| | | | | "The battle of Charlottesville" | | Starting a new week with new Q's | | -- On Friday, before the violence in Charlottesville, President Trump promised to hold a "pretty big press conference" on Monday. Will he follow through?
-- Why didn't the president say on Saturday what VP Mike Pence said on Sunday night? "We have no tolerance for hate and violence from white supremacists, neo-Nazis or the KKK."
-- Why did a W.H. official insist on anonymity while issuing this statement that said Trump condemns "white supremacists" and all extremist groups? Why didn't Trump say it himself?
-- Why didn't @realDonaldTrump retweet his daughter Ivanka's statements on Sunday?
-- What will AG Jeff Sessions say, and how will he say it, when he appears on several morning TV shows on Monday?
-- Under the heading "actions speak louder than words," what will the administration's actions be?
-- Was this weekend the low point of the Trump presidency so far, considering just how widely he was criticized for failing to meet the moment?
-- Will hate groups feel emboldened by all that happened on Saturday?
-- Will Sunday night's anti-racism protests continue in the week ahead?
-- Is media sunlight really the best disinfectant when it comes to racism? (We had a conversation about this on Sunday's "Reliable Sources.")
-- Can someone slip a copy of ProPublica's "Documenting Hate" project into one of the president's folders of news clippings?
-- Oh, and while we're asking questions: Is Steve Bannon really on the outs? | | About that promised presser... | | Some W.H. correspondents think POTUS uses the term "press conference" to refer to any on-camera event. He does have a 3pm event scheduled at the White House. Will he turn it into a presser, or avoid answering Q's?
--> Kaitlan Collins: "The president took more questions this week than he had taken in months..." | | What made this weekend so unusual | | | Speaking with me on "Reliable Sources," NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik drew a provocative comparison between the Charlottesville protests and Hurricane Katrina. Obviously the tragedy along the Gulf Coast was on an entirely different scale, as he acknowledged. But on both occasions "you saw the press totally turn on the White House in a way that was direct and focused," he said. "Straightforward reporters as well as folks on the left and the right [were] almost beseeching the president and the administration to get in front of this, or at least get in the moment, and it didn't happen... You know, despite what you hear about it, most of the time, reporters don't want to be in that situation..." | | NYPost: "Trump badly missed the mark on Charlottesville" | | | The NYPost editorial board was not satisfied by Saturday's speech. Maggie Haberman's interpretation: "The paper that Trump reads most often, which is also owned by Murdoch, condemns his statement yesterday..." | | FT editorial evokes an empty White House | | | In Monday's FT: "In the days to come, the president and his advisers will doubtless work to amend or reinterpret what was said over the weekend. None of this will obscure the challenge facing the US. To the extent that it is the role of the president to provide moral leadership, the White House is unoccupied. That void must be filled, and it falls first to the Republicans, the party in control of the legislative branches, to do so..." | | Pay attention to what's being said on pro-Trump shows... | | | When I flipped over to Jesse Watters' pro-Trump show on Fox News Sunday night, here's what I heard: "The left quickly taking advantage of a tragedy to smear the President of the United States as a racist responsible for death. First of all, Black Lives Matter and Antifa have more connections to the Democratic party than white supremacists have to the Republican party. Left-wing radical groups have terrorized this country over the past several years, shooting police officers, rioting in the streets and assaulting innocent civilians. Has the Democratic party leadership condemned left-wing violence? Not so much." His final point: "America is not a racist nation. It's time we stop acting like it is." If the past is any indication, we might be hearing these talking points from POTUS... | | Fox talking points in effect | | I think Trump's Saturday address will be remembered -- not fondly -- as the "many sides" speech. What are the "many sides?"
Well when Gabriel Sherman tweeted this on Sunday morning... "When I asked senior WH official why Trump didn't condemn Cville Nazis, he said: "What about the leftist mob. Just as violent if not more so.'"
...It made me think of Fox right away. "Left-wing violence" has been a theme of Fox's prime time shows for a while... Hosts like Sean Hannity have reracked footage from months-old disturbances in Berkeley to hammer home the point... | | Trump's new campaign ad labels journalists "enemies" | | What a juxtaposition. On Saturday afternoon the president called for unity and said, "We have to respect each other. Ideally, we have to love each other." On Sunday morning his re-election campaign released an attack ad that called out his "enemies," including news anchors, for obstructing his agenda.
The ad lumped Democratic lawmakers and journalists together. The faces of Brian Williams, Don Lemon, Joe Scarborough, Dana Bash, Chuck Todd, April Ryan, Chris Hayes, Fareed Zakaria, Rachel Maddow, Gloria Borger, Jake Tapper, John King, Mika Brzezinski, and George Stephanopoulos show up on screen when the announcer says "the president's enemies don't want him to succeed." So the campaign is labeling specific journalists as "enemies." (Full disclosure, my face is also shown in the ad.) | | -- This is "outrageous," April Ryan said on Twitter in reaction to the ad. "I am no enemy, just a journalist asking questions of presidents for 20 years..."
-- Liberal Fox commentator Mo Elleithee tweeted: "Most Presidents try to heal & unite the country in days following national tragedy. This one runs a campaign ad highlighting his 'enemies.'"
-- Is the campaign really spending $$$ to air this ad? Unclear. Per CNN's Eli Watkins, "The Trump campaign did not respond Sunday to requests for more details on the ad, including when and where it will run and how much it cost." | | Trump keeping Murdoch close? | | Here's my scooplet: On August 1, one day after the abrupt exit of White House comms director Anthony Scaramucci, President Trump dined with comms whiz Rupert Murdoch. The two men had a private dinner at the White House, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the meeting...
-- Why it matters: Murdoch's WSJ editorial board has been pointedly critical of POTUS lately... | | -- Margaret Sullivan's Monday column: "Is Fox News a stalwart defender of the press freedoms it depends on? Well, that may depend on the year. It might even depend on who is the president..." (WashPost)
-- "Silicon Valley Now Has Its Own Populist Pundit." NYT's Nellie Bowles profiles new Fox host Steve Hilton, who's hosting a Sunday night show about populism... (NYT)
-- Bill Maher, speaking with Fareed Zakaria on CNN's "GPS," criticized CNN's decision to dismiss Jeffrey Lord: "This has got to stop, this idea that people have to go away if they've offended me even for one moment..." (Deadline)
-- ICYMI at NABJ: "Omarosa Manigault's chilly reception on a panel at a convention for black journalists Friday spiraled into a screaming match..." (CNN) | | James Risen joining The Intercept | | | HuffPost's Michael Calderone with the scoop: "Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist James Risen, who spent seven years fighting off government efforts to force him to reveal a confidential source, will continue to advocate for the First Amendment as director of the First Look Press Freedom Defense Fund, HuffPost has learned." Risen is also joining First Look's The Intercept site: He will "serve as senior national security correspondent, writing a column based on his own reporting, and help steer the site's investigative work..." | | Media week ahead calendar | | -- Monday night: "Bachelor in Paradise" premieres on ABC...
-- Monday night: Anthony Scaramucci's press tour continues on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert..."
-- Friday: The next hearing in Sarah Palin's defamation suit against the NYT...
-- Friday: Marvel's "The Defenders" arrives on Netflix... | | HBO says it's not going to participate in this hacker's "game" | | "The HBO vs. hackers known as 'Mr. Smith' standoff continues, as several episodes of 'Curb Your Enthusiasm,' 'Insecure' and 'Ballers' were leaked Sunday," The Wrap's Rosemary Rossi reports.
HBO's strong response: "We are not in communication with the hacker and we're not going to comment every time a new piece of information is released. It has been widely reported that there was a cyber incident at HBO. The hacker may continue to drop bits and pieces of stolen information in an attempt to generate media attention. That's a game we're not going to participate in. Obviously, no company wants their proprietary information stolen and released on the internet. Transparency with our employees, partners, and the creative talent that works with us has been our focus throughout this incident and will remain our focus as we move forward. This incident has not deterred us from ensuring HBO continues to do what we do best." | | Yashar Ali says he's not intimidated by Eric Bolling | | "The best defense of defamation is the truth." That's what Yashar Ali told me on Sunday, in his first TV interview since being sued by Eric Bolling for $50 million.
"He is trying to intimidate me," Ali said. "He sees me as a young reporter that may be scared by big lawsuits."
But Ali said he's not. CNNMoney's Jackie Wattles has a recap of the interview here. "I spent three months on this story," Ali said. "I had 14 sources. I've spoken to the victims...I know he's wrong." Bolling's attorney, Michael Bowe, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But he has in the past called Ali's HuffPost article about Bolling "false, defamatory, and obviously intended to destroy this good man's career and family."
Meantime, Fox said Bolling remains suspended pending an investigation... | | | "If he," meaning Bolling, "wants to wade into this pond, I'm happy to go in with him." Ali referenced his high-powered attorney Patricia Glaser: "I look forward to Patty deposing Eric, and I look forward to discovery process." Here's video of the full interview... | | So many other media lawsuits to keep track of... | | | I ticked through some of them with David Folkenflik in this "Reliable Sources" segment. Disney paid at least $177 million to settle the so-called "pink slime" case against ABC. One of the many ongoing cases is Rod Wheeler's defamation suit against Fox. Folkenflik observed, "I don't think Donald Trump went on the campaign trail to say, 'I want to loosen the libel laws, I want to take it to the press,' as a way of punishing Fox News..." | | More highlights from "Reliable" | | -- Veteran W.H. correspondent Ann Compton asked: "Is it possible that we're still struggling with how to interpret President Trump's words?" Yes...
-- North Korea's recent rhetoric might sound "very frightening" to Americans, but officials in Pyongyang make blustery comments "all the time," CNN international correspondent Will Ripley said...
-- CNN analyst/former Pentagon spokesman John Kirby argued that last Tuesday's leak to the Washington Post "put in motion" Trump's "fire and fury" rhetoric about North Korea... | | Four ways to catch up on Sunday's show | | NOW BACK TO CHARLOTTESVILLE... | | "MAKE AMERICA HATE AGAIN!" | | | ICYMI, that was The Drudge Report's banner for much of the day on Sunday... | | -- Al Tompkins and Kelly McBride offered guidance for reporters on how to handle racist words, images and violence... (Poynter)
-- According to The Daily Beast's Ben Collins, far right sites like "GotNews" framed the wrong person for the car ramming attack -- a man from Michigan they qualified as an "anti-Trump druggie..." (The Daily Beast)
-- The WashPost editorial board took matters into their own hands and wrote a new statement for Trump that "a presidential president" would have delivered... (WashPost) | | Larry Sabato's account of what happened | | Friday night's torch-lit demonstration by white nationalists really foreshadowed Saturday's violence. Here's what UVA professor Larry Sabato, a regular guest on TV newscasts, told me on "Reliable:"
"I live on Jefferson's Lawn, in a pavilion that he designed, it's right next to the rotunda. And I watched this group of young people... march with their torches lit, and I was shocked first at how many of them there were. There were hundreds. I hate to put an exact number on it, but it went on and on. It was longer than our graduation lines. Then they got closer and I heard what they were chanting. And they were chanting, 'you will not replace us,' and that was alternated with, 'Jews will not replace us.' Then they got to the front of the rotunda, and it didn't take them but a few minutes to do what they really come to do: get a lot of media attention by attacking the relative handful of counter-protesters who were there. This was all unplanned, by the way... As somebody who has been associated with the University of Virginia for 47 years, this was the most disturbing, nauseating thing I have ever witnessed there. And right there on the lawn, which is the center of our university. I don't know how long it's going to take us to get over this." | | This photographer's story | | | Via CJR's Justin Ray: "Ryan Kelly went to downtown Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 12 for one last assignment before leaving his staff photographer job at The Daily Progress. On that final workday, the 30-year-old captured an image that The Washington Post declared as 'The photo from Charlottesville that will define this moment in American history.'" Here's Kelly's story in his own words... | | | Francesca Giuliani-Hoffman emails: I caught up with Dean Seal of The Daily Progress on Sunday morning. He said Saturday was an "all hands on deck" kind of day for The Daily Progress, the only daily newspaper in the C'ville area, published since 1892 and now owned by Media General newspapers, a Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary. Six reporters and two photographers chased the story around town, and all the editorial staff was on high alert throughout Saturday and into Sunday. The "sheer size" of the event was the greatest challenge he and his colleagues had to face, Seal said, but the paper had been gearing up for the rally for several weeks... | | "What do we do with a president who is incapable or unwilling to perform his basic duties? What do we do when he is incapable of outrage at outrageous things? What do we do with a president who provides barely veiled cover for the darkest instincts of the human heart?"
--Former George W. Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson's latest column for the WashPost... | | Weekend box office report | | "'Annabelle: Creation,' the fourth installment in New Line's 'Conjuring' series, arrived to roughly $35 million in ticket sales at North American theaters, easily enough for No. 1," NYT's Brooks Barnes reports. The movie cost about $15 million to make.
"Rather improbably -- a long line of sequels have underperformed this year -- turnout was on par with the first 'Annabelle,' which had $37 million in opening-weekend ticket sales in 2014 and went on to collect $257 million worldwide," Barnes writes. It will "easily push the 'Conjuring' series past $1 billion in ticket sales worldwide." The weekend's No. 2 film was "Dunkirk," which took in "about $11.4 million, for a four-week total of $153.7 million..." | | | Email us at reliablesources@cnn.com... we appreciate every message. The feedback helps us craft the next day's newsletter! | | | Get Reliable Sources, a comprehensive summary of the most important media news, delivered to your inbox every afternoon. | | | | | |
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