Right. [ applause ] two hours later brand new press Secretary Sean Spicer in his first statement astonished White House Correspondents by attacking the press for accurately reporting on the crowd size of the inauguration. Thats what you guys should be writing and covering that this, instead of Sowing Division about tweets and false narratives. The president is committed to unifying our country and that was the focus of his inaugural address. This kind of dishonesty in the media, the challenging of bringing about our nation together is making it more difficult. Theres been a lot of talk in the media to hold donald trump accountable. It goes two ways. Were going to hold the press accountable as well. Spicer went onto say trumps swearing in here at the capital was the largest audience to witness an inauguration, period. Thats not true. Spicer said five things that were not true in the span of five minutes. You can see it at politifact. Here for the hour, frank sesno. Karen tumulty, jeff mason, lynn sweet for the chicago sun times. Michael oreskes and martha kumar. Shes also the author of before the oath, how george w. Bush and barack obama managed a transif he were transfer of power. What can you tell us about where his head is at and what the White House Press corps is think something. I want to treat that relationship as private. We started a relationship in the transition and now its taken over. Thats important for me and the white house wcorrespondents to have that open dialogue. It was absolutely surprising and stunning. Its not what i expected to have as the first one from the new press secretary. I thought i was done being surprised and yesterday i was surprised again. Were talking about spicer a lot in this hour. I asked him to be on the program today. Sent him a text. He called. He said he would not come on the program today. My sense from other sources in trump world is that he is genuinely furious and so is donald trump. Is there anything more you can share about what they are thinking . What theyre mind set is . I think its clear from the president s statement and the press secretary statements that its something that donald trump is very concerned about or else he wouldnt be spending time at the cia talking about it. One source said theyre planting a flag. This administration is planting a flag signaling they are not going to take it. Karen, let me go to you on that. You said yesterday evening it was chilling some of what spicer said. Why . You just played the sound bite that was the most chilling mind of all. He follows up a series of false statements by saying and that is what you guys should be reporting and covering. To hear a white house spokesman stand there at that lecturn and tell the press what they should be reporting and covering, i wasnt around for nixon but in my experience in washington, this is completely unprecedented. Frank, can we use the word dangerous . Yes. First president i covered, ronald reagan, his press secretary said at one point, i dont tell you how to write the news, you dont tell me how to make the news. Thats been the rule and what both sides have operated. President s and press secretaries have one big thing they count on and thats their credibility. A press secretary has two bosses. One is the president and the white house and the other is the press corps because he needs to have relationships with the press corps. Sean spicer appears to be playing a delicate game with both. Lets look at what trump a aides is saying. This is Reince Priebus saying what the administration believes the press is trying to do. The attempt to delegitimize this president in one day. Were not going to sit around and take it. This administration believes theres an attempt to delegitimize the new president. Is npr trying to delegitimize the Trump Presidency . Absolutely not. Were not at war with him either. The president may feel hes at war with the media. The media is honest men and women trying to do their job. That beautiful building behind us, it has a meaning. The meaning is very simple. When the framers created this country they designed brand new system of the government where the legislature and the judiciary were independent of the executive. James madison showed that to jefferson and jefferson said thats not good enough. He said you need more protections from freedom. You need more protections nfor liberty. They wrote an amendment and said the right for people to peacefully assemble were protected. As part of the plan, as part of the system of guaranteeing free society. Thats what we watch play out of the last 48 hours. If you back out of it, its inspiring. Were not enemies of the president. We have a natural adversarial relationship designed by the system. We stand independently of the president and of his people so the public can have information that comes separate from the president s own words. Lets try out this administration theory, one of these trump sources was spelling it out this way that first it was about the popular vote. There was an obsess with the popular vote. Then there was an obsession with russia, with the connections to russia. Now its about how there were fewer crowds on friday than on saturday. Is this not a series of attempts to down play trumps victory, to make him feel small. Do you see that . I look at the front page of the newspapers on Inauguration Day and it was pictures of President Trump becoming the 45th president of the United States every newspaper in america that addressed this story had a clean President Trump is the new president. Youre saying no bias there, no attempt to down play. In youre looking at the main story and thats what i hope people do. Understand there are many stories, not just one story. Its not like theres a meeting of the press. The press is pluralistic, diverse. Heres the big thing to think about. If theres ever one story where the lead is obvious, its the day we get a new president. No one was out that day to delegitimize him at all just as the day any president is sworn in. Thats why to take on the press on this point is absurd. We can look at every tv outlet, every outlet, left, right, in between, everybody had the same story that on the steps of the capitol on the west front, we had a new president. There wasnt much attention about crowd size. We all new there were fewer people than for obama. It wasnt a big part of the story. No. I would say, as they say, take the compliment. You won. You became the president. Front page of my paper. I bet the front page of every outlet or the main report at reuters, cnn. It was pictures of the family. You had coverage of the congressional lunch live. I would say that is giving the president the respect that you give a president no matter who he is. Essentially, this administration trying to delegitimize the press. Taking the word, flipping it around saying its the press trying to delegitimize him. You used to call on him in class. You were my professor. The course was all about president ial transitions. My first visit to the white house was all about your class. Youre witnessing this transition after witnessing others. How different is the treatment of the press this time around . The central feature here is that he is not held elected office. He is not had dealings with the press in the way that elected officials have. You have to build up a skin, a thick skin in order to deal with the criticism thats going to come through the press. President s all complain about the press and they think they have press problems when, in fact, their problems are political problems. Interesting. The idea here that on friday, steve bannon, sean spicer all came to the Briefing Room. Did you get a sense this is a different relationship or were they trying to act like its going to be normal . Kellyanne conway stopped. Im in the basement where not a lot of people come. They go in the upper quarters. She came in and talked with people. She was not in a rush. Steve bannon came through pretty quickly. He came down as well and hope along with him and sean spicer and sean talked to reporters as a group upstairs. Talked about the day and what they were doing. It was a normal kind of conversation. It wasnt antagonistic. It seems like everybody is sizie ining each other up. Jeff, youve been in conversation with spicer about whether the briefings will move to new location. What can you tell us about the likelihood, the press briefings will move across the street. Right now they decided to keep the briefing this the press Briefing Room. That was an important priority for us. Were pleased about that decision. Well see how it goes when he has his first briefing tomorrow. On friday night they did bring in pool to watch President Trump sign his First Executive order. Small group of reporters. Same way obama and bush and the rest used to. We had a lot of conversation about the importance of a pool. They told us they will respect that and they did on friday night. Were pleased that happen as well. How would you describe your approach right now . As the head of the White House Correspondent association, you had 100 of your journalists at a town hall. Theres clearly some anxiety here. What are you telling the White House Correspondents about how to approach this . I think its important to reenforce the point weve ahead that theres always going be a level of tension between the white house and the press. Theres normal, healthy and something we expect to continue. That level may have gone up. May have. He said theres a running war with the media. Hes using war analogies. Hes referencing combat. We recognize that. It puts some strain on the relationship. Its in the interest of the White House Correspondent association to try to continue to be an honest broker. Thats why its important for me to keep meeting with sean and our board to keep meeting with his team. Lets take a break. Theres conversation on twitter and facebook about whether there should be a boycott. About what the treatment of this administration should be for the press. Lets take a quick break. More reliable sources in a moment. Th. Reliable sources in a moment. Time is life. We have 18,000 people around the world. The microsoft cloud helps our entire staff stay connected and Work Together in real time to help those that need it. The ability to collaborate changes how we work. What we do together changes how we live. Anyone ever have occasional constipation,diarrhea, gas or bloating . She does. She does. Help defend against those digestive issues. Take Phillips Colon Health probiotic caps daily with three types of good bacteria. 400 likes . Wow try Phillips Colon Health. Yeahashtag stuffy nose. Old. Hashtag no sleep. I got it. Hashtag mouthbreather. Yep. Weve got a mouthbreather. Well, just put on a breathe right strip and. Pow it instantly opens your nose up to 38 more than Cold Medicine alone. So you can breathe. And sleep. Shut your mouth and say goodnight mouthbreathers. Breathe right. When you have digestive sensitivities, life can feel like a never ending search for food that wont cause bloating, gas, or inner turmoil. Try pronourish. A delicious nutritional drink that makes a great mini meal or snack that has protein and fiber. And pronourish has no gluten or high fructose corn syrup. And is low in fodmap ingredients that can trigger digestive sensitivities. The search is over. Pronourish. Nutrition you can feel good about. Why are you checking your credit score . You dont want to drive old blue forever, do you . [brakes squeak] credit karma, huh . Yep, its free. Credit karma. Give yourself some credit. Welcome back to reliable sources. Welcome back to a weekend of extrem extremes. Fridays celebration was met with resistance. Some of which we saw on saturday. These marches across the country and in cities around the world. These were happening in big cities, also small towns all across the country Getting National media attention. So much so that maybe the Trump Administration tried to change the topic on saturday afternoon by attacking the press. Back with me now an all star panel. Lynn, we seen the schedule for trump for the day. We know he will be on camera this afternoon. What can you tell us . I got planning. I got the press schedule and now i saw it said planning purposes only. All right. I can say in general that the president is going to have activities this afternoon, very soon. Since we get this under a set of rules, now it says for planning purposes and forgive me. Im going with the rules. Thats it. The normal relationship. Thats where i wanted to go flexion with this conversati next with this conversation. Are we in abnormal . I see people saying boycott, dont cover trump. You say its impossible. I think its wrong. I saw an explosion on liberal twitter. Why dont you get up and walk out of that press room . I can tell you two reasons. Its the job, its the job of every one who is in that press room to stay there and cover this administration fairly and professionally. The second thing that people have to recognize is that what goes on in the briefing roof is less than a minuscule part of covering this administration. What happens, the coverage of this administration is being done by hundreds of thousands of reporters and journalists and bloggers outside of that. What happened last night was exactly what should have happened last night. Sean spicer came out and made a bun ch of false statements and every single media outlet immediately reported that they were false. Every single newspaper story this morning holds these statements up to the truth. I think the reporters in that room handled themselves professionally. I think in the future youre going to see a lot more push back about not taking questions. Its our job the stay in that Briefing Room. What about a middle room . Frank, you were with cnn for many years. Yesterday they chose not to show him live. The reported his statement, reported what he said and corrected his misstatement. Is that the right answer to not show the events live . You make a judgment call. Is this going to be newsworthy or being used for political purposes. I would have argued to have taken him live yesterday. First day on the job. Whats he going to say . Let people see that. Cnn brings a lot of things live. If hes going to go out there and declare war on the kblemedi. If the president is going to declare war on the media, theyre not going to win. This is something the media convey information. The media are there to fact check. The media do a lot more than hang out in the press Briefing Room and turn on a camera. They work sources and agencies. They work expert sources. Were going to be talking about how were going to reformulate health care in this country. Whats going to happen on borders and immigration . The fact that donald trump went to the cia and stood in front of 117 stars and talked not about the russians or the other Cyber Threats that those men and women look out but instead talk about how he was on the cover of Time Magazine and complained about his war with the press shows what a rocky start were off to. Its useful to remember that donald trump is from new york where the relationship between journalists and politics has been a contact sport for a long time. Hes used to the New York Post tabloid culture. Part of whats happening here and why what karen said is this is a bit of a brush back. Our job is to get back up in the batters box and play the game we know it. To be straightforward and honest and even handed and not let the polarization that perhaps some of the trump strategists is to weaken us. Our strength is our credibility. We need to very much need to explain this to the public. The media do not have the public support either. Lynn. I know this is seen as some kind of cross roads for journalism and we have have many questions about journalism to discuss here. The job that we do tomorrow wont be different than what we did last week. You talk to people, you go to briefings. You work your sources. You look at documents. You see whats true, whats not true. You attend events. This has not fundamentally changed. The one counsel i have for people out there is if sean wants to have an angry tone, i dont care. Ive been yelled at by people before or spoken at angrily. Ive been doing this. I dont know where theres a day that goes by and i applaud you, sean, because youre kind of honest and told us how you felt and you didnt put a smile on it. You didnt pretend. I know youre angry. I have been dealt with smiles and politeness by people that say you in a nice way. That wasnt a bleep. She tried not to say the word. When we have something to announce, we will. You dont think thats asing i a aggravating as having sean vent a little bit. I care if he gives us facts. I care if we get a briefing tomorrow. I dont care about the sound and fury. They are straightforward which after going through eight years of people with the gentility of civilian. You send in your quote before you run it. Oh, no, i wont. Okay. At least. To borrow another mans quote for another network, lets play hardball. Its clear whats happening. I think its been hardball any way. Its packaged differently. Lets listen to what Kellyanne Conway said about facts. Why put him out there for the first time in front of that podium to utter a provable falsehood . Its a small thing but the first time he confronts the public its falsehood. Chuck, if were going to keep referring to our press secretary in those types of terms, i think were going to have to rethink our relationship here. It undermines the credibility of the entire White House Press office. No it doesnt. Dont be so overly dramatic about it chuck. Youre saying its falsehood. Theyre giving sean spicer, our press secretary gave alternative facts to that. Wait a minute. Alternative facts. Alternative facts for the five facts he uttered. For the five facts he uttered were not true. Alternative facts are not facts. Theyre falsehoods. Alternative facts, new phrase now in the lexicon now as of today. If this is war on the press, the administration is not going to win. Does anybody here disagree . That it is the administration win a war on the press could take down news organizations. Whats scary is not the administration or the press but the society which will lose profoundly if we abandon our belief that there is reality. There are actually facts and that the phrase alternative fact is a lawyers phrase. Its a George Orwell phrase. We teach no courses in our Journalism Program about alternative facts. Youre either fact or not. We will flunk you if you use alternative facts. This is a struggle going on in the world right now. There are people who understand that if you can create a different understanding of reality you can change politics or anything else you want to deal with. The problem is when Society Needs to make real decisions about life and death, about war and peace, about climate, economy, you have to deal with the actual reality. At some point youre dealing with the actual reality, the public gets to know the actual reality or you have turned over the publics power to individuals who hide behind be veneer of falsehood. Thats a big decision for society to make. Its not about us. Its societys understanding of realities. And paving the way for this situation is our movements like the Birther Movement that was embraced by donald trump that raised falsely the question about president obamas birthplace that created National Conversation among some people that i think may exist in some quarters to this day. If they want to look at the foundation of where this started, they could look in the mirror. Martha, whats most comparable to this in history . You have businesses where press secretaries have come out and said something that the president had wanted them to that may not have been true, but one of the things ron nelson said in an interview i did with him several years ago, he said all press secretaries know the same rules, dont lie. Tell the truth. He said the problem becomes that others dont understand that. The importance of it. White house staff and president s themselves often want you to do something else. Its going to be a learning experience for everybody. It will be important for people in the white house to have the president s ear to say this is not working. Briefly, frank, one last thought from you. I said earlier, credibility is the indelible ink of administrations. Lyndon johnson is remembered for the lies around vietnam. Richard nixon is remembered for the lies around watergate. Credibility matters. It starts with small issues. People will take their conclusions and impressions from the totality of the media and what they observe and theyre experiences. Stick around. Martha thank you for being here. Quick break here. Standing by right off. He was the press secretary for another clinton campaign. He probably would be prez secretary today if clinton won. Hes going to join me with his view of whats happening with the press and president. With my moderate to severe ulcerative colitis, the possibility of a flare was almost always on my mind. Thinking about what to avoid, where to go. And how to deal with my uc. To me, that was normal. Until i talked to my doctor. She told me that humira helps people like me get uc under control and keep it under control when certain medications havent worked well enough. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Before treatment, get tested for tb. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. Raise your expectations. Ask your gastroenterologist about humira. With humira, control is possible. Hes happy. Ts with him . Your familys finally eating vegetables thanks to our birds eye voila skillet meals. And they only take 15 minutes to make. Ahh birds eye voila so veggie good z282sz zwtz y282sy ywty welcome back to washington. Were talking about the relationship between the Trump Administration and the press. Its as tense as i ever seen it. Lets take a moment here. Imagine what would it be like in Hillary Clinton has been inaugurated a couple of days ago. Would the media be in the same situation. Would the administration be saying the same thing or would it be different. Now bryan, youre weighing in. Youre on twitter. You took a new job at priorities usa where one of the super pacs for the democrats. What was your impression as you watched sean spicer. A situation you may have been in yesterday. I think it was an affront to anybody who is on our side of the wall and works in this business in Public Relations on behalf of elected officials. Look, i know a lot of people that know sean well. I got to know him. A lot of them had Great Respect to him prior to this election, new him from his time on capitol hill. Im concerned if yesterdays briefing is any indication that this is somebody who will put his standing with his boss leads of his integrity and standing with the press corps. Those are things that are dangerous territory. Sean gave an interview a couple of weeks ago where he said the only thing you have is your credibility. You cannot tell a lie. I think its clear he went out and told a fundamental untruth. He told a lie. We shouldnt beat around the bush. Some folks at the leadership of the wall street journal and i saw a politico headline that called it fudging the facts. We need to be clear. If were going to contest what the Trump Administration is clearing setting out to do here, we need to call it out for what it is, that was a lie. Donald trump himself went out to the cia earlier in the day and tried to suggest there was a million and a half people out there. He was called out on it and sean spicer went out there and double downed on it. It was clear intent. If he was put in the situation by Reince Priebus or his boss to tell a lie to the american people, he should have resigned. Would you have resigned . Ive never been put in a situation like that. I would like to think i have too much integrity to go out and Say Something that is proven false. I asked to call into the program and he declined. He hasnt done any interviews. I do wonder whatssuming theres briefing. Were you troubled or surprised at all that he didnt take questions. Reporters were shouting questions and he declined. That was a clear tell, as you might say, if youre telling poker that he was uncomfortable going out there. He kept the press waiting for almost an hour. Who knows what kind of haggling was going out backstage about whether he was coming up with some other formulation that he could deliver to please his bosses. We have no idea. He kept everybody waiting. He was abrupt. To me that told me he have uncomfortable in performing that task yesterday. To the viewers saying this is no big deal, lets watch Donald Trumps executive orders in domidom i the coming days. Thats the stories. Both things are true. I think we have to be troubled by the approach this administration is clearly sig l signaling they will take. You saw Kellyanne Conway come down and defend. If they will lie about something as trivial as the crowd. They will lie about Something Big that will impact millions of americans. We cant let the Trump Administration ennoble a case of lying. They are trying to lend these lawyerly terms. The media chasing its tail about whether its cultural elite task to insist on the objective truth being adhered to. This is something think point up to now will be called out for lying and they shouldnt be allowed to get away with it. Thanks for being here this morning. Thank you. After a quick break he was talking about what sean spicer said a few weeks ago to david axlerod. Well show you that video right after the break. When you have type 2 diabetes, theres a moment of truth. And now with victoza® a better moment of proof. Victoza lowers my a1c and blood sugar better than the leading branded pill, which didnt get me to my goal. Victoza® works with your body to lower blood sugar in three ways in the stomach, the liver, and the pancreas. And while it isnt for weight loss, victoza® may help you lose some weight. Noninsulin victoza® comes in a pen and is taken once a day. announcer victoza® is not recommended as the first medication to treat diabetes and is not for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. Do not take victoza® if you have a personal or Family History of medullary thyroid cancer, multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if you are allergic to victoza® or any of its ingredients. Stop taking victoza® and call your doctor right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck or if you develop any allergic symptoms including itching, rash, or difficulty breathing. Serious side effects may happen, including pancreatitis. So, stop taking victoza® and call your doctor right away if you have severe pain in your stomach area. Tell your doctor your medical history. Taking victoza® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. The most common side effects are headache, nausea, diarrhea and vomiting. Side effects can lead to dehydration, which may cause kidney problems. Nows the time for a better moment of proof. Ask your doctor about victoza®. Welcome back. Live from washington, d. C. Today. All i have today are questioning. Maybe you do too. Will President Trump deny reality on a daily basis . Will he make up his own false facts and fake stats . What will the consequences be . Will reporters give up trying to fact check . Is that the goal . What will you at home trust . Is this accidental . Or are they creating confusion on purpose. Is the idea to force voters to choose between the reporters and the commander in chief to cast doubt on the media so much that you give up and trust nothing . Is trump gaslighting us, trying to manipulate . Make you doubt your own eyes. Does he know what gaslighting means . Here is another question, whether trump staffers lie for him . Does sean spicer remember saying this three weeks ago . The one thing that whether youre a republican, democrat or independent, you have your integrity. I may say i cant comment on something but ive never lied. I dont intend, i would argue anybody who is an aspiring communicator adhere to that. If you lose the respect and trust of the press corps, you got nothing. Youve got nothing, he says. So does spicer have anything . Has he squandered all the good will he built up over the years or is there a chance to repair this relationship . Can he win back his credibility . This is all about credibility after all. Take a look at what else sean spicer said. This was a david axlerod. He asked a very important question. Would you quit if you were asked to its not a question of i cant i dont think any communicator worth their salt can go out and tell a lie. You cant do it. I think its one thing for a surrogate to Say Something and im not be any means advocating that. You can spin the way you want but i think to go out and tell an all out lie is something thats not acceptable. Axlerod said would you quit if you were asked to lie . Will journalists trust a word he says now . Will spicer have to resign . These are all just questions but really this is about a lot more than the press secretary. This is about the truth. Will trump use federal agencies to twist the truth. Will we be able to trust the data, statistic, the numbers this government provides. Will agencies like the secret service come under pressure for contradicting trump . Last night cnn jim sciutto said will they tell the truth about life and death. What if donald trump orders troops into battle and they die. Do we trust the white house to speak about that honestly if theyre going to lie about this . What if the intelligence agencies say that, what if a terror attack happens and they had warning or he gets a warning and doesnt share it with the american public. Can you trust him to share that information that the public deserves know accurately . What happens the next time the economy slips into recession . Will donald trump and his administration tell the truth . Will they tell the truth when it really hurts . Let me ask you this. What happens if his Approval Ratings sink even further. Will trump believe the polls or will he say they are rigged . Will his pollsters conjure up numbers he likes more instead. What will you believe . Will you and your neighbors just shrug or demand more honesty from your government . What about the media . Is trump just trying to twist us into knots . Is it working . Do trumps allies want to silence skeptics in the media, destroy the press or support an alternative press that presents an alternative reality thats more favorable . Will conservative Media Outlets play along with his lies. Will they claim he is telling the truth or will they respect their needers enough readers en on bs . What can you do to know whats really going on . These are uncomfortable questions especially the last ones but its time to ask them. Do citizens in dictatorships recognize whats happening here right now . Are they looking at the first two days of the Trump Administration and saying, oh, thats what my leader does . What should we learn from them today . Those are some of my question, some of my panelists disagree with me. Theyll be right back after there short break. Introducing otezla, apremilast. Otezla is not an injection, or a cream. Its a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. Some people who took otezla saw 75 clearer skin after 4 months. And otezlas prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. Dont take otezla if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. Otezla may increase the risk of depression. Tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts, or if these feelings develop. Some people taking otezla reported weight loss. Your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. Side effects may include diarrhea, nausea, upper respiratory tract infection, and headache. Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, and if youre pregnant or planning to be. Ask your dermatologist about otezla today. Otezla. Show more of you. Anyone ever have occasional constipation,diarrhea, gas or bloating . She does. She does. Help defend against those digestive issues. Take Phillips Colon Health probiotic caps daily with three types of good bacteria. 400 likes . Wow try Phillips Colon Health. Back oh reliable sources, im brian stelter. Were in washington with a super panel talking about the new president and the news coverage. There were many investigations of candidate donald trump and now many investigative reporters eager to cover this government and what its about to do. The executive orders coming down the pike. Let me bring in one of those investigative reporters, David Therrien fold, also cnns newest contributor, just joined us this week. Great to have you here. Youre at the washington post, covering Donald TrumpsCharitable Giving or lack thereof during the campaign. Youve won awards for it. More on the way. Im part of a team looking at his con flibts of interests, his business empire, the ways in which those connections could lead him to chooses his own interest over the countrys interest as president. What are you finding so far . The best reporting is by the nonprofit website, when he promises to separate himself to his businesses, handing the Business Leadership over to his sons. Theyve been looking at the official documents to say has he done the first step to make himself not the leader and the owner of these organizations. They found no evidence that hes done that. Thats the basic thing. Michael at npr, are we seeing hiring and beefing up of investigative units . I think its important to highlight that hes demonstrated that it doesnt matter what your relationship is with the principals. Everything weve been talking about this hour about the struggles and fights we may well have ahead of us, that will go on. Theres plenty of Good Journalism that has to be done and can be done separate from our relationship with the white house. Its important to keep doing that. Theres agencies to cover, regulatory work and weve put a lot of effort into strengthening journalism at the state level. In fact, Kellyanne Conway just mentioned moving some of the finances in obamacare into block grants from the states. Thats a shift of power to the states. Some of the journalism that needs to go on is going to be at the state and local level. We have the good fortune to have local stations at every station in the country. Well work with them to try to strengthen coverages of statehouses and legislatures because a lot of Big Decisions will end up getting made there. In the past hour or so, Kellyanne Conway on abcs this week saying donald trump is not going to release his tax returns. Thats the quote from Kellyanne Conway. Karen, is this a new development . He talked about an audit, he would release his taxes after an audit . Are they changing their tone now . They do seem to be qualifying it now. They were at least before that this was all because of an audit and not just a basic statement of principle. Kellyanne conway is now coming out saying this is our position, we dont release. Another example of access to information or lack thereof. We were talking during the commercial break about what happens when the job report numbers come out . This is the bureau of labor statistics that reports jobs data. Trump expressed skepticism in the past. Are you concerned that fed rath agencies will change the numbers, shift the numbers . We talk about fact checking. Everyone saw your inauguration. You can do your analysis on it. R government agencies, through the freedom of information, various processes, theres a thought that stuff is open to journalism with exception. What i am concerned about is will we know if theres an order to how will it happen, if theres new rules as to how you look at things like the jobs statistics . There will be new formulas and will somebody think youre trying to throw the game your way . This goes through out so many government agencies. Is there just going to be any kind of wholesale change into how the recordkeeping of government is done . Will stuff be shut down that normally people have . This could be true from were coming up into the runup to the census, all kinds of decisions are being made as to how were counting. Right now these are all just questions. We dont know. When you talk about really government and facts, there is a bedrock of career Public Servants led by stilltobenamed political officials that studied everything in our society and government. When you talk about going down in the other levels, all the big news organizations, what we can do in a local level, that is something where we have a lot of work and vigilance coming our way. That speaks to a real concern of mine. We are putting more resources into this. The question is, and i am truly concerned about this, the bandwidth. Journalism is not second grade soccer where all the kids run after the same ball. We have a president now who has shown his ability to completely distract everyone with a tweet. And what we are going to have to be able to do is cover a bunch of things simultaneously and to also keep straight our own perspectives on what is important and what is just some sort of after fem ral little distraction. The media, in doing all this, you have to not look gleeful, like youre going after your own vendet vendetta. A good chunk of your audience, and ive heard from them already on the twitterstream thinks this comes from a left leaning media thats out to get this president , that has it in for conservatives. What youre going to have to do is pursue this reporting, explain to your public what you are doing, how you are doing it, why you are doing it and why you are doing it with this president as you did it or more than you did it with the last president. Be careful and get it right. Jeff mason, final thought here. Sean spicer had a point yesterday when he said a reporter, zeek miller from time said the bust of Martin Luther king junior had been removed from the oval office on day one. He looked for it, couldnt see it. Said it wasnt there. I would argue sean spicer blew it way out of proportion. Those kind of mistakes will be pointed out and noticed by this administration. Is that the fundamental point for the White House Press corps, that its going to matter more than ever to get it right and be more than accurate. It mattered in the obama administration, clinton administration, the bush administration. It will matter in the Trump Administration. Everyone in the press corps and the press has that responsibility. Jeff, do you feel you near a running war with trump the way he says hes in a running war with the media . Thats his language. Its our job to report the facts, do our jobs. Part of that will hopefully be from the perspective of the correspondents association. At the end of the day, were on different sides. Were to report the story and do so accurately. Thank you for being here this morning. Well continue the conversation online, cnn. Com and well see you next week. Reliablesources. Com for daily media coverage. Ill see you next week. Know th, encouragement and milk. With 8 grams of natural protein, and 8 other nutrients to provide balanced nutrition. Moms know kids grow strong when they milk life. And 8 other nutrients to provide balanced nutrition. Ugh. Heartburn. Sorry maam. No burning here. Try alkaseltzer heartburn relief gummies. They dont taste chalky and work fast. Mmmm. Incredible. Can i try . She doesnt have heartburn. Alkaseltzer heartburn relief gummies. Enjoy the relief. President trump. Donald trump is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States. Congratulations, mr. President. Promising to be the peoples president. This moment is your moment. And putting his stamp on the pomp and circumstance. I did it my way what does this weekend reveal about how he will lead . Should i keep the twitter going or not . Plus, new action against obamacare. Changes for homeowners and a