for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have a sudden decrease or loss of hearing or vision, or an allergic reaction, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis. howie: on buzzfeed this sunday an explosion in the media over the james comey testimony. >> the president brings in the f.b.i. director and says please stop your investigation. if that isn't an obstruction of justice, i don't know what is. >> if you are a republican i think you have got specific things you can defend the president on.

but atmospherically this is a horrendous day for the president. >> politically i thought it was damaging to the president. >> today was predicted to be the worst day of the presidency and donald trump knows it. >> they wanted watergate and they got a water balloon. everything they learned we already know. howie: the president hitting back at a news conference. >> no collusion, no obstruction. he's a leaker, and frankly james comey confirmed a lot of what i said and some of the things he said just weren't true. howie: the media hardly buying his claim of complete vindication. comey also going after the "new york times." >> that report by the "new york times" was not true, is that true? >> in the main, it was not true.

i asked a friend of mine to share the content of the memo with a reporter. howie: leaking, does that undermine comey's credibility? does the media care about the allegations about tv's popular dad or are they treating it as old news. this is "mediabuzz." it wassed a buildup of watergate or portions in which the former f.b.i. director made a series of allegations against the president. >> the admin then chose to defame me and more importantly the f.b.i. saying the organization was in disarray. those are lies, plain and simple.

i don't know if the conversation with us an evident to obstruct, i took it as a very disturbing thing. howie: joining me, gillian turner, mollie hemingway, and juan williams. is the media takeaway from this hearing that it was a terrible, horrible day for donald trump to be called a liar by his former f.b.i. director? gillian: it was an earli' christmas gift. 19 million people apparently tuned in to watch this. journalists had things to write about for days leading up to it. it was an interest-generating bonanza. that's the biggest thing for the media. the big picture is this is like

a news story relating to the administration that was of super bowl-like proportions. howie: the comey indictment of donald trump happened to match the media narrative that the president is engaged in some political cover-up. mollie: this network and on the for networks ran countdown clocks by makes the journalistic impulse to get something major out of this. it wasn't necessarily what the media were expecting. you had the story lines going into this that there was collusion between russia and trump. that was completely blown up by the testimonies. but there is another story line. the obama administration to leak information nefariously.

but because the media went into this wanting it to be a bad day for donald trump, they think it's newsworthy that donald trump doesn't tell the truth which is something we have known for a long time. howie: let me play for you what the president said today. >> so he said those things under oath. would you be willing to speak under oath to give your version? >> 100%. i hardly know the man. i'm not going to say i want you to pledge allegiance. who would ask a man to pledge allegiance under oath. howie: what is the media reaction to that and the comey hearings as a whole. juan: it's comey versus trump. they are aligned with a hero.

jim comey was a hero to the left going back to the ashcroft justice department. then he was a villain to the left in the clinton administration. but trump has his backers. if we focus on the media you could watch different channels. i'm citing my fox 5 host dana perino. if you watch one channel you will read that trump was vindicated. but if you watched other channels and read newspapers you would think this man was facing charges from the f.b.i. and he was a liar and undercutting his administration. howie: what standard are the media using? because one standard seems to be there was a cover-up, but a cover-up of what. it still seems at this stage to be no evidence of anything at

the bottom of this alleged collusion with russia. gillian: this was the most polarized coverage of a news story i think we have ever seen. i think it was even more polarizing than the election cycle. that's supposed to be polarizing. this is not supposed to be that, and it turned out to be that way. what i'll say about director comey. it's fairly regular for a former government official to try to shape outcomes and benefit themselves. what is unique here is the degree to which we saw a former f.b.i. director try to incite a special investigator and potentially a criminal investigation of the president. very skillful political machinations.

howie: some political commentators are saying what donald trump did was horrible and it doesn't matter if it leads to impeachment or not. francois hollande it seems people aren't letting the facts. it does seem -- it does seem people aren't letting the facts lead what they report. he was telling the truth when he wrote in the firing letter that jim comey told him three times if he wasn't under investigation. something comey's close friends told us was not true. comey who was supposed to be a boy scout gives testimony that shows him as a government operator leaking documents for government purposes.

howie: it's true that some of what james comey said was helpful to the president because it did -- comey said i'm not suggesting obstruction, though clearly he was helping others. juan: especially robert mueller, the special counsel in this case. in the situation mollie was discussion, did jim comey say, hey, to donald trump, you are not investigation. he confirmed he did that. but then the fact he described the meeting with donald trump in terms where other people are asked to leave the room. donald trump the president said i hope you can see your way to suggest in fact now robert mueller will investigate whether the president is guilty of some obstruction. howie: on this question of how the media portraying comey.

i looked up some of the newspaper accounts. the "new york times" said he was a shakespearean figure. the president is large -- the press is largely portraying comey as a hero with a white hat. gillian: true and false. what i took away from this hearing is he's a very skilled political operative. he's clearly somebody who knows how to achieve objectives and goals he wants in the washington universe of things. but he's still not a partisan. he's showing you can do that without being a partisan. he's angered and alienated people on both sides of the aisle. naisle. mollie: this is the problem with the media coverage.

we have stories about he leaked as early as april. he was somehow getting his word out to the "new york times." we have information that he gave:false testimony money when he said he never kept notes on a previous president. and jim barton wrote a book that referred to notes from james comey. but they are not being sceptical enough because they need to analyze what he's saying whether it's truthful or not truthful. juan: this narrative that has jim comey versus the president. this one leader of the free world. that's the president of the united states. james comey has a grudge. his credibility versus donald trump. you be the judge.

mollie: intelligence officials selectively leaking information -- we have to deal with this whether the media are being responsible when they are receiving these leaks that make it seem like donald trump is under investigation for collusion with russia. howie: people leak all the time in washington, but comey always presented himself as by the book prosecutor. comey talking about loretta lynch and how she instructed him to call the hillary clinton investigation a matter and not investigation. the president nominated christopher wray to be the new f.b.i. director. when we come back comb christmas harsh criticism for the press. why so much media criticism over

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uh huh. sure. still yes! you can get it too. welcome to the party. introducing gig-speed internet from xfinity. finally, gig for your neighborhood too. howie: comey hit the press pretty hard during his senate testimony. >> the people talking about it often don't know what's going on, and those of us who actually know what's going on aren't talking about it. >> have there been news media accounts about collusion and this whole event as you read the story you were stunned about how wrong they got the facts? >> yes, there have been many, many stories reportedly based on classified informations specially russia, and they were dead wrong.

howie: the "times" did a story on that but didn't get a lot of media coverage. gillian: he said they had problems with how they report. he didn't specify how this story was wrong. they said they couldn't contact their sources again and he had given them no new information so they weren't going to change their story. but it shows the problems with anonymous stories that turn out to be wrong. jim comey claims the story was wrong. he referenced a "washington post" story about being duped by an email he wasn't duped by. and this is just a pattern of problems with anonymously-based stories.

and the media need to stop relying so much on anonymous sources and get people on the record. >> we have never been given an explanation by the f.b.i. we went back to the f.b.i. today and said please clarify for us and tell us where we were wrong and they did not provide us that information. howie: i have had instances in my career where people said that story was wrong, but you don't get the difference. juan: this is "mediabuzz," so let's get to it. the "new york times" said they believe it's road in the characterization of the contacts with the people in the trump campaign. were they russian intelligence officers. and the black and white characterization of who is a russian intelligence officer. if you are in the banking business and having contact, you

are not considered by the f.b.i. an intelligence officer. howie: gillian, what do you think about comey's point about sources who talk on the periphery and the sources who do know aren't talking to reporters. gillian: i was glad he said that. that was my perspective as a former employee. people who don't know are talking about this the most. that absolutely was my experience at the white house. people with top secret security clearances and dealing with this information on a daily and hourly basis are not going to be the ones who will run to any points of contact in the meade what because they are the ones who appreciate the extent to which this actually affects american lives and americans well-being. i was happy to hear him say that.

mollie: if you believe the media reports, they say they were being leaked by high obama officials. that would be very few people it's the height of silliness to see jim comey saying people who know don't leak. when that story was meant to undermine the president. juan: he refused to comment on that and i thought he was going to blow that out of the water. there is a lot media people should be looking into with that dossier story. howie: comey put it in play by putting it in his opening statement. i agree with anonymous stories. but the leaked stories did turn out to be true because they were leaked by comey or people close to him.

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why do we grill? for living life with the people that fill you with life. go to weber.com for more information. howie: when scandal surrounds the president, what is the impact on the people around him. how distracting is it for the staff? gillian: it's very distracting. it verges on sucking the air out of the room no matter where you are in the white house. if you are drafting a message to the american people or working on morning policy, it makes your job one thousand times harder. howie: not only does it eat up

the available news space and air time, but you may have to worry about hiring a lawyer yourself depending on your job. gillian: political appointees will often hire a communications person or lawyer to help them shore up their own defense in a case like this. but something here that's so clearly in the national security realm of scandals, what happens to the folks working these issues inside the white house is they lose their number one advocate. they lose the main voice in the room that counts. if you are working on non-russia related policy, you have to -- the president is x'k out. no one cares who he's standing next to.

if you are looking at romania policy, you have to look elsewhere. howie: you set me up for my final question. this is supposed to be infrastructure week. the president held several meeting on infrastructure. but the media attention was so focused on comey. cnn, trump speaks live after calling comey a liar. msnbc, trump talks structure after blasting comey. if you are that team that put together structure and you are excited to roll it out and deliver some results, it was a mightily depressing week when you realized nobody in the national or international news media particularly cared about what you had to say. howie: there is some responsibility on the part of

the media to report on thing that affect the lives of americans. some media outlets report on what jim comey was going to say at that hearing. how did they get it so wrong. is the press going easy on comey admitting he's a high-level leaker? it's the phillips' lady! anyone ever have occasional constipation,diarrhea, gas or bloating? she does. she does. help defend against those digestive issues. take phillips' colon health probiotic caps daily with three types of good bacteria. 400 likes? wow! try phillips' colon health.

howie: james comey wanted to get his side of the story out. the memo he wrote alleging the request to end the investigation of mike flynn. >> i was worried the media was camping at the end of my driveway. i was going out of town with my wife to hide and i was worried

it would be like feeding seagulls at the beach. howie: he has his fingerprints on other leaks. doesn't this dent his halo a bit? ed: it does. he has the ability to tell his side of the story. but this idea that he's a white knight, this idea that he's shocked by leaks. i looked at the record. may 3 he was under oath, senate judiciary committee before he was fired. he was asked by chuck grassley, have you ever been an anonymous source of a news report on matters related to the trump investigation? he said never. then are it aware of any information about the president

or his associates leak out? he answered not to my knowledge. the idea that grassley asked him if he aloud others to leak, he said no, no, no. now the play book according to james comey, i can use somebody over at columbia. do you believe it was the first time james comey did that? as f.b.i. director you are not supposed to be doing that. howie: you spent a lot of years at the white house trying to ask tough questions of the president and other officials. let's look at this. >> shall i take one of the killer networks that treat me so badly as fake news? should i do that? go ahead, john. be fair, john. >> absolutely.

>> remember how nice you used to be before i ran. howie: dow how much does it get you off balance? ed: president obama would do that to me sometimes, he will needle you. i think john karl doesn't fall into this category. i think john karl is one of the folks who tends to give him a fair shake. he asked a tough but fair question because the president offered up testifying under oath to the special counsel. howie: we mentioned this unverified dossier that "buzzfeed" printed. comey in his written testimony which he put out the day before the hearing which is an interesting move worked something in about this allegation.

i never talked about this. the russians claim that the president might have been involved with hookers on a visit to moscow. you see todd levin, one uncomfortable phone call. comey opened the door for the media coverage. edrequire was an unforced error by president trump when he talked to i'm and threw that out there. when you deny something that's salacious you put it out there. this gives critics like lemon to pile on the president. on may 25 wetter reesea may was going down -- when we theresa may was going down. has he forgotten week and a half ago theresa may was

blasting donald trump for the intelligence leaks. there are people in the media will will stop at nothing even if it's not related to done. howie: earlier he took a lot of heat for picking a fight on twitter with the london mayor. the fake media is work so hard to get me to not get if the message out. ed: a lot of this becomes a big distraction. social media is there. it's a reality. he can use whatever he wants. the bottom line is, you can never say this enough. this president does spend too much time tweeting about saying

james comey is a leaker, he's a bad guy. but tweet more about jobs and healthcare and things that matter. but will he stick to that the rest of the week? great to see you this morning. howie: it was rather strange when brian williams said a source told him he's not sure there were americans stationed that qatar. qatar which hosts the u.s. command is stationed in qatar. another journalist going nuclear on twitter over the london terror attack. the networks predicted he would insist he never told the president he wasn't under investigation. when you have allergies, it can seem like triggers pop up everywhere.

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howie: some networks relied on unnamed sources to preview what jim comey was going to say. >> tonight a source familiar with comey's thinking tell us comey will directly refute what donald trump said. >> he will say he never told

donald trump he wasn't under investigation. it would be improper to do so. we have corrected our story online to correct this written testimony. howie: amy, how did two major networks, cnn and abc report the opposite of what he actually is going to testify? amy: i don't know how they did the. but they did it at length. cnn apparently went on for hours and hours with this false news. when they found out it was false, they didn't correct the record. they didn't correct the record and say we got that totally wrong. james comey confirmed he told the president on three separate socation he was not personally under investigation. but these stories always tend to

go in one direction and that's against the president. howie: jessica, how much is this blunder -- we'll find out about comey's testimony the next day. how much do you think it under mients the reputation of the media? jessica: we want to make sure the truth is out there, especially after a campaign. we know how important the truth is and of what value it is. the second reason, we need to make sure that the narratives are honest here. we know each side will go for the information they want to hear. so donald trump can get up there and say, hey, look, the united states knew, they said this thing that wasn't true. they can say trump has been vindicated. or focus on loretta lynch instead of talking about the

fact that director comey felt like he was being pressured to stop the flynn investigation, that he called him a liar several times in the testimony. it allows the media to pick and choose their narrative. but they need to own their mistake immediately. howie: the new york's "daily news," you can see the word in big type, "liar." amy, did you find the coverage to be rather one-sided. amy: if james comey showed up in spandex in a wrestling match they couldn't have been happier. there has been reporting on conservative blogs that showed james comey may have been misleading the senate intelligence committee when he said donald trump is the only

president he had to take notes about, now, you see additional reporting that shows james comey also took notes in meeting with george bush. a tv anchor assured me george bush would never take a private meeting with someone in the white house. then we come find out george bush did exactly that, with guess who, james comey. howie: the takeaway seems to be comey is a guy who told the truth. then you have some conservatives on fox and elsewhere making comey the bad guy, calling him terrible names. it speaks to your point. each side taking aware what they want from this hearing. jessica: there were plus points for donald trump. marco rubio helped him out with his line of questioning.

howie: why is it dangerous? jessica: the american people are lost here. there is mass confusion. saying no, donald trump totally told the truth. the russian investigation is a total nothing burger. and the other side saying we areheading towards impeachment. that's not a good place for society to be. some of those numbers appear to be inaccurate. americans want to know how much money will be in their pocket. when we get lost in the news feed of this, it's not a good thing for normal civil society. howie: here is the director of national intelligence dan coats when asked if he felt pressured on this f.b.i. matter by president trump. >> i never felt pressure to intervene or interfere in any

way and shaping intelligence in a political way or in relationship to not doing investigations. howie: amy, did that get enough coverage? amy: i think it was pretty explosive when it happened and there was coverage. but there was so much of the buildup to the james comey hearing where the media was hoping to get the smoking gun to indict president trump. howie: i have got to jump in. jessica. jessica: right. howie: james comey, that was the big highlight of the week, but we need to hear more about why they didn't want to talk about that and were dodging questions there. and we if need follow-up. howie: after the break, stunning

testimony as bill cosby finally goes on trial for sexual, 'cau goes on trial for sexual, 'cau assault, but much of the media moved on. one. that's cool. i got a new helmet. we know steve. it's good to be in (good hands). go to great lengths frto find relief.ain a tens device with finallhigh intensity power aleve direct therapy®. that uses technology once only available in doctors' offices for deep penetrating relief at the source. aleve direct therapy. what in real time?stomer insights from the data wait, our data center and our clouds can't connect? michael, can we get this data to...? look at me...look at me... look at me... you used to be the "yes" guy. what happened to that guy? legacy technology can handcuff any company. but "yes" is here. so, you're saying we can cut delivery time? yeah. with help from hpe, we can finally work the way we want to.

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howie: dozens of reporters packed the courtroom in the trial of one of tv's most famous celebrities. >> andrea konstan said she trusted the median and the alleged assault made her feel confused. howie: she said while she was in a haze he sexually assaulted her. she said she just wanted it to stop.

jurors heard from a police interview in which cosby claimed the sex was consensual. >> carley shimkus, welcome. there are dozen of women making allegations again bill cosby was once the biggest story in america. now that he's on trial do you think the attention has been reduced? >> it's largely political. due to this political time we are in. howie: you saying donald trump. >> i wouldn't say the biggest winner of james comey's testimony is bill cosby. there was very little room for anything else in the news cycle this week. various polls show that due to the number of allegations

against bill cosby, a number of people have turned on him and have formulated their opinion on how they want the trial to go. there is a desire to watch he twist and turn on television. howie: if you thought cosby was guilty, you would see him brought to justice. the allegations are pretty chilling stuff. but it's a couple years since the allegations first surfaced. do you think there is a numbness factor for the media and the public? >> that's a good point. when you look back at this trial the headline will be the number of women who came out against him. and the amount of time it took for these women to come forward. the interesting point in this whole thing, as blunt or morbid as this may sound.

trials in america usually rate really well on television. but that's not the case in this one. the o.j. simpson trial one of the biggest in america. we are talking about the fall from grace of one of america's favorite tv fathers. i think because of this unique political time we are in there is an appetite for that kind of television than what we are seeing in the cosby case. howie: bill cosby contend the sex was consensual. defense lawyers are trying to poke holes in her story, and why did she have contact with cosby after the alleged assault. the presumption is he has already been convicted in the court of public opinion. but that doesn't mean the legal verdict will go that way, so

there could be a surprise here. >> poking holes in her story, they are trying to paint the picture of her being enamored by his celebrity. and she kept in contact with cosby after she made the allegation. and cosby is saying he's a victim of racial discrimination. that's something he has said. i'm not sure if anybody believes that given some of his victims were caucasian and african-american. howie: cnn dumps one of it hosts. will you be ready when the moment turns romantic? cialis for daily use treats ed and the urinary symptoms of bph. tell your doctor about your medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, or adempas® for pulmonary hypertension,

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and get medical help right away. you need one of these. you wouldn't put up with an umbrella that covers you part way, so when it comes to pain relievers, why put up with just part of a day? aleve, live whole not part. tell you what, i'll give it to you for half off. [♪] howie: last week cnn host tweeted after the london terror

attack that president trump is a piece of blank and embarrassment to humanity. i did not see how he could continue to be employed. cnn dropped him quietly and did not renew his show. the conservative website which has been trying to broaden it base. but mchugh says breitbart fired me for telling the truth. jim comey said sean hannity versus joe scarborough. >> i think he's such a narcissist, it's pose's mentally ill in a way, now this is on the

table, he's not well. howie: and on-air rebuttal from the fox prime time host. >> joe scarborough calling the president of the united states a schmuck. it's emotionally unhinged coverage has been none other than msnbc's liberal joe. howie: he tweeted back, you are obsessed. and hannity tweeted scar were poe was an obama suck-up and disgrace. but they won't have one thing in common. they love a good brawl. that's it for this edition of "mediabuzz."

go to our home page and download our podcast. great to see you. we are back here next sunday. we'll see you then with the more stuff on trump and the media coverage. we'll be there with the latest buzz. [♪] eric: attorney general jeff sessions is set to appear before the senate intelligence committee tuesday. it will be his turn in the spotlight coming on the heels of testimony from former f.b.i. director james comey. we know what he will be asked about. russia, kislyak and everything else. arthel: attorney general sessions set to go under oath to answer questions about russian meddling into the elections. eric: