think about it -- anthony weiner, dsk, herman cain, jerry sandusky, the campaign, donald trump, michele bachmann, rick perry, newt gingrich. the world stage, turmoil in tunisia, in egypt, in libya, in syria. we'll examine whether the media's coverage of these fast-moving events has been serious, sensational, or superficial, a year-end report card of sorts. plus, a conversation with ben smith, who's leaving "politico" for buzzfeed. what is that? >>> and a look back at our most provocative interviews of 2011. i'm howard kurtz, and this is the christmas day edition of "reliable sources." >>> it's been a better year for scandal. some sleazy, some superficial, all devoured by the media. perhaps the most chilling came from the world of sports. first at penn state, then at syracuse university with popular coaches accused of horrendous acts. >> in retrospect, i -- you know, i shouldn't have showered with these kids. >> what's it? >> yeah, well, that's what hits me the most. >> are you a pedophile? >> no. >> another major scandal involved a global media corporation, the one run by rupert murdoch

so i think anthony weiner should hang in there.s a good congressman and maybe he can weather this and all be effective. >> i think anthony weiner should hang in there says bark -- says barbara walters. >> that's the point. you can name me 10 people in washington and new york that could look you with a straight face and say the clintons are the model of a good marriage? that's number 1. and point number 2, i think it was an unfortunate choice of words to say that anthony weiner should hang in there. i don't know. >> now, you also have a media millionaires award that you gave to bob sheafer from cbs news. >> why do these rich people need another tax cut? i mean, they're already rich. they seem to be doing pretty well. why cut their taxes some more? >> if the country is going bankrupt and needs to borrow 40 cents of every dollar that it pens, how do you reduce the amount of taxes that the richest people in the country pay? it would seem to be that's where you get revenue? >> bob sheafer, man of the people. >> welcome to socialism. the

i gave a tie to anthony weiner and the news of the world newspaper. >> the biggest loser of 2011, the early obama economic team. geithner, goolsbee, bernstein, they will all be associated with a plan that led to 9% unemployment, to anemic economic growth and it a $4.4 trillion added to the national debt. the biggest losers of 2011. the best poll cities? >> chris christie. he stayed out of the presidential race wisely. he is a republican who cut the budget at the same time retained his popularity. >> best politician hillary clinton who is no longer seen as a politician. has won the hearts of people around the world and even in this country. >> do you think she is presidential material? >> yes. whether she'll run, i don't know. >> rich? >> hands down paul ryan. he swung his caucus around a brave and bold budget. unlike many of his critics, he is civil, responsible and honest. >> another surprise, john. allen west who came in as a tea party favorite and has proved to be, over time, an independent thinker, believe it or not, who outraged other tea partyers by supported raising the debt ce

anthony weiner, let us count the ways. member of congress, married man sending out those embarrassing cell phone pictures. herman cain with all of the allegations about harassment and topped off by the 13-year affair, got to be caddie with this one. who's -- >> i'm glad to note, kathleen, they're all men up there, by the way. >> no women made it -- been in power when we had -- >> no women cads up there. it has to be dominique strauss-kahn for me. just the alleges of what happened in the hotel room and everything we learned subsequently. his incredible fall from the pin cal pinnacle of power, futer president of france, blew it all. chris: and it showed how he lived. >> i suppose the consequences of his actions had much broader reach but i can't -- anthony weiner to me is the biggest embarrassment to himself, to any adult human being and to -- to talk about. >> my issue is with arnold and it's because it's the housekeeper and i'm thinking and go to something my wife said to me, when that housekeeper needed a day off, did she

for example, you mentioned anthony weiner. what did anthony weiner do at first? deny, deny, deny.enying it. he finally had to admit it. but at that point, he had to resign. same thing with herman cain. more credible people came out. the stuff being laid on the table was hard to refute. at that point in time when you finally say, we've all made mistakes in life like he said earlier today, it's too late. you're saying it while you're suspending your campaign. >> what does that mean to you? >> i'm admitting it without saying the words. >> thank you very much. when someone says that, we've all made mistakes -- you said deny, deny, deny. also blame the media. that's the easiest fallback. if something controversial comes out about me, the media should not be delving into my personal life. >> but the media is being perceived as a liberal construct. if you're a conservative candidate, it's an easy fallback to go on. but it's a convenient thing to grab onto when you're trying to distance yourself from the issues. >> i noticed with the lynn wood interview, the strategy seemed to be blame th

new york congressman anthony weiner resigns...after tweeting lewd pictures of himself to women.l maid accuses the head of theeinternational monetary fund, dominique strauss-kahn, of attempted rape. prosecutors later drop thh case...calling the woman "not credible." some scandals cost peoppe their lives.in "operation fast and furious," federal agents lost track of more than a thousand guns they intended to trace...from their illegal purchase in arizona...til they reached drug cartels in mexico. but two lost guns were found back in arizona...where a u-s border patrol agent died in a shootout. sensenbrenner says: " what are you gonna do to clean up this mess?" holder says: " nobody in the justice department has lied." attorney general eric holder calls "fast and furious" deeply flawed...bbt he says hh knew little about it while it was underway. holder's boss... pressdent barack obama.... is embroiled in a growing scandal.his administration lost half a billion dollars investing in the now ankrupt solar panel company... solyndra.the company's leader... a big obama suppo

dana bash, wondering if this has anything to do with anthony weiner. >> i spoke to a source who tellser embroil nd a scandal after a lewd picture of himself was sent to a woman on twitter resigns weeks later. >> i am announcing my resignation from congress. >> a major arrest of one of america's most wanted criminals after a sting operation. >> alleged organized crime figure wanted for at least 19 murders is caught in california. and lift off. the final lift off of atlantis. >> july 8th, the shuttle lifts off at kennedy space center. the final launch of the program. >> space shuttle spreads its wings one final time. >> a scandal brings down a storied tabloid. >> july 10th. after 168 years in existence, rupert murdoch's newspaper shuts down. >> two explosions have rocked central oslo in the last hour, wounding at least eight people. >> july 22nd. terror in norway. in oslo, a bombing kills eight people. at least 70 people, many of them youngsters, attending a political youth camp, are shot to death. the tragedy stuns the tiny nation. the accused attacker is later described as a right win

. >> reporter: anthony weiner's racy tweets raised questions about tweeting and cheating.y of maryland study credited facebook apps alone with creating 182,000obs. i'm karin caifa reporting. >>> baltimore city's board of public work also vote on a plan to hand over some of the rec centers to be run by private companies. we have a list of them on abc2 news at 6:00 which starts right now. >>> it's the holiday season. it's also the

and congressman anthony weiner, remember him? the peter tweeter?ou all know that guy. [ laughter ] >> rickey: yeah, yeah. >> jay: well, he and is his wife, huma, have given birth to a baby boy. he posted a photo of the new baby on twitter, but people are afraid to open it. [ laughter ] nah, i'm not going to go there. anyway, little weiner looks cute. so, that's good. [ laughter ] >> rickey: oh! >> jay: well, here's a a wonderful christmas story. it's always nice to see these things about this time of year. an arizona man, a guy believed to be brain dead, a guy who was poised to be an organ donor. he was like hours away from being an organ donor, miraculously recovers just hours before doctors were going to take him off life support. the guy was brain dead, and now he's on the road to recovery. you know what that means? there is hope for rick perry. they can maybe do something. [ laughter ] they might be able to -- [ applause ] ♪ well, the nfl and nbc announced today that this year's super bowl will be available online and in streaming video. you ca

our selections were charlie sheen, anthony weiner. his was a strong category. and my own personal favorite who i was hoping would win, former italian prime minister, silvio berlusconi, finally forced to step down by essentially the italian government. >> the year they were embear rac rased by the morality of jersey shores. >> we will play a clip of what our voters saw. >> where paul revere hung out as a teenager, which was something new to learn and he who warned the british that they weren't going to be taking away our arms and making sure as he was riding his horse through town to send those warning shots and bells that we were going to be secure and we were going to be free. >> oh, it's like jazz. >> i guess the reason i want to play this for you. sarah palin, she burned so brightly. i feel like she has really left our national discourse, probably for the better but i feel like for political comedians, for the worst. >> i would like her to write for me, because she is hilarious in so many levels. the fact she would take herself seriously as a politician. my

the summer's steamiest political scandal, anthony weiner's tweets and cheating.rsity of maryland study credited facebook apps alone with creating 182,000 jobs and more than 600 groups. i'm karin caifa reporting. >> if you're looking more on the top stories of the year, check our begs 2011 page in the featured story section. we have the most powerful photos, most searched person and remembering those who lost this year. >>> blocks, an old school toy but it can provide lasting benefits. why these preschooler toys can help people down the road. if you have a chubby child scientists say they can still grow up to have a healthy heart. find out how. [ child ] it's so cool! you can put a force field on him and be invisible! [ child 2 ] i call first player. no. i already called it. [ dad ] nobody's playing anything until after we get our homework done. thank you. hello? test drive's not over yet. [ male announcer ] it's practically yours. [ louder ] hello? but we still need your signature. right now during sign then drive, it's never been easier to get the all-new passat

a few months later, democrat anthony weiner resigns after a bizarre sexting scandal in which weiner admitted to sending naked photos to several women. >> once i realized i posted it to twitter, i panicked and said i was hacked. i made terrible mistakes that have hurt the people i care about the most and i am deeply sorry. >> reporter: a month later, david wu resigned after his affair with an 18-year-old woman was revealed. 2011 marked the last time for heavy hitters serving in congress, barry frank and jon kyl are retiring. 2012 could bring new blood into the capitol. craig boswell, fox news. >>> unconventional weather- wise. >> i think the trend continues. >> we will have a little rain here and there. maybe snow elf. we think it -- snow eventually. >> listen, here is what is going on this evening. it's nice. the capitol is lit up. i would encourage you if you are visiting the fair city here, get out and see some of the lights. see the national christmas tree, the capital christmas tree, all the christmas tree. everything is lit up. it's nice. let me tell you if you are visiting the city, th

it's a long week for congressman anthony weiner. but now it's over. he will resign. the draw-down in afghanistan is beginning, u.s. troops are coming home. casey an thon netierce after the seven women and five men decided the prosecution had failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that she is a murderer of her own child. the jury verdict saved her from the possibility of execution by the stai. but where is she hiding now? we saw that video of her walking out of jail, early yesterday morning, escorted by her attorney. baez says casey is in an undisclosed location, nobody's talking and the rumors are flying. the u.s. credit rating has been downgraded. s&p downgrading the credit rating for the first time ever. hurricane irene is headed for the united states. get ready on the east coast. he's dead, anwar al-awlaki is dead. a cia drone strike kills the senior al qaeda leader. amappeda knox is a free woman tonight. she left an italian prison. the question now: where is she headd? he changed our lives from the way we listen to music, check our email or read a novel. almos

wow, anthony weiner. [ cheers and applause ] thank you so much. that's right. year's is right around the corner. i can't wait 'til the clock strikes 12:00 and everyone's, like, -- ♪ should all acquaintance be forgot duh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh ♪ [ laughter ] ♪ should auld acquaintance nuh nuh nuh keep your eye on the grand old flag ♪ [ laughter ] [ cheers and applause ] great song. hey, here's an election update. yesterday, in new hampshire, mitt romney spent an hour knocking on doors, trying to meet with voters, while rick perry spent an hour knocking on doors, trying to remember which house was his. [ laughter ] oops, sorry. wrong house. oops. [ light laughter ] happy birthday to ryan seacrest, who turns 37 years old this weekend. his party was kind of annoying. he was like "we'll find out what people gave me -- right after the cake." [ laughter ] you didn't send me any condolences or anything. >> steve: oh my gosh, what happened? >> jimmy: i didn't tell you about this? >> steve: no, you didn't tell me about this. what? >> jimmy: my grandmother. >> steve: wel

wow, anthony weiner. [ cheers and applause ] thank you so much. that's right.should all acquaintance be forgot duh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh ♪ [ laughter ] ♪ should auld acquaintance nuh nuh nuh keep your eye on the grand old flag ♪ [ laughter ] [ cheers and applause ] great song. hey, here's an election update. yesterday, in new hampshire, mitt romney spent an hour knocking on doors, trying to meet with voters, while rick perry spent an hour knocking on doors, trying to remember which house was his. [ laughter ] oops, sorry. wrong house. oops. [ light laughter ] happy birthday to ryan seacrest, who turns 37 years old this weekend. his party was kind of annoying. he was like "we'll find out what people gave me -- right after the cake." [ laughter ] you didn't send me any condolences or anything. >> steve: oh my gosh, what happened? >> jimmy: i didn't tell you about this? >> steve: no, you didn't tell me about this. what? >> jimmy: my grandmother. >> steve: well, last time i saw her was the night before christmas eve. >> jimmy: you know, she was stumbling out of h

democrat anthony weiner resigns after a bizarre sexting scandal in which weiner admitted to sending nakeds of himself to several women. >> once i realized i posted to twitter i panicked. i took it down and said i had been hacked. reporter: 2011 marks the last time for some heavy hitters in congress including representative barney frank retiring. >>> so are you overloaded with gift cards after the holidays? you can trade the ones you don't want in for cash. shawn yancy has your fox 5 top five. >> up first tonight, maureen, so what do your twitter tweets say about you? no. 5, a recent twitter study found happy tweets are on the decline. scientists at the university of vermont analyzed billions of tweets and found there were drops in happiness especially during the 2008 financial bailout followed by the flu pandemic and death of michael jackson. the happiest tweets come on saturdays. no. 4, mears a question. what would you do with 200 -- here's a question, what would you do with $206 million? because no one won the last mega millions jackpot it is now up. next tuesday's drawing, well, it's g

dana bash, i'm wondering if this has anything to do with anthony weiner? a source that says anthony weiner does plan to resign from congress. >> reporter: may 27. congressman anthony weiner embroiled in a scandal after a lewd picture of himself was sent by a woman on twitter resigned weeks later. >> i am announcing my resignation from congress. >>> breaking news tonight, one of america's most wanted criminals. >> reporter: june 22, fugitive no more. alleged organized crime figure james bolger wanted for at least 19 murders, is caught in california. >>> the final liftoff of atlantis. america will continue the dream. >> reporter: the shuttle atlantis lifts off at kennedy space center, the final shuttle launch of the program. >> the space shuttle spreads its wings one final time. >> reporte >> reporter: july 10. after 168 years in existence, rupert murdoch's news of the world newspaper shuts down amid claims that the paper hacked royals, politicians and even crime victims. >>> two explosions have rocked central oslo in the last hour, wounding at least eight p

como anthony weiner ex congresista por nueva york que renuncio luego de confesar haber mandado mensajes e imagenes de contenido sexual a varias mujeres por internet.. en la carrera por la nominacion republicana para la presidencia han abundado los dimes y diretes entre los canditados.. pero tambien las acusaciones de acoso sexual contra el candidato herman cain .. cain se retiro de la campaqa insistiendo que las acusaciones eran falsas..y el aspirante a la nominacion republicana y gobernador de texas, rick perry, se convirtio en el hazme reir, al olvidarsele en pleno debate republicano el nombre del tercer departamento del gobierno federal que le gustaria eliminar.. simplemente dijo.. no me acuerdo del tercero.. lo siento.. yezmin thomas, telemundo quedese donde esta porque cuando regresemos...fue el aqo de libertad en el medio oriente con la caida de varios dictadores... en mexico la violencia escalo a un nivel nunca antes visto...el mundo de los deportes se detuvo a raiz de paros laboralesy bodas reales, romances candentes y divorcios sensacionales, el mundo del espectaculo estuvo en

then, former congressman anthony weiner took to twitter to flirt and send lewd pictures to young women. the most chilling allegations from penn state, where former assistant coach jerry sandusky is accused of molesting ten boys. former international monetary fund chief dominique strauss-kahn's alleged assault on a new york city hotel maid generated attention. charges were filed and later dropped, based on the accuser's credibility. >> things aren't perfect in the u.s. when the comes is sex cancels but the reality is, we don't have a complete disregard of the women just right out of the gate. do have support women, we're on tv talking about it right now. >> that led to the imf choosing a woman, france's christine legarde to head the agency. with ibms appointment of virginia rommetty as its first female ceo the number of women ceos in fortune 500 companies rose to 18 - but fell back to 17 as avon's andrea jung announced she was stepping down. >> she's a lot more polished. did excellent during the debate. she surprised a lot of people with her command of the issues. it's an interesting th

that's down 4,000 from the week before rnl and former new york representative anthony weiner makes news once again. this time he's a dad. the disgraced congressmen who resign inside june amongst a sex scandal welcomed his son into the world wednesday. his wife was an aide to secretary of state kellye lynn. >>> move over burger king. there's a new wendy's sales are expected to be more than $53 million higher than burger king, even though burger king has hundreds of more restaurants. >>> a holiday warning for parents today. what traditional holiday keepsake you need to keep an eye on when you're around your little ones. we'll fill you in with the details. >>> also a texas man someone else is missing this morning and the best of 2011 courtesy of youtube. we'll take a look at the year that was in amateur video. you're watching "good morning maryland." the 6:00 hour begins in just a few minutes. traditions are not for keeping. they're for keeping us together. ♪ [ boy ] to dad, love sam. [ mom ] say "merry christmas." [ boy ] merry christmas. [ female announcer ] hallmark recordable storybook

more republican insanity and a lot more crazy fairy tales from that bunch speed of crazy between anthony weiner donald trump and the talking heads the g.o.p. t.v.'s fox so-called news we've had a lot of fodder for our nightly crazy awards but none of the folks i just mentioned came out on top for craziest crazy alert of the year instead our viewers joes a segment we did in october as the year's best crazy alert and let's just say it proves the old saying that sex sells. the alert x. rated skydiving the federal aviation administration is investigating a skydiving incident in california after a video surfaced of two people engaging in a sex act while jumping out of a plane together parents who caught their teenage boys share in the video with each other called the cops in their local n.b.c. affiliate to complain about the skydiving company whose employees had made the video. the viral video is so explicit we're only going to show you still images of the katy perry pop song blaring in the background the video was posted on each protected blog of alex torrance porn star who also lighted on weekends

redeye debuted in 1985 to rave reviews, i am always concerned with the story and it is congressman anthony weiner. he has provided 35 hours straight of nonstop redeye coverage. i salute congressman. >> and doing a-block quality editorial, nobody beats weiner. >> there is a better way to do it. the weird thing is you have actual protests in place arab spring that leading to muslim brotherhood. in this country, occupy you will wall street crowd, what have they accomplished? some random concert has more effect. 9 tea partiers changed congress. they made a difference. what has occupy wall street do other than give twitter a bunch of jokes. >> necessity came back stronger than ever. for "time magazine" to have done they would have had to overlook all the gross things. my man of the year is my pharmacist. if it wasn't for him this show would never run on time. i would say that you have to lower your medication because your pharmacist is a woman. [ laughter ] >> greg: from a dying man to a man to brag and could paul take it all and is he in for a world of hurt. with iowa caucus, tonight's fox news iowa

dana bash, does this have anything do with anthony weiner? a democratic source who is knowledgeable about his plans who tells cnn he plans to resign from congress. >> reporter: may 27th. congressman anthony weiner, embroiled in a scandal after a lewd picture of himself was sent to a woman on twitter, resigns weeks later. >> i am announcing my resignation from congress. >> yeah! >> breaking news tonight, a major arrest of one of america's most wanted criminals. >> reporter: june 22nd. fugitive no more, james whitey bulger, wanted for at least 19 murders, is captured in california. >> two, one, zero. liftoff. the final liftoff of "atlantis" on the shoulders of the space shuttle. >> reporter: july 8th. the shuttle "atlantis" lifts off at kennedy space center, the final shuttle launch of the program. >> the flight of "atlantis". >> a scandal brings down a storied sunday tabloid. >> reporter: july 10th. after 168 years in existence, rupert murdoch's news of the world newspaper shuts down amid claims that the paper hacked royals, politicians and cr

people like anthony weiner.nd herman cain of course turned around a presidential campaign. >>#9 is the arab spring which gave momentum to our own occupy movement here. gabbro deferreds shooting#8 gabrielle giffords shooting. number seven is the fight over the unions in ohio. so far they didn't lead to much change so is on their no. 7 but it would have been higher had things turned around. >> #6 #6: the debt ceiling and agrees that. no. 5 is the t party. voters seem to be frustrated with it. number four is the repeal of don't ask don't tell. obviously changes the entire shape of our military because now they can serve openly. no. 3 the occupy protests and wall street and the job crisis. no. 2 is the killing of osama bin lavin but it didn't get number one because the president didn't get that much of a bump out of it. it was the end of the guy who started it all about. >>#one as the iraq war for me. it is the end of a war many people thought should have beennever have been fought. it was president obama finishing

. >> former congressman anthony weiner and his wife welcomed their son named jordan zane.resented part of new york city before resigning from congress after getting caught up in a sexting scandal. >> thanks for joining us for abc 7 news at 4:00. >> and you can keep track of the latest breaking news on twitter and you can talk about it on facebook.com. >> and. >> five alarms up in flames. this so dangerous, firefighters were ordered out of the building. >> there is a flames pushing close to a subdivision. >> look at this, there is a fire fight in the sierra in an area usually covered in snow. >>> a several people were injured including firefighters. >> people had to run for their lives and abc 7 has the story. >> we had fire at the top floor of the building that spread to the delta exposure, if you're looking it's to the right. >> the fire chief says by the time they arrived, the build together right on the corner of pierce and golden gate was ablaze. >> i called 911 and told us our building was on fire. >> richard is the manager of the apartment building at the corner of p

anthony weiner. >> and any weiner, lewd actions, lewd television, just lewd overall. >> the congressman. >> there's certain thing us that can't unsee. that was one of the things i couldn't unsee. >> in the process he spawned a whole new word. >> weiner gate. which i don't even like the sound of weiner and gate together. it sounds like a terrible accident. >> best warning for would-be politicos? >> that ought to be in the government handbook, okay? welcome, here's your office, here's your number two pencil, here's your id, don't tweet pictures of your penis. are we good? okay, go get 'em. >> best peanuts character debate. >> are you working? >> are you going to keep talk? >> what did i say? >> 9-9-9. >> worst memory. texas governor rick perry. >> three agency of government that are gone, commerce, education -- the third agency of government, i would do away with commerce -- and the -- let's see. oops. >> and best comeback, no matter which party you like, arizona congress member gabrielle giffords, shot in the head she survives and so much more. >> and i think a great miracle of this year

dana bash, i'm wondering if this has to do with anthony weiner. >> i spoke to a knowledgeable sourceresign from congress. >> may 27th, congressman anthony weiner embroiled in a scandal after a lewd picture sent on twitter resigns weeks later. >> i'm announcing my resignation from congress. >> breaking news tonight, a major arrest in one of america's most wanted criminals. >> june 22nd, fugitive no more, alleged organized crime figure james whitey bulger wanted for at least 19 murders is caught in california. >> two, one, zero and liftoff! the finali liftoff of "atlantis" >> "atlantis" shifts off at kennedy space center, the final launch of the shuttle program. >> the shuttle spreads its wings one final team. >> a scandal brings down a storied tabloid. >> july 10th, at 168 years in existence, rupert murdoch's paper shuts down. >> two explosives have rocked sen central oslo. >> july 22nd, terror in norway. in oslo a bombing kills eight people on a nearby island, at least 70 people, many of them youngsters attending a political youth camp are shot to death. it stuns the tiny nation. the

. >>> from anthony weiner's sexting, a look back at the strangest stories of 2011. >>> how to trade yourcash. >>> how the audio recordings of almost 130 years ago are now being listened to again. just hold the bag. we need a portable x-ray, please! [ nurse ] i'm a nurse. i believe in the power of science and medicine. but i'm also human. and i believe in stacking the deck. [ female announcer ] to nurses everywhere, thank you, from johnson & johnson. what ? customers didn't like it. so why do banks do it ? hello ? hello ?! if your bank doesn't let you talk to a real person 24/7, you need an ally. hello ? ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. [ gunfire ] >>> this is from syria today. the city of homs. a team of arab league observers on the ground trying to get the government to end a brutal crackdown on the protesters. syria's kept international journalists out of that country. our correspondent is monitoring develops. thousands of demonstrators did take to the streets today. what can you tell us? >> reporter: well, drew, tens of thousands of people took to the streets of homs today.