such a switch. here is the red, white and blue again. of course, the opposition movement in iran today is the green movement. so i suppose it's not a surprise that ahmadinejad might not like that color. but red, white and blue, do you think they know about the united states? thanks to all of you for being part of my pram this week, i will see you next week. stay tuned for "reliable sources." raging rumors. the press trumpets unsubstantial ated allegations against david paterson based on what "the new york times" might report on the governor. stuck in neutral. why did news organizations all but ignore the long history of toyota's troubles? ladies in the lime light, michelle obama defended herman and sarah palin consults her hand. dirty little secret. how to do a tv report without breaking a sweat. first came the rumors on the web, then the mainstream media covered the rumors, the allegations of the rumored "new york times" story that had not yet been published. then the rumors rach ed up to say the times piece was about to come out and that david paterson would resign. he didn't. not a single verifiable fact being reported? >> in a state known for odd political developments this is up in the top ten list. not only has no story been published yet. governor paterson is lashing back at what he calls an orchestrated scandalous assault on his character. he says it's all false. >> the article will be written about other subjects and not the ones surrounding the mass speculation and feeding frenzy and circus we have witnessed the last couple weeks. >> how on earth do media organizations justify what's reporting damaging gossip? joining us marsha cramer from wcbs and joanna malloy. marsha, when the rumors first surfaced that "the new york times" was allegedly working on some story about david paterson, but before the governor said anything, did you consider going on the air with it? >> i knew about it three weeks before he actually talked. i did not ever consider going on the air with it. it was rampant. the times had a team of reporters asking questions. they talked to dozens and dozens of people in new york politics. they talked to everybody. but were we going to go on tv with it? no. >> i'm looking at the tabloid newspapers, here is your paper. "new york post," i did not have sex with that woman. we all know who that woman is. my question is why did the daily news run with rumors about alleged scurrilous conduct by new york's governor based on something we thought another newspaper might or might not report? >> this "times" story has been like waiting for gideau. i was hoping to open "the times" this morning and finally read it. first the blog put it up, something called business insider owned by a man named henry blogett who was ousted from the finance industry by eliot spitzer. they put it up, as governor paterson said n the first quarter of the super bowl. huffington post put it up shortly thereafter. >> it snow balled. >> eliot spitzer, of course, the former new york governor who resigned in the prostitution scandal clearing the way for david paterson to take the top job. i'm looking at some of the earlier stories, maybe you heard one about the wild sex and drug parties at the executive mansion. her is the daily news, the rumor mill running overtime. major newspaper about to drop a bombshell story about paterson far worse than his alleged affair with a former state employee. once the governor starts talking about this and lashing out at the media, then you have to cover it, sflit. >> that becomes the story. the governor decided he would -- for whatever reason, we know "the times" is still working on the story and maybe it will still publish the story. the governor decided his strategy would be to talk about to it try to kill it. once he started talking about it publicly, not only did an interview with the associated press but went on the larry king show and radio shows and every day it kept getting -- the hyperbole kept getting more and more and more. you had to cover it. it's the governor of the state of new york. >> he is the governor of the state of new york talking about allegations he is upset about because they haven't been published. >> you criticizeed the governor saying he should have kept his mouth shut and by going on the offensive he was assuring fresh headlines and sleazy gossip? what's a guy to do? doesn't he have a right to defend himself? >> i think he looks off focus. we have an $8 billion to $10 billion deficit in new york that he should be taking care of. if everything is false, i think he should keep the blinders on and take care of business. >> it's funny, i don't see the $8 billion to $10 billion deficit on the front page of "the post." doesn't seem to be the big buzz story. you mentioned among the stops on the media tour for david paterson was ""larry king live."" and mefs asked, as we'll see in a moment about how these rumors came about, whether someone was pushing them. >> is somebody after you? >> well, clearly somebody is. three different media outlets were contacted in the first quarter of the super bowl and called us before the first quarter could end to confirm that the governor is resigning over a scandal. and there was no such conversation about resigning, because none of this is true . it's a flatout lie. >> some democrats don't want him to run for re-election. it sounds like the media may have been manipulated here. >> you held up two headlines from the "new york post" and the "new york daily news." there was actually a more dangerous and difficult headline for governor paterson a few weeks before that when the "new york post" caught him having lunch i guess with a woman not his wife at a new jersey steakhouse dressed in what some have called the purple disco shirt. his first response was to say she's on my staff which is not true and the second response is to say he was on his way to a meeting for haitian relief which you couldn't go dressed like that. it was such a difficult headline for him that the following monday he went to a king day celebration with his wife to show they were stilling to. and in the court of public opinion -- maybe it was an innocent lunch, but it was a lunch where he went to new jersey, he met a woman not his wife, and it looked bad for him, whether it was or not remains to be seen. in the court of public opinion that was not a good storedry for him. >> at least that's a story that had some actual substance to it oopsz. >> that made the rest -- the rumors take on a new credence because you saw it -- as all the rumors about "the times" investigating him, there was that headline and those pictures with that woman who really existed. that in the court of public opinion -- also in the chattering classes, people felt they had to check out the other rumors they were hearing because of that "post" story. >> checking out rumors is one thing. publishing and whispering about rumors, as you know, is something else. let's talk about "the new york times" role here, joanna malloy. the paper has interviewed the governor for an hour and a half. this morning the executive editor telling his paper's ombudsman in a statement, just speds these rumors, gives it an ora of credibility. for "the times" to give a statement saying we're not writing a story about public figure x doesn't clear public figure x. should "the times" say more than that? >> i don't think they should comment on an ongoing story. one of the reporters is certain kovaleski who the pulitzer. i think it's ridiculous governor paterson asks "the times" to address that right now. i think governor paterson is a bit paranoid. he doesn't seem to understand the way that the blogs work now. in other words, if he got three phone calls during the super bowl, it simply means that people saw the "huffington post" posting. arianna huffington has said in putting aup story fast and letting itself-correct. >> you can't self-correct when we don't know what the actual allegations are. this is all predicated on something "the new york times" might other might not report. will's still no morery. marsha, when you look back with the last ten days, do you think the media has gone way overboard here in new york? >> i think part of the blog culture. the blogs put it up and then the mainstream press put it up. i didn't think it was responsible to write those stories. once the governor talked about it, there was no choice. it was the governor of new york talking about this whole thing. >> he was, of course, kind of forcesed to do that. >> that's the question, whether he really was forced or he could have just kept quiet and continued to do the work of government. >> we can debate that as a matter of political strategy. as a question of media ethics, i think this was a humiliating moment for all of us collectively to report something based on a whisper of a rumor, of a possibility. but the story hasn't come out. i think this is exhibit a in why people do not like journalists, why they think we go way too far when we don't have the goods. marsha cramer, joanna malloy, thanks for joining us this morning. when we come back, tackling toyota, the press gearing up over safety problems that began years ago but rarely made headlines. were journalists stuck in were journalists stuck in neutral when it really mattered. and put it through its paces. they rate its fit and finish and the amenities inside. sglfrnlths sglfrnlthsz they factor in purchase price and operating costs, fuel economy, and resale value. in short, they do what you do to test its quality. the consumers digest best buys from chevy. put them to your own test. and may the best car win. ♪ d yoyou rinse this morning? 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[ man ] ♪ one love, one blood, one people ♪ so, at national, i go right past the counter... and you get to choose any car in the aisle. choose any car? you cannot be serious! okay. seriously, you choose. go national. go like a pro. efr stins press went into overdrive on the safety problems at toyota, there's been plenty of blame to go around. turns out the japanese automaker with a sterling reputation has had its share of manufacturing defects in the past and federal regulators failed to crack down. some toyota owners have been in rebellion as they say the company ignored their repeated reports of problems involving both those brakes and the more serious issue of uncontrolled acceleration. >> the national highway traffic safety administration says it received some 2,000 complaints, and this is for the sudden acceleration dating back to 2004. >> the national highway traffic safety administration is investigateing to situation. but it turns out the agency was warned back in 2008 about accelerator problems in other toyota models. they did nothing. >> one question las gone largely unanswered in the debacle, where were the media? did they give the company a pass for the safety issues over the years? why did journalists pay so little attention to the toyota investigations by the national traffic highway safety administration. joining us michelle maynard, author of the book "the selling of the american economy: how foreign companies are remaking the american dream." welcome. >> good morning. >> i don't think it's an over state to say toyota had a golden reputation until the wheels came out in recent months. should journalists have been more aggressive about past safety problems? >> howie, there actually were recalls back in 2005. toyota took a lot of hilts back then. their president came out and bowed low and said we're putting a committeeing to and we want to investigate the recalls and they won't happen again. after a couple of years, the recalls died down a little bit. because things died down, people weren't keeping an eye as much as they could have been on what was going on in toyota until the terrible accident last fall that involved the deaths of about four people in california and a floor mat that got entangled in the accelerator pedal. >> i have in my hand a story you co-authored on the front page of "the times" saying toyota has a growing problem with recalls that is sullying its carefully honed image. that story didn't seem to be widely picked up, didn't resonate. maybe "the times" should have followed up more. you say the problem supp sided. >> the problem seemed to subside. we have data on their recalls worldwide. they actually dropped substantially. but there have always been problems. i want to just say this sudden acceleration issue is a problem for many automakers. people might remember back to the 1980s when audi had issues with sudden acceleration on the audi 5000, it was the subject of a sfam mouse investigation by "60 minutes," and the company fought very hard against those allegations. this isn't a new problem in the auto industry. it is an issue we had not seen before at toyota. the defects seem to be for other problems, but not for the sicking pedal issue. >> warren brown, "the washington post" car columnist whom we hoped to have on has written forcefully that the media has gone very easy on what he calls saint toyota and played up on the manufacturing problems of the detroit automakers while not perhaps in his view applying the same standard to toyota. your thoughts on that? >> that's something we've heard for years from the detroit car companies. essentially it was happening when the detroit car companies were recalling a lot more vehicles than toyota simply because they sold a lot more vehicles than toyota. i do think that toyota's reputation until the last six months or so did get something of a pass from the media. i think one of the reasons is they've sold a lot of cars to a lot of satisfied buyers. if you're not hearing constantly from people who are upset about their cars, you tend to think the cars are pretty good. >> the los angeles times as well as abc news has done a great job recently on this. here is an la times story from november, reported since 2001 their vehicles accelerated on their own. that didn't get picked up. there was a story "the new york times" gave, four paragraphs on the auto section saying that ntsa has publicly rebuked toyota accusing it of putting out inaccurate and misleading information about this acceleration problem. why didn't that set off more alarm bells in the press? >> i think it should have set off more alarm bells in the press. i think the way toyota has handled this situation, first hey say it was pedals that could get stuck under the accelerator. they sat's not a problem with sudden acceleration. then a couple weeks ag gee, they recalled millions and millions of cars because of this potentially sticking medal issue. now they're saying -- people are saying is it the electronics on these cars? toyota is saying absolutely not. they have a study showing it's not the electronics. if it turns out to be the electronics, then you would have had several cases in a row where their credibility comes into question. >> before these problems, did toyota have the brilliant pr wizards who enable the company to get glowing coverage? i've owned american cars and toyotas. as toyota became the world's number one automaker, the favorable publicity just followed? >> a couple things toyota did have over the last 20 years. first of all, they built factory ins the united states. they built them in kentucky and indiana and down in alabama and texas. when you do that, you pick up people for your team. so you had all these governors. mississippi is a great example. haylee barber, trent lott vowed to be warriors for toyota. people like john dingell, the democratic representative from michigan have shown up at toyota events. they did a very good job of making sure they message got across and neutralizing their japanese heritage. i also think they used to have someone r someone, jim olson in new york for toyota who would take on general motors and he would fight very hard for toyota's image, and he was available. to be honest, to the media when someone is available, that goes a long way to helping their image. >> my two cents is think, i think these problems could have gotten a lot wider play earlier if there were more journalists in this era of downsized newspapers and magazines who covered agencies like the national traffic highway safety administration because the reports were there, the investigations were there. ntsa doesn't always follow up. when we looked at the scc's failure to be aggressive and looked at the banking agency's failure to be more -- when there's a mining disaster and we check on the federal mining agency not doing as progressive a job. very happy to have your perspective. thanks for joining us from ann arbor. before is to to break, i want to bring up one other media issue. last night for those following the olympics, bob costas went on the air on nbc and said nbc would no longer be showing the heart renteding video who was killed while training for the luge. it was a tragedy nbc that is carrying the olympics obviously had to show it. didn't necessarily have to show it several times as was the case. several other networks showed the video provided by nbc. they all gave the viewer discretion warning. i'm not sure those warnings were completely adequate or left enough time for people to change the channel. at this point, we get it. it's a tragedy. it should be covered. it should be investigated. we don't need to see that video looped again and again. i'm glad nbc is pulling the plug on that. coming up in the second half of "reliable sources," after six months without facing the white house press corps, president obama takes questions but the pen dints don't seem to be buying. one man spills the beans about what tv reporting is really about. can i eat heart healthy without giving up taste? 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[ male announcer ] ...it's a whole new volkswagen and a whole new game. basic package. good choice. only meineke lets you choose your service, choose your savings. like an oil change for just $19.95. meineke. seven government officials, politicians and analysts have had their say on this morning's talk shows. only the best make it to "state of the union's" "sound of sunday." u.s. and nato sources continue their assault claimed at clearing out a taliban strong hold in southern afghanistan. once that area is cleared, it will be up to the afghan government to main stain stability. the president's national security adviser says he's confident president hamid karzai can hold up that end of the operation. >> i personally met with the president in munich just over a week ago. i had over the five, six years that i have known him, i have had the best meeting with him in the most -- i left more confident now than i have been at any time in the past. >> one of the obama administration's fiercest critics in matters of national security was out and about this sunday, former vice president dick cheney offered a litany of criticisms including the obama administration's decision to try 9/11 mastermind khalid shaikh mohammed in a civilian court. >> it's the mind zet that concerns me, john. i think it's very important to go back and keep in mind the distinction between handling these events as criminal acts which is the way we did before 9/11 and then looking at 9/11 and saying this is not a criminal act, not when you destroy 16 acres in manhattan, kill 3,000 americans and blow a hole in the pentagon. that's an act of war. >> as a counterpoint, joe biden dismissed cheney's assertions and challenged his facts. >> all i know is factually substantively wrong on the major criticisms asserting. why he's insisting on that, he's either misinformed or he's miss informing. but the facts are that his assertions are not ang rat. >> still, despite what that my may sound like, bipartisanship is not dead, not when it comes to afghanistan. >> well, i'm a complete supporter what they're doing in afghanistan. i think the president made the right decision to send troops into afghanistan. i thought it took him a while to get there. finally, on the issue of "don't ask don't tell" general jones, a marine for over 40 years says despite his earlier opposition he now believes gays should be allowed to serve openly in the military. >> this is a policy that has to evolve with the social norms of what's acceptable and what's not. >> so it's time to lift it. >> i think times have changed. i think i was very much taken by admiral mullens view that young men and women who wish to serve thair country should not have to lie in order to do that. now back to howard kurtz and "reliable source". interesting the white house put out joe biden to counter dick cheney. i'm not going to take credit. i'm sure it's a coincidence that president obama walked in and took some questions after i said he had gone six months without a news conference and many correspondents had been frustrated that he was ducking them. he was talking about how he invited republican leaders to a summit meeting on health care in an effort to find common ground. the gop was insistent on tearing up the bill, starting from scratch and the press was skeptical. >> after meeting with you john boehner came out and told us the house can't pass the health care bill it once passed. the senate can't pass the health care bill it once passed. why would we have a conversation about legislation that can't pass? >> what i agree with is that the public has soured on the process that they saw over the last year. and this gives an opportunity not just for democrats to say here is what we think we should do, it gives republicans a showcase before the entire country to say here is our plan, here is why we think this will work. >> the reaction just as sharply divided in the pundit world with conservatives saying the president is in denial over his agenda and liberals ripping the republicans as obstructist. >> i think the president is at sea. he's had his entire agenda of year one rejected. i think he's talked himself into believing that it's because of process and not substance. >> republicans still advocating do it our way as the only course for health care bipartisanship. >> why would they want to keep pushing something that the public is overwhelmingly against? >> is the press prepared to sign blame for this endless gridlock or report it as a natural paralysis, a political version of the snow pocalypse that hit d.c. joining us debra saunders. and kelly goff and here in washington, lynn suite from the "chicago sun times." >> he wants to meet with republicans, hold hands, sing songs. is the press right to be reacting so skept cli? >> sure, because nothing in congress has happened in a bipartisan year for the first year of the obama wlous, no major legislation that passed has done so. this upcoming meeting that obama is calling is a chance to see once again, and i guess the press will evaluate, is it real bipartisanship or some kind of a showcase? >> the tone in the media about the republicans seems to me this is the party of no, and the leaders aren't really interested in a deal on anything, even a quick compromised jobs bill collapse. is this fair or unfair the way the republicans are being treated sf. >> i think it's unfair. every time i see barack obama get up and talk about petty politics and how he wants to be bipartis bipartisan, i know he'll be pointing the finger at the party that doesn't control the white house, doesn't control the senate and doesn't control the house. then i just see basically a lot of media people sitting back and watching him do it and talk about how the gop is obstructionist. i'm not saying there's an element of truth to that. why are we blaming the people who don't have power. >> one reason, kelly goff, would be the republicans have barely provided one or two votes for anything the president has tried to do beginning with the economic stimulus package. some people think the republicans did that when they controlled. what's your take? >> to debra's point, something i've written about is the fact i think the gop hasn't been barack obama's biggest problem. i would argue it's been progressives. they backed him into a corner. there's this fearful perspective in terms of what can happen to him in a primary. there is a perception, whether fair or not, i think among a lot of people that he's been bkd into a corner. >> are you saying to media missed the story? really the story is a bit of a civil war within the democratic party and republicans not wanting to give these presidents any legislative achievements? >> i don't think it's either or. i think it's both. i think it's a sexier news story to say it's the gop versus obama as opposed to say there's a bit interparty warfare going on. we have to look at the poll numbers t. white house is smart. the majority of americans see it that way. 62% of americans think obama is trying harder to work with the gop. the same number think the gop is not trying to work with him. that's according to the poll a couple days ago. >> also fed up with the fact that nothing has been getting done. you're shaking your head, lynn sweet. >> here is the point i want to remind everyone. in the senate republican rs in the minority, but they have the power. look at the power any senator has to put a hold on legislation. it's not quite accurate to say the democrats alone have all the power because of the way the senate is set up. let me ask you about the mere fact that the president came out on two questions. why would a president who had in the first months of his tenure four prime time news conference extravaganzas go six months without a news conference? has he soured on the question of taking comments by you and your colleague sns. >> i had the last question in the july 22nd press conference. >> so it was you? >> no, no. i asked about the cambridge police officer. and that created a flap. i think they realize from their point of view, not from the press point of view, that there's other ways to communicate, more controlled situations without aggravating, the network giving him prime time. he killed two birds with one stone. in this one he was able to command his story on bipartisanship where he was the lead and answer criticism about not having press conference sgls white house officials tell me that he's been interviewed and is taking questions on youtube, average people sending in their videotapes. they contend that these kinds of questions are just as tough as those you get from the white house press corps. >> i think you should take credit. i think that column did have something to do with the fact that they pulled the president out of the box and had him come out. they said they had been planning on doing it for two weeks. why didn't they tell the press? clearly they're shielding him, afraid of getting the kind of questions that lynn might ask and trying to cherry pick where the interviews come from? can i speak from a probing yam point of view for a second? >> go ahead. >> writing for the "san francisco chronicle," they'll get interviews with governor schwarzenegger, meg whitman, republican candidate for governor, they like to give interviews with the national people, not the locals because we'll put their feet to the fire on local issues. the white house is playing the same game in a different way. they want to cherry pick who they talk to, so they're picking people for those one-on-one interviews. they don't want to mix it up anymore. >> i don't think we can completely say the administration is shielding president obama because he has done a lot of television interviews with experienced and respected anchors. keli goff, to say average people on videotape can be as aggressive -- you can't follow up as chip reid or chuck todd or ed henry, jake tapper and peter baker of "the new york times," these are people who follow these issues very closely and are at tune to any change of nuance or contradiction with past arguments. >> there's another part of the story, i'll have to point this out speaking as a blogger which the white house has been more accessible to online media and to new media. i think this shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone because the obama campaign, they really paved the way in terms of the standard bearers on the campaign using social network and new media. nobody should be shocked he's bringing the same perspective to the white house. i think we should be clear, he's not being shielded. he's done sipping niche can'tly more one-on-one interviews and online than any predecessors ever have. it's not entirely fair to say he's hiding. >> why didn't they tell the press ahead of time that this was going to be a briefing by the president? >> i don't know if that's all that important because, you know, they're professionals. i was in the briefing room when he came out. yeah, we were surprised. >> it suggests it's a last-minute decision. i want to get to michelle obama. she had a media blitz talking to "larry king live," good morning america, about her signature issue childhood obesity. she opened herself up to political questions as well. >> how do you feel when people are making light of something that was very important to the campaign and had every intent and still do to bring hope and change and make it a better world for people? >> this has been a tough year for this country. you know, my husband entered office when this country was on the brink of a depression. >> we were on the brink of a depression, worse than anyone really ever imagined. >> lynn sweet, was the first lady sticking to talking points there? >> absolutely. absolutely. i cover her quite closely, especially for "politics daily." you see the script unroll. even though she had a media blitz, the question that i thought was one of the toughest one actually turned out to be larry king. he didn't just stick to devoting most of his conversation about her obesity drive. he covered haiti, sarah palin. he tried at least, and i think some of the interviews i was surprised at how the interviews more or less stuck to the subject at hand. >> debra saunders, the wlous obviously new that once reporters and anchors got a crack at the first lady, they weren't just going to talk about childhood obesity. but on the other hand, she's probably more popular than her husband. >> she's been a very popular first lady. i think the childhood obesity issue has been a good issue for her. a good first lady issue, not political. it's like don't litter, everybody should read. i think they took it a little too far this time. i think when she started talking about her daughter's body mass index, that was a little personal. she said childhood obesity is a national security issue. then everything is a national security issue. >> keli goff, quick response from you. >> she took some criticism as you know from one of your cleelgs in a column recently about how she wasn't really defining her first lady platform. i think this is a response to those critics, following in the food steps of nancy reagan just say no, barbara bush, read. i think this is a defineing issue for her. speaking of prominent women in politics, up next, sarah palin seizes the media spotlight again and gets pill loried from looking at her hand for notes. why we just can't get enough of the woman from was sill la. mom, can i have the fish? speaking of, what's on friday's menu? friday is fish day. well, maybe it should be tuna helper day. mmmm... fish delish, yes? i'll take it. sold! tuna helper. one tasty meal. it's been a big week for sarah palin, delivering the tea party speech. she's not ruling out running for president. the media coverage on the other hand focused on her hand, the one where the former governor scribbled a few talking points for her q&a session at the convention. the pundits had fun with that. >> we have to start reigning in the spending, jump start these energy projects that, again, we've heard so much about. >> oh, big deal. writing notes on your hand, shows she's an average jane, not like those elites and their memory. i write basic information on my hand all the time, see. >> i wrote a few things down. i wrote eggs, milk and bread. i crossed out bread just so i can man pan cakes for ethan if it snows. then i wrote down hope and change in case i forgot. >> keli goff, governor palin scribbled a couple notes. why have the media pounced on this. >> sort of like dan quayle misspelling potato. i have to say to the chagrin of my more liberal friends, sarah palin is one of my favorite political figures. as a member of the media, nothing i love more than a public figure who refuses to be handled. it gives us moments such as this one. i think it's great. that's sort of fun. i'm looking forward to her as apartmental candidate. >> if she runs. >> the press rationale seems to be that palin makes fun of obama for relying on the teleprompter and she has her cheat sheet going. this makes us look like -- the way we pick on her, it's -- we just can't help it. you see this story with her hand. a bunch of people have to make fun of her and then a bunch have to come out and defend her. it's like the way the press cover breeze. it's not because she's talentsed. it's because she's a train wreck and they like to kick her when she's down. there's an element of that with sarah palin. >> let me pick up on that. let's put up a "washington post" abc poll that showed 71% don't believe sarah palin is qualified to be president. that includes a majority of republicans, by the way. you see she's not a serious political figure. the media certainly treat her as a huge political figure. why? >> it's like they treat britney spears like she's a big talent. they like her because they like to make fun of her. i think we in the media look bad, it's one of the reasons people hate us. we feel smug because we can make fun of her. it's not as if people in television don't use tell prompters. >> i have notes right here. >> i don't agree. i don't agree. i'm going to disagree slightly with debra. this wouldn't be a news story if she did what every other public figure does and used note cards. the reason it's a story is she went up there and wrote on their hands. it made her look like she wasn't ready for prime time. >> the only thing i thought was funny is she wrote three things. she couldn't memorize that? lynn sweet, politico had a piece saying the press and sarah palin had a similar ot tick relationship, we treat her as essential figure because people like reading about her. >> you put sarah palin in a headline and you get a lot of clicks on your blogs and websites. here is a distinction i think people ought to make about sarah palin. she might not be fit to be president in the eyes of people surveyed, but she is a leader of a movement. that is a difference. she's still, therefore, can be a factor politically. she's perfectly able of throwing darts at the obama white house. i was surprised robert gibbs did his hand -- >> his hand job. >> his hand thing, and that was right after obama gave his press conference because, one, it drew more attention to her which plays into her strength and gives her attention from the white house which validates and raises her profile even more. if you think it is childish, i don't know why you want to go down that road. >> briefly, lynn, doesn't sarah palin exploit the media fascination especially from her new perch at fox new sns. >> darn tootin. >> thanks very much for stopping by this morning. after the break, paint by numbers. take a tv reporter, add pretty pictures, a meaningless man on the street, the secret sauce of electronic journalism. alright. that's great. i want to personally thank you for 100 calorie hearty chicken rotini. well, it's not just me. you're so funny. i like you. 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[ male announcer ] honey nut cheerios tastes great and can help lower cholesterol. bee happy. bee healthy. so, at national, i go right past the counter... and you get to choose any car in the aisle. choose any car? you cannot be serious! okay. seriously, you choose. go national. go like a pro. plagiarism is not only one of journalism's worst sins it is also one of the dumbest it is so easy to get caught, even if you are a veteran investigative reporter. gerald posner was writing up a storm for a round of the daily beast site when accused of stealing words from authors n a piece on a florida murder, posner admitted lifting several sentences from the "miami herald." he apologized and called it an accident. but jack schaffer, who exposed that bit of plagiarism came back with more examples on an article in the charges against michael jackson's doctor, conrad murray. from a texas lawyer story ed chernoff. chernoff says he was able to deliver his main messages about his client. murray was cooperating with police. did he not prescribe demerol or oxycontin to jackson. he had only treated jackson for a short period of time and other doctors had treated and prescribed medication for jackson. now here is posner in the daily beast. chernoff got out four main messages, murray was cooperating are the police. did he not prescribe oxycontin or demerol to jackson. he had only briefly been jackson's doctor and many other physicians had treated and prescribed medication for jackson. when the beast's own investigation turned up still more plagiarism, posner resigned. he said on his blog that the excellent reputation established by the daily beast in the last year should not be tarnished by any controversy swirling around me. i have inadvertently but repeatedly violated by own high standards.