>> mr. president, what made you use the word "genocide" today? >> yes, i called it genocide because it has become clearer and clearer that putin is just trying to wipe out the idea of even being ukrainian. howard: president biden framed it exactly right this time, unlike his call to oust putin from power which prompted confusion and criticism. this time, biden said let the lawyers decide if it meets the international definition but, quote, it sure seems that way to me. and i would add, to the world. we often think of genocide being aimed at an reality nick, racial or religious group. but the legal definition also includes killing or harming a national group, and that's what this war is, killing ukrainians because they are ukrainian, because the russian autocrat has decided their country has no right to exist. that's a a fact, and the media establishment should start using the term as well. i'm howard kurtz, and this is "mediabuzz." ♪ ♪ howard: ahead we'll look at elon musk trying to buy all of twitter in the his crusade for free speech and the coverage of the horrible brooklyn subway shooting. president biden told volodymyr zelenskyy the other day that the u.s. would write another $800 million check in military aid to defend his country, but many in the media say the pace has been too slow and the weapons too limited. >> how long should we sit by and watch russia regroup at this point seems probably to some kind of an odd decision if we think they're committing genocide. >> and if you were looking to cool things down in ukraine, biden's utterance of genocide certainly didn't help. >> well, then we need to give ukraine more. how many more mariupol maternity wards do we want to see blown up? howard: joining us now to analyze the coverage in jacksonville, susan ferrechio, chief politics reporter for the washington times, and in los angeles, leslie marshall, radio talk hoe host and fox news contribute -- talk show host, fox news contributor. susan, we'll start with you. the coverage has mainly been positive of the president since he made clear he was not offering a legal definition. do you think it's because most journalists agree with biden that this is what putin is doing? >> i think mostcaway that you dd at the top of the show, genocide you think of the holocaust, obviously, you think of trying to wipe out one ethnic group. but it's hard not to see what's happening in ukraine and think of the word genocide because putin is bombing hospitals and train stations, apartment buildings and theaters, and he's clearly going after civilians and children. not just fighting a military effort here. so i think that resonates well with the public, and i also think president biden is well, well aware of this. you look at polling for him, of course we know in the dumps with polls right now, in the 30s in a lot of areas. one area where people feel he hasn't done a strong enough job as a leader is in ukraine. hay feel like he hasn't gone hard enough against russia. so while we're not getting involved, not putting troops on the ground, we're not sending jets to help ukraine, we are sending some weapons, and we are describing putin as committing genocide and as a war criminal. and so that way he gets out in front of it and kind of shows himself as a strong leader in talking about putin but without backing it up with the kind of military force that i just don't think the public here in the u.s. would support. howard: let's come back to that question. leslie, unlike the media uproar over biden saying i don't think putin should repain in power, whether that meant regime change, biden made clear this was his personal opinion. and i was, in fact, surprised it wasn't bigger news. [laughter] >> you know, i think it's becoming -- we're becoming desensetizedded, and i just don't mean by president joe joe biden shooting from the hip. i think after four years of donald trump and where we are as a nation whether on tv, in our living rooms, i think the filter is off, howie. and i think also, i would agree with some of what susan said there. i think that the president and jen psaki said this, you know, he said it's personal. he is morally outraged about what is happening many ukraine, and i think he is ec ecoing the sentiments of the -- echoing the sentiments of the american people. the legal definition of general genocide is not just toward an ethnic if group of people, but a nation. and clearly, russia is trying to destroy the nation of ukraine. genocide is followed on terms like thug, murderer which now some other world leaders are have jumped on the bandwagon to do. and lastly, i think president biden is seen as stronger with this rhetoric. i think many of us were shocked when donald trump agreed with the term genocide. and when you have trump supporters and biden supporters agreeing on something, i don't know, maybe something's very strange in the universe or maybe they're right. howard: russian troops were shooting civilians walking and riding bicycles in bucha. susan, with bide biden telling zelenskyy he's sing -- sending another $800 million in powerful weapons, the russians sent a diplomatic note to the u.s.: we call on the united states and its allies to stop the irresponsible militarization of ukraine which implies unpredictable consequences. so russia invades, deliberately kills thousands and thousands of civilians and new sends this whiny little note. how do we even cover that with a straight face? >> you don't. and, of course, the u.s. will ignore that and send the weapons. putin has had some success though because we didn't send the jets, and we're trying to walk this fine line where we don't get so involved that we're actually getting u.s. troops directly involved in a conflict with russia. that's the fine line the u.s. is walking, and i think putin's warning like that shows his awareness and the difficulty it is for the president to navigate it. one way out of it is to up the amount of money in military aid and to send weapons like the javelins that have been really successful many help defend ukraine against the russian tanks. this is a really important step, and putin's warning is expected, and our ignoring that warning is also pretty predictable as well. howard: yeah. i think some of these weapons should have been sent weeks ago. i'm surprised many in the media have not been more critical of that. leslie, the western media practically cheered -- i know i did -- when the ukrainians sunk this major russian battleship, personal humiliation for putin. but at the same time, the russians are now on the verge of taking control of the city of mariupol. they're preparing for this massive assault which is certainly going to be bloody on the eastern region. is it important that the press not paint too optimistic a picture of where we are in this war? >> oh, absolutely. and, look, i don't mean to compare it to outcome of an election, but, you know, this is what happens if we think, you know, we're winning maybe we're not going to be as supportive. and let's remind everybody, the united states is part of a community of 30 nations that are assisting ukraine financially and with equipment and weapons. so, clearly, you know, putin pointing his finger at the united states, you know, as the leader of the free world, joe biden and the united states leading the free world, some people would say it's poking the bear. but at the end of day, you know, at the beginning there was a prediction, to your point, howie, that this was going to be over in 48-72 hours. big surprise. but i think, you know, the headlines echo again the sentiments of not just the american people, but the world. and what they're seeing is almost a biblical proportion kind of battle here between david and goliath. and, clearly, president zelenskyy is david, and we're certainly hoping for that victorious i outcome no matter how long and, god, terrible bloody it may become. and, of course, there is the concern about poking putin, the bear, and what he would do next. howard: right. >> then again, without a poke, i think putin -- howard: well, nuclear weapons can dis, you know, just concern about provoking him, what else is he going to do. susan, president zelenskyy told "the atlantic" in an interview that when western leaders ask him which weapons he needs, havinged is him the -- having asked him the same question a week before, he said is, quote, it's like groundhog day. i peel like bill -- i feel like bill murray. i'm not sure the coverage reflects his frustration. he has to watch more and more civilians being killed every single day. >> well, he'd like a lot more involvement from everybody, from nato, the u.s. leading nato to help him defend himself and the country against russia. and people are not willing to do that because nobody wants ap engage withment between the u.s. and russia. russia has nuclear weapons, nobody wants this to escalate, so it's a delicate dance here on involvement and helping ukraine defend itself. he's obviously frustrated. and i actually do think the media's covered -- he has, this is a real unique situation where zelenskyy's been able to get into the press and get the kind of coverage that you don't really see this. and he's been able to get his message if out, i think, begging for help. we see the images on tv. we see what's happening. and i think that's reflected in some of the poll numbers where people feel frustrated. they say the united states is not doing enough. but, again, with those polls if you ask what the alternative is, how much involvement do you want the u.s. to have in an overseas conflict like this, especially one where you have two superpowers with nuclear weapons involved, that's a whole different story. so the frustration is understandable, but i think he's played himself quite well had the in the media here in the u.s. howard: yeah, no, he's used the media masterfully for a guy who, obviously, has to worry about russian troops tracking him down and giving a lot of interviews these days. leslie, on that point when zelenskyy told cnn's jake tapper responding to a question about a warning from our cia director that the world should be prepared for putin to use nuclear weapons because he doesn't care about ukrainian life, how seriously should the media take that because nobody really knows? >> well, if you listen to the experts on not just russia, but on vladimir putin, they should take it very seriously. and i think that the media should report on that, you know? some people might say it's irresponsible because, you know, it's speculation and projection at this point. we can't put anything beyond vladimir putin. so i think the media needs to report what is going on, and that is what is going on. that is a possibility. and, again, you know, reach out to the experts on both sides but from, you know, as a radio talk show host who interviews these people, the majority of those regardless of their ideology, seems to feel that that man's finger could be very close to the button because he is in a -- again, he is backed into the corner, and every time he's losing more military personnel, he's losing more money -- although he keeps gaining money, you know, through oil and gas gas to europe -- howard: yeah, and losing face. >> yeah, and losing face, obviously. and weapons. howard: all right. >> there is that concern. howard: i am struck by what you said earlier about people being desensitized. i understand it is hard to watch these pictures every day, it's hard to go with the magnitude of what i call the genocide, but i hope people will stick with it. i think there's still a lot of public and media interest that we are still covering it day after day after day, and that's entirely appropriate. let me get a break, ahead, ari fleischer on jen psaki's heading to msnbc taking a swipe at fox, but when we come back, did the media shy away from extremist views of the brooklyn subway suspect? 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i think the media could do a better job not just focusing on things that divide us like racial issues and whether or not the media covers racial issues fairly, which i agree it does not cover these issues fairly. i think if it was a white suspect, obviously, and say more minorities were hurt in the incident, this story would have been covered differently. i think that that's easy to agree on, howie. but the story here is why is this happening, not just why the crime on the rise. of course, it stems back to how these criminals are treated leading up to these events whether he should have been in jail, whether they should having punished for harshly for past offenses. and i think talking about who has access to guns is an important issue. further, the issue that's not getting covered is mental health. a lot of these incidents in new york city the suspects are almost uniformly mentally ill, and that's not being addressed -- howard: let me jump in here. leslie, but of course a high profile mass shooting, this one, las vegas, orlando, parkland, sandy hook going all the way back to columbine generates the most media attention. >> it does because at lot of people probably didn't know there were also mass shootings in this past week in south carolina, sacramento, new orleans, highest, bloodiest killing in new orleans in the past decade -- howard: makes the point. >> i'm going to add to some of what susan said here. you know, mental health, i would agree 100%. but i think that the issue, you know, really is we are a leader in the world. sadly, we are also a leader in the world in mass shootings and a leader in the world in gun ownership. and we also are a leader in the world on less restrictions, and we're seeing even more of those restrictions and regulations taken away where you can have a gun and where's the conceal and is carry permitsome you don't need one. this is very dangerous. the why, yes, moment aal illness can be there. but if you're putting a weapon in the hands of somebody with mental ill illness or not addressing the elephant in the room which is guns -- and it doesn't mean we don't have the second amendment or we infringe upon people's constitutional rights. but when the overwhelming majority of americans agree we've gotted to do more like universal background checks, this is something that our leaders need to do and stop just looking at party politics. howard: let me turn to this question, "the new york times," reuters and other news organizations initially did not describe the suspect as black at a time when police were ask canning people to send in any tips and grews to track him down. let alone that he's a black nationalist with extreme views. susan, what sense does that make in. >> it was irresponsible, and i like the point in the sound bite earlier about black nationalists. they exist. it's really interesting how people respond to these things and are completely una aware that there are black nationalists. it's just part of way the media does not cover this issue fairly, is and i don't with understand why. i don't understand what the fear is in honestly covering a story and who they're worried about offending. their readers, their viewers, i don't know. but it certainly begs -- raises a serious question about how we in the media, what kind of prism we're using and is whether it's really serving the public. howard: leslie, the fbi now says the suspect, who's been arrested many times, add had railed in these online videos about subways and homeless people, about a mayor eric adams and once said he, quote, should have gotten a gun and just started shooting mother-blankers. why aren't the media which, of course, always examine motives, downplaying or refusing to examine it? isn't it part of the story? >> absolutely, it is part of the story. you know, i think -- you know, i can't speak for the all of the media, obviously, but i think there is some concern, especially when you have people of color and people of certain religions, muslims, for example, that there'll be retaliation against minority communities whether it's african-american, aapi, muslims, you know, jews, the list goes on. and i definitely think that sometimes the media tiptoes around that. i do think that authorities also, you know, i know that, you know, many times i'll get an e-mail from somebody of authority saying, you know, hold back on mentioning this aspect until, you know, we're sure, until the person is in custody. howard: yeah. it's a bit of a balancing act, but i would think people in those communities would also want to be protected from crazed predators. good discussion. susan ferrechio, leslie marshall, thanks very much for joining us this sunday. up next, there is some success with breaking through putin's digital iron curtain and getting real information about the war to average russians. stay with us. ♪ i'm the latest hashtag challenge. and everyone on social media is trying me. 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you know, the ukrainians sink a russian battleship, and the russians say, oh, it was just a fire. it had nothing to do with missiles. >> no, there's nothing like the russian propaganda machine, the digital iron curtain that has defended not just during the course of this war -- though it's become even more opaque -- it's been in place for decades. it's not just the russian people who are being obstructed from reality, it is putin himself. his own advisers are not telling him the way that the west looks at everything he's done over the last six weeks. he has no idea that people have been so critical of him as they have been. howard: there are efforts to penetrate this digital iron curtain. the "the new york times" is reporting that radio-free europe and ukrainian activists are having some limited success in getting through online, getting information to average russians even through so-called mirror sites that the sensors keep looking for -- censors keep looking for or by breaking the firewall that keeps russians from accessing western sites. does that sound significant to you? >> it is very significant. in terms of media presence inside the country, but the ingenuity we've seen from ukrainians trapped inside various cities in ukraine, the ingenuity we've seen if from pro-democracy russian people has been amazing. they have been working around putin's restrictions on them now for weeks and doing a brilliant job. they have been getting, using vpns, they've been using these alternative messaging sites and apps like telegram, they have been communicating their locations on things like google maps or on restaurant reviews. howard: as you know, the russian dissident and washington post contributor has been if this a long-running battle with the putin government, and and he was jailed just recently on sort of trumped-up charges. after he spoke out and said that the putin regime will fall, not just that the war will fail, the putin regime will fall. his wife, we've gene ya, has been speaking out about her husband's plight. >> when vladimir putin is finally in jail with his clique, russia will be -- [inaudible] >> yeah. i -- >> it's going to be a sad place. and people like my husband -- [inaudible] howard: so this shows the nature of the russian police state. but wouldn't he also know the danger in this environment of making these comments? >> he does, and he's been aware of them, and he's been doing it anyway for a decade. he's remarkable in that he has flown in out of russia dozens of times. he comes here to the united states, he publishes criticism of putin even long before the war, years before the war started here in the u.s. press and then goes back to russia to try and make sure that his contacts and his family members that are there are alive and well. the idea that he is now this prison is terrible. in prison is terrible. he's, though, frankly, luckily -- lucky to be alive -- howard: you've spoken to him. >> yeah. i had the opportunity to interview him here in washington a couple of years ago, i met his daughter. he spoke to me about his experience being poisoned by the kremlin. he thought he was going to die. he was in the hospital in critical condition. i forget the amount of time, but it was days. he thinks he's been poisoned twice by putin's henchmen. howard: and yet he keeps going back and taking these risks. >> he does. incredibly brave. howard: yeah. i think that says a lot about him and the totalitarian society that russia has become. the media and every other possible front. gillian turner, great to see you. thanks for joining us. >> you bet. howard: next, elon musk and the war over twitter. why the world's richest man is determined to control the social network. and later, ari fleischer on the media, the war and donald trump. ♪ scotts turf builder triple action kills weeds, prevents crab grass and feeds your lawn. all three,in just one bag. i like that. scotts turf builder triple action. it's lawn season. let's get to the yard. plain aspirin could be hurting your stomach. vazalore 325 liquid-filled aspirin capsule is clinically shown in a 7 day study to cause fewer ulcers than immediate release aspirin. vazalore. the first liquid-filled aspirin capsules...amazing! before i got aura, twenty-four of my online accounts were hacked! he uses the same password for everything. i didn't want to deal with it. but aura digital security just dealt with it. what were we worried about again? shopping on public wifi is sketchy. but with aura digital security, my devices are protected in like 3 minutes. it's time to protect your life online with aura's all-in-one digital security. try for free today at aura.com what was that password anyway? ew. after switching to the farmer's dog we noticed so many improvements in remi's health. his allergies were going away and he just had amazing energy. it looks like nutritious food, and it is. i'm investing in my dog's health and happiness. get started at longlivedogs.com howard: elon musk did an about face, or was it a head fake, by deciding not to join twitter's board after ripping the social network for damaging democrat, hen making a $43 billion bid for the entire company. >> i think we wanted to really have -- as free as reasonably possible. and a good sign as to whether there's prix speech is -- free speech is someone you don't like allowed to say something you don't like. and if that is the case, then we have free speech. howard: joining us now from connecticut, charlie gasparino, senior correspondent at fox business network. charlie, i always thought elon musk wanted all of twitter because he's a free speech crusader, and i'm not buying the notion he's just going to quietly walk away if his so-called final offer is rejected. why does the founder of tesla and spacex, why is he so determined to control twitter? >> well, it's a great question. it's the one everybody's asking. i'll give you two sides of the coin. you know, howie, i cover this like baseball, you know? i have no -- there's no horse in this race for me. but i'll look at it, look at it this way. if you talk to his critics, and they are legion particularly on wall street, they will tell you this is diversionary, that the justice department is going to come down heavy and hard on him for accounting irregularties and fraud, they believe tesla cooks the books. the sec has been looking at him for a long time, these are ongoing investigations. we reported recently they're ramping up their investigation right as he made this bid, so it's kind of interesting timing there. so that's what they will tell you, short sellers who are betting that this stock is going to go south. if you talk to others, they will say elon musk is a free speech zealot, he's an absolutist, he believes that twitter is a, you know, is restricting speech, and we need more free speech than less and that he really, in his heart of hearts, believes this. and, you know, and he, and he's anti-establishment. he wants to take on all the establishment. i mean, let's be real clear, elon musk is a libertarian. i wouldn't say he's quite a conservative, but he's an outlier in silicon valley, and he would like nothing better to do than to stick it to them. and i bet there's others out there in silicon valley who are right of center and conservative libertarians, but they don't have capital that elon musk has. howard: yeah. >> he does have stock worth $250 billion. howard: right. a lot of questions about, you know, tesla's stock and how it creates the money, but it is an interesting point. it would be an earthquake, i think, if doj and sec would decide he's unfit to buy twitter. meanwhile, in terms of all the maneuvering, twitter's adopting a poison pill strategy to fend off elon musk. a saudi arabian prince doesn't like it because the saudis are such fervent defenders of free speech, don't you think? could all this wind up in one gigantic, fascinating for the media bidding war for twitter? >> it could. you know, let's look at it -- i've been saying that, that it could end up in a bidding war. i was first to report that. "the new york post" reported there was a privacy equity firm, bravo tiptoe -- i can't remember the name. [laughter] it's out there kicking the tires. you can look it up. this company has been trying to sell itself since it ipo'd in 2013, okay? people have said, no way, jose. they've walked away. disney, salesforce.com, all the tech guys looked at it and i think for regulatory reasons they can't get involved. private equity has looked at it for a lot of reasons, they don't like it even though that one firm is looking at it. but, you know, twitter doesn't -- howard: it's not that profitable. >> it's not that profitable, and it doesn't have a lot of cash flow because it wasn't just -- if it was profitable and threw out a lot of cash, private equity could go in and fix it. howard: right. >> that's what they do -- howard: let me move you on to this. many media liberals are freaking out -- and that's a technical term, by the way -- >> right. howard: -- about how can this mega-billionaire possibly be allowed to control the dialogue on twitter? is that because we have a situation where now on twitter speech can be controlled, donald trump can be banned, a hunter biden story can be suppressed? i thought journalists were supposed to be in favor of free speech? >> listen, so did i. and for them to be cheering twitter along here is absurd. by the way, getting back to my point, everybody passed on this deal. there's one guy that can do it, who wants to do it, it's him. and the media doesn't like him because he's a free speech absolutist. he -- i think he would put donald trump back on the platform in a millisecond and a lot of others. until be a different platform. it wouldn't be the uber-woke regulatory platform that it is now, and this has a lot of georgeists annoyed -- journalists annoyed. and, by the way, tough luck. if he wants this, howie, i do, unless he's done something really wrong, it's his. he's got to want it though. howard: right. and by the e way, there are lots of billionaires that that own or control media organizations or hedge funds. jeff bezos owns "the washington post," and you never saw a media uproar about that. finally, charlie, musk said in an interview -- we played some of it earlier -- that he has a plan b. i think he has a plan b, a plan c, a plan d, but he also said he might not be able to pull it off. so could this guy who, you know, guest hosted snl, who smoked dope with joe rogan, obviously thrives on the attention, be doing this for that reason and maybe he does end up walking awaysome. >> yeah. i mean, listen, i have no insight into this. i don't think anybody else knows what's going on in his head. maybe his girlfriend or maybe even not her. howard: grimes, yeah. >> i don't think anybody knows what he's going to do. if he walked away tomorrow, he would make his point, by the way, because we're all talking right now about how restrictive and uber-woke twitter is and how it's the public square, but it's run for liberals. i mean, that's conversation we're having right now. howard: yeah. >> so he made his point. he might walk away. i will say it again and this will drive the mainstream media, which i think i'm part of, but most of mainstream media nuts: if he wants it, it's his. if he ups his bid to 60, i don't know how they say no. they've been trying to sell this forever, and they can't. howard: and by the way, the media also love e hon musk because he's a great story. after the break, the media blame game intensifies over inflation, and the white house spins the buck, it's putin's false. ari fleischer right after this. ♪ out here, you're more than just a landowner. you're a gardener. a landscaper. a hunter. because you didn't settle for ordinary. same goes for your equipment. versatile, powerful, durable kubota equipment. more goes into it. so you get more out of it. ♪ ♪ howard: huge headlines this week as the inflation rate hit 8.5%, and rising prices also means soaring rhetoric as the pundits debate who's to blame. >> now, how do they a explain this? blame it on trump? i don't know, blame it on fox news, blame it on putin? anyone but on themselves and their lousy policies that that sent prices soaring for gas, electricity and food. >> i just would like to know what president you've ever met that would have been able to stop inflation from going up as we exited covid and as a russian war, as russia began a war that caused gas prices to spike. howard: i spoke with ari fleischer who was george w. bush's white house press secretary and fox business contribute -- fox news contributor. ari fleischer, welcome. >> thank you. howard: media conservatives say president biden's putin price hike line is an alibi. liberals are more sympathetic, but even people like msnbc guy steve ratner if says the white house let things spin out of control. what's your take on the coverage? >> yeah, i think the coverage actually has been appropriately difficult and tough on joe biden when it comes to inflation. they're kind of pounding president biden, and it doesn't matter what show you watch. the issue here, howard, is this is so palpable. people feel it every day. there's no getting around it. and i do not think this is a case where the media's going easy on biden. i looked at cnn, "the new york times"' coverage, they've been tough on the impact this has had on the american people. howard: right. you might say he were a little slow to dive into it, but certainly, i think, nobody can deny the fact that this is hurting families. jen psaki, who has your old cob -- job, was on the liberal podcast pod save is america, and she was asked this about fox news' peter doocy. >> is he a stupid son of a bitc- [laughter] [cheers and applause] or does he play a stupid son of a bitch on tv? >> he works for a network -- >> okay. >> -- that provides people with questions that nothing personal to any individual, including peter doocy, but might make anyone sound like a stupid son of a bitch. howard: she then praised doocy for some grace when president biden called him that stupid. s.o.b., but psaki is going to msnbc, and here she is at the podium taking a shot at a rival network. >> yeah. you know, howard, the problem here is that that if donald trump or people in the trump administration were saying this about the people of cbs, abc, mbc, they would lock arms, immediately denounce it and tell the white house these are threats to journalists and that the white house needs to do something about it, and they'd be a unified team. here you don't hear that similar bond coming from the rest of the media because it's fox. as if, yes, it's appropriate to say these type of epitaphs against fox, against peter doocy, and you can't do it that way. now, look, there's one thing about saying it in an off-camera, off-mic way where you get caught saying things that everybody in government sometimes thinks about the media. i worked for dick cheney, george bush when dick cheney got caught on a hot mic. but jen jen psaki said it knowingly and proudly, and she should have the restraint and the good manners not to do that. howard: well, they can say it was a lightheartedded comment, but should she still be at the white house for a new more weeks while everyone knows she's going to the network that happens to be a rival of fox? >> yeah, yeah, great point. this is part of the ethical trade that she has made. i can understand when i was possess secretary and i was getting ready to leave, i followed the ethics rules. you are allowed to talk to people, you just can't ink deals it's kind of one of these funny things. that's what she's done, but because she's doing it for a media organization, it does present immediate conflict of interest issues for the white house. howard: let's turn to ukraine. i happen to think the biden administration should have done more, more quickly to get powerful weapons to ukraine. but if you look at the dismal polls, the president has gotten little to no credit for holding the western alliance together and leading sanctions on russia. >> the problem joe biden has when it comes to ukraine is it adds to the malaise that the american people are feeling that nothing's going right in the united states, the inflation, border crime, putin, russia. none of it feels like the american people have faith that joe biden has things under control. there's no rally around the flag. it wasn't the united states that was attacked, and so i think this was predictable, that this just adds to joe biden's burdens and worries that that he's not handling things well and that everything seems like it's off on the wrong track. howard: donald trump was on sean hannity's show the other night, and sean, speaking about the war crimes and atrocities committed by russia, asked him, he said, i asked you the last time you were on, what do you think, this is evil in our time? do you believe this is evil in our time? >> i think in a hundred years people are going to look back, and they're going to say how did we stand back -- howard: trump later said, well, i got along with putin. media antagonists jumped on him, as you would expect, but why is donald trump with all these dead bodies in the streets of ukraine, so reluctant to criticize vladimir putin? >> you know, my hunch is the first thing that crossed donald trump's mind is america does similar things. e we've heard president trump say that in past instances. he might have the iraq war in mind. he opposed the iraq war. he equates the two. that has been part of what president trump, made him so different in the way he took on thesish -- these issues. i think it'd be stronger, frankly, for president trump to have said we'll look back afternoon and agree that these are war crimes, atrocities and what putin is doing is wrong and it ought to be stopped. i would have preferred to have heard him say that. i don't know why he says we have to wait a hundred years to do that. howard: always great to get your perspective. ari fleischer, thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you, howard. howard: on those jen psaki remarks, peter doocy is a terrific reporter, and nobody tells any of us here what to ask. psaki later tweeted that she respects him. still to come, how did the much-ballyhooed cnn+ get a off to such an awful start? ♪ ♪ his underhand sky serve? on fire. his grilling game? on point. and his a1c? ron is on it. with the once-daily pill, jardiance. jardiance not only lowers a1c... it goes beyond to reduce the risk of cardiovascular death for adults with type 2 diabetes and known heart disease. and jardiance may help you lose some weight. jardiance may cause serious side effects, including ketoacidosis that may be fatal, dehydration that can lead to sudden worsening of kidney function, and genital yeast or urinary tract infections. a rare life-threatening bacterial infection in the skin of the perineum could occur. stop taking jardiance and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of this infection, ketoacidosis, or an allergic reaction, and don't take it if you're on dialysis. taking jardiance with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. a once-daily pill that goes beyond lowering a1c? on it with jardiance. ask your doctor about jardiance. at xfinity, we live and work in the same neighborhood as you. on it with jardiance. we're always working to keep you connected to what you love. and now, we're working to bring you the next generation of wifi. it's ultra-fast. faster than a gig. supersonic wifi. only from xfinity. it can power hundreds of devices with three times the bandwidth. so your growing wifi needs will be met. supersonic wifi only from us... xfinity. howard: cnn+, the network's new streaming service, is getting lousy reviews and not a lot of eyeballs. fewer than 10,000 people are using it on a daily basis, and axios says hundreds of millions of dollars are expected to be cut from the budget which would mean major layoffs. we're back with charlie gasparino. why did the brass think that people would pay for a streaming service that has the same service you see an a colors doing on the air? ? -- anchors on the air. >>some. >> axios reported that last week, two weeks ago fox business was saying the same thing. i think -- and the reason why i knew this was going to be a dismal start is because people internally were saying it. they just didn't think this was a -- very good service. with zucker gone, he was kind of the rabbi for this thing, you know, it kind of lost its way, i think. and, you know, listen, this is easy low-hanging fruit for david sasse solve, the new that head of discovery which bought warner media and cnn because, you know, he has $4 billion in cost savings, and something like this is easy to cut right now. howard: right. you do get ankerson cooper's -- anderson cooper's parenting tips. but sin you brought up zaslav, hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested. >> yes. in any merger there's going to be cuts, but i think this thing because it was so capital-intensive, because jeff zucker made it such a big project and because it wasn't very, if you think about it from a programming standpoint, it wasn't that well thought out, it might have worked in a trump world, maybe. if cnn had donald trump to kick around some more. but it doesn't have a foil right now. this sort of softer side of cnn just, i just don't think it's going to work. and we should point out that, you know, streaming services -- not just cnn, but any streaming service -- it's difficult to monetize. these things are really tough businesses right now. howard: just briefly, steve krakauer, a former cnn executive, says cnn+ won't let you sample anything. you think jake tapper has an interesting interview, you can't watch it. how do they think that's going to get people inside the tent? >> i know. well, they discounted, you know? here's something, we should point out that just regular cnn, an app is widely usesed as a news source, no tout about that. maybe they thought they could tap into people that really are into cnn, they might pay an extra $the -- 2 or 3 or 5 for a little extra. but, you know, listen, i'm not behind the strategy of this thing. i can just tell you this, i know that zaslav has to cut stuff, and i know he's got his eye on cnn+. howard: all right. charlie gasparino, thanks for doing double duty. i'm howard kurtz. i want to wish you happy easter and happy pat -- passover as well. check out my podcast, media buzz meeter. you can subscribe at apple itunes and a lot of other places. we are back here next sunday covering the media waterfront. we'll see you then with the latest buzz. many. ♪ luckily they've all got chase. smart bankers. convenient tools. one bank with the power of both. chase. make more of what's yours. >> tech: when you have auto glass damage, trust safelite. chase. this dad and daughter were driving when they got a crack in their windshield. [smash] >> dad: it's okay. pull over. >> tech: he wouldn't take his car just anywhere... ♪ pop rock music ♪ >> tech: ...so he brought it to safelite. we replaced the windshield and recalibrated their car's advanced safety system, so features like automatic emergency braking will work properly. >> tech: alright, all finished. >> dad: wow, that's great. thanks. >> tech: stay safe with safelite. schedule now. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ here we go... remember, mom's a kayak denier, so please don't bring it up. bring what up, kayak? excuse me? do the research, todd. listen to me, kayak searches hundreds of travel sites to find you great deals on flights, cars and hotels. they're lying to you! who's they? kayak? arr! open your eyes! compare hundreds of travel sites at once. kayak. search one and done. my little family is me, aria, and jade. just the three of us girls. i never thought twice about feeding her kibble. but about two years ago, i realized she was overweight. she was always out of breath. that's when i decided to introduce the farmer's dog to her diet. it's just so fresh that she literally gets bubbles in her mouth. now she's a lot more active she's able to join us on our adventures. and we're all able to do things as a family. ♪♪ get started at longlivedogs.com i'm amber, i've lost 128 pounds with golo, taking release. ♪♪ i have literally tried everything. i was on the verge of getting gastric bypass surgery, and i saw the golo commercial, and it was the last thing i tried 'cause it worked. (voice over) welcome to franklin graham's easter message from ukraine presented by the billy graham evangelistic association, featuring inspirational music from the ukrainian easter choir. good day, this is franklin graham, and it's easter, and normally on easter we say that, “he is risen”" and the response is, “he is risen indeed!” and it's true! the lord jesus christ is alive, and he is risen, and today i am coming to you from lviv in ukraine. ukraine is a country with a rich history.

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