howie: sean spicer stepping down as press secretary in a white house shakeup and the president brings in anthony scaramucci. >> the cameras are back. can you commit to allowing cameras. >> i need a lot of hair and makeup, maybe. howie: can he change the hostile relationship between the president and the press? donald trump going after his own attorney general for bowing out of the russia probe and doing it before a reporter at the "new

york times." >> after he gets the job he recuses himself. >> was that a mistake? >> sessions should never have recuses himself. and he should have told me before he took the job and i would have chosen somebody else. >> i don't know why dumping on sessions makes sense. >> he criticizes attorney general jeff sessions in such a way that in normal times we would expect an official criticized this way by the president the resign before the evening is over. >> we have one of the biggest investigation the justice investigation since watergate being run by somebody not appointed by the president of the united states. that's his frustration and i understand that.

howie: are the media painting him as going to war against robert mueller? the press goes hay eye over trump and putin having a secret meeting at the g-20. but how can it be sinister when it's in full view of everybody and their spouses. >> nobody has ever accused me of pulling a weapon on anyone? howie: what? are people going bonkers over simpson being paroled? this is "mediabuzz." it's been a rocky six months for sean spicer who resigned friday after the president decided to

bring in anthony scaramucci and putting him in charge of communications. >> i appreciate your agenda here, but the reality is -- at some point report the facts. every single person who has been briefed on this subject has come away with the same conclusion, republicans and democrats. i'm sorry this disgusts you. you are shake your hand. howie: the president said he thought scaramucci should have his own team. >> i think it's in the best interest of the administration that i give these two individuals who operate without me in the way. so they have a fresh start and i'm not lurking over them. howie: he was quickly challenged about his fast criticism of trump. >> does he know what you said about him in 2015 when you said he was a hack?

>> he brings it up every 15 seconds. one of the biggest mistakes i made because i was inexperienced in politics. howie: marie harf, and erin mcpike and mollie hemingway. mollie, can he have an impact on the difficult relations between the president and the press corps? mollie: you are serving the president and you need to represent what he does well. you are also serving the press corps. i think he did a good job of having an introduction with them. i don't if anyone can withstand the media hostility toward this administration and how quickly we'll see that. howie: can you identify with the fact that sean spicer had a tough job because he had to deal

with an aggressive press corps and report to a president who wanted him to hammer the media. marie: he expected sean to defend the indefensible. that first briefing about the inauguration crowd, what a terrible way to start. this isn't a p.r. problem. i think president trump thinks their communications team isn't doing well enough. they are getting a lot of it because of the underlying behavey by president trump. the tweets and the comments he makes. i think anthony scaramucci will be better than sean spicer was. howie: what about the kind of sendoff he got from the media?

erin: i think spicer had a raw deal. routers tv put up a live feed of his house in virginia after the news broke that he was going to resign. you stake out someone's house when they might be up for you a vice presidential nomination. he was the white house press secretary, he wasn't running for president. the "wall street journal" had a snippet about how he took a mini fridge out of another staffer's office. howie: that was the lead of the "journal" story. erin: i have known sean spicer for a long time. i like him a lot. he's doing the best job he can. he needs to take some time off and figure out we want to do. howie: when the news briefings

were televised he became a pop culture icon and "saturday night live." mollie: he became part of the story which is never good for a communications director. there is a communications issue is the spicer shop was a traditional shop. i think spicer did a great job. it's not popular to say that. but he did a great job under different circumstance. this is such a different president. you might see progress with someone who embraces that. scaramucci has no experience in this job. marie: maybe we are overly cautious and we don't want our principles to go out there and do that. but there is a difference between overly cautious and sitting down with the "new york

times" with only one staffer. maybe scaramucci and walk and maybe he can't. erin: carley: had his own tv show, and he's a very charming person. trump obviously trusts him and likes him more than he likes sean spicer. he at least has a runway for success. howie: sean spicer was an rnc guy. reince priebus brought him in with the republican national committee. scaramucci has nobody this guy for years and maybe there are pluses and minuses to that. he's a former wall street hedge fund go and eventually that might help him. mole * people kept pointing -- mollie: people kept pointing out

that scaramucci has liberal points of view. well, donald trump has liberal points of view. howie: he can spend more time with his family which is not just. >> cliche'. this is not fake news. this is donald trump sitting down with the "new york times" reporters saying he wouldn't have appointed jeff sessions as attorney general if he knew he was going to recuse himself. and the press says he doesn't understand the need for the top law enforcement official to be independent. mollie: this is an example of how the media doesn't understand how president trump talks. president obama changed the order in the justice department.

when there are all these traps being laid and games being played in the intelligence community. he need sessions. he need an attorney general to fight against that. it would be surprising if trump weren't upset about this. but the way everybody said is he going to resign. i'll bet the first person trump told he was upset with sessions was sessions. people still don't understand how trump acts. he's letting us know all his interior thoughts all the time. that's just who he is. howie: he was part of the campaign, the campaign's conduct with russia was under scrutiny. there are rules in the doj. mollie: he had a right to recuse. erin: you had a previous attorney general held in

contempt of congress. when you see this media environment you have to day strong and when you have a department of justice that's not staying strong -- howie: donald trump wasn't trying to push him out or force him to resign. he was angry. he was venting. he was letting the "new york times" and the world know it. marie. when people looking at this say it unprecedented it's because it is. we haver in had a president act this way and to many people it's disturbing. howie: the president is constantly attacking the failing "new york times" and fake media. why would he say this to the "new york times"?

erin: marie and i were talking about that this morning. i agree with that. however, in general i think the interview was fantastic and we need more of them. why wouldn't every president go talk and pill their innermost thoughts. one good thing about this is i think so many other politicians in washington who have a filter and don't want to talk to the press that often are getting more fearless in talking to the media more, and that's a good thing. marie: i like that he gives interviews. i don't like what he says often. howie: i think a lot of people think the president is his own communications director. he also takes questions with foreign leaders. he's his own best messenger. sessions must resign, is that

the place of commentators to try to push out the attorney general? marie: we have commentators on our network, every network does. i worked for a secretary, several of them in the obama administration. if the press said that about my boss, i would be worried. molworried. mollworried. mollie: it was a pretty normal trump discussion. howie: when we come back, is the president going to war with robert mueller or is that just a media narrative. has the press gone overboard about that super secret meeting between the president and vladimir putin? like heartburn.

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howie: president trump told the "new york times" it would be a violation for the united states to examine his personal finances. howie: is the president using that interview to send a warning signal to the special counsel? >> if they are investigating anything unrelated to russia would that be crossing a red line? of course would be crossing a red line. we are getting a lot of leaks from the mueller investigation.

we have cnn reporting he staffed it entirely with democratic donors. there needs to be special care that people can take this investigation seriously and the leaks make it difficult. howie: he went after rosenstein, he went after james comey. and he had a lot of targets he was hitting in that "times" interview. marie: i think people were concerned with some of the things he said. bob mueller is respected by republicans and democrats. i think you will see the trump administration go after his credibility. remember the clinton special counsel that started out look at whitewater and ended up look at lewinsky? these things change. howie: the "new york times"

writes a story that president trump's lawyers and aide are looking for conflicts of interest they can use to discredit the investigation. erin: nicole wallace on msnbc said the clinton white house did much the same thing in the 1990s. she made that point and i thought it was smart of her to make that point. i do sometimes wonder what the trump white house is doing day by day beside just trying to fight back against these investigations. marie: every type he treats about hillary clinton's emails, he's not tweeting about healthcare. howie: it was picked up on the intercepts that jeff sessions when he was senator and advisor to the campaign did discuss

issues contrary to public assertions having to do with not necessarily the campaign but policy-related matters. >> i was shocked this story even ran. nobody writing on the story or editing the story has seen the intercept. and then kislyak supposedly tells somebody else he talked about russia with sessions. marie: they talked about sanctions. mollie: sessions said under oath that he -- howie: you haven't seen this evidence. marie: jeff sessions went before a committee hearing and said he never talked to kislyak.

>> sessions said he never colluded with russia and never discussed the campaign. this is characterized as campaign related. howie: "the washington post" story says trump is discussing with his lawyers what his pardon authority is. the white house is saying that's complete hogwash. is this another episode where the mainstream media says how are they going to supply this? >> i think every time something comes out about what the white house is doing, it's reflectively characterized in the media as a negative, bad, nefarious thing. we should couch things a little bit better. howie: thanks very much. ahead on "mediabuzz."

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howie: from the moment "the washington post" revealed there had been a secret hour long meeting between vladimir putin and president trump. some portrayed it as questionable and potentially sinister. >> now you are going to have a separate meeting. we should know the united states has been compromised by vladimir putin. >> what is so nefarious about it that he's not able to have a normal conversation with other people attending this? >> because what donald trump has done in the past, reporters, foreign policy analysts and our allies can safely assume the worst. >> here is a guy sitting next to trump for an hour who screwed

with our electoral process and tried to influence the election in trump's favor. howie: mollie, what do you think of this? mollie: the way this story was presented is it was nefarious, secret and problematic that people should be concerned about. then when the truth came out it turned out there was a dinner gathering of the g-20 leaders and their spouses and a chat after words like other people would have. howie: everybody on cable was this is deeply troubling and breaking news banners everywhere. mollie: we are in the full throes of a red scare. this country is an adversary. they attempted to meddle by

attacking the dnc emails. this is the only super power that can annihilate ours in a few minutes. we need to have good relations with them. howie: donald trump, jr. said adoptions came up. there is almost an automatic resumption of bad faith. they were discussing something so terrible, there was no u.s. translator there. the president doesn't get the benefit of the doubt. we have sanctions and their retaliation against that. the media haven't done a good job presenting their overall picture with russia. you have seen an increase in liquid natural gas.

we attacked syria when they used chemical weapons which is something russia didn't like. when you pretend there is something bad about this relationship. you need to put it in relationship to the actual policies and how different it is from the previous 8 years which was friendlier. howie: there was now.line s. translator and people thought that was diplomacy. do you think this is an instance of journalists getting super excited, pun did on tv wringing their hands and maybe this doesn't resonate with a lot of voters except trump supporters? mollie: when you think how much time is spent on russia scare stories and they are almost always overhyped. and you have the actual interest from news consumers. it's a stark disparity. you see polls saying people aren't that interested in

russia. there was something that came out about the email between don, jr., that's a legitimate thing to cover. but by the time you have six months of stories and it all falls apart, you are not interested. howie: o.j. civil on gets paroled. why television can't kick the addiction. ♪ music edible arrangements for summer. order in store or online.

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scaramucci coming in as communications director. sean being standup guy and professional made the decision. howie: he took arrows. you might know something about that. crown of the critics seems to be the president. >> absolutely. but this communications team is against the entire media. it's not going to be an easy job for anyone. i think sean spicer did a fine job over the time he had been there. no one is interested in what's happening with the administration. tomorrow creating salacious stories. howie: you are saying the press only wants to cover scandals and salacious stuff and isn't interested in nafta, healthcare and immigration? katrina: it has taken a back seat.

if they were interested in those things we would be asking those questions. but instead it's a daily barrage of russia. there are no questions about tax reform. they focus on healthcare every now and again. but that is not their main focus. howie: i have seen some questions about these other issues. katrina: they have to ask the question, it's checking a box. howie: anthony scaramucci is a trumpian kind of guy. can he turn this around when the white house is plagued by leaks, many of which comes from the white house and all this in-fighting? katrina: i do. anthony scaramucci is not a product of the swamp. when you have on both sides of the aisle, there is a cookie cutter way to approach communications, and you can't do that with this administration.

anthony scaramucci is an innovator. he thinks outside the box. because he is loyal to the president he doesn't want something that's just going to check a box for the president. he's committed to this president being successful. to those on the inside, it gives him more motivation. howie: the "new york times" interview with the president when he said jeff sessions gave bad answers to the senate and he wouldn't have nominated sessions had he known the attorney general was going to recuse himself from the russia investigation. katrina: jeff sessions and the president are friends. they know each other well. he's also frustrated that he didn't tell him first. if attorney general sessions had gone to the president and said i

want to recuse myself for x, y and z reasons. that's unacceptable considering the relationship they have. howie: you are saying that to rules your word is unacceptable. katrina: the fact that this whole russia nonsense is a hoax. we still to this day have not seen the dnc server they claim was hacked and those emails were released in that way. so why are we still having these investigations? these are things that should have been discussed trier to that happening. howie: do you think donald trump, jr. and the meetings with the russian official were a hoax? katrina: the meetings weren't a hoax. it narrative around it is a hoax.

you are going to have people meeting with a russian but it doesn't mean it's collusion. howie: they are gearing up for a war against robert mueller. they are investigating his prosecutors for possible bias. do you think that's overstated or is that what the situation calls for. >> i don't think it white house is preparing for war. there are if questions about this particular investigation and the way it occurred with the fbi director leaking information to the media to launch. get more into this hoax of a russian story. we should be asking questions about either the investigator and those he's hiring because it does give this idea that system is still rigged. we are look at the deep state that has been blocking the president in so many areas. not only that, we are looking at a situation where we can't get

on with doing the people's business because of this hoax. if. howie: coming up. the latest republican healthcare failure. whether the white house might bring back the on-camera'c briefing. our new bike, they replace it with a brand new one. that's cool. i got a new helmet. we know steve. switching to allstate is worth it. (vo) that's why your mattress should be made just for you. go to helix sleep dot com slash tv, take the two-minute sleep quiz,

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howie>> we'll just threat obamae fail. i'm not going to on it. republicans are not going to own it. >> he said he's not going to own it because when the house version passed this spring he was eager to own that one. >> trump-care appears dead and the fingerprints on the murder what he. upon are the republicans. >> enough when it comes to congressional republicans break their word and failing to deliver. no more excuses. it's time. the gop. you either step up and get the job done or get out of washington. howie: joining me, emily

jashinsky and margaret karl on. after 7 years of promises to come up with a new healthcare system. any quarrel with that? >> it's been a clear failure when you promise things for 7 years. you have had 7 years to figure this out. but you can also say it's an issue of selection bias. there weren't stories until republicans tried to fix it. so we had selection bias to begin with. howie: there hasn't been a lot of attention on the problems with obamacare exchanges. some are rooting for obamacare to survive. margaret: every story had a line

that obamacare need to be fixed. but this turned into a win or lose story, the perfect storm for the press or president trump. neither had to get into much substance it was push it on through for the white house. the president switched sides when he celebrated the house bill, then the house bill was mean. then we move on to the senate bill. the discussions of the merits, nobody wanted to get into it whether deductibles were the same or heck savings accounts. -- or or healthcare savings accounts. howie: now he wants a clean repeal bill. let obamacare collapse, i don't own it. if that happens there is any way the media would make him own it in. margaret: absolutely, he will on it. everything is tied to trump. everything is tied to trump,

even if he distances himself on this, which he did on the senate bill. the problem will be for him going forward. margaret: we call it obamacare. that's how it happens, the person owns it who is president at the time. the president at the time is trump sow the failure is his. he wants to it on republicans and he wants to go after dean her and jeff flake. it's a white house as much as a congressional republican. when you own both the white house -- howie: when control all three power centers it's hard to say it's somebody else's fault. let's look at the white house upheaval. how do you see sarah huckabee-sanders doing as white house press secretary?

emily: i think sean spicer was combative and willing to get into it with reporters. if i were the average trump supporter i would love that. but it doesn't do much to convince the media, to persuade members of the media he's trying to give the right information to. sarah huckabee-sanders is hilarious, i think she does a great job. howie: we don't know what anthony scaramucci is going to do. he dodged this question because he has to talk to his boss. do you think the white house will bring back white house briefings on camera? should they, even if it means reporters ask grandstanding questions? >> breaking with the tradition of on-camera press briefings, why not bring them back. as emily says, sanders is a more

appealing personality. and scaramucci is a very appealing personality. but we do know where he's headed. he said i love donald trump. he said that five times. howie: is that a bad thing if you are working for donald trump? margaret: he release -- he erased all his tweeted where he didn't love donald trump. emily: he's signaling he will be that soldier who will go out there even when it's tough. and he will defend him. i think scaramucci is in a better position to do that. he's a loveable guy, but he did go back to the beginning and say that inaugural crowd was the largest. howie: we'll wrap it there.

good to see you. after the break. o.j. simpson is getting out of prison on a robbery case. why that hearing was live on every single network. if you have moderate to severe psoriasis, you can embrace the chance of completely clear skin with taltz. taltz is proven to give you a chance at completely clear skin. with taltz, up to 90% of patients had a significant improvement of their psoriasis plaques. in fact, 4 out of 10 even achieved completely clear skin. do not use if you are allergic to taltz. before starting you should be checked for tuberculosis. taltz may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you are being treated for an infection or have symptoms. or if you have received a vaccine or plan to. inflammatory bowel disease can happen with taltz. including worsening of symptoms. serious allergic reactions can occur.

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howie: it's 1994 all over again. the broadcast channels all covering o.j. civil on. >> he has been miraculously from his point of view granted another chance at living a law abiding peaceful life. i have my doubts personally, but it's not up to me. >> what's not normal is o.j. simpson. in the court of public opinion

he's guilty as charged. howie: i took this up with carley shimkus. welcome. is there something irresistible about this o.j. saga, dating back to 1994? the trial that generated all this television coverage for a parole hearing? carley: unbelievable. instead of the trial of the century you could call this the parole hearing of the century. this guy bottom line is a ratings magnet. it's sad to say but it's true. 95 million people tuned in to that white bronco chase and 130 million people watched the not guilty verdict come back. 20 years later people still have a morbid fascination with o.j. simpson. it's proven by how many people tuned in to watch this parole hearing.

a lot of legal analysts were speculating that he was going to be let out, and that's exactly what happened. howie: it was such a racially charged trial at the time. wasn't he the worst witness of all time. he sat there and said nobody ever accused me of threatening somebody with a weapon when it was a knife he used to kill nicole simpson and ron goldman. carley: it just goes to show this guy is a jaw dropping horrible person and stone cold liar for him to sit there and say he led a conflict-free life when everybody knows he has been filled with conflict. it's important for people to know when you live in the great state of until, that this guy is mentally unbehind and i still think pretty d unhinged and

pretty dangerous. howie: serving 9 years for an armed robbery case is not that outlandish. but many people thought think it was a proxy case for the murder. carley: it stings that he's out of prison. i think most of people would rather him be in prison. but in this particular case you have got to let him go after he serves the 9 years because he was fairly oversentenced. howie: was all the newspaper coverage and television justified? carley: it was justified. and i think it was important for people to know where he stand mentally right now. even though this is a much lesser charge and much lesser case that he went to prison for. people need to know where he stand today, and there is that public fascination with him.

he's a ratings magnet and he will continue to draw a crowd. howie: he also launched the tv careers of a lot of pundits. ke . try new alka-seltzer ultra strength heartburn relief chews. it's fast, powerful relief with no chalky taste. [ sings high note ] ultra strength, new from alka-seltzer. enjoy the relief.

howie: a fierce trump defender for years -- >> the president turns to twitter for a good reason. he knows the majority of the american people don't believe this fake news story about russian collusion. howie: but "the washington post" said that was after he was being paid for consulting services. which he failed to disclose for two months. fox business said it's the policy of the network to disclose all ties our guests

have. he made sure to disclose his role during this on-air appearances. serrano says he disclosed his ties but he doesn't say when. but he didn't respond to the paper's repeated request for comment. breaking news involving the simpsons. the executive producer said there was somebody in a cartoon show who turned down voicing the character on the simpsons. i wonder if the simpsons would take him now. he has a recognizable voice. that's it for this edition of "mediabuzz." i'm howard kurtz. thanks for joining us. we post a lot of live original

content. mediwe'll see you back here suny at 11:00 eastern. see you with the latest buzz. [♪] arthel: a gruesome discovery in texas this morning. authority finding 8 bodies inside a tractor-trailer parked outside a walmart in san antonio. investigators calling it a horrific case of human trafficking. eric: authority also reportedly found 30 people who were alive inside that 18-wheeler. it's a small miracle considering the unbelievable sweltering temperatures in san antonio. the temperatures soared into the triple digits at one p