| | | | "This is worse than everybody thought." That's Michael Wolff defending the thesis of his new book. Trump is "worse than everybody thought," he told Chuck Todd on "MTP." Then came Wolff's headline: The 25th Amendment "is a concept that is alive every day in the W.H.."
On "Reliable Sources," Carl Bernstein told me we're in a "constitutional crisis." Scroll down for the latest on the "Fire" and fallout... But first... | | After her extraordinary speech on Sunday night, it's the obvious question for Monday's morning shows: Is Oprah Winfrey interested in a 2020 bid?
Many media types would like to see her run. Let's not pretend otherwise. Millions of the people who watched her Globes speech would also like to see her run... | | "A new day is on the horizon" | | | While accepting the Cecil B. DeMille Award, Winfrey had a message for the young girls watching: "A new day is on the horizon." For too long, she said, "women have not been heard or believed if they dared to speak their truth to the power of those men. But their time is up." She invoked the night's #TimesUp hashtag -- but some listeners also heard a campaign cheer somewhere in there... | | --> Check out Brian Lowry's recap: "Winfrey gave the night its emotional anchor..." She "crystallized and articulated a thread about female empowerment that stretched throughout the night..."
--> Via the Globes Twitter feed, here's the nine minute video of the speech...
--> Via BAZAAR, here's the transcript...
--> Sandra Gonzalez's story reminds me: "Winfrey's next role is in Ana DuVernay's 'Wrinkle in Time,' which hits theaters in April..." | | | "We know the press is under siege these days," Winfrey said. "We also know it's the insatiable dedication to uncovering the absolute truth that keeps us from turning a blind eye to corruption and to injustice. To tyrants and victims, and secrets and lies. I value the press more than ever before..." | | Something to keep in mind | | When Oprah became a "60 Minutes" contributor last year, I took it as a sign that she might run. Why? Because "60" gave her a huge platform to reconnect with the public.
Here's another data point. It's entirely possible I'm reading way too much into this. But she took some $$$ out of OWN last month... When she sold half her stake to Discovery... Now Discovery owns almost 75% of OWN, she holds the remaining 25%, and she made $70 million through the transaction... | | Speaking of Oprah's "60" role...
-- Bianna Golodryga: "Oprah's speech was like the most desperately needed 5 minutes of therapy...am I right?"
-- Chris Licht: "I am fairly confident 40 years from now someone will be on the #GoldenGlobes stage talking about how tonight's Oprah speech changed their life."
-- Bill Cowher: "As a Father of 3 Daughters, THANK YOU Oprah for a Passionate, Inspiring Speech for all women." | | "She's ruled it out many times..." | | On Twitter, NYT's Alex Burns drafted a sentence for a story -- "Still, Ms. Winfrey could face a difficult fight for the Democratic nomination, especially against ____" -- and said "it is tough to finish that sentence."
His point: "That's not to say she'd win easily, just that she looks bigger than the competition by orders of magnitude. Also, she's ruled it out many times..." | | But wait, did her partner just rule it in? | | The LAT's Amy Kaufman spoke with Winfrey's longtime partner Stedman Graham after the speech. "It's up to the people," Graham said. "She would absolutely do it."
--> The LAT also quoted Gayle King saying "I thought that speech was incredible. I got goosebumps..." | | | WashPost's Steven Zeitchik tweeted: "Asked Meryl Streep what she thought of Oprah's speech. Her answer: 'She launched a rocket tonight. I want her to run for president. I don't think she had any intention [of declaring]. But now she doesn't have a choice.'" | | Earlier in the evening, Seth Meyers teed up the speculation... | | "Oprah," Seth Meyers said, looking out at her in the audience, "in 2011, I told some jokes about our current president at the White House Correspondents Dinner -- jokes about how he was unqualified to be president -- and some have said that night convinced him to run. So if that's true, I just want to say: Oprah, you will never be president! You do not have what it takes! And Hanks! Where is Hanks? You will never be vice president! You are too mean and unrelatable. Now we just wait and see."
-- The NYT has the full transcript of Meyers' monologue...
-- Flashback: John Podhoretz wrote last September that Oprah was the "Democrats' best hope for 2020." S.E. Cupp and I talked about the possibility on HLN last week... | | NBC caught some flack for this tweet... | | | Meyers' joke led NBC's entertainment account to tweet out an Oprah gif with the caption "Nothing but respect for OUR future president." Drudge called out @NBC on Sunday evening... And the tweet had more significance after O's speech... | | Didja notice this? Almost no Trump talk at the Globes | | | Meyers made a couple jokes about "our current president," and a few of the acceptance speeches cited the current climate, but I don't think I heard Trump's name once all night long... So let's move on to the winners... | | | The complete list is on CNN.com. "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" was named best drama... "Lady Bird" won best comedy... "Get Out" was shut out... | | "Women are the winners at the Golden Globes" | | | That's the headline on CNN.com right now. Along with "Lady Bird," other notable winners included "The Handmaid's Tale" and "Big Little Lies..." | | Big wins for Amazon and Hulu | | Brian Lowry emails: Television categories are often an afterthought at the Golden Globes because of the vagaries of the calendar and its proximity to the Oscar nominations. Yet while the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as usual somewhat spread the wealth, it was somewhat jarring to see Netflix limited to a single win, while the awards for best drama and comedy went to its less-heralded streaming rivals, Hulu and Amazon, for first-year series "The Handmaid's Tale" and "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," respectively.
-- HBO continued its awards haul for "Big Little Lies" with four of the 11 TV trophies...
-- Here's the scoreboard: 4 wins for HBO, 2 for Amazon, 2 for Hulu, 1 for FX, 1 for NBC, 1 for Netflix... | | | Via Lisa Respers France's story: "Sterling K. Brown became the first African-American actor to win in the best actor in a TV drama category for 'This Is Us,' and Aziz Ansari was the first Asian actor to win a Golden Globe for best actor in a TV comedy for 'Master of None...'" | | Hollywood's first awards show after Weinstein | | The dresses were black. The pins said #TimesUp. Hollywood was on-message -- saying this reckoning must be about action, not just talk. But will there be systemic change? Is Hollywood getting this moment out of the way now, before the Oscars, or will this new tone last? Here's my recap...
--> "Golden Globes felt consequential, fascinating and new. Your move, Oscars," NYT's Jodi Kantor tweeted... | | Black is the new red -- for the moment | | | Sandra Gonzalez writes: "Using #WhyWeWearBlack, a parade of the industry's most prominent female voices are reminding the public that the all-black red carpet is not a fashion statement -- it's a statement of solidarity." Ashley Judd wrote on Instagram: "Today, we wear black. Why? Nearly 1/2 of men think women are well represented in leadership roles and 1/3 of women think women are well represented in leadership roles. The *reality* is, only 1 in 10 senior leaders are women." Full story here... Plus a red carpet gallery... | | Solidarity with Catt Sadler | | | On the red carpet shows, the TV transitions were occasionally awkward. From farmworker justice to "Big Little Lies." From jokes about drinking to proclamations about gender parity. Amy Schumer urged celebs to speak up in support of Catt Sadler -- who recently left E! because she said the channel would not pay her as much as her male counterpart. Debra Messing and Eva Longoria both brought up the subject during live interviews on E! "We stand with her," Messing said... | | | On the red carpet telecasts, women were more likely than men to be asked about workplace equality. And during the awards show, "I didn't hear anything powerful regarding the #MeToo movement from any of the men winning," Chloe Melas noted... | | -- I'll be on CNN's "New Day" with Globes highlights starting at 6am ET...
-- The HFPA announced $2 million in donations to journalism groups: ICIJ received $1 million and CPJ received $1 million... | | | -- Meanwhile: A senior editor for BBC News, Carrie Gracie, "quit her position as China editor last week to protest pay inequality within the company..." (NYT) | | | NOW, LET'S TALK ABOUT MICHAEL WOLFF'S FIRE AND PRESIDENT TRUMP'S FURY... | | | The tiptoeing is over. The whispers are turning into shouts. President Trump's fitness for office is now the top story in the country. That's partly due to Trump's behavior... partly due to Wolff's book... partly due to Trump's reaction to the book... etc. On Sunday's "Reliable Sources," I pointed out that "mental fitness" is now a global story as well, with papers in other countries running headlines like "Is Donald Trump still sane?" | | My view: The public needs more reporting, less guessing | | | My two cents from the show: When POTUS threatens North Korea by invoking the size of his nuclear button, it is fair to ask about his fitness. This past year has been full of reasons to ask. Trump promotes conspiracy theories. He shares racist videos on social media. He live-tweets Fox News shows that mislead him while he derides real reporting as "fake news." He calls for the prosecution of political opponents. He insults people for fun. He says so many flat-out false things that journalists can barely keep up. BUT: Journalists are not judges or doctors. What this moment needs from reporters is more reporting -- not more speculating or guessing or rumor-mongering -- but more real reporting of what is going on... | | Jake Tapper sought to ask Trump aide Stephen Miller a set of serious questions about Trump and fitness, but Miller had a different agenda: Disparage CNN and soothe the president's ego. You can watch the full interview here.
Tapper exposed Miller's performance for exactly what it was. "There is one viewer that you care about right now," Tapper said. "And you're being obsequious, you're being a factotum in order to please him." Miller denied it while Tapper wrapped: "I think I have wasted enough of my viewers' time." An hour later, the president proved Tapper's point by tweeting praise for Miller's performance. So much for Trump's "I don't watch CNN anymore..." | | | Trump tried to quote Michael Goodwin's NYPost column about his "enormously consequential presidency," but called it "enormously consensual." He also tweeted out Goodwin's email address for some reason. Trump then deleted the posts and fixed 'em... | | Sarah Sanders said last Thursday that Americans "probably could care less about a book full of lying."
Well, actually... The publisher of "Fire and Fury" can't print copies fast enough. As I reported Sunday morning, Henry Holt is facing a backlog of orders from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other booksellers. Some stores have resorted to setting up wait lists for antsy customers. In newsrooms, too, "Fire and Fury" is a hot commodity. Some journalists have been sharing copies with each other. There's also an emerging piracy problem... | | Henry Holt is racing to print more... | | | ...That's what a source told me. Meantime, some observers are now second-guessing Henry Holt's decisions. Did the publisher underestimate just how much interest there would be? Why? Here's my full story... | | Other books are also benefiting! | | | This is how you know a book is REALLY big: Randall Hansen, author of the nine-year-old book "Fire and Fury: The Allied Bombing of Germany," tweeted that his sales "have increased." Presumably, some people ordered the wrong "Fury" book by mistake. Two upcoming books that are deeply critical of Trump -- David Cay Johnston's "It's Even Worse Than You Think" and David Frum's "Trumpocracy" -- have also seen upticks in pre-orders in recent days, according to Amazon's data... | | | Here's the thing -- Wolff is just beginning his TV tour to promote the book. There are many days of headlines still to come. Among his hits on Monday: "Morning Joe," "CBS This Morning," PBS "NewsHour," "CNN Tonight," "The Last Word," "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert..." | | "Reliable Sources" highlights re: the book | | -- Michelle Cottle said Wolff has "had paparazzi outside his house" in recent days...
-- Karoun Demirjian expressed concern that Wolff's "unconventional" way of doing business could hurt the wider journalism profession...
-- Indira Lakshmanan: "Go ahead and write a cease-and-desist letter for my next book! My goodness, from a commercial, financial POV, that guaranteed that this became a best selling book..." | | Bernstein: "We're in a real constitutional crisis" | | I began Sunday's "Reliable" with Carl Bernstein, who said, "We're in a real constitutional crisis, in an unprecedented place, where we as a country and where we as journalists have never been before, in which a huge part of the citizenry of our country and the leadership of the country in Congress, privately and in public, openly question the fitness and stability of the president of the United States. So it raises a great question: How do we report on this reality?"
He urged journalists to seek on the record AND on background comments from GOP leaders -- and singled out Fox News -- saying Fox's reporters "have the kind of credibility" with GOPers that "perhaps other news organizations don't have." Jackie Wattles recapped Bernstein's remarks here... | | | Also on "Reliable:" Brian Karem disagreed with the assertion that GOP leaders might stand up to Trump: "Right now, the Republicans merely see President Trump as a vehicle to get everything they want passed, and they're going to push through what they want..." | | | When Steve Bannon decided to walk back a few of his "Fire and Fury" quotes, who'd he contact? Not Alex Marlow at Breitbart News -- it was Mike Allen at Axios. Why give the clicks and credit to a competitor instead of his own site? "Because like his old boss @realDonaldTrump, he craves legitimacy from the mainstream media," Kurt Bardella tweeted... | | NYMag says Wolff's adaptation for the mag "has drawn more than 4.5 million readers" since last Wednesday. This counts both "on and off-network" readers, which primarily means NYMag.com and Apple News.
This editors note says "readers spent four times the average engaged time on our site with the piece..." | | Jack Shafer wants to know... | | | "Who plays Wolff in the movie?" he tweeted on Sunday... | | Catch up on Sunday's "Reliable" | | -- Michael Grynbaum's latest: "Bannon Needs Breitbart. Does Breitbart Need Bannon?" (NYT)
-- Fox News piloted a new talk show on Sunday night: "The Wise Guys." Five men: Oliver North, Ari Fleischer, Alan Dershowitz, Steve Wynn, and host Bill Bennett. For now, it's just a one-off, but let's see how the #'s look... I bet it'll be back on the schedule... (Fox)
-- Funniest story of the day: "Eric Garland Has Blown Our Cover" (Gizmodo) | | Reuters reaffirms call for the release of two reporters arrested in Myanmar | | A new statement from Reuters EIC Stephen J. Adler about the two reporters being held in Myanmar:
"It is now nearly a month since Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were arrested in connection with their reporting on important issues in Myanmar. As they near their hearing date, it remains entirely clear that they are innocent of any wrongdoing. Their arrest and continued incarceration represent an egregious attack on press freedom — preventing them, and deterring other journalists, from reporting independently in Myanmar. We again call for their immediate release." | | Showtime's docuseries about the NYT gets a premiere date | | | "The Fourth Estate" (still the working title) will premiere on Sunday, May 27, on Showtime... This is the multi-part documentary series that Liz Garbus has been shooting inside the NYT... It'll air on four successive Sundays... | | "Our Cartoon President" previewed | | | Brian Lowry emails: Stephen Colbert talked about his animated Trump satire "Our Cartoon President" at the TV Critics Association tour on Saturday, while Showtime chief David Nevins discussed what a "fantastic time" it is to be working in television... Read more... | | "The Greatest Showman" showing life | | | More from Brian Lowry: Box-office analysts were quick to write off "The Greatest Showman" as a disappointment, but that appears premature: the Hugh Jackman musical is exhibiting unusual staying power, dropping just 11% for the most recent weekend. "The Post" also showed promise as it prepares to expand to wider release next weekend... | | | Email brian.stelter@turner.com... I appreciate the feedback. Have a great weekend! | | | Get Reliable Sources, a comprehensive summary of the most important media news, delivered to your inbox every afternoon. | | | | | |
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