howie: a firestorm of controversy after buzzfeed published unverified allegations. >> buzzfeed is a pile of garbage. writing it, i think they will suffer the consequences. they already are. >> it's highly outrageous and irresponsible for an open blog to drop false information on the internet days before he takes the oath of office. >> i see buzzfeed taking a

slippery and dangerous slope. >> the two outlets going with this and releasing it are continuing to make the same mistakes they made in the runup to this election, that's letting them put their bias in the way of getting the information out there. >> as far as cnn going out of their way to build it up, that's not true, that's false. >> cnn never did that. we never provide one detail to that dossier. howie: why are some democrats embracing john lewis and calling trump's presidency illegitimate. we'll do a deep dive on media ethics in the trump era.

martha maccallum on covering the trump administration the first 100 days. this is "mediabuzz." the most fiery clash yet between the incoming president and the media began with a report that u.s. intel used an unsubstantiated document to brief donald trump. >> the top intelligence officials provided information to the president-elect and president obama about russian efforts to compromise president-elect trump. howie: buzzfeed published all 35 pages of unsubstantiated rumors.

the trump team fought back. >> i think this is a big moment form the media. are we going to continue to cover fake news and unsubstantiated reports in the event it may be true? it's unsubstantiated, uncorroborated. howie: there was a remark panel moment when trump criticized cnn when jim acosta repeatedly interrupted attempting to ask a question. in president-elect, since you are attack our news organization can you give us a chance. >> not you. >> you are rude, don't be rude. i'm not going to give you a question. you are fake news.

how very joining us now is the incoming white house press secretary sean spicer. we just saw you kick off that press conference with harsh criticism of cnn and buzzfeed. that became the come snanlt story line. was that your plan? >> no, our plan was to talk about the issues of the day, to talk about the remarkable and extraordinary steps he had taken. to answer or respond to any of the questions the media had. it's unfortunate that one reporter was so rude and inappropriate and disrespectful. i think he owes an apology not just to the president-elect. but also mara li aliason. he called on her. and the idea that he would shout

her down because he felt he deserved the question when another cnn reporter had gotten the question. whether it was a republican or democrat, or bill clinton. you do not treat the president-elect or any major figure in that way it's childish and disrespectful. howie: you spoke to jim acould too afterwards and told him that if he did it again he would be kicked out. >> he said i came up to him during the press conference and told him if he asked a shard question he would be rude. that's not true. event had ended. the president-elect had gone up in the elevator. i walked over to him and said your behavior was unacceptable. that was highly unacceptable the

way you spoke to the president-elect. he continued to argue with me. i said i don't agree with you. i said i want to be clear. if that happens again i will have you removed, the same way we would remove a protester. he went on television and tried to make it about asking tough questions. the idea he took no responsible for his beshave year was highly -- for his behavior was highly unacceptable. howie: should you make a distinction between buzzfeed and cnn which reported donald trump had been briefed on this. >> cnn came out strongly about events that occurred that weren't true. they somehow have sources. there were sphonl four members of the intelligence community in that room.

they claim they had multiple sources. either they were getting it from the director or getting it from somebody who is one-off, two-off, three-off. they posted the story. then buzzfeed because of the cnn story posted the story. it became a vicious circle saying it's not our fault. it's a pretty ridiculous argument to maker that they didn't even -- argument to make that they didn't encourage people to look at that. howie: john rules said he doesn't consider president-elect trump to be a legitimate president. he's endorsed by media anchors. >> i think john rules is an

icon -- i think john lewis is an icon in the civil rights voting era it's disappointing when someone who has worked so hard to talk about voting rights and get people to talk about voting rights and participation in the election. then he turns around and and talk about the vote to be illegitimate. howie: donald trump goes on twitter and says lewis should spend his time helping the people in this district. >> ryan might want to start with how this went down.

st. louis went on chuck todd's show and said president-elect trump is illegitimate. john lewis attacked donald trump. donald trump has a trite respond to that. howie: we can debate whether he responded to harshly. >> these reporters forget how these events started. it's john lewis who is questioning the legit math ma i or -- questioning the legitimacy of the election on november 8. howie: there has been a lot of sharp criticism. a lot of people want to come to these briefings, but the idea of moving the white house press

corp out of that space would take them away from access to other press officials and the press would see that as a hostile move. >> the demand to cover donald trump and interest is off the charts. we saw that at the press conference at trump tower. right not you briefing room in the white house sits 60 people. let's say you can get 70 people in there. change is difficult. but sometimes changing be better. we are look at spaces in the white house that will allow more journalists to cover. i think sometimes change is scary. the white house is 18 acres. it's the house itself. but what's the down side? let's try it for the first few weeks.

maybe we see what the demand is. i'm working with reporters. the idea you can involve more people and be more transparent should be seen as a welcome change. i think the idea that we can bring more people into this process. but this is about greater accessibility, more people in the process. there is a lot of talk radio and bloggers who can't fit in because they are not part of the washington elite media. but to allow them to ask the president a question is a good thing. howie: this was the briefing that news organizations are avoiding. what did you think. >> "saturday night live" used to be funny.

it went from being funny to just bad. they are not jokes. they turn off a lot of people it's not what you are tuning in for. it used to be funny and lighthearted. it's over the top. if someone has done this to the obamas there would be outrage. now everyone laughs by the on the left. it's not funny, it shows "saturday night live" has gone from being funny to being a left wing hit piece. howie: a closer look at buzzfeed's role in publish a dossier full of rumors.

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howie: cnn, donald trump, and the unsubstantiated dossier. the deputy pin editor of the washington times and juan williams. buzzfeed admits the allegations are unproven and had serious doubts about it. did it hurt the reputation of buzzfeed and journalism. >> journalism for sure. it makes all of our jobs harder. they said it' it's unverified ad potentially unverifiable. those days are tough but you have to let it go. howie: did donald trump go too

far calling buzzfeed a failing pile garbage? >> absolutely not. the press has been against donald trump since the day -- since the say he entered this race. next day it went out and sold "pile of garbage" t-shirts on its website. howie: people out there say you don't like trump and this is the kind of thing you did. but many news organizations had this information and did not publish it. >> he was highly praising of the "new york times" saying they did not go forward with this information. and when they published something about it being given

to president-elect trump and president obama, they said it was unsubstantiated information they could not verify. donald trump con glad it with what buzzfeed did to what cnn did. they thought they better stick together as donald trump comes forward. you could divide cnn from buzzfeed. it looks like the house of card is coming apart on the press side. >> i asked sean spicer about that. you can criticize cnn's decision. i wasn't comfortable with it. but i didn't do it. buzzfeed didn't put the allegations out there. ben smith doingedly defending his decision to go ahead with the story. here he is with nbc's chuck

todd. >> i know this was not your intent. but you just published fake news. >> we published a dossier. >> why is that an unfair description? >> i think people like to throw fake news around with stories they don't like. howie: what do you make of ben smith's argument that elites all knew by the and we are just sharing it with the masses. >> i think what ben smith did was make a business decision. i know ben smith, i like him, he's a good journalist an get a lot of information. buzzfeed has had quite a lot of access to president obama. a bus feed video they did of president obama. howie: when president obama gave

his farewell speech there were a bunch of tweets from buzzfeed political staffers saying i can't stop crying. i'm so sad. >> their journalists have done a good job. some topnotch organizations have taken their topnotch reporters. they have broken a lot of news over time. but buzzfeed is not going to get the same access to president trump. buzzfeed is saying we have access to the same information. i think he was trying to show he can play in the game. >> if he had the same information on hillary clinton you better believe he would have never ran with it. >> that i don't agree with. i think he made a business decision. howie: during the campaign there was a controversy about what buzzfeed staffers were saying online. they said it was okay to call

trump a mendacious racist. >> if this was about hillary clinton or bill clinton -- and there have been a lot of salacious rumors about him. his team was lazy. they just printed the garbage they got. journalists are suppose to be thorough and accurate. they should have three anonymous sources to uphold the press protocol. they threw the whole thing away. >> what we come back to on buzzfeed. david corn wrote about this in october without going into the explicit details. a lot of this stuff was being handled to federal investigators. in some cases by republicans for further investigation. it raises questions at what

point do you say to the american people there is this document. it affects your incoming president but we are not going to tell you about it because it's unsubstantiated. howie: you are sympathetic to it. >> no, what you are saying is right. if you have the story, go with it. but there is a story to the effect that these documents existed. howie: jim acosta interrupting donald trump. sean spicer had some harsh words. was acosta out of line? >> i ran into jim acosta coming here the other dane he seeped to feel fine with it. his point was he was just trying to get a question. howie: you have no constitutional right to be called on. >> after he was ignored a couple times he should have let this

go. this happened in the rose garden with president obama by a "daily caller" reporter. and the press said they were shocked. >> i have never seen a press conference like that with a president or president atlantic. someone described it as pandemonium. howie: keep it going for 30 seconds, it seemed on the rude side. so many critics are ripping donald trump for not divesting his business interest. as i was researching my family tree, i discovered a woman named marianne gaspard. i became curious where in africa she was from. so i took the ancestry dna test to find out more about my african roots. ancestry really helped me fill in a lot of details.

howie: look at west front of the capitol, rehearsals are taking place for the inauguration. fox news will have coverage all

day long. donald trump says he's not divesting himself from his global company and there was no shortage of critics. trish regan, host of the "intel report." trish, the media consensus is trump did very little to resolve the potential conflict of interest because he's not divesting his ownership, it's going into a trust that won't be blind. is the press being fair? trish are no, the press doesn't know what it's talking about when it comes to business. i can tell you in dealing with members of the mainstream media. they don't know two things about economics or business. and in some what is perhaps they are intimidated by it, and in other ways they resent it.

people on the left in journalism look at the business and say you must have done something wrong to be that successful and have that much money, therefore big business is bad. let's not forget how much they hate, december spice donald -- d trump. there is no way you can easy divest yourself without running into trouble. howie: i don't think every journalist despises donald trump. trish: i'm talking about some of the journalists on the left, they don't like him. howie: donald trump said he will have an ethics compliance

advisor. but he will be paid by the trump organization so journalists criticized that. trish: they will continue criticizing. but if he said okay, donald trump is going to sell his business. it's not the same as saying i have a stock portfolio where there is a liquid market and you can sell all your shares and get the market value for it. if he divests and sells that business it would take years, it would and massive distraction from anything we wanted him doing in the presidency, and you run another risk. what if the chinese said we are going to buy that building from him and maybe we think it's worth $700, $800 billion. but we'll offer a billion because we for whatever reason we are going to pay more.

you run the risk that you open yourself up to far more criticism than you are dealing with right now. in that the chinese could be seen making a down payment on the business. he's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. the best thing he can do is step away, let family members, his kids, who have been trained to run it. americans knew he was a big businessman when they put him into office. they knew it would bring on these challenges. howie: of course there should be scrutiny of these things. but is there a mindset among some journalists that donald trump who is already pretty rich, is going to use this job to make himself wealthy? >> i think anybody who becomes the president of the united states, their stock goes up. anything that trump does, provide he's successful.

if his presidency is a disaster, he could hurt his brands. if he's successful and point to economic growth in this country, i think it's all about how he goes down in history. he will increase his value on his business it's the same as hillary clinton and bill clinton increasing their value. howie: some in the media are embracing congressman john lewis and his branding donald trump an illegitimate president.

howie: the media were slow to react when john lewis told chuck todd because of russia's interests force in the election he won't attending the election and the liberals loved it.

>> i do not consider him a legitimate president. >> coming from john rules it resonates even more than it would from anybody else. howie: back with the panel. if in 2009 aeteran republican congressman, a prominent republican congressman said barack obama was not legitimate, how would the media react? >> it would be a circus for going after a black president. here you have representative lewis who has worked for equal rights and equal votes among the american public. discrediting 60 million people who voted for donald trump, saying their vote doesn't matter because donald trump is not

legitimate. howie: yesterday's "new york times" there is not a work about congressman lewis' remarks. it wasn't considered to be something to be dealt with until we gone it reaction of it. prime time actors were sympathetic to congressman lewis' remarks. what explains this not being a front page story? >> we heard a number of liberals say similar things. i think there might have been a case where the media might be desensitized to this because so many democrats have complained. but it's clear john rules is obviously no back-bencher in congress. this is a big deal. the post has a great story by abby phillips on this.

she quotes. >> it's more about the presidency and not about the man. howie: what is your reaction to the coverage? you said donald trump has proven his legitimacy. >> this week when he goes off on anarnold schwarzenegger and merrill stretch, and he's in the weeds is this for real in the man who will be president of the united states. question for me. and i disagree with what john lewis said. there is no question donald trump will be sworn in on friday and he will be the chief executive our federal government

and the commander-in-chief. the media wouldn't have covered this because john lewis is a civil rights icon. think are thinking is this the black community and john lewis taking on donald trump. howie: when trump comes back on twitter and says all talk, no action, referring to the congressman from atlanta. he was attacked first, he was called not legitimate by a leading democratic congressman. is john lewis immune from criticism because of what he did 50 years ago? >> i don't think anyone should be immune from criticism. >> i think it left views him as a conduit in which to get their message across. also, it's also to note that john lewis is fundraising often

do *'s comments and so is the dnc. >> this remind me of when meryl streep hijacked the golden globes. calling trump and his people on the carpet. madonna said she feels like she has been dumped by a lover and stuck in a nightmare. he's counter punching. >> the question is, is it effective. as a matter of communication, no doubt, because he goes around the press in delivering his message. is this a matter of punching down? is it the case he should be preoccupied with meryl streep? is it the case that the president-elect needs the respond when questions about jim comey, the questions about the

russians -- howie: meryl streep, barbra streisand, do they risk alienating their fans who don't share their political views? >> yes. how brave was it speak among your peers. as a conservative i laugh about it. howie: i disagree with the president-elect on meryl streep being overrated as an actress. we have martha maccallum covering the trump administration. but in the wake of this buzzfeed debacle

howie: donald trump rips cnn on their unsubstantiated dossier. >> the denial of real news has been a pattern for the trump campaign and the trump transition. they don't like the news that's being reported and they go after the messenger. howie: joe, what do you make of the way jim acosta and cnn are pushing back. >> i want to talk about acosta's

behavior during the press conference. i wonder yes thought he was more privileged than the other 250 reporters in that room yelling at the president-elect that he be given a question. cnn reserved 8 seats for themselves in the front row effectively boxing out other news organizations that wanted that access. cnn's behavior, and jim acosta making himself the story. howie: everybody tries to grab seats. neil monroe was denounced for doing this. >> it is the right thing to do. excuse me, sir. it's not time for questions,

sir. not while i'm speaking. i didn't ask for an argument. i'm answering your question. it is the right thing to do for the american people and here's why. howie: a little difference in the reaction to that incident and this incident with president-elect trump. >> president obama, in his first 360 who press conferences, 22 of those 36 types he did not call upon fox news, the number one rated cable news network in the country. when we hear cnn saying i want to be ask a question, they will be treated the same way by donald trump the way president obama treated fox news. it's interesting stuff that fox was only able to ask 14 questions in president obama's first 36 questions. howie: doesn't cnn have a point.

it didn't publish any details from the salacious unsubstantiated document. >> they were much more cautious and we should applaud cnn for that. but would i have gone ahead with that story in the first place? i don't know. it gave "buzzfeed" the green light to go ahead with it. interesting information getting out before big events. before the first presidential debate, magically in a "new york times" reporters mailbox his 1995 tax returns magically show up. now one day before his press conference. highly anticipated, this information is suddenly reported getting out when every news organization had it for months.

i look to thursday to see what other surprise news event will be quoted. the "new york times" and other news organizations had this salacious dossier, did not publish it, and they made the right call, you do not put on the air anything you can't confirm. it's called journalism. after the break, martha maccallum on the challenge of covering the first 100 days of the new administration's policies.

how report first 100 days is a crucial period. america's news room co-host martha maccallum is launching a

new show at 7:00 p.m. eastern to chronicle those first 100 days. martha maccallum welcome. usually it's a slog with the president trying to push legislation through congress and get his nominees confirmed. why will this be a different story? martha: i think there is so much at stake where people are invested in this. the question has hung out there, will he become more presidential when he takes that oath of office. i think the weight of that moment will weigh even on donald trump. will it stop him from tweeting in the early morning hours? i sincerely doubt it. lou: you talked about holding trump and the new administration accountable. he promised a lot of things, tax cuts, more spending on infrastructure, dealing with

healthcare and military spending and protecting medicare. those things may come into conflict. martha: you think back to the period of the campaign and picture those thousands of people who showed up for him everywhere he went. those are the people we want to talk to. are you getting what you thought you were going to get from this man? howie: you want the voice of voters -- martha: it won't be just pun did. we want to talk to people in mie country. howie: based on the tone of the transition coverage. do you feel media in general are rallying against the president-elect? martha: if you look at meryl streep and what she had to say, there is clearly fear and anger in certain elements of society.

i think the smack him across the head reality of what this man pulled off has sunk in. but this has going to be a dug-in fight. howie: you mentioned donald trump's doft bdonaldtrump's gov. is the media making too much of his tweets? shouldn't cover his tweets, driving the news agenda. i don't know how you don't give a lot of weight to the words of the president-elect. martha: i think it's his version of fdr's fireside chat. it was like the people who lined the halls waiting to talk to abraham lincoln. i do not expect any changes. i think he will keep tweeting. howie: challenging for journalists to fact check these

things in real-time. sometimes that's off a little bit. martha: you hold him to the truth of the tweet he puts out. we have seen him revise it. i think in a strange way there is an acceptance of sort of exaggeration with donald trump that we don't have with former presidents. i think everybody takes a look at it and sees where he goes from there. it's his method of communication. howie: are you going to miss bill hemmer? >> i will miss working with him for a few months. thanks, howie. still to come, a few words about my own visit to trump tower. pick

howie: on a personal note, i met

with president-elect trump monday which means walking past the press corp. a chance to get a better idea of donald trump and his top aides was invaluable. he has the same blunt spoken style in private. and he closely monitors everything the meade yea says about him. even when he's dealing with weightier matters. he does not see himself each broiled in a permanent war with the press. and yes i asked for an interview. and i asked the vice president-elect for an interview as well. i'm howard kurtz. thanks for joining us. what did you think of the sean spicer interview? also, bat me around on

twitter@howard kurtz. we'll be back after the inauguration. we'll see you sunday >> back here next week. >> see you then. "fox report" up next. harris: this is the week the inauguration of donald trump as the 45th of the united states, what will a president trump have? we have the answer from an interview made public, watch. president-elect donald trump detailed the first executive orders he will sign once in the white house. he told the times of london they'll focus on strengthening our nation's borders and could include what he calls extreme vetting for those entering america for parts of the world known for islamist terrorism. >> people don't want to have other people coming in and destroying their country. and you kn,