we hope you have a great and healthy day. healthier day. that's what "sunday housecall" is all about. i'm jamie colby. have a good one. >> here's howie. happy thanksgiving. on the buzz meter this sunday, liz cheney sparks a national debate by telling fox she opposes same-sex marriage including that of her sister. >> i love mary very much. i love her family very much. this is just an issue on which we disagree. >> with mary cheney and her wife firing back on facebook and the former vice president weighing in, are the media exploiting a family feud or covering a legitimate split in the republican party? msnbc's martin bashir apologizes for dirty and disgusting remarks about sarah palin. this morning, palin responds on fox. >> that's the executive hypocrisy that is so prevalent in that media elite bubble where

it depends on the target of the vile rant. it doesn't depend on what the rant itself actually is. conservative women are a target of them. >> how low can a cable news host sink? and why hasn't msnbc taken any action against this guy? plus, television all over the latest aggressive george zimmerman for brandishing a gun. are the media attempting to retry the trayvon martin case? i'm howard kurtz thaand this is "media buzz." and we'll get to the u.s. nuclear deal with iran in a few moments. meanwhile, you know the drill. send me a tweet about the show. @howardkurt. we'll read some at the end of the hour. it's hardly shocking liz cheney running for a senate seat in

wyoming is opposed to same-sex marriage. it's also a fact that her sister is gay. >> your sister, mary, who is married to a woman, put out this post. she said, for the record, i love my sister. you. but she is dead wrong on the issue of marriage. >> yeah. listen, i love mary very much. i love her family very much. this is just an issue on which we disagree. >> that interview brought a stinging retort on facebook for mary cheney who wrote there isn't a lot of gray here. you think all families should be treated equally or you don't. liz's pgs so to treat my family as second class citizens. not a position i can be lovingly tolerant towards. liz cheney says she's always treated her sister and her sister's family with love and respect exactly as she should have done. the sharp exchange is a huge weight of coverage on cnn. also especially on msnbc. >> next tonight we take you inside a private family feud playing out on the national stage.

>> the close-knit cheney family has always presented a united front until now. >> why on earth would liz cheney come out so directly against equality and marriage when she has a sibling. >> nobody has started polling yet on whether or not wyoming voters want a senator whose parents fight with their sister on behalf via press release after a nasty facebook feud involving the same question on whether or not i was lying on fox news sunday about how much i hate you or whether or not i was lying last thanksgiving when we stopped talking when i was still being nice to your kids. >> is all this media attention warranted? lauren ashburn, fox news contributor and author of top twitter column on foxnews.com. richard grinell. former spokesman for ambassador john bolton at the u.n. lauren ashburn, was that question in the chris wallace interview of liz cheney fair game? >> absolutely fair. mary put this issue out into the press. it's been batted about. and it would be journalistic

malpractice, almost negligence, not for chris to bring it up. >> rick grinell, same-sex marriage. nobody would dispute it's a legitimate issue in a senate campaign. but bring in family. >> basically, are we surprised that "the new york times" and others are trying to stop liz cheney from getting into the senate race? >> how do we get to "the new york times"? it's chris wallace fox news. >> "the new york times" put this on the front page, howie. this is not a front page story. it's a legitimate story. let's be fair. barack obama has a sibling. hillary clinton has siblings that have disagreed with them on policy issues. that has never been on the front page of the "new york times." why this? because it's a conservative. why this? because it's the cheneys. and it's also because they absolutely want to stop liz from getting into the senate. nobody should be surprised by this. >> you're frowning. but how do you not mention it? whether it's front page news or not is a very legitimate point. how do you not mention it when mary cheney has been so vocal in criticizing her sister? >> there's two issues.

one, sure, if mary's vocal and criticizing her sister it's a story. it could be a gossip story which i think is what rick is getting at. until you consider this is indicative of a larger issue going on in america on gay marriage, social issues, gay rights especially where you see families become conflicted. you're starting to see the republican party become conflicted. that's interesting as a larger story about where the gop is going in terms of the younger generation embracing more tolerance or not. because that is an issue that's been being discussed. it's a national story. >> msnbc was doing this story, i don't know. every ten minutes. the equalen thenew mes" a bolts. hid it's happened throughout

's h it has happened with hillary hiy clinton and bill clinton and billy carter's brother, rather, bill clinton's brother -- and problem portman had a gay son and he came out and changed. >> the problem is on the gay issues, let's be clear, the democrats have a platform that is pro gay marriage. there is a democrat governor, candidate, in south carolina, who is not if that. we don't know his name. people do not report on that. >> he is a candidate for governor. >> the vice president of united states --. the cheney family is like the kennedys to the republicans, they are hugely important party, family to the republican party and gay marriage has been a huge issue in the last year or two. >> you had your own brush with this.

>> with gay marriage? >> not gay marriage but being gay. >> i had a brush with being gay? >> i actually am gay. >> proudly gay. you were a foreign policy spoke for mitt romney. you decided to leave. there was pressure from the right. >> and the left. the liberal left. >> someone who lived through that do you think the media personalize these things? >> first of all, it is a bad question to compare what his is going through with what i am going through. this is a media show. the media overly focus on republicans. they do not want republicans to be anything but in a box. that is what is unfair. they do not do the same thing for democrats. if they would, if they would across the board hold democrats to the same standard as republicans, i would not have a problem. the problem is, when you put it on the front page of "new york times" -- >> congressman weiner. >> when you training naked pictures of yourself it is not the same as having your sibling

talk about an issue. >> john, talk about being gay and working in politics and maybe not wanting the exposure in your professional life about your personal life. >> absolutely. absolutely. >> i worked for a republican senator 20 years ago and was in the closet and absolutely, it is a concern. especially back then when you are worried about losing your job based on sexual orientation. mary cheney has been openly gay for at least children years, the gay lay -- liaison back in 2013. she and her wife decided to write concern about the sister the family made it public but this is not just gossip, gay marriage is certainly the issue of the year in the gay community but it is also a huge issue in america and when you see it start to affect the republican party, that is a news story the.

>> what about cheney making it an issue therefore, journalists do not have a choice but to acknowledge it and just the other day mary cheney said i'm not supporting liz's candidacy? >> it is a legitimate story. once the family puts it out there it is not as we are outing someone who is gay. >> but you said the media find the personal family spats delicious and that is why it is get morgue play than, perhaps, you think it should? >> that is true. it is over exposed. we are, right new the fact that we are talking about it and leading off the show is a dilemma because it was overcovered. here we are again, covering it. >> let me take a couple of minutes to turn to the news that broke 3:00 in the morning in geneva and is continuing to dominate the news right now. that is, the united states and the obama administration is reaching a deal with iran on

nuclear development and that deal oversimplified freezes but does not reverse most of iran's nuclear efforts at the same time it eases $7 billion in western sanctions against the government of iran which is not all the sanctions but is part of i. let me put up on the screen a couple of news analysis, not the news stories but analysis. "new york times" said the interim accord struck with iran on sunday interrupts the country's nuclear progress for the first time in a decade but requires iran to make only a modest downpayment on the central problem. "washington post" says the plan would accomplish something the u.s. governments have sought in vain if a deck it. a pause, at least, in iran's march to a nuclear weapons capability. >> now, without agree, rick, that this is at least a bit skepticism in the way the breaking us is reported? >> i am not sure there has been a rush since a we have been

getting the tweets about a new day and change iran hat not changed their behavior one bit. yet, we have the u.s. government, now, going to give in cash and sanctions relief $7 billion to the largest state sponsor of terrorism and iran hasn't changed one bit. >> but to come back to the media come, it is portrayed as an interim deal to, perhaps, a larger deal. iran is supposed to public good faith by doing things in the agreement and the united states eases the sanctions and the republicans have been attacking this and that is their privilege and that has been reported. do you think or do you see a tilt toward declaring this a diplomatic victory for the obama administration? >> we have only been about 12 hours interest there and the media coverage has been excited which is reflecting what the public at large has been feeling worldwide but it is also partisan you look at a liberal

website that calls it a big deal and another calls it morale indefensible. >> the democrats will say it is great and republicans will say it is bad. we know that. the media's initial impression has been while this is interesting, let's look deeper which is a healthy dose of this looks like it could be a positive step but all us need to look at the details. that is what the deal is about. >> why thing the hill press understands so keeping it away from the political press is the best thing and give it to international report are whose understand it. >> they do understand the differences and most people on division, probably not. when we come back the media compare obamacare to hurricane katrina. is that of on fencive -- offensive? [ male announcer ] this is the age of knowing what you're made o

why let erectile dysfunction get in your way? talk to your doctor about viagra. ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pai

it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. side effects include headache, flushing, upset stomach, and abnormal vision. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away, if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. this is the age of taking action. viagra. talk to your doctor.

obama care may be a bit of a disaster. but there's a bit of a backlash brewing against media folks comparing it to another disaster that struck the gulf coast eight years ago. as we see in this clip from "the daily show." >> president obama now finds himself compared to president george w. bush, as in the problems with the health care plan have become president obama's katrina. >> is this obama's katrina moment? >> president obama's katrina moment. >> katrina. katrina. hurricane katrina. yes. i believe we've all seen the damning photos of the presidential flyover surveying the human suffering of the healthcare.gov website from a safe distance. >> are these katrina comparisons over the top? >> look, i love jon stewart, but he's wrong. what you have to -- >> we're going to end up on "the

daily show." >> i know. i hope not. what we have to understand is we're not comparing death to a bad website. what we're comparing is the fact that this is the second term for president obama. and he is flailing just as george bush flailed in his second term. and we've found that in second terms, it is very difficult for you to come out of it in a positive light for history. >> lauren, i think you're right. i think the problem is that that's a generic correct assessment of second term presidencies. everyone says, oh, my god. you're second term. you're a lame duck. it's going to be impossible to get anything done. we done compare it to auschwitz. my problem with this, i don't think katrina was bush's katrina. i looked at the polls this morning. september 11th, crazy approval going down to 2003 when he got back to around 50%. poll numbers kept going down, down, down, down, down until the end of his presidency.

obama, same thing. zoomed up in election. down to 40% or 50%. >> i think it's a really poor political comparison. if you're talking about of a cre fact, maybe there are some comparisons. >> isn't that what journalists are trying to say with these comparisons as opposed to comparing the death and destruction of a horrible hurricane to the admittedly terrible rollout of a health care program. >> well, if that's what they were going to say, the way you said it, it would have been perfect. the problem, "the new york times" piece which started this whole thing was not like that at all. it was very much a, this is just like katrina and it's similar in many ways. i think that's a really poor analysis. >> nobody was saying dead bodies. let's compare the dead bodies. the 1,800 plus who were killed. that wasn't the point of all of this. >> i'm just going to say, i'm just going to pivot here as we try to do on television and say as president obama is continuing to battle on the wreckage of his health care program and try to revive it and get the website

working, all that, he had a bunch of pundits over for one of those off the record briefings this week. they included about half the staff of msnbc. al sharpton. lawrence o'donnell. howard fineman. ed schultz. fox's juan williams was included in that liberal gang. what's the point of pundits going when they can't report on what the president actually says because it's off the record? >> it doesn't matter they can't report on that specific instance. what it does is try to shore up the base and say, hey, you're not really reporting good white house stories here. you're kind of reporting some things that are negative. so here are all the positive things that the white house is doing. and maybe you could report on those. >> this is clearly just about getting to know the reporters and the reporters, of course, they're going to want to go. i've done this thing as a spokesman where you invite them in and try to get to know the reporters. you try to juice them up a little bit so you get better coverage later on. the outrage should be from the rest of the press corps. who should say, wait, i didn't get to go?

>> i did the same thing in the bush administration. he invited a bunch of bloggers and things. i kept saying i want to go to the white house. >> you didn't make the cut? >> the bush administration, i certainly didn't. >> got to go. i should mention charles -- was also included in one of these gathering. thanks very much for joining us. this is a fox buzz alert. katie couric is about to cut a deal for a new interview show on yahoo! and the title of global news anchor that would make her the biggest tv star to move online. she'd drop her role at abc news which has hardly been using her and is weighing to continue her daytime show, also indicated by abc. maria bartiromo is leaving cnbc and joining fox business news. up next, msnbc still hasn't said much to criticize martin

bashir and is sliming of sarah palin. is his apology really enough? many cereals say they're good for your heart, but did you know ere's a cereal that's recommendedy doctors? it's post shredded wheat. recommended by nine out of ten doctors to help reduce the risk of heart dease. post shredded wheat is made with only one ingredient: one hundred percent whole grain wheat, with no added sugar or salt. try adding fruit for more health benefits and more taste in your bowl.

it's the ideal way to start your heart healthy day. try post shredded wheat. this has been medifacts for post shredded wheat. try post shredded wheat. customer erin swenson ordebut they didn't fit.line customer's not happy, i'm not happy. sales go down, i'm not happy. merch comes back, i'm not happy. use ups. they make returns easy. unhappy customer becomes happy customer. then, repeat customer. easy returns, i'm happy. repeat customers, i'm happy. sales go up, i'm happy. i ordered another pair. i'm happy.

(both) i'm happy. i'm happy. happy. happy. happy. happy. happy happy. i love logistics. on the table by not choosing the rit medicare d plan. no one could hav left this much money here. whoo-hoo-hoo! yet many seniors whoompare medicare d plans realize they can save hundreds of dollars. cvs/pharmacy wants to help you save on medicare expenses. talk to your cvs prmacist, ll, or go to cvs.com/compare to get your free, personalized pl comparison today. call, go online, or visit your local store today. they used to get really tired. [barking noises] my dogs were barking. until i started gellin'. it's this awesome gel, only in dr.scholl's ssing gel insoles. it's like walking on a wave. i love my dr.scholl's massaging gel insoles. when they're in my shoes, my feet and legs feel less tired. they've got two layers f support and cushioning - it's dual wave technology. so i feel energized! i'm a believer.

i'm a believer! now through november, save even more on dr.scholl's products. available at target. martin bashir loves to bash republicans in bitingly personal terms. he hit an absolute low in attacking sarah palin. >> when mrs. palin invokes slavery, she doesn't just prove her rank ignorance. she confirms that if anyone truly qualified for a dose of discipline from thomas fiszlewood, then she would be the outstanding candidate. >> that was a reference to slavery days. that dose of discipline, i hesitate to say this on the air, in case you haven't heard these despicable words was to have somebody defecate in her mouth. >> i wanted to take this opportunity to say sorry to mrs. palin and to also offer an unreserved apology to her friends and family, her supporters, our viewers, and anyone who may have heard what i

said. my words were wholly unacceptable. >> that part, i wholly agree with. joining us now here in washington, david zurich, television and media critic for the baltimore sun. and joe concha. msnbc has put out a statement saying martin bashir has taken responsibility public for his offensive commentary and it kind of pushes it off on bashir. we're harndling this mat earn intern -- matter internally. >> they couldn't have handled it worse. after that apology was made by martin bashir on monday, hours later the msnbc twitter feed promoted the segment from friday where the comments were made. after the apology if you're promoting the segment, that's a big issue. that goes up to management to allow that to happen. a day later joe scarborough goes

off the -- he said i don't think he wrote it himself. scarborough isn't disciplined in any way. i'm sure if that happened on another network he would probably be suspended. clearly, howie -- >> i'm not so sure about that. he was being candid about a colleague. >> on another network, though, howie? come on. you don't make comments like that about your co-workers there. that's off the reservation, man. i disagree. >> i think scarborough is the problem. >> no, he's not. >> late me take a other side of this. bashir made what sounded like a pretty sin veer apology. are executives at the network betting that's enough and they can escape by without having to address this manner further leaving aside he hasn't been suspended or as far as we know disciplined in any way? >> howie, look, executives at the network always want to think it's enough and it's going to blow over and they're going to turn the page and move on. there are a whole bunch of problems. what he said is really sick stuff. honestly, if i was his supervisor he would not only probably be suspended, i would have him go talk to someone in

hr about what's going on in his head when he says this kind of stuff. more importantly, what about the culture of msnbc? somebody put those graphics up. is there no editorial backstop on this thing? >> that's right, david. >> it's outrageous. >> these were scripted comments, howie. >> exactly. there's a vetting process that goes into this. before it goes to a tele prompter, copy editor, senior producer, saw that. their boss says, we're trying to be provocative. ratings went up 60% from friday to monday. friday the comment. monday the apology. go on the twitter feed of msnbc. the promotion of the segment is still up. all the ginned up controversy to get people to watch a show that otherwise nobody was watching. >> let me jump in. speaking of twitter a few people have complained about me for making an issue saying i'm defending sarah palin because she's a contributor at fox news.

i would rip anybody who made these kind of despicable comments about anybody regardless of political coloration. you have to say there hasn't exactly been a huge uproar in the mainstream media about this. other than perhaps on fox. as opposed to, let's say, somebody said that about, i don't know, hillary clinton. >> exactly. let's go to the can you imagine segment part of this particular talking point. if rush limbaugh said this about sarah palin it shailin -- sorry. hillary clinton. what would we be talking about? or sarah silverman. we haven't heard a peep from any of the women on that america or management on that network. that speaks volumes. >> that's part of the larger problem here. that the mainstream media isn't more upset about this. you know, i've been complaining about the -- the way our civic and political conversation on cable tv is debased. and msnbc has led that drive in a calculated way.

because they have no journalistic function. they have no rep pratorial infrastructure anymore for business reasons. once you go down the road they have gone down of nothing but hosts sitting in front of a camera doing opinions, you have to keep turning it up and turning it up and turning it up and be more and more extreme. this is what we got. and no one cares. that's what's outrageous. whatever you care about, whatever you feel about sarah palin doesn't matter. the don vconversation of democr you can't have this going on. >> let me briefly say she likened the national debt to slavery. a lot of people found that comparison offensive. fair game to criticize her. she addressed this this morning on "fox news sunday." there's an implicit contrast here with msnbc's handling of alex baldwin. insiders tell me he may never come back to that network. let's take a listen to the former governor on "fox news

sunday." >> as for the network's condoning those type of statements because there's been no punishment, that's hypocrisy. that's a given when a conservative woman says something that they take offense. they usually just kind of poopoo it, laugh it off, it's no big deal sfwl a brief comment from each of you. double standard for conservative women as sarah palin says? >> i think there is some of that, howie. the real question, where are people like tom brokaw and chuck todd who claim to speak for nbc news and the brand? why haven't they called bashir out and lack of punishment for him? >> joe? >> very good point punishment mat -- they've been getting beat by them a lot lately. that's a difference maker. get palin up in wasilla. the fact that lauer lost that interview, i'm sure he's griping

about this internally. that's where the pressure is going to come from. not outside news organizations that dropped the ball. >>. stick around. ahead on media buzz we were just immersed in tributes and remembrances on friday for the 50th anniversary of jfk's death. we'll have a report card. you want a way to help minimize blood sugar spikes. support heart health. and your immune system. now there's new glucerna advance with three benefits in one. [ male announcer ] new glucerna advance. from the brand doctors recommend most. her busy saturday begins with back pain, when... hey pam, you should take advil. why? you can take four advil for all day relief. so i should give up my two aleve for more pills with advil? you're joking right? for my back pain, i want my aleve.

you're joking right? small business owners are using tools like email and social media marketing from constant contact to grow their business.

they're getting customers coming back. fans following their business online. and new customers through the door. see how constant contact's products and people can help you grow your business. start your free trial at constantcontact.com.

>> live from america's news headquarters, i am gregg jarrett. growing bipartisan concerns on capitol hill over the nuclear deal with iran. several lawmakers from both parties today saying that they are skeptical about the temperatures of the deal and whether iran will never stick to its end of the bargain. they want congress to prepare new sanctions to slap on tehran in the event the deal falls apart. iran has agreed to suspend the nuclear program for six months in exchange for relief from

sanctions. a powerful winter storm hammering the western states already blamed for eight deaths, heavy rains, snow, sleet, causing hundreds of crashes, leave drivers standed with the storm on the move to the southeast and threatening to create big problems for thanksgiving travel this week. . now back to "media buzz" and howie kurtz. the media turns friday into a national day of mourning, november 22nd, being the 50th anniversary of the assassination of john f. kennedy. fox's cal thomas remembered the day. >> there are things called teletypes then where the news was printed on these rolls of paper. i ripped it off and gave it to the correspondents in the washington bureau and managed to save the initial stories that said, flash, president kennedy dead. >> that was a long time ago. david, what did you make of the friday television coverage?

>> you know, the scene in dallas, the weather was so stark and gray and somber. it really was one of those sort of the heavens wept moment. and the way to cover that in the u.s. naval academy glee club, the way to cover it was to back up. let the pictures, let the sounds speak for themselves. almost no one that. people had to talk. producers had to throw montages of images up there on the screen. fox really did the best when they backed off and let it breathe. they really did a nice job with that. cnn, second best. the worst, again, msnbc was the worst. abc was chatty time, too. i really -- it's so simple, howie, to do that on a big ev t event. especially was as huge and existential as this was on friday. >> self-restraint can be difficult on television. joe concho, what do you think of the fact, particularly the people involved in these productions weren't alive in

1963. yet kennedy, his life and death still retain this incredible hold on public imagination and the media imagination as well? >> i think, howie, because there's never been definitive closure on the kennedy assassination. so many conspiracy. lee harvey oswald. was he acting alone? was he working with the mob? was he working with the cubans? was he working with the russians? all this mystery. we talk about the two biggest events over the last 50 years. easily the kennedy assassination and 9/11. 9/11 has had closure at least. we know who did it. that man is dead. the buildings have been resurrected since. with kennedy, it's always this mystery around it. of course, camelot and just the great figure that kennedy was. i think that's why, at least for me, and i wasn't alive for that. not even close. but i couldn't -- i couldn't get enough of it, really. >> i was going to pick up on that point. it was also the sense of the dream unfinished. it still hasn't released its grip. here it is 50 years later. thanks very much for joining us this sunday. send us a tweet about the show

@howardkurtz. we'll read the best messages after the program. after the break, george zimmerman in legal trouble again and television is all over it. are the media still fixated on the trayvon martin case? the trayvon martin case? lisa blum is up next. i always wanted to design a bike that honored those who serve our country. and geico gave me that opportunity. now naturally,

we wanted it to be powerful, innovative and we built this bike as a tribute to those who are serving, those who have served and their families. and i think we nailed it. geico. proudly serving the military for over 75 years. i'm here to say a few words about the power of baking stuff with nestle toll house morsels. you can heal a broken heart with a bundt cake. make a monday mornin' feel like a friday afternoon with some nestle toll house morsels.

let's close our laptops and open our ovens. these things don't bake themselves. we have to bake them for one another. we can bake the world a better place one toll house cookie at a time. nestle. good food, good life. nestle. if hey breathing's hard.me, know the feeling? copd includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis. spiriva is a once-daily inhaled copd maintenance treatment

that helps open my obstructed airways for a full 24 hours. spiriva helps me breathe easier. spiriva handihaler tiotropium bromide inhalation powder does not replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms. tell your doctor if you have kidney problems, glaucoma, trouble urinating, or an enlarged prostate. these may worsen with spiriva. discuss all medicines you take, even eye drops. stop taking spiriva and seek immediate medical help if your breathing suddenly worsens, your throat or tongue swells, you get hives, vision changes or eye pain, or problems passing urine. other side effects include dry mouth and constipation. nothing can reverse copd. spiriva helps me breathe better. does breathing with copd weigh you down? don't wait to ask your doctor about spiriva. the trayvon martin murder trial was a racially divisive clash and a giant media spectacle.

since george zimmerman was acquitted in the shooting death of the teenager he keeps popping up on the media radar, especially this week. >> zimmerman does it again. back in court when his live-in lover claims she's in fear for her own life when zimmerman points a shotgun straight at her face. >> george zimmerman was releastreleast ed from a florida jail today after he posted $9,000 bail and agreed to give up firearms. >> we've learned george zimmerman was served divorce papers in jail before he was released on bond just a little while ago. >> joining us from los angeles, lisa blum. legal analyst for nbc news and avo.com. author of the forthcoming book "suspicion nation: the inside story of the trayvon martin injustice and why we are doomed to repeat it." lisa, zimmerman gets into another altercation. this one with a new girlfriend. why the enormous coverage of this guy? >> well, he's a fascinating guy. you're right. the trial absolutely divided america. it's amazing to me george zimmerman finds himself in the

middle of searing, hot button issues in america. first it was race. racial profiling. stand your ground and guns. now domestic violence. >> but who cares? he's obviously a loser. the trayvon case is over. why did all three cable news networks, for instance, carry his -- the hearing of his arrest live? >> well, i think it is a fascinating story, howie. i think this is very different from some of the other high profile cases that frankly were not as newsworthy like jodi arias or casey anthony. >> jodi arias had sex. >> right. >> what's so fascinating about it? >> i think what's fascinating is the racial divide as you point out that the story engenders. many people feel this was a great injustice. he shot and killed an unarmed 17-year-old boy. he got away with it. now his behavior confirms what many of us thought during the trial. that he's a hot head with a gun. that he's out of control. that he's not a responsible gun owner. the fact that at least now he's separated from his guns, i think, gives some of us comfort.

>> i think you've touched on something at least is a theory i developed. this is an effort by some in the media to kind of retroactively try him in the trayvon martin case. now we know about his personality. hot head actions to use your words in situations. at the same time this guy had a trial and was acquitted because the jury couldn't find that he was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. >> right. my book is all about why that case was bungled by the state of florida. they didn't argue the best evidence. they were not comfortable with the issue of race in the courtroom and how it could have been handled in a very, very different way with a different outcome. three women have accused him of domestic violence over the last eight years. two in the last two months. how many people have to come forward with accusations that george zimmerman is irresponsible, especially with guns, before we start taking a hard look at this guy. in the bigger picture, our gun policy in america is just too lax. there are too few restrictions on somebody like him having guns. >> that's a political issue. you have your views on that. in terms of the media coverage,

is there, you know, the fact that he's had these incidents with multiple women certainly tells us a lot about him in the court of public opinion. it doesn't necessarily mean he would have been convicted in the trayvon martin case even if these incidents had happened earlier and we had known about them. i'm looking now for your legal analysis on that. >> right. well, my legal analysis is that the prosecution failed to argue their best evidence in the case. that they asked a lot of questions in closing argument. the prosecution and the defense in that case were both arguing reasonable doubt. there was only one outcome that the jury could reach. all that is in my book about how this could have been handled very, very differently. i don't think the issues with these women show that he was guilty in that case. what it shows is that this is somebody we should really be concerned about and there are a lot bigger issues arising out of this case. george zimmerman is the modern day o.j. simpson. we all know now he's going to bring himself down. if not in the current domestic violence case, in the next incident. this is a guy who cannot control himself. his ex-wife shellie says he thinks he's invincible. it's only a matter of time

before he brings himself down. >> just a few seconds. therefore, you think all this media coverage is warranted because he is kind of self-destructing before our eyes? >> we have to find out how the story ends, howie. every time that he does something like this, we're going to be watching. >> all right. lisa blum, thanks very much for joining us from l.a. >> thank you. meanwhile, when senate democrats abolished the filibuster this week for most presidential nominees, i don't think the media did quite enough to highlight the raw hypocrisy on both sides. both the politicians and the pundits. when senate republicans considered a similar move during the bush years, "the new york times" editorial page called it rank hypocrisy by the gop. now says, quote, the democrats had little choice but to change the filibuster review. national review, on the other hand, backed the republicans curtailing filibusters under president bush but now says the democrats, quote, are helping themselves to ill gotten gains. what a change -- what a difference, i should say, a change in the white house makes. coming up, it's something

you've probably done if you own a smartphone. now it's the word of the year. we'll explore the cosmic significance of the selfie.

time for our digital download. the oxford dictionary picked its word of the year and refers to something many of you have indulged in, the selfie. >> millions are holding up their smartphones taking pictures of themselves sharing them with the world and we have a few right here for you to take a look at. first up, of course, the one who always seems to have hundreds of them is kim kardashian, usually with a lot less clothes on. >> she's wearing a lot of clothes there.

>> next we have -- put it up and see what we have. >> hillary. >> hillary clinton with her daughter chelsea. >> next, vice president of the united states and julia louis-dreyfus who stars in "veep." all these selfies, oh, my god, howie kurt with the beautiful ladies of the makeup room. >> these are the women it takes me to get me on the air. >> that's pathetic. >> you don't want to see that. >> this looks like the real -- >> hey. let's get to that cosmic significance. >> yeah, i think part of the selfie generation is really the look at me generation, right. not the me generation, but what does it mean that we are so obsessed with taking pictures of just ourselves, i mean there are the drunk selfies with the travel selfies and all of these different lists of --

>> are you referring to that picture of geraldo rivera with his shirt off? >> i wasn't going there. >> when celebrities do it, particularly some of these women who like to tweet them without wearing a lot of clothes it is a marketing device, look at me and professional reason for doing so. now that millions of average people are doing it now that the word has to be recognized we've become our own pr agents and everybody wants to control the image they share with the world. >> it's true. there is a big discussion about girls and young women doing this and whether or not it has something to do with their self-worth and why would they do something like this? it also has -- >> you're say dag finish. >> they want to please boys. >> and have affirmation and seen as dateable but there's something about our culture that says, what happened to, you know, sitting around the table, opening up the photo album and looking at -- >> people still have photo albums. >> right now it's all online and you're sending them out and, you

know, in 20 years are people going to say, what happened to all my kid pictures? they're all somewhere disappeared in facebook. >> it appears narcissistic. "the new york times" writer used the word selfie-ish and it makes me wonder, you know, on the web we're move ago way from text, it's all about visuals and here's the other thing, it appears to be candid. candid shots but you decide what to put on. >> except where that one where i was forced to take a picture in curl lers so it would be funny. very true. i looked at the definition for the oxford american dictionary taken by onesup by a smartphone upload to social media. the etymology, self plus i-e. >> we'll probably see a lot more of this whether we like it or

not. still to come, the white house cracks down on photographers and meredith vieira as you've never seen her before. anyone have occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating? yes! one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day helps defend against these digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. live the regular life. phillips'.

[ male announcer ] aarp members get a lot. [ ding dong ] like discounts on gifts from 1-800-flowers.com... oh... [ male announcer ] savings on roadside assistance from allstate, and exclusive offers from avis, budget and budget truck. aarp has great deals all in one place. aarpdiscounts.com. popcorn, your favorite. [ male announcer ] find offers from regal cinemas, norwegian cruise line and walgreens. hotel savings at hilton, hyatt and best western. and everyday discounts from denny's and kellogg's. they're great! [ male announcer ] find deals on electronics and technology. and save on tickets to exciting concerts and shows. [ taxi whistle ] come on, guys, the millers just got their cards, too! [ male announcer ] check out the possibilities. aarpscounts.com. right now, sign up for roadside assistance from allstate and get $20 off the premier plan and a one-year aarp membership free! coverage includes towing, emergency service, and more. call or go online now.

>> as far as martin b ash ir and his comments, robert says who should be punished. i am no sarah palin fan but what he said is despicable trying to

get sarah palin and others to realize that the slavery term should not be thrown around lightly. enough apology. >> president obama is doing something special, with the administration declaring some events "private," such as with hillary clinton but releasing pictures or video shot by folks on the white house payroll. dozens of news organizations sent a letter saying officials are limiting access "as surely as if they were taking a hand over the camera lens." some t types are stiff but no one is in love with that accusation after appearance on a broadway show "watch what happens live." this is a wonderful production.

could we see that again? this promotion? i never saw her that way when she, worked for "60 minutes." >> love her but to tumble off a chair and...i could not concentrate on what they were saying. i had no idea. it was great. >> she said she was not drink or wasted as a few people nearized. >> wonder why. she was letting loose. >> we need more of that. >> have you done anything like that on live television? >> just briefly a white house photographer protests were shut out of the events and it is serious stuff. >> i followed jim long, he does fabulous work and takes behind the scene pictures and this is really hard for a photographer and it is almost president obama's version of his own

selfie. >> thanks. >> i'm chris wallace. breaking news the u.s. and its allies reach a nuclear deal with iran. >> for the first time in nearly a decade we have halted the progress of the iranian nuclear program. >> the world powers have recognized iran's nuclear rights. >> what do israel and skeptics in congress think of the agreement? we'll get first reaction from two key members of the senate foreign relations committee, bob corker and ben cardin. then, washington gridlock intensifies with a power grab in the united states senate as republicans accuse democrats of trying to divert attenti