♪ ♪ ♪ howie: this is media buzz, i'm howard kurtz, martha maccallum joins me. there was a thermo nuclear reaction with bill barr as doing trump's political bidding who says the justice department has been investigating but to date we have not seen fraud on a scale that has affected outcome in the election. >> barr has no knowledge of systematic fraud because there's

been no evidence of systematic fraud which we have seen in state after state, republican and democratic led. >> he's saying the president who is trying to undermine democracy and cheat and steal an election, and perhaps, perhaps at the very end he's now saying i cannot go along with this any longer. >> for the attorney general of the united states to make that statement, he's either a liar or a fool or both. he may be perhaps compromised, he may be simply unprincipled or he may be personally distraught or ill. >> the justice department said this yesterday and got a lot of taxi, they haven't collected enough evidence of fraud to change the outcome of last month's election, it doesn't mean there wasn't fraud or there won't. howie: the president offered rebuttal of sorts in facebook video revisiting claims of massive election fraud. >> we already have the evidence

and it's very clear. many people in the media and even judges so far have refused to accept it. >> the president released what is essentially a propaganda video on facebook repeating lies he and his team have told about election results since november third. >> the president today in a video that frankly the media just want to ignore, he expressed his legitimate frustration over the inability to verify the ballots authenticity. howie: nbc reporter asked about barr's finding of in widespread fraud. >> given that, why is now not the time to concede? >> well, he hasn't done anything. >> do you still have confidence in bill barr? >> ask me that in a number of weeks from now. howie: joining us to analyze the

coverage in new york will cain, cohost of fox fox weekend, and in los angeles leslie marshall radio talk show host and fox news contributor. will, barr's video caused explosion because this is an attorney general perceived fairly or in the as a trump loyalist breaking with the president on widespread fraud, big story? will: yeah, i think it's a big story, developing story in the coming weeks. two words that come to mind when we analyze the media's reaction, dismissiveness and open mindedness, we have seen plenty of the former and very little of the latter. when you play the clips, when i see the media's reaction of the story they are ready to dismiss anything coming from president trump. there's a hand wave. there's no evidence they say, they're ready to put the story behind them.

that ask as a country to move on and little open mindedness. there is evidence of irregularities in an election with massively different from anyone in our history. the great question is does it add up to enough to change the election results and i see a lack of open mindedness, i see a lack of curiosity, i see a lack of interest in pursuing those stories. they revert over and over to the hand wave, howie, that let's do away with this story. i think that's what the president is talking about. there's a reason to investigate from the media, from bill barr, from anyone to find out if there's enough valid evidence credible evidence to -- to pursue this -- this claim that the president has that the election should be scrutinized and perhaps reversed. howie: well, we will come back to the legal details, let me ask you kristen, bill barr intervened by roger stone. this is not rogue staffer, is it breaking through to the public

that the president is now fed up with his second straight attorney general? >> kristen: i'm not sure it's breaking through the public and turmoil has been the norm. trump has gone through a lot of people in different positions. we are less than 60 days from the swearing in of a new president means that this all talk about, well, is he going to fire barr or not. we are almost at the end of the trump presidency so a lot of this -- whether someone will get fired or not, seems to be separate from what i view as the most important question is have we fully and properly investigated claims of irregularities and it seems as though to will's point that in a lot of cases there are many american who is are frustrated with the media's approach because they say, look, you lost credibility with me. i have never in all of my research around messaging seen it work to tell someone, well, you're wrong. that's not a persuasive message. a persuasive message says, hey,

there were claims of voter fraud in a town in michigan, we investigated them and we found that they were wrong, in fact, all of those people who said were dead were alive, not just saying you're wrong, let's move on. howie: erosion of media credibility is a very serious problem. leslie, there have been leaks to the washington post and others the president beingly -- being livid and firing barr. but for the rest of the press, suddenly bill barr is honest, suddenly bill barr is a hero? leslie: suddenly bill barr has been doing his job, he's the attorney general of the united states, he's the attorney to the people and allegiance should be throughout the constitution and throughout tenure with the president, not just my side of the aisle, democrats ask is whether allegiance is with the

president or the constitution, when he said there's absolutely no evidence of widespread voter fraud and not enough evidence of instances that would turn any state's results or overturn this election and change the outcome of this election, i think a lot of people especially on my side of the aisle thought, okay, you were steeped in reality. will talked about stories, we are entering the fairy tale phase here. there was not widespread voter fraud. when you look at state by state and the recounts, joe biden actually gains in some states like wisconsin as an example. there's a time to tell to emperor, he's naked. howie: let me move on and everybody keep their clothes on. will, the president's facebook video, escalating attack on democracy from within the white house, president trump with video rant with baseless allegations of voter fraud and outright falsehoods, what do you

make of the tone of the straight news story? will: i don't think that's straight news. i want you to listen and i'm not coming at leslie particularly here but you used a definitive word, you said there is no evidence of widespread fraud. leslie, you spoke definitively with a conclusion. what i would say that conclusion is unearned if there's a process going on. let's tie this with what kristen said, many people are skeptical with the prez and raised eyebrows to have election. chris would have the exact numbers, it's something like 77% of republicans and good 30% of democrats are skeptical that this election was on the up and up, what does that mean? it doesn't mean stolen election, it also doesn't mean you can dismissively conclude it was not and back to the press, the one telling us to dismissively conclude it was not, to wave their hands at this, they have burned all credibility, howie, because of lack of consistency. it was 4 years ago that we were told the presidency was illegitimate and it was 4 years that we had a rusha collusion hoax for years and that was an

investigation that undercut the legitimacy of a president and now all of a sudden within a matter of weeks, no, no, this should be over, we are done. don't pursue the process. there are plenty of conclusions to draw. howie: let me give leslie a chance to respond. trump lawyers believe based on my reporting that one of the reasons the legal setbacks or procedural hurdles such as federal judges not wanting to interfere with state laws and they may take this battle past the electoral college vote on december but on friday alone legal setbacks in 6 key battleground states, judges using phrases like flimsy foundation, dangerous, let me play for you giuliani, the president's lead lawyer on what he had to say on hannity. >> the simple fact is we don't need courts. the united states constitution gives sole power to the legislature to decide

presidential election. howie: we don't need the courts, leslie. leslie: to will's point, oh, there is -- let the evidence play out. how many recounts does the state have to do? how many state attorney generals or governors or even republicans, you know, have to say, okay, i've certified the election and my count is 41 out of 42 that have been put forth. there's a point where you say, okay, the results are accurate. you may not trust the media but now you're not going to trust the courts, you are not going to trust every single person in the electoral process and every single state whether it's blue like california or red like georgia, there's a point where at the end of the day where you have to say, okay, i have lost the -- this. it's time to move on and let the country move forward because we are in a pandemic and constantly dragging the american people

into this political fantasy at this point, if you will, is unhealthy on so many levels for this nation. howie: well, i think a lot of trump supporters do trust kellyanne conway, the long-time white house counselor until just a few weeks ago. here is what she said had to about the political situation in a podcast interview. >> if you look at the vote totals in the electoral college tally, it looks like joe biden and kamala harris will prevail. howie: but kristen, the president says no way in the facebook video. he's still talking about massive vote dumps and rigged voting machines and dead vote and all that. >> kristen, he needs to rack up victories in court. kelly's response is from trump's legal team failed to prosecute the case. they have mislabeled within lawsuits, whether they are talking about the state of georgia or wisconsin, they have

named people who are not plaintiffs, reference datas from towns in minnesota trying to make case in michigan. legal team has failed him and that's why they are getting laughed out of court and the reality that kellyanne talks about is the reality, if you're a trump supporter and you believe there was fraud in this election, you should be pure use at the legal team that has led the president's case down so dramatically in so many instances. howie: that's why rudy giuliani is talking about state legislators because that would be a different group but it's tough to convince even republican legislators to do this. will, sean hannity suggested the other day that donald trump pardon himself and his family, "the new york times" reports that the president has had preliminary discussion with rudy giuliani about possible pardon although he hasn't been charged with anything. well, they wouldn't be talking about this if they weren't worried about some criminal liability, fair or unfair? will: i don't know what they would be pardoning themselves

for. until there's a crime and until there's a charge, i don't know why we move ahead to some kind of sentencing phase or pardoning phase. i want to say this quickly if i might, howie, i agree with something leslie said, there's a point where we move on, the trump's legal team has to win, they have to make their case as some point abayou point out and i tried to make this point in "fox & friends", they seemed to be moving their case into the court of public opinion when it comes to state legislators, where they will find a lower burden of proof, make no mistake, you still have to make your case. my point is that will not be deemed or not be concluded by the media. it will not be the media that tells us when the case is over, when the process has concludeed. howie: rare moment of agreement. ahead martha maccallum covering debate tonight and mike

huckabee, debate over covid and lockdown goes viral.

[ whispering ]

what's this? oh, are we kicking karly out? we live with at&t. it was a lapse in judgment. at&t, we called this house meeting because you advertise gig-speed internet, but we can't sign up for that here. yeah, but i'm just like warming up to those speeds. you've lived here two years.

the personal attacks aren't helping, karly. don't you have like a hot pilates class to get to or something? [ muffled scream ] stop living with at&t. xfinity can deliver gig to the most homes. howie: with the covid numbers turning grim, 2600 to 2700 deaths, the media covering fierce debate over locking down businesses and things got pretty heated in cnbc. >> the difference between a big-box retailer -- >> hold on. >> the difference between a big-box retailer and a

restaurant or frankly even a church are so different it's unbelievable. >> not in an area where there's a lot of restaurants where they fought back and they don't have any problems. >> you don't have to believe it. you're doing a disservice to the viewer because the viewers need to understand it -- >> you're doing a disservice to the viewers, you are. howie: will cain is a conservative who helped launch the tea party, andrew is liberal columnist, who is doing a disservice to voters? will: i take no pleasure in this in order do i find personal but andrew is doing a disservice to the viewers because he is con descending telling us exactly how it is and not backing it up. i don't understand how it is a big box retailer so clearly different than a church or small business. why is it that a big box retailer should be open while small businesses shut down.

i'm not going to be satisfied, how is the science and you repeating over and over isn't an explanation, it's just you looking down the nose. i've been in the media for quite some time and several institutions and it is right with smugness and elitism towards people out there across the country and i think it's embodied in the clip right there really sitting there going corporations, they are the ones that can do this right, you at home, small businesses, follow the science. you must shut down. it's condescending, i don't think it's appropriate anymore when you're speaking from a big pulpit. howie: big reason why a lot of people really distrust or resent the media. kristen soltis anderson, big box retailers versus schools, versus churches, versus local restaurants or do the media tend

to reduce the questions to black and white because it makes for better television? >> kristen: what i see in public opinion that by in large americans want to make smart personal choices for themselves. a lot of the experts that they have been hearing from over the last year, there's been many mixed messages, early in the pandemic, don't wear masks, no, no, wear masks or being told don't congregate with lots of people but waving that away over protests in the summer, the reality is that the virus doesn't care your cause, all it cares how close proximity so you can be host for the virus. many politicians who have been caught lecturing city, don't get together, while traveling to cabo, closing down restaurants who have invested a lot trying to create outdoor dining. not even outdoor dining anymore when recently they were dining in high-end restaurants in

california. plenty of instances of hypocrisy from many leaders and that's why people who want to do the right thing feel lost as to what that is right now. howie: right, those are democratic mayors and governors. leslie marshall most of california starting today in stay-at-home order, los angeles took the lead. do you think the media debate reflects the difficulty of these decisions about restrictions and curfews and which businesses or other institutions should be able to remain open? leslie: absolutely. i know you get sick of hearing it. my husband came home yesterday and he looked like he had been beaten up and he's been on er call for 7 days straight and this is what he told me and i, quote, i have never seen it like this before. we are running out of beds in the icu, we are building tents in the parking lot and i have never seen so many people code in my life. i have partners and staff who are positive, it just doesn't stop. and this is what i'm hearing, a

neighbor of mine who was an er doctor, every other day i think i have covid. people don't understand whether it's a politician or the media, the science is so fluid on this, howie, because this is so new. doctors are learning. howie: it's why it's so challenging. leslie: exactly, but the challenges in the er and the reason -- >> howie: i understand. leslie: people are not complying with social distancing and not complying with not gathering and -- >> howie: we are concerned about that. let me get will in for a final thought in 20 seconds. will: i would love to answer the question you asked leslie, is there a tie with politicians who are hypocritical, a view from lock step with inside most media companies, listen to me preach, don't worry what i practice, the

same is politicians. howie: yeah, hypocrisy is pretty thick. thank you all, panel, will cain, leslie marshall and kristen soltis anderson. martha maccallum is anchor debate tonight and she's on deck

howie: president trump campaigned in georgia and castigated the republican governor over what he claims is sweeping fraud. >> your governor could stop it very easily if he knew what the hell he was doing. you're angry because so many votes were stolen and taken away and you say we are are not going to do it, we have to do the opposite. howie: joining us now is martha maccallum, anchoring tonight's

debate with loeffler and warnock. the president called georgia governor brian kemp, asked him to convene a special session to appoint protrump electors to the electoral college, he was turned down and pundits say this could depress turnout in january 5th runoffs. how does the president's intervention here in speech last night scramble the coverage of the two senate races? >> well, he has to walk a very fine line, obviously it's a huge priority for him to speak to all of those trump voters who very sincerely feel that something was not quite right about the president election across the country but at the same time he wants to preserve his legacy. he was just an extraordinarily dramatic finish to what has been a blockbuster year of incredible stories one after the other, howie. it's all sort of the coda, two

senate seats which are runoffs in georgia will decide the balance of the senate. the president is seeing fraud in election across the country and still make sure that people turn out to vote in the georgia election which is really going to make or break his legacy. if you go through the issues of court packing or making dc and puerto rico states, filibuster, ending the filibuster, all of the things that could happen if you got democrats in the white house and the house and the senate. the stakes really could not be higher here, howie. howie: yeah, you anchored the coverage tonight of this debate between the appointed senator kelly loeffler and warnock, do

you think that would be major issue? martha: yeah, i think her full-throated endorsement and understanding of how all of the trump voters are feeling in georgia and other places, it's going to be very significant for her. her support among republicans in georgia is at 92%, warnock's support among democrats in georgia is at 97%. this is going to be all about turnout and the same issues that you had in the national election with an absolutely unprecedented huge mail-in vote, howie, will be deciding factors in this election. so the turnout question is absolutely huge and she's got to get those voters who are thinking of sitting on their hands because they are angry about what happened on november third to get off their hands and get out and vote for her side if she wants to win. howie: yeah, special elections are always about turnout. you think two republicans would win easily in georgia, there was a poll that gave warnock a

7-point lead over kelly loeffler, the other race which is democratic jon ossoff and david perdue. my question is with all of the media coverage that would intensify, has this become a national election in effect in georgia? martha: absolutely, it does have ramifications for everybody across the country. the control of the senate will be the deciding factor of the future of the country and there's nothing -- no lost in terms of the stakes when you see the intense attention that it's getting on both sides here. you have jon sossoff and raphael warnock who wants to take the seats and david perdue and kelly loeffler, she was appointed and not elect today that seat. he hopes to, you know, sort of bring some more attention to that. but the stakes are huge for the entire country. it becomes a microcosm of everybody's frustrations over

what happened in the presidential election for sure. howie: absolutely. let me sneak in a break here as we look at covid surge and revealing interview with former trump campaign manager brad pascal and if you don't have insurance, it's free. plus, get 20% off your treatment plan. enjoy flexible payment options and savings when it matters most. we're here to make your smile shine bright so you can start the new year feelin' alright. call 1-800-aspendental 7 days a week or book today at aspendental.com the annual enrollment period is here. the time to choose your coverage... begins october 15th and ends december 7th. so call unitedhealthcare... and take advantage of a wide choice of plans... including an aarp medicare advantage plan

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howie: there was a telling moment in martha maccallum interview that advised trump about reopening the economy and more about the victims of covid-19. >> i think a young family with a young child who were scared to take them back to school wanted to see an empathetic president and empathetic republican party. people were scared and i think if he would have been publicly empathetic, he would have won by a landslide. howie: and we are back with martha maccallum who will be anchoring senate debate. a lot of fascinating moments in this interview, martha, as he

talked about being fire and par scale talked about 911 call and he privately advised the president to talk more about covid-19 victims and their families. did that reason nate with you? martha: well, it did. and it sort of substantiated the -- what we had heard before which was that there's a lot of debate within the campaign about how to handle covid and there was a lot of pressure around that time. remember the tulsa, oklahoma rally and debate about whether or not it made sense to hold huge rallies. the president obviously feeds off of those rallies. he felt that it was really important to get out there and do that. brad parscale stated in the interview stated that there wasn't enough focus on empathy and the waitresses were pulling away from the table and i could sense that they were afraid and

they were scared and he felt that there wasn't enough attention to the underlying fear across the country especially with suburban families which he mentioned in the sound bite and also seniors which eroded a bit in their support for the president as well. howie: right. so right now we have the cdc chief robert redfield there could be 450,000 deaths in america by february, right now the toll is 280,000, he calls this the most difficult time in public health history of the company. he's got a hundred thousand people in hospital straining facilities, is the intensity of it matching the magnitude of this crisis because i have the sense that this is a story that's been going on for a long time and the election is consuming some of the oxygen? martha: it's very true. you had networks that ran the numbers of cases and hospitalizations pretty much on the side of the screen

throughout the entire thing. i think it's impossible to underrate the importance of the pandemic in this election and whether or not any president who had to endure and lead the country during something that's so enormous would be able to overcome the challenge of how heavy it was on people's hearts and on their pocketbooks and everything else. it's a huge, you know, we are talking about the time person of the year and it should be the virus because the old measure of the person of the year is the biggest impact, negative or positive of that year and i think you cannot understate how significant it is. yes, there's fatigue, you're seeing a little bit of wearing off of obsessing coverage after the election which is very interesting to note and i also think that joe biden if he's inaugurated on january 20th is going to benefit greatly from a huge momentum shift that you're going to see once the vaccine start kicking into gear, howie. howie: right.

but a lot of challenges in distributing the vaccine. a whole list of democrats who told constituents, stay home, don't do large gatherings and then did the opposite, these include california governor newsom, san francisco mayor london and steve, the mayor of austin who went to cabo, andrew cuomo canceled family thanksgiving plans. do you think this democratic don't do it, do what i say deserves more coverage? martha: absolutely. we've certainly covered it. i don't think you're seeing it in many other places, but the hypocrisy is stunning on this, howie. it's one thing, you know, if you're a person who is in favor of opening up businesses getting people back out there and doing the same yourself, but if you're going to lock down, stay at home for the next 3 weeks, you're going to try to keep the hospitals from, you know, from that curve becoming something that's onerous and dangerous in the hospitals, you better standby what you're recommending

other people and other businesses to do and i just think about all of the migration that we are seeing from california to places like texas and nashville for businesses and people who want to have, you know, more freedom, want to make their own choices on the issues and i think there's a huge backlash on this. i don't think it's going to underestimate the anger when people feel when they watch hypocrisy coming from politicians, howie. howie: yeah, i think that's a great point and i think there's also a lot of pressure of us in the media to -- to escalate and to match. i mean, this is just -- you can go to any state, any city, this is no longer a problem just in certain regions and i think it's a great challenge for us here especially when we head in the winter and before the vaccine is widely available. martha, thanks so much for coming on this sunday. martha: see you tonight. howie: be sure to watch special coverage starting at 6:45 p.m. eastern, you can catch her on the story weekdays at 7:00 eastern. after the break a look at the

press, the president, covid and the election, mike huckabee joins us next. ♪ ♪

howie: joining us now from florida, mike huckabee, former arkansas governor as well as fox news contributor. governor, president trump still going full blast on stolen election as he puts it. the editorial page says, bill

barr has no reason to join a cover-up. is the prez right that so far at least the president's legal team has failed to prove widespread election fraud? mike: you know, howard, people are missing the point that there are hundreds of affidavits of people who have given sworn testimony of what they've seen. we've seen video, we have eyewitnesses. when people say they can't prove it, that's what court is for. court is where you prove it, but you have allegations that are sworn. these are people that are willing to go to prison if somebody proves them to be wrong and the press keeps acting like there's no evidence as it's being done out of thin air, it isn't. there's genuine concerns about how things were handled, the numbers, i don't know why everybody is so fearful of just pulling the covers back, turning on the lights and watching the rats and coaches run and see what is really down there. howie: interesting analogy.

all right, you were a republican governor for a decade, you have a president attacking the republican governor of george brian kemp, he did it last night, the republican of governor of arizona for saying that their states votes were fair and certifying biden win in those states. aren't they in a difficult position between following state law and backing up their election officials and having to criticize the president of their own party? mike: well, i think it's a matter of the president looking at what his legal team is giving him. certainly i expect governors of the states to defend their processes up to a point, but when there is some very shady evidence that is being presented, all i think they ought to do is hit the pause button and say let's look into it. the person who ought to be calling for a full-scale investigation is joe biden. he should see what happens when a president is questioned for legitimacy for four solid years.

that's what's happened to donald trump, russia, you know, russia did it and he was in collusion, proved he wasn't but for four years he's been hounded, impeached over it. if that's what joe biden wants, it may be what joe biden gets 4 years of people saying, there's really clouds and questions about the legitimacy of his presidency and the democrats better not say anything about that if the republicans whine for the system reason because they created the template for how to do. howie: all right, let me move onto covid. i think president trump deserves some credit for the lightening development of the pfizer and moderna vaccines and we hope that they'll be able to ramp up production on the vaccines but the president is also getting a lot of press criticism as you know for not talking more about the pandemic and here is msnbc mika brzezinski. >> we know he's going to try and have his own little party during inauguration because he's a big baby but he's killing people, the part that's shocking is that

day by day by day his leadership is leading to death. howie: your response, governor? mike: that's outrageous. to actually accuse the president of the united states of killing people. i mean, the press has lots its mind, they long lost the credibility and that what you just played is a great example of why half of america and maybe more than half of america honestly believe that the disease has more credibility than the press does. it's a shame, really, because we need a good solid, free and fair press, we don't have one. we have what you just played and the truth is this president stopped people coming into the country even before most of the health experts thought it was important and necessary. he took a position very different than nancy pelosi who said come to chinatown and he did ramp up operation warp speed which, in fact, has saved lots

of lives, not killed people. and i just resent the harsh tone and the ridiculous rhetoric of that. howie: right. mika brzezinski is a commentator not a working reporter. let me ask you finally, how you see the press covering joe biden during this period and will you and other conservative commentators be willing to give him a chance in the face of this pandemic and the damage that it's done to the economy? mike: well, sure, i love the country more than i love a party or a personality and i want the country to do well. but i'm going to tell you something, i think everybody is going to want to hold joe biden to the same standard to which donald trump has been held. the press won't do it. they sure won't do it. the toughest questions they ask, how are you feeling today, is your foot better? you're not wearing the boot, is that going to be all right? my gosh, go back and look at the press questions that donald trump got between the election of 2016 and the inauguration and it was brutal.

howie: yeah. mike: they never let up. i just want to see responsible reporting. howie: we have to go. everybody should be held to the same standard, mike huckabee, thanks for joining us. coverage of joe biden's cabinet pick and the white house state secretary next allstate has almost as many ways to save as there are cars.

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howie: joining us to talk about the coverage of joe biden is jessica tarlov, father or mother news contributor. take a look at one of the questions. >> would you commit to nominating a person of color for those positions? >> i promise it'll be the single most diversed cabinet based on race, color, based on gender

that's ever existed in the united states of america. howie: so cnn saying -- almost demanding that they be pushed to specific jobs, is liberal agenda? jessica: the prez will be pushing for accountability and once he won the nomination for the general election. it's hugely important, his coalition was very dependent upon minority voters both latinos and black voters and he's made promises to those communities and i hope he continue to push, he has two high-profile position, cecilia and lynnfield and many more spots to fill. howie: a lot of media focus on

neera tanden, pick for omb and getting it from both sides, bernie sanders supporters don't like it, republicans don't like her. do you think the media flap over neera tanden is justified? jessica: i'm not sure that i would call a media flap. everything that i'm hearing about her at least on the right is about mean tweets which we know is ridiculous considering president trump's tweet which is are, you know, exponentially more mean than neera tanden and from the left, the bernie sanders folks are relieved that it wasn't bruce read because he's much more in favor of austerity which they are not in favor going forward. everyone should be investigated and neera tanden welcomes it. she put out a video is that she's ready to be looked into and defend herself as good nominee for omb. howie: so biden's new press secretary is jen zake, white

house communication's director, what message does this send that biden picked her? jessica: sends a message that he picked someone that's eminently qualified and knows how to be a good communicator and someone that he trusts and understand his agenda. people talk about the obama administration but it was the obama-biden administration, you had the second most important job in the united states of america and had a very good and complete relationship with jen zaki and knew her quite well and makes sense to me and kayleigh mcenany is up there and she was cnn commentator and someone on our air waves at fox news, it makes sense to pick somebody with that kind of background. howie: i spent time with jen and she's not harshly partisan and became friends with rick sanitorium in cnn, it's a good pick. biden spent an hour the other night or on the phone with new york times columnist tom

freedman, does that signal this is a president that cares about newspapers and elites' opinion? jessica: i hope so. i think that it indicate that is he cares about all opinions because one of the focal points with tom freedman is reaching out to rural voters. joe biden did a ton of local press throughout the election, some of the worst quotes came to talking to reporters in rural wisconsin, for instance, when he was pushed the hardest about issues of divide within the democratic party and whether he was a socialist, et cetera, i think that joe biden will do press with everybody. he ran a coalition campaign where he brought together voters who hadn't voted for democrats in the past and that's what i see. the interview was great and wide-ranging, number 1 priority, the stimulus for america. howie: with a liberal columnist, yeah, it was a good interview. jessica tarlov, thank you for being here. thank you, we hope you like facebook page, daily comments posted there and we can continue

conversation on twitter. check out podcast, you can subscribe at apple itunes and google podcast or amazon device. a lot to talk about today. it's a crazy period. back here next sunday 11:00 eastern, we will see you then with the latest buzz. ♪ ♪

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eric: president trump again slamming the election criticizing mail-in ballots and the results and the integrity of the nation's electoral presses itself. he was at rally in georgia continuing what officials say are the president's baseless claims about voting and the presidential election results. contradicting attorney general bill barr, federal, state and local officials across the country who say there's no evidence of massive voter fraud to back up what the president says, this as georgia is doubling -- georgia's senate race, heads to final stretch less than one month to go, hello, everyone, welcome to