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Kimmel described an argument that he had with Walters following the WHCD. Kimmel says that Walters was not happy about a joke that he made at the WHCD which lampooned her famous speech impediment.

The Stern Show hosts asked Kimmel to reiterate his joke, which he said was “talking about technology and, you know, how far we’ve come.”

“20 years ago, a ‘tweet’ was something Barbara Walters gave her dog,” said Kimmel recounting the joke. “She’s sitting in the office…”

“She thought that was bad,” asked Stern.

“She was unhappy – she even complained about it on the show the next day,” said Kimmel.

“What did she say,” Stern followed up.

“She said that she didn’t think it was funny and there was some reference to a physical handicap,” said Kimmel. “I don’t know if she’s considered handicapped.”

“She gets to park in that special spot,” said co-host Robin Quivers.

“And then they asked her to say it,” said Kimmel. “’Say treat three times in a row,’ and she’s like ‘tweet, tweet, tweet,’ and everyone claps like oh, see, there’s no speech impediment there.”

Meanwhile, Walters is unlikely to have exhibited nearly the outrage over a joke that Kimmel (probably wisely) decided not to tell at the WHCD.

Watch the segment below via SiriusXM:

RELATED: Bob Beckel Screams ‘F**k’ Live On Hannity, Refuses To Believe He Was On Air

There’s not much to explain in the clip, because it’s all in Conrad’s look of horror: after pouting and noting that she is “so pale,” she is told she is actually on air, pouting about being pale. Her expression genuinely afraid, she begins to give a weather report without a hitch about the snowstorms near Seattle. It’s hilarious and unscripted and a reminder that we’ve all had one of those days.

The clip via ABC Texoma below:



[h/t]

Hunter says that the president called him to make sure their relationship is going to be okay following the airing of the Robin Roberts interview in which Obama officially endorsed state-sanctioned gay marriage. When Mitchell asked the reverend if he had previously counseled Obama on the subject of gay marriage, he said no:

I’m a pastor in his life. So I don’t really talk to him about politics or policy. I just talk about his personal life and his understanding of the scripture. But he knew where I was on this. And that’s why he was calling, and I told him in the call, I can’t find this in scripture. [...] His basis for decision wasn’t just scripture. It was anecdotal. He talked about the friends he has and, of course, the servicemen. And he has a real heart in his role as president. Everybody has a quality. So, for him, that translated into marriage. For those of us who believe God defines what marriage is, that doesn’t translate.

Despite their disagreement on whether homosexuals should be allowed to marry, Hunter said that he understands where the president comes from and that Obama is a “very serious man”:

He wants to do the right thing. But for him, that doesn’t come straight just from scripture. For those of us are biblically obedient Christians, it does. For those who interpret scripture out of relationships and cultural trends and so on and so forth, there are other considerations that he made.

Clip below, via MSNBC:

Kelly kicked off the segment noting Obama’s answer on The View when asked how tight he thinks this election will be. He replied, “When your name is Barack Obama, it’s always tight” — with Joy Behar chiming in, “Hussein.”

In 2008, Monica Crowley said, the election was not close. “He’s trying to go back to what worked for him back then, but the problem for him now,” she said, “is that he has an actual record to run on.” To suggest that the people won’t vote for him because of his race or name, Crowley added, is insulting to the American people, and “bigoted in its own right.”

This is an opportunity to address the role of race in politics, Sally Kohn said. None of us want racial bias to be a factor, she said, but nonetheless race does play a role. Obama will be judged on many things, including his record, Kohn added — but to say he’ll also be judged on his race “is accurate.”

Crowley countered, that the U.S. remains a “merit-based and performance-based society.” She added, “This president has been an abysmal failure.” Kohn shot back by noting that Obama has improved the economy and added jobs, that his record is not completely lacking in that area.

Kohn further noted that had Hillary Clinton become president, we’d be judging her by her gender. But, Kelly noted, Obama had overwhelming support in 2008, and was the same color then. Crowley said the remark was “desperate,” and an attempt to change the subject away from substantial conversation.

The segment ended on a lighter note, recalling the time in 2008 when John McCain referred to Obama as “that one” — and Obama went on to joke about it.

Take a look, via Fox News:

Barbara Walters explained that Mitt Romney had already been on the show once, back in 2010, and that they were hoping he would appear again. She said she believed that his staff was currently going over dates.

And while they joked that some people were less friendly to conservatives than others (*COUGH* Joy Behar *COUGH*), Whoopi Goldberg said that she always enjoyed political guests whether they were Democrats or Republicans because all the ones who have come have had “a great groove to them.”

So, yes, I really buried the lede in this post. This was, officially, the first time anyone has ever, in the history of mankind, used the word “groove” while talking about Mitt Romney.

Watch the clip from ABC below:

(h/t HuffPo)

RELATED: Bah, Humbug! 20/20 Finds Not Everyone Is Happy With Plethora Of Christmas Lights

According to Nielsen, 20/20 has beaten Dateline in its hour 14 out of the 19 hours that have been on this year in both total viewers and the key 18-49 demographic. It did even better among 25- to 54-year-old viewers, beating Dateline 15 out of 19 total hours this year. For those counting, that’s a victory almost 75% of the time in both total viewers and key demographics. It also grew in total viewers 7%, and among the key demos 19% (25-54) and 17% (18-49).

The numbers are not out of the blue; 20/20 has benefited significantly from a big push for exclusive coverage– co-anchor Chris Cuomo‘s exclusive interviews with Stefanie Mack and Tyler Clementi roommate Dahrun Ravi, extensive coverage of the Josh Powell murders, the aforementioned Costa Concordia, and a number of exclusive crime stories that go into the players and investigation in depth.

When the oil spill that happened in the spring of 2010, there was another moment to say, “Hold on a second, let’s re-look at energy policy in America. Should we be subsidizing companies that are risking our health immediately and in the long-term?” We didn’t do it. You’ve never seen the environmental movement more quiet during an oil spill. I guarantee you if John McCain had been president, with that oil spill, or George Bush had been president with that oil spill, I’d have been out there with a sign protesting. I didn’t, because of who the president was.

Pretty much the greatest unintentional description of partisan hackery since…ever. When people so closely identify with party politics and their leaders, then most issues become “My Idiot vs. Their Idiot,” instead of the actual questions at hand. Take, for instance, how much of the anti-war movement has suddenly disappeared since Obama took office, despite his policies mirroring many of Bush’s.

However, Jones does go on to say that he regrets the partisan blinders he once wore:

Well, that’s a bad, uh, that’s not good for the earth, it’s not good for the cause, it’s probably not good for the president. It’s certainly not the way we should conduct ourselves. And so, I’m very tough on progressive movements and leaders, including myself, who did not stand on principle, based on who we looked across and saw as president.

Hindsight is indeed 20/20, Mr. Jones. Once a Republican is back in office, you’ll be back at it again…protesting for the very same reasons you would have — but didn’t — under Obama.

And I’m sure the staunchly anti-war liberals who’ve suddenly gone silent under Obama will bemoan their silence once a conservative hawk is back in the Oval Office, parroting the same exact policies but with a distinctly Republican spin.

Clip below, via C-SPAN:

(H/T The Blaze)

RELATED: Dr. Drew Pinsky ‘Accuses’ Jon Lovitz Of Threatening Obama, Asks If He Has Spoken With Secret Service

Lovitz explained that his background wasn’t a lavish one, but middle class, where his father told him, “after college, you’re on your own.” He reviewed the situation– explaining an anecdote of himself yelling at the President through the TV screen over saying rich people “don’t pay their fair share”– and doing a podcast about it. “Like Arnold Schwarzenegger says, nobody stops you in America,” Lovitz noted, and he felt that spirit threatened by the attacks on rich people from the chief executive. “I said what a lot of people are thinking,” he told Kelly, and explained that “a lot of people are thanking me… they feel like they are being vilified because they are successful.” He noted that he said the President was “amazing” in the rant, but that would never make the news.

As for pushback, Lovitz went as far as saying it may have helped his career, and explained that he would “never tell anybody who to vote for.” “I think I’m a different kind liberal in that I think people should be true to themselves… if you’re Republican or Democrat or conservative, you should be that.” Saying he was not “qualified” to tell people who to vote for, he noted he had about 10,000 new twitter followers, and there, “people say you’re a racist, you’re a Nazi– I’m Jewish, I’m a Nazi now– I mean, that’s the most ridiculous thing i’ve ever heard!”

The interview via Fox News below:

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In a segment on CNN deabating which presidential candidate voters would like more, Phillips asked her panel guests if voters would choose Obama or former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney as the person they would most like to sit down and “have a beer” with them.

“While certainly personality does play a role in electing a president, we’ve seen that happen, I don’t think it plays a major role in electing a president,” said Dowdell. She says that despite the slow economic recovery, President Obama has been a “steady hand” and contrasts strongly with Romney.

“The main Republican argument against this President is he didn’t fix the broken mess left by a Republican president’s policies fast enough,” said Dowdell. “We don’t have a rich people aren’t rich enough problem.”

Wright responded by saying she agreed with Dowdell. She said that the election will not be about personalities, it will be about the economy and that is why Romney is pulling ahead in the polls.

“The President continue to run on personality, because that is all he has,” said Wright. “I’m going to say something that’s going to upset some people right now – the President from day one, starting in 2008, ran on his race. And when he got elected, he keeps going back to ‘I’m the first black president,’ to c from the American people and boost his personality polls.”

Dowdell said she was surprised by Wright’s response, because she says it is usually Republicans who are continually admonishing Democrats for “playing the race card.”

Watch the segment below via CNN:

“So how about Mitt Romney, now he is against it,” Leno noted.

“Mitt Romney, I bet you if you put Mitt Romney in front of a gay organization, he would go, “Boy I like gays. I’m all for gays,” she ribbed.

“They are the right height,” joked Leno. “Gays are the right height.”

“I like the height on the gays. They are a great height,” Sykes added. “Exactly. He says whatever should be said in front of that organization. He’s like the Forrest Gump of candidates. He was in Michigan. ‘I like cars. My wife has a car.’ You know? He was in Wisconsin, ‘Had myself a grilled cheese sandwich today. That was nice.’ I would love to see him in front of NOW (National Organization of Women). Boy, women, boy I like women. You know, my wife has a vagina. I like that. I like that.”

Watch Sykes rip Romney below:

(h/t Newsbusters)

Curry quizzed Cohen about why he very seldomly spoke to the media as himself.

“Well, the movies I did up to now, they involved real people,” Cohen revealed. “And so we wanted to limit the exposure for lawsuits. At the moment, I think I have the Guinness Book of World Record for being the most sued actor in history. But basically if people saw that I was me, and that Borat was not a real person beforehand, they could injunction the movie and shut the movie down. This is a different kind of movie.”

RELATED: Sacha Baron Cohen Apologized To Ryan Seacrest For Oscar Night Ash Gag

Curry asked Cohen what The Dictator was satirizing in particular.

“Well, you know, firstly it’s a comedy movie,” Cohen explained. “So the movie is there to be as funny as it can be. which is the same with all the movies. but the subject of the satire, of all these preposterous dictators who are feared in their own country and rule using violence and suppression are ludicrous characters. At the moment they’re being overthrown. Anything you can do to mock them and undermine that kind of false authority, I think is a positive thing.”

“You actually sought out terrorists to figure out how to be that character,” Curry noted. “That just sounds so risky?

“That was actually in Bruno…I interviewed a few terrorists, which was a little bit risky, yeah.”

“Did it help for The Dictator?” Curry pressed.

“The dictators, usually they fund terrorist groups. But I did do some research for this, yes. i mean it kind of backfired on Bruno because I had a terrorist group came after me and you know, decided to — to seek their revenge. But they haven’t got me yet. That’s why i’m here hiding in Cannes.”

Watch Cohen’s rare out-of-character interview below via NBC:

RELATED: Maher: If Biden’s Gaffe Forced Obama’s Hand On Gay Marriage, ‘Biden Must Make More Gaffes’

It took about four words into the interview for Maher to drop the phrase “ejaculate in a vagina” in relation to Mitt Romney (unnecessary, but arguably relevant to gay marriage?), followed by “It’s two in the afternoon! We can be adults, can we?” O’Brien and Maher then tried to figure out just what Newsweek was on about when calling President Obama the “first gay president.” Maher understood how Clinton was the “first black president”: “he played saxophone… ate McDonald’s,” but with President Obama, he asked, “what does he do that’s gay?” The image of the President as a “gay angel” also didn’t do it for Maher: “why not just short-shorts and a penis-shaped lollipop?”

Maher then went on a bit of a rant about Mormonism after calling the claim that marriage is a “cornerstone of our civilization” a “rectum-derived statistic” (“that’s a very specific kind of think tank,” offered Andy Richter), stopping himself to add that “you know how I feel about religion– it’s all batshit,” but that Mormonism was “so stupid that Tom Cruise would not join it and Glenn Beck did.” The crowd reacted coolly to some jokes (“You know how it’s Mormon dogma? It’s strapped to the roof of the car”), with a reception O’Brien called “cheerful booing,” diffused as O’Brien explained that, as a Catholic, he was taught that “you eat a cookie and turn into Jesus.” Maher helpfully offered that this was not the way Transubstantiation works.

In the second half of the interview, the two discussed the bullying accusations against Romney, which Maher began to describe as Romney “leading this gang” before O’Brien cracked up imaging Romney as a gang leader. Maher also argued that he didn’t see the social issues to be particularly important, as the economy was considered the top issue in the election cycle until it “started getting better and Republicans went to Plan B: calling women ‘whores.’”

The interview via TBS below:

RELATED: NY Times Buries The Lede: Anderson Cooper’s Ratings Surge At 8PM

“If you go to the White House official website, you will find biographies of all the presidents,” said co-host Steve Doocy. “All of these biographies were written by Michael Beschloss and Hugh Sidey. And they have been just the biographies of each of these presidents until recently when this White House decided to inject some of President Obama into the biographies of a whole bunch of president’s that he wasn’t directly involved in.”

Co-Host Gretchen Carlson read some edited portions of the presidential biographies from the White House website. The first was a portion from the biography of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt:

On August 14, 1935, President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act. Today the Obama administration continues to protect seniors and ensure Social Security will be there for future generations

Co-Host Brian Kilmeade read a portion of the edited biography of President Ronald Reagan:

In a June 28, 1985 speech Reagan called for a fairer tax code, one where a multi-millionaire did not have a lower tax rate than his secretary… Today, President Obama is calling for the same with the Buffett Rule.

Carlson said that edit was inaccurate, and Reagan did not call for additional taxes. Doocy read a statement from the Republican National Committee which called the Obama White House’s moves part of a “culture of narcissism.”

He went on to display a series of photographs from the RNC which portray Obama in great moments in American history, including on the surface of the moon with astronaut Neil Armstrong, In the Kennedy White House with Robert and John F. Kennedy discussing the Bay of Pigs invasion and alongside Teddy Roosevelt at the battle of San Juan Hill.

Watch the segment below via Fox News Channel:

RELATED: Brian Williams Feels ‘Unmitigated Joy’ Watching Sex Scenes (Featuring His Daughter) In Girls

He was first asked about CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley, who Williams described as being suspiciously “sunny” in his disposition. “Life’s too short, if you feel like something a dog left on the sidewalk, say it,” said Williams.

Williams had great praise for the CBS and ABC News teams. Letterman, in turn, complimented Williams on his Rock Center special on the assassination of the Osama bin Laden.

Letterman drew applause from the audience when he said that he felt Obama had demonstrated “great courage and great intelligence” when he “gunned down” bin Laden and asked “what more do you want to lead your country?”

Williams said that most uniformed military personnel would tell him under the Bush administration that bin Laden himself was not a priority. “What you now find out, interviewing everyone in that picture, that of course it was a priority but it was a renewed priority when President Obama came into office,” said Williams. “He inherited a different set of circumstances – combat was winding down, arguably, at least the first if not the second.”

Letterman said that circumstances in Obama’s first term were worse than those for Bush, so “why didn’t he go after him?”

Williams outlines just how low the chances were that Obama could have been able to corner bin Laden where he was in Pakistan.

Letterman questioned why Obama should not be able to use the killing of bin Laden as a campaign tool when he believed Bush’s team would have done the same thing in that position. “Remember the Iraq war, “mission accomplished,” well holy ****, the mission was not accomplished,” said Letterman. “They put a banner up on the SS Lincoln, George flies up on the thing. He was very cute.”

“What more do we want this man to do for us, honest to god,” asked Letterman to applause.

“And there you have it,” responded Williams.

The segment concluded with a discussion on gay marriage and Letterman attempting to get to the bottom of his confusion as to why some would oppose same-sex marriage rights.

Watch the segment below via CBS:

RELATED: Christie’s High Approval Proves He Has Yet To Anger New Jersey, Not That He Has Tamed It

“I don’t want another question about flooding, I don’t want any more questions about being vice president, and these kids! These kids with all these questions! I can’t take it anymore,” an exasperated Gov. Christie tells the camera as his aides suggest yet another town hall meeting. He decides to come up with a better idea, and heads to Newark from Trenton.

When he shows up in Newark and asks if he can help with any trapped people, “fires or problems or anything,” but is shooed away while the Mayor receives a venerable to-do list of disasters. Among the good deeds on Booker’s list today? Putting out a fire, shoveling snow, saving a falling baby and even making a critical guitar donation to a crippled Bruce Springsteen concert. How could Christie compete?

The sketch makes a bizarrely (for New Jersey politics) warm-hearted full circle, where Booker finds himself answering a call from Mitt Romney about being his Vice Presidential choice and has no idea how to respond. “Don’t worry, Mayor,” Christie interrupts, “I’ve got this.”
It’s got high production value, high cuteness value, and sets a brand new precedent in New Jersey politics for the “keep your friends close, your enemies closer principle”—after all, Booker would be a Democratic frontrunner should he choose to run for governor. For anyone who recalls the viciousness of the past gubernatorial campaigns (Corzine’s offensive on Christie was almost exclusively comprised of “but he’s fat!”), the collaboration will certainly come as a surprise. For the national media, though, the takeaway will be obvious: if Mitt Romney comes knocking on Christie’s door, he’ll answer with a cool, “I’ve got this.”

The video (via Christie’s YouTube account, of course) below:

Responding to Obama’s critical look at media sensationalism, Hannity said, “Somebody may want to remind the president, it is his administration that is responsible for a lot of those scandals.” Calling Obama a “cry baby,” he added, “Man up. Put your pants on, sit at the table. He got everything he wanted and he’s blaming ATM machines that were created in the 1980s.”

The discussion opened up to the panel, and Hannity was joined by Jennifer Stefano, a Tea Party activist, and Chris Hahn, a Democratic strategist. Hahn argued that every president has lamented that the media only covers bad news, including George W. Bush during his eight-year presidency.

Stefano interjected to express what she disliked about the speech in general. “When it wasn’t smacking of the pulpit, it was smacking of paternalism and pretention,” she said. Mocking Obama’s “lecturing women,” she said — after smacking down Hahn, saying she’s playing her “gender card” — her favorite line was when Obama said women have to fight not just for a seat at the table, but at the head of it. “Mr. President, weren’t you the guy who took out Hillary Clinton in ’08?” she asked. “An under-qualified male got a job from a far more qualified, far intellectually superior female.”

Amid Hahn and Stefano’s loud banter of sorts, Hannity interrupted, asking to go through the issues slowly. He then pointed out that Obama had a majority for two years, during which he got everything he wanted including health care and passing his budgets. And now? No jobs and an additional $5 trillion in debt. But he blames everyone but himself, Hannity said.

With the mention of jobs, the panel again grew heated, as Stefano immediately pointed out the largest group of people dropping out of the workplace are women. She again criticized the way Obama addressed women during his address. Hahn responded that Stefano is very “entertaining.”

Stefano asked, “Aren’t we as Americans better than this? Better than what this president is doing?” The vehement disagreement over debt and spending led once more to increased volume from all sides, before Hannity noting they were out of time.

Hannity turned to Greta Van Susteren‘s preview of her show, only to find that Van Susteren was thoroughly amused when she put in her earpiece and hear the demand to put pants back on. Oh, cable news.

Take a look, via Fox News:

The story originated with a blog post on the Obama campaign’s Keeping GOP Honest website. The post, entitled “Behind the curtain: A brief history of Romney’s donors,” listed seven donors, including Frank Vandersloot, who was noted as being “a bitter foe of the gay rights movement.”

Maddow noted that Vandersloot has said his business has suffered following this attack on him — and that Fox News is simply trying to gin up a scandal that portrays the president in a bad light. The message the network is trying to send, she said, is “Private citizens, if you donate to the Mitt Romney campaign, the president of the United States is coming after you.”

Fox has done five segments on the story, three of which Vandersloot was part of, Maddow noted. Yet this attack isn’t solid on more levels than one, she said. First of all, Vandersloot is a Romney campaign official, which makes him a public figure. But Fox was so excited to have a possible Obama scandal, she said, that they rushed to run the story before fully understanding it.

Maddow recalled that she did a segment with Vandersloot back when he was opposing a documentary about homosexuality, arguing that it has no place in the classroom. It’s not a smear, Maddow said, because his thoughts about gay rights are on record. In the past, he’d given Maddow a statement saying he supports equal rights but doesn’t support sexual concepts introduced to young students.

Furthermore, Maddow played a Fox segment that mixed Vandersloot up with the Wall Street Journal‘s Kimberley Strassel. The segment portrayed Strassel as the victim of the smear, when in fact, she’d simply written a column about Vandersloot.

Not stopping there, Maddow moved on to Vandersloot himself — who Fox is referring to as a target of “political terrorism” — and accused him of rewriting history. Since this story has been circulating on Fox, Vandersloot has been saying he’s seen the negative effects on his business following mention of him on the Obama campaign’s blog.

Maddow contradicted that. Following her story about him in March, she said, Vandersloot sent her an angry letter in which he said her reporting was inaccurate and that the story had negatively affected his business. That was far before the Obama campaign had mentioned him in April, Maddow observed, adding that he’d essentially made the same complaints months ago.

Maddow invited Vandersloot on the show, but received a response that said she knowingly spread false information about him. Later, he agreed to possibly phone in. Welcoming confrontation, Maddow challenged Vandersloot to come on the show and explain what she’s reported incorrectly.

So this story is possibly to be continued (and if it sounds convoluted and a little confusing, well, it is).

Take a look, via MSNBC:

RELATED: Black Pastor Tells CNN His Church Won’t Support Obama, ‘Plan To Stay Home’

O’Reilly pointed to today’s poll in which over two-thirds of respondents said Obama’s gay marriage endorsement was for political reasons, not because he felt it’s the right thing. That poll, O’Reilly said, demonstrates that most Americans now see Obama as just another politician. If it was a political calculation, he said, it’s “actually hurt him” — and may may even have damaged his standing with African-Americans.

To this point, O’Reilly played a radio clip. A woman called into Hot 97.1, during a discussion on the topic, and her reason for being unhappy with Obama’s decision was blunt and, at the least, politically incorrect: “I don’t know, I’ve never liked gay people.”

At this point, the election is a toss-up, O’Reilly said, but right now the president is slipping everywhere. He then opened up a discussion, speaking to Rev. Emmett Burns, who yesterday said he had no interest in going to the polls anymore, and Rev. Delman Coates, who supports same-sex marriage.

Regarding yesterday’s remarks, Burns said, “I overspoke because I was so chagrined about the president.” He’s encouraging those in his church to vote, he said, adding, “I will support the president, and I don’t see a conflict here.” Burns said he can be true to religious beliefs and not support same-sex, but simultaneously support the president.

On the same topic, he said he doesn’t consider same-sex marriage a civil right, and that it’s not comparable to the civil rights struggles of African-Americans. “I could never hide the color of my skin,” Burns said. “It is not a civil rights matter, it is a moral matter.”

Coates begged to differ, arguing that no group “has a monopoly” on civil rights — that equal treatment under the law applies for all groups.

Onwards in the segment, Burns divulged that Romney sides with him on the issues of abortion and same-sex marriage, but nonetheless, he feels Obama is the better choice. A better candidate with a better program.

Circling back to the gay marriage issue, Burns decided said it’s a “slippery slope,” and if we get on it, marriage could continue to change: “Somebody will want to marry a sister, a brother.”

Coates immediately voiced his opposition to that argument, and at the end of the segment, stated, “We have to live in our faith, not legislate it.”

Take a look, via Fox News:

In our brief interview, Bill told me he is very happy at Current, and the feeling seems mutual. “Having three hours of progressive morning talk with Bill based in DC and featuring the newsmakers and those who cover them sets the daily table for our conversations,” Joel Hyatt, CEO and co-founder of Current TV, told me. “Bill is an essential part of our programming mix and we’re proud to have him.”

The morning block continues to outperform the network’s expectations, with ratings that are up about 250% from the prior year, and Bill says he’s noticed a positive effect on his already-established syndicated radio show. A wider, more diverse audience and a deeper pool of guests to draw from (TV is a more attractive medium to many people) are a few of the dividends the move has paid. I also noticed that Bill’s staff is no longer constantly woozy from donating blood.

Press started at Current the Monday before Keith Olbermann was fired, so I was surprised to learn that, even though they worked together for barely a week, hundreds of miles apart, Olbermann still managed to cause friction. Hear the story behind that, and Bill’s quick thoughts on Mitt Romney, during our brief chat:

RELATED: GOP Strategist Gets In Yelling Match With MSNBC Panel Over Tax Cuts, ‘Voodoo Economics’

Said Santelli:

“Compromise? Compromise is a great buzz word, but if spending is this far out of control, why would any taxpayer in his right mind throw more of his dollars into this bottomless pit? Think about that person at Facebook who decided to give up his citizenship. I know that’s in the extreme, but I can’t tell you how many business people in their 60s tell me it isn’t worth the risk anymore. They’re going to wind down as opposed to keep investing. That’s going to be more revenue lost. I’ll tell you a compromise — stop spending, stop spending, stop spending!”

“There’s no risk you would ever renounce your citizenship, right, Rick?” Carl Quintanilla asked Santelli.

“I would never,” Santelli declared. “Nobody’s going to chase me out of my country. I’m going to chase the spenders out of the balance sheet first.”

Watch Santelli below, via CNBC:

(h/t Free Beacon)

RELATED: Obama Ad Blasts Romney: He Was A ‘Job Destroyer’

The interview turned contentious almost immediately, as Banfield took LaBolt on over the ads numerous assertions that were determined to be less-than-factual.

“Mitt Romney has asked us to judge his tenure as a corporate buyout specialist – he’s listed that as his lead qualification for the presidency,” said LaBolt. “We’re not questioning the private equity industry as a whole, we’re questioning Mitt Romney’s economic philosophy. Is that the type of economic philosophy you’d like to see in the Oval Office where Mitt Romney and the wealthiest few profit at the expense of the middle class.”

Banfield cited the Washington Post’s fact checker which gave the ad one out of four “Pinocchio.” She said that the paper was considering giving the Obama team’s ad “two pinnochios.”

And in rides Politico to rescue LaBolt. Politico’s media reporter Dylan Byers gave Ashleigh Banfield “three Pinocchios” for her characterization of WaPo’s “Pinocchio” scale.

Quick note on that last post: While CNN’s Ashleigh Banfield was grilling Obama campaign press secretary Ben La Bolt over the campaign’s latest ad — the anti-Romney, anti-Bain Capital spot — she said the Washington Post gave the ad “one Pinocchio, which is ‘a big fat lie.’”

In fact, the Washington Post’s Fact-Checker defines “one Pinocchio” as “Some shading of the facts. Selective telling of the truth. Some omissions and exaggerations, but no outright falsehoods.”

The Washington Post fact checker ruled that the Obama team’s expressed the following untruth:

Bain Capital was clearly involved in the company’s decisions to greatly add to its debt load — decisions that were made while Romney was actively running Bain. That debt load may have contributed to the company’s failure to weather a steep decline in steel prices, but it was not the only factor that led to the company’s bankruptcy filing. The ad fails to make clear that the Kansas City plant was already facing hard times, and Bain Capital’s investment may have represented its best chance for survival.”
…
Romney had left day-to-day management of Bain in February 1999 to help organize the Salt Lake City Olympics. So he was running Bain when GS Industries settled the 1997 strike with workers by promising guarantees on their pensions, but he was not there when the company used the bankruptcy process to break those promises and slash those benefits…The Kansas City plant was closed in February 2001.

So, Banfield was partially right – she was correct that the heart of the Obama team’s ad was factually incorrect and sought to make a link between Romney and this failed plant where a direct connection is tenuous at best. However, she pretty much biffed it on the “Pinocchio” scale… so, I guess we can call it a wash, right?

The point that the Washington Post and Banfield make is that this is ad is somehow an indictment of Bain’s practices and Romney by extension. Even President Obama’s former “car czar” Steve Rattner criticized the intent of the ad on Monday, saying that he thought “the ad is unfair.”

Look, Mitt Romney made a mistake ever talking about the fact that he created 100,000 jobs. Bain Capital’s responsibility was not to create 100,000 jobs or some other number. It was to create profits for its investors, most of whom were pension funds and endowments and foundations. And it did it superbly well, acting within the rules, acting very responsibly, and was a leading firm. And so yeah, I do think to pick out an example of somebody who lost their job, unfortunately, this is part of capitalism, this is part of life, and I don’t think Bain Capital did anything they need to be embarrassed about.

No more damning condemnation needs to be made of the Bain ad. Even those political operatives that would love to indict Bain as a thoughtless engine of capitalist destruction have to say that this ad goes too far.

LaBolt pivoted to Romney’s record as a job creator, which as LaBolt says, WaPo rated as a false claim as well. “Their goal was wealth creation, not job creation,” said LaBolt echoing Rattner’s point rather effectively thought attempting to reach the opposite conclusion.

“The policies he’s proposed today would return to the same budget-busting tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires that benefited a few,” said LaBolt before he was interrupted by Banfield.

“Ben, I don’t want you to campaign on this program, I want you to answer question about the ad,” said Banfield. While LaBolt continued to talk over her, Banfield never lost her congenial demeanor. “You know business is complex,” said Banfield. She went on to outline how the plant that was the focus of this ad was already failing when they brought Bain to delay that failure.

“This isn’t just one plant, Ashleigh,” said LaBolt.

“Oh, you highlighted this one plant, Ben,” replied a curt Banfield, her joviality beginning to melt away as the frustration associated with pounding the sand that is interviewing a campaign spokesperson began to wear on her. “You and your campaign highlighted this plant and those workers were from this plant.”

“The company failed,” said LaBolt. “750 workers lost their jobs. And ultimately, [Romney and his Bain partners] walked away with millions for themselves after this company failed. It’s not on that premise that we can build our economy.”

It’s hard to argue with a campaign advocate. I don’t begrudge LaBolt his position. Banfield appeared vexed that she could not get LaBolt to admit his employer’s folly in this ad, but she did a good job of maintaining her trademark likeability while taking the Obama campaign to task. Here’s hoping we see more of this in the weeks and months to come.

Watch the heated exchange below via CNN:

Here are the rest of your Monday night ratings:

TV NEWS RATINGS: 25-54 DEMOGRAPHIC (L +SD)
5 pm	The5 323	Blitzer 185	Matthews 159	Special 73
6 pm	Baier 290	King, USA 96	Sharpton 160	Prime 92
7 pm	Shep 319	Burnett 59	Matthews 175	Velez-Mitchell 72
8 pm	O’Reilly 472	Cooper 67	Schultz 152	Grace 129
9 pm	Hannity 300	Morgan 116	Maddow 251	Dr. Drew 64
10 pm	Van Susteren 277	Cooper 125	O’Donnell 249	Grace 79
11 pm	O’Reilly 347	Burnett 127	Schultz 158	Showbiz 121
TOTAL DAY	270	78	139	84
PRIME TIME	350	103	217	89
Data by Nielsen Media Research. Live and same day (DVR) data.

TV NEWS RATINGS: TOTAL VIEWERS (L +SD)
5 pm	The5 1.519	Blitzer 475	Matthews 742	Special 227
6 pm	Baier 1.654	King, USA 374	Sharpton 697	Prime 291
7 pm	Smith 1.495	Burnett 313	Matthews 807	Velez-Mitchell 314
8 pm	O’Reilly 2.724	Cooper 295	Schultz 744	Grace 401
9 pm	Hannity 1.940	Morgan 316	Maddow 874	DrDrew 291
10 pm	Greta 1.573	Cooper 352	O’Donnell 888	Grace 268
11 pm	O’Reilly 1.157	Burnett 345	Schultz 512	Showbiz 256
TOTAL DAY	1.253	306	501	238
PRIME TIME	2.082	321	835	314
Data by Nielsen Media Research. Live and same day (DVR) data

RELATED: George Zimmerman May Be Charged With Hate Crime By FBI, Report Says

ABC, who were also first to break the bloodied images of Zimmerman’s head that disputed video seemingly showing him unharmed, have now obtained Zimmerman’s detailed medical records.

The document describes Zimmerman as having suffered two black eyes, wounds to the back of the head, as well as a broken nose but that he declined both hospitalization after the encounter as well as a follow up with an ENT doctor. The doctor who wrote the document also writes that Zimmerman suffers from stress and “nausea” when thinking about the night and was strongly advised to see a psychologist.

It also states that, prior to the shooting, Zimmerman had been prescribed the drugs Adderall and Temazepam, medication that ABC points out “can cause side effects such as agitation and mood swings, but in fewer than 10 percent of patients.”

Of course, none of this proves exactly what the events were that led to Martin’s death. But they are important facts to add to this sad, sad story.

Watch the video from ABC News below:

RELATED: Will Cain Tangles With Debbie Wasserman Schultz: Why Are ‘You Guys’ Waiting To Address Budget Issues?

Blitzer asked Wasserman Schultz to respond to Carville’s recent column in which he chides his fellow Democrats for overconfidence that President Barack Obama is a shoo-in to be reelected.

“WTFU. Translated – wake the you-know-what up, there is an earthquake,” wrote Carville. “What are you smoking? What are you drinking? What are you snorting or just what the hell are you thinking?”

“Well, I guess it’s my job to peel folks like James Carville off the ceiling, because it’s certainly not time to panic,” said Wasserman Schultz. “I haven’t noticed complacency at all.” She went on to say that she had witnessed a lot of focus among supporters of President Obama.

Blitzer cited the findings in the latest CBS/New York Times poll that showed 32 percent of respondents rated the economy as “good” while 67 percent said it was “bad.”

“You agree, the economy is issue number one,” asked Blitzer.

Wasserman Schultz responded that job growth was priority number one and touted President Obama’s record of creating private sector jobs and “fighting for the middle class.” She contrasted that with the campaign of Mitt Romney who Wasserman Schultz says is fighting only for tax cuts for the already wealthy.

Blitzer said that Republicans have accused President Obama and the Democrats of running a campaign of distraction, attempting to lead voters away from discussing the economy.

“Really,” asked Wasserman Schultz. “What I’ve noticed is that the Republicans are really good at projection. Because, which means that, anything that actually applies to them they try to put on their opponents.”

Wasserman Schultz said that it was Romney and the Republicans that were exclusively focusing on divisive social issues. Blitzer challenged her assertion, but Wasserman Schultz continued to insist that Republicans have made issues like defunding Planned Parenthood and the repeal of the Affordable Care Act as evidence of their obsession with social issues.

Watch the segment below via CNN:

RELATED: President Obama Scolds The Media During Barnard College Speech

In his speech Obama said:

Every day, you receive a steady stream of sensationalism and scandal. The stories with a message that suggest change is impossible. That you can’t make a difference. That you won’t be able to close that gap between life as it is and life as you want it to be. My job today is to tell you don’t believe it. Because, as tough as things have been, I am convinced you are tougher.

Kelly kicked off the discussion by asking whether Obama’s assessment is accurate. Nothing is inaccurate about it, David Webb said. Obama’s lost The New York Times and the media is no longer suppressing or ignoring what Americans see as the “obvious truth” when it comes to the economy, he added, also citing “class warfare.” Given all that, Webb said, “You have no option but to put out some critique.” Obama’s losing voters and losing confidence, he concluded.

Josh Block, former spokesman for the Clinton/Gore campaign, said commenting broadly, like Obama did, runs the risk of “belittling” the public service. On a political basis, he added, the American people don’t trust the media — thus, “it’s an easy target to pick.” That said, Block said there are “more substantive things we could have been hearing,” offering up Syria as an example.

But again, he said, the media is a “safer” topic. Kelly asked, “Do you think the president’s about had it with the media that used to cover him very favorably?” She cited a Pew study that showed that Mitt Romney’s media coverage has been more favorable than Obama’s.

Webb said, “We’re looking at the truth come out. [...] The media’s been the willing, complicit partner for this administration in many respects.” The internet and new media, he said, have acted as “the great equalizer.” He further cited this Kelly panel as evidence of a “fair and balanced” look.

Kelly mentioned how the president is shifting blame to the president — and Block agreed, saying that he criticizes the media one minute and goes on The View the next.

The panel ended the segment with a discussion of Obama’s speech in general, and whether his attempts to uplift and inspire will prove as successful as they have in the past.

Take a look, via Fox News:

RELATED: Bashir, Sharpton Attack Respondents In Latest Poll For Saying Obama Made Political Move On Gay Marriage

Upon returning to his panel after listening to Romney address an audience of Iowans on the campaign trail, Bashir asked Wolffe what he thought of Romney’s address. “I thought it was President [George W.] Bush who was responsible for the prescription drug benefit,” said Bashir. “I thought it was President Bush who was responsible for two unpaid for wars. And I thought it was President Bush who ushered in massive tax cuts. Or was that President [Barack] Obama?”

“Both presidents have increased the debt,” said Wolffe. However, he went on to say that it was Romney’s proposals that would “blow a massive hole in the debt.” Wolffe criticized Romney for not releasing any plan to be scored, and said that what the press knows about his economic plans is inadequate to solve the debt crisis. “he may have identified a problem, but his solutions are no better than anything we’ve seen – in fact they’re worse,” said Wolffe.

“That’s fair, isn’t it Ron,” Bashir asked Christie.

Christie said it was not fair. He went on to outline how spending as a proportion of gross domestic product had skyrocketed since Obama took office.

Bashir interrupted that he was unclear how Romney could reduce the deficit and increase spending on things like the military. “And cut taxes,” Wolffe chimed in. “How does he close the deficit by cutting taxes across the board and increasing spending? Tell me?”

“We’ve seen from every major tax cut, Martin, in 1960, 1980, 2001 and 2003 – every time that the government has cut spending and cut taxes, there is more revenue flowing into the government,” said Christie.

Christie’s assertion was met with a chorus of “voodoo” from his fellow panelists. Crosstalk ensued.

Corn interjected that the 1980 tax cuts were later met with tax increases because they produced deficits. “It’s simply not truth that if you cut taxes you get economic growth. Look at what happened during the Bush years,” said Corn.

Wolffe said that the Bush administration’s jobs creation record was even worse than that of President Jimmy Carter. “You cannot say that cutting taxes repairs the hole in the budget – it doesn’t lead to increased tax revenue – unless you believe in the very voodoo economics that the first President Bush thought was crazy,” said Wolffe.

“Voodoo economics? That’s the best you can come up with,” Christie replied. More crosstalk ensued.

Christie went on to cite jobs creation records and revenue records from the 1980s and 2000s that he contends were the result of broad tax cuts.

Watch the segment below via MSNBC:

And, no, she’s not just an incredibly devoted Chris Harrison fan.

Guerda Maurice, a woman from Port St. Lucie, was watching the show when she saw a tent in the background that she really liked. So she took out her cell phone began taking pictures of the TV.

From WPBF:

“‘And with my third picture, my phone was vibrating and so warm, and very warm and hot like a burning smell,’ said Maurice.

She said the phone malfunctioned and mysteriously enough started working again the next morning.

The pictures she took the night before left her dumb-founded. In her second photo, she sees an image of a man in robes. His hands are clasped and his head is topped with scarves or something else, she said.

‘I flipped the phone and I see Jesus’ picture,’ said Maurice. ‘And I said, ‘Oh my God, where did this picture come from””

The best part of the WPBF segment is when they talk to Charles Beal, Jr. who apparently made the mistake of saying he only saw “an angel or a lady” in the photo. Apparently, his wife didn’t take that too well. That’s not surprising. Come on, Charles. You don’t second guess a reality TV fan who is on a mission from God Himself.

Anyway, bless The Bachelor and may Jesus come to all of us one day, give us a rose, and take us on the greatest One on One Date of them all; Heaven.

Watch the segment from WPBF below:

RELATED: George W. Bush Endorses Mitt Romney

“I will work with you to make sure we put out this spending and borrowing fire,” said Romney.

He went on to criticize the culture in the Capitol of spending and program proposing in order to solve the nation’s problems. “Washington has been spending too much money and our new president made things worse,” said Romney.

Romney then took a swipe at Obama for rejecting President Bill Clinton’s “doctrine” of balancing budgets to meet spending proposals. He suggested that this was the result of a personal animus between Barack Obama and the Clintons.

“Almost a generation ago, Bill Clinton announced that the ‘era of big government was over,’” said Romney. “President Obama tucked away the Clinton Doctrine in his large drawer of discarded ideas along with transparency and bipartisanship. It’s enough to make you wonder if maybe it was a personal beef with the Clintons, but probably that – it runs much deeper than that.”

Watch the segment below via MSNBC:

Don’t worry though. The worst didn’t happen to WXII12′s Stephanie Berzinski. The worst would probably have been if she rode the motorcycle screaming into a giant gas tank next to a puppy orphanage. That didn’t happen, thankfully. However, she certainly didn’t have an easy time getting off the bike once she got it to the camera, eventually knocking the whole thing to the ground.

Physically Berzinski was fine but she was definitely embarrassed, trying her best to get through the rest of the segment and then writing this note on her Facebook page:

“Dear Everyone: Thank you for your thoughts and concerns! But I am A-Okay! :) Maybe a bruised ego…lol but other than that totally fine. I have to laugh this one off. Yes, I am forever embarrassed and yes I was totally mad at myself, but hey-that’s live TV for you. Mistakes happen. Obviously. Either way I still passed and have my motorcycle endorsement. I think I’m gonna start off with a Vespa. P.S. the motorcycle is fine too. If it’s one thing I CAN do it’s gracefully fall.”

Well, good on her for taking it with good humor. And maybe the next time when her producers suggest she goes hang gliding to report on Memorial Day festivities or actually jumps for a segment on a newly opened bungee facility, she will politely decline.

Watch the clip below:

(h/t TV News Insider)

The practice is nothing new. As Mandvi’s column column, a simple trip to the DVD store can bring you such “classic” moments as Mickey Rooney playing a Japanese man or Charlton Heston playing a Mexican. However as he pointed out today, the America of 2012 is quite different from the America of the past.

“I think the problem is that this attitude that sort of, you know, white is the normal and everything else is not. So there is this kind of idea that, a lot of times, roles that originally come from sources like comic books or novels and things that that are ethnic roles are often given to white actors when it’s converted into a film. Most recently, The Hunger Games or stuff like that where you have a white actor playing what was an ethnic role in the novel. So I think this upsets a lot of ethnic people, ethnic actors because this is something that is perpetuated by hollywood in this idea that white is the norm and if you want to identify with the hero, identify with the person on the screen, he or she has to be white. And America’s not the same as it was 50 years ago and I think those things should change now.”

As an Indian American actor, this is certainly an important issue. Plus, it’s something he knows about firsthand since he was, unfortunately, in The Last Airbender.

One unfortunate element of this segment is that it began with Suzanne Malveaux discussing the new Sacha Baron Cohen movie The Dictator and, yet, she never brought the film up to Mandvi. I’d have been interested to know if Mandvi has a problem with Cohen’s character since he actually performed it on The Daily Show last week. Oh well.

Watch the segment from CNN below: