governor? some media dilemmas to ponder. hank williams jr.'s offensive comments about president obama. should monday night football have given the singer the boot? those wall street protests now spreading across the country. has the press been too slow to recognize their importance? plus, the passing of steve jobs. the visionary who was so brilliant at manipulating a news business that served as his cheering section. i'm howard kurtz, and this is reliable sources. ♪ back in may, i wrote a "newsweek" headline, "is sarah palin over?" it seemed there was no way the fox commentator was going to mount a white house campaign. it was just as clear when reporters were chasing the bus trips she took over the summer. but the press somehow kept up the pretense until this week when palin pulled the plug with a statement and a radio interview, not like chris christie, at a news conference. >> to tell you the truth, i made my announcement today in the format that i did because that was his seven millionth no. and i didn't want to go through all of that. i wanted to, you know, just kind of put the marker down and say, no, i'm not running. not have the big press conference it. it not make a big darn deal about it because this isn't about me. and it's not about chris christie. >> but it is about you when you run for president, even when you decide against running, unless your goal is to avoid reporters. joining us now here in washington, nia malika-hernandez, national political reporter for the "washington post." robert costa, reporter for "national review." and bill press, host of radio syndicated "bill press show." why do so many journalist participate in the pretense that maybe, maybe sarah palin might run for president next year? >> i want to tell you the secret about us. we are not a disinterested party in politics. we want it to be exciting. we want colorful candidates. and we have -- >> the entertainment value, you're saying? >> partly that. look, we have columns to write. i have three hours of talk radio to fill every day, right? we have tv shows to anchor and to be guests on. and sarah palin keeps it interesting. so we're disappointed. >> you get points for candor. he apparently loves to needle the press. it is columnists and pundits and talk show host who kept her in the headlines until now. >> i disagree that it was reporter driven. i was one of those following her for weeks in iowa. she had a big bus tour, making speeches, premiering a documentary. she gave a major speech in september. >> but who cares if she's not running? then she doesn't get the press -- >> unlike chris christie whoa had many on-the-record denials, palin never did. we're following a former v.p. contender, going around making speeches, going to eat fried butter at the state fair. this seemed pretty presidential to me. >> lots of people eat fried butter. let me get to nia -- i remember when mitt romney announced his candidacy in new hampshire. she went on the bus tour -- all the reporter there rushed to her. she was on the front page. how can it not be reporter driven? it was urltly media driven. >> it was media driven, but i sort of agree with robert in the sense that she was making moves that looked like she might run for president. she had the glossy video out of iowa around the ames scuffle that looked very presidential -- >> did she put together -- >> she had a grassroots organization on the ground, conservatives for palin. peter sington, running an iowa operation for sick monsix month. >> you must have been disappointed -- >> i wasn't disappointed. i'm just a reporter. >> you compare sarah palin to what mitt romney put together or what rick perry belatedly is putting together -- she had no organization, no national team. she had some grassroots followers. camp followers who follow the butt, bought her books. that doesn't make a campaign. mitt romney's been in this for five years. you have to look at the infrastructure. >> in september at the labor day rally, huge crowds out there urging her to run. not the kind of crowds that mitt romney has gotten, frankly, or even rick perry. so in some ways we were covering that. that excitement, that desire for a different candidate among republicans. we're jumping between herman cain and -- >> she is an exciting and charismatic political figure, also a divisive one. gave no indication that she was going to run. >> sarah did sent out a letter, her political action committee sent it out this month looking for donations. that's what made a lot of people -- >> people are always -- you know who's not happy with sarah palin, a lot of people at fox news. fox paying her $1 million a year and she makes the announcement on mark levin's radio show, not fox? >> you got to wonder about the relationship with roger ailes and that moves. if they were paying her for anything, it seems they would be paying her for an exclusive when she makes the decision not to run. >> you would think. there was a real split in the conservative punditry raenks about whether shaarah palin shod run. many said in 2008 she was unqualified to be vice president, saying she's not qualified to be president. the polls were not encouraging as the year went on. what explains the sharp difference of opinion on the right? >> i think when she left her gubernatorial position in alaska, conservative pundits said she should have stayed in, beefed up on issues, getting ready for 2012. even though we said she was never going to run, never gave clear signals. mitt romney and rick perry's peep were worried because she plays an outsider role. doesn't matter what national review or weekly standards are thinking. she could jump in like a third-party candidate in a primary and shake things up. the divide was there because people didn't like that she quit her job and became a reality tv star. in a political way she was a major figure. >> i wonder now that she's closed the curtain on the speculation -- lou sound like you're happy to keep speculating, maybe she'll change her mind. >> it does bring -- >> now that she's done that, does she remain an important political figure? certainly she can raise money for the party, things like that. or is she really going to become a wealthy cultural figure? >> i mean, it could be both. she's clearly going to be wealthy. she's clearly going to maintain her celebrity, i think. you know, in that statement where she said she wasn't going to run, she said she would continue to drive the conversation around, you know, debt and deficit spending and just taxes and all sorts of thing. what's interesting, though, is she hasn't really been driving that conversation. she's not in the field. she hasn't been running. it's about on the hill, romney and obama and the candidates -- >> i couldn't agree more. the idea, right, that she is going to drive a conversation on any issue in the republican party is just pure myth. i don't know whether todd believes that. she's not driving -- let me tell you, rand paul does not feel that he has to consult the oracle of con silla before he makes a stand on the debt cre ceili ceiling. >> i think if she gave speeches she could have influenced the debate, one that lots of people thought she might run. >> fair enough. >> she took another shot -- really, the place in society that she was running against and delighted in painting herself as a victim was the press. take a look at her interview with greta van sustern on fox. >> when you consider his straeth strength, he's going to have candidates and 0% of the media in his back pocket. >> talking about barack obama. now, you could make an argument that was true in 2008 when barack obama got incredibly favorable coverage. but now? >> i'll tell you another secret about us, right? this is beat up the press day, i guess. we love to beat people up. one we get them up, we love to tear them down. >> particularly when polls are down. >> exactly. then you pile on. >> why is it that palin can't resist taking those slaps at the president? does she have a point? 90% of the press are in obama's pocket? >> i think she's a little too hard on the press. becomes almost annoying as a reporter to constantly hear the same refrain from her about the media. going back to bill's point about what role she'll play, it's like spiro agnew. she's going to rally against the press. i think in 2012 she's not going to be hugely influential but in senate and house races she'll jump in and shake things up that way. >> for all of palin's dissatisfaction from the press, she's gotten unfair coverage, particularly her family. i'm not saying she never has a legitimate beef there. she's also largely avoided interviews, using her fox platform when she's not often challenged. that make me wonder how much impact she will have from this point on except as somebody who is almost more in the entertainment realm. >> yeah, it's true. she talk good not wanting to do a sort of chris christie-style press conference. i mean, she wanted to do it in her own way. in some ways, you think she didn't want to do a press conference because she didn't want to do a press conference and answer all of these questions. surprise, surprise. it will be interesting to see what she does. again, i think she in some ways has an outside view of her power in this party. you noticed when she dropped out, it was only rick perry who came out to see, you know, she's a great friend. she's still a major part this party and very important -- >> you set me up for the next segment. let me tease it now. when we come back, chris christie confirms what most of us knew -- that he won't run for president either. we'll look at that frenzy. and is the press going to pounce on mitt romney for being a mormon? 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[ male announcer ] werther's original caramel chocolate. what comfort tastes like. it was an exercise in journalistic self-indulgence as the media posted the prospects that chris christie might jump into the presidential race despite a year of impassioned denials. when he made the announcement he couldn't help but poke the press corps and local respondents in trenton. and in his jersey way, criticizing reporting and punditry. >> let me dispel that because i've seen wild reporting about this. mary pat and the kids were completely behind me running if that's what i wanted to do. you worry a lot more than i do, charlie. you -- really, we've got to get you some help. you're obviously overwrought. i have to point out to all of you who are new here that lisa is getting very, very good because she anticipated my answer when i began to interrupt her. she's now lost the moment for us. >> robert, you did a lot of reporting on christie reconsidering his decision. seemed very evident to me given all the statements about not feeling it in his gut, that there was no way he was going jump in. >> i agree. for many weeks, i couldn't agree more. i interviewed tom kaine sr., former governor, right before christie made his reagan speech. he's told me on the record as someone part of christie's early circle, it's real, closer than it's ever been. that made everything spiral forward. that christie really was seriously reconsidering his suicide pact and all this about not running. so i believed him, i went to trenton and spoke to advisers. i believed from my reporting that he was closer than he led on in the press conference. >> he does say he never got out no. what explains the journalistic expectation with candidates who aren't running as opposed to the eight or nine perfectly viable candidates who are running for the nomination? >> i think the perfect example was that cnn carried mitt romney's foreign policy speech, but none of the other networks really carried it. but they did carry chris christie's. everybody carried that. he was clearly enjoying himself. >> if you ever needed proof, bill -- i'll get back to you in a second -- that reporters really wanted christie to run, look at them last night talking to mitt romney. >> governor chris christie announced he would not seek the republican nomination. have you considered calling him and trying to convince him to run? >> why would i do that? >> he's a great candidate. we were all going to vote for him, right? >> "saturday night live." >> yeah. love it. i love it. >> i got to say that i think the chris christie announcement overshadows the sarah palin announcement. he's the real deal. am i right? he's got a job. he's colorful. got a good candidate -- >> come back to my question about why is there such a sense of letdown in the press corps? >> because we have woven a narrative, true or not, that mitt romney is too boring to be the republican presidential candidate and, therefore, can't win against up against barack obama. >> too boring? >> yeah, too boring, too straight. not a hair out of place. and there's this feeling about him running -- he's overlooking desperately for anybody else. >> does that reflect dissatisfaction on the part of republican voters, or boredom on the part of the press corps that doesn't find him to be an exciting storyline? >> i believe it's some of both but mostly dissatisfaction on the part of reporters. jon stewart said this primary is like "american idol" in reverse. they keep adding people rather than taking one away. >> it was interesting to see the joking relationship he enjoys with the press corps. sometimes he be can belittling to reporters, as well. >> i was next to mark halpern, he was calling him by name. all the national reporters knew him like they were cousins. it was amazing. i not the reporters would have loved it because he's candid. mitt romney would never point at reporter like christie dein trenton. we'll miss that. going back, we were covering a story in the polls. there's room for someone to get in. and we had evidence from behind the scenes that he was reconsidering. >> maybe christie will change his mind. he said -- as the coverage swelled about a potential christie candidacy, there was columns written about his weight, was he too fat to be president, some of this i thought was over the top. he addressed this in trenton this week. take a look. >> you know, to say that because you're overweight are you, therefore, undisciplined -- you know, i don't think undisciplined people get to achieve great positions in our society. so that kind of stuff is just ignorant. and the people who wrote it are ignort ignorant people. >> he pushed hard. >> he did push hard. what reporters were saying when they talk good chris christie's weight, was that running for president in as in some ways trying to elect a movie star. we elect people who look a certain way, have a certain weight. voting is an aspirational act where you vote for somebody who you think in some ways is better than you, even though we say we want the guy next door, we usually elect the harvard guy, yale guy. the guy with a great last name. >> and great hair. not too many bald presidents. it seems like a sideshow -- >> we did -- >> somebody agrees with me. >> this is an idea about milk, it should not be about weight. the media focuses on superficialits. and christie was right, the commentators are clowns for talking about his weight. it should be about ideas and politics, not anything else. >> it should be about ideas, i agree. but the man is overweight. it's a very strenuous job to run for president. and i would say -- wait, wait. i would say -- because i've been around politics a long time, i've seen a lot of people running for president. i would say that i agree off the table except that he talked about it with diane sawyer in an interview over a year ago. he said his problem is weight -- if he talks about, it damn it, we can talk about it. >> you're not agreeing we were clowns? the press corps? i'll throw this in at the last minute because at the values voters conference this week, a number of presidential candidates came to speak, rick perry was introduced by a major baptist leader from dallas, robert jeffers, who took a shot at mitt romney and mormonism. he said among other things mormonism is a cult and not christianity. this got coverage yesterday. romney spoke. he did not direct lly address those remarks. he talked about that without talking about being a mormon. of course that needs to be covered s. it now like it was in 2007 and 2008 going to be a major theme of the press conference? "politico" had the headline, "mit's mormon issue returns." how long is it returning for? >> i think in 2007, romney came out with the speech where he talk good mormonism, he talk good his church and talked about not being beho dsbeholden to hi church. when he gets questions about his faith, he refers them to his church. he says, i'm not here to speak about my faith or for my faith, and he refers people to his -- the web site of mormonism. i think -- >> the press, as you know, has the ability to treat something as a one-day story or five-week story. i am wondering whether or not we are going to collectively do what we did last time and keep saying -- it's not that there's evidence, the x percentage of evangelicals won't vote for mormon. are we going to start pounding the drum pause romney's being the front-runner and we need something new to talk about? >> i think not and would hope not. 50 years after jfk and some of the -- some will haevangelicals questioned his catholicism, people questioning mitt romney's mormonism. i don't think r the media will buy into it. >> take kennedy, one of romney's great rivals in the 1994 senate race. he said we've moved on as a country, the religion issues died with my brother, jack. i think that's true. this is like christie's weight. why are we focusing on religion? it should not be the same focus. because some nut job commentator, i don't care what his religious position is, makes it an issue. >> he's not a -- >> and perry and all these candidates on the republican side should be calling this out. it should go back like with christie's weight. focus on the ideas and politics. again, i hope the media doesn't put mormonism on the cover of every magazine. romney deserves better. look at his health care plan, whether you agree or not, look at his foreign policy and other issues. that's what's important. i would be -- unfortunate for the country and the debate if we continue to follow the religion debate like we follow other minutia. >> i think the election of barack obama told -- told the country, the press, about diversity. that america is much more diverse and accepting than we may have been 10, four, five years ago. >