thomas jefferson, the country's first secretary of state, became america's third president, and the one not mentioned so far was james monroe. thanks to all of you for being part of my program this week. i will see you next week. good morning. i'm brian stelter and it's time for "reliable sources" and it's been a busy, messy, tro controversial types for media types. a lot for us to talk about this morning. new information on brian williams' suspension. he's sort of emerged from exile this week with a puppy in hand. it made the cover of "the new york post." could this be the start of an image rehab. and dr. oz under the microscope again for the medicine he prescribes on his show. now he's getting ready to respond to doctors who are trying to have his university credentials revoked. we have new information about his plans. and, you know, the most viral moment for media this week came from an unlikely place a tow

truck lot. that's where espn reporter britt mchenry memorably lost her cool on a security camera. >> i'm in the news sweetheart. i [ bleep ] this place. do you feel good about your job? i could be a college dropout and do the same thing? because i have a brain and you don't. maybe if i was missing some teeth, they would hire me. oh like yours? they look so stunning. because i'm on television and you're in a [ bleep ] trailer, honey. lose some weight baby girl. >> mchenry later apologized on twitter saying she will learn from this mistake. her one-week suspension will end in a few days. let's begin with brian williams and that puppy. because that might sound funny, but this nbc crisis is really reaching a boiling point. a new boss is in charge at nbc news he took over two weeks ago and everyone in the tv business

is wondering what he's going to do about williams and the nbc nightly news and when he's going to do it. williams' six month suspension for embellishing his story about an iraq war mission and possibly ex age rating other stories has gone on for two months. the uncertainty about his future is hurting everyone involved. according to my sources williams is increasingly frustrated by nbc's ib action. he wants to come back to work and he wants nbc to say he's coming back to take that uncertainty away. meanwhile, fill-in host lester holt is just trying to do his job, just trying to stay removed from all the speculation, but nbc's ratings are taking a hit. the nightly news has fallen to second place. and now for the first time the dean of nbc, tom brokaw is weighing in. take a listen to what he said this week. >> this is a really really serious case obviously. there's a process under way. and the important thing is that the process is very carefully

constructed, and we owe it to everybody, including brian and his family and certainly the paem who people who work at nbc news and risk their lives every day and to the integrity of what nbc news has stood for all these years so let the process play out, to hear what the final conclusions are, and then deal with it at that point. >> the process he is talking about is the internal investigation into williams. so what has it found? nbc's not telling, not yet, but maybe soon. my next guest has strong feelings about nbc should do here. he's michael wolf columnist for "vanity fair" and "usa today" one of the most read and feared media columnists in the country. >> thanks for having me. >> you believe this is clear, nbc should bring williams back and get this over with. >> let me try to change this discussion a little bit. i wasn't born yesterday. i have known the great and the good in this business. are they all fall of baloney?

pretty much. it's the television business. you want to say this is a business of phonies, it is. let's -- and we all know that. >> but are you saying other anchors are out there exaggerating stories in the way williams did? >> totally, come on. i think we have to as a community -- remember this is a story that comes from our community, our little circle and what i'm saying it's a circle of functional hypocrisy. we've made this about us. we've made it about -- we've made it about a naval gazing condition instead of the thing that it ought to be. what does the audience feel? what's the audience doing out there? does the audience want brian williams to go away? no. and we can go beyond that. does the audience -- do they see any significance in this story at all? >> we actually have three

viewers coming up. we wanted to talk to brian williams' fans so we'll have that in a couple minutes. but you're essentially saying the journalism doesn't matter? what matters is performing skills? >> you aren't asking me this in a serious way. >> when i'm watching brian williams i'm watching him for his reporting -- >> that's not true. you know it's not true. i think we have to say this. we've created a condition in which this is what we have to say. but think of this from the point of view of the audience. this is television. these are television performers. these are people who do what television does. they're familiar. we've known them we've grown up with them. again, all of this. you can go down -- make the analysis of why television is television but is there an

aspect of these are journalists and these are the keepers of the truth and the keepers of the flame? come on come on brian, come on. >> i'm trying to push through your cynicism here. because they're facing a tough decision at nbc about whether viewers are going to keep watching "nightly news" with brian williams. i'm saying this is television. this is the way television works works. we can go forward and say it shouldn't be this is wrong, let's get rid of the television news let's get rid of the star system let's change the culture. let's assume we're not going to do that and let's say this is television. it is exactly what people want. so -- and i think the interesting thing is to look at fox news. a lot of the same thing has happened there. >> a lot of controversy about bill o'reilly and his exaggerations. >> a list of fabulous proportions.

nothing happens there. why doesn't it happen there? it doesn't because roger ailes is a remarkably good boss because he has his eye focused on what the audience wants, and he doesn't allow the kind of eating of itself that we tend to do in this business. >> with months now nbc, there has been uncertainty. you saw the picture of brian and the dog. did you think it was partly an attempted image rehab, him out walking the dog with his wife and daughter? >> dogs are always an attempt at image rehab. >> that's another cynical question but you think so huh? you think nbc will come out and announce this soon? >> i think that nbc wants brian williams to come back. they want him to come back because he's of enormous value. it's very hard maybe even impossible to create another television anchor of the

television anchor age. that's an age that's over. if you have it i think you want to keep it. i also think part of this is about nbc itself. what happened here this is -- you can look at it as a civil war inside of nbc. comcast came in steve burke didn't want to have anything to do with managing talent which is by the way, his central job, so he put in a lot of people between him and the talent who knew nothing about managing talent. the talent said basically, okay we're in charge because we're the talent and you can't manage us. so then the managers suddenly seen an opportunity, turned against the talent. i mean why is brian williams different at nbc from what's happened with bill o'reilly at fox? basically because nbc, the managers at nbc, began briefing against him. >> so it's a strong charge.

you think it's true huh? briefing against him. >> i know it's true. >> this is against the conventional wisdom. i would say a lot of people in the industry say he can't come back he's too wounded, his credibility can't recover. i have noticed in the past few weeks a shift in the wind. >> a, the credibility is damaged with us our small circle not with the audience. b, it is without question to nbc's advantage to have a person with this television stature, let's not say whether right, wrong, good bad, just think of it as an asset, it is obviously key to them and to their shareholders not to waste that asset. >> michael, thanks for being here. appreciate it. >> thanks. >> i mentioned talking to a few viewers and i think this is so interesting because we rarely see on television the voices of ordinary viewers. so we wanted to talk to three people, three women, who are

actually active on facebook. they're in a group demanding that nbc bring brian williams back and they're joining me now. jackie wright joins me from phoenix, kelsey willis, from atlanta, and susan ang lis from albuquerque. thank you all for being here. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you for having us. >> jackie you're the founder of a bring brian williams back facebook page. tell me why you have decided to campaign for brian williams. >> i'm a huge fan. i have been a fan for years. brian is kind of like a beacon of hope and a positivity if you will in a space that's very negative and has a lot of noise going on and he's the guy that i look forward to watching every night, and to hear that he was dismissed after something that i feel was not that huge of a deal kind of broke my heart, and seeing all the comments from people on the various news feeds, a lot of people had the same sentiment, so i started this page to show some

solidarity for him. >> susan, i have noticed that as well activity on facebook about this -- i know you have commented on facebook -- the slogan i have seen is bbb, for bring brian back. >> correct. >> why do you believe nbc should reinstate him? >> i, like jackie, think he was dismissed unfairly. he told a story that was totally personal. he didn't make up a news story. >> kelsey we were talking about this iraq war mission and the story that changed over time. your husband, he serves in the u.s. military so i was curious whether you or he were offended by the shifting story from brian williams. >> no we are not. i think it's safe to say that everybody makes mistakes everyone does. i don't think there's a person in this world that doesn't make a mistake, and he made it, and i think he's paid his deuceues, and at the end of the day he is a part of my family. he was the only constant thing in my life. >> i wanted to ask you about your viewing habits.

most viewers of brian williams have stuck around for lester holt. but are you choosing david muir -- >> i am watching david instead. i'm really fond of lester. i think he does a really good job. it was what he does but he's not brian. >> jackie let me bring you back in sings aur pr executive. what advice would you be giving to nbc about how to handle this. there's an august timeline where the suspension will end. i'm thinking nbc will say something about the situation soon and much before august. what would you advise them to do? >> yeah. well i think a lot is really going to depend on this internal investigation. right now we just know what we've heard through the media and hearsay. you know i hope that he has not been lying to us all this time. i hope it's just kind of been some human error and oversights, but if it does come back and there have been some major inaccuracies to his fault, then you know, i think it probably makes sense for them to let him

go. however, i don't think we've seen the last of brian williams. i mean even if he doesn't come back as our nightly news anchor he will resurface again. americans are quick to judge but we're also very quick to forgive. >> all three of you, thank you for being here. i really appreciate your time susan, kelsey and jackie. >> thank you for having us. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> voices we don't normally hear on tv and for the record fans of lester holt have started their own page on facebook to lobby nbc to give lester the chair full time. this may, i say may, be resolved soon. time for a quick break here but here it is the chase. one week into hillary clinton's campaign the media is tailing her like she's already president, and my next guest knows exactly what this feels like. a man literally chased by the press, former congressman anthony weiner is next. it's more than a network and the cloud.

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they scramble for brod crumbs like this tweet and, of course they get critiqued by jon stewart stewart. take a listen to this. >> for monday's tuesday's oh my good. >> you can see the media running behind me here to chase the scooby van. >> holy -- they're racing to her car? last time anyone in iowa was this excited about a wheeled vehicle, the wells fargo wagon was bringing musical instruments they'd ordered from a charismatic stranger. what are we doing here people? >> joining us now for some unique insight into the media's relationship to the emerging clinton campaign this is jon stewart's ex-roomate former congressman anthony weiner who is married to a top clinton aide and has had some experience with a tough press corps. i wanted to have you here because i'm interested to hear your perspective on what this first week was like.

we went for 80 minutes knobnonstop covering the release of her video. do you think this is just exactly what you would have expected when it comes to over the top campaign coverage? >> yeah. i suppose it is. look let's stipulate to a couple things. one, there's a giant imbalance of supply of news in general about politics and the demand of so many people writing about it so many people blogging about it. you look around cnn, there's hours and hours of time to fill. there's always going to be that imbalance. >> fundamentally the supply and demand. >> you wind up having news created about things that probably aren't and it was exacerbated in this case you had the run up to the run up to the run up of her announcement that you have been doing around here and in your business for months so it really -- >> right. >> but i think we have to stipulate it one other thing. i think that last sunday was a gorgeous day in new york i'm sure around the country, i'm sure that almost no one was staring at their screen watching the twitter feed and refreshing the twitter feed on hillary

clinton.com besides people who are deep insiders like you and me. when the campaign in as much as it is began that way, you can't look at it through the lens. they disappointed us in how they haven't provided us more information. that's doing what is comfortable. she wanted to see voters before she sat in a set like this one. >> but i think the drum beat is going to continue to get louder about why she hasn't done the big sit-down interviews the way the candidates on the republican side have. what the clinton campaign is well she answered a few questions from the press and she's not in any hurry to do these interviews. she'll get to them eventually. don't you think it will hurt her in the coverage if she's not willing to talk to journalists. >> first of all, i don't think there's any chance she's not going to talk to journalists. just a couple months ago she did a wide book tour -- >> it was a while ago. >> she's been around a long time answering questions. but i think to some degree this is just the way it appears a she

wanted to have a campaign that began a way that was most comfortable to her. if you look at the coverage that arguably matters the most the things people are writing about in iowa they seem to have appreciated -- they really don't care the guy in the orange pants couldn't catch up with the truck. i'll tell you something else no one is ever standing on a stage during an iowa debate and a reporters says i want to talk to you about how late you entered the race and the video you produced and why it took so long to do sit downs. no i think the campaign is beginning the way i would hope my president would behave, which is let's try to figure out the right thing to do to be in touch with what americans care about, the issues they want how i'm going to resolve the solutions. that's the way i want my president to think as well as a candidate. >> your wife was in the scooby-doo van. if you have a laugh about the way the coverage was so intense, the visit to chipotle. >> we talk about just about everything except the campaign.

i don't think she even knows i'm here today except that she's alone with jordan. look -- >> why wouldn't you want to talk to her about how this is going? >> well we talk about things but i also am very careful to give wide berth to the idea that she's got a very difficult job to do and her boss has a very difficult job. >> can i show you something kind of ridiculous. >> this is andrea on fox the other day speculating on the chipotle trip. this is wild. take a look. >> was it maybe hispanic outreach. she heard rubio was announcing so she thought let's go to a chipotle? >> hispanic outreach. >> talk about imbalances. the imbalance of idiotic statements on fox and our ability to keep up with them is widely out of whack. i think everything that i have heard which is similar to what your viewers have this was hillary's idea and it was interesting that they were going out, having conversations with voters and then notifying the

press after the fact but then they had some open kferthss as much as you can have them in front of a bank of cameras. they had some open conversations with some undecided voters. i kind of like the idea to some degree that we don't see a campaign that is entirely doing exactly the things you'd expect them to do. right now i think there's much more cynicism around seeing these staged photographs than there is anything else and if you really want to have a campaign and one of the four pillars of her campaign is to fix a broken political system one of the things she can help do is chip away at some of the cynicism that maybe conversations like this are trying to chip away at always. >> fair point. thanks for being here. >> my pleasure. >> we will score some of the moves on the gop side of the 2016 campaign later, plus this, america's best known celebrity dock being called a quack. the question is is dr. oz's tv career at odds with his hippocratic oath. hear from a long time medical correspondent when we come back.

2016 campaign later, plus this,

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welcome back. he's america's most popular doctor but dr. oz is taking fire from a group of his peers for medical claims he's made on his tv show. that is medical claims like these. >> today is all about miracles, revolutionary items big and small that could change your life. this little bean has scientists saying they found a magic weight loss cure. you want to look younger, live longer and live stronger. the number one miracle in a bottle to burn your fat. >> this week a group of ten physicians wrote to columbia university and demanded it drop dr. oz as faculty member. this is not the first time he's taken heat over his role as a medical doctor turned tv host. last june he was scolded by a group of u.s. senators by

describing a group of die yet supplements as magic pills. >> i don't know why you need to say this stuff because you know it's not true. why would you cheapen your show by saying things like that? >> my job, i feel on the show is to be a cheerleader for the audience. when they don't think they have hope when they don't think they can make it happen, i want to lock and i do look everywhere including at alternative healing traditions for any evidence that might be supportive for them. >> do you believe there's a miracle pill out there? >> there's not a pill that will help you long term lose weight and live the best life without diet and exercise. >> dr. oz does a lot of good but some of his critics think he does a lot of harm as well. he's planning to answer some of his critics on air. there's a skoon we can tell but this morning, he's planning an entire show this week on "dr. oz" to address his critics and he will do it directly talking about the physicians he says are discredited. joining me to talk more about it is former nbc news chief medical

corner dr. bob arnott. thanks for being here. >> sure brian. >> we'll share dr. oz's statement coming up but i wanted to get your take on how serious this is for your -- his credibility. >> two super interesting parts of this. the british medical journal took him to task saying 46% of what you say on the air is correct or supported, 15% is outright contradicted, and the other 39% there is no evidence at all. so there's no question that there's real room for criticism here that on his show there are unsupported segments there. but, brian, the most interesting part of this is this letter. first of all, it's not from the columbia faculty. it's from ten physicians all of whom have industry ties. if you look carefully at the letter what it's really about is that industry is furious that he has taken on genetically modified crops. >> right.

>> you basically have industry henchmen who are after dr. oz here. one of them the head of the american council of science and health spent time in prison for medicaid fraud. i would be very careful about who has written this letter. >> so perhaps you're saying that the initial media coverage of this story really came up on friday became bigger over the weekend, is being misleading because it's not addressing who these physicians are. >> it is. you know and they do this kind of thing all the time. they're called astroturf groups. they appear to be grassroots group representing real consumer but they're the henchmen of industry here and that's what you're looking at with this letter. the media often gets swept up by this. this is a great story, they get swept up by it they report it but they don't look at who wrote that letter. >> dr. oz's statement is i bring the public information to help them on their path to be their bestselves. we provide multiple points of

view including mines which is offered without conflict of interest. here is what i wonder is it possible where somebody like dr. oz to have a of course show. he does more than 100 episodes a year. to do it and to do it that often and not go down the road into some scientifically unsound territory? just because he has to fill so much time? >> so, brian, it's so interesting. i don't think it's filling the time so much. it's that people have always grappled with having a popular medical show. all the networks have tried it and they've often failed. they try to do serious illness and try to report the news. so going this more populist weight loss route and looking at popular supplements is a way to sort of build up the audience. now, he has excellent production. i really credit them for having pulled in a tremendous audience here. and i think they do a lot of good but it's my view they don't need to go down this road of promoting products that really are unproven and to basically -- you know if this show were on cnn, it would be

like a brian williams scandal in the sense that he would say things that are not -- >> really? >> oh sure. look at what happened to brian williams or nancy snyderman. there are certain rules here and you have a wonderful correspondent there, sanjay gupta. when he reports something, it will be in the medical literature the strongest part of academic medicine and evidence based and that's not true of all the segments on dr. oz's show. if it were on a network, it would be a scandal. >> thank you for being here. >> really appreciate it. >> coming up on "reliable sources" it's 10:00 p.m. do you know where your republican presidential candidate is? i'll give you one guess. i'm explain the fox news primary when we come back.

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welcome back. it's time to bring back a segment we call "the fox news primary."

yes, looking at the role of those two men fox news rez roger ailes and his boss rupert murdoch. there really no disputing fox's power in influencing the gop. so far every republican candidate to declare, ted cruz rand paul and marco rubio, they have immediately made fox's sean hannity their first tv pit stop on their road to the white house. and in a rather bizarre twist on friday we saw mike huck abee announce he's planning to announce something on the presidency on "a special report with bret bair." >> it's decision time. where are you? >> i will announce on may the 5th in my hometown of hope, arkansas what my plans are going to be and i will let everybody say come to hope on may 5th you will find out what's going to happen. >> the question for us as we enter the real primary season is

how has this rejiggered the landscape of real america and the media. joining us is hadas goal. >> thanks for having me. >> you pointed out there's interesting research from the pew research center how republicans get their news from a flairower number of sources from progressives or people in the middle. >> it's really important because if you're looking at where conservatives get their news from it's a lot fewer outlets. they really gather around either certain radio shows such as rush limbaugh or fox news whereas liberals spread out. they will go to cnn, go to msnbc, they will go to npr different newspapers. so that shows how important fox news is just because that's the central place where all the conservatives are going to so they have a huge influence. whoever they put on the screen more than others is going to have a higher name recognition amongst conservatives and is going to get a better reliability, relatability to all of these voters especially in

the important primary states. >> what's the early sense of which candidates are being favored? >> i have seen a lot of ted cruz is a big popular one, scott walker got a lot of attention recently from the radio show hosts and from fox news. but actually marco rubio recently is starting to gain a little bit more favor. rush limbaugh last week was saying last week we need to keep an eye on him, and i think that a lot of conservative radio show hosts and tv show hosts are seeing that he would have a little bit more of a general electability. he might have a harder time in a primary but when it comes to appealing to a broad swath of the american electorate that he's maybe a better person to look to. >> do you get pushback from fox news or sean hannity or rush limbaugh when you talk about their influence? >> a lot of times when i reach out to them to try to talk to them about who are you looking at who are you favoring they don't want to talk about it. they say i want to be impartial. i want to help my listeners and my viewers make an informed decision but they definitely show a preference based on who

they talk to the most and they'll let their preference known in various ways. i want this type of candidate and they will interview somebody with those types of views and talk about their amazing record. let's say scott walker gets this a lot, they'll talk about you have an amazing record in wisconsin. and that's how you can tell who they're really thinking of. and actually from my reporting, if you really want to see who those fox news chiefs really care about, roger ailes and rob pert murdoch, i have been told so watch sean hannity and a lot of what they care about you can see it come through sean hannity's show approximates. >> thaur for being here. >> thanks for having me. >> let's go to the source on this the gop, the republican party, and let's go to shaunean spicer spicer. thanks for joining me. >> you bet, good morning. >> i don't know if you agree with everything that hadsas said but we have seen the three declared candidates all sit down with hannity for the whole hour right after their announcements.

why is it hannity in particular they're going to first? >> well because it's smart. i think if you didn't go to hannity, you would be sued for political malpractice. sean has given folks an hour of time to have an informed intelligent discussion about key issues voters want to talk about. you look at the size of his audience he has on average 1.2 to 1.5 million viewers every night on his tv station -- on his tv program alone. that's more than the other stations combined. so when it comes to absolute reach, you know, you can't beat hannity. no one out there is offering an hour to sit down and have a back and forth in a substan difficult long form 3457ber where it's not just a bunch of got you questions over a three-second sound bite. it's actually really smart politics for candidates to do this. then you factor in the additional piece that sean has a radio show with 14 million listeners that furthers that reach, i mean it actually just comes down to marketing 101.

that's where you're going to get the biggest bang for your buck. >> do you think more moderate candidates that may decliraredeclare, peep people like jeb bush will also go to hannity. or chris christie for example? >> i don't know entirely what their plan is or -- but i know each one as you noted have gone forward, they've all gone on hannity right after they've announced. it's up to each campaign to make their decision but i think it would be smart. speaking of jeb bush he went to toe with sean at cpac where sean played an instrumental role doing a lot of q & a. it has nothing to do with moderate or anything. i think, again, it's a largely marketing business decision. sean has the numbers. he's going to have a tough, informative discussion with you about key issue approximates. >> somewhat soft-gloved, wouldn't you say? >> what's that? >> somewhat soft-gloved with these interviews. >> i would dispute that

entirely. you look at the questions he's asked on immigration, on education. sean hannity is going to be fair and give you a chance to answer the question but he will ask you tough questions on the minds ofg op voters. i dispute that whether it's cpac orb the questions he's asked on the shows. he will ask you the questions on the minds of people out there. the bigger thing that's interesting on my mind from the republican national committee is each one of these candidates whether it's cpac or on sean's shows, they have to answer and account for record and yet you look at the other side of the aisle where hillary clinton is running around having stage crafted events with vetted people. it is literally out of hollywood what's going on on the other side, and i think it's a huge contrast of what's going on on our side. we're sitting down and it's not just sean hannity. they all have done his show but then they're going on "good morning america," the today show cnn new day to continue the discussion.

it isn't a limited deal. they're just smart by making a first stop on hannity and taking advantage of the size and scope of his audience. but on the other side of the aisle, hillary clinton won't talk to a college newspaper. she hasn't talked to a single reporter since she announced for president. she hasn't talked to a real quote, unquote, person. everything down to the dinner napkins has been scripted. so i like to see the fact that our side is out there having a really intelligent, engaged conversation with the american voters. the other side is having a coronation that's completely scripted. >> i was going to ask you about clinton so i'm glad you brought it up. i and many others are waiting for the interviews to happen. clinton campaign says it's not going to happen very soon. >> i don't doubt it. >> thanks for being here this morning. >> you bet. thank you. >> it's known as nerd prom. we'll take a more critical look at next weekend's white house correspondents dinner right after this. it's where great ideas and vital data are stored. with centurylink you get advanced technology solutions

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how did the white house correspondents dinner become an event that's barely about the correspondents at all? that's one question posed by the new documentary "nerd prom" made by patrick gavin, a former political reporter. the annual dinner's coming up this saturday and it's one of the biggest nights of the year in washington one of the most star-studded as well but to some outsiders it's exhibit a of the coziness between insiders that infects journalism like a virus. every year at the dinner a comedian makes some jokes and this year's "snl's" cecily strong. but to me stephen colbert's 2006 appearance is hard to beat because he took a bat to that coziness and justkeptwinging. look. >> let's review the rules. here's how it works. the president makes decisions. he's the decider. the press secretary announces those decisions. and you people of the press type those decisions down. make announce type. just put them through a spell spellcheck and go home. get to know your family again.

make love to your wife. write that novel you've got kicking around in your head. you know the one about the intrepid washington reporter with the courage to stand up to the administration. you know, fiction. >> i was there in that room -- there that year and you can see in this video here the discomfort in the room. it's a room not used to being uncomfortable. so patrick gavin, he used to be one of the gawkers interviewing celebrities, gossiping with sources but in this film he's decided to step back and take a more critical look and he swroinz me now from washington. thanks for being here. >> hey, brian, thanks for having me. >> i remember seeing you at some of these dinners. so the tell me why you wanted to take a more critical look at this thing. >> i've either been at or observed or covered this dinner for a decade and really saw it grow in star power and size and events. now it's not just a dinner it's now about five days of parties, about two dz of them that can really shut this place down. and it sort of hit me this really was the biggest event in washington every year it was the event that people in washington especially the powerful reporters and

politicians get most excited about. and that struck me as very very odd and something i didn't think that most americans knew about, the fact that in a town like washington which is really supposed to be about serving others our biggest moment every year is kind of like a big celebration of us. and i don't know that most americans know about that and i kind of felt that they should. that's why i decided to do this movie. >> i know you don't completely buy the argument the town is too cozy. you say it's cozy all year round, it's just not usually on c-span and cnn. >> dinner may very well in fact show that reporters can be cozy with the powerful but of course that does happen 364 more days of the year. so i think to pin all of the blame on this actual dinner would be totally disingenuous. i think the reality is that both reporters and politicians alike, you know both have approval ratings in this town of in the teens on good days. so for us to sort of -- for us to not care about the kind of image that our biggest moment every year projects that's bad and i you're certainly not going to do yourselves any favors with the american public and you're not going to get that approval rating up if your biggest moment

every year looks like this. >> let me play you one clip from the film. my favorite part is when you talk to celebrities ask them -- well let's actually play it. here's the question you asked. >> who is your favorite white house correspondent? >> i don't know. i'm not up to speed on that stuff. >> who's your favorite white house correspondent? >> oh. who's my favorite white house correspondent? i don't know yet. ask me after. >> who is your favorite white house correspondent? >> not a white house correspondent. so patrick, i think one of your overarching points is this should be more about the reporters and not about the celebrities there. i just have to ask you, are you going to go to the dinner next saturday? >> i'm not invited. as you might not be surprised to hear. the reality is that as i try to make the case at the end of this movie it's really not about white house correspondents anymore as you saw in that clip. but it really should be. it's probably too long for this clip but there's about eight or

nine really good reasons why people should be concerned about white house correspondents and how difficult it is for them to get access out of this administration be it the social media or the prosecution of leaks or freedom of information requests being more expensive. all stuff you that talk about on your show. we really should support white house correspondents. i know it's not probably a really sexy thing but if we can turn this weekend which is now really a week into really being about supporting white house correspondents and trying to shine a spotlight on the important work that they do and the struggles they face i think this would be a much better week. >> patrick, thanks for being here. the film is online nerdpromthemovie.com. thanks for joining me. nbc news rarely spends two primetime hours on anything but this week they're making an exception. we'll tell you about it right after this. est energy superpower. surprised? in fact, america is now the world's number one natural gas producer... and we could soon become number one in oil. because hydraulic fracturing technology is safely recovering lots more oil and natural gas. supporting millions of new jobs.

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abc hoping to make big news and get big ratings this friday for diane sawyer's exclusive

interview with bruce jenner. bruce has not spoken in months but the entertainment media has been talking about him nonstop. there's a widespread belief and at this point a widespread assumption that jenner is undergoing i gender transition becoming a transgender woman. now it is jenner's turn to speak. sawyer interviewed jenner way back in february. here's how abc's promoting it. >> my whole life has been getting me ready for this. >> bruce jenner the interview. the journey. the decisions. the future. the diane sawyer exclusive. >> now, when you watch that is that exploittive? i'm not going to claim that any television executive would be doing this much differently. abc knows they've got a big story here. if jenner does indeed identify as he transgender the news will be a really significant moment for transgender equality. jenner's a household name a former olympian and slightly less impressively a star of "keeping up with the kardashians." i would just ask this question -- when is the last time abc dedicated two hours of primetime to a news anchor's

special report? sawyer's last special was about women in prison. it only merited one hour. abc's coverage of the state of the union address only lasted 90 minutes. i asked abc for comment and they declined this morning. that's all for this televised edition of "reliable sources," but our "state of the union" starts right now. the white house blinks in the standoff with congress over iran. and is same-sex marriage the gop's achilles heel? this is "state of the union." senators bob corker and ben cardin on what congress wants in the iran nuclear deal. former senator jim webb on whether he will run for president. and the fight to free an american journalist jason rezayan, from prison in iran. good morning from washington. i'm jim sciutto. republicans and democrats in congress have been demanding a say on the details in the iran nuclear deal, and now they are going to get it. the senate is set to pass a bill that gives congress oversight of any final agreement.