King salman, i thank you for the creation of this great moment in history and for your massive investments in america and its industries and its jobs. I also thank you for investing in the future of this part of the world. The fertile region, and it is so fertile, has all of the ingredients for extraordinary success. A rich history and culture, a young and vibrant people, a thriving spirit of enterprise. You can only unlock this future if the citizens of the middle east are freed from extremism, terror and violence. We in this room are the leaders of our peoples. They look to us for answers and for action. And when we look back at their faces behind every pair of eyes is a soul that yearns for justice and yearns for peace. Today billions of faces are now looking at us, waiting for us to act on the great question of our time. Will we be indifferent in the presence of evil . Will we protect our citizens from its violent ideology . Will we let its venom spread through our societies . Will we let it destroy the most holy sites on earth . If we do not confront this deadly terror, we know what the future will bring. More suffering, more death, and more despair. But if we act, if we leave this magnificent room unified and determined to do what it takes to destroy the terror that threatens the world, then there is no limit to the great future our citizens will have. The birthplace of civilization is waiting to begin a new renaissance. Just imagine what tomorrow could bring, glorious wonders of science, art, medicine and commerce to inspire mankind. Great cities built on the ruins of shattered towns. New jobs and industries that will lift up millions and millions of people. Parents who no longer worry for their children, their families and who no longer mourn for their loved ones, and the faithful who finally worship without fear. These are the blessings of prosperity and peace. These are the desires that burn with a righteous flame in every single human heart. And these are the just demands of our beloved people. I ask you to join me, to join together, to work together, and to fight together, because united we will not fail. We cannot fail. Nobody, absolutely nobody can beat us. Thank you, god bless you, god bless your countries, and god bless the United States of america. Thank you very much. Thank you. Youve been listening there to President Trump delivering a muchanticipated speech next to the saudi king in front of the leaders of some 55 countries in the region. Quite a remarkable speech, very much to script. He was following the teleprompter throughout. I would Say Something of an ambitious speech. It started with the phrase we will outstretch our hands perhaps echoing president obamas speech in cairo in 2009 where he spoke of america unclenching its fists, but President Trumps speech taking much of a turn after that. Quite a tough one, a tough message for the leaders in the audience, perhaps for the muslim people as well saying repeatedly it is your responsibility to stamp out extremism. He had this line which might be the signature line of the speech saying drive them out. Drive them out of places of worship. Drive them out of the holy land. Drive them out of this earth, speaking of the extremists and ending perhaps on a more positive note, speaking of the possibility of a new renaissance in the region once extremism is confronted. Im joined again by elliott abrams, vali nasr, robin wright, Thomas Erdbrink and in riyadh, we have jeff zeleny. I want to go to the panel first. Robin wright, your reactions. Well, i thought one of the things that was most striking was that he takes a military approach to dealing with extr e extremi extremism, whether its arming the saudis, talking about the security arrangements that the arab countries have to take in dealing with extremism to as you pointed out, drive them out, drive them out. And he doesnt really deal with the kind of broader issues. The irony is he talks so much about the jobs created by these arm sales to the saudis, because jobs are so important in the United States, and he doesnt reflect on the fact that it is in many ways a jobs issue inside many of these countries too that have led people to either dissent from their governments or join extremist movements. He doesnt make that connection. The other thing that was really striking was at the very end of the speech when he talked about iran, hes equating iran and isis and al qaeda in a way that is apples an oranges and maybe even pears. He talks about that irans people are its longest suffering victims, when ironically just two days ago, 73 of the iranian people got out and voted for a new president. And he talked almost about regime change, that until iran was willing until iran has a government that is willing to deal with the outside world, as if it involves a change of government, which is a radical shift from the positions of the last several u. S. President s. So the tone was very strident. He also said that he wasnt going to lecture to the assembled leaders, but in fact thats exactly what he did. A very tough message. He challenged them really. Vali nasr, its not that simple, is it, because extremists, even what we identify as terrorists, are backed in some of these conflicts by some of the very leaders in that room. If you look at syria, for instance, there are groups the u. S. Identifies as terrorists on the grounds that have received saudi backing in that conflict. How do you see this message received by the leaders in the room . Well, i think there are two groups of leaders in the room. There are those who welcome the notion of drive them out, because they would see that as a free hand to put all of their opposition in prison, accusing of being islamic extremists. For instance, you could look at egypt who has designed the Muslim Brotherhood being a terrorist organization, so they would basically see that the United States is not interested in human rights and would not object to putting larger numbers of opposition in prison under the banner that theyre all islamic extremists. And then there are other leaders in the room as well as i think a segment of the Muslim Population whos fed up with extremisextre whos listening to this speech, and they will see that the president is giving a lot of heat to saudi arabia and also the wealthy class in the gulf that has been funding not only terrorists, isis, al qaeda and other outfits, but also, as elliott said earlier, have been funding the spread of extremism in southeast asia, in africa, in europe, in the United States, by giving funding to radical imams and much more hardline interpretations of islam. So i think the leader of indonesia, for instance, or leaders from africa who were sitting in the room may say, well, thats great. The United States is finally reading the riot act to saudi arabia and other gulf countries and gulf leaders who have been supporting extremism. Hes putting them on the hot spot of saying, okay, were building this alliance around extremism. Im going to do what you want with iran and i included them in my speech. Now, you need to clean your house. You need to do what is the right thing. You need to drive these people out and you need to really fight extremism. So i think everybody can leave this speech thinking they got what they wanted. The saudis got an antiiran message. Countries like egypt got a free hand to hound their opposition. And many others thought that they saw for the first time an american president in saudi arabia take a tough stand on those who support extremism. I did think it was a remarkable moment when you had President Trump speak of how america suffered repeated barbaric attacks from the atrocities of 9 11 sitting next to the saudi king. Of course we have congress recently passed legislation allowing American Families of victims of 9 11 to sue the saudi government for the possibility that there was some knowledge, perhaps support from some quarters of the government there. Elliott abrams, you have advised american president s, republican president s. Did you see President Trumps message here as consistent, as a new direction for the u. S. Approach to the middle east . Generally consistently. These are our allies, saudi arabia, the other gulf countries, the emirates, so i dont think there is anything new here except for one thing. He is treating the terrorists as if they kind of came from outer space. We have to get our armies together and defeat them. But they didnt come from outer space, they came from inside these muslim societies. And the president really isnt addressing that question or asking these heads of government to address that question. Hes just saying defeat them. And without really an explanation of what it is that gives rise to them. What are the conditions, what are the problems in these societies that produce so many terrorists. So whereas predecessors frequently talked about reform within those societies, freedom within those societies, the president said im not here to lecture, although he did use the word reform. But i think were going to have to press a lot harder to get them to look at their own societies and figure out what changes are necessary to stop producing terrorists. The president really didnt do that. Their own support at times for terrorist groups. Jeff zeleny, you have been traveling with the president on this trip. Of course he departed the u. S. On friday in the midst of really the biggest domestic crisis of his presidency or really a worsening of the existing crisis in his presidency. From inside the trump team, do you sense the feeling this has been a successful start to the trip, reenergized as they make this arms deal, give this speech, et cetera . I think theres no question about that, jim, that the administration was looking for a reboot. They were looking for a chance to change the subject, quite frankly, and they did that indeed with this speech today. But i think youre so struck by the difference here between President Trump and candidate trump. Almost as though they were two entirely different people. He of course rode the anger and rage domestically, the islamo phobiaism in the republican primary to become the general election candidate. Today that rhetoric was gone entirely. I think we were struck by that first and foremost. Quite frankly, not as many differences in this speech today than there actually was in the speech that barack obama gave eight years ago in cairo. I was at that speech as well, and of course the message of terrorism and terrorists so different. At that time president obama hardly raised that, used that word, but otherwise the messages were more similar. I was also struck by the difference in audiences, of course. President trump making this speech to leaders, making this speech to people, and it was lecturing, of course. He said it wasnt but theres no way around not lecturing. But president obama gave his speech to students at Cairo University of course before the arab spring and the uprising there. But i think in terms of learning the trump doctrine, which is not going to come at one moment, its going to be sort of stitched together. This speech went a long way in delivering that, that he did drop the rhetoric from his campaign and he is going to be more in the lines of a conventional american politician and president here. So tough medicine perhaps, particularly on iran. That is something that saudi arabia, the leaders here, definitely want to hear. But well see what he does in action. Will the u. S. Withdraw from that iran nuclear arrangement. So i think there was something in here for everyone in this speech. So by that degree, i think this white house views it as a success. But boy, this is the beginning and the easy part, if you will. Certainly not anything that will change in the moment. But a strong leader, he certainly looked like a strong u. S. Leader here, so much stronger than when he got on that airplane in washington. Of course all that is waiting for him. But on the foreign stage at least, jim, i can tell you he is viewed as a person of strength, and that matters. Something for everyone, although some of those somethings are contradictory going forward. Indeed. We have the advantage of having Thomas Erdbrink in t tehran. Part of the message here from king salman and President Trump is very tough shot across the bow, you might say, of iran once again. What was your reaction, and how do you think iranian leaders will take it . Well, i think that President Trump here in front of millions if not billions of viewers just sided with the sunnis in the islamic world. Look at all the leaders present there. There wasnt a single shiite leader. At the same time, he singled out iran, the center of the shiite islamic world that comprises around 10 of the muslims worldwide. He said that iran is the kingpin, if you will, of all these issues that he mentioned. He very easily threw everything in one pile, if you will. Isis, hezbollah, hamas. We all know these are all very different movements. If you ask the people here, i think frankly theyll be shocked. Last night i was on the streets of tehran where thousands, tens of thousands were celebrating the outcome of the elections on friday. They all massively voted here for a moderate president , someone who at least is proposing changes. This is a sign that iranian society, the iranian people that President Trump also mentioned in his speech have changed beyond belief, but its also a sign that irans leaders are adjusting to this. Now, theres no doubt that iran plays a role in the middle east and that it has troops on the ground in syria and in iraq, but at the same time there is also no doubt that financers from the gulf region and financers from saudi arabia and people from saudi arabia in the gulf regions are and have been fighting massively in the same conflicts on the side of isis and other extremist sunni groups. President trump didnt address any of this. He singled out iran, and with that he singled out the entire shiite muslim world. Its a smart point. I want to play an excerpt from the speech, a clip from the speech which, again, you might say was the line. A takeaway from it about a choice between futures and a call on muslim countries to drive out extremists. Have a listen. Its a choice between two futures, and it is a choice america cannot make for you. A Better Future is only possible if your nations drive out the terrorists and drive out the extremists. Drive them out. Drive them out of your places of worship, drive them out of your communities, drive them out of your holy land, and drive them out of this earth. Drive them out, perhaps an intentional tag line of this speech for President Trump and the white house. Robin wright, can these countries drive out the extremists to a large degree, and will they . Well, militarily theres been a lot of progress made over the last eight months, for example, in iraq and some in syria against isis. But the reality is that these extremist movements have affiliates all over north africa and south asia. They have lone wolf cells in europe and we believe maybe in the United States. That there is the danger of a broader phenomena that is the product of alienation, marginalization, whether its in the west or at home. That there arent the broad solutions. And thats why President Trumps speech was dealing with the v y veneer of extremism. Were in the Third Generation and this is a problem that you cant just use a bullet to solve. And thats why i think the idea of creating whether its a military coalition or one that deals with cyber security, if you dont have the kinds of basic solutions that deal with the most volatile region in the world, then youre not going to solve the problem of extremism. At one point President Trump also said that this was never had there been so much potential in the region. I would argue never has there been such chaos in the region, not in the century since these modern states were created after world war i. And thats the fundamental challenge. I think the lack of sophistication and approach to this, it was kind of one military thread as the solution to the bigger problem. He did use the term islamic terrorism. I think thats not going to play well probably in the muslim world and the arab world because he put those two together and a lot of muslims a majority of muslims will say were not terrorists, we oppose terrorists. As he pointed out, weve been the primary victims. But i think this speech was devoid of any Realistic Solutions long term for the fundamental problems that have produced extremism to begin with. Ironically in the one country that gave birth to wahabi islam, the most fundamentalist form, whose practitioners gave us the ideology behind al qaeda that has spawned Everything Else since then. Elliott abrams, the president clearly putting the onus to muslim majority countries to fight extremism. This, of course, is happening as the administration pursues a travel ban that courts have determined are targeting muslimmajority countries. Thats been one of the main obstacles to getting it through in effect. How does this message conflict . You speak to many people in the region and they feel targeted by this travel ban. You have the president calling on them, giving a call to action. How do you rectify those two . I think its going to work reasonably well, frankly. I think the president here is saying we all need to act more to protect ourselves against terrorism. It is a phenomenon thats destroying the region. And im going to protect my country from it. But the idea that you can call him, you know, bigoted against islam i think takes a big hit today. His first foreign trip he goes to riyadh. You have all of these visuals of him meeting with Muslim Leaders not only from that region but from around the world. So i think he comes out looking better not only as president ial, but as reaching out to Muslim Leaders from around the world. I think he has helped himself a lot in pushing back against the idea that the origin of his position is some kind of prejudice. Thanks very much to elliott abrams, vali nasr, robin wright, that is gps for today. Fareed zakaria will be back with you next week. Reliable sources with Brian Stelter starts right now. Hello, everyone, im john berman in for Brian Stelter. It is time for reliable sources. This is our weekly look at the story behind the story. How the media really works, how the news gets made. This hour maybe youre suffering from political whiplash or news fatigue after a relentless string of political bombshells kicked off an oldfashioned newspaper war. Well explore why its not only good for journalism, but also good for democracy. And how is conservative media responding . Im going to ask one of the nations top conservative editors if the Trump White House is in crisis or under attack. But first, youve been watching President Trump just gave his first Major International speech moments ago in saudi arabia. He focused on islamic extremism. But the focus here at home has been on all the news leaking out of the white house the last week. And it was a dizzying week. Joining me now to help put this in perspective, legendary reporter, former host of face the nation and a political contributor to cbs news, Bob Schieffer. Thanks so much for being here. In a commentary this week titled the what if president based on an interview you did with john mccain and what he said, he said, excuse me, that we have seen this movie before, bob. John mccain said we have seen this movie before. So to you, what does this moment in time feel like . Well, we have seen this movie before. And the parallels between this and watergate are striking. You know, you saw the Richard Nixon tried to crush the investigation. He fired the special prosecutor. You saw much the same thing from President Trump over the last week. But again, today you saw a very different President Trump. He actually sounded president ial. You may agree or disagree with what he said, but he sounded like a president. He laid out his vision, he called for help from those in the muslim world. It was a much different kind of presentation. I mean the president doesnt pay much attention to advice from others, but i would think if he just Pay Attention to himself today, this went over very well, mainly because he stayed on script. No tweets today. But a dignified speech. No tweets of any real interest in the last few days, in fact, bob. By asking the question or calling this the what if presidency, are you suggesting that this crisis that he was in or is in even before this trip to saudi arabia is of his own making, and by noting today that he gave a speech which was a coherent foreign policy, are you noting that he could unmake this crisis also . I think very few people would disagree with me when i say he helped himself today because he didnt sound like the guy at the end of the bar popping off. He sounded like someone who had actually thought about what he was going to say before he said it. You know, bob, though, that there will be people who look at that last comment you made and said your normalizing the president. Youre saying because he met this admittedly very low bar for not sounding foolish, in fact, he was in fact president ial. What would you say to criticism like that . Well, im not trying to normalize him in any way. Im trying to do what reporters do, and that report and try to emphasize what i think was important here. I have many questions about this policy. For one thing, is he going to set off an arms race in the middle east. Is russia going to now begin selling arms to iran. There are many things you can say about this. But, again, he kept a hold on the tweets, he stuck to the script, and he sounded much different not only than he sounded all of last week, but throughout the campaign. This was a different presentation today. And you are reflecting and analyzing it, which is a reporters job. A reporters job is to report and to analyze, but it is a challenging job in this environment, bob. Andrew sullivan, the columnist wrote this week, he said in a serious crisis, more than half the country wont believe a word the president says and yet around 35 of the country still views every single catastrophe trump perpetuates on the world as a roaring triumph or huge middle finger to the elites and, therefore, fine. If that is in fact the case, that a third of the people are going to blame him for everything, a third of the people will never blame him for anything, what kind of challenge does that pose to a. Reporter er to a reporter . Its a challenge to all of us because many people dont believe anything they hear anymore. You know, this is a very, very deep divide in the country, john, and it didnt begin with donald trump. Right. It began a long time ago. And weve had people attack our institutions, weve had the russians meddling around trying to encourage that. I have said before donald trump was not responsible for the mood and the conditions in the country when he ran for president. He simply exploited that. And thats fair. I wonder if i can get your perspective on what we might see about two weeks from now. Weve learned that james comey, the fired fbi director, will testify before the Senate Intelligence committee. Have we ever seen anything like this . What will you be watching for on what could be an electrifying moment, an electrifying moment on tv and electrifying moment for the country . I think this could be a turning point in the Trump Presidency. I think we are at the point where he can either go the way of Richard Nixon or he can go the way of ronald reagan, who put it out on the table during iran contra, who cooperated and was able to move past it. Heres the thing, every republican that i talk about tells me that this will not go away on its own, this whole russian investigation. He has got to do more than just say theres nothing to it. This could be, the appointment of the special counsel could be the best thing that ever happened to donald trump. Because if he cooperates, if he has not done anything wrong, the special counsel will come to that conclusion. And if he hasnt, if there is something there, the special counsel is going to find that. You know, one of the things, we keep hearing about general flynn talking to the russian ambassador. What we dont know yet, what has not become public yet, is what did he say. Now, jim comey knew, and Robert Mueller as the special counsel is going to know. So a lot is going to depend, i think, on what comey says and how mueller handles this investigation. And i dont know a Single Person in washington who thinks that mr. Mueller is not a straight shooter. Correct. Who tells it like it is, who is not at all political. I must say i have great confidence in him conducting a very thorough and fair investigation. I think you hear that from both sides of the aisle in washington, d. C. You said this could go the way of reagan. You also said this could go the way of nixon. Obviously Richard Nixon resigned from the presidency. Articles of impeachment were voted on in the house judiciary committee. When you say he could go the way of nixon, thats a pretty dire path. For journalists right now, bobness whatbob, whats the challenge for reporting that or is it too early to use the i word. Maxine waters has been bringing it up for weeks and weeks and weeks. When is that question when should you probe it seriousseri . Well, i think our role is simply to keep asking questions and report what we find. Youve had the New York Times and the Washington Post doing a terrific job. I mean theyre competing against one another in one of the great newspaper competitions of all time, and theyre both the better for it. Our job is to not make conclusions about any of this. I mean at this point were a long, long way from talking about impeachment. We just need to keep reporting whats happening here. What about Anonymous Sources, this is something that anyone who complains about the contents of a news story will always point to if they dont like whats in the news story. Theyll say, well, it was said by an anonymous source. Why should viewers trust Anonymous Sources. But what if they quote 16 or 17 Anonymous Sources. I did an interview the other day with Ashley Parker of the Washington Post and i said youre now quoting as many as 20 sources. She says to me, you know, whenever you do an anonymous source story, and this is absolutely true, the official whos the butt of that what that anonymous source is always says, well, you just caught somebody who had bad digestion or was mad about something or other. That doesnt reflect whats going on here. Well, when you start saying we talked to 17 Anonymous Sources, thats why these newspapers are doing this now. They want to make sure that they know people understand theyre not just quoting one disgruntled person, theyre quoting a number of people. By and large, anyone reporting on this story and these stories will tell you theres no shortage of sources, which is something in and of itself. Bob schieffer, its been an honor speaking with you. Thanks for coming in today. We appreciate it. Thanks so much. Appreciate it. Is the white house besieged by crisis or is President Trump beseeminged by the media attempting a sort of coup . It depends on where you turn the dial to get your news. They analyzed News Coverage of the president s first 100 days and found that the coverage set a new standard for unfavorable coverage of a president. Fox news being the only outlet where a majority of the coverage was positive. Speaking of fox, when it comes to the stories and controversy surrounding the president this week, the programming direction there seemed to be to deny, deflect and downplay. Watch. The destroy trump media. These rigid left wing hillary supporting ideologues pushing their tin foil hat conspiracy theories night after night, breathlessly hyping everything up one fake news scandal after fake news scandal. This is a video with no video, no audio, no sex, no money, no dead bodies. Its a boring scandal. People are just repeating what theyre hearing. Its like propaganda. Are you so sick of the russia narrative . Would you rather see can i vote on this . Thats all we talk about every morning. Well, it would be one thing if there was some there, there. All right, joining me now bill kristol and zita. I want to get both your takes. Bill, first to you. Is too much being made of all these controversies . Is the media focusing too much on the story after story after story in the absence of Something Else . No. How often does a president fire an fbi director . How often does it emerge that the president did have a oneonone meeting with that fbi director and may well have urged him to drop an investigation that was going on about him and his campaign and its relation to russia. How often does the president meet with the Russian Foreign minister the next day and boast about firing the fbi director and apparently saying that relieved pressure. These are all factual things that happened. Its not about Media Coverage, its about an actual investigation. Now, if you think the entire apparatus of the fbi is corrupt and is driven by i suppose the media, if you think all these reports are false, then well find out i suppose when we see the transcript of the meeting with the russians, when we see what director comeys memos were, what he said to other people at the time, when Trump White House staffers are interrogated by the fbi or senate and house committees well see what they say. But its a real thing. We shouldnt lose the forest for the trees. There will be good headlines, bad headlines, this leak, that leak, thats not the issue. How many times with a president under investigation like this, how many times has he fired the fbi director and boasted about it to representatives of the country which is part of the the heart of the investigation, et cetera, et cetera. So its a real story. It has real consequences. Its going to go on in reality and the Media Coverage honestly doesnt matter that much, i think. I should note we dont know for a fact that the president himself per se is under investigation. That is part of the story. But clearly People Associated with the president are being investigated in some way. Seline, you live in part of the country which was more supportive of donald trump than perhaps the Media Centers of the world and spent a lot of time talking to supporters of the president. The sense there is what about the russia story . Theres two conflicting things going on here i think for consumers of news, in that people theres such an overlap of opinion and reporting that people its very difficult to sort of sort it out and understand whats the news, whats being reported and what is someones opinion. A lot of that has to do with inference when you report. Even the slightest one is the equivalent to an eye roll when someone is reading it. You know, Bob Schieffer made a really, really good point. This distrust with the National Media has been a long time in coming. Part of it has to do with the fact that so many local newspapers are closing. So you dont have that local connection, right . And so you are more forced to watch national news. People in National Newsrooms dont exactly, you know, show the share the same values, share the same lifestyle, so theres this feeling from someone out in the interior of the country is that theyre being talked down to when the news is being delivered. Thats no ones fault, its just that people are completely different. This didnt start with trump, this distrust. I dont think it ends with distrust. I think that its something that we all have to work on. Both sides, both reporters and journalists and the consumers of news. Thats true, but i just want to get back to reality. Its fine to talk about the media and eye rolling and stuff. Trump fired his National Security advisor in his first month in office. He fired the fbi director he inherited who had a 10year term. A special counsel was appointed by a trump appointed Deputy Attorney general just last week because he felt the charges were serious enough that they at least rose to the standard where youd want to have a special counsel investigating them. These are things that have happened. They have only happened in the Trump Presidency. So the idea that theres too much eye rolling by elite media or some kind of media coup going on i think, unless you think that you didnt say that, but im saying thats what all the clips that were shown on fox are about. And unless you want to say that the huge elements of the justice department, the fbi, cia and others are just, you know, i guess people do think this, that these elites want to do in donald trump, but thats a heck of a view to take about people who have worked in Law Enforcement and intelligence in this nation. Salena, it gets to this study which does find that the overwhelming coverage of the Trump Presidency so far, the tenor, has been negative. But its a chicken and egg thing. Is it because that most of the things, most of the large events that have taken place in the 120odd days of the Trump Presidency have been controversial. You know, whether it was Health Care Going down, whether it was firing michael flynn, whether it is now theres a special counsel. There are a lot of things. So at what point is it whats happening in washington and what point is how its being covered . Right. I think we all understood that nothing was going to be normal with this guy because hes unlike anything that weve ever done and anyone that weve ever placed into office. But, you know, i think what people outside of washington maybe are looking for, you know, all these things that have been reported legitimately should be broadcast, should be reported, should be in the newspapers. These are real stories. These are real stories. But i think what they probably are feeling is, you know, hey, theres a lot of other things that have happened that dont get as much play that are important to their lives. You know, im talking about like meetings with the car makers, meetings with business people. You know, they want to see a little more about that and they think it doesnt get equal coverage. The problem is, that is not as critical and different and Ground Breaking than the other the problems with the fbi. So i think we go too much to our silos, right . We go too much to our safe places to follow the news. I talked to this young woman in detroit and she said to me, this is how i consume the news now. I go to trusted places like a. P. Or the New York Times or Washington Post, but if it feels a little weird to me or theres not enough balance, ill then sort through and look at a variety of places. And i think thats a healthy way to consume the news. But i will tell you when youre talking about these two americas, to quote john edwards, bill, ill give you a chance to respond to this, this weekend, i live in the northeast obviously which tends to have a certain view, perhaps a different view than some of the people youre talking to. I was picking my boys up from soccer practice friday night after story after story were breaking and everyone is on the sidelines looking at their phones comparing the news alerts happening right there and asking questions like is this over . There are people out there, there are many, many consumers of the news who are looking at this and simply cant get enough of it. Bill, i didnt want to interrupt you, you were nodding your head. Look, there are people who follow the news very closely. And there are follow it very closely in ohio and michigan. Theyre very interested in whats happening there. There are people that are very busy and follow things less intensely. But the obligation of the media is not simply to obviously they should report everything and try to take account of what influences peoples daily lives. But having a president whos not who cant keep a National Security advisor or doesnt fire an fbi director influences their lives. So i think you just report the news. I think theres much too much obsession. And the notion that theres two countries is ridiculous. Really . Trump won some states by one or two points, he lost some states by three points. There are plenty of people in michigan and ohio that care a lot about the rule of law and care about rub russia influenci our election. But equally so, there are people who look at the stories and assume that this presidency could be over in a month and there are people who look at these stories who literally say theyre made up. Right. That to me thats not good. Thats a widely divergent view. Right. And thats not good. I think we all have posttraumatic campaign disorder. I think theres just been so much news, right . You know, you cant dismiss everything. You cant i guess the word is so obsessed that you cant think about anything else. You know, i dont think this is a problem we can handle right now in this moment, and i think its going to take years to fix. And it goes across to this sort of broader institutional distrust we have with a lot of things. Its not just big news, its big hollywood, its big government, its big companies. We have a really big trust gap in this country, and it does lead to two americas. It does lead to this broad separation that i dont think is very good for any of us. Its not new, its just more intense and youre able to see it more because of all these ways we are able to connect and view everything and report everything and talk to each other. It just it makes it seem like its brand new. Its not. Its been happening i would say since the 80s. All right, interesting discussion. I really appreciate you both being with us today. Thanks, john. This has been a news hurricane. And in some ways the journalism has never been better. One of the top editors at one of the papers pushing this story forward, from the Washington Post joins me next. If you have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, isnt it time to let the real you shine through . Introducing otezla, apremilast. Otezla is not an injection or a cream. Its a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. Some people who took otezla saw 75 clearer skin after 4 months. And otezlas prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. Dont take otezla if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. Otezla may increase the risk of depression. Tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts, or if these feelings develop. Some people taking otezla reported weight loss. Your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. 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If we can detect new viruses before they spread, we may someday prevent outbreaks before they begin. Welcome back to reliable sources. Im john berman in for brian today. Headline after headline details new and potentially damaging information against the president. This is a sparking a cause joining me now, someone whos tackling that question. Whats this last week been like . People look at this last week as one of the busiest news cycles they have seen in a lifetime. And you had massive, breathtaking stories with tthe Washington Post. Inside our own newsroom, we have a Remarkable Group of reporters as you can imagine working around the clock, and our rivals are doing some extraordinary journalist as well. A lot of these stories broke very late in the day as well. Which adds to the challenge and extends everyones days and adds to the fatigue that everyone felt at the end of the week, and both the New York Times and the washington broke stories late friday afternoon as well. Can you tell if we have anything on the horizon, 5 00 today, or 5 00 tomorrow. In other words dont leave your phones far away at 5 00 today. When you are in this type of competition, how careful do you have to be right now . We were talking about the fact that some are getting 17, 20 sources unnamed. How careful to do you have to be to beat the New York Times . Its never been more important in my view given the challenge that the media has right now with broad elements of the public. I think its what distinguishes news organizations right now. News organizations can be first and wrong or last and right. What sets us apart is our speed. We are extremely important in protecting what we have all right done and what we have done in the future by being correct each time. In conspiracy theories, i have had people afternoon washington tell me, one of the fears right now is that maybe what the white house should do is leak a fake story that they can prove is false later on. Is that a concern . Its a concern, but i think it does point to a misconception about what Anonymous Sources really are. Someone who calls us and doesnt want they name used. A tip for what will remain anonymous, we have to determine whether or not that tip is true. If the white house wants to leak a story thats not correct, we would make sure that we were talking to all the rite right people, that we have victim on the issue itself. But were always mindful that we can be told a story thats not correct that would embarrass us. Does this last week validate in your mind the importance of what you do . Very much so, and i have seen it written that newspapers right now are doing the oversight job that a lot of the committees on the hill seem reluctant to. I have enormous respect for what the New York Times is doing. I hope my colleagues at the Washington Post that i have the privilege of working with every day, enormous respect. Whats happening to the process and how people outside the belt way are understanding it and i believe right now, its extraordinarily important to be reading the post and the times. Scott wilson, i dont want to waste your time, get back to editing these stories that will come out today and tomorrow. Roger ails, the man who transformed fox news into a Television Empire is gone and there is no disputing his impact on cable news and politics, but his legacy was badly tarnished when he was forced out amid sexual allegations in the last year. What does the future look like for fox news and for that lets turn to nicole hammer. David, last month you were here and you were talking about losing revenue, its going to take a big, big wildfire for the advertising boycott to affect them, meaning fox, so after megyn kelly, bill oreilly and bill bickle was fired this weekend. The worst problem for them are the ratings. We have had how many years of number one fox dominates now we have got a situation where fox is third in the demographics and they have had this massive turnover in their primetime lineups. I think this ratings business is a real problem. Heres the danger, the only thing fox has going for it right now is they think to be the place, if you voted for trump and you want to see positive cover raage coverage, you turn to them. If this president goes down in flames, whats left at fox right now . I really think it is a dangerous time. For years i would call them up with stories and i would say this is really bad journalistically, and they would go, the ratings are great, Everybody Loves us. Now they cant explain their journalism away because they have great ratings, they dont have them anymore. Thats the thing that has to be frightening t frightening. Their prime time lineup doesnt actually cover those. People are turning to cable news for these big breaking stories a. Are people not tuning in because theyre not covering it . Im a red sox fan, i wont turn on the tv if i know the red sox are losing or in last place. Is it just that donald Trump Supporters know that the News Coverage in general will be about the crises, and they dont want to watch. Remember, the people who watch fox arent just Trump Supporters. I watch fox news because i enjoy the coverage. I do think fox audience is more diverse than most people give it credit for, but that also means that those diverse viewers are also looking somewhere else. My producers were telling me the last segment when we were talking about the crisis that this white house is under, there are people who cant get enough of it and who think that the next story will be the one that brings him down. Im always jumping into the street. The discussions were so great this morning, each of the segments, john, had something about distrust, people distrusting the main stream media. And part of that is the legacy of roger ailes, thats what he founded this network on. They werent making television, they were making holy warfare on what he saw as the liberal bias of main stream media. So since 1996, people have been hearing liberal bias, liberal bias and that has taken hold in a way. The larger question is what we have both written about is how ails reflects the Political Landscape of america. And thats really a troubling legacy. Even if you have a die hard trump supporter, using your red sox analogy, you have to be in a coma if youre not watching News Coverage. I get it, if im a trump sup supporter, all you hear is bad news, bad news. Something else that happened, bob beckle of the five was fired after making an improper ma remark to an employee. Do you think that reflects a change in the culture at fox . Its unclear at this point rng i mean they are facing several Racial Discrimination lawsuits so that could be part of it. And bob beckle was the liberal who was hired by fox news, so he may have been someone easier to show the door, this may not have had the impact that this scandal would have had if it would have been a conservative post. Thank you so much for being with us on this very, very busy sunday. That is all for the televised edition of reliable sources. State of the union with jake tapper starts right about now. On the world stage, President Trump speaks to muslims on his first foreign trip. Terrorists do not worship god, they worship death. If we do not act against the organized terror, then we know what will happen. But will his message be overshadowed by the political firestorm at home. Plus, comey speaks. The fired fbi director will testify before congress, could he drop yet another bombshell. We are a nation of laws and those laws and