| | | | | Exec summary: Happy Monday! New Russia investigation revelations; Rolling Stone deal chatter; Jeffrey Tambor possibly leaving Amazon's "Transparent;" sluggish start for "Justice League" at the box office; will the DOJ try to block AT&T's deal before Thanksgiving? | | Monday's must-read: Ashley Parker and Carol Leonnig's deep dive into the White House's "divided" views of the Robert Mueller probe.
A fresh reminder that there's still so much we don't know: "Witnesses questioned by Mueller's team warn that investigators are asking about other foreign contacts and meetings that have not yet become public, and to expect a series of new revelations. Investigators are especially focused on foreign officials' contacts with Michael Flynn." The story quotes a GOP operative "in frequent contact with the W.H." saying "it's going to be a long winter..."
-- Evan Perez's Sunday scoop: An interview with Jared Kushner attorney Abbe Lowell...
-- This just in via ABC: "Special Counsel sends a wide-ranging request for documents to the Justice Department..."
-- How to catch up: Check out CNN.com's "Russia tracker..." | | America's interview-shy president | | President Trump has lots and lots to say on Twitter... His tweets about the UCLA basketball players provided a serious view of his psyche... But POTUS has nothing to say to interviewers. On Sunday's "Reliable Sources," I noted that it's been more than six months since the president gave a TV interview to ANY major network not named Fox. His Lester Holt sit-down was on May 11... it's now November 19...
Of course, I can think of a few reasons why Trump says "no" to interview requests. Look, ALL presidents dislike facing tough questions, but the list of Q's for Trump keeps growing. He would have to answer inquiries about Roy Moore's accusers... about his own accusers... about Don Jr. communicating with WikiLeaks... about Kushner's apparent forgetfulness... and about how much his family stands to benefit from tax cuts... | | | Til the turkey is ready, we'll be watching for any new developments in the DOJ's review of the AT&T-Time Warner deal, and in the talks about a sale of 21st Century Fox, and in Meredith's bid for Time Inc... | | "Opposition to AT&T deal smacks of politics" | | | That's the USA Today editorial board's view. If the DOJ sues to block the deal, it is "highly likely to lose." In Monday's paper, former FCC commissioner Michael Copps, a Democrat, offers the paper's trademark "opposing view" -- the takeover "would be wildly anticompetitive..." | | Who's vying to buy Rolling Stone? | | | Jay Penske of Penske Media Corporation, Bustle boss Bryan Goldberg and longtime music exec Irving Azoff are all circling Rolling Stone mag, Recode's Peter Kafka reported Sunday night. "It's also interesting to look at who's not in the mix: None of the big American publishing companies, like Hearst or Conde Nast, took a serious run at Rolling Stone." Some of Kafka's sources say they'll be surprised "if this sale fetches more than $40 million..." | | "An important moment in Alabama and America" | | Sunday's anti-Roy Moore editorial atop the front pages of Alabama Media Group's papers stirred debate all day long. "Stand for decency, reject Roy Moore," it said. Why the above-the-fold placement? The group's VP of content Michelle Holmes told me: "This is an important moment in Alabama and America, and we felt such treatment was in line with what is at stake in this race."
Did it change any minds? "Their editorial only helps Roy Moore," Huntsville radio host Dale Jackson told me. He said the papers are "dead brands" that are trying to win "atta-boys from out of state." Hey, 23 days til Election Day... | | Corfman on "Today" on Monday morning | | | NBC's Savannah Guthrie will have the first interview with Roy Moore accuser Leah Corfman on Monday's "Today" show... Corfman is the woman who alleged that Moore touched her when she was 14... | | Moore gave an interview to Breitbart... | | | I believe this is Moore's first interview in over a week... He spoke with Breitbart's Aaron Klein... And said what Beverly Young Nelson and her attorney Gloria Allred have alleged is "completely untrue..." | | Is Moore's anti-media campaign working? | | | That was the question in the "A block" of Sunday's "Reliable Sources." We won't really be able to answer the Q until the votes are counted. But a recent Fox poll showed Moore's opponent Doug Jones 8 points ahead. On the show, the WashPost's Marc Fisher said that Moore's family and advisers have been trying to "discredit the reporting that's being done..." Watch the segment here... | | "Transparent" losing Tambor? | | | Sandra Gonzalez and Jackie Wattles report: Jeffrey Tambor has signaled that he may not return to Amazon Studio's "Transparent" after harassment allegations surfaced against him. He says the allegations are "simply and utterly untrue." But "given the politicized atmosphere that seems to have afflicted our set, I don't see how I can return to 'Transparent,'" he wrote... | | | Scroll down for more of this weekend's TIPPING POINT updates... | | "The World in 2018" coming Monday... | | | It's that time of year again... time for previews of NEXT year... The Economist will release "The World in 2018" on Monday, its 32nd annual look-ahead issue... The mag's global themes for 2018 include "Trumpism v Macronisme," "Asian countries top of the league," and "the coming 'techlash...'" | | -- A very juicy Steven Pelberg joint: Sean Spicer "didn't land a lucrative TV news pundit job. Now both Spicer and Washington super lawyer/agent Bob Barnett are distancing themselves from each other..." (BuzzFeed)
-- Bloomberg's David Gura is joining MSNBC... Justin Baragona says he's replacing Thomas Roberts... (Mediaite)
-- In Monday's NYT: some much-deserved ink for ABC's "The Good Doctor..." (NYT)
-- Joel Stein's final column for Time: "Hello, I Must Be Going" (Time) | | | Sean Hannity blasted out five ALL-CAPS tweets condemning Angelo Carusone and Media Matters ahead of my Sunday morning interview with Carusone. Hannity's name-calling aside, the interview was quite newsworthy. Carusone told me his three-month-long boycott effort against Hannity's show has been successful -- "we have statements from 30 companies that have committed that they're not going to advertise on Sean Hannity's program." I pointed out that there hasn't been a repeat of the Bill O'Reilly advertiser exodus, but he said "it's always been a long game..." His POV is that Hannity's show is uniquely "destructive..." | | Fox's first comment about the ad boycott campaign | | Ahead of Sunday's interview segment, Fox News sent me a statement denouncing MMFA's campaign as an "intimidation effort" that is "nothing more than political opportunism based on deceit." Quoting Fox: "Sean Hannity hosts the number one program in cable news because millions of Americans make the decision to join him every night and the audience relationship is stronger than ever," said a Fox News spokesperson.
When asked specifically about advertisers, however, the network would not comment... Read Jackie Wattles' full story for CNNMoney here... | | | On Sunday's "Reliable," I said -- in all seriousness -- that "Hannity" should opt for a new name. I'm thinking "The Clinton Scandal Hour." We mocked up a potential logo: | | -- Per THR's Ashley Lee, there was a "packed preview screening" of "The Post" on Sunday night... (Twitter)
-- If you're not familiar with the ins and outs of "regionalization," i.e. "Why People in Mississippi Have to Watch the Giants," this NYT story will explain it... (NYT)
-- I forgot to include this Joe Pompeo piece on Friday: "Time Inc. Braces For A Deal With The Devil." Yes, it's about the Koch brothers... (VF) | | Set your alarm clock or DVR for our late night doc! | | | I'll be on CNN's "New Day" Monday morning previewing our new documentary, "Late Night in the Age of Trump," airing Monday at 9pm. For the hour-long special, I interviewed Chelsea Handler, Steve Bodow, Joe Piscopo, Bill Carter, and other late night experts... Oh, and this guy --> | | Anthony Atamanuik's secrets | | Anthony Atamanuik was a fascinating person to interview. He's a comedian... a Trump impersonator... and at this point he's really a Trump biographer. His first season of "The President Show" for Comedy Central garnered "yuuuge" praise.
Here's what I learned from Atamanuik. Trump is "lyrical," he said, and a "cyclical talker" who has "sort of a rat pack swagger." Physically, "he has no center of gravity. He is always pitched forward. And he holds his arms like a toddler, sort of at the sides."
Atamanuik is taping a Christmas special for Comedy Central later this month. It remains to be seen if CC will order a second season... Read more here... | | Sunday's "Reliable" highlights | | -- AL.com's Anna Claire Vollers in Alabama: Being in a "very conservative state, we're used to hearing 'fake news' leveled at us pretty much all the time. All I can do is do my job..."
-- Washingtonian staff writer Elaina Plott, also in Alabama: Many Moore supporters "see the very act of reporting as antagonistic..."
-- Media literacy educator Michelle Ciulla Lipkin: "Information should be weighed differently." Case in point: "You shouldn't be able to debunk months and months of investigative reporting with a tweet..."
-- Bill Carter: A consequence of the "digital duopoly" of Google and Facebook is that "everyone else is fighting literally for scraps..." | | "It was pretty obvious..." | | | At the end of the hour, I was joined by Jacquelyn Martin, the photog who snapped that viral pic of the Mnuchins and the dollar bills. Earlier in the morning on "Fox News Sunday," Steven Mnuchin had claimed that he "didn't realize" the photos would be made public. So I asked Martin to respond. "I was there as the Associated Press photographer," she said... "There was another still photographer and several video crews as well. So, I think it was pretty obvious it was a media photo-op..." | | How to catch up on the show | | | For the record, part three | | | By Francesca Giuliani-Hoffman:
-- The Freedom of the Press Foundation, which helped WikiLeaks receive funding for its activities, is now considering breaking ties with the organization as Julian Assange's partisan allegiances raise red flags... (The Daily Beast)
-- Montana congressman Greg Gianforte misled police after assaulting Ben Jacobs. The police report, made public on Friday, says Gianforte falsely stated that Jacobs initiated physical contact and accused the "liberal media" of "trying to make a story" about the incident... (The Guardian)
-- BI's Maxwell Tani reports that Vox Media's editorial and video employees are seeking to join the Writers Guild... (BI) | | New LATimes story about Ratner | | Megan Thomas emails: Four more women came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct against producer Brett Ratner in a new LATimes report on Sunday. The story also includes an allegation of sexual assault by Russell Simmons. The accuser was 17 at the time it allegedly occurred, in 1991. The woman said Ratner, who was a protege of Simmons, was in the room at the time of the alleged incident. Both men deny the allegations...
-- Later in the day, LAT's Amy Kaufman tweeted: "Simon Halls, who was Brett Ratner's publicist for roughly five years, resigned as the director's rep a few weeks ago..." | | The Guardian calls this Weinstein's "hit list" | | | Megan Thomas emails: Building on Ronan Farrow's New Yorker piece about Harvey Weinstein's extraordinary efforts to squash reports of his sexual misconduct, The Guardian obtained what it says is a copy of the list of -- 91 -- former colleagues, publicists, journalists, financiers and actors Weinstein wanted investigated... | | This weekend's other developments | | -- Huh?!? Lena Dunham has apologized for speaking up in defense of a "Girls" writer who was accused of rape...
-- Via Ben Fritz: "New bidder for Weinstein Co. proposes to keep it in business with majority female leadership and a litigation fund and mediation process for victims..." WSJ story here...
-- This Axios item about D.C. reminds me of the feeling in L.A. and NYC media circles several weeks ago: "Major news outlets are investigating sexual harassment allegations into multiple lawmakers..."
-- Front page of Saturday's WashPost: TED is the latest organization found to have a sexual harassment problem. (WashPost) | | "We're going to work at this story as hard as we can around the clock until we get it, until we get at the truth. And we're going to publish the truth."
—What Megan Twohey says she and Jodi Kantor told the women they were interviewing about Weinstein... | | David Cassidy in critical condition | | | Via CNN's Sheena Jones and Joe Sterling: David Cassidy, the wildly popular '70s heartthrob who shot to fame when he starred and sang in TV's "The Partridge Family," is in critical condition with organ failure. Cassidy is being treated at a Fort Lauderdale, Florida, area hospital, longtime publicist Jo-Ann Geffen told CNN on Saturday. He is in the intensive care unit and has a breathing tube, she said... Read more here... | | Sluggish start for "Justice League" | | Frank Pallotta emails: "Justice League" nabbed an estimated $96 million at the box office in North America this weekend. That number, while sizable for an opening weekend, came in under the roughly $110 million that industry insiders expected. It's also the lowest opening to date for the Warner Bros. superhero brand, trailing films like 2013's "Man of Steel," 2016's "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," 2016's "Suicide Squad" and this summer's "Wonder Woman." It is the only film in the DC Extended Universe to not crack the $100 million mark in North America at its opening. Read more...
-- More: The film brought in $281.5 million worldwide... | | Via Frank Pallotta's story: Former SNLer Al Franken was the butt of some of the show's jokes on Saturday night. "Now, I know this photo looks bad, but remember it also is bad," Colin Jost said on "Weekend Update." Jost then noted that the photo was taken before Franken ran for public office, but was taken after he was "a sophomore in high school."
"Pretty hard to be like, 'Oh, c'mon he didn't know any better, he was only 55,'" Jost added... | | | Megan Thomas emails: ICYMI: Chance the Rapper's ballad to former President Obama, "Come Back, Barack," is a good laugh. (My favorite line "Trump don't even got a dog, man.") | | | The awards show is on the air while I'm hitting send on this letter... Lisa Respers France will have a full recap for CNN.com... | | | Email brian.stelter@turner.com... I 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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