COMNG UP NEXT: Bill Barr on Capitol Hill, Alex Trebek on "GMA," AOC documentary on Netflix, Hulu on stage, and more...
Mueller v. Barr
Remember when The New York Times broke this story on April 3? "Some on Mueller's Team Say Report Was More Damaging Than Barr Revealed."
Turns out we didn't know the half of it. Robert Mueller himself was concerned about the way A.G. Bill Barr's four-page letter had framed his report. And Mueller said so in a March 27 letter to Barr. We just didn't know it until now.
On Tuesday both the NYT and the Washington Post were working on stories about Mueller's previously undisclosed private letter. The Post's story hit first, just after 7 p.m., and the NYT followed just a few minutes later. When the stories hit, I felt a flashback to the days of 2017 and 2018 when the Times and the Post published dueling scoops the way fighters trade blows...
Mueller was watching...
The Post also reported that Mueller and Barr spoke by phone on March 28. "In that call, Mueller said he was concerned that media coverage of the obstruction investigation was misguided and creating public misunderstandings about the office's work."
Many analysts believe that was the whole point. "Barr put out a misleading summary, designed to spin it in a much more pro-Trump direction -- to shape the perception of the Mueller report forever," Jeffrey Toobin said on "AC360." "What we didn't know until today was that Mueller was pissed."
Wall-to-wall coverage on Wednesday
Wednesday "is now a really big day," CNN's Chris Cuomo said Tuesday night. Democratic senators said on CNN and MSNBC that they are rewriting their Q's for A.G. Bill Barr's Wednesday morning hearing.
As is typical on nights like this, Fox gave the breaking news a lot less attention... But Fox and the other cablers will begin special coverage of the Barr hearing at 9 a.m. ET...
When will Mueller speak?
This is one of the biggest Q's on the minds of beat reporters. As Don Lemon said Tuesday night, "the person we really need to hear from, as soon as possible, is Bob Mueller."
Perhaps he should have spoken out back in March? Elise Jordan said on MSNBC that "so much time passed" between the time Barr "set the narrative" and the time the redacted report came out. "You have an institutionalist playing by the rules," she said, referring to Mueller, "when no one else that he's up against is following those rules."
FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE
-- CNN counted every falsehood the Mueller report called out from President Trump or his associates. The team found 77... (CNN)
-- "Democrats say congressional obstruction is pushing some to think about impeachment..." (CNN)
-- Sylvie McNamara profiles CNN analyst Asha Rangappa and her "vigorous defense of democracy..." (ELLE)
-- MSNBC analyst Chuck Rosenberg is launching a new weekly podcast with the network: "The Oath" will feature conversations with former law enforcement officials... (Twitter)
KFILE's newest reporting about Stephen Moore
As reporting keeps coming out about Fed pick Stephen Moore's controversial comments, multiple Republican senators are openly expressing doubts about supporting him. CNN's KFILE has been leading the way on this reporting... Here's the latest...
NYT's editorial: "A Rising Tide of Anti-Semitism"
The NYT editorial board is out with a new editorial about last week's anti-Semitic cartoon in international editions of the paper. The board says the cartoon is "evidence of a profound danger — not only of anti-Semitism but of numbness to its creep, to the insidious way this ancient, enduring prejudice is once again working itself into public view and common conversation." Here's the editorial... I'll have more about this on Wednesday...
FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO
-- ICYMI: Jeffrey Toobin's close-up look at Michael Cohen's last days of freedom... (The New Yorker)
-- CNN's new poll -- showing Joe Biden breaking away from the 2020 pack -- drove the day in politics. Chris Cillizza says "Biden's past 24 hours could not have gone more perfectly..." (CNN)
-- Robin Givhan's latest on the "dashing young politician" archetype: "Vogue can make anyone look glamorous, including Pete Buttigieg..." (WaPo)
-- Oprah Winfrey's interest in Buttigieg was reported in Lacey Rose's THR cover story Tuesday morning... Then Yashar Ali revealed this: "Mayor Pete had lunch with Oprah" last Sunday... (Yashar)
19 wins in a row | | With Tuesday's "Jeopardy!" win, James Holzhauer is "now tied for the third-longest winning streak in the game's history." His 19-day total is $1,426,330. Here's CNN's full recap...
"Jeopardy!" ratings are up
USA Today's Gary Levin reports: "The game show averaged 9.6 million same-day viewers for the week of April 1-5, when Holzhauer made his first appearance. A week later, the audience climbed to 10.1 million, and for the week of April 15-19, it jumped again to 10.7 million, according to new data out Tuesday. 'Wheel of Fortune,' which is paired with 'Jeopardy!' in many cities, has stayed flat over that time span..."
Trebek on "GMA" on Wednesday
Robin Roberts will speak with Alex Trebek on Wednesday's "GMA." It is Trebek's first interview since he shared the news about his prostate cancer diagnosis in early March. ABC's promo for the interview says: "How's he doing and what does he want you to now know?"
Jon Steinberg sells Cheddar to Altice
WSJ had the scoop: "Cable operator Altice USA agreed to acquire streaming-video network Cheddar for $200 million, an all-cash deal that is expected to raise the profile of the company's news division."
Cheddar CEO and founder Jon Steinberg will become the head of Altice News, a division that will include Cheddar; Altice's local news channels in the New York metro area, called News 12; and the Tel Aviv-based cable news channel i24NEWS. Steinberg told me that the deal is about "doubling down on live news," and to "grow that out in other content areas." He said Cheddar's social distribution skills will be applied to News 12 and i24.
Steinberg built Cheddar from scratch in 2016. He targeted cord-cutters and other customers without cable. He called Cheddar the "leading post-cable network." But then he started cutting carriage deals with Charter, Comcast, etc. And now he's selling to a cable provider. What happened to "post-cable network?" When I asked, he invoked the old adage about having "strong opinions, loosely held." Cheddar is evolving right along with the cable biz... And there's still big $$ in TV...
Hulu's turn at the NewFronts
Hulu has a lot to share with advertisers on Wednesday morning in NYC... It is the streaming service's first big event since Disney gained control of the joint venture... And based on Hulu's previous upfronts, I'm expecting CEO Randy Freer to reveal a new total # of U.S. subscribers at the same time he previews a slate of new shows...
FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE
-- Condé Nast pitched itself as "the new prime time" at an event for advertisers on Tuesday... While Verizon talked up 5G capabilities... AdAge blogged day two of the NewFronts here... (AdAge)
-- Viacom CEO Bob Bakish hasn't been invited to Allen & Co.'s annual Sun Valley media mogul powwow... (Fox Biz)
-- Cynthia Littleton's new Variety cover story: "Inside the growing debate on media CEOs' jaw-dropping salaries..." (Variety)
The end* of ESPN The Magazine
ESPN The Magazine was launched in 1998. Now, "citing rapid evolution in consumer habits," ESPN says it will "cease publishing its magazine -- for the most part -- in September and instead publish the content online only," CNN's Steve Almasy wrote Tuesday. The last regular printing will be the "Body" issue, ESPN said...
*: Special issues might come out in "differentiated print formats" in the future...
Today at F8...
"Facebook debuted a makeover for its main app on Tuesday and said the company is making a major shift in how it's run," CNN's Heather Kelly wrote from the annual F8 developer conference. Mark Zuckerberg's keynote used the words privacy and private dozens of times... "We need to change a lot of the different ways that we run this company today," he said.
Several journalists pointed out that a more "private" FB, with people chatting in living rooms rather than public squares, will make hoaxes and other forms of misinformation harder to spot and harder to rebut. NBC's Brandy Zadrozny tweeted: "Facing criticism that Facebook allows people to organize and spread misinformation, dangerous conspiracy, and hateful ideology content in groups, Zuckerberg decides to lock it down even tighter..." | | Lots of updates to Instagram
Via Kelly: Instagram is "adding a way to buy products directly through 'creators,' which include the verified brands and famous people on the platform. It will also test out hiding 'likes' from public view to make users less stressed about their own popularity. It is also working on an 'Away Mode' for sensitive times, and as a way to cut down on bullying. Other new Instagram changes include a new fundraiser feature in Instagram stories, and updates to the in-app camera feature..."
Hacking journalists?
Donie O'Sullivan emails: Last week, after Oliver Darcy and I wrote about what journalists will do in 2020 if a candidate is hacked (should we report the details, particularly if we know a foreign government is responsible for the hack?) some cybersecurity experts pointed out that the next people who might be hacked might be… journalists. "Imagine having to explain every little choice your newsroom made to an already bitter, skeptical crowd after your emails are plastered all over the internet," John Hultquist from the cybersecurity firm FireEye tweeted.
With that in mind, it's worth checking out this new app for journalists and human rights workers, "Umbrella Security," with cyber tips including on how to send secure emails (plus lots of real-world security info for reporters in conflict zones)...
FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR
-- The takeaway from Apple's earnings: "Its revenue for the first three months of 2019 declined 5% from the year prior to $58 billion as it grappled with sluggish smartphone demand. iPhone sales for the period fell 17% from the year prior." Seth Fiegerman has more here... (CNN)
-- An end of a Google era: Alphabet says former CEO Eric Schmidt plans "to relinquish his position on the board of directors in June..." (NYT)
-- "Several of the top editorial employees at the company formerly known as Gizmodo Media Group are departing amid restructuring that will result in at least 25 staffers exiting the company," Maxwell Tani reports... (Beast)
"In Venezuela, root for the people"
That's the headline on Frida Ghitis's newest CNN.com column. "It's impossible to know with certainty what the next few days will bring for Venezuelans, but it seems clear that the end of their long national nightmare did not come on Tuesday, as so many had hoped," she says. At the time I'm writing this, the country's embattled President Nicolas Maduro is delivering a televised address after Tuesday's uprising led by opposition leader Juan Guaido. CNN has live updates here... | | Venezuela blocks CNN and BBC
Oliver Darcy emails: CNN and the BBC were pulled off the air on Tuesday by the Venezuelan government. DirecTV, Net Uno, Intercable, and TelefĂ³nica all received orders from Venezuela's government regulator Conatel to block CNN. (DirecTV and CNN are both owned by AT&T.) CNN was blocked in the South American country about a minute after airing a live feed showing military vehicles running over protesters. CNN.com, however, did remain live in the country. Read on...
On Holocaust Remembrance Week...
Brian Lowry emails: The resurgence of white supremacism has brought a renewed urgency to this year's Holocaust remembrances, and specifically the sense that the world is gradually losing those capable of providing first-hand accounts. That's evident in a pair of complementary documentaries this week, looking back through the eyes of camp survivors and their liberators.
"The Last Survivors," from Frontline/PBS, aired on Tuesday night. Discovery's "Liberation Heroes: The Last Eyewitnesses," is airing on Wednesday. They are complementary looks back at the Holocaust, through the eyes of those who saw first-hand...
Big new documentaries on Netflix, HBO, Hulu
Brian Lowry emails: It's a big week for documentaries, reflecting the variety of sources providing them. First up: "Knock Down the House," Netflix's fly-on-the-wall account of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's stunning upset victory, as well as others who mounted insurgent campaigns who were less fortunate. It will start streaming on Wednesday.
Later in the week (with more reviews to come), look for "At the Heart of Gold: The USA Gymnastics Scandal," Erin Lee Carr's HBO documentary about Dr. Larry Nassar's abuse, and the young women who rose to accuse him; "Ask Dr. Ruth," a Hulu documentary about Dr. Ruth Westheimer, receiving a theatrical run before it lands on the service in June; and "Hesburgh," a biography of the former Notre Dame president Father Theodore Hesburgh. Whew...
FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE
-- The Correspondent -- which raised $2.6 million for a U.S. launch, then said it is not starting a U.S. newsroom -- has finally issued an apology... But there are many unanswered questions... (NiemanLab)
-- The Markup is still in limbo... And Mathew Ingram has a new storyrevealing the startup's hiring spreadsheet... (CJR)
-- Via Sandra Gonzalez: Here are the projects the Obamas are working on for Netflix... (CNN)
-- Jeanine Poggi sat down with Vice CEO Nancy Dubuc as Dubuc approaches her one-year anniversary at the helm... (AdAge)
| | Smollett off "Empire" for now
Sandra Gonzalez writes: "Empire" will return for a sixth season, but the same can't definitely be said for Jussie Smollett. "By mutual agreement, the studio has negotiated an extension to Jussie Smollett's option for Season 6, but at this time there are no plans for the character of Jamal to return to 'Empire,'" Fox Entertainment and 20th Century Fox TV said in a joint statement on Tuesday. So the studio isn't including him at the start of the new season, but is leaving open the possibility of his return someday...
What Smollett is saying
A spokesperson for Smollett said, "We've been told that Jussie will not be on 'Empire' in the beginning of the season, but he appreciates they have extended his contract to keep Jamal's future open. Most importantly, he is grateful to Fox and 'Empire' leadership, cast, crew and fans for their unwavering support."
Lowry's take
Brian Lowry emails: Given all the baggage surrounding the actor's case, and the uncertainty that still lingers about its disposition, it feels like the more prudent thing to do would have been to simply cancel an already-fading series, rather than endure the damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't response of continuing the show without him, or bringing him back. Either way, picking up a series that became such a public-relations nightmare does not feel like a ringing endorsement of the network's new-series development, with its upfront presentation roughly two weeks away...
Tony nomination day!
Here's Chloe Melas with the top takeaways:
-- "Hadestown," starring Reeve Carney, Amber Gray and André De Shields, led the way with 14 nominations.
-- "Ain't Too Proud" followed with 12 nods and "Tootsie" with 11.
-- Broadway aficionados were surprised that both "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Network" were not nominated in the best play category. Full list here...
FOR THE RECORD, PART SIX
-- Brian Lowry emails: Anthony Crupi took a look at broadcast TV's shrinking ratings heading into the upfronts, describing this year's edition of the event as shaping up to be "an Irish wake for commercial impressions..." (AdAge)
-- Megan Thomas emails: This is the ultimate Taylor Swift-fan playlist, from Vulture's Nate Jones, with all 125 songs "ranked from worst to best..." (Vulture)
-- "John Singleton changed how Hollywood sees black America" -- this is a great column from Hannah Giorgis, who writes of Singleton's "ability to telegraph loss and humanity with boundless compassion..." (The Atlantic)
-- Via Lisa Respers France: Here's some of what's streaming on Netflix, Hulu and Amazon in May... (CNN)
"Sonic!" | | Paramount dropped the trailer for "Sonic the Hedgehog" the movie on Tuesday... And I have to be honest, I rather liked it... But many others disagreed! As AJ Willingham wrote, maybe "adapting a beloved '90s video game character is a losing proposition no matter how hard you try, because someone will always feel as if you kidnapped their childhood memories and shoved them through a funhouse mirror."
I say: Bring it on!
Brian Lowry adds: While it's understandable that some people on Twitter would have a bad reaction to the "Sonic" trailer, perhaps my least favorite category of "because it's trending" story is the "People on Twitter are having a bad reaction to something they haven't actually seen yet" subgenre (cc: "Aladdin")...
LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST...
Big battle equals bigger ratings for "Game of Thrones"
Frank Pallotta emails: Sunday's episode of "Game of Thrones" notched a series record of 17.8 million viewers, according to HBO. About 12 million watched live on TV.
HBO also said Tuesday that the season premiere, which held the previous ratings record, has now been seen by more than 38 million viewers across HBO's linear and digital platforms when accounting for delayed viewing. My guess is that we'll likely see more records fall as the season reaches its epic finale...
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