>> >> the old strategy, hunter biden lying low as media conservatives kept talking alaska the misdeeds and the rest of the press minimize the story. the new strategy first leaked to the washington post, hunter bind's lawyers sending out a bunch of blistering letters and media liberals suddenly interested on his going on the offensive. the president's son that remains under criminal investigation may not get a thing but he's fighting a pr war now. in sharp contrast to the low key white house approach. hunter's new lawyer quickly gave the letters to other news outlets is asking federal state

prosecutors to start probing those with access to his laptop and use it to pedal stories to the press. this is the same laptop that hunter left in a delaware repair shop. the same laptop that prompted twitter to block distribution of the new york post scoop on its existence. the same laptop that much of the media once dismissed as russian disinformation. i doubt hunter biden's request for information will go anywhere but he's making himself a bigger story and a bigger media target. i'm howard kurtz and this is media gleet buzz. howard: we'll look at what's fueled the media uproar over the chinese spy balloon that spy jets shot down yesterday. it was instantaneous after the washington post had hard hitting faze for hunter biden.

>> it's his laptop, which we've been telling people for more than two >> this is the first time hunter biden said, okay, it was my laptop, essentially; right? >> hunter came out last night and said, daddy, they stole my laptop. he demanded daddy's justice department arrest anyone who got their paws on it. >> the best defense is a good offense, but it's not really going to protect him from the justice department if they see fit to indict him. >> nothing i've seen in the stories about any of this suggests any of it had to do with his father. what is the end game other than humiliating the president's son? howard: hunter's lawyer said they're raising possibility of defamation suit if they didn't stop the criticism. >> in other words we believe the government should send these people to jail for possessing stolen property that belonged to hunter biden.

it's a novel legal theory actually. it's so novel, it's totally incoherent and like prosecutes someone for stealing your imaginary car. >> joining us to analyze the coverage. robbie soave and in new york, the political reporter and fox news contributor. robbie, everyone in the media, not just the right is covering hunter biden. is that kind of heightened scrutiny of double-edged sword for the president's son? >> the barbara streisand effect and trying to silence coverage of something and call attention to it. that was the problem with the new york post story and twitter's clumsy attempts to stop from reading it made people access it and more stories about what they'd done. the bottom line here is this actually is this strategy is a threat to freedom of the press. hunter biden is going after the

press like tucker carlson on this show and there should be mainstream coverage about that and imagine if the trump children were trying to sue orlikowski threatening lawsuits to shield themselves from criticism from liberal gouramies, that would be mainstream coverage, why isn't this? howard: his lawyer abby lowell around washington forever and very aggressive. influence peddler and at the same time the mainstream media are covering the news strategy, can that backfire into constant coverage of his problems? >> i think this will have very little effect on the way the story is covered. it'll continue to be covered like white on rice from conservative media. less so from what you might want toe call mine stream media, and i don't think it's going to matter in the end, but i agree he has a new lawyer and abby lowell is skilled and aggressive and they wanted to decide to

punch back. will there be any difference in the outcomes and the investigations will continue and the amount of coverage the conservative media gives this will continue as is. i think in the end there's very little effect and he wanted to get something new and he'll see what happens. >> also i think his team wanted him to get out ahead of the republican house hearings that will start next week. >> they'll happen, yes. >> this does confirm this is his happen top and any amount of spin isn't going to change that and his lawyers tried to walk it back realizing what they'd done and oh, no, no. might be and might not. depending on what's on there. the new york times and washington post, a year and a half later, confirmed the authenticity and raising concerns because people can say what they want and the legal threats might be viewed

differently. if it wasn't coming from prison? >> absolutely. imagine, look, if you want to claim the laptop was literally stolen, even though the story is that it was abandoned or left behind at the repair store. howard: if you didn't claim it in 90 days, you abandoned it. >> that doesn't -- the coverage then, the reporting on it, it's like a whistle blower scenario. you don't go after the people that report the information once they get it unless there was a criminal matter and they participated to get the information otherwise you get information like this and you're supposed to report it and he's trying to silence that and that's very bad. that was a creative dance by the way to try and say this wasn't, we're going after it but not saying it is the laptop. >> might be but can't say for sure. >> what do you think angler this point if it poses a threat or chilling atmosphere for freedom of the press seeing all though at different times new york post in 2020, washington post, new york times and a bunch of others a year and a half later, there's been a lot of reporting on this

laptop from hell. >> look nobody likes their press coverage when you're a public figure. howard: he sue add few people. >> yeah, two people. howard: bob woodward for $49 million over the audio tapes. >> is that a chilling effect on free speech? i think donald trump is a much bigger and more powerful figure than hunter biden. >> it is but it's been covered in the mainstream is the difference whereas where will be the mainstream denunciation of what the biden family, what hunter biden is doing here against freedom of the press. that's the difference. it's interesting, hunter biden want this is out and very little on msnbc. he want it is out. are you feeling like there's still a sort of protective gloss where many in the press say,

well, you know, he's had a lot of problems, he's a drug addict and trying to kick it. yeah, he shouldn't have been trying to get contracts with the chinese and ukraine when he has know experience in those areas 6789 you don't think this has changed the equation that much? >> they don't want to cover it because they're embarrassed by the fact that their initial react to so many people in progressive and mainstream media was to say this was a russian interference suggest maybe the laptop didn't exist and i'm thinking the repairman, is he an actor and never made any sense to think the laptop itself, you could think the implications weren't important but that that was planted by russia and never made any sense and should be embarrassed. >> among those are rudy giuliani and they got letters like that too and there's a lot of investigation by this and this investigation into hunter biden dragged on roughly forever and i think that u.s. attorney of delaware should charge him or not charge him. >> that's going to happen and then you'll have all the house

investigations. we can argument about how much coverage every type of media is giving this story and whether it's enough or not and that's always in the eye of the beholder but you play add lot of clips from mainstream media talking about this story. never enough for conservative media for which it's above the fold every day. >> let me switch to the continuing revelations about classified documents. cbs news told us about documents that were found. play it. >> fbi also went to that location after those documents were first found on november 2, they went in mid november and conducting a search. this is an fbi search of the penn biden acceptabilitier. center. we did not know about this before. howard: robby, why wouldn't the

biden white house want it to be public that the fbi, after being notified by the president's team, came in and ran that semper, supervised that search, of the penn biden center here in washington? because there's been weeks and weeks and weeks of criticism about how this is a double standard and fbi raided mar-a-lago and what about bide and we find out about this yet again from a news organization. >> yeah, the biden administration has been caught flat footed here given how -- howard: how many times has it happened? >> yeah, the non-hypocritical way to address this is admit, look, everyone seems to be very easy to have classified documents in your possession and i expect the deep state of the federal bureaucracy overclassifies everything to shield itself from accountability and i'm more outrage that had tons of information is being with knee jerk kept from the american

people and don't want you to hear about it and to me is the bigger story. i don't care he had a box and they all did. that's why people should be more upset about it. howard: joe biden and mike pence has changed the media debate and everybody now says, yeah, what's stopping them? >> drains the politics out of it. look who broke the latest piece of news, it's cbs. howard: i can't understand, i mean, by saying nothing about this and this happened back in november, even while proclaiming we're transparent and will answer your questions and refer you to the justice department on that, the biden team doesn't even get information that can be spun as favorable to its side and in other words he wasn't neglected by the fbi and felt he needs to come in. i can't understand that. >> look, a lot of democrats can't either and that's why democrats are so exasperated and pulling their hair out about this and a lot of missteps and communication strategies have been unnecessarily opaque.

howard: you say opaque and i say stone walling and comes out anyway and extends the life of the story. george santos secret tape in his office and now a allegation of sexual harassment. that's next. ♪ i heard about the payroll tax refund that allowed us to keep the people that have been here taking care of us. learn more at getrefunds.com. (cecily) what's up, einstein? (einstein) my network went into a black hole! (cecily) switch to verizon! and get a new iphone 14 pro, and apple watch on them. (vo) yep! right now, get iphone 14 pro, and apple watch se, on us. that's a value of up to $1200! verizon sometimes you're so busy taking care of everyone else you don't do enough for yourself, or your mouth. but eventually, it will remind you. when it does, aspen dental is here for you.

we offer the custom dental treatments you need, all under one roof, right nearby. so we can bring more life to your smile... and more smile to your life... affordably. new patients without insurance can get a free complete exam and x-rays, and 20 percent off treatment plans. schedule your appointment today. you see, son, with a little elbow grease, you can do just about anything. thanks, dad. that's right, robert. and it's never too early to learn you could save with america's number one motorcycle insurer. that's right, jamie. but it's not just about savings. it's about the friends we make along the way. you said it, flo. and don't forget to floss before you brush. your gums will thank you. -that's right, dr. gary. -jamie? sorry, i had another thought so i got back in line. what was it? [ sighs ] i can't remember.

howard: george santos giving the media fresh lies and stepped aside from the media assignments and told reporters the move was appropriate and an interview with oan was testation why he didn't display any remorse. >> prevailing opinion, you've not yet shown that.

>> i don't know what you mean by that because i have shown -- >> you seem angry. you seem angry. >> i'm not angry. i'm not angry at all. >> are you sorry? >> i've said i was sorry many times. >> if you actually were capable of being muay milluated, which seems unlikely -- humiliated, which seems unlikely because you seem incapable of showing shame. >> you lied about your pans being holocast survivors and lied about your names and businesses and this isn't about i accidently misspoke about what year i graduated. >> as i said -- howard: as i said, robby, santos thinks he made deep, heart felt apology when he hasn't. >> the deep heart felt apologies, what do you want to say at this point? does he belong in congress? no, i think everyone kind of agree withs that. howard: you know who agree withs that? new news day poll, seven out of ten republicans in his long island district want him to resign.

that was probably his best augment of people that elected him. go ahead. >> the story is very interesting. i understand why it's very interesting. everyone is colorful. howard: you can't keep track anymore. >> i don't know what the newest wrestle. he was accuse -- wrinkle. he was accused of making a sexual advance on a staffer for sure. howard: we'll get to that. he told perspective donors he was a producer on the play spiderman, which was completely and totally knocked down. why would you pick the biggest flop in >> i believe that was troubled and people got hurt? howard: yeah, $60 million and people got hurt. >> the distinguishing thing is the lies he told and they're outlandish and brazen and colorful and members of congress lie all the time. there's been a lot of resume inflating in congress. howard: this is more than resume inflating and get mara in. santos was taking himself off the two committees and mccarthy call that had appropriate. isn't that fair for the press to presume that mccarthy pushed him and said you can lose and say

it's your idea? >> yes. but first of all there's a wide open lane for santos defenders. we haven't heard any recently. but, you know, kevin mccarthy and the republican leadership in the house doesn't want to urge this guy to resign because the seat might go to a democrat. that's the bigger political picture here. now you have seven out of ten of his own constituents in a poll, not an election, saying he should resign. howard: that's just republicans, democrats are even higher. >> just republicans, but what you haven't seen is any kind of public push or shove from the republican leadership because their margin of -- their majority in the house is so tiny. they need hip. howard: yeah, they do need him because of razor-thin margin and george was secretly recorded in his office by a guy that was a volunteer and seeking a job on the staff named derrick meyers and gave the audio to the liberal side talking point memo and they talked about where they got their bo tocks and a whole bun -- botox and a whole bunch

of things but here's what he said. >> this is a way to judge me. why were you mad at me and it's a video of me complaining about the judgment call quite frankly. that's all it is. i made that judgment call and i am reaping the con generalses. i've always [ bleep ] and lied to him like everyone else. howard: lied to a top staff member. robby, now meyers has file add house ethics committee complaint saying santos invited him to karaoke, touched his groin assuring him his husband -- santos'husband was out of town and that's taking a quick, serious turn. >> sure, this individual recorded santos without his knowledge. he seems to have a history of that. i would describe that as slightly disturbed behavior and it's his first week and already has the recorder ready to go.

there's plenty of george santos to resign over prior to this. this is not necessary to prove this one out. in my position. howard: i'm sort of on robby's side here, the guy derrick meyers was joking about of course i'm not recording you and santos said, well, you noisy recordings, you could face 5 to 7 years in jail if you do. turns out he was recording him and his credibility in this complaint might be terrible cold suspect margin. >> the thing that struck me about that recording, i lied to him like i lied to everyone else. that's just -- it's really tragic. it's almost pathological. it's almost like a cry for help or something. this is one of the you couldn't make it up stories. howard: it would make a great netflix stories and goes on and on and on. >> the texting with don lemon suggests he enjoys the media circus. howard: don lemon and beyond

that, he was getting the most attention he's ever gotten in his life and don't have the fbi in that case and disabled research who's dying therapy dog, he was raising about $3,000, he claims santos made off with that money and have the feds involved in that. also a new treasurer he had to name and the new person said, i never agreed to be treasurer. i keep track of these for a living and it's really hard for me. >> look, i understand the real -- the reality of the politics is they need the seat, but there's just nothing to do but call for him to resign. it's too much stuff. what do you want me to say. no way someone like this ever made a risk. >> there's a little other media story, the fact that only a -- howard: the new york times or other media outlets flagged t

this. thank you very much. the saga of the chinese spy balloon and the media pressure to shoot it down. ♪ ow, mid 30s, couple of kids, recently went through a divorce. she had a lot of questions when she came in. i watched my mother go through being a single mom. at the end of the day, my mom raised three children, including myself. and so once the client knew that she was heard. we were able to help her move forward. your client won't care how much you know until they know how much you care. [ coughing/sneezing ] [ door knocking ] dude, you coming? because the only thing dripping should be your style! plop plop fizz fizz, with alka-seltzer plus cold & flu relief.

also try for fizzy fast cough relief! you're in a hurry. i'm off to america's best i heard what you said about not overpaying for glasses. two pairs and a free, quality eye exam starting at just $79.95? the exam alone is worth... 59 bucks. i mean, people deserve breaks, right? yeah, brakes...! [out of control] book an exam today at americasbest.com. - fellow elites. now that we've made travel so ridiculously expensive, we can enjoy this hotel without all the filthy normals littering this place with their mindless frivolity. [laughter] [water splashes] - how'd you get here? - kayak! - huh? they compared hundreds of travel sites to find a great deal on my flight, car and hotel. - i guess we'll just have to eat him. - yuck. you do it. - kayak. search one and done.

you didn't live this strong, this long to get put on the shelf like a porcelain doll. but one out of two women over 50 will suffer a fracture from osteoporosis. you should know you can build new bone with evenity® for postmenopausal women with osteoporosis at high risk for fracture. ask your doctor if you can do more than just slowing down bone loss with evenity®. want stronger bones? then build new bone; evenity® can help in just 12 months. evenity® is proven to reduce spine fracture risk by 73%. evenity® can increase risk of heart attack, stroke, or death from a cardiovascular problem. do not take evenity® if you have low blood calcium, or are allergic to it.

serious allergic reactions and low blood calcium have occurred. tell your doctor about jaw bone problems, as they have been reported with evenity®. or about pain in your hip, groin or thigh, as unusual thigh bone fractures have occurred. don't let a break put you on a shelf. talk to your doctor about building new bone with evenity®! howard: after days of intense coverage, the u.s. military took action using miss toll blow up the chinese spy balloon off the coast of south carolina fox news capture that had live yesterday and trying to de-cover the debris from the add leeanne tick and president biden addressed only -- atlantic and president biden addressed briefly. >> on wednesday, when i was briefed on the balloon, i ordered the pentagon to shoot it down on wednesday as soon as possible. they decided they didn't want to impose damage to anyone on the ground. they decided the best time to do that was when it got over the

water [inaudible]. howard: joining us now is mike emmanuel and the fox correspondent anchoring with this happened and it's typical of the non-flamboyant president, days of international controversy and does it in a few words of a press gaggle rather than make ago bigger deal. the media reverted biden's a wimp and caving to china and not shoot it down now and is that why he emphasized he gave the order to shoot it down on wednesday? >> struck me he was trying to look very commander in chiefy where he said i gave the order and it was up to the pentagon and exact timing, but i took action, swift action and give me a break. basically i issued the order a few days ago and they waited till saturday when it was safer. howard: right, you know, certainly was a strong argument that shooting it down might have harmed people on the ground and wait till it's over the water and media criticism on the right has immediately shifted to well, he should have done it sooner and let the balloon fly over the

continental u.s. and biden followed military advice and the white house spin is that u.s. gathered intel on this balloon as it drifted from the west to east and also that it wasn't getting anything that wouldn't be seen by spy satellites that all countries use. >> taking the other side, if questioning that local media noticed it in montana and whether we'd have heard about it at all and whether they'd tell us. there's a lot of people asking could it have been shot down over rural parts of alaska and there'll be a lot of debate about that and i'll expect classified briefings on the hill to let some of the lawmakers know what they knew about it and when they knew what was going on with it. yeah, there's lots of questions about whether he was too slow and whether this crippled the american government for about a week as it was flying over our country. country. howard: you anticipated my next question because had it not been for the fact it was visible in montana and local media reports based on the shots, maybe they

wouldn't have disclosessed it. they certainly chose not to in the beginning but we're learning now the pentagon itself on the web side said there's been up to 20-30 of these spy balloons in the last few years, three of them under president trump they were very quick to point out who said he would have shot it down immediately. you also have conflicting advice or arguments between the white house and pentagon about what's the safest way to do something. >> our league lucas tomlinson said in hawaii there was a similar balloon that came near huhs and went with down -- us and went down. jibe crashed off the coast of hawaii. >> yeah. so this seems to be a repeated pattern but this got the most attention as it flew over the vast majority of the united states and there'll be a lot of questions asked by the press koenen and lawmakers to get to the bottom and there's concerns when there's a foreign object flying over the country for about a week. howard: absolute violation of

u.s. sovereignty. i don't know why the chinese did this and ended up with secretary of state blinken canceling his planned trip to beijing and it makes me wonder, why -- everybody was like oh my god, look at this. could be in my state and over my house but we didn't know about them before or why they're use add lot more to come out here. mike emmanuel, thanks as always. >> have to ask good question this is week. thank you, howard. howard: some media members want to move on from donald trump and too frightened to criticize him and will the former president face charges involving stormny face charges involving stormny daniels? stormy daniels?help ♪

this free beneficiary planner. and it's yours free just for calling. so call now for free information.

♪ this feels so right... ♪ adt systems now feature google products like the nest cam with floodlight, with intelligent alerts when a person or familiar face is detected. sam. sophie's not here tonight. so you have a home with no worries. brought to you by adt. howard: donald trump is the subject of multiple investigations but the one case that's gone to a grand jury involves stormy daniels, the one time porn star paid hush money

at the end of the 2016 campaign and michael cohen went to prison after a guilty plea. she was supposed to not tell the press in exchange that she had a brief affair with trump, which the former president denies. seriously, after massing on prosecution earlier, what is the manhattan da going to charge him with? >> trump legal fatigue, he has all these investigations going on. i got to be honest, when i heard stormy daniels today, i was like you got to be kidding. >> everyone is waiting and looking for someone else to deal with donald trump. >> now there's stormy daniels? i mean, really? don't you think the republicans would want someone like a fresh face who isn't completely overwhelmed with legal drama. howard: meanwhile the atlantic mckay said most republican leereds anonymously privately wish trump would go away and too whimpy to say so publicly.

>> one said it's actuary arbitrage and spoke to many republicans that would put on the red hat and campaign for trump and go up on stage with him and the next day say i can't wait for this guy to die. that's a direct quote. howard: joining us now, g gayle trotter and kevin corke. what about the unnamed republicans that want to move on from trump in 2024 but they're afraid to say so. how much coverage should is get if they're not willing to say it on the record? >> that's a good point. in the article they say these republicans don't have any prospected or strategy -- prospect or strategy to take trump down but the irony is you could write an article with this about the democrats and biden, we're seeing the same thing on that side of the aisle and we're not seeing reporting about that. howard: since you mention that, does the washington post abc poll out today saying that 58% of democrats wish for a nominee other than joe biden and 49% of

republicans wishing for a nominee other than donald trump. kevin, there is this on the record quote from former congressman peter meijer who talks about, i don't agree with this but people are telling me they wish trump would keel over. that's grewsome and i don't knoi don't know if i -- gruesome i don't know if i would have published that . >> yeah, if you play too hard one way or the other, it making people ignore what you have to say. there is, howie, this idea that unless there's a better alternative, donald trump is going to be the party standard bear. people will talk about ron desantis all they want but unless and until there's a head-to-head where he can prove vieability to the -- viability that he can beat donald trump, he'll be the party's standard bearer. howard: there's a media assumption that basically someone's -- he's very vulnerable to being knocked off and of course he's still the front runner and leads me to the next question to gayle, it's hard to imagine all the things donald trump has been accused of

and often without any charges being filed, that the stormy daniels case is the one that would result in criminal charges. but how do you avoid covering when the manhattan district attorney that passed on it some time ago is actually taking destiny before a grand jury about this? >> time will tell whether or not this was yesterday's news that was recycled and as you know, how wee u since 20 -- howie, the media reported that the walls are closing in on donald trump and in this case even the new york times article on this acknowledged the legal theory behind charging him is t tenuous and untried and we don't even know if he's going to be charged with anything, and more importantly even if he were to be charged in this case, are the prosecutors actually going to be able to prove their case? we know that with stormy daniels, she had a civil case against trump that was dismissed in 2019 and we remember who stormny daniel's lawyer was,

michael avenatti and he's in prison now. howard: this would make getting al capone on tax evasion very serious. not to completely dismiss it but seems of all the things january 6, you can go through the list, this would be the thing that would go to a grand jury and wonder if there were charges brought by manhattan da alvin bragg whether or not that would make the maga base rally behind donald trump as an unfair victim as a new york producer? >> you couldn't have said it better, howie, it's a perfect example of the dog pile if you will. people feel like the hits keep on coming and can't lay a real glove on donald trump. remember this as well and i think gayle pointed this out very jointly, the walls are closing in and, look, we know you get can indict a ham sandwich and doesn't necessarily mean that this is going to amount to a mole hill or

mountain. i don't see where this goes or why they'd pursue this to me as curious. >> this is after $40 million of taxpayer money that was spent trying to find ever -- yes, that showed no obstruction or collusion. howard: let me jump in here because nikki haley in about ten days will become the first declared challenger to tram and trump posted links to stories that she's a warmonger and neocon nikki and promised not to run against him after the election. what kind of media reception her announcement or p perspective announcement is get something >> too much so because nikki haley is free to run and donald trump is free to criticize and candidates criticize opponents and people make decisions and it's getting way too much coverage. howard: why? this is the first challenger to say i'm going to run while everybody else is hanging back? >> they're acting like it's something unusual like it's beyond the pale that nikki haley

would break her promise and donald trump would criticize her. we see that all the time, even with kamala harris being joe biden's vice president and how much did they get competing for the primary? howard: you teased me for the next segment and many media liberals like nikki haley because she's a woman of color and when she was south carolina governor, she took down the confederate flag from state property and that was a huge batted battle for her to fight. we're talking about republican primary against donald trump and possibly others and she needs hard core republicans and libs might like her won't do her any good initially. >> no question about that . i feel like this is sort of a veep stakes and i don't want to denigrate the ambassador, she's tremendously intelligent and a viable candidate in her own right, but i think this is more or less a veep stakes run to see what, if anything, can come from the partnership with trump or desantis. desantis. howard: one thing making republicans nervous is when donald trump was on a radio show, he was asked would you

place to support the nominee and the first debate in 2015 and he said it depends. lot of people are interpreting that as whe well, he could run n dependent and sink the republican nominee. he's not saying that but he has that on reserve given the following he has. after the break, the mainstream media down on kamala harris saying many democrats are nervous about her potentially running for president. ♪ i'm your glitchy wi-fi which means your smart home isn't so smart. sprinkler on. and now i'm sending mixed signals... to your garage. but, if you haven't bundled your home and auto, unpacking this isn't going to be too much fun. so get allstate. introducing astepro allergy. now available without a prescription. astepro is the first and only 24-hour steroid-free spray. while flonase takes hours, astepro starts working in 30 minutes. so you can [ spray, spray ] astepro and go.

♪ we all have a purpose in life - a “why.” maybe it's perfecting that special place that you want to keep in the family... ...or passing down the family business... ...or giving back to the places that inspire you. no matter your purpose, at pnc private bank, we will work with you every step of the way to help you achieve it. so let us focus on the how. just tell us - what's your why? ♪ (torstein vo) when you really philosophize about it,

there's only one thing you don't have enough of. time is the only truly scarce commodity. when you come to that realization, i think it's very important that you spend your time wisely. and what better way of spending time than traveling, continuing to educate ourselves and broaden our minds? (woman vo) viking. exploring the world in comfort. living with metastatic breast cancer

means i cherish my memories. but i don't just look back on them, i look forward to the chance to make new ones every day with verzenio. verzenio is proven to help you live significantly longer when taken with fulvestrant. verzenio + fulvestrant is for hr+, her2- metastatic breast cancer that has progressed after hormone therapy. diarrhea is common, may be severe, or cause dehydration or infection. at the first sign, call your doctor, start an antidiarrheal, and drink fluids. before taking verzenio, tell your doctor about any fever, chills, or other signs of infection. verzenio may cause low white blood cell counts, which may cause serious infection that can lead to death. life-threatening lung inflammation can occur. tell your doctor about any new or worsening trouble breathing, cough, or chest pain. serious liver problems can happen. symptoms include fatigue, appetite loss, stomach pain, and bleeding or bruising. blood clots that can lead to death have occurred. tell your doctor if you have pain or swelling in your arms or legs, shortness of breath, chest pain and rapid breathing or heart rate or if you are nursing, pregnant, or plan to be. i'm making future memories every day with verzenio. ask your doctor about everyday verzenio.

howard: the what's post has a harsh piece on kamala harris saying if joe biden doesn't run, that many rank and file democrats are unpersuaded she has the force, charisma and skill to mount a winning presidential campaign. >> reporter asked, could kamala be president? the democrats said, i like her as a person, love that she's a black woman, but no way jose. >> kamala is not a viable option and if she's not the nominee in '24, by democrat's own standards, she'd be the vice president and it would be racist and sexist. howard: kevin corke, the underlying theme is that many democrats would love to see a black woman run for president but think this would be a lousy candidate. >> i'm sure if it was michelle obama but we've talked about this on many occasions, she just hates that sort of thing so i'm not sure they'll be able to

convince her to run. if she did run, that would be the way to go, but the vice president for all of her faults and her skill, such as it is, i do believe all democrats, most democrats believe is not the way to go in 2024. howard: gayle trotter, is it possible to debate whether kamala harris is a good communicator or good candidate without getting drawn into a media brawl about her race and gender? >> absolutely because who's accuses her of the problems? looking at washington post article it quotes a dozen democrats saying she's underwhelming and problems as a communicator and coming from the party themselves and the problem for democrats is that kamala harris is a weak candidate. that article also said something about a george democrat saying everybody's ready to pounce on her and they're trying to look for her missteps and gaffes but the problem is that's what politics is about. they're looking for that and kamala for whatever reason is

prone to these missteps and gaffes all the time. howard: kevin, we've seen many pieces like this before and they die down when joe biden's numbers improve and democrats do better in the midterms and got a lot of legislation passed and she seems to have less turnover on her staff but there seems to be a knee-jerk reaction from her defenders that, oh, she's treated differently because we've never had a vice president that looks like this. >> you know, i've heard that, howie, i've heard that 23409 just in the prez but people i talked to. i don't know they buy that and i'll tell you why. barack obama, listen, we've seen in recent history that if you are someone who is charismatic, someone that has an idea of what you want to run on and how you want to lead, people can or they can choose to or choose not to rally behind you. i think she is awkward in her speaking manner and style. can she be trained out of it? at this late date, i don't think so and i'm not so sure democrats think so either.

howard: well, barack obama is a good example given what happened in 2008. gayle, people forget journalists gloss over her 2020 campaign, kamala harris, including her state of california, just imploded. she never made it to the early primaries so it's not like the media haven't criticized her as a political player before. >> that's right. i think with the washington post article, you're going to see more of that because there was this politico piece talking about the midterms and how that freed her up to be a normal vice president -- howard: right so she doesn't have to be the tie breaker. >> exactly. they're trying to tee her up to give her a second chance but the democrats realize how weak she is but they don't want to be hoist by their on p ideas and sy race and sex is what reigns leading moving her from their own position even show they'd prefer someone else be the vice president for the 2024 run. howard: kevin, it seems to me

when you look at her, she's probably not going to end up running because probably joe biden will be the nominee and she'll be on the ticket. biden says he's going to run, there's talk about announcement sometime after the state of the union and his numbers aren't great but they've improved. i wonder why we in the press spend so much time on the 2024 presidential election. is it because there's a lot more interesting than another round of endless stories about the debt ceiling whether kevin mccarthy and joe biden can get along long enough to keep the country out of default? >> ladies and gentlemen, you have your answer. not it right out of the park there, howie. let's be honest, this is a lot more interesting than what we're seeing going on right now, sort of the drone of washington, if you will. i think what will be interesting is trying to figure out what, if anything, the democrats can do to lift up joe biden because while his numbers are improved, they are still under water and no one, and i mean almost no one thought that this octogenarian would be running for president

again in 2024. thought this was going to be a set up for kamala. doesn't look like this is the going to play out that way. can they get him over the finish line is the real question. howard: both candidates are not necessarily winning by acclamation and i mentioned the poll earlier. do you agree with the notion that we're covering this because it's more fun than other business of government? >> i think kevin has an excellent point, and where there's personal drama, i think that's where people really relate to and numbers are a bit less interesting and tax policy is a little less inter interestd certainly when there's the friction that the media is driving home, that make it is way nor interesting.ing. howard: i try to make tax policy interesting but it's hard. you guys made it interesting. kevin gagle, thank you. tom brady retires and insists he's not changing his mind. was he too distracted by personal and business problems?s ji ym gray is on deck.

i'm bill lockwood, current caretaker and owner. when covid hit, we had some challenges like a lot of businesses did. i heard about the payroll tax refund, it allowed us to keep the amount of people that we needed and the people that have been here taking care of us. see if your business may qualify. go to getrefunds.com. pain hits fast. so get relief fast. only tylenol rapid release gels have laser drilled holes. they release medicine fast for fast pain relief. and now get relief without a pill with tylenol dissolve packs. relief without the water. >> woman: why did we choose safelite? >> vo: driving around is how we get our baby to sleep, so when our windshield cracked, we trusted the experts. they focus on our safety... so we can focus on this little guy. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ when aspen dental told me that my dentures were ready,

i was so excited. i love the confidence. i love that i can blast this beautiful smile and make the world smile with me. i would totally say aspen dental changed my life. aspen dental makes new smiles affordable. right now, get 20% off dentures. we do anything to make you smile.

>> i'm retiring, for good. won't be long winded. you only get one super emotional retirement essay, and i used mine up last year. howard: joining us now from los angeles, jim gray, the veteran fox sport casters and cohosted a sirius xm show with brady for years. he got a little testy with you on the radio show dropping a couple f bombs when you pressed him about his thinking of retirement. what struck you about making up his mind a few dais later? >> well, it was about ten days later. i just think he was taking it day-to-day and decided this is what he wanted to do. howie, it's just time. he wanted to play till he was 45. he won seven super bowls and

played in ten super bowls and owns every conceivable significant statistical record for a quarterback in the history of the national football league so it's just time. it gets harder to do as the years go on, and this year there was a lot of personal trauma obviously, and at 45 years of age, you're getting hit by guy who is are half your age, it's hard to do. he's proven everything so it's just time. howard: right. he did lose that last playoff game with the tampa bay bucs but what else does he have to prove? the answer is nothing. sally jenkins said in a column that brady is physically capable of playing at 45 after all he maid the playoffs this year and there were distractions that took away his focus. missed 11 days of training camp and found out it had to do with the dissolution of his marriage and lawsuit over his now backing of infamous crypto firm ftx. do you agree he lost some of his maniacal focus on football?

>> anybody that goes through a personal trauma like that is affected, doesn't matter what your job .s i'm sure it's a very difficult, personal time for him. he was very professional and still the first one in the building and the last to leave. he threw a completion record in the national football league, 490 completions, the most ever and he led his team, even though with a losing record to a divisional title so, you know, yes, obviously there were some things that were going on off the field that obviously would put anybody's mind in a different place but i don't think it had a major impact at all on his performance. look, the team was decimated by injuries and the offensive line lost four guys that were very, very important and the defense was atrocious and quite frankly, you know, there wasn't enough to win. yes, it's easy to winter storm now but to this going on all year. howard: it is a team support. the media con ken suspended ands is tom bray -- consensus is tom brady, maybe the greatest football player of all time, not just quarterback. but to do that you have to be constantly training and watching your diet and putting your bowed

i did -- body through a pounding and maybe the census that the season afters little less enjoyable than the past one s? >> when your own goal is to win a super bowl, any of the other times and he played for 23 years, howie, 23 years and with 48 playoff games, that's another three seasons so he just completed his 26th season. he won seven times, that's more than a quarter of the times so all of those other times, guess what, it was dissatisfying and he was unhappy because he was maniacal in his pursuit to win and that's all that mattered. howard: didn't reach that goal of winning the championship and super bowl, it was disappointing and now he gets to be a ken polcommentator for fox sports fa mere $376,000 a year. ask for a raise. >> both of us, they would afford it. howard: all right. that's it for this edition of

mediabuzz. i'm howard kurtz. we hit almost 4 million downloads this year and love the conversation with people. apple, ituness is a great place to subscribe. we're back here next sunday and seems like we covered the water front and skies with the balloon. 11 eastern, see you then where we're the only media analysis show on national television. ♪ this is going to be great. taking the shawl off. is he looking at my hairline? is plaque psoriasis making you rethink your everyday choices? otezla is a pill, not a cream or injection that can help people with plaque psoriasis achieve clearer skin. and no routine blood tests required. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. otezla can cause serious allergic reactions. it may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. tell your doctor about your medicines and if you're pregnant or planning to be. doctors have been prescribing otezla for over 8 years.

don't hesitate. ask your doctor about otezla today. you're in a hurry. i'm off to america's best i heard what you said about not overpaying for glasses. two pairs and a free, quality eye exam starting at just $79.95? the exam alone is worth... 59 bucks. i mean, people deserve breaks, right? yeah, brakes...! [out of control] book an exam today at americasbest.com. (cecily) what's up, einstein? (einstein) my network went into a black hole! (cecily) switch to verizon! and get a new iphone 14 pro, and apple watch on them. (vo) yep! right now, get iphone 14 pro, and apple watch se, on us. that's a value of up to $1200! verizon here we go... remember, mom's a kayak denier, so please don't bring it up. bring what up, kayak? excuse me? do the research, todd. listen to me, kayak searches hundreds of travel sites to find you great deals on flights, cars and hotels. they're lying to you! who's they? kayak? arr! open your eyes!

compare hundreds of travel sites at once. kayak. search one and done. all across the country, people are working hard to build a better future. so we're hard at work helping them achieve financial freedom. we're proud to serve people everywhere, in investing for the retirement they envision. from the plains to the coasts, we help americans invest for their future. and help communities thrive.

>> a fighter jet shot down off the coast of south carolina china condemning the shoot down as an overreaction by the leaving the door open for a further responses. hello, everyone, and welcome to fox newslike i'm arthel neville. >> and i'm