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Insider Report: Ann Coulter: Schwarzenegger, Kerry, Coulter, More Special From NewsMax's Most Informed Sources
Headlines (Scroll down for complete stories): 1. Romney Takes Veiled Swipe at Giuliani on Abortion Mitt Romney sought to score political gains against a key rival for the Republican presidential nomination by taking a thinly veiled shot at Rudolph Giuliani's pro-abortion stance. The swipe came amid charges that Giuliani has been inconsistent in his position regarding a ban on partial-birth abortions. In what Politico.com called a "fairly obvious reference to Giuliani's reliance on his record of appointing judges in New York as a key conservative credential," Romney said in an interview with the Web site that "there's a lot more to being pro-life beyond appointing conservative judges. "You also have decisions as an administration on things like abstinence education, on the morning-after pill, on teaching kids to wait before they have babies, on insisting on parental responsibility for a father who has an out-of-wedlock child.
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"These policies are also important, and will become a major part of my effort to encourage a culture of life rather than the culture of death." Former New York City Mayor Giuliani said the recent Supreme Court decision upholding the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act was "the correct conclusion." And he insisted during a campaign stop in New Hampshire that his position was consistent with his past opposition to the ban. "I think you can be personally opposed to it, hate abortion, respect somebody else's conscience who might make a different decision, and also believe that particular form of abortion is wrong," he said. During the 1990s Giuliani was a strong advocate in favor of keeping partial birth abortion legal. He opposed the partial-birth abortion ban in the 1990s passed by the Republic-controlled Congress and supported President Clinton's two vetoes of the ban. Giuliani says says he felt the exception for saving the life of the mother wasn't strong enough, the Web site lifenews.com reported.
And in 1999 he told CNN that he didn't support even a modest ban on partial-birth abortions, saying, "No, I have not supported that, and I don't see my position on that changing." Now he explains that he shifted his position on the ban when legislators adopted "more scientific language" in the life of the mother provision in the 2003 bill.
Giuliani supports abortion rights and has drawn criticism for backing public funding for some abortions. Ex-Massachusetts Gov. Romney opposes abortion rights, although he previously supported the issue. The last pro-abortion candidate to win the GOP presidential nomination was Gerald Ford in 1976. Both Romney and Giuliani will take part in the GOP Presidential Candidates Debate on May 3, hosted by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in conjunction with Politico.com and MSNBC. Editor's Note: 2. Bob Schieffer Behind Trashing of Katie Couric? Beleaguered Katie Couric's fellow CBS newscaster Bob Schieffer was likely the main source of a recent article that called Couric's hiring as evening anchor an "unfixable mistake." That's the view of Fox News' Roger Friedman, commenting on an article by Gail Shister in the April 22 edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Friedman wrote on his blog: "One of Couric's frequently mentioned enemies is Bob Schieffer, the lovable, durable veteran journalist who filled in as anchor of the ‘CBS Evening News' between Dan Rather's departure and Couric's arrival. "But sources say Schieffer has been unhappy lately, mainly because his airtime, which was prominent when Couric first started, has dwindled in recent weeks. "It's been suggested that a hit piece on Couric written by Gail Shister . . . was inspired by Schieffer as its main source. He has a direct line to her." In her article, Shister savaged Couric, writing: "CBS executives deny it, but there's a growing feeling within the network that Katie Couric is an expensive, unfixable mistake. So unfixable that Couric . . . may leave ‘CBS Evening News,' probably after the 2008 presidential elections, to assume another role at the network, CBS sources say." At CBS, "already-low morale is dropping," Shister notes, citing as her source a "veteran correspondent" at the network. Shister quotes the correspondent: "It's a disaster. Everybody knows it's not working. CBS may not cut her loose, but I guarantee you, somebody's thinking about it. We're all hunkered down, waiting for the other shoe to drop." Couric's viewership has dropped nearly 30 percent since her Sept. 5 premiere week, and CBS remains at No. 3 among nightly network newscasts. Newsbusters.org, a blog from the Media Research Center dedicated to combating liberal media bias, points out that this type of internecine battling isn't unprecedented at CBS. Back in 1981, after Dan Rather replaced Walter Cronkite as evening anchor, Cronkite was furious that Rather edged him out of the telecasts completely. Since then Cronkite has publicly and privately trashed Rather, according to Newsbusters. Connie Chung was also the victim of vicious attacks from within CBS after she became co-anchor of the nightly newscast with Rather. "Now it seems history is repeating itself," Newsbusters observes. "How long will [Couric] be able to hold out? Ratings probably are the only clue. If she does well, she'll stay. If she's in this spot two years from now, I doubt it." Editor's Note:
3. Join NewsMax at Las Vegas MoneyShow! NewsMax's financial Web site MoneyNews.com will be hosting an exclusive financial workshop and VIP dinner in conjunction with the Las Vegas Money Show at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. On May 16, John Browne, Editor of NewsMax's Financial Intelligence Report, will host a special seminar: "Discover the Best Global Income Investments in 2007." Browne will reveal how to go beyond the U.S. in search of high-income global stocks and other investment opportunities to achieve 20-percent-plus total returns. Mr. Browne is a distinguished former member of Britain's parliament, and served as a close associate of then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. A graduate of the Harvard Business School, he has worked with Morgan Stanley & Co., Barclays Bank and Citigroup. Also on the evening of May 16, Christopher Ruddy, editor of NewsMax, will join Browne at an exclusive VIP dinner at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Mr. Ruddy is also publisher of Financial Intelligence Report, a publication of NewsMax Media Inc., which also publishes NewsMax.com — one of the country's largest Internet portals — as well as NewsMax Magazine and MoneyNews.com, a Web site for investors. Mr. Ruddy was named one of the 20 most influential stars of the new media by Newsweek magazine. There is no charge to attend John Browne's seminar, which begins at 4:15 p.m. To register, call the MoneyShow at 1-800-970-4355 and mention our source code: 008655. The VIP dinner with Browne and Ruddy begins as 6 p.m. and costs $50 per person. Space is limited. Please call Gloria or Beth at 1-888-766-7542 to reserve a seat. 4. Sam Zell, Tribune Co. Are Odd Mix Chicago real estate mogul Sam Zell and his new purchase, the Tribune Company, could make for strange bedfellows, media insiders predict. Zell, who is Jewish, is said to be a committed Zionist and a major contributor to Israeli and Jewish causes. The Tribune Company, which accepted Zell's $8.2 billion offer, owns 23 television stations and several major newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times. The Tribune has had a "famously antagonistic" relationship with the Jewish community, according to the Jewish publication Forward, which cites its right-wing, isolationist stance during World War II and more recently its criticism of Israel. The Times has also had a difficult relationship with the Jewish community, "strikingly similar to the Tribune's in Chicago," Forward notes. The question, observers say, is to what extent Zell will influence the editorial content of the newspapers. Some have taken Zell at his word when he said he would not get involved in editorial matters and will stick to the business side of the company. But former Los Angeles Times reporter Ken Reich, who operates a blog about the newspaper, believes his influence will be significant. "If he cares about the State of Israel, he won't want his newspaper to be out there chipping away at Israeli interests," Reich told Forward. "It would not take very much tweaking by him to sharply alter the Times editorial policy on the Middle East. I expect it to happen." Editor's Note: 5. FCC Wants Stations to Put Records Online FCC Chairman Kevin Martin wants broadcasters to put their public files online to make it easier for outsiders to inspect them. The proposal was first floated by former Democratic FCC Chairman William Kennard in 2000. It would enable the public "to keep tabs on broadcasters' filing obligations and performances on a number of fronts, ranging from consulting deals with independent contractors to ongoing indecency-complaint investigations to how much they were charging candidates for airtimes," the publication Broadcasting & Cable reported. The move could prove a boon to activist groups seeking to challenge TV licenses, some in the TV industry worry. Stations are already required to maintain a file for public inspection, which is usually housed at the station's studio. Citizens must make an appointment to visit the studio and view the file's contents. Martin wants to facilitate public viewing, but station executives are concerned the proposal could prove burdensome and costly. The average public file contains 14,000 pages, according to B&E, and they would have to be converted to electronic form and maintained in a database. Broadcasters also say some information, such as viewer complaints, could create privacy concerns if opened to public viewing. But Andrew Schwartzman of the watchdog group Media Access Project said: "Putting this information online is essential for meaningful public participation." Editor's Note: 6. We Heard . . . THAT Keith Olbermann has spent $4.2 million for a sprawling apartment in a Trump condominium on Manhattan's Upper East Side. The host of MSNBC's "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" paid the asking price for the 5-room, 40th-floor condo, which features spectacular views, a 31 1/2-foot living room, three balconies, two walk-in closets and 2 1/2 marble bathrooms, the New York Observer reported. Another news luminary, CNBC's Maria Bartiromo, recently shelled out $6.5 million for an Upper East Side townhouse. THAT NewsMax's extensive coverage of the Haditha Marines case has been cited in an editorial in Investor's Business Daily. On Nov. 19, 2005, 24 Iraqis were killed in the town of Haditha during an insurgent ambush against a Marine convoy. Four Marines — including Sgt. Sanick P. Dela Cruz — were charged with murder, accused of seeking revenge for the killing of a comrade in the ambush. "But now, as reported by NewsMax.com, all charges, including murder, are being dropped against Sgt. Dela Cruz, presumably in some sort of immunity deal to testify against the others," the IBD editorial states. The reference is to the last Haditha report from NewsMax correspondent Phil Brennan, an ex-Marine, headlined "Bombshell Cripples Case Against Haditha Marines." An attorney representing one of the other defendants told Brennan that there are "numerous conflicting statements" in Dela Cruz's previous sworn statements. IBD also noted: "According to NewsMax, a Marine who was the battalion's intelligence officer has given an 8-hour taped deposition . . . The officer was said to be in possession of exculpatory evidence . . . confirming the Marines' story." THAT even if you're a top-rated cable television news network like Fox News, you can still make a mistake reporting the "news." On April 11, students at a middle school in Lewiston, Maine, played a cruel prank and placed a ham steak next to a group of Somali Muslim students. Muslims are barred from eating pork, and school officials filed a report because the offended students considered the prank a hate crime. The Web site Associated Content then parodied the report in a humor piece that claimed the school intended to create "an anti-ham ‘response plan.'" But on Tuesday, "Fox & Friends" reported on the parody as if it were actual news and not — well, hogwash. Fox showed screen shots of ham sandwiches and starving Somalis and asked whether ham was "a hate crime . . . or lunch?" "Fox has figured out . . . that they've made a big mistake," said Steven Wessler of the Center for Prevention of Hate Violence. Fox might have been tipped off that the story was a parody by a quote in the Associated Content piece attributed to Wessler: "No child, Muslim or normal, should have to endure touching a ham sandwich." Lewiston is home to more than 2,000 Somalian refugees. THAT Ronald Reagan will finally get his due with the May 22 release of "The Reagan Diaries." Reagan's official biography, by Edmund Morris, was a disappointing attempt to reveal the real Reagan, according to Los Angeles magazine. Now Reagan's journals will be available, edited by historian Douglas Brinkley, and Los Angeles reported hopefully: "Perhaps the interior Reagan will see some daylight in the book." THAT Sen. Orrin Hatch isn't running for president but he's seemingly running for best songwriter in Nashville. Sources tell us the Utah Republican has been spending lots of time in the country music capital, meeting with country stars and penning new songs. Hatch has already written more than 300 songs since the mid-1990s, most of them with a religious theme and many with singer Janice Kapp Perry. He even has a Web site offering his CDs. Editor's Note: Editor's Notes:
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