Hello everyone! This is Oliver Darcy, in for Brian Stelter, who spent the day visiting journalism students at Ball State University in Indiana. I always enjoy hearing from you, so please do get in touch. I'm available via email and on Twitter. To the news...
"Mueller's endgame may be in sight"
That was the headline on Garrett Graff's latest story over at Wired on Tuesday. Graff argued that "history may show" that the start of this week was "among the most consequential" yet in Muller's probe into Russian election interference. He put it this way: "As George Papadopoulos...reported to a Wisconsin prison Monday, a confluence of small developments may indicate that by the time he emerges from Federal Correctional Institute Oxford two weeks from now, we might know far more about the breadth of Russia's efforts—and the Trump campaign's ties to them—than we do now."
It sure felt like that on Tuesday. Throughout the day, headline after headline related to Mueller's investigation splashed across the web and cable news chyrons. I think a fair amount of people wondered: Are we nearing the end?
Manafort and Wikileaks deny Guardian report
The day started with an explosive story in The Guardian. Reporters Luke Harding and Dan Collyns reported via a "well placed source" that Paul Manafort held "secret talks" with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in the spring of 2016, just months before the website released stolen Democratic emails.
No other media outlet was able to match The Guardian's reporting, and within hours both Wikileaks and Manafort had issued strong denials. Manafort said, in part, "I have never met Julian Assange or anyone connected to him. I have never been contacted by anyone connected to WikiLeaks, either directly or indirectly." Wikileaks said on Twitter it was "willing to bet the Guardian a million dollars and its editor's head that Manafort never met Assange."
>> That said, Carl Bernstein reported for CNN that Mueller "has been investigating a meeting between former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno in Quito in 2017 and has specifically asked if WikiLeaks or its founder, Julian Assange, were discussed in the meeting..."
Corsi provides CNN a draft Mueller document
Another major headline on Tuesday came courtesy of Jerome Corsi, the fringe right-wing conspiracy theorist and former InfoWars DC bureau chief who finds himself near the center of Mueller's probe. Corsi provided CNN a draft court document on Tuesday that outlined "significant insights into what special counsel Robert Mueller may know about Roger Stone's efforts to seek documents from WikiLeaks in 2016." The draft court filing showed that Mueller believes Stone sought information and emails from Wikileaks using Corsi as a go-between. Read the full story here...
Asked about Manafort, Trump goes off the record
Trump offered WaPo an interview Tuesday, and while he was chatty about a number of various issues, he did not want to talk with the newspaper on the record about potentially helping Manafort. According to WaPo's transcript of the interview, Josh Dawsey asked Trump if he was "planning to do anything to help" his embattled former campaign chief. Trump replied asking to "go off the record because I don't want to get in the middle of the whole thing." Dawsey then asked Trump if there was "any version" of what he said off the record that he'd be "willing to give us on the record." Trump said he'd "rather not" and proceeded to go off the record again.
>> Earlier in the day, Sanders said at the briefing that there have been no conversations about a pardon for Manafort...
Napolitano: It seems Mueller is poised to give us "road map" between Russia & Trump campaign
Fox's Andrew Napolitano said Tuesday that the latest developments suggest Mueller is perhaps "ready to give us a road map" that connects "Russian agents and the Trump campaign." Napolitano added that Mueller's investigation "seems to be coming together..."
What's next?
CNN's Russia-probe expert Marshall Cohen emails: In the two years since the election, Stone's denials and explanations have increasingly stretched credulity. Does Mueller have the goods? Time will tell, but it's clear that investigators have amassed a mountain of potential evidence against the self-proclaimed dirty trickster. Could any of this implicate Trump? We'll see.
FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE
-- WaPo's David Ignatius details how the killing of Jamal Khashoggi "had roots in a cutthroat family feud..." (WaPo)
-- Laurene Powell Jobs' Emerson Collective has acquired yet another media property, purchasing Pop-Up Magazine Productions... (Recode)
-- Kara Swisher's latest column is a must read... It's about what the "Emerson media machine" is building... (NYT)
-- Craig Silverman's latest provides the "inside story of how the FBI and tech industry took down a massive ad fraud scheme..." (BuzzFeed)
First White House briefing since Acosta's press pass was reinstated
The White House held its first press briefing in nearly a month on Tuesday. (The last briefing was on October 29.) It was also the first briefing since Jim Acosta got his credentials back. Sarah Sanders called on Acosta for a question and answered it without any mention of the drama that unfolded just weeks ago. Acosta was even permitted to ask a follow up. As NYT's Michael Grynbaum tweeted, "Acosta, back in the briefing room, stress-tests the new White House questioning policy. @PressSec engaged with him with no objections."
>> Also of note, as THR's Jeremy Barr observed on Twitter, there was "no media-bashing in this press briefing. Sarah Sanders answered everyone's questions, including Jim Acosta & April Ryan, without any personal attacks."
MSNBC chooses to not air briefing
MSNBC chose not to air the Tuesday briefing live. I asked a spokesperson for the network why the briefing wasn't broadcast. The spokesperson told me the network did not carry it because of the pace of the day's news. Instead, the spokesperson said the network "decided to monitor the briefing and to report on any major developments afterwards." It will be interesting to see if MSNBC continues using this approach moving forward...
CNN fact-checks Sanders in real-time | | CNN, on the other hand, showed the briefing live, but fact-checked Sanders in real-time when she spread misinformation about the climate report. (Sanders falsely said the report was "not based on facts" or "data driven.") As she started to discuss the report, CNN displayed an on-screen graphic next to her that showed the report was produced by hundreds of scientists -- included 13 federal agencies -- and was was open for review before publishing...
"Why doesn't [Trump] have faith in his advisers?"
While CNN fact-checked Sanders with an on-screen graphic, Acosta pressed her on why Trump is so reluctant to believe his own government. Acosta noted that Trump doesn't believe the warnings in his administration's climate report, the CIA's conclusions on the Khashoggi killing, and the intelligence community's assessment on Russian meddling. "Why doesn't he have faith in his advisers?" Acosta asked Sanders. Sanders replied that Trump does have a "great deal of faith" in the intel community...
Bolton says he hasn't listened to Khashoggi audio because he doesn't speak Arabic
National Security Adviser John Bolton, who spoke at the press briefing before Sanders, raised eyebrows when he said he had not listened to the audio tape of Jamal Khashoggi's murder. Why? "I don't speak Arabic," Bolton said. He further asked, "Unless you speak Arabic, what are you going to get from it?" April Ryan told him that even if he did not understand the language, the tape would perhaps reveal emotion. Bolton said he was confident he had been given a thorough summary of the tape's contents. You can see that exchange via Mediaite here...
FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO
-- It was election night in America again on Tuesday. All eyes were on Mississippi where Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith faced off against Democratic challenger Mike Espy. CNN called the race for Hyde-Smith just before 10:30 p.m. ET... (CNN)
-- CNN is taking a closer look at the state of hate around the world with a weeklong series of reports. On Tuesday, the network published results of a poll showing a rise in anti-Semitism across Europe. Per the poll, 1 in 20 Europeans surveyed have never heard of the Holocaust... (CNN)
-- NY Mag unveiled a brand new homepage on Tuesday. The magazine said the redesigned page offered a "cleaner, more modern look..." (NY Mag)
-- NYT's John Koblin examines the broadcast TV landscape two months into the new season... (NYT)
"Fox & Friends" gave Pruitt questions in advance
Another day has brought yet another example of the close relationship between Fox News and the White House. The Daily Beast's Maxwell Tani reviewed emails obtained by the Sierra Club through a FOIA request and found that "Fox & Friends" fed former EPA administrator Scott Pruitt questions in advance of his appearances on the show. In one instance, a "Fox & Friends" staffer even asked Pruitt's comms team whether they approved of a script for his segment. Read Tani's full story here...
Fox says it has disciplined the employees involved...
In its statement to the Daily Beast, a Fox News spokesperson said, "This is not standard practice whatsoever and the matter is being addressed internally with those involved." Fox appeared to take some action. On Tuesday night, the AP published a story saying that Fox had disciplined the employees involved. That said, Fox wouldn't say exactly what sort of discipline was leveled against the employees, contending it was a personnel matter...
Sinclair's latest "must-run" segment defends tear-gassing migrants
Sinclair-owned stations across the country were forced this week to air a segment from former Trump aide Boris Epshteyn defending the use of tear gas on migrants. Epshteyn is Sinclair's chief political analyst and the short commentary segments he produces are considered "must run" across Sinclair. In his latest commentary, Epshteyn warned that migrants were "attempting to storm" the southern border and characterized it as an "attempted invasion of our country." Liberal watchdog Media Matters, which first flagged the segment, has a full write-up here.
>> This is, of course, just the latest example of Sinclair peddling pro-Trump talking points to its viewers.
UK lawmaker hopes to publish secret Facebook documents within a week
Donie O'Sullivan emails: For those waiting for a cache of secret Facebook documents to be released by a member of the British parliament, they'll have to wait another few days. Damian Collins, the MP who got his hands on some allegedly embarrassing documents from inside the company said he hopes to release them within the next week. Collins alluded to an apparent security incident referenced in the documents today in parliament. Facebook pushed back hard and released a set of emails themselves that they say show the alleged indecent was a non-incident – the other documents may not be so easy to explain. Read Donie's latest with Hadas Gold here...
Google CEO set to appear before Congress
Speaking of Big Tech, Google CEO Sundar Pichai is set to appear in December before the House Judiciary Committee, three sources told WaPo Tuesday night. It will be his first time before Congress -- and the hearing is sure to be interesting. The House Judiciary Committee has held hearings this year accusing tech platforms of holding bias against conservative users. As WaPo noted, the hearing "could subject the search giant to the same harsh political spotlight that has faced its tech peers all year."
FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE
-- Blockchain startup Civil has "left some of its journalists wondering where their salary is..." (NiemanLab)
-- Fox's right-wing streaming service Fox Nation officially came online on Tuesday... (CNN)
Who will run Condé?
Tom Kludt emails: The big changes keep coming at Condé Nast. The company is selling titles, girding for layoffs and, now, searching for a new chief executive. That's because Bob Sauerberg is stepping down as CEO of Condé U.S., while Jonathan Newhouse will no longer serve as CEO of the company's international unit. In their place will be a global executive overseeing both entities.
Newhouse will remain at the company, sliding over to chairman of the board of directors. But Sauerberg's 18-year career at Condé is coming to an end, a surprising turn of events that comes only three months after he outlined a sweeping plan to get the publisher back to profitability.
Read Tom's full story here... And here's the full memo sent to Condé employees on Tuesday announcing the changes...
Discovery + Tiger
"Tiger Woods has signed an exclusive deal to develop programming for the forthcoming golf streaming service Discovery and the PGA Tour are launching, a bet the sports legend will lure subscribers," the WSJ's Micah Maidenberg reports.
Discovery is pitching GolfTV as the "Netflix of golf." The service "will be offered in markets around the world, except for the U.S., China and South Korea," Maidenberg writes. "The deal with Mr. Woods is the venture's first announcement of additional content." And Discovery "is exploring how to distribute the Tiger Woods content in the U.S., either on its own or in partnership with another media company..." | |
FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR
-- YouTube "is expected to scale back its scripted output beginning in 2020, a source with direct knowledge of the company's plans tells THR. The move comes as executives plan to double down on YouTube's ad-supported business by making all future originals free to its 2 billion users regardless of whether they pay $12 each month for subscription service YouTube Premium..." (THR)
-- Twitter has reinstated the account of conservative pundit Jesse Kelly after brief suspension... (National Review)
| | By Frank Pallotta, Lisa Respers France and Chloe Melas:
-- Stephen Hillenburg, the creator of "SpongeBob SquarePants," died at the age of 57 following a battle with ALS...
-- Vulture's Mark Harris asks an important question: Who is "Green Book" supposed to be for?
-- Robert De Niro confirms his split from wife Grace Hightower...
-- Forget stunts and all that time spent in the water, Jason Momoa's biggest "Aquaman" struggle was using the bathroom in that costume...
-- Ariana Grande dropped a sneak peek of her "Thank U, Next" music video...
Flipping the script
Brian Lowry emails: After a stretch when it seemed like every tech giant wanted to get into the TV business, there's a chink in that armor, with Deadline's Nellie Andreeva reporting that YouTube is potentially backing away from scripted originals, narrowing its focus to so-called reality shows. Companies like Amazon, Apple and Facebook continue to do more than just dabble, but it's a reminder that producing quality TV -- and more significantly, getting some kind of return on investment from doing so -- is a challenge, and that these companies will likely continue to evaluate and reevaluate the extent to which it makes sense for them given their core businesses. For now, though, TV talent -- and their agents -- are still reaping the benefits of those new players, and the money they're pumping into the system.
"Black Panther" among nominees for Humanitas Prize
Lowry emails: Adding further evidence that "Black Panther" isn't perceived as just another superhero blockbuster, the Marvel movie was among the nominees for the Humanitas Prize, an annual honor presented to film and TV writers whose work "explores the human condition in a nuanced, meaningful way." The awards will be presented on February 8.
The Boss and Roald Dahl come to Netflix
Frank Pallotta emails: Netflix had two interesting bits of news on Tuesday. The service released a trailer for its "Springsteen on Broadway" special starring Bruce Springsteen (coming out December 16) and announced plans to roll out animated specials based on Roald Dahl books -- the author behind Willy Wonka...
Thank you for reading. Brian will be back tomorrow!
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