Here in the usa, theyre looking at fake news, the deliberately twisted lying kind, but will anything change . And what does a newspaper to a billionaire doctor signal . Can he cure an ailing giant . But first President Trump is defending hiss staff after a series of missteps in the rob porter abuse allegations. Hope hicks has become part of the scandal and story absolutely fantastic. He says she is very talented a d and. Joining me now is lyn sweet, a columnist and bureau chief at the sun times. Washington bour bureau chief, greetings to you all and happy morning. Hi, frank. Let me start with you. You profiled hope hicks and as we pointed out, hope hicks is in the middle of all this, what does this say about the Communications Director that she can be part of the story and still trying to shape it. Shes found herself at the center of a public scandal this way, theres been tons of hir g hirings, firings and people have retired from Donald Trumps orbit and she has enjoyed. But cnn was the first media outlet that questioned i would point out that donald trump since day one of his presidency, something that we have been able to take note of over and over again. He kind of throws things out there and says things casually and it results in these stories and then later that day or the next is saying something very different. Its not surprising that hope hicks is part of this intriguory, because as history typically shows, its a prelude to someone making an exit. With the white house being all over the place, as it has been with the chronology and the response to this. What makes it a difficult to story to repeat is what you need facts and a timeline, you dont need statements which have been the subject of a lot of catastrop controversy here. The issue is what do you know, when did you know it, who told you what . Thats the difficulty here is that the white house is short on facts and explanations, meaning, due process is exactly what porter has been getting all these months because they decided to keep him on while the interim clearance process was ongoing. So indeed, hes been getting it, and if the white house chose, he could still be there today. All thats changed is that the public know what is the white house knows. I would say the difficulty in this story and others is simply getting facts unvarnished and then if we have questions, well go back. Thats always the central frustration. Lets point out that hope hicks, the Communications Director has been dating rob porter whos now out and has been accused of abuse by his exwives. But she reportedly drafted which referred to porter as a man of integrity and honor, which are the comments that stood until they didnt and t. N lynne is right about the timeline, heres one thing we have to remember, hope hicks is in the communications shop. But the problem is, frank, what do you do . Does she recuse herself . And some will say she should have, and that could have been one of the best scenarios for her if she would have recused herself. But at issue, she did write this and we also have to look at the timeline as well as this president. You never want to show that there is weakness. So theyre going to say, theyre going to talk about his stealth efforts in organization and how he kept things going, theyre going to also talk about how who he was is the person they knew, not necessarily, what has been accused of presented against him. So the issue is, this white house trying to show the American Public that we were still able and capable to do the peoples business, even in the midst of this. But does it make it right . No, it doesnt. Lynne is absolutely right about this timeline, and also another piece is that what has been said about the security issue, that this man could have been blackmailed and it could have jeopardized his job and the issues he dealt with. He touched top secret and classified materials with a q clearance. He never had a total security clearance. Lets bring it back to the president s tweet, because he said something about where does someone go to get due process . Whats he saying here . Does he have a point . And its inron iric that he may raising, but the president may be too quick to jump on these kinds of stories. I think hes using the term due process, not in the literal sense, but that people are jumping to conclusions, and i think thats wrong in this case. But thats something that people in journalism have to do all the time. I think thats untrue din ths case, theres been a lot of testimonials coming from rob porters exwives, but to lynne its point about not having facts and its an issue with this white house consistently. We dont have facts for how these statements were really created. Who was saying what behind the scenes, who was dictating what, this timeline has emerged, this narrative has emerged that definitely hope hicks is viewing john kellys statement. Bu but we dont have any confirmation on this and thats whats difficult is that the white house wont tell us the truth which in any other administration would be simple. Its a diversionary tactic, and due process is usually diversionary in a journal proceeding. Were not in a judicial proceeding. Were members of the press, its news, the daily mail had a news story, intercepted a news story. The white house had decisions to make about how to reargument ct. Usually when you talk about due process in a criminal or civil case has a conclusion. I think you pointed out, hes using the word due process, due process that you use in making an editorial judgment as to whether something is story, due process is when someone decides if something is a hirable or fireable offense. So we have to be mindful about how you use that term. Absolutely, they had time, they were giving i mean i want to give the white house their due. President trump, you gave Robert Porter due process, thats why you let him remain on the job. And as a practical matter, you could have said, well, we are going to we think theres still more due process to run out here, so he will stay on the job until i as a president think otherwise. That could have happened. April, what is left to this story . What are the questions still unanswered and that the public needs to know about, do you think . There are a lot of questions. You know, what is is the vetting process, number one, for this administration . You know, there are high standards that were in place for other administrations in bringing people on. Also, you know, when you consider someone who has a blemish on their record, their personal record, their criminal record, what is the standard for that. You know, because not only was it rob porter, we had a speechwriter in the Environmental QualityOffice Counsel who also had to resign because of allegations that he had abuse issues against his thenwife, his exwife, so there are a lot of questions going around as to how this administration really handles personnel and who is qualified and what are the qualifications, whats the criteria to be able to get in and also to be able to have a security clearance or to be able to touch classified and top secret information if indeed you are put in a situation where you just have a questionable background and that can come and be thrown there your face. What the vetting process is and the public and Congress Gets to know about all of that. I want to switch gears for just a minute before we run out of time here, a couple of situations that came up this week, the military parade that the president wants, how would you write that story, olivia . I would write it unhappily and probably sarcastically. Why . I think its a very serious thing and i but its just an example of 2ru6r7 divergine thing and i but its just an example of 2ru6r7 divergin thing and i but its just an example of 2ru6r7 divergine thing and i but its just an example of 2ru6r7 divergi dona e diverging from the standard we have had in other administrations. Does this mean the political media is going to get left behind in this parade . Because plenty of people would like to celebrate the military in this country. I would prefer to do that, because i have a better answer for you. I did a story on it and i chose to focus on an interview with illinois senator Tammy Duckworth who is a wounded iraq war vet, who is of the military, who knows what its like to want to be celebrated as a veteran and active duty troops, and she thought it was a monumental waste of taxpayer money. And i thought her viewpoint was an informed one, and it is one where because she is of the military, she says, when youre in the military, you cant speak out. If your commander in chief says to do a parade, you do a parade. If you wonder how i do the story, thats how i do it. And its not a matter of left or right, its a big undertaking and it has a costbenefit analysis. And trump knows that in this case he might have unified opposition from members of both parties who just dont think that this is good, but hes the president , he can order it. Last word to you, how would you write the story . Is it the id and the ego over really the military and also the fact that george h. W. Bush spent about 12 million the last time there was a parade and the costs will probably be much more than that if there were. Something along those lines. Oka up next, how competing news narratives are taking us to alternative universes. Why wait months for your next vacation when you can squeeze one in between friday and monday at hilton . Theres a vacation at the end of every week. Whatever type of weekender you are, dont let another weekend pass you by. Get the lowest price when you book at hilton. Com youre gaining something from meeting mr. Adderley. Its a calling to not only everybody in this neighborhood in miami, but to the nation how great we are. And how great we can be. Ill stand by you. Ill stand by you. And ill never desert you. Ill stand by you. We know that when youre tspending time with thelass grandkids. Music tech . Every minute counts. And you dont have time for a cracked windshield. Thats why at safelite, well show you exactly when well be there. 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It is the tale of two narratives once again, red news versus blue news when it comes to one of the biggest news stories of the week, alternate news stories heres what Networks Like cnn, abc and the bbc covered when it came to the porter story. One of President Trumps top aides has resigned after two exwives have come forward with abuse allegations. A big headline out of washington this morning, the resignation of one of the president s closest aides. This is now the second top aid to the president of the United States who has been accused of abuse towards women. And heres what fox chose to cover instead of the porter story. Tonight we have even more Text Messages from trump hating fbi officials peter strzok and lisa page. Those allegations raising even more questions about what the fbi knew about the clinton investigation and when they knew it. Are they talking about the president of the United States . Are they talking about barack obama . Does that mean he was involved in whatever they were doing . We have two very simple questions for barack obama and frankly everyone else involved in this scandal. What did the president know and when did he know it . Fox barely mentioned porter, so were the types of things they reported deliberately meant to muddy the water. Obama hasnt been president for some time, but fox is putting it in this narrative. Poll, americans overwhelmingly believe obama improperly surveilled donald trump campaign. My reaction is one thing, but what about the people consuming this information . The gallup poll says that 44 think its how well is the news media is doing very well, supporting or democracy, while only 10 of republicans believe the same of the news should serve to inform, to seek truth, to hold the powerful, whoever they may be to account. Instead what were seeing is news is just another disputed battleground in a polarized america, a filter on what people see and believe. Joining me now is bethany mandel, shes a conservative columnist and oliver darcy. Its a fascinating dual universes here. I was watching Jeanine Pirros show last night and the amount of conspiracy theories that were being floated to defend robegeneral kelly and al jones at info wars is looking at fox news and a little worried that theyre infringing on their territory. Its insane. One of those top stories you were showing earlier, the rob porter story sort of moved on to a new thing, without even correcting their initial story online, muddying the waters with stories that are not big news today, but the stuff is not even true. Bethany, conservative media have a very important audience and a very important mission. Yeah. And correredibility matters nowhere youre coming from, it seems to me. To my as a conservative journalist the fact that they dont want to talk about the porter story, not that there was an aid who was susceptible to blackmail, hes Walking Around the white house without a security clearance. If we want to talk about the fbi and keeping our country safe, thats a major story. How does that actually harm the brand to support a story that doesnt fit your narrative . Isnt this dangerous business for a breitbart or a bfox or anybody else . Youre a legitimate journalist working for a legitimate news organization. Its not going to harm their credibility because these folks who are consuming fox news are only consuming fox news. A lot of the examples that you used were opinion shows like fox and friends and hannity. The folks who watch those are devoted partisans and theyre not going to hear these other stories. Theyre living in another universe is what it is, and theyre being told that cnn and the New York Times and the Washington Post that these guys are not telling you the truth, when in fact its quite the contrary. Bethany, i want to ask you about a tweet you sent earlier this week. What about this is about . On bill hammers show on fox, they had corripy lewandowski on talk about porters time in the white house. That is relevant information that nobody seems to be talking about. And they also are not mentioning the fact that you might have a bit of a credibility issue if you have a man on camera, and you have the audacity to have Cory Lewandowski on to talk about why the white house isnt taking this seriously . Lewandowski compared to kim jongun, thats serious stuff. But its the comparison that he is an expert in any way on abusing women. He has physically assaulted a woman on camera. They certainly put themselves in the crosshairs with what was going on. A remarkable column by john moody who is one of the top news execs at fox news, slamming the focus of this olympics, as saying, and these were his words, darker, gayer and different. That seems extraordinary i reached out a couple of times, theyre not getting back to me, john moody, the executive is not getting back to me either. But they said it didnt represent the values of fox news, which is extremely perplexing because this is an executive editor at fox news, that apparently doesnt understand his own companies values. Its quite strange and whats also odd is that you would expect him to be leading others in the newsroom, showing them what the Company Values are, and apparently, he doesnt know himself. Well keep watching. Up next, President Trump refusing to release a memo drafted by democrats on the house intelligence committee. And about the new legislation hes introduced to protect journalists right here in america. Ticking ] what can a president do in thirty seconds . He can fire an fbi director who wont pledge his loyalty. He can order the deportation of a million immigrant children. He can threaten an unstable dictator armed with nuclear weapons. He can go into a rage and enter the Nuclear Launch codes. How bad does it have to get before congress does something . No one burns on heartburn. My watch try alka seltzer ultra strength heartburn relief chews. With more acidfighting power than tums chewy bites. Mmmmm. Amazing. I have heartburn. Ultra strength from alka seltzer. Enjoy the relief. Money managers are pretty much the same. All but while some push High Commission investment products, Fisher Investments avoids them. Some advisers have hidden and layered fees. Fisher investments never does. And while some advisers are happy to earn commissions from you whether you do well or not, Fisher Investments fees are structured so we do better when you do better. Maybe thats why most of our clients come from other money managers. Fisher investments. Clearly better money management. Welcome back. When President Donald Trump took the oath of office 13 months ago, he swore to preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the United States, all of it, including the First Amendment, which protects free speech and a free press among other things, but repeatedly throughout his presidency, he has attacked news organizations individually and the press institutionally. A few days ago i called the fake news the enemy of the people, and they are. Im not going to give you a question, you are fake news. Its frankly disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write and people should look into it. Dur