| Brian Stelter here at 10:08pm ET on 8/8 with the latest on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, The Atlantic, Chris Cuomo, NBCU, Dan Harris, "The Suicide Squad," and much more...
New York state of mind
The new workweek will begin with a new attestation by one of the women accusing New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment.
The woman identified in the state attorney general's report as "Executive Assistant 1," Brittany Commisso, taped a sit-down interview with CBS News correspondent Jericka Duncan on Friday afternoon. CBS and the Albany Times Union newspaper worked together on the exclusive, which will be televised and published on Monday morning. "What he did to me was a crime. He broke the law," Commisso said in a preview clip released on Sunday.  Regarding the AG report, Duncan asked, "Why do you think your story appears first?"
"I believe that he groped me, he touched me, not only once, but twice," she said. "And I don't think that that had happened to any of the other women. The touching, and I believe that because of what had happened to me, that that was the most inappropriate of the actions that he had done."
>> "Attorneys representing Cuomo and his office declined to comment on the interview to CNN," per CNN's Elizabeth Joseph...
>> The governor's top aide, Melissa DeRosa, resigned on Sunday night, right when I was about to hit send on this letter...
>> Here is the Times Union's lead out of Albany right now: "The committee tasked with investigating Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is expected to discuss its next steps for a potential impeachment case Monday..."
>> And the most-read story on the Albany newspaper's website on Sunday was titled "Nine (other) scandals of Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo..."
The defense strategy
CNN's Pamela Brown had a 51-minute-long (!) interview with Cuomo defense attorney Rita Glavin on Saturday. Axios said Glavin appeared to "dig him deeper in controversy." At one point, Glavin said that "from his perspective, and I do think you're going to hear this from him, he didn't believe it was inappropriate." Was she hinting that he's going to say more in public in the days to come?
The woman in the wings
The NYT and the WSJ both dropped stories about lieutenant governor Kathy Hochul on Sunday. Hochul has "largely toiled in obscurity since joining the governor's team in 2014," the NYT's Dana Rubinstein wrote, but "being marginalized by her boss might now be a blessing."
Both stories noted that Hochul wasn't mentioned in Cuomo's pandemic memoir. So now what? The WSJ's Jimmy Vielkind reported that Hochul has "told people that she believed... she could be called on to take over in a matter of weeks..."
How Gov. Cuomo bullied the media
On Sunday's "Reliable," I spoke with Casey Seiler, editor of the Times Union, about the governor's "scorched earth" techniques and why screaming matches were tolerated for so long. We also talked about the importance of "watchdog journalism" in all the state capitals. For more about the Times Union's role in all this, read Azi Paybarah's piece for the NYT. As Cuomo "appears to be running out of room to swim, The Times Union is being celebrated," he says...
No perfect answer for CNN
Chris Cuomo has a lot to say – but right now he cannot say it. CNN management has made two things clear to him. One, he can't talk about his governor brother's trouble on TV. And two, he cannot participate in any more strategy sessions with the governor's aides. So that's why he is remaining silent about the scandal. (I asked to interview him, and I was turned down.)
On Sunday's "Reliable," I tried to explain all of this, since it's a lot more complicated than meets the eye. The segment wound up taking six and a half minutes. I reported that some CNN staffers are critical of Chris while others are sympathetic. And I pointed out that his vacation this week is actually legit, not some lame PR tactic. Monday is his birthday and he always takes off this week. Check out the reporting via CNN.com or Twitter... FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE -- Congratulations to CNN senior media editor An Phung and her fiancé Matt Schiavenza on their engagement! He popped the question on Friday...
-- This just in from CNN's Kristin Wilson: "The Senate has just voted to invoke cloture on the $1.2 trillion infrastructure underlying bill, which is the final hurdle to passing the bipartisan legislation..."
-- "The final Senate vote is now expected sometime in the early hours of Tuesday morning, after 30 hours of post cloture time expires..." (CNN)
-- A new piece by the WaPo editorial board applauds senators for recognizing that broadband is, indeed, infrastructure. "Congress is prepared to make a massive investment in a defining element of modern-day infrastructure. Every member should want to help make this history..." (WaPo)
-- Brand new reporting from Puck's Matthew Belloni: Disney's top TV exec, Peter Rice, has "just closed a new deal..." (What I'm Hearing...) Week ahead calendar
Monday morning: A major IPCC report on climate change will be released...
Monday: Dish and Tegna report earnings before the bell; AMC Entertainment reports after the close...
Monday evening: Joe Buck, the final "Jeopardy!" guest host, begins this week...
Tuesday: New books include Andrew Sullivan's essay collection "Out on a Limb," Tucker Carlson's collection "The Long Slide," Spencer Ackerman's "Reign of Terror," and Mirin Fader's biography "Giannis: The Improbable Rise of an NBA MVP..."
Tuesday night: Look for me on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert..."
Wednesday: Marvel's "What If…?" brings alternate realities to Disney+...
Thursday: Disney releases earnings after the bell...
Friday the 13th: Sky News Australia will face a Senate inquiry after that week-long YouTube suspension...
Friday: "Free Guy" hits theaters (exclusively)...
The first "Being"
In a world full of sound bites and snippets, there's a countervailing trend toward long-form, from multi-hour podcast interviews to eight-part docuseries. Enter CNN's Dana Bash, with a new occasional series called "Being..." that will profile some of the biggest human beings in the news. Her intent is to find out: "Who is the person behind the sound bite?"
The first hour-long episode of "Being..." is about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and is airing on Monday at 9pm ET. In this clip, AOC talks about being demonized on Fox News. She says she tries to take herself out of it and examine the broader "narrative" Fox is promoting. Watch...
FIRST LOOK
The Atlantic's next cover story
September's cover story, "Twenty Years Gone," is timed to the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. In her first piece since joining the magazine from the NYT, staff writer Jennifer Senior "tells the story of her friend Bobby McIllvaine, a charming, ambitious 26-year-old," and "traces the fallout from his death, interviewing his parents, his brother, and his then-girlfriend about how Bobby's death shaped their lives." The story will be online Monday at 6am ET, and I can attest that it is outstanding...  The Covid contrast
Back-to-back guests on Sunday's "Reliable" showed the Covid-19 contrast – between the danger that unvaccinated Americans face and the relative safety that the vaccinated can enjoy. First, Dr. Nisha Mehta, a radiologist who runs two Facebook groups for physicians, described what she's hearing from the front lines in harrowing detail. "We almost wish that we could take people on rounds in the ICU with us or walk them through the emergency room" to witness the grim reality, she said. With hospitals overwhelmed in some hot spot areas, patients "are telling us 'I wish I would have made different decisions,'" like getting the shot. Some incredible bedside interviews on CNN have hammered home this message.
Then there was Andrew Sullivan, a longtime resident of Provincetown, where the hospitals are not full at all. Sullivan said the media coverage of the Covid cluster down the Cape missed critical context. Tens of thousands of people were in town last month, and since they were largely vaccinated, "the end result was seven people ended up in the hospital out of 60,000 people. And no one died."
But the town "has been shellacked" by the news of the cluster, he said. People have canceled plans "in ways that are irrational, and the businesses here are suffering terribly. I hope people will realize, this is not a danger zone. It is extraordinarily safe here." His overall point: "Vaccination really will help people get back to normal."
Watch: Ten seconds that sum up the entire problem
A.J. Bayatpour, the host of "Capital City Sunday" on Madison, Wisconsin's WKOW TV, asked the area's GOP congressman, Glenn Grothman, about vaccines in a Q&A that aired on Sunday. When Bayatpour asked for "your message to the public," Grothman said he didn't have one, and he deferred to doctors and nurses. When asked a second time, he said "I am not going to play doctor." And then, in a 10-second clip that was destined to go viral, Bayatpour asked, "Are you vaccinated, congressman?" Grothman said "I don't like to get into taking sides on it, okay? So that's..."
And then he walked off camera.
An official from the Democratic Party of Wisconsin shared the short clip on Sunday. I found the full Q&A, and it wasn't any better... FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO -- One of the Journal's main Monday headlines: "Companies Thought They Had Plans for Fall. Now They Are Scrapping Them" (WSJ)
-- "The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival has been canceled for fall 2021, festival organizers announced Sunday, citing rising Covid cases... (NOLA)
-- Juliette Kayyem's proposal for Jazzfest: "Hear me out… let's say the unvaccinated can't fly, this private event goes vax only, and we party." (Twitter)
-- Disruptions to the NBA Summer League schedule: Washington's first game was postponed "as the Wizards grapple with the league's coronavirus health and safety protocols..." (WaPo)
-- NYT pop music critic Jon Caramanica recounts six weeks of summer concerts: "Concerns about Covid-19 became the unannounced guest on nearly every lineup..." (NYT)
-- Here's a crazy story about a "social network for doctors," Doximity, that's been "inundated with anti-vaccine comments from fellow physicians..." (CNBC) Piecing together the evidence of Trump's coup attempt
Sunday's "Reliable Sources" lead on TV: Drip, drip, drip. The details about Donald Trump's attempted coup keep dripping out. It's newsworthy now because most people don't know what happened last winter; AND because we're learning new details; AND because it could be attempted again. It's a story about both the past and the future.
The NYT's Katie Benner and CNN's Evan Perez both wrote about the weekend's new revelations. The standout quote: Senator Richard Blumenthal told Manu Raju that he "was struck by how close the country came to total catastrophe" after hearing the closed-door testimony of Trump's acting AG Jeffrey Rosen on Saturday.
"War on apathy"
John Avlon said this moment demands a sort of "war on apathy" since some folks think they've already heard all about Trump's Big Lie, but "we didn't know the extent to which he used the executive branch to try to pressure the Justice Department to overturn the election."
"Trump is not going away," David Zurawik added. "We have to know what he did..."  Fox airs Trump's "fraud" lie on TV but cuts it from YouTube
Trump called into Dan Bongino's Saturday night show on Fox News and repeated all his usual lines and lies. During one of his rambling answers, Trump said "you have a fake election, you have an election with voter abuse and voter fraud like nobody's ever seen before, and based on that, and based on what happened, they are destroying our country." Curiously, the version of the interview that Fox posted to YouTube omitted his "fake election" and "voter abuse" and "voter fraud" cries. When Trump spokeswoman Liz Harrington noticed that, she "went on the attack against Fox News," Mediaite's Ken Meyer reported Sunday.
Harrington claimed Fox's conduct "is just as bad as Big Tech." The question: Did Fox cut out Trump's lie because it's afraid of getting whacked by YouTube, or because of the pending lawsuits by Dominion and Smartmatic, or for some other reason? The network is not commenting... Carlson falsely claims Hungary is 'freer' than America
Oliver Darcy writes: "In his weekend speech at the right-wing MCC Feszt conference, which was backed by autocratic leader Viktor Orbán, Tucker Carlson continued to warp reality. Carlson falsely claimed that Hungary 'is freer' than the US. And, as he backed an autocrat considered to be a 'press freedom predator,' Carlson praised the state of the Hungarian media while simultaneously claiming that the 'power to talk unimpeded' is an 'increasingly rare luxury' in the US. The Atlantic's Yasmeen Serhan said on 'Reliable' that his depiction of Hungary "really boggles the mind." She said Carlson wants Americans 'to see that brand of autocracy as something not only desirable but within reach and something we should be aspiring to...'" FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE -- Benjamin Novan and Michael Grynbaum pointed out that Tucker "himself has a family connection with the Hungarian leader — his father, Richard Carlson, is listed as a director of a DC-based firm that has lobbied for Mr. Orban in the US..." (NYT)
-- "In many ways, Trump and Orbán are birds of an autocratic feather," Casey Michel wrote. "This helps explain why Carlson — who regularly regurgitates far-right talking points and who often seems to harbor disdain for both nonwhite Americans and American democratic principles, despite his protests to the contrary — showed up in Budapest..." (NBC News)
-- Jim Acosta interviewed Retired Army Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman about Carlson's "hating the US" rhetoric... (CNN) Dan Harris leaving ABC
"GMA" weekend anchor Dan Harris will be leaving ABC News this fall after asking management "to let him out of his contract early," Alexis Benveniste reports. "Harris' departure comes as he shifts his focus to Ten Percent Happier, a mindfulness and meditation company." He told viewers Sunday, "Even though I'm a public proponent of work life balance, if I'm honest, I've struggled to follow my own advice," so now he is... FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR -- One of the weekend's greatest reads: "Cindy Adams, Gossip's G.O.A.T.," by Maureen Dowd... (NYT)
-- Amanda Ripley's book "High Conflict" was back on the Amazon best sellers list after Ripley appeared on "Face the Nation" with John Dickerson. She urged people to avoid "conflict entrepreneurs," like "people, pundits or platforms who intentionally exploit conflict," and "redirect your energy on something more constructive..." (CBS)
-- The new Showtime docuseries "UFO," produced by J.J. Abrams, took off on Sunday. Nick Schager called it a "tantalizing non-fiction effort..." (Beast)  "The darkness was put on hold"
"Only a fool would argue that the world of the pandemic, of fire and flood, and of economic uncertainty was halted or healed by this year's Olympic Games. Only a cynic, however, would deny that, for a fortnight, the darkness was put on hold," Anthony Lane writes in next week's New Yorker.
The closing ceremony is airing right now on NBC. The Winter Olympic Games will begin in Beijing in 180 days. "It was in many ways a transition Olympics" for NBCU, "where the old ways in which America has consumed the Games are fading fast and new ways still taking hold," The AP's David Bauder wrote over the weekend.
"Americans approached the Games with a collective shrug," Bauder wrote. Prime time ratings fell severely. But it was still the biggest TV event of the summer, with Olympics coverage scoring "11 of primetime TV's 25 most watched shows in 2021," the network noted in a press release on Sunday...
>> Hey, just saying: "Team USA won more gold medals -- and more medals overall -- than any other country in the Games..." FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE -- Hearing about the metaverse and wondering what it means? This Clare Duffy article is for you... (CNN Business)
-- Ashley Boyd writes: "As tech companies master fake transparency, regulators and civil society at large must not fall for it..." (NYT)
-- Well played: The bad behavior of a "Frontier Airlines passenger — who had to be restrained by being duct-taped to his seat — served as viral comedy gold for YouTube creator and comedian The Real Spark..." (Variety)
-- "From 'Loki' to 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine,' fans are calling the shots," Annalee Newitz writes in this guest essay. "Pop culture will never be the same..." (NYT)  'The Suicide Squad' underwhelms
Frank Pallotta writes: "The new, R-rated superhero film from Warner Bros. opened to an estimated $26.5 million at the North American box office this weekend. That # came in under industry expectations. Several factors may have dampened turnout. For starters, 'The Suicide Squad' opened as concerns about rising Covid cases from the Delta variant are growing. Plus, it's a follow-up to 2016's 'Suicide Squad,' which was poorly received by fans and critics alike. The new film is less of a sequel and more of a second try." Read on... FOR THE RECORD, PART SIX -- Stephen Battaglio writes about AMC's niche streaming strategy: "Acorn TV is an Anglophile favorite, but can it help AMC compete with Netflix?" (LAT)
-- Sandra Gonzalez has the inside story behind the "Physical" season finale... (CNN)
-- ICYMI, Friday night's news dump: "NBC has flushed its planned reality competition series Ultimate Slip N' Slide after at least one crew member tested positive for giardia..." (THR) Smells like teen dispirit
Megan Thomas writes: "In recent weeks the CNN entertainment team has introduced a new weekly look at the shows we're streaming called TV OT. Timed to Sunday's penultimate episode of 'White Lotus' — and the show's two teen characters everyone is talking about — Sandra Gonzalez has a great take on TV's latest portrayals of teen girls..."
>> Gonzalez writes: "I'm not sure when it happened. But it was at some point between catching up on 'Gossip Girl,' watching the latest episode of 'White Lotus' and continuing to glacially make my way through the new season of 'Never Have I Ever' that I had a realization: If I was a teen girl right now, I'd be annoyed." SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST...
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