| | | | All week we've been pointing out how Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have a health condition in common: An allergy to the press. Tonight there was a surprise: Clinton agreed to a telephone interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper. This was her first national TV interview since July 31, when she sat down with Chris Wallace for "Fox News Sunday."
Addressing the swirling questions about the Clinton Foundation/State Department controversy, she said, "I know there's a lot of smoke, and there's no fire..." | | | A Clinton press conference? "Stay tuned" | | Here's the interview exchange:
COOPER: Finally, Secretary Clinton, you haven't done a press conference in more than 260 days... Will you give a press conference?
CLINTON: Anderson, I'm talking to you right now, and I've given, I think, way in excess of 300 interviews this year so I'm going to continue talking with the press and answering questions in as many different venues--
COOPER: --Why not give a press conference, though, with a lot of different reporters?
CLINTON: I've got a lot that I have been sharing with the press, talking with the press, as I'm doing with you right now. Stay tuned, there'll be a lot of different opportunities for me to talk to the press, as well as continuing to talk to the American public.
COOPER: We appreciate you talking to us, and I know a lot of other reporters who would love the chance to address you during a press conference. Throwing that out there. | | BTW: I hope your DVR was working tonight. The 9pm hour had Clinton with Cooper on CNN, Kellyanne Conway with Rachel Maddow on MSNBC, and Julian Assange with Megyn Kelly on Fox...
-- Assange told Kelly "we're working around the clock" on new election-related leaks... "We have received quite a lot of material..."
-- Maddow asked Conway if Trump should release his medical records, and Conway said "perhaps..." | | | Keep scrolling for more on Clinton and Trump's press strategies... | | | Who will moderate the debates? No news til after Labor Day now | | Dylan Byers has this scoop:
The first Clinton v. Trump debate is in 33 days, but we won't know who the moderator will be til after Labor Day: The Commission on Presidential Debates is now delaying the big reveal til after September 5, sources told me today. The delay is due in part to an unprecedented challenge the bipartisan commission faces in selecting individuals who are immune (or at least as immune as possible) to accusations of bias. While that is always a concern for the Commission, the sources said it is more challenging than ever this time around due to one factor: Trump.
Trump's aggressive attacks on the media and complaints about unfair treatment have effectively guaranteed that the moderators will come under scrutiny from conservatives, and this has made the commission even more cautious than usual in selecting its moderators.
Read Dylan's full story here... | | | Tantaros lawyer says he has more | | Erik Wemple followed up today with Andrea Tantaros's lawyer Judd Burstein, who says "Monday's lawsuit was only the beginning." In an email, Burstein called the Murdochs' internal review of Roger Ailes' behavior a "joke," noting that Tantaros has not been contacted for it.
"The Murdochs have professed a desire to clean things up at Fox News, but they appear to be interested only in applying cosmetics to cover up dirt," Burstein says... | | | Don't miss Shafer's latest | | | Happy birthday, Nick Denton | | Nick Denton turned 50 today. He had to spend "part of his birthday in court." NYPost's Julia Marsh recounts the bankruptcy judge hearing here. Bits of news:
-- "The judge rejected his request to rent his apartment for $12,500 a month to stave off selling it..."
-- On a brighter note for Denton, he told the judge, "I've had various offers and discussions with regard to books or even movie rights..." | | | "You can't escape its influence" | | | This morning Denton approvingly tweeted Farhad Manjoo's latest column, titled "Gawker's Gone. Long Live Gawker." Manjoo rightly points out that "even if you avoided Gawker, you can't escape its influence. Elements of its tone, style, sensibility, essential business model and its work flow have colonized just about every other media company." Read the rest here... | | -- Afghan photographer Massoud Hossaini, a Pulitzer Prize winner, was injured in the attack at the American University in Kabul today. Here's his account... (AP)
-- John Herrman's must-read in this weekend's NYT Mag, now online: "Inside Facebook's (Totally Insane, Unintentionally Gigantic, Hyperpartisan) Political-Media Machine" (NYT Mag)
-- A new study finds that "the more partisan your online media diet, the less likely you are to believe fact-checkers..." (Poynter)
-- Keith Kelly reports: "Perpetually struggling SpinMedia, the collection of music and pop culture websites once known as Buzz Media, is officially on the block..." (NYPost)
-- Marc Liepis is the new VP of communications for Viceland. He'll report to Alex Detrick and Guy Slattery. "In addition, Jake Goldman, has been elevated to VP Communications for Vice Media..." (Deadline) | | | Mark Mooney emails: Fortune's Geoff Colvin dug into the 21,000-word document spelling out just what Philippe Dauman is entitled to in his $72 million deal to leave Viacom. And there's a lot. There were 62 lawyers involved in the negotiations, all of whom have to be paid. Dauman gets an office and a secretary for three years, and the secretary is to be paid $165,405 a year, plus raises. In addition to Dauman's go-away bonanza, he is entitled to a pro rated bonus – despite Viacom's dreadful stock performance. And that's not all… read the details here... | | | Viacom will tighten reigns on Paramount | | The WSJ's headline on this story is classically hedged: "Viacom May Tighten Reins on Paramount." But "Viacom WILL Tighten Reins" is accurate, as Joe Flint and Erich Schwartzel's story demonstrates.
Shari Redstone has "expressed concerns about the current leadership at Paramount," meaning CEO Brad Grey, they report. Plus there's this: In a public filing, Viacom "also said it may put the studio under tighter control. It said that could include requiring board approval for matters as basic as talent contracts and production and financing deals..."
-- And/but: Grey has a contract through 2020, and Tom Dooley is quoted in the story saying "there is no consideration of replacing him..." | | | David Plouffe just now: "Each day of this campaign seems big and interesting and crazy but ultimately least suspenseful race since 1984. Forest and trees situation" | | | Clinton takes aim at Breitbart, Bannon and the "alt right" | | In a speech on Thursday in Reno, Clinton will try to tie Trump to the amorphous "alt right" movement (via Steve Bannon and Breitbart). She previewed the message during her call with Cooper tonight, saying that Trump is "taking a hate movement mainstream." Here's my two-minute TV package on what the "alt right" is... I'll be back on "New Day" at 6:50am Thursday with more...
-- Interesting take via Reason's Jesse Walker: "Whether or not that speech helps Clinton's presidential bid, it will almost certainly help the alt-right..." | | | By staying on Fox, Trump is "driving in loops around a cul de sac" | | Up above I mentioned Clinton and Trump's press avoidance. While Trump criticizes Clinton for failing to hold a press conference this year, Trump has also sharply reduced his accessibility to the media in recent months. Ever since his disastrous interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos at the end of July, Trump has appeared almost exclusively on Fox News.
This insular strategy baffles the Republican strategists who say Trump has to broaden his appeal. By staying on Fox, "he's selling to the people who have already bought the product. And he can't up-sell them because each person only gets one vote," Romney campaign boss Stuart Stevens told me. Stevens described it as "driving in loops around a cul de sac."
Stevens also noted that Trump is "only doing friendly voices on Fox," like Sean Hannity and the "Fox & Friends" co-hosts. "He has a niche within a niche," Stevens said. "He's not sitting down with Megyn Kelly, other than that one time in May. He's not sitting down with Chris Wallace. It's just a comfort zone. It's what he has done during the whole campaign -- he's doing what is comfortable..." | | | "I think you will see that start to change" | | | The Trump campaign is aware of this perception. When I asked Kellyanne Conway about it last night, she said, "I think you will see that start to change..." | | | Trump surveys Hannity's audience | | "Others have said it, but format of this Hannity/Trump town hall really is like an early morning infomercial," NYT's Alex Burns commented tonight.
Trump was selling some adjustments to his long-held positions about immigration. He basically polled the audience at the town hall about mass deportation policy... Here's the transcript via Sopan Deb... | | | AFI scraps screening of Nate Parker's film | | As controversy continues to swirl around "The Birth of a Nation's" Nate Parker, the American Film Institute has postponed an event with him, Lisa France reports... Read more here... | | | Lochte in talks to dance "with the Stars" | | | A reward for bad behavior? | | | Brian Lowry emails: Having joked on Twitter about Ryan Lochte and Paul Manafort landing on "Dancing With the Stars," the news that Lochte is in indeed "in talks" to appear on the next edition made me feel less smug than sad. Tapping the scandalized and notorious is one of the more disheartening traits of reality shows, wagging fingers at such personalities while simultaneously cashing in on the publicity that surrounds them. "Dancing" has been more aggressive than most in this regard, casting former House majority leader Tom DeLay and, last year, Paula Deen. It's all part of a pretty transparent strategy to get these shows written about in venues that might not otherwise, hoping to reach the widest possible cross-section of viewers. But these stunts can't help but feel like a reward for bad behavior... | | -- Tonight Stephen Colbert borrows from Glenn Beck circa 2009... Talking about conspiracy theories... Posing "the questions the mainstream media is too coherent to ask." Here's a clip...
-- Here's a fresh look at the Rio ratings... Focusing on the "staggering" declines among 18- to 34-year-olds... (ShowBuzzDaily)
-- Chloe Melas has this look at Renee Zellweger's latest public remarks about her appearance and aging...
-- Lisa France emails: Go ahead and make Idris Elba James Bond please! For goodness sake, he's even taken up professional kickboxing for a reality show. What more proof does Hollywood need that he IS 007?
-- Also via Lisa: Amy Schumer's new memoir is topping Amazon charts, but she's far from the only celeb telling their story... | | | 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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