y price? $9.95 a month for you too. if you're age 50 to 85, call now about the #1 most popular whole life insurance plan available through the colonial penn program. options start at $9.95 a month. no medical exam, no health questions. your acceptance is guaranteed. and this plan has a guaranteed lifetime rate-lock, so your rate can never go up for any reason. so call now for free information, and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner. and it's yours free just for calling, so call now for free information.

♪ howard: with donald trump dominating the news sounding off on everything from the assassination attempts to stephen colbert and jimmy kimmel, kamala harris has ended her isolation and finally started doing a couple more interviews, and the first major shockdown was with msnbc with a host who's hostile to trump. the vice president's biggest vulnerability is probably the border which has drawn mushrooming coverage over the last year. so harris went to the arizona border to try to neutralize the issue. >> and the american people deserve a president who cares more about border security than playing political games. i will do more to secure our border. to reduce illegal border crossings. howard: the former president started attacking harris on immigration before she even got there. >> she abolished our borders and flooded our country with 21 million plus illegal aliens. they came in from all over. think of it.

they came from prisons and jails, they came from mental institutions and insane asylums. they're terrorists. they're criminal street gangs. howard: but still, no explanation as to why four years ago harris favored legalizing migrant border crossing. kamala harris took no questions. i'm howard kurtz and this is "mediabuzz." ♪ ♪ howard: media reaction to the kamala border speech was decidedly mixed. >> it was probably one of the more ridiculous speeches we've ever heard from any politician, and that includes kamala harris. she said she takes border security very seriously. that's a lie. she's been in power almost four years. she doesn't take the it seriously at all. >> bravo. bravo. i thought that was an extraordinary speech for a couple reasons.

first of all, that's the cam rah a harris that i know. >> who do you actually believe will be tougher, trump or harris in most people would tell you definitely trump, and i don't think this speech -- despite trying to separate herself from biden -- is going to change that. if. howard: joining us now to analyze the coverage, mary cath lin ham, a fox news contributor and cohost of getting hammered, and tim hogan, democratic strategist who's worked for hillary clinton. is the argument for kamala harris visiting the border at this late date that, as is often true in the media world, images are more important than words? >> yeah, i think it's worth a try, right? because a lot of people have lived through the 10 million crossings during the biden administration, the 2 million known gotaways. they know about this stuff. they've lived through policies of sanctuary cities where their budgets are eaten up in huge numbers in denver, chicago, new york to shelter migrants who have come over during this administration. but she has to make the argument that she can be different.

now, the question is whether anyone believes that art because she doesn't actually address the fact that all those border crossings happened, that she was for giving taxpayer-funded health care to migrants. by the way, i used the word was and i shouldn't, because she hasn't said she's changed her mind. she compared i.c.e. to the k, k, was in the streets chanting down with deportation. then she's asking you to believe she's the person who will be serious about it. she's down there in the brown coat doing the thing on the border. howard: tim, even democrats, media liberals, can't believe that over the years this would wipe clean the administration's four-year debacle at the southern border. >> yeah. there is something, a point that needs to be made here which is on day one of the biden administration, they asked congress to consider immigration reform legislation. in october of 2023 the biden administration requested a huge border supplemental, republicans said, no. there's a bipartisan border bill

that republicans also tanked because of donald trump. there is a little bit of game with lucy with the football here with immigration reform with republicans, and it happened back in the obama administration when we got a tough bill out of the senate, it got to the house and john boehner tanked it because the tea party didn't want -- howard: so you're shifting the blame to republicans? >> [inaudible] >> this is a question chip roy asked on the floor of the house a few months ago, why didn't we pass border security or immigration reform during the trump administration? it didn't happen. and he got some pushback from trump on that. the issue is that republicans would rather run on the problem than actually have a solution. >> i would say they don't need to not have that passed to run on the problem. the problem exists because there are millions of people in the country, many of them according to bill melugin's reporting coming from i.c.e. who are convicted criminals of homicide and sexual assault and assault in the tens of thousands. so these are problems that people are experiencing in their communities. now, part of passing something in the senate and the house is earning trust on security so you

can get the hawks onboard. they have not earned trust in almost any administration in this way. howard: let me follow up by asking didn't the press go awfully easy on the biden-harris i'll call it a fiasco at the border? there was this whole debate over whether you could use the word crisis. the administration pushed back, no, no, it's not a crisis. seems ludicrous now, but then there came a point where media outlets could no longer play it down. >> yeah, they're sort of aligned with the vision of everything would be fined -- fine if you don't deal with this problem. that that's not leadership, right? you can take parts of trump's enforcement and say this is actually working out pretty well, maybe we don't have to repeal it by executive order, but that's what they did, which put them in this situation. this is not the first time it's happened because kamala harris herself said the wall was antithetical to everything she believes and un-american and schoen she put -- and then she

put it in an app because it turns out this might be helpful to voters. howard: i think the turning point was when big city democratic mayors started to to complain they were being overwhelmed by migrants who were being bussed there sometime by border states. >> i think that may be a turn in coverage there. i want to say quickly on the bill melugin points that he reported yesterday around 425 the ,000, but that's over decades. that number got presented as if it all happened during the harris administration. and if you look at the numbers, it's entirely possible those numbers went up more during trump than the harris -- than the biden -- howard: i like the way you promoted her to the harris administration. [laughter] >> and also to be non-detained does not mean they are not sitting in federal, state, local prison, just to be clear there do -- >> in my actual county, there was reporting this week that a person who had been booked on felony gun charges, several duis, booked on maiming was released three times because my

county is in agreement that they are a sanctuary county and they don't report that stuff to east. i am an immigration moderate. e look at that story and i go the feds that had to come here to track this guy down finally? and that makes me mad. >> yeah. i will say very quickly, statistics with the cato institute, not also from some liberal think tank that the biden department of homeland security or removed i higher percentage of arrested border crossers in its first two years and migrants were more likely to be released after a border encounter under a trump administration than biden. is some of these numbers, you have to give them context. howard: well, or at the same time, if joe biden hadn't waited until just before the election to declare an emergency and shut down the border which doesn't mean it's completely shut down, i think it would look different. does kamala harris owe the voters some explanation of why she moved from legalize all migrant crossings to i'm going to crack down on the border?

>> yeah. i think when you have an evolution, you have to explain it. vance has been asking many, many tough questions on trump and issues he used to profess. you should be can asked tough questions, and you should be able to explain why you moved from one position to another. the fact that she sort of gets a pass on this i don't think the is helpful to voters, and it's the not helpful to her. because voters, many of them want to believe her, but she's not giving them the tools to do that. howard: i don't understand, because all you'd have to do is say in my four years of vice president, i've studied this, my position has evolved. people may or may not buy that, but when you just pretend, you memory hole the position you took four years ago, that's a little bit different. as a media strategy, a political strategy, does it make sense to go at this issue that clearly benefits donald trump and try to get trump and the republicans to partially defuse it? >> i think it duds. you had karl rove on this

network yesterday talking about how the numbers on immigration, yes, it's an advantage for trump, but that is sliding away from him in some battleground states but also nationally. so i think it is smart to go at some of his advantage ises, and also, you know, when he talks about the issues sometimes, he slips into lunacy. we saw it during the debate -- howard: lunacy? >> cats and dogs. howard: well, yeah, that one i can't defend. >> he is the political of center of gravity for gop, and he's talking about eating the pets if mass deportation, and that's a bridge too far. howard: i'm still seeing funny videos about them eating the pets when they show cats and dogs looking terrified. i want to touch briefly on hurricane helene because this really left a trail of destruction across north carolina, the western part of the state, especially the city of asheville. but with some exceptions, i'm not seeing much tv coverage. >> i think this is an

undercovered story and something to get on everyone's radar, not to use a bad pun. some 311 counties are -- 31 counties are under an emergency state. it's biblical levels of destruction, almost no entry to asheville except by air, many western north carolina counties and eastern tennessee ones are isolated completely without cell service, internet and inroads to those areas, so it's going to be a very tough recovery. it's going to be a pretty traumatic event. we don't even know about the casualty numbers at this point, to keep those people in your prayers and think about ways to check up on them. howard: well, thanks for putting that on our radar. "the washington post" and new york times have front page stories with the washington post saying it's a biblical level of devastation. why do you think t not getting more television coverage? sort of like that story's over? >> there's a lot on our plates. flooding is something that happens several days after an original event, right?

so you think you might be okay as people did in new orleans after katrina, and then the levees broke. you have got landslides, dams breaking, so it comes a couple days after the first story. howard: right. >> i think people just need to tune back in and start reporting on the send one, because there's a big one here. howard: and families who can't reach anybody because of lack of cell service -- >> appalachia is never the most covered place in the world. howard: when we come back, stephanie raoul tosses softballs to kamala harris after practically endorsing her.anyt ♪ (inner monologue) my kids don't know what they want. you know who knows what she wants? me! with empower, we get all of our financial questions answered. so you don't have to worry. empower. what's next.

>> woman: why did we choose safelite? we were loading our suv when... crack! safelite came right to us, and we could see exactly when they'd arrive with a replacement we could trust. >> vo: schedule free mobile service at safelite.com. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ zyrtec allergy relief works fast and lasts a full 24 hours so dave can be the... deliverer of dance. ok, dave! let's be more than our allergies. zeize the day with zyrtec.

howard: kamala harris picked the most relentlessly anti-trump channel, msnbc, for her first solo sit-down. but she picked the late night

host, stephanie ruhle, who recently made clear she's a fierce critic of the former president. >> and in 2024, unlike 2016 for a lot of the american people, we know exactly what trump will do, who he is and the kind of threat he is to democracy. howard: and in the interview, with almost no follow-ups, tiffany raoul made clear -- stephanie ruhle made clear she was on kamala's side. >> in 2016 donald trump connected with unions. he saw them, there was an emotional connection. but what he didn't do was deliver policy. donald trump sort of his big idea is this broad-base tariffs across the board. you and many others have said that would be in the only disastrous, but it would be a direct tax on the american consumer. his plan is not serious when you lay it out like that, so i just want to can ask you yes or no, at any point in your life, have you served two all-beef pattieses -- working at a

mcdonald's, yes or no, that's it. [laughter] >> i have. howard: two girlfriends having a good teem. look, i expected a good interview is, but stephanie ruhle, who has a backdown in finance, was kind of swooning over kamala and --? >> she all but endorsed her and said on a national tv show said journalists ask her tough questions which is a betrayal of journalism. i don't know if we should have a funeral for the follow-up question, i haven't seen them for a long time now. but there were some revealing questions when she asked her, for instance, you want to do this middle class tax cut, it's not even clear that she clocks what the question is, and she goes right back to her talking points which can be really good in a december palineded candidate except -- disciplinedded candidate except if you haven't given undecided voters actually information about your position. and if you keep going back to that, i think these non-probing,

friendly interviews give her more opportunities to just look like a robot who is giving those answers over and over again. howard: well, other politicians obviously try to dodge tough questions toos but, tim, there's no question in my mind by picking tiffany raoul, she -- stephanie ruhle, she knew she wouldn't be pressed on uncomfortable questions such as why did you abandon your left-wing dance on the border or abolishing privacy health insurance four years ago in somehow those questions don't get asked in these interviews. >> there were some follow-up questions when she started talking about the economy and how it performed umped trump. she said, look, par part of that was -- howard: questions about how bad trump was. >> and how she's going to pay for some of her plans. so there are some clips where she does do follow up and, look, we're kind of talking to each other now from one media silo to the other, thank you so the generous folks from folk, but when was the last time donald trump did a broadcast interview that was not on this network or

not with a friendly interviewer? howard: he's done podcasters -- >> yeah, but a sit-down with, like, dave ramsey, right in. howard: and he's -- you're not really going to compare -- >> harris has sat down and done, there are podcasts coming out of her too with the former golden state warriors -- >> i think the news conferences are the huge difference. >> the point is -- she does gaggles, and she gets asked questions, and if there are problems, maybe those reporters should ask -- howard: you're seriously not going to -- hold on, hold on. you're seriously not going to compare donald trump's endless accessibility to all kind of media people that's not just fox to kamala harris? >> what people are clamoring for on the right, i think, is an openly hostile interview with joan hannity, and that is not -- sean hannity, and that is not going to happen a, concern. howard: how about a fair with reasonable questions concern. >> and she's going to sit down for more interviews. i think there's also this desire to hear more policy which i

think she is giving, and new there is an 80-page platform that people can go read on the economy. there are more details coming out. howard: well, health care bo's bill maher said he didn't expect hard questions, but he didn't expect ruhle to be rubbing her feet. that interview made almost no news rather than generate some headlines. usually you want -- you have an idea of what the headline should be, so did she really accomplish anything? >> yeah, or i'm not sure. i would note also that when, for instance, vance has come on fox news, i've watched hannity's interviews with him, and he starts out with the tough questions about his past statements on trump. he has done that several times over. so i think that's something that her friends on the left should be doing for her to give her practice answering these questions, and they refuse to do it. but, yeah, i think she thinks she -- she wants to float on this cloud of joy and momentum all the way to election day and without getting too much into -- howard: you're not feeling the joy?

>> i don't feel it but, look, it works for some people. a lot of that was relief for switching from biden to her, but i'm not sure you can make it over the finish line that way a because undecided voters are saying we don't know enough about you, and she's refusing to give them very much. howard: even "the new york times," tim, to to its credit cede this was a friendly interview with round-about answers to vague questions on a liberal channel catering to an audience that largely supports democrats. >> yeah. look, the interview was on one topic, right in the economy, it is the top issue for most voters. so i think her sitting down request when people say we need to learn more about vice president harris, we need to see more from hersh sometimes it's about policy, but sometimes it's also about seeing her in a position to demonstrate leadership. it's a little bit of why the the de-- what the debate did. people can envision her as a leader, as a leading the white house. howard: well -- >> that is part of it. howard: that actually is the question of this campaign since kamala's relatively new. she's been vice president

nominee -- mary katharine ham, tim hogan, thanks have very much. a growing debate over the magazine reporter who hid an inappropriate relationship with rfk jr. ♪kinc ♪ visibly renewing surface skin cells while you sleep. you'll see visible results in 7 nights. olay. (tony hawk) skating for over 45 years has taken a toll on my body. i take qunol turmeric because it helps with healthy joints and inflammation support. why qunol? it has superior absorption compared to regular turmeric. qunol. the brand i trust. when it comes to amgen's life-changing medical breakthroughs, every second counts. but without investment, those breakthroughs are often paused. citi's seamlessly connected banking, markets and services businesses, deliver global financial solutions.

so our client can keep investing in innovations for patients around the world. without pause. for the love of moving our clients forward. for the love of progress. ah, the perfect day. yeah! to put down some scotts turf builder winterguard. it's perfect for giving the lawn a boost this fall. i think you mean perfect for repairing all the fun i had this summer. no, it's perfect for strengthening roots to help protect it all winter. more like perfect for giving the grass a deeper green come spring. sounds like it's perfect for your neighbor. - yeah! - who's gonna take this bag. wait, what? and borrow your spreader. thanks, guys. - you're welcome! - enjoy it! i'm going back in the shed. download the my lawn app today for lawn care tips and customized plans. feed your lawn. feed it. (woman) look i got the new iphone 16 pro at verizon. apple intelligence is pret-ty awesome. (man) nice. (woman) you can get it when you trade in any phone. (man) whoa, whoa, whoa! ♪

(vo) now, every phone can be the new iphone 16 pro at verizon. just trade in any phone in any condition and get the iphone 16 pro, on us. only on verizon. smile! you found it. the feeling of finding psoriasis can't filter out the real you. so go ahead, live unfiltered with the one and only sotyktu, a once-daily pill for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, and the chance at clear or almost clear skin. it's like the feeling of finding you're so ready for your close-up. or finding you don't have to hide your skin just your background. once-daily sotyktu was proven better, getting more people clearer skin than the leading pill. don't take if you're allergic to sotyktu; serious reactions can occur. sotyktu can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. serious infections, cancers including lymphoma, muscle problems, and changes in certain labs have occurred. tell your doctor if you have an infection, liver or kidney problems, high triglycerides, or had a vaccine or plan to. sotyktu is a tyk2 inhibitor. tyk2 is part of the jak family.

it's not known if sotyktu has the same risks as jak inhibitors. find what plaque psoriasis has been hiding. there's only one sotyktu, so ask for it by name. so clearly you. sotyktu. howard: there's a fierce online debate over olivia nuzzi, the star new york magazine reporter, suspended for having a sexting with rfk jr. while she continued to cover the campaign. kennedy hasn't denied it and deflectedded questions in an interview with that maccallum. >> the latest one is a relationship with a reporter who was covering your campaign. it's gotten a lot of attention. what do you say to supporters who question your behavior and want to know what's going on? >> i never come out on those kind of stories -- >> do you have any regrets? >> like i said, i don't make comments on it. howard: i spoke earlier with kat timpf, cohost of the gutfeld

show and author of the new book, i used the like you until. kat timpf, welcome. >> thank you for having me. howard: some argue this whole thing is sexist. for all the media focus on sending nude pictures and so forth, the spotlight remain on the 31-year-old olivia nuzzi and not on the 70-year-old rfk jr. who basically goes about his business and doesn't answer questions about it. >> yeah, and i can certainly understand where that comes from, right? obviously, they're both responsible. obviously, the fact that she also had some journalistsic standards that she was not upholding by having this personal relationship she didn't disclose while covering the campaign with somebody who's running for president at the time and also the fact she did write that very unfortunate column, unfortunately given how things worked out, a few years ago saying why do people always think journalists are sleeping with their sources? that being said, the focus has been on her almost entirely really. mine, in "the new york post" there was that piece of the

anonymous source, whoever that was, saying basically she was assaulting him with nude photographs, and there was nothing he could do, what was he to do? [laughter] and not really, e mean, this guy was also married, this guy is also an adult. he's, you know, an influential person, a person with a career, a person with some status, he's a kennedy. it's not as if this person was helpless against this 31 is-year-old reporter. so although he certainly does deserve to take responsibility, i do think that it's been remarkable, the fact that it really has been almost entirely focused on her. howard: yeah. well, some of this reflects on her, of course, and at the same time some are saying it's no big deal, everybody makes mistakes. but other women, i think in particular, are saying next time i get a big scoop, are people going to bond wonder how i got -- wonder how i got that story? let's turn to your book. i had to dig all the way to page 1 to find this --

[laughter] you tell people you're trying to get away from at parties that i work in porn instead of i work at fox news because it's less controversial. so here's my first question. you write, many on the left will demand that you unequivocally shun donald trump for them to consider you an acceptable human being. explain. >> yeah. i have mixed views about a donald trump. there's things about him that i like, there's things about him that a i don't like, but that's not enough for a lo of people on the left. and -- a lot of people on the left. and also working here, i am very aware of how things can go when sometimes you speak any way but glowingly about him, some of his supporters e can get upset. i think it's really harmful in our society the way we're writing each other off, and and i have a firsthand experience with this. i have so many friends who are conservative, so many friends who are liberal, and those are valuable relationships to me in a lot of different ways. and i really do think that, you know, while we lose a lot, the people in power gain because the

more divided we are, the easier we are to control. this book is a guiden on how to the wise with up to some of the manipulation that can happen from poll tegs in the media. -- politicians in the media. howard: one of your themes is about being against binary thinking which is if i don't like your politics, i must think you're a terrible human being. >> yes. look look a at what's happening now with celebrities that they have to endorse kamala harris. red scare vibes, okay? why have you endorsed kamala harris? if you do anything even close to criticize her on something, say the democrats aren't perfect, all of a sudden a you're contributing to the demise of our country, you're a horrible person. it's not a healthy way for us to talk to each other. and so this book, even though it's risky to come out with something like this at a time like this, i think is definitely needed. howard: all right, kat timpf, stick around. we'll talk to you later in the

program. next on "mediabuzz", journal es denouncing mark robinson for obscene and racist posts and an indictment against new york's democratic mayor, eric add amount. ♪ cut! more mud! action! ♪ ♪ cut mud on her face! ♪ ) (♪) mud mask? no, no, no! compare holsinhe hotelp everywhere but the seat. the seat is leather. alan, we get it. you love your bike. we do, too. that's why we're america's number-one motorcycle insurer. but do you have to wedge it into everything? what? i don't do that. this reminds me of my bike. the wolf was about the size of my new motorcycle. have you seen it, by the way?

happy birthday, grandma! really? look how the brushstrokes follow the line of the gas tank. -hey! -hey! brought my plus-one. jamie? leo! he's there when we wake up, he's there when we leave, he's there whenever we come back home from school, he's just there always. mash it up doofus. ever since we introduced him to the farmer's dog, his quality of life has been forever changed. he prefers real, human-grade food. it's... ...like real food! it is! he's a happy dog now. he's a happy, happy dog. he's a happy, happy, happy dog! and wondering, is that place legit? those commercials are nice, but is that a real thing? and having lived it, i can say for sure that money is being put to incredible use. i've never once had to wait for insurance to approve a test

or approve a medication. we didn't have to worry about any of those things thanks to the donations. and our family is forever grateful because it's completely changed our lives. sleep more deeply and wake up rejuvenated. purple mattresses exclusive gel flex grid draws away heat, relieves pressure, and instantly adapts. sleep better. live purple. right now buy more, save more. up to $600 off. visit purple.com or a store near you

howard: mark robinson, republican candidate for north carolina governor, has been absolutely hammered since cnn disclosed he's once left messages on porn if sites describing himself as the black nazi and pro-slavery and saying things we can't really repeat on television. robinson is denying he posted the messages despite detailed data further confirmed by politico and is threatening cnn. >> we're considering legal action against cnn if about the story that they put out. you folks want to focus on tabloid trash, and quite frankly, i am sin of it. >> you going to pull your endorsement of mark robinson? >> i don't know the situation. howard: joining us now in new

york, jason chaffetz, the former utah congressman and fox news contributor, and in phoenix, lucy caldwell, political analyst and adviser the open core. congressman, whatever robinson posted 10 or 15 years ago is bad enough and salacious enough to draw plenty of coverage, but do his denials have any credibility at this point in. >> it's getting tougher and tougher. i mean, this is a very tough spot for the indicate to be in. he's got to be able to explain it. the question to the voters is does his current reputation, does his work that he's done on behalf of the american people, are they willing to forgo some of the evidence that's coming out, and are they willing to give him the top job in the governorship? the simply deny all of it -- to simply deny all of it begs more questions than it actually answers, and i think he's in a very, very difficult spot. howard: yeah. especially with politico saying the e-mail addresses were traced to the spot near his house. lucy, you could question whether this is getting too much coverage for a state race, but robinson is north carolina's

lieu ten governor as well as the candidate for the top -- lieutenant governor as well as the candidate for the top job and. >> yeah. north carolina is a critical state, it is a gubernatorial race that is tightly watched and in terms of whether or not the voters should give him another chance, look, it was enough for all of his cam pane staff, awe all of his senior staff, virtually all of them to resign, and he had to replace people in his official office as lieutenant governor. so that is at least an indication that the people closer to him also are saying, hey, this is just not an okay way to proceed. trump can does know the situation. trump is, i think, being very kind to mark robinson by not indicting his character further, but this is an unusual situation. it's unusual to have it happen this late in the season. it happened after north carolina ballots had already been printed. if not, i think he would have been replaced as the candidate. howard: jason, donald trump endorsed mark robinson calling him martin luther king on steroids, and there's media

chatter this could hurt the former president in north carolina where the trump-harris race is very tight. >> i don't think this has a spigover. i've never thought that endorsements meant much at those big races. when you're nobody trying to become somebody, i think endorsements matter, but i don't think this is going to affect. i think people look at donald trump or kamala harris, they can make their own independent decision about whether or not they're going to to support one candidate or the other. a spillover of a down-ballot candidate, i do think the timing is a bit suspicious, you know? some of these things that come out when the ballots are already printed, really in did it have to come out now? how long did they actually know about this story? that never really passes the basic enough test. howard: yeah. there is the question of where it came from. lucy, you saw donald trump walk away from a reporter, whether he never -- which he never does, rather than answer the question about his endorsement of robinson. >> yeah. i just have to say about the timing question, i don't think we should spend too much time on that when we are as a means of

doing it, we are making it such that mark robinson isn't held accountable. i understand that point about the timing but, look, these are credible reports. some of them did come out as early as august. there was still plenty of time for him to be replaced, so i wouldn't focus on this as if there's something conspiratorial happening here when really it is what robinson's record is and what's coming out now as he runs for the top spot in the tate of north carolina. howard: well, i don't want to spend too much time because i want to move on to eric adams, the new york mayor, who was indicted for bribery and fraud if for accepting free flights, luxury hotel rooms, illegal contributions if from turkish officials, and once that indictment came down, the mayor responded in a a video. >> these charges will be entirely false based on lies. but they would not be surprising. i always knew that if i stood my ground for all of you, that i

would be a target. and a target, i becamement -- became. howard: jason, the mayor has got a love of explain -- a lot of explaining to do. is this story amplified because it's new york, because it's happening in the media capital in. >> well, yeah. it's the nation's, you know, it's the biggest city and he's the mayor of it. look, you talk about mark robinson, and that's a normal question that people are going to have to grapple with. this is a criminal complaint based on evidence that they, the department of justice has been able to unearth. they've gone in and confiscated his phone, his communications devices, raided his residence there at the mayor's office, the mayor's residence. this is a whole other level. to say that he was targeted is quite a stretch. it does not look good for the mayor. this is are devastating. and some of these records are very easy to prove. did he or did he not accept

these hotels, did he get on these flights, did he seven, you know, put -- accept, put the request in with the fire department to bypass the normal fire code to get the turkish officials in the office that they wanted. that's pretty black and white. howard: right. let me lay a little bit of protesters who were drowning out the mayor when he was trying to defend himself to reporters. >> more small businesses open -- [inaudible conversations] howard: you get the idea. lucy, "the new york times" editorial board says mayor adams should resign and so do a lot of democrats. this is a tough one in terms of -- and, of course, it gets a lot of attention because of the nature of the corruption, alleged corruption, i should say. >> i, i so rarely have an opportunity to say this, congressman chaffetz, i could not agree with you more. [laughter] about how you're describing what's happening in new york. s it is unacceptable. eric adams' own staff in

interviews with investor s, or one -- investigators, one of his staff excused herself from the interview is, went to the bathroom and destroyed evidence. this is so open and shut. people on the left and the right should be able to agree this is afallinging. howard: right -- appalling. >> there is enough here that, yes, he shrill should resign. and it is very do disturbing that across the board this seems to be part of a broader fabric of candidates or elected officials whether it'ston the trump on the right, bob menendez on the left, eric adams also on the left acting as though this is conspiracies against -- howard: well, i gotta jump in -- >> -- they are being targeted. howard: you could say it shows the biden dov is is there willing to go after a democrat as well. after the break, abortion, the border and trump's latest comment on catholic voters. ♪ ♪ (speaking to self) about our honeymoon. what about africa? safari?

hot air balloon ride? swim with elephants? wait, can we afford a safari? great question. like everything, it takes a little planning. or, put the money towards a down-payment... ...on a ranch ...in montana ...with horses let's take a look at those scenarios. j.p. morgan wealth management has advisors in chase branches and tools, like wealth plan to keep you on track. when you're planning for it all... the answer is j.p. morgan wealth management. life with afib can mean a lifetime of blood thinners. and if you're troubled by falls and bleeds,

worry follows you everywhere. ♪ over 400,000 people have left blood thinners behind with watchman. watchman is a safe, minimally—invasive, one—time implant that reduces stroke risk and bleeding worry, for life. ♪ watchman. it's one time, for a lifetime.

howard: donald trump has been mistaking plenty of news, meeting with vodly certificate -- volodymyr zelenskyy. but he seemed particularly peeve pd that kamala harris was visiting the the border. >> why would she go to the border now playing right into the hand of her opponent ifsome? she should save her airfare. she should go back to the white house and tell the president the close the border.

howard: jason chaffetz, does the coverage of kamala harris' border visit, even if it is it is a photo op, drown out some of donald trump's criticism? >> i think it should get more attention. the idea that there are literally tens of thousands of people that have committed murder that are in this country, that have committed rape that were allowed to the stay in this country under her watch, that didn't get nearly the kind of coverage that it should have. i admit on fox news -- it did on fox news and fox business, but most other networks glowingly said, oh, she went to the border as if she's been working that for year. he has not. and the idea that there are hundreds of thousands of people with criminal records running loose in the united states, you can't give that enough coverage. howard: lucy caldwell. >> yeah. i think that that data is not widely agreed upon. but i will say that i think trump gave away the game when he said that she's playing into her opponent's hand. basically, this was a no-win

situation for kamala harris. if she didn't go to the border, the talking point from the trump campaign would be she's never gone to the border, look, we're 30 some days out to the election, and she still hasn't gone to the border. now she goes to the border and, okay, it's a campaign shtick. howard: trump took a swipe at fox for airing that, certainly, fox carries many of his rallies. all right. kamala harris is skipping the al smith dinner in new york named for a catholic democrat who ran a century ago, and that promptedded this response from the former president: any catholic that votes for comrade kamala harris should have their head examined. jason, pretty strong words. >> yeah, pretty strong words. look, this is a traditional dinner, and she's skipping it. she can't handle impromptu moments. that's the -- she's just not an awe thennic candidate. she can't handle the spontaneous nature of that dinner, and i

think it'll cost her some votes. howard: well, lucy, she may want to spend times other than in new york. last week it was jews who should have their a heads examined and trump -- saying kamala hates us yell. it's one ethnic or religious group at a time? >> i don't think any politician, republican or democrat,s should tell voters what it says about them if they don't lend them their support. i don't think he should tell jewish voters what it means about them if they don't lend their support to him or, i don't think he should tell catholic voters. i don't think democrats should tell black voters -- [no audio] howard: okay. i guess we lost that can connection. do we still have jason? okay. if well, jason, you get the next question by default. i did want to briefly mention the "wall street journal" editorial page has criticized the trump campaign over some of the economic proposals. but yesterday, i believe, donald trump said that while biden was old, kamala harris was born

mentally impaired. now, does that sort of thing help him in. >> it's sort of the way he talks about things. i recognize a lot of people wouldn't do that, but, you know, the point about the economy is we have four years on record of donald trump, and yet what kamala harris is saying is not going to the help the economy. and so, yeah, would you, would me, would somebody else pick a different set of words to try to describe it? yes. but that's just donald trump being donald trump, and i think people have to bake that in. they understand where he's coming from and how he talks sometimes. howard: there was also a media flap over the vice president saying that she would abolish the senate filibuster in order to get roe v. wade restored. and trump said in a posting to women, don't worry, i'll protect you. you'll no longer be thinking about abortion. if well, some women didn't like being told that. >> i think one of the more

devastating things is kyrsten sinema, the senator from arizona, a critical state, kind of putting the vice president in her place and saying, you know, what goes around comes around. you can also get rid of the filibuster to make abortion worse in this country, from her perspective. and i think she's right. and i think that's why she lost a lot of centrist votes by taking the extreme, which is to get rid of the filibuster. you have people like manchin and kyrsten sinema and others understanding how devastating that can be, and it's not helpful to her particularly in a swing state like arizona. howard: yeah. well, it's not going to happen, and, you know, people in the majority like -- don't like the filibuster, minority does, but then control help froms, and you know this from being in congress, and suddenly the shoe is on the proverbial oh foot. lucy caldwell, thank you, sorry we lost your connection. see more of jason chaffetz on "the big weekend show" tonight.

till to come, he land ya trump speaks out about the media and the assassination attempts. ♪ my symptoms got worse over time. my eye doctor explained the root was inflammation—so he prescribed xiidra. xiidra works differently. xiidra targets inflammation. over-the-counter drops don't do this. they only hit pause on my symptoms. but twice-daily xiidra gives me lasting relief. xiidra treats the signs and symptoms of dry eye disease. don't use if allergic to xiidra and seek medical help if needed. common side effects include eye irritation, discomfort, blurred vision, and unusual taste sensation. don't touch container tip to your eye or any surface. before using xiidra, remove contact lenses and wait fifteen minutes before re-inserting. dry eye over and over? it's time for xiidra. (♪) (♪) the best way to solve a problem is to keep it from happening.

(♪) at evernorth, we combine medical and pharmacy data with behavioral health data to identify members in need of care. predicting and treating behavioral health issues quickly... while lowering costs for plan sponsors and members. that's wonder made possible. evernorth health services choice hotels is a family of brands with a hotel for any traveler you want to be... like quality inn, for the dad that gets every dollar and minute outta this family road trip! the day is upon us! book at choicehotels.com. hellllllooooooooo!

howard: maine hand ya trump is out with a memoir, and the former first lady talked about out on "fox & friends." >> all of the mainstream media with, there were a few days of reporting about july 13th event and then everything then became quiet. this is not normal. and is it really shocking that all these green juice violence -- egregious violence goes against my husband? especially that we hear the

leaders from the opposition party and mainstream media branding him as threat to democracy, calling him vile names. they're only fueling a toxic atmosphere. howard: more on that from kat timpf author of i used to like you until -- cat tim the of is back. -- kat timpf is back. we can certainly understand the shock and horror not knowing when your husband is alive after an attempted shooting, but melania clearly thinks the media have moved on two quickly. >> yeah. i honestly was kind of shocked how quickly they moved on myself. i understand that that was very shortly after biden announced that she was dropping out of the race and then there was the rnc in between, so there was a lot of news moving but, i mean, this is one of those events where i would think it would be a where were you when kind of moment. i mean, it was truly shocking. and we kind of examined ourselves as a nation for it

feels like two or three days. and that really does feel like all of it. and this is, obviously, this is not my husband, this is not someone i have a personal if connection to, but even just as somebody who's a citizen of this country. i think we had an attempted assassination where he was actually hit, you know, blood in his ear, and we're kind of -- we stopped talking about that, campaign business as usual shortly after. howard: right. i thought that was particularly true after the second attempt at the golf course where suddenly, you know, it was like, okay, i guess he's all right. let's just look at the latest polls. >> uh-huh. howard: but when his wife, the former first lady, says that there's a toxic environment fueled by the media, aren't the former president's critics going to respond by saying, well, doesn't he contribute to that with his own hard or, rhetoric in. >> right -- harsh rhetoric. >> right. look, there's been plenty of criticism of trump's rhetoric. i've criticized trump's rhetoric at times. but when the person has been shot, i think it's time to examine that person as a victim

of the shooting that just happened to him. i think there's -- we can have rhetoric about that or, excuse me, a discussion about that in itself without having to necessarily do that. i don't think there was enough discussion about that. i think that there is an important point there to say, okay, well,s if this person is hitler and going to destroy the country, then why wouldn't this be something that happens. and i thinkable in general this extreme rhetoric does so much damage to our country, and i do write about that, obviously, in my new book a lot. but i completely agree that it seems like we moved on really quickly from what should have been an earth-shattering event for all of us to witness. howard: just briefly, he writes a lot about her time in the fashion industry and so forth, but is the timing sort of odd? because she has barely been visible in this campaign. >> yeah, it's 0d, right in everybody -- can odd. everybody was calling it a rare melania interview, and it absolutely is. she elected to not peek at the rnc, she pointed to a letter she'd written in the wake of the

assassination attempt. honestly, she's a very polished woman. i mean, when she speaks, i feel like i listen because she count speak often -- she dun speak up, and she does come off, to me, as being likable. howard: i would agree with that. thanks for doing double duty. great to see you. that's it for this edition decision of "mediabuzz." i'm howard kurtz, we tray to cram in as much as we can to the hour that we have so you informed by the media environment. you can subscribe to my free daily podcast, media buzzmeter, where we get in some of the stories, some of the weird, buzzy stories that we don't have time for on television. apple itunes is a good place to do it. we are back here next sunday, 11 eastern, with the only media analysis show on national ting. ♪ ♪ -- national the television. ♪ and all i can think about is all the green i'm spending on 3 kids in college. with empower, i get all of my financial questions answered.

so i don't have to worry. empower. what's next. introducing allison! allison's plaque psoriasis. she thinks her flaky gray patches are all people see. otezla is the #1 prescribed pill to treat plaque psoriasis. otezla can help you get clearer skin. don't use otezla if you're allergic to it. serious allergic reactions can happen. otezla may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. some people taking otezla had depression, suicidal thoughts, or weight loss. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. live in the moment. ask your doctor about otezla.

i thought i was sleeping ok... but i was waking up so tired. then i tried zzzquil sleep nasal strip. their four point lift design opens my nose for maximum air flow. so, i breathe better. and we both sleep better. better days start with zzzquil nights. a test or approve a medication. we didn't have to worry about any of those things thanks to the donations.

and our family is forever grateful because it's completely changed our lives. eric: the race to the white house picking up speed with