tailored to a user's specific needs. have a great week and we will see you next fox news sunday. howie: on the buzzmeter, president trump flat out calls the "new york times" the enemy of the people. >> it's obstruction. >> what else could it be. what other reason could the president have for calling matt whitaker as the investigation is growing and threatening him. >> the president is make an assault on the department of justice. >> corrupt intent to use the levers of powers of the government for a corrupt purpose to deflect an investigation into himself or his allies. howie: the white house refused

to comment. the president cheering on a $250 million lawsuit against "the washington post" by nicholas sandmann, accused of liable. jussie smollett was charged with staging an attack against himself to boost his career. >> the attack received coverage for weeks. news commentators and even presidential candidates weighed in. >> why would reporters fall for this before everyone else. >> in spite of the evidence, it's not true. >> he had no reason to do something like this. howie: how did the media embrace

his hoax. lara logan says the media are mostly liberal and negative of donald trump. >> that's a political position, not journalism. we have become propagandists. howie: r. kelly indicted on sexual abuse charges. why did media expose's fail to derail his career. i'm howard kurtz and this is "mediabuzz." the "new york times" in a lengthy story on the russia investigation reported that president trump asked the acting attorney general to put an alley, the u.s. attorney of manhattan who already recused himself in the case and matt whitaker apparently ignored the

request. >> did you ask acting attorney general whitaker to stop the investigation into your personal attorney, mike kohn. president trump: no, i don't know who gave you that false news. howie: joining me, mollie hemingway, sara fischer and richard fowler. mollie, what did you think of the "times" story. mollie: i covered the russia investigation for 2 1/2 years but even in the sea of stories this one was riddled with errors. they said the uranium one story was written by them and theyer

in debunked it. they said human informants were outed. it was the "new york times" and "washington post" who revealed all the information about the human informants. they lied about something devin nunes said. they said he said he was trying to buttress claims of wiretapping. they said trump's claims of wiretapping had no basis in fact. it was almost written in a panic, very sloppy. the language -- it's bad to say this about the media that they are the enemy of the people. but we need the media to stand up and do a good job. they attack not just the president, but average american citizens. howie: in a follow-up tweet the president said the writers don't even call for verification on stories that have no basis in

fact. the paper said they repeatedly called the white house for verification and got no comment. sara: they reached out plenty of times and didn't hear back until a few days ago. it's like the president wants everyone to call him on his personal cell phone. if they are going through proper communication channels, that's their job. i haven't seen the white house debunk it. why isn't the president taking to twitter and addressing that. he's not explaining what exactly is wrong. howie: the president just two or three weeks ago put out a statement saying president trump is retreating from american

principle. it's dangerous. richard: it's very dangerous. we as journalists and commentators are real people with real lives. when you say things like this, it can stoke people to do things like this. like the miami bomber sending fake bombs to cnn and other people. i read the story. i saw that the white house had the chance to comment and they did not. maggie is a journalist the president has talked to for years. she called on his cell phone and he had an opportunity to debunk it and say this isn't true. he did not, because there is some truth to this story. mollie: journalists are claiming their lives are in danger but at the same time they are directing public hatred against citizens in a time of public turmoil and

they don't seem to have a problem with that. they keep falling for hoaxes like the covington kids. howie: a $250 million suit filed by nicholas sandmann. the covington high school 1-year-old. his parents say he -- the 16-year-old. his parents say he was smeared and bullied. >> what this young boy had to deal with at 16, when the entire world saw him the way the media portrayed him, as the face of evil. it's reprehensible conduct by the media and the "washington post" led the way. howie: they relied on the video and the comments of the native american activist.

it was not the paper's finest hour. it translated into a huge libel judgment. sara: i don't know if it translates into a $250 million figure. of that $250 million they say is due to the libel. they say $200 million is to teach the post a lesson and give retribution. rushing into the story might have had damaging impact on this story. whether it's libel might be hard to push for. howie: the suit makes the point that it was meant to hurt trump. but the reports were from three political reporters on deadline. richard: the other point is i

think journalists tried to get it right. as soon as they got more information, they retracted the story. howie: they didn't retract the story, they updated the story. richard: they saw a 30-second video and made assumptions. to say these papers are pushing out hate in their stories, reporting on the facts is not pushing out hate. that's not the job of the journalists. >> i wonder, where was the student side. the students' own school and the catholic diocese? kentucky say we condemn this behavior. >> they were doing that based on the false reporting. they are not one figures. they were people coming into town for a right to life rally and they had no expectation --

it wasn't just that they had the expectation of privacy. it's the general atmosphere at the "post." it led to the children being targeted with death threats and celebrities were threatening to dox them. howie: we'll see what the courts do. they sort of ruined these kids lives for now. the lieutenant was arrested for plotting mass shootings against top democrats and tv journalists viewed as antitrump. a huge cache' of rifles and ammunition. joe scarborough was on the list. and others criticized trump for not tweeting about this. the federal government carried out thankfully this arrest.

sara: you would think he would do something like that and other republicans as well. but when people try to tie something like this to the president creating a culture of distrust in the media goes too far. the president shouldn't call the press the enemy of the people, but his comments aren't, i would say, inciting this level of violence. howie: the follow-up question do you bear responsibility for your language? he said no my language has been very nice wrich * w -- richard: we created a washington culture that's us versus them. howie: you saying we are complicit and the right goes over the left and the left over the right.

richard: people in other parts of the country think that's how we operate and there should be civility and respect. howie: nicole wallace said trump ignited a war in this country around race. i am not saying the president bears no responsibility at all. but aren't you responsible is connecting the dots too quick. when we come back, long-time cbs star lara logan unloads on the media's liberal bias and says she is facing a

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[♪] howie: lara logan, the former "60 minutes" correspondent has taken on another dangerous mission. challenging the press. >> all the coverage on trump all the time is negative. that's distortion of the way things go in real life. although the media has his torically always been left-leaning, we have abandoned our pretense or at least the effort to b -- to be objective . >> they can't go after the things that matter so they smear you personally. they go after your integrity and reputation as a person and a professional. and they will stop at nothing. howie: joining me, charlie gasparino. she risked her life around the

world, and she was assaulted by a mob in egypt. but when she says the media is one-sidedly liberal, does it carry weight. charlie: she is saying it and the former editor of the "new york times" is saying it. people used to laugh at me as a diversity hire because i was right of center and didn't tow the liberal -- toe the liberal line. you see it in the jussie smollett coverage and the covington high school kids coverage. particularly when it comes to race and gender issues there is an immediate knee-jerk reaction to find good guys month fit this

motif. it's always been there. you know and i know. howie: it seemsmore more agree -- it seems more egregious in the trump era. maybe more voices of the people steeped in the business are feeling compelled to speak out. charlie: when you see mainstream liberals saying it's getting crazy. i was on vacation just watching the coverage raw it was pretty run-sided. why didn't someone try to reach out to the parents and the kids. it was not about the other side. howie: nicholas sandmann's father chose not to speak out in the beginning, but then he put out a statement. we saw the clip. lara logan said it was a smear

campaign. she says journalists get hammers for not repeating the same talking points. and the implication is repeating the same anti-trump talking points. and if you don't you are accused of carry water for the president. charlie: we carry all kinds of stuff on fox news. i'm not attacked when i write something good or bad about the president. i think she was on the strongest ground on that general media criticism, the cran -- the trais coming off the track in the advocacy we see on the coverage of trump and the other issues that are alarming. this needs to stop now. howie: cnn hiring sara isker.

she was the top spokesperson for jeff sessions. she is smart, she has been on his report a couple of times. she was hired to be a political editor for its 2020 coverage. cnn is getting hammered because she doesn't have any experience in journalism. charlie: as a journalist, i have got to give jeff zucker some credit. at least he's recognizing what lara logan pointed out. you need some degree of diversity in th the newsroom. but that's not in her wheel house career-wise. here is where it gets back to the point that the train is coming off the tracks. if you need someone from the left, some journalists who take

their professional responsibility seriously. we all have opinions, but we strive to be professional and fair. we'll always have opinions. howie: cnn's jeff zucker may bring more balance to the network. but according to the "wall street journal," he said she'll be making decisions about political matters. charlie: then why hire her. howie: bernie sanders makes his 2020 debut. the networks were quick to criticize politicians for appearing in black face but not their own entertainment stars. this is the all-new chevy silverado. it's beautiful. beefy and mean looking. it's the strongest, most advanced silverado ever. the cab is bigger than the last generation. it's the first truck i've seen make you look small.

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northam and his attorney general both refusing to resign despite posing in black face in the 80s. in an arizona university yearbook were two blackmen in black face and it was edited by "usa today"'s editor. nbc signed julian huff for "america's got talent" though she used black face five years ago. she apologized and said she hadn't meant to be disrespectful or demeaning. ted danzen used black face in a roast for his then girlfriend whoopi goldberg.

but when megyn kelly asked a question about black face it was used as an excuse to force her out. >> i look like a beautiful queen la tougha. howie: but the comedian said i'm horrified by the and i can't erase it. joy behar joked about blackening her face during a party. the media world should ngd engage in double standards. the publisher of the democrat reportered wrote an article calling for the kkk to ride again going after democrats and republicans, and add this, get the ropes out and loop hem over a tall limb and hang all of

them. after numerous calls for his resignation he has turned over the paper to an african-american woman who had been the office clerk. r. kelly is facing a 10-count indictment for alleged sexual context with under aged girls.

[♪] >> especially an african-american man used the symbolism of a noose to make false accusations. howie: jussie smollett's character has been written out of the last two episodes of the hit show "empire" after he was charged with staging a raition

attack against himself. claiming two trump supporters assaulted him on a chicago street. "washington post" global opinion editor said regarding the heinous attack on jussie smollett, the climate of hate means lives have been at stake since 2015. >> what just happened to jussie smollett is a hate crime. it's absurd. this isn't a debate. howie: when smollett was charged with an outrageous hoax, his supporters were resnraind their remarks. if jussie's story isn't true, he squandered the goodwill of a whole lot of people. he even lied to a lot of people

if it's not true, including me, and that's not cool. howie: we are back with the panel. mollie hemingway did some people embrace this narrative because it fit the notion of pro-trump thugging roaming the streets looking for a black man to beat up? mollie: of course. they immediately understood that it wasn't something you just accept out of whole cloth. i'm happy to see some of what's shown. for them it was about the narrative it was them saying people who voted for trump are bad people. they need to make sure they understand the harm that was done to trump voters. there are victims of fake hate crimes and the group they said committed this didn't commit it

deserve apologies. howie: richard, we saw cnn's don lemon said he privately called jussie smollett every day. he said now that it's been exposed tucker carlson and sean hannity will eat smollett for lunch. richard: the reason they are having a tough time criticizing him is because of this. every day, lgbt crimes happen. howie: nobody is disputing that. it hurts their cause. you undermine the credibility. richard: when you hear a crime like this as part of the lgbt community we have an obligation to support and defend our own. howie: without all the facts? richard: a lot of times you are

not believed. it's heartbreaking when you find out it's a hoax. it's heartbreaking to see that because every day, there is one murder every single day and nobody is talking about it. it's not on the top of the headlines. when you see cases like this we have an obligation to stand up and that's why people responded the way they did. howie: i turned down a chance to talk about this on fox because i said it was too murky. the chicago police were taking this seriously and investigated. and they reported the red flags. why didn't he call the cops immediately and turn over his phone. then he goes on "good morning america." how do you not cover it. sara: it should be covered. it does have high-profile implications if it were true. but media has to look at every

detail and provide enough information so no one is going to rush to judgment. the media is not an activist. journalists have to be unbiased here. even if you feel a certain story isn't getting enough coverage, it's not necessarily your role to be calling someone every day involved in a story. howie: another tweet saying anyone supporting you know who, meaning trump, is providing artillery for weaponized bigotry. mollie: this is the second fake news story related to maga hat wearers supposedly attacking people. the media think bad things about trump supporters and they feel fine some say it. it's why he's able to get away

with saying what he says against the media. you see how the media feel. relationship * jussi -- richard: when he came out and talked about his allegations, especially after he sat down with robin roberts. then as we found out some of these things might not be true, that's very hurtful. it's one thing to blame the journalist. but if you have a first account of what his narrative was, we have the obligation to believe him as a survivor. howie: he said the two assailants that he hired to stage the attack were shouting "this is maga country." you say we have an obligation to believe somebody when they come out and say that. isn't that going to lead to more

and more of these incidents if other people are making false claims. he deserves the presumption of innocence. richard: jussie's case is the exception, not the norm. howie: i hope so. richard: there are cases of where lgbtq people are assaulted. and in this particular case, given the circumstances and we have the chicago police department investigating it, people are saying there is a lot of reasons why you should believe jussie. mollie: there have been dozens of attacks on trump voters and they don't get this kind of coverage. it's true these attacks happen all the time and they happen against all people. richard: there are attacks of

gay black people who aren't covered. howie: the night smollett was charged, nbc's primetime didn't cover the case at all. i found that to be unbelievable. sara: i think the media has to respond to its coverage of this story. here is what happened. we apologize if we didn't necessarily cover this from the get-go with the facts. a lot of populations in the united states feel their crimes aren't being covered. richard fowler. sara fischer, mollie hemingway. thank you. is bernie sanders's press coverage changing?

howie: bernie sanders kicked off his second presidential bid leading into widespread scepticism that he can generate the same excitement he did in 2015. >> we are going to win. >> are you doing things

differently? >> yes. and we take those criticisms to heart when they say we were too white and too male, think were right. howie: joining us, kat timpf and jessica tarlov. bernie prospered as the anti-hillary candidate. he never got tough scrutiny because pundits figured he wouldn't win. kat: last time he was the underdog. america loves an underdog. his campaign raising $6 million in 24 hours has people looking at him a little more seriously. the media won't be as nice as they were last time around when he was facing hillary clinton who everybody assumed would get

the nomination. howie: is it fair to mention he'll be 79 on inauguration day and age is a factor? jessica: i'm not into the ageism factor. but it is important to look at his policies which weren't under the microscope like hillary clinton's were. everyone said free college, free healthcare. there are a bunch of other candidates run hog have put out plans like elizabeth warren. he says his campaign is learning from the mistakes of 2016. and the media is learning from its mistakes in the way it covers the candidates. and look at the policies put

out. howie: the liberal lane is crowded with free healthcare and college and all that. is the media also playing up the recent developments that elizabeth warren and kamala harris say they are in favor of reparations for slavery. that doesn't leave as much options, it seems to me. bernie sanders was against that last time when he was asked. kat: one of the main problems with bernie is he doesn't do as well with non-white voters than white voters. this is going to not help that in terms of having warren and harris saying they are in favor of reparations. even if they hadn't said that they would be doing better with voters. some of the advantages bernie had saying he's the only one saying free healthcare and free college. he's not the only one.

he's not the on one drawing these huge passionate crowds. kamala harris had drawn a huge crowd. the advantages he had, they are not unique to him anymore. howie: there was a "new york times" story building, amy globe charm is running for president. very similar. unnamed staffers are saying she is a tough boss, abusive to the staff. fast doesn't like her. one killer anecdote she has got, getting on a plane, the aid forgot her fork, and she had to eat her salad with the comb and she told the sued -- and she toe aide to wash the comb. no names were used. jessica: you would think there

would be someone willing to use their names. i am not saying she's not a tough boss. she talked about it with bret baier. she says she demand a lot and gives a lot back to her staff and constituents. a story like this is great fodder for twitter and entertaining. in such a crowded field it can work to her advantage to have her name continue to come out because she doesn't have the role kamala harris has. howie: the "times" did get some internal emails. . .. do? kat: i don't know. she'll show up at your house and say, wash this egg salad off my

comb. i think someone would be able to go on the record. i disagree with jessica. this is probably the most of media coverage she has gone the since she announced. it's not a good thing. it's not so much that she used the comb to eat the egg salad it's that she allegedly rudely forced someone to clean the eggs off her comb. howie: she did tell the comb story on herself. thanks for spending sunday with us. r. kelly indicted on sexual abuse charges. why does the music industry look at other way. 't easy.

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howie: r. kelly was indicted friday on 10 counts of aggravated sexual abuse with four girls, three of whom police say were under the age of 17. a music journalist mass been chasing these allegations for two decades. he did a disturbing expose' for "buzzfeed" in 2017. >> what is different here from allegations dating back to the mid 90s is these women are being held against their well is what the parents and other sources are saying. howie: that documentary prompted rca records to drop kelly. so you wrote about the "lifetime" documentary which

revived interest in this. a lot of celebrities were interviewed and only john legend had the guts to speak on camera. britt: he said it's no issue to address a serial child rapist. he had the courage to come forward when jay-z, while he had charges in 2002. he was acquitted of 14 counts in 2008. this has been going on for two decades that the industry knew about this. howie: spotify bans r. kelly. do you think given the fact there were certain journalists and organizations saying with this for two decade, a bunch of the mainstream media shied away from this story because they got

bored with the r. kelly story because they found it distasteful. britt: credit to the #metoo movement there is a harsher light on any man violating underaged children. one one of which met him and wanted an autograph at the 2008 hearing for these charges. it's good that it's being taken care of. howie: i say how come no reporters knew about this and where was the press. there were people who stayed on the r. kelly case but it didn't seem to get much traction. britt: he was a star and raking in money. there was a lot of confusion if

he was hair dwroid someone underage. thin found out he was in one of his music video. they know he made money and had talent so they excused his despicable behavior. howie: new england patriots owner robert kraft has been charged with a misdemeanor for soliciting sex in a florida massage parlor. dumb move for a multi-billionaire. he's 77, his wife has died. is it worth this 24-hour coverage? britt: i think this could be much more expansive. we need to wait for more details how involved the sex trafficking is. howie: it's driven by the fact that kraft has 7 super bowl rings. he has a lot of money and a lot

of people are enjoying this. you don't think it's overplayed? britt: i don't because he allegedly went twice. they have video footage of him. we need to remind ourselves of that bigger picture. howie: i am not diminishing the crime, is it because he's an nfl owner there could be repercussions in the league? britt: he is the owner of the most of winning team in the league. howie: great to see you. thanks so much. that's it for this edition of "mediabuzz." did. you can subscribe to apple itunes. vanity fair disinvited the "new york times" from tonight's oscars bash saying the party is

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and get done faster. next month, their place! a drop of dawn and grease is gone. heather: good morning, monday february 259, this is "fox & friends first". happening right now, at 4:00 a.m. here on east coast. president trump heads to vietnam today as he prepares for a second summit with kim jong un. >> there won't be a popular movie and méxico is not paying for the wall. [cheers and applause] heather: awards with politics, wasting no time bashing the president, a look of who took home the hardware