EXEC SUMMARY: This is Oliver Darcy, in the chair for Brian Stelter on this monumental news day. Scroll down for details on Vox Media's acquisition of New York magazine, the News and Documentary Emmy Awards, Comscore controversy, and more. But first....
"Here we are. A moment of truth"
Those were the words of Nancy Pelosi as she spoke to House Democrats behind closed doors on Tuesday. Soon after that meeting, Pelosi walked before the press -- in an announcement that networks interrupted regular programming to carry live -- and announced to the American people a formal impeachment inquiry into President Trump.
NYT's story called it a "stunning turn that set the stage for a history-making and exceedingly bitter confrontation between the Democrat-led House and a defiant president who has thumbed his nose at institutional norms." WaPo's story noted that the confrontation "is likely to further divide a polarized nation ahead of the 2020 election." And WSJ observed that Pelosi's decision "represents a bet that voters, whom polls have shown to be wary of impeachment, can be persuaded once more facts emerge."
>> Big picture: "For the fourth time in American history, a president faces a serious threat of impeachment by the House of Representatives," tweeted Peter Baker...
Here's are the front pages of NYT, WaPo, and WSJ | | "The story is moving very fast"
It can be hard to summarize a day like Tuesday, with the news moving at breakneck speed. As Rachel Maddow said on MSNBC, there are still a lot of open questions about the Trump-Ukraine story.
BUT, "What did become obvious" on Tuesday, Maddow said, "is that the story is moving very fast." Maddow said she had "written and torn up many drafts" for her show before going on-air because of late-changing developments. And as I write this newsletter, I definitely relate. This is a fast-moving story, one that seems to be upended by new developments almost every hour...
Giuliani's wild interview with Laura Ingraham
Rudy Giuliani lit up the discussion on Twitter with another wild interview on Tuesday night. Appearing on Laura Ingraham's show, Giuliani responded to a WaPo report that said he "pursued [a] shadow Ukraine agenda as key foreign policy officials were sidelined."
"You know who I did it at the request of?" Giuliani asked rhetorically. "The State Department. I never talked to a Ukrainian official until the State Department called me and asked me to do it." Giuliani then picked up his phone and said "it's all here, right here..."
Says he should sue liberal Fox guest...
Later in the hour, Giuliani appeared for yet another Fox segment, in which he said he should sue liberal network guest Chris Hahn. Hahn had gone after Giuliani earlier for his first interview with Ingraham, contending, "If the Bidens weren't public figures it would be libelous."
Giuliani then appeared on the same panel with Hahn, and things went entirely off the rails. Ingraham tried her best at the end to keep things on track, but that task proved difficult.
Meanwhile, Fox prime time (predictably) comes to Trump's defense
This was perhaps the least surprising thing to occur on Tuesday: Fox prime time hosts predictably came to the defense of Trump. Sean Hannity, opening up his show, characterized outrage over Trump's dealings with Ukraine as "psychotic anti-Trump hysteria" that has "now completely overtaken the Democratic Party." Hannity wasn't alone. I tuned into Tucker Carlson's show, and he also spent a good chunk of it casting doubt on whether Trump had behaved improperly.
>> Meanwhile, Trump spent his night tweeting out clips of his favorite Fox personalties coming to his defense...
Heilemann: Impeachment was dead, but Trump "with the defibrillator paddles" revived it
Who should Trump blame for the impeachment inquiry? John Heilemann argued on Tuesday during an MSNBC appearance that the president should perhaps look in the mirror. Heilemann referred to impeachment as a "dead body" after Robert Mueller's report. "As we headed into this fall," Heilemann said, "impeachment was dead. And Donald Trump was the guy with the defibrillator paddles, who's now revived impeachment."
>> Susan Glasser made a similar point: "However it turns out, this House impeachment inquiry turn to Ukraine is a scandal of Trump's own making...."
Will this fire up Trump's base?
That was a question which was asked repeatedly throughout the day. Sure, it could, as many analysts have noted. But, Dave Weigel also had a good point, noting that "it seems like there are endless issues/fights that are Firing Up Trump's base." Weigel tweeted, "By contrast, the Democrats' base was watching them fold and whimper and clearly getting sick of it."
Stelter's point
Brian Stelter emails: There's been a long list of potentially impeachable conduct stretching back 2+ years. Journalists have documented a lot of it, through investigations and interviews and monologues and columns.
Lawmakers are pulling on many of these threads, but as I watched the TV coverage on Tuesday, I wondered: Will the coming months be mostly about Ukraine or about the bigger picture? Newsrooms shouldn't advocate for a political outcome, but should advocate for a well-informed public...
Wednesday planner: Trump to meet with Ukraine president
Block off 2.15 p.m. ET on Wednesday. Just one day after Trump's interactions with the president of Ukraine touched off a formal impeachment inquiry, Trump will meet with the Ukrainian president for a bilateral meeting as UN week continues.
Also happening on Wednesday: House Democrats and House Republicans will hold their weekly caucus meetings, with press conferences afterward...
FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE
-- Stephen Colbert: "Every time, people have asked, 'Is this the thing? Surely, this must be the thing.' And every time, it wasn't the thing. But here's the thing: There's a new thing, and it might be the thing..." (Mediaite)
-- Margaret Sullivan's new column is all about Trump's "Ukraine-scandal strategy." Sullivan argues that it hinges on the media... (WaPo)
-- Chuck Todd has a contentious interview with GOP Senator John Kennedy, telling him, "Don't gaslight us..." (Daily Beast)
-- Meanwhile, Erin Burnett confronted Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin: You're making that up! (CNN)
Vox Media acquires New York Media
A busy news day was made even busier by this big scoop from NYT's Marc Tracy and Edmund Lee: On Tuesday, Vox Media agreed to acquire New York Media. The deal is an all-stock transaction, NYT reported, adding that neither company would reveal the value of the deal.
Jim Bankoff will continue to lead Vox Media as CEO and chairman... and Pamela Wasserstein will serve as president and get a seat on the company's board of directors. More info in CNN Business' story here...
>> Wasserstein to NYT: "No one had to do this. It's a brilliant, in our view, opportunity, so that's why we leaned into it. It's not out of need. It's out of ambition."
"Nothing changes editorially..."
Bankoff told NYT that the merging of the two companies would not result in any editorial layoffs. He also said it would not result in any of New York's publications folding. Specifically, Bankoff said, "Nothing changes editorially for any of our brands."
How the deal came about
Bankoff and Wasserstein "started discussing the possibility of joining forces in June at the Code Conference," NYT reported. "We always talk about the industry, and I was like, 'Maybe we should explore this,'" Bankoff told NYT. Bankoff and Wasserstein said that when they did look into it more seriously, they found that their companies complimented each other.
Haskell's note to staff
David Haskell wrote a note to staff on Tuesday night, saying that when he first heard about the plans to combine companies he had "a rush of vertigo, something I imagine you might also be feeling right now."
"Change is alarming," Haskell acknowleged, "especially when it comes for something that feels pretty much perfect. But I've had some time to sit with the news, and ask some questions, and think about our future -- and I've come out the other end with a lot of optimism and enthusiasm for our next chapter."
US gov't invokes state secrets authority to block journalists challenge in court
"A U.S. judge Tuesday dismissed an American journalist's lawsuit challenging his alleged placement on a 'kill list' by U.S. authorities in Syria, after the Trump administration invoked the 'state secrets' privilege to withhold sensitive national security information," Spencer Hsu reported for WaPo. The journalist, Bilal Abdul Kareem, has tried to "clear his name after what he claims were five near-misses by U.S. airstrikes in Syria," according to WaPo.
But the US government invoked the state secrets authority, arguing "the existence and operational details of alleged military and intelligence activities directed at combating the terrorist threat to the United States." And, in a 14-page opinion, the judge hearing the case agreed. More here via WaPo...
>> Striking quote from Kareem's attorney: "For the first time ever, a United States federal court ruled that the government may kill one of its citizens without providing him the information necessary to prove that he is being wrongly targeted and does not deserve to die..."
Trump attacks reporter's "nasty question," and then...
A remarkable moment unfolded on Tuesday as Trump and Boris Johnson fielded questions from reporters. Johnson was asked by Reuters' Jeff Mason about calls for his resignation.
After Johnson gave his answer, Trump interjected to say, "That was a very nasty question from a great American reporter." Johnson then defended Mason, saying, "I think he was asking a question, to be fair, that a lot of British reporters would have asked."
FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO
-- Fox's Chris Wallace interviewed Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, the first interview Rouhani has done with an American news org since September 2018... (Fox)
-- Declan Walsh writes about his "hasty departure from Egypt," which AG Sulzberger revealed on Monday... (NYT)
-- Business Insider hosted a GOP presidential primary debate between Bill Weld and Joe Walsh on Tuesday. It's now available to watch on the web... (Business Insider)
-- Conservative websites TheBlaze and Washington Examiner are seeing traffic gains as Breitbart declines... (The Wrap)
-- Brandy Zadrozny and Aliza Nadi published an in-depth story about how "anti-vaxxers target grieving moms and turn them into crusaders..." (NBC News)
40th annual News and Doc Emmy Awards presented
The 40th annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards were presented Tuesday night in New York City at the Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall... We'll have more tomorrow about who won what...
Spotted in attendance... Jeff Zucker, Andy Lack, Phil Griffin, Susan Zirinsky, James Goldston, Andrea Mitchell, Lester Holt, Anthony Mason, Jake Tapper, Chris Wallace, Chuck Todd, Steve Kroft, Poppy Harlow, Jim Sciutto, Kirsten Welker, Allison Gollust, Barbara Fedida, Andrew Morse, Amy Entelis, Lisa Greene, Sam Feist, Tommy Evans, Michael Bass, Rashida Jones, Mike McCarthy, Diana Miller, Judy Tygard, Rand Morrison, Shimon Prokupecz, Randi Kaye, Laura Vigilante, Lauren Pratapas, Samantha Kelly, Jose Diaz, Michelle Perry, Tanya Simon, Adriana Diaz, Jim Axelrod, Nicole Young, and many more...
Andrea Mitchell honored with Lifetime Achievement Award
Andrea Mitchell was honored at the ceremony with the Lifetime Achievement Award for her decades-long career. While accepting the award, Mitchell noted that in her experience covering White Houses, politics has always been "invariably adversarial." But Mitchell said, "This is different."
"Now we are called 'the enemy of the people,'" Mitchell noted. "Our credibility as journalists is deliberately targeted as part of a re-election strategy. Today, time-honored norms are ignored: press secretaries and senior officials deliver 'alternative facts.' Traditions such as White House briefings, State Department expanded travel pools, and formal news conferences are replaced by shouted exchanges on the South Lawn, often drowned out by the whirling rotor blades of Marine One..."
>> Related: NBC News put together a video here celebrating Mitchell's career...
SEC fines Comscore
Kerry Flynn emails: The media measurement firm Comscore is in hot water once again. SEC fined the company and its former CEO Serge Matta $5 million for accounting and disclosure fraud. Matta himself also had to reimburse Comscore $2.1 million and is prohibited to serve as an executive or director of a publicly traded company for 10 years.
>> THR's Alex Weprin tweeted: "Comscore's entire business model is to provide key metrics for media companies, entertainment giants and publishers. Now it is being accused of using artificial numbers fo inflate its revenue."
Stankey: AT&T has no plans to sell DirecTV
AT&T has no plans to sell DirecTV, according to chief operating officer John Stankey. In a Tuesday interview with WSJ, Stankey said, "DirecTV is an important part of what we're going to be doing going forward."
Stankey was responding to a WSJ report from last week which said AT&T was mulling whether to part ways with the TV provider. But Stankey said AT&T is "constantly looking" at its portfolio, telling WSJ it's the "normal course of business" and "not unique to DirecTV."
"I'm not looking to find my successor..."
In his WSJ interview, Stankey -- who was recently elevated to the AT&T COO role, while also continuing to serve as WarnerMedia CEO -- indirectly addressed a Tuesday report from NBC's Dylan Byers. Byers reported that Jeff Zucker, who currently heads WarnerMedia news and sports, is seen as the top internal candidate to ascend to WarnerMedia CEO.
Stankey didn't dismiss the fact that it could happen down the road. But, Stankey told the paper, "I'm not looking to find my successor right at the moment."
FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE
-- Here are the evening news ratings for the third quarter of 2019... (AdWeek)
-- Snapchat has extended its video ad limit to 3 minutes... (AdAge)
Buttigieg concludes open-press Iowa bus tour | | Mayor Pete Buttigieg on Tuesday concluded his four-day swing through Iowa in which he invited traveling press aboard his bus. As you'll remember, in homage to the Straight Talk Express, Buttigieg allowed everything to be on the record with the group of traveling reporters, and they chatted with the mayor about a number of topics (some serious, some not so serious.)
I spoke with Buttigieg on Tuesday afternoon about what it was like to have a handful of reporters travel with him for the last few days. Easier than he thought? Tougher? "Pretty demanding," Buttigieg said. He noted its possible to "prepare for a press conference or even a gaggle," but a rolling bus tour is something entirely different. "We are all finding news of the day at the same time," Buttigieg said.
One point I found interesting from Buttigieg was that the unlimited access he was providing the press not only challenged him, but also the reporters assigned to his campaign. What do you ask someone who has been asked everything under the sun? "It's challenging them to think beyond the usual questions," Buttigieg noted. "So it's a mutual challenge."
>> Will Buttigieg adopt this open-press style if he's the nominee?: "I think we'll do something like it," he told me. "Every phase of the campaign has different realities. But I'm enjoying it."
"Buttigieg's bus tour is no Straight Talk Express"
That was the headline Tuesday on a Politico piece from Elena Schneider. Schneider's piece contended that Buttigieg's "buttoned-down" style stood in contrast to John McCain's brash, off-the cuff style.
I asked Buttigieg to respond. "I'm a different kind of person," Buttigieg acknowledged. But he added, "What is in common is that I'm demonstrating I am the same person behind the scenes that I am in front of a thousand people."
Showtime orders Vice
Kerry Flynn emails: Vice Media's weekly show "Vice" has a new home at Showtime, the company announced today. The Emmy-winning docuseries was previously on HBO but canceled in February. HBO also canceled the weeknight show "Vice News Tonight" in June, ending its seven year partnership with the media company. More in my story...
| | Families of Aurora theater shooting victims ask movie studio to take action ahead of 'Joker' release | | "A group of people whose loved ones witnessed or were killed in 2012's Aurora theater shooting are calling on Warner Bros. to help combat gun violence as the studio prepares to release its rated-R comic book film 'Joker,'" Sandra Gonzalez reported for CNN.
In a letter addressed to Warner Bros. CEO Ann Sarnoff, the group asked the studio to "use your massive platform and influence to join us in our fight to build safer communities with fewer guns." (Warner Bros. is owned by WarnerMedia, which is also the parent company of CNN.)
In a statement, Warner Bros. studio acknowledged that gun violence is "a critical issue" and said the company "has a long history of donating to victims of violence, including Aurora, and in recent weeks, our parent company joined other business leaders to call on policymakers to enact bi-partisan legislation to address this epidemic." The statement continued, "At the same time, Warner Bros. believes that one of the functions of storytelling is to provoke difficult conversations around complex issues..."
Lowry's take
Brian Lowry emails: Warner Bros. statement is carefully worded, but it's hard to avoid the issue of exalting the bad guy when you build a movie around him. We've seen a long string of antiheroes in movies and TV — see "The Sopranos," "Dexter," "The Shield" — and it's difficult to entirely escape the challenge of telling the story from that perspective without getting people to identify with those characters.
The studio, moreover, should have seen this coming, given questions raised about the movie at festivals in addition to the early accolades heaped upon it, with WaPo's Steven Zeitchik noting weeks ago that "political groups will commandeer it — the Hollywood release as political weapon."
Amazon inks deal with Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Frank Pallotta emails: Amazon Studios has locked down one of the hottest names in entertainment. "Fleabag" creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge will create and produce new television content that will be exclusive to Prime Video. The deal announced on Tuesday is reportedly worth around $20 million a year, according to Variety.
The deal comes on the heels of a big night for Waller-Bridge at the Primetime Emmys on Sunday where "Fleabag" beat out perennial favorite, "Veep," for best comedy series. With this deal Amazon is holding onto Waller-Bridge amid a streaming war that pits the online giant against Netflix, Disney, WarnerMedia and Apple.
FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR
By Lisa Respers France:
-- Lenny Kravitz lost his sunglasses and we so want to help...
-- "Dancing With the Stars" first celeb eliminated was...
-- About that Jennifer Lawrence bridal registry on Amazon...
| | | Thanks for reading! Send me feedback via email and/or find me on Twitter. I'll be back in the seat for Brian tomorrow. See you then! | | | |
