| | | | | THE DOSSIER, ONE YEAR LATER... | | Trump lawyer sues BuzzFeed | | | President Trump's personal lawyer Michael Cohen hit both Fusion GPS and BuzzFeed with lawsuits on Tuesday. Cohen says BuzzFeed and several of its staffers defamed him when the site published the 35-page Russia dossier on January 10, 2017. Named in the suit: EIC Ben Smith, reporter Ken Bensinger and editors Miriam Elder and Mark Schoofs. Here's the full story that Katelyn Polantz and I reported... | | | --> This is big news, Polantz says, "because 1, he's close to Trump, 2, will have to prove dossier allegations are false in court..." | | | From Matt Mittenthal: "The dossier is, and continues to be, the subject of active investigations by Congress and intelligence agencies. It was presented to two successive Presidents, and has been described in detail by news outlets around the world. Its interest to the public is obvious. This is not the first time Trump's personal lawyer has attacked the free press, and we look forward to defending our First Amendment rights in court." | | | Cohen's action on Tuesday came on the same day that Ben Smith wrote an op-ed for The New York Times titled "I'm Proud We Published the Trump-Russia Dossier." Smith made this argument in the op-ed: "I haven't had a single person approach me to say, 'I wish I hadn't read the dossier, and wish I had less insight into the forces at play in America.' Do you feel that way? Does anyone?"` | | Speaking of the dossier... | | Tuesday's biggest surprise: Dianne Feinstein released Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson's complete testimony. The transcript goes into detail about Simpson's contacts with journalists, among many other subjects. Here's the full story on CNN.com...
--> Sen. John Kennedy, a Republican, on "AC360," "It doesn't bother me to have the American people know the facts or at least the alleged facts..." | | Bannon bounced from Breitbart | | Six months ago Steve Bannon was the president's chief strategist. Now he's... unemployed?
Seth Meyers' jab on Tuesday's "Late Night:" "I guess all this time he really was dressing for the job he wanted."
ALL of the late night shows are roasting Bannon. I'm on Tuesday night's episode of "The Opposition with Jordan Klepper" on Comedy Central, so I can confirm that the writers scrambled to redo the top of the show when the Bannon news broke... | | What a fall from power... | | | Oliver Darcy emails from DC: Bannon's fall from power became complete on Tuesday when he stepped down from his position as executive chairman at the far-right site Breitbart. The news was first broken by Jeremy Peters of the NYT and quickly confirmed by a short article posted to Breitbart's own site. In the story, Bannon was quoted as saying, "I'm proud of what the Breitbart team has accomplished in so short a period of time in building out a world-class news platform." Uh-huh... | | The first Bannon quotes from "Fire and Fury" leaked out last Wednesday. So it's been less than one week since the book hit. And already Bannon has lost his job. Jonathan Swan had quite a headline: "Steve Bannon lit himself on fire — and Trump extinguished him..."
-- Drudge's headline: "TRUMP BROKE BANNON..." | | More from Darcy: The news "stunned" staffers at Breitbart, an employee told me. Bannon had been telling people in recent days that he wasn't going anywhere, and many staffers believed him. Inside the company's internal Slack channel, messages from which a source provided to me, Breitbart CEO Larry Solov wrote, "Steve Bannon has decided to step down from Breitbart News Network. Steve is a valued part of our legacy, and we will always be grateful for his contributions, and what he helped us to accomplish. ... We will continue doing what we do as well as anybody in the world, and that is report the news."
--> Sirius XM also announced it had ended its relationship with Bannon, saying in a statement, "Breitbart News has decided to end its relationship with Stephen K. Bannon, therefore he will no longer host on SiriusXM since our programming agreement is with Breitbart News." A source told Joshua Green that Bannon did not see that move coming... | | Will others follow Bannon? | | | Darcy adds: It will be interesting to see whether some of the Bannon loyalists at Breitbart remain at the far-right website, or follow him to his next project/endeavor. For instance, Alexandra Preate was the go-to Breitbart spokesperson before today. But she also doubled as a Bannon spokesperson, making me wonder if, given Bannon's exit, she was still doing comms for the website. What also piqued my interest was that in an internal Slack message I obtained, Breitbart's CEO directed media inquiries to a new spokesperson. When I reached out to the new spokesperson, he told me Preate was "not an authorized spokesperson for Breitbart" on the matter of Bannon leaving the website. He would not say whether she was still with the company and when I texted her, she did not reply... | | "Fox News will not be hiring Steve Bannon" | | That's it. Nothing to add. That's the terse statement from a Fox rep in response to Q's...
--> On Twitter, Maggie Haberman said one of the "happiest people" right now is Rupert Murdoch... | | About that Cabinet Room meeting... | | Many journos praised Trump on Tuesday for letting cameras inside his meeting with congressional leaders for almost an hour. It sure was a remarkable sight.
At the end of the day, WashPost's Ashley Parker tweeted: "On Tuesday, Trump delivered his most high-stakes performance yet — playing the role of president, as the TV cameras rolled." Here's her story...
CNN's Jake Tapper nailed it: "After a week in which new questions have been raised about the president's fitness and stability prompted by that tell-all book 'Fire and Fury,' with which the president and the White House cooperated, if you're wondering if pushing aside those concerns was as least partly the point of these on-camera negotiations for the bill of love, you're not being cynical, you're being correct..."
--> NYT's Peter Baker recapped the meeting this way: "He did not lapse into incoherence but neither did he demonstrate mastery of policy details after a year in office..." | | | John Kelly "is eating bullets every day by himself and doesn't have a lot of help... He needs reinforcements." That's from a source familiar with the personnel situation... Quoted in this CNN story about Trump's staffing problems... | | "You don't know the half of it" | | | That report reminded me of what the aforementioned Ashley Parker said on MSNBC yesterday. She channeled what her sources in the W.H. have told her: "I read the stories and you don't know the half of it. You don't know the things, the tweets we've prevented from being sent. The public statements never made. The bad decisions we've staunched." In other words: Some stay at the W.H. because "they think their presence can help..." | | | I'm Jordan Klepper's guest on "The Opposition" on Tuesday night... If you catch the interview, lemme know what you think... | | -- This is the profile of Glossier's Emily Weiss I've been waiting for. "How fast can a beauty blogger become the millennials' Estée Lauder? About three years..." (The Cut)
-- Keep an eye on this: "Lawmakers invited to wear black to State of the Union to support #MeToo movement..." (CNN)
-- This Daily Caller story is getting a lot of attention: "Google's New Fact-Check Feature Almost Exclusively Targets Conservative Sites" (The Daily Caller)
-- Thank you, CNN viewers! "Reliable Sources" at 11am, "SOTU" at 12pm and "GPS" at 1pm were all #1 in the cable news demo race last Sunday... | | The Golden Globes launching pad | | | Brian Lowry emails: Anyone who knows the long history of the Golden Globes -- including its status as something of an industry punchline before NBC got the Hollywood Foreign Press Association to clean up its act -- has to find it surreal that the event has been not just an awards showcase but at the heart of the national political debate the past two years. Both times, the key moment came thanks to its career-achievement award — first, Meryl Streep's broadside and Trump's response, and now Oprah Winfrey's speech, and the political buzz that unleashed... | | On Tuesday's "CBS This Morning," Gayle King confirmed that Oprah has 2020 on her mind. The takeaway quote was that Winfrey is "very intrigued" by the idea of running for president. But King also said that "I don't think at this point she is actually considering it." Trying to have it both ways? This was the quote that stood out most to me: "She loves this country and would like to be of service in some way."
As I wrote here for CNNMoney, Winfrey is listening to the high-powered friends who are urging her to challenge Trump. Winfrey is not saying she's in, but she's not ruling it out either. Officially, her camp declined to comment again on Tuesday...
--> Tuesday night update: Oprah posted a video from her southern California home... Her neighbors have been affected by the mudslides... | | Brian Lowry asks: Does there come a point when Gayle King -- firmly ensconced at CBS News -- steps away from the "Oprah's best pal" label and stops serving as a go-to inside source for commentary about her?
Stelter's answer: I don't know, but I was struck by King's comment on Tuesday morning: "No matter what happens, I will be at 'CBS This Morning.'"
Speaking of "CBS This Morning..." | | John Dickerson is moving to New York for this! | | Last week NBC promoted Hoda Kotb. Now CBS is promoting John Dickerson. Wednesday will be Dickerson's first day co-hosting "CBS This Morning..." David Rhodes announced the new role after Yashar Ali broke the news on Tuesday morning... It definitely caught some CBS staffers off-guard, but Dickerson's political journalism expertise makes him a logical fit for the show... Here's my story...
-- BTW: Happy six-year anniversary to "CBS This Morning!"
-- Via Maxwell Tani: Dickerson "will continue hosting the Whistlestop podcast and cohosting the Slate Political Gabfest..." | | Who will take over "Face?" | | CBS says "Dickerson will transition from the 'Face the Nation' anchor chair in the coming weeks as CBS News prepares to name his successor." Who? I'm sorta surprised that Dickerson and Norah O'Donnell aren't splitting the hosting duties, akin to what ABC does with "This Week."
--> NYT's Michael Grynbaum tweeted these names: "Major Garrett, Nancy Cordes, Margaret Brennan… Alex Wagner is a Saturday anchor..." | | THE START OF A NEW STREAK? | | "Today" show has been #1 for 6 straight weeks | | Before Matt Lauer was fired, "Today" was winning every week in the 25-54 demo, but was trailing "GMA" in total viewers.
Ever since Lauer was fired, "Today" has been #1 in ALL ratings categories.
Quoting NBC's latest ratings press release: "TODAY Posts Its 6th Straight Weekly Across-the-Board Win, Its Best Streak Since February-April 2012." TVNewser has details here... | | By Julia Waldow:
-- Recommended reading: The Daily Beast's Taylor Lorenz has the inside scoop on "data Snapchat doesn't want you to see." "Given some of the numbers, it's no wonder Snapchat is reinventing itself," she writes... (The Daily Beast)
-- The Hulu drama "Chance," starring Hugh Laurie, will not return for a third season... (THR)
-- Soon-to-be royal Meghan Markle has shut down her social media accounts, including Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter... (BBC) | | What's Harpers mag working on? | | Tom Kludt emails: Is Harpers magazine working on a story about the woman who started the "Shitty Media Men" list? That's the rumor that swept across Media Twitter on Tuesday afternoon. "All I can say is: don't. The risk of doxxing is high. It's not the right thing to do," n+1 editor Dayna Tortorici tweeted.
She didn't name Harpers, but when she said a magazine might be about to blow the woman's cover, a backlash spread just as quickly as the list did in the autumn. Others pointed at Harpers, so we'll see what, if anything, is actually published... | | SI going from weekly to every-other-week | | | While the Meredith-Time Inc. deal awaits approval, SI is cutting its print schedule in half. Per Poynter, the fewer issues "will have more of the long-form stories that SI sees as its strength, and more photos better displayed on higher quality paper..." | | WashPost says digital subscriptions have doubled | | | Julia Waldow emails: According to a memo from Fred Ryan obtained by Sara Fischer, the WashPost's digital subscriptions have more than doubled since January 2017. The company plans to upsize in 2018, with new additions to its tech and business teams and a physical expansion of its HQ... Details here... | | | For the record, part three | | | -- Congratulations to Chris Haynor and his bride Ashleigh Banfield of HLN's "Crime & Justice:" The couple tied the knot in Vermont over the holidays... (People)
-- JD Vance for Senate? The chatter continues... Mitch McConnell recently spoke with Vance, who's a CNN contributor... (CNN)
-- "The college football playoff's national championship game averaged 28.4 million viewers across its MegaCast production on ESPN, ESPN 2 and ESPNU," Frank Pallotta reports... (CNN)
-- "In the latest sign of trouble for local media in D.C., Current Newspapers filed for bankruptcy this week. The company, whose four papers cover Northwest D.C. neighborhoods from Foggy Bottom to the Palisades, owes more than $1.25 million dollars to creditors..." (WAMU)
-- Jim Acosta, previously CNN's senior W.H. correspondent, has been named chief W.H. correspondent... senior W.H. correspondent Jeff Zeleny will be joined by Pamela Brown, previously CNN's Justice correspondent... Meanwhile, Sara Murray, who's been covering Trump since the beginning of his campaign, is moving from the W.H. to the Justice beat... (TVNewser) | | "Cuomo Prime Time" began Tuesday night on CNN... Chris Cuomo interviewed Anthony Scaramucci and dissected the Oprah chatter with Chris Cillizza... A CNN spokesperson says the 9pm show is a limited run series, meaning it's scheduled to air for a few weeks.
The obvious news peg is the one-year mark of the Trump presidency. To viewers, this looks like one of the on-air pilots that cable newsers sometimes try... | | Amid Logan Paul controversy, YouTube explores "further consequences" | | Here's my latest story: YouTube says it is looking into "further consequences" for Logan Paul. "It's taken us a long time to respond, but we've been listening to everything you've been saying," the company said in a series of tweets. "We know that the actions of one creator can affect the entire community, so we'll have more to share soon on steps we're taking to ensure a video like this is never circulated again." What kinds of steps?
-- BTW: Paul has not posted any new videos to his YouTube channel since publishing a "so sorry" video last week... | | Newseum's Power Shift Summit | | | Oliver Darcy emails: On Tuesday afternoon I joined Paul Farhi, Amy Brittain, and Lara Setrakian for a panel moderated by Cathy Trost as part of the Newseum's Power Shift Summit. We took a look behind-the-scenes on how journalists report on sexual harassment in media, discussing how a tip ultimately becomes a story and makes its way to print or air. A lot of interesting thoughts were shared by the audience on the issue, but one of the dominant themes: How can journalists work together to enact systemic change in our industry? | | 'Handmaid's Tale' effect? Hulu grows to 17 million subscribers | | | "Hulu could be experiencing 'The Handmaid's Tale' effect," Sandra Gonzalez reports. "The streaming service announced Tuesday that it has grown to more than 17 million subscribers, up by more than 5 million since its last reported numbers from May 2016. That represents a 40% increase." Read more... | | I'm cc'ing my wife Jamie on this item... Jamie, let's watch after your shoot!
Chloe Melas emails: Viewers were left with a cliffhanger during the November 28 midseason finale... and on Tuesday night the series returned. The episode was focused on Justin Hartley... | | E! responds to Catt Sadler controversy | | | "E! is defending the pay gap that led to the departure of E! News host Catt Sadler," EW reports. At TCA, Frances Berwick said "there is a lot of misinformation out there..." | | | Email brian.stelter@turner.com... I love the feedback, corrections, suggestions, and tips. Thank you! | | | Get Reliable Sources, a comprehensive summary of the most important media news, delivered to your inbox every afternoon. | | | | | |
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