howie: this is media buzz. i'm howard kurtz ahead we'll talk to cory lewandowski of the trump ca campaign. president trump nominating amy coney barrett to the supreme court. her husband and children also at the white house yesterday. a media assault quickly got underway. >> judges are not policy makers and they must be resolute in setting aside any policy views they might hold. >> confirm this justice right before the election and re-elect this president, so we can and will nuke your health insurance less than two weeks later.

>> there's going to be a fighting mood out there as it becomes clear that, you know, ms. barrett means the end of roe v wade as well as the end of the affordable care act. >> how cool is it to get a working mom on the supreme court. and by the way, a working mom of seven kids. you know, i mean, this woman is going to be something to reckon with. >> democrats, the media, the mob, they're beginning to try and paint this woman as a monster. buckle up. they're attacking her faith and god, her catholic faith,ville, y aspect about her life. howie: this followed days of media attacks against the president and mitch mcconnell once news broke they had enough republican votes to confirm a replacement of for ruth bader ginsburg. a number say their party should get even if joe biden wins by packing the court with extra seats. >> why wouldn't they? if they're in control, why wouldn't they? >> because they're weak. and they're wimps.

and they're afraid. >> they're so obsessed with beating trump and his voters that they're willing to destroy our entire system of checks and balances to do so. maria: joining us now to analyze the coverage, mollie hemingway, senior editor at the federalist and fox news contributor. in new york, jedediah bila, the co-host of "fox & friends weekend." in logs angeles, leslie marshall, radio talk show host and fox news contributor. mollie, the media you attacks on amy coney barrett began days before she was named. i'll get to newsweek in a moment. some of this echos democratic attacks on her criticism of her at her confirmation hearings three years ago. do you believe some of these attacks amount to anti-catholic bigotry? >> yeah, the media have not done a great job of covering amy coney barrett for several years. the real issue is that the supreme court is contentious because in recent decades it has kind of add b abdi abdicated it.

president trump promised to appoint judge that's would determine the constitution as written. he's had a successful first term, one of the most successful aspects is how he nominated judges in that mold that a amy could an-- comey barrett is in. really, what's at issue is that the media who have become increasingly partisan, have a different idea about how the court should be. they want it to be that legislature that sets policy even as many americans think that has been damaging to the country. they'll use what they can, whether that's her faith or of other aspects, like they did with brett kavanaugh. howie: jedediah, newsweek had to run a correction for reporting that a charismatic christian group that barrett belongs to was the model for an apoapocknovel.

>> people picked up on that and tweeted it out. when you run the corrections, what the problem is, a lot of people read the original story and don't see the correction. so the plan here of course, by some on the left is to paint her as a radical, to say that she would adhere to her faith in a way that would be bizarre or odd. the thing is, and she pointed it out very well, she's not a policy maker. her individual views, her religion, should not be weighing and the reason that they weigh in for the left is because the left use everything through the lens of activeism. they think, well, if she's put in this position, suddenly her personal views are going to inform her decisions on the court. that is not the case. that should not be the case, i should say. and for her, and based on the statements she's made thus far, that would not be the case. so it's just -- i think you're seeing emerge two very different visions as to what the court

should look like in terms of activeism versus originalism. howie: on that point, leslie, law professor jonathan tourly wrote that ruth bader ginsburg was a proud jew, yo attended conferences on jewish law. nobody you accused her of letting her faith dictate her decisions. that seems to be a double standard for amy coney barrett. >> this country was founded on religious freedom. the people who came here from plymouth, massachusetts were fleeing religious prosecution and attacks. that's wrong, no matter what. however, if this was reversed, if you had a democratic president and they were putting forth somebody who was so outspoken and so pro-abortion and so liberal and progressive on this matter, there would be the same attacks, not on religion, but certainly the same attacks on views.

you have to remember that judge barrett, prior to being a judge, when she was a teacher, she put herself out there again and again and again, talking about her views on abortion. she went further in saying that as a catholic, a judge should recuse themselves on issues that conflict with their moral beliefs. such as, capital punishment or abortion. that's concerning for many, and not just on the left, that a judge would say, look, if there's an issue like that i've got to recuse myself especially if she's on a court that by the way will have a six-three conservative majority which where i sit is a packed court. howie: okay. but on this question of court packing, mollie, you've had a number of liberal pundits as well as democratic lawmakers saying we're going to get even next year if the democrats take over, we're going to add extra court seats. what would the mainstream reaction be if republicans

talked about packing the court? >> ruth bader ginsburg had been a liberal activeist, including on issues of abortion. she was confirmed something like 97-3. we have a comparison of what would happen if it were the opposite. it's not at all what we're about to go through. it's true you've had people on the left threatening that if the court doesn't rule the way it wants or if the constitutional process to confirm amy coney barrett is followed, they will retaliate by packing the court or doing other things like that. this is something that we saw from franklin delano roosevelt when he didn't like when the court overturned some of his policy agenda. it's something that -- there's no set number of how many justices there have to be on the court. but when it's deployed as a threat or retaliation, i think that does make people wonder just how many norms the left is willing to violate in search of raw power. howie: right. it's not unconstitutional, the number has varied over the years.

it's a extreme position as fdr found out. a vanity fair writer tweeted how can barrett be a supreme court justice and a loving present mom to seven kids and likeening the family to the kardashians. i ask you as a new mother. what? >> i mean, it's crazy. i'd like to know how many men were asked that question, first off, and i would also like to ask anyone tweeting out things like that -- i saw several, actually -- if they would define themselves as feminist? how can you be a feminist and come out and say she can't manage to be a great mom and be a high powered judge. this is a very accomplished woman. and if people can't wrap their heads around that -- i'm a working home. i -- working mom. i have a 10-month-old. i'm talking to you guys. this is a woman who should be an example to young women everywhere, she shows you can have it all. she has a beautiful family. she has stood on principle for many years. she is someone who has a strong

record that has been supported from bipartisan people, democrats and republicans alike have come out and said this is someone who really stands by the constitution, above and beyond all else. this is someone who should be celebrated. she's accomplished. and listen, she will have her day to defend herself. she will be asked questions. there is no guarantee that she will be confirmed. if the senators don't like what she has to say, they have the option to vote no. we're talking about respecting the process. the president nominated someone who is accomplished. the senate will vote. the process will be respected. any effort to circumvent that process shows you don't know and haven't processed that elections have consequences and you have no appreciation for the fact that these things have a process. howie: okay. you know, antonin scalia had nine children, i don't recall him being asked about how he can simultaneously be a supreme court justice. i think she will be confirmed. because republicans have the votes, like they have the votes to push ahead. we get into the question about

what happened in 2016 versus now, why so little media attention to joe biden, also changing his position. four years ago he demanded a vote for barack obama's nominee and now he says let's hold off on voting, the next president, whoever wins the election should decide and yet that gets very little media attention. >> the fact that we're talking about it, i don't agree. i certainly saw it throughout the media. i think one of the reasons it gets little attention is joe biden's not in the senate and not voting, wasn't then, isn't now. to jedediah's point, if you have to follow the process, well, in 2016 they didn't follow the process. senator mitch mcconnell's process as he said was to block everything that barack obama was going to put forth and try and do and obviously that included trying to get merrick garland on the court. with regard to packing the court, honestly, i'm a liberal, i'm a democrat but i would like a fair court. liberals and conservatives. and six-three is not. i wouldn't want six-three

liberal either. adding a couple seats to make it six-five, that might be good. it's within the confines of the constitution. i agree 100%, the senate is going to confirm her because it's a majority republican and they said they were going to confirm her before we knew who she was and, lastly, as a feminist with two children and a puppy sleeping upstairs, i'm working like you are, jedediah. i'm with you on that. and i do think it's wonderful as a woman who has adopted one of my children that she has seven children, two of which she adopted from haiti, and who are children of color, having interracial family, i respect and like that a lot. howie: very glad to hear you say that. now, mollie, new polls out today, new york times, washington post, 56 or 57% of people questioned say that whoever wins the election should fill the seat. but obviously a lot of charges thrown by the media at mitch

mcconnell because of what he did to merrick garland and now he's pushing this thing two weeks before the election. do you think the media have declared war on senator mcconnell. >> yeah. one thing that's important to clarify, the 2016 was not to confirm someone in an election year, it's you generally don't see confirmations where the senate is controlled by a different party than the presidency. that doesn't actually apply in 2020 because both the senate and the presidency are controlled by republicans. so it is a distinction that the media did a very bad job of explaining. i do think that one of the downsides of what the media did two years ago with kavanaugh is nobody trusts them to cover it accurately, fairly or remotely decently. howie: certainly hearing you covered intensively and wrote a book. an npr analyst has been all over tv touting her long friendship with ruth bader ginsburg who married her and saying that helped her reporting but the public editor says the failure

to fully disclose that friendship raises serious questions of journalistic independence. and i would agree. cory lewandowski coming up on the program. when we come back, president trump taking lots of media heat for what he wouldn't say about a peaceful transfer of power. hi. uh, can you tell me how to get to i-70, please? o-okay, are you -- ah, yes. thank you. switch to progressive and you can save hundreds. you know, like the sign says.

howie: the latest media outrage started with an atlantic piece by bart gelman, charging that president trump is actively plotting ways to keep himself in power after a disputed election. and the president fueled the controversy with these comments. >> will you commit to making sure there is a peaceful transfer of power after the election? >> we're going to have to see what happens. you know that. i've been complaining very

strongly about the ballots and the ballots are a disaster. get rid of the ballots and you'll hav -- we'll have a peacl -- there won't be a transfer, there will be a continuation. >> what the president is doing is the most explicit he's been about his plans, he's plotting, open, repeatedly, a coup to steal the election and hold onto power. >> he's telling us that he's going to have to try to overturn the results of this democratic election. because he knows he's going to lose. >> the president's skeptics, hugo, are going nuts over that response. don't forget that it's the democrats that never accepted donald trump and never accepted the legitimacy of his presidency. >> i don't think anyone in this country should seriously take the idea that we're not going to have a peaceful transfer of power. howie: jedediah, this is a hair on fire moment for the media. you heard talk of a coup.

the president more than one day refusing to give the answer the mead ya wanted to give. is this the crisis or potential crisis being portrayed by the press? >> listen, i don't think that the president's going to handcuff himself to the banister in the white house and not leave. i don't think it's going to play out that way. but he shouldn't answer this question that way. because in your introduction, howie, you said he fueled the story. he really does on this issue. i don't know why that is. when you're asked if there's going to be a peaceful transfer of power, if you are to lose an election, you just say yes and then you move on. yes, of course. next. now, we can talk about all day whether joe biden would be asked the same question. we can talk about the media creating a hair on fire moment. those are all valid points. when it comes down to it, he has the opportunity to shut this down in two seconds, to make it look like a petty question, to answer it very simply and move on. this is not the first time he's answered the question this way. so i'm hoping someone who is as

advising him says listen, this story does not help you. it only enables joe biden to say you know what, i'm going to put a lid on everything at 8:30 in the morning the next day because this story only hurts the president so he should stop answerstopping stop answering that way. howie: the president is a very smart guy when it comes to media. he knows the pundits will go haywire when he says these things. is he doing it to get out his message that in his view you there will be massive fraud for mail ballots. is he really trolling the press here? >> the problem with the what i he answered is not what he said that got everybody angry, it's that he didn't clarify exactly what his concerns are about moving to universal mail-in balloting. the question was literally whether he would peacefully transfer power to joe biden regardless of whether he won or lost. it was a ridiculous question. his answer, which as jedediah

notes, is his standard answer when asked if he will accept election results before an election has happened, was generous, given the i' idiocy of the question. we are approaching a four year anniversary of an ongoing refusal that donald trump was a legitimate winner in 2016. we have an example of how he handled losses in 2018. he handled them appropriately. the left is advocating for coup like behavior in the possible event that donald trump wins re-election. so it's not just that they themselves are talking about ways to gain power should they lose the election, they've been doing it for four years and they're accusing their opponents of doing that which they have done. howie: the new york times has a story saying pentagon leaders are discussing how you to avoid having the military drawn into post election chaos, raising the possibility of the president invoking the insurrection act,

sending troops into the streets. that seems like a speculative story. so if this happens, if this happens, what might the president or the pentagon do. >> i think that's our world right now, sadly, howie and the internet feeds into that. we speculate about everything. i mean, mollie was talking about the question posed to the president. there are people on my side of the aisle speculating the president won't leave. when he answers the way he did, it fuels the flames if you will and i think that taunting goes back and forth. look, there have been people that talked about the insurrection act, people on the left and the right that have talked about cities burning if their candidate doesn't win. sadly, we've become such a divided nation, even more so, and i think because many of us are stuck at home and some people are angry that they have to social distance and wear a mask when we have a pandemic like this, high unemployment, and tempers flare, sadly we have

to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. but to use our military when we have situations throughout the world, afghanistan is just one of many examples, that's too much on their plate and that's why those in the pentagon, top leaders have said they would step down if that becomes the case because they have to do what they have to do as the military and policing the american people after an election should not be one of those things. howie: you know, this 10,000 word cover story in the la atlac was pushed up by publishing online. the article says the president is working with republican leaders in certain states to try to get his electors in. some people thought it was crazy. some people thought it was -- great discussion. thanks so much. jedediah bila, for staying late with us. mollie hemingway, leslie marshall. up next, harris faulkner joins us two days before the first

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howie: we are two days away from the first presidential debate in cleveland moderated by chris wallace and the media handicapping includes the president working the ref on the radio with fox's brian kilmeade. >> chris is good. but i think i would be willing to bet that he won't ask biden tough questions. he'll ask me tough questions and it will show, it will be unfair. i have no doubt about it. but he'll be controlled by the radical left. howie: joining us now from new york, harris faulkner, the host of outnumbered overtime who will examine the debate. let me first say, i've watched chris wallace for decades ask tough questions of republicans

and democrats and he's nobody's captive. with the pro president calling e biden dumb, describing him as confused and not always the most coherent, are they setting a low bar for biden at this debate? >> look, i do think that they needed to do some bar resetting, right? republicans had all talked about he'll be good to be able to get through this, the president said if he has had good performances in the past, he must have been on drugs. there's calls this morning that he might be calling for a post debate drug test and that he would be willing to take that, the president himself. the risk of pitching too high or too low with joe biden is he's had decades of experience with this and we don't know which joe biden we'll see because he hasn't sat down for interviews with people like me, you, not even chris wallace. but what we do know is he's done this a lot, debating.

chances are, the head of communications said just this week, a raising bar experience if you will for president trump, be careful what you wish for. he's probably going to bring his "a" game but he's resetting. really, if you don't talk at all about it and you show up with your game, that's probably the best bet. but campaigns really rarely do that. and the media certainly can't help themselves. howie: biden had 11 democratic debates this year. he was uneven. but we will see. and that leads me to my next question. you were right, the president tweeting this morning, i'll be strongly demanding a drug test of sleepy joe biden. lots of americans are going to watch this debate. how much will the post game media spin matter, oh, he was great, he was terrible kind of thing, when people can see it with their own eyes? >> i you put this in a category where exit polling seems like such a great idea, well, it's not because it's not always

accurate. i think people want to see these two men unfiltered on their own. we haven't seen a lot of joe biden for all the reasons i mentioned, lack of access from the media, a few interviews but not a lot. he's not doing rallies. covid respect, totally get all that. are there other ways he could be thinking of getting out there. he goes days without doing anything. when you mix all that in, what voters are telling me, i've been interviewing voters for my show, getting ready for the 30-day runup we're inching down to, they are telling me they want to watch and they're not listening for policy or the breakdown of how they did on policy after, they want to see how a leader acts in real-time. i don't think you can spin room that. like that's what they're feeling. howie: let me jump in. i want to get you in on our top story, the coverage of amy coney barrett, we were talking about criticism or questions about she

having seven kids. your thoughts? >> where are the women in the media with the backbone? this woman is being gone after for being a mom, mom shame. this woman is being gone after about her faith. this woman is being gone for because she needed a little help with the seven children, who on whoof are adopted -- two of whom are adopted from haiti. as you heard leslie marshall say on your program a few minutes ago, that's a big deal. we don't do that. some of her fellow democrats are going for it. joe biden and a few of those dems are saying you better stick to the issues, don't make it personal. this could backfire on democrats, particularly among older black voters, the church goers, the once that representative james clyburn was talking to when he shored up the vote for joe biden, to get him going in the primary season. you've got to be careful with

them. because they live in the church. howie: always good advice. >> you don't shame a woman who is raising kids and working. howie: i couldn't agree more. thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you. howie: next up, cory lewandowski, the former trump campaign manager, on coverage of the president's supreme court pick, his comments on the disputed election and much more. stay with us.

howie: well, it's been a while since they've been on the program but joining us now is cory lewandowski, senior advisor to the trump campaign and co-you author with dave bossy of a new book, trump, america first, the president succeeds against all odds. now that president trump has named amy coney barrett, you were there at the white house ceremony yesterday, how do you see the media treating her? >> well, look, howie, we're already seeing the double standard. she is being criticized for being the first supreme court

nominee who has school-aged children and they're using that against her. why wouldn't the media come out and say this should be commended. this is what we want. we have a woman who may be one of the greatest legal minds of her generation. she obviously has a difficult work/family balance. this should be praised, a woman of this mag any thewe magnituden children who has the opportunity to sit on the high court. we should see more women supporting her. howie: nobody is disputing her brain power, including some democrats. the republicans have the votes. judge barrett is going to be confirmed. will you acknowledge that this is basically raw politics pushed by mitch mcconnell in the senate who wouldn't give merrick garland the vote with nine months to go and who will push through this election two weeks before the election. >> lbj doesn't hold a candle to

mitch mcconnell. when you and i were reading a, b, cs and dr. seuss, he was reading the senate rules. he is a master on how to get things done. it's not unprecedented to move a justice through this quickly. we saw it with ruth bader ginsburg. i believe it's the object of gas station of united states senators to work up until election day and not take a pass on tough votes. howie: the president as you know caused a continuing media firestorm with his we'll have to see what happens answer a couple times on the question of a peaceful transfer of power. over the weekend joe biden was interviewed by msnbc's stephanie rule. >> doesn't that put our democracy at risk? >> i don't think he's going to get the fbi to follow him, to have anybody enforce something that's not real. the last thing we need is the equivalent of a coup. this is not who we are. howie: what do you make of the msnbc question, isn't that

putting our democracy at risk and what do you make of biden's answer, invoking the prospect of a coup? >> it's you amazing that joe biden talks about a coup. it's exactly what his administration with obama tried to do with this president. joe biden admitted that in january, after the president was the president-elect, they opened up an investigation into him. they spied on the trump campaign and the trump family, they unmasked individuals, they went after michael flynn and so many others, with the acknowledged or at least the consent, either the consent or the knowledge of barack obama and joe biden, so it's interesting how we talked about this smooth transition of power should donald trump lose, which i don't think he will. but it was the obama/biden administration that did not have a peaceful transition of power. that's the most incredible hypocrisy of the whole thing. howie: any thoughts on how the question was framed 1234. >> it's such a loaded question.

the president is not doing sunday shows. he sends his wife out. he is not capable to answer tough questions. he refuses to come on your network to answer any other questions. he goes to the friendly networks to ask loaded questions. howie: when you say that kind of thing, we talked about this earlier, he has a big debate coming up in two days, aren't you and all the people in trump world setting a low bar for joe biden who may come out and have a good performance, people are not expecting that now. >> i think yo joe biden will he a good performance. he's been preparing for 30 years. he's run three times for this. this is the first opportunity to debate one on one with the republican nominee. he's going to be ready. he's been doing this for 47 years. donald trump has been doing this for 47 months. joe biden's going to have to answer why his record has been so poor. look, joe biden said i think yesterday or the day before, you get elected to the senate 180 years ago.

we are ready for the gaffes he's going to present. kid you not, joe biden is going to be prepared when he walks on the debate stage. howie: all right. in your book, you describe how john kelly threw you up against the wall in the white house, ripping the buttons off your jacket. that's what i call a vigorous exchange of views. you report telling top campaign officials that they were behind and they weren't ready for the midterms and impeachment would follow. those things did happen. isn't the campaign today trailing, the latest polls have the president behind 8 to 10 of points. >> john kelly in my opinion decided to serve himself and not the american people. he thought he was the elected president of the united states and refused to do the things the president asked. it wasn't a sad day for me when john kelly left the white house. moving on from that, the campaign, where we stand today, we knocked on 10 of mill -- 10

million doors, almost weekly. joe biden hasn't knocked on one. our surrogates are in these places every day. i'm going to be with the president wednesday in minnesota. i'm going to be with him on saturday in wisconsin, friday in florida. this president is working to remind the american people of promises he made and kept. joe biden continues to run the hillary clinton campaign, to hide in the basement and look for a good debate. i like our odds with donald trump. he's going to win. howie: you obviously managed a successful campaign in 2016. i got like one sentence. do you think right now the president's the underdog? >> i think he is the underdog because he's the outsider and he's still going to win. howie: all right. cory lewandowski, good to see you again. thanks very much for joining us. >> thanks, howie. howie: after the break, a different point of view, former pennsylvania governor ed rendell is up next.

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howie: and joining us now from philadelphia is ed rendell, the former pennsylvania governor and one-time chairman of the dnc. you know how to count votes. amy coney barrett is definitely going to be confirm. some democrats are talking bouts boycotting the hearings. does it make political sense for the media and some democrats to now wage a brutal campaign against her? >> no, absolutely not. not on the issues they've chosen.

look, it's legitimate to wage a campaign about hypocrisy that they're about to show, confirming this judge after saying that justice -- judge garland couldn't be confirmed because it was an election year. you how they're going to answer that hypocrisy question, but that's not for the judge herself. the judge herself will answer questions about her philosophy and those are fair game. but nothing about -- if she can do the job and she's certainly done the job as a court of appeals judge, leave that issue alone. democrats can ask her about what her position would be if she had to move on something about the election result. that would be fair game. whether she would respect precedent, roe of v wade, that would be fair. howie: joe biden was asked about something that some

liberal commentators and some democrats are pushing, if she gets confirmed we're going to pack the court next year. here's his interview i want you to listen with wvay with green bay. >> it's a legitimate question. let me tell you why i'm not going to answer that question. it will shift the whole focus. let's say i answer that question, the whole debate will be about why did he say or didn't say. howie: why would go joe biden t want to answer that question and make his stance on this, whatever he thinks one way or another, it seems he goes out of his way to avoid making news. >> he doesn't want to distract from the central issue. the central issue is who is best to be president of the united states, who is best to handle an emergency like the covid emergency, who is best to handle american foreign policy. joe wants the issues focused on those type of questions and i think he's right to do so. howie: the supreme court battle

is something of a distraction from his game plan, is that your view 1234. >> oh, sure. i think that any takes the focus away from who is best to deal with the issues is a distraction, no question about that. howie. i think joe biden -- howie: you've had to -- yeah. well, obviously he knew that he would make a lot of news had he answered the question one way or another. you've had to debate in your political career. the press always builds these things up as a big make or break event. often that turns out not to be the case. given biden's age, 77, and given the attacks by the president and his surrogates and his campaign, saying he's not coherent, he's confused, he can only string a kim sentences together, do you think this debate, particularly the first one on tuesday, could be more important to biden than a typical campaign election year? >> well, the polls show that most people have made up their minds and are not going to be influenced by the debate. still, the debate could have some importance in states that are decided by a narrow margin.

look, the president has committed to debate policy, number one error, and that's lowering the expectations for your opponent. the way the president talks about it, joe biden is not physically strong enough to stand up straight for the time period of the debate. the way the president talks about it, joe biden will be an idiot when answering the questions. joe biden is physically stronger than the president of the united states, much better condition. joe biden is as sharp as can be mentally. i've talked to him five or six times during the campaign and he hasn't lost a step in terms of mental acuity. when he shows up and doesn't collapse, when he shows up an answers the questions, somewhat decently, he's the winner of the debate because donald trump has lowered the debate bar for joe biden. it's so incredibly low. big mistake. howie: you raised exe expectats slightly here. the president says if joe biden

does okay the media will say it's the greatest debate performance of all time. is that working the refs or are the press going to be more favorable to biden? i've got about half a minute. >> it's a little too late. donald trump has lowered the bar so incredibly for his ow owe poe meant which -- owe po opponent,h is debate medical practice. if joe biden does reasonably well, he's be the winner regardless of what the media says. they'll say his closing speech was good, bingo, it's over. howie: great things about debates, people can watch and make up their own minds. governor ed rendell, thank you for joining us this sunday. >> my pleasure. howie: still to come, the mead ya covering the violent reaction to the lack of charges in the killing of breonna taylor and are commentators, some of them, disregarding the facts? ♪ ♪

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howie: liberal commentators are outraged by the decision not to bring charges against police officers in the killing of breonna taylor which sparked violence in louisville. some of the commentary seemed disconnecteddedisconnected frome complicated facts of the case. >> this was a black lives don't matter ruling because they said her life was irrelevant. >> you can do this whenever you want and we won't jail you, we won't hold you accountable, shoot all the black people you want. >> there is no evidence of any kind that breonna taylor was murdered because she was black. that is a lie. howie: joining us now from cleveland where he'll be covering the first presidential debate, fox news correspondent griff jenkins. what happened to breonna taylor was heart-breaking, asleep in her apartment at the start of

this drug raid. given the fact that her boyfriend opened fire on the police officers when they broke down the door and ruled to be acting in self-defense, is this case for mr complicated than the black lives don't matter rhetoric we're hearing. >> that's exactly right. facts really do matter. depending on your viewpoint, depends on how you're taking a side and ultimately the evidence and facts as they were that were presented to a grand jury who found none of the officers charged in the death of breonna taylor, they are sealed and the family attorney for the taylor family calling for those to be released. ultimately daniel cameron, kentucky's attorney general, says that the officers did announce themselves. it was not the no-knock warrant as reported and the officers were threatened because of the boyfriend pointing a gun at them in the apartment. one officer was charged with three counts of wanton endangerment for firing into a

neighbor's apartment but that officer, it was not his gun that caused the death of breonna taylor. ultimately i think what's driving this a lit politically and why you have people speaking out so strongly is the attorney general, daniel cameron, is a republican. he is black. and he spoke at the rnc. and when i was in kentucky for the kentucky derby covering protests i found that most of their anger and ire and anxieties were directed at the attorney general because they thought that it would be the case. at the end of the day, you've got everybody from the political commentators, as long -- as well as stars like shaq and charles barkley and a others in the sports world talking about it. howie: including on espn. i think it's a legitimate question, how the officer could be not charged recklessly. you mentioned the attorney general. when he anunse announced this, d

he was upset as a black man but it was his job to follow the law. you have jason johnson saying he's furthering white supremacy so getting pretty heated on this case for obvious reasons. >> it is getting heated. we saw in the press conference with ben kromp, la nita baker is demanding they release the facts presented to the grand jury and they called on the media to tell the truth about what's happening. one thing's for sure, we probably haven't heard the last of this. howie: this story is not going away. nice to have your insight. good luck covering the debate. griff jenkins, everyone. that's it for this edition of media buzz. i'm howard kurtz. all the best to those celebrating yom ky purchase k i. let's continue the conversation on twitter at howard kurtz. check out my podcast, media buzz meter, you can subscribe on

itunes, your amazon device or any place you get your podcast. pod casts are becoming big business. a lot of competition out there. there was a lot to get in today. we'll have more next week. we'll see you back here next sunday with the latest buzz.

arthel: new reaction from top lawmakers in congress today on the president's third nominee for the supreme court as we learn more about the timeline the senate is laying out as they consider her confirmation. the president officially naming judge amy coney barrett yesterday to fill the late justice ruth bader ginsburg's seat. setting up a bitter confirmation battle, less than six weeks before election day. hello, everyone. welcome to america's news headquarters. i'm arthel neville. hey, eric. eric: hi, arthel. hello, everyone. thank you for joining us on this mow men tuss