. >> kelly: iment on fox news watch. one year since barack obama was elected president. >> change has come to america. >> does the media love fest continue? and election day on tuesday with two important races. will the mainstream media spin the results? economy troubles, sputtering health care reform, no plan for our troops. our commander-in-chief has become chief fundraiser, has the press noticed? distracted at 30,000 feet. two northwest pilots missed the runway by more than 100 miles. did we get the facts? is the press flying in circles? and the world series is on and so is the trash talking by the president in both cities. >> on the panel this week, writer and fox news contributor judy miller. rich lawrie editor of the national review. jim pinkerton fellow new america foundation and columnist and fox news analyst keir stin powers, i'm jon scott, fox news watch is on right now. . >> i'll always be honest with you about the challenges we face. i will listen to you, especially when we disagree. >> barack obama on election night there, just about one year ago. fast food forward to this week. what are the media saying. obama's election one year later, the question now, how patient is america? from rich lawrie's national review, obama in charge? the president there pictured in his p j's and news week, yes, he can, but he sure hasn't yet. a liberal's survival guide. all right, rich. your cover and the others included, is the love affair over? >> i wish i could say our brilliant cover is representative of the media's treatment of obama in its entirety. of course it's not. look, i think the gaga phase of the relationship is over, but there has been a certain cooling, but they're still smitten with the guy although wondering if the relationship is going to end up where they want it to. two of the big factors driving the coverage of any politician are poll numbers and the herd mentality so if you actually see obama dipped for a significant amount of time into the 40's, then you'll really see the tone of the coverage change in a way it hasn't yet. >> one of the big issues, obviously, facing this president is afghanistan, the war he described as the war of necessity when he was on the campaign trail. now, there seems to be months, maybe of indecision at the white house and the question is, should the press be covering that? >> i think the press is trying as hard as it can, jon, to find out what's going on behind those closed doors. on friday, we had our 7th meeting on this, and this one including the military, there have been leaks from both sides. obama seems to be setting the stage for a kind of splitting the difference. in other words, giving less to fewer troops than mcchrystal wants, that's the 40,000 request, but some additional, say 20,000 and you see the leaks that are indicating that that's the way he's going. >> and by leaking, jim, you sort of innoculate the public for what's to come, is that how it works? >> you see what seems to float with the intelligence, but i think some of the public events as well. the president going to dover air force base. i think he-- everybody was saying let's-- and i'm sure it's true, this changed a lot. gave them a lot to think about, so on. the dove argument was reinforced by that and also, i think secretary of state clinton going to pakistan and blaming everything on the pakistani government sort of sets the predicate for look, why are we fighting in afghanistan when bin laden and the taliban are operating out of pakistan? so, i think there's optics in place for something what judy is suggesting, way less than mcchrystal wanted. >> let's talk about the trip to dover, air force base and i do not want to question the president's motives at all. he is the commander-in-chief. i have a son who is going to be in the military and i just-- but what do you see as the useful purpose served? was it just for the education of president obama? >> well, i don't think you can ever think with any politician that it's ever just, now, it's not philanthropy. it's not-- it's always for themselves. it's always because there may be two motives actually and i think that there's a-- there are the optics that jim is talking about that i think are part of that and look, he has a huge decision coming down the pipe he has to make and i think they're sending messages through things he's doing. >> and i sometimes wonder, judy, the military as now is a dangerous place in peace time. we lose a lot soldiers through accidents and everything else and i sometimes wonder whether the president even gets the correct message when he's there with 18 caskets coming home? i mean. >> that's clearly a message that's meant to say war is bad, war is dangerous, people get killed and i'm here demonstrating my personal solidarity. i'm not saying he shouldn't do this, but this coupled with the new york times story how the president of afghanistan's brother is on the payroll of the cia, the message of that story is, this is a corrupt, awful place, we shouldn't be there, we shouldn't be there in any great numbers. they are setting the stage for split the difference on the troops. >> let's talk about the upcoming elections. we've got a couple of big governor's races on tuesday, rich, is it a sign-- i mean, should we read the results? some in the press are saying, whatever, however they turn out, they have nothing to do with, they're not reflective of the mood of the country. what do you think? >> i think they are. and especially in virginia, which i think is already being written off by the media because it's pretty clear that the republican candidate down there is going to win a sweep not just in his race, but down the ballot. in virginia, all of a sudden, oh, it's a red state. republicans win there. when obama won that by six points, you had two democratic governors in a row and the democrats take the state senate a year or two ago. that's a big deal, i think in a weather vane that's not going to get the attention it deserves. >> what about it, jim, should we read the tea leaves? >> go back to history 1993 when the republicans won the governorships in virginia and new jersey and followed with a takeover of both houses of congress, one could certainly make that argument. i think the other race to mention is new york 23. the election there to fill the vacant house seat on the fellow mccue who went into the obama administration. there's a real chance that the tea party candidate, aguy named hoffman on the conservative party line in new york could actually win that race which would be seismic not only for the democrats, but also for the republican establishment. >> some in the media are picking up on that. that race has gotten a fair amount of attention. a huge amount of attention. i think it's reflective of what's going on in the country particularly on the republican party where there seems to be a real lack of leadership that i think conservatives can relate to and so, this, this race really reflects how it seems if a conservative, a real conservative is in the race, that they can garner a lot of attention over the so-called republican. >> real quickly, rich, health care was to be the president's domestic priority. here we are in the middle of the huge battle over it. are the media as confused as everybody else. >> one, i think they're buying too much into the idea that this is inevitable, which you hear coming out of the white house now, the democratic leadership, i don't think that's the case at all and two, you're seeing an interesting and screwed effort on the part of the democrats to dishone dishonestly i think, get a headline, under a trillion dollars, supposedly paid for just to get that top, top of the line kind of news treatment and they've managed to do it with the senate and house bills. >> in the meantime, as the new york times was helpful to observe, it would seem that if they can't run the swine flu program and can't get the vaccine there they ought to focus trying to do little things before they try to do enormous things. >> time for a break and get your swine flu shot. we have lots of extras available to you on our website. if you'd like to listen in on tomorrow of the battles that break out here in the studio during our break, check them out after the show at foxnews.com/fax news watch. back in two minutes with this. >> the press and the president, compared to coverage of bush 43, have the mainstream media adopted a kid glove approach to president obama? >> oh! >> and a high flying mystery gets big time coverage. did speculation outpace the facts? the answers next on news watch. . >> kelly: iment check out this statistic. president obama has played 24 rounds of golf since taking office and snubbed the dalai llama, the first time since 1991 the religious leader came to the washington and didn't meet with the president and stopped the first time as president on the way to a 3 million dollar fundraiser and taken heat for freezing out a television network, this one. that's quite a list and this week an article on the website politico asks the question, what if bugeorge w. bush had done th. what if george w. bush had mounted this list of accomplish thes. i think that josh at the politicalco has a smart trend setting piece and add to that list, what if george w. bush presided over a 4 million person increase of unemployment and then said, oh, but actually we saved or created 640,329 jobs accord to go this phony baloney stimulus package, the media would have criticized him and instead you're getting arguing. >> i love the point and ed gillespie's observation we need a website if bush had done this. there are some things that obama hadn't done-- that bush hadn't done that he did. for example, his chief of staff, his political guy karl rove was in some of those national security meetings that axlerod is being accused of invading that he has no place there. the standard they say, says the atlantic, is not quite as double standard as it seems. on balance there are two different kinds of coverage here? >> yeah, i think the one most egregious, maybe i think because i work here, the fact-- the way the white house came out against fox news and also, liberals are arguing, well, the bush administration attacked msnbc. it's apples to oranges, not the same thing. they sent a letter to the head of msnbc whereas the white house came out and declared war on a network and said it's not legitimate. a different thing to complain about. >> that we're going to keep the president-- >> and told other reporters not to listen to anything they do. there's just no comparison if george bush had done something like that. >> would have been called like a totalitarian dictator and back fired. >> of course, it's not going to work, but that's not the point. the point is that the rest of the media just sat by silently while essentially the whole media was being attacked. they just didn't realize it. that the idea that the white house can choose who is legitimate is a very chilling thing in my opinion. >> and also what's going on here, obviously, just liberal bias as an element here, but also what narrative attaches to a politician and the media thought george w. bush was an unserious goof-off, every time he rode his bike, something to laugh about and they don't think about that barack obama and he can play golf as much as he wants. if you go back to afghanistan, depending on your view of obama, if you think he's a weak guy who's vacillating on his own strategy you play the whole review one way. if you think he's mr. thoughtful, well, if he's reconsidering a strategy he announced in march and doing it in public in an embarrassing way, there he goes being so damn thoughtful again and that's basically the way the media is playing this. >> the media does this on all sorts of things and i get in a disagreement. a liberal bias. not necessarily liberal, but they like the story line and the mean, with al gore, the sighs, whatever it is, they pick up on things and especially on people they don't like. >> and that's true, but also the bias plays into what they consider the narrative. >> they thought bush was unserious goof-off they tend to be liberals and didn't particularly like him. >> and since judy got me going during the break and defending-- gerald ford arguably lost the 1976 election because the swine flu technology was much more policewomen tiff then. he personally courageously got the shot on television and other people, obviously, following his died and ford in the admission got the blame for if. yet there are long lines under george bush not getting the vaccine the press would say because he's fighting foreign wars and would have clobbered him over it, right, judy? >> that's true, that doesn't mean they would have been right either time. >> and then there's the golfing thing. president bush decided that golfing was something he was not going to do anymore once he sent the soldiers to afghanistan, he just felt it was a little bit frivolous, i guess, for the president. president obama. >> six for george bush and five for president clintonton. 28 fundraisers at a time when you have a few things on your plate. >> he needs to raise more money and on the golf thing he's gotten attacked for golfing only with men. >> no, that's playing basketball only with men. >> well, yeah. >> he did play golf with a woman. and i think the most egregious one is the attack on fox. and the second most egregious is the back room deals with the health care special interests to get them to go along and actually spend money on advertising for it, at the same time you're pretending you're attacking the special interests and they're resisting you with every fiber of their being. the media usually loves hipocracy and inconsistency. >> wait until they go after-- if you come across a story that smells to you of media bias. e-mail us at fox news watch and we'll be back with this. >> the health care bill gets the spotlight as the so-called public option gets a new shinier more appealing name for the same old thing. has the press paid attention? and two wayward pilots make headlines when they miss their park. details next on news watch. ÷÷ >> in our legislation we mandate that individuals and businesses take out health care insurance. we're not throwing them to the wolves of the insurance industry without an option for them to choose which is what i would call not the public option, but the consumer option. >> house speaker nancy pelosi this week continuing the trend of politicians rebranding certain words that develop a bad rap. and then on thursday the speaker unveiled legislation put together by democrats in the house that she says will give the health insurance to 36 million americans who don't have any. jim, you've been following this health care debate very closely. it's now the consumer option (laughter) >> hats off to ron rosen balm writing in slate who says that the original phrase the public option is quote, the bastard child of inbred wonk culture and fashionable framing theory. the framing from drew westton and george, told democrats look, if we come up with the right words and do the same liberal stuff and get away with it. >> that was a poll tested phrase, public option? >> it was conceived in the laboratory of spin. and it doesn't seem to have worked, as rosenbaum points out. >> well, it's that it's going to get even better because congress woman debby schultz said let's call it the competitive option. so i think they're still trying the new rebranding terminology. >> and just in that, rich you work with words all day long and just as the press picked up the public option ball and ran with it, should they be more honest in decribing what it is? >> i'm a defend are of the public option wordening this sense, if it were up to me i'd call it the nationallizing health care option of course, the republicans want to call it the government option and democrats want to call it the consumer option or competitive option. the public option is a pretty good compromise to me and just, just a label that's going to stick and hard to change the labels once they're in the public mind. >> kirsten seems to have a thought on that. >> i think it's something that's scriptive of what it actually is. a conservative would see it that way. i think they should describe it as a public health insurance option or something that implies some meaning to what it is, and the idea that you hear what they're coming up with the alternatives that are just-- they're just about as worse as what they have and so-- >> come up with a label what it is. >> and essentially medicare, but for people who don't have insurance, there is a way to explain it that's not so confusing. >> the anti-insurance company strangle hold on health care option (laughter) >> i think the best most useful piece all week from david broader who made the public option, the option out of the public option point is reversion to states rights which liberals were always opposed to when it came to voting rights and social security and now they're bringing back a concept they trashed decades ago saying, no one with actually opt out, the whole thing is a fraud. >> the fraudulent government takeover of health care option. >> we'll be covering this story in weeks to come, i'm sure. let's move on to another one that caught the attention of the media. the story the wayward pilots of northwest airlines, they dropped out of radio contact flying from san diego to minneapolis and overshot the destination by 150 miles. here is what happened when reporters spoke to them. >> there have been groups meeting with you. >> that was richard cole one of the pilots and both saw the f.a.a. revoke pilot's licenses and each suspended from the airline. is this a situation, rich, where the press did something right? i mean, by focusing so much attention on this story? >> yeah, i think that probably helped smoke this out. it's such a great story because it's equal parts frightening and hilarious and most people think you're telling me i have to put my tray tables up and you have the pilots not paying attention asleep in the cockpit? >> and the pew research center did a poll, found that 44% of americans were paying close attention to this story, more than most of the others last week. why does it grab so much attention? >> because everybody flies and nobody likes to be told to put their tray table up and take your shoes off before you get on the plane only to find out your pilot is either sleeping or having a kind of set-to with his computer over the flight schedule. it was a great story that the media did a great job on and congratulations to the christian science monitor, which says here are the other questions we need to be asking about this incident. >> i was also interested by peter garrison, a pilot who had a piece in the l.a. times if which he said listen, the act of flying one of those big airplanes is incredibly boring, silence and nothing going on and i think there's a real policy technical issue there like when they built the new jersey turnpike and it was straight and people fell asleep driving on it and had to make it curve to keep people awake and you have to think how the technology is used otherwise people will die. >> and then the fact that some of the questions the media haven't been asking, the f.a.a. apparently under the post 9/11 rules is supposed to, you know, be alerted when things like this happen and none of that stuff seemed to happen. >> it seems like there should be reporters following that kind of stuff regardless of something like this happened, who would be on top of, you know, what are the protocols now that 9/11 happened that they put in place and also some things that should have happened and we don't ever real here about that so then it takes something like this to alert people clearly not a lot changed. >> it was a good story thoughment we have to take a break and when we come back. >> it's a battle of a different kind as the new york press and phillies show their true colors. that's next on news watch. cred quality and reliability... are more than words here. it's personal. i have diabetes. rodney's kid too. so we're so proud to manufacture... the accu-chek® aviva meters and test strips... here in the u.s.a. plus, we've proven you'll waste 50% fewer strips... when you use our meter, which means greater savings... for people with diabetes, like me. now that's a true american value. accu-chek® aviva. born in the u.s.a. >> okay, everyone, we have a lot to cover this morning. tim should be here any second with the latest budget numbers to -- uhh, take us through the initial... schedule... for production and... >> ouch. >> this is one way to avoid getting the h1n1 flu virus. >> oopsie daisy. >> all right. good morning! let's get this meeting started. >> for some better ways, visit flu.gov. [man sneezes] [groans] [groans] '8 the world champion phillies against the yankees and they are in the streets. >> no trash talking. give you each. give it your best shot. >> yankees are going to kick your butt, we got swisher. >> you don't have heart. >> we have the best heart. we have been here 26 times. >> how many times since 1950? >> it doesn't matter. >> we have the last one. we have the one right now. >> all right. what leads to this kind of hostility. maybe headlines, take a look from the new york post. they are coming to town. from the philadelphia, yankee doodle daddy.