microscopes. have a great week and we'll see you next fox news sunday. fox business network. have a great sunday, everybody. >> on the buzz beater as the supreme court makes same-sex marriage the law of the land the media are in a celebratory mood. >> june 26th, 2015 will be the day remembered that same-sex marriage disappeared from our national conversation. from now on it's likely to be known just as marriage. >> across the country right now wedding bells are ringing in texas and alabama and georgia. places where some people thought this day might never come. >> it's generations of gay and lesbian people in this country who never were able to live the full life that they deserved. that other fellow citizens were able to. >> how much has sympathetic coverage helped shift public

opinion on this issue? are some in the press portraying conservative opponents as bigots? the charleston church shooting driving an emotional media debate from who is to blame from racist attack itself to whether south carolina's capital should take down the con fed -- confederate flag. >> it's no better than a swastika. >> a flag didn't kill those people. a ghoul did. we must care about this issue for the media is beating the drum. if you don't weigh in especially republicans, you're racist. >> as promised ted cruz punching back at the media for treating republicans unfairly and treating him as kind of crazy. >> look the mainstream media is not fair and impartial. they have served i believe, as the guard protecting barack obama and this presidency and no one is more ready for hillary than the mainstream media.

>> my exclusive sitdown with the presidential candidate. i'm howard kurtz and this is "mediabuzz." president obama hailed the supreme court's 5-4 ruling making gay marriage legal in all 50 states and much of the media were there with him. msnbc anchor thomas roberts who is gay introducing a steady parade of gay activists and celebrities. >> it's so compassionate of you to take on this charge and share your story, your marriage with your husband, but then also championing this so that other families can have dignity and respect. >> when you hear the president say to you that your leadership has changed the country, what is that like? >> i can't even put it into words. >> even some conservative

commentators were supportive of s.e. cupp telling her republican party to get with the program. >> it's hard to watch that and not get emotional. those people there are not perar pariahs. >> when the legislature can't do it the judges will expand personal liberty and that's the beauty of the constitution. >> voices of conservative critics were overlooked or muffled. >> kathleen yesterday's "the new york times" front page you can see it here equal dignity and 12 pictures of gay couples

kissing and embracing. is coverage of this landmark ruling fair to both sides? >> i'm not surprised by the coverage. it's a huge landmark decision clearly. the fact that there are another 40% of americans who are not in favor of this ruling and not happy about the outcome, i don't think that deserves the emphasis on the day of the ruling. it was appropriate that media covered it extensively and i'm a member of the media so i would have -- i would have treated it with that kind of headline and that kind of presentation i do believe. where do we go from here is very important. how the media handles questions that are remaining such as how do we protect religious liberty? what sort of things will be put in place to make sure that people are not persecuted on the other side for not feeling their faith permits them to support it in practical ways. >> i understand why people are celebrating and many people for many years thought it was

unthinkable. i didn't see one deissenting viewpoint on cnn and msnbc covered it all day. do journalists abandon objectivity on a personal issue? >> i'll put my bias out there. i support same-sex marriage and it was an historic dayal day. that's my bias speaking there. we need to hear other voices. i don't think people should be dismissed as homofobes. there are people with serious religious objections to same-sex marriage and deserve to have religious liberties protected. and even to make their argument that the court didn't rule correctly. there were four justices who didn't agree with the majority opinion. and even though i'm on the other side from them i think they are obviously smart people who have

an argument to make. >> the legal commentators gave attention to scalia and dissents from others. so from your point of view wes, is this a civil rights liberty and harder to cover as one side says this and other side says that? >> you see media organizations that made that decision. that's reflective in coverage of some of the media organizations changing online avatars to being rainbow flags. >> i'm glad you mentioned that. that includes the huffington post and buzz feed said there are not two sides to this issue. for 40% of the country there are two sides. >> i think the media organization on the front page of "the new york times" what you make front page not only for readers tomorrow but for readers 50 years from now. i think that a lot of people making decisions can remember and are currently as we hit 50 years after civil rights are being embarrassed by the fact when you pull up front page of

"the new york times" the day after mlk was killed the lead quote is from a segregationist. you have to understand both the journalism you're creating for your current audience and the journalism you create for history. maybe bull connor shouldn't be the lead quote in the story about mlk being assassinated. >> a great historical reference. >> it's a day to acknowledge the ruling itself. it's not the day to say -- >> when the supreme court rules on citizens united or something the media don't agree with you don't see this heavy focus on the proponents. >> you don't. i think what we're seeing is not all media organizations are the same clearly. there are certain media entities that have a specific point of view and there are very few old mainstream publications like our paper, "the post" that try to make a more objective approach

to the presentation of the news and "huffington post" you know where they'll go with it. >> but the editorial page says that we'll restrict letters to the editor or op-eds interest people that disagree because we don't want homophobic writings. that leads me to my other part of the question. at the beginning of 2012 president obama was not in favor of same-sex marriage. hillary clinton also evolved on this. doesn't the media have a responsibility to point that out? >> they do but they're not going to. this is one of the things that troubles people who are opponents of same-sex marriage. you only facto bigot when president obama switched sides. everyone who had that same view was a bigot. i get that people on the other side would say we never really thought barack obama opposed same-sex marriage. so if we did, maybe we would have called him a bigot.

again, if you're going to look at it from perspective of people who are laying out that front page they do sincerely believe there's no other side to this argument and it's the same as segregation and therefore they don't want to give credence to that. i would encourage them to meet people that are different than them and find out that there are some very lovely sincere, caring people who are not bigots who oppose same-sex marriage. >> that's of course true. everyone who opposes same-sex marriage is not a bigot. we can make that statement. >> some of you are too young to remember but in newsrooms in the '70s and '80s and early '90s, a lot of gay marriages were closeted because it was too controversial. even in television only in recent years have some anchors come out because it was seen as controversial. that i'm glad has changed. let me get to the confederate flag and intense debate that

followed shootings in the charleston church. wes, this question about the con confederate flag has flared up every few years. why has the media embraced the story so forcefully? >> this became an avalanche. snow snowball running down the hill. south carolina is an early primary state. always been discussed. in this case you had two different factors. one, a tragedy, a massacre. the idea that whether it be 9/11 or this tragedy or sandy hook in some ways there's bipartisan consensus that we feel as if something should be done. there should be some uniting something. not everyone agrees it should be the confederate flag in this case. in this case also with the conversation we've been having about race for most of president obama's second term incident after incident going back to trayvon martin and a constant flow of incidents, i think that we hit a saturation point where

we've been having this conversation. even people who otherwise might not want to have a conversation but having this conversation and most people were willing to say, listen, maybe this is an antiquated conversation to be having. if i'm not offended by this, i can understand why some may be. >> this is personal for you. you had family ancestors that fought for the confederacy. >> also on the union side. >> fair and balanced family. you're an outspoken opponent of flying of the confederate flag. are you conflicted because of your heritage? >> i don't think so. bottom line there's reason enough to remove the flag on the basis that it offends, intimidates, causes pain suffering, unhappiness among our neighbors, our very own neighbors in south carolina. it's on the state house grounds. it's public property. it's just bad manners frankly to have a symbol like that offensive to so many and offensive to whites too.

when i see a confederate flag on the back of a truck going down a rural road i distance myself from that truck. i don't want to get involved with whatever is going on. >> a lot of the media came together after those horrifying murders in that charleston church. there was a lot of healing that went on. i think television likes to find things to fight over. there was this broader debate over is there racism in society or one crazy guy who embraced the confederate flag. you got into it with bill o'reilly on this subject. do you think the media are playing a unifying role or divisive role? >> there are people in media playing different roles. some people are deviceivisivedivisive. it's a conversation we need to be having. too many people really believe as bill said that this is a fringe issue. i don't think it's a fringe issue. with the con fedfederate flag people say that doesn't have anything to do with the

shootings. whether it does or not, why is the flag there? if this is the reason we're going to talk about it it's a fine time. >> the flag is a symbol of those murders because he photographed himself clutching that flag. out of respect for those people -- >> even if that hadn't happened it's amazing that it took this long to have republicans standing up saying let's take the flag down. >> it's a base burning gesture on their part. i'm glad to see so many able to step forward. >> don't forget to send me a tweet. want to know what you think about these issues. when we come back more on the coverage of this debate including the media's treatment of republican candidates who seem to be sidestepping that confederate flag question and pbs postponed a series after admitting it made a huge error in handling ben affleck.

journalists asking many republican presidential candidates how they feel about the confederate flag. here are some examples. >> i guess the question is should government be sanctioning a symbol that a large chunk of residents believe is a symbol of racism? >> it depends on which level of government. if the state government of south carolina wishes to address an issue in their state, that's fine. >> i take the position that the federal government has no role in determining what the -- >> you're a candidate for president. do you not have a position on this at all? >> i'm not a south carolinian. >> there are many others. was it fair for the media to point out most candidates are sidestepping? >> i think so.

if you're going to run for president of the united states you're going to be asked about things happening in the united states. in some ways that's sidestepping by the candidates. this is just a states issue. just a states issue. gay marriage was just a states issue until this weekend and candidates were happily discussing it. it's important to ask these questions. one of the reasons we don't have a clip of hillary clinton being asked this is because she's doing less media and less press. for someone like huckabee or santorum out doing interviews every day -- >> that's a fair point. she's come down against the confederate flag. you were in charleston when president obama delivered the eulogy at the church for reverend clemente. i know you disagree with the president on many things but do you think the coverage captured that moment and it was a time when media coverage was able to come together in time of tragedy? >> absolutely. the media coverage reflected what was happening on the ground which is to say it was a very

calm -- people stood in line starting at 2:00 in the morning to get into this arena where the funeral services were going to take place. by 11:00 i was starting to see people pass out. a lot of people were dressed to go to a funeral. nicely dressed standing out in the blistering heat. a little drum beat in marion square. i don't know who it was. i never saw the drummer. there was this pulse to the space. there was no decisiveness. >> i mentioned hillary clinton. her husband put a confederate star on the arkansas state flag. it sounds like an issue that we were talking about with gay marriage where certain democrats have evolved. >> right. honestly i find this stuff tiring. what bill clinton did 25 years ago, i mean what were we doing

25 years ago? i mean really. i think it's where are we today and i'm sure 25 years ago i was against the confederate flag but i'm not from the south. where is hillary clinton today? where is bill clinton today? the idea that somehow this is the democrats flag which is something i keep seeing conservatives say when it's republicans who have blocked -- when legislatures voted on whether to take the flag down republicans said don't take it down. >> you can take that argument as far back as 1962 when the flag went up under a democratic governor. >> a lot of attention to a certain word president obama used on a podcast called wtf. let's take a look. >> racism we are not cured of clearly. it's not just a matter of not saying [ bleep ] in public it's not a measure of whether racism

still exists or not. >> i was surprised the president used that word and obscured his larger point. >> coverage of him using the word began to eclipse the point. i don't have a problem with him using that word in context. we have academic conversations where we have to talk like adults and sometimes that means talking about things that are unpleasant. >> thank you for a very adult conversation. ahead, ted cruz says press portrays republicans as stupid or evil or crazy. i pressed him on that. up next msnbc host who admits he distorted bill o'reilly's words.

pbs is postponing "finding your roots" after an issue with

ben affleck. this violated pbs standards and let affleck have improper influence over the content. the program's host has issued a statement of apology. a multi-year deal to continue as ceo of fox news and timing of the announcement is note noteworthy when 21st century announced that rupert would hand over the reigns. the question has been put to rest and top rated cable news network will remain under the man who created it in 1996. in this media fail one of the worst seasons in television is collective editing. bill o'reilly agreed with juan williams with the view the confederate flag is a symbol of hate but adding historical context. >> you know as well as i do that if represents to some bravery in the civil war because

confederates fought hard. >> represents to some. here's how msnbc's chris hayes twisted his words. >> bill o'reilly said it represents bravery of confederates that fought in the civil war. >> no, he didn't. after o'reilly hammered him for distortion hayes backed down. >> we shouldn't have attributed that view to him. fair is fair. we got it wrong and i apologize. >> and that was the right thing to do. >> ahead on buzz"mediabuzz," my exclusive sit down with ted cruz who says the media are in the tank for hillary clinton.

ted cruz has been aggressive in pushing back against the media in his presidential campaign. i sat down with the senator here in washington.

ted cruz welcome. >> thank you. >> i heard said ted cruz is very conservative. >> people in washington like saying that. it's interesting. the people who keep saying that are the people who keep getting their tails whipped. it's the consultants that keep running national campaigns and keep losing. i think the way we win -- i think 2016 is going to be an election like 1980. i think jimmy carter and barack obama have enormous similarities. i believe the way we win is as reagan said to paint in bold colors and not pale pastels. we need a meaningful distinction. washington consultants always say that the way to win is to go with a moderate establishment republican and to go with democrat light. our team are grassroots activists, folks on the ground. we don't have fancy consultants because they keep doing the same

thing. data and evidence free. >> i heard you say the media stereotype republicans as either being stupid or evil but there's a new category for you which is crazy. that's a heavy charge. are you saying this is true of all journalists many journalists, most journalists? >> it's true of an awful lot. mainstream media is not fair and impartial. they are protecting barack obama and this presidency. i think no one is more ready for hillary than the mainstream media. >> the relationship between hillary clinton and press corps has not been that great. if that's true and you think most mainstream media give a tougher time to republicans, that would seem to be a big disadvantage for you and you spend a lot of time talk to liberal outlets. media will go after any republican. it's one of the things where you see some washington republicans who think the media are going to be friendly are going to be

nice. you have to understand these are folks by in large with a partisan agenda. you have to explain your views with a smile but be willing to go and make the case when they come after you because they will come after you. there are too many republicans who when media comes after them they're not prepared. >> are you saying that up until now hillary clinton has had an easy time from the press? >> absolutely. if any republican did what she's doing right now, she doesn't take any press interviews and the press is docile. if you look -- >> the press has investigated her on e-mail server on clinton foundation on speaking fees i would say she's not gotten an easy ride. she may get an easier ride in the future. >> howard how many criminal investigations are ongoing into hillary clinton right now? >> you can answer the question. >> to the best of my knowledge none. >> that's not the press' fault. >> it is. let's say a republican admitted

to conduct that on its face violates federal law and may well violate criminal statutes. the press would be in an outrage. why hasn't the department of justice begun investigating? she was the sitting secretary of state and she received millions of dollars from foreign nations, number one, directly into her foundation and number two, even more troubling, millions of dollars from foreign nations paid to her husband and what was presumably their joint checking account while she is sitting secretary of state. now, that would on its face seem to violate federal laws if not federal criminal laws and what does it say about how partisan the obama justice department would begin to investigate if she violated the law but also that the press is sitting quietly. if this were a republican every day on every sunday show there would be a special prosecutor watch.

and yet the press quietly says it's just the clintons being the clintons. >> your problem is not just so-called liberal media. "wall street journal" editorial page has been hostile. so you're getting it from both sides. >> there is no doubt that when you stand up and try to change washington you get hit from all directions. you get hit from democrats. you also get hit from republicans. and i've said many times i think the biggest divide we have politically is not between republicans and democrats. it's between career politicians in both parties and the american people. >> a couple examples of you dealing with the press. when you spoke in new hampshire and there was a 3-year-old girl in the audience. headlines were you said the world was on fire. did that bother you the way that was framed? >> it was silliness. it's an example. we were talking earlier today about the difference between local press and national press.

so that happened the week we launched the campaign. liberty university we launched. heidi and i go to iowa new hampshire, south carolina. every place we went was standing room only crowds. local new hampshire press reported that the crowds coming out for us were much larger and in many instances double the size of the other candidates double jeb bush double scott walker. local reporters couldn't figure it out but that was news that energy and excitement we were seeing on the ground. very same event a national reporter was there and the headline that comes out of the identical event wasn't cruz gets double the crowd other republicans get. instead, the headline was cruz comes to new hampshire, startles a child, and snubs a goat. it was so silly. >> you did an interview and you were asked your favorite cuban food and music and asked you to speak in spanish and later

apologized. he said he didn't need to. >> i like mark. he came under criticism for that. he's one of the fair minded journalists. >> there are fair minded journalists? >> i said one of the more. >> press says jeb bush is the front runner. do you buy that? >> it's the press speaking through their vision. they look at moderate establishment republicans and they say, gosh they sound the most like me. they share the most values with me a liberal reporter. that seems very reasonable. you know what? people are fed up with washington. we need leaders not who will simply manage the decline of this country and manage washington and keep growing the beast that is washington. we need leaders who will take on the washington cartel and take on democrats and republicans and side with the people. >> more of my conversation with ted cruz in a moment. later, has the conservative

press turned on john roberts for helping save obamacare?

during our interview, i asked ted cruz about a controversy that erupted when interviewed by an anchor. >> you had an exchange with a reporter in texas who asked if you had an animosity against gay

americans. you pushed back against that hard. >> we were talking about bias in the media. it was a good example where this fellow was a local network reporter. he asked me about gay marriage. i said i don't support gay marriage under the constitution marriage is a question for the states. he asked me the question again and i gave the answer again. he asked the question over and over again and then it became do you have an animosity toward gay americans? he asked that question six or seven times. it was apparently the only issue this reporter wanted to ask about. i said what is it about the left? i include the mainstream media in this that you're obsessed with sex that it's the only thing that matters to you and he kept firing back asking that question over and over and over again. i was talking at the time as it moved on i began talking about foreign policy and the need to stand up and fight and defeat radical islamic terrorism. he comes back with do you have an animosity against gay

americans? when this guy asked the question six or seven times, i ended up responding by asking do you have an animosity toward christians? you study the media. there's a reason for answering as i did. some said why didn't you say no? the answer should be an obvious no. the reason is and you know this well. there's a trap in politics that when someone denies something, when nixon says i'm not a crook, everyone says he's a crook. >> that's the headline. whether the charge is valid or not gets lost. >> exactly. i wasn't going to give him that attack headline that question was designed to get me to deny it so then he could run as the headline. he denies this. >> senator cruz thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> that was done before the supreme court ruling on gay marriage. if you go to our new redesigned

homepage we will post other exerts from our interview with ted cruz. coming up a closer look at coverage of the supreme court and john roberts over the blockbuster rulings on gay marriage and obamacare.

first came the dramatic supreme court ruling upholding government subsidyies for obamacare. the next day the decision legalizing same-sex marriage during saturation coverage. and having special residents for gay commentators. joining us a former spokesman for the bush administration and in new york democratic

strategist julie. rick you are a republican. you're a gay conservative. you're also a supportive of same-sex marriage. you worked for george w. bush who a little over ten years ago supported a bill to ban same-sex marriage. doesn't this put you in an ak awkward position? >> calling them a gay conservative is irrelevant characterization. we don't call you the straight moderate interviewer. i think you will of that is designed to distract or minimize someone's opinion. the focus should be correctly on the fact that anyone who wants to participate in marriage makes marriage stronger. you look historically at all of the couples who are mixed race that want to participate in marriage. they were minuteimized told they couldn't do it. regardless if you are gay or straight it's an important institution and debate. media have a responsibility to talk about the debate without minimizing people and their

views. >> i agree with that. let me jump in here. you wrote on your website that debate in the republican party has been hijacked by those who wish to dictate their belief on others. that makes it sound like it's a faction. every republican presidential candidate the tone has varied has come out against the supreme court ruling. hijacked or do you see this as a problem for the republican party? >> first of all, that piece is actually on foxnews.com. i think it's really important just to highlight the consistent conservative philosophy. what i was trying to say and a lot of people agree with is that if you want to be a consistent conservative, if you want to be somebody who says government shouldn't be involved in our decisions and if you want to be a consistent conservative by saying individual liberty and individual choices are what matters to republicans whether it's about school choice or taxes or property rights it's very important to be consistent when it comes to gay marriage. this is a decision that each

individual gets to choose. i get to choose who i get to marry. you don't get to choose who i get to marry. >> i don't want to choose who you get to marry. >> i don't want to choose who you get to marry. government should stay out of it. >> president obama hailed the decision. hillary clinton hailed the decision. do you think the president by in large was rooting for this 5-4 decision legalizing gay marriage in all 50 states? >> the liberal press was and mainstream press was and some conservative press was not. i want to pause for a second and say to my conservative friends, an absolutely amazing column is on foxnews d.o.t..com and i urge everyone to read it. this is not a political football as much as it is for a lot of people including me a civil rights victory. to the extent that your earlier guests talked about the quotes

after martin luther king's death or interracial marriage being legalized, this transcends transends politics and becomes a matter of -- >> you say it's a civil rights victory and i understand why you say that but it sounds like therefore it shouldn't be debated when still 40% of the country is opposed or supports traditional marriage. >> you can respect the views of those people and certainly i respect their views on it. i have to vehemently disagree and vehemently stand by the fact that you had people in the '60s on loving versus virginia was legalized who drastically opposed interracial marriage all i way i believe into the '90s just because you have a substantial minority or even majority of people did i agreeing doesn't mean that those of us who believe it's a civil rights issue can't continue to say it's a fundamental issue of freedom and conservative value that ric talked about and that's what it is. >> can i jump in for a quick second. i think it's really important, you know we can have our

personal opinions and i don't know how julie feels. i don't feel like i'm a journalist. i'm, you know, a commentator who has an opinion. >> right. >> i think it's really important that media organizations, including fox and others have a healthy debate. journalism is really dying when it comes to these debates. look i'm on the same side of the supreme court on this decision but i think the media coverage was atrocious. they have made fun of people including members of my church and my family who disagree with this decision and they have made them seem like somehow they are not only bigots as kirsten powers has said but even more than that and i think you see news organizations across the board not having a healthy debate. journalism is dying, and it's not just on this issue. it's on a variety of issues where -- >> i want to get to the obamacare ruling in our remaining minute. julie, there's been a lot of criticism, very personal against john roberts for writing this obamacare ruling. it's the second time he's kind of saved obamacare, but he said

when he was confirmed as a supreme court justice he would call balls and strikes. why is this so personal? >> i guess it's personal because the very people who opposed obamacare and oppose it had vehemently are the same people who pushed for john roberts to be confirmed and went to bat for him with the conservative movement and believed that they were getting a conservative and i think a lot of them feel that yet another bush president, the first was father george herbert walker bush, and the second a son put a supreme court justice on that was supposed to be a conservative and turned out in their eyes anything but and that's why you're getting the backlash from the conservative journalists and conservative media against john roberts. >> i think it's different in that john roberts' judicial philosophy has been random so we don't know where he stands anymore. he's been an inconsistent conservative and, therefore, his writings have been very confusing. >> got to go. ric and julie, thanks very much for an interesting debate. >> thank you. >> still to come your top tweet, univision's president compares donald trump to a mass murderer and the british

teenager who put one over on the "new york times."

escapee david sweat shot and captured by officers bringing him in alive. it involved a massive manhunt with more than 100 officers tracking down richard matt and david sweat since they broke out of a prison on june 1st. here's what we know. the search was brought to a close in the town of constable, new york just two miles from the canadian border. tick-tock now. shortly after 3:00 a police officer spotted david sweat walking down the street. he