minister and tending term in office until 2029. recent poll results have learned anything from elections of late, we need to learn about the votes that counted. thanks for being part of my program this week. hey, i'm brian stelt stelte. it's time for "reliable sources." 60 plus advertisers dropping bill o'reilly. news of settlements over actual harassment allegations and a federal investigation of fox continues, levering a lot of unanswered questions about ocho r -- o'reilly and fox' future. president trump doesn't think ocho r o'reilly did anything wrong. the power of pictures. this week we saw the impact of gruesome imagery when it came to

the situation in syria. administration officials say president trump was moved to action by horrific images like these of syrian civilians, victims of a chemical weapons attack that left more than 100 people dead. two questions about this, one isn't this exactly the sort of test of white house credibility and we saw coming and so many cases and false statements from trump and aids so now, when life and death is on the line, do people believe the white house assertion? it's almost an inpossibility. number two, what's the impact on the images? what's the impact of the images on all of us as viewers? and what do we not show as newsrooms? and the post on friday, it's and trump just found out children are dying in syria. we get to see those horrifying images of chemical weapons

attacks precisely because they are less gruesome than what happens when one is killed by conventional weapons. if a photo journalist takes a photo of a dead child whose limbs have been blown off by a bomb, you won't ever see it and neither will trump. the newspaper won't run it and the evening news won't show it because editors consider those images too upsetting but you will see a photo of a child killed by sarin gas because her body is in tact. how do those editorial decisions affect your perceptions and my perceptions and the president's perceptions? because this does seem to be a red line for the news media. what newsrooms will and won't show. how do those affect viewer, including the most important, the president of the united states. co-founder and ceo -- sorry, i think i missed up your name.

>> lara. >> i apologize. i haven't seen you in many years but you're the co-founder of syria deeply providing in depth coverage of the on going war in syria and jeremy, co-founder of the intercept and host of the pod cast intercepted. thank you both for being here. lara, you've been running syria deeply for years providing coverage of the war that people may not find elsewhere. where was your reaction about the air strike on thursday? >> truth be holtold, very surprising. we've seen to many heart-breaking images and did bust through and become global means, the young boy that washed up on the shore in 2015 to the chemical weapons attack in 2013 that sparked this debate over whether to strike. there was nothing particularly different about this week in

syria except for the fact in washington there was a political will to strike. i think that was very surprising for anyone watching syria's war and covering it closely. >> does this mean newsrooms should be showing more of the awful imagery, the -- comes out of syria every week? there is media activists that risk lives to get images and videos out of syria on a daily basis. we often times don't see them because they are so gory and so graphi graphic. >> absolutely and some lost their lives to cover this war. anthony of the new york times and james folley died trying to capture not just images but perspectives and what we do need to see in the media is continuous coverage of syria. what we get now is a complete vacuum, which is no coverage until there is a momentarily obsession, whether chemical weapons or island or something we think speaks to an american news appetite but a lot gets lost along the way.

our ability to digest is gone. it's true as a whole our und industry failed coverage. we have not provided consis sta -- consistent coverage. there was modest to negotiable and all of us suffered for that and the number one way we've suffered is inability to make sense of the images but also to have a co-her cohaerent policy coverage and also a failure among many, many news outlets to exercise critical thinking when these images do come out. they are handed out by media activists. these are not my own images. still is still in evidence from the main u.n. linked monitoring

body this chemical attack took place and the responsibility of the assad government. i mean, the facts are not all in. there have been other chemical attacks the opcw documented and said this is chlorine gas or mustard gas. we're taking this essentially, this activist footage at face value. we are going along with an assumption of facts that are not yet verified and then we're not really questioning the fallout of this attack and whether it succeeds in any sort of cohaerent policy objective. i know there are fantastic journalists covering this story and a lot on cnn but failing to make sense of the syrian story. >> arwa damon, a correspondent that risked her life going into syria said to me a couple days ago she's racked with guilt wondering if she could have or could have done more. i think there is awareness of what is going on in syria but for some reason, i think people are desensitized. what is your view of the

coverage? >> let's look at this in the big picture. donald trump gave latitude. in the month of march u.s. and ally forces killed more than 1,000 civilians in iraq and syria according to the non-partisan independent group and destroying yemen. the united states has been engaged military in syria for several years in the form of special operations and increasingly conventional boots on the ground but scorched earth bombing since trump took office and i have to say, brian, arwa damon is a fantastic reporter. i have great respect for her but when we talk, cnn needs to immediately withdrawal all retired generals and colonels. brian williams seemed to just be

in true love with the cruise missile strike. the media coverage has been atrocious particularly across the board on every network, particularly when the strike is happening. they are in awe of the cruise missiles and look no further than hillary clinton, bill crystal and donald trump being on the same team when it comes to these wars. the elite of both parties just all get in line and they absolutely love a cruz missiisee strike. >> with regards to fareed, i was just talking to him about this, he thinks people didn't keep listening past that half sentence when he said this was a president, donald trump became president and went on to be quite krcritical on "new day" a this morning. don't you think -- >> brian, if i can say -- >> brian williams -- >> yeah. >> sorry, jeremy? >> let me -- let me just say

this. >> everyone, frankly, brian -- >> major -- >> jeremy. >> iraq war -- >> well -- >> let's not -- [ overlapping speakers ] >> words matter. >> i'll be quiet. lara, go ahead. >> jeremy, just not to bundle these -- i agree a lot of what jeremy said and there is a bizarre mix of ignoring syria or fetishizing it and that's happened with major image that captured national attention and lent itself wall to wall coverage. the fact that the focus of that video was on somehow glamorizing the strike and not talking about what it achieved or didn't achieve and what it means for syria. a lot of debate over the last six years is whether the u.s. would do a pinpoint strike that took outrun ways. that didn't happen. if the runways can be used, how is this a deterrent of use of future chemical strikes. there are questions that haven't been asked that need to be

asked. >> i think the footage is really interesting, images the pentagon released because it was in the government's interest for people to see air strikes and missiles taking off. we do not see as much imagery of attacks in mosul for example, of u.s. action in yemen. there have been civilian casualties in that cases in recent months as jeremy was describin describing. they are not prime time special reports when these happen and there is something important to analyze there. i want to go to your point about military analysts. you say they should not be on the air waves at all? that's an extreme view we should not hear at all from military experts when there is military action happening. >> when you have retired generals and colonials on, let's hear about their private companies -- >> i think cnn is quite careful about the disclosures but

important to have them. >> when you talk about famous generals but mcelderccaffrey an spider marks. what was the private sector of these individuals that came to the weapons industry or profiting in the private sector off the proliferation of u.s. wars that happened in iraq, afghanistan, syria and elsewhere. there is not the kind of transparency that is required of a truly democratic press when you're not revaling terevealing- extent. >> i appreciate the skepticism. >> brian, can we get back to syria? just getting back to syria for a second, the majority of this war and the majority of what i see as the press failure on this war happened under the obama years and we have to acknowledge that. strikes that have gone uncovered in yemen in pakistan and other places but just to bring you back to syria, i mean, for the

of our error is distortion. we take single incidents and present them without context and proportionality and without any sense of where they fit into the direction of this country. syria has been a critically important war for a very long time. we only came around to it on the later side. i think that's really important. we need to hold ourselves accountable. we got arwa damon and fantastic cnn reporters covering the story and hasn't been on the news agenda as high and from an editorial making decision stand pound a point and that's a failure we have to look at -- >> last word, jeremy? >> yeah, i just want to say bashar assad was a brutal thug torturing prisoners and say ddd hussein was america's friend. we need more than the immediate crisis memory and understand the context how a butcher like assad has more in common with someone

like dick cheney than the average arian or people on these airwaves as brave reporters. >> lara, jeremy, thank you very much. my essay about talking heads of drummers coming up later this hour. up next, the biggest boycott we've seen in years, sponsors fleeing bill o'reilly's show because of the harassment claims against him. how the impact may be spreading beyond the o'reilly factor and bloom representing an accuser here with new developments, stay tuned. is to always keep track of your employees. micromanage them. make sure they're producing. woo! employee of the month! you really shouldn't leave their side. vita coco coconut water, hydration comes naturally. be the you who doesn't cover your moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. be the you who shows up in that dress. who hugs a friend. who is done with treatments that don't give you clearer skin. be the you who controls your psoriasis with stelara® just 4 doses a year after 2 starter doses.

stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections and cancer. some serious infections require hospitalization. before treatment, get tested for tuberculosis. before starting stelara® tell your doctor if you think you have an infection or have symptoms such as: fever, sweats, chills, muscle aches or cough. always tell your doctor if you have any signs of infection, have had cancer, if you develop any new skin growths or if anyone in your house needs or has recently received a vaccine. alert your doctor of new or worsening problems, including headaches, seizures, confusion and vision problems these may be signs of a rare, potentially fatal brain condition. some serious allergic reactions can occur. do not take stelara® if you are allergic to stelara® or any of its ingredients. most people using stelara® saw 75% clearer skin and the majority were rated as cleared or minimal at 12 weeks. be the you who talks to your dermatologist about stelara®. it'that can make a worldces, of difference. expedia, everything in one place, so you can travel the world better.

[bullfighting music] [burke] billy-goat ruffians. seen it. covered it. we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪

after becoming one of the largest broadband companies in the country. after expanding our fiber network coast to coast. these are the places we call home. we are centurylink. we believe in the power of the digital world. the power to connect. and that's what drives us everyday.

welcome back to "reliable sources." more details in the fox news bill oc'reilly fox news scandal. roger ailes was the start of a domino effect leading to ailes oust. dr. wendy walsh went public with her allegations against o'reilly and julie filed a sexual haras harassment suit and named bill shine saying shine retaliated

against her. advertisers are abandonediing t program. by the end of the week the no spin zone was almost no ad zone. they are worried the ad boycott could spread beyond the o'reilly factor. first, lisa bloom is here, the attorney representing dr. walsh. we mentioned her a moment ago. she was a former guest on o'reilly's show that said o'reilly resended his offer to make her a contributor after she refused to go back to his hotel room in 2013. thanks for being here. >> good morning. >> you and i talked, there was no sense advertisers might speak up like this. >> listen, wendy and i are profoundly grateful to every advertiser that pulled out. sometimes when i represent women in sexual harassment cases, we feel all alone and nobody is there with us. i want to thank mercedes benz, the first one to pull out and

when they pulled out a made a statement about supporting women's equality. we appreciate that support. >> this week you had a press conference with your client and in the middle of the week you called fox' corporate hot line. this say hot line to a report hard rassment claims. let take a look at the video of that call first. >> your call will be answered by the next available communications specialist. >> the primary reason for your report. >> sexual harassment as a job applicant at fox news channel by an employee named mr. bill o'reilly. >> i'm sorry, can i just put you on a brief hold for a moment, please? >> maybe this is the point at which people give up. we're six and a half minutes into it. >> can i have a last name. >> capital o --

>> it almost looks like a prank. you trying to trivialize this issue. >> we were astounded -- >> having the fast forwarding and things like that. >> i don't think you want to sit there and watch us be on hold for session minutix minutes. we fast forwarrded through the long hold periods. fox news said nobody ever called the hot line, i don't believe that to begin with but we decided to take them up and make a complaint against sexual harassment and retaliation against mr. o'reilly. >> a former fox news staffer including alison said which she worked there, she didn't know about this hot line. we heard that from other former fox staffers. what happened when you-all called? happened since the call on wednesday? >> on friday we received a return phone call from a couple of attorneys who represent fox news and they said they are

indeed going to do an investigation based on wendy's complaint. i told them we really appreciatuate thappreciate ua that and let's get going ing an as possible. i'm told they are taking it seriously. >> that sounds like news that you did hear back. what about the past week for you? have you heard from other women seeking to be represented by you in this matter? >> i heard from a lot of women. the phone line at the bloom firm has been flooded with calls. we've talked to a lot of them. some claims are time barred. many of them, probably all of them are really scared, that's typical. i do sexual harassment cases every day. we stand with women. we are reviewing a number of other cases, yes. >> i think one notable thing about this week is no other women have publicly come forward to accuse o'reilly of improper behavior. if you're working at fox news you might say this is is blowing over, this is going to be history. >> oh, this is not blowing over. i think there are going to be

more claims. listen, think about coming out publicly against bill o'reilly. people are scared. they don't want this in their lives. what women want are careers and as far as you can tell, all of women that made complaints about bill o'reilly have been driven out. that's the scary thing for them. >> thank you for being here. >> thank you. joining me is emily steele who broke the news about these secret settlement payments in last sunday's paper and media correspondent for the author of "murdoch's world, the last of the world media empire." you reported women inside fox news have conflicted emotions about the topic, concern o'reilly remains in his job. tell us about that reporting and how wide spread it is. >> among some women, among some

men, as well, there is not particularly conflicted feelings about this. there is is contempt and the fact he's been able to continue on fox and the murdoch family made a big show saying the culture is changing and got rid of roger ailes and change the way the places run and the nation as you put it quite come melling and bill o'reilly and sexually harassing colleagues is in place. 21st century fox says we've talked to bill o'reilly, he's assured husband hee's committedg a good workplace. folks at the network feel some contempt for o'reilly and how he's behaved and also skepticism among criticism toward how the murdoch family controls 21st century fox addressed this. >> talking about the murdochs. is the strategy silence? >> that's what we've seen

publicly. we haven't heard anything more from bill o'reilly except the statement he put out last week. we haven't heard anything more from the parent company. >> to be clear o'reilly said these claims are meritless and the company said we talked to oc o'reilly about this and the company suggesting it moved on. what are you hearing from fox? >> that's a big question we're continuing to ask and pursue. one thing that is in the same vein of what david reported, women inside fox are upset about this. people want to do their jobs. that's why they are there and they feel like there is this ora of suspicion around them. some of the women i talked to, either comein behavior but it's been nine months. >> the ratings for o'reilly's show were flat or up. no damage in viewership. >> right, he has a very loyal

audience, a very loyal fan base and we actually sent a reporter out to watch the ocho ray l"o'r factor" and our reporter watched the show with a woman who is a big fan of the show and she said she was conflicted about watching it but she's still loyal to him and to his show. >> so he doesn't have top advertisers, david, but he does have the audience. does that mean he's invincible? >> he's damaged but not necessarily mortally wounded. it depends whether or not there is sustained outrage but fox has been able to place almost all of those advertisers on other shows and do make goods, whether or not that is with other shows, as well. >> the company says no financial ad impact from the ad boycott. >> if bmw, mercedes says we're not going to advertise on fox news, that's a bigger issue. >> or be on fox news, the fox

broadcast network and to be clear, we haven't seen that happening but i wonder if it could spread that far. >> i don't think that's the way it works. i think you have to see a wildfire throughout the country over this for that to occur. i think that rupert murdoch is overseeing the network right now and sees himself as a guy that defies public backlash that he says nobody is going to tell me to do what i do when i do it. i think you saw that with roger ails and they caught him off and it turns out the culture at least as these allegations that we've seen suggest may be deeper than that. women say are we tainted if we behave appropriately because somehow people think we have given in to certain kinds of harassment. the top stars can't have this and yet, there are at its core among the leadership at fox a desire to say people aren't going to force us to do things differently than we want to do them. you see that with bill shine and others. >> fox does not react to public pressure or peer pressure the

way other companies do. >> the point is actual hasexual harassment is against the law. you are not supposed to treat women like there in the work force. allegations or believed or not, this is an important issue and women deserve to be treated with respect in the workplace. >> additionally, there is a federal investigation going on into whether or not payments to some of these women settlements to keep allegations private and away from public eye were masked to keep them away from shareholders and investors that could be a violation. right now that's going on in the prosecutors office and handling that investigation in new york. that could have implications, as we well. i think you're hearing silence because they want it to blow over and see how it plays out. there is a story they are trying to monitor here. >> i don't think anybody knows how this ends. dade, emmppleeppleynenemily, th. quick reminder on the

nightly newsletter, daily coverage of this topic and much more, sign up now at "reli reliablesources.com. we'll be back with more after this. this is pete's yard. and it's been withered by winter. but all pete needs is scotts turf builder lawn food. it's the fast and easy way to a thick green lawn. it takes grass from hungry - to healthy. this is a scotts yard.

we've done well in life, with help from our advisor, we made it through many market swings. sure we could travel, take it easy... but we've never been the type to just sit back... not when we've got so much more to give when you have the right financial advisor, life can be brilliant. ameriprise

like finding new ways to be taken care of. home, car, life insurance obviously, ohhh... but with added touches you can't get everywhere else, like claim free rewards... or safe driving bonus checks. oh yes.... even a claim satisfaction guaranteeeeeeeeeee! in means protection plus unique extras only from an expert allstate agent. it's good to be in, good hands. z282uz zwtz y282uy ywty

si'm happy for the distraction. i'll be right there. and the butchery begins. what am i gonna wear? this party is super fancy. are you my uber? [ horn honks ] hold on. [ upbeat music playing ] the biggest week in tv is back. [ doorbell rings ] who's that?

show me watchathon. xfinity watchathon week now until april 9. get unlimited access to all of netflix and more, free with xfinity on demand. welcome back to "reliable sources." the question everybody wants to know the answer to, will fox news continue to stand by bill o o'reilly? the ad boycott may hurt and his new book called "old school" is number one on "the new york times" best sellers list. is he invincible? will happen as a result of the harassment stories? let me bring in two media critics including one that used to work at fox, jane hall. she was formally a fox news contributor and david zurik. great to see you both.

jane, i want to hear more on your view of what transpired. we haven't seen an ad boycott this bad in four or five years. this has been especially severe and quick. ocho ray l'reilly started with commercials and ended with barely ten. what is your reaction? >> well, i think that we may have reached a cultural moment. television is very symbolically important and we may have reached a moment where companies felt genuinely they needed to make a statement and these allegations and "the new york times" story meant that they did not want to be associated with this program. i think it's a very important cultural moment. i think it presents fox with a very interesting challenge what to do but i think the boycott means and the fact as far as i can tell, this was companies moving first. this was not people going to them and saying you should not

advertise. this was companies and their statements saying we do not want to be associated with the behavior that is alleged and the settlements that are alleged. i think that's a very important point for the way sexual harassment is viewed in this culture. >> david, here is how you viewed it. you wrote when i come across o'reilly on screen, the oj thnl thing that comes to mind is the sex, sexist and predatory culture eating like a cancer -- sorry, like a cancer at fox news. you say it's a cancer. tell me why. >> i think, brain, because it's spreading. it continues to grow. back in august when they fired, sorry, roger ailes says he left. i don't want to hear -- >> under pressure. >> thank you. when roger ailes left fox news and from him, we were shocked that he would leave. people thought wow, that's a

really dramatic move. they cut off the head of the snake but it didn't end there. they then lost megyn kelly, which i think has been greatly under estimated. fox has done a good job of saying she doesn't matter, we just plugged tucker carlson in. she was one hope of journalist respectability. she was one person that covered trump honorably. she's gone. this is is surprising. you cited the column i have today. i was surprised, that went online friday. i was surprised by how many women who work at fox still work at fox, some former women privately contacted me to say zuri absolutely right. you get to a point at fox where any woman that has other options, why would she want to work in that? that's a culture that roger ailes instituted what 20 years

ago? he's such an autocrat tick pers personality. hear is the dilemma for the murdochs running it. >> sorry to interrupt. jane, you worked there in the 2000s. what do you say? is it a cancer? >> i don't like -- i love david zurik but i don't like the metaphor of a cancer. let me tell you what i think they should do. i don't want to not say what i think. i think they -- 21st century fox, you know, clearly as david zurik said and emily steel said, "the new york times" pointed out having said they would no longer tolerate this kind of atmosphere in the workplace, they were fixing it, they did not fix it. they privately made settlements totaling multimillions on behalf of bill o'reilly. women are silenced by the set e settlemen settlements. that's a problem. that's why wendy walsh could

speak. roger still denies and oc'reill denies settled after they said they were cleaning house. this is what they should do. 21st century fox should enforce the law. it's against the law and should enforce a change in the culture because it is true. i have talked to women who worked at fox who have said just what you-all have said, gee, does it taint us that we look as if we shouldn't be working there? i don't think that's really the point. the point is 21st century fox should do what they said they were going to do nine months ago and change the culture and if o'reilly's audience views this as a liberal thing, that is is regrettable but not the point. this is against the law. this is corporations supposedly needing to enforce a work place that is not sexually harassing women and the perception of that is really damaging. it may not damage their bottom line unless there is a boycott, but that's not really the point here. the point is what kind of culture do they have and how are they going to fix it?

>> david, i got 30 seconds left. what is your prediction about what ends up happening here? >> short-term, brain, i don't think anything happens with ocho relee. he's the franchise. he's a rock and hard place. if they don't go in and tear up the culture and don't take action, this thing will continue to fester. i have to say, though, jane is right about advertisers coming forward on their own in this case. it's going to take a big, big wildfire for this advertising boycott to affect them. but think haey have to do somet and bill o'reilly has become the face of that sick and predatory culture and everything people have heard since roger ailes left the network. that is a difference in the per semgs of him by me as a critic. >> ocho r'reilly says he's a ta.

nothing else from him this we're. jane, david, thank you both for being here. >> thank you. up next, two bold, brash new yorkers, two tv stars who know how to entertain and know how to shock. bill oc'reilly and donald trump. we'll take a look after this. let's talk asset allocation. -sure. you seem knowledgeable, professional. would you trust me as your financial advisor? -i would. -i would indeed. well, let's be clear, here. i'm actually a deejay. ♪ [ laughing ] no way! i have no financial experience at all. that really is you? if they're not a cfp pro, you just don't know. find a certified financial planner professional who's thoroughly vetted at letsmakeaplan.org. cfp. work with the highest standard. be the you who doesn't cover your moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. be the you who shows up in that dress. who hugs a friend. who is done with treatments that don't give you clearer skin. be the you who controls your psoriasis with stelara®

just 4 doses a year after 2 starter doses. stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections and cancer. some serious infections require hospitalization. before treatment, get tested for tuberculosis. before starting stelara® tell your doctor if you think you have an infection or have symptoms such as: fever, sweats, chills, muscle aches or cough. always tell your doctor if you have any signs of infection, have had cancer, if you develop any new skin growths or if anyone in your house needs or has recently received a vaccine. alert your doctor of new or worsening problems, including headaches, seizures, confusion and vision problems these may be signs of a rare, potentially fatal brain condition. some serious allergic reactions can occur. do not take stelara® if you are allergic to stelara® or any of its ingredients. most people using stelara® saw 75% clearer skin and the majority were rated as cleared or minimal at 12 weeks. be the you who talks to your dermatologist about stelara®.

of your brain can make it hard to lose weight? contrave is an fda-approved weight-loss medicine that may help adults who are overweight or struggle with obesity lose weight and keep it off. contrave is believed to work on two areas of the brain: your hunger center... (woman) i'm so hungry. (avo) to reduce hunger. and your reward system... (woman) ice cream. french fries. (avo) to help control cravings. across three long-term studies, contrave patients lost approximately 2-4x more weight than with diet and exercise alone. contrave is not for everyone. one ingredient in contrave may increase suicidal thoughts or actions in some children, teens, and young adults within the first few months. other serious side effects include seizures, increase in blood pressure or heart rate, liver damage, manic episodes,

glaucoma and allergic reactions. do not take with opioids. reduce hunger, help control cravings. contrave. the #1 prescribed weight-loss brand. go to contrave.com. you wto progress.move. to not just accept what you see, but imagine something new. at invisalign®, we use the most advanced teeth straightening technology to help you find the next amazing version of yourself. it's time to unleash your secret weapon. it's there, right under your nose. get to your best smile up to 50% faster. visit invisalign.com to get started today.

with criticism of bill o'reilly piling up, there is one person standing by him, his friend, the president, donald trump. snl made o'reilly a key part of the program last night. >> one man was brave enough, one man to come to my defense, a man unimpeachable on all female issues and he's here tonight. please welcome, the president of the united states, donald trump. [ applause ] >> hello. hello, everyone. good evening, bill. it's so wonderful to be here on "the factor." i'm a big fan. >> i'm a big fan, as well and

it's an honor to have you here and must i say, mr. president, you look even better on tv. >> i know. i do. i look fantastic and can i tell you something? i actually see a lot of myself in you, bill. [ laughter ] >> thank you, mr. president and thank you for coming to my defense last week, even though no one asked you to and you even went as far as saying quote, bill o'reilly did nothing wrong. >> that's correct. >> that's based upon -- >> hunch. just a loose hunch. >> all right. alec baldwin playing two parts, one pretaped and one live and snl was quoting trump verbatim. he said he didn't think bill did anything wrong and said o'reilly shouldn't have settled those complaints. now it's one thing for the president to support o'reilly but what about the people that ultimately make the call at fox news, the murdochs that control 21st century fox? joining me now to discuss that

michael wolff, columnist and author for man who owns the news. michael, good to see you. >> hey, nice to be here. >> you wrote in your book, your biography of murdoch that actually he's not a big fan of bill o'reilly. said doesn't like him at all. >> let me address this before we even go there because i think times, the times interview -- >> right. >> and this is interesting because i notice that the times just the other day in a news story talks about the linking trump and o'reilly and calls them both indications of a bi n bigone era. >> is that bias? >> i think it's kind of incredible. i mean, we have a man who was elected the president of the united states and we have a bill ocho r o'reilly the most popular anchor on tv and the best selling

author in the country. >> that's true. >> they are the era to "the new york times" and to other people who hate fox and hate trump and that is where this kind of cloothis is an issue as much about politics as it is about sexual harassment. i'll bring that back to the murdochs because within the murdoch empire, that's also where the clefs. you have murdoch who may, i think it's inmaterial whether he's been a fan of bill ocho ray l -- o'reillys or not and bill o'reilly supports his company. >> in a big way. >> he very, very much wants to keep bill o'reilly. it's his sons deeply ambivalent about o'reilly, about fox, about

roger ailes who was ousted this summer. it's an interesting thing i've been making calls this week on this and during the ailes issue, murdoch senior said to his sons, you know if we settle this without a fight, we're just going to invite more and more lawsuits. a and. >> which has happened. there have been more and more lawsuits and clearly implied that they accepted these lawsuits and allegations in the lawsuits. when trying to walk up the middle of the road, clearly what you have in any situation like where you have easy money settlements, you're going to get more lawsuits. in any situation where you have

lawsuits and "the new york times" basically was looking at these lawsuits as journalism, everyone knows any lawsuit, any cli claim is about 50% accurate, 88, 20% accurate. it is a lawsuit. we're in this world in which we are just taking sides and effectively taking poll litical sides. >> "the new york times" took sides with taking it so seriously with the women charged. >> they absolutely down the line accepted the fact that these lawsuits represented reality. >> you've been around for awhile. you know o'reilly has a reputation. >> i think one of the things the implicit in this story is not what he, what he did because we don't know what he did but what we believe he might have done or

what he -- what we believe he could do. >> are you worried about -- >> those are -- those are -- no, i don't worry about anything. i worry only about trying to figure out what is actually going on here and what i do worry about is that more and more on issues involving politics, the media is an unreliable nay runrel unreliable nay rrrator. trump is unreliable narrator as "the new york times" is. >> we'll talk about that next time. great to see you, michael. thank you for being here. after a quick break, my thoughts on the coverage of the syria strike. how it was portrayed on television and online. we'll be right back. stay with me, mr. parker. when a critical patient is far from the hospital,

the hospital must come to the patient. stay with me, mr. parker. the at&t network is helping first responders connect with medical teams in near real time... stay with me, mr. parker. ...saving time when it matters most. stay with me, mrs. parker. that's the power of and. is to always keep track of your employees.r micromanage them. make sure they're producing. woo! employee of the month! you really shouldn't leave their side. vita coco coconut water, hydration comes naturally.

after becoming one of the largest broadband companies in the country. after expanding our fiber network coast to coast. these are the places we call home. we are centurylink. we believe in the power of the digital world. the power to connect. and that's what drives us everyday.

at red lobster's lobsterfestime. any of these 9 lobster dishes could be yours. so don't resist delicious new lobster mix and match or lobsterfest surf and turf because you won't have this chance for long.

what single word dominated the commentary about the strike in syria. the one word i heard the most was decisive. in times like these i find myself thinking about another set of decision makers. the media leaders and producers who decide what gets heard. because there are hawks and there are dogs and on tv and online, we need to hear from both. actually from all of them because there are a lot more than two sides here. proponents of military force. there are reluctance supporters. there are syria skeptics, absolute opponents. and syria has sort of flipped the trump media landscape on it's head. lots of trump skeptics were supportive of the strikes. d.c. establishment types cheered him on, but -- >> then there are the die hard trump supporters who have turned into die hard trump opponents at least on this issue. some may be frustrated because they were told during the campaign that syria was not our fight. >> indeed. politics are so scrambled these days, some of trump's most loyal fans joined with leftists in

opposing the military action. pro-trump host eric bolding tried to thread the need this will way. >> i disagree with the attack on syria, but definitive, decisive, and got the american people behind him with that launch. so i actually applaud what he did there. even though i disagree with the tactic. >> political scientists have been studying this rally around the flag effect for decades. journalists and opinionists are not immune from it. the media love the trump show of military might. that's what margaret sullivan wrote this weekend. are we doing this again? that is an unmistakable reference to iraq. history shows us that too often skeptical voices are marginalized, drowned out by the beating of war drums. and on the days since the strike in syria, strong reporting and serious skepticism on tv. but it's something that all of us, as media consumers should keep a close eye on. i think we need to hear from military experts on this network, but antiwar voices or real skeptics. if you're not hearing your view

expressed by someone on here and online, that's a problem. out of time. see you online. reliablesources.com. state of the union starts right after this break. what's it like to be in good hands? like finding new ways to be taken care of. home, car, life insurance obviously, ohhh...

but with added touches you can't get everywhere else, like claim free rewards... or safe driving bonus checks. oh yes.... even a claim satisfaction guaranteeeeeeeeeee! in means protection plus unique extras only from an expert allstate agent. it's good to be in, good hands. be the you who doesn't cover your moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. be the you who shows up in that dress. who hugs a friend. who is done with treatments that don't give you clearer skin. be the you who controls your psoriasis with stelara® just 4 doses a year after 2 starter doses. stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections and cancer. some serious infections require hospitalization. before treatment, get tested for tuberculosis. before starting stelara® tell your doctor if you think you have an infection or have symptoms such as: fever, sweats, chills, muscle aches or cough. always tell your doctor if you have any signs of infection, have had cancer, if you develop any new skin growths or if anyone in your house needs or has

recently received a vaccine. alert your doctor of new or worsening problems, including headaches, seizures, confusion and vision problems these may be signs of a rare, potentially fatal brain condition. some serious allergic reactions can occur. do not take stelara® if you are allergic to stelara® or any of its ingredients. most people using stelara® saw 75% clearer skin and the majority were rated as cleared or minimal at 12 weeks. be the you who talks to your dermatologist about stelara®.

strike on syria. president trump makes his first major military move as commander-in-chief. >> tonight i ordered a targeted military strike. >> is it just the beginning. >> we're prepared to do more. >> u.s. ambassador to the united nations nikki haley will be here with the very latest. and, what now? mixed messages from trump cabinet on the path forward. >> i would not in anyway attempt to extrapolate that there's a change in our policy or posture