♪ ♪ howard: welcome to the 10th anniversary of "mediabuzz." yep, been a decade since we launched this program. still here thanks to you, and i'll have more to say along with some great highlights later in the program. the media's conventional wisdom is everywhere. donald trump, who is spending so much time on trial, will he be off the trail right in the midst of his primaries and his campaign inevitably damaged? trump could skip all campaigning between now and super tuesday,

and he'd still have an overwhelming lead. the maga base doesn't need to see him repeating applause lines, and most view the indictments as a partisan vendetta, and each charge has pushed up his polls. now, let's say my calculation is off and reporting on the courtroom dramas knocks so points off his -- 10 points off his total. so what? trump is at 59% in the latest "wall street journal" poll and could still win the nomination without breaking a sweat. the biggest possible pitfall i see is that he loses iowa or new hampshire and that upends the race. love him or detest him, trump knows how to drive the the news cycle. he can attack his critics on truth social, post videos and do tv interviews. the idea he'll somehow be silenced is a fantasy. i'm howard kurtz, and this is "mediabuzz". ♪ ♪

♪ howard: with a federal judge setting a march 4th trial date for the justice department's indictment do on election interference charges, that's the day before super tuesday, the commentators have very mixed views. >> joe biden isn't even committing to debating donald trump. this isn't a battle of ideas, there's no effort at persuasion. this is the removal of a political opponent through handcuffs and ballot gimmickly. >> i think donald trump's going to be the mom me because i haven't seen the candidates willing to take him on and make a thing out of this unprecedented turn of events, the four indictments. >> prosecutors are attempting to throw trump in prison for interfering with an election. well, looks like they themselves are looking to have an impact on an election unless, of course, you believe these states are simply by accident and a mere coincidence. >> if donald trump doesn't want

to have his trial start the day before super tuesday, the simple solution is don't commit crimes so that you're nation a criminal trial the day before super tuesday. howard: joining us now to to analyze the coverage, mollie hemingway, editor-in-chief of the federalist, and in san diego, laura fink. do da -- do you agree that donald trump being tied up is not going to throw his march to the nomination? >> clearly, it seems to be helping him with the primary ands also the general election votes. the "wall street journal" poll showing that just yesterday. it's not just republicans who are more inclined to favor him, but independents and moderates as well. people do not view these as legitimate prosecutions. if you're not a democrat partisan, you tend to view this as a partisan prosecution that is scarier than any election contest.

howard: laura, the general election may be a different story, much broader slice of america. but when with you have a former president who's well over 50% in the polls in a multi-candidate field, isn't that person the overwhelming favorite even in the face of these multiple indictments? >> absolutely. i, it's also how his base is responding. for trump the courtroom is the campaign, and that will be true moving forward through the primary season. we see that victimhood really is his platform, and his supporters are really leaning in. they truly believe him when he says that they're not fighting me, they're fighting you. and so they see this as their battle. and so as long as he has that base galvanized behind him, as long as any of his opponents can't seem to find a chink in his armor and a way to persuade those voters that they are a better alternative the, he will continue to dominate. we just saw "the wall street journal" poll, i think you'll see that in the days and months

ahead. howard: we have a rare moment of consensus, and the journal says it's no longer a two-man race. obviously, six months to the voting or so. let me play for both of you what the former president said in an interview with glenn beck. >> and if you're president again, will you lock people up? >> the answer is you have no choice because they're doing it to us. i never hit biden as hard as i could have. and then i heard he was trying to indict me, and it was him who was doing it. these are sick, evil people. howard: donald trump believes these to indictments are a result of the weaponization of law enforcement, and i know you agree. when he says he has no choice but to prosecute his political opponents, are we end for -- in for an endless cycle of payback? >> look back at 2016 where the republican base wanted hillary clinton held accountable for clear crimes. she'd set up a private server, destroyed tens of thousands of e-mails in the middle of an a

investigation. but when trump won the election, he said we have to the let people handle things at the ballot box. the response was the russia collusion hoax, two impeachments, now 91 is indictments from democrat prosecutors up and down the eastern seaboard. the question isn't whether republicans will be responding in some way, it's going to be what else will they be doing to try to preserve the country and not be a place where politicized prosecutions are not the order of the day to handle political disagreements. howard: i do have to point out when donald trump says joe biden wanted him indicted, we've yet to see the proof of that. laura, the thing about donald trump that journalists just have to appreciate is that he says this stuff openly. he didn't sidestep the question, he says, yeah, ooh i'm going to go after a them. and if he wins another term the, he'll have the power to do that, particularly if he picks an attorney general who will do his

bidding. >> well,ing getting your supporters e to say lock her up is hardly, you know, sidestep thing the issue. you're right, he's absolutely direct. i think the other thing we have to to consider here is that donald trump has always tested the strength of the other arms of government. for him to go along and prosecute his political opponent, not just his doj has to go along with it, but the federal courts have to go along with it. and he doesn't do very well when he has to present if evidence in court which means the american system of justice does have some bulwarks against his whims. i think that, you know, we'll see how he does with all of these prosecutions which, of course, the right would like to write off as simply political. but the fact of the matter is there will be a jury of his peers, regular americans will be deciding his fate, and the rules of law and justice will be looking at the evidence that's presented to them. trump will have that same threshold if he does make it back into office, and so far he hasn't fared very well when evidence and facts are required.

howard: let's keep in mind that we mostly have heard the prosecutor's side with these various indictments, and while certainly the former president's pleaded not guilty and so fort, we haven't seen the full defense, and that may change the picture. mollie, trump has been, let's just say, very active on truth social. posted about 30 videos in one day, vis rating his opponents, always going after the judges and prosecutors in his cases. is that helping him, or are the media largely ignoring these posts? >> yeah, the media are continuing their operation as co-partisans with the democrat party, so being able to use social media is an important aspect. just to some of these points, department of justice also something that a lot of americans view as compromised not just because of the way they're going against the primary republican politician in the country, but also the way that they are protecting the biden family. this is a major issue. and, actually, joe biden did use the "the new york times" on april 2nd, 2022, to funnel a

message to merrick garland that he did want donald trump prosecuted. he had more than enough opportunity to claim that was an inaccurate telling of his viewpoint said, of course, by anonymous sources in the white house, and he didn't do that. howard: what did he say? >> he said he wanted his primary political opponent to be handlee prosecuted. he said it before he was inaugurated and right after he was inaugurated publicly, that he did want this to be done. it's being done by his department of justice which is embroiled in a horrific sanding around catching -- covering up the biden scandal. i mean, this weaponization of the department of justice and other law enforcement and other as aspects of our judicial system is a real crisis for a lot of americans regardless of their political -- they don't, they don't want to be in a country that handles disputes this way. >> well, i haven't seen it outside of deep red republicans make one of -- that one of their

top three issues, but i do understand there is a conservative ecosystem that is pounding on this because it duh does, in fact, support trump. his game is absolutely over the next nine months going to be attack the institutions. everything is corrupt except me. you can only trust me. and it has galvanized his base, but i would disagree when earlier mollie said that, in fact, that persuades independents and voters who are swing voters. i think that's where he's going to have some real trouble in the general, because a lot of americans watched what happened on january 6th. they watched their institutions they want to trust their institutions, and they don't fundamentally believe that they are all corrupt and that everything is political. >> they also a watched what happened during the summer of violence in 2020 when very little was done to handle the destruction of cities across the country, attacks on the white house, federal courthouses. they also see what happens to not just donald trump, but to proto-life protesters, to

parents at school board meetings. it is true these courtrooms are going to be a scene of major campaigning, but that's because it appears this is the main campaign strategy of biden and the democrats instead of how the economy is going, how the country is being run, how the war in ukraine is being handled, what the border is like. it's clear it is a campaign strategy, laura, but i would can disagree about whether that's being perpetrate by the the victim or the people doing it. howard: all right, a lot of disagreement here. trump has also taken shots at fox. does the it help him to call president biden a bum who is backed by, quote, fascist thugs? >> well, i think that that is persuasive to a certain segment, probably the same folks that molliie's talking about, but i think he is going to have to find a way and i don't underestimate donald trump. he was the one calling candidates saying soften your stance on abortion, and that the turned out to be prescient. he has the ability to be

tactical if he wants to to. i think his own obsession with himself will run into problems because the economy will be an issue. abortion and the ability to control one's own body will be an issue. some of the things in terms of people's freedoms in cool will be an -- school will be an issue. howard: a georgia judges has ruled that the trump trial there will be televised and live streamed. mollie, do you see that as a positive steph step? >> well e, show trial, i guess show it on television so that people can achieve what the democrats want to achievement and with this which is focusing on donald trump and not focusing on how the country is being run, what's happening to people's pocketbooks, what's happening with inflation and all these other issues they care about. howard: laura, i get the benefit of everyone being able to see it, but having lived through the o.j. trial where everybody played to the cameras, could this turn into a circus? >> well, i think that it's probably, transparent say is

probably -- transparency is probably best given that we have electoral consequences woven into the fabric of this on the natural. so i think americans need to see the play-by-play, and i think they will be watching. i think they will bring their views and biases to the table as they do so. howard: be a lot less time for the pundits if this is on eight hours a day. when we come back, vivek ramaswamy goes through a series of very combative tv interviews and keeps saying he's being misunderstood. is that true? ♪ oh, hello! hi! do you know that every load of laundry could be worth as much as $300? really? and your clothes just keep getting more damaged the more times you wash them. downy protects fibers, doing more than detergent alone. see? this one looks brand new. saves me money? i'm starting to like downy.

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howard: vivek ramaswamy, argue by the star of the gop debate, has been doing more tv interviews, to his credit. he's gotten tough questioning across the political spectrum and keeps denying when his

controversial words are read back to him. >> you said aid to israel, our number one ally, only democracy in the region, should end in 2028, that they should be integrated -- >> that's false. >> that was an exact quote. >> it's actually -- yeah, i can tell you the exact quote. what i said is it would be a mark of success if we ever got to the point in our relationship with israel, if israel never needed the united states' aid. >> in terms of china, you've also talked about staying as a force, a deterrent force in the taiwan strait, putting more military in until you said we would be independent on superconductors in 19 -- excuse me, 2028, ask if at that point we should pull out and taiwan would be on it own. >> my concern that our steps and nato's steps right now are marching us closer to world war by driving russia further into china's hands. howard: mollie, vivek ramaswamy

deserves credit, i think, for doing all these interviews, but he's constant ily saying, no, i never said that, and hen -- then he refrain frame -- reframes the question. >> it does give him an opportunity to flesh out his positions more. it is sometimes humorous when it happens, but he wants to put them in context and keep pushing the issues that are important to him, so it actually ends up being good television. howard: laura, when ramaswamy says he's going to protect taiwan until we can make enough semiconductors as we heard andrea mitchell ask him about, on our own which he said would be around 20 the 28, then offer some broader or foreign policy rationale, that doesn't mean he didn't say what the anchors say he said. >> yes. well, you have to give vivek credit for following the trump playbook to a tee. it's almost like he took it to business school and made a spread sheet and figured exactly how to play it because he is hitting his marks in all of his

interviews. i i think that he, controversy, ubiquity is kind of his watch words. controversy, whether he's talking about 9/11 conspiracy theories or he's calling members of the democratic party part of the kkk, this is someone who will gather eyeballs in all sorts of media, you know? and he also has loyalty e to trump throughout all of this process. over a 150 podcast interviews he's done, he's on some sort of air time hours upon hours a day. this is someone who is making the gathering of eyeballs the entire point, and he's had some pretty good success doing so. and seems he will in the future as well. howard: yeah. he's an effective countercan puncher, and he knows, you know, for a rookie into politics at least, he knows how to handle these confrontational questions. since ramaswamy is filled with with praise for donald trump, best president of the 21st

century, some pundits say his role is to draw votes away from the non-trump candidates and limit their pool. >> if i with first point out, laura made a good example of why he's doing so well in these debates. he said that the hatred and racism of the democrat party would please the kkk. that is the type of thing he can explain the nuance of what he was saying there. but it is true that -- >> that double stepping, though, is exactly how he does it and, mollie, you did it pretty well too. >> accurately conveyed what he said? yes. vivek ramaswamy is doing well because he has the same policy decisions as donald trump, and he also knows how to take on the media like donald trump. and it's surprising to so many people that trump or trump-like candidates are doing well in the primary, they should get out and understand more about republican voters. they like those policies whether it's a realist foreign policy, desiring to control the southern border, having a market-based economy that serves the middle

class, these are all popular positions. and he sounds like trump because trump led the way with those policy decisions. howard: laura, karl rove writing an op-ed in the "wall street journal," called ramaswamy unusually glib, shallow, overbearing, a performance artist, smears his opponent and appeals to the dark parts of the american psyche. rove was a top official in the bush white house, as you know. is he reflecting what used to be called the republican establishment before trump? >> absolutely. i don't think we've seen that part of the republican party for a decade. and i think when you see vivek again, he saw, he knew he needed to provoke. when hen he compared massachusetts' first congresswoman to a kkk member, i don't care how mollie or anybody else slices it, he did that specifically to create controversy and as a dog whistle to show where he stands. everything that he's done to build with his career so far has been to tap into some of the

deep wells of anger, frustration and, yes, division and racism. and he knows what he's doing. he understands that. so he might be the best in foreign policy, but it's not, it has nothing to do with his road map to garnering those votes. >> i just want to say combating hatred and racism is not racist. and there are racist elements in the democrat party. they should be called out just as much as any other political group, and it's unfair to say calling out racism is itself racism -- >> but comparing a black congresswoman to the k, kk -- >> saying that other people support racism is not -- howard: we have to go, but thank you both, laura fink and mollie hemingway. media scrutiny, i think, is con fir nation that -- confirmation that vivek ramaswamy's a serious candidate. up next, ron desantis the deals with awful racially-motivated killings in florida, and some in the media are putting the blame on him. what?

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howard: ron desantis, who dethe announced the shooting of three black people in a jacksonville supermarket by a white gunman with a racist manifesto, is all but being blamed by some in the media. a story can co-authored by ap's chief political writer, steve peoples. quote: ron desantis scoffed when an advisory was issued for black people, and npr's reporter asked this at a white house briefing. >> does the white house see any connection with the changes that the florida governor has made in teaching about african-american history to the kind of violence that we saw in squawk sonville? -- jacksonville?

howard: i took this up with rich lowry, editor-in-chief of national review from if new york. rich lowry, welcome. >> hey, howie. howard: even somebody as critical of ron desantis' education policy towards african-americans, fair debate, how does a mainstream journalist go from that to trying to say he has some responsibility for these awful shootings in jacksonville by a guy who later killed himself? >> i have no idea. it's low, it's dishonest, it's shameful. the idea that anything desantis has done, the the idea that if you say, oh, we shouldn't have critical race theory in the schools or you reject the african-american studies curriculum and craft your own that that's going to catalyze racist murders is obviously preposterous. but unfortunately, line of argument and commentary and coverage runs in a well-worn rut since the shooting of gabby giffords was blamed on sarah palin. we've had this tendency of

mainstream reporters to blame republicans' rhetoric, supposedly, for causing these heinous acts. howard: right. a desantis the spokesman called the story reprehensible. and the oklahoma city bombing in the mid '90s, president clinton blamed rush limbaugh for creating a climate. what are some of the things the governor did in this case to show how seriously he took tragedy? >> he said all the right things, obviously. he called this guy a scumbag, which he was. said he took the coward's way out, which he did. said this is complete wily unacceptable, obviously. he's going to do more to protect historically black education al institutions, and he showed up at a community rally knowing there might be hostility, and there was. it was presumed that desantis had done something wrong by being booed at this community event about where if it had been are reversed in partisan terms and had been a democrat booed by

conservatives, it would be the people booing the democrat in such a circumstance that would be presumed to have been wrong. so this whole thing has been shot through with bias and partisanship. howard: yeah. and ron desantis suspended his campaign as well. look, it's an easy journalistic charge to make, well, you said this and you said this, and new some crazy guy with a gun has gone and shot a bunch of people -- in this cases in a grocery store -- and, therefore, there's some connection? i'm really still struggling with this because these are mainstream journalists who, in my view, ought to know better. >> yeah. i mean, it's one thing for left-wing commentators to say sort of thing, it's another for it to leak out into npr and the ap and nbc news the way it has. and there's just nothing, there's no connection to anything he's done or said to this sort of racist violence. in fact, everything he's said and done has been tended to push back against racialism and said, you know, we need to treat everyone as equals which is

obvious. but, you know, when there was a murder, awful murder in buffalo, new york, also a racist shoots up a shopping, a grocery store, no one said, oh, somehow democratic governor kathy hochul must for some attenuated reason be responsible for it because that would be absurd. but they do it with republicans. howard: yeah. well, i have seen instances where both sides have tried to blame the ideology of shooter which i just think is kind of crazy. but you're right that you see more instances like the one we're talking about now, and that's why i think the national review editorial, one of the few that pointed out, was so strong. rich lowry, thanks very much. >> thanks so much, howie. howard: cnn still reeling from plummeting ratings after the firing of chris licht as president has a new boss, mark thompson, a british journalist who ran the bbc before becoming a top executive at the new york times. the high energy thompson, i've

interviewed him, told the staff that cnn has recently felt some of the uncertainty and heart ache that comes with the industry woes. there's no magic wand that i or anyone else can wield to make this disruption go away. he's right about that. next on "mediabuzz," mitch mcconnell freezes up again in front of reporters. a look at the media intrigue with surrounding the 81-year-old minority leader. ♪ my a1c was up here; now, it's down with rybelsus®. his a1c? it's down with rybelsus®. my doctor told me rybelsus® lowered a1c better than a leading branded pill and that people taking rybelsus® lost more weight. i got to my a1c goal and lost some weight too. rybelsus® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't take rybelsus® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it.

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gillian turner, the fox news anchor and correspondent. gillian turner, welcome. it was kind of chilling to watch this to happen to mitch mcconnell again, the way he froze up on reporters staring off into space, and of course the stories about republicans being worried about his health are fair stories. but it seemed like they instantaneously are turned into who's going to succeed mcconnell before we even knew the tate of his health. >> obviously, we we wish him nothing but the the best in his personal recovery journey. howard: indeed. >> that said, you know, one hinge that has happened as the result of his health challenges is that the argument in washington now about politicians aging out of office has become bipartisan. which i actually think is a helpful, useful thing if you think about it. you've got republicans making the case that president biden is not mentally fit for office. we now have democrats pointing

the finger at senator mcconnell and saying why don't you clean up your own house -- howard: and there's 90-year-old diane fine tine. what struck me was -- dianne feinstein. there wasn't even a half hour delay before the press was full filled with speculation about who would get the job, and, i don't know, i think our first thoughts should have been to is the guy all right? the 81-year-old senators has had a lot of health problems, there was a previous incident, a fall and concussion back in march. before that he had a broken shoulder. so it seems like the senate is a place where going back to strom thurmond, no matter how old or frail or infirm you are, they all seem to hang on. >> and i was talking to capitol the hill sources about why that is the case, particularly on capitol hill week, and if you think about it, the system is really built to encourage longevity, right? there's all these political

rewards reaped by people who have been in office for a really hong time. that's how -- long time. that's how you get seniority, you get good committee assignments, how you get to cosponsor successful legislatio- howard: right. and it's how you get re-election, because you've been there for a long time. >> exactly. howard: national review, while praising mitch mcconnell as a legend, said it is time for him the step aside as the republican leader, but he could still serve as senator from kentucky. when your own allies are telling you, that's a pretty strong signal. >> that's essentially what nancy employees -- nancy pelosi and steny if hoyer said the last time around, give up the leadership position, but retain your seat. it's been interesting and at times awkward to cover nancy pelosi and steny hoyer sitting on the sidelines of their caucus, right? it's certainly an ajustment in terms of journalists covering them your first instinct is to

reach out to their offices all the time, and now you don't necessarily need to do that. it's hakeem jeffries. howard: but they're both in their 80s and still have their jobs. i want to turn to rudy giuliani, a judge the other day found him liable in a civil suit brought by two georgia election workers. damages yet to be determined. but here is ruby freeman testifying before the january 6th committee. >> now i won't even introduce myself by my name anymore. i've lost my name and i've lost my reputation. i've lost my sense of security all because a group of people starting with number 45 and his ally, rudy giuliani, decided to scapegoat me and my daughter shay to push their own lies. howard: do you see in the coverage a sense of payback that

many people in these other news organizations are saying, oh, this is great, rudy giuliani finally got what was coming to him as opposed to the pretty big name and reporting it more neutralliesome. >> i think that a lot of the media has really relished covering the the downfall of rudy giuliani, and this is sort of the culmination of that the process which has been underway, i think, for years now. i also think that -- put it this way, i also think that some of the coverage he has brought upon himself. it's not exactly the case that he's a wallflower who shyies away -- howard: he's a confrontational guy. >> he has incited a lot of this, and he really enjoys media confrontations. howard: the rise is and fall story, he's now broke. let me close by asking can you, i mean, these women were i put through hell, accused falsely of tampering with ballots.

they'd done nothing wrong, and i wonder if this story resonates because it's the not ab a tract, it's about the human impact on these two people who were pawns in this melodrama? >> this was certainly not a victimless crime, right? it's one hinge to allege in the january 6th case that the victim is the united states of america. if people struggle to deal with abstract -- the. howard: classified documents, yeah. >> right. this is are personal. it comes down to these two women and the way these allegations impacted their lives and families. and i think when you put a human face to stories like this, it's always a lot more compelling. of it's easier to be sympathetic wards them. 40. howard: after the break, are the media become so blatantly biased that they just don't try to hide it anymore? ♪ ♪ to small towns, and on main streets across the us, you'll find pnc bank. helping businesses both large and small, communities and the people who live and work there

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howard: it's a small example for donald trump's second straight booking on criminal charge, msnbc and cnn refused to carry his brief remarks from if atlanta after bashing the former president all day. >> there is a cost to us as a news organization of knowingly broadcasting untrue things. howard: but there are much broader questions about the media that go well beyond trump. >> in 2016 jim routen or berg wrote on the front page of the new york times that the response to donald trump was causing objective you were journalism to the die. that clearly happened. we went from mere bias against republicans which had been going

on for decades to outright propaganda, participating in stories that weren't true, suppressing real news and information. no one is confused right now about the posture. they're clearly opposed to the republicans. howard: more now with gillian turner. gillian turner, when you have "the new york times" and the washington post day after day pounding not just donald trump, but ron desantis -- even if he does a good job in dealing with a hurricane -- when msnbc and cnn won't even carry one minute from donald trump after pounding him all day after the atlanta arraignment, does it seem like major news organizations have just picked sides, that they're not really hiding it very much anymore? >> i think that the appetite for trump coverage is something that was made very clear during his administration when we saw really for the first time some channels and networks cut away from piece briefings -- press briefings. the argument, i think put

forward was, well, they're lying, so it's a public disservice to the take the remarks. howard: right. >> but the truth about or the reality of politics is that there is always two sides, and cutting away could be perceived as taking sides in a political argument. howard: right. you say, oh, they're lying, but lots of times politicians stretch the truth, maybe they don't get subjected to the same level of fact checking, and this doesn't apply to all journalists. but the big news organizations, big papers and other networks, i feel like their audiences now after trump presidency years are mostly liberal and that their audiences will resent hearing too much of this anti-biden or digging into hunter biden. >> well, i think that's true, and i also think there's a real concrete reason that that's the case, and that is because everybody now whether they want to or not, whether they seek it or not lives to some degree in a media bubble. this is, you know, the reality thrust upon us by social media.

ing and it's, can be very disorienting to click over there one outlet's web site to another and see that not only is the tone ask tenor different, but actually the the story. and not only is what is covered on the first page different, but the entire story content is different. howard: it's like an alter or nate universe. and i get it, the opinion side of fox leans right and other cable news networks lean left. for example, msnbc didn't even cover e-mails that were released, this wasn't anonymous sources about hunter biden's lawyers threatening as a tactic to call joe biden as a witness. obviously, that a didn't work out. so it seems like the business model, and this has troubled me for a long time, has been to reinforce the opinions and views of your viewers e and/or readers. >> because that's what generates engagement and viewership. howard: and ratings and income. >> exactly. i think most people don't check

many to the news to be challenged, they check in to feel their views championed. howard: finally, if you look at the coverage of donald trump the, four indictments would be enough to knock any other kind of candidate out of a race, even one indictment. but at the same time, the people who absolutely despise trump are eating this up, and many of the organizations that cater to them think if donald trump getting another term in the white house is a grave threat to democracy. let's not forget he is a presidential candidate and by far the front-runner. on the other side, you have people who think the whole system is stacked against trump, this is all partisan, it's weaponization, and they don't even want to hear the details because they're so convinced that trump is getting a raw deal. >> yep, it's very frustrating. and it's certainly frustrating to try and deliver news in an environment where people sometimes reject it out of hand. howard: right. >> and, like i'm sure you talk

to other reporters, we get called liars on social media -- howard: and worse. >> -- when we report developments and stories that people don't like, that they don't want to hear. not that they think i don't like that, it's that they think it is a media-derived lie. when, in fact, it just perhaps cuts against the narrative that that they're not open to. howard: gillian toner, thanks very much. >> thank, howie. howard: till to come, some intriguing "mediabuzz" interviews, bob costas, rob reiner, donald trump and more during the ten years we've been air. ♪ ♪ (eag (energetic music plays) there he is! it's right there! ♪ oh, he's straight ahead. he's straight ahead. straight ahead. go go go. ♪

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howard: as we noted, this is our ten anniversary show, and we've been lucky enough to the develop a loyal audience that has kept us at number one the whole time.

here are some of the interviews i've done since back in 2013. sportscaster bob costas. so is bob costas a wild-eyed liberal who happens to have a deep voice and a love of sports? >> no, no. i would be disingenuous if i said to the extent that i am liberal, i'm hike a juan williams lib rag concern liberal who will call out the excesses and contradictions of the extreme left. and to the extent that i'm conservative, i'm like a bernie goldberg conservative. howard: activist rob reiner. you tweeted the other day when an american president embraces a hostile enemy power, you say it's conspiracy to commit treason. so because you disagree with trump's foreign policy, which you have every right to do, treason? yeah, i don't say he is, i say one can only conclude. and there's a big difference -- howard: that's a fine

distinction the. >> it is a fine distinction the, but i don't know whether or not he committed treason. howard: best selling author and watergate sleuth bob woodward. the washington examinerrer quoted you in a speech as saying "the washington post" has 20 the reporters assigned to investigating donald trump. this was wildly reported as the paper's determined to dig up dirt the on trump. fair or unfair? >> unfair. it's to look at every phase of his life which is precisely what we're doing. trump has not been a political, public figure and political public figures get more scrutiny than somebody in business. howard: and we did several sit-downs during his first presidential campaign with donald trump. is the media sort of going nuclear on you? campbell brown, msnbc ask cnn anchor telling her colleagues, please, for one week, don't say his name. let's stop being complicit finish. >> you know what's interesting

about campbell brown? for years i hadn't heard of her name. i didn't know she was still alive, but i guess she is. howard: ben myth wrote to his reporters in a memo, it's okay the call trump a mendacious racist because that's not an opinion. >> i'm the only one that speaks my mind and tells the truth, and everybody knows i'm right. >> i want to the read you some very harsh stuff. ruth marcus, trump is nixon with all the megalo maniacal willingness to abuse power. salon, is donald trump just david duke in a better suit? david brooks, new york times, his inability to think for an extended period of time than himself? >> these are bigoted people. i've read can -- howard: bigoted in what sense? >> these are people that have such hatred e for me, i don't know why. i don't know them. i see them, they don't know me at all. this has nothing to do with governing. the has to do with a personal hatred that is unbelievable. howard: and biden's press

secretary, jen psaki. i know your standard answer is that biden takes lots and lots of questions after events, and let's just agree to disagree that that's a good level of media access. with the president holding so few news conferences and doing very rarely sit-down interviews, isn't he surrendering a key part of the bully pulpit? >> i would say the president speaks to the american people nearly every day, sometimes twice a day -- howard: you're talking about talking to journalists. >> well, i be i think our objective and role and focus here is speaking to the public. and certainly, engaging in and value ising a free press. howard: now, some partisans aren't fans of this program because we don't cater to one candidate or ideology. that's the problem in these hyperpolarized times when republicans and democrats increasingly seem to hate each other or hate anyone on tv to who they see as pro-trump or anti-trump. that's the cost of trying to pact the journalism i grew up with, based on fundamental fairness and a tribute to

viewers who value that approach. my thanks to all of you. that's it for this edition of "mediabuzz," i'm howard kurtz. jimmy buffett, a great sendoff, fabulous musician who kind of created this whole key west, laidback lifestyle. we'll see you next week, 11 eastern.fi ♪nae ♪se ant things aren't worth compromising. at farmers, we offer both quality insurance and great savings. (crowd cheers) here, take mine. (farmers mnemonic)

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plus free home delivery when you add a base shop now only at sleep number. anita: deadly arts festival turns into eight deadly muddy mess after the unusual torrential rains and hits the burning man site in nevada. now flooding has trapped tens of thousands of people and slippery sludge with no access to food, water, or a way out spread hello everyone welcome to fox news like i am anita vogel. arthel neville has the day off and hello to rich. rich: hello i am kiyana lewis in for eric shawn. police say they are investing the death of one person at burning man.