admitting they get a much harder time than the democrats. obama insider says the president felt worn out by the whole cable thing. and defending obama's sunshining at fox. >> i wouldn't necessarily sing aloud news organizations that way. fox news at least some elements of it have come to represent the voice of the right on cable tv. >> i've got some questions for david plus the will i be tearlibertarian known as kennedy. >> i've always been kind of a misfit and that's where i'm more comfortable. it wouldn't be authentic or right for me to adopt a convenient set of beliefs from either side. >> i'm howard kurtz and this is "#mediabuzz". more journalistsen ever before and this year's conservative gathering. and i asked reporters how cpac became such a media mecca. >> is the presence of all these media people the cameras bloggers writers, magnify the importance of cpac? >> that's the irony. yes, of course, a lot of cameras and reporters making any guys smi magnifies their impact, but at the same time they spend a lot of time attacking us. >> is it a big political story or is it a big political story within the media bubble? >> i think it's within the media bubble and within the base. that's the fairer statement. >> whenever you have a lot of activists, you get a lot of bloggers and cameras. that in turn attracts more bloggers and activists. >> media have to show up, as well? >> >> we want to hear what they have to say and talk to everybody without going to anchorage to find out what they think. >> joining us >> joining us now, mary katherine ham, author of end of discussion. ron fourieer and kristen powers. no shortage no shortage of animosity toward the mainstream immediate yap. how much is well deserved? >> it is part of the primary process that these guys want to say i'm the guy who dislikes the media as afternoons you do. but some of it is just honesty in dealing with the actual media you're dealing with. and to me a candidate has to be realistic about the hostility he's going to face in questioning as we've seen for scott walker especially and that that matters. >> what struck me, kirsten it wasn't just a seerries but a broad bush as if everyone is biased against every single republican. >> well i don't think that's that far off actually. i think that there is a real bias that we've seen against republicans in the media and i think it's gotten worse. i don't think it's been a constant, i think there has been especially with a lot of these new liberal outlets, bloggers that have a lot of through. they're under a lot of attack. that said, it's not like they get a pass from the conservative media. that's the difference. so even l.if you talk about the debates ss fox news were the toughest for republicans. so the idea that they will not have accountability i think isn't correct. >> i was trying to make a distinction between for example kale pundits and newspaper reporters. and you noted the irony that the same candidates who were beaten up on the media are trying to get favorable coverage from journalists. >> sure. >> sure. but first of all, we deserve it especially when we're in an event like this when conservative activists and candidates want us to just tow their line and we don't. same thing happens when we get to net rooms. kristen is right. the folks who try to be in the middle, mainstream media, if you look at those group of reporter we do tend to could you toskew to the left. >> and it doesn't help when "the daily beast" had to retract a story picked up from the website jez bell accusing scott walker trying to cut funds in the state university system in wisconsin for sexual assault reporting and it turned out to be completely untrue. sean hannity was almost kind of a co-host at the cpac. most of the prognosticators say jeb did pretty well. it wasn't his crowd. do you think mainstream media because they kind of like jeb bush grade him on a curve? >> i do think i felt more exceeded expectations stories from the reporters than i did in the room necessarily. not that he did badly. i think he did well. but there was more enthusiasm in the headlines. but i also think that to the point about not getting a pass he sat down with hannity and got asked some tough stuff and chris christie got asked tough stuff and which i think smart from both of them. >> laura was pretty aggressive with christie. >> and laura is not asking them questions about these stereotypes. and that's what happened with the jez sa bell story. but they believe that scott walker wants to tie women down and make them have babies. so it would make sense that he would want to not report sexual assaults, right? and so i think that's the bias and kind of having these pre-ordained ideas about republicans because you're never around them. >> i'm also struck by how much the press which used to love chris christie is basically writing him off and we're almost two years out. >> he got no exceeding expectations stories. >> donald trump was at cpac and we'll get to what he said in a mochlts moment. but this is how long the donald has been flirts with moment. but this is how long the donald has been flirts with run we have a clip that goes we have a clip that goes back to 1999. roll it. roll >> everyone >> everyone who runs for public office has to be able to look in the camera and tell people why they should vote for him. >> i just look at you. i don't have to look at a camera. i'll look you right in the eyes and say i would be be a great president. i know how thing shoes run and this country has not run properly. >> so first trump tells the "washington post" he's more serious this time and he's hired political staff and then he says there's a 75% to 80% chance that he's running. how seriously should the media take trump? >> he may be more serious, but he's not a serious man. if he runs for president, he won't be president. >> he has a long and flawless record of thinking that he's awesome. >> i think he puts on a good show, but he had not run the country. he's not a serious presidential candidate. p. >> we went through this four years ago where he hyped the possibility of running right up to the point where he renewed apprentice oig apprentice. >> i don't know why >> i don't know why he's taken seriously. it's a complete and ultimate thor mystery to me. >> one reason is because the media love to write about the did not ald because he's entertaining. he has the big personality. and he loves to get into it with the press on twitter. >> there is a confluence of -- >> we should stop talking about him right now. >> i'll move on. before we leave cpac, so there was the straw poll about 3,000 voters rand paul won for the third straight year. scott walker finishing second. does that matter is? >> i don't think it matters a ton. the paul groups are well organized. i think the performance of scott walker means something, but we're very early out. >> i don't think if you look at the last time it was ron paul who won who didn't get the nom thags, but if you look it at the 2012 straw poll, it was mitt romney. so somewhat predictive. but i think this far out, it's not predictive. >> i'll just say as a political reporter, you have to take the long view and realize there are all kinds of flexion points. very few of them actually matter long term but you can also dissterndis discern a little bit. and i agree it shows you scott walk ser aer is a candidate to watch. >> let's did it a once around on the big dhs showdown. they had to settle for a one week stopgap. and i think the media knowing full well there is a could ka bookie dance hyped this and everybody knew it would go a day or two and they wouldn't shut down. >> i think it was overhyped and i wonder if there is a point at which will doesn't pay off in ratings. the american people are like we do this this every three months. >> right. >> i could not disagree more. this is not about ratings and it's not even about who is going to win or lose and whether it shuts or doesn't. all they did is stepped itextend it another week. our leaders are acting like little kids. it's an important thing about the dysfunction of washington. >> that is a story political dysfunction, absolutely. but i'm talking about here's what will happen at midnight friday in this doesn't happen. >> everybody lost in that. >> i think it's an important story. and i did notice how in the past we would be here until midnight waiting to see what would happen and thise it's like, okay, whatever. they're wearing us down with their extremely irresponsible behavior, but i think it does deserve coverage because you shouldn't be -- this is not how the government should be operating. >> certainly bears coverage. i just think the countdown clock is kind of silly. >> the game is given far more coverage than the dysfunction. >> we have a moment of consensus consensus. remember to send me a remember to send me a tweet during this h during this hour, do you think donald trump will run and should we take him seriously. we'll read the messages later. or he you can e-mail us. ahead, we'll look at the rant that goat keith olbermann suspended get. but when we come back, some republican candidates say journalists hate hitting them with gchotcha questions. this is the equivalent of the sugar in one regular can of soda. and this is a soda a day for a year. over an average adult lifetime that's 221,314 cubes of sugar. but you can help change that with a simple choice. drink more water. filtered by brita. ♪ and introducing our new advanced filter, now better than ever. [blowing] wow! cars. they've always captured our imagination. what they look like, how they move... and the places they take us. ♪ and because you've always loved them, you deserve to love the experience of buying them. ♪ so,as my personal financial psychic, i'm sure you know what this meeting is about. yes, a raise. i'm letting you go. i knew that. you see, this is my amerivest managed... balances. no. portfolio. and if doesn't perform well for two consecutive gold. quarters. quarters...yup. then amerivest gives me back their advisory... stocks. fees. fees. fees for those quarters. yeah. so, i'm confident i'm in good hands. for all the confidence you need. td ameritrade. you got this. now with the xfinity tv go app, you can watch live tv anytime. it's never been easier with so many networks all in one place. get live tv whenever you want. the xfinity tv go app. now with live tv on the go. enjoy over wifi or on verizon wireless 4g lte. plus enjoy special savings when you purchase any new verizon wireless smartphone or tablet from comcast. visit comcast.com/wireless to learn more. scott walker is now raising money based on what he sees as dumb and intrusive questions from reporters saying in a fundraising pitch that he wants to fight back against the clueless and mindless journalistic herd. it sparked a debate over what is it being called the gotcha debate. >> there does seem to be a double standard. republicans tend to get asked questions about outliers more than democrats are. >> ron fournier have come out of the closet and say you are admitted user of xwochgotcha questions. why? >> most questions i ask are >> most questions i ask are trying to elicit information or context, but there are times when i'm trying to test them. i learned this covering bill clinton. if i wanted to have him if i wanted to have him on his heels and have control of an interview, which is my job, if i want to test him, i'd ask the dumbest question. i think there are gotcha answers and i think there is gotcha coverage. we can talk about that. but there is nothing wrong with a goch satchach that that questions. >> are they not the ag nile enough? >> part of the issue is they get asked these questions and then here is the big one, they're emblematic and they have to be asked of every other single republican. that almost never happens with democrats where the same question oh well he messed up and now we'll ask eight more, that doesn't happen on the left and that can be problematic as we saw with walker. >> it happened during the iraq war debate. not as much but it happened. >> the extent to which that giuliani thing got the blown out of proportion was crazy. but there is a different good not being agile and pushing back. i i think republican candidates need to be tough. sometimes turn it around on the press. walker has walker has not done it perfectly, but i think he's making a step in the direction to make this a pattern to point this out. >> do you agree that what i call these guilt by association questions, he said this what do you think, gets peppered -- gop side gets peppered with those more? >> i don't k >> i don't know specifically. i think there is -- everybody has to denounce what somebody says. where bill maher says somebody and nobody denounce it is. i don't think the giuliani is a good example of that. i think scott walker should have been able to answer that question. when somebody says something that incendiary, i think that's a reasonable question to say like do you believe that? i mean to me that doesn't actually strike me as a gotcha question. >> i think we all agree standards should apply equally to both sides. don't we judge candidates by how they -- every professional says there is a time to make the point, pivot away. but walker just seemed to say i'm not playing this. >> if walker had said of course he loves his country but he's not running it, it would have been a better story. i think he made it a gotcha question with his answer. we did go too far with the answer. the question was fair, the the question was fair, t he covered it wasn't. he said if i can take on 100,000 protesters, i can do the same across 9being aalaska cross theacross the world. he was comparing the challenge of fighting isis with the challenge of fighting unions. which was silly, but not comparing isis. >> and journalists know what he meant. maybe it was expressed poorly, but it gets blown up as you say. >> some literally said he was comparing isis with union members and that's no the question was fair the question was not. >> the issue for conservatives is well the president called terrorists and suicide bomb ertz and hostage takers and nobody gets asked if that is a legitimate line. >> look, i think there is a double standard. no question. but i do think there is some things that are reasonable and if giuliani says this at a walker event. if there was no connection between the two of them, then i'd say that's a little -- i don't like all this everybody being forced to denounce. >> this part is a debate that will continue. thanks for stopping by. ahead, david axelrod on just how cozy he and obama got with the media. but up next, a look at the serious city surrounding bill o'reilly and keith olbermann. e... it's a full day for me, and i love it. but when i started having back pain my sister had to come help. i don't like asking for help. i took tylenol but i had to take six pills to get through the day. so my daughter brought over some aleve. it's just two pills, all day! and now, i'm back! aleve. two pills. all day strong, all day long. and now introducing aleve pm for a better am. oh yea, that's coming down let's get some rocks, man. health can change in a minute. so cvs health is changing healthcare. making it more accessible and affordable with walk-in medical care, no appointments needed and most insurance accepted. minuteclinic. another innovation from cvs health. because health is everything. i've lived my whole life here in fairbanks, alaska. i love the outdoors, spending time with my family. i have a family history of prostate cancer. i had the test done and that was when i got the news. my wife and i looked at treatment options. cancer treatment centers of america kept coming up on the radar. so we flew to phoenix. greg progressed excellently. we proceeded to treat him with hormonal therapy, concurrent with intensity modulated radiation therapy to the prostate gland. go to cancercenter.com to learn more about our integrative therapies and how they're specifically designed to keep you strong mentally, physically and spiritually throughout your treatment. i feel great today i'm healthy, i have never been in a happier place, i can't imagine being treated anyplace else. fighting cancer has given me opportunities to live. i think i chose extremely well. call or go to cancercenter.com. cancer treatment centers of america. care that never quits. appointments available now. keith olbermann sure has a knock for talking himself in to trouble. he got into a twitter spat with students at penn state who raised money for cancer research. after the suspension, owner map said he was sorry. joining us now, marissa guthrie.map said he was sorry. joining us now, marissa guthrie. he has a history of picking fights. what do you make of this? >> well, look, he's admitted that it was stupid. and it's pretty hard to win that battle when these are students doing something so selfless as raising money for cancer research. and he knows that he was wrong. but espn hired him because he has strong opinion, he's very skilled at relaying them for anto an audience, so he will occasionally go over the line. they have a lot of people like him in their stable and they get suspended, too. so i'm not surprised -- >> that's true. i thought he was putting some of the controversies behind him when he was with msnbc but did he apologize. let me ask you about bill o'reilly. we spent a lot of time on this last week when o'reilly called in for a couple segments. what is your take on how the flap has played out? >> i think there has been a real temptation obviously to compare this to the brian williams situation. there is a much different threshold for a news anchor and an opinion host. and where there is some question about the facts or the interpretation of the facts in bill o'reilly's case, brian williams and the network have come out and said he was wrong, what he did was wrong. they suspended him for six months without pay and launched an investigation. so i think there is a different bar there. and bill has furiously debated his critics, invited them all on his show. and he's doing what he does best. he's doing he's doing battle. he's being -- he's lobbing grenades. so his audience loves to see that. >> well, fox news said in a statement that bill o'reilly has already addressed several claims leveled against him is this nothing more than an orchestrated campaign by far left advocates, mother jones and media matters and responding to the unproven accusation due jor oig has become an exercise in futility. but but a couple media sites have noted his ratings have gone up even when not talking about the controversy, 22% in total vul viewers. what do you make of that? what do you ma >> well, look, bill is at his best when he has an enemy to battle against, to fight. and i think that he's legitimately rebutting these accusations and his audience is on his side and they want to see him do that. and it's actually really good tv and, you know, look if he feels that he's been maligned, he's got a big platform where he can go on and legitimately rebut all those charges. so i think -- >> he's made that point. so let me you've on to msnbc which everybody knows has a lot of ratings, friday was the last day for two shows one hosted by the son of mia farrow. let me play a little bit there the row in an farrow show. >> the great mysteries of the universe. is there an after life? and lady sex stuff. is there an after life? and lady sex stuff. how does it work? >> what do you make of ronan getting a show and now the plug being pulled? >> well, i was a little perplexed when they gave him the show because even though he's kind of sassy and self he have facing, he has a big social media following, he's a very accomplished guy for someone so young,have facing, he has a big social