Media narrative for the indicted exspeaker. Hillarys numbers nosedive and many of the pundits who said the swirl of ethical controversies wasnt hurting her candidacy are suddenly changing their tune. Is the press slavishly following the polls. Political pundits go to fair over the vanity fair cover in which bruce jenner reemerges as Caitlin Jenner. And the duggar scandal and the sidelining of their tlc reality show. The main charge weve heard from your critics has been they are hypocrites. They preached family values. I dont think you go up to total strangers and say, hi my name is soandso and i want you to know what i did as a child and share everything about your past. Did the interview expose a family in denial . And two of the daughters lashing out at the media for revealing the abuse by their brother, josh. When you found out this was going to be on the cover of in touch weekly, what was your reaction . What like how could they do this . This is just they can donatet do this to us. Were they victimized by a tawdry tabloid. And Gretchen Carlson and how shes been stereotyped. I reached and hit the bimbo trifecta when i came to fox news. Because im a blond, im a former miss america, and now i work at fox. Im howard kurtz and this is media buzz. No journalist has been able to coax a comment from Denny Hastert or his lawyers since the former speaker was indicted over money transfers related to a coverup. Alleged hush money over what sources describe as sexual abuse during hasterts days as a High School Teacher and wrestling coach. That story got far less abstract on friday when Good Morning America aired this bombshell interview. I said, why didnt you ever tell anybody, stevie . I mean he was your teacher. Why didnt you ever tell anybody . And he just looked at me and he said who is ever going to believe me . In this town who is ever going to believe me . Joining us now to examine the story and the latest coverage of Hillary Clinton, Mary Katherine ham, editor at large at hot air, a fox news contributor, and coauthor of the new book, end of discussion how the lefts outrage industry shuts down debate manipulates voters and makes america less free and fun. Ann guerin political reporter for the Washington Post. And Jackie Kucinich senior politics editor for the daily beast. Mary katherine, how important is this abc interview with this woman, joleen who says her brother, steve reinboldt, told her he was sexually harassed by Denny Hastert. I think its very important. Something 3. 5 million worth of bad happened here that was worth covering up, so obviously the press will ask questions and i think should ask questions as a prelim figure. It is a really tricky story, though when you get to the fact that the alleged victim is no longer with us and cannot speak to this. And the guy whos being paid money, whos in the indictment which is not for any sort of sexual abuse, is for the structuring involved in the paying we dont know who that is yet. It is a tricky story, because an allegation alone like this of course ruins lives, and there has not been a trial or a charge. So its hard to know. Its odd, there hasnt been a charge or a trial or a denial from Denny Hastert. There are three alleged victims, but alleged. Before this woman came forward showing stories of her brother, the story seemed almost abstract but now we have an alleged victim. The thing thats clear to me from this interview, whats changed . This woman came forward in 2006 with this same story and they did not run the story or go with her claims because they couldnt have substantiated it . Whats substantiated it at this point . I thought that was missing. As someone who watched the interview and read the story about it it just wasnt clear to me what changed, what new information they have about her claim. Well abc says the original approach in 2006 it was off the record for one thing. And the other difference i suppose, is that this woman, joleen has since been interviewed by the fbi. Thats an interesting question given she didnt provide abc news with any voice mails or documents or letters. Did this meet the test for publication . Well i agree with jackie. It was hard to tell what had changed between the first time the woman came to abc and the time that the interview was aired. Particularly since abc didnt show us a trail of what they were able to get in corroborating information from the fbi. All that said clearly, the entire landscape surrounding the story has changed. And multiple news organizations, including mine have reported on the basis of Law Enforcement sources, you know kind of the architecture of the allegations and the investigation. Whats been missing and what remains missing is either a, you know, a stepbystep account from one of the alleged victims, presuming theres more than one, or as you pointed out in your introduction you know a denial or any theory of the case at all, from Denny Hastert. I still cant really get my head around why a lawyer hasnt spoken up yet. I dont understand it. But as you pointed out, its a strange indictment and the thing thats at the heart of it the alleged sexual abuse years ago at an Illinois High School isnt spelled out in the indictment. So last sunday when the indictment was criticized or why isnt this also extortion by the person who was going to received 3. 5 million, i guess got almost 2 million, he got criticized for being insensitive to the cause of sexual abuse. And i think that may be something that reporters are responding to right now as well because the environment is such that people want to be very sensitive to alleged victims. And perhaps are thinking hey, maybe somebody didnt have the ability to come to a person of power and make these accusations at the time and they want to offer a makeup call for that. But i do think theres been interesting and mature reporting on the indictment itself, which is based on these old structuring laws. And i think the press has been really good about laying out why thats an interesting way to take somebody to task. Usually used to get drug dealers who are moving money around. By the way, a liberal columnist like bill press and ruth marcus of the Washington Post have also questioned whether this is prosecutorial overreach. But the story broke friday morning. Cnn, msnbc covered it every hour. Msnbc, sometimes as much as three times an hour. Fox news covered it only once a brief story on a special report. Who was right . You know i think thats up to the viewers to say whose judgment is right. But i will say, this is if you ran a cable network, would you air this throughout the day . You know heres the thing. I covered Dennis Hastert as a reporter on the hill. So i think this is a very big story. And it speaks to particularly because of how he reacted during the foley scandal, if these allegations are true i think its a very important story. And trust in government frankly. But, again, i dont know if Everyday Americans care as much as i do. Well, because hastert has been very much out of the limelight for nine years now. But during the years when he was the speaker of the house, he was a real power player in this city. So i guess it depends on how important it is when you go after a former official. Thats the other thing that has changed, right. Its harder to make that charge against a sitting speaker of the house. A former official who was already under indictment a little bit easier. And i think your chances of getting good coverage thats not entirely sensationalized is better when somebody is out of the limelight. That doesnt mean its better for alleged victim ifs the charges end up being true. Although i got an nbc news alert on my phone saying we have the first video of hastert on his property in plano, illinois since the scandal broke. So apparently somebodys trying to stake him out. Tmzing it. Very well put. Let me turn now to Hillary Clinton. Theres been a lot of coverage this week over some sinking poll numbers, in particular a cnn poll for example, showed that 57 believe that she is not honest and trustworthy. Lets take a look at some of the pundits weighing in on that. Youve had sort of democrats and i think many in the media reporting with glee that she hadnt been affected by the email story and the benghazi story and all of these things. Well clearly she was going to be affected. The pounding on benghazi, an email server has been nonstop and its worked. Ben garrett, how much has hillarys lowkey rollout, which you cover for the Washington Post, not talking to the press very much not grapling with these questions, contributed in your view to this showing up in the polls . I dont think the two are really directly related. Certainly, as a reporter covering her, theres a frustration level for me and among a lot of my colleagues that you know, were not getting to ask her some of the questions that bear on the job in the Public Perception of her trustworthiness, face to face that often. She did take questions two weeks ago, on all of these subjects. For about five minutes. Right. And there werent a lot of followups and her answers werent as extensive as they would be in a oneonone interview. If she were sitting here with you, you would be able to ask followup questions and go point by point. Thats not possible when you have a scrum of reporters. That said she did actually appear to be responding to the criticism that she wasnt taking questions, and the fact that indeed their own polling must show this and theyre reading the public polls, that statement, she remains popular and remains the front runner no question about that. But the troubling thing is the rise in the number of people who say that they dont find her trustworthy. Heres where i partially disagree. I think that by having these small groups of voters and i know shes going to do the big rollout in new york next week and by largely avoiding journalists, i think she has kind of left a vacuum. Her campaign has left a vacuum that has been filled by email stories, Clinton Foundation donation stories, speaking fee stories, and stories about the press not gaining access. Jackie Jackie Jackie . Im sorry, whats the question do you think that she do you think that there is a connection between the way she has run her campaign and not engaged on this very much particularly with the press, and the fact that this is finally showing up in the polls . I think there is a connection. But i do think its giving relative strength to people who have declared against her, people like bernie sanders, people like Martin Omalley its creating oxygen for them. But i sat here on the set for the last two months and said this is chipping away at her image. Shes not responding effectively. Shebd she should talk to the press. Now it is showing up in the polls. Are we so addicted to polls we cant seed the evidence in front of our own eyes until a Public Opinion survey validates it . I think that is part of it. What are we to do . Were pundits and reporters in washington. We need a poll. I wish she would respond for the sake of transparency and running for government you want to trust these people and hear from them. Politically, i dont think i would advise her to respond often, because when we saw her at the u. N. Respond, it was not effective. Thats one of the issues theyre dealing with. They have left a vacuum and when the poll numbers come in guess what there is to cover, despite valiant reporters like ann out there trying to cover her, theres not much out there. You cover the poll numbers and it cascades. I think that news conch was not effective because she hadnt answered questions on the email business for eight days. She talks to the press routinely each particular confrontation or engagement might not be a big story. Talk about the media aspect of what were discussing right here on the program. When we come back hillarys Campaign Holds a background briefing for the press, and even that sparks controversy. And later, well look at meghan kellys interview with the duggar family and why two of their daughters are blaming the media for outing them as victims years after they were molested. Bennys the oldest dog in the shelter. He needed help all day so i adopted him. When my back pain flared up, i thought id have to give him away. I tried tylenol but it was 6 pills a day. With aleve its just 2 pills, all day. Now im back aleve. All day strong. Roundup roundup has a sharpshootin wand just point and shoot, and weeds are gone round fences, trees, even mulched beds cause the only good weed is a weed thats dead roundup [ male announcer ] with a onetouch wand. [ whip cracks ] making a fist something we do to show resolve. To defend ourselves. To declare victory. So cvs Health Provides expert support and vital medicines. At our Infusion Centers or in patients homes. We help them fight the good fight. Cvs health, because health is everything. Now with the xfinity tv go app, you can watch live tv anytime. Its never been easier with so Many Networks all in one place. Get live tv whenever you want. The xfinity tv go app. Now with live tv on the go. Enjoy over wifi or on Verizon Wireless 4g lte. Plus enjoy special savings when you purchase any new Verizon Wireless smartphone or tablet from comcast. Visit comcast. Com wireless to learn more. Hillary Clinton Campaign officials held a background briefing for reporters just over a week ago at the headquarters in brookelynbrooklyn touching off a debate about why journalists go to these things and are they useful. Ann guerin you were there. Are there things you wish you could report from that briefing . Some of the criticism of the briefing afterwards is that it wasnt substantiative or substantiative enough. There was some substance there. It was useful for me as a reporter covering her and covering the campaign and the structure of the campaign to hear in their own words kind of some of the theory of the case. I would have loved to have been able to quote from that directly. The Washington Post rules on deep background which is what the briefing that was the rule of the briefing mean that i really i was very much boxed in. All i could do is say what they said collectively and not use not attribute anything to anyone in particular person. And that really was a problem. Thats the debate. Look all campaigns have officials who talk off the record they talk on background. This is not some reinvention, but it feels different in this case because theres so little access to Hillary Clinton or her top deputies. It also feels weird in practice. This is sort of an innocuous briefing about how many staffers you have and how you have offices. Like why cant we just know that . It feels sort of pairranoid and bizarre. It doesnt look good for your campaign. And on that point, the New York Times blew the whistle on an email went out. This is from hillary Clinton Campaign official Jesse Ferguson because he never agreed to any background rules, and he said that hillary, according to this email will lay out her view of challenges facing the country. This has to be on background from a Campaign Official . Jesses not the only person who does this. I get emails all the time like this is off the record this is on background. Like i didnt agree to this. You cant just tell me this. Thats not how this works. So i think overall Campaign Officials should know and stop doing that. Its an agreement. Its not an order. I know but im so struck by you know its the most bland stuff imaginable. Lay out her vision for the future but dont attribute that to me. Mary katherine, you write about what you call the outrage circus and you say msnbc stokes up outrage for the liberals and democrats, but you acknowledge many view fox plays that role for the right. Why do you think the left is more guilty here . I think its not just the left. And we point out that it is the right sometimes and we dont want to get better at this. The left is far better at it partly because they are more amplified, so when they large media establishment, sometimes entertainment, various nonprofits that get excited to be offended by everything theyve ever heard. And it just doesnt end up making a real robust and interesting political debate or cultural debate for anybody. And i think not just public figures feel that sort of policing of language these days but its trickling down to private citizens. That concerns me. You should be able to post on your private Facebook Page and not be treated like a public figure even on Something LikeCaitlin Jenner which is tricky to talk about. And well talk about later. Ill look forward to more leaks from the next hillary background briefing. Nice to see you this sunday. Ahead, the media uproar over a vanity fair cover and why Bruce Jenners transition to Caitlin Jenner is such a polarizing issue. Up next abcs world news tonight now vying for first place by covering far less political news. Well look at that, next. Theres just one last thing to do check with truecar. Car prices change all the time for all kinds of reasons. But truecar pulls in the latest, most accurate data so i can be sure if im getting a great price. This is truecar. Here at the Td Ameritrade trader group, they work all the time. Sup jj . Working hard . Working 24 7 on mobile trader, rated 1 trading app in the app store. It lets you trade stocks options, futures. Even advanced orders. 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