Forward

EXEC SUMMARY: Welcome to the weekend! Here's an abbreviated edition of the letter, with lots of links and contributions from Brian Lowry, Chloe Melas, Frank Pallotta, Tom Kludt, Oliver Darcy, Katie Pellico, and more...

"What is President Trump so afraid of?"

The latest from CNN's White House team: "Trump continues to hold his ground against Democratic efforts to obtain his tax returns, with one administration official telling CNN that the President and his team are willing to fight the House Democratic request all the way to the Supreme Court. 'This is a hill and people would be willing to die on it,' the official said."

Erin Burnett began her Friday night CNN program with that pithy quote. "We have no idea if Trump is under audit," as he always claims, Burnett pointed out. "But we do know that Trump lied when he said this." Then she played a clip from 2014, when Trump told an Irish network, "If I decide to run for office, I'll produce my tax returns, absolutely."

Burnett asked: "What is President Trump so afraid of? If there is nothing fraudulent, nothing wrong, just things that tax experts could argue about, like deprecation schedules, then this should not be an issue. But it IS an issue for the president..."

Flipping, fibbing and fighting

Here's the best summary of the week-in-politics I've heard anywhere:

"The president is not closing the border with Mexico. He is not proposing a new health care plan. And his father is not from Germany," John Berman said at the start of Friday's "New Day." Maybe, he said, "you remember a time when those wouldn't be such glaring revelations, but within the last few days, the president has said the exact opposite of all those things and more." So there's been "flipping," there's been "fibbing," and... oh yes... "fighting," he said, with Democrats setting deadlines to receive the Mueller report and Trump's taxes and more. Berman called this "the three 'F's' of the apocalypse..."

Trump drops the pretense...

Oliver Darcy emails: Trump is no longer pretending that his attacks on the media as the "enemy of the people" are aimed at only a small group of journalists. Previously, when confronted over his rhetoric, Trump would say he was only referring to the "fake news." But as WaPo's Josh Dawsey noted in an astute tweet, Trump has dropped the pretense. In a recent attack, he referred to the "mainstream media" as the "enemy of the people," and on Friday, referred to "the press" as a whole. It's been a slow but a noteworthy escalation...

FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO

-- POTUS spoke with Fox's Griff Jenkins during Friday's border visit... The interview will air on "Fox & Friends Weekend..."

-- For a third straight year, Trump says he will skip the White House Correspondents Association's annual fund-raising dinner, and hold a rally instead... (CNN)

-- Notably, there will be no comedian at this year's dinner, so Trump could have come and roasted the press, without being roasted in return... 🤷‍♂️

-- Asawin Suebsaeng and Maxwell Tani say the president is already "plotting his post-White House tell all memoir," even talking about it with associates... (Beast)

-- Some people like to shrug off Trump's bizarre statements. Trump biographer Michael D'Antonio is not one of those people. In this new column, he says "the talk coming from this president is frightening, destabilizing, and bewildering..." (CNN)

EYE ON 2020

Velshi & Ruhle v. Schultz

Tom Kludt emails: The Talk of Media Twitter on this Friday? It might have been Ali Velshi and Stephanie Ruhle's masterclass interview with Howard Schultz, in which the hosts reduced the coffee mogul into a stammering mess. Rather than describe it, I'd urge you to just watch. The reaction among journalists was nearly universal in praise for Velshi's grilling, and outright mockery over Schultz's inability to say anything beyond the rote centrism that has defined his presidential flirtation. Velshi "pressed Schultz, like a Turkey & Pesto Panini (540 calories), on his contention that the two parties' inability to work together is to blame for economic inequality, and boy did he struggle to respond," Splinter's Libby Watson wrote...

"The Breakfast Club" primary

On Thursday's "EBOF," Erin Burnett said the radio show is a "required stop for Democrats on the campaign trail." Here's her interview with co-host Charlamagne Tha God...

And NBC News is also out with a new story about the show's political power and its big African American and Hispanic audience. The hosts are "known for asking personal questions that aren't typically broached on the Sunday morning political talk shows..."

Bernie's POV about Fox

Bernie Sanders, who has a town hall coming up on Fox News, was asked about it by Trevor Noah on Thursday night. "Trust me, I know Fox News. I know who they are, and I know the role that they are playing," Sanders said. "So to me it is important to distinguish Fox News from the many millions of people who watch Fox News. I think it is important to talk to those people and say, 'You know what? I know many of you voted for Donald Trump, but he lied to you.'" Yahoo's Stephen Proctor has a full write-up here...

FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE

-- Laura McGann's reaction to Mark Halperin's interview with Michael Smerconish: "Halperin says his conduct has changed. His commentary is the same." (Vox)

-- Oliver Darcy emails: Fox Nation host Tomi Lahren is working on a book in which she will recall "surviving social isolation, a truly terrible boyfriend, awful workplaces, and getting fired in front of a million haters" to help others "fight back..." (Fox News)

-- "Apple Music has surpassed Spotify in paid U.S. subscriptions," the WSJ reported Friday, citing sources. "Apple Music had more than 28 million subscribers in the U.S. as of February, compared with Spotify's 26 million..." (WSJ)

-- Peter Kafka's analysis: "Apple has sold lots of music subscriptions — so it thinks it will sell lots of other stuff, too..." (Recode)

New poll shows the extent of tech addiction

A new WSJ/NBC poll finds that Americans "have a paradoxical attachment" to social-media platforms... Most people say they "regard services such as Facebook to be divisive and a threat to privacy but continue to use them daily. Across age groups and political ideologies, adults in the survey said they held a negative view of the effects of social media—even though 70% use such services at least once a day." Sure sounds like addiction to me.

One more key line from the WSJ story: "Pollsters said they were surprised by the high and relatively uniform dissatisfaction with social media across demographic and political groups..."

But don't forget all the GOOD...

Kara Swisher's latest for the NYT is titled "I'm a Tech Addict and I'm Not Ashamed."

She recalls what Kevin Roose recently wrote about phones -- they're a "species-level environmental shock" -- and says he's right: "The most profound experiment in human communications in all of our history is taking place right now. But while the downsides of continuous partial attention have been made abundantly clear, we shouldn't forget that the concept of instant communications is profound, and the ability to be in touch at an important time is both convenient AND good." Read on...

A toast to Kathie Lee

Many toasts, actually! If you weren't home to watch her farewell episode of "Today," the highlights are up on Today.com...

"Friday also marked the release of a film she made in Israel called 'The God Who Sees,' which is available on her website and streaming platforms," NBC's story noted.

-- Great piece by WaPo's Emily Yahr: "Gifford has been mocked for years. But her morning TV legacy will outlast her critics..."

-- Correction: Yesterday I mistyped "Today" 10 a.m. hour E.P. Tammy Filler's name. Filler, not Fuller! My apologies.

Spotted at Variety's Power of Women event

"The honorees at Variety's Power of Women New York shared stories that were variations on a powerful theme: Women overcoming obstacles," Variety's Cynthia Littleton wrote after the luncheon on Friday afternoon. Bette Midler, Christiane Amanpour, Gigi Hadid, Taraji P. Henson, and Kacey Musgraves were feted on stage. Dozens of other women on the Impact List were also in the ballroom.

Spotted: Gayle King, Bethenny Frankel, Jimmy Fallon, Jeff Zucker, Amy Entelis, Allison Gollust, Joel Simon, Lisa Heller, Nancy Abraham, Jena Friedman, Julie Townsend, Rachel Adler, Erin Lee Carr, Amy Emmerich, Sara Fischer, Gretchen Carlson, Katie Abel, Michael Glantz, Alex Witt, Olivia Metzger, Georgia Juvelis, Gerry Byrne, Dea Lawrence, Michelle Sorbino, and the Variety team, including Claudia Eller, Ramin Setoodeh, Owen Gleiberman, Brian Steinberg, Jem Aswad, Elizabeth Wagmeister, Jeffrey Schneider...

FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR

By Katie Pellico:

-- Amal Clooney has been appointed as Britain's Special Envoy on Media Freedom... (CNN)

-- Joshua Benton's critique of Apple News+: Designers had "a full year to figure out how to fit" single articles more seamlessly into Texture's coding, which was "built by the magazine industry — and thus structured to favor the default atomic unit of the magazine business, the individual issue... At least in 1.0, they haven't pulled it off." (Nieman Lab)

-- Read Amanda Darrach's profile of Shamima Begum, the "reporter seeking shades of grey in the Islamic state..." (CJR)

Why is the Pentagon in the dark?

I discussed the Pentagon's on-camera briefing blackout with CNN's Barbara Starr on last weekend's "Reliable Sources." At an OFF-camera briefing on Thursday, Starr followed up and asked why the Pentagon's pressers have not been televised for months, and the spokesman didn't really answer... Task & Purpose has the full story here...

Presenting the Polk Awards

This year's George Polk Awards were presented at a ceremony at the Roosevelt Hotel on Friday... WaPo's Karen Attiah and David Ignatius accepted a special award for speaking out about Jamal Khashoggi...

-- Reuters staffers accepted an award on behalf of jailed reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo...

-- The PBS "NewsHour" received its first Polk in 34 years -- and the second in its history -- for special correspondent Jane Ferguson's coverage of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen...

A big sign that Bloomberg is still standing by this story...

Oliver Darcy emails: Remember Bloomberg's big story on the "big hack" that was denied by major tech companies? According to WaPo's Erik Wemple, Bloomberg submitted the strongly-disputed story for the public interest category of the 2019 National Magazine Awards -- even as Wemple reported that Bloomberg was re-reporting the story. When reached by Wemple for comment, a Bloomberg spokeswoman said the publication does not discuss award submissions...

Fox continues to support "Diamond & Silk" while they spread misinfo

Oliver Darcy emails: What on earth were "Diamond & Silk" talking about on Friday morning when they appeared on "Fox & Friends" to discuss climate change? Lynette Hardaway, one of the sisters, started ripping into Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez over the proposed Green New Deal, as flagged by the liberal group Media Matters. "First of all, civil rights have nothing to do with climate change. First of all. And then second of all, her Green New Deal is a green new scam that we must stay away from. Now, I know that she's worried about climate change, but she need to talk to Mother Nature," Hardaway said. She continued, "Because with the Earth rotating at 1,000 miles per hour, OK, 365 days of the year, we subject to feel climate changing a little bit. But not to the tune where we have to dismantle everything and start the Earth back over again. It's a absolutely no for us." What?!

Condé Nast has a new CEO... now what?

Two follow-ups to Thursday's news about new Condé Nast CEO Roger Lynch:

-- "A succession plan has quietly been unveiled by the billionaire Newhouse family that owns Condé and its parent company, Advance Publications," the NYPost's Keith J. Kelly reports. "Steven Newhouse — long believed to be the heir apparent to the media giant — is now the co-president of Advance Publications, sharing the title with his 90-year-old father and patriarch Donald Newhouse. The new title marks the first official sign of a succession plan..."

-- OK, so what's the corporate plan? Recode's Peter Kafka says "the real question is what the Newhouse family" wants Lynch to do. "One option would be to keep cutting away anything that isn't the handful of Conde magazines you've heard of and run that as a boutique portfolio of luxury brands. Another is to bulk up via acquisitions and investments, using the billions of dollars the Newhouses have made by selling off cable TV assets..."

FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE

-- Lesley Goldberg tweeted her latest: "Cha-ching! 'Westworld' creators Lisa Joy and Jonah Nolan are the latest top producers to cash in as the overall deal space remains red-hot. They are leaving Warner Bros. TV for what sources say is a nine-figure overall deal with Amazon..." (THR)

-- "Page Six TV" is being cancelled after two seasons on local stations... (Deadline)

-- The latest out of Chicago: Jussie Smollett's attorneys say he "will not be intimidated into paying" $130,106.15 to reimburse the city for investigating his hate crime claim... (CNN)

-- Taraji P. Henson is "feeling optimistic about Jussie Smollett's 'Empire' return," Sandra Gonzalez notes... (CNN)

"Killing Eve" weekend is here

Brian Lowry emails: Season one of "Killing Eve" was a breakout success for BBC America, so much so that season two is being simulcast on sister network AMC. The Sandra Oh spy series returns in killer form Sunday night... Read on...

AMC Networks' strategy

Sarah Barnett, president of the entertainment networks group for AMC Networks, spoke with Vulture's Joe Adalian for her first big interview in the top job. There are lots of insights here about "Killing Eve," "The Walking Dead," and the network group's strategy.

--> Barnett on her "deep-pocketed competitors:" "I do think there's room for players of many different sizes. I also think that if it was all about placing orders and writing checks, then everyone would have a Killing Eve and a Walking Dead and a Better Call Saul — and they don't."

Frank's box office preview

"Two of Hollywood's most popular genres are duking it out at the box office this weekend with the premiere of Warner Bros' superhero comedy 'Shazam!' and Paramount's remake of Stephen King's 'Pet Semetary,'" Frank Pallotta writes. "Shazam" is forecast to make $45 million while "Pet Sematary" is expected to come in second place with a $25 million haul. Read on...

Mick on the mend

"Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger is recovering after a heart valve replacement procedure," Chloe Melas writes.

Jagger tweeted on Friday, "Thank you everyone for all your messages of support, I'm feeling much better now and on the mend -- and also a huge thank you to all the hospital staff for doing a superb job."

FOR THE RECORD, PART SIX

-- Kit Harington is hosting "SNL" on Saturday... Sara Bareilles is the musical guest...

-- And on Friday NBC announced that Adam Sandler will host the show, for the very first time, on May 4...

-- Lisa Respers France writes: It's been a rough time of late for Ozzy Osbourne. The rocket is postponing all his 2019 concert dates after illness and an injury...

ICYMI:

My podcast conversation with Jessikka Aro

By now you may have heard about investigative journalist Jessikka Aro and the award she was supposed to receive from the State Department. Something went wrong, and the award was rescinded. Democrats on Capitol Hill have been vocal about this strange case. But I haven't heard much from Aro herself.

So I connected with her in Helsinki for this week's podcast. Did the State Department really rescind her award because she posted critical tweets about President Trump? It sure seems that way. She wants answers -- and she's not alone. We talked about all of it... Plus her ongoing reporting on the "Russian propaganda machine..." Listen to the pod via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, or your favorite app...

Thank you for reading. Email me feedback anytime! See you Sunday on CNN....