EXEC SUMMARY: Don't worry, we don't have any "Game of Thrones" spoilers here... But we do have an in-depth look at Disney's "Avengers" dominance, Washington's party weekend, and the week ahead in media...
10,000
The Washington Post is about to come out with an updated count of President Trump's false and misleading statements since Inauguration Day. And it is expected to show that Trump has surpassed the 10,000 mark. Whatever the opposite of popping champagne is, do that, I guess?
The Post's fact-checker-in-chief, Glenn Kessler, was still crunching the numbers when I spoke with him on Sunday. But he said an updated total will be out on Monday morning. My impression is that Trump's rage-filled reaction to the Mueller report has only increased his volume of inaccuracies...
--> Data point: Kessler said "we counted 45 misstatements or falsehoods in his interview with Sean Hannity" the other day...
Leading versus misleading
I return to this point about the president's deceptions quite often -- and that's because I believe the lying often times is THE story. Not what he said, but why he chose to mislead instead of lead.
Kessler's team has been checking every one of Trump's statements since 1/20/2017, and they've noticed a rapid rise in falsehoods: "He passed the 5,000 mark in September, so it's only seven months ago." This is one of the reasons why, on "Reliable Sources," I called Trump the "say anything" president -- whether it's an outlandish claim, a conspiracy theory, or a contradiction of his own comments, he's willing to say anything to keep the show going...
To believe Trump, you have to disbelieve the press...
Let's be real: Untold millions of people won't believe The Post's research. Some will attack the paper for doing the work at all.
I'm always interested when reporters ask Trump rallygoers about their media habits. The latest contribution to this canon is from Jake Malooley, who spoke with fans at Saturday night's rally in Wisconsin. "Trump has spawned a new generation of media critic/cynic," Malooley wrote for Esquire. He says the "fake news" refrain is "one of the crucial ties that bind his most fervent supporters." Read all about it here...
"EXECUTE"
We led Sunday's "Reliable" with the president's wildly false claim that "mothers and doctors have the option to 'execute' babies." He has brought up this infanticide talking point before, but he was even more explicit about it at Saturday's rally. It barely generated news coverage on Sunday morning. Matt Fuller of HuffPost tweeted that he was "watching local cable news," and there was "no mention of the massive lies he told about killing babies or his sanctuary city plan. This isn't responsible coverage."
WEEKEND PLANNER
Monday: The week-long Digital Content Newfronts kick off in NYC...
Monday: The Tribeca Film Festival continues...
Monday: Spotify earnings before the bell, Alphabet results after...
Tuesday: The Facebook Developer Conference runs through Wednesday. Follow live coverage on CNN Business...
Tuesday after the bell: Apple earnings...
Wednesday: Netflix starts streaming "Knock Down the House..."
Wednesday: A.G. Bill Barr is slated to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee... And then a House committee on Thursday, but it's complicated...
Thursday: Discovery earnings before the bell, CBS results after...
Thursday: I'll be hosting the Canadian Journalism Foundation's second annual World News Day in Toronto...
Thursday night: "The Big Bang Theory" series finale...
NYT staffers alarmed by anti-Semitic cartoon | | NYT staffers are alarmed and dismayed by this anti-Semitic cartoon AND by the paper's initial response.
It started on Thursday when print editions of the international edition of The New York Times ran an anti-Semitic cartoon depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a dog on a leash held by a blind POTUS. Most US staffers knew nothing about it until they read about this editor's note on Saturday. The note admitted that the cartoon was an "error in judgment," but didn't go into any detail about what went wrong. Some news outlets inaccurately called the note an "apology," which it wasn't, which led people to wonder why the NYT hadn't actually apologized.
Jake Tapper commented on Sunday morning that the cartoon "could just have easily appeared in ISIS or neo-Nazi propaganda."
Per three plugged-in sources at the NYT, staffers were alarmed to see the image in the first place -- and dismayed that the initial response was so feeble. They told me that they wanted a more detailed explanation...
Awaiting more info...
After a barrage of criticism,The Times issued a statement on Sunday afternoon saying "we are deeply sorry" for the cartoon, and "we are committed to making sure nothing like this happens again."
The NYT said the decision to run the syndicated cartoon was made by a single editor working without adequate oversight. "The matter remains under review, and we are evaluating our internal processes and training," the statement said. "We anticipate significant changes."
The paper is out with its own news story about the situation... And Bret Stephens, one of the paper's op-ed columnists, has a clear-eyed column titled "A Despicable Cartoon in The Times."
Stephens said he is certain that the Times is not guilty of institutional anti-Semitism, but he said the cartoon was a sign of the Times' ongoing criticism of Zionism and the Israeli government. Here is his column... And our news story...
Two crimes, linked by state and by hate
In northern California, near San Jose, a man plowed his car into a group of people because he thought some of them were Muslims. Eight were injured. Police did not identify it as a hate crime until Friday, three days after the attack, so it received relatively scant news coverage.
In southern California, near San Diego, a man with a gun opened fire at a synagogue -- killing one congregant and injuring three others. The suspect apparently published an open letter detailing his disdain for Jews and his admiration for past killings.
On "Reliable Sources," I described the suspect's activity on the website 8chan, where he read posts from likeminded individuals before posting a link to his Facebook page and inviting them to watch his livestream. "What I've learned here is priceless," the person wrote. The first user who replied told him to "get the high score," i.e., kill lots of people. This has all the hallmarks of online radicalization...
--> There is no evidence that the suspect actually went live on FB... | | --> As Amanda Carpenter said in this segment, "we know people are being radicalized on the internet." True. But what are the answers? Karen Finney wondered aloud about some form of commission...
Rabbi Goldstein's inspiring words
During a commercial break in Sunday's show, I found out that Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein was able to join us by phone from the hospital. He'd been in surgery for the gunshot wounds to his hand.
"Terror will not win," he said after I thanked him for calling in. "As Americans, we can't and won't cower in the face of senseless hate of what's called anti-Semitism."
Losing his index finger will be "a scar forever," he said. "But that scar is going to remind me how vulnerable we are, but yet how HEROIC each one of us can be to stand up and fight against terror."
Goldstein said he hopes to see synagogues full of congregants in the coming days and weeks and months. "A little bit of light pushes away a lot of darkness. We need a lot of light now," he said...
FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE
-- Charlie Warzel tweeted his latest: "The internet has imprinted itself on modern hate crimes, giving its most unstable residents a theater for unspeakable acts — and an amplification system for an ideology of white supremacy..." (NYT)
-- 🔌: I'll see you on CNN's "New Day" in the 6am hour...
EYE ON 2020
-- Joe Biden's next big TV interview is on "GMA" Tuesday morning, joined by his wife Jill...
-- Chris Cillizza's newsletter notes that "No one" is the frontrunner right now. Post-ABC pollsters asked people to name their favorite candidate, and "a majority -- 54% -- couldn't (or didn't) offer any names..."
-- Jack Shafer's latest: "If you're reading this, you're probably running for president..."
QUOTE OF THE DAY
BuzzFeed News EIC Ben Smith says new movements, not the old media, are driving politics right now:
"Politics is the media business, and increasingly the media-criticism business. But spare a thought for the possibility that, as you judge the media's coverage of the Democratic Primary, that we have a lot less to do with the outcome than we used to. The power that we used to wield has been handed over to the fandoms."
Three stories about Fox...
1. Phone a friend
Trump called into Maria Bartiromo's show for a pre-taped phoner on Sunday morning...
2. Punish a foe
Fox declined to comment on the president's latest broadside at two of its news side broadcasters, Shep Smith and Judge Andrew Napolitano. On "Reliable," David Zurawik said this is Trump's "oldest trick: Reward those who kiss up to you... and punish like hell anyone who dares to criticize you..."
3. Phone another friend
This Post story is a must-read about Lou Dobbs. Born just nine months apart, Trump and Dobbs "share a penchant for schoolyard-style name-calling, grumbling about enemies seen and unseen, an apocalyptic view of illegal immigration and a deep embrace of hair-color shades not found in the natural world."
See why I said it's a must-read? Manuel Roig-Franzia and Robert Costa have so much new detail about Dobbs' two jobs: Fire-breather on Fox Business, informal White House adviser on immigration and other issues. When Costa asked to speak with Trump about Dobbs, Trump picked up the phone for an interview. Read! | |
FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO
-- "The Santa Clarita Diet," a romantic comedy starring Drew Barrymore as a flesh-eating zombie, is the latest Netflix series to get the ax," Jay Croft writes... (CNN)
-- A fun read: Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro "shared a few small details about their forthcoming film, 'The Irishman,' as part of a wide-ranging discussion Sunday at the Beacon Theater, where audience members were surprised to learn that Leonardo DiCaprio was in their midst..." (NYT)
-- On Monday morning, expect the NFL to report big #'s from the NFL Draft, showing the event was the highest-rated, most-watched, and most-attended of its kind to date...
"Don't publish weaponized gossip"
Margaret Sullivan's Monday column elaborates on something CNN's Oliver Darcy and Donie O'Sullivan wrote about last week: The very real prospects of hackers dumping stolen data into the news vortex of 2020.
"Newsrooms need to do everything in their power to be prepared to handle hacked information responsibly and thoughtfully — even in the heat of a breaking news story," Sullivan writes. "In short: Don't publish weaponized gossip. Verify relentlessly. Nail down, and emphasize, the source of the hack and its motivation. And be transparent with news consumers." Read on...
Obama's reading club?
Barack Obama says he's going to start sharing recommended reads on his Facebook page. He posted five links on Saturday and they'd "stuck with me" in recent weeks. The writers he cited: David Leonhardt, Adam Serwer, Jack Meserve, Katie Benner, Shaila Dewan, and Arielle Pardes...
Hillary Clinton reads the Mueller report
Comedian Jordan Klepper, in this taped sketch, convinced Hillary Clinton to read some sections of the Mueller report aloud... The joke was about Clinton recording an audio book version of the report...
Klepper told me he thinks it would sell! He's right... Anyway, here's our full convo... He has a new show, "Klepper," premiering on Comedy Central on May 9...
Speaking of the Mueller report... | | WaPo's paperback book version of the report, published by Scribner, is STILL near the top of Amazon's best selling books chart... On Sunday morning, it was No. 1... At the moment, it has slipped to No. 2, but this report has remarkable staying power... I wonder where it will land on the NYT's list?
Four takeaways from WHCD weekend
1. Chernow crushed it
Some attendees thought the speech would be a snooze. But Ron Chernow earned rave reviews inside the ballroom. He cracked jokes AND defended democracy. He summed up the night's mood in one sentence: "We now have to fight hard for basic truths that we once took for granted."
2. He gave everyone something to think about
"When you chip away at the press, you chip away at our democracy," Chernow said... I hope Trump heard him... But the historian also had a message for the press corps: "Trump won't be the first or last American president to create jitters about the First Amendment. So be humble; be skeptical; and beware of being infected by the very things you are fighting against."
The NYT's Michael Grynbaum spoke with ex-Trump adviser Gary Cohn afterward... Cohn said Chernow's speech was "perfectly spot-on for the time and for where we are in the world..."
3. There was less tension
Multiple journalists commented to me that the dinner felt less "tense" without Trump aides in attendance. Others thought it was a missed opportunity for networking...
4. The "nerd prom" is dead
The one, the only Sally Quinn told me that Trump has essentially "killed" the annual dinner... But she didn't sound particularly disappointed...
Three highlights
Catching up with Kris Coratti, WaPo's VP of communications and general manager of Washington Post Live -- she brought a special guest to the garden brunch -- her one-week-old son Nathan!
Sitting with Ted Boutrous at the dinner -- he's one of the lawyers who helped CNN prevail in the court case over press access to the White House.
Seeing CBS News prez Susan Zirinsky heading out on her morning run at 6am. Sunday at 6am! That's dedication!
Meantime, at the rally...
NYT's Katie Rogers painted the picture... She says Trump "did not mention the dinner by name. Instead, he emphasized the news coverage of his rally, frequently disparaged the news media and told attendees they were having more fun with him than they would with a Democratic president..."
| | "A monumental moment in the history of cinema"
"Avengers: Endgame" did it.
Frank Pallotta recaps his latest for CNN Business: The Disney and Marvel film assembled the biggest box office in film history, far surpassing multiple records on the books. The most stunning number (and there are a lot of 'em): $1.2 billion. That's how much it made worldwide for its opening. Unprecedented.
What was once thought to be impossible became reality on Sunday thanks to immense buzz; theaters running around the clock; and an epic finale to a franchise that's made nearly $20 billion since 2008.
"We're watching a monumental moment in the history of cinema unfold -- one that the entire world is experiencing together," Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at Boxoffice.com, told me. I could break down the numbers, but I'll just let them speak for themselves:
-- $350 million domestic opening
-- $859 million overseas opening
-- $1.2 billion global opening
-- $330.5 million opening in China
Why it matters
Brooks Barnes' lead in Monday's NYT captures it perfectly: "Audiences have splintered into a million personalized subsets. Streaming services are sprouting like mushrooms. Attention spans are now measured in seconds. For those reasons and others — a decade of stagnant attendance, studios that only seem to make sequels of sequels (of sequels) — movie theaters are seen as a dying business. Why trudge to a theater when Netflix is available in your pocket anytime you want? Yet almost every multiplex on the planet was gridlocked over the weekend..."
What's next?
Pallotta adds: Hollywood will keep its eye on "Endgame" to see how its second weekend fares. Last year's "Infinity War" dropped about 55% in its second weekend in the United States. If "Endgame" follows the same path, it'll bring in around $160 million, which would still be one of the biggest weekends of the year.
Then there are questions about just how leggy "Endgame" will be over the next weeks, to see if it can contend with the biggest movie of all time, "Avatar." As for Disney, it still has "Aladdin," "Toy Story 4," "The Lion King," "Frozen 2" and "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" on the docket for the rest of 2019...
Something to think about...
John Fithian, the president of the National Association of Theater Owners, told the NYT: "Young moviegoers will remember where they were when they saw 'Endgame,' who they saw it with and what it felt like. That will pay off for years to come in the same way that moviegoers who grew up in the '70s and '80s still talk about the impact that 'Star Wars' had on them."
Connecting "Avengers" and "Thrones" | | Brian Lowry emails: "Avengers: Endgame" and "Game of Thrones" appropriately collided in the same pop-culture extravaganza this weekend, having met at the nexus of theatrical blockbuster and TV: Marvel has told an episodic story over 22 movies, and "Thrones" delivered a series with the scope of a blockbuster. Read on...
| | | Thank you for reading. Email me anytime. See you tomorrow... | | | |
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