Transcripts For FOXNEWSW MediaBuzz 20140630

broadcast news cast. >> with republicans holding a spade of hearings should the media treat the irs mess as a partisan slug fest or a major league scandal? hillary clinton and her husband may have made $100 million since leaving the white house, but she tells the newspaper they're not like a lot of people who are truly well off. really? are the media starting to objses on her wealth? diane sawyer stepping down after a remarkable career that included a series of high profile interviews. >> does it make you feel clueless? does it make you feel like, what was wrong with me? >> i wonder if people are looking for a sentence that begins with i should have. i should have. >> but as george stephanopoulos and divide her duties. plus, the media sinks their teeth into the world cup. what about the folks who just don't like soccer? i'm howard kurtz and this is meet ya buzz. the irs scandal is back in the news big time with republicans roughing up a defiant commissioner in hearings over what happened to lois lerner's e-mails. >> i don't believe you. this is incredible. >> i have a long career. that's the first time anybody has said they do not believe me. >> i don't believe you. >> today on capitol hill, house republicans held another fiery hearing on lois lerer's missing e-mails. >> but the coverage has varied widely and the pundits have pointed fingers at the obama administration or dealing kreeg. >> lots of house republicans seem to be very happy anytime they have a reason to be mad at some perceived slight or glitch or scandal in the executive branch. but obama critics see this as a colossal failure by the press. >> when the lost irs e-mail story broke, just 3:30. combined, on all the network news casts. unbelievable. that is a news blackout. >> this is unbelievable. we could talk about the "new york times," as well. is it possible that the washington post and the "new york times" are not putting on the front page of their newspapers the fact that an internal investigation hash launched by the irs on the most shady behavior. >> joining us now to exam the coverage, lauren ashburn, who hosts social buzz on the fox website, amy holmes who anchors the hot list at the plate and julie mason host of the x-pool at sirius xm radio. should the washington post and the "new york times" have put the missing e-mails on the front page? >> the "new york times" put it on a-19. this is a scandal. and you know the fact that it's not being covered suggest the liberals think it's a conservative witch-hunt, which it isn't. >> it's not that it's not being covered, it's a question of the volume and display and the prominen prominence. but in this age, why does it matter so much what is or isn't? >> every day between 10:00 and 4:00 in the afternoon, people go into news rooms all across the country and have meetings and each of the managing editors around the table says what the hot stories are of the day. the front page editor says i'll take the best of those. so it is still a barometer of what's important in that news room. >> the argument on the right is that the press or some element of the press is burying this story. in an interview with george stef n stephanopoulos was a question of president obama. >> if it's being covered by conservatives or investigated by republicans, then it must be a partisan witch-hunt. but you say it's a matter of not covering it, but a matter of volume. there are issues not being covered. a judge said there was wrongdoing when the irs improperbly probably illegally leaked their donor list to a political activist who published the information. the press isn't reporting isis sfushtly, that the irs commissioner himself is a huge democratic donor. he's given nearly $100 grand to the democratic party. why isn't this a part of the story? >> fair enough. but lois lerner's attorney is mount ago counterargument. she has no idea why her e-mails are missing, she is angry about it. there is a hearing monday night and again on tuesday. >> all these hearings, where's the proof of the crime? monday morning, there were 100,000 stories about the irs investigation. there's a wealth of coverage, but -- >> you read every single one? >> every single one. but there's no proof of a crime. every journalist in town would love if there will be proof of a scandal. >> if the irs is mysteriously getting rid of these e-mails -- >> but judicial locks does what it's doing to get the information. we know the irgs has spent $4.2 billion on i.t. in the last four years. >> no question this doesn't pass the smell test, but it doesn't mean -- >> no, and the white house was so flippant about it. >> the job is to get to the bottom of the truth. >> how much has the coverage been affected in your view by the fact that the irs commissioner, not exactly a humble public servants? >> the oochtices for him are really bad. he comes across as holier than thou. and i think when the media gets someone like that in their clutches, they are going to talk about that. that's something that someone's personality, when they seem to be better than anyone else, is something that gets covered. >> has this become about government incompetentence as well as the original charge which remains unproven about why was there so much unfair tax issues aimed at the tea party. >> it's the original accusations, the original allegations and now the cover up. and i think the cover up is just as big a story. what is it that they're covering up? we know the commissioner now was being dishonest in his testimony in those hearings about this whole e-mail situation that he claimed they were digging for him and now he admits that they had been somewhat destroyed on his hard drive. >> would the coverage have been differe differently. if it was a republican administration, there would be calls for impeachment. >> it did happen in the bush administration. you remember all those e-mails that were lost in the attorney general investigation. it happened in the clinton administration, too. prove that it was a deliberate attempt to cover it up. until then, it looks really bad. >> how much does this press towards proving the underlying vlgz. >> there's been tremendous coverage on how crappy the government systems are. >> yesterday, the "new york times" admitted that they didn't give it prominent coverage. >> they've done more than a dozen stories. how many do we need? >> it was the "new york times" who said the paper had been somewhat late to the story. by what late, three days late to prort something that is on the wires, something that was online, the fact that there were all these missing lois lerner missing e-mails. i want to turn now to john boehner for announcing he and prosecu prosecute. talking to michele bachmann, this ain't a big deal. >> where was your rage when democrats -- when democrats were going after president bush on the same executive orders? i think you knew then that was a waste of time then and i think you know in your heart of hearts this is a waste of time. >> everybody covers this. was this something of a stunt? >> of course it is. it's ridiculous that it could even go forward. but it is politics and it's so much more interesting to cover politics than it is about policy. if he had talked about executive action and what it means and why it's wrong and why he shouldn't have done this instead of saying i'm suing the president, he wouldn't have had nearly as much coverage. >> the house would have to get a guard ruling to sue a different branch of government. are you surprised it's gotten as much media attention as it has? i'm surprised it hasn't gotten more. i agree with the conservative critiques that this isn't the proper way to try to address what is essentially a political problem. but i think john boehner is using it as ary to focus on this. >> nor is it -- with the first president to use executive orders and executive actions trying to get what he couldn't get from congress. but is it hard for the media, julie, to resist the easy headline speaktory sue president? >> yeah. the standard used to be go ahead and sue and then we'll do the story. but howie, what i'm hearing from journalists is this move by boehner is to appease the impeachment enthusiasts. >> and it gets the word out there, right? that's what rallies the base is that word, impeachment. >> but there was a supreme court decision this week, unanimous, really slapping the president for overstepping. >> right. we'll see what the house threatens to do so. when we come back, hillary is still talking about her bank account on a pbs interview. is this becoming a media object session? and later, the big bite and other absurdities in covering the world cup. as hillary clinton makes the media rounds, she has struggled to talk about her personal wealth. on the issue of income inequality, she told the guardian newspaper people don't see me as part of the problem because we pay ordinary income tax unlike a lot of people who are truly well off. not to name names and we've done it through dint of hard work. asking again on the news hour, why did the former first lady say upon leaving the white house, she was dead broke and indebt. >> i shouldn't have said the five or so words that i said, but you know, my -- in our soun use of those words doesn't change who i am. >> but it sticks sometimes. >> well -- >> ask mitt romney. >> that's an -- >> now it comes up in every interview, lots of stories. has her personal wealth become an object session for the press? >> i think it has. now they're looking at how she's earned that wealth from wall street. i think this is what is being called hoisted on your own petard. she's running into the liberal media by a buzz saw. she ran into it in 2008 when race trumped gender. this is the same media who is obsessed with these questions of wealth that was attacking mitt romney. now hillary is in the cross hairs and she's finding it a very uncomfortable place to be. >> wait. you're saying the eating yos in the journalism business despite the fact that some make seven figure salary sess anti-wealth? >> in fact, i do. i think there is a lot of suspicion over that. i think there's probably some envy because a lot of these journalists go on speaking gigs themselves and they're not earning $225,000 a pop. >> so when the washington post does a big front page piece on how bill and hillary earning this $100,000 and who gave speeches, this is jealousy? >> no, i don't think it's jealousy. there's great reporting by richard bloomberg who did a great piece about their avoidance of the state tax to mask their wealth. but you can't see it's a liberal media thing. the media just doesn't like hillary clinton. >> what's what you think is driving this? >> no, i think it's a story. >> when she says they were dead broke when they left the white house and they made millions of millions of dollars? >> you have to be rich to run for president. john mccain didn't know how much houses he had. john kerry wind surfing off the coast. >> but that was a bad image for his campaign, but it wasn't necessarily the press going after it. the press loves hillary when she focuses on gender. >> "the washington post" did another big story on the wealth question, granting inanymorety to three obama advisers who trashed hillary on this issue. does that bother you? >> this is what's wrong with political journalism. it looks like a hit job when that happens. i hate anonymous sources. at usa today when jack kelly was accused of fabricating stories and he was fired for that, as policy came out that said no anonymous sources. i think that makes for better journalism. it's a crutch when you rely on sources like that. >> but is this a legitimate vetting of a probable presidential candidate who has amassed a time of money and teams to suggest a certainly s dislike for the first lazy. >> there are peep in the obama camp who don't like her, either. that's because of a contentious political fight that they have. >> and the story has stayed in the news because she's continuing as a book tour, author, probable candidate to give these big money speeches to colleges and as you say to big banking. >> right. and ruth marcus in "the washington post" wrote a column telling her, dear hillary, please stop. in fact, i think there is another element at work here and that's the whole clinton inevitable, that the press builds it up and tears it down. we saw bill maher telling hillary, please go away. we'll see enough of you in 2016. >> the arc of the story is long and high as it takes you to apologize which she did not do. >> she shouldn't have to apologize for being rich. >> but she should apologize for saying it unartfully. >> two 1and a half weeks later she said maybe i shouldn't. >> used those words. ahead on "media buzz," "the view" dumps shari shepherd and heather mccarthy. but first, whether the era of the superstar anchor is ending. h. h after a career that took her from "60 minutes" to "good morning america" to the abc anchor desk, diane sawyer is stepping down. her job is being split into three parts. sawyer herself will handle major newsmaker interviews on the air. >> at the end of the summer, i'm going to be moving to a new role at the network. david will be managing editor sitting at this desk. >> what a humbling day this is for me. >> time for the z block. i spoke earlier with david zurwick and here in the studio long time abc korpt correspondent lynn share, author of the new book "sally ride" first woman in space. >> we've just gone seemingly overnight from two female network anchors to three white men again. >> is that a problem? >> i don't think it is. i think what's happened in this two generations since those of us who were kicking in a lot of doors got there in the '70s is that women have been trusted, accepted, they're serious reporters. >> nothing left to prove? >> i won't say there's nothing left to prove. i will say that it's taken that long, but we go from being seen as belonging in the kitchen and the bedroom to being in the board rooms and the anchor booths. so no, it's not over, but this part of it is over. this phase of it is definitely over. >> david, diane sawyer obviously is going to continue to do big interviews at abc news. but given her celebrity star power and her award winning career, is this a law to set back for the network? >> you know, i don't know, howie. i think it totally depends on what diane sawyer and abc choose to do with this. if they just make it kind of a emeritus position, it will be a setback. but i think diane sawyer is one of the smartest people in tv news. and i think the way it was described when you cut through the pr stuff, it's kind of like they wanted her to think big thoughts and come up with new ways to get at stories. i think she could be really terrific at that and she could give abc an intellectual balance that neither of the networks can come close to touching. so i think it would be great. based on her career, she's not going to sit there and do nothing. >> let's talk about that career. there are a lot of good tv interviews out there. what kind do they have to sometimes commit candor? >> i think what's most important is that she's smart. it's important also to listen in an interview. it's the number one quality. and diane does that. what she's done is what so many first females have done is not to mess up. sally ride said she felt no pressure to mess up because she said it reflects on other women. diane, katie, barbara, all of us there at some level said we have to do it well for the next group that comes along. that's what diane has done. >> and what about the strange wage abc is kaurveing up her job. david mure, solid citizen, solid journalist. but george stephanopoulos staying at gma, becoming chief news anchor, which means daefrtdaefr -- >> when i wrote about it i said i don't know if that says more about me or stephanopoulos or about what abc thinks of him. here is what i think. they're not sure what what muir is going to do in a big, big story. think back to the boston bombing where they found the second brother in that boat where he was finally arrested. remember the brilliant interview that diane sawyer did with the next door neighbor on the very brilliant interview. >> can you imagine if cbs told dan rather, you can read that but we're going to do someone else do the story. >> kids are not watching the evening news. they've got to figure out a way to parcel all of this so they get the next generation. this is an attempt to start changing that model. >> not -- >> go ahead, z. >> no, not to totally disagree with that, but i thinkç there an element of what holly is suggesting here, a shrinking of the network news anchor. this is not the stature of the generation, of your generation of anchors and network news people. and it isn't just audience news erosion. i think it's the way the networks have compromised, particularly in coverage, the cable platforms. >> even though people ridicule them, there's still an important franchise. what this says to me is clearly this is a way of making george stephanopoulos the top dog without giving him the evening news chair is that the morning is more important. the good morning america is hoped to be a player. it's now number one in the ratings. >> it's more important in terms of money. it is not necessarily more important in how people get their news. that's clearly fanl decision being made. this is what the mt. works are dialing by giving george did liveness and getting to do all these breaking stories, that, to me, is the big deal. >> and howie, that's the other half of the story is that they had to take care of george. he's making money for them. in many ways, he totally deserves it. he is the big gun. one, they're not so sure about mayette. not going to pick him -- i think it's not a pad strategy. they have a backup here pep thanks very much for joining us. now, i don't know anything about the personal life of apple chief tim cook and i don't think. but krnz anchor simon hawk made a breath taking comment after columnist james stewart on the air there are lots of gay ceos, but a number of them wouldn't talk to him about that. >> not one would allow -- >> well, i think tim cook is pretty open about the fact that he's gay as the head of apple, isn't he? oh, dear, was that an error? i don't know. >> an error? try mind numbingly stupid. you cannot speculate about someone's sexuality on national television, period. >> coming up, are steech colbert >> coming up, are steech colbert and jon stewart lose iing basketball softball cannonball which sounds most fun to you? ♪ i'll be back at the top of the hour for your top headlines. >> america has never been a soccer country, but there's been a huge surge of interest as the world cup has advanced to the second round. and the media coverage exploded when luis suarez bit a player from the italian team and was suspended. joining us now, jim gray. jim, this bite definitely disgusting. i think we can agree on that. but it's not like the first time it's happened. is the coverage been a bit overboard? >> no, i don't think so. i think it's been accurately portrayed. i was in the ring when mike tyson bit evander holyfield's ear. it's never lived him down. that was 1997. no, i don't think it was overboard. we're not used to seeing people in competition bite other players and this guy did it on a world stage. i don't think it's overboard at all, no. so ann coulter has gotten a lot of attention saying that the sign of america's moral decay and individual achievement is not a big factor and almost no one scores, anyway. what do you make of the soccer deextracters out there during this world cup period? >> get a life. this has been fun. for all the people who are casual fans or don't know what they're watching, it's been a great time as finally america has joined the work. soccer now has become at least in this country like the olympics. everybody is watching it. they're having viewing parties. they're cheering for the country, they're cheering for other countries. it's been a great time. i see no problem with this. what is the problem with it? it's in a time zone where you can watch it now. it's not in south africa or europe where you have to get up in the middle of the night. the kids grow up playing sock perpendicular flower they're watching soccer. it's great. >> in the famous game where the u.s. tied with portugal, it happened in something called stoppage times. and the "new york times" had to run a front page speech explaining that in any game, the referee can add as much time as he wants and doesn't have to tell anybody. what kind of weird rule is that? >> well, they don't stop the clock for injuries and they don't stop the clock when the ball goes out of boundsen like football or basketball or other things. so i guess somebody is keeping track or the referee is keeping track in his mind and then he add the time. there are oddities. you have to get used to it. players don't know, coaches don't know. >> yes. the whole country was upset when we tied portugal. well, a tie is usual all right. then the whole country was happy when we lost to germany. there are some things to get used to in this qualifying round. they don't know a whole lot about it. >> hang on. >> so finally, espn through that game we just talked about with the u.s., soccer game in the united states. >> it looks like a great time in brazil. the stadiums look happy, the viewing parties. if you're going to find a problem with this -- >> all right. i think we need to send you to rio. thanks for joining us today. >> i wouldn't go that far. i'm enjoying it on television. thanks. phone hacking scandal with a conviction of a former tabloid. test test . the "new york times" and washington post both gave front page to a special prosecutor's court filing saying wisconsin's republican governor scott walker is under investigation. so did a lot of other folks including msnbc's chris matthews and al sharpton. >> he's a top presidential hopeful, but today he's denying allegations by prosecutors that he was part of a, quote, criminal scheme to buy a late election law. >> but late this week, the prosecutors said that walker was not a target and that the documents did not prove that any crime was committed, only that further investigation was needed. now, the times, the post and most of the other outlets did run follow-up stories, but often not as prominently. but hard ball and al sharpton could not find the time to report that walker is not a criminal target. the phone hacking trial involving news of the world dragged on, but this week, rebekah brooks was cleared of all charges. >> i am innocent of the crimes that i was charged with, and i feel vindy indicated by the unanimous verdict. when i was arrested, it was in the middle of a maelstrom of controversy, of politics and of comments. some of that was fair, but much of it is not. >> the royal family members and others, a political bombshell because coulson had moved from running news of the world to the communications director for david cameron. that prompted the prime minister to apologize for his bad judgment. this was an embarrassing episode for murdoch who shut down news of the world and it showed the london press that there were limits to the sleezy behavior the public will tolerate. the egyptian charges against three -- from al jazeera, one journal it was convicted to seven years and another to ten years. this is about egypt's military government cracking down on reporting. the white house has demanded they be released. whatever your views about al jazee jazeera, this is a terrible outcome. president obama calls in three female activists to push his agenda. first, we'll have the video verdict. @xw@ñ@ñ time now for our "video verdict." president obama invited three female anchors to the white house for interviews, and let's stipulate at the top they all did a good job of pressing him on the chaos in iraq. >> but the women were also there because the white house was staging a conference on working families. let's take a look at how each of them handled that subject beginning with msnbc's mika brzezinski. >> it's funny you talk about dads who want their kids. when they leave work, i wish you could do something about this, and it's to be with their kids. everyone's, like, oh, look at that great dad! he's amazing. meanwhile, we're sneaking out, hoping that no one notices that we're doing what we're supposed to do. >> no, i think you're right. i think there's a little bit of a double standard there. >> totally. >> all right, her bias is showing there, right? she's obviously for whatever the white house is doing here, but i have to say as a -- that's what i say as a journalist, but as a working mom, i get it. i get what she's saying. i think there is -- and i get what he's saying. i think there is a double standard. >> i can see why you would identify with that. at the same time, she's there at the white house to interview the president of the united states about something that he's pushing. and she and a couple of other journalists later went to this conference and moderated panels. doesn't that make -- isn't there an appearance problem? >> well, there is, but i think as i've made this point before, howie, that we know where she's coming from. it's not a surprise. she is there as the democratic on her show as the democratic token. >> what's your score? >> i give her a 5. >> i'm giving her a 3. next up, cbs's norah o'donnell. >> i mean, you look at even as, you know, your oldest daughter does an internship. do you look and say, wow! much hasn't changed. and this is kind of a problem, and i don't want my daughter to have to go through this. >> it's important for us to not to deny the progress that's been made. >> well, she seems to have bought into it as well. i mean, this seemed to be a question that was saying i kind of agree with what's happening and let's hear your story about it. >> right. i didn't think it was as blatant as earlier with mika, but it does seem like they were kind of validating working families' agenda which is what the white house wanted. your score? >> a 7. >> i'll give norah o'donnell a four. >> there's cnn's kate bolduan. >> it's no secret that democrats' midterm election strategy is to pitch to women to get the women to come out to vote. they've said that. >> yeah. >> is this all politics? >> i was raised by a single mom. >> now, that's exactly what a journalist should be doing. you can be sympathetic to it as a woman, but you ought to ask at least a couple of questions. >> she nailed it. she definitely nailed it. although i do have to ding her for the end of the interview asking for advice about her baby. so i'm giving her a 9. >> she patted her tummy. i'm giving her a 10 because i think she asked whether it was all politics and that's important. still to come, your best tweets and lauren and i do battle on "the o'reilly factor" over the political predilections of jon stewart and stephen colbert. h. h here are a few of your top tweets on whether the media has devoted enough attention to the irs scandal. steve says no, because they are happy with the irs went after the tea party. two, they are afraid it's true and will go after obama. why not put this in the context of total recordkeeping mess at irs and federal agencies in general. the blame game easier. a lot of weighed in on diane sawyer stepping down at abc. stair ra, sawyer, i think wanted more creative control and more time doing pieces she wanted without the format and restriction of nightly show. rich unger, it was her time to leave. david muir is an excellent, fresh, new millennial anchor that will grow ratings with new demographics. >> howard, did you notice it's going to take two men to do diane sawyer's job? >> you know, you're right. >> i am. >> "the view" is suddenly imploding. abc is tearing up the show by axing jenny mccarthy and sherri shephe shepherd. it really floundered this season, steering away from politics and garnering little attention. abc is calling this an exciting new direction but it will take high-profile new hires. more after "the buzz." finally, do jon stewart and stephen colbert have a bit less influence these days because they go easy on president obama? lauren and i disagreed on that, not surprisingly, on "the o'reilly factor." >> they prop up the democratic party and the liberal line, president obama, by denigrating their opposition. >> jon stewart's peak of influence was really when iraq was out of control during the bush administration. >> look at all the scandals that have happened under the obama administration. you have the irs scandal, the v.a. scandal, iraq in chaos and let's not forget about obamacare, and they went really hard on obama about that. >> really hard? >> no, i didn't see it, lauren. maybe you're watching the closed-circuit broadcast. >> first of all, lauren, you should throw colbert under the bus because he took you said and took it out of context and made you sound like a conspiracy theorist. >> well, i showed him. >> i'm not messing with you. >> don't, right? i have a couple more weeks of this. >> you've had time to think about it. >> no. >> don't you think that stewart and colbert -- >> no. >> -- who are very talented guys and i believe changed journalism. >> they have. they cover him, and it's funny. remember the whole skit about glitches where they talked about everybody is saying glitch, glitch, glitch, glitch. yes, they hit hard. no. >> closed-circuit tv? >> bill doesn't think so. >> i just think they've kind of taken themselves a little bit out of the conversation because they've gone easy. >> you're crazy. you're crazy. >> okay, we've established that i'm crazy. that's it for this edition of "media buzz." i'm howard kurtz. on facebook we take your comments and post video exclusives. we're back here next sunday morning, 11:00 and 5:00 eastern with the latest "buzz." >> it is monday june 30th a fox news bart. one decision day for one of the most watched cases. the justices handing down a decision on hobby lobby fight against obamacare. >> breaking overnight the frightening pictures from inside a plane after an emergency evacuation deploys midnight. today president obama will ask for more than 2 bll dollars to help our borders but will it make an impact? "fox and friend first starts right now. >> good moanimorning. good monday morning. you are watching "fox & friends first" on this monday. i am heather childers. >> i am ainsley earhardt. the supreme court is expected to look at one of the controversial laws of obamacare. >> supporters of hobby lobby are feeling confident of their obamacare challenge. peter doocy is live with more on this land park place. >> today's case brought by hobby lock bee and it all boils down to this question can the contraception mandate force companies to provide their oy pleas with free contraceptives? republicans don't think so. >> hoping they can uphold the rights of individuals for expression of their religious freedoms. the end does not justify the means in these cases. it's a 9-0 decision last week

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