tv Reliable Sources CNN September 29, 2013 11:00am-12:00pm EDT
11:00 am
longest speech ever at the security council. it lasted eight hours. he collapsed during the speech and had to go to the hospital. don't worry. he returned and continued speaking all the while being monitored by a doctor. cuba's president fidel castro's speech in 1960 was the longest ever before the general assembly. 4 hours and 29 minutes. castro does perhaps win for weirdest travel habit. he reportedly kept live chickens in his hotel room that year. thanks to all of you for being part of my program this week. i'll see you next week. stay tuned for "reliable sources." >> it's a perfect storm for the media. a showdown in washington over a government shutdown. a debt ceiling crisis and the future of obama care. >> the other breaking story we're following, the looming government shutdown here in
11:01 am
washington. >> the rhetoric is pretty much off the charts up on capitol hill behind us ahead of a possible government shutdown, the clock is ticking. >> the stakes are set and for the u.s. economy, they could not be higher. >> all that and a fake filibuster by a potential 2016 gop presidential candidate but do snap judgments by pundits and politicians obscure the bigger picture? >> i am not in danger, skyler. i am the danger. a guy opens his door and gets shot and you think bad of me? no. i am the one who knocks. >> is walter white about to die? the finale of "breaking bad" airs in a few hours. i'll talk to the head of the network about the show and what comes next. >> i'm seth myers. >> welcome. hoor here are tonight's top stories. >> the longest running fake
11:02 am
newscast on tv. we'll review last night's "weekend update" and a look behind the scenes of the food network and controversy surrounding cnn's own "crossfire." i'm brian stelter and this is "reliable sources." welcome to washington. it's weeks like that that i think the cable gods for c-span. it's must see tv. on other channels, reporters and commentators left little doubt about where they stand. >> house republicans are pushing yet another new way to derail the obama care train wreck. >> you might say obama care is not popular. you know what's really not popular? shutting down america's government. that's not popular. >> okay, fox news, listen up. no one is making everyone get obama care health insurance. >> while overnight the odds of a shutdown rose. republican controlled house passed a bill to keep funding the government but with a big condition. a one-year delay of the
11:03 am
democrats health care overhaul. the democrat controlled senate will not support that. joining me here in washington to discuss, manu of raju, ana marie cox. what are probability of a potential government shutdown? >> by the most it increases. the senate will come back tomorrow and vote to kill the anti-obama care provisions that the house added in yesterday. at that point it will go back to the house and they'll add even more things to take aim at obama care. just hours before a shutdown and democrats in senate are not going to accept that so the question will be whether the house does something to avoid that deadline at midnight tomorrow or whether there's going to be a shutdown for days and weeks to come. >> how much have you slept the last few days by the way? >> not a lot. >> the makeup is covering up the eyes and all that.
11:04 am
do you expect to sleep much in the next two days? >> not really especially as we get closer to the bigger deadline october 17th to raise the national debt limit. a fall full of fiscal crises there's no way out of at this point. >> these are manufactured crises. >> that's the criticism. particularly on the stop gap spending measure. there was a clear way out of this. both sides saw how you can avoid this shutdown but when you get to the debt limit increase, the two sides are on different universes and hardly a clear sign of whether they can actually come together on that which could be even more devastating to the economy. >> ana, you are here with us in washington but you live in minnesota. you'll represent the american people for a second. >> i speak for america. >> a poll a week ago showed most people aren't paying close attention. maybe that changed in the last week or so. do you sense the public is tuned in on this? >> i can't speak for all of america or all of minnesota.
11:05 am
i can speak antidotally which is people have a sense of what a shutdown means and what i've seen and talked to in my local grocery store, coffee shop kind of thing, has been along the lines of i don't like obama care. a lot of people don't like obama care. minnesota care, they're okay with. but they say why are we shutting down the government in order to stop it? which also in and of itself is good sense although mistakes the actual case which is shutting down the government won't stop obama care. i wonder if that's the piece of information that people aren't really getting now which is that they don't want to shut down the government. they don't want obama care. they're not willing to do both but they don't realize this hostage taking situation -- if the hostage is obama care, that hostage is off and walking down the street. the hostage they're taking is the rest of the government. >> so the countdown clocks are only about the government shutdown and not about obama care. what do you make of the countdown clocks we see
11:06 am
everywhere? >> there's a bit of a spectacle to it. that's the job of the press is to dramatize when the government gets dysfunctional. countdown clock may seem silly but one of our jobs is a shaming function when people in washington aren't doing their job which is funding the government and putting up a countdown clock to show people in x number of minutes your government isn't going to -- most of your government isn't going to be funded. i don't think there's anything wrong with that. that's what we should be doing. >> i think that they are just turning cameras on to ted cruz and reporting he's doing this. i appreciated c-span's coverage. no countdown clock. even c-span had underneath this saying this is not a filibuster.
11:07 am
>> sometimes labels help. labels like that. i want to put up a tweet that you put up on twitter. while the cruz event was going on, i liked this. this cruz speech should be taught in history classes decades from now to show how crazy and dysfunctional our democracy became. >> what i was trying to say with that tweet was, look, the whole bunch of structural issues that are kind of messing things up in washington all came to a head in this one moment. the filibuster. this anti-democratic tool used more than it has in the past. then you had added absurdity of he was filibustering a bill that he promoted in the house. the bill itself he was filibustering was one he wanted to pass. the end result of this process that he was in the middle of was this government shutdown. this whole three-year history of brinkmanship between the two
11:08 am
parties and within the republican party and to me it came to a head with one moment of ted cruz filibustering his own bill to precipitate a government shutdown. >> it was in keeping with senate rules. the tradition of gentlemanly compromise because he negotiated this so-called filibuster. it was a weird play with the rules. all it accomplished was to get ted cruz on television which is what ted cruz wanted. that's what he wanted. it's working. if you talk about dark horses or not so dark horses for 2016, he sprung to the top of the list but not necessarily because people are in love with what he has to say but just because his name is out there now. >> i think he's playing for two different audiences. his conservative base who now love him for taking on his party. but also what he did in the dome under the dome in the capitol is alienated himself from a lot of his colleagues by singling them
11:09 am
out and attacking them for being squishes on obama care when the whole party opposes obama care. this is an interesting moment for ted cruz. you have seen him elevate and distinguish himself from the rest of his colleagues who are presumably running for the 2016 presidential nomination but it hurt him internalaly in washington but maybe he doesn't care because that's not the base he's playing for. >> let me put up on the screen what rupert murdoch tweeted yesterday. are republicans self-destructing just when obama is at its weakest? partial government shutdown small issue compared to possible default. >> default in the worst case scenario people talk about
11:10 am
global economic catastrophe. rupert murdoch's point is important. it's hard for we in the media to wrap our heads around. what we are witnessing in washington is an internal fight within the republican party because the republican -- one wing of the republican party moved far to the right. further to the right than anyone on the democrats and house have moved to the left. i think if you are not incorporating that into your analysis of the situation, you're doing it wrong. that is what we're witnessing here. this is not a democratic republican fight we watched last week. this was an internal republican struggle of a kind we haven't really seen in american politics in a long time. i think it's hard for mainstream reporters to sort of say that because we want most issues to be nice and tidy. democrats and republicans are equal to blame. >> maybe we should have two countdown clocks on the screen. one for this and one for the debt limit. coming up, what obama care has in common with a popular social network. s made to work. make my mark with pride. create moments of value.
11:11 am
build character through quality. and earn the right to be called a classic. the lands' end no iron dress shirt. starting at 49 dollars. starts with freshly-made pasta, and 100% real cheddar cheese. but what makes stouffer's mac n' cheese best of all. that moment you enjoy it at home. stouffer's. made with care for you or your family. "do good, do good, do good...do good, do good"
11:12 am
"keep peddling, keep peddling, keep peddling..." life insurance from new york life can help your family keep good going. to prove to you that aleve is the better choice for her, she's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with her all day to see how it goes. [ claira ] after the deliveries, i was okay. now the ciabatta is done and the pain is starting again. more pills? seriously? seriously. [ groans ] all these stops to take more pills can be a pain.
11:13 am
can i get my aleve back? ♪ for my pain, i want my aleve. [ male announcer ] look for the easy-open red arthritis cap. some brokerage firms are. but way too many aren't. why? because selling their funds makes them more money. which makes you wonder -- isn't that a conflict? search "proprietary mutual funds." yikes! then go to e-trade. we've got over 8,000 mutual funds, and not one of them has our name on it. we're in the business of finding the right investments for you. e-trade. less for us. more for you.
11:14 am
the fund's prospectus contains its investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses, and other important information and should be read and considered carefully before investing. for a current prospectus, visit etrade.com/mutualfunds. welcome back. yesterday politico asked a question that i'm afraid we already know the answer to. here it is. can the media avoid rush judgment on obama care? back with me here in washington to discuss, manu raju, ana marie cox and ryan lizza. what's the answer to that question? >> can they? yes. will they? no. >> what can we in the media do about it? >> specifically on obama care is report the problems that are
11:15 am
happening some of which are due to republican obstructionism. it has to do with states keeping it from being a smooth rollout. that's one thing we can do. the other one is less sexy which is it's hard to report on something that's going okay. plane landed safely. bad headline. i'm curious what other people think. >> the rollout is going to happen. i think any of the hiccups that are going to go along with the beginning of obama care are going to be magnified heavily. frankly the administration has not been in their interest to point out that things are not going to be smooth and it's our job to point out where a big controversial law that two parties are still arguing every is not working. early coverage of anything that goes wrong with obama care will be magnified. as we all know, the final judgment of a major policy like this is in the span of months, years, not days. >> that's the hard thing. we're in a minute by minute news
11:16 am
cycle and this is the most complex piece of policy that's been implemented in a generation. this law was enacted if 2010 and we're at 2014 is when the actual individual mandate will start to take effect and then we'll start to see the effects in the next several months and even on tuesday when folks can start to enroll in this, the online marketplace, the exchanges, that's a six-month process. we probably aren't going to see a lot of folks enroll right away. being able to judge its effectiveness right when it kicks off on tuesday will be very difficult. >> it's just harder now to pass that law than johnson's law in passing medicare. he didn't have a cbo. made up the numbers. didn't have intensity of the reporting which we had in obama care where every deal made the law look back reported in realtime. we never implemented a law of this scale. >> i think some people will be disappointed about how little it
11:17 am
changes their every day lives. some people hear about socialized health care and obama care and people think obama will take care of your health care. this is a government run health care system. >> send your bill to the white house. >> it's going to be a series of private plans. it's not going to be socialized medicine or anything like it. those of us who support socialized medical care are disappointed in this bill. there will be people who enroll in plans that are being run out of state exchanges but for most people there won't be as much of a change as they are being warned about. >> since we live in this world of immediate opinions, the most important journalism is media. facebook had a hard time for year. people said facebook was dead. now it's up above 50. i don't hear as much about that. it goes to show the most important journalism is the follow-up. >> follow-up and most stuff does not get followed up. in may the obama administration was under siege by three
11:18 am
scandals. benghazi, a.p. phone scandal and there was talk how he would destroy his second term. there are other things that may destroy his second term but we moved on from that barrage of snap judgments about how his second term was over. that's a small example. >> it was about the shutdown and debt limit. thank you all for joining us. i appreciate it. coming up on "reliable sources," one of the most anticipated show finales in recent memory. we'll take a spoiler free look at the "breaking bad" phenomenon next. time. ♪ tracks! they connect the factories built along the lines. and that means jobs, lots of people, making lots and lots of things. let's get your business rolling now, everybody sing. ♪ norfolk southern what's your function? ♪ ♪ helping this big country move ahead as one ♪ ♪ norfolk southern how's that function? ♪
11:19 am
google, glossophobia,ophobia? or speech anxiety, is the fear of public speaking. ♪ this is preeminently the time to speak the truth frankly and boldly. this is no unsolvable problem if we face it wisely and courageously. let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is... fear itself. (clapping) ♪
11:20 am
but it doesn't usually work that way with health care. with unitedhealthcare, i get information on quality rated doctors, treatment options and cost estimates, so we can make better health decisions. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. congestion, for the smog. but there are a lot of people that do ride the bus. and now that the buses are running on natural gas, they don't throw out as much pollution into the air. so i feel good. i feel like i'm doing my part to help out the environment. i've got a big date, but my sinuses are acting up. it's time for advil cold and sinus. [ male announcer ] truth is that won't relieve all your symptoms.
11:21 am
11:22 am
11:23 am
was about how big the ratings would be for tonight's finale. i'm guessing another record. 8 million. now unless you have been living under a rock in the new mexico desert, "breaking bad" tells the story of walter white. i sat down with amc's president charlie collier to talk about "breaking bad's" success. >> what can you tell us about the finale? >> anything you want to know. >> probably nothing. don't want to spoil it. you've been doing a marathon of these episodes straight through. >> we've aired every episode from season one to the lead in tonight will be last week's episode. >> perfect lead up to the finale. >> the yidea was to give those true fans the way to watch from sign on to sign off. if there's been people out of work since wednesday hopefully we were part of the reason. >> absolutely. this show started small.
11:24 am
i remember ratings being 1 million, 2 million viewers in the beginning and then it slowly built into what it is now which feels like a television phenomenon. what do you think are the reasons why it's been able to build like that so steadily? >> that's an incredibly flattering comparison. it has been a show that's built each year. over the last five years, we've really worked to not just get people to come to the series but to give them ways to stay current and catch up so we really are clicking on all cylinders starting with day after premiere we'll put it on our cable and satellite partners and there's apple and amazon and electronic sell through and obviously the dvd window and throughout on amc we'll run marathons and a few weeks before the next season, netflix kicks in. we drive what i'm so passionate about which is the live
11:25 am
television event and those that missed it or want to watch it again, we try to keep them current. >> people are watching on netflix trying to catch up in advance of the finale. there are other ways people are catching up, not just netflix. >> marathons are their events. we try to curate them and elevate the show in that way. those worked. our cable video and demand partners said the streaming has been -- the catch up has never been stronger and dvd sales and other aspects of the show has been firing on all cylinders. >> never so easy to catch up on a series and now people feel this compulsion to catch up before it's over. >> word of mouth is still a great thing. i was talking to someone earlier about how they used to buy box sets of things like "twin peaks" but now it's easier today to catch up. >> it's not that long ago that amc was only known for movies. some people still think to
11:26 am
themselves why is amc have original shows and history has non-history shows. it's not just movies but has movies. >> movies are at our core. so often we'll take some of the finest movies of all time. we are still the largest most widely distributed movie network in the country. what we've done is created high end content. we always used to say we're premium television on basic cable. could we create original series that not only could stand the test of time but can stand side by side with some of the greatest movies of all time. so you look at "breaking bad." we had done a month of anti-hero films and that led into the original "breaking bad" series. so often when we're at our best, we take best movies and pair it with original series that now have garnered critical acclaim of their own as recently as sunday. >> television critics were an important part of elevating
11:27 am
"breaking bad" in the beginning. >> they truly saw potential from the start. it started small from a ratings perspecti perspective. critics have been a great aid to the show. after the critics, viewers came and as viewers came they became more passionate and spread the word and as i said we've worked with the ecosystem to really try to continue to give people opportunities to catch up and then come back to the live event on amc. >> are you bracing for hate mail if viewers don't like the finale tonight? >> i think and writers will tell you, you can't please all of the people all the time. they've done a great job. again, vince came to us years ago and said we'll take the mild mannered chemistry teacher and turn him into scar face and for anyone up to speed on the series, he's a bad guy and it's going to end in an incredibly fitting way. >> thanks for joining us. >> good to be with you. >> joining us now for a good talk about "breaking bad" is two
11:28 am
television critics. the finale is in nine hours. tonight is labeled the greatest night ever in the history of tv. do you think they're right? >> i think they could be. we won't know and the very question makes they think of creator of "breaking bad" recoiling in horror. one thing they have going for it is vince is the most modest guy in the entire western half of the americas. he's not at all someone prone to boasting or sort of getting really in people's face about his show. i think it's definitely going to be exciting. i've been nervous about it all weekend. i don't know about you. i feel like i'm trembling and waiting to see how they resolve everything. >> james, are you feeling the same way? >> i am feeling tense. i don't know if you noticed, they ratcheted up the tension a bit on "breaking bad." it's a mixture of anticipation
11:29 am
and excitement and the dread of potentially seeing a terrible thing, maybe a great terrible thing unfold before my very eyes. my blood pressure is up. >> you called this the most disciplined show on tv in a long, long time. what do you mean by that? >> i think it's a really rigorous show. you didn't have a middle three seasons of remember those wacky thing they got up in the meth rv or super lab? it's not a show that wanted to overstay its welcome. it's a temptation for show creators, the staff and networks for sure, anyone making cob tei these days wants that content to be something that people keep using and making money for everyone. you can sit and look at that show and say every single piece of that mattered. maybe not every single piece but every single piece of it led to something else. they were incredibly disciplined
11:30 am
how they got rid of things that other shows would have milked for two or three seasons. for that reason, they didn't really try to overstay their welcome. it's pleasing in a moral sense. we're hyped up about the finale. i've been through this with other finales. everyone gets amped up. you get pitches in your e-mail inbox 20 an hour and it's that kind of thing. everyone is excited. to me what really the lasting legacy of "breaking bad" is moral rigor of it. this is something important. how do we define morality. when is someone a rule breaker and allowed to have consequences come to him? how do we define what is breaking bad? i think that's the part of it that's really serious and important and has been a real benefit to television. >> for television business, it
11:31 am
seems to me it's proof that a good smart show can work. are there lessons we can take away from the success of the show? >> i think that there are a few things. i think the key is that's smart and good without the quality of the show and success that followed would not necessarily have followed. i think that "breaking bad" has shown we useded to have a thing in television where you aired least objectionable programming. the idea was you try to give as many people as few reasons as possible to change the channel. and "breaking bad" is an example of successful kind of show that can be good by being intense and not necessarily being for everybody but for the people who are into this, you know, intensely dramatic unsparingly searing moral examination. it's tremendously satisfying. therefore, it finds a way to create an audience rather than a very broad audience that cares a
11:32 am
little bit about the show. it cultivates a deeper audience that cares a lot about the show. >> a viewer pointed out that michael j. fox's premiere got more viewers than breaking bad last week. are we giving the show too much attention? >> you know, i think that -- not necessarily sure that we're giving it -- we tend to give everything too much attention when things get really exciting toward the end because i was in the position of writing about the show like maureen several years ago when it was hard to interest people in the show even though it was really good then because it wasn't sexy. but i do think that it's worthwhile in media to -- like i was saying, to do coverage that reflects intensity and not just breath of interest in something. a ton of people watch "wheel of fortune" every night doesn't mean that they care as intensely about "wheel of fortune" the way they do about the finale of
11:33 am
"breaking bad." >> james and maureen, stick around. what's your bet about how "breaking bad" ends? up next, live from new york, it's time for "weekend update" and there's a new face at the anchor desk. [knock] no one was at home, but on the kitchen table sat three insurance policies. the first had lots of coverage. the second, only a little. but the third was... just right! bear: hi! yeah, we love visitors. that's why we moved to a secluded house in the middle of the wilderness. just the right coverage at just the right price. coverage checker from progressive. where their electricity comes from. they flip the switch-- and the light comes on. it's our job to make sure that it does. using natural gas this power plant can produce enough energy for about 600,000 homes.
11:34 am
generating electricity that's cleaner and reliable, with fewer emissions-- it matters. ♪ man: sometimes it's like we're still in college. but with a mortgage. and the furniture's a lot nicer. and suddenly, the most important person in my life is someone i haven't even met yet. who matters most to you says the most about you. at massmutual we're owned by our policyowners, and they matter most to us. as you plan your next step, we'll help you get there. >> announcer: introducing the redesigned jitterbug plus, our smartest, easiest cell phone yet. >> when i heard about the jitterbug, i went online and ordered one for my mom. she loves it. she takes it everywhere.
11:35 am
thanks to greatcall, now my mom has a cell phone she actually enjoys using. >> hi, grandma! >> hi, sweetie! >> announcer: the jitterbug plus-- the large numbers and the yes/no buttons make it easy to use, the bright screen is easy to see, while the improved speaker makes conversations loud and clear, and with the longest-lasting battery on the market, you won't have to worry about running out of power. coverage is powered by one of the nation's largest, most dependable wireless networks, and phone plans start at just $14.99 per month. for a limited time, get a free car charger with purchase. the jitterbug plus is available nationwide. to locate a store near you, visit greatcall.com. greatcall-- people you can count on.
11:37 am
>> good evening. i'm chevy chase and you're not. >> good evening. i'm jane curtain. our top story tonight. >> i'm tina fey. good night. have a pleasant tomorrow. >> i'm seth myers. >> they make it look easy, don't they? there's a look at "saturday night live's" weekend update newscast through the years. the 39th season was kicked off this weekend welcoming cast members to the anchor desk who will co-host along seth myers part of the transition as myers moves over to late night next year. tina fey was on hand last night
11:38 am
to give her tips. would you mind if i gave you a couple pieces of advice. great. here's what it is. keep your head down. you do your time. on the first day you go up to the biggest guy in the yard and punch him in the face. don't mess with texas. keep your feet on the ground. keep reaching for the stars. believe in your nightmares. see this man here, this man don't own you. you do you. you in charge. >> let's see if our guests are laughing. back with us now, james and maureen. james, might she be the next tina fey or amy poehler? >> when you look at people on "weekend update" how can she not be? an effective launching platform. you either end up with a sitcom or hosting a late-night show. it's a tremendous platform. the challenge with strong is she's someone who in her short-term on "snl" has been good at doing characters and on "weekend update" you don't do a
11:39 am
character as you are developing a persona. i think that she and the writers are still trying to figure out how to translate her character work like girl you wish you hadn't started a conversation with at a party into a persona for "weekend update." i just think that's going to take a bit of a while. it's a different journey for her than it was for tina fey who like the show had a bit of fun with last night, wasn't known for doing a ton of characters before she started "weekend update." she was a writer and stepped into that. i think sort is using a different comedic muscle that will take a while. >> let's look at a clip from last night from the fake newscast. >> in an sbrinterview this week iran's new president hassan rowhani acknowledged the holocaust was real, which i believe is the very definition of the least you could do. >> like it or not, some people
11:40 am
get real news from fake newscasts, don't they? >> people are always looking for a spin on the news. i agree with james. i think that cecily strong had a few characters that took off. the girl you hadn't talked to at the party was coming back and a way to have her on update. i think she's really to my mind in amy poehler tradition ultimately could be a key player going forward. we'll have to see. amy poehler was like cecily strong and you could throw her into any sketch and elevate it or make it better than it was. she has that ability. i wonder if they'll miss that in the regular rotation of sketches if she's taking up a lot with "weekend update" because after the middle of the season, there's a possibility that seth myers will be gone to prep for his new show. this is an enormous transition
11:41 am
with a lot of new cast members and people who have left in the last year or two. so cecily strong has potential to be amy poehler hybrid but i wish her every success. she's done well so far. >> one week down. many to go. thanks for joining us. >> thank you. >> what's cooking at the food network? a new book provides a behind the scenes look and we have the author's first tv interview next. [ male announcer ] what's important to you? at humana, our medicare agents sit down with you and ask. hanging out with this guy. he's just the love of my life. [ male announcer ] getting to know you is how we help you choose the humana medicare plan that works best for you. mi familia. ♪ [ male announcer ] we want to help you achieve your best health, so you can keep doing the things that are important to you. keeping up with them. i love it! [ male announcer ] helping you -- now that's what's important to us.
11:42 am
11:43 am
♪ [ male announcer ] bob's heart attack didn't come with a warning. today his doctor has him on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. if you've had a heart attack, be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. if you've ♪ad a heart attack, be sure to talk to your doctor (announcer) answer the call of the grill with new friskies grillers, full of meaty tenders and crunchy bites. i remember thinking there's a lot i have to do... check my blood sugar, eat better. start insulin. today i learned there's something i don't have to do anymore. my doctor said with levemir® flexpen...
11:44 am
i don't have to use a syringe and a vial. levemir® flexpen comes prefilled with long-acting insulin taken once daily for type 2 diabetes to help control high blood sugar. dial the exact dose. inject by pushing a button. no drawing from a vial. no refrigeration for up to 42 days. levemir® (insulin detemir [rdna origin] injection) is not recommended to treat diabetic ketoacidosis. do not use levemir® if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. the most common side effect is low blood sugar, which may cause symptoms such as sweating, shakiness, confusion, and headache. severe low blood sugar can be serious and life threatening. ask your health care provider about alcohol use, operating machinery, or driving. other possible side effects include injection site reactions. tell your health care provider about all medicines you take and all of your medical conditions. get medical help right away if you experience serious allergic reactions such as body rash, trouble with breathing, fast heartbeat, or sweating. flexpen® is insulin delivery my way. covered by most insurance plans, including medicare. ask your health care provider about levemir® flexpen today.
11:45 am
>> start with a television network, mix in food celebrities, add a dash of tabloid scandal and you have a great recipe for a group about one of the best known channels on television. fans of the foot instead work are salivating. i crack myself up. over allen salkin's new book. earlier i spoke with the author who weighed in on the paula deen scandal and the network's responsibility to its audience. allen, thanks for being here. >> my pleasure. >> you interviewed every food network star for this book. two declined. what did you learn from all of
11:46 am
those stars? >> it's really great american business story. something started from nothing and grew into a multibillion dollar company. also something that is built on the reputations and skills of a bunch of interesting people and with a lot of fascinating backgrounds. it's both great business story and human and cultural story about america's love affair with food over the last 20 years. >> when i was reading it, i was reminded this was originally for chefs by chefs for foodies. now it's much more popular and it's not really that anymore, is it? >> that's true but it was always a business play. it's just that when it started, that's who they had. it was really taking what existed in the celebrity chef culture of the '80s in a few urban places, california and downtown manhattan and using those small stars turning them into big stars.
11:47 am
eventually as they got starter and attracted more households, they started perfecting the recipe. >> after 9/11 it became a comfort food network. >> they realized that people were not connecting with chefs personally and rachael ray was the first one that showed the way. her show debuted in november of that year. when she was a giant hit, they brought in paula deen and so on. the people who were really the stars that people could connect to as if they were their neighbors, grandma, sister or probably the girlfriend you always wish you had. >> i was struck by the fact that what they're cooking on these shows often times is not what we should probably be eating. people struggle with weight. i was obese many years ago and i became more aware of media images. all of that makes me wonder if the food network tries to encourage overeating or indulges
11:48 am
too much in unhealthy habits. did you come away feeling that way? >> your twitter diet is something everybody should copy. there are many people out there and many great chefs out there who did learn how to cook kale and great food from watching the food network. some of those shows are still there. but the network is in the business of getting people to watch more food tv. it's not in the business of teaching us how to eat healthy or how to use a knife exactly properly. but that said, even sometimes they go to a diner that serves kale. >> it's not about dumping things into a pot and stirring anymore. it's about competition. are they able to reinvent themselves every few years the way cable channels have to or have they fallen on harder times lately? >> they are clearly on hard
11:49 am
times now. the company is making more money they ever did but that's by expanding internationally. they haven't made a new star since 2007. all these great stars who we know who are on cover of my book, most of them were made either in the mid '90s or right after 9/11 up to about 2003, 2004. the network is now isn't even making cooking shows of its own anymore. it's just farmed out to outside production companies and it's just sitting there like every other tv network hoping a good idea walks in the door. it's a little bit depressing having studied the network and seeing the great things they added to our culture. "iron chef," "good eats" and great shows like that seeing that they are out of ideas. >> you need great ideas for great formats. >> that's right. if you watch chopped, which is a
11:50 am
gre great competition know on every night about five times, they made six different versions of it. i have to ask about paula deen. you had to rewrite the ending of the book when she was dropped by the food network. what did you learn by that? >> ultimately, paula deen caused herself strubl a year earlier with that diabetes deal she made, the queen of butter and sugar endorsing a diabetes drug. and the food network's strategy was to hire a consultant who advised them to distance themselves on paula. she did this without telling us. we have nothing to do with it. when her contract came up, which unfortunately for her was exactly the time when this "n" word thing hit, the network --
11:51 am
she already had two strikes against her and the network did not want to wait around for a third. luckily for me, i was in the process of copy editing the book and i had a week where i could call all my sources and quickly put a cap on her story. we also put her on the cover of the book at that point because people are interested. >> she's attempting a resurrection. i imagine that will be a lot harder without the food network been hi side. >> she will never be back on the food network. now expanding into asia, africa. these are not places where they could be associated with somebody who is associated with racism. will paula deen be able to go on tour, have cooking fanshows, ha adoring fans? probably so. they thought she was going to be the next betty crocker. that is not going to happen anymore. >> good luck with the book. >> thank you. i appreciate it. why cnn's program
11:52 am
"crossfire" is coming under fire from media critics and what cnn should do about it. ♪ [ male announcer ] when we built the cadillac ats from the ground up to be the world's best sport sedan... ♪ ...people noticed. ♪ the cadillac ats -- 2013 north american car of the year. lease this cadillac ats for around $299 per month with premium care maintenance included. yeah... try new alka seltzer fruit chews. they work fast on heartburn and taste awesome. these are good. told ya! i'm feeling better already. [ male announcer ] new alka seltzer fruits chews. enjoy the relief! ♪ hooking up the country newhelping business run ♪hews.
11:53 am
♪ trains! they haul everything, safely and on time. ♪ tracks! they connect the factories built along the lines. and that means jobs, lots of people, making lots and lots of things. let's get your business rolling now, everybody sing. ♪ norfolk southern what's your function? ♪ ♪ helping this big country move ahead as one ♪ ♪ norfolk southern how's that function? ♪ but it doesn't usually work that way with health care. with unitedhealthcare, i get information on quality rated doctors, treatment options and cost estimates, so we can make better health decisions. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare.
11:56 am
finally today, something you should know about the new cnn show, crossfire. when they employ reporters, they expect those reporters to stay out of politics. that means no signatures on petitions and definitely no donations to politicians. but when news networks employ politicians or campaign strategists or commentators with strong political opinions, those rules sometimes don't apply. in 2010, sean hannity gave money to michele bachmann. fox news said it was okay because everyone knows he's a conservative. keith olbermann also made donations, and he was suspended. when olbermann came back to work, he said the policy needs to be adapted to the realities
11:57 am
of 21st century journalism. this network is in a similar situation now. since you're watching cnn, you probably know that "crossfire" came back after an eight-year absence. according to cnn, "crossfire" pund reporters have never been forbidden from giving money to pundits. should they have to disclose? that's what media matters wanted to know a few weeks ago, bringing up one of the group's frequent targets, newt gingrich, who is a host while co-chairing a political action committee or pac. if newt is helping fund a candidate and that candidate is on the show or being discussed on the show, of course, he will disclose that. disclosure is important when it's relevant. now, this is the kind of policy that media critics love. employing political pundits is a choice, after all. news networks don't have to do
11:58 am
it. it's a lot easier when they don't. if they're going to employ political pundits, networks should bend over backwards, even flip over to make sure that viewers know what those pundits are up to. there are lots of people in this building who try to do that every day. in the case of "crossfire," the policy has changed. mother jones reported that newt's pac has raised $1.4 million in this election cycle, only donating 1% of that to politicians, which is mother jones thought odd. senator rand paul is one of those recipients, a guest of "crossfire." on friday, cnn said this. we are clarifying the policy and making it clear that newt gingrich is not in violation. the policy, if a "crossfire" co-host has made a donation to the politician who appears on the program or is the focus of the program, disclosure is not
11:59 am
required during the show, since the co-host's political support is obvious to his or her point of view expressed on the program. critics called it moving the goal posts. eric wrote, everyone knows gingrich is a conservative. that's no disclosure at all. the fact that he may have a cash relationship with guests, that's a disclosure. nothing corrupts like cash. newt gingrich is not a reporter, that's true." crossfire" is not a news show. that's true, too. the employees strive for splens so you, the viewer, should know what gingrich and stephanie cutter and van jones and s.e. cupp are up to, just like you should know what sean hannity is up to. cnn can do better than that, starting by debating its very issue of disclosure on "crossfire." that's itor
186 Views
IN COLLECTIONS
CNN Television Archive Television Archive News Search ServiceUploaded by TV Archive on