| | | | | 'I'm not sure I've seen anything like that' | | Once again, the news cycle originates on Twitter... | | Thursday began with Trump lashing out at the Freedom Caucus on Twitter for the demise of the GOP health care bill.
Today started in the same fashion, with Trump using his account to blame a couple of more familiar foes -- the Democrats and the media -- for what he called a "witch hunt" against Gen. Mike Flynn, who is seeking immunity from prosecution in exchange for testimony on his ties to Russia.
Good evening and happy Friday. This is Tom Kludt in for Brian Stelter, who returns on Sunday...
Trump said that Flynn "should ask for immunity," dismissing the Democratic investigation and the media's coverage of it as an "excuse for big election loss." The tweet came just after the 7 am hour here on the East Coast, when the morning news shows were in full swing.
Minutes later, it was being discussed on the most hospitable media venue for Trump: "Fox & Friends."
"Just keep in mind, if you ever meet Michael Flynn, he is one of the finest Americans you're ever going to meet," co-host Brian Kilmeade said.
The day began with that tweet, and it ended with Trump executing another part of his media strategy: dodging reporters' questions. The president was supposed to sign executive orders during a photo-op; instead, he stepped up to the podium, offered a perfunctory greeting and then bailed without signing the orders. As he left, a reporter in the room asked Trump if the tweet was supposed to signal to the Justice Department to grant Flynn immunity. He didn't answer. | | | Haunted by their own words | | Flynn, who led a "lock her up!" chant at last year's Republican National Convention, had this to say in September following reports that Hillary Clinton aides had been granted immunity in exchange for talking about Clinton's private email server:
"When you are given immunity, that means you probably committed a crime."
Of course, that was bogus then and it's bogus now. But the hypocrisy is dizzying, and would appear impossible to spin. CNN contributor Kayleigh McEnany, a Trump supporter, gave it her best shot this morning.
"Maybe he didn't understand how immunity worked at that point," she said. (*insert thinking face emoji*)
Trump himself had similar feelings about immunity, too. Yahoo!'s Colin Campbell sums it up: | | | Univision reporter attacked in Venezuela | | Disturbing news today out of Caracas, where Univision correspondent Elyangélica González was assaulted by members of the Bolivarian National Guard during a live broadcast on Colombia's Radio Caracol.
The country is currently embroiled in a political crisis over a court ruling that expanded the power of President Nicolas Maduro.
González was broadcasting alongside a group of student protesters.
"I heard one of the officers say 'take her phone, break the phone' and they did. They grabbed me by the hair, threw me on the ground, they beat me," González said. | | | Will Baldwin keep playing Trump? | | He sounds doubtful, telling the Press Association that he won't be filling the role on "SNL" for much longer.
"If everything stays the same in this country as it is now," Baldwin said, "I don't think people are going to be in the mood to laugh about it come September."
On the other hand, Baldwin said in an interview to air this weekend on "CBS Sunday Morning" that he's received a hero's treatment for the portrayal.
"I'd say that 60-75% of the people that I encounter treat me like I was Jonas Salk and I cured polio," he said. "They walk up to me and go, 'My god, thank you. I can't thank you enough. What you're doing is so important.'"
--Food for thought: Is Baldwin negotiating with Lorne Michaels through the media? | | | 'Reliable Sources' preview | | Brian emails from Palm Springs:
"I've managed to stay mostly offline this week... I wonder what it'll be like to look at Trump's Twitter feed with fresh eyes? On Saturday I'll get caught up... and on Sunday I'll be back in NYC for 'Reliable Sources...' with Tina Brown (previewing her Women in the World conference), Matthew Continetti, Charles Blow, Jeff Mason, and Matthew Garrahan.
"Plus we'll mark International Fact-Checking Day (it's on Sunday!) with PolitiFact's Angie Holan and the WashPost's Glenn Kessler. Live at 11am ET Sunday..." | | Say hello to the new face of the faceless on Twitter, which announced today that it's ditching the ubiquitous egg for a new default photo.
Seth Fiegerman has more:
"While the default avatar change may be superficial, it does highlight yet another example of Twitter undoing its signature design features. Twitter has begun chipping away at its 140 character limit, ditched favorites for likes and moved away from a reverse chronological timeline to one that relies partly on an algorithm.
"With its user numbers stalled around 300 million and its stock in the gutter, Twitter is fighting to be more intuitive and approachable for a mainstream audience. One day, however, Twitter may look in the mirror and not even recognize its own avatar." | | | Milestone for 'CBS This Morning' | | CBS' newsroom is closing the week on a high after the Wednesday broadcast of the network's morning show drew 3.81 million total viewers, only 144,000 behind the "Today" juggernaut. In an email to staff, CBS This Morning EP Ryan Kadro said it was "the closest our show has ever been to TODAY." | | Via BuzzFeed, a telling report on the president's view of the media landscape:
"In tweets and tirades, President Donald Trump has made clear his opinion of CNN: 'fake news.' But privately — to surrogates that boost his message across television networks — the president has an additional position: Get yourself some CNN airtime.
"The dueling messages reflect Trump's complex relationship with the network, which was both an early and important source of free media for his campaign and a pesky adversary with aggressive reporting that he has deemed unfair. Despite Trump's barbs, people close to the president say that he ultimately recognizes the importance of CNN's platform, especially as he eyes the future midterm elections and beyond.
A White House spokeswoman tells BuzzFeed that the story is "completely false." | | | BREAKING NEWS: Sean Hannity disagreed with Trump | | OK, so it wasn't that big of a disagreement. But as far as I can tell, last night provided the first real break between the White House and perhaps its biggest media booster.
After Trump lashed out at the Freedom Caucus over the GOP's health care face-plant, Hannity said that the president had identified the wrong scapegoat.
"Now I don't know who's telling the White House to focus their anger on the Freedom Caucus, but I do think it's misplaced," Hannity said. "Because the Freedom Caucus, I've talked to them, they want to make a deal, and they want the win for the president and the country."
Note how Hannity framed the critique: somebody is giving Trump bad advice. It's never Trump's failure; it's others who are failing the president.
Later in his program last night, Hannity brought on Laura Ingraham, another one of Trump's fans in conservative media, who was much more pointed in her take on the health care debacle.
"It's ridiculous at this point to start pointing fingers at the Freedom Caucus," she said. "I don't understand Donald Trump's tweets at all about that today."
Read the rest of my recap here... | | The Fox News / Trump administration feedback loop continued tonight with this from White House social media director Dan Scavino: | | Hmmm, help me out here. Wasn't there some kind of historic economic collapse right before Obama took office? Or did I imagine that? | | | Weekend forecast: 100% chance of fake news | | Tomorrow is April Fool's Day, the annual celebration of pranks and tomfoolery that bedevils journalists everywhere.
Word to the wise: maybe think twice before you tweet out that story about Trump skydiving with George H.W. Bush.
To that end, Ryan Teague Beckwith suggests a more timely name for the day. | | | Layoffs and big changes afoot at NY1 | | The New York Times has the lowdown on some tough recent developments at NYC's 24-hour news network:
"NY1 has weathered its share of changes in the broadcast and media industries through the years, the most prominent when a new parent company, Charter Communications, acquired Time Warner Cable in a merger last year. But change landed hard on NY1 and its viewers this week, in the form of layoffs for about a dozen employees, part of a shift in direction that employees said has been underway since Charter took over in May 2016...
"Whereas the quirky station, with programs like 'The Call,' where any New Yorker could call with a gripe, had operated with the understanding that its value was derived not from ratings or advertising dollars, but from the benefit it offered in keeping local cable subscribers, the station's new managers came in with different ideas, employees said. 'The Call' is soon to be canceled. At an all-hands meeting after the merger in December, employees were told that Charter's news channels were going to have to start making money, employees said." | | --HuffPost's newly minted EIC Lydia Polgreen gets the cover treatment. (Out)
-- An inside look at Cheddar, "the would-be CNBC of the internet" (Wired)
--Garrett Haake is heading back to MSNBC. Haake was a campaign embed for NBC News back in 2012. Most recently, he's been a reporter at WUSA in D.C. (Twitter)
--Maxwell Tani profiles Eric Garland, the guy who made "game theory" a part of the Twitter lexicon. A+ headline on this story, Max. (Business Insider)
-- Rachel Maddow has "no regrets" over her well-hyped and widely panned scoop on Trump's taxes. (Vulture)
-- Big announcement over at CBS: John Dickerson is now chief Washington correspondent, in addition to his role as host of "Face the Nation." (Twitter) | | | I testified against Gawker and all I got was this shirt | | That's Mike Foley, a journalism professor at the University of Florida who served as an expert witness on behalf of Hulk Hogan at last year's trial between the legendary wrestler and Gawker. As you can see, Foley's not too broken up about Gawker's demise.
The photo above was apparently taken in Foley's class, and was shared on Twitter last night by longtime Gawkerite Tom Scocca.
Foley didn't get back to me this afternoon. But I have lots of questions! Did Peter Thiel have the shirt made? Did Foley make it himself? And also: why comic sans? | | | CNN's late Friday nat sec scoop... | | Big news late Friday, via Evan Perez, Jodi Enda and Barbara Starr:
"US intelligence and law enforcement agencies believe that ISIS and other terrorist organizations have developed innovative ways to plant explosives in electronic devices that FBI testing shows can evade some commonly used airport security screening methods, CNN has learned.
"Heightening the concern is US intelligence suggesting that terrorists have obtained sophisticated airport security equipment to test how to effectively conceal explosives in laptops and other electronic devices.
The chilling story led the nightly newscasts on ABC and NBC -- although neither credited CNN for breaking it...
| | | Weekend binge-watching recs | | Brian Lowry passes along two fresh reviews:
--"Big Little Lies" could have gone South in a variety of ways. But having seen the finale, it's one of HBO's most satisfying limited series, one where actresses championed their own first-class material.
--For anyone interested in World War II or filmmaking, "Five Came Back" -- about legendary directors who put their careers on hold to make documentaries to assist in the war effort -- is must-see Netflix. (It's also receiving a limited theatrical release.) | | | Jessica Chastain interview | |
Jessica Chastain spoke to me about her new movie, "The Zookeeper's Wife." The film hits theaters today and it's the true story of a man and wife during WWII who helped hundreds escape the Holocaust in Warsaw, Poland.
| | | And a few tidbits to bring us home... | | Lisa Respers France shares three of her latest offerings:
--J-Rod or A-Lo? Alex Rodriguez talks dating Jennifer Lopez.
--Assault charges against Shia LaBeouf dropped.
--Victoria Beckham spices up 'Carpool Karaoke.' | | What do you like about this newsletter? What do you dislike? Send your feedback to reliablesources@cnn.com. We appreciate every email. | |  | | We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Check out Five Things for Your New Day, CNN's morning newsletter. Give us five minutes, and we'll brief you on all the news and buzz people will be talking about. | | | Get Reliable Sources, a comprehensive summary of the most important media news, delivered to your inbox every afternoon. | | | | | |
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