| Brian Stelter here at 11:01pm ET on Sunday, Sept. 26, one of my favorite days of the year. This is the tenth anniversary of the relationship with my wife Jamie. We're marking the occasion tomorrow since I worked today 😉 Scroll down for the latest on the Tony Awards, Liz Cheney, "Banned Books Week," Facebook, R Kelly, and more...
The gathering storm  "Our country will not survive this."
I watched Donald Trump's entire "interview" with One America News propagandist Dan Ball, and that's the quote that stood out the most.
Trump was in the middle of a fact-free rant about "vicious" Democrats cheating on elections when he said "they're destroying our country. Our country will not survive this. Our country will not survive." Then he sniffed and shifted to immigration, saying "look at where they're coming from," clearly mimicking the "great replacement theory" talking points that Tucker Carlson has been mainlining into homes across the country.
These are all signs of the gathering storm. Trump's incessant lies about the last election (Biden "didn't get 81 million votes, there's no way," he told OAN) pose obvious threats to future elections. The so-called "Stop the Steal" movement is "racing forward," ignoring the Arizona audit "humiliation," the NYT pointed out over the weekend.
Most of us can feel the instability in the air the same way a weather forecaster can feel a storm coming on. News outlets need to be providing storm warnings – but some are ignoring the threat. That's what my opening essay on Sunday's "Reliable Sources" telecast was about. Anti-democratic talking points are being paraded across networks like Newsmax, and averting one's eyes doesn't make the parade go away...
"Cowardly"
The "right-wing media, with a few honorable exceptions, is one giant safe space for the Big Lie," historian and "On Tyranny" author Timothy Snyder told me. So the reality-based press needs to make "democracy the story," he said, because elements of the GOP are actively working to subvert future elections through laws, regulations and propaganda efforts. Snyder quite realistically described how a presidential loser could be cast as the winner in 2024. "That is what's happening right before our eyes right now," he said, "and we're just too cowardly to look at it."
He meant "we" in the broad political sense, of course, and the people and platforms who are staring this threat square in the face deserve credit. CNN's coverage has been unwavering. At Politico, one of the most-read articles over the weekend was titled "What If 2020 Was Just a Rehearsal?" Over at the Washington Post, Robert Kagan's powerful essay about the looming struggle is still the most-popular link on the entire website, three full days after it was published.
Chuck Todd invoked Kagan on Sunday's "Meet the Press" and asked, "What are close elections going to look like on November of '22?" Well, that's the thing, panelist Leigh Ann Caldwell said: "It's not about the past election anymore. They're still talking about the past election, but they're trying to delegitimize future elections." Todd responded, "I think that's the concern we all have... I used to love a close election. Now I fear the impact of what unpacking that would be." That's why we need to talk about it. Why we need to forecast the possibilities...
Liz Cheney says many lawmakers privately agree with her
In Sunday's "60 Minutes" profile of Liz Cheney, Lesley Stahl asked, "Have members of Congress, Republicans, come up to you privately and whispered in your ear, 'Way to go Liz,' and encouraged you, but won't come forward and say that publicly?"
"Yes," Cheney said. "A lot?" "Yes," Cheney said. "Both in the House and the Senate."
The exchange reminded me of the word Snyder used earlier in the day -- cowardly.
The "60" profile ended with a warning by Cheney. "Silence enables the liar," she said. "And silence helps it to spread. So the first thing you have to do is say, 'No. I'm not going to accept that we're going to live in a post-truth world.' It's a toxin, Lesley, in, in our political bloodstream. Because when we allow that to continue to go on in the face of rulings of the courts, in the face of recounts, in the face of everything that's gone on to demonstrate that there was not fraud that would have changed the outcome, then we all -- if we do that, we are contributing to the undermining of our system. And it's a really serious and dangerous moment because of that."
THE BIG PICTURE...
Democracy "is in the midst of a grave recession"
Here's a sign of a compelling cable news segment: You grab the remote halfway through, rewind to the beginning, and pay attention to every word. That's what I did when Pamela Brown interviewed Rick Hasen and Ian Bassin on Saturday. Hasen said widespread acceptance of the Big Lie has greatly increased the chances that "we could see a stolen election in 2024." And Bassin added a global POV, pointing out that "if you look around the world, democracy is actually in the midst of a grave recession."
Look to countries like Hungary, Poland and Venezuela, he said: "They're no longer really democratic, although they still purportedly hold elections. And now three of the four largest democracies in the world -- India, Brazil, United States -- have been governed by autocrats in recent years." He said "the thing that is going to stop us from falling down that path is if we recognize that we are not immune to this global trend. It's only by thinking that it can't happen here that it could."
It's only by thinking that it can't happen here that it could... FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE -- "The Soviet aspect of the ongoing disinformation campaign is alarming," Jim Sciutto observed. "The facts don't matter. Only the constant assault. And therefore – over time – there is no truth -– only the reality they create for themselves. We are tumbling down an Orwellian rabbit hole..." (Twitter)
-- Charlotte Klein's latest is about Trump claiming at a Saturday rally that the Arizona audit showed he won the state, even though it showed he lost, a fact most people knew and accepted last year. "The former president doesn't need facts when he can still use his election-related lies to galvanize his base and splinter his party..." (VF)
-- The Big Lie is now "the big cry," since Trump just "goes to these rallies and he cries," Jim Acosta quipped... (CNN)
-- Former Fox honcho Chris Stirewalt talked with Acosta about the results in Arizona. He noted that bad-faith media achieved its goal, which was to "undermine confidence" in the system... (CNN)
-- Brian Murphy, who once led Homeland Security's intelligence branch, spoke on ABC's "This Week" about why he filed a whistleblower complaint. Trump's disinfo poses "an existential threat to democracy," Murphy told George Stephanopoulos... (ABC)
-- Will Bunch's latest: "What happened in AZ was no joke – but the start of a 4-year Trumpian scheme to sow chaos around voting while laws are rewritten and secretaries of state are replaced in time to steal '24..." (Inquirer)
-- All of this turmoil is evidence of the GOP's weakness, not strength, Jack Shafer argues... (Politico) "It's going to be a week from hell"
That's what Rep. Debbie Dingell said about the week ahead for Congress.
>> "This is the most important legislative week of Biden's presidency, and, right now, the endgame remains anybody's guess," Jake Tapper said on "SOTU" Sunday...
>> On "Reliable," we talked about the DC "language barrier" -- how coverage of the budget battles that makes sense to insiders is pretty much indecipherable by everyone else. Catherine Rampell said the coverage should focus less on "misleading" references to trillions of spending and more on "what's actually in the bill." And Josh Marshall said reporters shouldn't give "Republican misbehavior" a pass. Watch... MORE OF MONDAY'S STORYLINES: -- WaPo's top headline in Monday morning's editions: "Power vacuum looms in Germany..."
-- Back stateside, the FBI will release its annual report on US crime stats...
-- Jurors will resume deliberations in the R. Kelly trial... Scroll down for details...
-- The co-hosts of "The View" will surely have a lot to say about Friday's Covid scare. After initially testing positive on Friday, Sunny Hostin and Ana Navarro, then testing negative twice, both women received a third negative result on Saturday, Oliver Darcy reports. So this was really just a false alarm...
-- Kara Swisher will release a new interview with Beto O'Rourke on her "Sway" podcast... Media week ahead calendar
Monday: The Atlantic Festival begins with Dr. Rochelle Walensky on the virtual stage. The festival continues all week...
Monday: Nexstar will triple down on its NewsNation venture despite low ratings. Adrienne Bankert will anchor a morning show and Dan Abrams will take over the 8pm time slot...
Tuesday: The Obamas will attend a groundbreaking in Chicago for the Obama Presidential Center. Robin Roberts will have an exclusive interview with the former POTUS on "GMA..."
Tuesday and Wednesday nights: The News & Documentary Emmy Awards...
Friday: Walt Disney World turns 50...
Friday: E.W. Scripps will relaunch Newsy as a free over-the-air news network ... This week's new books...
New nonfiction releases include "Believing" by Anita Hill; "Bourdain: The Definitive Oral Biography" by his former assistant Laurie Woolever; "The Baseball 100" by Joe Posnanski; and "Forward" by Andrew Yang. New novels include "The Wish" by Nicholas Sparks and "Cloud Cuckoo Land" by Anthony Doerr. (As always, these are incomplete lists!) This is "Banned Book Week"
The American Library Association holds this weeklong celebration of free expression every year. Nikole Hannah-Jones, whose 1619 Project is about to be released in book form, and who has been assailed by conservatives who typically claim they oppose "cancel culture," told me it's important to push back on the notion that controversial ideas and uncomfortable works "shouldn't be allowed to be taught in a country where the First Amendment is right to free speech and free exchange of ideas." Her publishing house, Random House's One World imprint, is holding a virtual event on Wednesday about all of this... Entertainment week ahead calendar
Tuesday: "No Time To Die" has its world premiere in London...
Thursday: "The Problem with Jon Stewart" starts streaming on Apple TV+...
Friday: A new album of duets from Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett...
Friday: "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" and "The Many Saints of Newark" hit theaters (and HBO Max in the latter case)....
Friday: The ACL Festival begins in Austin, Texas...
Saturday: The "SNL" season premiere with Owen Wilson and musical guest Kacey Musgraves... Pivotal Britney hearing is on Wednesday
Chloe Melas writes: "Britney Spears is just days away from a court hearing that could determine the fate of her court-ordered conservatorship."
The court will convene Wednesday at 1pm PT. In the interim, Spears insiders are speaking out and describing the prison-like conditions of her life. Melas and Alisyn Camerota shared new reporting during "Toxic," a CNN special report that debuted on Sunday night. A former tour manager said everything was controlled: Her phone, her reading material, her medical care. "Who she could see, who she could date, who she could be friends with was very, very tightly controlled," Dan George said.
The NYT's Friday night documentary was equally eye-opening. A former employee of the security firm hired to protect Spears, Alex Vlasov, said "it really reminded me of somebody that was in prison. And security was put in a position to be the prison guards essentially." The Times noted that he "supported his claims" of "intense surveillance" with emails, texts and audio recordings.
The third and final major documentary ahead of Wednesday's hearing, Netflix's "Britney Vs Spears," will come out on Tuesday... MORE HOLLYWOOD HEADLINES: -- IATSE strike authorization votes "will be conducted from Oct. 1 through Oct. 3..." (Deadline)
-- On a much, much lighter note, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, a "temple of all things movies," will have its public opening on Friday... (THR)
-- The festivities began with a "star-studded gala" on Saturday "that included guests such as Lady Gaga, Nicole Kidman and Spike Lee," Sharareh Drury reports... (THR) Facebook pushes back on WSJ report ahead of hearing
Ahead of a Senate hearing this Thursday, Facebook is aggressively pushing back against a WSJ story that said the social giant's internal research concluded Instagram negatively affected the wellbeing of teenage girls. FB VP Pratiti Raychoudhury published a blog post Sunday that said "contrary" to WSJ's reporting, "Instagram's research shows that on 11 of 12 well-being issues, teenage girls who said they struggled with those difficult issues also said that Instagram made them better rather than worse." Reporters quickly demanded FB release its research to the public, instead of merely characterizing them. Company spox Andy Stone responded by saying FB was sharing the info with Congress and it was "evaluating how we can release it to the public at some point..." A reckoning?
Members of the public joined Gabby Petito's family and friends at a service on Long Island on Sunday. The NY Daily News referenced "supporters" being present. It was further evidence of what David Folkenflik said on NPR over the weekend: The fault "is not just in our TV stars but in ourselves." Social media interest in the Petito case has been off the charts. So has the amount of scrutiny of "missing white women syndrome" -- certainly more than I have ever seen before. I asked Nikole Hannah-Jones if she thought this reckoning about disparities in media coverage of missing persons would result in lasting change. She was ... skeptical.
Brian Lowry adds: "While it's admirable and overdue to talk about treating all victims equally regardless of race or age, the caution should be that any potential increase in crime coverage provide context about the risks of being victimized. Notably, the documentary 'Citizen Hearst,' premiering Monday on PBS, talks about how William Randolph Hearst used crime and fear as means of selling newspapers. The PBS two-parter also notes, accurately, the extent to which in many ways we still live in a media environment that Hearst helped create, which – especially among heavy news consumers – often inflates our perceived sense of danger, which can have significant political/policy implications..." FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO -- Harry and Meghan are back in L.A. after a jam-packed trip to NYC... (People)
-- Erich Schwartzel wrote about the couple's Hollywood endeavors and said "the big unknown" is "whether audiences will pay attention when the couple isn't spilling the tea on the royal family..." (WSJ)
-- "Another carriage fight has burst into public view," Todd Spangler writes: NBCU is "notifying customers with YouTube TV that more than 14 of its networks, including local NBC channels, could go dark on the streaming service in a matter of days..." (Variety)
-- RIP: "Bobby Zarem, the exuberant press agent who fulfilled his childhood fantasies by catching rising stars and promoting them to stellar careers, died early Sunday morning at his home in Savannah, Ga. He was 84..." (NYT) What we were not allowed to see at R. Kelly's trial
CNN's Sonia Moghe has an excellent behind the scenes look at how the trial has been "shrouded in secrecy." Both members of the media and the public at large have been "barred from the courtroom" the whole time, with the judge citing pandemic-related limitations. The decision "created obstacles for journalists covering the trial. They couldn't see important pieces of evidence or watch how the jurors reacted to testimony, among other issues. And journalists could not voice their concerns in real time since they were placed in a courtroom two floors away from where Kelly's trial was taking place." Read the rest here... Biggest kick of the NFL season
Die-hard Baltimore Ravens fan Alex Koppelman writes: "The job of an NFL kicker is a stressful and largely thankless one. It's a team sport, too complicated for most of us to truly appreciate the role any given player has in a single play, much less whether they did a good job of it. Kickers, though, they're basically alone if they succeed or fail -- and they go into any kick knowing that, unlike their teammates, they're far more likely to end up on TV highlights and talk radio discussions when they fail. Now, you might be thinking to yourself, 'Alex, was that superficially deep but totally unoriginal point an excuse to mention TV and radio and thus pretend that this item Brian asked you to write about Ravens kicker Justin Tucker's record-setting, game-winning field goal today actually belongs in a newsletter about the media?' The answer, of course, is yes. Still, though, the kick was pretty noteworthy -- an incredible thing to watch in part because it seemed absolutely impossible that it would happen right up until the moment it happened."
Koppelman adds: "The reason this impossible thing was possible is Tucker. If you've never heard of him before, he is the best kicker in NFL history. How good is he? So good that The Ringer's Ben Solak wrote, after the game, an article jokingly but convincingly arguing that Tucker is a better football player than superhuman Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Tucker is also a legitimately good opera singer. That's probably unrelated to the kicking but you never know..."  Tonys time
At the time I'm hitting send, CBS is wrapping up the performance-focused Tony Awards, and "Moulin Rouge! The Musical" is picking up the biggest prize of the night. "Moulin" won a whopping ten Tonys overall. "The Inheritance" won best play and "A Soldier's Play" won best revival of a play. CNN's Marianne Garvey has the complete list of winners here...  'Shang-Chi' becomes biggest film of 2021
Frank Pallotta writes: "'Dear Evan Hansen' opened to a paltry $7.5 million at the North American box office this weekend -- clearly disappointing for a film that's based on a Tony-winning musical with a strong fan base, a US national tour and a London production. Elsewhere at the box office, 'Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings' nabbed the No. 1 spot for the fourth weekend in a row with a $13.3 million take. It is now the the highest-grossing domestic film of 2021 so far." Read on...
Three October releases to watch
Brian Lowry adds: "While September is going out like a lamb with 'Evan Hansen's' sour note, looking ahead October will offer several 'Will they wake up the box office?' titles to keep an eye on: 'No Time to Die' on Oct. 8, 'Halloween Kills' on Oct. 15 and 'Dune" on Oct. 22..." FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE At TUDUM...
Netflix held its first global online event for fans on Saturday, brilliantly named TUDUM, for the signature sound that plays at the beginning of the service's videos. The three-hour livestream featured dozens of forthcoming shows and movies. The Verge has collected the highlights here. One of the biggest headlines: A teaser for the 2022 return of "Stranger Things." Frank Pallotta has the story... SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST...
Pet of the day
Reader Elizabeth Rowe emails: "'No, human,' says Drusilla, 'I am NOT coming out until Reliable Sources drops!' The nightly drama occurs in rural Mississippi, where Dru lives with her human..."   Thank you for reading. Email us your feedback anytime. We'll be back tomorrow... Share this newsletter:
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