was steal sales from the future rather than lead to a new production. as always real clunkers are the folks in congress who dreamed this up. thanks, we hope to see you thanks, we hope to see you right here next week! captioned by closed captioning services, inc. health care reform stumbled in washington. the economy on the rocks across the nation. the success of our military in afghanistan in question. our president's focus is on copenhagen, oprah and his olympic-sized sales pitch. are thew3 media paying attention? >> fugitive filmmaker gets nabbed for since of his past. some in the spotlight try to dismiss his bad deeds. >> we came to honor him as a great artist. >> michael moore is back. what more can we say? >> a new battle begins on late night.

>> mayor of that city has banned me from flying into newark airport. >> on the panel this week, programming editor at broadcasting and cable magazine. syndicated columnist cal thomas. jim pink kuerten, and -- jim pinkerton and juan williams. i'm john scott,-fmox foxnews watch on right now. this week the debate over health care heated up on capitol hill with no clear end in sight. democratic congressman made headlines with his show-and-tell on the topic. burning question over u.s. troops deployment in afghanistan and whether or not we can succeed there. and the possible nuclear threat posed by iran, dominated the world stage. this as the president and mrs. obama jetted to have denmark for a sales pitch to win the olympics for their hometown of chicago.

>> we can make it, if we try, that's not just the american dream that is the olympic spirit the essence of the olympic spirit. that's why we see so much of ourselves in these games. that's why we want them in chicago. >> that presidential plea went nowhere. the international olympic committee those rio. we know the result was the press playing along? >> i think katie couric said it was oprah and the president were the dreamteam going on there i think they were drinking their own kool-aid and they've discovered that the rest of the world doesn't idol eyes president obama has much as the -- idolize president obama as much as the mainstream media. >> remember the king of spain, prime minister of spain, prime minister of japan,

president of brazil they are all there. don't forget that tony blair played a key role for lone -- london and getting the olympics. >> and spain was a super power. >> what i'm saying is now that's what was required. there were questions raised about president obama going but the idea it was distracting, i thought was a little much. >> does this become something like pardoning the thanksgiving turkey and receiving the bowl of shamrocks from the irish prime minister? something that every president has to do? >> real story is not the diminished credibility of the president, it is the diminished credibility of olympic ! i think this proves that the president is over exposed. when you take the office and the prestige of the presidency of the united states down to lobbying for a city like chicago, especially, and you lose, the iranians are going to be looking at this, the

republicans are going to be looking at this.ç >> a little over -- >> would have been criticized if he hadn't gone. >> i don't know he would have been criticized if he hadn't gone what press did point out there's a lot of cronyism in chicago and a lot of obama's buddies were going to make out the

an >> i think unemployment is a variable here. i worked in the reagan administration when unemployment went to almost 11% his approval rating went into the low 30s. obama is at 50, one reason is according to the media research center coverage of president reagan's unemployment 1982 versus obama's unemployment in 2009 is 13-1 more negative for reagan back then. mrc, dan gainer even cheeky enough to track down charlie gibson's coverage of unemployment going so high back 27 years ago and comparing it to what gibson did then he was at the white house now obviously

anchor at abc news in 1982 it was all bad news for reagan. in 2009 it was all good news for obama, mostly good news. >> here's the problem he who lives by the media dies by the media. advance policy or persuade the public of something the president doesn't have a plan for afghanistan he has to think about it for the next however long. he doesn't have a health care plan in a congressional plan or several versions of it. he didn't have a plan to bring olympics to chicago other than the force of his personality, which work. we are seeing a diminished power before our eyes, because he doesn't have anything other than his personality! >> one other burning issue through week, iran, take a look at new numbers from our poll out this week: 69% of americans do not think the president is being tough enough on iran. only 16% say they think he's handling the situation right.

6% say he's being too tough. the same question, is the press coverage he's receiving on iran reflective of what the american people think? >> i thinkt( this is poll numbers that reflect the american i'm piece i am passion with iran in the -- impatience with iran in the sense that iran continues to lie. the question is how does that get played? the international press at the end of the week was saying iran is taking a step back and coming into the international community. newspapers in the united states were much more cautious in their coverage. we'll see where this goes. when you look at those these numbers going back to our previous story, so interesting to me a plurality of americans, i think high 40s say they profit of the -- they days prove of the president going to copenhagen. i didn't see it as a big deal, apparently i was out of step. >> during our breaks we keep the cameras rolling you might catch cal thomas breaking out

in song or some spirited discussion. check it out after the show. up next, police bust a cbs news producer trying to extort money from david letterman. the light night comic makes a shocking conviction. >> also roman polanski back in the news. >> famous director and wanted criminal, roman polanski, nabbed for raining a 13-year-old. celebrities and -- for raping a 13-year-old. celebrities and media crowd foul ignoring the crime. >> congress cuts funding and big business cuts ties some in the press painting acorn as the victim. really? all next on news watch.

eryone'st them. and now we can actually do something about them. at wal-mart, their prices are unbeatable. over 300 prescriptions are just four dollars. four dollars. imagine that.

. >> not charged. it wasn't rape, rape.

i don't believe it was rape-rape. >> okay. comedian whoopi goldberg telling her view of the charges against director roman polanski which got some reaction. but it didn't stop there. other celebrities have come to polanski's defense. >> we came to honor roman polanski as a great artist. under the sudden and arcane circumstances we can only think of him today as a human being. we hope todayw> there's more. hollywood big shots joined in including woody allen, there's a role model and martin scorsese among others, showing their support for the filmmaker. juan, if polanski were a gym teacher or truck driver would he be getting the same

treatment? >> obviously not. i think behind this is an argument that his brilliance somehow excuses the crime. >> which he pled guilty to. >> here's the thing documentaries saying there was improper behavior by prosecutors in the case trying to influence the judge. i think there's a great deal of credit to be given to the american newspaper reporters this week "l.a. times", "new york times" who went out and actually said, here's what happened, roman polanski, under wrong assumption, got this 13-year-old girl away from her parents saying he was going to take photos e the girl wanted a career in acting, gave her champagne, alcohol and quaaludes and persisted in his sexual attempts to engage her, before raping her. what you just heard from whoopi goldberg someone who hasn't gone back and looked at what happened. she said it wasn't rape-rape. there's no way to interpret this once you see the facts as

anything but not only rape, but rape of an adolescent. >> juan, maybe she looked back and just doesn't care because she thinks that people of a certain hollywood pay grade are just -- >> the argument is you are a brilliant argue i have -- artist you are excused. >> the backlash on this since the petition in favor of supporting polanski circulated by harvey weinstein and the backlash against all of that this hollywood circling the wagons has been swift and loud. juan is right, "the new york times", the "l.a. times" everyone has pointed out and recounted the facts of the case. that speaks for itself. >> you wouldn't any of these people as a character witness at your trial. you have woody allen as you pointed out, not a paragon of virtue. he married his adopted daughter that he adopted with miafarrow. whoopi goldberg who i wish would define the different

between rape-rape and just rape, i done get that according to her publicist has had six abortions these are not the people you want to show up and make good statements. >> she did issue clarification on the the next day about it wasn't rape-rape statement. we should point that out >> the fact that these are women saying this is the most disappointing of all. if you are on a national television show and you know is going to be a topic find out the facts before you shoot your mouth off. >> the press, some in the press went the other way jim and pointed out that polanski has had such a tough life his mother died in a concentration camp his wife and unborn child murdered by the manson family. does that excuse any of this behavior? >> it is interesting context for sure. it doesn't excuse the crime at all. he's had a intense life including winning an oscar for a movie about the holocaust.

deborah winger saying the whole art world will suffer if somebody goes to jail for committing a crime that says a lot about the art world. >> then there was this story involving the news and entertainment media. thursday night comedian david letterman admitted to affairs with women on his own staff. here's what he said in a kind of a weird monologue. >> sex with women who work for me on this show. i feel like i need to protect these people. i need to certainly protect my family, i need to protect myself, hope to protect my job and the friends everybody that has been very supportive through this and i don't plan to say much more about this on this particular topic. so thank you for lending -- for letting me bend your ear. >> after that we found out that this producer for the cbs news program 48 hours had been arrested and charged with trying to extort two million dollars from letterman for

having done some of the things that he admitted there. have you ever seen a weirder moment in television than that, jim? >> i'm sure after the audience thought this was some elaborate -- >> they were laughing. >> again it just goes to show the different between the elites and the public on these things this is another -- unbelievable soap opera to come here. obviously, every one of these women is going to get tracked down and interviewed and maybe sell her story to some tabloid. >> if you are on david letterman's staff and the big guy comes and says, hey, how about it? >> i don't think that men having sex with subordinates is unusual we see it all the time in politics. i do think there is a question of the -- he's in a position of power over these women was there some sort of quid pro quo or hostile work

environment? >> story is not a sexual harrassment story so far. you can imagine questions raced by aggressive reporters. what we know so far it was a crime against david letterman. i don't -- i haven't heard any complaints made by the women apparently this producer was going out with a woman who had sex with letterman. >> apparently we will never know because letterman said he has said the last he's going to say on this topic. >> i doubt it. >> it is a weird story. much more ahead on fox news watch. first, if you come across a story thank you think shows media bias, e-mail us at news watch at foxnews.com. next acorn scandals and why some think the organization is the victim. >> announcer: with scandals building and allies balling, acorn's future looks dim. wait the liberal media have a plan. and he's back!

michael moore's love story is the media afraid of this movie menace? answers next on news watch. !d!dd

your business is a performing artist. which you are, okay.

role play on words. you are a performing artist. so stop saying prostitute. >> got. >> just one of the many clips from a couple of freelance journalists who exposed problems at acorn the association of community organization for reform now. since these first aired acorn has lost all kinds of funding, backing and support from government and private sector. now some in the media are defending acorn. take a look at this from a recent u.s.a. today front page story title: acorn controversy now a matter of survival. in the body of the piece acorn received 53 million dollars in federal funds since 1994 has long been a target of conservatives because of ties to democrats: tax increase after voter registration and get out the vote efforts for president obama last year. i might point out that a tax

increased after a couple of acorn employees were seen in what seemed to be promoting prostitution in those undercover videos. >> what u.s.a. today said was right attacks increased once it was thought to be seen they were engaged in fraudulently registering voters to the benefit of democrats. it has escalated in recent days given these videos. not only has u.s. res voted to end their connection, census bureau everybody running in the other direction. >> they got 53 million dollars in federal funds for various of acorn, a little murky. >> a little murky as to where the money goes and comes from. >> there's a double standard in the way the media covers liberal groups in promoting policies they agree with and conservative groups promoting policies they disagree with the in the 80s there was the legal services corporation, that supposedly was filed to

help poor people the conservatives tried to to fun it a lot of money was going out to a lot of places the conservatives thought the government had no business in helping to promote that go anywhere the media was very supportive as they are of the goals and objectives of acorn a conservative group the media approach is different. >> why do some think accord has been a victim of media coverage? >> for the reason cal said they thighize with acorn and they think sympathize acorn does good work. "wall street journal" all over acorn for years wrote a book on voter fraud and told me the other day there's a lot more coming. >> let me say quickly before you go, i think a number of people in terms of journalistic effort if they wanted to focus on fraud should go after blackwater,

wall street bankers. when you look at acorn people think these folks trying to help poor people get a house. are we putting enough resources into scandal that pays off in large magnitude, 53 mill kwroefr -- nil beyond over 14 years is a ma engine ofior. it it is the weekend awe ready for slanted cinema? first we had al gore giving his inconvenient truth and the media couldn't get enough of that comedian turned political observer bill mayer, another film getting high marks from left the same from michael moore's latest. >> we are here to get the money back for the american people. >> i understand but you can't come in here. >> can you just take the bag and fill it up, i got more. 10 million won't fit.

we want our money back! >> michael moore is back his latest film: "capitalism, a will have story" in theaters now. what about the reviews jim? >> according to rotten tomatoes, positive. i got to tell you on this issue while michael moore. bail out was atrocity. scandal that they gave them service more in bonuses than they earned in profits all their profits came from the bailout from us taxpayers, michael moore trying to get money from goldman sachs i'm all for it >> i agree. i do think that it is rather hypocritical for him to say that he really hates capitalism, while pocketing the profits on it and a good number of hamburgers and popcorn from the concession stand. >> i'm with jim, this of all you would think most would be in agreement with. moore's reviews are always mixed. >> we have to take another

break. newark, new jersey gets unwanted national attention. >> announcer: new battle on late night. conan fires a shot! >> health care program would consist of a bus ticket out of newark. >> a big city mayor fires back. >> i'm officially putting you on the newark, new jersey airport no-fly list. >> that's next on news watch. a ugcl)

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a new battle begin on late night twegsz. it ail started when conan o'brien took a shot a newark. >> they want me to set up a citywide program to do citywide help. it would be a bus ticket outside of city. >> i'm also mayor of city with one of the largest airports in the united states. according in the powers invested to me i'm putting you on the

newark new jersey no-fly list. >> i'm banned from flying into the airport. mayor, i apologize. i love newark, new jersey, it's one of america's great cities. a beautiful waterfront. [ laughter ] a thriving art scene. [ laughter ] exciting regional cuisine. [ laughter ] and world class live theater. [ laughter ] [ applause ] >> now mayor brooker you think you can keep me out by banning from knew washing airport. nice try. there are other ways for me to get to your city. i can navigation the sewer system because all sewer pipes lead to newark.