was part of the norm normal journalism process. You talk to sources all the time, is that fair to say . Yes. People often send representatives into the times and im sure cnn and every other media outlet to discuss coverage and voice their complaints and try to get Something Better<\/a> out of it. With this book rollout what do you expect to happen after these waves of television interviewses that weve seen . Is this going to have a lasting import for her . Yes. I think these interviews could be what breaks news. People who have seen the book told me theres nothing earth shattering. Mark wrote a humorous column anticipating nothing much in the book. She could break news in the abc interview with diane sawyer and cnn town hall with Christiane Amanpour<\/a>. Go with cliche that shes resbror reintroducing herself for the American Public<\/a>. On the other hand she never left. Giving the American Public<\/a> to get sick of the clinton drama again . Again, who knows how it will play out. It does seem like this has been a very, very carefully calculated media strategy, which is generally how they proceed. Mark, amy, thank you both for join ming. Thanks, brian. I miss you. I miss you at the times but i get to read you every day. I feel left out. I miss you guys too. Coming up here, the power of a Live Television<\/a> picture. Look at this from cnns ivan watson in istanbul, turkey last weekend. Ill talk to him about what this was like to be on air while being interrupted and harassed by police. Stay tuned. [thinking] im still working. Hes retired. I hope hes saving. I hope he saved enough. Who matters most to you says the most about you. At massmutual were owned by our policyowners, and they matter most to us. Whether youre just starting your 401 k or you are ready for retirement, well help you get there. Hooking up the country whelping business run trains they haul everything, safely and on time. Tracks they connect the factories built along the lines. And that means jobs, lots of people, making lots and lots of things. Lets get your business rolling now, everybody sing. Norfolk southern whats your function . Helping this big country move ahead as one Norfolk Southern<\/a> hows that function . If you were live on television and a crowd of Police Officers<\/a> started to push and shove and harass you, how would you handle it . What would you do . Watch ivan watson here in istanbul last weekend. He calmly narrated while turkish authorities interrupted his live shot on cnn international. Reporter often you get demonstrates are throwing rocks and bottles and police cracking down with their use of force as well. Excuse me. I think im i think im being cnn. Can i see your passport . Were being checked. This is my press card. It allows me to work in turkey. Okay. Technically watson wasnt detained but he was held by the police for about half an hour. A few days later the Prime Minister<\/a> of turkey disparaged him as a flunky and agent of the west. The committee to protect journalists say these comments are irresponsible and have a Chilling Effect<\/a> on the press. Harassing and kicking a reporter on live tv also has a Chilling Effect<\/a>. What were they thinking and what was he thinking. Lets ask ivan watson who joins me now. Thanks for joining me. No problem, brian. What was it like in that moment . How did you stay so calm . Ive said this before. As the police were coming around me, im accustomed to having Security Forces<\/a> in many countries ive worked with in hassling me. The treatment really wasnt that rough. I was kneed in the posterior. The difference is that it happened on Live Television<\/a> and so that of course created a media ripple not only in the media but online as well. It made front page news here in turkey and it was picked up around the world and perhaps thats why the turkish Prime Minister<\/a> felt he had to address this speaking on National Television<\/a> in the Turkish Parliament<\/a> in front of a cheering crowd of Parliament Members<\/a> from his parliament and thats where this went from being an isolated perhaps incident as some of the Prime Minister<\/a> aides assured me in private to being a much bigger issue because the Prime Minister<\/a> took this one step further. He didnt just insult me calling a cnn idiot. He went further and said i was caught red handed and i was acting like a spy and that is a very serious accusation that has some very dangerous implications and potential consequences here in turkey. It also seems like a page from an old playbook which is to blame the press for your own internal political issues. Am i right about that . Yes. Weve seen this in many countries around the world. It happens in the u. S. Sometimes where the press is blamed for the message. The difference here is these allegations were patently absurd, almost laughable, except they were made by the most powerful man in the country and against a journalist, me. Ive been accredited with a yellow press badge from the Prime Minister<\/a>s office for 12 years in turkey. First as a journalist for National Public<\/a> radio and then as a correspondent for the last five years for cnn. The Prime Minister<\/a> and his entourage know me personally. I interviewed him. I was invited with a Television Crew<\/a> on his private jet in 2009 to accompany him on a campaign tour. Oneonone interviews on his campaign bus. The same going in 2010. Again invited on his campaign bus for exclusive oneonone interviews. So if i am in fact a spy as the Prime Minister<\/a> alleged falsely in the Turkish Parliament<\/a>, that would suggest a major Security Breach<\/a> by the turkish Security Forces<\/a> since ive also been in oneonone interviews on camera the president of turkey as well as the foreign minister of turkey during my five years as a resident correspondent for cnn here in turkey. So after years of covering turkey, youre moving onto hong kong, right . What are your reflections on covering turkey . I have been deeply in love particularly with the city, istanbul, for more than a decade here. I fell in love with this city on my first ride from the airport to the center of the city. Its really an incredible historic rich cultural place. Its been very sad to see the neighborhoods that i love behind me, the streets behind me, turned into an urban battleground again and again over the course of the last year and to see civilian bystanders who are not part of the political clashes living in these neighborhoods suffering the effects of tear gas that come through their windows being frightened by riot police storming through their streets by demonstrators hurling rocks and molotov cocktails in the street. A very sad thing to see. Also sad to be just a couple weeks from moving to the next chapter in my career in hong kong with such a very bitter and unfortunate taste in my mouth. Ivan watson, thanks for joining me on this. Thank you, brian. I want to end this segment with a statement from top executives at cnn. Heres what they say. We have said repeatedly that we stand by our reporting from turkey and by our reporter, ivan watson. A journalist of the highest integrity. We find his recent work in turkey to be brave and commendable. I have to squeeze in a break here. Well take a turn coming up and i want to introduce you to one of the most powerful people in hollywood. Youre going to want to hear predictions about how well be watching tv in the a near future. Stay tuned. Did you know a tensecond test could help your business avoid hours of delay caused by slow internet from the phone company . Thats enough time to record a memo. Idea for sales giveaway. Return a call. Sign a contract. Pick a tie. Take a break with mr. Duck. Practice up for the business trip. Fly to florida. Win an award. Close a deal. Hire an intern. And still have time to spare. Check your speed. See how fast your internet can be. Switch now and add voice and tv for 34. 90. Comcast business. Built for business. Welcome back to reliable sources. Netflix was in the news every day this week. It got into a very public fight with verizon over who is responsible in streaming tv show youre watching slows down and buffers. There was a headline predicting that revenue from sites like netflix will overtake the u. S. Box office in just three years. Most importantl lyimportantly, season premiered on friday orange is black. Every Media Business<\/a> story of this era is the Seismic Shift<\/a> in linear scheduled viewing to taped on demand on your schedule viewing. Thats the future and no company is doing more to move us toward that on demand world than netflix. This week i went out west to the companys Silicon Valley<\/a> headquarters and sat down with one of the most powerful men in media. The man who picks and chooses which shows show up on net flicks. Pete ted sarandos. I would say there was scorn in some corners when they premiered. Do you feel vindicated now . It was a likely bet that an internet dvd by mail company streaming for a few years was not going to launch tv shows that mattered off the bat. It would have taken us several years to get to the level of original programming that we have achieved in our first year. Sounds like you were a bit of a skeptic as well this time last year. I was cautiously optimistic. You can see why there was so many skeptics. I can absolutely respect why someone would give some pause before they would declare victory on it. By having an around the world launch, doesnt it make it more of an event for netflix. A global event. Not just a launch of a u. S. Show that some people in some pockets of the world are interested in. House of cards, by the way, in china is an enormous hit. I talked to kevin spacey last week who talked about doing a live show and he said he does a show regularly there and hes always well received but this time he was like elvis and people just love him because they love francis underwood. Netflix said in that case, more people watching the show. More people watching the show for more hours than house of cards. Theyre both a successful show. Orange is the new black is the largest one recently. Not from a third party like nielsen. By choosing not to release ratings, youre also making a statement about peoples viewing habits are changing. People arent watching at the same time. Theyre watching on their own schedules. Thats right. We value that viewing equally a year later or the night we go live. For some people who really love orange is the new black a lot of them will watch all 13 hours in the first 13 hours of availability when it comes on. But for the vast majority of the people, they will watch at their own pace whenever they want, in whatever phase they want. Thats the beauty of it. Its not that significant. Depends how you define people who watch the moment its available right that same weekend. I mean, you have to imagine first of all, you have to narrow it down to people who have 13 hours on their hands and dont need to sleep much. Hardly anyone will watch one episode and watch one at the exact same time. Theyre not going to watch the way the networks trained them to for netflix. The more we talk about ratings and compare our shows to television shows, the more youll think about it in that light. What conventions would you most like to change right now . I mean, its mostly all different flavors of waiting. Waiting. Waiting. I think theres so much built into the were going to string the audience along for several weeks so that we can sell ads and promote our shows and i think that every kind of flavor of that should go out the window as we have conditioned the universe to expect instant gratification by the internet. Ive never heard anybody say that, you know it would be great if i put in my question in google and waited a week for the answer to come back. I dont think the sexiness or the anticipation is anywhere near as good as the satisfaction of watching it. You can watch much more of my interview with ted sarandos on demand, of course. Up next on reliable sources a question on the minds of many. Will lara logan being coming back to cbs news . During the day, we generate as much electricity as we can using solar. At night and when its cloudy, we use more natural gas. This ensures we can produce Clean Electricity<\/a> whenever our customers need it. I have a great fit with my dentures. I love kiwis. Ive always had that issue with the seeds getting under my denture. Super poligrip free it creates a seal of the dentures in my mouth. Even wellfitting dentures let in food particles. Super poligrip is zinc free. With just a few dabs, its clinically proven to seal out more food particles so youre more comfortable and confident while you eat. Super poligrip free made the kiwi an enjoyable experience. [ charlie ] try zinc free super poligrip. And you want to get an mba. But going back to school is hard. Because you work. Now Capella University<\/a> offers a revolutionary new way to get your degree. Its called flexpath, and its the most direct path, leveraging what youve learned on the job and focusing on what you need to know. So you can get a degree at your pace and graduate at the speed of you. Flexpath from Capella University<\/a>. Learn about all of our programs at capella. Edu. Could help your business didavoid hours of delaynd test caused by slow internet from the phone company . Thats enough time to record a memo. Idea for sales giveaway. Return a call. Sign a contract. Pick a tie. Take a break with mr. Duck. Practice up for the business trip. Fly to florida. Win an award. Close a deal. Hire an intern. And still have time to spare. Check your speed. See how fast your internet can be. Switch now and add voice and tv for 34. 90. Comcast business. Built for business. Finally this morning, a couple of media moves you should know about. Lets go back to the reliable sources archives for this first one. Five weeks ago i asked this question. Is lara logan ever coming back to 60 minutes . Cbs did not have an answer at the time but now we know the answer is yes. The network confirmed that logan is back at work now, seven months after taking a leave of absence and apologizing for her story about benghazi that was full of holes. How will logan and cbs regain the trust that was lost . Well, still no answer to that question. Also this week, news about a former cbs newser, cheryl at kiss son. She challenged the Obama Administration<\/a>. We talked to her here on reliable in april. The conservative Heritage Foundation<\/a> started a news website this week called the daily signal and shes on board. Senior independent contributor is her title. They want to combine accurate reporting and conservative analysis. Its part of the proliferation of outlets that contain news and a point of view. Thats all for this televised edition of reliable sources. Were on demand on cnn. Com and this spiffy app. Check out the blog and grab your remote, set your dvr for next week. Well be right back here next sunday for another update. Stay tuned for a news update and state of the union with Candy Crowley<\/a>. Good morning. Im erin mcpike. Here are the big stories were following this hour. Steve coburn is blasting the owners of the top finishers in the belmont stakes. This is what he said after his horses fourth place finish. Target on its back. Everybody else lays out one. They wont run in the Kentucky Derby<\/a> or the preakness, they wait until the belmont. If you have a horse that if youve got a horse that earns points to run in the Kentucky Derby<\/a>, those 20 horses that start in kentucky are the only 20 available eligible to run in all three races. This is the cowards way out. Neither of the horses that finished ahead of California Chrome<\/a> competed in the previous triple crown races, the Kentucky Derby<\/a> and the preakness and its been 36 years since a horse has won the triple crown. The belmont was won by tonalist which put on a lastminute surge to win by a head. The pope is hosting a unique prayer meeting at the vatican today where shimon peres and Mahmoud Abbas<\/a> will pray for peace together. Theyll plant an olive tree in the garden. They were invited by the pontiff during his last visit to the holy land. A truck driver charged in the crash that critically hurt comedian tracy morgan turned himself in. Kevin roper of georgia was driving the tractortrailer that hit the limo bus. Comedian james mcnair who goes by jimmy mac was killed. There are others in Critical Condition<\/a> today. State of the union with Candy Crowley<\/a> starts right now. Saving Sergeant Bergdahl<\/a>, the fallout. Today, two exclusives. U. S. Secretary of state john kerry talks for the first time about the five taliban Prisoners Released<\/a> from gitmo to qatar. Not telling you they dont have the ability at some point to go back and get involved. But they also have an ability to get killed doing that. And the response from senator john mccain. 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