alan dershowitz joins us shortly. but first, a sidebar that shouldn't be lost. i'm talking about msnbc being banned from the courtroom. as the jurors were leaving after a day of deliberations, police stopped a man who identified himself as an msnbc price. and as judge bruce schrader explained, he said his bosses in new york had given him an assignment. >> he gave that information and stated that he had been instructed by ms. ryland in new york to follow the jury bus. i have instructed that no one from msnbc will be permitted in this building until duration of this trial. this is a are serious matter. howard: nbc claims this was a freelancer who just happened to be near the bus and had no intention of photographing the jurors. if he was trying to do that, it would be monumentally dumb given the tense situation in the wisconsin town. was msnbc actually thinking of putting out pictures of the jurors and putting them in danger? i'm howard kurtz, and this is "mediabuzz." ♪ ♪ howard: the heated and purely partisan media debate has been growing even louder since kyle rittenhouse was found not guilty. >> now it's just open season. like, if i'm walking around and i'm a white nationalist, you know, coward little kid with an ar-15 and i see somebody drive by with a black lives matter bumper sticker and i feel threatened, i could -- >> propaganda doesn't always win. >> the fact that the white principle cysts roam the halls -- supremacists roam the halls freely and the fact he gets to walk the streets freely, these people have access to instituting laws. they represent the legislative the branch of this country. >> for anyone who actually watched the trial instead of the talking a heads on the other nercs, this -- networks, this came as no surprise. but the attempt to convict the 18-year-old in the court of public opinion speaks to the mob mentality that threatens to tear this country apart. howard: joining us now in new york, will cain, cohost of "fox & friends" weekend, and here in washington, tara palmieri of politico. there is little question that much of the media convicted kyle rittenhouse in advance, painted him as a racist vigilante. what is the magnitude the, in your view, of the media malpractice here? >> irredeemably corrupt, should be sued into extinction, into bankruptcy. kyle rittenhouse should absolutely take a flamethroer to cnn and msnbc and co-own them. i can't believe the clips that that you just played. that's after the trial, by the way. that's after the trial. how just stunning the idiocy. that's the kind of tough that in the past might have been found on cable access channels, you know, just lunacy, ranting and raving, but now it's found its way into the mainstream media, and there needs to be accountability. i think two forms will come in the form, one, of a defamation lawsuit, and two, it is coming in the form of consumer choice. people don't want to be lied to, and the ratings of hose channels affirms that -- those channels affirms that fact. howard: it's certainly possible that kyle rittenhouse wants to get his life back and not spend years in litigation. tara, kyle rittenhouse trial was designed to protect white conservatives who kill, actually, the trial was designed to determine whether this particular person was guilty or innocent. what i've learned from covering many trials over the years is pregained narratives don't matter as much as the actual testimony. rittenhouse testified he was attacked with a skateboard with one guy he shot. the guy he wounded admitted he had pointed his gun at kyle rittenhouse first before being wounded. why do you think much of the press so politicized this one trial? >> well, the trial was televised, right, so it captured the nation, and it allowed us in our living rooms or at work to play the role of the jury. but the truth is that the trial is going on from 9 to 5, right? when most people are watching. and they'll watching it while working, behind the scenes. but then at night the pundits are out, they play the clips x hay take the the clips they like and don't like, and they play that. and that's probably when most americans are giving the television most of their attention, right? but they're watching it from behind the scenes. and i just think this actual trial, both the bases for the left and white. it was guns, black lives matter, justice system, white supremacy. it was everything that both sides want; i just wonder if the middle who they both need to win the next election actually paid attention because with there was just so much noise. i also think at the end of the the day that this trial, because of the sheer timing and coincidence, has overshadowed a big win for the democrats, the build back better package in the house, something you would think they would want to be blaring all day long and also on the networks. but if you watched the network news, they led with rittenhouse on friday because that was the day the verdict came out. howard: completely obliterated. the bill does have to go through the senate, of course. >> right. howard: president biden came out saying he was angry and concerned like many americans, but we must acknowledge the jury has spoke. is this an effort by some liberal pundits and politicians to make kyle rittenhouse a symbol of armed white people run amok and to hell with the facts of the case in. >> yes, absolutely. leapt me charitable. here's what i think is going on. i think many on the left feel like they have a fidelity to what they might describe as a moral truth, a higher truth. racism run amok in the united states of america, it was founded upon racism, and it doesn't matter how many lies you have to tell or how many lives you have to sacrifice -- in this case, that would be kyle rittenhouse -- to serve that higher moral truth, and they're willing to do so. and they did tell lies, you know, that he's a white supremacist, zero evidence. that he crossed state lines with an ar-15. he didn't do that. i had lunch with a friend yesterday who consumes what we would call mainstream media. he said, did you know the guys kyle rittenhouse shot were white? yeah, i do know. and i understand why you would not know that, because you have been lied to for the better participant of the year. and i'm being charitable because i think they think they're pursuing a higher moral truth. howard: yeah. and that is a point i tried to make which is trials are not about a higher moral truth, they're about guilt or innocence. and if you were on trial, somebody you knew was on trial, you would want that. at the same time, some media conservatives, tara, are trying to make rittenhouse into a folk hero. i don't think he was a hero, but at the same time, he was entitled to a fair trial. but the more can did ones were acknowledging it was not wise to take an ar-15 into a zone of violence after the shooting of jacob blake. so you're getting this on both sides, circling back to your original point about the base of media and of politics. >> right. it definitely represents their viewers and their feelings about their viewers. i saw it on tucker carlson who has a documentary on kyle rittenhouse and and that, obviously, would appeal to the people who are watching his show. you might see the opposite on msnbc from one of the hosts in the evening. i think at the end of the day it's a very emotional issue on both sides, but it only really appeals to people on the edges, the fringes of those both conservative and liberal parties. and i think in the middle people are sort of watching it, that they're thinking about the issues, but maybe they're also thinking about other things as well like pocketbook issues before the election. >> really quickly if i could jump in, the only thing i'd push back on is this idea that kyle rittenhouse's trial is being partisan, and it has been driven by the polls of each ideology. here's the thing, we have -- we used to have more, lofty ideological debates. but what we're talking about now is a battle for the basis of basic truth. and basic truth was denied to the public over the kyle rittenhouse trial. the public does not know the details of the case. howie, you're right, the jury got past the the pregame narrative because they were in the courtroom and heard the evidence. but most people, as you pointed out, were at home and didn't get to see that. so the the pregame narrative played in their minds if, and the battle over build back better, it isn't over, it's the basic truth. and that's why i see the media is irredeemably corrupt and needs to be to have the. ed into extinction. howard: let me follow up because what so struck me is not so much the battle that took place before the verdict, but what's happening now as we saw in the clip at the top of the show. despite the fact he was found not guilty, you have have msnbc calling him a murderous white supremacist. well, he's not murderous in the eyes of the law. samantha bee, this sends a message to future -- beth9 middler -- bette midler, fundamentally stupid. rosanna arquette, i don't want to live in a country that is ruled by violent racists. they've not accepting, in my view, the justice system. >>. no, i guess they would replace it with trial by media, trial by social media, trial by celebrity. i'm pretty -- although imperfect and the justice system can be improved upon, by the way, this should have never made its way to a courtroom. it was clearly self-defense. while it's imperfect, it is the best criminal justice system to ever grace the face of this planet. howard: tara, let me bring this into your area of expertise, which is politics. jerry nadler says he wants the justice department to review this case. apparently, doesn't like what a wisconsin jury decided to do. governor gavin newsom in california says this shows armed vigilantes can get away with it. senator tom cotton wants joe biden to apologize. are the media flogging this as a story because, obviously, there's so much public interestsome. >> yes. and i think the public interest is actually, is infused by the interests by our leaders. i mean, they are -- our political leaders have turned this into a political case. you have president trump putting out a statement after -- howard: [inaudible] >> exactly. and then you have the president of the united states carefully trying to say i don't necessarily agree with this, i'm confused. he's not coming out as strong ily as the former -- strongly as the former president, but it becomes a part of the debate which has superseded any talk about policy as we saw because by the end of the night, there wasn't a single story on a massive spending bill that came out of congress, and all you saw was rittenhouse. that story, apparently, televisions think that will i appeal to voters -- politicians think that will appeal more than policy. howard: a trial is not a social media movement, it is a judicial proceeding to try and decide if somebody is guilty or innocent and should go to jail for the fatal shooting of two people. the jury decided otherwise. ahead, alan dershowitz on this very trial, but when we come back, the media warfare over the democratic censure of congressman paul gosar. stay with us. it's another day. and anything could happen. it could be the day you welcome 1,200 guests and all their devices. or it could be the day there's a cyberthreat. only comcast business' secure network solutions give you the power of sd-wan and advanced security integrated on our activecore platform so you can control your network from anywhere, anytime. it's network management redefined. every day in business is a big day. we'll keep you ready for what's next. comcast business powering possibilities. howard: the media are fueling the outrage on both sides after house democrats censured republican congressman paul gosar for post an an nation showing him killing alexandria ocasio-cortez. >> there is no threat other than the threat immigration poses to our country. if i must join alexander hamilton, so be it. >> it's unprecedented for a member of house leadership of either party to be unable to condemn incitement of violence against a member of this body. it is sad -- >> pushing for the censure of congressman paul gosar of arizona who stupidly tweeted some an may cartoon of, i guess he was killing aoc. they want to engaging in just petty retribution over things that have no effect on the lives of americans. >> congressman gosar is not a congress math. he exists only to lead, to be part of insurrections, to be part of mobs. howard: will, many conservative commentators say paul gosar's video was a joke, killing aoc, stabbing joe biden, used by democrats to punish a guy whose politics they don't like. liberal commentators say it was totally unacceptable, and that led to this party-line vote with two republicans joining the democrats. we have a real media divide here. >> by degree. by degree from what most everyone ooh i've heard from, everyone agrees it was a juvenile, dumb video for gosar to post, the question is whether or not it is incitement to violence. and again, you know the word that everyone's had to become familiar with, howie? narrative. what is narrative? narrative is a overarching story that you can fit real truths into. the narrative is that republicans are inciting violence. they're going to hold up january 6th. and they're going to use paul gosar as their evidence of that fact. let's talk about real incitement to violence. when is the last time a congressman was attacked? when was the last time somebody's life was threaten. i believe that would be steve scalise, literally shot on a baseball field. you can do this at the same time the, you can say how dumb, a juvenile video he shouldn't have done and, by the way, congress has real work, and this isn't among that work. actually solve immigration. it's not incitement to violence. howard: kevin mccarthy and house gop leaders must have thought this would blow over. mccarthy said he spoke to paul go or star, and go star was unapologetic, but the media were not about to let it past, what they cast as a threat. >> right. i mean, he was essentially serving up a talking point that liberal media and democratic politicians are clinging to which is that republicans incite violence. this is coming off of january 6th. it's a very strong talking point, by the way. and it makes sense that they would seize on it and keep going because it appeals to their base and what they want, and it also appeals to a lot of up e dependent voters who are, you know, care about safety, right -- independent voters. howard: how much does it appeal to the media? it is a story based on images and symbolism or, if you will, actual threat. i mean, to me, it really kept this story going long before there was a censure vote. >> that's fair. the point is this is actually, though, like, a very juvenile -- howard: got it. [laughter] >> -- messaging. and the fact that the he really wasn't condemned by the republican party. i think that, yeah, they got a lashing for it. you can dispute how long it should have lasted for, but if you're talking about the pundits, yes, the the liberal pun differents are going to go after this. it's the red meat. it was served up to them. the media was probably waiting on manager from republican leadership, and they didn't get it, and then the retweet kept it living. so in a way, go star kept the story going -- gosar kept the story going. howard: there was the sound of silence, to quote paul simon. kevin mccarthy is warning about payback if the gop takes over saying gosar's committee assignments would be restored, same with marjorie taylor green who was stripped of her assignments this year. do you think it might be covered differently if that happens? >> yes, i definitely do. by the way, your expectation that there's going to be a republican takeover in 2022, i think, is a bit of a rebuttal to what tara just said. i don't think it is a strong talking point. i think the democrats -- i think you're right, tara, i think they're going to try to make it a talking point that january 6th has these echoes throughout our nation. and if americans are worried about security, i think they're more worried about crime rates in cities across this country, not. so much whether or not there was a riot on january 6th. so i don't think it is a strong talking point. i think we're going to see that in the election results. it sounds like everyone's expectation is that i'm right to, we will see that. >> but wasn't january 6th just another reaction to, you know, divisive political debate and how it incited the right, and a lot of independent voters don't want to hear about it. howard: "the wall street journal" has the decline of -- [inaudible] this is kind of a cartoon the congress. not approving what paul gosar did, saying most americans care much about this. >> at the end of the day, like you said, the fact that it was not quickly dismissed and condemned -- hugh howe i think if he'd have apologized or house republican leadership had said we don't approve, this story would have gone away without a censure vote. just my opinion. good to see you both, cain, tara palmeri. chris christie is working the the circuit about 2024, and the shows keep pressing him about criticizing donald trump. ♪ the experts at safelite autoglass came right to me... ♪ ♪ >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ ♪♪ fresh flavors... classic dishes... ♪♪ and a new seat at the table. ♪♪ (burke) i've seen this movie before. (woman) and a newyou have?the table. (burke) sure, this is the part where all is lost and the hero searches for hope. then, a mysterious figure reminds her that she has the farmers home policy perk, guaranteed replacement cost. and that her home will be rebuilt, regardless of her limits or if the cost of materials has gone up. (woman) that's really something. (burke) get a whole lot of something with farmers policy perks. wait, i didn't ruin the ending, did i? (woman) yeah, y-you did. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ ♪ howard: chris christie is all over television peddling a new book, actually supporting another run for president, and trying to criticize donald trump without alien night his voters -- alienating his voters. he's getting pushback from the press. >> what i'm saying to you is that i'm not going to sit here in 2021 and prejudge all of this. >> with all due respect, that sounds like a copout. >> do you accept that donald trump embraced anti-democratic values that damaged our democracy? >> what i accept is that he has not accepted the results of the election and that that undercuts our democracy. howard: joining us now, susan ferrechio, chief congressional correspondent for the washington examiner. susan, isn't it pretty clear that that some of these tv hosts want chris christie to go much further and issue a full-throated denunciation of donald trump? >> oh, of course. and christie is in a really precarious position. he's sort of in a political no man's land because, as you remember, he was one of the early endorsers of president trump. in fact, i think he was the first big gop name to get behind trump after his own failed presidential bid. but now he's trying to reverse the situation and talk about things that are a little bit critical of president trump, trying to straddle both sides. and the president -- press isn't letting him do it because they want christie, the former trump insider, to fully denounce the president. literally every time he goes on for an interview, i expect that's going to be the goal, get him to talk about trump and all of his flaws rather than what i think christie really wants to do which is rebrand himself as someone who can help steer the republican party forward. i'm just not sure there's an audience for christie doing something like that given the fact that early endorser of the president and now he wants to writ size him. howard: -- criticize him. howard: he deflects saying politics should be about the future and all that. do you think these journalists are legitimately trying to hold him accountable or they just don't like the idea of a potential 2024 political candidate mildly criticizing trump without driving away voters? >> i think it's former, the first part of that which is they're trying to get him as a former trump insider to denounce the president. he's been a target of the press since he was running for president in 2016. first of all, he was a huge star in the republican party. 2010, 80% approval rating. when he left, he had 14% approval rating. so he's always been trying to rebrand with himself and find his footing in the party. so he is kind of, in some ways, stuck in this position of either you're on trump's side or you're not. and every time he goes and does these media interviews and tries to promote his book, it's all about his association with trump and what that might mean for 2024. howard: in one interview he was asked if he regrets supporting donald trump, and he said, no, because i think hillary clinton would have been a worse president. the fact that he was an adviser for four years and then says, well, he should have accepted the 2020 election, stop talking about it, basically he's test marketing whether there is a market for that in a potential gop primary. i've got half a minute. >> that's right. and he is test marketing that, he's going for the sort of glenn youngkin approach to try and be on both sides of the issue. the difference is glenn youngkin never worked for president trump, never got out there on the campaign trail and endorsed him ahead of time the way christie did going out on a limb. he's always going to be that kind of target for the media, and it's going to be really tough for him to find his place in a party just given his history with the president. howard: yeah. a lot of that you so rightly point out. we'll sew see you later in the program. next on "mediabuzz," alan dershowitz has been ripping the coverage of kyle rittenhouse as horribly unfair, and he's on deck to talk about the kenosha trial. (computer keys clicking) (mouse clicks) - shriners hospitals for children is awesome! my favorite people in shriners are the doctors and the nurses because they help people through life. wow, i was a really cute kid! (chuckles) but it's true! shriners hospitals for children is awesome! the first time i went to shriners hospitals for children, i was two months old. since then, they have helped me with over 18 operations, and thousands of rehabilitation hours. because of their care, now, i live a full independent life. i got my driver's license, and i'm going to college! your monthly gift provides me, and so many other kids with the care we need to just be kids. when you call right now, and give just $19 a month, only 63 cents a day, we'll send you this adorable blanket as your reminder of the journey you helped me make, and the journey you're helping other kids make too. please, do me a favor, pick up the phone, and call this special number to give your monthly gift. or, go online to loveshriners.org right away to give your monthly support. it's amazing to know that there's someone looking out for me and my family. and it isn't just the doctors and nurses who have been looking out for me, it was you. when you call, or go online to give, i know you care, and are looking out for me, and all my other friends at shriners hospitals for children. - [everybody] thank you! - thank you! - thank you. - thank you for giving! - so let's keep this amazing story going with your monthly gift right now! what do you say? all you have to do is pick up your phone, or go to loveshriners.org, and you'll be a part of something special too. thank you so much! ♪ howard: in the days before a kenosha jury acquitted kyle rittenhouse, judge bruce schrader unloaded on the coverage. >> when i talked about problems with the media when in this trial started, you're there in part because of grossly irresponsible handling of what can comes out of this trial that's really quite frightening. howard: joining us now from new york, alan dershowitz, author of the book "the case for vaccine mandates." you were ripping the coverage saying that cnn and other networks were acting like vigilantes. explain. >> this is the worst case of coverage of a criminal trial in more than a half century that i have been observing media obsessions with criminal trials including the o.j. simpson case. this was the worst we've seen. more factual mistakes have been made. i have a remedy for this. let cnn replay every one of the mistakes they made; he carried an illegal gun over tate lines, he had no business being in kenosha, he had no relatives. let them put on the air the people who made those misstatements, let them either justify them or apologize. let there be some accountability. i are have for years said that jeffrey toobin and others at cnn who make so many mistakes, so many false statements, they should have those played back after they've been proved false the same with scarborough, with don lemon. there has to be accountability. now, i'm a first amendment supporter, so i'm reluctant to encourage lawsuits although i'm suing cnn for doctoring a tape of what i said in front of the senate. the first amendment doesn't protect against malicious statements. here the statements were malicious, repeated, they continued to occur even after the verdict. there's no excuse for it. howard: obviously, not just cnn. you also mentioned the new yorker and other news organizations. but with all of that -- and mistakes were made, and maybe it's more than just mistakes, but the tone and the attitude of the coverage -- isn't vigilantes a pretty strong word? >> no, i don't think. vigilante is somebody who wants to impact the outcome of a case, to put the elbow on the scale of justice without any basis at all. i was using the term only because they used the term against rittenhouse. now, that's not a defamatory term, vigilante. white principle cyst is. white supremacist. there are cases that say you can sue them for defamation. that's not an opinion, that's a fact. and it's the people on cnn and msnbc, the people who called him a white supremacist in the media cannot justify it by evidence, they should be sued, and there should be accountability. so, no, i think there were vigilantes that were trying to impact the trial without an evidentiary basis. howard: what do you think has been driving these characterizations of kyle ratinghouse who -- rittenhouse who, you know, i'm not saying he's a hero. 17-year-old kid, took an ar-15 into a dangerous zone in wisconsin. racist individual hannity, white supremacist -- vigilante, white supremacist, and some are still i saying that because they don't like the verdict. what do you think is driving that? >> i think we want to keep the country divided. you're either a white supremacist or a black lives matter advocate. imagine if the shoe were on the other foot. imagine if it was a young black man who was accused, and he was claiming self-defense. would don lemon say that his tears are crocodile tears? nobody would allow them to get away with it. the shoe on the other foot test isn't passed by the media. they want a particular narrative that divides the country into you're for trump, you're a white supremacist, or you're for black lives matter, and you're a woke person. the vast majority of america, as you said, they want to see a criminal trial determine did the state prove beyond a reasonable doubt that this man at this time did not act in self-defense. the answer to that is clear, notwithstanding the fact that my former colleague larry tribe and others who claim to be civil libertarians, suddenly they're9 rooting against criminal justice fairness? suddenly they're rooting against due process? many of them are against free speech. they have given up civil liberties in the name of a result, and the result is keep the country divided on racial and ideological lines. and the rittenhouse case was a perfect way to do that even though the facts didn't fit the scenario and the narrative. howard: right. i don't have a problem with people criticizing aspects of the trial, but it was more like this sends a terrible message to americans, to other people who might take the law into their own hands. you felt so strongly about the evidence of self-defense that you said this should never even have gone to a jury trial. but in a way, isn't it a good thing, the fact that it was televised, that people got to see the details so they understood why he was found not guilty on all counts? >> yeah. thank god for live coverage of trials. it's a check and balance on media. because don lemon can't get away with saying they were crocodile tears when millions of people watched him and believed him. and so the the actual televising of trials is a protection. it protects against the media mischaracterizing the case. look, in many cases when you see the case live on television the, you know it's going to come out a certain way. when you don't see it, when you hear it through the filter of biased reporters, you're shocked. and that's what turns people to the streets. people turn to the streets screaming and yelling about rittenhouse, particularly in brooklyn where the campaign against rittenhouse was started by people holding palestinian flags yelling intifada. it's part of a broad narrative. it has nothing to do with this young man who's not a hero, who shouldn't have been there, who shouldn't have had an ar-15. no 17-year-old kid should have that. but they turned this into a case involving everything on the hard left and every accusation of white supremacy that comes out of the woke culture. howard: yeah. whatever mistakes he made, he was entitled to a fair trial, not a trial to uphold some kind of social justice banner. alan dershowitz, always good to see you. thanks for your expert analysis here. >> thank you. howe ohio a tough cnn story on kamala harris strikes a nerve at the white house and sparks accusations of racism and sex itch. is that fair? coming up. ♪ ♪ fine, we'll sleep here. ♪♪ it's the easiest because it's the cheesiest. kraft. for the win win. kevin! kevin? kevin. oh nice. kevin, where are you? kevin?!?!? hey, what's going on? i'm right here! i was busy cashbacking for the holidays with chase freedom unlimited. i'm gonna cashback on a gingerbread house! oooh, it's got little people inside! and a snowglobe. oh, i wished i lived in there. you know i can't believe you lost another kevin. it's a holiday tradition! that it is! earn big time with chase freedom unlimited. how do you cashback? chase. make more of what's yours. ♪ howard: cnn has sparked a big backlash, critics accusing the network of racism and sexism for the to story saying the white house is fed up can kamala harris, but he's also saying the vp and her staff feel sidelined by the biden team. >> west wing staffers say they are throwing up their hands believing her staff doesn't serve her well and frustrated by what they perceive to be awkward answers. howard: and it was no coincidence the vice president suddenly appeared on gma. >> what do you say to your friends who are frustrated? >> this was a good week. >> so you don't feel misused or underused? >> no, i don't. [laughter] i am very, very excited about the work that we have accomplished. howard: joining us now, susan ferrechio of the washington examiner is back with us and richard fowler, radio talk show host and fox news contributor. susan, what really struck me was this torrent of criticism from left-wingers by this piece saying it was racist, sexist, a congressional nominee saying kamala harris is being attacked because she is a black woman in high office. really in. >> that is so ridiculous. first of all, she's getting a lot of media attention because she's the first woman in the white house, the first one. she's going to get all kinds of attention just because of that. and she's the vice president. it's a very ill-defined role, and so the biden administration has tried to give her a bigger role. just because of, i think because of the historic nature of her being vice president. and they've given her, i think they've set her up for failure. they've given her roles that are impossible to succeed in like the border czar role. how the heck are are you going to clean up the border with the biden administration policies in place right now? so i think she is being ill-served by the biden administration. not by her own staff. but i also think she doesn't do well in interor views, she comes across as awkward. and there's a reason she was the first person to drop out of the presidential race because she doesn't have that kind of appeal. howard: let me get richard in. there are obvious tensions between vp and the biden white house. many people have reported that. tensions on both sides. does the backlash suggest to you that any criticism of kamala harris is vulnerable to being dismissed as mere racism or sexism? >> no. let's be very clear, i do think sex and race play here. to super's point, she's the first woman, black woman in this role. but with that being said, there are fair criticisms to point at the vice president. for me, as somebody from jamaican descent, i have a problem with how this white house has handled haiti. a lot of that is on her watch. i do think there are some tactical errors being made by her team. i'm not sure i'm going to put her on good morning america as her first interview. maybe it would have been better to have her in person with the reporter. but i do think that there are some mistakes, and i think the vice president's office realizes that. we saw this week that they have dismissed their communications director. there seems to be more shaking and rumbling in the office because they understand they do have a storytelling problem. howard: yeah. she doesn't do many tv interviews, and i'm glad she went on good morning america. whether she helped herself is another question. susan, this was a story reported by edward isaac and jasmine wright who is a black woman, going to the question of motivation here by cnn. it prompted ron klain and jin psaki to go on -- jen psaki to praise harris as a bold leader. that just says to me it struck a nerve. >> well, i think the information about the biden administration undermining her is really interesting. and it's plausible, to me. what is not plausible to me is this continued storyline about, with all due respect, richard, that has anything to do with sexism or racism. i mean, there are two things here, focusing on the first woman vice president and the fact that the vice president is a role that's very hard for anybody to succeed in. just look back over history. there's a reason why -- don't want the vice presidency, because they think it'll be the death knell for their political career. it's kind of a silent job. and then there's kamala harris' own appeal and the way she does interviews. i think there are all these separate issues. you have to look at it very closely. instead of just saying, well, she's the first woman and she happens to be black, so there's got to be some sexism or racism -- howard: there's no question that kamala harris gets extra media scrutiny not only because of her status as a trailblazer, but she was bill adds heir apparent -- as heir apparent if biden doesn't run in 2024. >> i think, one, there is some tension, there seems to be some clear tension between the president's office and the vice president's office. but beyond that, to my point earlier, i do think what's missing here is a clear storyline, a clear ark of the narrative for the -- arc of the narrative for the vice president. howie, you and i know that if you don't sell a clear storyline to the washington media, they will create one for you. and what we have happening here is the media is building their job. they're building a storyline for kamala harris because her team has not built one for her. howard: is so you don't think the media being overly critical of harris compared to other vps in. >> i think there's no question that race and sex play here, but there's real criticism of the vice president's office. as a democrat, i'm telling you there's real criticism of the vice president's office. but i think you can't look at it in a vacuum and say race and sex doesn't play into how she's being evaluated by the media and american people overall. howard: and on that point, susan ferrechio, richard fowler, thanks so much. alex jones losing a lawsuit, george clooney rips alec baldwin and more coming up on the buzz feared. ♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ if your dry eye symptoms keep coming back, what?! no! over the counter eye drops typically work by lubricating the eyes and may provide temporary relief. xiidra works differently, targeting inflammation that can cause dry eye disease. it can provide lasting relief. xiidra is the only fda-approved non-steroid eye drop specifically for the signs and symptoms of dry eye disease. one drop in each eye, twice a day. don't use if you are allergic to xiidra. common side effects include eye irritation, discomfort or blurred vision when applied to the eye, and unusual taste sensation. don't touch container tip to your eye or any surface. after using xiidra wait 15 minutes before reinserting contacts. ♪♪♪ this holiday, ask your doctor about xiidra. umph! ♪ howard: time now to raise race the buzz meter clock. go. axios says the media's response to their own mistakes has been tepid. only the washington post has run a major correction on the steele dossier after a recent indictment. cnn just posted a piece saying there are legitimate questions about how the media, including cnn, covered the dossier, but never running a correction. the new york times won a pulitzer along with "the washington post", but the paper did publish an opinion piece by journalism professor that was pretty tough on the media in general saying some reporters simply didn't like or trust mr. trump or didn't want to appear on his side and that his attacks on them shouldn't matter, but they did. but no mention of "the new york times"' own role, none. so he did quote a former times writer saying plenty of reporters were skeptical of the dossier but didn't want to look like they were carrying water for trump. alex jones, the info wars host and conspiracy theorist, has lost his fourth defamation suit on the horrible sandy hook school shootings after refusing to turn over documents. jones has, in the past, called the shootings a hoax. >> it's been almost a 4-year fight, and we were winning because what they were alleging wasn't true. so now they've done these defaults where i'm guilty until proven guilty. i don't get a jury trial in america. howard: that doesn't give you immunity for slandering people. that's why we have libel laws. the debate over alec baldwin's accidental killing of a crew member is heating up with this stinging criticism from george clooney. >> every single time i'm handed a gun on a set, every time, they hand me a gun, i look at it, i open it, i show it to the person i'm pointing it to, show it to the crew. they have live ammo with dummies in her pack, and that is insane. it's insane. it's the infuriating. howard: but daniel baldwin defended the brother saying people are going after him because he's an opinionated celebrity. the board of discovery, that company's taking over cnn, has some praise for fox. he singled out bret baier in a sit-down with david faber. >> fox news, i think, in my opinion, has followed an interesting trajectory of trying to have news news. i mean, some actual journalism embedded in a program schedule of all opinions. howard: not all opinions. as for cnn, which has moved heavily into left-leaning opinion, he said this: >> i would like to see cnn evolve back to the kind of journalism that it started with and, you know, actually have journalists which would be unique and refreshing. howard: i agree. that's all i had time for. john malone is a smart guy. that's it for this edition of "mediabuzz." i'm howard kurtz, i'm sure i'll be hearing from you on twitter, and check out my podcast, "mediabuzz" meeter. you can subscribe on apple itunes, google podcast or on your amazon device. we enjoy bringing this to you every week. we had a plan a and a plan b. rittenhouse verdict, no rittenhouse verdict. turns out friday we had to go with the verdict. big story, happy to cover it. back here next sunday with the latest buzz. ♪ ♪ the experts at safelite autoglass came right to me... with service i could trust. right, girl? >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ ♪ arthel: the mother of kyle rittenhouse sitting down with fox, speak out for the first time since her son was acquitted on all counts related to the deadly shooting in kenosha, wisconsin, last year. i'm arthel neville. hi, eric. eric: thank you for joining us on this sunday, i'm eric shawn. there was intense drama and controversy throughout the rittenhouse trial including the very last moment when the last of the five not guilty verdicts was read. >> as to the f