♪ ♪ howard: we have a live interview here on "mediabuzz" with ron desantis, the second place presidential contender, which i'll get to. >> just seconds. donald trump says he probably made a mistake in an interview that just aired here ott on fox. the florida governor joins us from tallahassee. governor desantis, welcome. >> good morning. howard: good morning. when you are asked about polls, you say the media do not want you to be the nominee and have created a narrative that the

race is somehow already over. today washington post, top of the page, desantis -- doubts rise amid early pains for desantis. new york times says desantis cuts some staff as he struggles to gain traction against donald trump. nobody even votes until january, but is all this doom and gloom hurting your campaign? >> oh, not at all. but i think, clearly, you see an effort to create these narratives. i think thed good thing about it is republican primary voters are very smart. they know where these corporate outlets stand on the political spectrum. and so the extent that they become convinced that the media does not want me to be the nominee above all else, that will in the long run absolutely help me. and i think it's interesting that they're talking about some of this campaign process. you know, we were five and a half weeks as a candidate in the second quarter for fund raising, we raised more money than joe biden did in the second quarter who's the sitting president, and we raised more money than donald

trump did into his campaign who, of course, was the former president, and yet they try to spin that negatively. so i think they have a predetermined narrative. but here's the thing, howie, we were just in iowa on friday at the family leaders summit. that was effectively the kickoff to iowa caucus season. so iowans are starting to pay more attention to to it. we were able to talk to thousands of people over a two-day period, and the number one thing i hear from people, the number one thing i hear from people is this, they're like, yeah, you know, i knew you did good things in florida, but i hadn't seen you get, and -- yet, and now that i've seen you, i'm for you. howard: why specifically would the media oppose your nomination compared with their mortal enemy for seven years, donald trump? >> because i think they know that i would beat biden and beat him soundly and maybe even more importantly they've seen what i've done with florida where we've beat the left on all these different issues. i mean, we've beat them on

illegal immigration, we beat them on indoctrination in schools. we've done all these great things, and now florida -- even cnbc is acknowledging we're the top economy of all 50 statements. so i think they see me as somebody who are actually enact some of these bold things as president and, of course, they don't want that. the corporate press wants the status quo. they want the bureaucracy to be in control. they don't want someone like me to come in and dismantle the administrative state, no way. they don't want me coming in and offering strong policies at the border or me coming in and reversing things like bidenomics and the green new deal. so both from an electoral and a substantive perspective, they view me as this most significant threat to their agenda. howard: you are well known for taking on the national media, "60 minutes" for example, but your critics say you don't stray much from conservative media. i appreciate you being here on a straight news show. midnight go to more mainstream

networks, sunday shows and take them on? >> i think what we do do, howie, i've done more press conferences as governor than any governor in history. we have cnn comes, nbc comes, on the campaign trail we have all these people out there, and we take questions. and we are going to be doing nor i don't know necessarily about some of the shows, but we want to be engaged. at the end of the day, i think that some of do our moments as a governor and as a candidate are when we're in hostile environments. so we're going to do that. we're going to do more of it. but it is a misnomer to say we haven't had these people covering us. they are free to ask questions. i call on cnn specifically when we're at town halls and what not, and we'll continue to do that. howard: right. obviously, interviews are very different. it's pretty clear you're running to donald trump's right. you signed the 6-week abortion ban in florida, tough approach on parental rights when it comes to trans issues or school bookings. but if congress pass -- books. but if congress passes a national abortion ban after six weeks, would you sign it?

>> i'm a pro-life governor, i've sign pro-life legislation, i'll be a pro-life president. i think we will have a really good approach in terms of, you know, where do you go from here in the aftermath of dobbs. and, look, the congress is probably not the place you want to put your hopes and dreams if you're supporting pro-life. and so i think we're going to really have a strong bottom-up approach. we're going to be working with statements and localities to be able -- states and localities to advance the cause of life. of course, there'll be executive actions that we will take, we'll make sure to appoint good supreme court justices and prevent the left from passing national legislation that would override a lot of the states' decisions. howard: all right. you were within striking distance of donald trump in the polls, it wasn't that long ago. what happened to that momentum when trump was first indicted? >> yeah, look, i think at the end of the day the bragg indictment just elevated him, and it wasn't so much that people were doing it because

with he's indicted. i think a lot of people, including me, believe that it was a miscarriage of justice. alvin bragg ran for office saying he was going to indict trump. you don't say find me the man and i'll find you the crime. so i think there was a lot of sympathy. but then the i think just dominating the media coverage. i had gotten a lot of coverage in the aftermath of the midterm election. we always knew with these national polls that that was a sugar high. wasn't anything we were too concerned with either way. but what we've found is the more i'm out there, the more support we get in these early states, and it is a state-by-state primary. so i think it would be political malpractice to be running for president fixated on national rather than iowa, new hampshire, south carolina. so that's what we've done. you can make up ground, and is we are making up ground in all those states. that is not really going to be reflected in the national poll because they're such small states that you're not going to end up doing that. we have our eye on the prize. even people who cite the

national polls have acknowledged that in those early states, it's a tighter race, and there's absolutely lanes. we just had the family leaders summit, bob vander platts, he's been saying clearly iowa is wide open. howard: i agree with you, national polls don't necessarily mean much, there's a long way to go. i also would say when donald trump was indicted the second time on the classified documents case which is more serious, in my view, the same thing happened. the news was trump 24 hours a day, and that made it harder for all the candidates. how important are the debates for your candidacy even though trump has a made it pretty clear he's likely to skip the first one next month on fox news? >> i'm going to be at the debate. i think it's a great opportunity and especially for a guy like me. there's a lot of republican voters out there, they like what we've done in florida. they know i'm a good governor. and so -- but they haven't seen a lot about me up close and personal, so that gives us a

great opportunity to be able to hair our vision. how are you going to beat biden, how are you going to be able to get this stuff done, what are the key things that you want to be able to do from getting rid of bidenomics to stopping the invasion at the border, to slaying the administrative state. all those things are really, really important, and i think that first debate you're going to have how many, millions and millions of people are going to tune into it, so i look forward to it. i think it's great to be in an variant where you're asked tough questions -- environment where you're asked tough questions and having to articulate why you should be the next president of the united states. and what we've found on the campaign trail in these early states when we're a able to make that case to voters directly, we get a tremendous response, so we're excited for the debates in august. howard: golf, a common -- governor, a common media criticism is that you are lacking in charisma. you've heard this a thousand times, you don't have the common touch with voters. affable -- obviously, you won a record-breaking, landslide victory in florida, so some people like you --

[laughter] but are you finding the media overemphasize personality over policy? >> they have a predetermined narrative. for example, they used to say, oh, the governor doesn't do retail campaigning. he's not going to be able to go to iowa. and yesterday i'm out there doing events. we had 30, 40 people at some of these things shaking hands, answering questions, and they're like, oh, he can do it. these are predetermined narratives that they have. and i think if you look at my re-election, obviously historic land slide, the state of florida, but the things that voters would say is typically in an rex you vote for the -- an election you vote for the lesser of two evils. in this case, i'm proud to cast an a affirmative vote for a leader i believe in. and i think we developed a loyalty and a support that no governor's been able to do, and that's because we've stood the up for people when it counts. i think when they do some of the subjective things the reason why they're doing it is because objectively aye got a great record to run on; political

success, huge policy success. these are things that not only republican voters have bought into, but also a lot of independents and even more and more democrats as their party goes more left. so they're going to focus on superficialities and trivialities, but we have outperformed the national environment in every election i've been on the ballot for in my career. howard: you said that -- are not going to mess with social security, but as a congressman, you voiced support for privatizing social security and raising the retirement age to 70 for future seniors down the road. what made you change your mind? >> well, i've always said promise made, promise kept. i'm a governor of florida, of course we're going to protect people's social security. my grandmother passed away when she was9 1 -- 91, that was her sole source of income, and that's true for millions of seniors. that goes without saying. when people say we're going to somehow cut seniors' -- that is totally knot true. talking about making changes for

people in their 30s and 40s, that's a much different thing, and that's something that i think there's going to need to be discussions on. but that's just the reality in terms of where i've been, so i don't think it's necessarily a change. and in terms of privatization, what i always said was you aren't going to be able to offer individual account, because there's no social security surplus. there the used to be massive surpluses, and the thought was -- now that's gone. so that is totally not on the table. we've got to make sure we preserve of it for our seniors because they depend on out. howard: you say as president you would clean out the department of justice, but aside from the political appointees any president can replace, how do yo do that in an agency that's mostly career lawyers and prosecutors without being accused yourself of politicizing the doj? if. >> well, first, we have to recognize -- and the media will typically refer to these people as nonpolitical career people. now, it's true they're not political appointees, and we can agree on that, but some of these people have proven to be

fiercely partisan in how they actually apply power, and that's a huge, huge problem because you can win the electoral college as a republican, you get in there and then, what, the executive branch continues to go left because these are, quote, supposedly nonpartisan people but they're acting partisan. so we're going to reduce through attrition, we are going to remove -- we're going to order every cabinet secretary to reduce the footprint of employees within d.c. by 50%. so some of that may mean more people retire, some may mean you don't fill the position, but people are going to be transferred to other parts of the country. and i do think presidents have more ability to fire bureaucrats than they've tried. so, for example, we're going to create something called schedule f. anybody that has any policy making role going to be recategorized, not subject to civil service and can be fired at will. howard: all right. >> so we have a lot of levers at our disposal, and we are going to push those levers because we cannot have a situation where

we, the people, have the bureaucracy unelected constantly imposing its will on us. howard: let me get one more in here. chris christie, who was on this program a couple weeks ago, says he's the only one that goes directly are at trump, insult for insult, calling him a coward, and that the rest of you just dance around for fear of fending him or his supporters. does he have a point? >> i don't do insults, so that is true. i think just getting in this insult game turns voters off. it's not something i want to do. substantively, we've been very frank at our differences with respect to the former president. i mean, for example, he promised to drain the swamp. it got worse. he did not drain the swamp. he promised to have the mexico pay for a border wall. they did, like, 50 miles of wall. there's massive expanses still there. he said he was going to eliminate the national debt. they added almost $8 trillion to the debt in four years and, of course, in 2020 he turned the

country over to dr. fauci, and there was lockdowns and the borrowing and printing really sent us on a bad course. i've been very, very frank at that, but i have ono interest in attacking donald trump or any of these other candidates personally. i think we've got to rise bo that and focus on the issues -- above that. howard: you were once allies. i've got about half a minute, did you let trump define you by waiting too long to respond to his attacks when you were governor and not officially in the race in. >> not at all a. i think even some of these polls if you're going to take them for what they're worth with, they say i have the highest favorability amongst republican voters, so i think they made a big mistake by spending all that money against me. i don't think it had its tend intended effect. we have a pac, i imagine they're going to start lighting up the airwaves pretty soon with a lot of good stuff about me, and that's going to give us a great lift. so we look forward to that. howard: ron desantis of florida, really appreciate your time, thanks for joining us. >> thank you. howard: when we come back, our panel weighs in on ron

desantis, donald trump, the media and much more. ♪ ♪ ar. i'm coming out of hibernation, and papa is hungry. and while you're hittin' the trail, i'm hitting your cooler. and your cut-rate car insurance might not pay for all this. so get allstate. oh booking.com, ♪ i'm going to somewhere, anywhere. ♪ ♪ a beach house, a treehouse, ♪ ♪ honestly i don't care ♪ find the perfect vacation rental for you booking.com, booking. yeah.

- [female narrator] they line up by the thousands. each one with a story that breaks your heart. like ravette... every step, brought her pain. their only hope: mercy ships. the largest floating civilian hospital in the world. bringing free surgeries to people who have no other hope. $19 a month will help provide urgently needed surgery for so many still suffering. so don't wait, call the number on your screen. or donate at mercyships.org.

howard: there's no question that the coverage of ron desantis has turned increasingly hostile and often focuses on a single subject. >> well, look, i think desantis has a desantis problem. people do not like the guy. >> ron desantis also just lacks a lot of the charisma we see from other candidates. >> desantis mania for months and months, then he launches his campaign, and it's like a littl- [background sounds] howard: joining us to analyze the coverage in new york, rich lowry, editor-in-chief of national review, and leslie marshall, radio talk show host and fox news contributor. rich, you famously wrote the op-ed in "the new york times" when he got in the race, he's

not dead yet. where do you stand on whether governor desantis has a pulse, a political pulse, and how much are the media to blame? >> i stick to that headline, howard. he is not dead yet. but there's no do you want he's in one of these downdrafts -- no doubt that he's in one of these downdrafts that every presidential campaign experiences, and it either grinds you down or you show resilience, adjust and get out of it. i would say the media hates him, obviously, has hated him since the start of the pandemic when he had his distinctive approach in florida. but i think it's a mistake for him not to do sit-down interviews with legacy media outlets. they continue to be important. maybe they're less important, but it doesn't mean that nbc news has no role in setting this narrative which has been in large part set by the media. two, if you sit down for a hostile interview and do well -- tim scott did this on "the view," vivek ramaswamy did this

on "meet the press," it leads to enormous free publicity. it spreads everywhere. maybe no conservative's actually watching that show live, but they see -- howard: i totally agree. leslie, the press was initially enamored of the governor of florida because he was the guy who was going to knock off trump, then he started declining in the pollings. is desantis getting kicked around now because he's seen as a likely loser? [laughter] >> i don't see him as being kicked around, and i loved your interview because you pretty muched asked him that. no excuses, right? isn't that the motto, no excuses. i pretty much live by that mays. when i see -- myself. look, in reality he is not gaining in the polls, and least sending his wife out -- and he's sending his wife out who does, by the way, have more and higher approval than he does and who does have enthusiasm which, clearly, i think the governor's lacking. and i think we saw that in the

interview. i would agree with rich, he should sit down and talk to everybody anywhere that will listen because the number one reason people vote is name recognition. and there are people, believe it or not, outside of florida and the beltway that haven't really heard the name ron desantis. howard: right. >> so i think it's okay for him to blame the media, but i don't think that's really happening. i think he needs to look in the mirror and tweak himself and his own campaign. howard: rich, desantis obviously has a great command of policy and policy issues and a list of accomplishments in florida. but we hear again and again and again he can't connect and is too cool and his wife is warm and all of that. who decided, who in the press decided that this should be turned into a personality contest? >> yeah. well, the truth is politics, especially at the national level, has always had a huge element of personality and charisma, the it factor, all that matters a lot. and desantis is a sober-minded guy. you look at his interview with

you, i thought hugely impressive, right? he's smart, he's knowledgeable, he's extremely well spoken, but donald trump just operates in a different realm. all these guys are running against the greatest showman on earth. and the different approaches to how to deal with it, desantis is i'm boeing to tiptoe around it -- going to tiptoe around, chris christie is, no, i'm going directly after it, and maybe both of those theories are wrong. i really think what's hurt desantis so far is nothing wrong about him, it's just trump's continued strength and that bragg indictment which you referred to that just put trump on a difference trajectory that he's billion on ever since. howe i howe no question that donald trump is a great showman and a lot of people like the entertainment in politics. let's arely, much of the media crusaded against donald trump in 2016, and he won anyway. is ron desantis engaging in a little bit of blame shifting? every day i pick up the paper, go online, and there's some anti-desantis story.

[laughter] >> i think that the media is, you know, doing what they do which is making money. i mean, it's a business whether it's radio or television or newspapers, and they like headlines that sell like rich's lovely headline about desantis. and that's the reality. i mean, if he goes -- if he spikes in the polls, he's going to be front page. if he goes down in the poll, he's going to be front page. and as he gets into that that, oh, not exciting area, you're not going to see him on the front page. with regard to the personality, donald trump is a cult of personality, no question, and in 2016 although i would agree with rich that a general election is largely based on personality for many election cycles now, it became a game-changer when donald trump entered the ring, and that has not changed. so, i'm sorry, but, you know, ron desantis, governor desantis, he needs to step into that ring when e he's going to be on stage with donald trump, and that's going to be

difficult if he thinks he's not going to be able to have any personal attacks or deflect from these personal attacks. howard: we'll see you both later in the show. it's interesting desantis saying he can beat biden, implication being trump can can't win the general election. up next, abc may soon i be up for sale, and roseanne talks her way into trouble on ukraine and the nazis.from ♪ my retirement funds allow me to enjoy what i love to do. as long as you can make an impact, why stop? [ applause ] >> the day you get your clearchoice dental implants makes every day

a confident day... a never-hide-my-smile day... a life-of-the-party day... a take-on-the-world day... a believe-in-myself day... a flash-my-new-teeth day. because your clearchoice day is the day you get your confidence back for good. a clearchoice day changes every day. schedule a free consultation. we're traveling all across america talking to people about their hearts. ooh, take this exit. how's the heart? i feel like it's good. you feel like it's good? how do you know when it's time to check in on your heart? how do you know? let me show you something. it looks like a credit card, but it is the kardiamobile card. that is a medical-grade ekg. want to see how it works? yeah. put both thumbs on there. that is your heart coming from the kardiamobile card. wow! with kardiamobile card you can take a medical-grade ekg in just 30 seconds from anywhere. kardiamobile card is proven to detect atrial fibrillation,

one of the leading causes of stroke. and it's the only personal ekg that's fda-cleared to detect normal heart rhythm, bradycardia and tachycardia. how much do you think that costs? probably $500. $99! oh really? you could carry that in your wallet! of course you can carry it in your wallet, right? yes, yes. checking your heart anytime, anywhere has never been easier. don't wait. get kardiamobile card for just $99 at kardia.com or amazon.

howard: time to race the clock on the buzzmeter. go. tommy tuberville called a really bad play when he defended white nationalists with caitlin collins. >> a white nationalist is someone who believes the why is race superior to other -- white race is superior to other -- >> that's some people's opinion. >> that's not opinion. >> pardon? is. >> what's your opinion in. >> my opinion is a white nationalist, to me, is an american: howard: after getting pounded

for a full day, tuberville backed off. >> do you believe that white nationalists are racists? >> yes. if that's what race is, yes. howard: this is not a close call at the goal line, the senator was smart to drop his defense. could abc be up for sale and soon? bob iger left that clear impression with a sit sit-down with cnbc. >> we're talking the stations, the cable networks as well. >> yes. >> f/x, nan-geo -- >> we're fong to be expansive. there's a reality to it that we have to come to grips with now. howard: iger clearly chooses his words carefully, so he's clearly sending a signal, anybody want to buy a broadcast network? "the new york times" has abolished its sports desk. the editor telling staff in a memo our deep admiration for

that legacy makes the decision bittersweet sweet for all of us adding that the 35 sports staff theres would be transferred elsewhere. the times spent more than half a billion dollars last year to buy the athletic, a paid subscription site, which lost $8 million in the first quarter. the athletic, which by the way is not union, has some really good sports features, but it's clear the times is moving away from covering actual teams and games, and those who beautifully covered daily sports for the times got dumped for a better looking girlfriend. when i spoke about roseanne barr recently and how she was saying the holocaust never happened, some people said, come on, she was being sarcastic, but she never disavow ared the -- disavowed the statement and didn't in an interview with piers morgan. >> i don't know if you know this, but there's a large amount of nazis in the ukraine, and they actually killed my whole family. howard: when piers said he didn't believe it today, rose

rein raised the decibel level. >> you haven't seen the swastikas on those arms? it's in the news. >> -- himself is jewish, so obviously -- >> i know, but he's not a good one. are all jews the same? for god sake, talk about indiana semitic. >> zelenskyy's done a valiant job of trying to save his country. i've always enjoyed roseanne as a comedienne, but some of what she's saying now is just hard to fathom. next on "mediabuzz," why donald trump wants to delay his trial and and why doj has flip-flopped on the e. jean e. jean carroll suit against the former presidentwas . you should get a second opinion from innovation refunds at no upfront cost. sometimes you need a second opinion. [coughs] good to go. yeah, i think i'll get a second opinion. all these walls gotta go! ah ah ah! i'd love a second opinion. no. i'm going to get a second opinion.

with innovation refunds, there's no upfront cost to find out. so why not check like i did for my small business? take the first step to see if your small business qualifies for the erc.

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. howe donald trump now wants to delay his classified documentses trial until after next year's election which means if he win wins the white house, he could simply have the justice department drop the case. >> donald trump is literally running for his freedom.

he's running to be president to stay out of prison. those are the a stakes for donald trump. >> and intentionally, the goal here is to deny donald trump and otherses due process under our constitution. in fact, the media do polls, oh, how's this leak going to affect the election? howard: and we're back with the panel, rich lowry, trump's critics in the media have said all along he would try to delay the trial indefinitely, now his lawyers say, oh, he can't possibly get a fair jury if the trial starts while he's running for president, and i don't think the media buying that. >> it just seems ridiculous that you would have this major criminal trial happening, like, a month before the iowa caucuses, smack dab in the midst of a presidential campaign? plus the difficulty involved, so i would just be shocked if this trial happens before even if trump -- if trump's the nominee, happens before the general election. howard: yeah. well, the special counsel wants it in december, i kind of agree with you, i don't see that happening.

leslie marshall, is trump's real goal as many liberal pundits are charging to shut down this doj case, either he wins and he can have his attorney general do it or another republican wins and pardon him? >> of course. [laughter] i mean, i think anybody who's charged with something, honestly, whether they're innocent or guilty they want it to go away, right? so that's why people pay expensive lawyers or try and find any loophole, those would be a couple of loopholes. but with regard to loopholes, i want the read specifically that a sitting president with regard especially to e. jean carroll, i know we're getting to that, a sitting president is immune from a civil suit from actions taken within the parameters of his job as president. so in other words, a president, sitting president can actually sue you or me or, you know, rich or anybody for slander or libel, and they actually can be sued in a civil court if it's outside the paneller thes of their job.

howard: -- parameters. howard: i think he's less likely to sue us -- [laughter] let me get you a couple of sound bites from maria bartiromo's interview with the president, first with the decision to name christopher wray, the chief of the fbi. maria: was it a mistake to put christopher wray there? obviously, the fbi is not following any of this things -- the things -- >> sadly, you know, he was recommended very strongly by chris christie who's, you know, a sad case. howard: rich, what should we all make or the media make of trump turning on his own fbi chief? he's the one who named him, and then trying to blame it on christie when, obviously, it's the president who makes the final decision? enter. >> well, he's always on message, right? he's going to take shots at christie if he has the opportunity. i don't think chris wray is a bad fbi director, he's doing the best he can with an institution that has made some desperate mistakes mostly before he was

there, things he didn't have anything to do with, and he's the fall guy. and if there's a republican president, he's very likely going to be out the door are soon thereafter. one exception of something he was involved in was this fbi pressure campaign on social media companies to remove content which the government should not be doing and the completely outrageous. howard: right. although it's a common practice for tech companies to make that decision. leslie, this is donald trump talking about what he says is his old friend ted kennedy. >> who's the dumbest, he said, probably joe. this is ted kennedy. he knew 'em all. and i said, what do you mean joe? who's joe? joe biden, he's the dumbest. howard: what do you make of the former president according to long-deceased senator in trying to make the point that the current president is somehow a dummy? >> i think there are people out there that would insert trump for biden that could be interviewed. the problem with somebody when's deceased is they can't be

interviewed, so that's very convenient. and going back to whether it's christopher wray, whether it's chris christie or even ron desantis, donald trump when somebody is on his team, when people speak well of donnell trump, he loves them -- donald trump, he loves them and he praises them. but when they are in opposition to him whether they're running against him, they said something against him, all of a sudden they're no longer good. and we see that with christopher wray. i would agree with everything rich said regarding the fbi director. and i have to just say one thing about chris christie, you know, i'm liking this chris christie. the problem is i'm old enough to remember the other chris christie and, you know, as eminem would say, would the real slim shady please stand up. howard: he wants you to think about this chris christie. >> about that kennedy clip, there's no other presidential candidate who would relay that conversation, and this is just trump. he breaks the rules, he says whatever he wants, and it makes him interesting so we're talking

about, and a lot of republicans interpret that as strength. howard: a lot of people would say, well, the president can't be that mentally challenged, because he beat donald trump last time. doj, rich just briefly, has flip-flopped, can't defend donald trump in the defamation suit by writer e. jean carroll going back to the alleged incident going back to the '90s does this 180 kind of smell political? >> well, that's the way a lot of people are going to interpret it. i'm not a lawyer. seems to me though that the original position was based on the idea that trump pushing back against care roll was -- carroll was related to his job as the president of the united states which doesn't make a lot of sense to me and, obviously, he's continued to do it. howard: right. leslie, real quick, so this case involving stormy daniels which started in january -- excuse me, which started in march, the alvin bragg was started in january, is that going to overshadow this campaign if

donald trump is in and out of courtrooms whether he's found guilty or innocent? >> no. i think it'll parallel the campaign, and i think as we saw when the indictment came down, it will actually help donald trump because it fans the flame under his base and expands that base. i said that before the indictment came out. so i will say as a democrat if this was political, it was a stupid political move which means it's not political. >> it won't overshadow the campaign, it'll overshadow the rest of the ca candidates. howard: all right. rich lowry, leslie marshall, thanks very much for joining us this sunday. enter after the break, a whistleblower against the biden family has been indicted for secretly helping china. does that sink his credibility? ♪ ♪ 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. hi, i'm sharon, and i lost 52 pounds on golo. on other diets, i could barely lose 10-15 pounds. thanks to golo, i've lost 27% of my body weight, and it was easy.

(soft music) [music “this little light of mine”] in the world's poorest places, children with cleft conditions live in darkness and shame. they're shunned, outcast, living in pain. you can reach out and change the life of a suffering child right now.

a surgery that take as little as forty five minutes and your act of love can change a child's life forever. please call, scan or go online to give a new smile. thousands of children are waiting. scout is protected by simparica trio, and he's in it to win it. simparica trio is the first and only chew with triple protection. oh, fleas and ticks

♪ intestinal worms... wow heartworm disease, no problem with simarica trio. this drug class has been associated with neurologic adverse reactions including seizures. use with caution in dogs with a history of these disorders. for winning protection. go with simparica trio. howard: republican lawmakers have been touting a whistleblower named gal luft, think tank owner who told the fbi he had evidence that a chinese energy company called cefc was paying off hunter biden and his family. >> they knew very well that i'm a credible witness and that i have insider knowledge about the group and the individuals that can reach the biden family. howard: but now gal luft has been indictedded for secretly acting as a chinese agent, for highing to investigators and for violating the u.s. embargo

against iran by brokering deals for iranian oil. jim comer, the congressman leading the house probe over the bidens, seems undeterred by the criminal charges for a source that republicans said earlier had gone missing. >> the timing is always coincidental according to the democrats at the department of justice. look, here's what i mow about gal luft, he was getting paid like the bidens from cefc. so there are a lot of questions here, and it's just amazing the department of justice moves so quickly against some people. u. howard: joining us now, kevin corke, who covers the white house for fox news. kevin, you have some republicans questioning the timing of this indictment, but luft was actually charged last year, was arrested in cyprus in february, skipped out on the bail, and the indictment can was just unsealed this week. does it still make sense for republicans to say the doj did this for suspicious reasons of timing? >> that's always the best play if you're a republican, to say this is another example of the mittization of the doj. but i think -- politicization of

the doj. but i think to be fair, anytime you have sort of a i don't want to say a suspicious person, but if you have someone who has done things that i think inarguably would be questionable -- howard: shadowy -- >> sort of like a sword of damocles hanging over your head. you also know, howie, that in the case of a person like this there's always what if, what might happen, and i think in this case the doj took action. howard: well, here's the irony, you have luft saying he tolling the fbi about -- told the fbi about the chinese company paying off the bidens, no document the money went to hunter biden b i e after he was charged as a chinese spy and secretly writing pro-china propaganda under the name of a former top u.s. official. so there's a lot of threats -- >> i am shocked, shocked, i say,

to learn there's been gambling and drinking in this establishment. i think it's father to say concern fair to say that there is something there there because this is someone who has made credible allegations. when i say there's something there there, let's find out what he has to say. the fact that the doj has moved with such swiftness does beg the question why in this case and not other cases. and when they talk about fara violations, if i'm not mistaken, there's also that allegation against hunter biden himself, and yet that has also not pressing to the -- risen of the level to warrant a charge. howard: right. so he enjoys the presumption of innocence. but i think if i'm a republican politician, i would be -- [inaudible] but also shouldn't the press admit there's a lot we don't know? >> absolutely. and that's the problem right now in the way you see the coverage being sort of handles. -- handled. people make this big leap, well, he's been indictedded, therefore, but you can indict a

ham sandwich. the fact that there's been indictment does say something, but with it doesn't tell me me that maybe there's not something that he's saying that's possibly true. we need to find out, and i think the oversight committee has a very strong and vested to make sure that we find out what he knows and whether or not they can corroborate that information. howard: the credit service, as you know, has now -- secret service has closed the white house cocaine interference, doesn't have a suspect. nikki haley, running for president, says that the secret service is covering up for hunter biden. now, as a presidential candidate, she can say whatever she wants, i guess we're obligated to cover it, but to say that without any evidence, a lot of people have gone to it must be hunter biden. we don't know. >> we don't know if it's hunter biden, if it's a staffer, we have no idea. i think it's dubious to make these sweeping generalizations about this organization that has a lot of great people. on the other hand, it does beg the question how on earth does it happen -- aye been to the white house a million times, are

you kidding me in you mean to tell me there's not something they can do to triangulate -- howard: a camera, rae. -- yeah. >> i don't guy it. but i'm not the -- i don't buy it. howard: yeah. i think a lot of people are, like, the secret service can't find this person? they've looked at all the tapes, and they can't find fingerprints. in a way, it makes it more tantalizing for the media. we've got to solve this mystery. still to come, donald trump getting into the podcast world, and with two unions shut down hollywood. ♪ oh good. you got another mask? are you the ceo of cashbacking? no, you're not. earn big with chase freedom unlimited. how do you cashback? your wyndham is waiting... because you earned it after months on the road with the travel hockey team. and since chances are you're about 10 minutes from a hotel by wyndham, you can keep earning and redeeming points towards free nights. wyndham rewards.

get the lowest price at wyndhamrewards.com (light acoustic music plays) (eagle screeches) (energetic music plays) there he is! it's right there! ♪ oh, he's straight ahead. he's straight ahead. straight ahead. go go go. ♪ cover more ground in the kia sportage turbo-hybrid. kia. movement that inspires.

>> last time we had you on, it was our biggest episode ever, obviously. 7 million views in 24 hours. >> it did really hit. it was a big monster, budget out? >> huge.

howard: that was donald trump, and he wants to do more of these. for example, says politico, trading jabs with mike tyson, his old friend, on the former boxer's podcast. we're back with kevin corke. politico says the idea is to reach an audience that isn't plugged into news, that's plugged into sports, entertainment or whatever. but is it another way of getting around the mainstream media? >> i think you nailed it. [laughter] my answer's gone now. i think the you're the former president, you want to maybe stir it up just a blitz bit, mix it up. i think he comes from an era where mixing it up with the press was sort of good. i always liken him to cosell and ali. i think a podcast gives him a chance to be more of himself, he's not going to take sharper questions, and it's probably going to drum up some support, again, within his base. howard: right. and he has the entertainment factor where he can do that. he's a celebrity and i think a lot of other candidates cannot.

as you probably know, the actors in hollywood have gone on strike, joining the writers' union, completely shutting down the tv and movie i have business. movie business. first time in 60 years they've both been on strike. leapt me play a clip from fran drescher of "the nanny." drescher examining or responding to offer by these studios. >> we are being victimized by a very greedy entity. i am shocked by the e way the people that we have been in business with are treating us. howard: we have streaming tv to deal with, a.i. and all that, but why are the two sides so far apart? there's so much money to be made. >> there's a lot of money to be made. the pie is big enough for everybody to have a slice. the problem here, howie, is how are the people who are not the front-facing talent in this industry, how will they be paid moving forward.

a.i. is changing the game, and i think they're rightly concerned, and without some sort of parameters, you're going to be looking at eventually, perhaps, cutting out the middleman. we can use your likeup, your image, maybe -- likeness, your image, maybe your voice, and they don't like that. howard: the big stars who don't really need the union, george clooney, they are very much backing them because they work with every day, and often they read their lines in the case of the writers. these see -- ceos, they make massive amounts of money, i mean, tens of millions of dollars. and lower e level actors and writers who are struggling anyway are are left struggling. >> you know who learned this lesson previously, some of the sports leagues, the major leagues like baseball and football and basketball. let's not kill the goose that laid the golden egg -- howard: which baseball did in the '90s when they canceled the season. >> perfectly said. and this is why i think, ultimately, living in hollywood with the big movie houses need to figure this thing out quickly, and let's make sure

everyone is paid because you don't want to wreck the whole thing over a few bucks. howard: yeah. i think some people may turn more to sports or reality shows or whatever, because if this drags on, there's not going to be much in the way of entertainment. and i agree with you this is sort of an inflection point. but i always say that eventually the strikes will be settled. >> yeah. howard: so why wait six months? why not settle this month? >> absolutely. couldn't agree with you more, as a baseball fan in particular. howard: okay. the baseball situation -- and people edged up hating the owners, being pissed off at the players, and i think we might see some of that here. maybe this will take a turn, but ill like to see this settled, and that the includes people who like netflix and amazon prime and apple tv, all that, hulu and all that. kevin corke, many of many -- man of many talents, thank you very much. >> my pleasure. howard: that's it for this edition of "mediabuzz", i'm howard kurtz. subscribe to my podcast, media

buzzmeter. apple itunes is a good way to do it. maybe that's the way i'll get him to come up. i interviewed him a whole lot in 2015 and 2016. we can take that graphic down so you can see me. we are back here next sunday at 11 eastern, and always kind of proud to tell you the only media analysis show on national television. ♪ ♪

this is your summer to smile. to raise your glass and reconnect. to reel in the fun and serve up great times. to help you get ready your aspen dental team is celebrating 25 years of affordable care with an epic summer of smiles event. right now, new patients without insurance get a free full exam and x-rays. plus, everyone can get 20% off their treatment plan. but hurry, because while these summer savings won't last,

the memories you make together will. aspen dental. book today. we're traveling all across america, talking to people about their hearts. wh-who wants to talk about their heart! [honking] how's the heart? how's your heart? how's your heart? - it's good. - is it? aah, i don't know. it's okay. - it's okay! - yeah. - good. - you sure? i think so. how do you know? it doesn't come with a manual, and you like ooh, i got the 20,000-day checkup, right? let me show you something. put two fingers right on those pads. look at that! that's your heart! that is pretty awesome. with kardiamobile, you can take a medical-grade ekg in just 30 seconds, from anywhere. kardiamobile is proven to detect atrial fibrillation, one of the leading causes of stroke. and it's the only personal ekg that's fda-cleared to detect normal heart rhythm, bradycardia and tachycardia. how much do you think this costs? probably in the hundreds. $79. oh wow! that could be cheaper than a tank of gas. checking your heart anytime, anywhere has never been easier. don't wait. get kardiamobile today for just $79 at kardia.com

or amazon. he is on the run armed and dangerous for georgia police call the suspect and gunmen they are desperately trying to catch at this hour. he is the suspect in the mass shooting of the four people at separate locations, that happened yesterday morning in a small town near atlanta. the police chief vowing to quote hunt the murder suspect down and whatever hole he is in. hello everyone welcome to "fox foxnews line five eric shawn. hi arthel. >> hi eric hello everyone i am arthel neville. investigators say a 40-year-ol