howie: on our buzz meter from los angeles. the media gives omorosa a massive platform. her allegations dominate the news. >> why are people supposed to be paying attention to what you are saying when you would be taking press phone calls during the campaign. >> i cover my own back. >> how did you tape him? the situation room is one of the

most of secure places. >> i will leave that to your imagination. howie: are the anchors being tough enough on the white house turncoat? omorosa has been playing her secretly recorded tapes on television shows and claims she has a tape of trump saying the n word. >> to say it's a matter of opinion rather he's a racist. no, it's not. if you found the tape it would actually increase his support among the people who support him. howie: why are journalists giving so much attention to a supposed tape that may not even exist. a media explosion as trump revokes the security clearance of one of his harshest critics

john brennan. 400 newspapers join in denouncing president trump on the same day. doesn't that seem like collusion? our next guest, been shapiro. he offered alexandria ocasio-cortez $10,000 to debate him. social media is censoring conservatives. omorosa has been pushing her book announcing that president trump is unhinged. >> omorosa. what's going on.

yo -- i just saw in the news you are thinking about leaving. what happened. >> general kelly came to me and said you guys wanted me to leave. >> we run a big operation. but i didn't know that. damn it. i didn't know that. i don't love you leaving at all. howie: also calling his aide a former -- a former aide a low life and a dog. >> if he would say that publicly what else would he say about me privately. he has no respect for women. for african-americans. howie: joining us in los angeles, ben shapiro,

christina bellantoni. and adrienne elrod a democratic strategist. a number of anchors challenged omorosa on these interviews, but at the same time they are giving her a large platform. ben: anybody who bashes the administration. that's not surprising. but when half of the conversation is about a tape that may not exist. what she says she heard, that's news. what she says she has on tape is news, but it's not news if she says she may have heard. howie: i agree especially on the last point. is the media drawn not just to the drama of a former apprentice

star. but also embracing her anti-trump narrative? adrienne: that's part of it. but if anyone thinks omorosa wasn't waying attention. she has first-name only status. it was a big headline when she joined the white house. so this is one of the things she knows how to do. she knows how to be provocative and command attention. and she had an orchestrated role. here is this tape i'm going to play on this show. she is telling to sell books. howie: highly orchestrated rollout. this morning on msnbc she says i bleach trump wants to start a race war.

and trump's fuselage of insults against her, have they boost the story where otherwise it would have run out of gas in a few days. adrienne: he's trying to discredit her in a demeaning way. normally a disgruntled staffer would not get this kind of coverage. but she has known president trump for 15 years. when john podesta's emails were being released, the media was covering it every day. howie: why is it such a big story? >> because she has tapes, emails and evidence she is willing to drip drip drip out. howie: she was asked why did you

say such great things about him all those years? she said i was complicit. ben: after she is fired she realized she had a blind spot. the media are treating her with respect. she has been fired on the apprentice and then by trump. i don't think we have seen the last of her. season three of trump is awesome. but her guest starring appearance won't end here. christina: april ryan has been prominently talking about her saying don't use my name in all of this because i have done some serious reporting on this matter. howie: she has actual tapes and she has dribbled them out in strategic fashion.

but i haven't seen evidence that the tapes are selective. ben: the tapes we have seen are her being fired and lara trump offering her money to join the campaign. howie: usually if you least administration you join the campaign and it's expected you are not going to say horrible things about the potential candidate. christina: we know the microphones are always on. we have seen bill o'reilly get caught because somebody saved the footage. howie: what about ben's point that the one tape getting the most of attention is the one tape we have no idea whether it exists. it's basically a lot of speculation. she is even giving conflicting accounts of whether she has

heard it. the alleged n word tape. if it comes out. then it's a huge story. but right now nobody has evidence of it. adrienne: there are plenty of people in the media who want to keep it going. a disgruntled staffer who knows president trump. i think the tape will come out or we'll stop talking about it. howie: we have a rare consensus on that. does anyone care that she is a turncoat or does that help the reality story line. ben: what is surprising -- what is predictably annoying. so many members of the media are willing to drive a race narrative to everything she is saying. when president trump says dog.

people say that's racist. he has called essentially half the united states dogs. this is his thing. he does it all the time. the media is trying to drive the narrative he's a racist. christina: calling a woman a dog is pretty bad. ben: should anybody's opinion of trump shift an iota because much this? howie: she was the highest ranking african-american in the white house. now she is saying he's a racist. let me move on to stories getting attention the last 24 hours. the "new york times" reporting running a story saying don mcghan, counsel for the

president in the white house spent 30 hours talking to mueller investigators and providing information on why jim comey was fired and trump's attacks on jeff sessions. trump tweeted that he aloud these interviews. that this is a fake story that it was a john dean-type rat. ben: we don't know obviously what mcghan had to say. any charges of obstruction would have to be so narrowly drawn. it's difficult to put obstruction against the president of the united states when he hasn't fired robert mueller and there is no evidence he has stopped the investigation from moving forward. if trump were to fire mcghan or mueller, that changes the story dramatically. otherwise it looks like another

member of the admin has spoken with investigators. christina: the "new york times" has the size and stature. when the read the way that sourcing read. fit was very careful, very detailed and nuanced. howie: speaking of the sourcing. rudy giuliani told judge jeanine the mueller team is panicking. there is a key sentence that says mcghan feared mr. trump was setting him up to take the blame for any illegal acts of obstruction, according to people close to him. that doesn't sounds like a prosecutorial leak. christina: it sure doesn't. howie: some of the tweets, he nation joe mccarthy look like a baby. he took a shot at the disgusting

new board member at the "new york times," sarah jeong, and the two reporters at the times who wrote the story. adrienne: he talked to at numerous stages. continue rrp maggie haverman is one'. adrienne: the fact that don mcghan is speaking to mueller is what's newsworthy about this. howie: when we come back the media ripping the president for yanking john brennan's security

clearance. and president trump castigating the media. this wi-fi is fast.

i know! i know! i know! i know!

when did brian move back in? brian's back? he doesn't get my room. he's only going to be here for like a week. like a month, tops. oh boy. wi-fi fast enough for the whole family is simple, easy, awesome. in many cultures, young men would stay with their families until their 40's. howie: president trump knew he would provoke a media firestorm by yanking the security cleeshes of john brennan. john brennan called his press conference nothing short of treasonous. >> i'm not shocked at all the appalling things president trump has done. i think this is an egregious act

that flies in the face of traditional practice, common sense and national security. i think that's why there is such an outcry from intelligence professionals. president trump: i'm giving him a bigger voice. and that's okay with me. i never respected him. i never had a lot of respect. howie: there has been thunderous condemnation of this move. but all these obama guys said in interviews that theyer in used his clearance because the administration never calls him in to consult on anything. this is clearly political, is it merely symbolic? ben: it is symbolic.

withdrawing the security clearance theoretically presents natural consequences. but this is a political thing. to pretend it's not is silly. it shows how inept the administration is at handling these things. they would just say we have a new policy instead of saying we are going to pick people we don't like and pull their security clearances. howie: he tells the "wall street journal" about moving against brennan. he called it a witch hunt and called it a sham and he's not pretending this was a fig leaf reason for doing it. christina adrienne: i think the reason for doing it, only for political purposes. it doesn't matter if the

administration is not consulting with former obama officials. but the president is taking away their security clearances for political purposes. howie: 400 newspaper editorials were published hitting the president or free press, free speech. it was started by the boston globe editor. a calculatedder to obfuscate the truth. when i saw this i thought they are walking into a trap. it's what stev steve bannon cald the opposition party. christina: people should be concerned when there is an effort to silence the free

press. it's a foundation of our democracy. it should be as it was when barack obama kicked conservative newspapers off his airplane at the end of the campaign. the "l.a. times" wrote clearly they did not join in because they desired they didn't want to violate the independent spirit of an editorial. howie: the "l.a. times" the president already treats the media as a cabal. why give them ammunition to scream about collusion. to do it all in the same day, was it a smart strategy? adrienne: we are talking about it. so that's smart. i agree with. christina: . this constant assault on the media and free press. if you want to make an impact go out and use your collective

voice. christina: to have we stand with whatever the issue of the day is. they are saying we stand together to collectively have a voice. each editorial was written in a different perspective. howie: the president said collusion, opposition party. ben: what's the purpose of it. the media's purpose is to have credibility with everyone. and they are demonstrating for one side of the political aisle they are not going to lose their credibility. there is no one on the right who says i'm glad they are standing up in coordinated fashion. the whole problem is we think they are acting in coordinated fashion with regard to politics. howie: the newspapers haver right to speak out. i just think it was a misstep to

have them all on the same day. ahead on "mediabuzz" from los angeles. the president says social media outlets are penalizing conservatives and he won't stand for it. what can he do about it.

>> people say unemployment is low. right? well, unemployment is low because everyone has two jobs. howie: ben shapiro challenged her to have a real conversation about the issues, offering $10,000 to her campaign if she would come on the show. he sparked a different kind of debate when the candidate responded. i don't owe a response to men

with bad intentions and like catcalling, for some reason they feel entitled to one. why would a democratic candidate sit down with a talk show host. ben: she had gone on twitter and said about allue stuckey that she was afraid to debate her. so not only did i invite her to a debate. i said if you don't want to do that. just come on the show and we'll have a conversation about economics. as an orthodoxed jew, i am not into catcalling. howie: here, baby, $10,000, i would like to debate you. many on the left embraced the

catcalling theme. it became a meme. ben: i did tweet out no matter what she said it would become the new meme on the left. now she is intentionally into the media catcalling her. she had a town hall and she decided to ban the media. howie: her campaign says it was a screw-up. have you won in a way because you have got all this national attention and you sparked a very different kind of debate. ben: we win any time people on the left decide not to have a conversation. i think the country would be better off if we had these conversations. i have a lot of friend on the left. the problem i have with alexandria ocasio-cortez is no one will ask her a decent

follow-up question. she said we never paid for anything before. if you are going to quadruple federal spending and you are not going to pay for any of it? howie: are you saying journalists aren't aggressive enough or they kind of like her. ben: she has been picky about what shows she has been on. she won't come on with somebody like me or somebody who disagrees with her. and when she does, she tend to flub so she has been avoiding tough interviews. howie: ahead, how life has changed for hollywood reporters in the trump era. we have focus research how voters in this country are increasingly ache are you with each other and the press.

howie: how polarized is america right now. frank luntz has been conducting focus groups across the country and he find the audience erupts with animosity and cynicism. frank: how many of you lost a friend. >> he says he's not my president. but he is your president because you live in this country. >> he's a despicable human being. >> the media has really -- if you meet people in general like you used to before facebook, et cetera, i feel like the media has really fanned the flames.

howie: joining me is frank luntz. you said you have never seen america more polarized. how much are the media contributing. frank: it's not just the questions they ask. it's what they put on television. if you yell you are more likely to make air. this battle between trump and maxine waters is great television but awful for america. we already had two congressmen nearly killed because of disgruntled individuals. when you tell someone it's okay to harass them in a restaurant or gas station or insult them to bring this on. you will have people using violent methods and it's getting worse. howie: on the left and right, people hate trump or love trump. and are they angry at each

other. you found at some have terminated a friendship or cut off family members because of politics. frank: the people who say they are the most of open mind and this is a new generation, this is not true. we are teaching the next generation of american citizens how to shout and be disrespectful. everybody wants to be heard, but nobody wants to listen and learn. when you get to that point, then there is no purpose for political conversation because it simply turns ugly. howie: 75% of democrats and 60% of republicans think the system is rigged against them. how often -- i'm not goinged to hold my breath. how often do commentators take

on their own team. frank: social media is a poison. the new shows that encourage dissidence instead of coming together. an organization called one people. at first i wanted no part of it. i didn't want to go across the country and be depressed every night. we are going to des moines and new hampshire and phoenix. howie: why did you do it? frank: you can't sit back and do nothing. you can't allow a great country and democracy to tear itself apart. i met with veterans, and if we can't say we are better than this. we can disagree with destroying each other. if we are not willing to do that, our democracy will come apart. howie: you are saying all the

incentives go other way. what gets you clicks, what gets you on tv. the political incentives to get money. that sounds like it's difficult to resist. frank: three solutions. citizenship, civility and consensus. so we can actually move the country forward. if we can do those three things. that requires people from the congress and on down. there are people who do it. the governor of colorado and the former mayor of new orleans. on the republican side, the nor from south carolina, tim scott. ben sasse from nebraska. there are people who do it now and do it well. they need to challenge their colleagues to do better for the american people.

howie: you spent most of your life as a partisan republican pollster. is the reaction to trump pro and con that you developed this passion for unity? frank: he's trying to change the country in a way i think it needs to be changed, but the way he does it, i see the impact of it. i hear it. i see people afraid to speak up. but i see people who never met each other insult each other and shut each other off. howie, that's why i always enjoyed this show baits, about the truth, capital t. if we focus on the truth, if that's our objective we can begin to solve these. but it's beyond partisanship. howie: are you doing penance for your years in the partisan trenches. frank: through my process, it's happening for me right now. i always argued for the positive

rather than the negative. i always believed candidates can outdo their opponents by being more inspirational. being more like bobby kennedy or martin luther king or ronald reagan. that they can do that. howiehow frank were she never emailed me or texted me, they near asked if any of that was true it's not true, and she has a responsibility as an author. she has a responsible to check her sources to ask them for something so accusatory. she acknowledged she didn't do it. and it's a claim that is simply baseless. howie: the fact that you and others said i never said that. that's an explosive charge to put in someone else's mouth.

train * stop poisoning the well. if we continue to do it, this country is in tough shape. howie: coming up from los angeles. president trump says social media sites are censoring republicans and conservatives. can he or anyone do anything to stop it. (man) managing my type 2 diabetes wasn't my top priority. until i held her. i found my tresiba® reason. now i'm doing more to lower my a1c. i take tresiba® once a day. tresiba® controls blood sugar for 24 hours for powerful a1c reduction. (woman) we'd been counting down to his retirement. it was our tresiba® reason. he needs insulin to control his high blood sugar and, at his age, he's at greater risk for low blood sugar.

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howie: president trump lashed out at facebook and twitter, dedplairg a tweet storm, social media is totally discriminating against conservative voices there we won't let that happen. they are closing down the opinions of many people on the right, while at the same time doing nothing to others. censorship is a dangerous thing and absolutely impossible to police. there have bench documented instances of facebook and twitter cracking down on conservatives in a discriminatory way. is it as widespread as the president says and is it intentional. >> it is widespread. when you have a pattern of

behavior that's repeated so often, it's reasonable to assume it's more than an accident. howie: facebook is meeting with conservatives and hired a couple of conservatives. is it a fixable problem? even president trump says it's impossible to police. >> they can work to create sites that do what they promise, which is provide a forum for free speech and ideas. if they don't do it, there is the possibility of regulation and anti-trust investigation. there is a lot of ways this can go south. howie: you would allow free speech even if it involves threats of violence? >> it's not subject to debate under the constitution. there is no such thing as debate speech under the constitution. we are not talking about the first amendment.

we are talking about the principle of free speech. if you are committed to free speech you have to be committed to people who are obnoxious. because you don't need free speech. when somebody is posting cat pictures, that's not controversial. when you have alex jones saying something that's wacky, that's when it gets hard. he has a right to say it and i have a right to say what i think. howie: all the obnoxious people in america just breathed a sigh of relief. you are talking about never trump conservatives in the media and elsewhere. you are saying for some the incentive is a thin magazine that now publishes only because some zillionaire.

do you believe that's why they ramp up their opposition to president trump? >> i think there is a small group of conservatives based in washington and new york who are completely out of touch with what's happening outside. their focus is internal. their power, position and prestige. out here, you came out to california and there are people outside the beltway who are conservative who have a different focus. our focus is actual change. howie: i think it's more than geographic. this column seethes with contempt for the never trumpers on the right. why would you not accept they believe the president has a radically different view on trade, immigration and medicare that they spent their careers fighting for.

>> it's more subtle than that. i'm things he does that are not conservative. what i'm talking about is the careerist oriented conservative establishment, the goes at the liberty forum. the guys writing on the weekly standard. the . . after the break. hollywood has radically changed since the media uncovered the sexual misconduct. has that changed the way reporters cover the so i can buy from

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howie: there was a time when covering hollywood meant focusing on the movies, the studios, and the stars. joining me is joe flint of the "wall street journal." smerl streamed, robert de niro. jimmy kimmel. does that mean covering hollywood means covering politics? >> it certainly has turned that way. we can go back to reagan and dig up some. the academy made a move to

change the awards that they think will bring in viewers. but what they don't address is this issue of people just wanting to tune in for an awards show and not necessarily get a political lecture. howie: why don't these stars worry about the backlash from the 45% of the country that like donald trump and whether they are hurting their careers. >> the audience is getting slimmer and slimmer for all of these shows. all of these hosts are playing to their crowd. they are preaching to the crowd. michelle wolf was canceled the other day. howie: on the other subject, harvey weinstein and kevin spacey. has that changed the way you

korvet entertainment business? >> it added another area of coverage. harvey weinstein for years we knew he was a bully. i don't think any of us were expecting that sort of behavior. but now it's something we are much more attuned to. we are spending more time chasing down rumors of executives and trying to walk fine line is when is something news, when isn't it, what is the line to report. how is it affecting these corporations. all of these things have to factor in. howie: just in the 30 seconds we have left, we have to decide, is it something old, if it seems to be somebody was drunk at a party, was that serious enough to report? >> i don't want to suggest if we

found out a long retired executive had done horrible things in the 70s, 80s and 90s we would turn a blind eye. but the "journal" just like other news organizations, we have high standards of what we can and can't say and confirm. and all of that. howie: as well you should since you are talking about poem's reputations. twitter gives alex jones a brief time out which sounds like a threat against the media. stay with us.

howie: twitter is joining facebook, apple and opter major tech companies in suspending alex jones, but only for a week. jones linked to a video where he

said it's time for people to get their battle rifles against the media and move criminally. dorsey says he hopes the time out will help jones think about his behavior. there is no place on social media for violent rhetoric. that's it for this edition of "mediabuzz" from l.a. i'm howard kurtz. it's good to get out of the beltway bubble and see what people really care about. you can subscribe on apple itunes. i post my columns every day with

original content. we are back in washington next sunday, 11:00 eastern, 8:00 pacific with the latest rob: it is monday august 20th, "fox & friends first", 4:00 a.m., fox news alert, 271 shootings in 28 days and another weekend of deadly violence in chicago. >> unlikely hand to extended killings. >> i was troubled by his conduct and statements he made in public and what i thought was his politicization of the intelligence community. rob: so did john brennan misuse classified information, though, that accusation from team trump? >> brand-new threat from the former cia boss. >> that's going to be tight through there. oh, my