Nothing compares to you… except this random Irish journalist.

While speaking to reporters on Sunday, President Donald Trump ignored a question about a protest against him in Dublin to tell a journalist she bears a striking to the late Irish singer Sinead O’Connor.

“You know, you remind me of somebody,” Trump said while pointing at the reporter. “A very cute Irish singer who passed away recently. You know who that is? Sinead!”

The president said it in a bit of a funky way, pronouncing it “SHI-NEED.”

“Sinead O’Connor?” the reporter asked back.

“Yeah, you look like Sinead O’Connor,” Trump confirmed with a smirk on his face. “And that’s a compliment, because she sang beautifully.”

Trump’s kind words about O’Connor stand out, considering she wasn’t the president’s biggest fan.

The singer — who rocketed to fame with her 1990 cover of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” — said she believed Trump was the “biblical devil” in a 2020 interview. And beyond her musical career, O’Connor is probably best known for ripping up a picture of Pope John Paul II during a 1992 performance on Saturday Night Live — a move which led to swift condemnation from Catholics worldwide. She died in 2023 at the age of 56.

Trump never got around to answering the reporters question, which was about protesters griping about his visit and claiming the U.S. was funding Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza.

The president did opt to answer some other big questions he received, including one about AI, after Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, as well as Elon Musk and OpenAI boss Sam Altman, called for more regulation; they all said they were worried AI could go rogue and break free of human control, if the pace of innovation was not slowed down. Trump said he wasn’t too concerned about it, though.

“Well I’ll say this, we’re leading China in AI. We’re the most sophisticated country in the world, and frankly I want to keep it that way, because whoever wins AI, wins,” Trump said. “We can put guardrails [in], we can do this and that, but I think you have a lot of negative forces that are bringing it up that shouldn’t be bringing it up. And they’re bringing up things that won’t happen.”

Watch above.

The post Trump Tells Reporter She Reminds Him of Sinead O’Connor: ‘A Very Cute Irish Singer’ first appeared on Mediaite.

ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos straight-up asked Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) Sunday if he pledged his allegiance to Donald Trump, just like the GOP midterm convention goers did last week.

The president led his pledge “to the greatest president in the history of the United States,” as thousands of people followed along at the convention meant to energize Republicans ahead of the midterm elections.

“Congressman, thanks for joining us this morning. Do you pledge your allegiance to Donald Trump?” Stephanopoulos asked.

“I pledge my allegiance to my constituents, which I always have,” Lawler answered. “It’s why I’ve been rated among the most bipartisan and effective members of Congress. I’ve been praised by presidents of both parties, including Joe Biden and Donald Trump, because I work to get things done. You know, my best friend in Congress is a Democrat, Josh Gottheimer, and we work tirelessly on issues that matter to our constituents and the American people.”

Stephanopoulos proceeded to ask Lawler if he supports the $5,000 dividend Trump promised to Americans if Republicans prevail in the midterm elections.

“If so, why haven’t Republicans already passed it?” Stephanopoulos asked.

“You know, George, I support putting money back in the pockets of hard working Americans, which is why we passed the single largest tax cut in American history,” Lawler said. “It’s why I fought to lift the cap on SALT from 10,000 to 40,000. Standing up to President Trump on that issue, delivering the largest tax cut for my constituents, putting more than $4,000 back in their pockets. So whether you talk about tax cuts, whether you talk about dividends —”

“But I asked you about the president’s $5,000 dividend,” Stephanopoulos interrupted. “Do you support that or not? It’s a yes or no question.”

“No, George, it’s not a yes or no!” Lawler shot back. “Here’s the answer. Whether you call it a tax cut, a stimulus, which is what the Biden administration did — and you said that was the greatest anti-poverty program since the New Deal, when Biden passed the stimulus check — so, obviously, you don’t have a problem when they’re handing money back to the American people through a stimulus check, or you call it a dividend. The question is, how do you pay for it? How do you be able to to pass the legislation to put more money back in the pockets of hardworking Americans? That’s the objective. We should all be wanting to do that.”

Watch the clip above via ABC News’s This Week With George Stephanopoulos.

The post Stephanopoulos Kicks Off Tense Interview With GOP Lawmaker By Asking Blunt Question: ‘Do You Pledge Your Allegience to Donald Trump?’ first appeared on Mediaite.

Screenshot via HBO

Bill Maher was an equal opportunity offender on Friday’s Real Time where he slammed Democrats plenty, but also delivered a blunt message to his right-wing admirers still loyal to MAGA.

During a discussion about the midterm elections, Maher argued Democrats “have this one in the bag” as the elections will be referendums on President Donald Trump and his job performance. Maher then admitted he has “some standing” with conservatives and offered them a message.

“I think I have some standing with the conservatives. They always say to me when they come up to me, they say, I know you’re not on our team, but you know what? You respect us. You won’t dismiss us like that. There’s none of that you can’t come to Thanksgiving. That bullsh*t,” Maher said.

The Real Time host regularly goes after Democrats as well as Republicans on his show. During Friday’s episode, he unfavorably contrasted Democrats who accuse Israel of a “genocide” in Gaza to 9/11 terrorists.

Maher still did not mince words when he spoke directly to the camera to deliver a message to MAGA fans.

“I just got to say to you people, I know, you don’t like it when I call you names and, you know, you are not that bright, but when it comes to Trump, you’re not that bright. You’re just not that kind of person. It is a cult. And you’ve got to get a little smarter. I mean, how many times can the con man run the same con and you still applaud for it? I don’t get it,” he said.

Maher had been joking that Trump’s promise of $5,000 checks to Americans if Republicans win the midterms is a fantasy, just like other past promised payments from DOGE cuts and tariffs.

Maher also went after Democrats hard, doubling down on his controversial 2001 remark that the 9/11 terrorists who took down the Twin Towers could not be described as cowards.

“I know a guy whose show got canceled just for saying the terrorists weren’t cowards. And that guy was right. They weren’t cowards, but I’ll tell you who is: Democratic party politicians. And I’ll tell you why, because nowhere has this moral confusion become more obvious than in a place called Gaza,” he said.

The post Bill Maher Delivers Blunt Message to His Conservative Fans Still Loyal to Trump: ‘You’re Just Not That Bright’ first appeared on Mediaite.

Screenshot via Anthropic YouTube

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei is warning “we must slow down the pace” of AI, just days after an Anthropic researcher quit and predicted the tech could “kill us all” within a decade.

In a lengthy statement posted online Saturday, Amodei laid out steps to slow down the pace of AI advancements and acknowledged some serious risks, including rogue AI agents “taking over the entire internet” in six to 12 months.

Amodei argued in favor of AI overall, arguing it could lead to major advancements in medicine and more.

“I believe that AI could cure most major diseases in the next 5–10 years, greatly accelerate economic growth rates, create a world of abundance and empowerment, and usher in a renaissance of democracy and freedom,” he wrote.

The CEO also warned, however, that there could be drastic consequences with AI and those are becoming more real as AI is advancing “drastically” and able to self-improve.

“They include the risk of losing control of AI systems, misuse of AI for cyberattacks and bioterrorism, and serious economic disruption. A race to the bottom, spurred by commercial incentives, can make these risks more acute,” he wrote.

Amodei added, “We must slow the pace at which we improve the capabilities of AI models. Progress will still seem fast, and we must make wise use of the time we gain.”

He explained that his recent concern came from two developments, including the accelerated growth of AI over the summer.

He wrote:

My first concern is that, since roughly this summer, AI has been advancing drastically faster, driven primarily by AI’s growing ability to build the next generation of AI. This dynamic is called recursive self-improvement, and it is starting to happen across the industry, including at Anthropic, as we and others have described. Left unchecked, it could outrun our ability to understand and control these systems, and so must be pursued very carefully, if at all.

Amodei also said he was concerned over a July security breach involving AI where autonomous AI agents being tested by OpenAI launched a coordinated cyberattack on AI developer Hugging Face.

Amodei described the AI agents as becoming a “fanatically devoted collective” with some “sacrificing themselves for the success of the group, and attempting to hack into the ‘grader’ responsible for evaluating their performance.”

The tech leader admitted he’s concerned similar rogue AI agents could take over the internet within a year:

Given the accelerating rate of AI capability development, it’s my worry that in 6–12 months such a swarm could be capable of taking over the entire internet with a persistent botnet (potentially causing hundreds of billions of dollars in damage), and that the scale of damage would continue to increase from there if AI becomes more powerful without the necessary guardrails. It’s also easy to dismiss OAI-HF as the failure of one company, but I believe that would be a mistake. Similar, though less severe, incidents have happened across the industry, including at Anthropic, and I believe it’s incumbent on every frontier AI company to act as if OAI-HF had happened to them.

Amodei’s statement follows Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon quitting his position and adding his voice to the chorus of critics concerned about AI’s future effects.

“The people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade. This is not a marketing stunt,” Coxon warned, sharing concerns similar to Amodei’s thoughts on self-improving technology.

Amodei’s three-step plan for slowing the pace of AI includes AI companies inviting in “third-party evaluators” to “verify adherence to safety practices and commitments, report incidents, and help assess the alignment of not just completed AI models but training pipelines and processes.”

He also proposed AI companies “within democratic countries” to create a set of “common safety standards” to follow, as well as governments working to extend this to “authoritarian governments.”

“The stakes are too high for pacing to be an empty exercise — we need to use the time it gives us wisely,” Amodei wrote.

The post Anthropic CEO Declares ‘We Must Slow the Pace’ of AI Advancements While Warning the Tech Could ‘Take Over’ the Internet in Months first appeared on Mediaite.

Hillary Clinton sparked anger and fierce debate this week when she told MS NOW’s Morning Joe that she believed it was possible Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ignored warnings about a Hamas attack before October 7th “so that then he could come down hard and it would enhance his position.”

“So I think we’ve got to be very clear of the messages we send, hopefully to the Israeli people, especially after this bombshell that came out in the Israeli press, where Netanyahu had literally been called by, you know, Sheikh Mohammed, MBZ, from UAE, and warned that Hamas was planning something,” Clinton said Thursday, adding:

And either he didn’t believe it, or — it’s horrible to say — he wanted to see what they could plan so that then he could come down hard and it would enhance his position. I don’t know what his thinking was. But the bottom line: talk about a failure of imagination. This was a failure of leadership. This was a failure of protecting the people of Israel. He’d been told what was going to happen.

Clinton’s remark was quickly clipped and went viral on social media, with both sides of the political spectrum offering criticism.

Left-wing independent writer Ken Klippenstein shared the moment and added, “Hillary Clinton suggests October 7 was an inside job.” He later added, “No way she doesn’t walk this back lol. Start your timers!”

Conservative CNN commentator Scott Jennings shared Klippenstein’s clip and added, “Is Hillary the biggest conspiracy theorist in America? Still thinks Russia stole the 2016 election & now says Oct 7 was an inside job. Good grief.”

The Nation’s Jeet Heer added, “I hate to be put in a position of having to defend Netanyahu but the scenario Clinton is outlining is speculation not justified by the facts. Netanyahu’s broader set of actions — including funnelling money to Hamas for years — indicates he thought Gaza had been “contained” not that he wanted Oct. 7 to happen. The failure here was not just Netanyahu but Israeli security state going back many years.”

Below are some more reactions from across the political spectrum:

__

The post ‘Biggest Conspiracy Theorist in America?’ Hillary Clinton Sparks Fury With Netanyahu, Oct 7th Remark first appeared on Mediaite.

CNN global affairs commentator Sabrina Singh joined anchor John Berman on Friday to discuss the latest developments in the Middle East, which continue to cause spikes in global energy prices, including in the U.S.

“Diesel, of course, is key for farmers and manufacturers, and higher input costs could lead to higher food prices for consumers. The price of regular gas is also up, $4.30 a gallon. That is up 15 cents since just last week, John,” began anchor Sara Sidner after noting diesel hit an all-time high this week.

“All right, major developments overseas this morning, specifically in this region here near the Strait of Bab al-Mandeb in Yemen here. Yemeni sources say that Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have captured a key island on the Red Sea. Want to push in so you can see what I’m talking about there. They’ve captured this island, Perim Island, here, right in the Strait of Bab al-Mandeb,” Berman began, looking at a map of the region. He added:

This follows another major event just in the last 24 hours, where they took over this city right here, Mocha, you can see. So the Houthi rebels, again, Iranian-backed, moving ever closer to what looks like complete control of this crucial strait. With us now, CNN political and global affairs commentator Sabrina Singh. Sabrina, again, this is happening at a fairly rapid pace. I mean, I woke up and the city had been taken by the Houthi rebels, and then just a few hours later, we get word that this island falls. What kind of situation does that create for the United States and U.S. allies?

“Well, I think you captured it perfectly. I mean, yesterday, we were looking at reports of Houthi rebels advancing on the city of Mocha, which is a strategic port on the southwest corner of the Red Sea. That port would allow the Houthis greater control of the Bab al-Mandeb — that’s 50 miles from it. And now, today, we’re waking up and seeing that they’ve actually taken control of that critical island as well,” Singh explained, adding:

So what you’re seeing here is potentially the war in Iran spilling over into the region, and opening up a new front when it comes to trade and shipping lanes. The Strait of Hormuz, of course, is still being threatened by Iran, but Iran’s very powerful proxy group, the Houthis, now potentially controls another critical strait and shipping lane through the Red Sea.

And we know that Saudi Arabia has had to, in fact, reroute a lot of the oil that it would get out through the strait — it was using the Red Sea and trying to even export it up through the Suez Canal. With the Houthis now taking control of some of these two critical places, I think shipping is going to be further threatened, which means the global economy is going to be further upended.

“Yeah, let me give people a sense of exactly what you’re talking about here. You can sort of make it out on our map. All the way up here, this is the Strait of Hormuz, right, and this is what has effectively been constricted, if not closed, for the last six months with the U.S. war with Iran,” Berman replied, going back to the map.

“So if there’s not oil shipping getting out there, and now Iranian-backed rebels have much more complete control over the Strait of Bab al-Mandeb, where Saudi Arabia was moving so much of its oil, then it just makes the situation that much worse. Now, we’ve got word overnight, Sabrina, also, that the United States now has some hundred — what they’re calling — military advisors in Saudi Arabia, in theory helping the Saudis, who are backing the Yemeni government, battling the Houthi rebels. When the U.S. sends a hundred advisors somewhere to help, what does that mean?” he followed up.

“I think this administration is taking this very seriously. They understand that, should the Houthis be able to control just this critical waterway between the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb, not only is that going to upend the global economy, that is going to raise prices here at home. And Sara, of course, was talking about the price of oil, the price of diesel today — that’s going to go further up if the Houthis can threaten shipping and prevent Saudi, which is a critical oil exporter, from getting its oil out into the region,” Singh continued, adding:

It’s going to raise prices. And right now, what Saudi’s basically doing is having to go up through the Suez Canal, through the Mediterranean, and reroute oil through Africa, the Cape of Good Hope, all the way to get to Asian and European markets. That is extremely costly for shippers and, of course, is making oil prices skyrocket everywhere around the world.

Watch the clip above via CNN.

The post CNN’s Singh Warns Escalating New Front In Middle East Could ‘Upend the Global Economy’: Trump is ‘Taking This Very Seriously’ first appeared on Mediaite.

After roughly eight hours on live television, Fox News anchor Jon Scott finally left the studio and began walking toward Grand Central Terminal at around 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 11, 2001.

Sixth Avenue was completely deserted. He stepped into the middle of the normally bustling Manhattan thoroughfare on a sunny late afternoon and turned towards downtown. He could still see the smoke pouring from the site of the World Trade Center three miles away.

Scott continued on to Grand Central and boarded a train out of Manhattan. Sitting across the aisle from him was a man who asked to borrow another passenger’s cellphone. The man took the phone, dialed up his wife, and told her the two words every New Yorker wanted to hear from their loved ones that day.

“I’m alive.”

The Fox News anchor remembers that phone call on the train with great clarity.

“Normally you call home and say, ‘What’s for dinner?’ or ‘I’ll pick up the dry cleaning,’” Scott — now the anchor of the FOX Report — told Mediaite in an interview ahead of the 25th anniversary of 9/11. “And this guy calls home and tells his wife that he’s still alive.”

He began to choke up.

“See, now I’m getting a little emotional,” he admitted.

For eight hours on air that Tuesday morning a quarter-century ago, Scott fought those emotions. He was determined not to break down.

Scott — a Fox News original who joined the network two months before its launch in 1996 — certainly wasn’t expecting to struggle when he reported to work that day. He was anticipating an ordinary show, preparing for a lineup that included a book interview and a musician.

As he opened the studio door, he heard an urgent message from his producer that a plane had struck 1 World Trade Center.

“It didn’t compute because we had just never seen [anything like it] before,” Scott explained. “It’s hard for the human brain, or at least my human brain, to wrap your mind around things that you’ve never experienced before.”

Early reports suggested a small plane had crashed into the tower, and an aviation expert on the phone with the anchor walked through reasons it could have been an accident live on air.

As hosts across broadcast platforms scrambled to provide important information to their viewers and listeners, Scott had some unique insight to offer. He was working toward his pilot’s license at the time. And with his knowledge of aviation, he found the theory about a possible small plane crash hard to square with the enormous hole and smoke visible on screen.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a second jet swoop into the frame.

He paused mid-sentence on television as he watched another fireball erupt from the towers. Because of the WABC-TV helicopter camera’s angle, the two towers were aligned in the footage.

“For a second, I thought that our director had somehow cued up a replay,” he said.

Then the helicopter moved.

“I saw that both towers had gaping holes and pillars of smoke coming out of them,” Scott recalled. “I knew then that this was no accident.”

He quickly mentioned Osama bin Laden on air as a possible suspect — a conclusion that would ultimately prove correct, but one he immediately worried had come too soon.

“As soon as I said it, I thought, ‘It’s really too early to be naming suspects,’” he disclosed.

But since the attacks, Scott said he’s become friendly with an Air Force flight nurse who told him he had been watching Fox’s coverage that morning alongside military superiors. They had also suspected bin Laden, and when the anchor said his name on air, those in the room looked at one another and asked, “How did he know?”

That morning, though, his decision to name a suspect was actually in an attempt to maintain composure.

After the second plane struck the South Tower, a floor director in the studio began “bawling out loud.” Seeing her cry nearly broke his own resolve.

“I decided me getting emotional wasn’t going to help get the story out, wasn’t going to help communicate to anybody who might be watching,” he said, deciding instead to focus strictly on the facts.

Scott believes experience helped him navigate the chaos. Before joining Fox, he had been a correspondent for NBC’s Dateline and reported on the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, touring the complex and learning about its security.

Yet 9/11 changed the way he experienced the breaking news that followed. Two months later, when American Airlines Flight 587 crashed in Queens, Scott was at home when one of his bosses at Fox called.

“Looks like they’ve hit us again,” the anchor recalled being told.

“I just got this rock in the pit of my stomach because I thought we’d been attacked again,” he said.

That crash was not an act of terrorism, but as Scott explained, “9/11 was still very raw.”

And it can still feel that way to Jon Scott, even 25 years later. He’s one of the very few anchors who is still with the network where he broadcast on 9/11. One of the few who is still with the same outlet where he brought us the images that we haven’t forgotten.

But the memories that have endured in Scott’s own mind were the ones that came after he stepped outside the studio to take his first look at a city that had forever changed: An empty Sixth Avenue. A train out of Grand Central. A stranger making the most basic phone call imaginable.

“That,” Scott said, “was the kind of day it was.”

——

The post Fox’s Jon Scott Anchored for 8 Hours on 9/11 — One Moment Still Gets Him first appeared on Mediaite.

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TOP STORY

THE DOC THAT HAS EVERYONE TALKING

Well: we did expect our inbox to be bursting at the seams this morning, but it appears a kind of post-holiday malaise has struck our writers and the pickings are fairly slim. Still, a wild new movie trailer has the stack buzzing on this Tuesday.  Nathan Fielder’s upcoming You Can See Everything — a documentary about Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes’s attempts to clear her name before she began serving a 11-year sentence for defrauding investors — dropped a viral trailer Sunday night which has been the talk of Newsletter-land.

The trailer is certainly odd — and as he introduced the film this past weekend at the Telluride Film Festival, Fielder himself admitted he is “struggling to this day to understand exactly what I experienced.”

THREE TAKES

The Poynter Report, Tom Jones — Jones described the documentary as “bizarre” Tuesday morning, and directed readers toward two takes that especially encapsulate the response the film received this weekend. The New York Times’ Nicole Sperling noted the documentary “movie features long, intense conversations between Fielder and Holmes with extreme close-ups” and that parts of the story that “can’t be featured in on-camera interviews is depicted in innovative recreations.” Crucially, she added there is “a surprise plot point that shouldn’t be spoiled.” Jones also pointed toward Vanity Fair’s Rebecca Ford, who said the audience received the film with “shock and awe.”

Morning Brew, Matty Merritt — Audiences should not expect to walk out of theaters “with any clear answers” this October, Merritt wrote today. He also noted the doc “is apparently really weird,” and so was its presentation. “The filming took place in secret. The audience at Telluride didn’t even know what the movie was about until they entered the theater,” Merritt continued. On top of that, “Throughout the doc, which runs almost three hours, Fielder tries to find the truth about what happened with Theranos and if Holmes was being manipulated—or doing the manipulating.”

TheWrap, Carla Renata — The doc is “sheer craziness,” Renata’s headline screamed this morning. Ahead of its debut at the festival, “predictions had been all over the place.” Renata also included a pretty fun tidbit: one guest was asked to put her phone into a pouch and refused, and “begrudgingly volunteered to leave and then ducked behind a black curtain, never to be seen again. Security chased her and we are still wondering where she is.” Fielder and co-director Lance Oppenheim also told attendees that Holmes and her then-boyfriend, Billy Evans, approached A24 about “having their lives documented.” Renata didn’t give spoilers, but did write that the “documentary uncovers complex new layers to the Holmes saga and pushes the boundaries of nonfiction filmmaking into new, uncharted terrain.”

Elsewhere in the stack, a few others also referenced Ford’s review. That included CNN’s Reliable Sources by Brian Stelter and Page Six Hollywood’s Ian Mohr.

TAKEAWAY: The story of Holmes and Theranos is compelling, and the documentary is likely to be a hit when it’s released on Oct. 16. And at a time when movies have struggled to get an in-person audience, that feels notable for an industry pondering its next moves. It’s a project that feels more at home on a streaming platform. But a massive box office return might have executives rethinking their strategies on going straight to Netflix, Hulu and others.

TOP SCOOPS & ANALYSIS

SCOOP Status, Natalie Korach —Some staffers at EPN were “frustrated” when the network “cast doubt” on the work of Don Van Natta Jr., Baxter Holmes, Ramona Shelburne, who published a report about the suspension of Steve Ballmer, who’s been accused of circumventing the NBA’s salary cap rules. Their take: “Sources: NBA has no evidence Ballmer funneled money to Leonard via sponsors.” Korach reported Monday. The story “remains unchanged” three weeks after it was published, but “it no longer seems to entirely match the reality of the situation.” Staffers also told Status that the entire situation is a “disaster” that’s coming after a summer of “an unusual amount of drama.” The biggest contributing factor is that the Aug. 17 story by Natta, Holmes, and Shelburne has “ignited tensions” between the network and Pablo Torre, who believes ESPN was “fed a story by the Clippers that the Clippers may have known was not true.”

ANALYSIS   The Bulwark’s Morning Shots, Bill Kristol and Andrew Egger — President Donald Trump “fired off more than sixty social media posts” on Sunday, and each was “more bizarre than the last” and “weirdly dystopian.” He continued that trend well into Monday, including one in which he wrote that his political opposition “should be exhausted by now, but they’re not.” Kristol explained, “This admission should cheer us all up. But not too much. It’s not a good thing that we have an unhinged president with more than two years left in his term … it is good that even Trump has to admit that his critics aren’t exhausted. And it is good, as Trump doesn’t admit but as he surely knows, that their ranks are growing. That our ranks are growing.”

ANALYSIS   The Poynter Report, Tom Jones — The “stunning news” that Fox parted ways with Maria Bartiromo last week remains compelling, Jones wrote. There are also conflicting accounts about how and why she was fired, with Bartiromo’s team refuting the idea that “Bartiromo was fired or is no longer an employee of Fox” as “absolutely and unequivocally false.” But if “Bartiromo did share confidential information from Fox executives with the White House,” then the rest of us should “credit Fox for seeing it for what it was: an inexcusable and fireable offense,” Jones concluded.

ANALYSIS   Semafor, Ben Smith — “The relationship between the Pentagon and journalists” continues to “hit new lows,” Smith wrote today. That’s something that war reporter Wesley Morgan has been speaking about. Morgan, who arrived in Baghdad to cover the war there as 19-year-old college student in 2007, more than has the chops to address the topic. The work he did and others contributed has meant “there’s a generation of Army officers and Marine officers who had a ton of exposure to reporters, and became very discerning about understanding how to deal with the media.” But that relationship today is “atrocious,”and as Smith also wrote, “Israel has put Gaza effectively off-limits to journalism, and Ukraine tightly manages access to its front line.”

ANALYSIS Morning Brew, Adam Epstein — The success of the Alternative for Germany, or AfD, gives the political party “the chance to form the country’s first far-right state government since the Nazi era,” Epstein wrote today. It’s still “unclear” if the party will “would receive the support necessary from other parties in order to govern in the state” thanks to a firewall established by the country’s “mainstream political parties.” Notably, Germany’s “intelligence agency classifies the nationalist, anti-immigrant AfD as an extremist group in some regions.” 

BUSINESS OF MEDIA 

CJR’s Near and Far, Carolina Abbott Galvão — CJR has an interesting deep dive for anyone interested in the modern media business (which we assume you, dear One Sheet readers, are). Harrisburg journalists learned in spring 2023 that their listener-supported radio station WITF was being gifted LNP, a daily newspaper covering Lancaster County and owned for over a century by the prominent Steinman family. The deal, which was immediately met with suspicion from WITF workers, combined LNP and WITF under a new nonprofit called Pennon, accompanied by a $30 million grant spread over five years. However, Pennon severely underappreciated the business challenges of running a daily newspaper; by late 2024, Pennon was forced to execute severe newsroom layoffs, and LNP was soon losing approximately $450,000 every month. Cassie Farrelly, Pennon’s senior vice president, filed a whistleblower lawsuit in June 2026 alleging that Pennon’s board and senior management failed to protect funds and that conditions attached to the deal—including a downtown office lease costing over $800,000 a year until 2040 and a printing contract with Steinman-owned Susquehanna Printing—created a “circular funding pattern” that squeezed millions of dollars from Pennon back to Steinman-related entities. Facing an operating deficit of $1.4 million, Pennon considered declaring bankruptcy by October 2025 before former NPR host David Greene moved to spin LNP off into a new independent nonprofit called Always Lancaster, which has successfully broken the expensive lease, switched printers, and stabilized LNP‘s operations.  QUOTE “In some ways, the challenges for the press in small-town central Pennsylvania are not dissimilar to the ones faced by news outlets across the country. As local newspapers struggle to sell advertising, subscriptions dwindle, and funds for public media dry up, nonprofit endeavors—like the Salt Lake Tribune’s transition, in 2019, and the Chicago Sun-Times’, in 2022—are on the rise. Philanthropists have poured funds into journalism across the United States. Yet these projects can, as WITF and LNP show, come with complications.”

The Rebooting, Brian Morrissey — Legacy media brand Playboy is executing a major strategic turnaround to pivot away from what its leadership calls an “asset-light licensing business” and return to its roots as somewhat of a direct lifestyle brand. (If you can’t recall the prominence of Playboy-branded apparel or restaurants, you must be one of those mythical people who flipped through it for the articles.) Led by new president David Miller (formerly of National Geographic Media) and editor-in-chief Phillip Picardi (formerly of Teen Vogue), the pub has gone back to a quarterly print format featuring high-profile celebrity covers. While some lifestyle brands are scrambling for short-term cash grabs, Miller intends to balance investment in high-quality media to avoid a private equity-style “quality spiral” that degrades legacy names into cheap licensing products. Under this model, the print magazine serves as a primary marketing arm to drive experiential partnerships, membership offerings, and events. QUOTE “The magazine’s quarterly frequency lends itself to focusing attention on larger brand initiatives. For instance, a Playboy swim-focused issue can used as part of a larger activation during Miami Swim Week tied to events and licensed products. There are plans for membership offerings that are about access to experiences rather than only content. A Playboy Club in Miami Beach, where Playboy relocated its headquarters, is an aspiration.”

Poynter, Tom Jones — Of interest to One Sheet readers: The Poynter Institute and the Public Media Company have launched the “Future of Public Media Initiative,” a national effort to design a renewed public interest media system built to serve communities over the next 50 years. The project arrives after a massive shock in 2025, when the federal government under President Donald Trump voted to strip Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) funding. Poynter’s Sitara Nieves and PMC CEO Tim Isgitt explain that the sudden loss of federal revenue hit small and rural stations with existential survival threats and severed the systemic funding that held the entire public media network together. The FPM initiative aims to establish a shared framework and deliver full recommendations by the first quarter of 2027 based on comprehensive community research. QUOTE Per Nieves, “The end of federal funding was a seismic shock for the 1,500 stations that are across the country — though not all in the same way… For many stations, the funding that came through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting was actually a relatively small part of their budget… But for some of the smallest and most rural stations, that funding was a more significant part of their budget and was an existential threat to their survival.”

CNN Reliable Sources, Brian Stelter — In case you somehow missed it, CBS News’ flagship newsmagazine, “60 Minutes,” is heading into its 59th season under a heavy microscope following a big editorial and staff restructuring. Several veteran correspondents, including Scott Pelley, Sharyn Alfonsi, and Cecilia Vega, were fired or left since the end of last season amidst accusations that CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss attempted to inject political bias into their work. To modernize and repair the program’s image, new executive producer Nick Bilton is implementing little visual changes, including moving away from “walk and talk” shots and replacing the traditional background “book” graphics. The upcoming season will feature new correspondents Ross Douthat, Sebastian Junger, Gianna Toboni, and Trevor Phillips alongside vets Lesley Stahl and Bill Whitaker. QUOTE “This will start the 59th season of the iconic news magazine show, but there has never been a more critical or anticipated season in its history.”

Awful Announcing, Brendon Kleen — Charles Barkley has teased retirement once again, stating that the upcoming NBA season on TNT Sports will 100% be his last and claiming that longtime host Ernie Johnson is also set to step away. Barkley previously threatened retirement in 2024 before TNT lost its NBA rights, only to parlay his leverage into a lucrative contract extension. Because Barkley has spent a quarter-century utilizing a savvy sense of how to maximize his earnings at every stage of his media career, industry critics remain highly skeptical of his comments as he enters another contract year. QUOTE “The latest claim is timed almost perfectly to the last time Barkley pulled this.”

OTHER COOL STUFF

Feed Me — London has officially launched a personals section strictly for restaurant lovers. The debut ad features a St. John Welsh Rarebit enthusiast seeking a kindred spirit to share a post-dinner Negroni with.

WHAT GOT MISSED?

Punchbowl News AM — Rep. Shomari Figures (D-AL) is collaborating with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, or DCCC, on a “hybrid ad” for a seat in a district that was “solidly Democratic before the Alabama legislature redrew its districts following the Supreme Court’s VRA decision,” Punchbowl reported today. Now that same seat is R+7.

NEWSLETTER OF THE DAY

Feed Me, Emily Sundberg — Sundberg’s newsletter is a fun romp through everything from a new podcast by the New York Times about NYC, “tits are MAGA-coded, depressing news for fig lovers, [and] depressing news for champagne lovers” on what was otherwise not the most compelling day we’ve seen from the stack. But things aren’t all doom and gloom, and Sundberg also took a look at the role of the homepage in 2026, and especially interesting question to ask for anyone who grew up with the pre-social media  internet. It turns out they’re still just as relevant as ever, and continue to offer the chance to “control how you present yourself, your work, and what you want to be known for.”

This newsletter was produced by Lindsey Ellefson.

The post Nathan Fielder’s Doc on Theranos Founder Elizabeth Holmes Takes Media World By Storm first appeared on Mediaite.

CNN anchor Audie Cornish moderated a panel discussion on Monday about President Donald Trump sending envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Moscow and Kyiv over the weekend.

Cornish began the conversation, “Joining the group, Harrison Mann, a former US Army major and former executive officer at the Defense Intelligence Agency. So I was trying to think, what has changed?”

“One, we know our head of intelligence went to Moscow, right, even though we don’t know the details of what happened. And then the second thing, Russia has developed some new technology, right, in terms of how it can attack Ukraine. So, A, are those two things true? And B, do you think that had an effect on getting everyone to the table?”

Mann replied, “Yeah, I think that the biggest thing that’s changed is the reason that negotiations were suspended for six months. The last time Witkoff and Kushner were in Russia was in February. What’s happened between then and now — Trump started this big war in Iran. And that’s probably the biggest effect that has weakened the negotiating position of Ukraine and the pro-Ukraine alliance.”

“Why? Because I thought Ukraine had so much knowledge around drone warfare now that they were in a position to go to the United States and say, ‘Hey, we can help you figure out how to deal with Iran’s drones,’” pressed Cornish.

Mann replied, “They can help us maybe defend against Iranian drones, but there’s been a constant, evolving arms race as Russian and Ukrainian forces and inventors learn from each other on the battlefield — that’s been going on basically since day one. Any technological advance maybe gives one side an advantage for a couple months before somebody else learns how to deal with it.”

“Now, allegedly, Russia maybe has AI-guided drones which allow it to overcome all of the jamming networks that Ukraine’s developed, for example. But now — I mean, first of all — I think it’s worth recognizing that you don’t send Kushner and Witkoff when you actually really want to get something done. We can look at their track record: Iran, Gaza. You can notice Vance and Rubio are nowhere near this right now, which gives you an idea of the lack of seriousness, in my view,” Mann added to a chuckle from Cornish.

Below is the rest of their exchange:

Cornish: Well, let’s at least give people a chance to hear for themselves. Here’s an example of Witkoff talking about Putin on Saturday. This was in Moscow.

Witkoff in Clip: “So, first of all, President Putin, thank you so much for having us. We were sitting outside just now — me, Jared, and Carol — and then Yuri joined us, and we were all talking about when we retire, we’ll have all these incredible stories and incredible memories, and yours will be right at the top of it all.”

Cornish: As you know, it’s his eighth trip — but doesn’t flattery get you everywhere when you’re dealing with a dictator?

Mann: No, and I’m not even sure it’s flattery. I mean, I think Witkoff is genuinely — you know, it’s the friends we made along the way, whatever happens with ending this war. It’s like these guys are not really there to lean hard on anybody. And again, I don’t think they’re really, you know, intellectually or experientially equipped to do this, like you said. Eight times, I think, and we’re not even sure what deal, if any, they’ve offered. They definitely have even less leverage than they did back in February, due to the diminishing amount of support that the U.S. can provide Ukraine. We used up both offensive and defensive munitions that Ukraine wants in Iran.

Cornish: In the meantime, the fight remains over, I think, control over a nuclear facility and the land to swap. So, for people who don’t know at home, the idea is this war has been going on long enough that territory has been taken on both sides, and Ukraine is trying to basically retain its borders. Can that happen under this scenario?

Mann: No, I think — yeah, there’s the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which Russia captured from Ukraine. And then there’s the Eastern Donbas region, which Putin is demanding that Ukraine cede even more of in exchange for peace. I think those are quite bold and probably unreasonable demands. But on the other hand, it’s really not realistic that Ukraine is going to reclaim more territory on the battlefield. So it’s up to, apparently, Witkoff and Kushner to bridge this gap, which I don’t really think that they’re qualified to do.

Watch the clip above via CNN.

The post CNN Defense Expert Roasts Trump Envoy’s ‘Whatever Happens’ Approach to Russia-Ukraine War first appeared on Mediaite.

(Screengrab via Truth Social)

President Donald Trump raised eyebrows and sparked criticism on both sides of the aisle on Monday by posting a map of the United States expanding to include both Canada and Mexico.

Many pundits and observers on the left questioned Trump’s mental well-being and accused him of trying to distract from high gas prices and other issues with the post. On the right, pundits called out the hypocrisy of Trump wanting to erase the U.S.- Mexico border after years of campaigning on strengthening it.

Trump’s post was the latest in a bevy of wild social media messages from the president, which included several maps renaming “New Mexico’ to “New America” and a Labor Day message insulting Democrats.

The Atlantic’s Conor Friedersdorf shared Trump’s AI-generated map and added, “And his remaining base of support is such a sycophantic personality cult that they’ll simultaneously cheer posts touting mass deportations to Mexico *and* subsuming Mexico into America.”

“Why would we want this, though?” added conservative writer James Lindsay.

“This same Republican Party used to be terrified in the 2000s that elites were secretly planning to unite Canada, America and Mexico,” commented political journalist Nick Field.

Below are some additional reactions:

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The post ‘Giant Baby’: Trump Irks Left and Right With Map Annexing Mexico and Canada first appeared on Mediaite.

(AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has little patience for speculation about who will eventually inherit the political movement he helped build.

In a wide-ranging Politico profile published Sunday by Will Steakin, Sanders pushed back when asked which younger progressive might eventually take the torch. According to Steakin, questioning the Vermont senator on the topic “becomes an exercise in watching a man swat away question after question.”

“That is precisely the wrong question,” Sanders shot back, accusing the Politico journalist of “sounding like an inside-the-Beltway media pundit.”

Instead, Sanders said the “right question” was how many strong figures the progressive movement had already produced, pointing to Reps. Greg Casar (D-TX), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).

“The media is focused on personality,” Sanders complained to Steakin. “‘Oh my God, what will Alexandria do? Is she going to run for president? Run for the Senate? Stay in the House? Let’s talk about that for 14 years.’ How often do we talk about the fact that we’re the only major country on earth that doesn’t guarantee health care to all people?”

While Ocasio-Cortez said in May that her “ambition is way bigger” than the Oval Office, she’s also made clear that a 2028 presidential bid isn’t off the table.

Sanders was similarly tight-lipped when pressed on her potential plans.

“Do I talk to Alexandria? Yes, I do. Am I going to tell you what we talk about? Of course I won’t,” he told Politico. Asked directly if he wanted her to mount a campaign, Sanders responded, “No comment. That’s her decision.”

His remarks about a potential successor come after a number of fellow socialists have won Democratic primaries recently and as his pal Zohran Mamdani (D) is in his first year as mayor of New York City.

Sanders also emphasized that another White House run of his own is not in the cards, joking about his age as he prepares to turn 85.

“Well, I am 40 years of age now,” he deadpanned, “and I think having reached the golden age of 40, it’s hard, you know. So yeah, I think it’s unlikely that I will become president of the United States.”

The post Bernie Sanders Scoffs at Search for His Successor: ‘Precisely the Wrong Question’ first appeared on Mediaite.

(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

He’s just joking around… you would think.

President Donald Trump hinted he isn’t done changing the names of major geographic locations in a Sunday post on Truth Social, with the president apparently now looking at swapping the name of a U.S. state — New Mexico.

Trump posted a map of the Southwest state with the word “Mexico” getting crossed out in bright red and replaced with the word “America,” in a move which unofficially rechristened it “New America.”

You can check it out below:

(Photo via Truth Social)

The post is (likely) just a troll following the president’s much-publicized renaming of Lake Ontario to Lake America last month, in retaliation to a trade deal with Canada collapsing at the last minute. Trump’s name change immediately riled up many liberals, while a ton of MAGA fans hailed the move by saying it was elite trolling from Trump. Google and Apple also went ahead and changed the name for U.S. users on their map apps.

But the move hasn’t been a hit with most Americans, according to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll which found only 14% of citizens were fans of name change. Still, the president’s official Trump Store quickly moved to serve those citizens who do like the name change by selling $55 hats with Lake America emblazoned on them.

Trump kept the jabs at Canada coming last weekend by posting a video of machine gun-wielding Canadian geese — which he dubbed “Donald Ducks” — patrolling the lake on his behalf.

He followed the geese video up a bit later with an AI clip of himself kicking over a sign reading “Lake Ontario” and planting a Lake America sign in its place; the president then broke into his trademark “YMCA” dance in the video.

And on August 30, Trump declared he wanted the USA to reject all products coming from North of the border — unless those Canadian companies are willing to relocate to the States.

“I don’t want Canadian cars, I don’t want Canadian parts, I don’t want Canadian anything,” Trump fumed.

This all followed Trump renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America early in his second term — a move which generated a similar amount of headlines and pushback from MAGA critics.

Trump’s post about New Mexico came amid a flurry of other posts which included him mocking “jerk” Robert De Niro and riding on horseback alongside George Washington.

The post Trump Hints at Renaming US State After Lake America Name Swap first appeared on Mediaite.