Forward

EXEC SUMMARY: Scroll down to read President Trump's Breitbart interview; hear Tucker Carlson's "outrage machine" monologue; see John Lithgow and Laurie Metcalf in character as Bill and Hillary Clinton; and much more...

Fox's advertiser dilemma

This week's turmoil involving Tucker Carlson and another right-wing shouter, Jeanine Pirro, is coming at one of the worst possible times for Fox News.

On Wednesday the network's sales executives are hosting a big event for advertisers to promote Fox's news brand. Shows like "Special Report" and "Shepard Smith Reporting" are going to be front and center. According to Variety's Brian Steinberg, the event is intended to press "against the notion that the network is only for conservatives."

If you've been in NYC recently, you've already seen signs of this new marketing campaign. Fox's ads on the sides of buses say "AMERICA IS WATCHING."

But the headlines about Carlson and Pirro's offensive statements are undermining Fox's sales pitch. Advertisers, generally speaking, don't want to be anywhere near controversy. Here's the latest on the twin storylines:

Rep. Omar thanks Fox

The Pirro wound was completely self-inflicted -- her attack against Rep. Ilhan Omar was scripted and read aloud on Saturday's show. Fox's rebuke followed on Sunday night. On Monday, Omar tweeted out our CNN.com story about Pirro and thanked Fox for condemning the comments. "No one's commitment to our constitution should be questioned because of their faith or country of birth," Omar wrote...

Media Matters takes aim at Tucker

Media Matters for America, which campaigns against Fox on a daily basis, knew about Wednesday's ad sales event and timed its criticism of Carlson accordingly. The group released the first batch of audio clips from "Bubba the Love Sponge Show" on Sunday evening. Carlson could be heard making many misogynistic and crude comments.

The clips are from 2006 to 2011. They've apparently been up on YouTube for years. But Media Matters drew new attention to Carlson's history of offensive comments. On Monday the group was transparent about its agenda: "We certainly want to make sure [the new audio tapes] are released when they can be most helpful to the media buying decision makers."

Tucker says he's the true victim

In a remarkable monologue on Monday night, Carlson portrayed himself as the victim of a "mob." And he said Fox News has his back.

Without naming Media Matters, Carlson said forces on "the left" have been "working hard to kill this show" ever since it premiered in 2016. He said the left's main goal is "controlling what you think." As he wrapped up, he said "we've always apologized when we're wrong, and will continue to do that" -- but he pointedly did not apologize for any of his misogynistic comments from the past. Watch the segment and/or read my full story...

What a split-screen moment

At the exact same time Carlson was speaking on Fox, Media Matters president Angelo Carusone was over on MSNBC, sharing even more examples of offensive remarks made by Carlson.

Carusone said, in effect, that the group is just highlighting the Fox host's own words and letting others decide. Here are three of the new quotes:

-- Carlson joked about wanting to invade Canada, while Iraq, on the other hand, "is a crappy place filled with a bunch of, you know, semiliterate primitive monkeys -- that's why it wasn't worth invading."

-- In another clip from the same year, 2006, he said he had "zero sympathy for them or their culture" in Iraq, calling it "a culture where people just don't use toilet paper or forks."

-- In a third clip, Carlson used a pejorative term for homosexuals to express his respect for the radio show's host that he loved him "in a completely f****t way."

Here's a headline on the WaPo web site right now: "Carlson uses racist, homophobic language in second wave of damaging audio."

"It's a stain on our country"

After Carlson's show on Monday, Fox's Brit Hume pointed to the scoreboard. He tweeted out Friday's cable news ratings -- which had Carlson in first place among total viewers -- and said "doing well is the best revenge." CNN analyst Joe Lockhart responded to Hume by expressing regret that "bigotry and misogyny sells so well."

"It's a stain on our country," Lockhart wrote. "Ratings don't trump values and I know you know that."

Fox's narrative

The "left wants to silence us" storyline continued on Sean Hannity's show at 9 and Laura Ingraham's show at 10. When I looked up around 10:15, MSNBC's banner was "TRUMP BUDGET PROPOSAL CUTS MEDICARE" while Fox's banner was "THE LEFT'S ASSAULT ON FREE SPEECH."

Top reactions

-- From the left: Crooked Media's Brian Beutler noted that none of Fox's "news-side anchors and reporters have condemned Carlson and Pirro. It's almost as if they refuse to accept their role in lending credibility to the most destructive political organization in American public life! Weird!"

-- From the right: NRO's David French: "Ideological search-and-destroy missions are worse for America than shock-jock interviews."

-- Jack Shafer's take: "Why did a smart guy like Carlson devote himself to five-years-worth of service on such a low-brow show as Bubba's?"

-- Speaking on "CNN Tonight," Kirsten Powers said she sometimes watches Carlson's 8 p.m. show and finds plenty of objectionable content: "I'm far more concerned about that, frankly, then things that he said ten years ago."

-- 🔌: I'll have more on this on the 8 a.m. hour of CNN's "New Day..."

BACK TO THE AD SALES TROUBLE...

Big advertisers continue to avoid Carlson's show

Carlson's show on Monday night "featured just four ad breaks and very few big national commercials, relying instead on direct-response ads" and promos for other Fox shows, Variety's Brian Steinberg noted...

Wednesday protest outside Fox HQ

Media Matters says it's organizing this -- so that the ad execs who attend Wednesday's pre-upfront event at Fox witness a sea of protesters outside. "Pod Save America" promoted it on Monday's episode. "They're having a protest outside of Fox News HQ on Wednesday at 11 a.m. in New York," Tommy Vietor said. "So if you want to send a message, and you want people to actually care there, let the advertisers know."

When Fox's opinion division hurts its news division

Brian Lowry emails: Bret Baier's plea over the weekend to allow Fox News to host a Democratic presidential debate surely didn't benefit from the twin eruptions around Carlson and Pirro. Fairly or not, it's hard for the news personnel to escape the shadow of those personalities, especially when management seems so slow to acknowledge when legitimate questions are raised about its primetime talent.

Former Stormy Daniels lawyer confirms Fox had details of Trump affair before election

Oliver Darcy emails: Keith Davidson, the lawyer who formerly represented Stormy Daniels and negotiated her hush-money deal, told ABC News on Monday that former Fox News reporter Diana Falzone had details of the story regarding the relationship between his client and Donald Trump before the election.

"I can tell you that Diana Falzone…had the story," Davidson told ABC News, adding that Falzone requested comment from him at the time and had "factually specific" details. Davidson's comments help reaffirm my January 2018 CNN story, in which I reported that Fox News shelved a story on the relationship between Daniels and Trump ahead of the election. The story has, of course, received renewed attention after Jane Mayer confirmed it in her lengthy New Yorker piece...

FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE

-- Annie Karni and Maggie Haberman got a sneak peek at "Kushner Inc.," by Vicky Ward, which comes out next week. "Ward tries to unravel the narrative that the two serve as stabilizing voices inside an otherwise chaotic White House, depicting them instead as Mr. Trump's chief enablers..." (NYT)

-- Facebook removed ads supporting Elizabeth Warren's "controversial plan to break up Big Tech" on Monday, Rob McLean wrote. When people started to notice, the ads were restored. Warren then tweeted about the episode... (CNN)

-- CNN Business launched a new series called Risk Takers on Monday. One of the subjects: Channing Dungey and her "Roseanne" risk... (CNN)

Crisis in Venezuela deserves more coverage

Oliver Darcy emails: The entire country of Venezuela has not had electricity for five days. According to reports, as a result, there is food rotting, widespread water shortages, people dying in hospitals, no internet, and telecommunications down, among other things. It's a humanitarian crisis, and should be a major story. But with no Trump angle, the story has received a rather lackluster response from the national press corps. On Monday afternoon, I scanned some of the top national news websites and barely saw any coverage on the front pages.

To be fair, news crews in Venezuela are having a difficult time sending out reports because of the power outages, but this situation deserves more US press attention...

NYT says NRATV's future is in doubt

On the front page of Tuesday's Times: "What Is Making N.R.A. Cringe? Its Own Videos."

Danny Hakim's report reveals that NRA board members are concerned about the group's NRATV arm. "Growing unease over the site's inflammatory rhetoric, and whether it has strayed too far from the NRA's core gun-rights mission, has put its future in doubt." Read on...

New York Media lays off 5% of staff

Oliver Darcy emails: New York Media, the parent company of NY Mag, laid off 16 full-time staffers (about 5% of full-time staff) and 16 part-time staffers on Monday. In a note to staff, CEO Pam Wasserstein said it had been a "difficult day" and that the teams most impacted by the cuts were the video department, audience development team, and copy and fact-checking. A source told me that as the layoffs occurred, it was "chaotic" inside the offices as people learned about the cuts. Tears were shed, the person added...

>> Some context: The cuts come after Wasserstein reportedly decided in February against a sale/investment after exploring such opportunities. The cuts also come after staffers unionized in December, and after longtime EIC Adam Moss announced his imminent departure from the company...

BuzzFeeders worried about BuzzFeed

"We've arrived at new media's latest sky-is-falling moment," David Uberti writes in this deep dive about BuzzFeed for CJR. Uberti says "interviews with a dozen current and former employees, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect their jobs or severance agreements, illustrate a workforce increasingly skeptical of BuzzFeed's business model, and cognizant that the line between a nimble strategy and unemployment is thin."

>> Related: Here's my recent podcast with BF CEO Jonah Peretti...

FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO

-- Happy birthday to CNN's Jake Tapper... He's turning 50 on Tuesday... And to mark the occasion he is spreading awareness about Homes For Our Troops... (Twitter)

-- A recommended read from Rishi Iyengar in New Delhi: "In India's last election, social media was used as a tool. This time it could become a weapon..." (CNN)

-- Netflix's Cindy Holland revealed at a conference "that the average Netflix subscriber spends two hours a day on the streaming service..." (Variety)

FIRST LOOK

Lithgow and Metcalf as the Clintons

The new cover of Variety, out on Tuesday, features Tony-award winning actors John Lithgow and Laurie Metcalf in their roles as Bill and Hillary Clinton for the new Broadway production "Hillary and Clinton."

Check it out:

Broadway previews begin on March 16. "If the play is controversial, I would say it's controversial just in the fact that it's being done. Because people reflexively think, 'What are the real Bill and Hillary going to think about this play?'" Lithgow told Variety's Gordon Cox.

Metcalf added: "If I watched it, I think I would be shocked in places. It's a comedy with chasms..."

"I'm going to give you some news"

Just how calculated was Nancy Pelosi's comment to WaPo's Joe Heim that she is currently opposed to impeaching Trump?

Well, when he brought up the issue, Pelosi knew what she wanted to say: "I'm not for impeachment. This is news. I'm going to give you some news right now because I haven't said this to any press person before. But since you asked, and I've been thinking about this: Impeachment is so divisive to the country that unless there's something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, I don't think we should go down that path, because it divides the country. And he's just not worth it."

On Monday night Hannity told his viewers not to believe her...

FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE

-- Pete Buttigieg "feels momentum after CNN town hall, with $600K raised in 24 hours..." (CNN)

-- Today's "wish I'd thought of it" story: How the hip-hop talk show "The Breakfast Club" became a must-stop spot for 2020 Dem hopefuls... (Daily Beast)

-- Philip Bump wrote: "Two recent news reports about the influence of people at Mar-a-Lago should remind us of how unusual it is for the president to spend so much time fraternizing with clients of his private business..." (WaPo)

First W.H. briefing in six weeks

Monday was Sarah Sanders' "first briefing since January 28 -- ending a 42-day drought," CNN's Lauren Dezenski wrote in The Point newsletter. But there's "basically zero indication there'll be more frequent briefings in the pipeline," even with the anti-briefing Bill Shine leaving the White House. As Dezenski wrote: "Don't hold your breath for the next one..."

-- Actual banner on CNN after the brief briefing: "WHITE HOUSE WON'T ANSWER WHETHER TRUMP SAID DEMOCRATS HATE JEWS."

Trump's new interview with Breitbart

Breitbart says it had a "more-than-40-minute exclusive interview in the Oval Office" on Monday afternoon. Alexander Marlow, Matthew Boyle, Amanda House, and Charlie Spiering were all there. In the excerpts I've read so far, it's all predictable stuff...

"The local stuff is shockingly good"

While talking to Breitbart, Trump repeated his usual lines about unfair news coverage and said NBC is maybe the worst of them all. He also brought up local TV coverage. "I do really well with local — you know, the local stuff is shockingly good," he said. "It's almost like not even to be believed." Is he talking about Sinclair there?

Why little lies matter

"When you lie about anything, you'll lie about everything," Don Lemon said on "CNN Tonight" Monday night. And the president? "He'll lie about anything. He'll lie about dumb little things -- things that anybody else would just laugh off -- things like calling Apple CEO Tim Cook, 'Tim Apple.' He could have just called it a slip of the tongue. That would just be easy enough. But instead he tweeted today that he was saving time and words. Saving time and words?!"

SPEAKING OF APPLE...

Apple confirms March 25 event

"It's show time," Apple said in Monday's e-vite to a March 25 event in Cupertino. "It was a barely veiled reference to its long reported plans to build a TV service that streams original content," The Information's Tom Dotan wrote. He pointed out that "there's still quite a bit about the TV service that we don't know. For example, it's unclear which shows among the original series it commissioned it will be previewing, or how many will be available at launch (or really, when the service will be rolled out to the public)."

Quick reminder/full disclosure: I'm a consultant on one of Apple's shows. But I don't have any inside info about the launch...

Lowry's look at the week ahead in docs

Brian Lowry emails: It's a big next week or so for documentaries. A&E kicks it off with "John and Yoko: Above Us Only Sky," a fascinating look at the making of the "Imagine" album, culled from home video of John Lennon, Yoko Ono and their pals, shot around their estate and in the studio.

This weekend brings "I Am Richard Pryor," Paramount Network's latest entry in that biographical series.

And ABC made what amounts to a last-minute scheduling move by announcing "The Dropout," a documentary about Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos, also airing March 15, three days before HBO's Alex Gibney doc on the same topic, "The Inventor: Out For Blood in Silicon Valley." Rebecca Jarvis is the correspondent on "The Dropout," which follows an ABC News podcast on the topic and will be presented by "20/20" and "Nightline..."

A lesson in Russian disinformation from the pages of a 1982 TV Guide

This is the story of the day... by CNN's Donie O'Sullivan... He dug up a 37-year-old story titled "Why American TV Is So Vulnerable to Foreign Disinformation."

The TV Guide story "is a reminder that while the medium through which we are exposed to disinformation may have changed, many of the tactics and ends used by Russian trolls online are similar, whether during the 2016 election or now," O'Sullivan wrote. Travel back in time, read the rest here...

FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR

-- Mike Judge has inked "a new, rich two-year overall deal extension" with HBO "includes production commitments for a pair of two new comedies," Lesley Goldberg reported... (THR)

-- "Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman continue to round out Quibi's executive ranks: Their latest hire is Becky Brooks, who is exiting CBS Television Distribution after five years," Todd Spangler reported... (Variety)

-- One more from Spangler: DirecTV Now prices are going up "by $10 per month for all customers..." AT&T is "looking to maximize profitability over a land-grab for cord-cutters..." (Variety)

Charlize Theron's empathy for Megyn Kelly

Megan Thomas emails: In an interview with Variety, Charlize Theron says she has "empathy" for Megyn Kelly after playing her in Jay Roach's upcoming untitled Roger Ailes film, which is set for release on December 20. More here...

Jerry O'Connell getting a tryout on Fox stations

Jerry O'Connell has signed on "to host a daytime talk show produced by Funny or Die titled 'Jerry O,' which will include celebrity guests as well as comedy segments Funny or Die produced exclusively for the show," Vulture's Megh Wright reported. It's getting a three-week trial run on Fox-owned stations in August...

"Captain Marvel" update

Brian Lowry emails: "Captain Marvel" exceeded Disney's forecasts, with updated numbers showing the Marvel movie tallied a whopping $457 million worldwide. The movie should also have relatively free rein this weekend — with relatively modest major releases lined up — to pad that total, before Jordan Peele's "Us" premieres on March 22...

How to catch up on Sunday's show

Listen to the podcast via Apple or your favorite app... Watch the video clips on CNN.com... Or watch the entire episode on CNNgo or VOD...

Does anyone want to be Trump's comms director?

Count me as skeptical. On Sunday's show, I explained why. It's lights out for Bill Shine at the White House... But Shine had an "impossible" job, Sarah Ellison said.

She also pointed out that Trump's focus on the job -- refilling it several times while leaving "many other key positions unfilled" -- really says something "about the way this president values his own media coverage." Watch...

Dems probing Trump's opposition to AT&T deal

Rep. David Cicilline spoke with me on Sunday about his call for more info about the DOJ's review of the AT&T-Time Warner deal. "We need to protect the rule of law" and make sure that deals are reviewed "in the appropriate way," not out of political motivations, he said...

Debating the DNC's decision

Jeff Greenfield, Tara Dowdell and Angelo Carusone all weighed in on whether the DNC was right to leave Fox News out of the primary debate lineup. Dowdell said it "is a rational decision..." but Greenfield said "I think they're missing a golden opportunity" by excluding Fox...

Thanks for reading! Email me feedback anytime. See you tomorrow...