| | | | Will Donald Trump speak all four nights of his convention? And if he doesn't, what will be the "must see TV" moments from Cleveland?
These questions are on the minds of the TV producers who are plotting the prime time coverage of the next four nights. Without former presidents or many party bigwigs in attendance, it's unclear which speeches will really stand out in the 10 p.m. hour, when all the broadcasters go live.
That's where Trump comes in. Jim Acosta reported this morning that Trump will introduce his wife Melania Trump before she speaks on Monday night. If it's anything like the introduction of running mate Mike Pence yesterday, the networks might need to budget some extra time.
According to Acosta's source, Trump will also appear at the convention "via remote" (A pre-taped video? A live signal from Trump Tower?) on Tuesday night.
We know he's set to accept the nomination on Thursday night, so that leaves only Wednesday as an X factor. When I talked with Paul Manafort at the convention hall today, he smiled when I asked about the prospect of four straight nights. "All Trump, all the time," he said slyly... | | | A prez candidate who will be studying the overnight Nielsen #'s | | | Here's one of the many ways Trump is different from past presidential contenders: He's a student of television ratings. The NYT's great piece about Trump's time on "The Apprentice" illustrated this nicely. As the show took off, Trump "became obsessed with Nielsen ratings..." He "even had his agent obtain the ratings early, so he could break the news to executives himself."
An exec producer here in Cleveland asked me: "What's going to happen if Trump looks at the overnights and doesn't like what he sees?" (Presumed answer: More Trump...)
| | | It's a phrase we've been using for a year. And Univision's Fusion cable channel is embracing the "show," calling its nightly coverage "The Trump Show..." | | | BuzzFeed is having a "blacklisted" party later this week, partly to draw attention to the Trump campaign's continuing refusal to grant press credentials to its reporters. But here at the convention, there's no Trump "blacklist," since credentials are managed by the Congressional Press Galleries, NYT's Sydney Ember reports... | | McKay Coppins, one of Trump's least favorite reporters, just dropped this must-read: "How The Haters And Losers Got Trump This Close To The White House." It includes an email exchange with Trump. Ben Smith says Coppins has been working on this piece for months...
-- And: There's also this sidebar, "Here Are The Notes Donald Trump Was Given About Political Reporters," based on a 2014 memo by Sam Nunberg... | | | The Baton Rouge police attack | | | We were all set to cover these convention storylines on "Reliable Sources" this morning, before shifting to Baton Rouge. The guests for the A and B block panel discussion were already seated when we made the switch. With one minute before air, I told them I would be reading a short news bulletin about the shooting of police officers there, conducting a short phone interview, and then switching to the panel segment. But obviously we never switched back. Now, almost twelve hours later, Chris Cuomo and several correspondents are live on CNN in Baton Rouge, and all the networks will be back and forth between the shooting aftermath and the convention on Monday... | | | Anderson Cooper generally has a rule against naming mass shooters, but tonight he repeatedly relayed the suspected gunman's name, Gavin Long, and added, "We're naming him, which we normally don't, because authorities are looking for more information right now about him, and they are asking the public for help." | | President Obama this afternoon:
"We have our divisions, and they are not new. Around the clock news cycles and social media sometimes amplify these divisions, and I know we're about to enter a couple of weeks at conventions where our political rhetoric tends to be more overheated than usual. And that is why it is so important that everyone... right now focus on words and actions that can unite this country rather than divide it further. We don't need inflammatory rhetoric. We don't need careless accusations thrown around to score political points or to advance an agenda..." | | -- WSJ has been publishing "WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT…" summaries of stories. Stuart Thompson writes: "Developed a new format and strategy for doing breaking news faster than ever. Sadly, we're getting lots of practice."
-- Janet Johnson: "Like Orlando shooter & Nice killer, Long was a misogynist. That's what unites these killers; not race or religion. Can we talk about THAT?"
-- Karen Tumulty: "No more bad news for a while, please." | | Turkish journalist killed during coup attempt | | Via the Committee to Protect Journalists: During the coup attempt in Turkey on Friday, "soldiers shot and killed Mustafa Cambaz, a photographer with the pro-government newspaper Yeni Şafak, in the Çengelköy neighborhood of Istanbul." The committee is calling on Turkish authorities to "punish those responsible..."
-- If you missed it on Friday night, the BBC has a look at "How Turkish media were raided during coup attempt..." | | Murdochs having "daily discussions about the crisis" | | NYT's Brooks Barnes and Emily Steel report that the Murdochs are paying very close attention to the "internal review" of the allegations against Roger Ailes: "James and Lachlan Murdoch, along with lawyers and their father, who has been phoning in from vacation, have had daily discussions about the crisis, according to two people briefed on the discussions..."
-- A key graf at 1211 Ave of the Americas: "Without the omnipotent Mr. Ailes in charge, Fox News could quickly lose its focus and become less of a juggernaut. Moreover, Mr. Ailes has no clear replacement..." | | "Impressive" strategy by Ailes' attorneys | | | CNN legal analyst Danny Cevallos published this detailed look at the legal strategy in Gretchen Carlson v. Roger Ailes today. "The defense's strategy so far is multifaceted and impressive," he writes... Read more here... | | | Now, back here to Cleveland... | | | The prospect of tense protests | | Time's Jay Newton-Small tweets: "Alarming alert: Global Journalist Security is now recommending military grade body armor for journalists covering events within the #RNC"
For the record, in case it's relatively quiet the next few days/nights, Manafort commented to me today that he thinks the press is over-hyping the prospect of tense protests… | | | Cleveland is a stage for late night comics | | | Stephen Colbert is here… Taping interviews and skits for "The Late Show..." And he turned a lot of heads on the convention floor this morning, walking around in character as "Hunger Games" host "Caesar Flickerman." Tonight he's out of character, watching Three Dog Night perform at the official RNC welcome party. Photo via Julie Percha: | | (Remember, he'll be live each night after the convention, but from his theater in NYC, so this was a short trip.)
Trevor Noah is here too, and he's holding a meet-and-greet with press Monday morning. "Between 80 and 90 people associated" with "The Daily Show" are in town for special convention shows, Variety's Brian Steinberg reports.
Big-picture late-night story by NYT's Dave Itzkoff: "While these programs are scrutinizing speeches, delegates and party officials, looking to deliver laughs as rapidly as possible, they also have the opportunity to establish their hosts as the comedic conscience for this political era — to own that role as Jon Stewart did…"
— Noted: New Comedy Central prez Kent Alterman is quoted in both stories talking supportively about Noah. "He's really getting on to another level of comfort and confidence with the show, and turning it into his own. There is a strong voice that is starting to come through," he told Steinberg... | | | BuzzFeed's news-gathering bot | | | Poynter's Ben Mullin writes: "On Sunday, BuzzFeed launched BuzzBot, an automated chatbot for Facebook's Messenger app. The bot, developed by BuzzFeed's Open Lab (an R&D skunkworks based in San Francisco), is capable of having a limited back-and-forth with users to gather news about the convention throughout the week." If users say they're attending the RNC gathering, or protesting it, "the bot asks them to send photos or video of what's happening around them..." More... | | | Lesley Stahl scores first Trump/Pence interview | | It aired on "60 Minutes" tonight. I'll leave the reviews to others. (Mediaite's Josh Feldman has this list of the "five most awkward moments.")
I agree with Zach Wolf, who tweets: "Love to get my hands on a few of these chairs..." | | | This is a good reminder for all of us, actually | | | NBC's Jacob Soboroff tweeted the view from Trump's box inside the hall, which has a placard with a reminder, "YOU ARE BEING FILMED..." | | -- This Luke Mullins article, "What Really Happened at Politico," is so good that five of you submitted it for the newsletter... (Washingtonian)
-- Season three of "Power" premiered tonight, and Lisa France wrote this to catch you up... (CNN)
-- Jeff Bezos taped a cameo for "Star Trek Beyond..." (EW)
-- And speaking of cameos, here's a spousal humblebrag: Jamie made an appearance on HBO's "The Night Of" tonight... She's in the background, doing the traffic... We had no idea til viewers tweeted at her about it... (Twitter) | | | Frank Pallotta writes: "The Ghostbusters may not be afraid of no ghost -- but tiny animated dogs are a different story. 'Ghostbusters' nabbed an estimated $46 million in North America this weekend. That total, which is the biggest opening for star Melissa McCarthy and director Paul Feig, was roughly in line with industry projections for the comedy. However, it was not enough to beat 'The Secret Life of Pets' for the top spot at the box office. The Universal and Illumination Entertainment animated film dug up $50.5 million in its second weekend of release." Read more... | | And finally... Some Hiddleswift | | When I asked for submissions for tonight's letter, one of you wrote, "For once, I'd love some coverage of T. Swift and T. Hiddleston. We need some mindless fluff."
Well, I don't think Hiddleswift is mindless fluff! But yes, let's conclude tonight with the latest headlines... And you take a guess... Which one do you think is most likely to be true?
-- The Inquisitr: "Tom Hiddleston Having Regrets About Dating Taylor Swift?"
-- Daily Mail: "Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston are not engaged"
-- The Mirror: "Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston are 'preparing for their first TV interview as a couple'"
-- Today.com: "Tom Hiddleston: Relationship with Taylor Swift is 'not a publicity stunt'" | | Send us feedback! Good, bad, ugly... | | | What do you like about today's newsletter -- and what do you think we should improve? Email your feedback to reliablesources@cnn.com. We'll be back tomorrow... | | | Get Reliable Sources, a comprehensive summary of the most important media news, delivered to your inbox every afternoon. | | | | | |
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