howie: this is "mediabuzz" and i'm howard kurtz. the media were given only a few minutes notice before the united states and its allies bombed syria's chemical weapons. president trump: these are not the actions of a man, they are crimes of a monster instead. howie:einstead. howie insteadhow --

howie: the strikes have sparked debate. joining us, gillian turner, guy benson and adrienne elrod. gillian, the airstrikes were successful. but we have a classic media debate some saying the president should have gotten congressional approval. others are saying he is betraying the non-interventionist he ran on. gillian: nothing grabs the american press attention and spins earn one * in a frenzy more than a pending war. the fact that reporters can't get in on the ground and cover what's happening in syria from the inside is leading to the

wildly different opinion about whether this is the right thing to do. howie: by and large the mainstream media approved of the attacks. it's the partisans on the left and right who were picking it apart. guy: that's true. but this some crossover. some on the left and right questioning his legal authority to do this. generally when the media sees a limited airstrike against one who used chemical weapons against children, that's not going to be terribly controversial like so many other things are. so we are all screaming at each other and there are acts of war going on over which there is some consensus at least. howie: would some liberal

critics in the media be applauding if president obama did this when he said in 2013 use of chemical weapons because a red line. adrienne: there are some who immediately jumps to the conclusion that president trump authorized these airstrikes because of all the other things he has going not country. i think the media is right to say to the president, we need to know what the longer term plan is here. howie: the president tweeting this morning, syrian raid was so perfectly carried out, the only way the fake news could demean was the use of the term "mission accomplished." here is something president

trump tweeted in 2013. what will we get by bombing syria but more debt. the president needs congressional approval. gillian: will he or won't he request a new aumf. the medi made -- the media squas over whether that's the case. it's not unique to trump. it's something that was used on many administrations. guy: there are members of congress saying he is within his rights under the existing aumf.

in some cases the media is asking tougher questions than a co-equal branch of government. gillian: congress is saying he doesn't need it because they don't want to have to put the pedal to the metal. howie: less than two weeks ago the president surprising top members of his own staff by saying we need to withdraw from syria very soon and of course this happened. that apparent turn has drawn media criticism. is that fair? guy: sure, if you look at the president tweeting as a private citizen there must be congressional approval. then a couple weeks ago saying i have a new red line in syria, now he's escalating and lobbing missiles and bombs.

i think it response from the administration to the press is events on the ground matter. the president is a non-interventionist at heart. but here is the crossing of the red line others set where people are being gassed and the international community led by america to do nothing about it. so the president is making -- i would rather him make the correct decision in the moment wrath i are than be beholden to his previous statements or tweets. howie: it's a classic charge of flip-flop. but he talked to military leaders beforehand. and we have the situation with gitmo that clashes with reality when you are sitting in the

office. adrienne: we need more background and context. the president tends to react anything quickly to anything he seize on television he doesn't like. a television segment that is critical of him or what. my question is did he do this because he saw the horrific pictures we all saw. howie: last year he cited the horrible pictures. originally trump tweeted look out, the missiles are coming. then he said i didn't say when. why wouldn't the president take his time to consult with ask jim mattis and others? gillian: because there is an expensive and energy-consuming

track cal -- and practical matter. the networks were on lockdown waiting for something to happen. howie: that sounds like start the show. gillian: that's my cynical answer. guy: it could be they are holding the president to his own timeline. he hinted it would be very soon and it wasn't. howie: let's get to msnbc's coverage. moments after the president addressed the nation, here is what rachel maddow had to say. >> there are national security consequences to having a presidency that is as chaotic as mr. trump's presidency, consume bid scandal and criminal

intrigue as his presidency is. the perception that the president may have ordered these strikes in part because of scandal will affect the impact and effectiveness of these military strikes. howie: i respect rachel maddow. as a commentator she can say what she wants. but to say that on the air while military personnel were at risk and missiles were being fired. guy: this was a planned attack in concert with two top u.s. allies in response to a very specific terrible criminal action by a foreign regime. to go the wag the dog route to me is so silly. if president trump was able to convince theresa may and

emmanuel macron to go along with this -- howie: he could say i disagree with these airstrikes. but she tide it to the scandal -- she tied it to the scandals. adrienne: i, too, have a lot of respect for rachel maddow. but i thought it was a reckless approach. and it's the reason people do have mistrust. howie: i will be signing copies of my book tomorrow. when we come back the jim comey book sparks a fierce debate and

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howie: james comey's media blitz is under way. he called trump unethical and untethered to the truth. trump said comey is a weak and untruthful slime ball who was as time has shown a terrible job. his interview airs tonight with george stephanopoulos. >> i don't know whether the current president of the united states was with prostitutes

peeing on each other in moscow in 2013. it's possible, but i don't know. >> we got you be pleasant opinions of the president by james comey. but in terms of hard facts, people are talking about bombshells and there are none. what surprises me is how bitchy the book is. >> james comey is a liar and cnn are a bunch of perverts. that's the bombshell. howie: do you see any bombshells in this book? and by hitting back and calling comey a slime ball did he help comey sell 100,000 copies on amazon? gillian: probably. but in terms of the american people and democracy, the understanding i have is that

comey is or will imminently be officially be called to be some kind of a witness in the mueller probe. if i was his lawyer i would be explaining to him that anything you say on prime time or in a book that comes out can and will be used against you during the course of this investigation. and there is a slippery slope. the timing of the book. to have written the book in the middle of an investigation, sort of crazy in terms of the risk he's incurring. howie: the mainstream media giving comey a pretty favorable ride for this book because they agree with his indictment of president trump? ben: it is interesting watching the careening of opinions about james comey. he was enemy number one from the

democrats because of the way he handled the hillary stuff. then everything started to flip-flop in the late in the elect cycle he put out. they are just switching positions based on the moment of comey and whatever he has done. to me it's interesting to watch. the slime ball and the names and epithets being thrown back and forth. chris wallace referred to it as a pitchy book. he was talking about the president's hand size. this has gotten petty and personal which is an unusual thing to see because comey fancies himself holier than thou but he's not above it. howie: he says trump's face appears slightly orange and his hand were longer than mine.

adrienne: james comey has wanted everybody for so long to believe he held the fbi in the highest standards and was an independent thinker and looking at the rule of law. but this book undermines this because he talks about donald trump's spray tan and donald trump's marriage to melania and whether that was a good marriage. howie: i want to play a couple sound bites from the abc interview airing in prime time tonight. >> did you tell him the steele dossier was financed by his political components. >> it wasn't necessarily my goal. it was to alert him that we had this information. gillian: on the question of whether there were any bom

bombshells in this book. there was one to me. her in met hillary clinton. that shocked me to hear that after what he has been accused of in terms of collusion with the -- accused of sort of undermining the campaign and colluding with it. howie: as we saw in the top of the segment. comey says trump kept pressing him about disproving the unsubstantiated dossier. people are talking about the pee tape. should the press call comey on this? comey himself says he doesn't know it's true. ben: what is the news value of that. on the clip he says i don't know but let me repeat the allegation saying maybe. i think the second part you played there was a good clip.

did you let the president know this salacious dossier, unsubstantiated in a number of cases was provided and paid for by the democratic party and your political opponents? the answer was no he didn't. the other small thing that got a lot of attention was comey apparently made the decision, he writes in his book, to send that men he to congress that he was reopening the investigation to protect the legitimacy -- howie: i have the sound bite. this was about the intervention. 11 days before the election. let's roll it. >> it had to have been, she is going to be elected president. if i hide this from the american people she'll be illegitimate the moment she is elected. the moment this comes out. howie: this is pretty stunning.

she still blames comey in part for her loss. he's saying politics sort of influenced my decision. adrienne: this is the biggest bombshell. the fact he's admitting what so many thought in the media. there was so much bias into the primary and general that hillary clinton would be the winner the election. the reason he reopened the investigation and went public with it because he thought she was going to win and he wanted to get that out there before she became president of the united states. howie: one more break here ahead. corey lewandowski is object deck. but -- is on deck. the "new york times" says trump is more mor worried about -- more worry about the investigation of michael cohen.

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howie: the fbi raid on michael cohen's home and hotel room was a dramatic move. president trump: they raid the office of a personal attorney early in the morning, and i think it's a disgrace. howie: the fbi going after michael cone in this dramatic fashion. an overaggressive move because he was cooperating. gillian: now there is a personal narrative of corruption on the part of president trump. but for the media there is some political juice to be gleaned from this. it's the left answer to the deep state conspiracy theory. you think the government is

deeply entrenched and overrun by political actors. it sees into the comey accusations. howie: it may have cost bob mueller his interview with trump. but what gave the story rocket fuel is trump calling it a break-in and saying it was an attack on our country. guy: i think those are you be fair attacks from the president. there is a whole process. a federal judge. it went up the chain of command at doj. a number of trump appointees were in that chain of command. to me the media coverage was merited and this story is significant. i think the robe we are seeing the president reacting the way

he is, i never believed the collusion thing against trump. there might be something to the cohen story if there are tapes in existence. there might be a can of worms we haven't seen yet that trump is starting to get quite nervous about. gillian: the loyalty issue. if there is somebody in the trump orbit so committed to the president that he's willing to shell out $130,000 in cash, the art of what's possible expands. howie: i always thought it was the legal implications. the "new york times" reported that edtold aide he wanted to can miller over reports of the deutsch bank. hard to separate this sometimes.

adrienne: he's making veiled threats constantly. howie: he spoke by the after the cohen raid. he said people told me i should fire mueller. adrienne: going back to guy point, i think it's fair the way the media is covering this. the media covers the tweets. howie: the scooter libby pardon. president trump pardoning a former cheney aide. he's convicted of lying. characteristics a operative valerie plame, her name being made public. speculation to be sure. guy: totally speculative.

libby already had his sentence commute. he was caught up in a process crime. i think trump did the right thing. howie: you don't think it's connected to anything like mueller. guy: it might be but it might be irresponsible for me to jump to any conclusions. howie: ahead on "mediabuzz," a parade of pundits handicapping the house now that paul ryan isn't running. corey lewandowski standing by in new hampshire. hands go here... feet go here... you know what goes here... and your approval rating... goes here. test drive the ztrak z540r at your john deere dealer today. hello. give me an hour in tanning room 3. cheers!

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is corey lewandowski. let's start with syria. the "new york times" headline says president says mission accomplished, but what are his goals? the press says the president is saying he doesn't want to be mired in syria. are those fair questions? corey: they are. but earlier heather from the state department was on. the united states, great britain and france undertook a strategic strike on syria on installations where the chemical weapons are being manufactured and stored. we are saying and what the world has said we won't tolerate a dictator using chemical weapons on men, women and children in their own country. it sends a clear message to syria and around the world.

if you look at russia and iran, and what the president said friday night, you have to ask yourselves as countries, do you want to be associated with an individual killing men, women and children, and by and harming the answer should be no. howie: right after the president addressed the nation after the attack was under way. rachel maddow and msnbc went after president trump. >> that perception that this president under this much siege may have made this decision that was in any way inflected by the scandal surrounding him. that by necessity has shaped america's security options for who we are in the world tonight. howie: you are saying the president did this as a distraction from other issues and other scandals.

corey: he knew about this more over a week, and the response was not one that was done unilaterally. it was done with consultation and in conjunction with other nations around the world. it was done with the united states and france. this was not a reaction to anything other than the atrocity that's taken place in syria. it was well thought out. it was executed precisely and done in consultation with our allies around the world. howie: the fbi conducted that raid against the office and the hotel room. the "new york times" says prosecutors have asked for all communications between michael cohen and hope hicks and corey lewandowski. did you have a lot of dealings with michael cohen? >> of course i had a number of dealing with michael cohen. he was the senior vice president

of the trump campaign. i interacted with michael on a fairly regular basis. particularly more at the beginning of the campaign. all of my email communication as it related to my tenure to the donald trump campaign. the campaign turned over all those emails. anything anyone is looking for has been turned over to any respected authority who asked for them. i can't speak for miss hicks. but i believe all the campaign emails were turned over. if there is anything authorities want to see they have access to those emails. howie: jim comey is pushing his new book. there has been a lot of journalistic finger wagging. the president called him a slime ball.

why would the president go to that level? corey: because jim comey is a slime ball. jim comey we know has lied under oath to congress. in the real world we call that perjury. there has been no accountability. howie: that's not an undisputed fact. corey: comey has testified many times before congress and had to issue multiple clarification to his testimony. he said he took information he received as the director of the fbi, gave it to a law professor so that information would be put out and the american people can see it. that's an undisputed fact and it's against the rules of the fbi and there has been no prosecution for jim comey.

andrew mccabe who has been accused of lying three times under oath is also saying jim comey has been untruthful. now you have two liars lying about each other. my bigger concern is this. it reminds me of the fake book written by michael wolff. comey is going to make a fortune on it. >> just for the record, mccabe is not a felon. he was fired. corey: but he should be. i call him felon mccabe. howie: the justice department -- >> he lied three times under oath. howie: that's your assertion: >> it's not hide assertion -- it's not my assertion. inspector general said he believes mccabe three times under oath.

if you lie one time to the fbi, ask michael flynn and other people, you are brought up on felony charges. he lied three times, four times under oath and there is no accountability. there has to be an investigation and prosecution because these people are the deep state and everything they have told us have been lies from the very beginning. howie: a cnn banner said trump flailing and you can manageable reacting to comey, new book. saying he became untbliewd over the coverage of the book. what do you make of these reports? do does this reflect reality as you know it? corey: without getting into private conversations, i have had the privilege to speak to the president a number of times about the news and then i read

about what they say about it and they are not what's taking place. howie: why are people in trump world leaking to the press. >> because already still people who serve inside this administration who don't want to see this president be successful. and those who people who don't support this administration. but i see people like john beale on and larry kudlow, people who had longstanding associations with the president. this administration needs more people like that. howie: good to talk to you, appreciate it. coming up, more on the u.s. airstrikes against syria. do the media root for military intervention?

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a. howie: we are back with gillian turner. you have years of national security experience. once assad unleashed this chemical attack on syria was there a usual in the media for the president to retaliate with military force? gillian: i think there was. what is the one thing every president needs and wants when they are taking the public to war. hey, mr. president, if you do strike back against this evild dictator in syria we have your back. howie: but what we learned in

the iraq war, the press also needs to be sceptical. again, there is a danger of the press being cheerleaders for military action? gillian: yes and serving as you a groundswell of support who president trump according to all reports is heavily influenced by the media, print, televise, you name it. >> there is a certain rally in effect when members of the military risk their lives. but i think is there a danger of, you know, it's an easy way to get alaws from the press? gillian: the temptation is real. i struggled with that myself. i was on the air live last saturday morning.

i point out that when the president called for strikes one year ago, he roundly received support and praise from the international community. could you argue i was part of the voice goading the president into war? probably. but i'm illustrating this as the broader point of how you make those calculations. it's a reality that that happened. i don't think there is inherent bias in stating that. howie: i can see where everybody is positive -- just briefly, the "new york times" is laying out the dilemma saying the contrast between his man told chest thumping, and his convictions specially after 2001, american involvement in the middle east has cost us a lot in blood and treasure. this is part of his platform. i am going to disentangle us

from the middle east. i don't believe in any of these wars. i think they are all a mistake. he has a lot of promises to fill. howie: gillian turner, thanks for doing double duty. after the break, paul ryan retiring as speaker and some pundits say that means the republicans will lose the house. maybe that's a bit premature. that's why there's ocuvite. ocuvite helps replenish nutrients your eyes can lose as you age. it has lutein, zeaxanthin and omega-3. ocuvite. be good to your eyes. touch is how we communicate with those we love, but does psoriasis ever get in the way? embrace the chance of 100% clear skin with taltz. for people with moderate to severe psoriasis, up to 90% had a significant improvement of their psoriasis plaques. with taltz, 4 out of 10 even achieved completely clear skin. don't use if you're allergic to taltz.

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howie: paul ryan rocked the republican party by announcing he won't run for reelection. >> what happened to paul ryan? why didn't he speak up? why didn't he stand up to the president about things many believe were personally offensive to you?

>> i have a much more effective relationship by having personal dialogues than wailing on him on tv. i don't see how that gets things done. howie: he's getting it from all the sides. conservative commentators say he wasn't fully on board with the trump agenda, and commentators say he enabled trump. mara: it will take time before we decide what his legacy is. he was a reluctant speaker. it was widely thought he would step down after november. he says it's unfair for him to run for reelection because he's going to quit. howie: many in the media, print, web, television, say it's a done deal, democrats are going to

take over the house. mara: i'm shocked at how many think this is done. i hear it from republicans. i am even more shocked to hear it from republicans. they have a lot of structural advantages. the democrats have an uphill climb. ryan isn't the tipping point. ryan is a psychological blow to republicans and it's a morale booster for democrats. will donors still give to paul ryan if they know he's a lame duck. howie: since most of democrats are saying they are not planning to impeach the president. mara: i respect charwood, but that is ridiculous. to say he's going to be impeached if the democrats win,

which is what harwood is saying is exactly what the republicans are saying. they want the impeachment issue because they want to energize their base. every democrat i have spoken to with the exemtion exception of the maxine waters and the extreme left. but it's wrong on principle it's the equivalent of lock her up, which they had it. the media at large. the media is not one big blob. media individuals who repeat that would be wrong and irresponsible. howie: i'm sure trump was a factor in ryan's decision. but it's only been three years since john boehner quit in frustration. now can any republican lead this divided party? mara: that's a good question.

i think paul ryan stepping down makes it harder for nancy pelosi to be the speaker if the democrats win the house back. howie: thanks for coming in. the "national enquirer," the payment to a trump doorman and a rumor nobody seems to believe. get your groove on with one a day 50+. ♪ get ready for the wild life ♪ complete multivitamins with key nutrients that address 6 concerns of aging, including heart health, supported by b-vitamins. your one a day is showing.

howie: the national enquirer is being accused of protecting donald trump. they are accused of spaying doorman to buy and bury a story about a love child. the "enquirer" concluded the story wasn't true. >> they went to such extraordinary lengths to bury a story. this was second hand information that there was an affair,

possibly a child resulting from an affair. howie: this does fit the way the parent company blames his area for all the attention paid to a decision not to publish the story. when the doorman is contacted he says my time is valuable. what's your offer. there were all kinds of things we couldn't get to this week. mark zuckerberg testifying about facebook, and the mike pompeo hearings. continue the conversation on twitter @howardkurtz and go to our home page. it's a new design and you can

watch the entire episode if you happen to be doing cost something different on sunday morning. we'll see you back here with the latest buzz. eric: we start with a fox news alert. new reaction pouring in about the joint airstrikes in syria. the united states is repairing new sanctions on russia over its continued support of the regime of bashar al-assad. president trump parading the operation on twitter. those airstrikes targeting and take out key facilities we are told. with new images revealing the extent of the damage inflicted by the coordinated evident by the u.s., britain and france. welcome to america's news headquarters. i'll be under viewing karen pierce,