♪ ♪ howard: the pundits all-knowing, all-seeing, never in doubt are famously fickle. for many months, ron desantis was the man. he won a landslide re-election victory in florida, and he was the guy who would save the republican party for donald trump, and now the media are pummeling the governor. trump is the virtual lock for the republican nomination. what was desantis thinking? he should pull out. i know, he wasn't even many if yet, and wait for 2028. as rich lowry writes tongue in cheek, the ron desantis

presidential campaign sure was good while it lasted, and now he's getting buried a couple of months before he even announces. so trump turbo-charged by his indictment in the stormy daniels case has been rising in the polls, and desantis has been sinking. i've argued for many weeks now against my guests that desantis needed to respond to trump's assaults rather than largely ignore him because he's busy with the florida legislature. now that's becoming the media's conventional wisdom. throw in the journalists who say ron desantis lacks charisma, and you have a whole new landscape at least for this week. i'm howard kurtz and this is "mediabuzz." ♪ ♪ howard: when it comes to ron desantis taking knack over his war on disney -- flak over his war on disney, it comes from the left and the right. >> governor desantis is trying

to stop bleeding on what's left of his unofficial presidential campaign. >> it's going to start to wilt a little bit. you just see he's got no answers, he's got no punches. he's fighting a fight he can't win. >> now, the has worried some about this late timing of desantis' which they claim may leave him ill-prepared to defend against the former president's bludgeoning attacks. trump continues what to many seem like petty attack it is on ron desantis. >> he hasn't done anything particularly clever, that's staggering political malpractice. >> i think this plan of waiting til may, maybe even june did not take into account how much trump would be taking desantis. the hardest job in politics is running against donald trump in a republican primary. howard: joining us now to analyze the cover aage, ben domenech, editor at large of the spectator, and in los angeles, leslie marshall, both are fox news contributors.

ben, how did the media do this flip where pumping up desantis and now assuming he's toarks or as i would put it, the cool kids don't like ron desantis anymore? [laughter] >> i think one of the things that's so interesting is desantis, despite what you may have heard, has actually been hanging in there pretty well without really having to respond to donald trump. you know, there's all sorts of different polling that you can look at, but basically he's stuck in this situation where he's around 30% or maybe a little bit more than that. he's clearly head and shoulders above every other potential person taking on donald trump, and trump is responding to that by hammering away at him. but i don't thinkst the actually sticking. i don't think that it's actually had the kind of force that trump supporters would have liked. when it comes to the media side of things, i think that they really are just antsy because they want to start covering this contest -- howard: right. they want a race. >> yeah, there's no contest right now. one of these people is punching away, and the other is waiting for him to wear himself out.

so i think it's appetite of the media that is iger to get -- eager to get these things started. howard: for the record, we still can disagree -- [laughter] leslie, the guy hasn't even gotten into the race yet, and yet the media seem to relish using him as a pin yacht a. to you look -- piñata. it's really striking. >> it's fun. no, i'm sorry. [laughter] the media -- i couldn't help myself. i don't know what media you guys are looking at, i haven't seen a lot of favorable stuff, honestly, about ron desantis. and and i have to say i didn't agree with you at first, howie, but i do now, and this is the reason why: there are two names out that i see rising, if to you will, a bit and getting attention because they are hitting on trump, and that's governor sununu and chris christie. and ron desantis, it's not the media pulling away from him at least from where i sit as much as the voters. i think the love fest even with his own state of florida,

they're becoming a bit disillusioned with him. i said before, i was wright on -- right on this, that he was going to be to have a problem because he's a very popular governor. but when you have flooding and you need federal funding and you have your governor out of state raising money and politicking, that's a problem, and i think that's some of what we're seeing in the polls not just been the -- within the state, but within the party. howard: although many voters haven't tuned in to the presidential race yet. i asked the desantis campaign for a response, a spokesman pointed me to this clip of governor the other day at the heritage foundation. >> we are not going to worry about what the left and the media say about us. [applause] in fact, if the media's not attacking me, then i wonder, i must be doing something wrong. howard: so, ben, trump has been attacking him daily. sometimes with with fair shots on, for example, social security. sometimes on stuff that's just made up like young women. and sometimes it's just is

silly, like does he eat pudding with his fingers. the press jumps on every attack. i think maybe you don't have the luxury of deciding when you get in the race, because he's in effect running now but not returning fire. >> a couple of things. first off, leslie and i sometimes agree on this show. i have to say i disagree with everything she just said -- howard: all right. [laughter] >> and so, you know, from my perspective there's a number of different things happening. i would argue that the staying power that that governor desantis has shown in terms of the support that he has within the republican coalition is actually quite strong. the fact that you have, you know, all these other people who are actively running who can't get out of single digits is a representation of the fact that he is this nationalized figure, he is someone that people look to. and at the same time, i think that the direction that trump is taking in attacking him is increasingly suspect. you know, for the first time this week, i had people who are themselves supporters of donald trump say, what is he doing with some of these attacks

particularly because of this litany that he put out about how terrible the state of florida i- howard: yes. >> including all of these different links to left of center publications i including even joy reid -- howard: yeah. he says a bad place to live. >> exactly, exactly. and it's -- howard: but he lives there. >> he moved his whole life there, and i think that's something that actually indicates what trump seems to be planning to do especially if you pay attention to the things that have been telegraphedded about issues like abortion, is to run to desantis' left on a number of these questions. i think that that is a risky maneuver for trump, and in a lot of different ways it includes a real bet on the idea that the personal loyalty to him as a candidate is going to outrank the loyalty of various republican voters or or to conservative ideas. howard: leslie, coming back to the media coverage, is desantis allowing trump to define him in i mean, trump says these things and we cover them because as somebody pointed out earlier, we want a race.

>> well, i would say if he doesn't, you know, hit back at some point, then perhaps. but then again, if he hits back, he risks being trump 2.0. i mean, he is, you know, how is he different? one of the things -- i would agree with ben on the last thing he said -- howard: finally. >> if -- if i heard him correctly which is just now that the republican loyalty to him as opposed to the conservative values, and i think that's exactly what happened when he was president and when people voted for him. how many people said out loud even, they were holding their noses and voting for him, ask we're seeing more and more of our elected officials backing donald trump. for those that already loved donald trump, this is what they want and expect from the former president. they want and expect the gloves to come on, not off, and they expect this bravado, and they expect these attacks. and for some in the party this is like, okay, i'm sick of this this, and then for others it's like it's nothing new.

so, you know, i'm not sure what desantis' game plan is right now. it's not clearly working as in december he was much higher -- howard: yeah, he he must have one. >> it's a long way. howard: let me get ben back in. the biggest journalistic criticism these days is desantis lacks retail political skills. in fact, one report said that when trump himself calls when he's looking for endorsements, i don't think they matter that much, but it's find -- kind of a barometer, and desantis has an aide call. this insider stuff that only journalists care about because, you know, people want to like their potential president. >> howie, i was a happy to be the only media person, i think, to get into that glad-handing session that governor desantis had here in d.c. with all these members of congress can, and it was interesting to see him work the room. i didn'ting detect any of that. i haven't seen him work that kind of scenario before. but with i do think one of the things we need to understand is we live in this weird age where retail means something different than it used to. obviously, we used to live in an

age where the personal one to on one -- one-on-one contact, i still remember the first time i met bill clinton, when he saw me several days later, he remembered my name. that was kind of thing that was incredible. howard: yeah. >> these days it's more about television, social media ya in particular. so i think that's going to be a real test for desantis. one other thing i just think is very clear right now is that when he actually. [cheers and applause] s go after trump, when he starts to fire back, those -- the way that he does it matters significantly. they need to land. and i think that one of the problems for trump to this point is the way that he's gone after desantis is most of those hits have not actually landed. they have not actually dramatically, significantly changed the perception of the people. you can make fun of someone for the way they eat pudding or something like that, it just doesn't hit the same way. howard: who among us has not played with food at some point? [laughter] leslie, desanctus is being

destroyed by disney -- something from trump -- his original pr plan fizzled. this is when the governor had been fighting with the company about who controlled the special district, disney controlled it, he tried to take it over, can disney outthat maneuvered him. now -- outmaneuveredded him. now he's saying maybe i'll build a prison next to disney. that's another thing the media seized on, would be desantis versus can disney. >> well, it's not just media. i mean, i've heard reare palins say that it's not conservative -- republicans say that that it's not conservative value to attack a private company which is helping capitalism, helping the economy, you know, in nation. and i think everybody, you know, has an affection for mickey, minnie, donald and the gang -- howard: especially if you have kids. especially if you have kids. >> no, no -- [laughter] not at all. howard: actually, leslie kind of stole my question, so let me -- i'll come back to to you, leslie. [laughter] is it conservative for a

government official to, in effect, declare war on a private company? >> look, there's a deep died within the conservative coalition right now about the approach people want to have toward, quote-unquote, woke corporatism which is the kind of thing that has really been infuriating to a lot of folks. ron desantis has taken the lead, i think, in having one level of response to that. it's not one that's been popular with the rest of the field, but i do think it seeks -- speaks to an element of conservativism that says if you want to be the an american company, take pax benefits, do all these things, then you have the espouse values that we agree with. >> leslie, 15 seconds. [laughter] >> i don't think that's doing well for ron desantis, and i also think that things in the state whether it's books or i know it's not don't say gay, but h.b. 1557, there are other things that aren't priorities for republicans on the outside looking many in. howard: yeah.

will it work in a general election if governor desantis the gets that far. when we come back, the media gang up on clarence thomas over disclosures. is that fair? and charges dropped against alec baldwin. ♪ ♪ they need their lawn back fast and you need scotts turf builder rapid grass. it grows grass 2 times faster than just seed alone. giving you a stronger lawn. smell that freedom, eh? get scotts turf builder rapid grass today, it's guaranteed. feed your lawn. feed it. ♪ the only thing i regret about my life was hiring local talent. if i knew about upwork. i would have hired actually talented people from all over the world. instead of talentless people from all over my house.

when you find that perfect pair, nothin' can stop your shine. because when you feel fly, you look fly. um jamie? i'm pretty sure that was my line. get two pairs of privé revaux plus a free exam for $89.95. book your exam online today. hi, i'm susan, i've lost 84 pounds on golo and i've kept it off for a year. i had spent so much money on other products that when i saw the commercial for golo, the price was so much cheaper and i thought, "boy, this might not work but why not try it?" it is amazing and it works really well. when you really need to sleep. you reach for the really good stuff. zzzquil ultra helps you sleep better and longer when you need it most. its non-habit forming and powered by the makers of nyquil.

howard: clarence homs is under media fire for not disclosing luxury vacations and real estate transactions with his billionaire pal bigtime republican donor harlan crow, that reported by pro propublica. >> now, if anyone thinks for a second that the effort to take out justice thomas over bogus ethics concerns is anything but, you know, a coordinated attempt the, they probably shouldn't be feeding or addressing themselves at this point. >> the thing that needs to happen right now is for thomas to have some dignity and resign.

howard: is so, ben, i thought it was the second propublica story -- you enjoyed that sound bite. [laughter] >> just can't take it seriously. [laughter] howard: clarence thomas' boyhood home in georgia, $130,000, bought the home that his mother lives in rent-free, put in thousands of dollars of improvements and a third property owned by minute else in the family. lots of press cover ang. >> okay. so i think there's two different things kind of here that i would say. first off, that first story from propublica came across, to me and to everyone else i would say on the right, as being just a hit piece. this was not something that, you know, there are plenty of people who, you know, have these kinds of relationships with wealthy, you know, friends, supporters, what have you, they go on vacations in the context here it was not something that historically has on disclosed. the second story,,s as you addressed,, about the purchase of his property had a different reaction. hey, look, there's some

questions here, some ethical issues here. now, i think james toronto at "the wall street journal" has done a good job of running through why there wasn't a technical violation in the way things were reported -- howard: yeah. >> but i do the think that, generally speaking, we want to have confidence in the supreme court. it's one of the last institutions that we have confidence in, i don't know if that's still true post-kavanaugh. leslie can weigh in on that, but one of the things that i think is really important is that we know these things, they're transparent, and we can have faith in the viability of these justices and making their decisions. howard: leslie, harlan crow told "dallas morning news" that propublica ca's first piece was a hit job funded by a group of leftists whose mission is to destabilize the supreme court. what's your reaction to that rejoinder? >> i don't know if it's a hit piece. i mean, what they did is they put information out there that's very uncomfortable, and as it should be, and the media should have gone crazy over the because i would agree with ben about,

look, this is the highest court in the land. this is a tenured position. and the response by justice thomas, to me, is not palatable. it's, it's uncomfortable because it kind of puts them in a deferent position than everyone -- difference position than everyone else. this could be a criminal issue ethics attorneys are saying. you have a top gop funder, a guy who's writing checks left and right to republicans, a political party, who even though may be his friend, taking him on trips and he didn't disclose travel. there were -- >> leslie, are you confident -- [inaudible conversations] ruth bader ginsburg didn't do the exact same thing with democrat supportersesome. >> say that again, ben with. >> i said are you confident that ruth bade ruth bader ginsburg, the late, great justice, did not do the exact same thing with democratic supporters? >> i actually, i am. i am. >> i just do not think that this

is something that democrats are going to lean into to the same degree that they whether on the property question because the ultimate end goal here, as you and i both know, is that democrats would like to find a way to impeach clarence thomas or force him from the court which is the whole point of this. it's not actually trying to, you know, have some kind of high-minded attitude towards ethics requirements or reporting things generally. it is a partisan, political maneuver to get thomas off the court. howard: okay. so i want to read the response to what harlan crow said to steve engelberg which is group is funded by 36,000 donors and founded by two "wall street journal" executives, and crow's answers were published in full. but i worry about the supreme court getting to set its own murky ethics rules, and i think they should be tightened up, andish also mention that justice thomas plans to amend if his financial disclosure forms based on these stories. so let me turn now to alec

baldwin and the tragic shooting on the set of the movie "rust" request he killed accidentally his cinematographer, halyna hutchens. now the charges, the criminal charges of involuntary manslaughter have been dropped. and, leslie, this confirms my theory that it was all about the santa fe d.a.'s office trying to get the publicity of going after a world famous actor but didn't have the evidence. in fact, one e-mail saying i would like to be part of this because it'll help my election. what do you think of the sudden reversal in this case? >> well, a couple of things. i think what santa santa fe was doing is i think people look to california and celebrities when they get into criminal trouble, that they get a pass. and i think one of the things that the d.a.'s office here was saying i don't care if he's alec baldwin, he's not going to get a pass. but it's very, to me, it -- i'm perplexed by they're just getting this new information in

now. we know that the fbi in 2022 actually did the ballistics testing on this very, on this very weapon, and and there was an issue with the hammer. now, there hadn't been changes made to the gun at that time. and by the way, any actor the, anybody here in hollywood knows anything about a movie set, alec baldwin would not be made aware of that. had definitely be within the ballistics and the props. that would not be, you know, in his realm of information that would be provided. howard: right. >> so i'm not surprised in light of all this is the -- this charges were dropped. howard: right. and i'm not saying baldwin bears no responsibility. he's a producer of the film, and he's still being sued by the family. but the new prosecutor found evidence according to "the new york times" that the gun had been modified in a way that made it less safe to handle meaning baldwin's account of not pulling the trigger might be true. >> there are situations that can, you know, happen on set with these types of changes that he wouldn't be familiar with, as

leslie was saying -- howard: yeah. because you have movies that are responsible, it's a cold gun, there's no live ammunition -- >> exactly. it's not his responsibility to know that. this is a horrible and tragic story -- howard: right. >> but i to think there is, you can see no the evidence here that santa fe officials were essentially using this as an opportunity to make a name for themselves which we do not want to see happen in this type of situation. howard: yeah. i think to recall that being said about alvin bragg, the manhattan d.a., also with a famous person he has indicted. okay, leslie marshall, ben domenech, thank you very much. ahead, elon musk's warnings on artificial intelligence. but up next, the last settlement are of the fox-dominion lawsuit. ♪ ♪

howard: i was in the delaware courtroom the other day as fox and dominion reached their last minute settlement, and moments later, dominion's lawyer was

saying this to reporterses -- >> one last thank you, which is really to all of you, for being with usen on this journey. we appreciate what you've done to help us. howard: thank you? done to help us? but it's true. the overwhelming majority of media outlets were strongly against fox and, therefore, were aiding dominion. don't take my word for it, politico said that hopes were dashed, dreams torpedoed. "the wall street journal" which is owned by the more cock family and called the settlement said in an editorial an entire industry of reporters has been denied seeing their hated political and media competitor in the dock. the seasons of deflation was everywhere. michelle goldberg, who was in wilmington, wrote: it is deeply disappointing that fox news settled the defamation lawsuit. this public will be deprived for now. deprived, that is, of the 6-weak spectacle that the other networks would have covered virtually round the clock. now, dramatic settlement is a

huge news story, i raced out to the report first with neil cavuto, then "special report," when some fox shows said they were bogus conspiracy theories. fox acknowledged if a statement the judge's findings that some on their comments about dominion were false and that dominion's ceo in more pejorative terms toll reporters that fox had lied. donald trump insisted and continues to say without proof almost two and a half years later that the election was rigged against him. this is all said to be one of the biggest defamation settlements in american history though the hundreds of millions of collars were far short of the $1.6 billion sought by anyone on, and the company held it up as a form of accountability. by the way, dominion lawyer steven shackleford said on msnbc, quote, we can't make fox news report on this, we couldn't make fox news report on the trial even if it happens. that is just false. others made the same mistake,

including mediaite which gracelt report. i've been covering this for weeks. i'm not sugar coating the allegations in this $1 is.6 billion suit or the pact that fox has taken a hit in the court of public opinion. judge eric davis granted some -- summary judgment to dominion writing, there is no genuine issue about the falsity of some statements aired by fox hosts and, yes, representing trump. it's been a very rough week for fox. judge eric davis imposed a sanction on the network. and i was fully prepared for the 6-week trek to and from delaware. should fox have covered it more in maybe, but everything gets compared to the endless anti-fox coverage led by the same hosts and elsewhere on cable news. with a handful of exceptions, i note when our friend steve krakauer tweeted is there a single corporate media journalist willing to say that there will be negative,

wide-ranging ramifications for the broader media industry and a free press if dominion is victorious over fox news in a big way. let's be clear, i'm not defending what was dribbled out by dominion showing a gap between what some at fox were saying publicly and privately. it's been embarrassing. but fox was also fighting for the first amendment which actually applies to liberal news outlets as well as right-leaning ones. both sides had incentive to settle. fox wanted to avoid a parade of high profile witnesses, and the judge had gutted most of its planned defenses. dominion might have lost and gotten zero in part because it had to prove fox acted with with actual malice, a very high bar for plaintiffs. and what's been the impact of this difficult chapter on fox news? it was last week once again the highest rated n on basic cable. next on "mediabuzz," elon musk says chat bots could take over and wipes out many of the big shot's blue checks -- big

shots' blue checks. ♪ ♪ when you're a small-business owner, your to-do list can be... a lot. ♪ [ buttons clicking ] that's why progressive makes it easy to save with a commercial auto quote online, so you can take on all your other to-dos. already did. see if you could save at progressivecommercial.com. your work is your calling. it drives your days and powers your nights. but if your teeth no longer work as hard as you do, aspen dental is here with smile replacement solutions that work for your life. whether it's your first step, or a fast fix, you can get in today for all your denture needs, all at an affordable price. right now, get 20% off dentures and make your smile work for you again. call or book online today.

when you see all the people who work at shriners hospitals for children. you might see everyday people just doing their job. but to me and other kids, they aren't just receptionists, therapists or doctors. they're superheroes! but these superheroes are only able to help all of us kids because of the monthly support of people just like you who empower their abilities, so we get the care we need to live our lives like superkids.

because people like you have said, yes, now i can play football because of people like you, i can play the violin. and i can walk. and when you call the number on your screen right now and give your monthly support to help kids like me, you'll be a superhero, too. when you say yes to giving just $19 a month, only $0.63 a day, we'll send you this adorable love to the rescue® blanket as a reminder of all the kids you're helping every day. it's the monthly gift from superheroes like you that give children like london the care they need. thank you! thank you! when you go online to loveshriners.org right now with your monthly gift you're more than a supporter. you're my super hero! please call or go online now, if operators are busy, call again or go to loveshriners.org to give right away. your monthly gift helps us be superheroes too.

howard: elon musk, who helped found artificial intelligence company that produced chat bots, now has second thoughts. he wants a sex month moratorium on the development of a.i. and i thinks it's too late for government regulation. >> if that's the case for a.i. and we only put in regulations after something terrible's happened, it may be actually too late. the a.i. may be in control at that point. we don't want this to be a profit-maximizing demon from hell. howard: joining us from connecticut, charlie gas freeway know -- gasparino. so on this demon from hell, elon musk isn't going to get his moratorium. microsoft and google are not going to go along, but what do you make of his efforts to pump the brakes on a.i.? >> i used to be called the demon from hell, is what i was going to say. [laughter]

i would say this, he makes a good point. if you believe a.i. is sort of all-income papassing, all-knowing -- encompassing, all-knowing technology that's going to control our lives, be nice if we took a deep breath and let it evolve is. last thing we want is some sort of, a.i. essentially indoctrinating people. there could be a political element here. as you know, tech is filled with progressives that want us to think a certain way, and you can just imagine how they would arrange a.i. to complete those aims. but there is another issue here, and it's a business issue. elon musk is behind the 8-ball on a.i. particularly with tesla. so it's a competitive issue. it's a little too, just say, neat for him to be saying let's take a moratorium while i catch up to the competition. [laughter] howard: yeah. and related to that is he wants to start his own chat bolt, truth gpt, but that would take some time to catch up. a.i. has tested a lot of these, i find the chat bots to be

fascinating, ingenius, brilliant, at times totally wrong. some people are wrongly acued of serious -- accuseed of serious allegations, and some people will lose area jobs. but unlike elon, i don't see chat bots taking over the world, charlie. >> you know, i mean, listen, the techies can dream -- [laughter] trust me, i listen to the a lot of them, and they say this has a amazing potential to do this, that and the other thing. we're not even close to being there yet which is why i don't think a moratorium is good now. but i think debate that he's raising is interesting. i mean, you don't want conformity of thought. if there is a technology out there that is, that has this potential to basically tell us everything, to basically lead us in one direction, it'd be nice to know about exactly, you know, who's behind it, what goes into it. and as you pointed out, you know, it's wrong sometimes. you can see how it could be used for mitive -- manipulative

purposes. i don't totally disagree with him men then again, dude, there's a profit motive here. elon is behind on this which is why, i believe, he wants the moratorium the most. howard: right. and he's obviously struggling financially with twitter. plett me -- let me play another sound bite in which he talks about the last presidential election. >> i didn't vote for donald trump, i actually vote for biden. not saying i'm a huge fan of biden, because i don't think that would be accurate. i would prefer, frankly, the that we put someone, just a normal person -- [laughter] as president. finish. howard: so all normal candidates can now step forward. what's funny is musk has always said he's voted for democrats until now, but trump took offense saying elon had told him that he voted for him. what do you make of this dust-up? >> interesting. this is one of the best elon musk interviews through tucker carlson that i've seen. it covered everything from business to politics, and this was a perfect segway.

listen, elon musk has been increasingly, up creasingly moving to the right -- increase creasingly moving to the right, that's one of the reasons why he bought twitter. i find it hard to believe he voted for trump just based on his tweets back then and where he was on certain issues. he became much more, moved much more to the right under biden. as biden and the democratic party started to embrace leftism in a significant way through, you name it, all the stuff we talk about on show and many shows on fox, elon musk became much more conservative. you know he's a left-leaning libertarian, but now you see him as a right-leaning libertarian. i don't believe he voted for trump though -- howard: yeah. i take him at his word. >> he might vote for him now. howard: we'll find out. but he has been attacking npr, new york times, you know, from the right. look, here's what we really love to talk about, you, me and lots of other people have lost their blue checks, their verification

status, also fox, msnbc, the pope, pope francis lost his verification, and this is because we haven't paid the $8 a month that elon would like to put in the corporate, you know, in the corporate war chest. >> right. howard: this was originally made to show that it was really you, service the really me, but it became this sort of weird, elite status symbol. and here's the thing, musk is paying for lebron james, william shatner and a few other celebs to keep that status, maybe elon needs their presence more than needs that revenue stream. >> yeah. i mean, listen, it's a private business. you know, listen, howie, he paid $40 billion too much for this. [laughter] now, you know he paid $44 billion, but twitter was a horrible business when he bought it. no one could believe he was paying that much, initially that twitter was telling him to go away because it was more money than anybody would ever pay for it, and ho-ho one wanted to buy

it any -- no one wants to buy it anyway. he whacked out 80% of his staff the, he said that on the tucker interview, and still he can't make ends meet. that'll tell you just what a lousy business it is. listen, if this is the way he's doing it, i still am concern i don't know if i want to pay for my blue check mark. howard: the question is what benefits to -- do you get, and i'm stilling look at it. a lot of the criticism is coming from left-leaning pundits who never liked him buying this thing. but isn't it true he's been more erratic in recent weeks and picking petty fights in a way that hasn't necessarily been good for twitter? >> you know, i don't know about that. i think he is the chief troll on twitter two. he's the guy. he's taken donald trump's place, obviously -- howard: yeah. >> the former president nows has truth social, trolls on truth social. listen, you know, i kind of get a kick out of it, you know in the stuff he because with gates. i don't know, billionaires, you know, doing stuff like that is

kind of cool. howard: well, he generates traffic. yeah, he generates traffic. you're very acerbic on twitter, so no wonder you enjoy it. charlie gasparino, thanks so much. after the break, the white house leaks that joe biden is finally announcing in the coming days. will that change the media coverage? ♪ ♪ so i choose neuriva plus. unlike some others, neuriva plus is a multitasker supporting 6 key indicators of brain health. to help keep me sharp. neuriva: think bigger. [ applause ] the day you get your clearchoice dental implants changes your struggle with missing teeth forever. it changes how you eat,

how you feel, and how you enjoy life. it changes your smile and how others smile at you. clearchoice network doctors have changed over 100,000 lives with dental implants, and they can change yours, too. because a clearchoice day changes every day. schedule a free consultation.

howard: with the debt ceiling

showdown generating more headlines as it moves closer, kevin mccarthy offered a plan which president biden attacked as hurting low income folks, and the pundits joined the fray. >> kevin mccarthy trying to assure wall street they're not going to feel the pain, but their plan includes cuts to knapp benefits. -- s.m.a.p -- s.n.a.p. republicans. >> all republicans need to get behind that plan. if joe biden won't meet with them, won't compromise, won't adjust -- >> now suddenly these republicans, they broke all records for deaf creates and debts under comp trump, they're suddenly claiming they really care about deficits. it doesn't wash. howard: joining us now, mike emmanuel, fox's e chief washington correspondent. so does the coverage include a healthy skepticism that for all the jabs between speaker mccarthy and president biden -- and there'll be more -- that at the last minute the government won't default in. >> yeah, typically in washington

you run it to the deadline, and you come up with some effort to punt, basically are. we'll see where it goes. first test comes this week for kevin mccarthy, can he keep his members in line -- howard: that's the thing, he can only lose 4 votes. >> if he can get 218 to votes to to pass a plan, he's got something to argue, to sit down and negotiate with. howard: politico says some democrats are telling biden that he has to meet with the speaker at least for the optics, because the argument from mccarthy's side is biden won't even negotiate. >> joe manchin, debbie dingell have said, you know, we need a pair of bills, but we should talk about these things. i mean, the debt is $31 trillion and growing every day, that's 12 0s after the 31. it's hard to wrap your mind around these numbers, and i think folks at home understand, like, if you're running up that much debt, yes with, of course you have to pay the bills, but

shouldn't you talk about doing something else? howard: yeah. i think government spending is out of control, but a lot of people don't understand we've already spent the money, borrowed this money, and the question is do you go back. and also mccarthy as many on the left point out voted three times for an increase in the debt limit under donald trump. now biden pounced on cutting food stamps and other programs. it got big media play. but with a democratic senate and a democratic white house, is this more of a messaging bill for kevin mccarthy because if he can pass something, isn't it likely to become law? >> it's not likely to become law, but can there be some kind of agreement about something to just show the american people that you're thinking about trying to bend the curve a little bit? howard: right. >> i mean, anything at this point because, you know, again, people at home understand, like, if i'm running up $31,000 in

debt, i'm going to sit down with my family and and talk about what we're going to do about it. $31 trillion and i growing every day, my family are like, dad, you guys are going to leave us the bill. what are you doing? [laughter] howard: well, it's an interesting point. we do kind of steal from later generations. and at the same time, i mean, mccarthy wants 1% growth every year for the next 10 years, hard to imagine that. let's turn to the washington post, new york times, nbc and others reporting that president biden will announce his re-election this week, possibly tuesday, probably on video. that sounds, to me, la like an authorized look. my question is why this media obsession on which day he does it? >> welsh he's 80 years old -- howard: that's been pointed out. >> and after the november '24 election, he will turn 82, and even a healthy 80 or 82 is still 82. and so i think there's some healthy skepticism about whether he was really going to go forward with another term --

howard: that he might change his mind. >> right. and the moment you announce you're not going to run, of course, you're cone here in washington. so some people thought perhaps he was waiting million the fall and maybe he would bow out gracefully, but all systems go, it sounds like. howard: is it still too early even though the republican race is starting to heat up, and also there are more stringent requirements on raising money and all of that. but i've never doubted joe biden, i covered his first presidential campaign in 1987, he's want to be president all life. and, of course, polls show a majority of democrats don't want him to run again, not unrelated to the age issue, but nonetheless, he's signaled pretty clearly he's going. >> you had rfk jr. come out, certainly in more than politics, definitely in the democratic party -- howard: although he's known as the anti-vaccine candidate, maybe that's not true. >> true. i think some people are wondering will that signal an opening for some other democrat

to jump in. maybe not but it's the interesting. howard: do you think once he's an official candidate he might talk a little bit more to journalists, might hold a few more news conferences? because there was a report this weekend in "the new york times", you know, not since ronald reagan has there been so few, and other previous presidents including trump daughter concern dwarfed, and there may be a sense where people don't want to put anymore a situation where he can make some of the famous gaffes. >> president trump constantly gave access -- howard: absolutely. every day, three times a day. with biden you often get out by the helicopter, it's hard to understand what they're saying, and he can just walk away. >> it's very scripted, very controlled, and i think the press or corps would love to get more time with him, and this campaign will be different because 2020 was the covid campaign. we'll see where it goes. howard: i really hope he does not just because i'm a journalist, but because i think it's good for the country. mike emmanuel, thank you.

still to come, a threat to kill journalists and a demise of buzzfeed news. ♪ 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. ♪ i like to move it, move it ♪ ♪ you like to... move it ♪ we're reinventing our network. ♪ ♪ ♪ fast. reliable.

perfectly orchestrated. the united states postal service. ♪ ♪ a bunch of dead guys made up work, way back when. ♪ ♪ it's our turn now we'll make it up again. ♪ ♪ we'll build freelance teams with more agility. ♪ ♪ the old way of working is deader than me. ♪ ♪ we'll scale up, and we'll scale down ♪ ♪ before you're six feet underground. ♪ ♪ yes, this is how, this is how we work now. ♪

howard: nbc news has retracted a story that totally fell apart upon closer examination. the network had reported that a guatemalan migrant was working as a cleaner in a meat slaughterhouse in kansas. the story said pedro was 16. after the company sent the network a video in which he admits he's really 21, abc -- nbc and telemundo obtained on documents to show his real age which pawd pro seed he lied about. how do you run a story based on

one man's word when his age is the whole basis for the so-called expose? an oklahoma county commissioner caught on tape talking about killing blacks, and a local journalist has resigned. the county's mac general jennings was heard -- general its was heard on tape and shared with the fbi as wishing the days of lynching blacks were still here. >> -- hang 'em up with a damn rope, but you can't do that. they got more rights than we got. howard: here jennings is talking to the county sheriff about killing a reporter for the paper. >> -- i know who or three hit men, very quiet guys. [inaudible] howard: the others on the call were a sheriff's captain and the jail administrator, and are you ready for this? the sheriff's county rather than addressing the horrible, racist

nature of these comments is complaining the call was with illegally all right proprod. a "wall street journal" reporter detained in russia a was conditioned an appeal for his pretrial detention. his lawyer says he's ready to prove his spence and assert his right to free journalism. gershkovich told his parents he is not losing help. and buzzfeed news is shutting down. buzzfeed news won a pulitzer and broke some big stories but didn't make much money. 60 jobs will be affected. it was always a weird hybrid, sharing space with such items as 19 extremely entitled or privileged things celebs did and tried to pretend were normal, i missed that one, and we'll guess if we're an introvert or extrovert based on your taste bud preferences. all right. that's it for the edition of "mediabuzz." i'm howard kurtz.

you can subscribe to the media buzzmeter, we have a lot of fun there, and apple itunes is one of the places you can get it. we have covered the waterfront here all the way to some of these items that you just needed to know. back here next sunday, 11 eastern, with the only media analysis show on nationales televisions!. ♪ oh! excuse me! roll it back, everybody!! charmin ultra soft is so cushiony soft, you'll want more! but it's so absorbent, you can use less. enjoy the go with charmin. ♪ ♪ charlotte! charl! every day can be extraordinary with rich, creamy, delicious fage total yogurt. how to grow more vibrant flowers: step one: feed them with miracle-gro shake 'n feed.

that's it. miracle-gro. all you need to know to grow.

may 5 begin with terrifying moments high in the sky as the while of an american airline plane catches fire in mid air porcini flight to turn around but hello everyone welcome to welcome to fox's life i am arthel neville. twenty-four hello arthel everyone thank you for joining us. i am eric sean. take a look at this, flame shooting from the while on the boeing 7:30 seven. after that plane may have reportedly had a flock of geese. have been early this morning just after takeoff in th