ask your doctor about ibrance. the #1 prescribed fda-approved oral combination treatment for hr+/her2- mbc. howie: the culture war over roseanne barr and samantha bee. roseanne blaming ambien. >> we know what donald trump thinks. we know what roseanne barr thinks. it's time for to us stop playing around with soft words by saying, oh, they are saying i sensitive things. no, it's racist. president trump cannot be blamed for everything wrong with our country. donald trump is also a racist. donald trump's public comment

about roseanne barr as racist comments includes no objection to her comments. >> the left takes the idiotic words of one person and blames it on millions. it's about the left expanding the tweet to the president and by connection half of america. howie: are some journalists blaming roseanne barr's comments on the president? and is there a double standard when samantha bee uses the c word to slam ivanka trump. >> we just saw roseanne's show canceled after the comments she made. but samantha bee, apology, no problem. howie: some liberals are defending the comedian. president trump says robert

mueller is mid -- mueller is meddling in the mid-terms. >> today the president stated that it's robert mueller who will be guilty of election interference. not putin. mueller. >> this could be a crime to suggest the mueller investigation would amount to meddling is trumpian projection. >> i think it's so cute that this president thinks attorneys general are supposed to be their personal lawyers. by cute i mean ignorant. >> i don't find it surprising if he told his white house counsel, this is ridiculous. howie: a leaked white house memo

says the president can't be guilty of obstruction because he can fire anyone. i'm howard kurtz and this is "mediabuzz." howie: roseanne barr was riding on top of the world before her tweet. >> oil worried about the people out there who don't have friend and followers who come to their defense. she added to the tweet by saying bob iger called valerie jarrett to let her know that abc does not tolerate comments like those. gee, he never called me.

joining me, katie pavlich. susan ferrechio, and capri cafaro, a former democratic senator in ohio who teaches at american university. roseanne fires off this horrible racist tweet. abc axes the tweet. you have some anchors like don lemon using that to say the president is more of a racist. katie: when we had the congressional baseball shooting the man who was the shooter supported bernie sanders. but you didn't see the comments that bernie sanders was responsible. what the rest of roseanne's show represented is being ignored. the rest of her show is very

diverse. you have the transgender son. an african-american granddaughter who has an african-american mother in the military. the rest of the family supports hillary clinton. all trump supporters and the president himself are being blamed for a comment put on twitter which was a line put continue to a teleprompter with samantha bee. howie: some pundits are saying trump was to blame for the roseanne tweet because he created the racist atmosphere. capri: i think the narrative and hypothesis that president trump has ignited this racist trend to cop out into the forefront and mainstream. that's nothing new. howie: is it fair?

capri: no in this context for sure. roseanne barr did what roseanne barr is going to do. it's nothing new for her to say something insensitive. because president trump did not respond and specifically say it was racist. even sara and zers said it was -- even sara sanders said it was inappropriate. i think that's a bit of a stretch. howie: roseanne said it was a joke. then she said she was on ambien. then she said what i did was so egregious and no one should defend it. given her history. didn't abc executives know exactly what they are getting? susan: i think they are naive to the intersection of social media and television.

it's the wild west. in the old days the stars were managed. now you have twitter. i don't think these big media companies are setting standards. they are setting standard as they go. they are playing reaction air yaiy. -- they are reactionary. they don't have the standards in place. howie: you mentioned samantha bee using the c word and make these accusations against ivanka trump. then you have the media saying it wasn't so bad, and trump uses worse language against people. katie: if we put the shoe on the other foot if this has been aimed at chelsea clinton.

samantha bee issued an apology. the network said it's their bad. we are seeing the double standard. msnbc with joy reid who had horrible log posts in her early career saying john mccain was like the virginia tech shooter. it goes back to the double standard how conservative women are treated. how men are treated. and how the left is treating it because they believe in what samantha bee is doing overall. therefore an apology is good enough for samantha bee and not for roseanne barr. capri: i think it's vile and it's sad it's the world we live in. there was peab interesting analysis saying tbs could not

necessarily fire samantha bee in the same way abc fired roseanne because they were complicit in it and signed off on it. the's an interesting argument. you can't use the same for joy reid. the fact that we are having this conversation shows how divisive the country has gotten. the left and the right seems incapable of having any consensus or decency. howie: for some commentators, as long as ivanka trump is the target, anything goes. this kind of language and sexual crack has been used against her before by bill maher. it does seem like there is a different standard for going after the president's family.

susan: there is a different standard and it's not so much based on trump. if he was a democrat and putting ford a democratic agenda with democratic policies, i don't think anybody would care have much about that tone. i think it would be okay for him to be hard on the media or his political enemies. this has given the press and people who are liberals to go after the president under the guise of him being a brute on twitter. i always play the black and white game. if this was a democrat would the same thing happen? i don't think so. howie: a tweet yesterday by sally field actually put up a tweet with the c word. ivanka trump has not responded.

she does not respond and get into the dirt despite the terrible name calling and scape getting. lead story in today's "new york times," pane exclusive everybody is following. a 0-page letter to bob mueller making the case that the president can't be guilty of obstruction of justice because he has the power to fire and he doesn't need to testify. the instant media take is the president with this argument by his lawyers is trying to put himself above the law. is that a reasonable argument? katie: i think you can report on the m.o. and let the chips fall where they may. in may we saw this leaking of the questions by someone whether it was the white house legal team or someone else detailing the questions robert mueller was

supposed to ask the president. this makes it clear the trump legal team said we have answered all your questions. here are the details you want to know about. there is no need for you to sit down with him because we already answered those questions. we have a hunch this leaking came from the legal team to get ahead of the mueller investigation to -- to show everybody they have done their part. they can say look this is what we did ahead of it, there was no need to sit down. howie: the president was on twitter complaining about the leak. it probably was somebody on the trump side, i'm speculating to some degree. rudy giuliani was on two sunday shows making the same argument. isn't it part of the aggressive strategy to win the p.r. battle

in case the president decide not to testify and go to court over it. susan: you win the p.r. battle you get out in front of this impeachment threat. people in congress his be to what the people are saying. howie: what he says is true, he has the executive authority to fire anybody. but it depend on intent. do you think this is just the fog of war? capri: it mays i to the narrative president trump thinks he's above the law. the "new york times" annotated 0 pages with footnotes showing what they are trying to make the point the president is showing

that he thinks he's above the law. howie: ahead. are some pundits defending samantha bee for slamming ivanka trump? when we come back. more on the president and the russia probe and his latest blast at jeff sessions. -here comes the rain. [ horn honking ] [ engine revving ] what's that, girl? [ engine revving ] flo needs help?! [ engine revving ] take me to her! ♪ coming, flo! why aren't we taking roads?! flo. [ horn honking ] -oh. you made it. do you have change for a dollar? -this was the emergency? [ engine revving ] yes, i was busy! -24-hour roadside assistance. from america's number-one motorcycle insurer. -you know, i think you're my best friend. you don't have to say i'm your best friend. that's okay.

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howie: president trump and many members of the media basically calling each other liars. the trump tweeted the media ran a disinformation campaign. date katie you responded to that story that said the president

tried to press sessions on his decision to recuse himself from the russia probe. katie: it's true robert mueller's investigation will have an impact on the election. is there obstruction of justice involved? the mainstream media propped donald trump up during the primary. as soon as he won the gop nomination went all out on him and hasn't stopped since. howie: rudy giuliani goes out there and says he should wrap this up by september 1. mueller won't let rudy dictate the deadline. is that meddling?

capri: i don't think so. you have to do your job. it's what your definition of meddling in. i would assume my analysis of president trump's tweet is if they are using poor outcomes for the 2018 election for the republicans, this is a factor. it's not necessarily him and not necessarily the gop, it's mueller meddling. howie: another tweet. the corrupt mainstream media working overtime, not to mention the infiltration of spies, informants into my campaign. the problem is the fbi informant story was broken by the "new york times" but not necessarily casting it as spying. susan: it's such a hot debate. i sight as a paid informant

working for the fbi spying on the trump campaign. you can word it however you want. the president is doing what he e of russia. the corrupt mainstream media loves to keep pushing that narrative but they know it isn't true. i said to myself this russia thing with trump and russia is a made up story. katie: his words are on tape in this interview. also in that interview he talked about the frustration james

comey would publicly say the fbi was not going after him directly in terms of the russia investigation. and that was part of the russia decision that was made in terms of james comey. he has the right as the president of the united states of america to fire whoever he wants at any time. and that leaked memo we just discussed details that argument. howie: brief response? capri: it gives me a headache and i'm sick of it. howie: before the break you mentioned you and roseanne have gotten into it online. katie: when she was heavily involved in the wall street movement she blocked me. so then she unblocked me. we can't have a conversation.

howie: joy reid apologizes again for old posts that cast her as a 9/11 truther. rare praise for fox news just because the news division covered donald trump fairly. there are multiples on the table: one is cash, three are fha, one is va. so what can you do? she's saying a whole lotta people want to buy this house. but you got this! rocket mortgage by quicken loans makes the complex simple. understand the details and get approved in as few as eight minutes. by america's largest mortgage lender.

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he challenged the allegation that the fbied on his campaign. >> the allegations by mayor giuliani over the weekend would lead one. howie: that's the judge's view. shepard smith sometimes tries to debunk the president's claims. >> shep smith superstar. >> love him. >> president trump accuse the special counsel and his team of a whole new set of conspiracy

theories. unfound not based on fact or reason with no evidence to support them. >> judge nap where, fox news' news gathering force. again, specifically -- doing what republicans always did, that is stand up and defend the rule of law. stand up and defend the fbi. howie: there is no surprise that joe and mika will defend those who support their views. >> it was comey leaks because he wanted a special counsel based on a phoney dossier. then he spies on democrats. mueller's out of control russia probe has lost any legitimacy. howie: if you look at the whole picture it undermines the

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howie: the media have been far more retrained over another outrage, samantha bee went off on the president's daughter for the sin of posting a picture with her child with the worst word you can use against a woman. >> that's a beautiful photo of you and your child. but let me say one mother to another, do something about your dad's immigration practice you feckless [bleep]. he rinses to you. put on something tight and low

cut and tell your daughter to [bleep] stop it. howie: after the white house denounced her bee said i would like to apologies to ivanka trump. i crossed the line and i deeply regret it. joining me. emily jashinsky, and richard fowler. until the white house denounced this language as vicious and vile. i read the media reports and they were, wow, did you see what sam said? emily: some of the media reports were almost applauding her like it was funny. i am glad you played the second part of that clip. it goes on. i think also very inappropriate. what's interesting about all of this, i don't think samantha bee would have had the will to

apologize if it hadn't happened in such proximity to the roseanne barr incident. howie: to do it in a pre-taped segment. the executive producer wrote, so, feckless c word seems to be trending. do you think she would still be employed if she had used that awful word against michelle ama? richard: the only reason we are having this conversation about samantha bee is because it happened so close to roseanne. but i don't think you can conflate the two cases. not only does roseanne have a history of bad behavior. but since getting the show she has been warned about her behavior over and over again. this was kind of a third strike.

is samantha bee's language vile? absolutely. but the case is different because we don't know what happened between her and the tbs executives. but is it vile? howie: i think they are different. samantha bee says put on something tight and low cut and tell your father to change his immigration policy. bill maher joarkd about an incestuous relationship. emily: this is the way a lot of people in the media talk about the relationship between the president and ivanka trump. what samantha bee said went through layers of bureaucracy, it was have much premeditated. and that makes it different as well. howie: joe reid, an msnbc

weekend host. she apologized for decade old posts on her blog that were homophobic. now she apologized. she was charging the 9/11 attacks were carried out by the u.s. government. richard: i think the blog post is pretty insane. everybody has a past and everybody's past is murky depending on how you spin it. i think that the rope here is running short and she is running out of rope. howie: on that point, she did apologize online. and let's -- the pictures she posted, it was a photo shop of john mccain with the virginia

tech shooter. some said this is hateful, but she has grown and evolved. no real accountability. there is so much of it. emily: at first i was going to give her the benefit of the doubt. but it's turned out to be so much. and the worst part is the fact that she pretty much clearly fabricated a cover-up story about hackers. msnbc is running ads asr touting her as ads as one of their star journalists. howiejournalists.richard * we ae living in -- richard: we are in a tit for tat society. you get fired, you get fired,

everybody gets fired. at someoint in our country and culture we have to come to that point of reckoning what's fireable and what's not fireable. you are fired, you want somebody fired. we are not sure why. howie: when president trump says disney had a different standard. espn took no action against gentlema -- againstjamel hill. >> trump is f'ing crazy. as crazy and the baboon's policy is, drug use, alzheimer's, senility.

howie: he gets a bigger role on the sports network? emily: if what joy reid has done, if we are trying to find the line, if that's not fireable, what is. howie: obe olbermann called trua indiana crane a traitor. richard: we as a country have to bring civility back. it's somewhere in the atlantic ocean right now. emily: how are we supposed to get back to civility when samantha bee is getting awards for advancing social causes. howie: she is sorry for the word but not the sentiment. great discussion. there is a lot more reporting on

pundits and comedians slamming ivanka. coming up, we'll look at the coverage as the north korea summit is back on. the president pardons dinesh d'souza.

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of this meeting in the. jonah: probably. there is a general view their tear fired someone like john bolton, and terrified donald trump will be too eager to go to war, which i don't think is justified on his record on these issues. trying diplomacy fits within their ideological wheel house. i also think donald trump has been in his typical way brilliant as staging this as an unfolding reality show drama. and the press loves it. howie: and they want to go to singapore to cover this. ' the headlines, critics worry trump is already handing propaganda victories to north

korea. just by going's elevating kim jong-un on the world stage. jonah: i think that's fair, but who cares so much. i personally think, i will take all betters. there is no way north korea actually denuclearizes in the way the trump administration defines denuclearization. but we have gone through diplomatic channels and niceties over the years. if we can go a different route and shake them up and catch them off guard and get some concessions, that's fine. howie: the president is lowering expectations. the pardon issue. the president pardoning dinesh d'souza who pled guilty to using straw donors to make campaign donations. the court rejected his argument that he had been singled out for

political prosecution. the typical reaction from msnbc's chris matthews. >> trump is sending a message to his pals like michael cohen and mike flynn, delays pardon if you stay strong. jonah: i have known dinesh for a couple decades. i don't like the course dinesh has taken. i do think he was singled out unjustly for prosecution. but he never aed for a pardon. howie: which is normal justice department procedure. jonah: donald trump saw something on tv and said i'm going pardon that guy. it learned itself to the appearance that he has motives other than correcting an unjust

act. howie: the president publicly said i might pardon martha stewart, she already served her time. i might pardon rod blagojevich. he's still in prison for corruption charges including selling nor obama's senate seat -- senator obama's senate seat. jonah: there are a lot more people worthy of pardons. martha stewart you could make a good case on the merits. scooter libby i thought deserved a pardon. but you can do the right thing for the wrong reasons in a lot of cases. the joe arpaio part was utterly indefensible. he was a bad guy who did bad things. but you can also do the right things for the wrong reasons and

allow yourself to do things that you think are to your political benefit. howie: i congratulate on your book. haven't we had enough speculation about missing melania?

howie: the new york tabloids had a field day as kim kardashian showed up at the white house to seek clemency for her great grandmother. the other big summit. trump meets rump.

and cnn's white house correspondent jim acosta didn't approve. >> you forget the fact that kim kardashian is at the white house. she shouldn't be here talking about prison reform. howie: the "new york post" cover was sexist. jim acosta is morally offended by this because she is a celebrity. did he forget about obama's term when all the celebrities came through the white house? emily: ways abnormal is to have the cnn chief white house correspondent say who should be there. howie: she is using her celebrity to push an issue. richard: i give her credit for

helping to free a grandmother. i applaud her for it and hopefully president trump if he's in the pardoning mood will pardon this grandmother. howie: this title is very pro kardashian. this other story is more serious. melania trump has been recovering from surgery. she has not been seen in public for three weeks. a headline, white house silence on me than yeah stokes conspiracy theories. why mention conspiracy theories? emily: this is a legitimate back and forth. there were serious unanswered questions. her stay in the hospital which woulds more than normal for the

procedure. i don't think it's fair for the speculation to get as crazy as it's gotten. howie: the first lady had to tweet. media working overtime speculating where i am and what i'm doing. she is feeling great. it's like the press is insulted that she is not doing anything in front of the cameras. richard: she is one of the most of popular figures in this white house. when she is a missing fixture, people are like where is melania. howie: she doesn't love the spotlight. richard: there are two different times of first ladies. those that are very active in their president's presidencies. and the other is the wife who is have much in the background. and that's the role she has chosen. howie: how nuts will the press

go when she does a public event. emily: her press team has been interesting the way they handled this. they have thrown back donald trump level things. howie: we are going to give you the rest of the day off. devastating information about the puerto rican hurricane and it barely makes the radar. there are multiples on the table: one is cash, three are fha, one is va. so what can you do? she's saying a whole lotta people want to buy this house. but you got this! rocket mortgage by quicken loans makes the complex simple. understand the details and get approved in as few as eight minutes. by america's largest mortgage lender.

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the fire marshal's estimate of 5,500 people. when we get it wrong, we get it right. we had the interest session -- i'm glad we had a chance to talk about this. i would like to see something done about the ugliness. original videos and other stuff. something else to do on sunday morning?

we'll be back here next sunday, 11 eastern. hope to see you then with the latest buzz. eric: we begin with a fox news alert as the president's attorney issued a new threat to the mueller investigation. he says if the special counsel tries some subpoena the president it will result in a legal battle in court. arthel: rudy giuliani issuing that warning after a lengthy letter from the trump legal team. president trump's attorneys outline why he should not be