office? >> look, i didn't overpromise. what i have probably outperformed what anybody thought would happen. >> do you need to be more realistic and scale down these priorities now that a legislation appears to be hopelessly stalled? can you now lay out your strategy to protect voting rights? i spoke to a number of black voters who fought to get you elected, and now they feel as though you're not fighting hard enough for them. >> why are you trying so hard in your first year to pull the country so far to the left? if. howard: there were plenty of neutral issue questions and some softer ones. cnned asked whether biden had done enough to restore faith in the confidence of government. can you imagine such wording for president trump? and there was none of the personal hostility that marked the trump years. but for the most part, white house reporters stepped up and did their job. i'm howard kurtz, and this is "mediabuzz". ♪ ♪ howard: now we've come to expect an ideological divide among commentators when a democratic or republican president meets the press. what was striking here is even some left-leaning pundits found flaws with the biden performance that included some notable mistakes and lost steam as it dragged on for nearly two hours. >> the fact that he spoke for almost two hours, i was getting texts during the press conference from some political operatives saying, make it stop. >> hey, if you think i'm senile and i'm doddering, you get up here and try to do an hour and 45 minutes in front of your colleague. >> by the end, you were wishing that joe biden spoke in public less often. the whole thing was awful. it was totally weird and embarrassing. >> you can be a foggy, meandering president say like reagan near the end if you're running -- winning. but if you're foggy and meandering on key questions and also not winning, then you've got a real problem. >> it was the most forceful and public pushback and articulation of what he's contending with in today's republican party. >> i felt humiliation for the country, i really did. you know, and that's just the delivery. the substance was an unmitigated disaster. howard: joining us now to analyze the coverage in dallas, will cain, cohost of "fox & friends" weekend, and in new york, tara palmieri, co-author of politico's playbook. will, i had my say. what did you make of the tone of the reporters' questions at this news conference, especially compared to their recent of president biden in the -- their treatment of president biden in the first part of last year? >> well, so a slight repositioning towards what i would say is reality. you can't divorce it from the way the press has covered joe biden for the last year and a half. i think we've gone from active participants in the news cycle, cheerleading, president biden's suppressing stories that could have hurt president biden during the campaign phase to then sort of becoming the megaphone for the biden administration through the covid era continuously as the administration has been wrong on so many different aspects of covid. the press just simply parroting what he had to say. now some slight repositioning, some slight skepticism, some slight pushback, howard. i think all it illustrates is that joe biden is more detached from reality than even our national press. and really the only question for me is, why. why the sent schism -- skepticism now, why the pushback now? why all of a sudden did they stop becoming his cheer leader, his megapone? if. howard: well, tara, i would suggest that given biden got shot down on build back better, on his slide in the polls, the press can read the polls. do you think some reporters were feeling pressure not to toss softballs? >> i think so. also here's the deal, it's been a year. this is a point in the presidency when you look at the promises and see if they were being delivered on. p so this is a natural point in the presidency in which reporters can look at the scoreboard and start asking questions. not to mention that there are issues with inflation, the economy, covid. a lot of promises were made on the campaign trail, and this is when we figure out if he can deliver or not. i also think the fact that joe biden has not been very present, it was a tense press -- it was his tenth press conference in a year. by comparison, president trump, i believe, had given more than 20 at this point, most have at this point. he had to really, he had a lot of questions that were lining up, and i'm sure the press was a little irate by the fact that they're not able to ask him these questions day-to-day. so it felt like there was a bit of a buildup especially when you are in a time of, you know, there's a lot of turmoil right now in this country. and so you would expect to see the president and see him be more visible rather than, you know, behind the scenes not answering the questions, facing the press but really facing everyday americans. i thought they reflected the questions of americans. howard: i agree with your point about growing frustration about biden's relative inaccesibility. about an hour and 20 minutes, the president seemed to want to keep going. here is what he said. >> i tell you what, folks, i'm going to go another 0 minutes -- 20 minutes, until a quarter of, okay? howard: and he went longer than that, will. given the lousy reviews especially from conservatives, was that related in part to the decision by the president to go on and on and on? because as the second hour wore on, there were more pauses, there was more meandering and more broken sentences. >> yeah. and i think there was more anger. i think there was also more irritation from the president towards the press as he continued to get pressed. which is, to tara's point, i think, something that a president should do. he should subject himself to cross-examination. he should take his policies, positions, his ideas and see if they a hold up. not just to a poll. look, polling, if polling is the answer to why the press has repositioned their attitude towards the president, then that only means the press is coming to grips with reality. and it shows that they weren't many touch with reality through the first 18 months of their coverage of joe biden. so it's become undeniable, the polls are in, it shows that both the president and the press have been dedashed from the american -- detached from the american people. and as he now gets pressed, his response isn't, you know, i now see the light, i see reality. it's to push back. how angry he got when somebody questioned him about his speech this past week comparing his opponents to george wallace and bull connor, how angry he got at that shows he still remains detached. howard: let me briefly pick up on that point since you mentioned it. phil wegmann asked about the georgia speech on voting rights, and he incorporated biden's denial into the question. i know you're not saying these people are, in effect, on bull connor's side, george wallace's side, and biden said, go review the speech. that is an interesting reading in journalism. i assume you got can -- in english. i assume you got into journalism because you like to write. go ahead, tara. >> yeah, personally going after reporters and trading barbs. it seemed like it was a decision to really flex a muscle against the reporters when questioned on this issue because he was clearly getting hammered from the left and from the right for the, from the center-left for how he handled that. hugh. howard: and do you think, tara, because of the press complaints growing louder in recent months not only does he do few news conferences, but he grants few interviews on television, did he want to show up and make it, prove that he could take it up there? >> absolutely. he hadn't given a press conference in so long, he only took three, four, five questions, the press would be irate. we waited this long and we only got a few questions? he knew that he had to stand out there and take a ton of questions. i was a white house correspondent during the trump years, and i remember it was very similar to the trump press conference where it kind of seemed more organized, and then it became, you know, a bit of a sir is cuts towards -- circus towards the end, fighting with the press, random questions. really it reminded me of the free-wheeling trump press conferences, and maybe he decided to pick that up from president trump. howard: interesting. it doesn't take much in the way of couple his predecessor. will, what made news conference when the second news conference was over and a walkback by jen psaki the next day was his answer about ukraine and was this only a minor incursion across the border by vladimir putin's military. what did you make of that stumble, but also the way in which that became the story? >> well, i don't know that, i don't -- has there been a clarification? i don't have clarity on exactly where the united states stands when it comes to ukraine and russia. i don't exactly know what our position is, our red line is, what our response will be diplomatically, through sanctions, through military support, to potential military conflict. i don't know where we are on this. by the way, we started this conversation with me asking why has the press repositioned itself when it comes to joe biden. and i think you're right, i think tara's right, some of it has to do with undeniable reality in the polls, but there's been two big moments that have pitted him against the press, it's afghanistan and now it is again ukraine. you know, the press is unified. it is unified almost, almost monolithic when it comes to foreign policy in support of foreign action. and here we are with the biden administration stumbling in afghanistan and potentially now stumbling again in ukraine, and this seems to be the one category in which the united states press will go whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, why aren't you handling our foreign affairs the way we expected. howard: well, the -- >> i don't think it's just foreign affairs. howard: go ahead. >> it's not just foreign affairs. he also failed on one of his biggest agenda items, build back better. it's basically dead right now. he can't get voting reform rights passed. there's inflation, there's economic issues, there's covid. remember, we believe that covid, the pandemic would be over by now. howard: right. if i canned single out one more answer -- if i could single out one more answer, tara, the president was taking a lot of heat for seeming to say he didn't have confidence in the 2022 legislation because he couldn't get the voting rights legislation passed because of manchin and sinema. do you think that criticism is well deserved? >> i think so. i mean, i think it's a dangerous route to go especially when, you know, democrats have blamed the republicans for creating the sense of, you know -- howard: ill legis jilt massey -- >> yeah, exactly are. howard: illegitimacy, yeah. >> you're right, it was a very dangerous line, and they did have to do cleanup on that the next day. howard: the white house did clarify that a minor incursion, to use the president's words, would be treated as an a invasion. whether that happens, we will see. ahead, ari fleischer with us, the former press secretary's critique of the news conference. but when we come back, the media uproar over donald trump losing a supreme court battle over january 6th. ♪ ♪ a great deal on our hotel with kayak. i was afraid we wouldn't go.. with our divorce and.... great divorce guys. yeah... search 100s of travel sites at once. kayak. search one and done. your plain aspirin could be hurting your stomach. vazalore... is the first liquid-filled aspirin capsule clinically shown to cause fewer ulcers than plain aspirin. try new vazalore. aspirin made amazing! muck. ♪ howard: what biden press conference? is the left-leaning channels quickly switched to a story about the supreme court ruling 8-1 that donald trump can't block the january 6th committee from obtaining his white house records during the period surrounding the capitol riot. >> donald trump and his lawyers did not have to read beyond the first sentence of the supreme court's very short decision today to know that the trump dream of a total cover-up has died. finish. howard: the democratic-controlled panel also drew massive coverage with meana ellis, sidney powell and rudy giuliani. >> we get to see the machines that are crooked, the ballots that are fraudulent -- [cheers and applause] so let's have trial by combat! finish. howard: will, i know the conservative media considers this house january 6th committee to be utterly partisan, but isn't an 8-1 scotus ruling against the former president which allows the congress to obtain his documents, isn't that a huge story? >> i'm going to answer your question directly because of the way you characterized it and the way that you asked, isn't that a huge story. no. and here's why. the supreme court essentially said to donald trump and the trump administration it doesn't have the,tive privilege over itr its communications when it comes to january 6th. all that does is move forward with the ability to see what is inside of those communication communications. but the press treats that decision as though it's an indictment, as though it's a conclusion. see, and this is the press' technique when they argue from conclusion which they did over four years. specifically, for example, best illustrated, how'd, in the russia collusion case. every single report, every single rumor was reported breathlessly as though it was a conclusion until four years passed9, and it all a amounts to nothing. it's all a joke. now, i'm not saying -- i don't know, i don't know where january 6th investigation will lead. i do think it's highly partisan. but what happens is you take every little step along the way, in this case the supreme court ruling that essentially said no executive privilege for this up communication, and you report it out as though big, huge loss to the president, he's now essentially indicted in something occurring on january 6th. that's not proper reporting. that's not proper tone. that's not proper storytelling. it's wrong. howard: i think you make -- >> press does it consistently. howard: i think you make a fair point. there might not be a single sentence in those documents, we don't know, that shows anything negative about the former president's handling of those events. but, tara, and fox's coverage with news briefs, the fact that three, the three trump appointees on the supreme court joined in ruling -- clarence thomas was the only dissenter -- i would think would boost the news value of the ruling at a time when the court is so frequently attacked by both sides. >> right. it was a very significant ruling, and it's natural for the press -- o'donnell aside who is, i would say, a liberal pundit -- howard: he's a liberal pundit on a major network. >> right, exactly. he's a pundit. he's not a journalist like, you know, a down the middle journalist. any down the middle journalist going to cheerlead for transparency, right? that's what we do. we get documents, we see more about what's happening in the executive office. that's our job. we call sources all day long to find out what he's doing. but now we get to see it in copy, in print, you know in and that's the thing. we're going to cheerlead transparency and the story. howard: [inaudible] >> real quick. the fact that three trump-appointed supreme court justices ruled there's no executive privilege in these documents, it doesn't add value to the story unless you think the supreme court is only a partisan body. these three trump-appointed justices have a judicial opinion beyond the fact that they were appointed by donald trump. i hate to break that to the press, but not everything is rs and ds. it's not cheerleading for transparency. how about the new york times, tara? is "the new york times" a liberal pundit? i would say yes, but my us decision is you would say the answer -- suspicion is the answer was no. "the new york times" was the lead advocate in every single development with the russian collusion story as though it were conclusion. every single moment operates from conclusion. and the new york times in particular, particularly green juice in purporting what is a completely false story. howard: well, of course, there was a special prosecutor's investigation that covered it. let me just mention the house committee also released texts from sean hannity the day after the january 6th riots to caylee mce neighbor any, now with fox's identity -- "outnumbered." impeachment and 26th amendment are real, he also said keep trump away from crazy people. tara, what about the subpoenas, and we showed a clip earlier. the press has been going nuts over the subpoenas to rudy giuliani, sidney powell and jenna ellis who, very out in the open on television, at press conferences, pushed their election fraud allegations. is this -- and since they criticized the press coverage, is it an element of payback here? >> i just think they were critical players in this operation, the january 6th operation, and we need to know all about what they did those days leading up to it, the day of it and, yes, i mean, i would only just say that they are critical players, and we need to know everything that they were doing. and i think that's why there's a lot of interest in it in the press. if we find out there were other people involved through these communications and texts, i think we'll also be zeroing in on their actions. it's like any sort of investigation, covering a trial, etc. howard: all right. >> you have to follow each incental stage, the information -- incremental stage and not make conclusions along the way. howard: i've got just a few seconds for a final point. >> yeah. you want to report every single step, but you also need to be aware how each of those steps are created. it's true. the supreme court of the united states ruled there's no executive privilege, but these stories end up being the increment, the stories themselves because most of the media operates from a conclusion before the story even starts. and i would suspect -- howard: many of the incremental developments are overplaid. i'm not sure that applies to this week. will cain, tara pal palmieri, thanks very much. up next, new york's democratic attorney general making serious allegations against the trump organization without filing a lawsuit. we'll look at the coverage in a moment. ♪ muck >> woman: what's my safelite story? 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if she could prove it, wouldn't receive she have already sued? >> that was my first instinct. number one, that story. i mean, why is the press going harder at her saying, okay, if this stuff is so bad, if donald trump really did rip off deutsche bank or ivanka trump really did inflate the price or deflate the price of her apartment, why aren't you just filing a lawsuit right now? why are you just -- why are you trying this stuff out piecemeal? it's kind of offed. and then the other -- of odd. i've covered this for a really long time because of pursuit of white collar criminals, it's always a political office, but i've never seen anything this to vrtly political from the sitting attorney general who actually runs on the fact that i'm going to get this guy, i'm bike to get donald trump. and then she brings, then she goes and tries to get him. it's taking a level of partisanship which -- and this is a law enforcement office, we should point out -- to just another level. and, again, the media's not really questioned that. leticia james was involved in andrew cuomo's problems, right? howard: andrew cuomo, she wanted to run for governor, she decided not to. then you can make your point. real estate is incredibly complicated when you get into valuations and bank loans and some of this is subjective. even "the new york times" says a case like this could be hard to prove. but i don't see much media skepticism. it's as if it goes back to our last segment when we talked about allegations versus reality. i don't see many people in the press saying, well, you know, she says this stuff, but where's the proof? >> yeah, great point. listen, i was no cheerleader for donald trump. i've known donald for a long time. i like him personally. i criticized him when i thought i should. but look at it this way, it's as if the media believes everything bad -- every bad thing about trump is true. he has to be a crook in this business. he has to be a crook. he has to have ripped off the irs. by the way, where's the irs case if this is such a damaging tax thing? why haven't the irs been looking at donald trump for a long time? where's the indictment? i mean, where is the indictment after all these years? and if she has the goods, she should be bringing a case. now, it doesn't take a rocket science to figure out she doesn't have the goods -- [laughter] because she would have brought the case. howard: right. half a minute. the a.g. did put out some eye-popping information such as the former president had claimed his own trump tower apartment was three tiles the size that it actually -- times the size that actually is. whether or not that's fraud or not would have to be decided by the court, but some of that information was put out. >> and by the way, who did he claim this to? some of the most sophisticated lenders in the world. he didn't claim this to, you know, aunt millie. he claimed this to deutsche bank. if she believes deutsche bank was ripped off, obviously, deutsche bank is not complaining right now about this. why doesn't she bring the case? it's so simple. and, you know, it's donald trump as a political weapon for the democratic party. and you'll probably see it, you know, until, until the day that eric trump dies, unfortunately. this is going to -- i don't mean it like that -- howard: i know. >> -- but in this sense. howard: all right. >> there are going to go after these guys, family, until the end of time. it's a political weapon. howard: well, charlie gasparino pulling no punch. s as usual. [laughter] thanks very much. why isn't she bringing the case? it kind of hangs in the air. next on "mediabuzz," ari fleischer on joe biden's ukraine blunder, and the risk of two-hour press conferences. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ we're a different kind of dentistry. one who believes in doing anything it takes to make dentistry work for your life. so we offer a complete exam and x-rays free to new patients without insurance - everyday. plus, patients get 20% off their treatment plan. we're on your corner and in your corner every step of the way. because your anything is our everything. aspen dental. anything to make you smile. book today at aspendental.com, walk in, or call 1-800-aspendental. muck. howard: the dominant story coming out of president biden's news conference, as i mentioned earlier, was his answer on whether he thinks vladimir putin is about to invade ukraine. responses that require an immediate clarification from jen psaki and a walkback the next day from the president himself. here's what he said in the news conference. >> one thing, if it's a minor incursion and we enup having a fight about what to do and not do, etc., my guess is he will move in. he has to do something. howard: a good time to call in a veteran of press conferences, ari fleischer, form former bush white house press secretary and fox news contributor. ari fleischer, welcome. >> thank you. howard: presidents misspeak all the a time, but the press really made president biden's ukraine comment the story from the moment the news conference ended. what made it so urgent rain so newsworthy? >> welk i think what happened -- well, i think what happened was the reaction to it was instant and so critical that the press realized it was an obvious, bad mistake. i mean, how'd, it was such a bad mistake when he said minor incursion would be different, even a reporter followed up several questions later to say did you really mean that? and gave him a chance to fix it or correct it. you know, it's highly unusual at a news conference reporters to actually be so fast on their feet that they recognize that there was a blunder earlier, and they relitigate it, they bring it back up. i think that was a reuters reporter, and that was actually a very smart follow-up question. howard: and then there was another follow-up question the next day from fox's jacqui heinrich. let's take a listen. >> are you -- [inaudible] [inaudible conversations] howard: what did you make of the president brushing off a perfectly legitimate inquiry about ukraine as a stupid question? >> one of the biggest surprises i've had about president biden, particularly his personality. i knew him a bit from my time working in the united states senate and then at the white house. i never knew he was so thin-skinned. he has this weird, quick temper where he's just easily offended, and then he snaps. he lashes out at people in a disparaging way. i'm very surprised that he does that to the media out loud. many people do it to the media in private, but for joe biden -- who's been around the block, who's been with reporters for decades -- to do that as president, really, i just didn't see that side of him. you know, bashing the press is a time-honored thing. often the press deserves it. i just don't think he does it well by saying that about what was, actually, an obviously legitimate, good question. howard: right. and making it so personal. biden also is taking a lot of media flak for another answer at that marathon news conference, and that was when he was can asked about the legitimacy of the 20 2022 elections, and he couldn't vouch for that. while i'm surprised the press didn't play this as, oh, he was just pushing back against trump who continues to relitigate what happened in 2020. what was your take on that exchange? >> well, that's another one, howard, where a reporter followed up and interrupted the president to say, no, i'm not asking about 2020, i'm asking about 2022. clearly, it has nothing to do with pushing back on donald trump in 2020. howard: now, if you were jen psaki, if you were back at the white house and the president kept talking for nearly two hours, would you have been apoplectic? >> i don't know what the right adjective is that's above and beyond apoplectic -- [laughter] but that's what i would have been. i mean, you do want your president to go longer than expected. there's sort of a little inside baseball signal with that, particularly for a president like joe biden who hasn't taken questions in so long. but he really, howard, the issue is not how long did he speak, it's what did he say. it didn't matter that this was a long news conference because it's not going to be remembered for its length, it's going to be remembered for the blunders that he made. howard: whether joe biden did well or not, would it be a good thing for the press, the country and biden himself to do more of these, to engage with reporters more, to not wait two and a half months for another formal news conference? because even one, i think, becomes less explosive as we get more accustomed to it. >> i think it is one of the more difficult parts of the presidency, but it is one of the president's responsibilities. presidents are actually made better and stronger if they take questions from a hostile media two, three times a week. it keeps them on their toes, it keeps the staff on their toes, it makes them really be thorough about their policies because it is possiblehat presidents are surround by sycophantic staff, that presidents are not hearing all the things that are critical, that are wrong, that are bad out there that others are saying. the press delivers that in doses. and it's interesting, after afghanistan certainly even the biden white house press corps has gotten tougher on joe biden. they were pretty easy on him until informing, d until afghanistan, but that broke a dam, so to speak. howard: let's touch on donald trump in 2024. laura ingraham told northern virginia magazine, i'm not there for him yet. could you see some media conservatives winding up backing someone else as the republican nominee even if, as laura says, they supported trump's policies but maybe think another nominee would be better for the party? >> i think there are three legitimate questions that have got to be asked about donald trump's potential candidacy. one, he is going to be 78 years old. will he be healthy enough to run for office? two, what do the polls say? is he beating joe biden? is he beating kamala harris, is he beating whoever the heeding democrat is -- leading democrat is? because if he is not and an alternative republican is beating any of those people by a bigger margin, that's huge. and it'll affect voters, commentators and others. and the thirty factor is how many people -- third factor how many people might run against him during a primary. it'd be very hard for donald trump to lose because of the pluralities, others will split and divide. if it's one-on-one or maybe even two on one against donald trump, then i think it's a legitimate possibility that somebody could defeat him in a primary. all of these are the factors that i'm going to look out for. i think that everyone who calls themselves a commentator owes it to the public to keep an open mind and cover events by interpreting what is happening. howard: still a long way away. ari fleischer, thanks very much for joining us. >> thank you. howard: after the break, is the press starting to blame joe biden's mounting problems on chief of staff ron klain? former governor ed rendell will be here. ♪ muck l purchased through chase with chase freedom unlimited. that means that i earn 5% on our rental car, i earn 5% on our cabin. i mean, c'mon! hello cashback! hello, kevin hart! i'm scared. in a good way. i'm lying. let's get inside. earn big time with chase freedom unlimited with no annual fee. how do you cashback? chase. make more of what's yours. are you taking a statin drug to reduce cholesterol? it can also deplete your coq10 levels. i recommend considering qunol coq10 along with your statin medication. the brand i trust is qunol. what happens when you block heartburn with one prilosec otc in the morning? heartburn doesn't stand a chance - day... or night. excess stomach acid can cause heartburn. prilosec otc works differently by preventing excess acid production. so don't fight heartburn, block it. prilosec otc. one pill in the morning blocks heartburn, all day and all night. - i did cheerleading through high school. i went to the colts cheerleading, and i loved it. go colts. i was about to go to work and my arm went numb on me. i knew i couldn't speak, and i collapsed. - [narrator] after 36 hours, tessa's worried family and friends called police who found her on the floor after suffering a stroke. - [tessa] for two days, i was unconscious. i don't remember anything. - [narrator] your donation to the american heart association funds life saving research that leads to medical breakthroughs that help save lives like tessa's. - i was walking with a cane and boot, and i don't walk with them anymore. and i am so encouraged because i can speak now. - [narrator] your donation of only $19 a month, just $0.63 a day, will make a difference through prevention, early detection, treatments, and cures to help save lives. tessa got a second chance at life thanks to a caring person like you, who donated monthly to the american heart association. join us in the fight to help save lives. you can help prevent death from heart disease and stroke. go to helpheart.org or call now to make your $19 monthly gift. and when you go online or call now with your credit card, you'll get this special american heart association t-shirt to show you're part of our team. - my treatment and recovery are due to people like you. thanks for your support. - [narrator] one simple act can help save your life or the lives of your loved ones. so please open your heart today. go to helpheart.org or call right now with your monthly donation and help save lives. howard: politico says it's ron complain's turn in the ballot. an -- ron klain's turn in the battle saying he's pushing a bernie sanders agenda, hurting morale and so on. this after columnist brett stephens called for klain to be replaced. joining us now, ed rendell, former pennsylvania governor. governor, with some of the negative coverage i just cited, do you think parts of the press are making ron klain a scapegoat? >> sure. let's start with the proposition that the worst thing you can be in politics and government today is a chief executive's chief of staff because he is the perfect target -- or she -- perfect target to be made a scapegoat. they have no constituency of their own. it's better to blame them than blame the chief executive or the cabinet secretaries. but from where i sit, ron klain has done a terrific job. understand, i think the american people should understand this, the administration has faced almost an unprecedented series of problems. covid-19 out of control, pandemic -- howard: sure. >> -- the economy blitzed, russian in an era where there is no cooperation anymore -- howard: let yes must jump -- let me just jump in. ron klain knew, based on my reporting, when he took this job, that this day would come. the low poll numbers and the voting rights defeat would make him a target. he kind of looks at it like a coach, everyone's talking about the stupid things that you did. i can report that president biden has seen this coverage, that he's backing his top aide and that he's offered to do interviews on klain's behalf. now, we can circle back, but i want to talk about a column that you wrote in "the hill," pretty strongly-worded, after voting rights legislation went down in the senate which everybody in politics knew that the democrats didn't have the vote. you write: i'm angry at the media and pundits who are letting republicans manipulate the discourse convincing the average more than that the only reason vital legislation is stalled is that two democratic senators are not in favor of the measure. but the reality is if those two democratic senators -- manchin and sinema -- had voted with their party, the bill would have passed. >> that's correct. but, again, it's the degree of fault. look, no republican voted for a bill that 16 of them voted for the exact same bill seven, eight years ago. not one of them voted for the same bill. why? because the bill was promoted by joe biden. they're bound and determined to do to joe biden what they tried to do to barack obama. remember what mitch mcconnell said, we're going to do everything we can to make him a one-term president. that's what washington has devolved into. and joe biden and ron klain are the old washington where if you had a good idea, you could rally the votes. howard: well, maybe that was a miscalculation, and i don't know if it was the exact same as years ago, but again, in your column you say the media must expose the republican opposition. i'm sorry, governor, but this isn't a case for sherlock holmes. mitch mcconnell and the republicans have been very open about their opposition to these two democratic voting rights and, you know, you don't need -- it's in every story. it's either stated or implied. >> let's assume you are a visitor from a foreign country to the u.s. after six months you would think that the battle to get voting rights bill was between joe manchin and kyrsten sinema and the other 48 democrats. no. the battle is to get 60 votes, and we need 10 republicans if we held manchin and sinema. the republicans should be responsible -- [inaudible] in, republicans didn't bring one vote, one vote. that's what we should be centered on. we should also be centered on what manchin and sinema did. but you don't hear any blame being focused on the republicans for not producing one vote. howard: well, it's party-line opposition, and as they see it -- >> right, but -- howard: i get your point. you peel the focus has been too much on the two dissenting democrats who were not backing their party. let me turn to, let me just mention a new fox poll has joe biden at 47% approval. that's actually up 3 points from november but only 36% of those questioned would vote to reelect him. and i want to play for you something, he's getting some criticism on msnbc from liberal pundits like donnie deutsch. take a look. >> i think your audience is not going to be happy with what i have to say. i don't think he's come across as an inspirational figure. howard: if biden is getting that kind of criticism, doesn't he have to think about chaining his approach and kyl -- changing his approach and style given the gridlock here in washington? >> well, yeah. i think joe biden took office with the best of intentions. he wanted to try to bring the government together, to bring the nation together. republicans are taking this stance that nothing should advance, just wreck and ruin. and as a result, joe biden has to change his strategies. it's a little bit of a change of strategy, but i think it has to be more -- howard: yeah. >> and i love breaking build back better into pieces. let's have a roll call on reducing prescription drug prices. howard: okay. we've got to go. >> i want to see 50 republicans raise their hand and vote no on that. howard: maybe they should have broken it into pieces before trying to get another $3 trillion bill through -- $2 trillion bill through congress. ed rendell, thanks very much for being here. still to come, donald trump versus morning joe again, and -- [inaudible] wants to retaliate against at&t. the buzz meter is next. ♪ ♪ your record label is taking off. but so is your sound engineer. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire new year, new start. ma and now comcast businesson. is making it easy to get going with the ready. set. save. sale. get started with fast and reliable internet and voice for $64.99 a month with a 2-year price guarantee. it's easy... with flexible installation and backing from an expert team, 24/7. and for even more value, ask how to get up to a $500 prepaid card. get a great deal for your business with the ready. set. save. sale today. comcast business. powering possibilities. howard: time to beat the clock on the buzz meter. let's roll. the npr story went viral, nina totenberg saying justice sonia sotomayor have been staying away from oral arguments because -- >> chief justice roberts understanding that in some form or other asked the other justices to mask up. they all did except gorsuch. >> anti-mask insanity has now reached the highest court in the land. >> you, neil gorsuch, are a rotten coworker. dangerous to be near during a pandemic. howard: but fox's shannon breem quoted someone as saying the story was wrong. howard: later, statements were issued denying totenberg's account. saying they were issuing a non-denial denial, but nf -- npr's editor says it requires a clarification, not a correction. seriously? it's a big blow that directv is knocking yun network news off its -- one network news off its satellite especially since at&t chairman william kennard once headed the fcc under bill clinton. but the host, dan ball,s went way, way further. >> if you've got any dirt on mrt and put it on this program. you bring me concrete evidence of whatever it may be, cheating on his taxes, cheating on his wife, saying racial slurs toward ors white people -- folks do that -- whatever it may be, bring it and we'll air it. howard: look at that word, dirt. excuse me, but that is really sad. just like old times on mlk day, donald trump sent appropriators a blast attacking his one-time friends joe scarborough and mika writer zinn sky. ratings are very crow -- lower, they're having an extremely hard time finding an audience. morning joe had some fun with it. >> secondly, you can't quit us. that would be a shame. howard: and the show put up morning joe thanks florida retiree. trump also went after nighttime host saying -- joy reid. now to the twitter ban, these attacks would get far more media attention for better or worse. media-ites jumped on the news that cnn if's giving wolf blitzer an online screening show, cnn accusing the web site of nonsensical and offensively stupid analysis calling it hit job hackery. guess that's called standing by your man, or wolf. hey, we just made it. that's it for this edition of "mediabuzz." i'm howard kurtz. we hope you'll take a look at our facebook and twitter pages. we post all of my daily columns there, and check out media buzz meter podcast, you can subscribe at apple itunes, google podcasts or on your amazon device. we try to squeeze it all in every sunday. we'll be back here at 11 eastern sunday. see you then with the latest buzz. totaled his truck. timber... fortunately, they were covered by progressive, so it was a happy ending... for almost everyone. i booked our hotel on kayak. it's flexible if we need to cancel. cancel. i haven't left the house in years. nothing will stop me from vacation. no canceling. (laughs) flexible cancellation. kayak. search one and done. kim is now demonstrating her congestion. save it slimeball. i've upgraded to mucinex. we still have 12 hours to australia. mucinex lasts 12 hours, so i'm good. now move! kim, no! mucinex lasts 3x longer for 12 hours. ♪ arthel: russia ramps up its aggression towards ukraine with word of a new putin plot exposed, one that the white house is calling deeply concerning. this as the state department just ordered families of u.s. embassy staff out of ukraine. hello, everyone, and welcome to "fox news live." i'm arthel neville. eric: hello, everyone. thank you for joining us, i'm eric shawn. britain says it has intelligence that russia's president vladimir putin plans to install a pro-kremlin leader in ukraine.