union membership wearing t-shirts with political messages and polling places and california requiring certain information be provided if pregnancy crisis centers. that will be at noon eastern live on c-span2 from the heritage foundation. to get us is there a discussion from this mornings "washington journal." >> host: howard kurtz is a media buzz host for the fox news channel and author of the latest bookd media ban, the press, the war over the truth. good morning. could you connect the dots between those things, the president, the press and the spreade of truth? >> guest: to say this is a scorched earth warfare going on between the two sides. every image sayn he said he wod my book spin cycle about the clinton white house. the was a national, natural and visceral tension between the two. we've never seen anything like this butse we've never seen such unrelentingly negative coverage, personal, harshly personal in nature as we're seeing as this president and we've never seen a president of the united states

constantly on the attack against the news business, fake news, dishonest media and i think establishing both sides can buy great concern arises as a lifelong journalist is its damaging the press. >> host: how is the present change or aes discount of the president change because of the presidents heart? >> guest: we saw this begin in the campaign when first of all the press, the pundits as hell didn't take donald trump all that seriously because a sideshow, very entertaining but, of course, he wasn't going to make it to i will. everybody knew he was not going to beat hillary clinton. beyond that there were all these gloom and doom prophecies about this controversy, never survive this on. we see that again now. there is i sense in the mainstream press that many say we can't normalize donald trump's presence. what does that tell you? it tells you they do the mets

unfit for office. many not all, many reporters are fair and that they give him as you for all the words unhinge, mentally unbalanced, incompetent but also a dictator. it's interesting the range of description of this president.ns at the same time this is about that goes behind the scenes at the white house, i talk about how the president suffers in his aides descriptive from defined disorder daytona to do d somethg turkey does anyone because nobody tells donald trump what to do. there are times when it is effective for him to lash out at the press would a you think in which his supporters believe is treated unfairly and there's times we go too far or distracts of his own agenda. >> host: you tell a story in the book that meeting donald trump and he said things to you about how he views as particularly negative coverage. what did he say? >> guest: i edited the now president have a dozen times in the camping. i first met in the late 1980s and that's one ofne the reasonsi did underestimate him into campingg trip i size media as a new york guy.

what he said was he couldn't get over the fact that some commentators in his view of hatred. word hatred and he is a counterpunch or so somebody hates him he hates back on them. at the same time he was kind of wounded by that. there was a love-hate relationship, mostly hate right now with this president because he always get good media coverage by and large when he was a businessman, reality tv show guy andes so forth. a year ago he had private other committee with network, you guys never change your coverage once i became president. this of course dovetails with all the major events of his presidency, the charlottesville tragedy, the russian investigation which is back in the news. he is just convincing tonv gettg a fair shake but he also meets privately with people like nbc's chuck todd andnd others because there's a a way in which he wos them over.

>> host: you right in the bookkeeping donald trump is taking his presidency as did on nothing less than destroying the credibility of the news media and the meteor determined to do the same to you. you go on expand on that a light of what you just said. >> guest: there is no it turns out to be good box offers for major news organizations come you turn on at night, there are these panels against trump courts are largely paid to enter trump audience. it may be good business but the problem is there's a whole part of the country who voted for donald trump. many still enthusiastically support this president. and to them not that or do they think their guy is being treated unfairly but they believe with some justification as i write in "media madness" the elite media in washington, new york, l.a. look down on them, view them condescendingly. there's one headline i'll never forget in the left-leaning "huffington post" about four trump was a hate crime. that kind of condescending

attitude does undercut the credibility of the media among those who are not within this particular bubble. >> host: howard kurtz our guest, the media buzz host on the fox news channel and also the author of the book "media "a madness: donald trump, the press, and the war over the truth." you want as questioned about the coverage of donald trump by the media you can call. does president trump enjoy a relationship with certain type of concert media who speak favorably about him? would you you see fox news is t of that? >> guest: i have some thoughts on that. in the campaign president told me he thought boxes of treating of unfairly. he has revised that view but thereom are number of prominent conservative commentators some of who work at fox, people in the national review, weekly standard who were never trump in the campaign but pretty critical of his president.

even if he's a conservative republican president he doesn't enjoy a a cheering squadco on e right. there were some and primetime host on fox news and "fox and friends" are much more sympathetic than the other cable news channels. at the same time the president sometimes when he is pushing back against the media, i want examples of this. i think he shouldn't be punching down at individual cable news host. something he doesn't have a strategy to take the spotlight off of something else.te other times it is good politics for him and please write what with his most loyal supporters to beat up on a news that they don't trust any way and the lack of trust, diminishing trust, this beenap happening for decads long before donald trump, i think is what is eroding a business that i love that i grew up in that want to be perceived as they are added think right now it's the cool thing to do is to be against donald trump. to question his ego to survive,, is he mentally able to handle

this office? that seems to be at their. >> host: it comes to coverage, what happens to the next president after donald trump's influence on this media? >> guest: right. and beyond that there will be aa time a traversal of the president whether it's three years or sevenen years. some of the women's, some of them self-inflicted where they're seen as one sided, people don't trust the fact checkers and more which is bob because we are not agreeing on a basic set of facts. everyone is in in their own bubble. the damage being done now, not to say some reporting has been good and some of the reporting on it hasn't been spot on but collectively, what is being done now i believe is going to last far beyond donald trump's president morsi. >> host: first call from joe and joe is in new york. go ahead. >> caller: good morning, guys. howard, just what to say i watch a show every sunday. you have a very, you are the epitome of their and balance. you have a terrific show and i

wish they would give you a weekly show which would be great. but anyway, howie, the reason i called was fox has been stressing lately about the incident about selling american your rating. the president has mentioned it. senator john barrasso wrote an article in the opinion section of the "wall street journal" date from thursday figure eight, 2018, which discusses this whole thing. it would be great if you could have descended on your show. if you're familiar with the article, possibly pedro could bring it up, but it covers up a lot of stuff about why we have a shortage of uranium. thank you, howie. >> guest: hanky. i don't think there's any question the somebody who whisr with this campaign intensively, there was a lot of influence peddling and attempted influence peddling surrounded the clinton foundation, surrounding the former president speeches. i'm not saying that of the

should be looked at but hillary clinton lost the election. she is not president, should not going to be president and i think some people who excessively focus on her are in part trying to deflect attention from the investigations of president trump. i will jump in and add we've had about a year of investigations. we just had last week the indictments against 13 russians which didn't buy any active collusion of part of anybody associate with a donald trump. we don't know where this will end up but that focusing investigation seems not to have unearthed a whole lot. same time president be dismissing it as fake news and a hoax. it's a real investigation. they're been guilty pleas and indictment most recent against these 13 russians. i think it's important for the press to be fair in covering this investigation it is news. it is a serious investigation. that much is clear because the same time n we shouldn't be seen as sometimes a nighttime cable

hyping every incremental development into the next watergate. >> host: independent line from north carolina. hello. >> caller: i just want to say, howard, you do a great job and the reason i watch fox news is because they tell the truth and i will turn over to another station just to say, see what they're saying and it's like a lie. it's like they don't putou everything into it and everything. i just believe fox news because they tell the truth. they're getting it, you know, like hannity, he isty so awesom. tucker, awesome. i just want to say keep it up if you do a great job and i know your heart is in the media. up, you know, because we look to the truth to you because we know you tell the truth. the rest of the meat does not tell the truth i'm sorry to say. they do not. they are just completely lost it like democrats.

becerra thank you for the kind words. i wouldn't go so far as you say none of the other media tell the truth. i do think many journalists have an agenda and part of what i write about in "media madness" is what this a private and president trump come with a say on twitter when they think their pals are listening. >> host: such as what? >> guest: such as a new time, that donald trump was a racist and fascist and those republican party were also complicit in that racism and fascism such as "wall street journal" reporter who said on twitter after the president pulled out of the paris climate deal that he was threatening the planet just to the piece is based after four months in office. it's that kind of thing. since fox came up, we have news division, , people like me, chrs wallace who try to be journalists and cover the

president fairly. we have opinion people, seems to be a big fan of hannity and tucker and they are paid for the pickens. >> host: she sees the truth but she points to the opinion a spear is not a concern for you? >> guest: i think most viewers, readers, people who consume news online a pretty sophisticated about this stuff. there's a natural tendency to like people who agree with your worldview. the people whowi love rachel maddow on msnbc putting most of them are very liberal. she's a smart road scholar. if she goes too far i say so but ioo understand it's an almost tribal loyalty these days in this partisan atmosphere at the nd this is true editorial page, that there are the business in of trying to be, coin a phrase, balance and other conservative, lib terian who are

giving usiness of opinions. host: democrat's line, michelle, howard kurtz.h caller: yes, pedro, i don't isieve nothing that this man spouting out. he's a i don't believe anything coming out of the mouth of the republican party. they are -- >> host: since we have our guest writer what if you address your question or comment directly to him? michelle, are youe there? >> caller: eight years we as democrats have to sit here and listen to the republican party -- but let me tell you something, it's going to be a new day in 2018 because every black, everett brown, every democrat are going out there and

we're going to show this fool that is sitting after trying to. we will want to insult them. you've seen a lot of media coverage of the administrations. it president obama get a pass from immediate traffic and the 2,008,008 campaign i've never seen a presidential candidate in my lifetime get softer treatment than barack obama did. many will not disputepu that. i think it rougher coverage in the second term when the republican congress have trouble getting things through and was checkmated on areas like syria. look, the caller, there's a lot of people feel that way. donald trump is a polarizing t.president for people who love the guy they think he tells like it is. he's a straight shooter. they like the way he talks. he doesn't way his words carefully and there are people think you never should've been president and they are offended by the fact that he is in office. about a lot the views of the mee

viewed through that prism to even think donald trump is a good a great president then to like a lotng of the coverage and several major news organizations come to think donald trump is a terrible president you probably will not be w a big fan of fox's coverage and you will probably like his liberal attackers. i try in this book to go beyond that, to stick to the facts. a lot of reporting in this book not just about the meeting and how the president deals with immediateen but also about his dealings with his staff who are engaged in a lot of self-destructive leaks. we're seeing that now against john kelly. previous against reince priebus, jared kushner, steve bannon got into finger-pointing boughs about who was leaking about him. as a journalist i try to stick to the facts. i know everybody has opinions. >> host: this is a guest howardy kurtz, the book "media madness: donald trump, the press, and the war over the truth." joining us on republican line, mark, go ahead.

>> caller: good morning, gentlemen. howard, i love your show. we never find any up-to-date actual ratings. it's like the day the election switch on thee coverage and it'sra been just tt ever since. i'd like to know how many folks have left watching cnn and moved over to fox and the difference of the ratings if you think that will make a difference? when the women commented about she loved the opinion us, i like the opinion is too but when they show statute numbers that were violated, stuff that is obviously illegal, then they may not like what they are hearing at least they are telling exactly what was done wrong and who did it wrong. how could anybody ignore those facts?th i know they don't show a lot but basically they will get to them and had to ignore when they show you statute violations that were done? >> guest: the irony is the

trump presidency would you bring up this question of rights, cnn ratings are higher than they've been in many, many years. msnbc which wasar really struggling a few short years ago is having ratings probably the highest in history of that channel. fox news ratings are also appeared fox news remains number one in cable news for almost two decades. the fact is taking taken in prime time but even overall taking a more skeptical, aggressive sometimes negative, sometimes unfair approach to president trumpd has helped the other two cable " news channel. the "new york times" which the president calls for failing news-times. he once called the newspaper evil but he still continues -- >> later on our companion network c-span -- >> i mentioned earlier -- even if both sides are locked in -- >> with will go live to the heritage foundation for discussion on upcoming -- >> with her from attorneys