| | MEDIA WINNER: Steve Kornacki It has been quite a week for MSNBC national political correspondent Steve Kornacki. And not just because it was Super Tuesday week. The number-crunching elections wonk had several media moments that have put his name near the top of the buzz list, and not initially of his own making. When veteran host and anchor Chris Matthews abruptly announced his departure from the network, it was Kornacki live on air to be the first at MSNBC to react. Kornacki's commentary at the end of that suddenly reorganized news hour were widely lauded, both for his genuineness and for his perspective. Add to that a lengthy and fascinating profile from Vulture naming him a "Wonk Superman" -- not to mention his actual stellar performance as the numbers came in on Tuesday, and it's no wonder that his name is popping up on many shortlists for potential Matthews replacements. But you won't see the tireless "human calculator" parading these moments to promote himself. Which is all the more a media win. 6.5.0 |
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| MEDIA LOSER: Brian Kilmeade When former Obama adviser David Plouffe appeared on Fox & Friends on Thursday, one would have expected some tension over political differences. That expectation exactly underscores the point Plouffe was making when he told co-host Brian Kilmeade that Fox News is President Donald Trump's "happy place." “He doesn’t have the whole network. Every show here is different, said Kilmeade. "And if you talked to him last night on Sean Hannity, is he not happy with this network.” He was referring to Trump's remarks about Fox being too "politically correct." Plouffe rejoined, and Kilmeade snapped back. And it went on like that. It wasn't just that he was defensive about it, or that he wouldn't acknowledge the elephant in the room regarding Plouffe even appearing on the show. It was that it was so overt and noticeable it hit social media, not to mention blogs and news sites. Kilmeade came off poorly and handed the exchange to Plouffe, and a media losing moment to himself. 6.5.0 |
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| Warren Waves Goodbye On Thursday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren waved goodbye to the 2020 Democratic primary, ending her bid for the nomination after losing her home state of Massachusetts on Super Tuesday. Warren held a driveway presser in the afternoon, during which she spoke frankly about the race, about sexism in politics, and her endorsement in the continuing primary. Her fellow Democrats and former rivals had kind words and praise for the Senator. The blue check right? Not so much. Naturally, Trump made hay. Speaking of those former rivals This poll result from Florida has an almost comically wide margin for former VP Joe Biden over his major remaining competitor Sen. Bernie Sanders. You don't see a 49-point spread too often outside of college sports. Schumer and SCOTUS Sen. Chuck Schumer has been under fire for a second day over his comments this week directed toward Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch. You'll recall he was rebuked by Chief Justice John Roberts. On Thursday Schumer addressed it, acknowledging that he chose his words poorly but denying what he said was a threat. It wasn't just the Chief Justice or conservatives who had words for him, however. CNN's Jeffrey Toobin said Schumer's comments were "inappropriate" and did indeed "sound like a physical threat." Fox's Andrew Napolitano weighed in, too, warning the Senator's words could be a "dog whistle." Also on Fox, a guest speaking to Harris Faulkner raised the specter of criminality, somehow. Bizarre Wars President Trump and former 2020 candidate Mike Bloomberg traded "Star Wars"- and "Spaceballs"-themed taunts on Twitter. Honestly we can't describe it any more than that, you'll just have to take a look. Dodge, duck, dip, dive and Dow Up 1,200 on Wednesday. Down a thousand on Thursday. Is the volatility in the Dow Jones Industrial Average the new normal? And how much can one attribute to coronavirus fears? And on the subject of coronavirus Don't miss our special section below featuring a Q&A with Fox News Medical Correspondent Dr. Marc Siegel. 6.5.0 |
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Now who could that be? Former Secretary of State and First Lady Hillary Clinton summarily tossed aside a card with an, ahem, unidentified, cough Democratic candidate’s name on it, during a bit on the The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last night. In the “Bag of Secrets" game, a recurring bit on the show, Clinton pulled names of Democratic 2020 candidates from the bag, saying something about each one of them as a sort of clue to their identity. Then she threw one away. Then Fallon and the crowd reacted. Then you clicked here to laugh along with the moment. |
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PANDEMIC OR PANIC? A GREEN ROOM SPECIAL SECTION |
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A CORONAVIRUS Q&A: Fox's Dr. Marc Siegel spoke with Mediaite this week about the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, for this special section of the Green Room. Mediaite's Caleb Howe asked Dr. Siegel about some of the basic questions people have sent in regarding the virus, as well as the media issues surrounding it. Good afternoon Dr. Siegel, Although the CDC has resources online to cover basic facts about the virus itself and the outbreak in general, a lot of what people ask about are the fundamentals. We've included some of those commonly asked questions. Q: Is Coronavirus just another version of the flu? A: NO - CORONAVIRUS is a respiratory virus that is generally found in mammals and sometimes in humans. Like SARS and MERS, this appears to have started in bats before jumping species and finally ending up in humans. Q: Speaking with Fox's Shannon Bream, you noted coronavirus has "a higher death rate than the yearly flu" but not more than the Spanish Flu at the beginning of the 20th century. Does that represent a scale and, if so, where is COVID-19 on that scale? A: IT IS MUCH CLOSER to the seasonal flu end than to the Spanish Flu, especially when you consider all the thousands of mild or even asymptomatic cases we aren't diagnosing yet. Take South Korea for example: An advanced health care system which has tested over 100,000 people and discovered over 5,000 cases. There, they are finding mild cases, so the death rate is much lower, less than 1 percent, like the flu. Q: How deadly is the coronavirus? A: WE ARE DETERMINING THAT(see above), but we know the death rate is clearly very, very low for young healthy people. Almost all of the deaths have been among elderly people or those with chronic health conditions. Q: Does this potentially become a bigger drain on resources, create more work absences, for example, than the annual flu? A: IF THIS SPREADS through communities, I expect it to be - at worst - equal in magnitude to the impact of the flu, but not greater. We are nowhere near that yet. This year the flu has already infected over 30 million people in the U.S. alone. Q: Can the coronavirus itself get worse? Is there a concern it becomes more virulent, communicable, or deadly? A: IT COULD CHANGE, but most likely it will just become more adapted to human spread and not get worse, per se. Most likely not more virulent or deadly. It will change more subtly than that, no massive change or shift. Q: What would you tell families with children worried about the scary coronavirus news on TV every day? A: KNOW THAT THE PURPOSE of all this public health attention is not because you are in grave danger, but as a way to slow the virus itself before it can become entrenched here. Q: Is the United States doing what we need to do with regard to the coronavirus outbreak? I don't have to tell you that the response itself has become a bit of a political issue, but the real question is whether the proper and best steps are being taken A: THE BEST THING we can do is to put politics aside and back public health leaders and measures taken. The research into anti-virals and vaccine research is proceeding at a rapid pace under Dr. Anthony Fauci 's guidance. We need to keep masks to proper uses (health care professionals and those who are sick). Vice President Mike Pence is pushing for more test kits and they are becoming more available. Physicians need them to calm the fears of those who don't have the virus and isolate those who do. Q: Lastly, Dr. Siegel, I'd like to ask you about press coverage. Are the global headlines and press too much? Is there an undue attention to the outbreak? A: THE ATTENTION IS GOOD if it leads to more support of public health. It is bad if it creates hysteria which disrupts lives and doesn't help fight the virus. Q: Again, thank you so much for your time. Lots of people are seeking clarity about this... pandemic? I know, I'm tacking on another question. Let's think of this as sort of a closer. Would you call this a pandemic? A: IT ISN'T A PANDEMIC YET, BUT IT'S CLOSE It isn't a pandemic yet, but it's close, and will be soon if we continue to see sustained spread in different regions. ---- Dr. Siegel is a Professor of Medicine at New York University School of Medicine, a practicing internist, and a a FOX News Medical correspondent. |
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