| | | | | Exec summary: Matt Lauer is not getting a payout from NBC; Geraldo Rivera is apologizing to Bette Midler; the Russian Parliament is planning to ban American journalists; plus much more... | | | Michael Flynn is cooperating with Robert Mueller's Russia probe. This could prove to be a historic day. On "AC360," Carl Bernstein called Flynn's plea deal "a devastating event for the White House." One hour later, on Jake Tapper's special 9pm edition of "The Lead," Gloria Borger asked: "What does Mueller know that he's not saying?" Tapper: "What is Flynn giving up?" CNN has scheduled an 11pm special report to wrap up the day's developments. Here's a recap of the coverage so far... | | -- Shep Smith said on Fox that the plea deal shows Trump's "fake news" ruse "is a lie..." (Mediaite)
-- David Ignatius: "What was Trump so afraid of? Flynn may finally tell us..."
-- Asha Rangappa to Politico: "For both collusion and obstruction, Flynn holds the key to who knew what when, and Mueller now has his cooperation..."
-- On MSNBC, Michael Beschloss told Rachel Maddow he's struck by "the speed" of this investigation... | | -- This note from Borger, one hour after the news broke, spoke volumes: "One source close to the president attempted to mitigate the severity of the charge against Flynn by pointing out that everyone lies in Washington..."
-- Later in the day, there were more honest assessments from sources. A "source close to Trump" told NBC that Flynn's plea deal is "very, very, very bad" for Trump... Lester Holt repeated that quote twice while anchoring "NBC Nightly News" from the W.H. North Lawn...
-- "A person close to the White House" described the mood this way to Politico: "What they're freaked out about is that there are no leaks. Papadopoulos didn't leak. Flynn didn't leak. They feel like they can't trust anyone. Their own counsel didn't know." | | Team Trump "totally in a bubble?" | | On "AC360," Jim Acosta said a "source close to the W.H." described Trump and his team as being in denial about the Russia probe. "This is like a red alert" situation, the source said, but they are "totally in a bubble." I thought about this while I watched Fox News on Friday night. While Fox's newscasts covered the plea deal in-depth, Fox's pro-Trump shows barely talked about the implications of Flynn cooperating with Mueller.
--> On "Hannity:" After a report by Ed Henry -- he said the Flynn news sparked "mainstream media speculation that it was very bad for President Trump, but that is getting a bit ahead of the facts" -- the A block was all about "LIBERALISM FAILING AMERICA" and "THE SCOURGE OF SANCTUARY CITIES..."
--> On "The Ingraham Angle," the Kate Steinle verdict was the lead... | | It's almost all-Mueller-all-the-time | | Outside Fox, the only non-Flynn story that's breaking through on TV right now is the race to pass the Senate tax bill...
-- Brian Lowry emails: Tom Kludt got it right with this tweet: This is the kind of news day where if you're working on an enterprise piece, it's probably wise to put a pin in it until next week... | | | Oliver Darcy's latest: ABC News on Friday evening corrected an explosive special report that aired in the morning saying that Donald Trump, as a candidate for president, had asked Flynn to make contact with Russians. During "World News Tonight," ABC's investigative reporter Brian Ross said the source who had provided the initial information for his story later told him that it was as president-elect, not as a candidate, that Trump asked Flynn to contact the Russians. Read more... | | "Clarification?" No, this was a correction | | Ross and ABC called this a "clarification." But c'mon. It was a full on "correction." Keep in mind that the initial report -- based on one anonymous source -- prompted a sharp fall in the Dow and in other financial markets. (Stocks largely recovered later in the day, however...)
>> Oliver knew something was fishy: His story notes that he reached out to ABC in the early afternoon to ask why Ross' initial reporting was not included in the network's online story...
>> An ABC News spokesperson told Darcy the network learned its initial report was incorrect around 6pm. The spokesperson declined to say if any disciplinary action will occur... | | Flynn news foreshadowed eight days ago... | | NYT's Michael Schmidt speaking on a special episode of The Daily podcast: "This all, for us, goes back to eight days ago, on Thanksgiving, when I was in the car with my family. Driving to Philadelphia. And I got a call that Flynn had pulled out of this joint defense agreement with the president." (Remember, they had been sharing info.)
Schmidt said to his dad: "Flynn may have flipped. I need you to drive." Then he started working on the story that broke while many of us were eating Thanksgiving dinner... | | Think about what's happened SINCE THEN: | | WashPost's Josh Dawsey tweeted: "This may take the cake for the longest and wildest week on the Trump White House beat. And there have been some wild ones. A guilty plea from a top national security aide, an overhaul of the tax system, presidential retweets of anti-Muslim videos creating international backlash, a plan to oust the Secretary of State... Calling a sitting U.S. senator Pocahontas at Native American event, a multi-day fight over who was in charge at the CFBP, a Trump denunciation from Great Britain and a Twitter row with Theresa May, vague and maybe criminal presidential accusations toward TV hosts and executives..."
-- Related: "How does an opinion writer keep up in the Age of Trump?" Bret Stephens' latest column asks that question and contains five columns in one... | | -- Marshall Cohen: "Imagine this... Trump hasn't even been in office for one year yet and FOUR of his associates have been charged in a special counsel investigation that appears to be getting more serious by the day." His latest piece for CNN.com is a helpful read...
-- Chris Hayes: "Again: why all the lies? The constant non stop lies? The lies about everything having to do with Russia constantly?"
-- Peter Sagal: "It's like we have a new and different OJ Trial every damned day..." | | How "The View" reacted -- and what it says about media polarization | | Francesca Giuliani-Hoffman emails: There's no question that the political moment feels like an episode of "House of Cards" or "Law and Order," with abundant intrigue and constant plot twists. As the rift between liberal and conservative points of view grows deeper, the Flynn news elicited strong and polarized reactions. Those reactions were in full display on "The View:"
Handed a card with the breaking information, Joy Behar read it out loud. Her tone of voice escalated from normal to exploding with excitement as she relayed that Flynn was directed by candidate Trump to make contact with the Russians. "Yes!" she exclaimed, throwing the card in the air as the audience cheered and clapped. A concerned Meghan McCain pointed out the "you-get-a-car-reaction" from the audience, to which Behar responded: "No, no -- he goes to jail! He goes to jail! He goes to jail! Lock 'em up!"
McCain tried to rein in the discussion, arguing that a potential indictment would bring about even more division, and disapproving of the cheering. "I do think that there's a bunch of people in Alabama and in red states who are going to think 'they are trying to take my President down, it's the media trying to rip him apart,'" she said... | | Trump's 🎄 party for (some of) the press | | Photo via Greta Van Susteren // Oliver Darcy emails: The annual White House Christmas party was held Friday afternoon in an off-the-record setting. ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox News all had representation there. CNN was the only network to skip. Journalists from The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post also went. Hope Hicks, Kellyanne Conway, Sarah Sanders, Michael Anton and John Kellywere all in attendance.
Attendees told me that Trump -- appearing with First Lady Melania Trump -- spoke for a few moments and said the press had great stamina. Trump did not comment on the Flynn news.
Spotted in the room were individuals associated with the President's favorite news channel: Fox News. Host Sean Hannity, former co-president Bill Shine, and "Fox & Friends" hosts Brian Kilmeade and Steve Doocy were all at the event, according to sources... | | -- Another detail via NYT's Michael Grynbaum: Trump "briefly greeted Maria Bartiromo and complimented her ratings, per three sources..."
-- WashPost's David Nakamura wore a "First Amendment" lapel pin... | | This Sunday on "Reliable Sources" | | | I'll be joined by Jeff Greenfield, Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Michael D'Antonio, Hadas Gold, Sarah Ellison, Marisa Guthrie, and Sally Quinn... See you Sunday at 11am ET on CNN... | | -- "Fox has halted production on the studio's Queen biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody, due to the 'unexpected unavailability' of director Bryan Singer..." (THR)
-- "Seeking to amass more paid subscriptions," the NYT "is halving the number of articles available for free each month..." (Bloomberg)
-- Melody Kramer is calling for a "paywall revolution..." (Poynter)
-- Anthony Mason signed off the "CBS Evening News" on Friday... Jeff Glor will take over on Monday... (Twitter) | | Roger Ailes and Bill O'Reilly were paid a fortune on their way out the door at Fox News. But Matt Lauer will not be getting $$$.
Questions have been swirling about the possibility because the New York Post published this on Thursday: "Lauer's lawyers trying to get him $30M payout after firing." When I made calls about this on Friday, a senior NBC News source did not dispute that Lauer's attorneys might hatch a plan to get him paid. But the source said the network will not agree to any payout: Lauer "will not be paid past his last day of work." This is the "morals clause" in action. And for what it's worth, two people close to Lauer told me they doubted he would play hardball with his former network... Here's my full story... | | NBC undertaking a "review" | | Tom Kludt emails: Friday's memo from NBC News chair Andy Lack brought contrition, an acknowledgment of organizational failures, and perhaps a signal of more fallout to come. Lack called Lauer's behavior "appalling" and said he's heard from many staffers who want to know "why this was able to happen" and "why it wasn't reported sooner."
"This week," he wrote, "we saw that when an employee comes forward to report misconduct, the system works. The complaint is quickly assessed and meaningful action is taken. But we also learned that we must do a much better job of making people feel empowered to take that crucial first step of reporting bad behavior."
Lack assured employees that a "team of the most experienced NBCUniversal Legal and Human Resources leaders have begun a thorough and timely review of what happened and what we can do to build a culture of greater transparency, openness and respect for each other." And he said promised to share and act on the findings of that probe, "no matter how painful." But Friday's memo packed an undeniable subtext: What will that review say about Lack and other NBC execs?
--> There's no indication an outside law firm is being brought in, a la 21st Century Fox and Ailes... | | Lauer repeatedly denied wrongdoing to NBC management "in the two weeks before he was fired," the WashPost's Paul Farhi reported Friday night, citing people at the network. Management inquired with Lauer because staffers were getting calls from Variety and NYT reporters. According to an exec, Lauer told them he was "racking his brain and couldn't think of anything at all."
Farhi: "If the timeline is credible, it means" that Lack and Noah Oppenheim "were unaware of Lauer's alleged misconduct until very recently..." | | Who will take over for Lauer? | | | Willie Geist? Craig Melvin? Hoda Kotb? Lester Holt? NBC is in no hurry to name a replacement for Lauer... But the speculation is intense... Here's Hadas Gold's full story... | | "Reliable" podcast about this week's Lauer news | | | And speaking of Gold... For this week's "Reliable Sources" podcast, she and I talked about the Lauer news, what it means for NBC, what it means for morning TV at large, and what other stories will be cropping up in the weeks to come. Here's the audio... | | Billy Bush going on Colbert on Monday | | Hadas Gold emails: What timing! Billy Bush was just added to Stephen Colbert's "Late Show" for Monday night -- just a few days after Lauer's termination. Bush, as you all likely remember, was fired by the "Today" show after the "Access" tape came out. If Bush was still at the "Today" show, it's likely his name would be in the mix to help fill Lauer's shoes. So this will surely be a fascinating interview.
--> Hadas adds: Another reason to tune in: Reports surfaced this week that Trump questioned whether it was "his voice" on the tape... I'm sure Bush will address that... | | Geraldo apologizes to Bette Midler | | Oliver Darcy emails: Geraldo Rivera apologized on Friday to Bette Midler, a day after her misconduct accusation against him circulated on social media.
In an old interview with Barbara Walters, Midler accused him of drugging and groping her in the 1970s. On Twitter, she shared the video and said he had never apologized.
On Friday, Rivera said he recalled the incident "much differently than she," but added that it "does not change the fact that she has a right to speak out & demand an apology." He concluded his tweet, "Bette, I apologize." Here's the full story... | | CJR's sexual harassment survey | | | CJR asked 149 news organizations to discuss how they handle sexual harassment claims. No newsroom replied, but 310 journalists did. Here are the findings... | | By Francesca Giuliani-Hoffman:
-- Here's an update on the "Who owns LA Weekly" saga: investor Brian Calle gives more details... (LA Weekly)
-- Jim VandeHei breaks down the different components of Trump's "mind-numbing media manipulation machine..." (Axios)
-- WashPost is partnering with Facebook on an effort to more clearly label breaking news stories on the platform... (WashPost)
-- Twitter is rolling out "Twitter Lite" in 24 countries after a successful trial run in the Philippines... (TechCrunch)
-- On the heels of the Project Veritas controversy, Jack Shafer on Politico asks, "Is it ever OK for journalists to lie?" (Politico)
-- Shannon Van Sant on Politico Magazine shares her account of how TV's "testosterone-fueled culture" drove her away. (Politico)
-- Joel Simon argues that forcing RT to register as a foreign agent sets a bad precedent. (CJR) | | Russian Parliament plans to ban American journalists | | | "The Russian government is looking to pass a measure that would ban American journalists from accessing the lower chamber of its Parliament, the Duma," Hadas Gold reports... Read her full story here... | | | For the record, part three | | | By Julia Waldow:
-- Despite Mark Zuckerberg's claim months back that "we don't need to do pre-roll," Facebook is now planning to show ads before videos begin playing in the "Watch" tab, AdAge reports.... (AdAge)
-- James Franco is bringing children's author Shel Silverstein from page to screen in a new film... (Deadline)
-- Questionable release date? Quentin Tarantino's upcoming film on Charles Manson is set to hit theaters on the 50th anniversary of Sharon Tate's murder... (THR) | | Lowry reviews "The Newspaperman" | | Brian Lowry emails: "The Post" won't premiere until later this month, but HBO gets the jump with "The Newspaperman: The Life and Times of Ben Bradlee," a fascinating documentary about the late Washington Post editor's above-the-fold life, told largely in his own words. Not surprisingly, the film focuses heavily on the key period in the '70s when the paper challenged the Nixon administration...
-- The film will premiere on HBO on Monday night...
-- More: Check out Brooke Brower's CNN podcast with Sally Quinn about the new documentary... | | | Brian Lowry emails: "Dark," a German series that has drawn comparisons to "Stranger Things," is the latest subtitled drama to receive a prominent showcase in the U.S., premiering on Netflix. Following shows like "Gomorrah" and "Les Revenants," it reflects how the appetite for original programming at a price is eroding old resistance to such acquisitions... | | "Stranger Things" season three! | | | Sandra Gonzalez reports: To the surprise of no one, Netflix's fan fave TV series "Stranger Things" is officially coming back for another season. The company made the announcement Friday on Twitter... | | | 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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