This is a rush transcript from "Media Buzz," August 8, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOWARD KURTZ, FOX NEWS HOST (on camera): Sure, it's easy now. It's easy for the media to denounce Andrew Cuomo, to decry the sexual harassment findings, to insist like "The New York Times" and "The Washington Post" that the governor must go. And yet, remember, this is the guy who the pundits lionized last year as a pandemic superstar.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: You see spectacular political leader emerging from this in Andrew Cuomo.
NICOLLE WALLACE, MSNBC HOST: Governor Cuomo, I think, is one of the heroes on the frontlines.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KURTZ (on camera): But when the first Cuomo accuser came forward in February, there was nothing on the network TV newscasts, nothing initially on MSNBC, a brief mention on CNN, a few sentences on the "Today" show. Here's how I put it at the time on this program.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KURTZ: But the first instinct of the network newscasts, CNN, MSNBC, was to do as little as possible and sometimes nothing about the Democratic governor. They were kind of acting like political operatives. Maybe this will blow over we won't have to deal with it.
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KURTZ (on camera): But they had to deal with it as enterprising reporters found more accusers and the state attorney general launched an investigation.
But that's the thing. When you ignore or minimize a credible allegation against a popular politician, you run the risk of having to play catch-up later when the scandal mushrooms and it's too big to ignore. That was the moment of truth, not now, when everyone is revolted by chilling evidence that Cuomo sexually harassed 11 different women.
I'm Howard Kurtz and this is MEDIA BUZZ.
The A.G.'s report found that Andrew Cuomo had engaged in sexual harassment, unwanted kissing and touching and groping. And in one case, retaliation against woman who had worked for him and a state trooper assigned to protect him. He denied it in a video message.
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GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): Newspaper or biased reviews are not the way to find the facts in this matter. Politics and bias are interwoven throughout every aspect of this situation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KURTZ (on camera): Hey, you asked for the attorney general's investigation, Letitia James is a Democrat, and now you want to complain about the media coverage and the probe itself. A parade of top Democrats is now urging Cuomo to step down, starting with the president.
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KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Will you now call on him to resign given the investigator said the 11 women were credible?
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I stand by that statement.
COLLINS: Are you now calling on him to resign?
BIDEN: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KURTZ (on camera): Across the cable news spectrum, liberal and conservative, Cuomo has virtually no defenders.
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LISA GREEN, MANAGING DIRECTOR, SARD VERBINNEN & CO: Imagine the twilight zone these women felt they were working in. They're being harassed by the governor.
LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST: I'm speechless. Okay. Governor Cuomo is one of the just more bizarre defenses of accusations of sexual harassment ever assembled. Okay. I'm really weird and creepy. But I didn't do that.
WENDY MURPHY, SEXUAL VIOLENCE PROFESSOR, NEW ENGLAND LAW: I don't even think arrogance comes close. I want to use the word "psychopath." Who in position of being the leader of a state facing these overwhelming allegations from 11 women has the nerve to call them all liars?
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KURTZ (on camera): Joining us now to analyze the coverage, Ben Domenech, publisher of "The Federalist" and a Fox News contributor, and Fox News correspondent and host Griff Jenkins.
Ben, media built up Andrew Cuomo to an almost unbelievable degree and have now turned on him with a vengeance. But when these allegations first surfaced, many just looked the other way, nothing to see here.
BEN DOMENECH, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR, FOUNDER AND PUBLISHER OF THE FEDERALIST: You know, the look back at the media's performance during this is not going to be a pleasant one for really anyone who lauded Andrew Cuomo as being this incredible leader.
What's amazing is to look back at that coverage and to see how it was wrong in every respect. It was wrong when it came to his response to COVID. It was wrong when it came to the idea that as Steve Schmidt said that he was some kind of heroic figure emerging from this. And the initial brushoff that you made reference to of reporting around these latest scandals is really a travesty in retrospect.
What I fear, though, is that the lesson that so many politicians have taken from the experience of Governor Ralph Northam in Virginia is that you can just keep your head down and ball forward and survive anything like this.
And I think that that's probably what's going to happen with Governor Cuomo as well. He's a powerful, well-connected Democratic politician. I think he's just going to decide, I'm going to ignore all my critics, including the president of the United States, and I'm going to stick this out.
KURTZ: Well, let's come back to that. But Griff, "The New York Times," which kept endorsing him, says that if Cuomo cares about the people of the state, he will step down. "The Washington Post" says this is no longer any question about his fitness for office.
Usually, an embattled politician has some core of support. Is it now impossible for anyone in the media not to denounce Andrew Cuomo?
GRIFF JENKINS, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think so, Howie, and there was talking about past presidents. Perhaps there's irony that on August 8th, 1974, President Nixon took to the airwaves to say, I'm going to resign. He knew he was cornered. And it is not just "The New York Times" and "The Washington Post." You've also got the "Times Union," the home newspaper there in Albany, along with columnist Maureen Dowd, everybody is savaging him.
What will be fascinating to see, as you pointed out correctly with Ben that the press was slow to pick up on defending these victims as they're really rightfully called, will they also go after the members of his staff, the top aides, that in this report, 165 pages of unbelievable accusations, say they conducted something that amounts to unlawful retaliation?
KURTZ (on camera): I will come back to you on that. Nice historical reference as today is August 8th. Let me play for the audience some further comments that Governor Cuomo made in his defense and then we're going to look at Charlotte Bennett who really became the face of the scandal because she was the first of the accusers to go public on TV. Roll it.
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CUOMO: I do kiss people on the forehead. I do kiss people on the cheek. I do kiss people on the hand. I do embrace people.
CHARLOTTE BENNETT, CUOMO ACCUSER: He was coming on to me and he insinuated that survivors of trauma and sexual assault can't tell the difference between mentorship and leadership and sexual harassment itself which is not only insulting to me but every survivor who listened to him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KURTZ (on camera): Ben, so Andrew Cuomo likes to hug and kiss people at weddings and at disasters. It's hardly the same it seems to me as making women feel uncomfortable. How was that particular part of his defense playing in the press?
DOMENECH: I don't think that the idea that, you know, I'm an old fashioned Italian man who likes to do all these things really works in this day and age of the professional environments where certain, you know, actions that are directed towards subordinates are completely different than the actions that you might have around your family members or something like that.
Look, you know, whatever the standard is, it seems clear that Andrew Cuomo has certainly violated it in terms of behaving unprofessionally and unethically as it relates to these subordinates.
But it is also a situation that I think is unfortunate in the sense that we are focused on this and not on the scandal, the ever running and ever increasing scandal that we've learned so much about as regards to his implementation of his policies related to nursing homes and COVID, an investigation that the Biden administration shut down, not just as it relates to him but as it relates to several other Democrat governors.
And so from my perspective, there's no real heroes in this story though I will say the women involved here have to be considered very brave to come forward and to speak out against someone who was so lionized by the press and who had been put up on this pedestal to such an incredible degree as someone who could not, you know, would not just be, you know, potentially - -
KURTZ: Right.
DOMENECH: -- a powerful politician in New York but potentially someone who had national hopes as well.
KURTZ: Yeah. Well, speaking of women who came forward and they were brave, Charlotte Bennett, Griff, was the one who first spoke to "The New York Times" and CBS. We just heard her saying the governor is lying, said in another interview he was out of touch with reality. That got a lot of media attention in terms of reaction from one of the accuser herself.
JENKINS: Sure. And, you know, Bennett also addressed the video calling it fake, saying it was inappropriate, unnecessary, and I believe, in her words, downright weird.
Look, you have a governor who almost two years to the day signed a law, the strongest law in any state in the United States, to help women file claims of sexual harassment, and now we're learning from this report that a day later he harasses a state trooper, according to Letitia James's report.
KURTZ: Yeah.
JENKINS: But the larger point to be made, I think, quickly is that this was a taxpayer-funded video which Charlotte Bennett called -- quote -- "propaganda" in which the governor continues to call her a liar in the video. So, I mean, it's a continuation, I think, of what the report laid out --
KURTZ: Yeah.
JENKINS: -- as egregious aggression.
KURTZ: You know, even the liberal side talking points memo said, Cuomo wants you to know he's creepy around everyone. So, the executive assistant number one, she is called on the report, is going public tomorrow in an interview with CBS, which has now named her Brittany Commisso. She is the one who says the governor groped her under her blouse.
Ben, with President Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Gillibrand and a whole bunch of other home state Democrats calling for Cuomo to quit, does that fuel the story? Because we can all now run pieces that say pressuring on Governor Cuomo to resign.
DOMENECH: I really don't think it does. I think that this is going to be something that the media sweeps under the rug in part because they're so embarrassed about their performance and how much they lauded Governor Cuomo in the past. I think what that they will try to move on from this as rapidly as they can. And I think that that's just a statement about how partisan, how publicly partisan so many in our media have become.
And I'll say this too. This is a reminder about why we shouldn't lionized politicians and our political elected leaders as if they're somehow these perfect avatars of everything we would like to see in leadership qualities.
It's a reminder to everybody, regardless of your party or ideology, that you should not put these people on such a pedestal, that you ignore the kind of capacity that they have to do sometimes terrible things, things that we have to be honest about as opposed to pretending and waving our hands away as if that doesn't matter because of which side of the political spectrum they're on.
KURTZ: I think that is a great point. It wasn't like the press didn't know about this side of Andrew Cuomo's personality. Top editors at the Albany "Times Union" say he screamed at them when they ran a story he didn't like and they refused to talk to him off the record.
Griff, we talked about the attorney general's report. It is focused on top aides enabling his behavior, trying to keep him away from being alone with certain women. A couple saying they would be fired for doing anything like that. And so it wasn't just Andrew Cuomo but it was the people around the governor.
JENKINS: Well, listen, I think Ben's point about whether or not the media tries to wash their hands quickly or not is significant because of what we're learning and good for CBS and the "Times Union" for interviewing the executive assistant number one.
Here's why. We learned from the report that when Melissa DeRosa, Cuomo's top aide, the one that leaked confidential files to reporters to discredit Lindsey Boylan, the first accuser that came forward, the report finding that unlawful retaliation, the executive assistant participated with the aide, Melissa DeRosa, in whiting out some names before the report on Boylan could be released. She then accuses, of course, the governor of groping her, reaching under her blouse, and touching her breast.
And so I think the role that the media has now is to make sure that every single stone is overturned, that everything comes forward, and to use their, I think, fundamental role which is to be the fourth state to hold governors and governments accountable and shine a light.
KURTZ: Yeah. You know, it may well be that you're right, Ben, about that the media will just let this drop. But on the other hand, you have Democrats in Albany who say they have enough votes to impeach the governor.
If that were to happen, he would have to step aside and let the lieutenant governor take over during the impeachment process. So, we will see. I think it is going to be hard for the press to walk away from this one.
Let me get a break here. We'll talk about Chris Cuomo's role a bit later. When we come back, President Biden just took a major step that he himself says is probably illegal, and the media don't seem to care.
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KURTZ (on camera): President Biden said he wanted to extend a pandemic ban on housing evictions but that the expert consensus was it wouldn't be legal.
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BIDEN: Any call for moratorium based on a Supreme Court recent decision is likely to face obstacles. Look, the courts made it clear that the existing moratorium was not constitutional. It wouldn't stand.
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KURTZ (on camera): But the president abruptly reversed himself under fierce pressure from such liberal lawmakers such as Cori Bush and had the CDC extend the ban with a minor change. Look at how CNN's Erin Burnett framed the move, interviewing a woman who had fallen behind on her rent and then congratulating Cori Bush.
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ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: And congresswoman, wow to you. How does it feel to hear this, to hear this news of this moratorium tonight, thanks to you?
REP. CORI BUSH (D-MO): I am so -- I'm elated and I'm overwhelmed.
INGRAHAM: Biden is so terrified apparently of the -- I like to call them the capital camping crazies, like Cori Bush, that he's just defying the court.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KURTZ (on camera): Ben, why has there been so little interest in this aspect, President Biden defying a Supreme Court ruling when he himself, as we saw, told the room full of reporters it's probably unconstitutional for him to extend this eviction ban?
DOMENECH: Well, this is insulting on its face in part because so much of what the media did in presenting Joe Biden to the American people in the last presidential election was presenting him as a return to normalcy, a return to respecting the norms of politics.
And this is totally flouting those norms. This is going against -- signing something into law with the admission that you acknowledge that this act is not just unlawful but is in all respects unconstitutional is the opposite of norms. It's the opposite of respecting these types of guardrails for our politics. It's incredibly damaging.
And to see the way that the media reacted to it, it just puts all this stuff on its face as kind of absurd, that they would be lauding this move by Biden because they really don't care whether those norms are respected or not. And it makes everything in retrospect look kind of laughable.
One just one more point on this. The people who are actually hit by this eviction moratorium are overwhelmingly America's small business owners and the like who have one house or maybe two that they rent out, a small number of units. Those are the ones who are hit the most by this and aren't going to be able to continue to make mortgage payments. They will probably end up getting swallowed up --
KURTZ: Right.
DOMENECH: -- by bigger firms that can borrow debt cheaply. And that's something that's very bad when you're trying to build an economic recovery. None of that seems to matter to the press. Instead, they're like yeah, let's move on to the next thing that the squad wants.
KURTZ: Griff, I don't want to see a couple million people, you know, kicked out of their homes because of the impact of the pandemic. But the press has been far more interested in the politics. This is a victory for AOC and the left wing of the Democratic Party than the fact that it flies in the face of a Supreme Court ruling.
JENKINS: Listen, it was a week ago today that I went up on the Hill and was the first reporter for any network talking directly to Cori Bush about why she was leading this charge. I told her the president had his hands tied. He can't extend the moratorium because the Supreme Court said it's unconstitutional.
Now, fast forward to what happened this week. Where is the headline, Howie, today that should read metamorphosis of how Democrats justify unconstitutional governance? It should exist because that's what happened.
And what's amazing, as Ben points out, we stunningly had the president admit that he was going to simply violate the Constitution, if you will, by doing this, knowing full well that it would be immediately challenged. I think you will see some legal hearings. Something will certainly come this week.
KURTZ: Right.
JENKINS: But one thing is clear and that is that the power of the squad and having Cori Bush who simply said -- quote -- "something got to happen," that the American people don't care about these rules and these rulings, but yet the government saying it's okay to kick people out of those homes.
KURTZ: Right.
JENKINS: We've got to simply stop that. It just flies in the true face of democracy when have you no shortage, by the way, I should point out, of Democrats who love to point out that Trump subverted democracy himself.
KURTZ: Okay. You set up my next question. By the way, Congresswoman Bush slept on the Capitol steps to protest the lack of action by the White House.
Ben, "The Washington Post" editorial page to which credit says what Biden had the CDC do is almost certainly illegal. But when Donald Trump took money from other departments to fund the border wall, the construction part of the wall, the press went haywire, said he had no right to do this, he extended his legal authority. That kind of selective outrage seems to be missing here.
DOMENECH: It's almost like they have a different standard, depending on the person who is on power and whether they agree with them ideologically. It's absurd, Howie, and it's very obvious.
And so I think that what people should take away from this experience is that the next time that you have an entity from the press come out and pound on the table and defend constitutional norms, say that democracy dies in darkness, understand that they're doing that based on their own perspective on the politicians and the decisions they're making and almost never are they actually basing that on an even-handed and fair look at this type of decision and a nonpartisan manner.
This is just the most prominent latest example in part because, as Griff said, the president came out and said those out part loud.
KURTZ: Right. We have the video.
DOMENECH: This is probably unconstitutional, illegal, I'll do it anyway.
KURTZ: I got to go. This is not just lawyers say or sources say. We have the source in chief. All right, Ben Domenech, Griff Jenkins, thanks very much for joining us this Sunday.
Up next, Peter Doocy on the COVID war of words between Joe Biden and Ron DeSantis. And later, Chris Cuomo's role in defending his brother against the sexual harassment allegations.
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KURTZ (on camera): The media loved this new feud, President Biden taking a sharp jab at Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as well as Texas's Greg Abbott for opposing vaccine and mask mandates.
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BIDEN: I say to these governors, please, help. If you aren't going to help, at least get out of the way of the people who are trying to do the right thing.
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): Why don't you do your job? Why don't you get this border secure? And until you do that, I don't want to hear a blip about COVID from you.
GERALDO RIVERA, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: The two macho, defiant governors, Abbott and DeSantis, have now to face the reality that their states lead the league in COVID infections and hospitalizations.
SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: The media big tech, the Biden administration, well, Governor Ron DeSantis, let's blame him. The guy whose schools have been open now for a full year?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KURTZ (on camera): And joining us now from Delaware is Peter Doocy, Fox's White House correspondent. Peter, as I said, the press loves this stuff. Does the White House want so much media attention on B0iden versus DeSantis? Obviously, Governor DeSantis is happy to oblige in terms of tangling with the president.
PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: We noticed, Howie, that after this started, and it does have kind of a 2024 feel to it even though the Republican primary is going to be gruelling and Ron DeSantis hasn't even said that he wants to run for president, but the White House after this back and forth started has not stopped calling Florida and Texas out because they're looking at the data.
They see the most -- they see the most new cases of COVID, including with the delta variant, in Texas and Florida, and they're just going to keep using them as what they think are a bad example because those governors are trying to give people a choice.
So the White House basically says Ron DeSantis is being political when he should be scientific. They would prefer if people listen to White House experts, the people that they put out, and just do what they say.
KURTZ (on camera): I'm sure they would prefer that. You often ask the White House, press the White House about vaccinations, masks, and changing CDC guidance. Let's take a look at a recent encounter with you and White House press secretary, Jen Psaki.
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DOOCY: Why did the president say, if you have been fully vaccinated, you no longer need to wear a mask? Let me repeat, if you are fully vaccinated, you no longer need to wear a mask, if it was possible that that was going to turn out not to be true.
JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Peter, I think we're all dealing with an evolving virus where there's no playbook and no historic precedent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KURTZ (on camera): Is it hard to pin down the White House when the guidance on all of this seems to keep shifting?
DOOCY: Well, it has been difficult just to understand exactly what they expect of people in the press room, who are now all wearing masks when we're in there, and what they expect of people -- you know, when we're in Washington, D.C. on assignment now for insides, you have to wear a mask. You come to Delaware with the president, no such masking rules.
This is an administration, though, where over the course of the last year and-a-half that we were traveling with them, they made a point to get people to take COVID-19 very, very seriously. And now, it seems like sometimes they struggle to get people to take the virus seriously except if you're vaccinated.
KURTZ: Right.
DOOCY: So, they want people to know this delta variant is out there, but it really is only serious for people who are not vaccinated.
KURTZ: Sure.
DOOCY: I think that's where some of the confusion has been coming from.
KURTZ: Okay. Now, media (ph) said this week that you are the best White House correspondent. "The Washington Post" has a piece saying that you and Jen Psaki are the new miniseries, that she is mildly exasperated by you at times, but thinks it is important to reach the Fox audience. Is it uncomfortable for you usually to be asking the hardest edge questions and having Jen Psaki often push back on those questions?
DOOCY: No, not at all. And I put a lot of thought into the questions. It seems like she puts a lot of thought into the answers and trying to figure out what exactly we are going to press her on. And so it's never uncomfortable and hopefully the information we're getting out of there is always useful even if the back and forth are sometimes cut down to be tweeted or put on Facebook or something like that.
KURTZ: And just very briefly, was it a historic moment when President Biden called on you for a question this week rather than you have to shout at him as he's walking away from the podium?
DOOCY: It was interesting, Howie, usually over the course of the last year I am just kind of getting myself prepped to shout something really quick as he is leaving the stage or leaving the microphone. And when he called on me as the third reporter, once I asked my question I could just sit there and take notes for the rest of the event. It was -- it was definitely different than some of the other ones. Yes.
KURTZ: You had a little more time. Great to see you, Peter Doocy, thanks very much for joining us.
DOOCY: Thank you.
KURTZ: Next on MEDIA BUZZ, what investigators found about Chris Cuomo's role in defending his embattled brother and why that's a big problem for CNN.
And later, a brand-new Frank Luntz focus group on vaccines.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KURTZ (on camera): CNN's Chris Cuomo hasn't mentioned the sexual harassment allegations that threaten to end his brother's political career because the network had decided he cannot cover the governor, that of course a sharp change from last year's 11 loved filled appearances on his program when Andrew Cuomo was being hailed during the pandemic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS CUOMO, HOST, CNN: Andrew Cuomo, of course my brother, thank you for coming back to the show.
REP. ANDREW CLYDE (R-GA): Mom told me I had to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KURTZ (on camera): The primetime host later apologized when the Washington Post revealed he was joining damage control calls with his brother and top officials.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
C. CUOMO: I understand why that was a problem for CNN. It will not happen again. It was a mistake because I put my colleagues here, who I believe are the best in the business, in a bad spot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KURTZ (on camera): We've now learned from the state attorney general's report that Chris Cuomo in February e-mailed a draft statement of denial to his brother's office. The statement included such lines as, I never intended to offend anyone, and my interactions may have been insensitive or too personal which is exactly what the governor's statement wound up saying.
Joining us now from Connecticut is Charlie Gasparino, senior correspondent at Fox Business Network. Charlie, Chris Cuomo couldn't address this whole mess on his show under CNN's rules, very different of course than the rules for the Cuomo brothers show last year. But do you think he should have posted something, issued a statement, since he is named in the A.G.'s report?
CHARLIE GASPARINO, FOX BUSINESS NETWORK SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Probably. He probably should have explained it. I mean, listen, he already did kind of explain it. And let's be really clear here. He's in a difficult situation. Of courses he's going to speak to his brother about this issue. Where this becomes really dicey for him, and you know, I know Chris for a long time, I like Chris, where it becomes dicey is becoming officially part of the whole thing, the official damage control.
Once you become officially part of something like that, Howie, then you know it really gets dicey. You should be disclosing it to your boss, maybe you should take a leave of absence.
And by the way, suppose he is part of this thing, this official response team for Andrew, and then he starts, does he think that Andrew is innocent? Maybe he thinks he might be guilty. And then, you're part of damage control for somebody you might think could have done some of this and then you know, you're on CNN. It's just -- it looks so bad and I tell you, I feel --
(CROSSTALK)
KURTZ: It's a problem. It's a difficult situation.
GASPARINO: Yes.
KURTZ: Of course, he's going to defend his brother. In fact, the New York Times reported that CNN executives floated the idea that perhaps he should take a leave of absence --
GASPARINO: OK.
KURTZ: -- while he defended his brother. But isn't there a difference between privately advising him and then joining the strategy calls and then in this A.G.'s report actually helping to draft or, you know, e-mailing the statement the governor is going to put out, doesn't that cross a line?
GASPARINO: It does. But let's face it. You know, he wouldn't be the first. You know, let's -- I remember years ago George Will wrote some speeches for Reagan or help though, he helped prep Reagan for a debate. You know, he came, he said listen, I'm doing this because I'm a columnist, I'm an opinion guy.
(CROSSTALK)
KURTZ: Yes. And a lot of people dropped the Will column as a result.
GASPARINO: Right. Right. You know, Chris is kind of in that genre at CNN. He's -- I'm not making excuses for him, but I'm saying he's not a guy you're going to for straight news. And he's not covering, you know, officially the governor's mansion.
So, you know, there's a little bit of difference here but he still, still should have disclosed the whole thing and if he was going to be part of the rapid -- Cuomo rapid response team, he should take a leave of absence, he should not be doing both jobs. It just makes the network look really bad.
KURTZ: Yes.
GASPARINO: I mean, it's like absolutely supporting --
(CROSSTALK)
KURTZ: And the network made --
GASPARINO: -- Governor Cuomo.
KURTZ: And the network made mistakes here by changing the rules. It's OK to talk to him, it's not OK to talk to him. Look, I've also known Chris a long time. I've known Andrew Cuomo and I know you know the family since he was in his 20s.
KURTZ: And I was covering his father Mario as governor.
GASPARINO: Right.
KURTZ: He -- Andrew was always been a kind of a brawler, a bare knuckles guy work for his dad's campaigns.
GASPARINO: Yes.
KURTZ: But over the years, the story have always portrayed that as a positive, because saying well, he knocks heads but he gets things done. Was that a mistake because obviously we're now learning about a darker aspect of the governor.
GASPARINO: Well, you know, I think there's a difference between being a sexual abuser which that's the allegations here, and being a tough guy. Because listen, I covered New York state politics before I started covering Wall Street and it's a rough and tumble game. None of those guys are nice.
I mean, Mario Cuomo I really like Mario Cuomo personally but he had some really sharp elbow as well. So, remember, you know, being a tough guy or tough woman in New York is not exactly -- is not exactly, you know, unique here. Where I think it's different for Chris Cuomo -- or for Andrew Cuomo was this other dark side of him, whether it's true or not, the evidence is pretty damning, though. I read the report. And I read the appendix as well --
KURTZ: Yes.
GASPARINO: -- which is kind of scary stuff.
KURTZ: And of course, it's an investigation that he asked for because --
GASPARINO: Right.
KURTZ: -- because, it kind of froze things and now it's come out and now he's attacking the investigation. Last question, I've got about a minute. So now that all these other Democrats are coming out, when it's people like Bill de Blasio the New York mayor, just saying yes, Cuomo should resign today and he should be tarred and feathered and all that.
Does the press have a responsibility to say that some of this and some of these people is payback for the acerbic relations and threats that Governor Cuomo issued even against some of his nominal allies.
GASPARINO: Yes. Yes. And if you read the New York Post where I have an affiliation with them, I'm a columnist for them, we've been -- you know, people have been saying that and I think it's -- listen, none of these guys are perfect. I mean, Bill -- think about Bill de Blasio, talk about, you know, people in glass houses, you know, you mismanaged the city during -- during their summer of love last year where we were having riots and downtown Manhattan was being ransacked is calling on Cuomo to resign. So, there's a lot of --
KURTZ: Right.
GASPARINO: -- you know, there's -- no one is perfect here, as you know.
KURTZ: Yes. You've got be tough in New York politics. But you're right.
GASPARINO: Right.
KURTZ: And Ben Domenech made the point we shouldn't build up these politicians and being this larger than life --
(CROSSTALK)
GASPARINO: That's true. That's true.
KURTZ: -- figures because they're human beings and they have flaws.
Great to see you, Charlie. Thanks so much.
GASPARINO: Any time, Howie.
KURTZ: And after the break, are the media actually hurting the efforts to get more people vaccinated? Frank Luntz has new research, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KURTZ (on camera): Here's a new focus group of people who have not been vaccinated talking about the coverage of this issue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: The media seems to be portraying it all one sided. I just kind of feel I'm being forced into the vaccine and almost penalized if I'm not embracing it.
UNKNOWN: I feel that they're all using some type of scare tactic, you know, it's all about getting viewers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KURTZ: Joining us now from New York is the man who did those interviews, Frank Luntz, the veteran Republican pollster. And what do these folks mean when they say the media's vaccine coverage is one sided and amounts to scare tactics.
FRANK LUNTZ, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST AND POLLSTER: Well, the Beaumont Foundation is the sponsor of this. And they've been focused from the beginning on how to communicate the need, how to communicate the science, how to communicate the medicine and how to communicate the facts behind COVID and now the vaccine.
And by the way tomorrow, the Beaumont Foundation will be releasing a nationwide survey on this. The public is asking a question, why do we only hear the bad news. There was a gentleman in that focus group who talked about and I respect it, talked about all the people who got COVID and recovered, talked about all the people who have not gotten covid, some members of the family got it, some members did not.
But in the end, it's the responsibility of all of us, Howie, you and I and everyone involved, to be able to communicate the facts sufficiently, effectively and accountably and the key in all of this is the public doesn't know where to go for the truth. And I know that there's a greater frustration right now among those who are vaccinated about those who aren't. And why their lives --
(CROSSTALK)
KURTZ: Frustration and anger, and you see that in the media as well. Let me come back to that point, Frank, because I want to get you in on this. The vaccination rate has actually been rising lately from under 500,000 daily shots to more than 800,000 yesterday. And I would say it's because people see folks they know and love dying and they're virtually all unvaccinated. So, don't the media deserve some credit for highlighting these dangers?
LUNTZ: Yes. And I want to give specific media outlets that your viewers probably don't like. NPR has done a brilliant job at explaining the issue and explaining the details behind it. The Washington Post has always focused on what matters most to people and providing this kind of information.
There are news outlets out there, the New York Times has done a good job at this. Most news outlets have been very effective at presenting the details behind it. The problem, Howie, is when you start to add emotion, you start to add passion.
I know you've got a clip, I would love you to show it because this idea of humanizing and personalizing COVID while it's helpful in getting people vaccinated, it creates an anger among those who aren't yet, that they're trying to dramatize it and they're not giving the public the full truth.
KURTZ: But let me jump in here then and play the sound bite from CNN. There's been a lot of similar stories and pieces on the air. This involves a man who got the virus from Virginia, whose name is Thomas Campbell.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THOMAS CAMPBELL, COVID-19 PATIENT: I messed up big time you guys. I didn't get the vaccine. That's OK I made a mistake. I admit it, and I'm taking the responsibility. So please, for the love of God, if you -- if you really want to have a chance, don't fall (Inaudible) for all the TV rhetoric and social media, just protect yourself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KURTZ (on camera): So is it maudlin or is it effective to have people who now have regrets that they didn't get -- got the vaccine and who have gotten very sick.
LUNTZ: Those who are hesitant have become skeptical. Those who are skeptical become cynical and those who are cynical have now started to reject it. These are facts. This is the proof. These are real life examples. And so, I applaud it. But before you show that clip and after you show that clip you have to give people the details. And the Delta variant is actually causing people to re-examine it.
Howie, the reason why this matter so much is because our kids are going back to school in a matter of days. In some cases, just a couple of weeks.
KURTZ: Yes.
LUNTZ: We've got to get these kids vaccinated and the parents who are vaccinated themselves are getting their vaccinated. The parents who aren't are saying no for their kids vaccinated. And the fact is, we're going to have a lot more people going to the hospital if we don't start describing this, accurately, effectively, efficiently and most importantly, factually.
KURTZ: Well, let's drill down that point. Because the number of daily cases in light of this Delta surge has gone from about 15,000 in first part of June to more than 105,000 now. And the White House is among the places that have been pushing back saying the media is sensationalizing this, they talk about breakthrough infections for the vaccinated when those are very mild, and also very rare, less than 1 percent.
But when you have that kind of surge in cases, as you know it's concentrated in certain low vax states and counties, how can the media be blamed for reporting that? Isn't that reporting the nature of what's going on with this interminable virus?
LUNTZ: Yes. And you just said it in that question. You told the truth. And that's what's necessary in all of this. And the problem is, I'm in New York right now. I've had these conversations right here in my building and I've been doing these focus groups as people are coming in and out and they're telling me they don't know where to go to get the facts.
After all this time, if the public doesn't trust what they see on television, what they read in the newspaper, then we are -- to use no better term, we are screwed. And that's why it's essential that those who report it be careful. Keep your politics out of it. Keep your ideology out of it. Frankly, Dr. Fauci has a become a horrible spokesman. Right now, he's a brilliant man. And I believe in what he's saying.
KURTZ: OK. We got to go.
LUNTZ: But he has spoken about the virus that we need people who the public trusts.
KURTZ: All right. Amen to all of that. But we have to report the facts. I do think perhaps many go too far. Frank Luntz, I know you're a crusader on this issue, thanks very much.
Still to come, a stunningly bad New York Times headline, Trump versus the women soccer team, Jennifer Aniston losing friends and more on the buzz beater.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KURTZ (on camera): Time to see if I can beat the clock on the buzz beater. Go. This seems like a parody of a bad headline, the New York Times reviewing a book on Osama bin Laden actually published this. Osama bin Laden, the fanatical terrorist and the devoted family man. Yes, the murderous mastermind of 9/11. Some editor thought that was just fine. After a social media outcry, the Times changed it to a fuller picture of Osama bin Laden's life.
Jennifer Aniston is dropping some friends. The actress telling in Style magazine that she is blowing off some of her pals who refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine or won't say whether they have. Quote, "there's still a large group of people who are anti-vaxxers or just don't listen to the facts and are motivated, she says by fear or propaganda." I wonder if such blunt comments will lose her any friends out there known as fans.
Speaking of the virus, CNN's Jim Acosta who always claimed to be fair in covering Donald Trump said yesterday maybe we should call the Delta variant the DeSantis variant after Florida's governor. I guess he's liberated that to be totally partisan.
Barack Obama had a big 60th birthday blow-out planned for Martha's Vineyard with 500 guests but got hammered in the press for being tone deaf during the Delta surge. So, he announced it will be cut back to close friends and family. But that's an elastic definition. A lot of celebs still showed up yesterday led by Jay Z and Beyonce. Now the papers are investigating who didn't make the cut. The horror.
And speaking of Obama, remember that ridiculous media flap when he dares to wear a tan suit. Well, Joe Biden was similarly attired while touting the latest jobs numbers prompting some Twitter snark but no summiting of the wardrobe police.
U.S. women's soccer team won a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics and Donald Trump who has feuded with star Megan Rapinoe wasn't happy. He put out a statement and said this last night on Fox.
(BEGIN VOICE CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: They were supposed to win the gold medal. But you know the word woke means loser. If you're woke, you're going to lose.
(END VOICE CLIP)
KURTZ: Or sometimes you just lose. Rapinoe who's also attacked the president says you're rooting for people to do bad? Yikes.
And wasn't it nice after the huge media debate over Simone Biles benching herself on the gymnastics team concern about her mental health that she came back to win a bronze medal. NBC's ratings for the COVID play games down as much as 50 percent.
Some pundits erupted on Twitter when a CNN panel was discussing the sexual harassment report on Andrew Cuomo, how on earth was Jeffrey toobin just brought back to the network after pleasuring himself on a Zoom call holding forth on sexual misconduct except it wasn't Toobin. It was CNN political director David Chalian and I don't really think they look alike. Megyn Kelly, Clay Travis and others ran corrections.
And this eye-catching New York Post cover on Andrew Cuomo, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with him working at the pool of the executive mansion with a blonde woman on her laptop a couple feet away. She turns out to be a secretary, and she's wearing a dress, not a bathing suit.
Obviously, Cuomo didn't expect the tabloid to obtain these paparazzi style photos. But after state investigators found he sexually harassed 11 women, the optics for the governor, not so good. Just made it.
That is it for this edition of MEDIA BUZZ. I'm Howard Kurtz. We hope you'll also check out our Facebook page, give us a like. We post my daily columns there. And let's continue the conversation, the back and forth on Twitter at Howard Kurtz.
And if you have a chance, check out my podcast, Media Buzz Meter. We look at the day's buzziest stories, you can subscribe at Apple iTunes, Google podcasts or right on your Amazon device. There's a lot of moving targets as I call them that we deal with today.
Tomorrow we have executive assistant number one to Andrew Cuomo going public in that CBS interview. The Senate is still debating the infrastructure bill. It's always on the verge of passing and then somehow it always gets delayed.
We'll watch all that for you and I'll be talking about it online on the podcast. And now it's time to say we're back here next Sunday, you know the time, 11 Eastern. See you then with the latest buzz.
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