♪ howie: president trump after drawing rare journalistic praise is mauled by the made after after reports that he made comments about s*hole countries. >> the sentiment the president expressed today is a racist sentiment. >> the president seems to harbor racist feeling about people of color from other parts of the world. >> the president of the united states is a racist. we already knew that. >> he said something a lot of people agree with. a lot of people come from other places that aren't very nice.

>> there is no question these comments are racist. >> this is so abnormal. this is a freak show. >> is this offensive? of course it is. but this doesn't move the needle at all. howie: is it fair for commentators to denounce those comments as racist. an explosive "wall street journal" article about the president that is generating strong denials. the media are swooning over oprah for president. >> oprah's speech is fueling talk of a presidential run. >> she is an impressive woman, it was an impressive speech. >> i don't think her position has changed. i don't.

i was talking to her very late last night. i do think she is intrigued by the idea. howie: why are the pundits giving so much attention to such a far-fetched scenario. why steve bannon lost his media platform. i'll be making a personal announcement about my latest prong. this is "mediabuzz." reports that president trump privately told members of congress he warrants to limit immigration from hate tee and some african nations. >> the president made a mistake in making those comments, no question. >> i have known him for 30 years, i know him and like him,

but this is a new low. howie: the president tweeted the next day while he used tough language during the meeting about the dreamers, this was not the language used. but dick durbin said it was the language. joining us, mollie hemingway, susan ferrechio, and marie harf. molly, the s has hit the fan over these comments. mollie: when you use this type of language and the president chooses to be this vulgar with alarming regularity, it's going to be news. but the media failed to explain the context of his remarks. they didn't have any curiosity

about why dick durbin was leaking this. and mostly they were using this like they have used so many discussions about immigration. that is to silence people to weren't to change immigration to a merit-based system. that's frustrating for people who are interested in this debate. howie: this was a slur. and some republicans have criticized it. jason johnson said trump is a white supremacist, a terrorist sympathizer and a danger to non-whites. is this over the top? marie: most of of the outrage is well placed. this fits into a pattern of comments he made, whether it's after charlottesville or when he took out the full page ad about the central park five.

he has a long history of wading into discussions about race and using racially charged language. that plays into how it's being covered today. based on everything he has done over decades. howie: many politicians use bad language in private. he said don't do stupid s in foreign policy. would the coverage have been the same if he had said lousy third world countries. >> absolutely. because everybody started to put the s word up without the asterisk. they want to convey a message that the president is such a racist and degenerate that they have to put the word on the

screen. the fcc regulated stations putting up the word thank violation of the regulations. howie: fox hasn't been using it. i think it should be used sparingly. i think it's one of those words that's important to understanding even though some people find it offensive. in the past you have had liberal commentators saying he's a racist. you have jim acosta and andrea mitchell almost stating it as fact. mollie: i don't know what they were thinking because there were so many leaps of logic. there was some dispute about the precise nature of the term.

and they said ergo he's racist. and they said the use of the term chain immigration is racist. that's just the term that's used. i think people know that and they dispute -- they need to make the case and there is no need to assert as fact when there is plenty to talk about that is fact. marie: you saw them going back to when he was sued for racial discrimination in housing in new york. he went after the american judge calling mexicans racist. it's hard to know what's in people's hearts so i'm always cautious saying he has feeling of this. you can't know that. but he made statements white

supremacists think he's on their side. mollie: we have a discussion in this country about whether we should change our immigration policy. when president trump said he wanted to change temporary status and people said you can't send people back to those hell holes. but when he says this, that's racist. howie: there were a number of commentators on the right the president appeared willing to negotiate some kind of compromise with democrats on legalizing the dreamers program in exchange for turning the border wall. let's take a brief look at what some of them had to say. >> fit was a completely different donald trump from the one we watched on the campaign trail two years ago. so what was the point of running for president. >> this was a disaster. the lowest day of his

presidency. if he thinks he's going to get great press by giving the left everything they want. howie: president trump got a lot of praise for having that session, but those who have supported him were very critical. susan: the president speaks two ways. on one hand he wants to make a deal and work with democrats. but on the other hand he wants the tough border security he promised. he made the major campaign promise. the big beautiful wall. he tries to negotiate with democrats. is he going to have a deal or the very things he promised? howie: some of the conservative commentators acted like this was a betrayal when in fact he was trying to negotiate for what he also wants on this wall with

mexico. mollie: these are much more interesting angles for the media to explore. how his base is worried he will sell them out. or dick durbin leaking. marie: that's what some conservative republicans were worried about during the primary. he's a lifelong democrat who potentially could cut deals with chuck and nancy. at the end of the day governing is actually about. howie: people on both sides hate compromise. the president at a press availability had something to say about the state of the

nation's libel laws. president trump: our current libel laws are a sham and disgrace and do not represent american values or american fairness. you can't say things that are knowingly false. and be able to smile as money pours into your bank account. mollie: criticism of the press is perfectly fine. he didn't say anything specific enough to be totally alarmed by. threatening legal action because you don't like the coverage you are getting. it violates the spirit of press freedom. and nobody has benefited more from the lax laws on slander than donald trump. he says ted cruz's father was involved in the assassination of

jfk. howie: you can't publish statements with malice. marie: donald trump has told a record number of falsehoods going back to the barack obama birther stuff which many people saw as the way he got into politics. when he doesn't like legal stories he threatens legal action. i think he's just trolling the media. howie: he sued an author from the "new york times" saying he wasn't worth as much money as he claimed. he sued a "chicago tribune" critic for saying trump tower was ugly. susan: this is just the way he engages with the press.

he he's in an adversarial relationship with the media. but he also needs the media, which explains wolff the author into the white house. howie: is the media openly promoting oprah, the television icon for president. a story about an alleged payment before the election generates a spate of strong denials.

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raised a payment to a former porn star on an agreement she not go public with an alleged sexual encounter? 2006. there have been a spate of denials. if the white house says these are old recycled reports that were strongly denied before the election. while michael cohn won't address the story specifically, he says it's not true. she says rumors that i received hush money from donald trump are completely false. mollie: the "wall street journal" asserted something is true but provided zero evidence to that fact. howie: it says money went to her through her employer.

mollie: why are they so certain given both parties deny and everybody quoted on the record deny it. howie: we have the "times" interviewing jake wiseberg saying he got pre-election daniels, according to these text messages she had an affair with donald trump in 2006, and he was late in paying her. now she denies it. no * the editor said the reason they didn't run with the story was because she couldn't verify it. that's not the best sourcing for the original claim. howie: the text messages seem like evidence to me. but the slate reporter says she was demanding money.

the top two newspapers in the country reporting these sense sayingsal allegations. >> any other president, this might be a major story. but this is president trump. this came baked in. he wasn't harry truman. he was a thrice married businessman in from queens. the story is not new. it came out november 6, 2016. the beginnings of this are not new. howie: given the "journal" did report this just before the election. daniel was supposed to tell her story on good morning america but all that fell through. how much will people care about

this? marie: i am not sure this moves the needle in terms of public perception of him. still i think it's a store why it public deserves to see and hear about. can you imagine if this was barack obama, what the news coverage would be like? yes, she denied it, but it's reported as part of her settlement, she has to deny it. i don't think it will move the needle but she has to deny it. mollie: the normalization of anonymous sourcing is not good for the industry and that's something journalists should care about because donald trump won't always be here to excuse. howie: the level of distrust in the media is so great --

susan: readers have a right to know. the problem with anonymous sourcing, when you have an anonymous source, you don't know their agenda. howie: the readers don't know. and you are supposed to trust the journalist's filter. howie: after what bill clinton did in office. if it happened in 2006 does not sound like a media bombshell, fit happened. marie: there are a lot of people who believe every anonymous source in the administration i worked in because it fits into their world view. we have to have reporters who do their jobs well and avaluate the anonymous sources. but there has to be a place for them in our media landscape and

we shouldn't discount everything because there is not a name attached to it. howie: . ahead, actor michael douglas is denying sexual harassment allegations even before they are published. millions of you are online right now, searching one topic. that will generate over 600 million results. and if you've been diagnosed with cancer, searching for answers like where to treat, can feel even more overwhelming. so start your search with a specialist at cancer treatment centers of america. start with teams of cancer treatment experts under one roof. start where specialists use advanced genomic testing to guide precision cancer treatment... ...that may lead to targeted therapies and more treatment options.

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howie: i have been covering donald trump since the day he came down that golden escalator two years ago. but really longer than that when i first interviewed the donald in the ain the 80s. the reporting on president trump has been overwelkingly negative and at times outright hostile.

the president's attacks on the press have been just as harsh. sometimes hitting back against unfair attacks and sometimes stepping over the line. i have spent a lot of time writing a book about this. it's called "media madness." it wasn't an easy book to write. i'm a lifelong journalist. i criticize the business all the time as you know. but i'm not a knee jerk media barber. my fear is organized journalism has badly lost its way in the trump era. many news organizations decided during the campaign that trump had to be held to a different standard, and that means taking a stand that has often meant a biased approach that alienated many consequence * and d many cd

independents. how they fight with each other and play the leaking game and sometimes undermine their boss and each other it's an all-out war between the president and the press that's further dividing a very polarized country. coming up, the pundits are pumped up over oprah for president. though she doesn't seem to be running. we'll look at fallout as steve - [narrator] introducing a breakthrough

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howie: oprah winfrey didn't just talk about victims of sexual conducted, she praised the media. >> we all note press is under siege, but we also know it's their dedication to uncovering

the absolute truth that keeps us from turning a blind eye to corruption and injustice. howie: the press awarded the favor by practically drafting her into the 200 presidential campaign. >> my head is going to explode. will oprah winfrey actually run for president? in l.a. christina been and tony. what explain. >> this will totally shock you, but celebrity sells. famous names. people buy papers. she is not the first famous

media star thought to be running for president. tom brokaw was asked to run, water cronkite was floated as a possible vice presidential candidate with george mcgovern in 1972. many years later cronkite said yes he would have done it. and other journalists have run and won for seats in congress. some of them served reasonably well. this is about the nexus of fame and power. of course, they are going to be considered. howie: oprah told bloomberg news backstage she had no plans to run. her friend gail king said maybe she'll run. >> one of the problems with some

of the covering, it didn't get into the substance. look at oprah winfrey's campaign donations. she gave to arnold schwarzenegger. she has given money to cory booker who could run in 2020. she has given a lot of money to the dnc and the obama campaign. he having a look at this could be interesting. has she voted in every election. what did the polls say? there was a poll that said she would defeat president trump 50-39 in 2020. but that's obviously an early stage. howie: it's meaningless because no one has been attacking her. and there are no stories about

what's her position on arming the syrian rebels. i think those early polls are like cotton candy. i get it, celebrity sells. there is a history of celebrities encouraging speculation because it builds the brand without having to dirty your hand. lynn: i think that's true. i think in her speech it was a reminder of the elegance and eloquence missing in the national discourse. there was a kind of a yearning for some moral leadership. now, having said that, i don't believe that she is actually thinking of running. i want to read you something from an interview i did with oprah in 2010 from a cover story

from parade magazine. i said would you ever run for office? she said nope. i said because? she said because i know my lane and i drive well in my lane. i know she knows how to put on the brakes. howie: there was a tweet from nbc that said nothing but respect for our future president, a picture of oprah winfrey. it took 12 hours to delete. then nbc had an explanation that it was a shadowy third party. christina: our readers were very interested in this story. she is one of the most of globally known people in america. just to lynn's point, i covered her in three different states when she was campaigning for

barack obama in 2007 and 2008. she went from iowa to south carolina and new hampshire and had different messages in each. and really made clear she is not clear in politics. even obama made the joke when somebody shouted from the crowd that she should be his running mate. celebrities could make a president, because look at president trump. howie: there is a story about questionable medical treatment she backed in the past. so that's just a taste of what would happen. lynn: i think the bottom line on her is she is a way too smart to run. harris: we put up the "time" magazine cover this week, hair

on fire. what do you make of all the incredible coverage of the s*hole comment and do you think it's the right amount or somewhat overdone? continue requiroverdone? christina: it was an extraordinary moment. for us representing the left and -- the west and california, those comments hit home for people in a negative way. people wanted to read about them in context. howie: lynn sherr? lynn: there has been an almost universal agreement on the part of journalists to print the word exactly as it was. but don't put it in 36 point half-inch high head lines.

that was too much for readers. you can't let your children watch tv or read the news anymore. howie: ahead on "mediabuzz." the hollywood harassment cases keep on playing out at the press. ancestrydna makes over 10 million new family connections, every day. that's more ways to discover new relatives. people who share your dna. and maybe a whole lot more. order your kit at ancestrydna.com even when nothing else is. keep her receipts tidy, brand vo: snap and sort your expenses with quickbooks and find, on average, $4,340 in tax savings. quickbooks. backing you.

howie: president trump and top white house officials constantly attacking sloppy steve over his harsh criticism of the white house. steve bannon is done at breitbart. >> steve bannon is out of the job tonight. two jobs. >> the evil genius of the trump white house no longer works in the white house, no longer works anywhere. he's a man who still views himself as a great revolutionary, but he finds himself without a media vehicle, not a platform or major donors. howie: he turned into a major force on the right after the trump campaign. one of his top backers rebecca

mercer wrote a letter distancing herself from his views. does it seem inevitable that breitbart and siriusxm radio would part company after the repeated denuns wases -- denun . >> he was going to be removed. the problem is steve bannon does believe in certain things. he believes there should be a trade war with china. he believes we should be replacing republican establishment figures with more insurgents. and donald trump has been persuade to do things that are more expedient and persuading

china to help us isolate north korea. howie: sources close to bannon are telling me it's not that breitbart booted him. but bannon's own lawyer said he had to choose between media and politics. giving speeches and raising money for candidates. it's possible every article by breitbart could be considered an in-kind contribution. he was a real force after he left the white house using breitbart as a platform. in politics to you think he can regain that status? >> if you ever had a conversation with him, he's an infectious personality. i would be surprised if he works his way back into the

president's good graces. the people around the president are probably more protective of the president and his relationship with steve bannon. he will be an insurgent force until he's about to retire. howie: my sources telling me he's out there doing political meeting and the war of words with president trump is not hurting raising money. where does this leave breitbart? breitbart hasn't made any substantive comment on bannon's departure. before it has backed the president on certain issues. where does that leave the website. >> bannon's removal from the site -- howie: unless president trump

didn't do something that breitbart didn't like. >> steve bannon attempts to help donald trump get back on the bannon agenda is what resulted in his removal from the white house. he went rogue and told reporters we should be isolated china, not working with china. his idea of helping lost a seat in alabama. howie: he wasn't solely responsible for the loss. do you see breitbart having a future post bannon? >> it will be a voice for donald trump. but to the extent that donald trump won't be president forever, it seems like a bad bet. howie: actor james franco hits the late-night circuits denying sexual harassment.

. . .

howie: a report in the "los angeles times" alleged james franco once exposed himself in a car and tried to push her head down. and during the "golden globes" there was a tweet from ali s shrk --sheedy.

i have no idea why she was upset. she took the tweet down. howie: james franco goes on colbert an offers vague denials. i don't get strategy. could the host have pressed him more firmly? >> it's not what stephen colbert and seth myers do. it's a jump to go from host to interrogator. franco is in a delicate place because it's walking a tightrope. he needs to be respectful of the times up, #metoo moment we are in. and he has to be in the public face because he's campaigning for an oscar.

his film the disaster artist is out. he will be asked these questions time and time again. howie: michael douglas went public with the hollywood website deadline with an emotional denial of allegations made by a former employee that he masturbated in front of her 32 years ago. he says he was preempting a possible story by the hollywood reporter. what do you make of the michael douglas move here? >> it's a risky move. because if he did engage in inappropriate behavior and misconduct with other women, having a statement like this could inspire them to speak out. he did seem to want to get ahead

of the story. he picked an outlet i assume he perceived would be friendly to him. and tried to kind of -- control the narrative. control his destiny. howie: so many of these hollywood cases, are the media having a burnout and not getting as much coverage? or is it that the latest allegations are not on the same level? >> i would say the franco allegations do not rise to the level the weinstein allegations do, a criminal level. i am not sure there is a bit of burnout, if you watched the golden globes. clearly women in the film and television industry feel motivated to speak out. they feel this is an important moment and they feel certain

this will lead to substantive change. howie: james rosen, fox's chief worse yentd left just before the holidays. there were allegations he made sexual to have twice kid a reporter in an elevator. rosen is bound by contract not to comment. if. achenbach has been u us personnd

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howie: chris ma these was getting ready to interview hillary clinton when according to footage leaked to "new york" magazine he said this. >> where is that bill cosby pill i brought with me. howie: matthews thought it was funny to joke about drugging and sexually assaulting the democratic nominee. he apologized, he said he deeply

regrets it and he's sorry. john dickerson is joining cbs this morning to replace charlie rose. >> i'm a transfer student here. >> welcome to the new school, john dickerson. howie: he's a natural choice since his mother was cbs's first female correspondent. >> we had a picture of your mom here since the show began. howie: the coroner "time" correspondent. that's it for this edition of "mediabuzz." i'm howard kurtz. let's continue the conversation @howardkurtz.

and facebook "mediabuzz" >> i have a hard time believing that it was somebody hit the button accidentally. >> i have been calling for president trump so sit across the table from kim jong un to build this pathway towards denuclearization. >> anger and outrage over the president's remarks. >> how do you egged a 71-year-old man. [inaudible] >> we don't need them anymore, we can do better. you're dam right, we've got this? ♪