Is Damage Control mode, does his first solo tv interview. That wrapped just90 minutes ago. Foxs Shannon Bream asked about a minnesota if law allowing abortions through the ninth month. The governor says he just wants to restore roe v. Wade. This puts the decision with the woman and her Health Care Provider s, Donald Trump is asking for a nationwide shannon wait, he has said he will not sign a nationwide abortion ban. Howard and when asked about falsehoods and exaggerations in his Military Record and other issues . They disparage everyone, personal attacks. I will own up when mys speak. Howard Donald Trumps Running Mate has been doing interviews all the time, holding news conferences, the best kind of preparation for the cbs debate. Kamala harris Running Mate has been bubble wrapped, kept away from journalists until today. And the cbs moderators were much tougher on vance. If walz effectively counterpunched at times, but he often meandered until he got to his main point. Here was j. D. Vance on abortion expressing sympathy for the protrump side. Weve got to do so much were the of a job better of a job at earning the american peoples trust back on this issue where they, frankly, just dont trust us. Were profreedom to make your own chose. We know what the implications are. Howard walzs worst moment, media reports that he lied about being in china for the Tiananmen Square protests when he got there months later. Ive not been perfect, and im a Knucklehead At Times. Howard and he had to be pressed to admit he misspoke. Vances worst moment . January 6th. Senator vance, you have said you would not have certified the last president ial election and would have asked the states to submit alternative electors. That has been called unconstitutional and illegal. Remember, he said that on January The 6th the protesters ought to protest peacefully, and on january the 202th, what happened . Joe biden became the president , Donald Trump left the the White House. 140 Police Officers were beatennal at the capitol that day. Several later died. Howard and Cbs Fact checked vance despite saying it would try to avoid the practice. Just to clarify for our viewers, springfield, ohio, does have a large number of haitian migrants who have legal status, temporary protected the rules were that you guys werent going to Fact Check. Howard the faceoff may not have that much impact on the campaign, but its probably the last debate of this shortened race. Im Howard Kurtz and this is mediabuzz. Howard the Media Reaction was, of course, decidedly mixed. Tim walz did not seem prepared. He didnt respond to the a lot of the criticisms and attacks that vance put on the table. The moderators were obnoxious and made it feel like three on one on vance, and vance was just fine. J. D. Vance was very clarifying at The End of this debate. And he told viewers everywhere that was watching if you hate America American Democracy when things dont go your way, vote for me. J. D. Vance spent the Night Sort of building an intricate and beautiful fork out of toothpicks, and it was perfect. Ask and at The End, he sneezed on it. The whole thing fell apart. It was amazing, the Split Screen Difference between a competent vance and a totally in over his head walz. If. Howard joining us now to analyze the coverage in nashville, Tomi Lahren, host of the Tomi Lahren show on outkick, and with me, kevin corke, foxs senior national correspondent. Tomi, Tim Walz pops up on Fox News sunday. Why now . Whats the strategy . Well, i think he performed so poorly in that debate against j. D. Vance that he had to do something. And i do give him credit for coming on Fox News. Listen, i wish Kamala Harris would also come on Fox News and give a couple interviews. As we know, a highly watched network, and im not just saying it because youre my employer, but its a highly watched network, so i give tim Walz Credit for coming on Fox News sunday, having difficult conversations. The interview appears to be probably something hes not used to which is a little bit of back and forth. Hes actually being pressed on maybe some more of his lies. We got one press during that debate on one of his lies, but there was many more. And just saying that youre a Knucklehead At Times or grammars not your best thing, i dont think thats going to get him out of it with Shannon Bream, thats for sure. Howard kevin, quick thought on the interview, and then i want to move on. I thought the interview was excellent for Tim Walz for a couple reasons. First of all, he finally had a chance to calm down. I thought he was incredibly intense and, frankly, looked scared during the debate. I thought he also was pinned down a couple times by shannon. Great job, my friend. And i dont think he advanced the football, but i dont think he hurt the campaign. And its good practice as well. Howard okay. So his next interview is going to be with jimmy kimmel, and this week or so Kamala Harris will appear if on The View, with howard stern, with Stephen Colbert whos hosted a couple of fundraisers for biden, and on the call your daddy podcast, which is about sex. I dont want to go out an limb here, but does. Suggest shes avoiding tough interviews . Were not talking about Murderers Row here. I think its smart to get out there. I think it speaks to her youth push, but i dont think this will probably, in my opinion, she should be talking to people like you, she should be talking to reporters in the Press Briefing because then she can prove if her mettle. If she seems afraid and going on Colbert Count solve that. Howard i hope that she does more interviews. In fairness, she has agreed to do 600 minutes, 60 minutes. There are a lot of media reports that democrats were disappointed in Tim Walzs longwinded, sometimes stumbling perfect time to stumble, of course performance. Could that be related to the Harris Campaign until now keeping him under wraps . Well, listen, the Harris Campaign has done a good job of keeping both kamala and Tim Walz under wraps, and you cant do that with both the top of your ticket and your Running Mate. You simply cant get around that. And, you know, speaking of Kamala Harris and doing her Media Blitz this week, i actually think this is going to backfire on her because when she does these Pop Culture moments or podcasts, she comes across more fake, phony and disingenuous than when she sits down with a serious journalists. So i actually think that Tim Walz is playing this smarter. I think Kamala Harris would do better to follow in those footsteps, but theres No DoubtTim Walz was in over his head during that debate. It hurt him that j. D. Vance happens to be particularly good at debating but Tim Walz, boy, the expressions alone, i think, shows that he was very nervous and he knew within the first couple of minutes he had lost that crowd. Howard 43 Million people watched that can debate, a significant number of viewers. So did j. D. Vance, whos obviously a better debater, benefit from all of that . I mean, he is giving news conferences, going on podcasts, doing interviews all the time. And i hope hell do one with us. To quote the great allen iverson, we talk about practice. Youve got to practice. Youve got to get your reps howard sports metaphors today. Didnt lose any yardage what can i help . Its sunday. Go, Commander Ors commanders. I really think the practice is really important, and any chance you can sort of bone up on the summits, bone up on how you want to respond to tougher questions makes you better. J. D. Vance put on an absolute master class. That was a 10 out of 10. Ive never seen anyone do better, and if youre Tim Walz, you really ran into a buzz saw. Howard right. So lets play some sound here of, from the debate, trying to make the point that a lot of the questions that were asked, while fair, were sort of framed from the left. Heres nora odonnell. Senator vance, you oppose most Gun Legislation that democrats claim would curb gun violence. You oppose if red Flag Gun laws and legislation to the ban certain semiautomatic rifles including ar15s. Howard tomi, how did that come as cross to you between that and the Fact Checking vance which he obviously said he thought was against the rules theyd agreed to. Right. Well, ill tell you what, i think j. D. Vance walked into that debate knowing that it was going to be likely a three on one. He walked in knowing it probably wasnt going to be fair, and he knows that because of the media interviews hes done. He walks into the Lions Den every time, so i think walking in he knew this. I also think it was strategic for cbs to have two female moderators. We know j. D. Vance has struggled with women because of his Past Competentes comments about childless Cat Ladies. J. D. Vance knew that ors he walked this knowing what it was going to be, and thats why he was ready for it. I think Donald Trump wishes maybe he was a little bit more ready for it when he had his debate against Kamala Harris. But j. D. Performed excellently. Howard yeah. Childless Cat Ladies was not even mentioned, which is fine, and a lot of the controversy in the coverage of Senator Vance is about things hes said in the parks even going back to, you know, before he was in politics. So, kevin, how much of this was about vance softening his image after all of the negative coverage of him as this sort of hardedged, Culture Warrior who used to hate trump, you know, as lots of quotes have been recycled from 2016. Sure. I think a couple things, howie. First of all, if youre the gop, you have to love this idea of making the ticket broadly, if youre going to link the two gentlemen, j. D. Vance appeals more to women, appeals to folks who may be more independent. Donald trumps got the Base Rap wrapped up. I think j. D. Vance broadens that, and i think his performance helped to soften and maybe allay some fears maybe some independents may have had about the ticket broadly speaking. Again, if you didnt know j. D. Vance, if youd never seen him on a national stage, he could not have had a before comingout party, and i think it helps Donald Trump in a way that probably wont be measured until, i dont know, a month from now. Howard almost to be exact. So, tomi, was vance not only trying to soften his own image, i mean, i was really struck by how much sympathy the guy who describes himself as 100 tolife showed for those who have a different view on abortion rights. But in a way, does he alls also soften trumps image because, you know, the Running Mate is coming across as reasonable, willing to listen to the other side and that sort of thing . Right. He also did a lot of cleanup, i feel, from the Trumpharris Debate from a couple weeks prior. I think that he was able to not only defend Donald Trump, but do it in such a way that he wasnt throwing Donald Trump under the bus or sabotaging him in any way. Ill tell you what j. D. Vance did. If you dont know who j. D. Vance is, he did a great job, in my opinion, of speaking to those suburban women, especially those suburban moms talking about his family, talking about his own wife and how accomplished she is, really coming off as a supportive Husband And Somebody who could on Day One really lead this country. I dont think that the left got that from Tim Walz. I dont think anybody if watching that watched Tim Walz and thought this guy could be president. To be fair, we dont necessarily think that, in my opinion, about Kamala Harris either. But Tim Walz certainly didnt do her any favors in that department. Howard was it so friendly at times, briefly, kevin, that they didnt really hold each other can accountable . I mean, there certainly was pushback about obamacare and other issues, but, you know, they seemed the a lot of common if ground which was not the strategy that the democrats were hoping for. I think the youre a democrat, you wanted to the see Governor Walz be a lot more aggressive. I dont think he took advantage of some opportunities where he could really have gotten after j. D. Vance, and part of it is his disarming personality. If you want to go after Donald Trump, hes a pugilist that makes it easier, but going after vance is tougher because hes like, well, you know, youre right, i see your point, which was pretty start on smart on his point. Howard gotta say is, it was civil and substantive. Ahead, Corey Lewandowski. And when we come back, Tv News playing catchup on the devastating hurricane and the Candidates Trading charges. Howard as Hurricane Helene was inflicting almost unbelievable damage last weekend in North Carolina and other southern states, Television News just blew it. Somehow it wasnt much of a story. But that changed at the beginning of the week when Tv Outlets went to appalachia and found death, destruction, desperation and total Death Toll now over 220, much of that or some of that in that region alone. We need things like baby formula, baby food, pet supplies. We need outreach. Please, Baby Hasnt eaten in fife days. Hes a year old. Five days. And i have a 9yearold son thats got epilepsy, and i havent been able to feed him anything in three days. And its just really horrifying. Because theres still people there that are really hard to get to, and were really worried about all the people that are still there. Howard its just absolutely heartbreaking, and its not over. Tomi lahren, did tv largely ignore it was the fifth or sixth story down, the devastation last weekend. Because North Carolina, tennessee are sort of deemed Flyover Country by the coastal elites and not really on the national radar. I will give them credit in the latter half of the week for covering some of these stories, or really difficult stories to hear. You know, to be fair to the mainstream media which i dont often like to do, i will say in this Election Cycle theres a lot of stories, theres a lot of news, theres a lot going on. Its understandable theres going to be many, many stories, and its a juggling act. I will say, however, that listening to these people and every Interview View you hear from them, these people are really saying, you know, where is the government . Were not seeing the Fema Support that we want to be seeing. And maybe for some of these other mainstream networks, they dont want that narrative out there because it looks bad on the bidenharris administration. Im happy the see some of these stories coming out now. It reminds me a lot of the coverage of east palestine, ohio. For a couple of days you get a lot of coverage, but these people in