maybe that's why most of our clients come from other money managers. fisher investments. clearly better money management. howie: on our buzz meter, the president strikes a deal with the congress to reopen the government. >> the president is backing down from abject humiliation in a fight that he started. >> 35 days of federal workers rationing, living in cars. this man single handedly shut down the government. >> trump did lose the shutdown fight over the wall. but at least he made an effort to find a middle ground and stand for national security

first. howie: are the pundits right this is a big win for nancy pelosi or does it just postpone the battle over a border wall? roger stone proclaims his innocence. >> there is no circumstance whatsoever under which i will bear false witness against the president. howie: journalists question whether he was taking orders from the trump campaign or the president himself. an online mob vilifies the calving on catholic students wearing maga hats. many journalists forced to apologize amid the growing confrontation. >> the hate trump media vilifying a group of teenagers over ways a 30-second clip.

>> it gives privilege to these white kids. >> you would think somebody in media land would wonder how all this misreporting is affecting the kids who are falsely accused. but no, there is no sympathy for catholics in covington classrooms. >> we have to walk stuff back when it turns out we are wrong. why do we keep making the same mistake? >> because we are desperate to get trump out of office. that's why. howie: desperate. how did so many news outlets get the story wrong. can anything be done about the hatred and the threats being spewed on twitter. the president says he pulled the plug on having so many press briefings because he says sarah sanders is being treated

unfairly. this is "mediabuzz." it's fair to say everyone is relieved that after a 35-day shutdown, the president reached an i agreement to open the government. he said it could close in mid-february or he could use his emergency powers to build the wall. beverly hallberg, mollie hemingway, and jessica tarlov, a fox news contributor. mollie,ing a stinging defeat for trump. the "daily caller," trump caves. poll require objectively was a defeat. mollie: it objectively was a defeat.

the president tried to get more personnel, technology to -- to interdict drugs. you have dozens much democrats saying they want to vote on this now that the government is open. we'll have to wait and see how serious people were about wanting border security. there was a failure at this point. but the larger issues, the responsibility can't just lie on the president. other people have to get involved. howie: there was an increasingly intense focus on the hardships' on the federal employees and families. beverly: it's a battle of two narratives and the people being hurt.

but long term, most of americans do want to type of border security. while this looks like a defeat for the president in the short term, long term there is more to come. i don't think they were focusing on the fact the president may get a little bit more of what he wants. howie: is the press celebration, could it be premature, could this look very different in a few weeks? jessica: it depend on what happens. i think steny hoyer is right saying a border wall is not immoral. jim clyburn said we'll have a smart wall with an tension of physical barriers in some places. i don't think the media is wrong calling it a cave. if the governor shuts down again three weeks, that will not make

republic caption or democrats happy. using the stories about hardship, including when the faa called out sick, the president was willing to come to the table. howie: ann coulter called him the biggest wimp to ever serve as president. does this feel like a double-edged loss? mollie: this is a great idea how the media does a good job covering surface areas but not digging deep. trump and pelosi are not the only figures on the scene. when you cover it just as a win or loss for trump or pelosi or just as a horse race type thing one see how people get away

without handling it. they require a deep understanding our media don't have. even when it comes to the players in the failure to secure the border, it's not just trump and pelosi. it's also republicans. howie: before the stop-gap deal, the president backed off on giving the state of the union after nancy pelosi said you are not welcome to come to the house and said it's pe it's -- it's hr prerogative. there was far less attention to the conservative competition saying it was petty to cancel the state of the union. beverly: nancy pelosi has every right to do so. what i think optically would be good is maybe on the border and talking to the border agents and

border families. the media has turned this into we don't like trump, we don't want to put him in a favorable light. when you talk about immigration, this is something republicans have fought over for a very long time. why is this fight now instead of the last two years when the republicans did have the house. howie: it's not good to go 35 days and get the same deal they could have gone the on day one. jessica: it's important for journalists to report it that way. it should haval level of majesty and should in the house. there was pettiness on both sides from you can't come to i'm

take away your it in plane. howie: let me move on to roger stone. as you all know web was indicted in the mueller investigation. obstruction, lying to congress. and other charges having to do with his dealing and communications with wikileaks during the campaign. so there was an incredible mob scene at the courthouse in florida. then after stolen' proclaims his innocence. take a look. >> i never discussed this with donald trump. so speculation tonight by wolf blitzer, by others that trump directed me to do this or directed someone to direct me to do this -- howie: he says all that speculation is wrong. he has been saying that for a long time. but this this indictment there is person one, person two.

the media is saying they should be senior people but we don't know that. mollie: it doesn't matter who the people are because the indictment does not contain collusion with russia to steal the election. talk about putting out negative information. if it were the special counsel would have indicated it's a crime. roger stone, a guy who bragged about being a dirty trickster going back to the nixon area. it's fun to see him coming out of the courthouse that way. but as journalists we are required to check that issue. unsettling the campaign and administration. our hide yea -- our media are ie of asking tough questions of the department of justice and the

fbi and this shows that. howie: these are serious crimes. whatever is the mysterious dialing between roger stone and julian assange's people, he was just trying to get a head's up. he was an informal trump advisor and was in contact with the trump campaign. now he's charged with not telling the truth about this. jessica: it's not as serious as some people wanting to it come out. but as more and more trump associates who had a role in the campaign go down for this and turn to cooperating witnesses, people who want to turn a blind eye to it calling eight witch hunt are looking more and more absurd. done rrm surround himself with liars, almost exclusively. you have rick gates, michael

cohen. beverly: what the media is setting up is guilt by association. i think that's what's happening. on cnn or msnbc. you have mugshot-tile pictures of people indicted or convicted of crimes. howie: stone is a self-described dirty trickster who has been around forever. mollie: it's fine to cover it. but this week we learned there was major obstruction going on at the department of justice and nobody covered it. they led congress to believe they didn't have access to the dossier until just before the election. sworn testimony shows they had access to the dossier going back to july.

i agree flying congress is a problem. but we have people flying congress all the time including john brennan and james clapper. howie: that's been overshadowed. there have been significant layoffs at "buzzfeed'." ben smith, the editor of "buzzfeed." beverly: i think trump is the winner and this is a case of it. i wish he wouldn't tweet this out. but he has a very good point. let's not forget what "buzzfeed" did last week. for them to lose staff based on the fact people don't think they are as strong as investigative journalists as they say. howie: dana perino weighs in on

the president all by eliminating press briefings. some journalists apologize for their covering of the covington high school kids. ♪ ♪ means to fight the hardest battle, which any human being can fight and never stop. does this sound dismal? it isn't. ♪ ♪ it's the most wonderful life on earth. ♪ ♪

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with zero illegal immigrants who were here long before we were. howie: a cnn host said i 100% regret reacting too quickly to the covington story. i wish i had the fuller picture before weighing in and i'm truly story. some of the initial blasts were pretty ugly. a cnn corn tributer tweeted he is a deplorable, and some people could also be punched in the face. what ex chains the media completely botching this story. mollie: it starts with their bigotry. a bought of people in the media are bigoted against christians

and pro-lifers. it may be a goo lesson for pro-lifers that it's not good to get coverage if this is the kind of coverage you get. the media don't do due diligence even when there is evidence. not many people apologized or retracted. they are doing that in the face of hours of exonerating evidence. what gives viewers concern, there are many problems here. beverly: think what happened to this young man if there had not been two hours of footage. reporters and journalists have a responsibility. one of the things they are seeing, even though a few are apologizing. you are seeing some reporters doubling down and saying your

facial expressions matter. we have a lot of responsibility as journalists and we didn't see enough of that with retracting. howie: a lot of people are saying the covington students got a raw deal, but you are not so sure of that. jessica: there are a number of people who jumped on it then took it back, then saw more footage and wish they could have taken back the apologize they made because they think there is more to the story. howie: they were vilified and they are a bunch of high school kids. jessica: the pieces i have been most of interested in reading about, they shouldn't have their schools closed down, are ones who bring up the issue of how nick salmon gets treated compared to a young african-american kid gets

treated. what would be the implications of that. we have a media that when they get yelled at and told no, this was wrong, they all scramble to the other side of this. i believe there are people who should continue to stand up for nathan phillips and talk about what it is the maga hat means to people in this country. mollie: this is the view of a lot of people in the media. that wearing the hat of the guy who won the presidency is a hate crime. howie: let me jump in on this point about wearing the hat. a cnn contributor and what she had to say. >> this make america great again hat is just as maddening and triggering and frustrating for me to look at as a kkk hood. howie: alyssa milano said the

maga hats are the new white hood. mollie: they understand people are being attacked for being conservative or pro-life. the idea of wearing a hat or short skirt justifies behavior on other people. nobody in the media would say people don't have the priest expression to wear a pussy hat. nobody would say these things. but they say these things that are outlandish and threatening. they feel the media are opposed to them to their political core. howie: what the cnn contributor said didn't cause a stir. beverly: if you are aligned with the president, they think you must be bigoted. there is talk of banning the

maga hat all together. if you don't, you are ignoring a large swath of americans who do associate this president and his policies with racism. when they see president trump they think of the central park five and char slotsville. how -- charlottesville. howie: attack president trump all you want. but when you attack his supporters and kids in hats, you have gone too far. how everyone in america got to watch the endless replay of the botched call in the nfl game, everybody except the ref.

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howie: rudy giuliani has had a lot of cleanup work, here's what i really meant to say. but there has also been a press pile-on to trash his reputation. he stumbled on "meet the press" when he was asked if the president discussioned it with michael cohen. >> throughout 2016? >> probably up to as far as october, november. our answers cover until the election. howie: giuliani said the president said the conversations continued up to the day of the election. rudy giuliani said he knew he

was right because he reviewed the tapes. what tapes? he said i shouldn't have said tapes. >> rudy giuliani seems out of his mind. he's talking about tapes. >> if you listen to rudy long enough your brain is reduced to mush. howie: then came all the unnamed sources. rudy giuliani has a long list of enemies in the white house including his boss. the ap also quoting sources says trump is agitated and frustrated with giuliani. but the ap made this charge. some of trump's allies suggested giuliani be barred from interviews base was going on interviews after drinking. based on nothing more than that.

the wire service suggests giuliani was sloshed on the air? that passage should never have been published. the president says he ended most of of the white house briefings because the press is mistreating sarah sanders. a top columnist says twitter is journalism. is that true? . it was a very life changing experience... and it felt like i was me again. that's when i realized i hadn't been for three years. at aspen dental we're all about yes. like yes to flexible hours and payment options. yes to free exam and x-rays for new patients without insurance. and yes whenever you're ready to get started, we are too. call 1-800-aspendental today.

howie: it was inevitable given the white hot media attention with the kids from kentucky and the native american. savannah guthrie sat down with the student and may than phillips. >> do you feel from this experience that you owe anybody

an apology? do you see your own fault in any way? >> i mean, in hindsight i wish we could have walked away and avoided the whole thing. but i can't say i'm sorry for listening to him and standing there. >> insincerity, lack of responsibility. you know, those are words i came up with. howie: joining us now, buck sexton, and mara liasson. he defended himself in the harsh media spotlight. nathan phillips in spite of changing his story has a credibility issue. buck: we know there was a rush to judgment and people had to

walk that one back. when the full video within the context around it. the horrible racial slurs and anti-gay slurs directed at 15-year-old kid, you see how the two sides of the issue, phillips and sandmann. then savannah is asking, do you think you owe an apology. he had somebody come up to him in what i would say an aggressive fashion and bangedw a drum in his face. howie: commentator dan bongino said guthrie should resign in disgrace. mara: everything is fodder for the culture wars. the smartest thing the kid said in hindsight i wish i could have

walked away. in hindsight i wish journalists would have gotten the facts first. instead of expressing their opinions first. we saw one clip of tape. apparently there was other footage of these black israelites. just stop tweeting. howie: you write it's just a matter of time before the social media mob comes for you. buck: there is a concept out there that just don't engage in the culture wars that they won't necessarily get dragged on twitter. they won't be somebody who made a national news story mockery. these kids didn't do anything. nothing actually happened in this incident. they were on a school trip. what they did was wear maga hats, march for life and happen to be white kids who go to a

catholic school. this means anybody who is anywhere could be videos even in a non-confrontation confrontation like this was. but because the media will latch on to things. you can be buying groceries and open the door to your apartment building and cnn is saying look at this racist. mara: that video was virallized by fox and people who do that for a living. the fact is it played right into that. hue the bishop. howie: the bush shot diocese in kentucky apologized. a column saying twitter is ruining journalism, short sir cutting our better instincts

into group think. his solution is to tweet a whole lot lessor to wait and think before you tweet. who all day long are retweeting and giving high fives to left-wing activists. they will give high fives to people whose jobs are to tear down the opposition but then they will say i'm unbiased. they are living in a fantasyland where they are presenting you with the facts and objective neutral reporting and no american should buy that anymore. and i think americans are starting to realize that. mara: there are some news

organizations who have guidelines about what you can say and do on twitter. but it's not an opinion platform if you are not a columnist or opinion journalist. howie: both left and right have joined the online mobs. in this covington case, initially. >> lurking. howie: it's apparent they were not the aggressors, conservatives piled on. mara: everybody needs to deescalate which isn't going to happen. buck: there is a sense that no apologies, no changes. i think in terms of media practice going forward, there has been a rejection of holding back, waiting until you have the facts. especially if they are objective

reporters. howie: many journalists and columnists feel -- buck require's more than what the journalists think. they are trying to feed the beast giving their audience what they want as quickly as they can. for many of these outlets what they want is a narrative, in this case the bigoted catholic white kids being racist. now they are saying maybe we are liergt our credibility on fire day after day. howie: we all probably rushed to judgment. but twitter makes it so we are on deadline every day every second. mara: it's hard to see how you put that genie in the bottle. buck sexton and mara liasson, good to see you. dana perino on the virtual elimination of the press

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howie: there hasn't been a white house press briefing in almost a month. now we know why. the president tweets, the reason sarah sanders does not go to the podium much anymore is that the

press covers her so rudely and inaccurately. >> we are in the business of getting information to the american people, not making stars out of people who want to become contributors on cnn. howie: i spoke to dana perino, co-host of "the five" and press secretary to george w. bush. what do you think of a president canceling most of press briefings because he doesn't like the way his press secretary is tweeted. dana: it was 10 years ago this month i gave my last press briefing there. when i look back. january 0, 2009, i -- january 20, 2009, i didn't even have a twitter account. things have changed. he can talk directly to the

people. if there is something on his mind, he can tell you. technologically things have changed. that said, i think the white house is giving up an opportunity for a couple of reasons. when you are there at the podium taking questions, and that seal behind your head says the white house. it signals to everybody in the world, this is somebody worth listening to, i better pay attention. it doesn't mean i have to listen to anybody else in the briefing room, but you should pay attention to what this person is going to say. when you are doing a briefing, it gives you a sense of what the press is asking about, what are they thinking? it gives you a clue the next time the president takes questions what they may ask him. howie: i accept sarah sanders' explanation this president talks to the press almost every day. wouldn't you rather hear from

him? but the smaller papers who don't have the access to the pool. dana: the press corps is made up of more than just people who want to write books about their time in the white house. it's made up of trade organizations, international organizations. so yes, i think you miss out on talking to them. the white house early on when they first came into power had the idea of expanding the briefings. they were going to take it to the old executive office building and having 150 people there. i remember him saying to sean spicer, do you think that's a good idea? but they invited reporters from across the country to skype in and ask questions. they did it for the first week and never did it again.

it's not like you don't know what they are thinking. i would add this. i think the reporters spend too much time look at the white house. there is a big federal government to cover. howie: when sarah sanders says there are cnn reporters like someone whose initials are jim acosta who are just trying to get on tv and grandstand. when you were at the podium, didn't you have grandstanding reporters? dana: yes, but i tried to get out of the situation as quickly as possible, give them what they need or not what they need, and understand they had a job to do. howie: is that a sufficient reason to shut down the briefing and the reporters trying to elicit information.

dana: the president has been in part of a shutdown, and his numbers have not improved at all. his approval numbers have gone down. a little bit of marginal support for the wall. generally all the blame is going to him. the fact that he cannot move the needle. all the trapping of the office in a prime time address and everything he has to me says maybe you need to hear it from somebody else. having a regular white house briefing to hammer out what the president is thinking, why he's thinking it, how he came to that decision can make a difference between success and failure. howie: dana perino, somebody who has been there. dana: thank you. howie: the london "telegraph" has apologized to melania trump and agreed to pay her damages. she was a successful model before meeting donald trump and didn't need his help for her

career. washington's museum has sold its grand headquarters on pennsylvania avenue for $372 million. i happen to love the museum. but iter in generated enough revenue to support such a glittering palace. how come the refs couldn't look at a single replay between the saints and th the. means to fight the hardest battle, which any human being can fight and never stop. does this sound dismal? it isn't. ♪ ♪ it's the most wonderful life on earth. ♪ ♪

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how is it that every sitting on couches and in every bar in america can see the call, and the one person whose opinion matters, the ref, is barred from watching. >> i have been on the sidelines. the last two minutes of the game the media has been on the field. there is no way the recollection f should have missed it. it's the most of egregious non-call in recent nfl history. howie: there is a reason according to the archaic rules. the refs can review.

he said i watched the replay and got away with it. britt: if you are a saints fan, there are so many saints fans who watch fox. this one stings like no other. then to see their running-back posting a picture with the ref after the game. usually players exchange jerseys. taunting the fan base. the ball was 4 yards away when he just mugged him. that's what happen. to not have that call it would have been a penalty placed there. they would have run out the clock and the saints would have won the game. howie: most of likely. you may argue it's a dumb rule and i'll bet it's going to be changed.

if every disputed call is something to a challenge and you have to go to the videotape machine, wouldn't the games take forever. aren't bad calls just a part of sports? britt: they are, you heard that argument. you are at home, how could they make it that close given how good the saints were this year. i have spoken to several nfl players reporting on this. they said you can't excuse this. a couple players said this is the most of vocal we have seen our fellow players get upset about a game. howie: it happened in the first quarter. you think the rules ought to be changed and they will be changed? britt: i think it should. we have seen commissioner roger goodell take his time about things. howie: it hangs over the super bowl it's a question of whether

one team should have been there. britt: the issue is fine over penalties not called. you see the fines going out. and you say you never even called anything. howie: some people in new orleans suing for a do-over. brit rsh i think they are just taking their anger out in an extreme way. but i think maybe you need to have those vocal outbursts. howie: that's it for this edition of "mediabuzz." check out my podcast, "media buzzmeter." you can subscribe at am itunes or google play or foxnewspodcasts.com. come at me, i come up with today's topics.

we'll be back here super bowl sunday, next sunday, 11:00 a.m. for the latest buds.

eric: president trump venting his frustrations again over the country's immigration system, he's doing this on twitter. this as the lawmakers head back to capitol hill hoping to hash out a deem on border security. and leaving parts of the government at that time without funding potentially. the big question is will democrats approve the president's border fence. i'm eric shawn. arthel: the president reiterating his threat to declare a national emergency if no deal