♪ ♪ howard: days after losing the vp debate to j.d. vance, tim walz

is damage control mode, does his first solo tv interview. that wrapped just90 minutes ago. fox's shannon bream asked about a minnesota if law allowing abortions through the ninth month. the governor says he just wants to restore roe v. wade. >> this puts the decision with the woman and her health care provider s, donald trump is asking for a nationwide -- shannon: wait, he has said he will not sign a nationwide abortion ban. howard: and when asked about falsehoods and exaggerations in his military record and other issues? >> they disparage everyone, personal attacks. i will own up when mys speak. howard: donald trump's running mate has been doing interviews all the time, holding news conferences, the best kind of preparation for the cbs debate. kamala harris' running mate has been bubble wrapped, kept away from journalists until today. and the cbs moderators were much tougher on vance. if walz effectively counterpunched at times, but he

often meandered until he got to his main point. here was j.d. vance on abortion expressing sympathy for the pro-trump side. >> we've got to do so much were the of a job -- better of a job at earning the american people's trust back on this issue where they, frankly, just don't trust us. >> we're pro-freedom to make your own chose. we know what the implications are. howard: walz's worst moment, media reports that he lied about being in china for the tiananmen square protests when he got there months later. >> i've not been perfect, and i'm a knucklehead at times. howard: and he had to be pressed to admit he misspoke. vance's worst moment? january 6th. >> senator vance, you have said you would not have certified the last presidential election and would have asked the states to submit alternative electors. that has been called unconstitutional and illegal. >> remember, he said that on january the 6th the protesters ought to protest peacefully, and on january the 202th, what

happened? joe biden became the president, donald trump left the the white house. >> 140 police officers were beatennal -- at the capitol that day. several later died. howard: and cbs fact checked vance despite saying it would try to avoid the practice. >> just to clarify for our viewers, springfield, ohio, does have a large number of haitian migrants who have legal status, temporary protected -- >> the rules were that you guys weren't going to fact check. howard: the faceoff may not have that much impact on the campaign, but it's probably the last debate of this shortened race. i'm howard kurtz and this is "mediabuzz." ♪ ♪ howard: the media reaction was, of course, decidedly mixed. >> tim walz did not seem prepared. he didn't respond to the a lot of the criticisms and attacks that vance put on the table. >> the moderators were obnoxious

and made it feel like three on one on vance, and vance was just fine. >> j.d. vance was very clarifying at the end of this debate. and he told viewers everywhere that was watching if you hate america american democracy when things don't go your way, vote for me. >> j.d. vance spent the night sort of building an intricate and beautiful fork out of toothpicks, and it was perfect. ask and at the end, he sneezed on it. the whole thing fell apart. >> it was amazing, the split screen difference between a competent vance and a totally in over his head walz. if. howard: joining us now to analyze the coverage in nashville, tomi lahren, host of the tomi lahren show on outkick, and with me, kevin corke, fox's senior national correspondent. tomi, tim walz pops up on "fox news sunday." why now? what's the strategy? >> well, i think he performed so poorly in that debate against j.d. vance that he had to do

something. and i do give him credit for coming on fox news. listen, i wish kamala harris would also come on fox news and give a couple interviews. as we know, a highly watched network, and i'm not just saying it because you're my employer, but it's a highly watched network, so i give tim walz credit for coming on "fox news sunday," having difficult conversations. the interview appears to be probably something he's not used to which is a little bit of back and forth. he's actually being pressed on maybe some more of his lies. we got one press during that debate on one of his lies, but there was many more. and just saying that you're a knucklehead at times or grammar's not your best thing, i don't think that's going to get him out of it with shannon bream, that's for sure. howard: kevin, quick thought on the interview, and then i want to move on. >> i thought the interview was excellent for tim walz for a couple reasons. first of all, he finally had a chance to calm down. i thought he was incredibly intense and, frankly, looked scared during the debate. i thought he also was pinned down a couple times by shannon.

great job, my friend. and i don't think he advanced the football, but i don't think he hurt the campaign. and it's good practice as well. howard: okay. so his next interview is going to be with jimmy kimmel, and this week or so kamala harris will appear if on "the view," with howard stern, with stephen colbert who's hosted a couple of fundraisers for biden, and on the call your daddy podcast, which is about sex. i don't want to go out an limb here, but does. >> suggest she's avoiding tough interviews? >> we're not talking about murderers' row here. i think it's smart to get out there. i think it speaks to her youth push, but i don't think this will probably, in my opinion, she should be talking to people like you, she should be talking to reporters in the press briefing because then she can prove if her mettle. if she seems afraid and going on colbert count solve that. howard: i hope that she does more interviews. in fairness, she has agreed to do "600 minutes," -- 60 minutes.

there are a lot of media reports that democrats were disappointed in tim walz's longwinded, sometimes stumbling -- perfect time to stumble, of course -- performance. could that be related to the harris campaign until now keeping him under wraps? >> well, listen, the harris campaign has done a good job of keeping both kamala and tim walz under wraps, and you can't do that with both the top of your ticket and your running mate. you simply can't get around that. and, you know, speaking of kamala harris and doing her media blitz this week, i actually think this is going to backfire on her because when she does these pop culture moments or podcasts, she comes across more fake, phony and disingenuous than when she sits down with a serious journalists. so i actually think that tim walz is playing this smarter. i think kamala harris would do better to follow in those footsteps, but there's no doubt tim walz was in over his head

during that debate. it hurt him that j.d. vance happens to be particularly good at debating but tim walz, boy, the expressions alone, i think, shows that he was very nervous and he knew within the first couple of minutes he had lost that crowd. howard: 43 million people watched that can debate, a significant number of viewers. so did j.d. vance, who's obviously a better debater, benefit from all of that? i mean, he is giving news conferences, going on podcasts, doing interviews all the time. and i hope he'll do one with us. >> to quote the great allen iverson, we talk about practice. you've got to practice. you've got to get your reps -- howard: sports metaphors today. didn't lose any yardage -- >> what can i help? it's sunday. go, commander ors -- commanders. i really think the practice is really important, and any chance you can sort of bone up on the summits, bone up on how you want to respond to tougher questions makes you better.

j.d. vance put on an absolute master class. that was a 10 out of 10. i've never seen anyone do better, and if you're tim walz, you really ran into a buzz saw. howard: right. so let's play some sound here of, from the debate, trying to make the point that a lot of the questions that were asked, while fair, were sort of framed from the left. here's nora o'donnell. >> senator vance, you oppose most gun legislation that democrats claim would curb gun violence. you oppose if red flag gun laws and legislation to the ban certain semiautomatic rifles including ar-15s. howard: tomi, how did that come as cross to you between that and the fact checking vance which he obviously said he thought was against the rules they'd agreed to. >> right. well, i'll tell you what, i think j.d. vance walked into that debate knowing that it was going to be likely a three on one. he walked in knowing it probably wasn't going to be fair, and he knows that because of the media

interviews he's done. he walks into the lion's den every time, so i think walking in he knew this. i also think it was strategic for cbs to have two female moderators. we know j.d. vance has struggled with women because of his past competentes -- comments about childless cat ladies. j.d. vance knew that ors he walked this knowing what it was going to be, and that's why he was ready for it. i think donald trump wishes maybe he was a little bit more ready for it when he had his debate against kamala harris. but j.d. performed excellently. howard: yeah. childless cat ladies was not even mentioned, which is fine, and a lot of the controversy in the coverage of senator vance is about things he's said in the parks even going back to, you know, before he was in politics. so, kevin, how much of this was about vance softening his image after all of the negative coverage of him as this sort of hard-edged, culture warrior who used to hate trump, you know, as lots of quotes have been recycled from 2016.

>> sure. i think a couple things, howie. first of all, if you're the gop, you have to love this idea of making the ticket broadly, if you're going to link the two gentlemen, j.d. vance appeals more to women, appeals to folks who may be more independent. donald trump's got the base rap -- wrapped up. i think j.d. vance broadens that, and i think his performance helped to soften and maybe allay some fears maybe some independents may have had about the ticket broadly speaking. again, if you didn't know j.d. vance, if you'd never seen him on a national stage, he could not have had a before coming-out party, and i think it helps donald trump in a way that probably won't be measured until, i don't know, a month from now. howard: almost to be exact. so, tomi, was vance not only trying to soften his own image, i mean, i was really struck by how much sympathy the guy who describes himself as 100 to-life showed for those who have a different view on abortion rights. but in a way, does he alls also

soften trump's image because, you know, the running mate is coming across as reasonable, willing to listen to the other side and that sort of thing? >> right. he also did a lot of cleanup, i feel, from the trump-harris debate from a couple weeks prior. i think that he was able to not only defend donald trump, but do it in such a way that he wasn't throwing donald trump under the bus or sabotaging him in any way. i'll tell you what j.d. vance did. if you don't know who j.d. vance is, he did a great job, in my opinion, of speaking to those suburban women, especially those suburban moms talking about his family, talking about his own wife and how accomplished she is, really coming off as a supportive husband and somebody who could on day one really lead this country. i don't think that the left got that from tim walz. i don't think anybody if watching that watched tim walz and thought this guy could be president. to be fair, we don't necessarily think that, in my opinion, about kamala harris either. but tim walz certainly didn't do her any favors in that

department. howard: was it so friendly at times, briefly, kevin, that they didn't really hold each other can accountable? i mean, there certainly was pushback about obamacare and other issues, but, you know, they seemed the a lot of common if ground which was not the strategy that the democrats were hoping for. >> i think the you're a democrat, you wanted to the see governor walz be a lot more aggressive. i don't think he took advantage of some opportunities where he could really have gotten after j.d. vance, and part of it is his disarming personality. if you want to go after donald trump, he's a pugilist that makes it easier, but going after vance is tougher because he's like, well, you know, you're right, i see your point, which was pretty start on -- smart on his point. howard: gotta say is, it was civil and substantive. ahead, corey lewandowski. and when we come back, tv news playing catchup on the devastating hurricane and the candidates trading charges. ♪ ♪

howard: as hurricane helene was inflicting almost unbelievable damage last weekend in north carolina and other southern states, television news just blew it. somehow it wasn't much of a story. but that changed at the beginning of the week when tv outlets went to appalachia and found death, destruction, desperation and total death toll now over 220, much of that or some of that in that region alone. >> we need things like baby formula, baby food, pet supplies. we need outreach. >> please, baby hasn't eaten in fife days. he's a year old. -- five days. and i have a 9-year-old son that's got epilepsy, and i haven't been able to feed him anything in three days.

>> and it's just really horrifying. because there's still people there that are really hard to get to, and we're really worried about all the people that are still there. howard: it's just absolutely heartbreaking, and it's not over. tomi lahren, did tv largely ignore -- it was the fifth or sixth story down, the devastation last weekend. because north carolina, tennessee are sort of deemed flyover country by the coastal elites and not really on the national radar. >> i will give them credit in the latter half of the week for covering some of these stories, or really difficult stories to hear. you know, to be fair to the mainstream media which i don't often like to do, i will say in this election cycle there's a lot of stories, there's a lot of news, there's a lot going on. it's understandable there's going to be many, many stories, and it's a juggling act. i will say, however, that listening to these people and every interview view you hear from them, these people are really saying, you know, where is the government? we're not seeing the fema

support that we want to be seeing. and maybe for some of these other mainstream networks, they don't want that narrative out there because it looks bad on the biden-harris administration. i'm happy the see some of these stories coming out now. it reminds me a lot of the coverage of east palestine, ohio. for a couple of days you get a lot of coverage, but these people in north carolina are going to be struggling for a long time to come, so it's really important we don't just gloss over their stories as many news comes their way. howard: yeah. something like 4,000 fema officials on the ground, and biden has sent 1,000 active duty military troops. but imagine if this had been in new jersey, right across from -- manhattan. would it have been different if president biden gave a speech oaf the weekend instead of just putting out statements? he finally did address it on monday. don't reporters tend to follow the lead of the white house? >> absolutely. and the use superstorm sandy, you remember that coverage -- howard: who could forget? yeah. >> to me, i think a lot of this

falls on the white house. if the president was out there, if he said, hey, listen, i'm going to have a newser in the briefing room, i'm going to bring these officials in right away and say this is what we're doing, this is our strategy, this is how we're helping, this is how we're mobilizing, that, i think, heightens the coverage. i hate to admit it but, you know what? tomi's right. when you have a slammed news cycle, you have a de facto president, you have a vp when's sort of out there, you have the campaign 30 days away, you've got a lot of buckets that are full. so i can understand the slow response in terms of news coverage. but i think had the white house been more aggressive in its messaging, i think that might have changed the tone of coverage. howard: right. wild. en has since visited the siege -- right, biden has since visited the region. there got to be a sort of back and forth between joe biden and donald trump about the rescue efforts and what has been said. let's take a look. >> the governor's doing a very good job, he's having a hard time getting the president on the phone. i guess they're not, they're not

being responsive. >> he is lying. let me get this straight, he's lying. and the governor told him he was of lying. finish the governor told him he was lying. i've spoken to the governor or i've spent time with him. howard: they're talking about georgia republican governor brian kemp who confirms that he spoke to the president maneuver once. more than once. so who's politicizing the humanitarian crisis here? and even the suggestion that the government's not helping republican counties. tomi. >> well, right, howie. i don't think it's ever fair to say, you know, one administration is not helping people because of who they are or who they might vote for. i think in tome times of tragedy and natural a disaster and heartbreak, t not time to have those conversations. i think we need to worry about the people being impacted and get them what they need. but listening to the volunteers across our network, people doing the hard work delivering water, supplies, trying to rescue people in private helicopters,

the story seems to be somewhat the same, that they wish that there was more action from the federal government. yes, we know that there are so many thousand agents, this, that and the other, yes. but the people on the ground are saying a lot of private citizens are doing a lot of the work. so if that's not the case, i think to kevin's point the white house needs to be more proactive in getting the message out that they are sending help as fast as they can. howard: i hear you. kamala harris was in north carolina yesterday, and earlier she visited georgia, and fox news was the only major cable network to cover that. when trump visited georgia, fox news was the only major cable news show to -- channel to coffer it. >> let's face it, do more, do it often, do it quickly because people need the help. howard: right. but the counterargument, which is why both of them waited, harris and biden, is that you don't want to interfere with ongoing desperate rescue efforts. really good conversation. tomi lahren, kevin corke, thanks

so much. up next, television goes hay jr. wire over a jack smith report that donald trump calls ♪ bloating iberogast thanks to a unique combination of herbs, iberogast helps relieve six digestive symptoms to help you feel better. six digestive symptoms. the power of nature. iberogast. mom genes. she passed them down to you. but who passed them to her? ancestrydna can show you the people and places they came from. your genes are one of a kind, find out why with ancestrydna. awkward question... is there going to be anything left... —left over? —yeah. oh, absolutely. (inner monologue) my kids don't know what they want. you know who knows what she wants? me! i want a massage, in amalfi, from someone named giancarlo. and i didn't live in that shoebox for years. not just— with empower, we get all of our financial questions answered. so you don't have to worry. i guess i'll get the caviar... just kidding. join 18 million americans

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announcer this offer is not available in stores, so call or click now before the special buy one, get one free offer goes away. howard: when a federal judge unsealed special counsel jack smith's filing in the january 6th investigation, television news erupted trying the digest the lengthy report. >> it is 165 pages. we have had it for all of, i think, 4 minutes. >> this just dropped minutes ago, so we're all just going over this information, absorbing it. >> as our team is digging page by page through this 165-page brief filing -- >> there's nothing new in there, by the way, nothing new. they should have never allowed the information to be -- to come before the public, but they did that because they want to hurt you with the election. howard: that's from an interview with news nation. and, kevin, the one line that jumped out everyone's using is that january 6th told that mike -- january 6th told mike

pence's life was in danger, trump said to have said, so what? and ronna mcdaniel, the former rnc chair, said the claim about rigged voting machines was f-ing nuts, but overall, isn't this a familiar tale? >> i don't want to say much ado about nothing, howie. i actually read it, all 16 apages, and i went over it, i think, with the view that i didn't expect it to change a lot, and it didn't. i think what hurts here if you're donald trump is this puts it back into the spotlight. it foists it back onto the american public. i just don't know why the judge would do this other than having enmity because she didn't have to let this come out at this point. if you're jack smith, of course, you're trying to create this environment. i just don't know that we learned a lot. howard: you know, we had mike pence's book, we had the january 6th committee report, a gazillion news stories. i get part of what jack smith is doing here, tomi, is pursuing legal strategy in light of the

scotus ruling on presidential immunity, but as far as the bombshell coverage -- and, of course, we all probably follow this more than the average person -- it just seemed like we kind of knew a lot of this. >> yeah. >> knew a lot of it, and ill also say that if you are -- i would also say if you wake up every day and think about january 6th, protecting democracy because of january 6th is your primary reason to go out and vote for kamala harris, that's a really privileged position to be in. and, of course, those that sit on liberal, mainstream media networks, they're in privileged positions, and they think about january 6th every day. your average american out there, this is not even in the top five issues that they care about. and i would also say as much as i do think it was intended as maybe election interference, i do think that every time they go after donald trump, people are so sick and tired of it, so sick and tired of the song and dance that i think it could actually help donald trump because we know when his back is against the wall, his supporters not only turn out, but they're

passionate. we -- we want the move on and save the american people, is what the base is telling us. drum on with january 6th, but it's a very privileged thing to care about day in and day out. howard: i wouldn't argue with you about it being in the top five issues, but it was a dark day in our country's history. it's just that it has been subjected to this overother and over again -- over and over and over again, and that's why the former president's crying foul. i kept you around for another segment, but we'll let you go now. thanks very much. next on "mediabuzz," corey lewandowski of the trump campaign will be here. ♪ ♪

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buy more, save more. up to $600 off. visit purple.com or a store near you. >> and right here in pennsylvania we have bled together. we've bled. we've had three people that really got hit hard. howard: donald trump last night, an emotional return to to pennsylvania. the crowd was said to be about

100,000. joining us now, corey lieu wan lewandowski -- lewandowski, trump's first campaign manager in 2016. as you know, tim walz appeared on "fox news sunday" today, just a couple of hours ago, and here is part of what he said. >> the people that are in the is situation room with donald trump, like john kelly, his chief of staff, said he shouldn't be there. he's a damaged human being. howard: your response to that personal jab. >> well, the personal jab is because tim walz wants to hide from his own record. the bottom line is when donald trump was president of the united states, we had peace around the world. we had economic prosperity in our country, and we had a border that was closed. in four short years, we've got a world on fire whether it's in israel or an open border, and we've got economic calamity here. so tim walz and vice president harris, if they are elected, will be the most radical, dangerous elected officials this world has ever seen, and that's why the american people in four weeks from tuesday are going to return donald trump to the white

house. howard: the media consensus even among most liberals is that j.d. vance clearly won that debate, but in that debate i was struck how senator vance spent time expressing, you know, he's pro-life, expressing sympathy for the pro-choice view saying he knew people who had such abortions. so was his job to not just soften his own image a bit, buts perhaps donald trump's as well? >> no, listen, he did a phenomenal job. obviously, he won that debate. when your opponent calls himself a knucklehead on national television, us tells you -- it tells you he's losing, and he hate to say basically i'm a liar, but he used the word knucklehead instead. j.d. vance said the issue of roe v. wade has gone back to the states, and the states will decide what they're going to do. and the state where j.d. vance lives, ohio, a key state like kansas, they've continued to allow people to be able to make those its decisions. look, that's how states are

supposed to operate, the laboratories of democracy. the converse of that is tim walz's issue on abortion. and your cohost on this network held his feet to the fire today when she asked him, do you believe that a 9-month abortion is within the lines of what most people think, and he basically said, yes, it is. we have no exceptions at any stage in abortion in the state of minnesotament. he supports that law. -- minnesota. he supports that law, and that is outside the realm of the mainstream. howard: that, of course, was shannon bream. now, a few days ago former president trump called kamala harris mentally impaired whereas biden had just gotten old. i know march are trump tried to dismiss this as a joke, but it didn't sound that way to me. >> look, the reality is you have the ask yourself, you know, kamala harris has now been the vice president for four years, howie, and still nobody has asked her when kid she know about joe biden's mental decline, and why hasn't she told anyone about it? it's amazing she's never been asked about this. she has an enormous amount of

responsibility for the way this country has been run the last four years. joe biden said at a press conference this week he and vice president harris are hand and glove today, every policy that is his is hers and vice versa. if that's the case, obviously, very out of touch with america, very radical. she has to answer the tough questions, but she's refused toot that, by and large. howard: absolutely fair question, what did she know about the president's obviously declining condition, but why call her mentally impaired? what does that get your campaign? >> well, look, howie, i think the real question is what has she done to the make our lives better. that's really the bottom line. you ask yourself the age-old question are you better off today than four years ago, and by every discernible metric the answer is, no. we've got 13,000 mudders, in -- murder you arers in this country, 16,000 rapists under this administration. people are worse off today than they've ever been. so either she's mentally deficient or terrible at her

job. either one does not mean you get a promotion. howard: when trump says that jack smith, the special counsel, was doing the bidding of harris and biden by submitting his january 6th report which was then unsealed by a federal judge, what evidence do you have of that, that they were involved in any way? because that would be radioactive on their part. >> well, this is the biden justice department. we know that. we know every decision goes through the attorney general whether he wants to admit it or not. we know that the attorney general when it came to raiding mar-a-lago personally signed off on it. we look at what this department of justice has done against conservatives whether it's peter navarro, jailing him, or steve bannon who's still in jail or the way they've continued to prosecute donald trump for the issues done while he was in the bidding when he has immunity. this justice department has been completely egregious. the federal judge in florida ruled jack smith doesn't even have standing because he was a private citizen appointed to prosecute a president. it doesn't happen. he should never be there, and

she should -- he should have been thrown out a long time ago. howard: i take your point. on the other hand, when you say it's the biden justice department, i mean, ultimately, it was the decision, obviously, by the federal judge. now, president biden had some words to say the other day about the possibility of postelection violence. take a look. >> i'm confident it'll be free and fair. i don't know whether it'll be peaceful. the things that trump has said and the things that he said last time out when he didn't like the outcome of the election were very dangerous. howard: so biden is saying that trump's rhetoric could lead to postelection violence. i'm sure you'd like to respond to that. >> howie, it's complete nonsense. look, the bottom line is when donald trump won the election in 2016, a number of democrats refused to even acknowledge his success. hillary clinton called him an illegitimate president dozens of times, we know that. members of congress refused to show up at his inauguration

because they said he wasn't properly elected, it was russian interference. the bottom line is when donald trump wins this election, there'll be a peaceful transition of power, and he'll be the 47th president of the united states. howard: i do have to point out while hillary clinton certainly said those things, she did concede the election the next day. now now, the the negative coverage overwhelmingly about swrch d. vance, do you think many in the media just have a visceral dislike of him? >> they do because, look, this guy's been the american success story. when you look at his debate performance this week, howie, this is a guy who's been in elected office for two years, and you put that up against governor walz who's been in for 20 years. how is governor walz so unprepared? he's so unprepared on the national stage, and he is not qualified to be the vice president of the united states. if you looked at that a phenomenal performance that j.d. vance turned in at that debate, there's nobody in america who says this man is not qualified. but the media hates him because he's incredibly smart, he's witty, and he pushes back and

fact checks them back, howie. we saw that during the debate. when the moderator started to fact check him, he said, stop, let me fact if check your fact check, and he was 100% correct. howard: i do appreciate that he makes himself so available to the media outlets. i think the other side could take a note on that. corey lewandowski, thanks for coming back on "mediabuzz." good to see you. >> happy stunned. howard: after the break, we'll talk to michigan's democratic congresswoman, debbie dingell. ♪ paint . . it's more than cleaning. that's the thing we'll never forget. for belfor, it's your memories. it's your life's passion. it's your home. belfor, restoring more than property.

howard: joining us now from the battleground state of michigan, democratic congresswoman debbie dingell of the house energy and commerce committee. welcome. you're in one of those blue wall states that kamala harris needs to win. politico saying now democrats are worried about michigan slipping away. if donald trump is as much of a danger to democracy as democrats say, why is kamala harris according to the real clear politics average leading by 0.7% which is a statistical tie? >> howie, it's good to see you, good to be with you. look, if you listened the me all year, i've said from the very beginning michigan's a purple state, and it's going to be until election day. the fact of the matter is neither candidate has yet to win this state. donald trump has very strong supporters, there is no question. they supported him in 216, and i've told people they were this and nobody believed me. but people have been getting to

know her. people concern i was not there, but i've talked to many people that were at her speech in flint friday. union workers, a couple of them who had told me they weren't sure who they were going to vote for said they're going to the, and we are going to be competitive. we're, this state is going to be competitive, and it can go either way. and it's going to come down to who turns out the vote on election day. howard: and have you made those views known to the campaign? >> okay, howie, how well do you know me? howard: pretty well. i mean, i've interviewed you a number of times, yeah. >> i mean, everybody knows i tell people as it is. and i was extremely unpopular and everybody got mad at me because i will say this the to you, at this time in 216 i knew that donald trump was going to win,, and i it would people donald trump was going to win michigan, and everybody rolled their eyes, said i didn't know what i was talking about. i did know what i was talking about. i'm in the same union halls, i'm in those -- i go to the american

legions, the vfws, the farmer markets, the churches, and i'm hearing a lot of different things. and the mideast situation in michigan is a complicated factor on top of what i saw in 216. howard: right. >> this election is complicated in michigan. howard: congresswoman, do you think as a congresswoman that gender is a minor if factor in this race? >> i do believe that that is probably true. i think that more women -- the right for a woman to make her own health care decisions is, without fail, probably one of the biggest issues in this state. but i will tell you that the vice president has a problem with union workers, many of them men, as well as, quite frankly, african-american if young men who have said the me, i was with a group of them last week, you know what? donald trump talks to us. democrats take us for granted. now, i think people are trying

to fix that, they're trying to get in there, they're trying to make sure that they're being listened to, and i'm not a -- they need to hear from their peers, their colleagues. but i do know that the campaign is addressing that issue. we can't take anybody if for granted. howard: let's turn to the vp debate. even many democrats are saying j.d. vance had a better nis quoted as saying of tim walz, this is not the appearance debate you would want. vance got away with a lot. what was your take in. >> so i would -- i think it was a draw. and the reason i'm going the tell you i think it was a draw was because of the last question. if on january 6th. i think j.d. vance is, the nice j.d. vance showed up that night and i, quite frankly, was very pleasantly surprised at the civility of the entire event. but the true j.d. vance came out when the discussion of january 6th occurred, and he reinforced what we already know from former president trump, that he will not say that he will accept the

results of the election. i believe in the integrity of of the election system and think there are many republicans and democrats, clerks and state officials working hard so that we keep our democracy strong and believe in those institutions. we have some that are not, that won't accept it if they lose. and when people say that what happened at the capitol on january 6th was okay and that people who have been convicted by a jury of their peers have been given sentences for what they do -- did and they're told that they're going to be released, i fear for our democracy. and i think that question alone reminded people about how tenuous our democracy is right now. howard: did kamala harris accomplish anything, in your view, by going to the border when, as everyone knows, immigration is perhaps donald trump's signature issue and some create ins are saying too little, too late? if -- critics.

>> you know what? i think she got to remind people, first of all, i want to talk about that crime corey was talking about. let us remind if everybody that crime was at its highest, the highest it's been in this country under former donald trump's former administration. and we have had, seen significant -- violent crime in this country is down at the lowest level in 2024 than it's been since 1969. we saw a 2222% -- 2222% -- 22% decrease in murders this year. and when she went to the border, it was an opportunity to remind this country again we all -- not everybody, but i am, many of us, bipartisan, know that we need come presencive immigration reform. -- comprehensive. and led by the efforts of a very conservative senator, a group old -- of republican and democratic senators negotiated a compromise. we would have had the votes, we would have voted on it.

democratic and republican presidents have been unab able to get this done, and one man -- and that man's name is donald trump -- said don't vote on this, don't give them a win. well, i'm not -- i don't believe in fighting for elections. i think we need to be working together for a win for the american people. and she was able to remind if people that politics, let's get a win for the american people. howard: i'll take that as a yes. congresswoman debbie dingell, thanks for joining us. >> thank you. howard: still to come, melania's october surprise, she's pro-choice on abortion. ♪

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from the first day of kindergarten through the day they graduate high school, in california, 38% of students attend a public school that fails to meet minimum health standards. prop 2 will fund urgent repairs at local schools. protect kids from toxic mold and asbestos. ensure clean water. and to fix what's actually broken, all public funds go to local schools. without raising taxes. yes on 2. all kids deserve a safe place to learn. howard: the guardian has an advance copy of melania trump's memoir, and she says in there that a woman has the authority to terminate her pregnancy if

she wishes. here she is last hour with maria bartiromo. maria: melania, you also write about abortion in the book. you write that you are staunchly for a woman's right to choose. >> he knew my beliefs, as i said, so he knew it would be in the book. he let me be who i am, and he let me believe what i believe. howard: joining us now, alexandria hoff, a fox news reporter here in washington. isn't it a bit strange that the former first lady, who's bare barely been visible in this campaign, would drop this a month before the election and perhaps fuel doubts from pro-life groups who are already unhappy with donald trump. >> if. >> right. what she had said was this book was already in print before this presidential election was even underway -- howard: they could have delayed it. >> exactly. think concern i think that will lead some to believe there is a bit of strategy perhaps here in that of course husbands and wives even in the white house disagree on issues bull.

this did come out now. it also comes on the heels of some believing j.d. vance was a bit moderate in the debate on the issue of abortion. are they trying to bring in more moderate voters? hey, we might not agree all of us on all the parameters, so you might be welcome here. howard: not unusual for married couples to disagree on issues, but this is the potential future president and first lady. of course, they've had that job before. there's also a they arely -- theory this helps donald trump, maybe you were starting to hint at this because if the first lady is seen as a moderating force on the very divisive and moral issue of abortion, that could be good. but, of course, it didn't stop the former president from appointing the three conservative justices who overturned roe. >> i don't necessarily think this is what they wanted to have to talk about -- howard: right. takes them off script. >> -- to -- that former president trump wanted to the answer right now. to some, the obvious point some

are making, oh, wow, she doesn't support him on this issue. the former president has said i would veto a federal ban on abortion. you could see this as her, again, kind of opening arms to the republican party saying we have variety in our opinions in this party. on the left there is no, there is no difference in perspective. there's no restrictions, nobody's saying that. howard: it's interesting because tim walz in his "fox news sunday" interview today kept saying, and harris says this too, that trump would sign a national ban. and yet he's said many times that that he wouldn't. so it was a liberal media columnist who says this revelation is a who isal hue hue mill concern humiliation of her husband. do you buy that? >> i don't think so. we have known this couple for a long time now. i think we've all gauged there has been a difference in perspective on maybe even a couple issues at this point. i don't think this shocks anybody. i don't even think it necessarily embarrasses former president trump. i think he is one who is maybe

partial to feeling betrayed by people, and i don't think she's one of those people. the former first lady's been very adamant that they've had these conversations in the past, he knew what she was going to write in this book and that it was already in print. she, it seems like she's alleging this was not supposed to come out. howard: okay. well, it's out, and that means it's fodder for the media, and i'm glad to hear what she really thinks. alex of, great for you to have stopped by. that is it for this edition of "mediabuzz." if you are so inclined, subscribe to my if free daily podcast, media was meter -- buzz meter. we have a little more room to talk. also important to remind you we are back here next sunday, 11 eastern. 30 days to to go in this campaign, so you don't want about to miss if it. if not, we'll put the segments online. good to see you.

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