's career services for life. learn more at phoenix.edu. ♪. howie: i'm shocked, stunned and downright angry that bill cosby is a free man. at least 60 women accusing him of sexual assault often by drugging him first he should serve more than a fraction of his 10-year sentence. it is bernal to me. i listened to his comedy albums. as first leading actor on "i spy." and millions of americans loved him as dr. huxtable. forcing himself on dozens of

women it was crushing it was a betrayal. on this program six years ago i spoke to barbara bowman, within of his accusers. >> i told my agent and she did nothing about it. no one believed me at all. eventually i went to an attorney. he laughed me out of his office. howie: that is how things were before the "me too" movement. i'm not challenging the pennsylvania supreme court ruling that binever never should have been charged. the previous prosecutor gave him immunity. in the court of public opinion everyone knows bill cosby is guilty. that the his lawyer said the charges are racial and this is justice for america, that is despicable. i'm howard kurtz. this is media buzz. i had a conversation with ari fleischer about the media and

the president and former president. after weeks of leaks the manhattan d.a. obtained indictments against the trump organization and chief financial officer allen weisselberg who is alleged to invade taxes on $1.7 million of benefits paid by the company. trump denounced the case at last night's florida rally. >> they go after people for not paying taxes on a company car. they indict people that. for murder, for selling massive of the amounts of the worst drugs in the world that kill people left and right that's okay. >> we will win this case but this case should have never been brought. it is a political prosecution, political prosecutions where people are targeted criminally because the prosecutors disagree with their political beliefs. howie: after all the allegations

that have been floated in a three-year investigation, the rather limited criminal charges sparked a major media debate. >> was this kind of attempt to spin that is still going on by the president who are, this is corporate perks, little bookkeeping sleight of hand. no, what we saw yesterday, this indictment was, this is a massive, serious, tax fraud case. >> this is a political persecution masquerading as prosecution. it is an abuse of power. cyrus vance, the d.a. should be ashamed of himself. >> in 2008 the prosecutors didn't charge any of the bankers that caused the biggest financial collapse in about 100 years. now they're trying to lock up an executive for not properly writing off a company car. >> these charges on their face don't blow me away. this isn't what some expected two years of ernest effort from the new york d.a. and the attorney general to yield. howie: joining us now to analyze

the coverage, alexandra wilkes a former republican strategist and lawyer, susan per reach choe, from "the washington examiner and clarence page from "the chicago tribune." do you think this indictment against allen weisselberg matches the magnitude of the media build up over cyrus vance's investigation? >> no. march the trump organization would have to turn over tax returns, the media stories promised us this huge investigation. i kind of equate the people who are hoping, something comes of this to like a fan fiction base. they're watching particular shows on msnbc, cnn, really hoping something comes of it, whether hush-money payments or the inauguration or evaluation of the buildings. those are the thee main areas they were hoping to see see something from.

when they come out with an investigation into fringe benefits is a murky area of tax law. some is black letter law, some of it is not, but in this case it seems very anticlimactic. howie: susan, journalists can't say a charge against a cfo for allegedly inindividualing hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxes but if you look at the leaks over the year. trump organization defrauded banks. not in the indictment. the trump organization inflated assets, not in the indictment. donald trump's personal tax returns win cy vance has, not in the indictment. your thoughts. >> looks like they're trying to get him to flip to a bigger secret about president trump, so they can go after the president. it seems like it is political. 10 years ago tim geithner was accused ever the same thing. he evaded taxes part of what he did was write off school tuition

part of exactly what they're charging weisel man right now. not only did not get indicted he became treasury secretary. hard to look at the coverage to not notice what is missing here. in terms of balance how often are the cases prosecuted, introduction of the letitia james, the new york attorney general who campaigned bringing an indictment against trump. she is democratic operative. she is heavily involved in the case. you have to include all the facts in the coverage so peel can look at this in an objective way. this is very political. even though some of the things he may have done may well have been tax evasion, look who gets prosecuted, who doesn't. howie: usually these are handled in a civil suit. the media don't care about allen weisselberg and that he paid taxes on leased car which was mercedes or rent-free apartment on upper west side, does the

coverage, none of these 15 counts is there anything says donald trump knew about this or ordered it to happen? >> in trying to judge whether or not on being politically fair i always imagine how we would react if joe biden were being accused similarly or somebody close to joe biden like hunter biden bide. you hear the conservative press we don't give more coverage to hunter biden. he is only the president's son n this case these allegations against president trump's attorney are about episodes and issues that occurred before the president was the president. they are simple evasions of the tax code. anybody else in the u.s., people are calling yourself a law and ordered a very cat say let investigate it, let's pursue it. the fact that somebody -- does indicate president trump is real

target here. wouldn't be the first time that happened. howie: the media certainly see donald trump as the real target. but alex, trump didn't dispute at the rally, the charges, compared it to small potatoes compared to other types of crimes. are pundits right the criminal case will be a distraction for donald trump heading into the midterms even though he is not a defendant? >> one key word that i saw in many of the stories that disdiscussed this trump tax fraud explained. explained was put in the headline of many of these pieces. that says this is complex issue that is not really sound bite worthy. if you're a fan of president trump's you think this is political witch-hunt. you think this is something the democrats are doing to get back at him. if you're not a fan of president

trump i mentioned before, there seems to be cult following that really pays attention to every single detail of these cases and they're following it very closely. i think there is not a whole lot of political appetite to see the government go after the former president. i think it is just a little too complex to have legs. howie: susan, the "vanity fair," read a headline, which despises trump, donald trump's odds, the odds of donald trump going to prison just skyrocketed which is not the case at all. clearly you mentioned this earlier, clearly the prosecutors are trying to flip allen weisselberg. that is a standard prosecutorial tactic but the media speculation that weisselberg has a whole bunch of dirt on his old boss is going to far? >> part of the coverage is will he flip? will weisselberg flip on president trump. nobody has any idea if he would flip what he will have to say. he has given no indication he

would do that. the lawyers are standing by. they can beat the case. tax fraud case for fringe benefits, other corporations do, the tax code is murky. it is not a great case at the outset, the media therefore is focused what they can get out of this potential witness on president trump? can they get something to get trump or his sons? it all hinges on that because so far if you read through the indictment nothing touches president trump. howie: yeah. >> there was expectation that he was going to be indicted or some real dirt exposed. howie: right. >> so far nothing. howie: that is the point i'm trying to make. chris cuomo even said the indictment was part of a let-down. does this hurt his brand and substantially hurt his business? >> i suppose so. that is speculation, howard. the media ought to cover what is actually happening and keep the speculation to a minimum.

but the fact is this does involve the president of the united states, now former president. it is an important story on that basis. let's face it, how would the public react if we didn't cover this story? howie: i don't think there is any question it's a legitimate story and should be covered. the question of the tone, the volume, how much donald trump is involved. last week as we were going on the air the story was breaking about former attorney general bill barr, that the election allegations he looked into were all bs. that is according to a book excerpt. interest of equal time, the former president called him a rino, republican in name only. former ag bill barr failed to investigate election fraud. he came in with a semibang and went out with a whimper. quick response with each of you. does trump score points attacking the man who he appointed to run the justice

department? >> i think there is always going to aback and forth. president trump when he gets attacked he punches back and punches back hard. but you know it is difficult without the amplification on social media. howie: okay. clarence, just previously, this is the second straight attorney general who donald trump went after who was also very unhappy of course with jeff sessions. does the media narrative turn on trump is unheap attorney general that wouldn't do his bidding or certainly entitled to punch back here? >> certainly not much nuance is there, howard? this is president trump. before he became president. he is a quick temper and praise you to the hilt if you do something he likes. if you don't, suddenly you're the devil. that is just part of the trump beat. howie: all right. let me get a break here ahead. ari fisher on the coverage of president biden. the media outrage of bill cosby walking out of prison and the anguish of his accusers.

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♪. howie: bill cosby walked out of prison the other day. the pennsylvania supreme court ruled the comedian shouldn't been charged in sexual assault case because a previous prosecutor gave him immunity basically so he would testify in a civil suit brought by accuser andrea constant. >> it won't take away the words, 12 of constant's piers said cost by was a guilty in court, guilt, guilty. howie: he always has tweeted his innocence. >> this is not a black thing. this is for all the people who

have been imprisoned wrongfully, regardless of race, color or creed. howie: at least 60 women who accused cosby of sexual assault are speaking out to journalist. >> that sucker-punch is basically saying, it doesn't matter what happened to you. it doesn't matter what happened to over 50 women who have told their stories. it is an absolute affront. the slap in the face. it is an insult. howie: clarence page, bill cosby's spokesperson put out a statement avoids of conviction saying this was a victory for black america. what is your reaction to the notion that the prosecution was racially motivated? >> i was appalled by that statement, howard. columnist on our website now in fact. i first interviewed cosby back in 1968 when he came to our campus. i'm like you, one of the world's

biggest cosby fans. terrible time for us but the, sound bite you just had is correct. this does hit alleged victims like a slap in the face. i can't even say it alleged anymore. because the reason why he got off was because in the civil suit against him, he agreed to testify, give depositions with a guarranty of immunity. and the next district attorney, next u.s. attorney reneged on that promise and supreme court said, you can't do that. that is not true. that is not a technicality. that is a very important constitutional right. howie: i agree it is not a technicality, but let's get a lawyer in here. alex wilkes, if the pennsylvania supreme court 4-3 decision was right he should have never been charged. that treatment was never written down. there is a dispute. the previous prosecutor bruce castor, was later donald trump's lawyer in the second impeachment

trial. the court found no evidence that andrea constand's account of sexual assault isn't true and cosby admitted drugging her. >> he sort of faces the situation where he is free but not, you know, he has this cloud hanging over him and justifiably so, given what we know. it was very difficult to watch the accounts of the accusers come forward ask the, after he was let go. but i did detect in the media, you do have a little bit of ambivalence. on one hand some of of journalists were reluctant to throw out the argument that this was racially motivated entirely but at same time it was butting up heads against longstanding narratives about the "me too" movement and whether or not it's clear that the wealthy truly have a different system of

justice in this country. you know, while this was a technicality, you can look into the court's decision and say was it really all that black and white or was it you know, was it good lawyering that got him off here. i lean towards the latter. howie: i suppose you could argue that cost by's fame and celebrity were a factor him charged relatively late in the game. most of the never went to the police. racial part i don't see any evidence of that. dozens of accuseers accused khorowshahi cost khorowshahi cosby how are the victims supposed to feel after he has been sprung after three years? >> is that for me, howard? howie, it is for you. >> felicia rashad, former

co-star, undying fan defended him in a tweet and now students want her to be fired from her new position of fine arts at howard university. howie: right. >> this is mixed reaction out here. howie: she then apologized, but earlier said a great wrong had been righted. i'm glad you brought that up. >> right. that is the way the black community responds like other communities. you're dispointed, embarrassed, outraged, whatever. cosby still has the fans are drumming up conspiracy theories, saying this is what really happened. that is a sign of futility. howie: alex, do we have almost o.j. like situation, yes the conviction was thrown out, maybe that was proper but most of the victims never went to the police. at the age of 83 we now treat bill cosby as a pariah? >> i don't think there is any kind of rehabing that could possibly bring back his

reputation as a loveable person, character, that america came to love over the years. you know, i think that is all tarnished. that is all gone and deservedly so based on what we know from the deposition. it is not, while this might have been a, you know, a due process violation, the court found, which is serious. howie: yeah. >> it should be contemplated. it is certainly the court of public opinion something that people will remember. howie: just an awful situation. we appreciate your insight. alexandra wilkes, clarence page, thank for joining us on this holiday. next on "mediabuzz," the press and the tale of two presidents. ari fleischer is on deck. because we believe everybody deserves a chance. see what scholarships you may qualify for

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spoke earlier to ari fleischer former bush white house press secretary and fox news contributor from new york. ari fleischer, welcome. >> thank you, howard. howie: one thing that reporters love to cover as you know is the legislative sausage making but an area that has gotten extraordinarily little media scrutiny president biden proposing to spend $6 trillion on a vast a ray of programs and no one in the press seems to care about the exploding deficit and debt. why do they not care about that. >> they not only care, reporters tell people that don't worry about the debt and deficits because interest rates are low. i have seen many reporters tell people on cnn the deficit don't matter any longer. both parties walked away from a commitment to deficit reduction. howie: precisely. >> picking up that reflection, not banging them over it but the other thing, howard, that they're doing, many in the press

are switching words. no longer calling it spending. they're calling it investments which is joe jobe's joe biden's word. they're parroting him. it is all spending but they're calling it investments. howie: consensus of the pundits who are never wrong, republicans have not been able to demonize joe biden. he is a such a familiar figure for decades. spending more time on cultural issues like cancel culture or critical race theory. if that is so, does it leave the party in the potential position about not being for something. >> issues of fighting critical race theory are important. these are not cultural war. they are essence of making up america issues. howie: they're important to parents. >> that's right. but i do also agree because joe biden this was his campaign strategy, made himself so small, he didn't want to be a media star. he didn't want to be a celebrity president. it has given people less after

target to shoot at. biden is not out there very much. you would think the target would become his policies and substance but the news hole, coverage of policies and substance has really shrunk. he is a tougher target for republicans. he is. howie: is the president trying to stay out of the line of fire. doesn't engage in twitter wars, things like that. doesn't make much niece on weekends for example. if you were white house press secretary woulded advise him to limit contact with reporters? as you knee, president's job is to engage with reporters regularly. >> absolutely if i were advising him that is what i would tell him to do. it worked during the campaign t worked because they wanted to make donald trump the issue. donald trump was happy to oblige. it is working still now that he is president. it is curious that the white house press corporation is not hectoring the white house to

have more news conferences. he had only one. it was such a friendly affair. i would not no why they don't want two or three. the staff is worried about biden bumbling. they're saying anything he says other does wrong they're being uber cautious to shield him from that normal scrutiny. howie: he takes exception to challenging questions, and doesn't get that many challenging questions. let me get you in on the week's big story, indictment of the trump organization and the chief financial officer. do you have impression most of the press were salivating this for years, i have a hint of your answer right there, even though the charges are relatively narrow and don't involve donald trump directly? of course it is his company. >> the press are cheerleader and photocopier. michael cohen would take donald trump down. this could be the end for donald trump. criminal charges against

donald trump. they keep setting their sights up high, trying to put the bull's-eye directly on donald trump. when the bull's-eye falls short, news doesn't add up what they hoped it would, they keep the story alive anyway, don't they? it could lead to his eventual flipping. howie: he could flip and that would be trouble for trump. but you're not suggesting -- you're not suggesting it is not a legitimate story when this criminal indictment, whether it is warranted or not against a company of the former president of the united states? >> it is a legitimate story but so too is hunter biden. and that is what i object to. i object to the press saying it's a legitimate story when it is about a republican especially donald trump, it is but don't extend that same type of coverage to joe biden or people around him, in this case joe biden's son. howie: donald trump's pretty constant stream of complaints about an election he contends is stolen get a lot of media coverage. wants it that way. brings it up at rallies and so

forth. does that complicate the republican's prospects in the midterms? you know some of the party would kind of like to move on? >> yes it does. elections are about the future. and when you try to revisit, make the last issue the issue that you want to talk about it complicates the attempt to focus on future. republican's greatest arguement is look at what joe biden is doing wrong. that is where should republicans go. if focus is relitigation of the 2020 election. that is not the strong suit for republicans. certainly what donald trump beliefs. he is grieved by it. genuinely inside of him, doesn't make it up. that doesn't mean this is good for the republican party. howie: i have half a minute, ari. you said earlier biden escape as lot of tough coverage because he is not out there that much. at the same time donald trump wants a lot of coverage. he tends to talk more about 2020 than the future that would seem to be a challenge for your party

in terms of seizing the, driving the media agenda i should say? >> well, there is no question about it. look, donald trump continues to drive the agenda for the republicans. republicans need to get the agenda to focus on joe biden. what joe biden has done wrong. the environment is tough for republicans. pew took a recent survey, no one has gotten softer press coverage than joe biden. that is according to pew. that even barack obama. joe biden got softer coverage in the first six months administration than barack obama did. you have a biased press which come complicates the republicans. howie: thanks so much for joining us. >> thanks, howard. howie: we're awaiting a florida news conference on the awful collapse of the surfside condo. what will become of that building. we'll be right back.

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♪. howard: whole bunch of unnamed aides an advisors to kamala harris are complaining to "politico" that the vp's office is an abusive environment as one source puts it, people are thrown under the bus and treated like s. we have edward-isaac dovere. author of the left's attempt to defeat donald trump. we'll see how far we get there. what do you make of the moaning and groining of a press, in an administration that prides itself about no leaks on internal dissent? >> you got it there. the white house doesn't want it happening people leaking from the inside. kamala harris has had a problem through her time in the main national political spotlight. aides of hers tend to complain about the environment working for her, about the situation working for her. it has trailed her through her presidential campaign and into

the vp's office. howard: right. >> this is something i've written about to an extent. some is in the book and some written since. she has to deal with it. howard: her spokeswoman said the unnamed accusers, people pointing fingers are cowards. ron claim, chief of staff wend on the record defending "axios" why has it h intthere been more coverage than "politico." there was "politico" story. howard: nothing written in newspapers? >> the question people are trying to face here is whether this is something that is a book thing in itself and one my argue it is, if the vice president's staff is not able to function properly, then that is an issue. but, certainly we're not getting the wall-to-wall coverage you had of palace intrigue in the trump white house. that is for sure. howard: right. you describe in your book, biden as a candidate more of a moderate candidate. didn't embrace defunding the police, "medicare for all" but

he seems to have moved very substantially to the left. why do you think that is, and do you think the coverage reflects that? >> i think some of it is the presidential campaign itself, things he experienced during the campaign. that affected him as it was going on. some is running against the people he was running against. some of it is the moment has changed. i track in the book all the way through an interview i did with biden, his first interview as president, he said i'm the most progressive person that ever been as president. the portait of fdr over his fireplace. that is shown in the book. that is not the moment he thought he was running for when he got into the race in 2019. this is not the presidency he thought he would have. now he looks, this is an opportunity to do a lot of things. there is a need to do a lot of things to change and he wants not to be a function of barack obama and donald trump and history as the people who kind of put him in the oval office and to be a major

historical figure in his own right. to have the presidency that he has here be significant in doing what will now be a lot of progress sieve things in his mind. howard: if he gets them accomplished with a divided congress. >> of course. howard: the other day the president made it clear he didn't want to take anymore questions on afghanistan. he wanted to talk up the job numbers and here is a little exchange with a reporter. >> all across america people are going to ball games and doing good things. this is good, all your negative questions, not negative, legitimate questions. howard: he does think they're negative questions. what is up with joe biden and the press? i know that reporters generally like him, he generally likes reporters but he seems to get his back up when they press him or pin him down or try to? >> yeah. he spends a lot of time in the senate in washington. he has a very, this view of reporters they're the ones who are living the life with him and often says reporters are the smartest people in the country. he means that but he also doesn't like it when he is

challenged in ways that he thinks are unfair or not giving him enough credit. there was one point in, about two years ago in iowa when i was pushing him on changing his position on the hyde amendment. he snapped at me. hey, don't be a wise guy, okay? that will happen with joe biden. you saw that at the end of his european trip when he snapped at caitlyn collins. howard: or asking whether he had confidence he could change putin's behavior. perfectly legitimate questions. >> sure. the same thing you see going on there, he feels, give me a chance here. i said all these things. why are you coming at me? every politician complains that nobody asks positive questions. all the questions are negative. biden's way of doing it, the short temper can come through there. and big piece of who he is, usually kept in, not as high-profile as it has been during the presidency. howard: all right. i got half a minute here. you report that barack obama and others didn't have that much

confidence in joe biden once he bounced back to win the nomination. do those progressive doubts still exist? >> no, i don't think in the same way. the book tracks a lot of the doubts about biden when he was getting into the race. he continued through not -- howard: fox news alert. officials in doral, florida, giving an update on the building collapse. let's listen in. [inaudible conversations] >> good morning andand welcome to the 11:30 operational media briefing. to open up we have governor ron desantis. >> i wish everybody a happy

4th of july. i want to thank the mayor for hosting us here at the county eoc. also want to thank wilton simpson and chris sprowls, our legislative leaders in the house and senate for coming. we're going to be able to take them to the site later today to be able to see that they have been very helpful in supporting everything the state's doing. we're of course continuing to monitor tropical storm elsa. it is located just north of jamaica with maximum sustained winds of 65 miles per hour. it is heading towards cuba. it will cross cuba, and end up approaching florida likely sometime monday afternoon or evening. tropical storm watches are in effect for parts of the florida keys but more watches and warnings may be issued later today. impacts will move northward up the peninsula, into northeast florida, the big bend, through wednesday morning. it looks like it will be in the gulf coast and southwest florida into tampa bay, then probably

enter around pasco county area which is where senator simpson is from. but obviously these tracks can change. that is what we're looking at now, something that will ride part of the west coast and enter the peninsula later in the week. impacts, please review your hurricane plans now and restock your emergency kit as needed. we are looking at of course storm surge. we're looking at heavy rainfall, flash flooding. there could be isolated tornadoes. it is important to remind floridians in the last four years we had more people die from carbon monoxide poisoning than direct impacts of the storms. we dealt with a number of them. the reminder in a storm like this where you could see sustained power outages, if you do have a generator, you have to operate that generator so that the exhaust is outside. you can't put it inside of your house. you can't put it inside of your garage. unfortunately we have traffic

incidents every year now, where the folks run generators in an enclosed area. please, if you do have a power outrage. if you have a generator you use, make sure the exhaust is going outside of your home and outside of your garage. we don't want to see any other fatalities as a result of the carbon monoxide. well continue to monitor the storm. impacts for surfside and obviously continue with the mission in surfside. we're supporting the demolition and anything that the county's asked for we have supported. we'll continue to support it. obviously we want to get the search-and-rescue folks back on the pile. thanks. >> thank you, governor. lieutenant governor jeanette nunez. >> good morning. [speaking spanish] howard: let's go now during this

spanish language portion of the news conference to fox news correspondent phil keating. phil, i think the major question everybody wants to know, indeed the reason i thought this news conference was called, to find out are though going to go ahead and demolish the surfside condo building as a danger and extent which the coming tropical storm or hurricane could complicate those efforts, phil? reporter: that is coming. that information, those details. the latest we've heard regarding the demolition of this brown tower. that is all that is left of surfside champlain south tower condo building. that is the half of the structure that did not collapse. it has been very fragile. they have had lasers on it the past week. they noticed it is shifting. they will bring it down, maybe late this afternoon, or later tonight. that is something we're waiting to hear out of the news conference happening out at doral, because this news conference prioritized the ongoing tropical storm first.

after they go through everything on that, the governor, lieutenant governor, miami-dade county mayor they will get into the surfside situation. but it's a lot of structure. nobody who lives in that building has been there since thursday. they evacuated everybody. so all of those people want this demolished, they have lost everything of personal belongings. passports,. howard: can't get family photographs. it is absolute heartbreaking situation with all the previous inspections and warnings not heeded by local authorities but what is -- i guess they're racing the clock with the approaching storm. why is it such a priority to bring down the remaining portion of the building that still stands? reporter: well local officials, and the county engineer, county fire and rescue, the county mayor are all concerned if these winds are 65, 75 miles an hour and the storm gains strength to a cat-1 hurricane that wind alone could take this very

fragile tower. that would be the last straw to bring it down. howard: let me jump in here. we're going back to the news conference. >> it is also july 4th. this is not an independence day like any we have ever experienced before. i want to thank the governor, the lieutenant governor, for having been with us daily and our senate president, our speaker of the house for joining us, and showing your support. and for everyone who is here with us at the emergency operations center. we've, we have activated here because of the possible impacts of the storm as the operation continues full steam ahead in surfside. the number of confirmed dead remains the same this morning, 24 and all 24 next of kin have now been notified. 191 people are accounted for. 121 not accounted for.

i want to remind you that the detectives are continually auditing our list to verify the numbers and so this is very fluid and we are sure these numbers will continue to change. our demolition team began their work yesterday and they were back on the site early this morning as preparations are underway for this demolition. as we mentioned yesterday, the search-and-rescue effort did have to pause temporarily while the preparation is taking place. this is to ensure the safety of our first-responders on site, given that we have ongoing concerns about the standing structure. as soon as the preparation is ready, the site is secure and the team is ready to go we will begin the demolition. as both the governor and i made clear, our top priority is that the building come down as soon as possible no matter what time that occurs and as safely as possible.

bringing down this building in a controlled manner is critical to expanding our scope of the search-and-rescue efforts. and allowing us to explore the area closest to the building which has currently not been accessible to our first-responders given the great come down, when the site hash been deemed secure and we are given the all-clear, which should happen very shortly after the demolition, our search-and-rescue teams will immediately resume their operations on the pile, and continue their search. we are of course continuing to closely monitor the progress of the possible impacts of tropical storm elsa as hazardous weather conditions could fores us to temporarily pause work, again for the safety of the first-responders and we pray for limited impacts of the storm in surfside so we can continue

unimpeded by the storm. i want to stress that we do not know a specific time that the demolition will occur. the team is working as quickly and as safely as possible to prepare the building. as soon as we have more specific information we will share that with all of you. all of the families have been informed about the impending demolition and how it is proceeding. both the families of those who are missing their loved ones and the ones who have survived this tragedy. we've already created a very thorough process for cataloging of any personal items that we find in the efforts and we will continue to use the same great care with items that we identify following this demolition. we've been actively searching for days for any pets. howard: we've been listening to the florida officials, the demolition of that build something soon, perhaps today. search-and-rescue will continue after the building comes down

and we'll be right back.

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♪. howard: time to see if i can beat the clock on buzz peter. ready, set go. meghan mccain is leaving "the view" after four very contentious years which she often got beat up as new york show's for conservatives reasons. she has a baby and lives in d.c. she has been fierce, feisty defending herself. she took a parting shot the way the press portrays the program. >> the media needs to do a better job covering this show in general. it is into the a fair fight. we're covered with deep misogyny by media. if five men were doing the way we do every day we would probably have a pulitzer prize at this point. howard: she has a point about

the catfight coverage. jill biden is on the cover of "vogue." it is puffy and driven, tirelessly, effortlessly popular and admires us about ourselves. i have nothing bad to say about jill biden but thrown herself into the road of first lady. "vogue" never put melania trump on who was an actual fashion model but. apparently only democratic first ladies remind us of ourselves. gwen berry won third place for hammer throwing in the olympic trials and turned back on the flag during the anthem. the biden white house defends her ability to protest. media conservatives are eviscerating her for. some lawmakers want her kicked off the team. berry defense her stance. >> if you know the history, the

national anthem, slaves in america, our blood being slain and pilfered all over the floor. it is disrespectful t does not speak for black americans. i never said that i hated the country. never said that. howard: i'm not going to get into her conspiracy theory the anthem playing was timed to embarass her or old tweets which she disparaged white people and mexicans. i get athletes have the right to protest. to me it is very different when you're representing the united states of america. speak out all you want in other venues but don't turn your back on the stars an stripes. otherwise, maybe you shouldn't try out for our olympic team. "new york times" must be pretty grueling. cory sica quit the style section as editor a couple months ago, writes if you're unhappy, frequently say your exhausted, if maybe you cry at work a little more than you personally think is reasonable if you wake up in the morning and considered dying instead of going to work you clearly owe it to yourselves to do something else. the job makes you think about

dying? i would say that is a knee on warning signs. "the times" was not happy with his laid-back management style. he doesn't deny and risky to leave a good job. staying put degrading like old yogurt is to become a worse person. hey, we did it. go back now to. now we really done. bring back susan ferrechio we wanted to get to early in the show. nancy pelosi pushing through the select house committee on january 6th, look into the capitol riot. her naming liz cheney as republican choice. liz cheney, one of two republicans voted for committee. the media rooting for liz cheney is that genuinely a big story? >> it's a very exciting story for the media cover on capitol hill. legislation is boring and cumbersome one republican

sitting on the committee looking a january 6th riot through the lens of fault being president trump and try towing link it to the republican party all types of people who pushed that i way into the building. there is a political sort of taint to the commission. there is no question they will look at things and trying to link it all to president trump. howard: let me jump in. >> liz cheney is willing to sit on that committee because she can't stand trump. this is perfect. you know, lining the anti-trump republican forces with the democratic party. it's a great formula for the media to get excited about. howard: cheney says it will be a non-partisan investigation. in fairness they tried to do the independent commission. republicans didn't go for that either. what is fascinating to me. kevin mccarthy. house minority leader. he threaten any republican went on the committee as pelosi's appointee might be in danger of

losing their committee assignments. doesn't look like he is following through. this republican infighting. go out on a limb saying reporters love this sort of thing. >> of course. this is, this is, like i said, it is, a lot of, what we gravitate too on capitol hill is about personalities and conflict certainly liz cheney sitting on this committee, the conflict will only intensify. there will be leaks about what they're uncovering. they have got subpoena power. they can actually subpoena mccarthy who as we all know had the very tense conversation president the day of the right i don't think, he tried to get the president to help call off the protest. there is a lot of interest in trying to get mccarthy to participate. howard: all right. >> liz cheney is on the outs with the party. that is part of the excitement of covering the story. howard: clearly investigation helps the democrats, i will with hold judgment how partially it actually is. thanks susan. that is it for this edition of "mediabuzz." hope you enjoy america's

birthday on this july 4th. we hope you like our facebook page and continue the conversation on twitter. check out my podcast. media buzz. subscribe at apple itunes, google podcast or on the amazon device. we have more of a rush to get everything in today because of the florida news conference. thank you for watching. have a great weekend. have a great weekend. a whole lot of news on this july 4th as the nation's capitol gets ready to mark the holiday after the pandemic celebrations last year. welcome to "fox news live." i'm griff jenkins. >> i'm alyssa acuna. florida is bracing for tropical storm elsa. demow crews preparing to bring down the remainder of the partially collapsed condo. phil keating is live in surfside,. >> reporter: the oncoming tropical storm