if there is a white house briefing we will bring that to you live. a discussion about the relationship between hollywood and the democratic party from today's washington journal. jeremy for thes hollywood reporter. good morning. thought we would bring you want to talk about the democratic party. party and harvey winestein case but speak to us in the broad sense about hollywood and the democrats and their relationship. how intertwined are they? when did all of that begin and how has in the broad it endured guest: it's been happening for decades. hollywood and actors and entertainers and executives are very, very reliable funders for democrats. basically every major democratic candidate has been able to rely on hollywood to raise millions of dollars. that's why the party is under a

spotlight right now because harvey winestein was such a prolific doner to democrats and was able to rangel actors to help out democrats if you needed there was a press conference when ben affleck was help with chuck schumer. a very close relationship between democrats and hollywood. i think that's why this whole story has become a politics story about harvey wine steen because there is is close relationship. obama, hillary clinton, bill clinton, they were personal friends with harvey winestein, it is not clear how close they were but they appeared together, the candidates came to his house to do fund raisers. and it's not entirely sure how much way winestein had on democrats but he had a direct line i think generally to bill clinton and obama and hillary as well. host: that being said, how have democrats responded so far to the sexual harassment story? guest: i think the response has

been a little bit slow. i think a lot of people were caught off guard by this story. and i think people who cover him, this has been an unspoken story that there have been whispers and rumors but no one had nailed the story until the "new york times" did on october 5. and so that big story came out. the new yorker one that came out a little later. but people basically have been -- reporters went to politicians and said to them, what do you make of this? and people were asking for statements, for explanations. because there was such this -- this link between obama and clinton and wine steen. so democrats have taken their time. some were quick to say i knew nothing about this. this is horrible, the allegations are terrible. and they gave the money back. obviously he has given a lot of money and a lot of democrats have gotten money from winestein. so some of them were very quick. the same day the story came out they gave back the money. it was a small amount.

4,000, but the big story and the big people focused on is that it took obama and hillary clinton five days to respond and they responded on tuesday and the story came out on thursday. so people were wondering what was happening in those five days exactly. were they not going to say anything? because we were trying to get statements from them. and then tuesday they both said this is shameful, it's horrible. this is not the winestein i knew. but the parties were slow. the dnc the next day on friday said they were going to give back $30,000. the statement saying this is terrible. and they also did an interesting point, the dnc decided to hit from -- in their statement they pointed out that the new york times story came out a year after the access hollywood video. so they were trying to make a connection while also still being apologetic. >> phone numbers are on your

creen. they first talk about the national committees. then you can see a sea of faces beginning with president obama and lots of other familiar faces. tell us more about the donations. >> be the biggest role he played was as a bundler for obama and clinton. way.es back a very long

he has been donating to the clintons since the early 90's. this builds up over time. the biggest impact he has also was getting big-name hollywood people to give money to democrats. wasn't hard for him to call on his friends. he would have fundraisers at his home. and raise millions of dollars. they can raise a lot more money than doing a $10 event like bernie sanders did. even as some of the stories came hard to separate

themselves. here is the reaction from former president obama. "michelle and i have been discussing recent reports about harvey weinstein. he needs to be condemned and held accountable. here is also hillary clinton talking about all of this. hillary: i was shocked and appalled. it was something that was intolerable in every way. like so many people who have come forward and spoken out, this was a different side of a person who i and many others had

known in the past. >> would you call him a friend? hillary: i probably would have. and so would many others. people in democratic politics for decades appreciated his help and support. i think these stories coming to light and people who never spoke out -- before, having the courage to speak out, clearly demonstrates this behavior he engaged in cannot be tolerated and cannot be overlooked. fareed: it was tolerated? hillary: i didn't. i don't know who did. i can only speak for myself. and many others can knew him primarily through politics. the courage of these women coming forward now is really

justtant, because it can't and with one person's disgraceful behavior and the consequences he is facing. this has to be a wake-up call and shine a bright spotlight on this behavior anywhere at any time. we had a series of revelations about companies in silicon valley, sexual harassment and assault being accepted. edge of ourcutting economy and where a lot of young people have their most first -- how their most significant jobs. -- have their most significant jobs. fareed: senator blumenthal says people should get back the money -- give back the money he donated to them. would you give it back?

no person toe is give it back to. i will give this income to charity. are you expecting this to move forward, involving the money and politics in this case? helpfult wasn't very for her. people were critical of the strategy of appearing with hollywood actors and getting their support. it wasn't what voters wanted to see. hollywood will always be reliable as long as these candidates have to raise a lot of money. industry isnment hopeful that weinstein was an aberration to some degree.

the industry is going to do more soul-searching. be more examples of people happen to apologize for appropriate remarks. host: tulsa, oklahoma. republican. hi, coleman. caller: a little speculation. elected,y had been would we be hearing any of this? the democratic party takes care of its own, regardless of corruption. we have seen that with so many things. alignedow everybody behind bill clinton from the , with his attacks on

women in the white house. it is a culture in the democratic party. the problem i think is the media -- the media is a part of the democratic party. anything get away with because the media will investigate in great detail. the republic is protected whenever republicans are in power. protectedic has no whenever the democrats are in power. this is a very significant example. host: thank you. jeremy. people have been working on this story about weinstein for years. was anythink there connection between party affiliation and his donations. really don't think that

would've changed anything. it took time to get people willing to go on the record, nondisclosure agreements. someone that people have known about and they have been waiting for the right moment to release this story. the cuts are on the hot seat right now -- demiocrats are now, butt seat right he is also given donations to republicans over time. host: gary. brunswick, new jersey. independent. gary? go ahead. turn the sound down on your set. second.one yes. thank you. i have one point.

i am going to be 80 years old. anthony weiner was kept under the rug for many years. he was just convicted. prior to that, he was a city councilman. very few people were aware that he was a protege of chuck the minority leader of the united states senate in the democratic party. chuck schumer must have known about his behavior. it is horrifying to think someone convicted who still thinks he didn't do anything wrong until the last minute when he was convicted and cried like a baby. the leadership of the democratic party has to look at themselves to see why they covered this up.

the minority leader of the democrats in the house, nancy has been in politics her entire life. her father was a democratic leader in maryland. connected to hollywood by the umbilical cord and also knew about this. trump oney president the election. -- won the election. these people cannot relate to the common man. thank you for listening. host: our guest. the politicians didn't know. concludesonable to that this was a surprise to everyone.

executives and actors who worked with weinstein have been asked to explain. hillary has done interviews she said she thought of him as a friend. she was surprised. interned for the weinstein company. there was a level of trust. was a bigmer recipient of weinstein's contributions. ,e was put on the hot seat asked to explain what was his relationship. host: as we look at hollywood and politics, for the most politically active celebrities these days? -- who are the most politically active celebrities these days? degeneres, certain

progressive celebrities -- anne hathaway took part in a fund raiser with weinstein. -- fundraiser with weinstein. out forctors are coming the democrats, generally. they would work together with weinstein to plan these fundraisers. voight-types came out for grump. that was a's -- came out for t rump. that was a smaller group. told that hollywood actors are very mobilized, post-trump. you are seeing a lot of tweets. whenever something happens in

people get -- are upset by something trump says or does, you see a lot of tweets from celebrities. they are trying to do what they can to be part of the resistance. what is it like to be a republican or conservative in hollywood these days? they feel like they are not really heard. lump actors and entertainers together, they are all democrats. but they have tried to have a and donald trump was a fan of entertainment, and knows actors. but the popular perception of hollywood is not, for them, accurate. out too muchcome

about weinstein. it is more the democratic entertainers. it, but that is by virtue of the past two donations weinstein's -- past donations weinsteins have made. host: a democrat from california. hello. wondering if you talk about it anymore allegations would come -- if more allegations would come out about price. reporter"e hollywood book that story. -- broke that story. amazon suspended him.

people don't know if there are more shoes to drop. we'll have to wait and see what is happened. -- what has happened. until we have the comments on -- mike steen has opened the door for most -- more , bute to go on the record this might have a blowback for people's careers. my publication is very interested to see if people will are out now now that we having this national conversation about inappropriate behavior. host: julia, you said you are a television executive in california. what is your sense of the perception of the culture, these days in hollywood? caller: in the entertainment industry, women have a quietly

tolerated presence, which has made them uncomfortable. and that has started to end. host: what makes you think that? just this case? or other things? caller: there has been a tide of conversations, people catching up where there has been enough women -- michelle obama said she doesn't know a professional woman and that hasn't been sexually harassed in any industry. more women are coming out casually to each other, hearing their stories. there has been a cultural shift where behaviors that were allowed, were people look the other way -- where people look the other way, that is not going to be tolerated anymore. host: thank you for calling. jeremy, anything you want to

respond to? guest: people hope this is not sort of a one-off issue. one of the biggest issues do with is that people who like to talk are not bound -- are bound not to say anything by the contracts they made. journalists want to but youse stories, needed someone who was willing to take on weinstein. he was very powerful. want to come out against them if you work and after trying to make it in the industry. but now people feel more comfortable speaking out. actors and entertainers were whispering things influencing them out loud.

that is a change. -- and weren't saying them out loud. that is a change. host: one of the big headlines is weinstein made donations to a woman's charity. a big headline. deena from georgia. democrat. good morning. -- hypocrite republicans are talking about this weinstein guy. females accused him. it was ignored. fox news -- all therir sexual assault cases -- they contributed to the republican party. it was wrong what this guy did.

he needs to be sent to jail. president trump did the same t hing. totally ignored. he was elected president. stop the hypocrisy. host: any response? guest: there has been discussion about what is the white house going to do. they let the party committees handle it. but there is a pot calling the kettle black type scenario. donald trump was asked about this and said, i am not surprised. the people in the white house and the party are uncomfortable with this issue. involvedes was very with democratic republicans and

nixon's campaign. everyone has been asking stories about him and he was fired. there is no question that people have to tread very carefully with the allegations made against donald trump. a reporter was asked about weinstein during the briefing. she didn't say that much. i expected her to go on the attack. she didn't. that might be an admission that they don't want to touch this issue. let the republican national committee and others do that. host: louis. new jersey. republican. depressing.s

as far as hillary saying, all encourage, ihave remember she admitted 10 years ago, they went after her. -- he went after her. how come she didn't say anything? she lived with a guy who was sexually molesting. how many women accused of trump sexually molesting them? zero. quashedp nbc executives the bombshell harvey weinstein story. what do you make of the charges outlets have the story and didn't put it out? guest: you need to be bulletproof on this story. sources are coming on the record about this, but there was the

gawker media lawsuit that ruin the company. -- that ruined the company. people are going to be careful that their story won't meet standards unless they have a lot of on the record sources. i think people -- the issue right now is journalism and legal threats when they report a story. pursuingts have been the weinstein story for years. thnbcew york times" and don't want to invite a lawsuit. they will be careful. 2004 -- york times" in explained that by

saying the story in 2004 wasn't ready at the time. they wanted the story to speak for itself and not have to explain why they talked about one person and not they other. both "the new york times" and "the new yorker" are owning the story. host: illinois. democratic color. caller.ratic hi there. caller: i want to talk about the trump access hollywood tape. trump said it. all women like it. elected,rump still even though he said it? i don't get it.

and itike people hear it goes in one year -- one ear and what they want to believe goes in the other. trump needs -- his feet needs to be held to the fire. weinstein did it. there are so many men around the world that have done this. to have the president of the united states say it and to say women in love it, -- women love as ahat is what hurts me woman and i've worked all my life in the industry. it, butue people say women don't like it. it is awful. hold them all to the fire. it bothers me that the president said it and he says women love

it. that hurts. that is all i wanted to say. you. katharine, thank any thoughts? back $30,000c give to charity. they said these were horrible allegations, but they wanted to make sure people understood this is a problem that trump has as well. this is not just a democratic issue. it was easy for them to make the statement, they don't condone this. percy and help our they want to -- a hypocrisy and want to get that across to voters.

but the democrats don't want to make the connection between trump and weinstein. they will let the party committee do it. people want to keep that in mind, this is not a one-party problem. host: c.j. baton rouge. independent. caller: i used to be a democrat and republican. now i am a proud independent. both parties are incredibly corrupt. hollywood is totally corrupt. and immoral. would promise to send a missile to hollywood only, i coupleend the guy a hundred dollars to develop his nuclear program. thank you. host: final thoughts? guest: in this case, actors and

entertainers want to be involved politically. a lot of them oppose trump. they want to have their voices heard. people might say, what do you know, you were just an actor -- you are just an actor? but there is a long history of popular entertainers getting involved. they don't want to be sidelined because they are entertainers. they are always going to want to weigh into politics. shows thetein thing political relationship between hollywood and politics. actors won't want to sit out going forward. a media and is politics writer for the "holl ywood reporter." thank you for your time. with theersation

executive editor of "the washington post" and "the new york times" about proof -- about freedom of the press, at the national press club at 8 p.m. eastern, live on c-span. attorney general jeff sessions testifies before the senate judiciary committee, at 10 a.m. eastern on c-span. and on the free radio app and online. ♪ >> the c-span student video competition is in full swing. me: thear's the constitution and heal. create a video. open to allion is middle school and high school students, grades six through 12. you can work alone or any group of up to three to produce a five to seven minute documentary on the topic selected. ,0