♪ ♪ howard: the unconscionable russian assault on ukraine as chronicled by the media is a mounting series of unthinkable atrocities. what our state department now says are war crimes by vladimir putin. the images captured by courageous journalists show the relentless shelling of civilian neighborhoods. some stories are harder to document because of the kremlin's brutal tactics, accounts that russian troops held hostage rests cue workers and bus drivers bringing humanitarian aid to mariupol with the red cross and that

thousands of ukrainians have been kidnapped and brought to russia and that some ukrainian journalists were seized from their homes and detained in an attempt to force them into pro-russia coverage. the world is rivetted by this war. and that's in sharp contrast to the supreme court confirmation hearings. on the first day that ketanji brown jackson was questioned, msnbc broke away with a half an hour to provide ukraine updates. cnn and fox news largely skipped coverage of the second day. i get it. drench. ed in legal jargon, punning candidated by partisanship. there's far more intense interest in the war. ordinarily a supreme court nomination fight would dominate the news, but these are not ordinary times. i'm howard kurtz, and this is "mediabuzz." ♪ ♪ howard: let's go now to fox's

jeff paul in lviv, ukraine, for the latest on the war. jeff. >> reporter: yeah, howie, the mood here in lviv is really changing after yesterday's missile strike, and a big part of the reason why is because lviv has remained relatively untouched throughout this entire invasion by russian forces, so a lot of the people from those areas that have been nonstop shelled and bombarded have been coming to the western part of the country. that all changed yesterday, and now finds itself with a shattered sense of security after officials confirmed as many as five people were injured in this strike. our sources on the ground believe it was an oil depot just outside the city center that was the target. took firefighters around 14 hours to put out the fire, and all of this happening, meanwhile, president biden was in neighboring poland. but yesterday's strike pale. palin: -- pales to what we're seeing in mariupol. tens of thousands of people i remain trapped without resources just to stay alive, and we

knowed today things here have changed somewhat, but life does go on. we're seeing people out here in the city of lviv walking their dogs, playing with their children out here. you can see the traffic out here, bustling about. so you talk to the mayor here, howie, is and he and he says he believes yesterday's strike was a message to president biden. >> well, i like those images better. life does go on. jeff paul, stay safe. president biden made an extraordinary declaration are about vladimir putin in poland yesterday drawing plaudits from the press. >> and it's putin, it's vladimir putin who is to blame, period. for god's sake, this man cannot remain in power. howard: but then the white house walked it back saying, well, biden didn't actually mean to call for regime change, and review ises were decidedly mixed for his nato meeting held in

brussels. >> the talk has to be tougher. nato and the u.s. have to be more aggressive. >> now we're veering into war and biden's back in europe, the president cares more about uniting nato than uniting america. >> i think the impulse, the emotional impulse to say do something, is president biden doing enough to communicate to the american people how complex the realities of this are? >> i'm very pessimist ific about biden just because he doesn't seem like he's in any particular rush to fix this. howard: joining us now to analyze, mollie hemingway, editor-in-chief of the federal and a fox news contributor, and in new york, liz claman, host of "the claman countdown" at 3 eastern on fox business network. there's a fierce media debate whether president biden should or could do more to help ukraine beyond his harsh words about putin which had to be immediately retracted by the white house.

what do you make of that and the coverage of the nato summitsome and. >> yeah, it's interesting, the white house has walked back a number of joe widen's saints -- statements. yesterday it was regime change, previously he said we would respond to use of chem chemical weapons in kind, he also suggested u.s. troops might be stationed in ukraine. i think it's clear that the biden administration is seeking to escalate the conflict. you're not seeing them talking about getting all the players to the table, having negotiations, getting this horrific, unjust war that russia is perpetrating against ukraine to end. and so i think media coverage, which loves to focus on the's la story aspects, should also be asking why we're not seeing more statesmanship or leadership from the u.s. president about ending this conflict. howard: liz, biden branded putin a butcher and really was the most dramatic sentence of his presidency, comparable to tear down this wall, when he said this man cannot remain in power. the press loved it, but now it became a big international story

when they said, well, no, it's not regime change. so what do you think about that, and shouldn't the coverage reflect that not much happened at that nato meeting to change the status of this war? >> i don't understand what's going on at the white house. [laughter] if president biden is the president and he comes out and says putin is a war criminal, putin must go, he's got this sort of band of fingers behind him saying, wait a minute, you're off key. if i were biden i would say, be quiet, this is what i meant. he begins to look weak, howie, when he makes these statements. the press really felt positive on both sides of this. conservatives saying this was that sort of mr. gorbachev, take could be that wall, reagan moment, when he said this yesterday. and then suddenly, it's, wait a minute, clean up on i'll 6 -- isle 6 as i saw -- aisle 6 as i saw one pundit say on twitter. on one hand, yes, he is a war

criminal. larry kudlow on fox business wrote an op-ed for foxbusiness.com and said the exact same thing. people are in agreement about this. and as far as let's remove him, biden did not say that. he said he can't be the ruler, he's got to go. but two, meaning removal meaning he's got to go, are not mutually exclusive, howie. both can be true. we're not saying -- at least i didn't interpret the president as saying we need to remove -- howard: but i think it was at least implied. the president's words matter, and this was a very damaging ad lib. mollie you have this clash between the heart-rending scenes we see on our screens day after day, civilians targeted for dead, nearly 4 million ref of few gees, at least 300 killed in that bombing of the theater, about half the children of ukraine have been displaced. but then there's the concern, understandably, about a direct u.s. confrontation with russia,

whether that would lead to nuclear war. you said a moment ago the press loves the escalating kind of talk. >> yeah. these images are horrific. we're seeing a humanitarian crisis in ukraine. but you look at some of these press inquiries of jen psaki, and almost all of the questions are focused on why aren't we doing more to intervene, why aren't we doing more to escalate? you'll get very occasionally one reporter saying what are we doing to end this. it seems the american people definitely want this to end, but we need to have much more of a discussion about whether regime change should be our de facto policy, and it's clearly, with the exception of the priest administration, clear -- previous administration, it has been policy. that's why ukraine is such a -- many administrations have sought to do regime change. we don't have a particularly great track record with regime change even when we're not dealing with really powerful nuclear countries like russia. howard: right. >> we need to see much more debate about this. howard: that's a fair point.

liz, in an ap poll 56% of those questioned, including 43% of democrats, say president biden isn't being with tough enough in response to the russian invasion but, of course, there will be consequences to getting tougher. people say lots of things that they want in polls that may not be realistic. >> yeah. and you saw the reuters/ipsos poll where they said we've got to do more, and yet they don't want to be involved. we do not want to see a war in, you know, involving nato and, of course, russia. but, i mean, you can't have it both ways. the united states, shortly after, i believe, it was hours after mr. zelenskyy had spoken to congress committed $ -- 800 stingers, 7,000 machine guns and small weapons. we have sent what, of course, we know as the patriot missile anti-missile defense system. we've spent a lot of money here. we are doing a lot. but then you do hear, for example, john barrasso, the

republican -- howard: senator. >> he's a doctor in congress, of course, he just came out, you know, on fox news and said we've got to send the migs. you put migs in there, and this is something i believe mollie's right, you kind of provide those, and you may have a full-blown hot war between nato and russia. howard: yeah. i don't understand these arbitrary distinctions, the javelins are okay, but polish migs are not. as if we have a lot of time here, ukraine may not have that time. there's a media debate, a recent article in the federalist saying there's an organized effort to promote direct u.s. involvement in the war. are these traditional neo-conservatives, is it broader than that, and do you think it's succeeding? >> there has been sort of a bipartisan foreign policy consensus that has dominated washington for decades, and it is clear they're pushing against escalation. emmanuel macron was cautioning people to not escalate so much. there are different ways to resolve conflict, and we should

be pushing -- we should be gathering the people together in our leadership position to end this situation, and there has been, you know, again, a bad track record. and it is from both a parties, but the last administration that moved away from this failed foreign policy consensus was a republican administration, the trump administration. and what we saw with that was a great deal of peace breaking out all over the world, and we saw a period of renewed strength for america as opposed to what we're experiencing now. howard: why do you think that elements of the press are pushing for why aren't you doing this and why aren't you doing more of this? trying to make news, or is there some sort of sentiment by not just pundits, but journalists that we're really tire of these atrocities, and we feel like the u.s. has a moral obligation to escalate? >> well, everyone hates these atrocities -- howard: hates it, yeah. >> everyone thinks russia is wrong to have done this with ukraine. these are very complicated situations, and you do want to end that rather than expand if

it. getting more involvement, everything that we're seeing about a getting much more equipment over there is directed towards having sort of a proxy war with russia. that's dangerous, and we need to have people who are cautioning about that and having that debate as well. howard: liz, huge headlines when the state department officially said russia's committing war crimes. is the coverage overplayed in the sense that nobody's directing vladimir putin to stand the trial at the hague, and is it inadvertently, perhaps, fueling support for more aggressive u.s. action? >> well, howie, as you said, words do matter, of course. but i think that the9 press is getting a little too precious about actual semantics and wording here. we have a slawger going on in ukraine -- slaughter going on in ukraine, and the images are absolutely horrific. it has united nato, absolutely, but i would argue it is ukrainian president zelenskyy and his words and the way he has tailored and actually, you know, customized his speeches depending on his audience to

unify nato. and yet do you really want to go in there? there is a difference, howie, when you're talking about fighter jets going in versus defense systems. those are two very different things -- howard: right. >> -- and i think all of nato wants to remain cautious. howard: we'll talk to president zelenskyy's former press secretary about the view from ukraine, but when we come back, a media uproar over texts from ginny thomas, wife of the supreme court justice, trying to overturn the election. ♪ ♪ unlike ordinary memory supplements, neuriva plus fuels six key indicators of brain performance. more brain performance? yes, please! neuriva. think bigger.

-come on! come on! ready? -all: universal! announcer: from the jurassic... [ screaming ] ...to the animated. from the magical... to the delicious. from the most surprising... to the biggest whoas... and the most memorable awws. from making new friends... to our newest ride, the secret life of pets: off the leash. ♪♪ picture the best day ever at universal studios hollywood.

howard: "the washington post" and cbs obtained a batch of text messages that ginny thomas -- conservative activist and the wife of supreme court justice clarence thomas -- sent after of the election to mark meadows, then the white house chief of staff.

some of her texts involve wild theories, over 12 states have been part of a huge trump and military white hat sing operation and biden crime family and co-conspirators, elected officials, bureaucrats, social media a censorship-mongers, fake stream media reporters, etc., are being arrested and detained right now and over coming days and will be living in barges off gitmo to face military tribunals for sedition. mollie, ginny thomas obviously has a career separate from her husband, but there's been an uproar because you do have the wife of a supreme court justice talking to the trump white house about overturning the election and passing on some false information about all these people are going to be facing military tribunals, they're going to be held on barges off gitmo. your take. >> well, it's the kind of -- it's certainly newsworthy that these messages were released to reporters, and it's worthy of being covered, but it is a little weird how it's being

covered particularly because everyone's saying that this means that justice thomas has to recuse himself from any cases involving anything about election issues. that's ludicrous. first of all, it is legal to have concerned about the 2020 election. i literally wrote the book on all of the problems with that election which were very serious and systematic and worthy of being covered and discussed. and for justice thomas, you know, there is a standard for recusal, and one that the -- that isn't even anywhere near an issue where he would please to -- need to recause. justice rued baiter ginsburg -- ruth bader ginsburg once signed an opinion and donatedded it to a pro-abortion fundraiser where that group was having a case before the court. she herself opined on whether trump's taxes were an issue before she heard a case on that, and nobody call her for recausal. and these are much -- these are were actually dealing with the justice hearse. this is, yet again, a political

attempt to take down justice thomas which has been going on for 30 years. howard: well, it is up to justice thomas and and he alone to decide whether to recuse. pundits are calling for that, and he has heard a couple of january 6th cases. but ginny thomas, she had a lot of access to the trump white house and the president, so how big is it as a news story that she's offering some q anontheories and saying this is -- c- -- q-anon theory? >> it's not a nothing story, i would definitely say that. it is important to note here ginny thomas is absolutely entitled to say whatever she wants, and just because she is the wife of a supreme court justice does not mean that she has to be quiet and not say those things. i certainly would say that even as you have some conservatives saying even that and what she said appears to be seditious, doesn't matter. she's allowed to say it. i think it becomes an issue, and you don't have to be a law

professor to understand that ethically a judicial scholar would simply say this does not look good, especially when justice thomas became the one lone dissenter on the very issue about president

howard: wouldn't there be an avalanche of media criticism if

it were aimed at any other politician other than donald trump? >> absolutely. pom raments is wrong here. prosecutors ten down when they don't agree with their superiors. that does happen. when it does happen, that prosecutor had access to all kinds of information. he or she should not be out there spewing opinions especially because in this country you are innocent until proven guilty. this was a mess and, in fact, if he does truly believe that donald trump was guilty of these things, he's just hurt the cause for any future litigation. howard: yeah, i think that's right. i think it's absolutely unacceptable for a prosecutor to do this. you make your case internally, and if you're not the boss, you have to go along with the verdict. you can't just smear somebody because you don't like them, even if you are convinced they did something. whether there is evidence that trump, in fact, did overinflate his real estate assets or not, at this point we don't know. molly mollie hemingway, liz claman, thanks very much for joining us this sunday. up next, the former zelenskyy press secretary on the devastation in her country and whether the biden administration is doing enough to help. ♪ ♪ e,m from pain, with fewer pills than tylenol. instead of taking pills every 4-6 hours,

aleve works up to 12-hours so you can focus on what matters. aleve. less pills. more relief i'm amber, i've lost 128 pounds with golo, taking release. so you can focus on what matters. i have literally tried everything. i was on the verge of getting gastric bypass surgery, and i saw the golo commercial, and it was the last thing i tried 'cause it worked. >> tech: does your windshield have a crack? trust safelite. >> tech vo: this customer had auto glass damage, but he was busy working from home... ...so he scheduled with safelite in just a few clicks. we came to his house... ...then we got to work. we replaced his windshield and installed new wipers to protect his new glass, while he finished his meeting. let safelite come to you. >> man: looks great. thank you. >> tech: my pleasure. that's service on your time. schedule now. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ this is my zen time. it's... ...like a video game! this lawn brings me such pride

and i like to have... ...hops. we grow our own. people say, 'well, what are you? are you a farmer or a brewer?' so, i say... i am definitely a lines guy. this is my happy place. it's... ...just really fast! when i'm done, i work on my mind, my body, and my... ...brisket. there are millions of ways to make the most of your mow. learn how to make the most of yours at deere.com . . . .

howard: julia men dell served as a volodymyr zelenskyy press secretary until last summer. i spoke to her earlier in welcome. welcome. >> thank you for having me. howard: talk about the humanitarian crisis in your hometown of kherson, while ukraine is pleading for more defensive weapons from the u.s. and nato? are you frustrated, is president zelenskyy frustrate straighted that you can't get more weapons sooner? >> definitely, bureaucracy is a challenge these days. when we say there is no time. when we say time, we mean people's lives. we cannot say it needs time it takes time. we can say it takes ukrainian lives because when you live here in ukraine these days, you live like 9/11. every day is 9/11 tragedy. you hear explosions all the time. houses have been exploded.

for you to understand when my mom first woke up and said she would go to the hospital to work, i thought it was safe, it was a hospital. then we understood russians target hospitals here and civilian structure was first target which is a terrorism. heartbreaking to hear the stories every day. howard: there are some conservatives and others in the united states worried being drawn directly into this war and worried of provoking vladmir putin. what are your thought? >> many ukrainians believe world war iii has already started. he won't start on ukraine. he invaded part of ukraine eight years ago. he had a large-scale offensive. what will start him in two years or five years? howard: as a journalist how important is the media coverage of putin's atrocities in your country, as you know, there are cities like mariupol where there are no international journalists left because dangers many had to

flee? >> this is crucial today because information is just a part of war. putin uses information to lie to the world. he uses information to scare people. he uses information vacuum. he blocks information immediately when his army enters the city to make people desperate because they don't understand what is going on in the information vacuum. when we spread the word, we explain what is going on we're spreading truth and we're covering war crimes of putin. this is one push towards justice and the fans of democracy nowadays. journalism plays a crucial role. very grateful for every journalist that tells the story of ukraine and russian offensive against ukraine these days. howard: i share that feeling. you talked about how you see

strong leadership qualities in president zelenskyy all day long. for an actor, entertainer to become the voice of western democracy at great personal risk seems like quite a transformation? >> welcome median is of course one of the most popular roles he had in his life. definitely was the most public role but it is often when people forget that he has a legal background. he is a lawyer by high education. he is a very good manager. here in ukraine he managed to do such big things. he often was going to the front lines, to the place where there was high-risk of being attacked because he wanted to show that you know, he is as a leader staying with his people. he is not afraid to stay, stand for ukraine even on the front lines. so today i know definitely that he is going to stand with ukraine to the very end. the image of comedian has been

forgotten. howard: this is the challenge of a lifetime for him, your country, really for the world. julia mendel, thanks very much for joining us. >> thank you for having me. howard: ahead, the coverage of the ketanji brown jackson hearings but next on media buzz, steve harrigan on the challenge and dangers of covering this war. ♪ so we offer a complete exam and x-rays free to new patients without insurance - everyday. plus, patients get 20% off their treatment plan. we're on your corner and in your corner every step of the way. because your anything is our everything. aspen dental. anything to make you smile. book today at aspendental.com, walk in, or call 1-800-aspendental.

we all have heroes in our lives. someone who cares about other people and gives of themselves. to help others, who can't always help themselves. those are true heroes. and for a kid like me, who's had 13 operations, and can now walk, you might think that i'd say my hero is my doctor, or nurse, or even my physical therapist, and they are. but there's someone else who's a hero to me, and 1.5 million other kids and counting. it's someone who gives of themselves so that others will get the help they need. who is it? well, you may be surprised, but my hero is you.

you. you. you. it's people just like you, who give every month to shriners hospitals for children, that make this specialized care so many kids need, possible. when you call the special number with your monthly gift, you're making a difference in the lives of thousands of kids every day. that sounds like a hero to me. and because of heroes like you, i can do things now that were impossible before. i can ride my bike. i can play basketball. yeah! and i can walk. all of this is made possible because of heroes like you who go online to loveshriners.org right now and say yes, with your monthly support. when you do, we'll send you this adorable love to the rescue blanket as a thank you. and a reminder of all the kids whose hero you are each and every month. thank you, your support has changed our lives.

thank you. thank you. gracias. thank you for being my hero. please call now. if operators are busy, please call again, or go to loveshriners.org right away. the world could use some more heroes and your call will make a difference. thank you for being our hero. ♪. howard: fox correspondent benjamin who hall who was injured in the attack in ukraine who killed two of his colleagues has been transferred from germany to a military hospital in texas while he recovers from serious injuries after multiple surgeries says suzanne scott. he remains in good spirits despite everything he endured, that is a relief. joining us from atlanta, steve hair fox news correspondent who spent weeks covering the war.

you said a few weeks ago, ukraine is done deal, it is flattened and they lost. is that still your view because ukrainian resistance is fierce and they captured some territory? >> i said in the longer term russia cannot win and control a city of 40 million people. so i do see more trouble ahead. i think it would be a mistake to underestimate the brutality of russian president putin or the military. in the longer term i always said putin will lose this war. it is not something he can control. howard: right, i guess the question how many people have to die before that comes to an end. look, we all see the pictures every day. major cities have been devastated but the russians have taken heavy casualties putin's defense minute stray said they accomplished the initial goals and focus on liberating the donbas region. as far as low morale, there was intercepted call between russian soldiers saying there is a

s-show, half our unit is has frostbite and ran over a general and he died. what yardstick should the media use to decide who is winning, who is surviving or who has the edge? >> i think you're right to point out winning is questionable term to use on any side of this. when one side, soldiers shooting themselves in the leg or running over their superior officers. on the other side civilians are in bread lines being targeted by unguided rockets. there is really losers all around. the man in charge putin, calling shots, could still be in power for a while. the real question is the bright hope from this devastation, from this slaughter going to be a real regime change eventually in russia. howard: president biden said what he really thought yesterday before the diplomatic take-backs that he does want regime change. you said in your view the russian people will rise up an

throw this guy out. how realistic is that given that it's a totalitarian society and put 10 controls the nuclear arsenal? >> i think it will be hard but i think something we've seen in the past in russia in the soviet union. going the way back to the russ-japanese war in 1905. when russia lose as war there is often regime change. it happened after afghanistan that is a disaster we haven't seen in 20 years in russia. a lot of dead, a lot of casualties, a lot of isolation from the entire world. a lot of shame. this could change russia's position globally for decades to come. it i think will increase tremendous pressure on putin for this failure. howard: as you know two associated press journalists hid out in the mariupol hospital dressed in scrubs. they had shaky satellite images, before ukrainian soldiers embedded them with a family

after passing 15 russian checkpoints. what do you think they pulled off and now that they are the last international journalists to have left mariupol, meaning we don't have any first-hand reporting there? >> impact the two photojournalists pulled off from ap. from the first-hand knowledge, they you had pulled the worst spot in the war. they were brave enough to hang on there, hang on for as long as they can. they transmitted images, images of mass graves, images of children being killed. images of hospitals being destroyed. images of fear, images of faces of people underground. what is usual here they were targeted. russians denied video was authentic. they were coming to get them. they disguised themselves as doctor. extracted by ukrainians. they felt guilty about leaving. important thing, two journalists said it wasn't about them.

we're not heroic correspondents, i'm standing something exploding. they were witnesses to a slaughter. that was the focus t may have changed the world reviews the conflict. howard: russians deny pictures clear to the rest of the world that those are lies from the kremlin. what was it like on a personal level covering ukraine where i should say, we tragically learned danger can come at anytime from any angle? >> it was baffling at first, u.s. was warning about a war. ukrainian officials were denying that was the case, there wag no preparation, visible preparation. people were skiing outside of kyiv. there were real stern warnings about the russians having weapons that could take away oxygen or blind you. i figured we could ride it out a with building with basement three stories below ground if you could still transmit but this is not a regular war zone. there are no u.s. troops on the ground and one side is lobbing missiles at civilians. so this is a very different,

perhaps the most dangerous war zone you can think of, especially if chemical weapons could be on the horizon. howard: you did a great job, as many of our colleagues here in fox and elsewhere. to have to deal with the heart break of seeing civilians, not just killed accidentally, but targeted by russia is hard for all of us. perhaps most of ault for you on the front lines. steve harrigan thanks for joining us. >> thank you. howard: after the break the media are divided whether some republicans treated ketanji brown jackson unfairly. stay with us. a plus fuels six ky indicators of brain performance. more brain performance? yes, please! neuriva. think bigger.

do you take aspirin? plain aspirin could be hurting your stomach. vazalore 325 liquid-filled aspirin capsule is clinically shown in a 7 day study to cause fewer ulcers than immediate release aspirin. vazalore is designed to help protect... releasing aspirin after it leaves your stomach... where it is absorbed to help prevent another heart attack or stroke. heart protection with your stomach in mind. vazalore. the first liquid-filled aspirin capsules...amazing!

. . . . . . . . . test test. >> scale of one to 10, how faithful would you say you are? in terms of religion? >> well, senator, i am reluctant to talk about my faith in this way. senator i don't think so. but i never studied critical race theory and i never used it. >> can you provide a definition for the word woman? >> i'm not a biologist. howard: pundits are deeply divided as senators. >> republicans were treating the

hearing as they do every event that has cameras as campaign fund-raising event. >> i'm not that impressed. she is polished. can definitely conduct herself hearing or i don't know if she is a left-wing loon or mainstream democrat. >> josh hawley, ridiculous. >> they were valid case is, somehow it is not only racial, but about a a none, choreography from the white house and media. howard: susan ferrechio, "washington times" and here in studio, richard fowler, radio show host, fox news contributor. media said ketanji brown jackson did fine and republicans badgered her about culture warrior issues that had nothing to do with justice.

fair or unfair. >> that is not fair. every time republican is badgered by opposition party. they want to do everything they can to trip up the nominee or show they're looking at nominee's record. democrats did this with the three nominees, particularly justice kavanaugh, president trump said this is par for the course. of course some is political theater as it was for democrats when they were vetting trump's nominees. ted cruz this time. josh hawley. two people whose names come up as 2024 republican candidates for president. all to be expected. but i find that description completely inaccurate if you're going to say she was unfairly vetted before that committee. that is just not true. howard: richard you might have a different view. a lot of the coverage says that certain gop senators were pushing their own political brief vanses such as lindsey graham, asking about the strength of her faith as a protestant. trying to draw her into commenting what i thought was unfair religious slight by

dianne feinstein, talking about amy coney barrett and going through other past gop nominees graham thought were treated unfairly. your take. >> face the fact. supreme court nominees are political theater. howard: do you agree on that? >> i agree on that. i took at ratings, on this network alone the supreme court hearing got 1.4 million views on tuesday and 1.7 million views. for these senators that is the best they ever do at a congressional hearing. the fact they play political theater is par for the golf. is she qualified to be on the united states supreme court? the question is yes. she was asked by chuck grassley i don't believe the constitution is living this is similar line ever argument antonin scalia. the constitution is not a living document. dead, dead, dead. as words of former associate justice. ketanji brown jackson agrees with him. this should be enough for republicans to say there is agreement here. ten years of judicial experience. we should be able to pass

people -- howard: well -- >> what i found was, is that instead they're trying to find arguments to vote against her like we saw with child porn. ideal how she treated gitmo detainees, et cetera. howard: yeah, susan makes the point democrats do the same thing when they're vetting a republican nominated justice. susan conservative pundits are having a good time mocking jackson's answer on defining a woman. she is not a biologist. aren't the media playing along with the game here, what she was trying to do avoid being drawn into discussion of transgender rights and trans athletes? >> that is such an important issue. happening in real time this debate all over the country. that is how the question ended up emerging during this hearing. it started with questioning her about the vmi ruling in 1996 which ended all male admission to the virginia military institute n that opinion written by ruth bader ginsburg she

define ad man and woman two distinct things were not fungible. so as follow-up question judge jackson said she wasn't familiar with the ruling, that is when the question came up, well what is a woman? sounds like a question you can laugh at ask a nominee to the high court but actually a very serious question right now. it is happening with women's sports. bathrooms. howard: do you believe the coverage of that answer is warranted as opposed to her trying to sidestep a contentious issue? >> i think the coverage is warranted but the coverage was not what i would hope it would be, which would be to open a larger discussion about how important this issue is in america right now. why her answer, why the question was asked and why her answer is an important one as someone who is about to serve on the supreme court. howard: let me get to richard. democrats for their part heaped praise on her. columnist said republican question was explicitly, i

implicitly racial, first black woman nominee. crime or is that fair or overstated. >> the racial argue mentation we saw happening racial line of question are trying to find a reason to vote against her when she is very well-qualified nominee. the question around the woman, the judge's answer was rather perfect. ruth bader ginsburg defined it, she defined it arguing to the case. that was the argument argue all along. i can't make arguments looking at defenses plaintiff arguing about something. when i see that i will make determination about that argument. that is what a judge supposed to do. howard: lindsey graham voted for her as appeals court judge that was then. different game. media focuses on the republicans top issue at the hearing, judge's child porn decisions. his future became my focus. lavender baths always calmed him. so we turned bath time into a business.

♪ and building it with my son has been my dream job. ♪ at northwestern mutual, our version of financial planning helps you live your dreams today. find a northwestern mutual advisor at nm.com out here, you're more than just a landowner. planning helps you liv you're a gardener.. a landscaper. a hunter. because you didn't settle for ordinary. same goes for your equipment. versatile, powerful, durable kubota equipment. more goes into it. so you get more out of it.

get ready for next level entertainment. apple tv+ is now on xfinity. howdy y'all. with new apple original series and movies added every month... ...there's always something new to discover. and right now, you can get 3 months of apple tv+ free when you sign up. just say “try apple tv+” to get started. it's a movement. with xfinity, it's a way better way to watch. when it comes to cybersecurity,

the biggest threats don't always strike the biggest targets. so help safeguard your small business with comcast business securityedge™. it's advanced security that continuously scans for threats and helps protect every connected device. on the largest, fastest, reliable network with speeds up to 10 gigs to the most small businesses. so you can be ready for what's next. get started with internet and voice for $64.99 a month. and ask how to add securityedge™. or, ask how to get up to an $800 prepaid card.

♪. howard: what has train the most media coverage from the senate hearings, focus, led by republican senator josh hawley on ketanji brown jackson's sentencing of child porn defendants. >> having a hard time wrapping my head around it. talking about eight-year-olds nine-year-olds, 11-year-olds, 12-year-olds, he has images of these the government said added up to over 600 images. >> it is heinous. it is egregious. what a judge has to do is determine how to sentence defendants proportionately. howard: susan, judge jackson's 10 sentences in these chide porn cases getting enormous media coverage. of course it is fair game. andy mccarthy, doesn't support jackson, wrote in "national review" this was a misleading smear.

what do you think? >> that is because many other judges also sentenced below those guidelines including republican appoint judges. so, and the supreme court doesn't do any sentencing. so you could say why ask about that? on the other side of that issue republicans say that knowing whether she is soft on crime is an important thing to consider when deciding whether you want to vote for a supreme court nominee. crime is a huge issue in this country right now. we talk about it all the time. we do stories on it all the time, rising crime and about d.a.s, and police going soft on crime in big cities affecting daily lives and hurting people. in new york city, for example, it is a really huge issue. i think it is absolutely fair game that republicans would pour through her record to look for something that might show her as a weakness on the high court. i think this issue, especially heinous issue of child

pornography, not just some kind of victimless crime because it was just viewing images. the only reason why child porn continues to exist because people are up loading those images. it is just absolutely -- howard: creating a market for it. >> so very serious issue. howard: let me get to richard. i thought jackson's response was one case by senator hawley. 18-year-old kid, she sentenced to three months for poe testing, downloading many hours involving young kids. when the prosecutor's recommendation was two years. she also said these were terrible crimes she wrestled with. >> she did. every time i have one of these individuals in front of my court i make sure tell them about the victim's statement, how the victim felt. victims are agoraphobic, didn't want to go outside. she laid out with a couple markers. i agree with susan the argument didn't seem to play very well, we all can agree the politics of child pornography and congress

passing bills and federal guidelines how sentence something done is murky and outdated. it is not just the job of the supreme court justice to make determinations of that. she is not running for d.a. or police or sheriff. being appointed to the highest court on the land doesn't deal with criminal cases. howard: those responses get lost. ketanji brown jackson has 50 democratic votes already. does that drain the drama from the hearing? >> absolutely t was a foregone conclusion. it would be unusual for manchin or any democrat to vote against a nominee. almost never happens in history. i agree with that. >> i hope republicans will vote for her, look at record. one of the few justices sat on the defense side in a courtroom. that is a big deal comes with our justice system. howard: life experience argument. thank you very much for joining us. that is it for this edition of media buzz. i'm howard kurtz. check out the facebook page. we post columns. check out the twitter.

media buzz meter. we look at the buzziest stories each day. subscribe at apple itunes, google podcast or on your amazon device. queer in a zone we're trying to bring you the best, latest coverage of the war and look at the media's role every single sunday dealing with other issues as well. on that note we'll see you next sunday with the latest buzz. time for ache and burn! over the counter eye drops typically work by lubricating your eyes and may provide temporary relief. those'll probably pass by me! xiidra works differently, targeting inflammation that can cause dry eye disease. xiidra? no! it can provide lasting relief. xiidra is the only fda-approved non-steroid eye drop specifically for the signs and symptoms of dry eye disease. one drop in each eye, twice a day. don't use if you're allergic to xiidra. common side effects, include eye irritation, discomfort or blurred vision when applied to the eye, and unusual taste sensation. don't touch container tip to your eye or any surface. after using xiidra, wait fifteen minutes before reinserting contacts.

talk to an eye doctor about xiidra. i prefer you didn't. xiidra. not today, dry eye. are you taking a statin drug to reduce cholesterol? i prefer you didn't. it can also deplete your coq10 levels. i recommend considering qunol coq10 along with your statin medication. the brand i trust is qunol. ♪ well the sun is shining and the grass is green ♪ ♪ i'm way ahead of schedule with my trusty team ♪ ♪ there's heather on the hedges ♪ ♪ and kenny on the koi ♪ ♪ and your truck's been demolished by the peterson boy ♪ ♪ yes -- ♪ wait, what was that? timber... [ sighs heavily ] when owning a small business gets real, progressive helps protect what you've built with affordable coverage. ♪ hey! some people are made of plastic ♪ progressive helps protect what you've built ♪ and you know, some people are made of wood ♪

♪ ahh! ♪ ♪ but baby, i'm for real ♪ ♪ i'm as real, as real can get ♪ ♪ ha! what you see (what you see) ♪ ♪ is what you get ♪ i don't just play someone brainy on tv - i'm an actual neuroscientist. and i love the science behind neuriva plus. unlike ordinary memory supplements, neuriva plus fuels six key indicators of brain performance.

more brain performance? yes, please! neuriva. think bigger. ♪. trace: ukraine's president lashing out at western leaders. he says they're afraid to give him fighter jets and tanks he needs. as russian missiles pummel his city, sparking huge fires at a fuel depot in the western refuge of lviv, which is 50 miles from the polish border. poland of course is a nato ally. good day, everyone, i'm trace gallagher. this is "fox news live." this is day 32 of vladmir putin's brutal invasion.