00:00We may not be able to put the pieces back together again if the paramount Warner Brothers Discovery merger goes
00:05through and puts my former home, CNN, under the control of the Ellison family.
00:10An assault on our freedom of speech and the free press in America by the most powerful man in the
00:16world,
00:17who is taking us all down the road of Putin or China-style state-dominated or state-controlled media in
00:23this country.
00:24Take a look at this Truth Social post from Trump just last weekend.
00:28Under a banner that reads, President Trump is reshaping the media, he boasts about defunding PBS and NPR,
00:35as well as forcing anchors and posts out of the station's biggest TV networks.
00:41Thank you, Senator, and I'd like to thank Senator Adam Schiff, the members of Congress here today, the city of
00:47Burbank,
00:48and their teams for inviting me to be a part of this spotlight hearing on the damage being done to
00:53our media in this country.
00:55And here is the breaking news.
00:57The news is broken.
00:59We may not be able to put the pieces back together again if the paramount Warner Brothers Discovery merger goes
01:05through
01:05and puts my former home, CNN, under the control of the Ellison family.
01:10You see, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, has cracked the code on how to hurt the press
01:15in America.
01:16You may recall Trump and his team seized my press pass during his first term.
01:21What is happening now goes way beyond that.
01:24As a former White House correspondent and anchor for CNN and a former correspondent for CBS News,
01:30I can only report to you what I see with my own eyes,
01:34an assault on our freedom of speech and the free press in America by the most powerful man in the
01:39world,
01:40who is taking us all down the road of Putin- or China-style state-dominated or state-controlled media
01:46in this country,
01:47owned by the oligarchs, in service to Trump and MAGA,
01:51all in the name of special treatment for the wealthiest Americans at the expense of everyone else.
01:57Ladies and gentlemen, the news does not belong to the oligarchs.
02:01It belongs to us.
02:03Take a look at this Truth Social post from Trump just last weekend.
02:08Under a banner that reads,
02:10President Trump is reshaping the media, he boasts about defunding PBS and NPR,
02:15as well as forcing anchors and hosts out of this nation's biggest TV networks.
02:21Trump brags he's gotten rid of the likes of Stephen Colbert,
02:24Lester Holt,
02:25Joy Reid,
02:27Chuck Todd,
02:28John Dickerson,
02:29and Terry Moran.
02:30It's funny that Trump is taking responsibility for these moves.
02:34Here I thought these were just, quote,
02:36programming decisions by the networks.
02:39Perhaps there is more to that story.
02:41And I should note, there's even a mention of this reporter before you today.
02:45And while it is amusing to live rent-free in the head of the President of the United States,
02:50I must tell you what's more deserving is what is laid out in the rest of this Trump post,
02:56because it matters to all of us.
02:58In the next section, under the subheading, reforms,
03:02there are references to some of the latest troubling media moves made by one of the richest families in the
03:08world,
03:08the Ellicens, who were very close to Trump.
03:11And we can see that social post again, I can just point this out.
03:15One of the reforms listed reads,
03:17Saved TikTok.
03:20Saved TikTok.
03:22A nod to the Ellicens taking control of that popular social media platform.
03:26So go further.
03:28Under that logo, there are references to the ownership,
03:31the new ownership of CNN,
03:33and a news bias ombudsman for CBS.
03:37The Ellicens, who have recently purchased Paramount,
03:39the parent company of CBS,
03:41are rapidly expanding their media empire
03:43by making what appears to be a successful bid to acquire Warner Brothers Discovery,
03:48which owns CNN.
03:50That would put CNN, together with CBS and TikTok,
03:55under the control or influence of one family that is closely aligned with the White House.
04:00Just go right down the row there, right down the line there.
04:03There you have it.
04:04Tick, tack, doe.
04:06Or perhaps I should say, tick, tock, doe.
04:09The Trump administration, should it approve the Paramount WBD version,
04:13it looks like they will,
04:14would be setting the table for a MAGA-friendly family
04:17to own an unprecedented amount of the news and information we consume in this country.
04:22That is not media consolidation, ladies and gentlemen.
04:25That is media domination.
04:28What's stopping that kind of media giant from gobbling up NBC or ABC next?
04:33This very real possibility, if realized,
04:36poses a danger to our democracy and the American dream.
04:40Just look at what has taken place at CBS since the Ellicens,
04:43you can cover that now.
04:45Sorry about that.
04:45Just look at what has taken place at CBS since the Ellicens installed Barry White
04:49as the head of the once-fabled Tiffany Network.
04:52As I said, I used to work there.
04:53She has just this morning announced a crushing round of layoffs.
04:59The anchor she hired for the CBS Evening News
05:01closed one recent edition of that broadcast by saying,
05:05Marco Rubio, we salute you.
05:07On another edition, he whitewashed the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6th
05:12and claimed there were two sides to the story of that day.
05:15That's an addition to the disclosure that 60 Minutes had temporarily
05:19shelved a segment on the infamous Seacont prison in El Salvador.
05:23That is used by the Trump administration to lock up migrant detainees.
05:28Ladies and gentlemen, when 60 Minutes is in trouble, we're all in trouble.
05:33It is not a stretch to say we would likely see the same kinds of MAGA-friendly editorial decisions
05:38should the Ellicens take control of CNN.
05:41That's exactly what the Trump administration wants.
05:44As one of my former colleagues at CNN just told me earlier this week,
05:48they're not worried about hitting the iceberg.
05:50They now see the iceberg, and they're bracing for impact.
05:53Just last week, as the senator mentioned, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth
05:58slammed a report from some of my former colleagues at CNN
06:01shedding light on the Iran war by saying this, and I quote,
06:05the sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better.
06:09Add to that what the SEC chairman, Brendan Carr, tweeted last weekend,
06:13threatening broadcasters they could lose their licenses
06:16over how they report on the war in Iran.
06:20Folks, they're saying the quiet part out loud.
06:23All of this is on top of the multi-million dollar settlements
06:26paid out by CBS and ABC to Trump in just the last year.
06:30That $15 million payment by ABC to Trump
06:33also got a mention in that Truth Social post.
06:36And what did that accomplish?
06:38As we all remember, Trump's SEC attempted to silence Jimmy Kimmel anyway.
06:43In the case of CBS, executives handed over their extortion money
06:46as the network was being pursued by Paramount,
06:49a sale that was pending at the time before the Trump administration.
06:53The public, folks, they can sniff out what's going on here.
06:57I talk about it every day on my podcast.
06:59These payments are part of a shakedown
07:02paid to a wannabe dictator
07:04who wants the government to determine who delivers the news.
07:08Add to that the recent arrests of Don Lemon,
07:11other journalists,
07:12the banning of the Associated Press from the Oval Office,
07:15devastating layoffs at the Washington Post,
07:17owned by Jeff Bezos,
07:19the Nextar, Tecna merger,
07:20the right-wing propaganda peddled on X,
07:23owned by Elon Musk,
07:24and don't forget the OG Trump state media outlet,
07:27Fox News, and their imitators,
07:29Newsmax and OAN.
07:31And if all of that sounds like hyperbole,
07:33consider this.
07:34The respected expert on authoritarianism,
07:37Ruth Bette-Giard, recently told me,
07:38Trump is consolidating the media
07:41at a rate that is far ahead
07:42where Vladimir Putin was
07:44during his early years in power.
07:46In Russia, they aren't getting the real deal
07:49on what is happening in Ukraine.
07:50Imagine handing that kind of power
07:53to Donald Trump
07:54when it comes to matters of war and peace
07:56in America.
07:58As is noted in his deranged,
08:00yet revealing,
08:01truth social post,
08:02Trump is yet,
08:03yes,
08:04winning his war on the media.
08:05That is because, in part,
08:08the least courageous
08:09and most powerful members
08:11of the industry
08:11are allowing it to happen.
08:14Trump will keep going after the media
08:16because he wants the news
08:17to become lies.
08:19You can't speak truth to power, folks.
08:22But those in power
08:24can crush the truth.
08:25Go around the world.
08:27Go around the world
08:29and look at the countries
08:30that don't have a free press.
08:32They are not places
08:33where you want to live.
08:35Now, we can't go back in time
08:37and stiffen the spines
08:38of media executives,
08:39but we can stop this merger
08:42and the subjugation of CNN
08:44and other journalists in this country
08:46to the likes of the Ellisons
08:48and the Oligarchs.
08:50Yes, Trump put me on his media hit list,
08:52but I'm proud to report to the president
08:54that I'm still here,
08:56loving the freedom of independent media.
08:58I'm here today
08:59because I can freely speak
09:01to all of you now.
09:03As I said during my last broadcast
09:06on CNN,
09:07and I think it applies today,
09:09this is no time
09:10to bow down to a tyrant.
09:12Don't get into the lies.
09:14Don't get into the fear.
09:16Hold on to the truth
09:17and hope.
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09:22and never miss an update.
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