howie: much of the media celebrates the upset in alabama after weeks of scrutiny over roy moore and points the finger at the president. >> it's a resounding rejection of president trump and all he's standing for. >> that democrat was elected to the u.s. senate in an utter repudiation of steve bannon and what he stand for and by extension donald trump and what he stands for. >> this was not a referendum on trump, i think it was a referendum on harvey weinstein. howie: did roy moore help push

doug jones to victory. the allegations against trump are back in the campaign. and slam the president for his tweet about kristen gillibrand. >> your mind is in the gutter. so, no. howie: is the press actively promoting these year-old allegations against donald trump. tavis smily is fighting back. >> let me assure you i have never groped, inappropriately exposed myself or coerced any colleague in my 30-year career. howie: are many of the accused being tarred with the same brush? i'm on the red carpet with steven spielberg, meryl streep

and tom hanks. >> i was drawn to the idea about making a film about katherine graham. >> after that movie came out everybody would say it looked like jason row barred. howie: is it a stretch for these stars to draw a link to the current white house? this is "mediabuzz." virtually all the pundits thought roy moore would eke out a win but seem to be relieved when doug jones scored his victory. men *, and ruth marcus. has there been a perception the media in this country were at least ringing the alarm bells.

mollie: 52% of those polls don't trust the media. roy moore was pitting himself against not just the elite of washington but also the media elite. having talked to reporters who wrote the initial stories of the allegations were just doing their job reporting the story. it was not reciprocated by the reporters doing the actual writing. they kept doing their job, howie. howie: i saw a celebratory under tone to roy moore's defeat. headlines saying "sanity reigns." mollie: i think it speaks to the

strength and weakness of journalism. if this story had come out 5, 10, 15 years ago. that he didn't and he almost won speaks to the credibility problems the general media establishment had. but the strength of the story held under under scrutiny unlike other people trotted out by attorneys. the "post" stories did hold up under scrutiny. but the danger is that because it was even this close shows people aren't trusting the media. >> i'm not sure you can take the failure of roy moore to quit the race to the failure of journalism and the lower profile of journalism in the modern world. there is much more distrust of the media. but i would think his failure to lead, i was reminded we were all

braced for clarence thomas to withdraw when the original allegations came out. people like me were braced for bill clinton to quit when the monica lewinsky story came out. it proves if you stick it out, you can stick it out. probably more indicative to me of less control of the party of its own actors more than the stature of the press. howie: you mentioned "the washington post" which interviewed the first four of the accusers. one later went on tv. you have been doing this online story about journalism. let's take a quick look at that. >> it's fine to hear that someone had an affinity for teenaged girls. we have to find out whether

there is any reality there. howie: do you think the strategy backfired running against the media? libby: stephanie did not going down to alabama looking for dirt on candidates. she went down there to find fought why they were so into this candidate and why they had been supporting him as a judge. your job as a reporter is to dig into it, and she says she was sceptical when she first heard these stories. so she dug a little moral and called an editor and said i think we have a story here. and her role was to get to the

truth. howie: you heard some of the sounds bites wubt i are repudiation -- utter repudiation. do you think the press is portraying this as a huge hit for donald trump? mollie: this whole race about whether you can support a candidate who molests children -- howie: allegedly. mollie: and it suddenly becomes a referendum on trump. i think the media didn't do a good job of look at what:the people of alabama were motivated by. >> i hear your point. i read a lot of good stories asking voters about the idea and the hows. why are african-american voters so important to this race in particular. >> i thought what was

overshadowed is he's a terrible candidate. but what about molly's point, was there a shifting of the goal post after roy moore loses. and now it's not about moore, it's about trump. libby ruth: originally the white house position was no senate seat will have a pedophile or child molester. then it was if true, it completely shifted to it's concerning but it's more important to have a republican. the president carefully didn't go to alabama. he got himself completely aligned with, in bed with, roy moore.

i don't think that's a shifting goal post. he made a decision he was going to support this candidate when the candidate lost. it's amazing that a democrat could win. mollie: mitch mcconnell intervened in the race during the primary and and talked a conservative candidate who could have easily won to make sure roy moore was the preferred candidate to run against. howie: the series of media mistakes, i'm talking about brian ross on mike flynn, he's us spendsed for four weeks. we had cnn getting the date wrong on the email. the photo of a half empty arena and it turns out it was hours before trump spoke. sarah huckabee sanders on the media's intentions.

>> you cannot say it's an honest mistake when you are purposely putting out information that you know to be false or taking information that hasn't been volume dated and it's been continually denied by a number of people including people with the right knowledge of an incident. mollie: the difference between an intentional mistake and actual mistake, one thing we can do is be more transparent. apologizing, explaining your process, and when you get it right, also being transparent. >> they notice all of these mistakes go in the same direction. if it were truly accidental and the cost of doing business, you would see errors going both ways.

it's important to hold people accountable and hold the president ectable. but when you let your bias not be. howie: a lot of people are attacking saying what do you mean blunders? they are intentional mistakes. ruth: it's irrational for any reporter to intentionally make a mistake that will be easily and quickly in this modern media environment that will hurt or ruin his career. everything happens at lightning speed. we jump the gun too fast. we should be careful of both those things. but it's generally the notion these are intentional mistakes.

>> people bought into a russia collusion narrative. even though they are realizing there is no collusion, they are so embarrassed at how much coverage they gave to this story that they've aren't able toll pull back and correct. howie: when we come back, the press taking on the president over sexual harassment. hello mom. amanda's mom's appointment just got rescheduled - for today. amanda needs right at home. our customized care plans provide as much

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we that's why at xfinityic. we've been working hard to simplify your experiences with us. now with instant text and email updates you'll always be up to date. you can easily add premium channels so you don't miss your favorite show. and with just a single word, find all the answers you're looking for. because getting what you need should be simple, fast, and easy. download the xfinity my account app or go online today. [♪] howie: as roy moore was denying

the allegations that helped cost him thal alabama senate race. the press secretary was peppered about donald trump's accusers from 2016. >> i want to ask you about the women who accused the president. >> the president addressed these allegations directly and denied them. >> can you stand here and say without a doubt 100% certainty that more than dozen women are lying? >> the sexual harassment allegations and the plot to take down the president. in the climate we have created, allegations are enough to strip anyone, especially any man, of his career. howie: the president hit back on twitter saying senator gillibrand would come to my

office begging for campaign contributions not so long ago and would do anything for them. >> did you interpret that tweet as trading sexual favors? >> that's how i and many people read them. >> it's reprehensible that the president of the united states would say something so derogatory and disgusting. >> when you say that's sexist man your head women can't handle the same thing as a man. the weird thing about trump is he insults everybody. howie: are the media trying to take a 2016 story and recast it as a 2017 story. mollie: this is the story of the moment. in another way, this is why we have elections, we litigate

these things. behavior by donald trump is well-known going back decade and people elected him president. but this is a story that needs to be covered without -- people just run to accept any allegation. i think we need to see more criticism from the media. howie: what do you make of being in a new environment and we should revisit these allegations for that reason? ruth: i think mollie is right it was inevitable it would come out. the president said they were here is and would be sued after the election. there is a defamation lawsuit trying to get discovery and would like to see the deposition of the president. it's inevitable that in the harvey weinstein the.

alisynet al.environment. >> donald trump opened this door when he talked about roy moore and said he doesn't know these women which he does know them. one of them is an apprentice contestant. sarah huckabee sanders gave a caveat and said the women who came out in the press conference. journalists are going to say, what's going on here, is he changing his story. he brings some of this on himself. when you even have nikki haley saying accusers should be heard. women should be heard. including the president in that, that's significant.

howie: did it resonate for the media because of past trumpian comments about mika brezezinski and megyn kelly? mollie: he said the same thing about club for growth and mitt romney getting on his knees and begging for money. all of a sudden it becomes a sexist insult because a woman is the target of his insults. it point to how the media way overviews it. they say it's a sexist insult. howie: chris step gillibrand said trump should resign. ruth: i don't think you have to have your mind in the gutter to

take a sexual innuendo. he knew what he was saying. howie: thanks very much for joining us this sunday. why 21st century fox is selling much of the company to disney. media companies, sports and entertainment figures and a federal judge with harassment allegations.

howie: rupert murdoch is drawing criticism after he was asked about the sale of parts of fox news. if there are bad cases where others might be moved aside and

others amount to a bit of flirting. 21st century fox said it's not about sexual harassment but whether that was an obstacle in its bid to buy sky news. it fired its biggest star, bill o'reilly, and trained all of its employees. murdoch made it clear he understood there were problems at fox news. abc fired mario batalli after a website quoting several women who said he groped or sexually harassed them. he has taken a leave from his company. he says i'm sorry for any pain or discomfort i have caused. espn has suspended two on-air

personalities. the suit prompts the nfl players who have been working as analysts. nine more women have accused a high-profile judge of inappropriate kissing and touching. and russell simmons was accused of rape. simmons insists he's innocent. tavis smily fighting his suspension by pbs. tom hanks, meryl streep, and steven spielberg on why they think their film on the pentagon papers reas naits with attacks

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howie: senator skier step senatd on the president to resign. and mika brzezinski said if the press secretary backed her president, she should resign. >> do not lie and do not defend the president of the united states for what he did. howie: that brought out blasts from her father hike huckabee. >> i was stunned by all the people who were going to give a lecture on morality and family, it's mika? >> what a sleazy thing to do. what a sleaze bag. what a predictably stupid thing

for you to do. it's unbelievable. howie: joining us, guy benson and jessica tarlov. what do you think of mika brzezinski saying if you defend your boss you should go. guy: the president says sexist things sometimes and has done 60'sist things in the past. but in my opinion this tweet was not sexist. he has said the exact same thing with the exact same formulation about male republicans in the not too distant past. so that began a cascade of counter attacks. it got personal and sometimes when it gets personal, it gets

ugly. howie: what did you make of it? jessica: i completely agree donald trump insults men and women. he has to be careful not to insult women in this way. i think it's up to 9 women charging him. my second point is what the cable news hosts are doing, we are further turning america off. they don't want to see joe scarborough and mike huckabee have a fight about their respective loved ones. howie: let's go to omarosa. she has been in a feud with april line. >> the assertion i would do that

in front of 600 guests at a christmas party and no one is reporting that except one individual who has a vendetta against me. >> i have incredible sources. i'm a reporter covering this. howie: she was formerly friend with omarosa and they have been feuding for a while. guy: i think there is a vendetta on behalf of april ryan to the white house going back to whether sarah huckabee sanders baked her own pie. it seems that april ryan goes beyond just being a reporter. she is a commentator activist on the left. she does her job. but to claim she is just a journalist and straight reporter. to me the evidence suggests

otherwise. >> are we giving too much attention to omarosa? >> there was an article about how she was followed around and nobody could figure out what she actually does. in the end john kelly thought there is no reason to continue to pay this person so she can have her bridesmaids come in and have a luncheon. howie: two fbi agents, peter strzok was removed by robert mueller from the investigation. he's writing to his girlfriend lisa page, trump is loathe some. peter strzok, oh, my god, he's an idiot. there is an issue about whether this should have been leaked to

the press. guy: i think the american people have the right to see what these text messages were. strzok was thrown off the investigation months ago. it took a long time for to us figure out what the case was. and if there were references to anti-trump-pro hillary text messages. it was right for the media to try to get their hands on those and give them to viewers and readers. you ran through some of the examples of what was sent back and forth. some of it was just sniping. obviously they didn't love mr. trump. but the most of potentially problematic one was about the understand policy against a trump presidency raises a red flag. on the media side of this, byron york tweeted that he did a

search of the "new york times" and "washington post" website and the understand element of those texts was never mentioned in this news story. howie: jesse watters said we may have evidence that the fbi meant to destroy the trump presidency for partisan purposes. if it's true, we have a coup on our hands in america. tar require's not just people on my side of the aisle, there are many republicans who feel bob mueller should be able to proceed with the full confidence of the american people without the president slandering them. we know christopher wray and rob rosenstein said they have full confidence in this

investigation. i agree with guy that the text that matters is the text about the insurance policy. these characters were talking about what would be done. howie: i am going to call a halt there. guy benson and jessica tarlov. thank you. next on "mediabuzz." the media in a tizzy as omarosa leaves white house. tavis smily and ryan lizza. and i don't share it with mom! right, mom? righttt. safe driving bonus checks. only from allstate. switching to allstate is worth it.

howie: pbs suspended tavis smily's talk show. "variety" reports he had sexual relationships with a number of subordinates who worried their jobs were tide these relationships. >> it's clear this has gone too far, and i for one intend to fight back. pbs overreacted and launched a sloppy investigation. how rsh joining us from new york, lynn sherr. tavis smily is fighting back. he said he had a consensual

relationship at least in one case. without pbs writing the details, how are we supposed to judge whether there is a big problem here? lynn: we need to differentiate, this drip drip drip that's a flood, the only way to avoid drowning tonight, find out and differentiate between something that destroyed a woman's career and something that makes her want to take a shower alone. i know nothing about a advice smiley's case. i know when he says we need to start the conversation, that's the point. we are never going to ban sex in the workplace, though i think there will be less mistletoe at holiday parties. but we need to determine the

boundaries and have a ray to say to each other what works and what's okay and what is not okay. if. howie: the new yorker is saying that he engaged in improper sexual misconduct, but not saying what it is. ryan lizza may be best known for reporting on the raunchy conversation with anthony scaramucci which cost him his job at the white house. >> i named it insane scaramucci interview. it was so completely different from any on-the-record conversation i had with a spokesman from the white house. how are said i am dismayed the

"new yorker" has chosen to calm a relationship i had with a woman inappropriate. lynn: there is some concern that there is backlash. there is concern that everything gets lumped together and it shouldn't be. my friend allen alda who has been a great supporter of women's rights for many decades. what we should do is have a safe word. one phrase universally recognized as something that means you can't do it anymore now. i think the word stop is fine, the word no is fine. but if those are too subtle. what allen alda suggested is that's not okay. even bystanders can use if they see something going on.

there have to be lines drawn. we should not have to bear the onus of this and police it. but something needs to be done. howie: there was a moving piece by selma hayek about harvey weinstein. she says he asked her for sex and asked to watch her take a shower and bullied her and said i will kill you. she says he pushed her in to doing a nude scene with another actress, ashley judd. and she had a nervous breakdown. she says she was too much of a coward to come forward. lynn: i have two reactions to this. when i read that gut wrenching piece by selma hayek, i remember when i was the sexual harassment ombudsman person, young women

would come to me trembling. i felt that trembling when i read that piece. these women are too frightened to bump it up to the next level. howie: selma hayek was an unknown actress at the time. thanks for joining us. nice to talk to you. after the break i talk to meryl streep an -- and tom hanks. hey, man. oh! nice man cave! nacho? [ train whistle blows ] what?! -stop it! -mm-hmm. we've been saving a lot of money ever since we switched to progressive. this bar is legit. and now we get an even bigger discount from bundling home and auto. i can get used to this.

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howie: i went to the red carpet the other night for the premiere

of the film "the post." the nixon administration got a court order to stop the "new york times" from running the story. >> we are talking about exposing years of government secrets. >> is that legal? >> what do you think we do here for a living? we could all go to prison. howie: were you surprised when you studied kay graham that she wasn't this confident executive that she was to the outside world. >> it was heartening to discover that. i don't think there is a woman alive who found herself at the pinnacle of her career and doesn't feel in some way that

kind of insecurity. and given her success, she suffered that. i could relate to it. i think many women can. and that's a shame. that's a shame. because we shouldn't apologize for fear. howie: i asked tom hanks who like meryl streep has taken shots by the president bay saying donald trump is monkeying with the constitution. do you see parallels between trump's campaign and this film? >> i believe the nixon administration at the time did a full frontal assault on the first amendment which trying to stop the press from publishing. you can't do that and still have the united states of america. the current administration and their like-minds allies are

waging a guerrilla our on the first amendment. by diluting the job they do to establish what the truth is. you sort of raise legitimacy of those people who are not interested in the truth whatsoever and are putting forward a specific sort of agenda. howie: i asked steven spielberg and whether the film lionized the journalists. >> the "new york times" and "washington post" were both competitive and collaborative. in that they were both doing the right thing against what the nixon administration was doing. we thought that was a story for the times then and the times today. howie: do you see some parallels on the attacks against the trump

administration? >> i will leave that to everybody who sees the movie. but this movie is not a partisan movie by hollywood filmmakers and actors and actresses. this is i patriotic movie and patriotism doesn't have partisanship. howie: i also spoke about president's denunciations of the press. >> nobody likes this. but it's part of the way things are these days. it was at the time of watergate as well. the president was attacking "the washington post" at the time. and the president is attacking "the washington post" and other news outlets as well. howie: i couldn't let meryl streep go without asking about a recent shot she took at fox news. you said you go to fox often to see manipulation. >> i watched "the five" today.

i think that's an entertainment show. howie: what do you mean by manipulation. >> what is chosen. what they choose to ignore. on a big news day, which everybody acknowledges globally is a big news day, they go to a small college in oregon and talk about one professor who is outrageous. howie: whatever their views on politics, this is one heck of a journalism movie. still to come, the merger between 21st century fox and disney. i don't want to sound paranoid, but d'ya think our recent online sales success seems a little... strange? na. ever since we switched to fedex ground business has been great. they're affordable and fast... maybe "too affordable and fast."

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why has the murdoch family decided to sell the entertainment section of its company. they are keeping fox news, fox business and fox sports. here is what they are buying. movie studio, national geographic, the fx channel. regional sports channels, and huh will you and britain's sky news. rupert murdoch has always been about buying assets. he found a willing partner in disney chairman bob iger whose conglomerate owns abc. >> people watch television differently. but they watch very differently. we are seeing with the emergence

of new companies. there has been tens of billions on programming. > howie: murdoch says he insisted iger stay on until 2015. a prime opportunity for disney. but for a media mogul whose empire has been expanding, this returns to murdoch's roots. he has always been a news junky. that in an increasingly fractured news environment was more important to him than being a mogul of hollywood. we hope you like our facebook page. check it out. you can read my daily column

there. if you want to write to us, mediabuzz@foxnews.com. we'll see you next week for the latest "mediabuzz." arthel: the controversy surrounding special counsel's robert mueller's special counsel investigation. a lawyer accusing mueller's team of improperly obtaining tens of thousands of transition emails as it investigates collusion between the trump campaign and russia. eric: . the lawyer claimed they were