howie: this is media buzz. i'm howard curtsdz. president trump and numerous top officials are strongly denying an explosive report by the atlantic that he disparaged american soldiers. the editor in chief cites four unnamed officials saying president trump canceled a visit to honor soldiers in 2018, saying why should i go to that cemetery, it's filled with losers and calling the marines suckers for getting killed. >> it is a disgraceful situation. by a magazine that's a terrible magazine. i don't read it. but i just heard about it.

they made it up. if people really exist that would have said that, they're low lives and liars. i would be willing to swear on anything that i never said that about our fallen heros. >> in my opinion, this is one of those stories, a rabid created and manufactured by the left. there's no sources, no evidence, no tames. and in my -- tapes. in my experience, runs contrary to what people who know president trump know about his disposition, his love for vets. >> the way that trump is quoted, the things that he has said, it's not only unamerican, it's not only completely bereft of patriotism but at what point is he not fit to lead? howie: joining us now to analyze the coverage, molly hemingway, senior editor at the federalist and fox news contributor, kristin soltis anderson, a washington examiner columnist and leslie marshall, radio host and fox news contributor. molly, jeffrey goldberg claims

four unnamed sources on reporting on thee the french cemetery. i know you have a problem with anonymous sources. as i learned during my years of reporting, sources are sometimes the only way to get a story. >> right. all reporters use anonymous sources. you don't want to overuse on on uananonymous sources. the trump administration has seen so many of these information operations where current or former government officials get reporters to allow them to be anonymous, to spread narratives that turn out -- you find out days, weeks, months, sometimes years later, that the narrative they spread was false. what's important for reporters to do here if they want to participate in information on of presentations which i would caution them to be thinking about whether that's a good idea, make sure you include all of the on the record reputations from government officials, we're up to 10 of or 12 now from firsthand accounts in many cases, the evidence including

government documents that dispute the story and the years of photographic evidence of how donald trump's acts around disabled vets, how he makes trips to walter reed, house he is shown hugging and kissing on them, make sure you include all the information if you want to take part in the information on of presentation that's going on. howie: fair points. white house did initially decline to comment to the atlantic. kristin, also from the magazine on a visit with john kelly to the arlington grave where his son is buried, trump reports to have said i don't get it, what was in it for them. kelly declined to comment. based on my understanding of journalism, this was clearly run by him, a friend of kelly's, retired four star general was quoted in the piece, president has attacked john kelly as having been exhausted and dysfunctional as white house chief of staff. it's created a kind of guessing game. >> the worry about anonymous sources is without knowing the name of the folks who are claiming that the statement was made, it's hard to assess their

credibility. so while on the one hand you can point to things president trump has done publicly to either confirm or deny your suspicions about this, you can say well on the one hand he does lots of things for vets, on the other hand look at what he said about john mccain, you can build a case either way. in the case of an anonymous source, without knowing who was making the claim, how close they were to the potential situation, were they really there and overheard it, is it hard for the average voter to know how much credit they should give to this. howie: also a fair observation. now, jeffrey gold bette goldbere many defense stories over the year. jennifer griffin confirmed key elements of the story based on her sources, as has the washington post. leslie, this isn't a routine white house denial. you have several top aides that were there in france including sarah huckabee sandersing saying this never happened, john bolton

saying he never heard it. >> i think maybe they weren't standing with him when he said it. there are two things here many jennifer griffin is an outstanding journalist and to me you've got to look at not only if there's an anonymous source but who was reporting that source. jennifer griffin of our own network has confirmed this, corroborated this, washington post, new york times. but in addition, howie, you have you to look at a pattern of behavior and the president, i mean, with the mocking of the disabled journalist, the president saying negative things about a gold star family, a grieving mother, saying to a mother of fallen soldier in niger that he knew what he signed up for, the things he said about john mccain and also his level of defense about it. you know, my mom used to say if you accuse somebody of something and they defend themselves gone and again and again, they're probably guilty because if you're not, it doesn't bother you. to me, the pattern of behavior speaks to the journalist's

claims. howie: i just want to say, president trump has called for jennifer griffin to be fired. this is one of the fairest, most conscientious reporters on the planet, a former war correspondent, has done this throughout various administrations. she wasn't offering opinion. she was doing her job. it's fine for the president to attack the story. he needs to try to cancel journalists based on reporting he doesn't like. here's what jennifer griffin told neil cavuto. she said deep throat was an unnamed source. doesn't make what he said untrue. my sources are unimpeachable. why haven't they come forward? she says you can see how people get destroyed when they come cross-wise with the president. your thoughts. >> jeffrey goldberg said the reason he didn't reveal his sources, it's because he didn't want to receive mean tweets. i want to be clear about what is confirmed when someone talks to anonymous sources. what's confirmed is that

anonymous sources are talking. it doesn't confirm the underlying claim. we know the russia collusion hoax was spread through numerous government officials making claims based on what reporters felt was credible. it turned out it was all false. we have to be careful. you can talk to people who you can grant them a anonimity if yu want. the story hasn't been confirmed, just the fact that anonymous sources are spreading the story have been confirmed. there's a big difference between those two things. howie: in the atlantic some of this confirmed by other news organizations, some comments by the president attributed to john mccain. donald trump said, you know, mccain -- he likes people who weren't captured, referring to his pow status. >> again, this speaks to the pattern of behavior. this is not -- quite frankly, it's very sad that these remarks

aren't shocking coming from the president. the president has a pattern of behavior of not telling the truth. as i think voters look at the pattern of behavior of this individual with regard to truthfulness and with regard to these types of comments about these individuals, look, there are people that probably believe what he said that won't vote for him anyway, he's person any the military. the military are typically pro-republican and the president is the incumbent republican candidate. i don't -- but i do think, and i heard from on my radio show some vets that weren't shocked but it was just rubbing salt in an old wound that reminded them with the election coming up of who their commander in chief is. howie: let me tell you, we're getting short on time. the president this morning continuing his assault, calling jeffrey goldberg a con man and saying people should write to the atlantic's -- steve jobs'

widow to discuss their dissatisfaction. the magazine was for impeachment early on. it comes out two months before the election. does that make people question it? >> well, i think the timing of this of course being right before the election, it certainly indicates that the sources would quite like to move voter sentiment with these statements. i don't know that the timing necessarily to me affects the credibility of the story one way or the other. i do wish we had some names on the record saying, yes, i heard this. that would make it much easier to assess whether it's credible or not. howie: that would make it much easier to you assess. i want to get to the question of urban violence, president trump and joe biden visited kenosha wisconsin. let's roll it. >> the rioters and joe biden have a side, they're both on the side of the radical left. joe biden has given more aid and comfort to the vandals. >> rioting is not protesting. looting is not protesting.

setting fires is not protesting. ask yourself, do i look like a radical socialist with a soft spot for rioters? really? howie: molly, biden says trump is fanning the flames and when the president defends his supporters in portland for shooting paint ball and pepper spray at liberal protesters, it makes many in the media say, see, he's egging his side on. >> the media has struggled with how to cover the violent riots. as soon as they found they were hurting the democratic party's electoral chances, they began begging joe biden to finally say something, they began claiming the riots were happening but they were trump's fault. the media shouldn't care about the fact that the riots are hurting the democratic party and just report that the riots are happening. when you see the media claim these are mostly peaceful

protests, the average person thinks they must have been particularly violent last night. howie: kristin, the president got skeptical coverage of his trip to kenosha. he met with law enforcement officials. joe biden got much more sympathetic coverage, in my view. he met with the family of jacob blake who was shot in the back seven times during an you attemd arrest. the media say that trump's playing to his base. when biden talks mostly about racial injustice, isn't he playing to his base as well? >> i wouldn't say when you're talking about the issue of racial injustice that they play to the base. fighting racial injustice is something that's important to voters of all political stripes. we would all like to see less racial injustice in this country. i push back a little bit on that one. i think certainly biden is getting much more favorable coverage throughout the course of this week, the last month, the last year.

the bar has been very much lowered for joe biden. on an issue like this where you begin to actually see a lot of voters who previously said i'm sympathetic to the matter, i believe we want to see racial injustice addressed in the country and are seeing what's happening in portland which is divorced from any sense of trying to pursue racial injustice, just people who want to see the world burn, that's where you see voters go. howie: i've got 20 seconds. when the president defends the 17-year-old man who is charged with homicide in the fatal shooting of two people in portland, says he may have been acting in self-defense, people say, well, he won't criticize his side. >> well, he doesn't. i mean, look, allegedly this young man was a trump supporter, the president likes people that support him and like him and when they do, he normally speaks favorable of them. look, whether a president is a democrat or republican, in my opinion, a president should stay out of these things. you can make a comment as the

leader of this nation but certainly you need to have due process, everyone is constitutionally allowed that right. you're innocent until proven guilty. you need to let the law play out in the court with the people and not the president's opinion. howie: all right. ahead, the trump campaign's communications chief will be here. when we come back the media pouncing on controversial trump comments in his interview with laura ingram. alright, everyone, we made it. my job is to help new homeowners who have turned into their parents. i'm having a big lunch and then just a snack for dinner. so we're using a speakerphone in the store. is that a good idea? one of the ways i do that is to get them out of the home. you're looking for a grout brush, this is -- garth, did he ask for your help? -no, no. -no. we all see it. we all see it. he has blue hair. -okay. -blue.

progressive can't protect you from becoming your parents, but we can protect your home and auto when you bundle with us. -keep it coming. -you don't know him.

howie: in an interview you with fox's laura ingram, president trump was talking about jay shortness of breath blake being not the back seven times in kenosha during an attempted arrest and focused on the pressure faced by that police officer and cops in general

during such confrontations. >> he might have been going for a weapon. there's a whole big thing there. but they choke, just like in a golf tournament, they miss a three-foot putt. >> you're not comparing it to golf. >> i'm saying people choke. >> people panic. >> people choke. and people are bad people. there's both. you have some bad people and they choke. >> choking is an interesting choice of words, horrifying when he compares it to missing a golf putt. >> he was comparing it to golf and sanitizing what looks like attempted murder by a police officer on video to being an imperfect judgment made in a tense moment. howie: molly, i understand that the president was making a broader point about police under pressure. wasn't the golf analogy, well, a terrible one? >> sure, i would not use a sports analogy to describe the killing of by police officers of individuals. it's true that the media need to

put police violence in context. i don't think we've seen that in the last -- we definitely haven't seen that in the last several months. there's hundreds of millions of police interactions each year, very few of them lead to violence, particularly against unarmed people. the media have not shown that story. they've not accurately described that story. they haven't talked about how police shootings are down in major cities by record amounts. this is something that's very important to tell and so that the failures by certain -- a few certain individuals are put in accurate context because i think if you ask the american public because of the media coverage they have the idea that police interactions are a hell scape and that's an accurate telling of events. howie: most police officers are good police officers. we should remember that. we could find one other mention of this golf analogy on fox. cnn and msnbc replayed it time and again. is it news-worthy. >> i don't necessarily know that it is news-worthy of being played time and time again. it's certainly not a good

analogy. you can hear in the interview, laura ingram is trying to save the president from himself. he does double down on it. every time the president says something that was indelicate, if i blew up the media headlines for weeks, which is sometimes does, it's a distraction away from the critical stories that matter most to voters. what do you think voters care about more, this president used a bad metaphor about golf in a serious situation or the fact that we still have this pandemic and riots in the streets and people that are protesting for very justifyable reasons. we have a lot of big issues facing the country. i'm not sure that this he deserves wall to wall coverage. howie: leslie, aren't the pundits, many of them, refusing to acknowledge that the broader point by the president of the united states, which is police officers put their lives on the line every day, they sometimes are in life-threatening situations. they have to make split second decisions, sometimes those decisions turn out to be wrong.

>> well, howie, we all know if it bleeds it leads, sadly. that's pretty much since adam and eve with journalism. quite frankly, it's not as attractive, it doesn't have as many people buy newspapers or listen to radio programs, pod of casts or watch a television newscast if they don't sometimes have that, sadly. but if the president had to put it in these terms, he could have brought the focus to what you just said and quite frankly in the eloquent manner in which you just said it. when you have somebody who is going to be a allegedly a paraplegic at this point whose children will have emotional issues having watched their father being shot and people that have buried their children or of loved ones at the hands of this, it does show a lack of sensitivity and i do think that resonates with a certain segment of of the voting population. howie: all right. just trying to get to the broader point. let me play one more sound bite

from the laura interview, we've got about 20 seconds each for reaction from all of you. roll it. >> i don't even like to mention biden. he's not controlling anything. >> who do you think is pulling biden's strings? is it former obama officials. >> people you've never heard of. people that are in the dark shadows. people that are -- >> what does that mean? that sounds like conspiracy theory. dark shadows, what is that? >> people that you haven't heard of. howie: people in dark shadows controlling joe biden? >> this is a major theme of the trump campaign. they talked about it at their convention, that donald trump -- or that joe biden is trying to present himself as a centrist but he's controlled by the far left forces. and they do have some reason to say this, that joe biden, there was a debate where he raised his hand that his healthcare plan would give healthcare, free healthcare to illegal immigrants. he changed his position on abortion to force people to pay for abortions, says he would sue nuns if he were elected. a picked a woman with the most

liberal voting record in the senate as his running mate. this is something the trump campaign is trying to emphasize. at the same time, the media are trying to help joe biden present himself as a moderate so they don't want to cover these changes in position or just how much his campaign seems to be controlled by the far left forces of his party. howie: leslie, quick response. i understand the trump campaign, the president does this every day, joe biden is controlled by bernie, aoc, the left wing, but people in dark shadows? >> no. i would go with laura there. it sounds like a conspiracy. maybe he needs to put the grassy noll you a way with that. he talked about people coming in on planes. people are coming into the cities from the radical left and radical right to stoke up violence and problems, whether it's in the state of -- in portland or in kenosha. but joe biden is not controlled by the liberal -- more liberal left faction of the democrat

party at all. howie: we've got to go. thank you all so much. up next, joe biden faces the press and gets an unbelievable series of soft questions. and later, one outlet that refuses to cover nancy pelosi's hair salon fiasco. n better? unlike ordinary memory supplements... neuriva has clinically proven ingredients that fuel 5 indicators of brain performance. memory... focus... accuracy... learning and concentration. try it today with our money-back guarantee!

howie: joe biden held two news conferences this week, that's a good thing. but most of the questions reporters in wilmington asked on friday were down right embarrassing, the come draft with donald trump's addressers dramatic. they didn't challenge biden on policies or past statements. it was all inviting him to dump on trump. >> when you hear these remarks, suckers, losers, recoiling from amputees, what does it tell you about president trump's soul and the life he leads. >> you know in your heart, you know in your gut, it's deplorable. it's deplorable. >> the president said last

night he once again suggested to his supporters that they should consider voting twice, state officials have said it's a felony, in some cases. just curious what you make of it. >> there are a lot of people out there who are supporting you or inclined to not vote for the president who will say why isn't joe biden angrier about all of this. howie: what does this tell about the president's soul? why aren't you more angry? seriously. this is why a big chunk of the country thinks the press rolls over for joe biden. the journalists that get these rare opportunities to question the former vp have to get tougher or they will appear totally biased. the commission on presidential debates announced the moderators for the fall debates, chris wallace of fox news, widely praised across the media spectrum as the best of the moderators in 2016, steve scalia of c-span who served as a backup moderator. and kristin welker a white house

correspondent is not in the news business. no one from -- the trump campaign says it doesn't like the lineup but is glad that joe biden will finally face chris wallace. coming up, the trump campaign's communication director on many of the media conned versies -- controversies swirling and the president this week.

howie: joining us now, erin perrine communications director torfor the trump 2020 campaign. president trump has called the atlantic magazine article on disparaging soldiers a hoax, saying the magazine made it up or the sources are lying. the editor says he has four sources with direct knowledge. how does the president or the campaign know the atlantic sources are lying. >> it's clear that the at lynn sources are -- atlantic sources are lying. there are ten on the record sources that are publicly available for everybody to see.

that prove this wrong. there's white house e-mails that prove this story is false. and you have eight people of the ten that have gone on the record with direct firsthand knowledge. these aren't sources. these are people who were really there and are out there saying that this is false. i think it's pretty clear here that journalism was abandoned that journalistic integrity has to be in question here when you have four off the record, anonymous sources who are trying to hide their identities instead of standing up to level such disgusting accusations against the president of the united states. howie: well, there are serious accusations, no question. as you know, erin, fox news pentagon correspondent jennifer griff continugriffin said she ce elements of the a atlantic piec. >> my source, a former trump administration official told me when the president spoke about the vietnam war, he said it was a stupid war, anyone who went was a sucker. he would say about american

veterans, what's in it for them. they don't make any money. howie: the allegations remain very much in dispute, jennifer griffin's report would suggest the story is not a hoax. >> you have, again, anonymous sources supporting anonymous sources. a letter was just put out today from seven -- almost 700 veterans of this country, who know they have a champion and who are disappointed to see what the atlantic has done, to see these anonymous sources and the letter says from these veterans that they believe that the media is trying to meddle in the election and undermine the integrity of our nation. look at what the president does. look at the man's action. look at the way he is when he goes to walter reetd, when he's at dover, welcoming the bodies home of our of fallen members, the work he's done to reform the veteran's administration. you look at the actions of this president. it's a commander in chief proud of his troops, proud of his soldiers, his sailors and his

airmen and anybody saying otherwise is just turning a baselinblind eye to reality. howie: last point on this. on what basis is president trump calling for jennifer griff continue to be fired -- griffin to be fired. this is a experienced correspondent, widely expected for fairness and meticulous approach. >> president trump has been attacked needlessly and relentlessly by the media. again, this is another anonymously sourced story without individuals willing to go on the record. the president has been treated so unfairly by the media. he has every right to stand up for himself and say that there should be questions asked of anybody who is using anonymous sourcing when it comes to levying such accusations against him. howie: all right. i certainly agree he has every right to stand up for himself and a he gets a lot of negative stories. let me ask you what the did president mean when he said joe biden who has given two speeches in two weeks denouncing the

violence in major cities, that he sides with the rioters, what does that mean. >> you look at what the biden campaign has done to side with the rioters. the staff donated money to the minneapolis fund to bail out protesters, kamala harris tweeting that along the same lines as well, saying if you can give money to bail out the protesters, the rioters they should do so. the actions speak louder than the words. any day there's violence or of unrest in the united states, president trump said you have the right to piecefuly assemble. you don't get to choose which laws you abide by. violence has to place in this country and he said he will every day provide federal resources to restore law and order. it's clear that joe biden who said he would not send up the national guard in these instances is siding with the violence instead of siding with trying to restore law and order to communities. howie: what did you make of the press coverage of joe biden's

visit to kenosha as opposed to the president's trip there two days earlier? >> well, again, it's the media picking to try and be so negative against president trump, who was going there in an official capacity, not for political reasons. the president met with store owners who had their businesses destroyed, their livelihoods are at stake and he stood up federal resources for them to be able to rebuild. he met with local law enforcement. he brought attorney general barr and chad wolf there to have a conversation about what needs to change and how we can better support communities just like kenosha. joe biden went for purely political reasons. there was no other reason for je biden to go than to try to stoke political unrest in a city that was coming back from a difficult few days from them and you see the media fawning over joe biden and trying to hit the president for going. it shows the unfairness and the bias that exists in the media and in journalism against this president and this is why we

have to fight every single moment of every day to try and get the truth out there because while the media will hold joe biden's hand and help him along the way, they want to try to tear down this president and we are glad to stand up here and fight to get the facts out there. howie: well, i just say i think both candidates have the right to go where they want. last question, i'm a little short on time. the president touched off a media storm when he told voters in north carolina and pennsylvania to vote by mail ballot and vote in person to see what happens or attempt to vote in person. why did the president go there? many stat state of said it woula felony. did he want to draw more media attention to the issue of mail voting. >> the president's been clear, he wants people if you're voting by mail, get your ballot in as early as possible and make sure your vote has been counted, if that's going to the voting location, make sure your vote is counted. what the media is doing is all of a sudden when they say that there is no such thing as voter fraud, that you can't do this,

the president points out a hole in their story and all of a sudden they're concerned about voter fraud. the president is clear. he is wanting to protect the legitimacy of of the election process in the united states and allow everybody who can vote to do so and do so once. howie: erin perrine, nice to see you. thank you for joining us this sunday. >> thank you. howie: after the break, why the press is going bonkers about the president's comments about people testing the mail ballot system and bill barr swept up in the controversy on cnn. robinhood believes now is the time to do money.

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howie: it began with new york times correspondent michael schmidt reporting in a new book that when president trump made the unscheduled visit to walter reed last fall, the vice president was told to be on stand by. hehe responded on twitter, sayig it was fake news. perhaps they're referring to another candidate from another party. when cnn analyst joe lockhart, a former press secretary, asked whether the president suffered a stroke, the campaign called for him to be fired. joining us now to discuss, gayle trotter and mara liasson, national political reporter. gayle, the president going off on fake news by denying he had a stroke. no one in the media accused him of having a stroke. he did say that it was not true

that vice president was put on standby. mike pence says he doesn't remember that. isn't it donald trump with his denials that pushed the story into the media strai straso sph. >> it was based on hearsay, if not outright manufactured about the visit in the first place. presidents go to the doctor and there was scant evidence that there was anything unusual about the trip. i think the significance of this story is that if it's anything, it shows the media echo chamber and the lengths they can go to invent stories out of thin air. howie: i was critical four years ago when donald trump and some media conservatives were practically portraying hillary clinton as being on her death bed. i'm going to turn around and ask the question, should joe lockhart be raising questions about whether president trump had a stroke? none of the original stories said he had a stroke or mini

stroke. >> yeah, look, there are many, many things we can accuse the media, which is not one monolithic thing, of. but this is not one of them. michael schmidt did not say the president went to walter reed because he had mini strokes. i would hope any time the president goes to the hospital that the vice president is told that's happening. you know. if he needs anesthesia or whatever, you're going to be on standby. but joe lockhart is not a journalist and what joe lockhart was doing was what operatives of both parties and donald trump is the foremost practitioner of this say, oh, some people say hillary clinton is dying. some people say joe biden takes what did he call them, enhancements, some kind of enhancement drug for his s senileity. i think the stories i read about this were stories that pointed out that no one in the media accused the president of having a mini stroke. i think he over-reacted and he gave this story legs that it

originally shouldn't have had or it didn't have. howie: and part of the legs to use your term was banner headline on the drudge report, we can put this up, the president denies mini strokes. and gayle, the president accused drudge of not supporting him and said, oh, he's doing poorly, actually he's got record breaking traffic. i don't think drudge is in love with the president but it's news and how can you not cover many of the controversies that president trump is involved in? >> the attending physician said that it was completely fake. so these allegations made if mara wants to talk about the mainstream media being political operatives, i would o agree with that. and president trump is pointing out yet again mistreatment by the mainstream media. >> i never said that. howie: just to clarify what mara liasson said. there are political operatives who work for all the cable networks who do what operatives do. >> he's not a journalist.

howie: all right. i want to move on now. because i mentioned this with erin perrine in the last segment. the president's comments, we're going to show you from north carolina, about what voters should do on this question of mail ballots. roll it. >> so let them send it in and let them go vote and if their system is as good as they say it is, obviously they won't be able to vote. if it isn't tabulated they'll be able to vote. that's the way it is. howie: many journalists when haywire over this, saying the president is telling people to vote twice, it's illegal, a felony. is it any surprise given the words the president used that this caused a media fire storm. >> the media can't have it both ways. this is exposing their very effort to have it both ways because they've spent months telling the american voters that mail-in balloting is secure and yet when the president points out an obvious weakness in

mail-in voting the media go berserk. it just shows that there are issues with fraud and coercion with mail-in voting and if the system is as good as the mainstream has been pushing for months, then if anyone were to try and vote illegally a second time, the system would catch them. so the president is right to point out this weakness and the media as i said is trying to have it both ways and this exposes them for it. howie: mara, two-part question, what's your take on the -- go right ahead. >> yeah. in many states it is illegal to encourage someone to try to vote twice. the president didn't say vote twice. he said see if you can vote twice as a way to test the system. there are ways to check if your mail-in ballot counted. that's not one of them. howie: let me ask you mara as we close this out, bill barr fueled the controversy, he went on cnn and he was asked -- he said i don't know specifically

what the president was referring to. i don't know the law in north carolina, then making the broader point that mail ballots he says is playing with fire. and so now of course all the media fire is trained on the attorney general. quick thought. >> yeah, there is no evidence that there's widespread fraud with mail-in balloting. bill barr has consistently echoed the president's concerns about this election and i think when bill barr says the same thing as the president, it gives it a much greater gravity and weight. howie: good discussion. >> and therefore should be -- howie: still to come, how some don't think nancy pelosi's hair salon escapade is news and how a former melania aide justifies secretly taping the first lady.

howie: when fox reported that nancy pelosi had been seen in the san francisco hair salon not wearing a mask, it generated plenty of criticism since salons in the city have not been allowed to reopen. msnbc mentioned the house speaker's embarrassment exactly one. fox frequently followed up on the story. cnn frequently followed it a number of times but with little criticism of pelosi. >> maybe she listened to the president who said masks are weakness, who encourages people to wear masks. >> this is clear she thinks there's a separate set of rules for her. howie howie: she demanded that the salon owner apologize. >> i take responsibility for trusting the word of the neighborhood salon that i've been to over the years many times. as it turns out, it was a set-up. so i take responsibility for falling for a set-up.

howie: that salon owner told tucker carlson pelosi's visit was a slap in the face, that she lost a majority of her clients and staff during the six month shutdown. joining us now from new york, kat timpf, a fox nation host. msnbc weighs in once, cnn not really conside criticizing pelo. fox did dozens of segments on this. would it be so different at the other two cable networks if this had been the house republican leader? >> yes. but i think the reality is, this is even worse. i saw a piece in the washington post 245 was sort of mocking this, saying huge scandal that nancy pelosi got her hair done. no, no, no. that's not the scandal. it's obviously the hypocrisy, right. i was glad cnn, don lemon, did mention that. you messed up, say you messed up. it's because nancy pelosi had been so, so devoted to

promoteing herself as a sort of zero tolerance for violating rules when it comes to the coronavirus and the pandemic and social distancing. and it is unbelievably hypocritical to see her there after she's been saying since june that we are long overdue for a mask mandate to see her there apparently not mandating one for her own face. howie: by the way, her hair stylist, in a statement actually backed up the speaker saying that the owner had approved the visit, and also made several incendiary comments about speaker pelosi, suggesting this is political. i don't think we need a special prosecutor here. let me move on to the new book, melania and me, by a former senior advisor and former friend, stephanie wolkoff. she says in the book that melania used private e-mail, that seems to be a legitimate story, quotes what the first lady supposedly said, negative

comments about other trump family members. on the rachel maddow show, here's what she said about secretly taping melania trump. >> melania in the white house had accused me of criminal activity and publicly shaped and fired me and made me their scapegoat. at that moment in time, that's when i pressed record. she was no longer my friend. howie: kat, does that justify secretly recording someone that had been your friend for 15 years, that brought you into the white house, even though the job didn't work out and she was pushed out. >> i hope none of my friends are secretly recording me. but, look, i guess the bottom line is i'm not sure how much it matters. there was a headline about this in the new york times that i thought was hi laye hill layer f

aware. who is this woman. i'm not sure how much it matters. when these tell-alls come out, it's its own genre at this point, there's coverage on the left and people who support trump never really care. whatever is on there probably couldn't be as potentially damaging as an access hollywood tape in 2016. what happened after that? he became the president. so we hear a lot of people on the left saying how could trump supporters still not care. it's like how could you still think they would. these sort of things don't matter to the people who support his agenda. howie: kat, thanks so much. the questions have been raised about the company's $26 million inauguration contract. michael cohen out with a new book disparaging the president. he secretly taped the president. the president's niece secretly taped the president's sister. you can see why people get upset about this. that is it for this edition of media buzz.

i'm howard kurtz. i hope of you like our facebook page. check out my podcast, media buzz meter the, apple itunes. we'll see you back here next sunday with the latest buzz. cliy proven ingredients that fuel 5 indicators of brain performance. memory... focus... accuracy... learning and concentration. try it today with our money-back guarantee!

♪ ♪ the white house spending this holiday weekend pushing back against a report that claims president trump insulted american troops who died in world war i and called anyone who fought in the vietnam war suckers. hello everyone welcome to "america's news headquarters" i am arthel neville. hi eric. eric: hello are selling everyone welcome for joining us in the fox news channel. i'm eric shawn. they have denied the story in the atlantic magazine and the story focuses on the 2018 trip to france