hamas has released 14 more israeli hostages today, the third day of the ceasefire, and no word on the american hostages that the white house had believed could be included today. since bibi netanyahu's war cabinet accepted the deal, hamas has now released 40 israeli hostages and the release of 150 palestinian prisoners. of course, we're very happy for those released and their anguished families. net an ya hue stressed the war will continue. >> and assure that the day after hamas, there will be no threat to israel. >> i don't trust hamas to do anything right now. i only trust hamas to respond to pressure. howard: let's stop right there. the media should not fall into the hamas propaganda trap the that a this is some grand humanitarian the gesture blessed by god. they kidnapped the israelis as a bargaining chip, seizing 240 hostages, most of them civilian families including elderly people and infants. think about how barbaric that is. look at that, a 2-year-old, an 85-year-old released friday. here's ohad, 9 years old, being reunited with his father. and hamas, which held up yesterday's hostage release for hours, will use the ceasefire to reset its military and put its fighters in a better position to kill more israelis. netanyahu also came under pressure from president biden and says he'll, after the pause he'll reassume the military campaign to topple hamas which, don't forget, started this war with its brute almas kerr on october 7th. i'm howard kurtz, and this is "mediabuzz." ♪ howard: the hostage deal is drawing sharply different reactions from commentators across the spectrum. >> the problem is you wonder where the hamas fighters are going to go every time you pause. hey, five days? give you 40. give me another five days, i'll give you 20. then give me another -- yeah, give me another 20 days, i'll give you another 10 is. so this is the ultimate leverage. >> it's hard to imagine that the devastation of gaza is what's moving bibi netanyahu to make a deal. it's the political pressure he's under. >> the problem, however, there are four times that number still held hostage including americans. >> bluntly, hamas wins in this particular case. they get the resupply, they get the reportion they get to improve their positions, they get to improve their sniper positions, the use of their ambushes. >> there is no equivalency in kidnapping a 2-year-old and a 4-year-old and in murdering more than 1300 people and what's going on today in this hostage release. it's just, it's just beyond fathomable. howard: we'll go to israel shortly for a live report, but joining us to analyze the coverage in grand rapids, michigan, robby soave, and in san diego, laura fink, ceo of -- communications. robby, good news this finally happened. it seemed like it was delayed a couple hours, not as long as a yesterday, but is the media's natural tendency to portray hostage releases as joyous, you have lives saved, families reunited, overshadowing what a savage act it is for hamas to kidnap civilians? >> you're exactly right. and, of course, it's very theming to be celebratory the about this because families are being reunited with people they feared were dead or, you know, languishing under horrific conditions. so i think it's okay to have some recognition of this as good news for those people and for their families. but we still must be clear-eyed about what a hamas has done, about where the blame lies and about the fact that in a pause -- any pause in fighting can benefit that terrorist organization, that it cannot be trusted, that it violated an existing ceasefire. that's what kicked off this whole war, was hamas' actions on october 7th. so as long as the media must continue to, you know, explain -- these aren't two equal partners at some deal here. this is a terrorist organization that kidnapped people at a music festival, that shot them in their homes and in their cars and at a bus stations, and we can make no excuse for that. howard: could not agree more. one of the israelis released today also has russian citizenship. so, laura, that a has -- hamas holding up yesterday's release for hours claiming israel didn't send enough humanitarian aid to gaza before backing off, kind of muppetting the coverage -- manipulating the coverage as well as the families' emotions. >> well, hamas from day one, even pre-day one has sought to manipulate emotions. we saw that with the fighters pretending that they were exclusively capturing and killing militants and soldiers on the israeli side and then cradling children after killing them just minutes before. so this is a propaganda war for hamas. it's certainly accurate. and i think that, obviously, we should certainly cover it in a way that does not forget or that neglects the atrocities that head to the situation that we are now in. i think also the coverage of the issues of the palestinian people and the casualties involved in the israeli attacks in their efforts to eradicate hamas also has to be covered. and i think we see some of that as well. i want to make sure that we highlight that that is not propaganda, but that is simply coverage of the impact of war. howard: right. yesterday it look looked like the deal might collapse during that long delay. president biden spoke directly to the i myrrh of qatar -- emir of qatar, and then the it was back on. robby, there were protests in israel led by some of the hostage families to pressure bibi to take the deal and free the initial 50, which would be true if we get the further release on the fourth day tomorrow, hostages, women and children. even though that would leave many in hamas' hands. that's the frustration. >> yeah. look, it's very difficult, and you can't really begrudge anyone whose own family members or to loved ones are being held from wanting to do anything possible to get them home. that's something american families have faced when american service members or, you know, people in the middle east have been held by terrorist groups. they want to do anything possible to bring if them home, and the u.s. government, you know, has to act within reason, can't, you know, sacrifice our entire national security for that purpose. so i understand them, and it's a terrible, it's a terrible situation that involves a lot of clear-eyed policy making including, you know, from our own administration, biden messaging to netanyahu and, you know, continuing to say what we think is reasonable given, frankly, how much support we've given to israel. think it's justified for us to do that. but let's not do what the irish leader said, saying that the children released, they were lost and then they're found as if they, you know, got lost on the woods to grandmother's house or something. people of that leftist bent on social media just denying any malice on hamas' part is really sickening. howard: yeah. some people earlier claimed there were no hostages, it was all fake, but now we see human beings being released. laura, new york times says bibi's war cabinet debated for weeks whether to take the deal. some were opposed, didn't want to go along with the ceasefire because, obviously, they were worried that such a stoppage of the bombing and and other attacks would give the hamas military a chance to regroup. >> and that's the balance that they see. and i think one of the challenges in reporting on all of this is that you have the fog of war, and then you also have the fog of negotiations. we don't have the information that these leaders have as they're engaging with militants in tunnels and through the qatari government. so this is a really complex negotiation, and it's difficult for the public to digest it because we don't have it all. now certainly, benjamin netanyahu's government has been rightly criticized for their lapse in judgment and their lapse in security that would have led e to anticipating this attack. he also has members of that cabinet that will be making these hostage negotiation decisions are from the far right, so they have in the past and continue to be heavy, lean heavy into the hawkishness rather than negotiation. and i think that's where the international pressure from the u.s. and others came in to be reasonable and to try to do what is best for the hostages, the israeli people and the palestinians. howard: right. you know, robby, you kind of touched on this earlier, but to expand a little bit, the biden white house leapt the press know that joe biden -- let the press know that joe biden had been privately pressuring biif binetanyahu and -- bibi netanyahu that he wanted a temporary truce given the soaring death toll in gaza. i think that contributed, fairly or unfairly, to world opinion turning against israel. >> right. and, frankly, we have to think about the images coming out of gaza. it is horrific. and we want, you know, israel really wants to be a safe and secure place, we wan america to be safe and secure, and i worry about years from now just beyond the humanitarian toll people who, palestinians who have lost friends and family members, do they turn to terrorism years after this, you know, to continue their war against israel because of the injustices they've suffered. now, hamas is absolutely responsible. they launched this. they attacked, killed, tortured innocent people. but, of course, you know, the bulk of the palestinians are also to some degree hostages of hamas which is an autoa accuratic government that hasn't held elections since before most of them were born today. so is as israel, you know, pursues justice and tries to get its people back, it does need to think, you know, in the long term. we can't, we don't want to make the problem worse, we want the solve the problem, and that's going to take some level of negotiation, but it's difficult because hamas is a bad faith actor x that's something everyone in the media needs to recognize especially. howard: absolutely. and hamas, i would go further than an autoa accuratic government, i would say it's a dictatorship. many palestinians may support it, many may not, but they don't have any if power to do anything. so, laura, this is something of a political win for president biden reinforced by the latest release today. and yet the coverage reflects how unpopular his handling of the war is especially among younger people who dislike israel and favor hamas which means favoring the destruction of israel because that's e in hamas' own charter. it's not speculation by anybody other than the people who use the chant, you know, from the river to the sea. >> well, you know, i haven't heard young people siding with hamas. i think what young people and others who are anti-war feel is that there is a humanitarian and human cost in war, and they have a distenth aversion to that -- distinct aa version having grown up with wars that they perceived to be unsuccessful. so when you look at -- and i think that the data bears that out in terms of the palestinian toll, the toll on children and women which in less than two months has exceeded the number of women and children killed in two years in ukraine. the facts on the ground, the density of the gazan population and the palestinians there, this there truly has been devastating. i think you see that reflected in their anti-war stance. and i think the media has a responsibility to cover that as well as to cover the devastation that we see with the families, with the hostages and the threat to israel's security. that balance is incredibly hard to strike and, certainly, will impact public opinion here, in the arab world now and in the future. howard: well, i'm going to disagree with that because i think there are plenty of young people who show up to pro-palestinian and pro-hamas demonstrations and are siding with the terrorists because that's what's going on here. let me just, you know, there was so much bad publicity about israel's attack on the el shifa hospital, let me put up the security camera footage found on october 7th of hamas rushing two hostages into that hospital. so the idea that the hospital was not used for anything other than medical treatment of sick and wounded patients, i think, was completely disproven by this as well as some of the discovery of underground tunnels. up next, a live report from israel on the ago a nicing hostage situation -- agonizing hostage situation. ♪ from a backed up gut? miralax works naturally with the water in your body to help you go... ...free your gut. and your mood will follow. for 8 grams of fiber, try new mirafiber gummies. >> tech: cracked windshield on your new car? you don't have to take it to the dealer. bring it to safelite. we do more replacements and recalibrations than anyone else. >> customer: thank you so much. >> tech vo: schedule now. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace ♪ (vo) sail through the heart of historic cities and unforgettable scenery with viking. unpack once and get closer to iconic 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before they are brought back to israeli soil. they will go through medical checks, and search -- eventually, brought to separate hospitals across the country based op you are their medical concerns and their age, and that is where they will be reuated with their families. -- reunited with their families. we just got the official word from qatar, instrumental in the negotiations over the last few days, we just received word of who we are likely to see. so 14 israeli hostages, 3 thai foreign nationals, also hostages taken on october 7th, and and one of the israeli hostages is a dual citizen with a russian citizenship. howard: right. >> reporter: it is worth noting what is specifically different with this hostage, the whole deal was contingent upon releasing women and children, but this israeli russian citizen is actually an adult and a man who was taken hostage on october 7th. and hamas if says this is a gesture to the russian president vladimir putin to show some solidarity with russia's stance on the war. so we will continue to wait to officially see them cross through the rafah crossing. one big question that we've also seen is, is there going to be any potential american release -- howard: exactly. >> reporter: -- true this deal, we are expecting there could be at least one american dual citizen that could be released today, and that is because we expect to see three by the end of tomorrow which is the end of the ceasefire. howard: right. >> reporter: now, we just officially of received word right now as i'm speaking to you that we can officially name those who will be released, so i'm going to read off some of the names for you. abigail, the big news we can confirm, that is the little girl who is 4 years old, and she is the dual u.s. citizen. howard: right. >> reporter: we can talk about her back story after really tragic, what happened to her and her family. but the others, ella, 8 and a half years old. [inaudible] 14. hagar, 40. uval, 8. oria, years old. chen goldstein, 49 years old. emma goldstein, 17 years old. gal, 11 years old, telma, 9 years old. adrienne segall, 82 years old. we're seeing officially the confirmation of these names and also confirmation that some of these families -- howard: yeah, let me just jump in on the 4-year-old girl, because i am so relieved to hear that. at the same time, it's an absolutely tragic story that underlines hamas' brutality because her parents were murdered, correct? >> reporter: yes. so she was with her family on october 7th in this kibbutz, and her parents tried to flee with her, and they were killed. they were gunned down. and one of the neighbors actually found her covered in her parents' blood. and this was a kibbutz, so to give our viewers who don't quite know what it is, essentially, it's like the neighborhood watch. these are civilians who live in these little villages right on the border, and they are armed, they are essentially kind of reservists who will protect their own community. so this person picked up this little girl covered in her parents' blood and brought her to his own safe house and left this child with his wife and with his children, and he went out to defend the kibbutz. and when he came back, all of them were gone, and he knew that all of them had been taken hostage -- howard: what an absolute -- >> reporter: officially -- yeah. howard: i need to wrap here, but what an absolutely horrible story that underscores the sheer savagery and brutality of kidnapping, you know, 4-year-olds and 85-year-olds. thank you for the great work you're doing, alex hogan. >> reporter: thank you. howard: when we come back, the car explosion on a niagara falls bridge that sparked media speculation that it might be terrorism, what was it? ♪ ♪ [sneeze] dude you coming? ♪ alka-seltzer plus powermax gels cold & flu relief with more concentrated power because the only thing dripping should be your style. plop plop fizz fizz winter warriors with alka-seltzer plus. theo's nose was cause for alarm, so dad brought puffs plus lotion to save it from harm. puffs has 50% more lotion and brings soothing relief. don't get burned by winter nose. a nose in need deserves puffs indeed. america's #1 lotion tissue. my most important kitchen tool? my brain. so i choose new neuriva ultra. unlike some others, it supports 7 brain health indicators, including mental alertness from one serving. to help keep me sharp. try new neuriva ultra. think bigger. sleep more deeply. and wake up rejuvenated. with purple's new mattresses- fall asleep 20% faster have less aches and pains and sleep uninterrupted. right now save up to $900 off mattress sets during purple's black friday sale. visit purple.com or a store near you today. ♪ ♪ ♪ we're building a better postal service. for more on-time deliveries. and easier, affordable ways to ship. so you can deliver even more holiday joy. the united states postal service. delivering for america. the serrano name has always been something we're proud of. it's why we show it off on our low riders. and why we wear our name on our chains. 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[♪] give the gift of family heritage with ancestry. howard: we just confirmed moments ago that 4-year-old abigail eda a n if who had joint american and israeli citizenship, is being released and is in the process of being released. that is great news. the biden white house has been expecting this. at the same time, tragic story where her parents were murdered and our alex hogan just reported on the details of that. the cable news networks went wall to wall when a car exploded on a bridge on the new york side of niagara falls, and the speculation began. >> the threat environment is, you know, the quote fbi director wray, sort of is high. we know it e because of international terrorism and what's going on in the middle east to and also how domestic terror groups have been activated -- >> julia, please stand by, something more on the local side, or was this an intentional act a, and if it was intentional, what is the motive, what is behind this, and is it, in fact, terrorism? it's just too soon to say. >> regionally, police resources are on the ground and saw the impact, thought this was a terrorist attack, i'm told. >> obviously, not confirmed whether or not this was, indeed, a radical islamist e terrorist attack who is behind this. howard: robby soave, new york governor kathy hochul confirmed there was no terrorism and no explosives in that car. is this the classic example of a media rush to judgment? >> classic is precisely the right word. this happens all the time. it's always a good idea to just stop, pause and wait, and i understand in our 24-hour, you know, news cycle there's pressure to give viewers kind of sensational stories and to, you know, let your imagination run wild. but it's always a good idea just to wait because, yes, in this case it now seems overwhelmingly the case that it was sort of a freak accident or might have involved human errors being made but was not a planned terrorist attack, certainly. howard: yeah. >> and the it's such a dangerous time right now, and it is wrong to scare people and to or worry people. so let's -- please, media, journalists, just hold on. just wait a couple hours. we'll know. sit back, don't do this kind of thing. howard: laura, classic media temptation, exploded car, two people dead, kind of feels like it could be terrorism. also, you know, police sources tell fox that it was terrorism. that gets reported and then, of course, everybody walks it back when the report comes back. ted cruz flatly declaring terrorism before we found out it wasn't. >> i think you described the telephone game that happens when media coverage is inaccurate. and so there's a couple of important things here. one, you've got to have an editorial team vetting sources. you've got to make sure that the word that you're hearing, is it someone official or unofficial? is that source trustworthy? this process is critical before going to air because we know that the you are general is city and desire for information is almost proportional to the lack of vetting potentially. so this is the where the editorial boards come in. and second, when mistakes are made, you have to walk it back. you have to walk it back with editors' notes, you have to walk it back not just the reporter saying something, but you also have to walk it back in public and just as a loudly as you had the initial coverage. and i don't think that that was done in this instance, and i think that leads to terrible things like conspiracy theories and elected leaders, you know, being the mouthpiece of inaccurate information -- howard: right. >> so i would hope in the future that happens. howard: well, it was walked back, but maybe not with the same prominence as the earlier coverage a, i'm not sure. but at the same time, sources are sometimes wrong, even good police sources who may have been right in the past. i want to turn you now to a question of bibi netanyahu's communications minister threatening financial penalties for a newspaper over its criticism of the war effort, calling it defeative and false propaganda -- defeatist, an inflammatory mouthpiece for israel's enemies. robby, i thought the israel had a free press? if. >> yeah,ing look, i similarly disagree with a lot of the coverage of the ongoing conflict and, you know, i think if the government wants to stop running advertisements in the newspaper, that's fine. but it went well beyond that, what this official was saying, punishment for in this media with outlet for the stances they're taking. that's wrong. we're here trying to support what is a liberal, western-style the democracy. those governments can't throw out their principles, due process, civil liberties, free speech just because they're in a crisis. and, in fact, when those principles get thrown out, things always get worse. you know, we in the wake of 9/11 in america, the patriot act, all of those things, spying on american citizens, the tsa, free speech violations, a lot of that stuck with us and looks very foolish, and americans of all political stripes, i think, are very regretful of how much we let our government get away with in a time of crisis -- howard: right. let me get to laura. >> the same is true for israel and, frankly, for ukraine. howard: right. the newspaper said as the netanyahu attempts to stifle the free press in israel, we remain committed to reporting without fear or favor. i mean, their columnists say things like israel's leaders must tell us about the war's last day, netanyahu wants a never ending war. in about half a minute, that doesn't sound like outside the boundaries of debate in a free society. >> i don't think it is, especially, howie, on the opinion pages and not on the pages covered by journalists. the thing we have to remember is bibi netanyahu is down close to 30 points to the speculated next opponent, benjamin gant, and so this is a political move. and let's also a remember that the netanyahu government has not been shy about attacking institutions, attacking the judiciary, attacking the media in the past. this is a political move, and it's just wrong. howard: okay. well, thank you so much, laura fink and robby soave, for joining us on this heavy news day. next on "mediabuzz," how many in the media are crusading against a second trump term as a danger to america. ♪ on for my family to crave a little pizza time. well, i've got one. my cuisinart indoor pizza oven, ready to bake up some bubbly, cheesy, savory sauciness with that perfect artisan crispy crust in about five minutes. it's great for snack time, dinner time, game time. me time. anytime. it's always time for home baked pizza. we all know that words have power. they set things in motion and make us happy or sad. but there's one word that stands out, because when people say it, lives are changed. it's not a big word. it's itsy bitsy. it's only three little letters. but when you say it, the life of a kid like me can be changed. so what is this special word? 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>> second reverse, same as the first, right? i'm old enough to remember them using these in 2015, 2016. donald trump gets elected president -- howard: that did happen. >> that did happen, and what are they saying? oh, the media propelled him. the media gave him the platform. they took him live, they gave him interview, and it's their fault -- [laughter] howard: i know the media sometimes seizes on trump's own words like when he called opponents vermin, and then you had the hitler and mussolini analogies. but mostly it's sources saying trump would do this or that terrible thing in his second term when the former president might not or hasn't confirmed it. >> well, it's also who those sources happen to be. several of them at this point are actually people who worked in his e first term, appointees or those who have received against him, these who are talking about january 6th, those who are talking about his election fraud scams, all of those people who were once employed under former president trump are now speaking out against him. i think that's a very different case than what we saw when he ran in 2016. in addition to that, now he has a record. we saw what caused january 6th. we saw the plan to steal the election, we saw the election fraud scams, we know the things he is currently being tried for in many anticipates, and i think that sents it a apart. howard: well, cassie, "the new york times" say, something i found fascinating, that democrats -- and i would absolutely add the media -- that they for years, for three years wanted trump to be on tv, wanted the virtually ignore him, biden called him the former guy and all that, and now they want to give him more air time. they want the rallies covered live because they think somehow that helps joe biden. >> yeah, but at their own risk, right? if they think joe biden can do another campaign from the business because they know cleanup on aisle five that happens every time joe biden starts talking -- howard: so he makes a few gaffes, he's an incumbent president. >> but meantime, we know what happens when donald trump says these phrases that the media goes ballistic about. his poll numbers go up. and there's a reason, because people don't trust the media. people distrust democrats who have telling the media what they should cover, we saw that last week with what was it the univision interview -- howard: wait a minute. you said when trump makes perceived gaffes. so how could the media not cover that? in other words, sometimes it isn't -- >> and that is very true. of and that's something that donald trump has to own up for. but when you've got his voters, his base, every time they see him they say, well, that's authentic because i know what he does when he gets to the white house, he listens to us. and there is this ready comparison of life when donald trump was president and when -- howard: two presidents probably running against each other, maybe it helps trump. journalists all thought that the four criminal indictments would hurt him. and as cassie just said, numbers went up. >> it definitely helped him with his base, but donald trump doesn't have to worry about his base. he has to worry about undecided voters, about more moderate-leaning voters, he has to worry about those voters in the middle. those voters are not moving towards donald trump. they have angst against him particularly and more so when he does speak out. so one of the things democrats are rightfully acknowledging is the more donald trump speaks, the more he turns off those unundiseased and swing voters because -- undecide decided voters. he's saying things like vermin, he wants to get rid of the checks and balances that happen to exist on presidential power. he is leaning toward authoritarianism or jumping head first into it, and the more he does that, the more he shoots those voters out. >> but if i may, if that was the case, then that should be reflected in the polls -- >> the it's -- [inaudible] the election finish. >> oh, i mean, joe biden should be running away with this thing. but the difference is, is that you've got the reality of life under joe biden and people saying, well, donald trump, i know what my 401(k) looked like, what my gas looked like, i know what i was able to afford for my family, and that's not the case here. howard: let me just jump in and say i this because i think many people do not get this. if many in the media continue to undermine trump, it undermines their own credibility. not that he shouldn't be criticized like any presidential candidate. when roughly half the country thinks you hate their guy, and that's how it is coming off in many quarters of the media. come back to you on the president. are journalists puzzled why biden, despite some legislative accomplishments and even with his advanced age, 81st birthday, a bunch of things pegged to that having to do with his age a, disapproval of his handling of the mideast war, are they puzzled as to why he has as much terrible poll numbers? [laughter] >> well, i think so because they're in their own echo chamber. as somebody who spent 15 years in this town pitching stories to the media, the yeast z easiest job in town is to be a democrat pr person because they're used to the story showing up the way they want it to show up. and this whole idea of bidenomics and then wondering why it's not reflected in the polls, because it's not reflected in the reality of our lives. howard: even with inflation, the numbers went down a bit last month, journalists are almost resentimentful that people -- resentful when people say the economy is bad when unemployment is under 4%. how could you believe that, oh, come on. >> i think so. the fact of the economy on a national scale versus what people are feeling at home are two very different things. inflation has been largely staved off especially when compared to europe. when we look at the cost of, the cost of food, the cost of groceries, they've gob down over the past few months, however, people are still having a hard time being able to afford. that's the argument that -- howard: politics, what they feel whether it can be statistically supported or not is what matters in a campaign. all right. let me stop you right there. after the brach, how the media are absolutely -- after the break, how the media are absolutely hammering the new house speaker, mike johnon. -- johnson. ♪ ♪ [sfx: cards shuffling] this holiday, weathertech gift cards are perfect for people to pick exactly what they want. laser measured floorliners that fit your vehicle precisely. keep your seats safe from messes with the child car seat protector. sinkmat protects under your sink. there's even something for our furry friends with the pet feeding system. order the weathertech gift card instantly for the holidays at weathertech.com ♪ ♪ i'm jonathan lawson here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85, and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps. what are the three ps? the three ps of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. a price you can afford, a price that can't increase, and a price that fits your budget. i'm 54, what's my price? you can get coverage for $9.95 a month. i'm 65 and take medications. what's my price? also $9.95 a month. i just turned 80, what's my 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. it has an affordable rate starting 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. we're travelling all across america, talking to people about their hearts. wh-who wants to talk about their heart! how's the heart? how's your heart? how's your heart? it's good. is it? aah, i don't know. it's okay. it's okay! yeah. good. you sure? i think so. how do you know? it doesn't come with a manual, and you like ooh, i got the 20,000-day checkup, right? let me show you something. put two fingers right on those pads. look at that! that's your heart! that is pretty awesome. with kardiamobile, you can take a medical-grade ekg in just 30 seconds, from anywhere. kardiamobile is proven to detect atrial fibrillation, one of the leading causes of stroke. and it's the only personal ekg that's fda-cleared to detect normal heart rhythm, bradycardia and tachycardia. how much do you think this costs? probably in the hundreds. $79. oh wow! that could be cheaper than a tank of gas. cyber monday starts today. kardiamobile is now just $69, our lowest price ever. get it for yourself or a loved one at kardia.com or amazon. howard: we just found out minutes ago that the first american hostage has been released by hamas, abigail eden, 4 years old. think about that, 4 years old, what a terror tactic that is. a particularly tragic story because her parents were murdered. 14 israeli hostages released as part of this third round. the media really unloading on mike johnson, the new house speaker, digging into his past and portraying him as an extremist. back to our panel. cassie smedley, "the new york times" says mike johnson began can his career as a conservative crusader in taking on an abortion clinic. "the washington post" said he began his career tyke taking on a strip club. i don't know, which is it? what does this tell you about the coverage? [laughter] >> you know, it's interesting, because when you look at the coverage of joe biden, nancy pelosi as a church-going catholic, they had all these glowing headlines. joe biden, the second catholic president, and yet we call them cafeteria catholics in my church. mike johnson, when he talks about how his faith and how that has led him in his quest to try and have a safer community back home, he gets just riddled with stories every single day as though that's a bad thing when i think that's actually something that americans are craving right now. howard: ameshia cross, it's like the papers are digging up everything they see as a negative that they wouldn't have if he hadn't become speaker or in the blink of an eye. now he's got the job, and also if he wasn't so obscure. if a jim johnson or a steve scalise becomes speaker, that person as a national figure has already been vetted. so what do you make of this excavation project? >> that the media's doing its job. this is a congress person who most of america didn't even know before he was announced as speaker -- can. howard: and most journalists didn't know. [laughter] >> so i think the digging was going to happen, and rightfully so. he has a longstanding record of being very open about his religious beliefs, the big everybody issue here is -- bigger issue is the separation of church and state. he's pushing things down the throats of americans that they've shown they to not want, and if he half had a larger -- had had a larger platform before, these things would have come out, but quite frankly, since he jumped ship in front of a bunch of oh people in becoming speaker, at this point a lot of things are being illuminated about him that we wouldn't have known if he hadn't been speaker. howard: just a month ago, he said -- [inaudible] the only correction is is god going to allow us to enter a -- for our sins? the culture so dark and depraved that it almost seems irredeemable. >> by the way, these are words that people on the left and the right used to speak freely of to say what's happening in our culture. be it crime or be it unseemly businesses coming in that our kids have to walk by every day. and somehow we've gotten away from that being the normal course of conversation. and i think it's interesting instead of mike johnson getting a get to know mike johnson, the guy you didn't even know his name yesterday, we get right into his an ex-- he's an extremist. despite that in his work as an elected representative, we have not seen that person. we have not seen him be solely committed to those efforts, what he was committed to in the beginning of his law career. howard: since he wasn't a well known figure, i think this kind of digging is inevitable in our media culture. and speaking of that, cnn had a report on a couple of radio interviews done by the new speaker, some as a recently as a last year. >> we did a lot of discovery on these abortion clinics that they are grew gruesome if places. it is truly an american holocaust. we have to acknowledge inherently that man is evil and needs to be restrained. see, that's the problem with the radical left, they don't acknowledge a god. >> that is scary. part of it sounded like theology to a certain extent, and the majority of the american people, they support abortion rights -- howard: not all of them, obviously. >> and we've seen time and time genre palins try to restrict abortion rights at the ballot box, and all it does is turn out younger voters, more voters of color -- howard: yeah, but the country is divided on this, no question about it. >> and republicans having a hard time pushing that down their throats. we just saw in virginia even with certain levels of restrictions that don't include the life of the mother or rape or incest, it still ended up failing in virginia. i don't think that's going to change anytime soon, and these are aggressive views that are out of locking step with the american people. howard: quick response. >> i think that mike johnson is a representative of his district in louisiana which is what he was sent to washington to do, not to be the speaker, so it's to be expected that they're going to start vetting him. but i also think there is a clear double standard in how they just rush to these extreme profiles as opposed to really getting to know what makes him tick -- >> or taking his own words. [inaudible conversations] those are talking points that he said. >> but it's not surprising that this is exactly where the left and their friends who write these profile pieces go on day one, on minute one. let's give the guy a chance to do something, see what he's up to. howard: this debate will obviously continue. thanks very much for joining us. >> thank you. howard: we'll be right back. publish. ♪ ♪ pain hits fast. so get relief fast. only tylenol rapid release gels have laser drilled holes. they release medicine fast for fast pain relief. and now, get max strength topical pain relief precisely where you need it. with new tylenol precise. the day you get your clearchoice dental implants makes every day... a "let's dig in" day... mm. ...a "chow down" day... a "take a big bite" day... a "perfectly delicious" day... - mm. 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(vo) sail through the heart of historic cities and unforgettable scenery with viking. unpack once and get closer to iconic landmarks, local life and cultural treasures. because when you experience europe on a viking longship, you'll spend less time getting there and more time being there. viking. exploring the world in comfort. howard: elon musk has sued media matters accusing the left-wing advocacy group of using deceptive tactics to drive away corporate advertisers like apple, disney and comcast in an attempt to destroy x corp. as twitter's now known. media matters' chief called the suit frivolous and musk a bully. >> he actually confirmed that our reporting was accurate. the platform is so saturated with extremism, with white genocide, with anti-semitism, with racism, with conspiracy theories -- howard: keep in mind that musk started this controversy by endorsing a random person's tweet that jewish communities are pushing anti-white hatred, only partially backtracking and picking a fight with the a a dl. in the biggest corporate fiasco ever, the openai board fired cofounder and ceo sam altman, an artificial intelligence rock star who created chatgpt, without giving an actual reason because there was a personality clash. huge publicity as altman quickly accepted a job offer from microsoft, openai's biggest investor, and beat the board with his own counter-coup with some of the board forced to resign especially after nearly all the employees threatened to quit and join altman. so he's back running openai, got that? charissa thompson made a stunning admission on a podcast. >> i would make up the report sometimes because, a a, the coach would come out at halftime, and it was too late, so i didn't want to screw up the report, and i was, like, i'm going to make this up because no coach is going to get mad if we say, hey, we needed to stop hurting ourself, be better on third down, stop turning the ball over. howard: but other commentators accused her of fraud, then r thompson backtracked saying if a coach wouldn't talk, she just gave her own opinion. i'm glowing the missle on -- whistle on that. nbc has cut ties with -- [inaudible] quote, inciting and glorifying horrible acts committed against civilians. a representative said it was unaware of these posts. ousted cnn president jeff zucker just bought his way back into the media biz using funding from abu dhabi. zucker's undoubtedly eyeing the american market in buying the spectator and london's telegraph. i phoned in to fox last sunday with my thoughts on the passing of rosalynn carter at 6. the first lady was -- at 96. the first lady was, as jimmy carter described it, a full partner with better political instincts that he had. but it was her tireless advocacy on mental health rarely discussed in those those days that led her to help pass legislation on the issue. rosalynn carter has been largely overlooked by history, but her sad death has prompted the media to reexamine what a remarkable trailblazer she was. that's it for this edition of "mediabuzz." i'm howard kurtz. you can subscribe to my daily podcast called media buzzmeter. meanwhile, again, the breaking news that an american 4-year-old released as participant of the third hostage release by the hamas terrorists. we're back here next week, 11.a.m. eastern. fox news coverage continues right now. lars and hell for 50 days. what she endured is unthinkable. abigail was among 13 hostages released today from gaza. under the brokered and sustained, though intensive us diplomacy. she's now safely in israel and we continue to press and expect for additional americans will be released as well. and we will not stop working until every hostage is returned to their loved ones. as i said when i spoke about this deal on friday, this has been the product of a lot of hard work and weeks of personal engagement for me and my team. we have been in close contact with the leaders of qatar, egypt and israel, speaking with each one of them repeatedly over the past few weeks to help secure this deal. we spoke again yesterday with the emir of qatar. i owe special thanks to in order to keep the hostage release on track and push for abigail to be part of this release. and i'll be speaking again shortly with prime minister benjamin netanyahu. and we will continue to remain personally engaged, personally engaged to see that this deal is fully