consumer cellular. ♪ howard: three months after his inauguration, president biden described the situation at the southern border that, well, he wasn't supposed to. >> a. [inaudible] >> refugees were working on -- [inaudible] howard: a crisis? huh-uh, can't e say that. top administration officials led by homeland security chief alejandro mayorkas had spent weeks telling reporters this was not a crisis.

jen psaki said they would approach without labeling, so psaki and other others rushed to say there was no crisis, but some journalists kept pressing the point. >> 22,000 unaccompanied children in our country right now. that's a record. that sounds to most folks like a crisis. >> well, look, it's way down now. we've now gotten control. howard: and now with the president sending another 1500 troops to the border and pan pandemic era restrictions being lifted this thursday, the expected surge of illegal migrants is suddenly drawing far mored media attention, and there are still arguments about basic numbers. >> when it comes to illegal migration, you've seen it come down by more than 90%, and that's because of the actions that this president has taken. howard: after the pundits pounced, karine jean-pierre clarified that that she was talking about one parole program. at this point, i don't care what you call the border situation, but it sure looks like a crisis

to me. i'm howard kurtz and this is "mediabuzz." ♪ ♪ howard: what's striking about the growing coverage of the border mess is that the administration is taking flak from all sides regardless of ideology. >> like so many others before him, president biden has a taken a series of far smaller steps while trying to paint those limited measures in the best possible light which raises the question, when does selling a policy veer into overselling it? >> joe biden thinks the surge will be a big f-ing deal. it drove liberals nuts when the other guy did it, of course, but now the administration is tight-lippedded. >> if you're out there thinking, hey, i feel like i follow the news and we've known that these deadlines were coming for months if not years, you're right. >> why has it been so hard for the biden white house to get their arms around this crisis? after all, illegal border

crossings across the southern border were at a 50-year low when barack obama and joe biden left the white house and turned it over to o'donald trump. >> over 6.5 million people illegally entering the country under joe biden because in large part he abandoned the policies that were working under donald trump. so if things are bad, you know, before or this point -- >> yeah. >> -- when title 42 the dose away, it's going on the a lot worse. howard: joining us now to analyze the coverage, mollie hemingway, fox news contributor, and aishah hasnie, fox reporter and anchor here in washington. excuse my voice. mollie, nobody who's been on the payroll or a family member seems to be saying that joe biden has done a good job with the border e. >> yeah, we've seen a change in the coverage, and it's worth thinking about to trump administration where corporate media were absolutely hysterical

about attempts to control the border, and then we've had more than 6 million illegal crossings of the border, people crossing the border illegally, and the media coverage has not been nearly as hysterical, they've been very patient and kind with the biden administration. now that the biden administration is signaling that they realize he a problem, now they're kind of saying, okay, we can look into this. >> aisha, you've done reporting from the border. of the coverage fades in and out, but with more journalists are asking why wasn't there a better plan knowing full well once title 4 #, this enabled the administration to quickly expel migrants, there would be an inevitable surge? >> yeah. we're seeing the bipartisan questioning. secretary mayorkas has been on the hill in the year leading up to what we're looking at and facing now, the end of title 42, and over and over he's tried to sell to lawmakers that they have

a plan, that they have this all figured out, that they have thia six-pronged plan, and it's already working, he says. and over and over especially in recent months, you've had democrats and republicans and people like senator kyrsten sinema who have called him out on this and have said i don't believe you, i don't trust you, and the people of arizona are going to suffer because i don't feel that you and this administration is prepared. so i think that's with where now you're seeing a little more attention because democrats are also raising their voices. howard: clearly, a whole lot more media attention. com la harris, as a senator five years ago, said it was inappropriate for president trump to send troops to the border, this was based on a political agenda and done for the tv cameras. i don't see anyone pointing to that rhetoric. >> interesting that that you're not seeing that. the american people really care about this issue. this was a big reason why president trump won the nomination, why he won the election. they wanted something cone at the border. -- done at the border e. and through a lot of difficulty,

stuff was actually happening there. people just don't want to talk about it. we talk about it in the media, but they want something actually done. when something actually was done, the media participated in an effort to keep that from happening -- howard: to keep efforts from happening? >> there was an effort in the media to keep the border from being secured. any effort that was taken, any action that was taken, the media were hysterical in opposition to it -- howard: as were immigration add advocates who felt there should be more, a greater flow of people from the southern, south of texas. >> right. and so now they're coming up against electoral consequences because the people really do care about having a border, that's a basic function of a nation, you have borders that make sense and are meaningful, and you're starting to see people do that, but nobody actually does anything to to the take control and take it away from the cartels who are basically running things and have created a human rights disaster, fentanyl pouring across the border, abuses of women and children, it's only

the politics that's causing people to talk. howard: a cnn headline that i saw the other day, there you see it, border crisis. you weren't seeing that earlier. there have been more headlines like axios, u.s. braces for border chaos. new york city mayor eric adams says border states are sending migrants to big cities with black mayors. the these media, that dismissed a lot of this like when the migrants were flown to martha's vineyard, i guess you could say not in anybody's backyard. >> well, it's interesting because, okay, i've been to the border a few times not just as a journalist, but as a humanitarian. i sit on the board for a nonprofit that works to help protect and advocate for refugees and people seeking asylum. so i take this issue very seriously on both sides. i have never run into another tv crew on the border anytime i've been there, and sometimes i'm there for ten days straight. now, the border is large and maybe they're on the other side, but i think i would know or i

would hear about it. there's always a competitive edge, you want to know what the other side is doing. howard: right. what does that say to you? >> that is a disservice to the american people. this, i would argue, the border crisis, is one of the most critical, most important stories of our generation in this country right now. like mollie said, this is not a partisan issue for the people at the border right now, farmers, the ranchers, the folks in those border towns, the mayors having to deal with the every single day, this is their crisis right there. this is not partisan. it's not partisan for the cbp agents, many of them who have hispanic backgrounds or who are sons and daughters of immigrants if not immigrants themselves, and it's the certainly not partisan for the folks that are coming across the border suffering through, i mean, women are getting rape on their way on this journey. -- raped. this is a humanitarian crisis and the fact that we only want to talk about it when suddenly migrants are put on a bus and taken to places like new york

city, martha's vineyard or things like that, that's a disservice to the american people. howard: well, you know, and it's not partisan if you're in el paso and migrants are starting to camp out there in the expectation of title 42 being lifted this week. but mollie, the media make everything part saab. you alluded to this earlier, when president trump was trying to get control of the border,s he was often depicted as cruel and heartless, especially on the question of families being split up. is the tone of the current coverage, well, this is an intractable problem and joe biden's doing the best he can. >> right. and there are legitimate problems with family separation, and that was a story the worth covering, but there's many stories hacked be told right now. you had this cherry picking of stories a few years ago, but now when you could have so many dramatic stories about some of these human rights abuses, about what's happening by letting the cartels control everything, you don't see that rich storytelling or cherry picking stories where you could really highlight the

situation and make political hay out of it. >> and i'd just bring up, i mean, the best example of this was "the new york times" about the child migrants that were being forced into labor here in the united states. right? this is breaking federal law. you had a 15-year-old girl stuffing cheetos into boxes at a warehouse. she shouldn't have been working. you had teenagers, girls who were changing hotel sheets in virginia. you had people delivering food, your food, in new york city. kids who came here unaccompanied, which is a huge crisis in this country, who were connected with relatives they had never met because their parents weren't here with them, and then they were basically put into the labor market. howard: so is that a positive story? did it help spotlight what you see as -- >> for the people who read it. that is my, that is my disappointment, is that story does not blow up in the same way that some of the other stories --

howard: didn't go viral. >> absolutely. and it should have, yes. howard: the other day i saw msnbc had a reporter doing live shots from mexico every single hour as if they're laying the groundwork for what they know is going to be a deluge. but you almost never saw that in the past. fox has covered the border a lot and, you know, look, there's not agreement on solution or one side favors one solution but doesn't favor another part of it and that's why i think -- i think a lot in the media wish the story would just go away. >> i think so. and you said earlier that they cover everything in a political fashion. that's true and that really does a disservice given how complex the geopolitical considerations are for what leads to this kind of surge at the border. we need to be covering all the countries where the surge develops, what's happening in mexico, how mexico's government is basically completely control by cartels, that that's -- what that's like to have a neighbor like that. we're just not seeing it.

howard: well, we should. when we come back, coverage of hunter biden and his father is heating up, and is the latest story about clarence thomas and hidden payments designed to hurt the high court? ♪ ♪ back when i had a working circulatory system, you had to give your right arm to find great talent. but with upwork, there's highly skilled talent from all over the globe. right at your fingertips. ♪ this is how we work now ♪ - elites. now that we've made travel so expensive, we have this hotel to our...selves..? - how'd you get here? - kayak! they compared hundreds of travel sites to find a great deal on my flight, car, and hotel. - kayak. search one and done. pain hits fast. so get relief fast. only tylenol rapid release gels

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howard: republican senator chuck grassley told fox news that he's looking into an accusation of possible criminal activity when joe biden was vice president related to his son hunter biden. he and bop congressman -- gop congressman jim comber have is -- james comer have is asked fbi to turn over classified document. >> this is the yet another whistleblower who fingers biden as the head of a corrupt

political family. >> also stunning, i would argue more stunning, the republicans making this claim admit they have no evidence, just an unverified tip. howard: mollie, i don't see any problem with the lawmakers asking for this document, but until they've got it, should journalists play up these vague accusations? >> i don't know, should journalists have pushed the russia collusion hoax for four years based on unsupported -- >> you did have a special prosecutor there. >> there should be a special prosecutor on the biden family business already, but once the media are hysterical at the level of four years of winning awards for pushing stories about a russia collusion hoax, then we can talk about whether it's too much. at this point it's laughably insufficient. howard: aishah, if it urnses out to be the a serious accusation sayings this is huge and it could end the campaign. would you be wary of reporting possible criminal activity without knowing what the possible criminal activity is? >> i think it's a fair question.

it's a question that i think we're all asking right now with these accusations and, like you mentioned, we don't have the document in our hands. i just spoke with an oversight staffer a couple days ago about this trying to ask basic questions do you think -- which country does this foreign national come from from, just a basic question, or do you think the document even still exists or if it's been destroyed. and even though we're in this holding pattern, so to speak, i think you costill have to cover it, howie. and the reason is we're in the environment right now, right? there's a mistrust right now with the department of justice it is. and so you have lawmakers who feel there might be someone in the doj that might want to get rid of documents and can that's why you have senator chuck grassley who, by the way, has a lot of respect in the senate and takes whistleblowers very seriously -- howard: he's 89 years old, he's been doing this forever. >> exactly. you don't get rid of anything.

but if nothing does come out of this, we absolutely have to go back and ask what happened. howard: on the other hand, senator the grassley told greta van us remember i -- van susteren, i wish i could say whether i knew if it was true or to untrue. hunter biden's been under investigation for years, and they should just charge him or close the case. but this is a new kind of allegation, but yet i can't, if i was writing with the lead, i can't say exactly whats. republicans say they've got a tantalizing lead. >> right. the fbi was willing to open up an investigation in that sprawled into a special counsel probe on the thinnest of act sakeses when it came to a political opponent, but when it's a political ally, there's reports of an allegation they haven't even looked into. the media should say how is it possible that biden entered government and became a multimillionaire. how is it possible that so many people make so much money as politicians? that's not a job that you're

supposed to make money doing, and people turn into multimillion theirs or even billionaires. that's a legitimate journalistic story. howard: let me make a turn here, and i'll stick with you, mollie. there's been a whole series of stories about clarence thomas not disclosing a series of payments from the his billionaire pal harlan crow, bigtime republican doe to nor, vacations, real estate and so on. is this an effort by the media, in your view, to again grate the supreme court or us have -- can denigrate the supreme court or justice thomas personally? >> it's a larger effort by the left, they're upset that some decisions have not gone their way. what's interesting is they sort of allege something nefarious without explaining what the nefarious thing is, and so there's no crime involved. they'll say we wish that the rules were different so that he would have had to disclose this saying he didn't have to according to the rules. i'm very interested in who's organizing this concerted

effort. multiple media companies, it's all a very well-laid-out pr strategy, that would be good for the media to look into, who's running this organized effort to take on court? howard: right now clarence thomas has a target on his back, and, aishah, "the washington post" reports activists funneled tens of thousands of dollars to thomas' wife ginny through kellyanne conway's consulting firm. what's this all about? >> so, yeah. we directly, dana and i, she was on with us friday morning and this, of course, came up. dana and i asked her pretty directly what's your response to this. i'll actually read a quote from her. she says ginni thomas was one of my contractors, and then she goes on to say we did public opinion research and data analytics. we had no business before the court. so she doesn't deny making the payments, but she's also trying to downplay this and separate her company from all this. now, leo has come out and said

that ginny's work was never involved in the court's business and that he wanted to leave her name out of it, don't say ginny's name, because washington's very gossipy and he respected the couple. we haven't yet heard from the thomases, and i think there are some questions and more clarity that is needed. but again, it's about the context, right? like mollie mentioned, it makes it more complex because these stories are coming out at the same time that some feel there's a concerted effort to delegitimize the court. howard: briefly, mollie, there was in this document this note from leonard leo don't mention ginny, that does make it sound like they're try can -- trying to hide something. >> ruth bader ginsburg signing her opinion and donating it for a pro-abortion fundraiser which is -- you're not supposed to be involved in that kind of thing. probably he understands that the

media willing to go after the thomases in particular and have been for decades and so one's even alleging there was something wrong here, there was something that needed to be disclosed. it's part of this coordinated campaign that people should be leery of. howard: mollie hemingway, aishah hasnie, thanks so much for joining us. up next, the late night shows already crippled by the hollywood writers' strike. how much damage will be done as the two sides e battle over streaming tv? ♪ ♪ kevin...? i put it on my chase freedom unlimited card. and i'm gonna cashback on a few other things too. starting with the sound system... [autotune] that's caaaaaaaaash. cashback like a pro with chase freedom unlimited. how do you cashback? my most important kitchen tool? my brain. 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.

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i'm sholeh, and i lost 75 pounds with golo. i went from a size 20 to a size 6. before golo, nothing seemed to work. i was exercising for over an hour every day. it was really discouraging. but golo's so easy, the weight just falls off. howard: if you like jimmy kimmel, jimmy fall ifon or stephen colbert, you're already seeing the effects of the hollywood writers a' strike that as those shows have been forced into reruns. >> everybody, including myself, hopes both sides reach a deal. but i also think that the writers' demands are not unreasonable. >> for those people who have a job in show business, they are entitled to fair compensation.

they are entitled to the make a living. howard: joining us now from los angeles, joe flint, who coffers; television -- covers television for "the wall street journal." bill maher is also going dark. inspect is strike pretty heavily focused on streaming ask these very popular netflix and apple and amazon and hbo shows? why is it so hard to reach compromise? >> there are a lot of issue, and as you note, they are streaming related. the biggest one, and i don't want to get too down in the woods here, but has to do with the wayst shows are made nowadayses, and this was sort of pioneered by netflix where writers are not involved in the full process. so the writers feel like their pay is being cut because they create a show, hay draw it up in a writers' room, but then it goes into production, they're out of the picture and heir not making as much money as they used to. howard: yeah. those are the kinds of weeds we like to hear about. stephen colbert, seth meyers saying the writer withs clearly have a legitimate beef, but if

this drags on and on, last one lasted 100 days, what will be the impact, and won't both sides lose many millions of dollars? >> certainly are it looks like i would imagine this is going to go on for a few months, but there's director and act or the contracts coming up. and if those get done quickly, it may put more pressure on writers. most of the networks and streamers are well stocked right now and movies, as you know, are done far in advance, so it may be a little while beyond late fight -- night tv and saturday night live for people to notice. howard: that's interesting. so the writers' union must know this does drag on, their leverage will increase when the impact would be greater. a.i. is a factor in these talks, how much of a threat, many your view, to writers' jobs now or down the roadsome. >> well, the writers are naturally concerned like anyone who bigs up a pen for a living --

howard: i'm concerned. yeah, you should be concerned. >> yes, i am. there is language in the current deal that would limit the use of a.i. i think the writers want that strengthened, and the studios, they're also concerned about a.i. as well. there's no copyright laws for a.i. yet, so i think that is a sexy issue but as yet i don't think it's necessarily a driving force dividing these two sides. howard: right. and just briefly, the management side says it's made a very generous offer but, clearly, the writers don't agree. and even people like the late night hosts seem to be siding emotionally with the writers. >> yes. and management usually keeps quiet during all of this. they know that it's going to be a challenge for them to get their points across. but the other day they came out with a lot of details from their pitches which includes increases in pay and residuals. but on this issue i mention before about basically mandatory staffing in writers' rooms and guaranteed weeks of work, on that one they're reluctant to budge on.

that's stick thing point. howard: right. i can see where that would be. joe, thanks very much for joining us. >> thank you. howard: more scrutiny for kamala harris as advisers to the 80-year-old president leak word they've got to rehabilitate her image before the election. ♪ 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. 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,

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is a deeper appreciation of the biblical insights with regards to the human person, psychology, our predilection towards rivalry, but also reconciliation. sign up for the genesis story free of charge at learnfromhillsdale.org today. howard: kamala harris has gotten an awful lot of bad press, and the media scrutiny's intensifying now that she's running again withing 0-year-old biden -- 80-year-old biden. axios reports the biden team wants to upgrade her image scheduling events with harris on causes such as infrastructure spending and abortion rights. >> camilla a harris has not lived up to expectations -- kamala harris has not lived up to expectations when she was appointed, designated as the running mate for joe biden. so i think that they're struggling in the polls. >> i think there's a real focus on trying to lift her up here

because people are going to ask, like, who's your backup? howard: can this approach improve her reviews? joining us now in jacksonville, susan ferrechio, political reporter for the washington times, and on the set, michael la rosa, press secretary for jill biden. susan, the white house says, hey, we better codo something about joe biden's running mate. why has kamala harris gotten so much negative coverage? >> well, first of all, the job of vice president is often sort of -- you get underwhelming reviews. howard: yes. thankless. >> but they've also set her up with really tough jobs. one of her first big jobs was border czar, and that's really setting somebody up for failure because the biden administration border policies make it impossible to get the border under control. and it's not under control. it's an unmitigated disaster right now. so things like that make it really difficult the for kamala harris to up her, you know, her approval rating with the public. and it's pretty low. but her other big problem, i think, is her role as messenger.

she has problems communicating. there are all kinds of memes on the internet about speeches she gave where it's kind of a word salad and she doesn't communicate well. howard: right. >> i think that's really her number one problem because nobody expects the vice president to solve all these problems especially when joe biden himself can't do it. howard: yeah, one of the things -- >> but how you communicate is really important, and she's struggled with that. to me, that is her number one problem. howard: one of the things i've noticed, michael, is they often put the president and vice president on together. ron klain, former chief of staff, said that racism and sexism are part of the reason, and i don't deny that might be part of the reason. but of after more than two years of vice president, is the press still buying that? >> well, we're hearing it and we're talking about her right now. we're not talking about the word valids concern salads that other turnsed themself into. it's funny hearing andy card talking about vice presidents,

dan quayle probably got the worst press of any vice president including spiro agnew. dick cheney left at 13%. kamala harris doesn't get assigned topics, and her job wasn't to help get the border under control, help to understand the roots of the problem which are coming from central america and south america, hatten america -- latin america and the economic and violence concerns down there. now, sexism we know -- i lived this with the first lady during the transition when the wall street board editorial -- howard: "wall street journal"? >> i'm sorry, had an editorial about how she shouldn't be using her title that she earned,. howard: the doctor title. >> nobody did that to henry kissinger is, and i had "wall street journal" reporters embarrass by their paper call me and apologize. howard: susan, axios also says that she has suffered from frequent staff turnover, hasn't been given high profile assignments, of course, the border was a classic no-win

assignment. to some extent the, you could say it's the her fault and to some extent she's kind of trapped in this secondary role. >> well, that's right. and she needs to find a way for herself to move forward as someone that can find as an attractive candidate in the future. we all know that she probably aspires to run for president after joe biden's second 'em if he's reelected and, of course, there's questions about whether she would be called on to take over the job if he doesn't make it through his second term because of his age, because of some of his behaviors that make people question whether he's up for a second term. she has a lot of opportunities here despite the problems she's had thus far. it's all about how she's able to carry herself in the public eye. she's not been able to righting that ship so far. i don't think it's a question of what's gown on in her office, although some of her speeches have, you know, invited ridicule. who's writing those speeches? who is backing her up? i think that's a real question and also just her own ability to

to communicate and deliver a message that the voters want to hear. howard: right. so on that point, michael, i want to play a clip of vice president harris speaking back in february to the nbc's andrea mitchell. >> they don't think you're the right person to be on the ticket. why do you think that? >> i think that it is very important to focus on the needs of the american people ask not -- and not political chatter out of washington d.c. howard: so, michael, here's where i think maybe the white house count rust the her, because she's done a couple of network interviews in the past few months. while the president, as we all know, is press averse is. they could put her outen if the sunday shows, and she could make news -- >> it's not the vice president's job to make news. it's essentially the opposite. howard: even if you're carrying the message of your boss? >> it's the her job to sell the agenda and the messages of the white house, of course it is the, she's a surrogate, but she'ses also a partner to the

president too -- howard: why doesn't she do more national interviews, and do you think she's not allowed to do that? >> i don't think that's case. she's not assigned things, she's a partner. president cares about her deeply, her success and failures are his. st the ultimately a reflection of his judgment because with he he chose her, but he chose her because she was the best one for the job, and she's proven that. howard: obviously, much of the public doesn't agree. >> again -- [laughter] i go back to 13% for dick cheney and -- howard: right. >> mike pence a had three chiefs of staff. mike pence had four press secretaries, but no one really talked about him -- howard: right. it wasn't a mean focus. and, susan, i want to play a sound bite from an interview that president biden did with msnbc on friday. take a look. >> you have a very strong economic recovery story to tell. you're talking about real, practical solutions -- >> absolutely. >> why do you think you don't

get more credit for it? sentiment in this country, despite all these wins -- >> all they've heard is negative news for three years. everything is negative. i'm not being critical of the press. if you turn on the television, the only way you're going to get a hit is if there's something negative. howard: susan, president biden blaming his own unpopularity, 36% -- a new low, in odd's washington post/abc poll -- on negative news, negative coverage. >> i think the president's real problem is when people go to buy groceries, when people try to the take out a mortgage, try to buy a house, when people try to buy gas. that is what voters really care about, you know? you can talk about even when it comes to the border and some other big issues, or what really, really impacts a voter when hay show up at polls or when they think about who they want with to be president or approval ratings is what's going on in their own personal lives. and money and what they can afford is usually the number one issue. we know that -- howard: all right. let me get michael back in. >> yeah, i would respectfully

disagree as we saw at the midterms, inflation was at a 40-year high. in this president did not pay a political tax for that. his party had historic overperformance for democrats in his party. and the other thing is that people -- and i think what that proves -- howard: i've got to go. i will just end the segment by saying in that same poll more than 6 in 10 said they didn't believe joe biden had the mental sharpness or physical health to serve effectively -- >> we just saw a president who couldn't pick out his second wife on photo -- howard: on trump again. susan ferrechio, michael la rosa, thanks very much. after the break, the videotape ised deposition in the which donald trump vehemently conditions allegations of rape and defamation. ♪ muck

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raping her. worst thing you can do, the worst charge. howard: and asked about the infamous access hollywood tape in which trump says stars could grab women by their private parts -- >> if you look over the last million years, i guess that's been largely true. not always, but largely true. unfortunately or fortunately. howard: joining us now, kevin corke, who covers the white house for fox news. are the media doing donald trump damage by constantly replaying these excerpts even though he's denying everything? >> i think politically speaking this is very discharging because if you're on the fence or maybe thinking i voted for widen in 2020 the -- biden in 2020 because enough with the circus, this adds to that narrative that this is more of the sir circus you get. you may get good leadership, but a lot of people find that wince-inducing. howard: right. it's also easier to understand at least the investigation,

classify documents, at the same time, it supposedly took place a long time ago but she didn't go public until she wrote -- >> the fact that they're getting a bite at this apple is really surprising. this is ripe for appeal even if it goes all the way which i'm not so sure it will. howard: okay. so former president trump also did an interview with his longtime friend nigel farage, a longtime u.k. politician is the subject of the -- and the subject of the 2020 election came up. >> you're not going to win it, talking about -- >> you brought it up. >> how to do you proceed? >> you brought this up to me, i didn't bring it up to you. i said, look, i'll always say that. howard: i get e-mails and postings from donald trump every other week about the stolen election, and a friendly interviewer asks about it, and he said, you brought it up, i didn't. he bring withs it up all the time. >> he does bring with it up. let this go. as i've said to you before, the

rearview mirror is a lot smaller than the windshield. focus on the windshield, that's the election coming up, not what happened in 2020. howard: a lot of people who like donald trump including kellyanne conway have given him this advice, but he seems to have an insistence on still talking about how the election was rigged even as he is now the far and away front-runner. >> no need for it, it's just not politically smart. and i think he's learning, little bit little he's becoming more of a poll its. he doesn't like to talk about perhaps as much as he would naturally because he understands this is not a winner for him. howard: well, this is his third presidential campaign, is so you do learn some things. now, donnell trump, who has threatened to skip the first two republican debates this summer, the first one handled by fox news, is doing a town hall this week with cnn's caitlin collins. wouldn't this be the same network that trump attacked as fake news for almost seven years and boycotted it? but on the other hand, kevin, some critics are saying cnn

shouldn't give him a platform, this is terrible. >> i don't understand that at all. howard: i don't either. >> i think you want to get politicians out there, i want to hear their ideas, i want the public to make an informed decision. i know there have been some pundits in particular on another network, oh, he shouldn't be out there, i couldn't disagree more strongly. i think he's doing this for two reasons are, caitlin collins is a joe friday, just the facts, ma'am, kind of journalist -- howard: and he knows her from her coverage of the trump white house. >> he knows she's fair, that makes a big difference, and i think he's trying to broaden his appeal a little bit. howard: right. you know, wait and see how the town hall goes and if you want to be critical of the questions, that's fine, but this whole idea he should never be allow on tv again he's the on the -- front-runner by a lot, and he's going to get tv coverage. you can ther carlson reportedly has talked to trump and others, i guess, moderating a candidate forum are. it's not clear what form that would take, broadcast stream or

if it will happen. let me close with this: new york judge os thed out a suit by trump against new york time cans and his niece, mary trump, ordering the former president to pay legal fees involving a pulitzer winning story about his personal finances. donald trump files a lot of lawsuits, and i don't think he necessarily does it with the idea of winning. >> you nailed it. [laughter] howe i did? >> at the end of the day, listen, it's about making sure you get your point out there, i'm going to put you through your paces. the guy's a billionaire so for him, what's a few fees along the way? howard: right. unless it's appealed. yeah, he does it to make a point. he can afford to do it, as you say. i always feel like, okay, when it's eight months later and everybody's forgotten antibiotic, i shouldn't mention what the outcome was. always great to see you, kevin. still to come, the media still focusing on family feuds as charles gets his crown. ♪

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howard: the global media gatheringed in london yesterday for the pomp or, the circumstance and the gossip at the coronation of king charles. you see them there on the balcony. joining us from new york, charlie lang langston of the daily mail. and i was watching yesterday, gorgeous pageantry, brilliant choreography. nobody does this like the britt. but from this distance, it looks like the british media consider charles on the rather unpop lah. >> absolutely. and something that was incredibly different between the coverage of the coronation here in the u.s. and the coronation coverage in the u.k. is that much more of the british media focused on the anti-monarchist protests. and they really were a big presence in london. we didn't really see them that

much on tv over here, but in the u.k. they were everywhere. there was huge uproar over their signs being confiscated, arrests being made. but i think what that indicates is that there is a big sense in the u.k. that the monarchy has run out of time, that it's outdated and that it needs to go. and it's interesting that so many media outlets in the u.k. gave that whole idea a lot of air time. howard: yeah, that's fascinating because i guess there were a few arrests, and it didn't get that much coverage, you're right, here in the states. no one expects charles to be like his mother elizabeth, reign for 70 years. even as he tries to sort of modernize the monarchy a little bit, he seems to have little support among younger british people, so basically at 74 years old, it's kind of a tough the act to follow, your how many. >> basically, it's an impossible act to follow. and charles is never going to achieve the popularity that his mother held simply because he doesn't have time. a lot of people were referring to his reign already as being

very short, one, you know, one outlet described him as a transition monarch, and it just goes to show that poem aren't -- people aren't really taking him that seriously. no one's really giving him the opportunity to embed himself in the role. if the media is already referring to charles as a transitionary monarch, it just indicates to you that they're already waiting for his reign to end and for prince william's to begin. howard: not taking that seriously, he's the king. he's got a really nice crown and sent concern scepter. i've got a piece in the london sun saying prince harry went straight to the airport after the coronation ceremony, so he was not on that balcony scene and a couple others left out as well. the whole flap over whether prince harry was going to attend and meghan markle todaying back in l.a. seems to be a continuing theme especially in the british papers. how much do you think that has affected the coverage or

affected the coverage yesterday in. >> you know, i think harry and meghan have basically been a dark shadow of controversy that has lingeredded over a lot of charles' reign thus far, and i don't think that's going to change. what's interesting yesterday is you can see from from that clip that you're showing was harry being positioned not only three rows back, but he was also placed directly behind a hat and and enormous feather, and a lot of people suggested that may have been intention also that the media couldn't get a good shot at his face, so that we couldn't see his expressions, we couldn't tell whether or not he was singing during the anthem, all that stuff. and i think that's a very interesting point because if the royal family is now taking such steps to the hide harry, that suggests that they are desperate for the media to stop covering this feud. howard: well, if i was hidden by a big hat with a red feather, i'd be pretty depressed. thanks so much. that is it for this edition of "mediabuzz."

i'm howard kurtz, subscribe to my podcast, media buzzmeter. we talk about the buzziest stories. apple itunes is one place to do it. we are back here next sunday, 111 eastern -- we did a lot of talking here today, fabulous guests. we're the only media analysis show op on national television. ♪ ♪ ...the burning, the itching. the stinging. my skin was no longer mine. emerge tremfyant®. with tremfya®, most people saw 90% clearer skin at 16 weeks. the majority of people saw 90% clearer skin even at 5 years. tremfya® is the first medication of its kind also approved for adults with active psoriatic arthritis... ...and it's 6 doses a year after 2 starter doses. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. emerge tremfyant®. with tremfya®...

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