howie: this is media buzz. i'm howard kurtz. it was a better, more of civil, more substantive debate in nashville, a stronger performance from president trump, pretty good counter punching from joe biden, more control by kristin wel welker ad clashing views. >> you how would you lead the country during the next stage of the coronavirus crisis. >> i say we're learning to live with it. we have no choice. >> people are learning to die with it. >> if this is true, then he's a corrupt politician. don't give me the stuff about how you're this innocent baby. joe -- >> abraham lincoln here is one of the most racist presidents in

modern history. he pours fuel on every racist fire. >> joe biden won this debate running way way. all -- running away. all the lies were in the first 15 minutes. >> president trump did a fan a fantastic job. i think there were classic trump moments. also, president trump was a bit more measured. >> he didn't set himself on fire tonight like he did at the first debate. i mean, he did lie like b pinocchio. >> the president held joe biden, 47 years all talk, no action, accountable. howie: joining us to analyze the debate, joe domenech and ray suarez, washington correspondent and host of world affairs. even president trump's detractors say it was a much improved performance by him in

the debate. you have some that come out and say so what, doesn't matter, he lied all the time. >> anybody who is saying that a he debate doesn't matter means that the side they wanted to win lost, in my experience. i think this is another situation where that's true. the president gave one of i think the best debate performances he ever has and i think that his closing argument when it goes into this election, he did a really good job of presenting his case. i have to compliment kristin welker who did an excellent job of moderating this debate and keeping things in control when it came to keeping folks focused on the questions, keeping both of these candidates responding to things. i do think that when it came to the discussion on certain topics, we might have seen a few things that were left out. i would have liked to see more conversation, for instance, on the issue of foreign policy. where i do think there is big

divides between these two. as a debate, i think this was beneficial for the american people, they really got to see what both of these candidates had to offer and to evaluate it as such. howie: it was a good, solid debate. the fact checkers did have a field day with some of president trump's comments. i didn't see the media pouncing on joe biden saying that donald trump is responsible for all 220,000 covid deaths, as if any president could keep that number at zero. >> that's part of the overall narrative of the coverage of coronavirus, i think has been particularly bad. i think the media did a terrible job, really looking at how the president took action to address coronavirus, looking at his strengths and weaknesses in a fair way and a comprehensive way. the story has always been that the president hasn't done enough and if a democrat were in office, the number would be close to zero. nobody questions that. and you know why it's so important of, howie? it's one of the number one issues, what people will think

about when they go to the polls on november 3rd, is how the handling of the coronavirus affected their lives and whether president trump did a good job with it. i don't think the media has done a fair job covering it at all. howie: more than 83,000 new cases on friday, almost as many yesterday. ray, even joe biden's detractors in the media say he did a pretty solid job. but it was some coverage or some in the media pouncing on the former vice president for his answer on transitioning away from the oil industry, the point where he had to clean it up with reporters afterwards and he said i meant like in 2015. legitimate story? >> it's an old game that report reporters play. a recent poll has majority of democrats and independents and more than 40% of republicans saying the u.s. economy should be transitioning away from oil and gas to renewables. this is a 1980s story line that wants to make a claim on the

21st century. does joe biden hadoes joe biden? this is the kind of crystal ball gazing that political reporters love to do, oh, maybe he just lost pennsylvania. i doubt that answer in one debate on one evening is going to make much difference to the arc of the campaign. howie: as i say, he did talk to reporters afterwards, i think trying to clarify what he was trying to say. everybody knew the hunter biden allegations would come up in this debate. let's take a brief look at some of that. >> i have not taken a penny from any foreign source ever in my life. >> i don't make money from china. you do. i don't make money from ukraine, you do. i don't make money from russia. you made $3.5 million, joe. howie: ben, most journalists say, and you may not agree, that the hunter biden attacks fell flat because the president was using short-hand, if you weren't

following the story closely, maybe you didn't get the nuances and because he can't prove joe biden got a dime. >> i think there are two take aways that are negative for joe biden from the debate. one is, the nation put a whole thing out about how negative it is for joe biden when he talks about moving a wa away from oil. the other issue is the way he handled this issue of his son's relationship with foreign entities. i think it should be easy for joe biden to say there is -- look, my son may have made mistakes. but you you can look at my finances and you can see that as president, which not be representing anything but myself. the problem is that he advanced this whole narrative of this is russian disinformation, misinformation et cetera, for

which there is no basis, for which there is no factual support, dismissing all of this as being a fictional creation, i don't think that's the right way to engage in the story. he should be more forthright, saying this may be a problem but it's not something that you affected me. howie: on that point, susan, biden opened the door by being the first to say, well, rudy giuliani is peddling misinformation, that led to attacks by president trump. i don't see a lot of coverage that some of these e-mails have been independently verified, the e-mails involving the former vice president's son. >> can you imagine if this was don junior. the e-mails lay out how these companies used hunter biden to gain access to the obama administration. it says right in one of the e-mails, don't mention joe. i mean, these e-mails lay it out. the media has been entirely incurious about it from the very beginning, even before they could say whether the e-mails

were real or not. they were providing cover for joe biden by saying there's no connection between any of his official actions and whether or not hunter biden had any influence on policy. the story screams out for investigation and nobody seems to care. it's really remarkable. howie: but in purely political terms, ray, and many pointed this out, some conservative commentators have said this is not helping president trump politically to make hunter biden a top issue. >> we'll see. i mean, as you note, the president by being so deeply immersed in the minutia of this used a bunch of telegraphed attacks that only would score with people who were watching, who understood the outlines of the story very well. joe biden, not to his credit, answered in a similar kind of shorthand and code, used that moment in the debate to open the door in an attack on president trump's taxes and revealed that

he himself had released 20 years of taxes instead of going directly at the accusations. howie: right. now, we talked earlier about kristichris welker, both sides praising her perform imagines. including president trump. >> so far, i respect very much the way you're handling this. >> let's move on. mr. president, i have to move on to the next question. >> they say the stock market will -- >> or well we won't have time. howie: how did kristin welker do it. >> she had the help of a mute butt you ton. it was -- button. it was very helpful, i think. these debates are not so we can talk about it later in the media. it's for voters to have some idea where joe biden stands on really important issues and where trump stands on those issues. during the first debate, the cross-talk and interruptions by both of them made it impossible for anything to figure out what was going on. so the voters really got nothing

out of that. this debate, they heard a lot. they heard a lot about policy from joe biden. they heard a lot about what was really important from president trump, like the coronavirus, and how he's handling it. great job by kristin welker. howie: i agree. interesting, chris wallace who presided the ca cleveland debate joked that he was jealous. the media largely calling the debate a draw, saying maybe the edge went to donald trump but it doesn't do enough to change the dynamics of the race in which he is behind. >> i think the president did a good job presenting things but i do think we have to note something here, which is this is probably going to be the last debate. the commission on presidential debates is in control. they're frankly a very old, long in the tooth organization. they've run these things for decades, since before the end of the cold war.

and there's so much animosity towards them on the part of republicans in the way that they structured these debates, out of the entire conflagra tio of n thanhappened in the second deba. howie: a story for the future. briefly, did this debate fit the classic pattern of huge buildup by the media and afterwards each side, well, my guy did much better and it doesn't change anything. >> the dynamics are so much in flux and the situation so unpresence dented, when -- unprecedented, when the lights went up on the set more than 50 million people had already voted. this is not the situation in -- where the vast majority of people are waiting for the day for the polls to open for them to express their opinion. howie: excellent observation.

this is the pandemic election. let me get a break. when we come back, a look at the coverage of the president pressing his ag to move against barack obama and joe biden. and later a top trump campaign spokesperson and a top biden supporter.

howie: president trump has hit many targets in recent days, he's person any a "fox & friends" interview you when he pressed bill barr to open a criminal probe of the biden family before the election. >> some are asking will you appoint a special prosecutor to investigate this. >> we've got to get the attorney general to act. he's got to act and he's got to act fast. he's got to appoint somebody. lock up bidens, lock up hillary.

as far as i'm concerned, the biden family is a criminal enterprise. >> campaign strategy seems to be call biden a criminal. why is that? >> he is a criminal. he's a criminal. he got caught, read his laptop and you know who is the criminal, you're a criminal for not reporting it. howie: that was reuters' jeff mason. the president attacked others as well from the medical world to the media world. >> people are tired of hearing fauci and all these idiots, these people, these people that have gotten it wrong. every time he goes on television, there's always a bomb, but there's a bigger bomb if you fire him. >> the president looked like he's already decided he's lost, like the -- ah, biden's a criminal, fauci is terrible. it's what losers sound like. >> the president is gaining massive momentum. democrats, despite what they say and the media mob, what they say, they're enablers. howie: ben, on the obama administration, this is not unnamed sources. the president is publicly

pressing his attorney general to name a prosecutor, look into obama and biden and the media are kind of stunned at this open political pressure. >> i don't think it's any question that this is going to be a story that outlasts this election. i feel like people are confining this to donald trump, the person, sort of lashing out at people who are his political enemies. but there are real, valid questions here raised by these e-mails. we know for a fact that this lap laptop was seede seesed as part- seized as part of an fbi investigation. it's going to be something that continues to be looked into and there will be continued calls to look into it just as there are from the president to look into the allegations regarding spying on his own campaign that come up in the 60 minutes interview. this is not stuff that just vanishes if donald trump loses on november 3rd. it's going to be something that republicans continue to dig into, not just because of the political benefit, but because

of the really disturbing allegations that are contained within. howie: ray, even if you grant that there are legitimate questions here that will continue and even some conservatives say obama and biden should be investigated for spying, isn't that the kind of judgment that usually is left to an independent justice department as opposed to pressure from the president himself? >> do we have an independent justice department? i think that's a fair and open question from now until mid-january. and applebaum writing in the atlantic that this is technique on the part of the president to get the troops ready for a biden victory and to keep the pot boiling after inauguration and to ho hobble the new president, that's their opinion. it's an interesting point of view. >> that sounds a lot like what they did to president trump when he took office. you know, was the justice department and fbi independent under president obama when they started the investigation into

president trump? another story completely buried and under-covered by the media. it's just -- >> repeated investigations have found that the russians were attempting to influence the outcome of the 2016 election and repeated investigations find that they're trying to do it in 2020. >> but they did not find that trump was colludeing with the russians. i mean, the two stories are different, though. the two stories are different. >> well, yes, absolutely. you and i you agree on that but you brought it up. howie: let me jump in. i know the president loves to beat up on correspondents and reporters. i don't think calling jeff mason of reuters to call him a criminal for the president calling joe biden a criminal. journalists are also asking in the middle of the pandemic, and we found out last night from bloom burkbloomberg that mark ss

tested positive for coronavirus as well as other aids and advisors to pence who heads the coronavirus task force. the president, to call anthony fauci an idiot and muse about firing him, how of does that make sense as media messaging or as political strategy? >> anthony fauci isn't an idiot. i think the media's narrow focus on the president during this time has created some really disturbing coverage, a lack of questioning of our health officials, when it came to obvious errors they made from the beginning including anthony fauci about things that we ought to do or ought not to do. the fact that we have this whole attitude towards public schooling reopening, that is completely not based in science that we know and what we've learned from around the world. and frankly, the cowtowing to commit call opponents of the president who have a lot of things to answer for. we saw from andrew cuomo, where

everyone is acting like a sick - they're not asking him the most obvious questions. we need to be questioning everybody. not just president trump. but the health officials as well. howie: ray, the president did say fauci's a good person in the debate, let me get my question out, but is it focused too much on trump and fauci or is the focus too much on the coronavirus pandemic? >> ray? >> sorry, howie, i lost your audio. howie: okay. ray, is the focus too much on trump and fauci or is the focus on the virus itself? >> yes, there has been too much focus on trump and fauci. the press corps concentrate on personalities and when two personalities are in contrast, it uses that contrast as a frame

to tell a story. nothing new about that. it's only about 1,000 years old. howie: all right. sorry we lost your audio there. before we go, ben domenech, congratulations to you and megan mccain on having a baby girl. hope you're getting sleep. >> thank you, howie. i truly appreciate it and wish us luck. howie: good luck. up next, a deeper look at the hunter biden investigation and a high profile suspension at the new yorker.

howie: this is a fox news alert. president trump boarding air force one, getting ready to board air force one for a trip to new hampshire where the conservative union leader has endorsed joe biden. fox news has confirmed that mark short and four other aides and advisors have tested positive for coronavirus.

while some news outlets keep ignoring or down playing the hunter biden allegations, the fbi confirmed it has his hard drive and a former business partner confirmed the athen is authenticity of e-mails showing the former vice president's son tried to make millions of dollars in china. joining us now is fox news correspondent griff jenkins. griff, the former business partner's name is tony bobulinski. here's a brief look at what he said. when the trump campaign brought him to the national debate. >> i have heard joe biden say that he's never discussed business with hunter. that is false. howie: so griff, ex explai expe role of tony bobulinski and the china deal that never came off that was the subject of the e-mails. >> bo bobulinski is a former business partner, navy veteran with hunter biden and you were talking about a business venture

with a chinese energy company in 2017 in the time when joe biden was not sitting vice president. now, what bobulinski is saying that when joe biden says he did not discuss business ventures with his son, hunter, bobulinski says that biden is lying. that he was firsthand witness to that. and he also says that hunter in that deal wanted some $5 million going to an entity directly controlled by hunter biden and his family. but fox's review of bobulinski's documents which were given to us, found no role for joe biden in that business venture. however, you have ron johnson investigating the biden family business for conflicts of interest, and bobulinski's legal team offered to meet with the fbi and i think really the point now this morning, howie, is a lot of people are wondering if a former business partner of one of president trump's sons alleged firsthand knowledge of a

peddling scheme directly involving the president with an adversary, would the news organizations be covering it in the same manner. howie: there is another former business partner who says he knows of no involvement by joe biden. my problem with this, briefly, griff, is these e-mails are from 2017. at that time, joe biden is out of office. so while it may have been unseemly, if it was true that joe biden was acquiescing in a potential deal with china, he no longer has the power of the white house behind him at that time. >> that's correct. and you know, the fact that the laptop in question, which fox has only verified a small portion of that story, also involves the burisma and ukrainian dealings which sort of connects the two, that of course when joe biden was a sitting vice president. the end of the day, what you're talking about is, is it legit to

ask questions about the possible next sitting president could have a conflict of interest? perhaps so. but one thing is for sure, it's not getting the sort of attention that fox has given it and the new york post and other as we get close to this election in 10 days. howie: it is legitimate, except national public radio has barely covered the hunter biden allegations, the managing editor saying we don't want to waste our time on stories that are not really stories, we don't want to waste the listeners's time on stories that are pure distractions. how about reporting on it? it's not a distraction, it's not a waste of time. i've got to go. great to have you as always. >> thanks, how youy. howie: the new yorker suspended jeffrey tubin this week after vice reported he was seen pleasuring himself during a zoom call with magazine colleagues and a radio station. he is chief legal analyst at cnn which granted him time off at

his request to deal with the fallout from the incident. he said i made an embarrassing mismistake. i believed i was not visible on zoom. i thought though one on the call could see me. i thought i had muted the zoom video. the unfortunate incident has drawn lots of coverage and no shortage of jokes. we're not going to go down that road. coming up, erin perrine on the trump campaign and the debate and thea president's battles wh we've got you covered, in every way, giving deep cleaning a whole new meaning. and if you don't have insurance, we'll give you an extra safety net, too, with a free new patient exam and x-rays. at aspen dental, we're making it alright to feel safe and get smiling. we promise. call 1-800-aspendental.

howie: joining us now on coverage of the debate and a pretty wild week in the countdown to election day is erin perrine, director of press communications for the trump campaign. let me start with the debate. many in the media saying president trump was much improved in the second debate in nashville but biden carried a lot of the attacks or they're saying the president did some lying or they're saying he did fine but it doesn't change the

nature of the campaign. what's your take on the coverage? >> the coverage is what we would always expect from the media which is they're trying to prop joe biden up and say he did a better job than he actually did. when in fact, president trump was exceptional in the debate. he really system clif systemicat through each argument and pushed back and had the facts. it was the contrast of 47 months of president trump's success versus joe biden's 47 years of failure. the president was measured. he was strong. and he showed what his policies have been able to do for the american people on a wide range of topics. it's not surprising that the media would try and make the president look like he hadn't done a good job when he had done a great job because this is their narrative the entire time. if president trump does something that doesn't fit their narrative, they're going to try and spin it away from him. that's what we saw here. they said joe biden did better than he did. joe biden did a terrible job in the debate. president trump was a clear

winner. howie: you put him down for an a plus. does the president regret having earlier attacked the moderator, kristin welker, as an activeist, not a reporter when he has said several times since the debate that she was very fair? >> she did a good job moderating that debate. but listen, the presidential debate commission put forward people that had clearly partisan leaning as these unbiased as they call them moderators. we need someone that would allow for a free and fair debate. during the debate process. so if there are concerns that people are going to be slanted against the president, absolutely he's going to call that out and he has every right to. howie: i'll just remind viewers that it is a bipartisan commission. i know it's come under a lot of criticism, not just from your campaign. >> there's a bunch of never-trumpers on there. howie: okay. look. some of the president's own conservative alleys are -- allies are saying that it is a mistake for president trump to

make the allegations involving hunter biden a top issue you in the campaign. take a listen to former governor mike huckabee. >> he's meeting with hunter biden, is that a mistake. >> yeah, it is a mistake. the average person doesn't understand it. it's too complicated and frankly it doesn't matter to them. howie: so is mike huckabee wrong on that point? >> well, president trump is pointing out here, he's talking about a wide variety of things here but, again, this is the 47 months versus 47 years arresting ament the president's been making the entire time. the reason president trump is president of the united states is a rejection of the obama/biden policies and a corrupt crooked hillary clinton. that's why he is president. the american people wanted a fighter, someone that wasn't going to leave them behind to be a d.c. swamp creature. so absolutely, this is going to be part of the conversation even if the media doesn't want to do their job and cover it. the president's going to talk

about it. but you also see him talking about jobs. about fracking, about the fact that joe biden wants to destroy the energy industry in the united states, about the fact that the president has lowered taxes and joe biden wants to increase them. the president's talking about a lot of things. it's just the media that isn't doing their journalistic duty here, covering the hunter biden stuff and the president is the president because people don't want swamp creatures in d.c., they want fighters. howie: well, there obviously has been some coverage and there's been other news organizations that have barely covered it at all. why does the president say that joe biden is a criminal and should be in jail? that's very different than saying corrupt family or of influence peddling. on that point, why did he go on fox news and say that his attorney general, bill barr, should appoint a special prosecutor to look into barack obama and joe biden before the election. isn't that the kind of pressure on the justice department that republicans have always been against? >> there are a lot of questions here about joe biden, about influence peddling, about hunter

biden, about the fact that joe biden lied to the american people. i don't know, countless amounts of times, about whether or not he ever spoke to hunter about his foreign business dealings. there are a lot of questions here that are not being answered. so the president can absolutely step forward and talk about the attorney general and a special prosecutor looking into these things and let's remember here, people were so quick to jump on having a special pro prosecutoro look into the president when that was just an absolute hoax, what every. we should -- whatsoever. we should have a government that works for the american people, that is accountable to the american people and any time there are questions about that, absolutely it should be looked into and that's what president trump is talking about here. howie: it's one thing for you or of any advocate to say it should be looked into or we need an independent counsel. when the president does it he is arguably according to critics trampling on the justice department and it would make any move by bill barr who the president says he's not happy

with look political. >> president trump is an american. he can speak his mind. he can talk about the fact that he wants these things looked into. that's not an issue. that's not a crime and the fact that the american journalistic integrity is completely gone in this process, the president's not pressuring anybody to do anything. what he is doing is saying there are questions, they should be answered. that's just good governance, that's just trying to make sure the american people have people who are accountable. howie: all right. let's close you now on the coronavirus. the president went after cnn for what he says is a constant coverage of covid-19. let's watch. >> you turn on cnn, that's all they cover. covid, covid, pandemic, covid, covid. people aren't buying it, cnn, you dumb bastards. >> there are 220,417 reasons to talk about coronavirus. howie: why wouldn't the coronavirus be heavily covered by every news organization, given the recent surge in new

cases, even the hospitalizations are up and given that 224,000 americans have died? >> the president mourns the loss of each and every american and he talks about the coronavirus, he is addressing the coronavirus, operation warp speed, the ability to get therapeutics out there, ppe and ventilators, the largest mobilization of the government to help save american lives. it's what the president always said, which is correct to say we can't let the disease be worse than the outcome. we have to make sure that we are continuing our lives, that all of these other things are going on. there was another middle east peace deal this week, because of this president, because of his exceptional foreign policy and so why we are only talking about one thing when all of these other things are going on in this country, including joe biden continuing to lie to the american people about his policies, about the fact that he is a radical socialist who wants to upend our country, there's so many things to talk about in this country and each and every life that's lost to the

coronavirus the president mourns. howie: well, we all mourn and erin perrine, it's great to have you here, thanks very much for joining us. >> thank you. howie: after the break, former democratic congressman harold ford with the biden campaign's point of view. to severe psoriasis, little things can become your big moment. that's why there's otezla. otezla is not a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. it may cause severe diarrhea, nausea or vomiting. otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. tell your doctor about your medicines, and if you're pregnant or planning to be. otezla. show more of you.

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transitions light under control. ♪ upbeat music transitions signature gen 8, available now in 4 new style colors. transitions. that i've started to do on ancestry. having ancestry to fill in the gaps with documents, with photographs, connecting in real time means that we're having conversations that are richer. i have now a closer relationship with my grandfather. i can't think of a better gift to give to my daughter and the generations that come after her. bring your family history to life like never before. get started for free at ancestry.com howie: joining us now is a biden campaign supporter harold ford, a former r democratic congressman from tennessee. welcome. and during that nation --

nashville debate as i mentioned the press generally gave joe biden high marks, but saying that he stepped in it with this answer on oil production. take a look. >> would you close down the oil industry? >> i would transition from the oil industry, yes. >> oh, that's a big statement. >> that is a big statement. >> why would you do that? >> because the oil industry poll lieutenants -- pollutes, significantly. howie: so reporters later asking the former vp whether or not he was sacrificing millions of jobs in the oil industry. so that answer was a blunder, correct? >> well, first, thanks for having me on. i think he tried to clarify that. there's no doubt we're moving -- the world is moving quickly towards a clean energy economy and i might have said it a little differently, i think he might have said it differently but he came back to clarify it in pennsylvania and other states he visited since then. howie: the fact that it needed clarification is why i'm asking you the question. now, joe biden is trying to put the whole court packing controversy behind him.

he has not answered that question in recent weeks. he told 60 minutes he would appoint a commission to look into the future of the courts. come on, man, to quote somebody you know. a commission, isn't that the oldest washington dodge around? >> well, there are a number of scholars, republican, democrat, conservative, liberal alike who offered ideas about ways to strengthen the judiciary. as you probably know, howard, there are different circuits with different numbers of jurists. there's no uniform number. maybe we need a set term, instead of a lifetime point for each of the levels of the judiciary. these are things that i hope that a bipartisan commission would take a hard and serious look at. i do think we probably need to pass a new law, so congress should not be allowed to push anyone to the supreme court, the appellate court or the federal district court branch between

labor day and election day in a presidential year. that would have probably solved the issue when you consider we're rushing to get judge barrett, who seems qualified but probably should wait until after the election, we're pushing and rushing her. howie: as you know, that's not going to happen. amy coney barrett will probably be confirmed tomorrow on a party line vote. at the same time, joe biden doesn't want to say i'm looking at adding extra seats to the high court. that would cause a fury. he's not going to say he's not going to do it because it bodies appoint the left. isn't that a punt? >> i don't think so. maybe it's because he wants to think about it. maybe because he understands that the american people deserve more than a partisan punch and partisan reaction to something. i happen to think that limiting the lifetime appointment is something we should consider. i could be disswayed of that. i never understood why that branch received lifetime appointments.

a 12, 16, 18 year term i'm hoping a bipartisan commission would contemplate. howie: on the hunter biden allegations, joe biden told a wisconsin television station that rudy giuliani is peddling garbage, this is a smear, he told another local tv station yesterday this is a lie. i understand why he's defending his son. we acknowledged there isn't any proof that joe biden ever got money from this. why is he unable to say that this either foreign influence peddling or attempted peddling by his son looks awful, even hunter biden has said it was a mistake. >> well, i don't know all that the vice president has said on that. i do know the story centered around on whether or not he was involved. i asked your great reporter, griff jenkins, saying fox news couldn't find anything there. i heard you say this was 2017, he was not in government, even if these facts are true which they've been denied. maybe we'll get new legislation

around these issues in a biden add medicinadministration, maybw congress will be willing to do that. i i think the one area that you raised that probably deserves more credit is there's no reason for the press not to pick up on this and cover it and put the story to rest. i think the more the press covers, the more the american people will see there's nothing here. that this is nothing but politics being played by mayor guliani and by some other members of the trump campaign. howie: all right so. you don't think the story is being over-covered and i would agree that more reporting is always good and if there's nothing there, that should come out. but it's a complicated story as you know. harold ford, former congressman, thanks very much for joining us. >> thanks for having me. howie: appreciate having you here. still to come, donald trump versus leslie stahl and why the pundits should be weary of all those polls favoring a certain candidate. >> tech: every customer has their own safelite story.

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howie: it's really rather extraordinary that president trump walked out of an interview you with cbs' leslie stahl and blew off a planned walk and talk with mike pence. the white house posted its own video of the interview days before the magazine show could air a it tonight along with sit-downs with pence, joe biden and kamala harris. what did stahl did. she disputed trump's version of events on several issues, including on hunter biden and this one about the obama administration. >> the biggest scandal was when they spied on my campaign. they spied on my campaign. >> there's no real evidence of that. >> of course there is. it's all over the place, levelsly, they spied on my -- leslie, they spied on my campaign and got caught. >> can i say something? this is 60 of minutes and we can't put on things we can't verify. >> you won't put it on because

it's bad for biden. howie: when stahl recalled trump telling -- the president said i don't have to discredit you, you discredited yourself. leslie stahl was arresting men testify at time dar -- arrestine and times. it was still a middle finger for the white house to spoil the exclusive. >> we are all drowning in polls. >> there's a cnn poll that came out wednesday that shows biden leading among seniors by 8 points. >> the latest fox survey of likely voters has joe biden ahead in michigan, pennsylvania and wisconsin. howie: these polls as you know show joe biden leading president trump by an average of about 8 points nationally and ahead sometimes by a few points, sometimes by double digits, in most battleground states. there's a wen survey showing tho men tied in texas.

we know most of the media expects trump to lose. i keep reading leaked stories about who will be in the biden cabinet. the new york times said, quote, biden could pull off a landslide in november. journalists have ptsd from 2016 when the time, politico and just about everyone else was wrong about the coming hillary presidency. there are so many variables. 57 million have already voted, covid's impact on in-person voting, the tendency to undercount trump supporters that we in the news business need to break our addiction to using polls to forecast victory or defeat. some media liberals who believe donald trump will lose are edging into dangerous prosecutors. two wrote in the washington post of potential criminal charges.

this followed new york magazine's lock him up piece, declaring that trump must be tried for his crimes. the washington post outlook section ran a column agreeing with chris hayes that there should be a national truth commission, saying it's unimaginable, even ludicrous to contemplate doing nothing about donald trump. no of one's above the law. but all this suggests a hunger for revenge even as many critics cass at thicastigate trump for t barack obama and joe biden should be prosecuted. an excellent point, one that pundits demand payback might consider and they could be wrong about next week's outcome. that's it for this week's edition of media buzz. i'm howard kurds. cuts. kurtz. thanks for watching. check out my podcast, media buzz

meter. you can subscribe at apple itunes, google podcast. we're down to the final preelection show next sunday, folks. we'll see you back here then with the latest buzz. most cold medicines may raise blood pressure. choose coricidin hbp. the brand with a heart. for powerful cold relief without raising your blood pressure.

arthel: we are now in the single digits with nine days until the election and just a day after the two candidates for the nation's highest office held five campaign rallies combined. president trump has the load of it today, looking to fire up his base in battleground new hampshire where hours before the president's arrival the state's largest newspaper just backed joe biden. good morning, welcome to america's news headquarters. i'm arthel neville. eric: thank you for joining us. i'm eric shawn. the president's rally set to kick off a half hour from now. we will bring it to you live,