and ben carson and carly fiorina jump into the race. >> all three are once very serious men and women who are selling themselves out for speaking fees and cable contracts. that's what happens -- that's what's happening. >> are the media dismissing them as hopeless long shots? two terrorists killed as they attack at an anti-muhammad art contest in texas. some pundits blame the group itself. >> i wonder whether the group that held the event to disparage and make fun of the prophet muhammad doesn't in some way cause these events. >> did they get exactly what they want by drawing out people that would incite violence? >> but aren't offensive groups especially offensive groups entitled to free speech? deflategate is back. tom brady awkwardly ducking questions after the nfl says he and the new england patriots weren't telling the truth about tampering with footballs for the afc championship. should the media now brand brady as a cheater? i'm howard kurtz and this is "media buzz." nbc's cynthia mcfadden accompanied bill clinton to nairobi where the backdrop for their "today" show was groups of poor, black children being helped by the clinton foirkz. the former president deflecting questions about donations from foreign governments and" the organization only accepts cash from six western countries. >> absolutely not. it's an acknowledgment that we're going to come as close as we can during her presidential campaign to following the rules we followed when she became secretary of state. >> what about the money going directly into clinton's pocket? >> working americans look and say, $500,000 for a speech -- >> wait a minute, wait a minute. why shouldn't -- it's the most independent i can get. i have turned down a lot of them. if i think there's something wrong, i don't take it. i do disclose who gave them to me so people can make up their own mind. >> she's running for president. will you continue to give speeches? >> yeah. i got to pay our bills. >> joining us to analyze the coverage matt lewis, senior contributor at "the daily caller." christina bellantoni of roll call and columnist for "the daily beast." matt lewis, bill clinton answers "about the foundation? why are the media beating him up? >> the guy's got to pay his bills, let's be honest. no clearly, this was a public relations effort to talk about the good work that i'm sure that the foundation does do. he went on this trip. that's not really the point, though right? nobody is -- holds a gun to your head and tells you to run for president. when you do it scrutiny follows. and there's a lot of things happening with the clintons that looks fishy. and i think it would be entirely appropriate to say, look, if my wife's going to run for president, i'm going to step down from the foundation. we're not going to take any more foreign -- >> didn't say what you wanted -- >> i think what the media would probably expect as being appropriate for him to do. >> what do you make of the way the interview was carefully staged in africa with the backdrop? how did cynthia mcfadden do in her questions to the former president? >> you're going to accept an interview when you get incredible access. in the media business, pictures tell 1,000 words. it is important for the clintons to frame the way that this is shaped. he's also on the cover some magazine i saw at the airport a couple of days ago, "giving" magazine or "fill an not tlop-- " "philanthropy." don't forget the footage of -- when they talk about children getting hearing aids for the first time, you'll see that in campaigns. they'll talk about the good things the foundation has done to deflect any criticism. >> cynthia mcfadden and her questions? >> you know, i thought she did all right in the circumstances. and they're standing in the middle of this backdrop. it's a hard interview. you're not in a controlled studio environment. the way they set it up it was also clear that she couldn't ask everything that she could possibly ask. >> i think they were undoubtedly timed -- i don't know for a fact. i was also struck michael, by the i got to pay our bills question. we're talking about speeches $500,000 a pop, as much as. did that strike a discordant note in the interview? >> most definitely. i don't think we'll be hearing him use that sentence again. i have written -- i think they need to be more transparent and need to be more dramatic it announcing new sets of rules that they're going to follow during her candidacy and during her presidency if she is president. i think all that fair. dylan byars had a piece in politico this week. and dylan byars is i think, a reliable barometer of the thinking of the media here in washington. his sentence said the media is primed to take the clintons down not primed to investigate nor primed to rake over the coals. primed to take down. >> do you agree? >> i sort of do, yes. >> all right. we'll come back to that. but bill clinton also answered questions about the foundation in an interview with cnn's christiane amanpour. >> did any of those donations ever affect secretary clinton's policy? >> no. she didn't know about a lot of them. there's just no evidence -- even the guy who wrote the book apparently had to admit under questioning that he didn't have a shred of evidence for this. he just sort of thought he'd throw it out and see if they'd fly. it will fly. >> what do you make of bill clinton saying that the author of "clinton cash," peter schweitzer admitted he had no evidence. what do you make of that shot? >> look, i think this is right out of the clinton playbook 101. what did james carville say -- you drag a $100 bill through a trailer park you never know what you'll come e up with. >> going back to the good old days. >> that's how they handle the bimbo eruptions and scandals is to attack the attacker, the messenger in this case, the author. look i think that peter schweitzer has been clear that there are a lot of things in this book that lead you to believe something unseemly, untoward is happening. there is no smoking gun and the clintons are great at not leaving smoking guns behind. >> i had peter height or last week. he acknowledged as he has before that he doesn't have a smoking gun. he lays out a circumstantial case about big money and donors and speaking fees. and then you have to connect the dots. it's not the same as saying he has no fact. >> no. it's not. this is going to be a systematic bit of evidence that you're going to see used against hillary clinton from the beginning of this campaign to when it ends, if she end up in the white house. you'll continue to see people lay out the fact talk about the different relationship that the clinton foundation has. it's not just about giving money. it's about the types of interactions that there are and the clintons are going to combat that with look at all the great things we did, and look at what she did as secretary of state. these thing are separate. but the point is we all know it's about perceptions. and if you tell a government you know, amman, saudi arabia whatever we're not taking your donation until eight years after she's in the white house that doesn't mean you might not have influence there. >> politico had an interesting piece about the hillary war room. and the way it conducted this plan. as any campaign would, to combat the book "clinton cash." according to politico, the campaign acquired an early copy and leaked chapters to selected journalists so they wouldn't have the whole picture. is that fair play was that effective? effective? >> it was somewhat effective. the pushback was reasonably effective. it's not showing up in the polls. i saw in polls that 10% of people think there is a kwid pro question on problem. that leaves out a lot of conservatives. >> even more interesting poll figure that i saw -- maybe we live in a media bubble to some degree because we're talking about this all the time. 52% of democrats, okay democrats, sympathetic to hillary, know very little or nothing about the clinton foundation. but what do you make of michael, raising whether or not not just the media playing an aggressive role asking questions, i think we all would agree are legitimate questions about the big-money sloshing through the clinton foundation and what people expect in return. but trying to take the clintons down? >> i think there's something to that. look barack obama got a pass from the media for most of his presidency. and i think part of it was the sort of there's no there there. they never got riled up. the clintons do something opposite. they go on the attack they actually entice the media because it's a good story to have clinton scandals. i've written this before, i don't think it's going to be a big scandal that takes down the clintons. i think it's the mock -- the clintons. i think it's the mockery, the "saturday night live" spoofs. i think it's the thing like when she launched her campaign and didn't leave a tip at chipotle. i think it's that the press is going to essentially go after her with these little things making fun of her. >> there's a difference between going after, pushing back, between needling somebody and taking them down. taking them down says to me that, you know she won't be table continue -- >> compare the press obama got to the press hillary got -- >> by the way, the clinton people made that argument about obama getting this glowing coverage. don't forget, this is the same you know if anybody views the media as trying to take a candidate down they say the same about the media trying to take republican candidates down. >> yeah. >> one you have a general election -- >> welcome to the party hillary -- >> trying to take them both down? doesn't make sense. >> they'll turn on republicans -- >> individual journalist are looking to teach the american people and american voters about all of the candidates. with the clintons, so much has been known about them, they've been in the public eye for now decades. they're trying to get new information. you know what this question about donors and the question about what emails, you know did and did not make it through, you know, what she was supposed to save those are legitimate questions that should be raised regard will of what party she's with. >> absolutely legitimate questions. it's been nearly a month since hillary clinton officially declared candidacy. she's been running for a long time in my view and she's done zero interviews. what happened to the media chatter early on that they learned the lesson oftuate, and the candidate was -- officer 2008, and the candidate was going to be more open? >> i don't know. this is the 2000 playbook that i saw firsthand. i covered a lot of that for the senate race. her early trips to upstate new york actually in 1999. and you know very limited press access. she would come out and maybe answer four questions and go back in to her van. she's not been doing that so far. >> right. >> you know, and -- in new york the rhythm was she started doing interviews it wasn't really until the spring of the campaign year the election year. i think she's going to have to speed that up this time. >> what happens is on a campaign is when you are -- have people day after day after day are trailing the candidate and get no access, no questions answered there's resentment that builds up. by the time you speak, just briefly, then you have this backlog of questions. >> one thing to point out, though the democratic national committee did say they would allow for debate if she does have you know strong primary challengers. that's something that will give the american people a much better window than any question -- >> i hope it -- we don't have to wait until the debates start. let me get a break. remember we launch our media comments and questions on twitter,@ howardkurtz. we'll head some later. ahead, pundits blame an anti-islam group for staging a texas event that's attacked by armed terrorists blaming the group. when we come back jeb bush gives his first interview in two months to megan kelly and talks about immigration. ...heartbu jeb bush had been running hard for president, but he jeb bush had been running hard for president, but he hadn't given a sit down sgluf two months until yesterday. the former florida governor sat down with fox's megan kelly. bush said we have to show respect for people by making it easier for legal dwroimt attain -- easier for illegal immigrants attain citizenship. >> he said how can you get through the primary with this position? you know there's a core wing of the party for whom this will be a deal breaker. >> i don't know that. i've been traveling over the last three months and get a sense that a lot of people can be persuaded to be honest with you. but here's -- here's the deal megan. if i go beyond the consideration of running to be an actual candidate, do you want people to just bend with the wind? to mirror people's sentiment, whoever's in front of you? yes, i used to be for that. now i'm for this. is that the way we want to elect presidents? >> that was an interesting back and forth. if jeb bush is first sitting down for an interview after two months why isn't the press on them about that? >> yeah. that would have been a question i would have asked. you know why aren't you sitting down to talk about it. it's a smart strategy on his part. this is something he's going to have to continue to answer. it will be the question of debate. it will be something that he is targeted on and polled on and advertising against him. this is -- he called it an act of love right. this is something you're going to continue to see. coming to an audience as large as fox with someone so popular like megan kelly, it's a great way to address it. then you get the reasonable like independent voters who, you know don't care about immigration either way. listen to him, he's not just trying to win a primary, that could help in a general. if he makes it through. >> the difference michael, is that jeb does stop and take a few reporters' questions after many of these events. you don't have that pressure cooker building the way you do with the hillary clinton campaign. >> yeah. i guess that's true. but you know it's a strategy howie, that i think we'll see out of a lot of front ds running candidates. they don't have to do that much media anymore, don't have to answer that many questions. they tweet, have supporters tweet things out. >> and if we complain about it who cares, basically the president isn't popular? >> right. people don't care because the president isn't popular. as long as they're going out and talking to voters and taking voters' questions, i think the people are basically satisfied with that. >> do you agree? >> i do. and by the way, the voters' questions to jeb are tough. i've seen them take questions about immigration where a lot of the base doesn't agree with them about thing like common core. and he doesn't back away from it. and he will aggressively answer those questions and bring them up himself. >> another question that came up with megan kelly has to do with the iraq war. and jeb bush said, well clearly, some version of mistakes were made. >> yeah. >> then he said you know, we'll make the mistakes -- george w. bush. do you think the press will continue when they have access to the former florida governor to press him about his brother because he does have that last name? >> i think they will and i think jeb bush has to be clear. we're going to potentially elect a commander in chief. would he bring us into another war like iraq or would he govern differently like his father did? i think he started the process with megan kelly here essentially implying that he knows there were problems. that the intelligence was bad, and a lot of other issues. he has to be more clear because that's going to hang over his head. i think rightly so. >> not just iraq the press question is basically are you another george w. bush, or are you going to govern differently. >> hillary clinton will face the same questions if she makes it. are you going govern the same as your husband. the only difference is that george w. bush left office fairly unpopular nationally. blip is considered pretty popular now even though he was unpoint of view lar when he left office as well. people are not their family members. >> that's fair, but it's -- assumption that the press doesn't always make. and maybe some voters don't, as well. christine amichael matt thank you very much. >> thank you. >> you can see the entire exclusive interview on "the kelly file" monday 9:00 eastern. i'll look forward to that as well. ahead, three new republican candidates jumping into the 2016 race. much of the media yawns s. -- yawns. is that fair? deflategate is back. piling on tom brady and the patriots. has everyone else moved on? do you suffer from constipation or irregularity? trust dulcolax® for dependable relief. try free at dulcolaxoffers.com dulcolax® tablets are comfort coated for gentle, overnight relief. hurry! try free at dulcolaxoffers.com. dulcolax®. designed for dependable relief™. @? the media frenzy over ed media frenzy over delegategate dominated coverage over the super bowl as tom brady and the patriot said they knew nothing about balls being potentially underinflated in the trouncing. now it's said it's more probable than not that two patriots' staffers deliberately tampered with the footballs, and it's more probable than ever that tom brady was at least aware of the activities. jim gray asked brady about the report at a previously scheduled event. >> i don't have really any reaction to my -- our owner comment on it yesterday. it's only been 30 hours. i haven't had much time to digest it fully. when i do i'll let you know how i feel about it. >> only 30 hours. i spoke earlier with "new york" magazine's will leach from atlanta. welcome. >> of course thanks for having me as always. >> how did jim gray and tom brady handle the questions when he clearly didn't want to answer questions? >> gray, he seem to get big interviews. he had the decision interview for lebron james. this is kind of his bailiwick to be the friendly but interrogate if you have to but friendly reporter in a lot of ways. clearly this was not the intention. brady didn't realize this was all going to happen then. i think he was surprised. the thing with this what can brady say? in a lot of ways like you know i think gray -- he has a reputation sometimes -- >> he could answer the questions. here he is -- media don't like the guy. he's got the glamorous wife rich star quarterback super bowl champion. he said he didn't know anything about. it report says he did. he seed he needed to digest the report? come on. >> well of course of course. and i generally agree with that. you know, it's funny because brady's general vibe -- i have to say the one thing i kind of agree with him about, this is -- reaction that we are all collectively having to this is as if the patriots and tom brady secretly found a way to make touchdowns worth ten points and no one else's -- everyone else's worth four. we were talking about air pressure and footballs. i think brady thinking this is a little advantage i think has never taken this that seriously. the patriots, belichick who didn't seem to know about this he definitely never took it seriously. i think brady saw it as a minor thing. >> from what you're seeing i'm getting the impression you think perhaps, just perhaps, those of us in the media who went crows over this before the super bowl are pumping up the story to perhaps extraordinary degree? >> you know, you know, a story like this any time there's brady involved, it's like a one-lugged duck. -- one-legged duck. everybody gets excited and moves to the corner. yeah. i think -- i think people want -- i said this before we talked about this before when this happened. people -- it's brady. t