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galaxies when politics, media and the courts are drawn into an existential battle over the white house, the hill, the supremes, donald trump, joe biden, hunter biden and, well, the american way of life. it's the ultimate drama for the main stream media which have practically created opposition camps in this presidential election year. looming over the landscape is the nation's highest court which agreed to hear trump's appeal on the crucial question of presidential immunity. shannon if bream ahead on that. many in the media see this as the right way to settle such a weighty question while many others in the media are calling this a stall thing tactic to delay the january 6th case past the election. it's all a been fast and furious. illinois has become the third state to kick trump off the ballot, and we're waiting for a supreme court ruling on that. and given the con. census that this is a -- consensus that this is a very bad and undemocratic idea, i don't know why scotus isn't moving faster. oh, and we narrowly alerted a

government shutdown. there's also the stunning news of mitch mcconnell stepping down as republican leader. an embarrassing hearing for georgia d.a. fani willis and hunter biden being grilled again behind closed congressional doors, not to mention the former president clobbering nikki haley in michigan heading into super tuesday. so you can see why those of us in the news business are suffering from vertigo, staggering from one huge story to the next just trying to keep up. i'm howard or kurtz and this is "mediabuzz". ♪ ♪ ♪ howard: let's turn to the calamity at the southern border which president biden decided to visit on thursday and donald trump decided to visit on thursday knowing full well the media would turn out in force. the former president went to the border in eagle pass, texas, and the current president was 300 mile away in brownsville with

the pundits waging rhetorical war. >> this is a joe biden invasion. this is a biden invasion over the past three years. credit carded joe has -- crooked joe as the blood of countless victims. >> here's what i would say to mr. trump: instead of playing politics with this issue, instead of telling members of congress to block this legislation, join me. or i'll join you in telling the congress to pass this bipartisan border security bill. >> biden and trump brought every news camera in the country to the border today. it's an optics war and trump won. the voters have soured on joe, there is no coming back. >> what you see is republicans and specifically donald trump being more trusted on the border even though he's literally saying they want to build camps, they want to bring back, quote-unquote, operation wetback with. they want to do mass deportations. >> the press is not worried that too many illegals are coming to the united states among them criminals, the press is worried that tough policies could stop

more from coming. >> donald trump says people are going to die because the southern border isn't secure, and he wants them to continue to die every single day that he is not president. finish. howard: joining us now to analyze the coverage in nashville, tomi lahren, host of tomi lahren is fearless, and with me, the former assistant deputy secretary of state in the obama administration. tom if i, donald trump and joe biden both went to the border. trump's message was it's an illegal invasion and biden has blood on his hands. biden's message was trump should work with him to pass the tough bipartisan border bill. which message if broke through the media static? >> i think it's also important to note that the only reason that there was that media presence at both points on that u.s.-mexico border was because donald trump went. you know, we know that president joe said that he was unaware

that donald trump was planning a trip. i think we all can surmise that probably wasn't true, so the only reason the media was there and they had to be there with both president joe and and president trump is because donald trump said he's going to go to that southern border. but bottomically, i think it speaks for itself when you see former president trump standing there flanked by the border patrol union, flanked by texas governor greg abbott that has tone the most to protect the border, i think it's quite obvious optically which one of these men truly has a desire to secure the border, which man has already done it and which man was standing this for a photo op. i think it's also obvious when you've got joe standing inside looking at the teleprompter, it looked much better for the former president. howard: well, trump was reading from notes. look, biden's -- [inaudible] but that's kind of a dirty word for maga republicans. does the president making that offer, to work together with trump, help him even if the media are portraying him as a being the reasonable guy?

>> well, to start, i think i disagree with tomi because, you know, generally we see immigration, we just see donald trump across the screen. here, irrespective of who was reading notes or using the teleprompter, it was split screen. so right off the bat joe biden ate into 50% of donald trump's coverage a.. it's great that they were both there because they're talking about immigration. it's one of the leading issues of 2024, and they both need to do it. i mean, from my perspective this should have been george bush and barack obama there because of over the last 24 years, 12 -- 12 of republican, 12 of democrats, this is still a mess if. donald trump didn't break it, joe biden didn't break it. howard: it's an absolute mess. and, tomi, illegal immigration, i would say now is the number one or who number two issue depending on your politics in the campaign. obviously, a democratic liability, nobody can dispute that. but big city mayors also unhappy

with joe biden as some of these migrants have been shifted to their areas. why did it take so long for most of the media -- fox excepted -- to cover this as the full-blown crises it is? >> well, the the media, in order for them to see what's going on, they have to be there, and it's easier, much easier to ignore if it altogether. and they were able to for the first two and a half years, maybe even three years able to really ignore it. we've seen these surges, these caravans. the media said it wasn't a crisis because the administration said it wasn't a crisis, so they followed suit. but when you start the seeing these busloads, when you start seeing them being dropped off in new york city and chicago, sanctuary city mayors crying foul, the media had to jump in, they had to cover it, they had to admit it was a crisis. now it's just a he said-she said who's to blame, but i think the american people know this was not a crisis under donald trump, and they see it's a crisis now. so it's unavoid bl, they're going to have to cover this.

there is going to be, i believe -- it is going to be, i believe, the number one issue, but with it also impacts the economy. s i do believe number one issue, media's got to cover. howard: trump's approach to border security, obviously, was very controversial at the time. and, philippe, this is a question most of the media won't ask, do you think joe biden missed an opportunity to do manager dramatic? -- something dramatic? why would he and his people leak to the press that he's considering a border crackdown through executive orders, then go to the border and do nothing concrete? >> well, i would take a step back. one thing we haven't talked about is that one of the most important pieces of legislation that could have combated what's going on at the border was scuttled by house republicans. not by joe biden, not by senate democrats. right now republican, intraparty politics, had that not taken over including donald trump supposedly wanting to keep the issues -- because you're right, the poll numbers are horrific

for the president, and people want to keep that as is. they don't want to fix it. but right now we could be talking about how there was bipartisan legislation to make things better, and you have to ask why. the president's turning to executive orders because he's not getting negative from the house of representatives -- howard: and i understand trump's role and the republicans' role, but at the same time he could have used the powers that he had, you know, other people complain about it, and i thought it was a missed opportunity. tomi, do you think the media are rooting for a bipartisan border bill that went down in flames in part because it contains desperately needed aid to ukraine? >> of course. there's been this fix sayings on money to ukraine with -- fixation. and, you know, the media and those in the beltway, they can talk about that until they're blue in the face but, you know, i live here in nashville, tennessee. i don't live in new york, d.c., california anymore, thank goodness, so i can tell you that average folks in the middle of this country, in the southern parts of this country, when we're looking at an invasion on

our southern border, when we hear our politicians and the media talk about ukraine aid until they are blue in the face, it really irritates us. it really irritates us that is at the tip of their tongue and they're trying to tie it to protecting our border as if they have to go hand in hand. they do not. protect our border first. average americans are going to be calling for this. the media has not picked up on that, but if they're wise, they will. howard: but with you obviously understand that whether, whatever you want to say first, second, third that ukraine was the subject to a brutal invasion by russia, many, many civilians have been killed and now i think ukraine aid might pass, but they can't get a vote. so are you saying -- i understand protect the border first, but are you say average americans don't -- saying average americans don't care about a ukraine in. >> i'm not saying they don't care about ukraine. certainly, we have empathy for the people in ukraine and their plight and their struggle. nobody wants to see what's happening happen. no one wants to see what's happening right now in gaza happen either. but when you look at a it from

the perspective of the average american who's struggling right now to afford groceries, their mortgage, gas prices, when you've got ceos of cereal companies saying eat cereal because you probably can't afford your other dinner, i think americans have a hard time swallowing we need to send money to ukraine in perpetuity. we don't see an end to this, and until we can get our home front figured out, i've got to tell you, i don't think the average american really cries a lot of tears for ukraine when they're busy crying their own tears over their own economy. howard: ukraine is losing ground as we speak to the russians. can one man, speaker mike mike johnson, really keep this off the floor? >> apparently, the speakership under the republican part is not the way it used to be in terms of people getting what they want. but, you know -- howard: not the way it used to be when kevin mccarthy was there? >> or speaker patrick -- so long ago, we date ourselves. howard: yeah. >> i saw someone recently say if rocky iv had come out this year,

republicans would be voting for ivan drag go. [laughter] you made the point, ukraine, the way we're helping is the cheapest money we could spend to show russia's what's. -- what's what. i don't know when that changed or why that changed among the republican party, but it's important. of it's not either or. we can walk and chew bum and fund ukraine. that does not excuse scuttling the immigration bill for political reasons, and that's what happened, period. there's nothing more to it. and mike johnson can't prevent it. it's a free-for-all there. howard: let me play a clip of cnn cutting away from the tail end of donald trump's remarks at the border and anchor caitlin collins saying this -- >> just those brief remarks there, he made several lie, told several lies about the border, also misrepresented his own past on the border. howard: all right. 20-second answer from each of you. tomi, do you have a problem with how cnn handled it? >> of course. they don't want to allow the

former president to speak because when he's able to speak and address the audience of cnn that makes them uncomfortable because that audience just might see and hear something they're not used to, and he might win some hearts and minds. i also looked at some of the fact checking that they did supposedly, and it's laughable at best. howard: yeah. cnn did carry most of us. msnbc didn't carry biden or trump. philippe, your take. >> let's make this clear, the reason that the networks have to do this is because trump is making it necessary. he is abusing lye tv to -- live tv to tell lies. if i lie to you right now, maybe i made a mistake, maybe not. if i come back on next week and say the same thing, you shouldn't have me on a third week -- howard: let me write this down. >> what trump did for the first term is he ran roughshod over the network. they never put him live, they were too afraid to do it, and one of the lessons was call it

out, and he makes it impossible to not do that. cnn didn't want to give him an audience, they wouldn't have cut to him. of. howard: when we come back, the media's take on the latest closed door deposition of hunter biden before the whole spectacle goes public. ♪ feeling claritin clear is like... ♪ is she? playing with the confidence of a pro and getting all up in that grass as if she doesn't have allergies? yeah. nice. the day you get your clearchoice dental implants makes every day... a "let's dig in" day... mm. ...a "chow down" day... a "take a big bite" day... a "perfectly delicious" day...

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howard: television cameras and reporters were kept outside as a house committee conducted a second closed door deposition with hunter biden. >> it appears so far that hunter biden is holding his own. he is answering questions, he has not, we're told, inevoked the fifth amendment. >> there is concrete proof through e-mails that joe biden was using hunter to make it rain, but the media says it's political. this is from the most politically-driven media in

history. howe to howe hunter biden saying in his deposition my father was not suttinging next to me, my father had no awareness of the business i was doing, i take full responsibility for being an absolute ass and id got when i spent that message, if i did. i was drunker and probably high. but the -- drunk and probably high. with but the president's son is ignored the media's questions as he left the hearing. tomi, let's start with the transcript. hunter blames the addiction for incriminating texts that he says was sent to the a different chinese person with a similar name to that of a chinese energy executive. he says we can put it up on the screen, oh, i've already read that, but let me just make the point he's talked a lot about his addiction, his former addiction. and and how do you think that comes across as a story and how average a people react to it? >> listen, the media has been coddling this since the early days of the whole hunter biden saga. so unfortunately, it's working. unfortunately for republicans,

they've been working very hard to get this across the finish line and have so much evidence, but unfortunately the way the media's been able to frame this is that joe biden is just a great father, he loves his son, his son struggled with addiction issues, and we saw that with his testimony because every time that hunter biden was asked a pointed question, he was able to get out of it by saying, well, my addiction, maybe i was drunk, maybe i was high. now, we don't want to poke fun at anybody with addiction issues, but this has been very easy for him to get out of simply by using that as an excuse. and i expect the media to continue eating it up. howard: philippe, the media are also covering the criminal indictment of hunter biden. my question to you is journal is and pundits have -- journalists and pundits, do they have sympathy for hunter biden at this point? >> i don't think so. i read everything across the board, and it's not like there's a dearth of coverage on hunter biden i think because his name is biden, that supersedes

anything else with any media outlet, their interest. but the setting of that telling you everything. -- tells you everything. the republicans wanted him behind closed doors because they don't want anyone to see matt gaetz saying crazy things like were you on cocaine as you wrote this -- howard: but -- [inaudible] >> hunter biden wanted a public hearing. howard: and now he's going to get it. as jim comer -- >> we'll see. the reason for that is they don't want re, republicans don't want for us, the voters, to turn on our television and to see the dynamic of beating up on the it's not going to look good. and that's different from looking into it. howard: right. tom if i, both sides have been spinning it, and in this other televised hearing comes about, i can just imagine the ratings. jim comer says the deposition was successful, they were able to prove several bits of our evidence, that's a quote from the congressman. the question the mainstream media keep asking is, where's the proof that joe biden got a dime? >> yeah, and that's folk to be

the difficult part -- going to be the difficult part for republicans. as somebody who does believe there's plenty of evidence here, i think this has failed optically for republicans. they've done good work. obviously, jim jordan, comer have done good work on this, but optically it does make it seem as though they're beating up on someone with addiction issues. that's how they framed it and, unfortunately, that's what's coming to fruition. i would encourage republicans, let's focus on the election, on the failed policies of joe biden. this impeach. inquiry, unfortunately, is falling flat with a lot of viewers and voters or. >> tomi and i found common ground. howard: failed optics. what comer said after the news broke, that the star witness, the former fbi informant if that the committee was relying on, told that he was reliable, had been indicted for lying about his biden family corruption allegations. what comer or said was he might not even ask the house to vote

on impeachment, wants to wind this up. is this a sign that this balloon is deflating? >> absolutely. the balloon was pretty empty to begin with because, as you said, it's relying on a witness that has been discredited, arrested, the whole nine yards. i think the republicans are working backwards from assuming guilt, wanting guilt the same way they did with hillary clinton in benghazi. these hears and investigations are not on the up and up. they work back wards from guilt. and what they're doing with hunter is they're just not finding it. they're finding a person that's had a terrible couple of decades and a person who's had personal things that have bothered him, that have taken him down, that must tear his parents apart to no end. but that's not what congress does. congress has looked into something, they're not finding it, but they won't let it go. and mike johnson, back to the earlier point, he's not authorized to let it go because you have people in that caucus that are not going to stop. the republican if conference are going to keep going until they find someone that says something

that lets them beat it to death. howard: well, inpoochment or not -- impeachment or not, there is still the hunter biden criminal case, so he will continue tock in the news. good discussion -- to be in the news. up next, shannon bream on the supreme court sparking a fierce if media debate by taking donald trump's appeal on presidential immunity. ♪ ♪

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howard: when the supreme court agreed to hear donald trump's appeal, it was like a media explosion. the stakes are sky high, and not scheduling oral arguments until april, slowing down the january 6th trial. >> now, if trump receives a favorable ruling on immunity from the supreme court, jack smith's january 6th case likely goes up in flames. >> this is become s., you are doing this as aty la story tactic to help your partisan patron.

and for you to say that this is something that the court needs to decide because it's something that's unclear in the law is just flagrant, flagrant bull picky. howard: i spoke with shannon bream, the host of "fox news sunday," a short time ago. welcome. >> it is great to be with you, howie. howard: same here. the supreme court may be on solid ground in taking donald trump's immunity claim, but the media are saying that by scheduling the oral arguments in late april, they are slowing down the january 6th trial. fair point? >> it is slowing it down a bit, but the fact is, this is rocket docket speed for the supreme court. normally it takes you years to get there. so while it may feel like a delay to i -- to some, this is very speedy by supreme court standards. howard: i looked it up and in the 2000 election which the supreme court essentially decided, took five days if from ruling to -- excuse me, from the filing to the ruling. media liberals go further, as you know. they say at least five

conservative justices are aiding and abetting donald trump, trying to insure that no federal trial will be finished before the election. obviously implication is if the former president wins back his old job, he or his a.g. will shut it down. going a little far in terms of assign ising political motivation? >> the fact is taking up the president's case, the former president's case, that only takes four votes, and we don't get a readout on the vote. we don't know who at least four of those people were. the fact is this trial was supposed to start on march 4th, monday. for a criminal trial, that would have been pretty speedy. this is always going to be pretrial motions and discovery and things that slow it down. jack smith has argued this is a matter of national importance, we want votes to know before they go to the polls. on the other side, there are millions of pages in discovery, why speed if up this trial because to speed if it up would also potentially appear if

political. howard: yeah. either way, you get a lot of -- >> kind of a rorschach test. howard: yes. >> depending on where you are is how you view this case. howard: and special counsel jack smith knowing the trial was already being delayed, for how long we don't know, he's also handling the classified documents case. expected to take about six weeks. he wants to start in july, trump says august. is this a little like college basketball before the shot clock where one team wants the hurry-up offense and the other is slow-walking everything? >> and the funny thing is the idea of a speedy trial in our legal system is generally to the benefit of a defendant. they have the right to push and say, come on, my justice is being delayed. it's not that it goes to the prosecutorial side which is how it feels in this case. there's no denying there is a national election coming. that's definitely part of the conversation. but courts don't want to be driven by outside if exigencies if they don't have to. they worry about that looking pretty -- political. i think the last thing the supreme court wants to do is look like they're putting a weight on the scale, but jack smith himself argued back in

december they were the only court who could decide this immunity question. howard: yeah. and a illinois judge the other day knocking donald trump off the ballot when the supreme court is weighing that very question, do states have the authority to do that. sounds to me a little bit like grandstanding. we already know from oral arguments that they're likely to restore trump to the ballot. >> yeah. and that could come at any moment. you have two states in super tuesday who have said we don't think you should be on the ballot. to. their voters are going to wonder whether their votes are going to count. but this judge in illinois who made that decision, she basically was overturning what a bipartisan commission has decided was he could stay on the ballot. so the minute she does that, there will be detractors who say that's also political, and it's a question folks are asking. howard: we have just a few seconds, but i know that justices like to hone their opinions and their dissents and concurring opinions. couldn't they write a little quicker? [laughter] the whole country's waiting here. >> the whole country is waiting

and on this colorado decision especially with folks heading in on super tuesday, i'm a little surprised we don't have it yet. i think definitely sooner rather than later for that one. it's not going to be a june decision that they drop on us. howard: shannon bream, thanks very much for letting us on your set. >> good to see you. howard: next on "mediabuzz," the key witness against georgia d.a. fani willis says she was already sleeping with her boyfriend when she gave him the job but is grilled on the stand. ♪ ♪ enery with viking. unpack once and get closer to iconic landmarks, local life and cultural treasures. because when you experience europe on a viking longship, you'll spend less time getting there and more time being there. viking. exploring the world in comfort.

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so when i first started golo, i was expecting to lose around 40 pounds and then i just kept losing weight, and moving and moving and moving in a better direction. with golo and release, you're gonna lose the weight. planning to move? join the 6 million families who discovered a smarter, more flexible way to move, with pods. save up to 20% now for a limited time. whether you're moving across town or across the country. save up to 20% at pods dot com today. howard: it was a dramatic showdown for fani willis, the fulton county d.a. investigating donald trump. pressed on whether she lied about when she began her romantic relationship with nathan wade, the lawyer she hired as chief prosecutor. wade's former law partner and divorce lawyer cited by a trump co-defendant that the couple was dating all along, but bradley ran into a tough cross-examination if. >> no, i have no direct knowledge of when the

relationship started. it was, i was speculating. i didn't have a -- no one told me i was speculating. >> no one told you that? >> no one told me that. howard: joining us now in florida, susan ferrechio, a washington times national poll ticks correspondent sprgs here with me on the set, richard fowler, talk show host. susan, what's the bottom line of this hearing which the cable news networks took again live because it's so a addictive, in which that key witness tried to prove that fani willis and her ten-boyfriend committed perjury about the start of their intimate relationship? >> well, his text messages are different than the way he testified. his text messages were more definitive when he spoke to one of the defense lawyers in the case earlier saying that he knew that they were having a relationship prior to his hiring. and if when he got on the stand, he then said he couldn't

remember and he wasn't really exactly sure. so you have the text messages that he sent definitively versus what he said later on the stand. i think the most interesting thing about this, howie, is as you just said, it was addictive and it was aired live on television by many cable networks. it gave the public an opportunity to see it for themselves and to decide whether they think fani willis belongs on the case. so the judge will make a decision, but the public also a got an interesting hook at the case that they normally wouldn't get. howard: yeah. >> i think that was really important. howard: yeah. i think you will agree it was addictive. the media consensus is that the d.a.'s lawyer destroyed the credibility of terrance bradley when he was reduced to saying i was speculating. that's not the same thing as hard evidence. >> but, look, i think going into this whole idea for all the defendants in this case was this terry character was supposed tab their -- to be their star witness. he fell apart on stage. i think we have to zoom out just a minute and go back to

testimony that fani willis gave about a week or so ago. she said this is not necessarily about me, this is about the folks who tried to defraud the 2020 election. and i think that is the part here that i think is the most critical. when she said that, she is correct. whether you agree that they're guilty or innocent, the fact that these folks had another slate of electorses, they have evidence of them walking in to vote tallies and and all a sorts of things, and the problem now what they've done in an almost say a fantastic way, they've muddied the waters and made this about a fani willis, about her alleged affair with the chief prosecutor that she hired instead of the fact that on the january 2020 election where folks were trying to defraud the election, and that's problematic. howard: but of course it's about her, it's not an alleged affair. it had to do with the timing. donald trump posting an all-caps slam against fani willis sex-capades, that's the word he

used. even if you think she should stay in the job, how could she put in jeopardy such an important prosecution by a minimum supervising as the chief prosecutor her boyfriend at the time who was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by the state? >> and he was a divorce lawyer. he wasn't even someone necessarily qualified to take on in this prosecution. i think one of the things the judge said on mid during that trial, the final closing arguments, was really important. one of the defense lawyers, rather, said to the judge what is the public going to think of this? the perception of this case is very important, and what was going on with fani willis and her hiring of this prosecutor is as important as whether or not she violated ethics rules which is another big issue. knotts like let's just make this about fani willis. there are rules that she appears to have violated in hiring nathan wade from the get go that jeopardize the legitimacy of the case. people are say saying, two-thirds of americans in some of these cases say these prosecutions against the president are political.

it's really important that the public has confidence in our legal system and in our elections. 40. howard: yeah. >> and talking about whether this is election interference, trying to put trump on trial and put him in jail so that he can't run for president. it's all important. that that's why the legitimacy of this case and the way it was conducted by fannie willis is extremely important. howard: i have another question for you, richard, but just briefly, if fani willis is thrown off the case, that's the judge's decision, this could be the end of the rio --ly coe prosecution. >> it could be with. there's been a number of individuals, folks who have been on this, folks in other places who have already taken plea bar gains, already pleaded guilty -- howard: yes, prominent if trump lawyers. >> prominent lawyers pled guilty to engaging in electoral fraud and violation of georgia law. whether or not they get to the president is another story, but to say this case is hogwash is ridiculous when folks have already pled guilty news a bay know they committed a crime.

howard: i want to turn to some remarks the former president trump made to black conservatives about his connection with that particular audience. >> and a lot of people said that that's why the black people like you, because they have been hurt so badly and discriminated against. [applause] and they actually viewed me as i'm being discriminated against. it's been pretty amazing. howard: richard, trump has taken a lot of media flak for saying that and some related remarks. fair or unfair? >> i think that's definitely fair. look, where the president is right, there is discrimination in our legal system, no question about it. black women are prosecuted more than anybody else. we've seen the disparities between crack cocaine and regular cocaine. we can go on and on. donald trump is not the poster child for what's wrong with the justice system. the average black man in this country is. and if the former president wants to do something about it, he would pass more laws to

ticket9 -- fix it. if. howard: all right. let me get susan in. >> trump is definitely doing well with minorities, and it's scaring the heck out of the biden campaign. he's doing particularly well in some of these swing states where minority vote is going to be critical for when biden can hang only. georgia, for example, where his approval rating -- biden's approval ating has plummeted, and now he's on the verge of losing the state to trump in 2024. so it's a huge issue, and it has a lot to do with the economy and other things that the minorities feel the biden administration is not doing enough for them on those issues. howard: well, let me just point out in a fox poll out today, 28% of blacks say they're going to vote for donald trump versus 4 at this time in 2020. >> that's huge. howard: okay. we've got to tush to something else now. turn to something else now. former fox news correspondent catherine herridge has been held in contempt and ordered to pay $800 a day until

she reveals a confidential source involving a probe of a chinese-american scientist who filed a civil suit after not being charged. the move if recently laid out by cbs is a terrible idea that should be killed on appeal. there's a reason such civil orders are rarely imposed unless there's an issue of overriding national importance. a fox statement said that holding a journalist in contempt for protecting a confidential source has a deeply chilling effect on journalism. fox news media remains committed to protecting the rights of free press and freedom the of speech and believes this decision should be appealed. after the break, we're heading into super tuesday, just two days after donald trump or buried nikki haley in yet another state. ♪ ♪ ♪ moving piles of earth, just by moving a lever. ♪ towing up to 4,000 lbs with a machine that weighs less than half that. cutting grass, clearing the way,

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veterinary professionals administering librela who are pregnant, trying to conceive, or breast feeding, should take extreme care to avoid self-injection, which could cause allergic reactions like anaphylaxis. this is the best day of my life! howard: we're two days away if super tuesday, the last -- in the last cop test in michigan didn't go so well for nikki haley. >> this is donald trump's republican party. nobody can duplicate that, not even nikki haley. >> they're, quote, freaking out that biden bleeding support from arab-american voters in michigan. howard: susan, let's start with the republicans and when donald trump meet nikki haley in michigan 68-26% and he has 247 delegates to her 24, the obvious media question which reporters have asked again and again is why is navally still in this race. >> -- nikki haley still in this race. >> especially because in the upcoming week or so is trump is

poised enough to -- to pick up enough delegates to become the nominee. she's talked about sticking it out through super tuesday. does she want to remain out there as a possible third party candidate on no the labels, the group that is trying to get on the ballot in many states, or is she trying to prop up her political career, or does she just want to remain out there to show that there are at least, you know, 30 percent of voters who want to vote for somebody else, which is troubling for president biden heading into the general election? nobody's quite sure what her reasoning is. she certainly has the money to stay in for now, but after super tuesday, i think people are really going to start asking her what exactly is your game plan specifically, because she hasn't really laid it out at this point. howard: yeah. well, she may not fully know. richard, we can debate the tactics that she goes too easy on trump for too long, but as with ron desantis and others, maybe the only thing that

mattered was trump's grip on the party. >> it's clear that trump is going to be the gop nominee. but there's a point that susan made i think that's very important for us to recognize. in every unwolf these primary -- one of these primary competitions, we've seen her get anywhere from 28-40% of republican voters. this is problematic for a guy that this is supposed to be a coronation for him and he's running as the quasi-incumbent. can he go back and get those 40% of republicans to come on his side. with that being said, the goal of this campaign is to try to woo with african-american voters and that tee know voters. what we're seeing from this president is no message, rhetoric or policy positions that woo these voters e overral auto-- at all, and he's dealing with the fact that 30% of his party is not with him right now. howard: susan, the press made a big deal out of up uncommitted getting 13% in michigan opposed the biden's 81%. does a protest vote hike that

deserve more -- like that deserve more coverage? >> i think it got some pretty decent coverage, i know we talked about it a lot at least in our paper. howard: yeah. >> i think for biden his bigger problem in the general election is probably going to be various third party candidates, robert f. kennedy jr., others pulling away some of those vote es. but in michigan i didn't think that was such a big deal that there was that protest vote specifically over that one issue. howard: yeah. >> his larger issue, i think, is just going to be -- let's look back at what richard was saying, look at the general election polls at this point. biden is losing to trump in key swing states. howard: right. >> and it does not look positive for him at this point. howard: i should mention -- >> swing states are so important. howard: this new fox poll out today gives trump a 2-point lead over joe biden. that's within the margin of error. new york times gives trump a 5-point lead. richard, a lot of democrats are up happy with biden including on the mideast war and the

catastrophe in gaza. what's wrong with -- >> i think they should, and i think what you've seen from the president is some movement from the biden administration or the biden state department to move bibi netanyahu and the israelis closer to a peace deal. i think what has to be said about this new york times poll -- howard: shocking poll, said drudge. >> this was the same poll that said there was going to be a red wave in 02020 -- 2022. [laughter] howard: it seems like so long ago. susan, richard, thanks for joining u. 6789. still to come, the surprising news that mitch mcconnell is giving up his leadership post. ♪ and if you have cut rate car insurance, this could leave you all bent out of shape. ahhh! so, get allstate and be better protected from mayhem. hahaha. if your moderate to severe crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms are stopping you in your tracks...

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>> one of life's most underappreciated talents is to know when it's time to move on

to life's next chapter. howard: senator mitch mcconnell stunning the media and the world by saying he'll step down in november from his longtime post as republican leader. joining us now, mike emmanuel with, fox news chief washington correspondent. mike, when mcconnell admitted that aid to ukraine could not pass because donald trump9 and the republicans had blown up the bipartisan border deal and then he makes this striking announcement, was he waving the white flag that this is now donald trump's republican party? >> i think there's some of that, for sure. i think he realizes there are a number of people who are more trump-inspired republicans where he's more of a reagan-inspired republican. and so he's heard some criticism from system of his own rank and fail senators which he's not used to hearing, and so i think he's 82 years old, he's had some health issues, there have been some concerns. and so he's had a long run, and his legacy, i think, is solid. so i think he decided perhaps it was time to have a new voice, a new face, leaving the -- leading

the conference forward in the new congress. howard: my chance he thought he might not have the votes to get reelected to the post? >> quite possibly. he's been in power a long time. he knows he's done a lot of what he wants to do. look at the 6-3 majority on the supreme court, the conservative majority. i talked to some liberals in recent days who say, you know, they didn't agree with anything mitch mcconnell did, i be they respected the way he used husband power. he got things done -- his power, he got things done for his conference and republican presidents. howard: when there was a meeting at the white house to talk about avoiding a government shutdown as well as military aid the ukraine and the border, chuck schumer and hakeem jeffries there for the dems, mike johnson there for the republicans, mitch mcconnell wasn't at that meeting. was that a telltale sign, do you think? >> i think they knew that they needed to get mike if johnson onboard with something, and so the bottom line is mcconnell could be a yes and they could pass the senate, but if it can't pass the house, then you've got a big problem. and so i think it was a big emphasis to bring in speaker

johnson and try to get him onboard with doing something. howard: right. mcconnell, an outspoke. en advocate of aid to ukraine which is controversial within the republican party. mcconnell crushed a lot for the conservative -- accomplished a lot for the conservative cause at the same time doing deals with the democrats. media liberals and left-wingers will never forgive him for refusing to give merrick garland, barack obama's nominee to the supreme court, even a hearing and then 11 months -- that was 11 months before the election. and then just before the election, mcconnell pushed through amy coney water for tha. >> she was nominated on -- she was confirmed before a november if 34rd election and, bottom line, a lot of conventional wisdom in washington was, oh, wait until after the election. mitch mcconnell said he was going to get it done, he got her

through and that makes it a 6-3 majority as opposed to 5-4. howard: right. cemented his conservative credentials, but he also became an object of a lot of -- well, i was going to say derision, but it doesn't matter because he was respected except in that instance. i think he was seen as a breaking his own rules. but he's been majority leader, minority leader and majority leader, it's hard to imagine someone else in that job. mike emmanuel, always good to see you. that's it for this edition of media was. subscribe to my daily podcast, "media buzzmeter." we've had millions of downloads as i riff on the day's top five stories. itunes is a good place to do it. you've heard me say this before, but we will be back here next sunday, 11 a.m. eastern, with what remains the only media analysis show on national television. mug. ♪

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