great week and we will see you next on fox news sunday. howie: the president stiffs the white house correspondents dinner holding a rally in pennsylvania. >> our job is to put the best attainable version of the truth out there, period, especially now, mr. president. >> the media is not fake news. >> they are gathered together for the white house course yenlts dinner -- without the president -- correspondents dinner -- without the president -- because as you know

they are a disgrace. the washington media is part of the problem their priorities are not our priorities and not your priorities. howie: the president and the media blitz the airways over his first 100 days. we'll get san antonio spicer's take. >> we are coming up on 100 days and we have no big legislative victories. >> to say he has had no wins is not true. >> nobody in the media is willing to give this president credit. you have had a great 100 days in so many ways. they make it seem like the 1,000th day, not the 100th day.

howie: the white house revealed a sweeping tax plan. liz claman on whether the coverage is fair. ivanka trump take her first trip as a white house official. why are the media pundits beating up on the first daughter? this is "mediabuzz." the debate over the president's first 100 days reaching if fever pitch. i went to the wise house and sat down with sean spicer. you challenged the media obsession with the first 100 days. but you and your campaign pushed the message out,n why pin it on the press. sean: they are telling us they

are doing a story with the first 100 days, and we recognize the volume of incoming, made sure we did things like put together a web page that lists out all the things the president has done whether it's national security, keeping the country safe offend off radical islamic threats or the bored or -- or the border. howie: the president has a lot of accomplishments. sean rrp thank you. howie: and putting neil gorsuch on the court and regulations rollback. sean: neil gorsuch is the first president since 18819 to confirm in a hostile way -- what does the "washington post" do? they said yes, but.

but at the same time you look how long it has taken to get the cabinet done. the president selected neil gorsuch who is sow qualified. he kept a promise by putting those individuals out during the campaign and we got him through the senate in a i in a is is systematic way. and the va. if you can't see a doctor because the system is backlogged to that veteran that's an accomplishment. if you are talking about women pursuing an education in stem and engineering or math. howie: let's talk.

the you are advise that say donald trump is the least popular president at this stage in modern times. the president tweets fake polls. sean: in some cases these are the same polls that underestimated his win in the first place. if you look at the same polls that didn't understand the makeup of the country that got him 306 electoral votes. you recognize in a lot of cases the polling is misrepresenting a lot of folks out there. his popularity among those hop supported him is at an all-time high. they are misrepresenting -- they are showing the people who support him sill support him, but that number is still skewed.

that total population in the overall poll lied riding up to the -- overall poll leading up into the election. howie: avoiding government shutdown and the stop gap deal. the president stopped his insistence on funding for the border wall for this deal. he tweeted, don't let the fake media tell you i changed my position on the border wall. why fake news sea. sean: you just accurately portrayed what happened. at the end of september he will have more money to start the construction. they tried to talk about the fact that he wasn't getting certain things. the reality is there is a planning phase and a building phase.

we are going to do a lot to exist the -- to enhance the existing structures. nothing this president does can ever be applauded for him doing what he said he would do and getting results. there always has to be a caveat in the press. howie: there have been questions about mike flynn taking tens of thousands of dollars from russia. no matter how reporters phrase it you seem to go out of your way not to criticize general flynn at all. why is that? sean: it's not my job. what i'm trying to do is explain the facts as they are. general flynn who is a career army officer had a security clearance through his it in

career. the point people are trying to make is we should have done something different. every reporter who gets a clearance to come to the briefing room has to get a security clearance. a security check is a security check. general flynn went through the same security check every other government employee who has a security clearance went through. the accusation from democrats that an event in 2015 should have been picked up. that occurred while the obama administration was still in office. if democrat are concerned, it shouldn't be with us, it should be the system under the obama administration that processed that clearance.

for the democrats to take pot shots at us for a system that was in place that adjudicated his security clearance in 2015, they are misdirecting the question. howie: do you sense a change in attitude in if the press corps as a whole with this president from the beginning to now? any softening? shiewn shiewn sean: i think soms have done a good job who seek to get the facts straight or tell stories that are critical but fair. and lay out the facts as they are. but some continue to have an agenda and use the briefing to get on television or get clips on twitter. howie: the president told the

associated press he has stopped watching cnn and msnbc because he believes they are so unfair to him. my question is, has he really stopped? and do you agree they are egregiously unfair to the president. sean: i know he watches a lot of fox. a lot of the cases, they have -- they assume facts, they take narratives and continue them that are clearly not true. in a lot of cases it's the chyron along the bottom where they sensationalize something. but you are trying to drive viewership through a sensationalistic tactic. a lot of it is what they don't cover. howie: there are a lot of

journalists at cnn and msnbc. are you suggesting most of those are just unfair to president trump? sean: there are some at both that clearly are trying to sensationalize things, drive narratives that are not fair, or not consistent with the facts. for as much as they criticize us, it's interesting how many times they perpetuate a story that is not false, but they come back to what we meant was. they always have the benefit of the doubt, they rarely admit fault, but they are the first one to throw the stone and the last ones to admit fault. howie: "the washington post" reported the president said there is no way to get rid of you because the guy gets great ratings. people tune in. howie: is there pressure on you

to put on a compelling show? sean: my job is to do the best job i can every day. howie: isn't there some theater to the job because you have got the television correspondents poking and producing you? sean: they will cover it when they want. they won't cover it when they want. my job is to facilitate the president to tell his story, to amplify the message he has. that's it it's an honor to do it every day. it's a tremendous privilege. i will do the best job i can every day of the week. howie: sean spicer. thank you. let us know what you think at mediabuzz@foxnews.com. a split screen showdown. trump on the stump versus the

♪ there's nothing more important than your health. so if you're on medicare or will be soon, you may want more than parts a and b here's why. medicare only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. you might want to consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like any medicare supplement insurance plan, these help pick up some of what medicare doesn't pay. and, these plans let you choose any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. you could stay with the doctor or specialist you trust... or go with someone new. you're not stuck in a network... because there aren't any. so don't wait. call now to request your free decision guide and find the aarp medicare supplement plan

that works for you. there's a range to choose from, depending on your needs and your budget. rates are competitive. and they're the only plans of their kind endorsed by aarp. like any of these types of plans, they let you apply whenever you want. there's no enrollment window... no waiting to apply. so call now. remember, medicare supplement plans help cover some of what medicare doesn't pay. you'll be able to choose any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. whether you're on medicare now or turning 65 soon, it's a good time to get your ducks in a row. duck: quack! call to request your free decision guide now. because the time to think about tomorrow is today.

for years, centurylink has been promising fast internet to small businesses. but for many businesses, it's out of reach. why promise something you can't deliver? comcast business is different. ♪ ♪ we deliver super-fast internet with speeds of 250 megabits per second across our entire network,

to more companies, in more locations, than centurylink. we do business where you do business. ♪ ♪ howie: president trump made a great show of blowing off the white house correspondents dinner, holding a rally in hairn harrisburg instead. mollie hemingway, author of this cool little book, "trump versus the media." and joe trippi, fox news contributor. it was a form of counter programming against the white house. did it work? erin: i think it did.

comedian at that dish went after the media, too swieg need to tree store public confidence and get the trust back. but i want to read a line from the "new york times" story about this. mr. trump's thumb in the eye to the express corps felt manufactured. he spent much of the last week to the same reporters that he snubbed saturday night. this was the strategy and it works. howie: trump along with his staff decided to dominate the news and make the speech in part about attacking the press. mollie: when he announced he wasn't going to go to the dinner that was a technical knockout. and when he announced he would do a rally at the same time, it was bloodying the corpse.

it just felt different without having the president there. then to have the jokes made by the president, but at the dinner to see people congratulating themselves for being so important. they were so defensive about this. we are not fake news and they would give themselves standing ovations instead of thinking about why people think they are fake news. howie: bob woodward said we make mistakes and public trust is down. he did acknowledge in a way many others didn't. but all three cable news networks took trump's speech live. i don't want him for not wanting to spend the evening hobnobbing with journalists he doesn't much like. and he seemed very personal. joe require was planned --

joe: it was planned, it was strategy and it worked. the split screen is what he has been doing since he has been in office. project the media as fake and he's the one fighting for you. forget about anything said in the speech or at the dinner last night. the elites are having their fun time and he's talking to real people in pennsylvania. that's all it was. i wouldn't make a whole lot more out of it. howie: it wasn't like he went and gave a speech at the same time. he gave us the sound bites. i could be there, but i chose to be with you. erin: the "new york times" also reported that he was going to try to make real news at that event, but made news throughout the week and took away the reason yes was going to go. howie: the president was having fun doing it.

mollie: the people feel like they have been attacked by the media. to have someone bullying them. howie: usually there is a red carpet, you have celebrities coming in. this time journalists sheepishly taking pictures. there were no celebrities. it was partly because of trump, and it was a dinner that lacked a headline. up next, ivanka trump draws brutal coverage over a trip to germany. and the media's focus on fired national securit

howie: ivanka trump drew some boos in germany with angela merkel. >> one paper called you the first whisperer in a front page headline asking whether you will steer your father towards a more moderate course or be an accomplice. >> i don't like the intonation of that. i don't like the word "accomplice" in this context. i don't think that's productive. one of the things i value. my father first as a businessman and now as a leader of our country is he curates ideas. >> i see her becoming like hillary clinton in the worst ways. she's becoming increasingly unlikeable. she try to the get jobs she is not qualified for based on family connections.

>> i think if you have look at bobby kennedy's record some good things came out of that. you didn't let me get it out. you don't have to be sow rude. howie: i get that ivanka trump being on the white house staff is controversial. mollie: it seemed like a little bit of booing was elevated into a major story. people didn't do a good job of explaining she is an unpaid advisor. this is not hillary clinton running healthcare, this is someone going abroad and speak about women's issues. but at the same time she has her father's ear. she is someone who is so not

conservative and is clearly close to her father and what that means and how it affects policy. howie: if hillary clinton had won and put chelsea clinton on the white house staff, the media would be savaging her for that. joe: i think they would be. i'm not for that. spouses and children, even adult children should be left out except once she starts putting an end to these positions where they are making foreign trips, there are going to be questions. howie: questions are fine. >> but it would have gotten personal for sure with chelsea. i don't con don't getting personal. but there is a line that gets crossed where partisans starts to the play. but a lot of these questions happened on that panel in germany where she was asked. ways your role, are you making -- what else your role,

are you making money? and there were no good answers. howie: ivanka trump is seen more moderate than her father. how can she defend her father on his treatment of women. why isn't she pushing him more to the left. she is in sort of an impossible position because she is his daughter and she is on the staff. erin: i think she'll always defend her father. joe is right, there is so much interest in her. and she does have her father's ear. they won't say what her royals and she isn'titered. i think she handles herself beautifully on that panel saying the role is new, politics is politics. but she needs to say what she is going to do. and that would help the white house if she were to do that.

howie: we have a low-profile first lady who is for now remaining in new york. president trump blaming the networks for keeping his approval rating down.

>> a large group of hollywood actors and washington media are consoling each other in a hotel ballroom in our nation's capital right now. howie: president trump taking another whack at the white house correspondents dinner. there were virtually no

celebrities there, unlike the obama years. isn't the media's coverage of the first 100 days out of control? isn't a whole industry devoted to this arbitrary date? >> we need to get out of ritualistic coverage patterns. we do reports on how donald trump is doing every single day. that's why it makes the 100 days kinds of meaningless. sean spicer said one of the reasons donald trump is skipping the dinner is because it's the 100-day mark his presidency. howie: there is a huge media divide between pro-trump commend day towards who think it has been a fabulous 100 days and

anti-trump who think he has gone the virtually nothing done. mollie: he doesn't come from a military or political background. the framework doesn't quite apply. but there are many different ways we should be look at it. the electorate voted into office someone to be disruptive and throw a wrench in the works and make washington, d.c. go crazy. by that standard's doing well. howie: that's a good point. anyone from outside washington would have a learning curve. that's how the media judged these things when we do the score cards. joe: part of it is trump himself. he talks about all these things

he would do the first 100 days. and he put out a big list of accomplishments he has gotten done. but we are all making too much of it. in the end if healthcare repeal and replace happens 10 days from now -- howie: i want to play a sound bite from the president with martha maccallum a couple days ago. it's how he views the media coverage. >> at least the network you see with the exception of fox, fox has been fair. every network you see hits me on every topic. it's made up, like russia. for me to have great approval records in leave it all the faux press i think is amazing. howie: he's blaming the networks for the fact.

erin: he said he has great approval ratings and they are in the high 30s and low 40s. that's not particularly good. the media often don't give him a win when he deserves one and he's right. howie: it's not like three months from now they will make up. mollie: in the last month the coverage has gotten more serious. in the case of syria he got a little bit after high mark for a day. howie: he's been on the defensive with michael flynn, flynn got payments from russia and didn't disclose them. they have been trying very hard to get sean spicer to criticize flynn and he's determined not to do it.

>> reporters are latching on to it because they got out over their skis on this russia story. so they are trying to find something to cling on to. no question flynn made bad decisions. but it's also true he got security clearance. the speech that he gave quite publicly doesn't quite add up about the media coverage of this. their inability to understand the story very well. howie: one major issue is why wasn't he more thoroughly vetted by the trump transition team. the president blames on barack obama. joe: that's a bit of a stretch. you are talking about national security advisor. forget about the legal and security checks. there is also the political check, political vetting. does this pass the smell test

with the entire country. it just doesn't make sense that he can somehow pin this on the obama administration. >> he tried to equate it with the background checks reporters go through to get into the briefing room. that spin was terrible. >> unmasking and leaking of mike flynn is the worst thing in this investigation. and people are trying to deflect from that. so reporters should be focusing on this issue, the criminal unmasking of mike flynn. erin: i think joe is right, a background check is different from a security clearance, is different from politically vetting the person who is going to be national security advisor.

reporters are trying to ascertain why it is the trump administration say it's wrong. howie: you have to look at the unmasking. if you don't particularly like the president and you focus on these questionable payments and people on the periphery. if you do like this president you say the real story is the obama administration revealing or unmasking the identities of people associated with president trump. joe: you are right about who is following which story. there is a difference. but i think in the end the one thing the trump administration continues to do is to stall or stop or not -- won't say anything bad about flynn. and seems to be changing its story which is leading to more coverage of the story. howie: before we go, mollie.

i mentioned your new book "trump versus the media." mollie: it would be good if we had a media that served the public interest and could be trusted to tell us the truth and hold people accountable. they decided to go hard against donald trump and lost their ability to be credible. howie: the "new york times" says president trump's tax plan is all about helping the rich. liz claman is on deck.

howie: a sweeping five-page headline, tax overhaul for the wealthiest. joining us from new york is liz claman. liz, what do you make of that headline, not on the news analysis, but the news story as the single most important take away. liz: when steven mnuchin unveiled this wednesday, it was a trial balloon.

it's the tax plan. that left a lot of room for fleshing out -- you have got the skeletal structure, when you don't give the flesh, the media are connecting the dots, and they were either positive or negative about it. but i would say that to say it does not help the middle class is neither right nor wrong. you can't really tell. when they streamlined -- they got a lot of headlines saying the tax bracket have been streamlined. that's true. it went from 7 brackets to 3. but what they didn't explain is which income levels are attached to each one of those. howie: we are talking about a one-page plan. whether it explodes the deficit or helps the wealthy is hard because you don't have a set of

numbers. it is fair, you say, to be raising those questions. liz: the role of the american media has never been to wave the flag and say thanks for doing a good job. it's to question and probe. the skewing is what becomes a problem. where the media got it wrong by not questioning the deduction. deducting state and local taxes like they do now. that could be a slam on taxpayers in high-tax states like new york or california. you will have blue state republicans voting against this thing. peter king said you had me at hello until that point. howie: i see a number of stories that say if the alternative minimum income tax were repealed that would help donald trump.

or if the capital gains tax were repeals that would help trump. what about all the millions of americans who might benefit? liz: i don't check the articles. i check the comments to the articles. there were interesting comments across the nation. they said we have been doing the same thing for 8 years. let's just try this. but when you have steven mnuchin the treasury secretary saying the growth spurred from this will pay for the tax plan, we have seen that movie before, even george herbert walker bush said that's voodoo economics. i can tell you so-called dynamic scoring. that is make an assumption that the new policy will incentivize behavior that will cause growth. there is no guarantee of that.

but i believe we want to attract corporations from overseas. howie: there is scattered criticism about former president obama accepting $400,000 for a speech at wall street. do you think that story deserves more coverage than it's gotten. liz: if people criticized george w. bush after trump's situation after he is done with president that he would get that. it seems like the mainstream media would pounce on that. charlie gasparino broke that story monday, and as far as i could search, cbs news was the only one online tuesday. bill maher took until thursday. they don't want to give fox business credit, that's okay,

but call it like you see it. howie: jeff zucker firing back at his old friend donald trump

howie: jeff zucker said journalists are threatened at top of our own government. is the white house threat being journalism. >> i heard this, the first amendment is under attack. here is what i will say to that. press briefings with sean spicer are more democratic than they have been.

president trump has done an enormous amount of interviews. this week alone he has done interviews wit "washington post" washington examiner.news. "wall street journal," fox news. does that sounds like the first amendment is under attack. just because you are criticizing reporters doesn't mean you are attacking the first amendment. howie: the obama administration dragged reporters into the leak investigations and that was threatening journalism. >> james rosen. actions, not word are more important. that's more of a threat to the press. howie: lou dobbs just stated president trump's accomplishments are unmatched. an has been going after the other two cable news networks.

take a look at last night's rally. >> media outlets like cnn and msnbc are fake news. howie: likes fox, doesn't like the other two. does this impact the networks themselves? in terms of their coverage and attitudes toward the president. when you are getting beat up on all the time, does that get in your head? >> i think it does if he's mentioning them. howie: so the president of msnbc wants to be included in the attacks, it would give shim street credit? >> i love what trump did, those networks were forced to do the split screen. on one side, there is trump with

the american people. howie: the subscription base dropping, espn. >> i looked to bob lee. he said and i quote, there is no diversity of thought at espn. the public editor says there is a feeling that the company moved leftward and has had a stifle effect on discourse and affected its public face and product. i don't have to watch sports center in front of a tv anymore. that affects disney stock. howie: joe concha, nice to see you in person. hell freezes over. msnbc gives a show to a

conservative, and "the simpsons"

howie: for the first time in many years the network dominated by liberal commend day towards is giving a conservative a hosting move. gail king went on vacation with barack obama. the optics are awful for journalists who interviewed the bawms when they were in the white house. >> :my vacations are not political. i went on vacation with a great group of people and that's not a political statement. howie: when you are part of a morning show there is no such thing as a private vacation.

everyone is getting into the act of poking fun at donald trump. that includes the simpsons. >> i'm not replacing him. >> don't make him a suit. 100 days in office. so many accomplishments. my twitter following increased by 700 and finally we can shoot hibernating bears. my boys will love that. >> here is a bill you must read immediately. it lowers taxes only for republicans. >> can't fox news read it and i will watch what they say? >> no, you have to read it. howie: what's great about ask the simpsons," there are no sacred cows. we hope you like our facebook page, give us a like.

a lot of original content there. email us mediabuzz@foxnews.com. love to hear from you. see you next sunday. we f f f f f f f f f f f f f f this weekend. >> that does it for us. >> rick leventhal is here with "fox report." >> tensions escalating on the korean peninsula and the trump administration not ruling out military action. i'm rick leventhal in for harris faulkner and this is "fox report." the white house saying north korea has openly defied the international community after the regime conducted another failed missile launch this weekend. the sixth weapons test of the year as the administration appears to send mixed signals to south korea over anti-missile defense system. president trump would he would make seoul pay one billion dollars for it. here's what national security adviser hr mcmaster said today. >> the last thing i would do is contradict the president of the united states. what i told our sore