and president Trump pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal it was huge global
news front-page headlines everywhere but on CNN and MSNBC that night the story
got bumped down the lineup for the latest on Michael calling The New York
Times and other outlets confirming that an American company with strong ties to
a Russian oligarch who's been banned from the US had paid the president's
personal lawyer five hundred thousand dollars Cohen also took in millions of
dollars from such major corporations as AT&T Novartis and Korean aerospace
industries so just how much media attention does this deserve joining us
now to analyze the coverage Gillian Turner a Fox News correspondent here in
Washington Molly Hemingway he's senior editor at the Federalist and a Fox News
contributor and Capri Cafaro a Washington Examiner contributor and
former Democratic Senate leader in Ohio Gillian
these disclosures about Michael calling our news period but are they more
important than the global impact of the president walking away from the Iran
nuclear agreement is that a rhetorical question and I asked because I think the
answer is so obvious which is no they are not more important than US nuclear
threat the nucleus the nuclear threat against the United States from Iran and
North Korea and the fact that the administration saved three American
hostages this week I think that when it comes to the president pulling out of
the Iran deal in particular though the widespread panning from the media was
really a reflection of what the policy community was saying in this instance
and by that I mean analysts across the board even folks who were initially
critical of the deal the negotiations as they unfolded said now that we're in the
deal it's important we stay in the deal so that the US has perceived is living
up to its word so I think the media was reflecting that sentiment as expressed
by punctuate that point CNN International correspondent Christiane
Amanpour I'm just going to read this possibly the greatest deliberate act of
self harm and self sabotage in the geostrategic politics in the modern era
but let's come back to Cohn as other channels seems to do a lot so what does
it tell you about the focus of CNN and MSNBC at least in primetime going
wall-to-wall with the news that the confirmation of the original
charges thrown out by Michael avenatti about Cohen getting five hundred
thousand from this American company we very close ties to this Russian
billionaire Viktor Vekselberg who as it turns out has been questioned by Robert
mullahs office yeah it was interesting that this was one of the things that was
highlighted I think it's actually important to point out right away that
we know this information because there was a criminal leak from some government
agency now whether that was the Special Counsel or the Treasury Department this
is just the latest in a tremendous series of criminal leaks this one they
claim they're going to be investigating we've had a lot of leaks that haven't
been investigated but it's designed to create a narrative and obviously the
Russia thing was pulled out it was an American company actually who paid the
essential consulting and they do have Russian ties and and that name that we
that you mentioned has been heard before because that was also a big donor to the
Clinton Foundation and whatnot but there is clearly an attempt to tie this to the
Russia conspiracy theory and I thought what was much more interesting this week
was the Department of Justice or some other Intelligence Agency leaking to the
Washington Post what they were suggesting was that they had a mole on
the Trump campaign that's a massive change in a really big important story
that has not been getting a lot of coverage on the other hand on the comb
business Fox primetime shows barely mentioned payments to Michael Cohen and
generally it's gotten far less coverage on this network does it deserve more
well I think that it deserves coverage but I think the question becomes what do
journalists focus on it seems that a you know the cnn's and the MSNBC's of the
world and other mainstream media focused more on the salacious side the building
the narrative as Molly mentioned there are some very serious issues here that I
think warrant more scrutiny one being wouldn't have been necessary for Michael
Cohen to for example be a registered lobbyist with the federal government if
he's going to represent companies like AT&T although although just briefly
there's no nobody's produced any evidence that he actually went to
government officials does it change your policy agreed maybe yeah but he was you
know there was this entire memo on what they what 18 T for example expected
opinion so you know if you think you're going to engage in that kind of activity
should you not be you know that's a question a registered
lobbyist I think the other the you know aspect is this you know quote-unquote
Russian oligarch you know this man is actually being sanctioned by the United
States government and I think that you know if you're going to talk about the
issue of Russia in this context I think it's it's more about you know why is
someone doing business with somebody who now ultimately has been sanctioned
that's why it's important to note that it was an American company actually who
paid the money their leaves with this guy but that doesn't mean that they're
sanctioned but let me take a broader view Gillian and that is the media just
shocked shocked to discover that there's gambling in Casablanca talking here
about these big companies you know so it's not I mean I'm not defending this
practice but DC is a swampy place this has gone on for many many
administrations where you hire someone who is a friend of somebody who's high
up in the White House or the president because you're looking for access and
somebody who can carry your message there is nobody Howie that the press
loathes and is more suspicious of than lobbying firms in Washington DC and I
think to a certain extent the national media is even more critical of lobbying
in Washington than it is of the Trump administration writ large so there is no
surprise that the press has zeroed in on Michael Kahn just you know revelations
about Michael Cohen's lobbying firm called essential consultants a strange
name but essential consultants and their mega hundred mega million-dollar deals
with me I'm sorry but that would be huge news to the American public if the media
actually had a problem with this industry I think the American people
have a huge problem with the industry but I don't think it's well covered it
is really gross like the Michael Cohen story is gross people do trade access
for money and that is something that happens all over the place have you
heard the name have you heard the name Tony Podesta or think about Rahm Emanuel
who made eight five million dollars after that firm for example Podesta
group shuttered after speculation from the media in the late in the wake of
disclosures about what they were doing in the canon let's not forget I disagree
I think the media is no zero not lobbying closing
every I was just saying I disagree I think the media keeps a really good
watchdog eye and a lot of lobbying you know there's a certain acceptance of it
if you live what do people think all of these K Street law firms and lobbying
firms do this I are former White House officials and former congressman it's
all about accents it's all about influence I'm not just to find what
Michael Cawley be regulated because they are lobbying firms that have to disclose
but remember people the American public outside of the swamp voted for President
Trump to drain the swamps so someone so close to him you know being embroiled in
taking this kind of money in a group all the millions of dollars of consulting
and lobbying firms combined have received less coverage than Michael
Cohen has this week I mean in history I think you see how much coverage this
story got compared to the fact that this is a daily industry lobbying and
consulting this is what this entire town is made out of
I did see Axios make a point like obviously this is what this whole town
is about but that has not been the tenor of a lot of become I agree with that and
you know AT&T the CEO now said it was a big mistake to hire Michael Kahn he was
hired in part to help with the proposed merger with Time Warner which the Trump
Justice Department has opposed and again this happens all the time it doesn't
make it right not excusing it at all but it some people are actually just so
shocked over let's come back to Michael avenatti we've played it at the top him
and this is a guy let's hear from him first and last question on the other
side there's been some criticism about how our media strategy and how often I'm
on CNN and how often I've been on your show and other networks etc okay it's
all a bunch of nonsense because here's the bottom line Anderson it's working
okay it's working in spades this is a guy who's been on CNN or MSNBC
more than a hundred times in a couple of months he's representing his client but
how much is he driving the media narrative on all of this well he is the
frontman for what is obviously a well-funded and well coordinated
operation that has received next to no criticism or reflection by many people
in the media I saw something that showed that he had a hundred and seventy-five
million dollars in free coverage on on the various networks and I think it is
worth asking like who is this guy how does he have access to special counsel
or Treasury Department documents who are his connections who's paying for this we
know that he ostensibly represents store Daniel she has said she's not paying him
I think it's worth finding out just a little bit more about this thing that is
driving so much of the coverage right and some of the information that he got
that came from these leaked records and there's now a Treasury IG investigation
of this were wrong you had a different Michael Cohen who lives in Canada and he
says well 99% of it was right I mean don't you think that television anchors
and reporters need to question him more aggressively rather than just putting
him on show after show if the show say okay what do you got come on what do you
got it what do you got on Trump what do you got on stormy yeah I mean look I
mean I think that that the network's have really most of the network's at
least have really taken the bait you know Michael avenatti is absolutely a
self-promoter and I think that they really just want to continue to again
focus on the more salacious aspects of it and there has not been a counterpoint
to you know what what Molly and others have said there's no questioning of
Michael avenatti it's just tell us more dirt and there's no checks and balance
and that's not journalism and I want to make one other interesting point about
avenatti I just saw today in Politico they just reported that Michael avenatti
had dinner just this weekend in New York with Ronan Farrow who you know famously
just you know took down the New York Attorney General so I'm sure that wasn't
just a friendly visit well there's been a little question Michael avenatti in my
view not enough and not aggressively enough and it is kind of an imbalance
because if Michael Cohen is basically not talking to some reporters chasing
him into a taxi and he said that says was inaccurate his attorney is not out
there very much and then you have another lawyer who
seems to and let's just say enjoy being on television is speculated by getting
his own show one day and I understand why the media cover him and he's a
camera already guest but that seemed a little imbalanced to you it seems in
balance Laura Ingraham made the point in the open of the show that he's avenatti
has treated sort of like an analyst or a commentator on these programs when in
fact he's the representative representing one specific interest in
the case I would just say then isn't it incumbent upon the Trump team to provide
a counterpoint to that narrative if he's the lawyer representing stormy Daniels
mr. Trump's the president the president's representative should be
speaking out more as well oh it is Michael Cohen whose honor
only on these particular points a lot more to learn about this
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