the network said last night that cuomo was terminated immediately after law firm found additional information beyond the newly released document that is showed how intimately the prime time host was involved. this is not how i want my time at cnn to end. he praised his staff. here is what he said in the radio show after he was suspended. >> it hurts to even say it. it's embarrassing but i understand it and i understand why some people feel the way they do about what i did. i apologized last night and i mean it. the last thing that i wanted to do is compromise any of my colleagues. howie: here is the problem and came during cuomo's apology in august. >> i never made calls to the press about my brother's situation. howie: we know that's in the true. cuomo called plenty journalists and in two cases appeared to seek information on his brother's accusers. it was an avalanche of documents from the state ag's probe that boaried cnn with bad press such as atlantic writing, chris cuomo must go. felt compelled to act. protected the man until the details proved too damaging. one more wrinkle, a lawyer for andrew cuomo's accusers, she told this week of new investigation involving a former junior colleague involving another network. it might have been the tipping point. look, i know chris cuomo, i take no pleasure in this. i get that chris was being loyal to his brother but he wasn't being loyal to the principles of journalism. i'm howard kurtz and this is media buzz. ♪ ♪ ♪ howie: it's hard to overstay what a negative hit cnn has taken from the fiasco and even drawing criticism from the liberal women on the view. >> they need to hold him accountable, we won't stand for unethical behavior on our watch. >> this is an abuse of power. what took place, the only reason that chris cuomo was able to do any of this, he was able to get sources on some of the accusers. >> the second "the new york times" and atlantic turned against chris cuomo, chris cuomo was thrown off the ship. howie: is that the reason chris cuomo no longer has a job today? joining us now from connecticut charlie gasparino, senior correspondent and fox business network in dallas chris who writes the fourth watch newsletter, charlie, we both know chris cuomo and we know that jeff hired him and has hired him. what do you think suspension could have ended after christmas and he chose to cut cuomo loose? >> well, the heat got too intense obviously the extra documents did not look good. i like chris. i take no great pleasure in this, but, you know, what's interesting here, howie, my view is this is a failure of management in so many different ways. you know, chris stepped over the line but you almost expect him to because that's his brother and you know he's close to your brother and you may step over the line. i'm just wondering did jeff zucker ever sit down and say to chris, we know that you're advising your brother at least nominally or uninitially, here are the rules of the road that you need to do or take leave of absence. remember they offered him a leave of absence to do that and that's where the i think the journalism ethics or last of ethics come in here. what did jeff zucker do, crews wees just -- just said ignore these warnings, we need to to know all of that and another thing howie, another guy i know and like -- right, he runs -- he runs cnn now, the head of the discovery cnn package that was put together when title one spun media assets. saying that's not real news over there, we at cnn is real news. that's the marketing plan lately. how can he say that with a straight face with this going on and i think -- >> howie: let me get steve here. i surmise that chris cuomo may have told jeff some things that turn out not to be true and the additional evidence came out. the wall street journal says there was a gap with state evidence and cuomo told certain people at cnn or the sheer magnitude out of the detail, embarrassing detail about how far he went to help he is brother. >> two things at play here. you mentioned the come to jesus moment in august. this all occurred in march of this year but in august it was very clear that, you know, jeff who runs the company and does so very intimately and close i will says, all right, tell me the truth now and jeff is someone who i know personally is all about loyalty. but loyalty goes hand in hand with honesty and there's your opportunity chris cuomo to say here is exactly what i did, here is what may be coming out yet and all made public this week, that's all new information and as you mentioned flies in the face of what he could have told jeff that maybe could have gotten him a suspension a week or two or a month. the second thing what happened back in april of 2020 getting brother on the air. this was breaking the rules, bending the rules back then, we have covid, there's a nice moment here we can have. we will just make this one exception but one you start to do that, everyone knows, not just chris cuomo and everyone know that is the rules are flexibility of the rules. can you imagine if chris cuomo would have done this in march if he didn't have that opportunity back in april of last year to break the rules and interview his brother and going against what had been long-standing precedent at the network. howie: that was zucker's call, 11 or 12 favorable interviews. chris cuomo and people intimately that follow this, he was regularly checking with reporters, when is the piece come out, does politico has new accusers and i will check my sources and constantly we see text feeding it back to the governor's top aides and critics were saying before we knew the full story that that would be firing offense for mid-level producer. charlie: absolutely. doesn't look good, it looks horrible. i want to get back to the zucker part. i don't think what was released is materially different than what jeff zucker approved in the past. chris cuomo was official part of the governor's response team. jeff zucker knew that, he's human and he shouldn't have done it and we will let it past. what's different now the calls to reporters but it's really the same sort of mess that jeff zucker approved. why isn't he being held accountable here? because i'm telling you, if you give someone like chris cuomo, you know, if you let him be part of that -- of that official response which jeff zucker actually did, you could see where he goes and takes it a step further. why isn't jeff being held accountable for giving chris cuomo the rope? howie: i think he's starting to get scrutiny. chris cuomo was unofficial part of the governor's defense team and pr operation and we didn't know -- we the public and the viewers did not know the full extent. steve, one of andrew cuomo's accusers, charlotte bennett accused of smearing her, i'm looking to her time in college and chris was seeking evidence, i have a lead on the wedding girl, told the new york times that governor cuomo then governor cuomo sexually harassed her at a wedding. given that his brother was being investigated for sexual harassment, isn't this far more than we knew from the earlier reporting? steve: yes, this is a whole new level of involvement and -- and as we know in the me too era, this is really damning, it's one thing to help craft a pr statement by the governor would give which would then be played on cnn. that's bad enough. that's what we knew back in august but the research on accusers and being intimately involved in it, that's a whole new level and i have to say, i get this idea of being loyal to your brother and that's what was at play here but, okay, that's a choice that you're going to have make and that may be something if you're a plummer or a novelist you get to continue doing your job but if you're the 9:00 o'clock host of cnn, i don't know what world you can continue doing your job after you have made the choice. that goes with the territory. pick one or the other. howie: yeah, it would have been one thing, everybody expected a privately chris cuomo would be helping his brother or advising his brother, they are very close, i covered their father and both clears but then to be in effect acting as a source gathering material, gathering material -- go ahead, charlie. charlie: i was going to say we knew a lot of that early on. i'm baffled stuff -- he was in strategy meetings. that was really bad. we dead opo research and everybody says i'm shocked, i'm shocked. that is insane. jeff zucker, why wasn't he monitoring this from day one? what are you doing? howie: do you think that part of the reason that you do -- you said at the top that he got to be -- part of the reason jeff zucker felt compelled to act and not leaving as suspension because cnn has been getting so much bad press even liberal precincts in the media and starting to spread to zucker itself raising the kind of questions that you raised this morning? charlie: absolutely. these guys are careerists and will throw anybody under the bus to protect themselves. howie: in fairness to protect the brand, to protect -- >> charlie: to protect the brand. the brand is key here. remember what i said earlier about david who run it is whole operation, the key to his marketing effort right now do show that cnn is a real news organization compared to somewhat msnbc but mostly compared to us and you can't do that. it's harder to do that if you're having like obviously, you know, one of your main attractions there part of a huge political story as he was on air. it's just -- it looks so bad, so this is a branding problem but still, i think jeff zucker has to be asked, what did he know, when did he know it and how much of a pulse do you keep on this developing story? howie: cnn will continue to investigate. steve, i have one minute, after suspension, none of the night time show mention that top-rated anchor at other network has been suspended and daytime shows read the statement and didn't make any commentary. why do you think that was such nonnews. >> the cnn outlets -- media outlets very rarely report on things going on. he was supposed to leave 25 days and staying until the deal and discovery happens later this year. he is a lame duck president, but at the same time he's now staying much longer and so his reign is continuing and has the ride the ship and seems to be maybe one of the first steps he's take to go make some changes that have to happen. howie: we will see if he ends up being a lame duck. thank you very much for joining us. when we come back, the media uproar whether donald trump had covid during his first debate with joe biden and the source is former top aide. ♪ ♪ ♪ you're in good hands with allstate. click or call for a lower rate today. i booked our hotel on kayak. it's flexible if we need to cancel. cancel. i haven't left the house in a year. nothing will stop me from vacation. no canceling. flexible cancellation. kalook, serena williams.... matrix... serena... matrix... serena... matrix... ♪ get your tv together with the best of live and on demand. introducing directv stream. where's mom? 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[screams and laughter] yeah! xfinity brought us together after all. get started with xfinity internet and ask about wifi speed fast than a gig. click, call or visit a store today. howie: story came not from anonymous source but mark meadows, former white house chief of staff writing in the new book that donald trump tested positive forcovid-19 3 days before the first presidential debate against joe biden and that caused a media explosion. >> all the people put in danger is just a staggering window into his indifference to disease and death. >> he endangered his secret service entourage and the people that fly him on air force one and he endangered then vice president biden at the debate. astonishing, dishonest, reckless, reckless disregard for human life. howie: meadows says that the timeline was complicated and agreed. >> the president is right, it's fake news. false positive. literally had a test, had two other tests after that that showed that he didn't have covid during the debate and yet, you know, the way that the media wants to spin it is certainly to as negative about donald trump as they possibly can. howie: trump was hospitalized with coronavirus after the debate. joining to analyze the coverable mollie hemingway senior editor at the federalist and howard ford, democratic congressman, both contributors, mollie, i know donald trump had positive tests after the negative one. what do you make of the media condemnation that he exposed the people around him, aides, people at the debate, chris wallace? >> the media should have covered the actual story in the book. mark meadows wrote this book and there's this horrible news in there. the actual story he told there was a positive test that donald trump received as is standard when they go through that kind of protocol, they do confirmatory test and the media coverage was unbridalled instanty, sounded like crazy people out there talking about intentional premeditated homicide attempt and they are just so crazy and, of course, none of this matters for the actual stories where we are talking about how each president has handled covid. this is a story that should be covered right now because we now have more deaths under covid from biden than under trump. we also had the trump did that with 3 vaccines provided for the biden administration, so that's much more interesting to the american people, i think. howie: harold, one reason media uproar, you mark meadows the author, no big deal and siding with trump's version. >> i don't necessarily disagree with the large part of molly's point, this is in the past, it may help mark meadows, i hope he does with, so many books and it may help him. your last point why the media is interested and why this wasn't disclosed, there's no doubting and there's no denying that just a few days later the president was hospitalized thankfully recovered. so, you know, as it should be, to molly's point about president biden and being on his watch, i think as much as we want to point some of -- point some of our political objections on this president, inflation, energy prices and the border and legitimate things people can point to but you can't blame the people if people won't get vaccinated. the key if you get vaccinated, likelihood of being hospitalized or dying of every variant may come our way and variants are only mutating in unvaccinated communities and we see doctor in other networks sharing that we have to be more robust on how we share vaccines but even share manufacturing capacity or combine or partner with countries to be able to produce -- >> howie: let me play for our viewers some comments by the former president about his successor on this question of vaccines and public trust. >> they work incredibly well. some people don't want to take them and that's their freedom and that's what we have to do but people don't want to take them because they don't trust biden, they don't trust the administration. howie: mollie, how should the media react that many people aren't taking the vaccines because they don't trust joe biden, how is that helpful to getting more people to take vaccines that he deserves credit if crash program? >> we might ask when the media handled it last year, joe biden and kamala harris said you couldn't trust the vaccines because they were developed under the trump administration and he was rushing them out, the media did not push back against the claims which had to have done a lot to undermine people's thoughts about the vaccines. howie: both were wrong. >> it's one to have things that's frustrating. we have the completely different standards on coverage based on who is president. but under a biden presidency suddenly that just goes away. under a trump presidency we have tickers at the bottom of the tv show showing exactly how many people have died from covid. now that there are many people died from covid under biden, those tickers go away. whatever biden said about vaccines was completely not a problem during the campaign when it really mattered and now people try and focus on what trump is saying. the fact is that the vaccines have helped as harold said decrease hospitalizations but they're not some like -- they're not the greatest vaccine in the history of the world and people should cover that honestly, talking about the pros and the cons and people's freedom in play. howie: hal what about molly's point when each person from different party, two presidents, really, criticized the other on vaccines and trust? >> there's no doubt the press treats -- has treated president trump differently than they treat president biden. you've even seen the chief of staff that president biden complained about treatment that he's gotten from sources -- media sources some considered left of our network. that being said the best weapon we have against vaccine -- against the virus is the vaccine. if you had told me a year ago a year today that we would have 3 vaccines, two safe boosters and therapeutic in the works, 5 or ten of them in works and that only 60% of the country would be vaccinated and only 54 -- >> howie: right. we will come back to the subject including omicron. alec baldwin tearful interview with george stephanopoulos why are we now hearing the claim that he never pulled the trigger? ♪ ♪ ♪ . . . i'm here to present the facts. thousands of people and small businesses are trapped paying too much for wireless and still paying off their phone! but when you switch to t-mobile they will pay off your phone so you can keep your current number and your phone! objection! what if you bought your phone at at&t or verizon? t-mobile will pay it off! switch to t-mobile and we'll pay off your phone. now up to a thousand bucks. do you rest? i do - but t-mobile never rests. howie: alec baldwin broke down crying in his first interview since he accidentally shot and killed his cinematographer director on a movie set and made a startling revolution with george stephanopoulos that he owned cocked the gun. >> it wasn't in the script for the trigger to be pulled. >> the trigger wasn't pulled. i didn't pull the trigger. >> you never pulled the trigger. >> no, no, i would never point a gun at somebody and pull the trigger, never. i think back, what i could have done. if i felt i was responsible, i might have killed myself if i thought i was responsible. howie: joining us now, julie banderas, fox news anchor. how did alec baldwin come across in your view? did he seem genuinely painnd an. >> he hasn't spoken up. he mentioned he cannot speak technically. there is a criminal investigation going on. i'm surprised that he has as the person who is part of this investigation speaking because usually anyone who is involved in a criminal investigation shouldn't be speaking to the media. i think he's trying to do this first of all, one to clear his conscience and the other to set the record straight. do i have sympathy for this man? absolutely. did he intentionally try kill somebody? absolutely not. i sympathize for him. i feel for him. he can see is in paint as for his recollection of the story, clearly a gun was pointed, in the direction of the woman who was killed or she wouldn't have been shot. so that isn't untrue, that the gun was not pointed in her direction. the question is did he pull the trigger. this gun, a colt .45 is not going to go off unless the hammer is hit. he said he didn't cock the gun. howie: he said he didn't pull the trigger. >> he said he didn't pull the trigger. that's nearly impossible. howie: many experts agree with you that it's impossible, a lawyer for one of the senior crew members said he didn't see baldwin pull the trigger. my question is, does this change the media narrative, the fact that he is making this claim? >> i mean, no, i think he -- well, maybe a little bit. depends what media we're talking about. i think the media is treating this story as if alec baldwin has been trying to sort of shift the blame if you will. he does say something in this interview that for me was disturbing. he says i'm not the victim here. there are two victims. well, there's actually one victim. there's one person who is dead. that is the victim in this story. i think the whole interview should have been focused on her and less about him. howie: that's a fair point of. last question. i was turned off by abc's overdramatization and pro ducks of this. how do you think george stephanopoulos handled the interview? >> i thought he -- i thought he was soft on him. i believe he was soft on him. it's not a surprise to me. i think that any time that you see any of the major broadcast networks when they do interview a hollywood elite or somebody who is perhaps on their side politically that they're a little soft on them. so do i believe that if i had held that interview or if you held that interview we would have asked a little bit of a tougher question such as i never pointed the gun at her face, how do you shoot somebody if the gun is not pointed in her direction, how is it that bullet ended up striking her. howie: for my part -- >> there was no follow-up. howie: i thought stephanopoulos was pretty thorough. i thought baldwin looked devastated. next on media buzz, with omicron turning into a global story,s is the media coverage fueling here and descending into partisanship? howie: the on crop variant has increasingly been dominating the news, sometimes in scary fashion. as president biden takes several steps, trying to limit the virus' spread, the media debate over the seemingly endless pandemic has only intensified. >> it's a plan that i think will unite us. i know covid-19 has become a political issue which is a sad, sad commentary. >> maybe there is no need for concern at all. but don't tell that to the fear mongering lap dog leftist media who wasted no time in whipping up fear and proclaiming the third coming of the all might eco individual. >> there want to convince the world health organization and countries around the world to scramble and shut down flights. >> what if we as a media stopped bracing for things and just explained it as factually as possible which is nobody really knows, listen to the experts, it's probably mild. >> republicans had nothing to say when their leaders pushed lies and deadly information about covid. howie: we're back with molly hemingway and harold ford. is the leftist media deliberately whipping up fear or is that the sheer volume of coverage about a virus we don't know that much about is making people really nervous that this might be deadly? >> i have tried to be respectful about the media coverage of the covid-19 pandemic. i understand that there are a lot of people who are fearful or paranoid and we have had to deal with these people for some period of time. the media coverage has pretty much always been ridiculous and it continues to be ridiculous and i think many people are sick and tired of it. it's not that this isn't a bad pandemic or has been a bad pandemic or that it's a bad virus. there's a certain amount of risk associated with getting covid-19 but it's exacerbated by the media to be 100 or 20 times as bad as it is and there's no cost benefit analysis capabilities in the entire media and it causes major problems. i saw an atlantic monthly article that said it turns out we opened up the schools and everything was fine. just kind of hand waved it away like it was no big deal. the media coverage is what led to so many of these hysterical awful problems, no one's been held accountable for overreacting to a bad virus and causing major damage to people and particularly major damage to children and it just needs to stop. howie: harold, i have seen a lot of caveats in the stories about scientists say they're not really sure but it tends to get drowned out by how many stories there are. liberal commentators like to say republicans don't care about people dying and conservative commentators say democrats want to lock everything down and control everyone's life. is the media partisanship in your view exacerbating the situation? >> i don't know. i wish i could put my finger on it. i know one thing that the broader medical community seems to be saying is for everyone to be vaccinated. i do know that it seems that the virus is growing in unvaccinated population. and i do know that people have -- that americans, particularly those unvaccinated, are probably some have health and religious reasons for not doing so. i think the frustration with a lot of viewers, eastern. even with themedia, some think e politics is the motivate tore for some americans not getting the vaccine. if you have a health or religious hesitation that is compelling, you shouldn't get it. if this is driven by something other than that, some in the media speculate that's part of it, i think that's driving some of the media coverage. i remember a time in politics when life and death was not a partisan issue, it was a life and death issue. i hope every american is doing it not in the political way. howie: anthony fauci says he doesn't know if the current vaccines work against omicron. he's not calling for new restrictions. why have the conservative media in particular made him such a target. >> anthony fauci made himself a target by saying conflicting things about the virus, by making a mess of everything, going involved in the gain of function research in china which has something to do possibly with what we're going through. i think what's more interesting is why are the media keeping fauci around, why is the democratic administration keeping fauci around, given that he is so bad at managing the public health crisis. howie: if he's the president's chief medical advisor on this, why wouldn't people want to interview him. you said keeping him around, like they should fire him. >> keep him around as if he is not someone whose credibility is in question because of how he handled him. i think it's because they like to have someone they can point to so they don't hold the biden administration to blame. none of the media people are asking tough questions or asking him to be held to account. they ask questions to keep the hysteria going, asking for more restrictions, he obliges, this is not what the american people need. howie: fauci made some mistakes. he is fair game for media criticism. some of the personal abuse aimed at him i think has been out of bounds. at the same time, would you agree that many of those who interview him especially on television, he's on tv a lot, kind of treat him with kid gloves? >> well, i don't know. i've seen him have -- i've seen him face some tough questioning. it's kind of representative of what i was trying to say a few minutes ago. this is about a pandemic. i think it's been a really bad pandemic. almost 800,000 americans have died from it. i don't disagree with some of the cost/benefit analysis that should be demonstrated more for americans to understand. but we're living through a time which we've never lived before. i want as many voices, medical voices, scientific voices sharing what they think we should be doing and i think you're right, because he's a chief medical advisor to the president, he will be put out there to share his views and to offer americans guidance on what we should be doing. howie: there they are others including the surgeon general but in our remaining time i want to turn to president biden, obviously been trying to talk up the economy, even as the pandemic drags on. here's what he had to say about supply shortages just the other day. >> if you watch the news recently you might think the shelves and all our stores are empty across the country. here's the deal. for the vast majority of the country, that's not what's happening. because of the actions the administration has taken. howie: if you watch the news, is joe biden really blaming the media for painting an overly dire situation of the supply shortages. >> he attempted to do that. you both were way too kind of fauci. repeatedly lied about what would need to happen during the pandemic. he's been super political, bringing up the january 6 commission, saying there have to be restrictions on american citizen. howie: he is fair game for criticism but it's very personal. >> the guy is a problem. okay. but as for biden, what's so interesting, he's trying to blame the media and trying to say the problems aren't existing. we have in our society, you have americans going to grocery stores, seeing empty shelves, filling up gas tanks, seeing how expensive it is and you have biden and some in the media claiming the situation isn't as bad as it is. the lived reality is what his problem is, not the lack of spin in his favor. howie: harold, i've got 15 seconds. biden might be right about christmas but the media don't make this stuff up when it comes to supply shortages. >> i think the president's trying, every president faces difficulty and peril and they're judged by it at the election box. we have an election in november and we'll see what voters think. howie: harold, molly, thanks very much. after the break, how are the media covering three blockbuster trials, ghislaine maxwell, jussie smollett and elizabeth holmes, all who claim they are victims. ♪ i had a dream that someday ♪ ♪ i would just fly, fly away ♪ [microwave beeps] [ahh] ♪ ♪ ♪ i'm so defensive, i got bongos thumping in my chest ♪ ♪ and something tells me they don't beat for me ♪ ♪ i love romance, but i got eggshells around me ♪ ♪ don't step on 'em, don't step on 'em ♪ ♪ don't step on 'em, don't step on me ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ he'd better not take the ring from me ♪ dog barks you're right bunker, the medicare enrollment deadline is almost here. ♪ ♪ if you're on medicare and you want to explore your options, the deadline to enroll is december 7th. so, you should act now. were do i find the right medicare plan? 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[ kimberly ] i feel so much better. i feel energized to go outside and play with my daughter. i can ate anything. like, i don't have to worry. clearchoice changed my life. howie: this is a fox news alert. i'm sad to report that former senator bob dole has passed away at the age of 98. a statement from his wife readings senator robert joseph dole died early this morning in his sleep at his death at 98, he served the united states of america for 79 years. represented kansas, served in world war ii, that's where he was badly injured. he always had the problem with his arm. he ran for the white house in 1996. i travel with dole during that '96 campaign. the guy had a razor sharp wit even in a losing campaign. he was a leader for the gop for so long. lived a very full life and he was a war hero as well. we'll have more on this later on. the media are covering three high profile hot button trials. let's restart that. the media are covering three high profile trials, they all having in common. the defendants claim to be victims. let's start with ghislaine maxwell. we'll get to elizabeth holmes and jussie smollett, charged with helping jeffrey epstein sexually abuse young girls, maxwell's lawyers say she's a scapegoat. we're back with julie banderas. look, ghislaine maxwell always bears a moral contain of helping -- being jeffrey epstein's enabler, whether she is criminally liable will be for a jury to decide. what do you make of this, men have always tried to make women into scapegoats he defense. >> she is not a scapegoat. she's a racist. she's rapist, rather, i'm sorry. she facilitated young girls to be raped, sexually molested and affected for the rest of her lives. we will never see epstein tried for the crimes he is accused of, the heinous crimes and lives she ruined. she was there every step of the way, every sexual assault she was there. she groomed these girls. she made them feel as if they were friends of theirs and then broke them down at their very weakest points and there are four women who are going to be presented in the trial who speak from experience, the lead prosecutor is saying they have an ironed clad case here. the defense is claiming there's too much time that's gone by, that there's money at stake, they believe they might get a portion of jeffrey epstein's estate. that's not why these women are coming forward. they're not out for -- they're going to get some kind of settlement. howie: i agree with you on that. there were cameras in the courtroom. elizabeth holmes, the media turned her into a tech titan cover girl before the wall street journal exposed her blood testing company. she said she is a victim of her boyfriend, he led her astray, yelled at her, told her what to eat, made her have sex when she didn't want to. doesn't a ceo have free will? >> yes, she does. and -- but it's going to be interesting. this is going to put the trial into a tailspin. now the jurors listened to a woman who basically said she was emotionally, physically, sexually abused. her boyfriend at the time was forcing her into sex and controlling every aspect of her life from what she ate, when she ate, what she did, and that is going to give her sympathy. the jurors are going to have sympathy. i don't know how many women are on this particular panel. i would imagine women on the panel who he potentially could be in similar controlling situations, this is going to throw the prosecution for a loop i think. howie: that ex-boyfriend has been charged, will be tried separately. why is jussie smollett going to trial, two brothers that attacked him, one of them testified he was told to fake the attack, give him a bruce, scour the chicago location the day before. just like these other two, jussie smollett claims he was a victim and this really happened. >> jussie smollett is so pathetic. i think it's such a shame that hes has basically ruined potential future hate crime, actual victims. first of all, his he defense team says that these two brothers are trying to use him to advance their careers. okay, so i'm not sure, is there a career to make nooses to learn how to tie a knot? is that the career they're looking to do? there's a surveillance faux he toe of him tightening the knot further as walking back into his home. they tied the noose on his neck and he tightened it further. all the evidence shows he's the idiot and he trusted two brothers that he shouldn't have trusted in the first place but he is not the victim here, sorry. howie: i think he should have pled and this would be over with julie, great to see you. we'll have more after this break on the sad death of bob dole at the age of 98. ♪ well the sun is shining and the grass is green ♪ ♪ i'm way ahead of schedule with my trusty team ♪ ♪ there's heather on the hedges ♪ ♪ and kenny on the koi ♪ ♪ and your truck's been demolished by the peterson boy ♪ ♪ yes -- ♪ wait, what was that? timber... [ sighs heavily ] when owning a small business gets real, progressive helps protect what you've built with affordable coverage. howie: this is a fox news alert. bob dole has passed away at age 98. we whensed a few minutes ago -- mentioned a few minutes ago elizabeth dole confirming that he died in his sleep. a lot of people remember him running for president in 1996. he ran for vp in 1976 with jerry ford. fox news congressional correspondent chad pergram joins us by phone. he was senate minority leader and majority leader for so long. what can you recall about his style on the hill. >> when you talk about the top 10 lieders in the senate and -- leaders in the senate and senators of all time you have to put bob dole in that category. he was also a chair of the republican national committee. i remember when he certainly -- when bill clinton was elected and bob dole was the minority leader in the senate, he says i'm going to be the person who is going to show him around and he said that meaning i'm somebody who knows my way around washington and things that you want to do will have to come through me. one of the things i remember the most about bob dole was when daniel lenowaw passed away, the democratic senator from hawaii. bob dole was wounded in italy, they were wounded a hillside away from one another in italy. bob dole sustained injuries to his arm, daniel the same and he -- they talked and kind of got one another through that period during world war ii and one of the most touching moments i've ever seen in congressional history happened in december of 2012. when daniel lenoway passed away, bob dole came to the capitol rotunda, where he was lying in state and elizabeth dole came and bob dole got up from his wheelchair and walked across the rotunda to the casket and said i didn't want daniel to see me like this and touched the casket. it was really a striking moment. again, two people who worked across the aisle and were long-time -- howie: dole didn't like the war injuries define him. he soldiered on, so-to-speak, with a long public career and sometimes he would say harsh things in public, sometimes he was called a hatchet man. at the same time, he was one of the funniest men in politics, i remember realizing that, watching him on the campaign trail. he did a counter point thing with bill clinton so many sides to this great leader. >> one funny thing i remember during this, he would tell this story often, he lived at the watergate building and during the monica lewinsky scandal, she lived there, he was on the telephone with linda trip and he would go into a meeting and say i would try to call her and the line was busy. everybody would laugh. he had that kind of funny humor that people always appreciated about him. that was something that stood out about bob dole. he -- howie: i've got half a minute, didn't mean to cut you off. is this sort of the previous era, where you could deal with people in both parties as a leader and not have it be as horrifyingly caustic and personal as it is today? >> people thought it was pretty caustic sometimes with bob dole and democratic leaders and juror mitchell and bob byrd. i remember back in '86 with bob dole and robert byrd going on the floor and it was intense as anything i have seen. i have it on vhs tape. i looked at it years later a because it was such an important moment. you have to look at everything from the prism of that time and we will look at bob dole and his life, was certainly world war ii. howie: thanks very much for hopping on the phone with us, bob dole will be missed. 98 years old. what a great life and career. that's it for this edition of media buzz. i'm howard kurtz. we sometimes try to rock and roll with breaking news and there will be a lot said and written about dole in the days and weeks to come. sunday. be back here next see you then with the latest buzz. ♪ velihood. ♪ rock music ♪ >> man: so i'm not taking any chances when something happens to it. so when my windshield cracked... my friend recommended safelite autoglass. they came right to me, with expert service where i needed it. ♪ rock music ♪ >> man: that's service i can trust... no matter what i'm hauling. right, girl? >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ i booked our hotel on kayak. it's flexible if we need to cancel. cancel. i haven't left the house in a year. nothing will stop me from vacation. no canceling. flexible cancellation. kayak. search one and done. eric: we are learning the sad news that this morning former republican senator and presidential candidate bob dole has died. he was 98 years old. bob dole, an american war hero, long time senator and giant in republican politics for decades, born in lawrence, kansas and you know, he never left those midwest values behind. hello, everyone. welcome to "fox news live" on this sunday. i'm eric shawn. hi, arthel. arthel: hi, eric. i'm arthel neville. senator dole served as sense store from kansas from 1969