Good evening. Thanks for joining us. We begin tonight with breaking news ABC the network pulling Jimmy Kimmel from the air and network spokesperson saying simply Jimmy Kimmel live will be preempted indefinitely. The word came after at least one major affiliate group said it would not broadcast the show quote for the foreseeable future.
That group saying it quote strongly objects to recent comments made by Mr. Kimmel concerning the killing of Charlie Kirk. Now here are those comments from Monday's monologue. We get some new lows over the weekend with the Magigank desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and what everything they can to score political points from it.
So that was Monday night. This is today. FCC chairman Brendan Carr on a conservative commentator Benny Johnson's podcast. You know when you look at the conduct that has taken place by Jimmy Kimmel it appears to be some of the sickest conduct possible.
Obviously there's calls for him to be fired. I think you know you could certainly see a patch forward for suspension over this and again you know the FCC is going to have remedies that we could look at. You called it the sickest conduct possible those comments by Jimmy Kimmel he went on to say we can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct and take actions on Kimmel or there's going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.
Now Chairman Carr is a Trump appointee and the president has spent a good deal of his second term going after the big three networks. Here he is online after CBS announced the impending cancellation of the late show Stephen Colbert. This is a quote from the president. I absolutely love that.
I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings. I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert.
Greg Gutfeld is better than all of them combined including the moron and NBC who ruined the once great Tonight Show. Then a few weeks later there was this. The word is and it's strong word that Jimmy Kimmel is next to go and the untalented late night sweepstakes and shortly thereafter Fallon will be gone. These are people with absolutely no talent who have paid millions of dollars for in all cases destroying what used to be great television.
It's really good to see them go and I hope I played a major part in it. Shortly after that there was this on camera. Fallon has no talent. Kimmel has no talent.
They're next. They're gonna be going. I hear they're gonna be going. I don't know but I would imagine because it get where you know Colbert has better ratings than Kimmel or Fallon.
Well just moments ago the administration's rapid response media team posted this online which reads they're doing their viewers a favorite Jimmy is a sick freak. Joining us is CNN contributor co-host of the Pivot podcast car swisher TV and media reporter for Los Angeles Times Stephen Pataglio former federal prosecutor by selling off his Jeffrey to been a C&N chief media analyst Brian Stelter. Brian I want to start with you because you reached out to FCC chairman Carr. What did he tell you?
And he sent me the gift that we will put on three minutes a picture from the old NBC sitcom The Office of the start of the office celebrating some ridiculous moment on the show. So he is celebrating Disney's capitulation here and I think we can step back and remember. Wait a minute Brian I we're putting this on the screen and I just got a we can't this is this is you that you said this is a tweet you said I asked the FCC for a response and the chairman of the FCC sent you this. I then replied and I said do you have anything quotable I can use but let me give you the context of Henderson Carr and I have been in touch for for months as I've been reporting on the FCC.
He's been very aggressive about using the media to try to pressure you know a company like Disney I remember he did this right before Christmas he sent me a letter that he was sending to Bob Iger the head of Disney trying to pressure Disney over something else and earlier tonight Carr texted me celebrating the fact that next are the station owners you mentioned who had already pulled him up he was celebrating thanking next are for taking that action you know Disney was the first company to capitulate the president Trump before inauguration day Disney settled that ABC lawsuit in December that moment in bold and trumped in his allies in this moment will embolden them again more. Caris Wisher what is your reaction to this? Well Brendan Carr is rather thirsty for attention that's one thing and it's unbecoming a public official but that's that's nothing new for him he this is what he does I mean I think one thing you're leaving out is next are is trying to do a very large merger with Tegna and so they will do whatever it takes to satisfy that's important kind of a toady to Donald Trump right that's an important point because that merger would require the approval of the FCC correct correct that's correct and so they're trying to do anything you can do to shake them down on behalf of Donald Trump he's doing which is including these people who are alleged free speech warriors have turned out to be you know cancel culture fans and so I you know Jim Kim also tweeted something out saying he was so sorry for this death and we should put a side our differences he's a comic comic should be able to make jokes I don't understand you know of all the people that should have free speech comics should absolutely have free speech and so this week has been sort of an object lesson that they never really cared about free speech they just care about power and that's what's happening here. I just want to put out I want to read the statement or at least part of the press release that next star issued they said next our media group in today announced that the company is owned and partnered television station with the ABC television network will preempt Jimmy Kimmel live for the foreseeable future beginning tonight's show next our strongly objective recent comments made by Mr.
Kimmel concerning the killing of Charlie Kirk will replace the show with other programming and its ABC affiliate markets Mr. Kimmel's comments about the death of Mr. Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse and we do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions views or values of the local communities in which we are located continuing to give Mr. Kimmel broadcast platform the communities we serve is simply not in the public interest at the current time we made the difficult decision to preempt the show that's the that's the company you're talking about which is wanting to do this merger that's correct and they should have added and we would really like to do this merger so we'll do whatever it takes and then it's it flows uphill this is the opposite of the flow downhill flows uphill to ABC to Bob Igar who is obviously also suspended Kimmel and you know people do this happens in companies all the time where people say things and they get fired and that but in this case it's really as sensitive as your own free speech and comics and others being able to say what they want and if this week has been anything it's proof that free speech meant nothing to these people and this was not their their main concern whether main concern was about was control of media and this is yet another step and they will continue to do so including the lawsuit against the New York Times the lawsuit against publishing houses and it follows universities and law firms it's a textbook autocratic takeover.
I'm going to point out President Trump has just now put something on his social media saying and I quote great news for America the ratings challenge Jimmy Kimmel shows canceled congratulations ABC for finally having the courage to do what have to be done Kimmel has their talent and worst ratings even Colbert if that's possible that leaves Jimmy and Seth two total losers on fake NBC their ratings are also horrible do it NBC president DJ T. Jeff Jeff do you mean what do you have you seen anything like this? No we haven't but but I think it's important to draw a distinction here you know that private companies are not covered by the First Amendment you know if ABC wants to fire Jimmy Kimmel or anyone else that's their business and the First Amendment doesn't guarantee anyone a place on late night television the problem here is what's going on with the FCC and car who is obviously trying to put pressure on ABC to get to get rid of Kimmel and that's completely improper you know whether what he has done crossed the line to a violation of the First Amendment I don't know I mean the facts are changing every few minutes but the chilling part of this story is what the Trump administration in general is doing with regard to the media it is using its power often in the case of regulating mergers and the business aspects of what these companies do in a way to extort these companies to toe the line fire Jimmy Kimmel cracked down on 60 minutes force force you know a payment of damages for something George Stephanopoulos said that never should have resulted in a lawsuit all of this is the government taking action against private companies for speech and that's really about the that implicates the first well we had the president you know essentially threatening I don't know if there needs my word but but going after Jonathan Carl and ABC just I think it was yesterday I don't know if we have that video ready to queue up but in which he talked about the settlement that ABC gave him he repeatedly said look they paid me 16 million dollars let's play that you know when you look at the conduct that has taken place by Jimmy Kimmel it appears to be some of the what do you think you're bonding things you're going for hate speech is that for me a lot of your allies say hate speech is free speech you probably go after people like you because you'd be so unfairly and say you got a lot of hate in your heart maybe I'm going for ABC well ABC paid me 16 million dollars recently for a former paid speech right your company paid me 16 million dollars for a former paid speech so maybe they'll have to go after you it's a perfect illustration of what happens when you capitulate once you invite more capitulation again Stephen I mean have you ever seen anything like this I mean you really have to wonder about the future of broadcast television because of this it's it's unprecedented and it's because this is an industry that is dependent on regulation on government regulation they are they get licenses to to use the public airwaves and now they're beholden to the government it's also the corporations which own you know increasingly it's a large corporation which own this which are particularly vulnerable well that's why Brandon Carl realizes that's a pressure point because TV station group owners like next door the largest one in the country they are desperate for consolidation right now they're limited to reaching 39% of the country they would but you know tech companies can reach everybody everywhere they feel that's unfair they want to consolidate they want more stations and it's the FCC who just decides that next door has to do with with to buy techno and certainly ABC is probably looking at its options in terms of combining stations swapping stations buying more stations they all want to do this they all need FCC approval and that's a key reason why I'm seeing this but it's not just broadcast television it's it's it's all of media including cable for example I mean remember back in the first Trump administration when AT&T tried to buy time you know was buying Time Warner you know the parent company of CNN the the Trump administration challenged that so the Trump administration and any administration has tremendous tools to use if they want to punish broadcasters or any kind of news organizations if they want to use that power and here we have them using that power over and over Kerry it's so interesting because for so long we heard from conservatives and you know Republicans about liberal cancel culture and how awful it was I mean is this the Trump administration embracing the very cancel culture that so many conservatives you know pointed to as a problem either they were not telling a truth and they're not telling the truth now I don't know which time where it was of course not they're using this as a thing a position of power which is and it's absolutely right there's consolidation that's necessary in order for these networks which have been losing audience to survive but unfortunately they are beholden to people like Brandon Carr who's saying do it the easy way or the hard way what only a 12 year old would speak like that by the way and you know that's not how a government official does they're supposed to make these decisions in the public interest and in this case Brendan Carr is making them in the Trump administration's interest and his free speech nonsense is they don't have the you know it is a virtue it is an actual virtue and you're right companies can fire people but the government should not be able to apply this much pressure to companies but it extends to Tim Cook giving a golden statue to Donald Trump in order to get tear up slower it's just it's an extortion culture and that's what's happening of things that critics they don't like and over at Fox News I'm one of the broadcasters that's something really offensive about homeless people and got off with apology or whatever where is the FCC in those things like and that's the that's the problem here is it's not equally applied it's only critics who Donald Trump apparently programmer in chief wants offer on the air and that that will extend that was sent to CNN it will extend to everywhere and they will continue until until someone stops them or there's another election right and so try you call this organism can you explain that or in Hungary Victor or bond did many other things we're now seeing the Trump administration do or bond weekend public broadcasting he muzzled independent media through autocratic carrots and sticks and he incentivized the owners to fall in line and that's exactly what we're seeing in the United States now of course this is widely beaten now by first amendment groups and free expression groups tonight Anderson those of the exact same group were busy yesterday condemning Trump's lawsuit against the New York Times we're also here in Democrat politicians condemning this but I've carried so as this will continue unless people in power are able to stop it well I just want to just you know play again what it was that Jimmy Kimmel said which you know was according to the FCC German was the sickest conduct possible let's let's play that we get some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kurt is anything other than one of them and do everything they can to score political points from it he's essentially saying that you know MAGA supporters were trying to prove that the killer is not one of their own and that they were trying to score political points it can be it's maybe it's offensive maybe it's you disagree with it but it's I mean it's not it's not it's also not it's not wrong I mean this is a major event in American life as always people on both sides are trying to take political advantage of what happened here I mean you could say comedy I mean it's just you could say the you know the left desk are focused on proving that the killer was not a leftist and that would be equally accurate if this is accurate I I this is I mean of all things to be offended by you know that I've heard a lot more offensive things said in the aftermath of this terrible awful event than that and it just shows they are looking for reasons to get Jimmy Kimmel and they they manufactured one out of something that is you know hardly a dramatic departure from what lots of people are saying I reach down to you see earlier today to see if he was gonna make some sort of statement because this thing was building key throughout the day and you think he would have just addressed it at the top of the show and you know said maybe I got it over my skis or something I mean but so it's incredibly rash and the same thing with Colbert they were they canceled the show because it was losing money did anybody sit down and with them and say hey is there a cheaper way to do this that conversation never took place they're acting first you're thinking about it later and Brian I mean Fox News has characterized this as Jimmy Kimmel suggesting that he suspect accused of sassing Charlie Kirk was MAGA I mean I don't know is that your reading of what he's saying because it sounds I mean it sounds like he's saying that MAGA supporters are focused on proving that the killer was not one of their own and trying to score political points Brian Stelter no I think we lost Brian Stelter I'm sorry I'm sorry about that Anderson no it's right I was just saying that because this was in the you know President Trump has been running Kimmel off the air for months you know this is one of the Occam's razor situations where the pressure have been on Kimmel so new it the producers knew it they were well aware of its pressure and ultimately Disney one of the biggest media companies in the world right operating theme parks and cruise ships all of it they're gonna have to say a lot more than the one sentence statement they've put out so far yeah and the question of course what effect does this have on what else we see on television where does this end and and what does I mean you know these are all you know Stephen Colbert is incredibly talented and decent person he will end up doing something interesting somewhere else perhaps in a digital space where I really think media companies are gonna think about getting out of the broadcast TV business yeah and just and just go to streaming and say the hell with this but you can't but you can't hide from the government streaming they have tremendous business interests we're here at cable news we have part you know we're part of a big company that has a lot of interactions with the government there is no part of the media universe that can say we don't care if we are harassed by the government that's the and that's the problem with with having a government that doesn't care but this is one segment that is really I mean where the government just really has a short hair you know what is unique here is that the administration is willing to pull levers which have never been pulled before we saw this with the law firms we saw this with the universities this is this is I mean Nixon talked about this in the 60s about pull it and networks reacted they took the brothers off the air in 1969 because of the amount of anti-war content that they were running during Vietnam so it's not a precedent for these guys to run scared everyone stay with us we got a lot more head of our breaking news ABC taking Jimmy Kim will show off the air definitely over his comments about Charlie Kirk's about what he said was the Maguire reaction in the wake of Charlie Kirk's killing more breaking news tonight also three police officers killed two more badly wounded in rural central Pennsylvania while attempting to make it a rest we'll have more of that is the details are coming in finding the source you can trust for weather forecast should be easy right this is the meteorologist Derek Van Damne thrill to introduce the new CNN weather app check your daily forecast to plan your day the weekly forecast to see what's on the way and prepare for any major storm with our robust real-time video coverage the app is stunning and if your weather nerd like me you'll love our in-depth stories and the photo of the day download the CNN weather app on iOS today so I got news for your ears the podcast I am your host Michael Ian Black we're talking about Trump's stock trades his IRS lawsuit his slush fund Bill Cassidy learns what happens when you cross Donald Trump members of Congress cannot corruptly profit from using insider information he never said president and so you can say that have a guy news for your ears check us out on Apple Amazon music wherever you can watch the podcast on Spotify we're gonna come the breaking news tonight ABC pulling Jimmy Kimmel show off the air after comments he made about Charlie Kirk's or the reaction on my mind what he said was the reaction in a mega world to wake up Charlie Kirk's killing just want to play a fuller version of what he said in his monologue on Monday night we get some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk is anything other than one of them and what everything they can to score political points from it in between the finger pointing there was grieving on Friday the White House flew the flags at half staff which got some criticism but on a human level you can see how hard the president is taking this personally how are you holding up for the last day in the half sir I think very good and by the way right there you see all the trucks they just started construction of the new ballroom for the White House which is something they've been trying to get as you know for about 150 years and it's gonna be a beauty yes he's at the fourth stage of grief construction demolition this is not how an adult briefs the murder of somebody called a friend again here's how FCC chair Ben Carr responded today you know when you look at the conduct that has taken place by Jimmy Kimmel it appears to be some of the sickest conduct possible obviously there's calls for Kim will be fired I think you know you could certainly see a path forward for suspension over this and again you know the FCC is gonna have remedies that we could look at back with this now Cara Swisher Stephen Pataglio Jeff Tubin also joining us in senior political affairs commentator Ron Emmanuel I just want to start with you where do you think this goes I mean you know who's next and what can be done about it well NBC obviously named NBC I mean he sort of puts the map out for what he's gonna do and he had done this with Kimmel you know I think one of the issues is what exactly did Jimmy Kimmel do wrong I think a lot of journalists should should focus in on Bob Iger at ABC someone who's who's running Disney this will be a real tarnish on his reputation someone I admire very much but in this case it's it's really astonishing that executives like him are bending a knee and that's precisely these are being silent about this he needs to explain himself or at least in a much more full way probably next is NBC certainly you know CNN is under the crosshairs would be my guess and obviously there's been some discussion about Paramount and Larry Ellison who's gonna get control of TikTok also buying Warner you know this is a consolidation of Trump leaning owners also and that's it that that'll have some impact these people can do whatever they want with these private companies and again this is an autocrats playbook of controlling the media or at least bringing it to line with with the administration I'm gonna bring in a rum manual actually yeah well actually joining us on right now is Harvard Law Profession for some admin attorney Rebecca Tushnet Rebecca I appreciate you being with us what from a first amendment standpoint what is what is your concern here well it's kind of talking to have the head of the SEC saying there's an easy way or the hard way that it that they can comply with the administration priorities or else that's the definition of government pressure to the cycle speech and it is reflective of a huge problem in this country which is in part media consolidation because unfortunately ABC has favors it wants to ask from the government and so it thinks it has to go along and as do many companies I mean that that is what now this consolidation the corporate ownership has it set up this system that is very vulnerable to an administration who wants to pull these levers I think that one reason why Comcast is spinning off MSNBC is because they did not want the heat from that coming at them as they try to make deals and so that's why they want to separate it from NBC News I want to bring in Ambassador on manual so Rump I'm wondering what you thought when you heard this news and yeah what happens now well I mean Anderson he's had a tie he's gone after Kim will be said he's gonna do it I agree with others NBC should watch because he's doing it he sued the New York Times this week he sued the Wall Street Journal back in July he's taken on 60 minutes and make them change the way they cover news and it all starts with ABC paying $16 million over George Stephanopoulos kind of basically grace money and they're not gonna stop until they're stopped and anybody the things are gonna actually wake up one morning and change different I I really believe when you start going into this area and I think about both the midterm elections and I think about where the public is I'm not this is not gonna work where well with what I think are independent swing voters an unchecked unhinged Donald Trump they are uncomfortable with this and this is now touching popular culture I think the other thing I would say is I think Lenny Bruce and George Carlin are rolling over their grave given a comedian this is like we're back to the back of the future we have comedians being attacked by the government trying to silence them when they basically say something those in power don't like that is really what happened here Jimmy Kimmall Stephen Colbert or whoever said something or the journalist from Australia said something that people in power didn't like I can't tell you how many times as a chief of staff or senior vice president Clinton there were times with these guys on late night said nobody liked it but nobody thought about using government power to silence them and get on fire and these are as Carol said the leaders in a corporate media very timid souls weak pathetic souls professor has there ever been a time in modern history besides I guess the Nixon administration when a presidential administration was so overtly critical of speech on broadcast television to the point of threatening licenses well Nixon is the obvious comparison there's also of course the red scare where people were driven out of Hollywood and out of government for basically being too left be too feminist and you know not for nothing it was a purge at that time that targeted mainly you know women queer queer people so you know history doesn't repeat itself it does rhyme and the thing that's kind of shocking is we have the legal apparatus to fight back against this people who fight back are winning and the problem we have is massive unwillingness by yes people who turn out to be very weak they turn out not to believe in the things that they said they believe in and ordinary Americans are doing so much better in terms of standing up for the rights of their communities Professor I mean what's so interesting is we we sorry I'm sorry I'm go ahead I think the two points I want to cite that the professor just said one is that you know Donald Trump was for a train by Roy Cohn who was Joe McCarthy's hatchet man and the second is corporate America has been intimidated Republican members of House of Senate intended the Supreme Court's been timid I shout out to the American people they're the only ones that aren't buying this they're the ones that actually have Donald Trump in the negative territory why he wants to do redistricting in the mid-cycle because he's worried about their judgment and their verdict and the American people are actually the thin blue line that Donald Trump is very scared of because they have issued a judgment at this point about his presidency and they see it as basically a failure and he's trying to change the rules because he's scared of that they are the only ones with the courage can we just go back just for one more moment to talk about what was the comment that got Jimmy Kimmel in trouble it was not about the murder it was about criticism he was criticizing he was mocking the president and the president's political movement MAGA so what we have here is is the administration cracking down on someone for criticizing them which is much worse than the government cracking down for some sort of you know offensive conduct relating to good taste this is about criticism of the administration that is getting the network in trouble that's a much more sense let's just play the line again so that you're here what Jeff is talking about it's a new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk is anything other than one of them and what everything they can to score political points from it David actually I mean you're just joining us what did you think when you heard this I thought that it's consistent with what we've seen brewing for some time we saw it when Stephen Colbert when Stephen Colbert was canceled but also and you guys have been touching on all of this the really insidious thing and dangerous thing about this is if you have a president and apparatrix around him or willing to use every lever of power that they have to coerce cooperation with them and their political project then you're no longer really functioning as a democracy should function they believe that free speech is means you're free to say what we want you to say and if you say what we don't want you to say we're gonna come after you and we're gonna use every tool regulatory the Justice Department, federal contracting, every piece of it threatening your law clients if you don't if you don't tow the line and you know it was said earlier someone said that it was urbanism and I've said we've gone from zero to hungry faster than anybody ever could imagine and people need to really consider what this means because they may like Donald Trump and they may think this is okay because he is imposing my view on you know on a comedian or whatever it is but just remember he's not gonna be there forever and so is this you know we have these rules for a reason and it's to protect the common will the country the Republic from the overweening influence of one person over and you know that's what we'll be celebrating next year ostensibly and that is all that under threat right now that's what I thought when I saw that news you know and Kara I mean we heard from you know Stephen Miller on the podcast with JD Vance you know issuing I mean what sounded like very dire warnings about going after unnamed you know everybody who it seems they have a problem with yeah who doesn't like which is a lot of people please super unpleasant person but one of the things that's important to keep in mind is there's a lot of independent stuff going on right now there's a lot of technology that allows people to reach people without these corporations I mean it's one of the reasons I left all the corporations because there's a lot of places where people can speak even if it's a noisy you know atmosphere for a lot of the media there's all these amazing independent media companies starting there's all these places it's a little harder to catch and each one of those places like Hungary those things do happen independent media and other voices do rise up including the voters and so they can try to keep it in this old system what they're attacking or old businesses that are already dying by the way they cannot you can't stop the change that's happening in media and Donald Trump we grew up in the old era cannot stop what's happening he can try but there's so many amazing voices on the internet on YouTube on all kinds of things and many I don't agree with by the way but they're there and they are speaking whatever truth they want to and it's gonna be a lot harder to stop that they won't in the end they will not be able to start it I think a big winner tonight is sub-stack yeah yeah yeah yeah Ron go ahead and I was gonna say you know the obviously the irony here the split screen here is whatever you want to say about Charlie Kirk's views which I don't support he did believe in the ethos of both open debate he went to college campuses and he believed in persuasion as a way to work and these guys are using obviously was a horrible thing that happened which was he was murdered for his views but he believed in the system of debate and they are doing exactly the opposite in his name which is to shut down any debate and that's what's really not I mean what's cruel here and which is a horrible hoax is in the name of Charlie Kirk they're doing the very opposite of what actually was the spirit of his life in his effort not that I agree with anything except but he went places he talked debated discussed argued because he believed in one premise the art of persuasion which is the fundamental kind of premise of what our political debate is about everyone stick around if you can come here coming up more reaction to ABC's decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel show off the air definitely Congressman Dan Goldman joins us ahead comedian Craig Ferguson is going coast to coast to unpack what it really means to be an American today what could possibly go wrong Craig Ferguson American on purpose new series premieres may 30 the 9 on CNN and next day on the CNN app continue to get reaction ABC's decision to pull Jimmy Kimmel's show off the air joined now by a New Democratic Congressman Dan Goldman Congressman what do you make of ABC taking this decision it is absolutely outrageous understand and I don't know who infuriates me more the Trump administration and Brendan Carr for so blatantly threatening a company with their license based on very very obvious First Amendment protected speech or the companies that continue to cave to this completely improper behavior and we saw it with ABC when they settled we've taught with CBS we now see it again with ABC we've seen it with the tech companies we've seen it with law firms Donald Trump is a bully he is a wannabe mob boss who will push the envelope to the end of the earth and he ignores the law he does not believe the law or the Constitution applies to him and the problem is that everyone is cowing to him it is completely inappropriate what Brendan Carr said and did and it is also inappropriate that ABC and next are followed and the reality that they would they would cower to these threats that are such an obvious breach of the First Amendment when the First Amendment protects the media is incredibly disappointing I don't know if you saw the reaction the response that Brendan Carr the German of the FCC gave to Brian Stelter and Brian Stelter asked him for a reaction a response to ABC's pulling Kimmel off the air we're putting it on the screen it's it's a meme it's from the office I mean it's it's a joke and that's that was the actual response by the German of the FCC yeah Donald Trump made it very clear as well in his own social media post at 1 am from England that this was his goal all along he has the thinnest skin of anyone in America much less a politician he cannot take one bit of criticism and when there is any criticism he goes after those people one way or another whether it's through a primary threat if you're a politician or it's to shut them up if you're a media a media personality and the irony here Anderson is I stand in the Capitol is that we have spent years with the House Republicans especially waxing on about the censorship by Joe Biden on social media platforms going on about how covid the social media platforms suppressed covid information and they became these free speech absolutists only though when the speech is to their liking and that is exactly what is barbed by the First Amendment I hope Jimmy Kimmel sues the heck out of everyone but more importantly I hope America wakes up to see what is going on this is a coordinated attack on our fundamental values the rights that are in the Constitution and everything that we stand for and it's using the DOJ with Chris Krabs and Miles Taylor it's using the threat of not approving a merger or of taking a broadcast license away and it cannot be allowed anymore and it's got to come from the people the American people need to recognize what's going on and rise up and object to this it just finally Congressman I don't know if you know this but I've just seen that the president on a social media on a social media is announced I'm pleased to inform our many USA Patriots that I'm designating Antifa a sick dangerous radical left organization as a major terrorist organization I'll also be strongly recommending those funding Antifa be thoroughly investigating accordance with highest legal standards and practices your reaction well I hope you can first define what Antifa is because there is no Antifa organization so maybe that's good for social media but it really has is non-existent but the point is that he's using the Charlie Kirk murder as a pretext to go after people that he disagrees with he on the very night of Kirk's murder you will remember accused the left of committing the murder when the murder had not even been caught or identified this is all a pretext and it is a shame I think as Ram said that Charlie Kirk actually stood for free speech and instead they're using his memory to attack free speech. Congressman Dan Goldman thank you for being with us we'll go back to their panel on the phone John yes is also is seen in senior political commentator Van Jones van your thoughts this is a major moment in American history this is a crossing over the con and I think everybody should take this very very seriously for ABC to capitulate preemptively is handing powers the president he does not have the proper course is to tell the SEC will see you in court if you take anybody's license we are not going to be bullger to make any media organization in the world stands up to government threats they don't roll over and show their tummy and you know but that's not why you have a license in the first place you have a license in the first place to help exercise the first amendment not to be a part of crushing it ABC should be ashamed the leadership of Disney should immediately reverse this and but Americans around the president said something about patriots no patriots no constitutional conservatives no one who believe in our system the founders themselves would be appalled by the behavior Donald Trump the behavior of this beer crack you don't like bureaucrats a bureaucrat just check down in American companies ability to make a decision that they lie closer to a authoritarian or even a communist regime then something that the conservatives would be embracing this has Charlie Kirk would be on his podcast tomorrow morning saying this is an outrage and it's wrong it's completely un-American but this big crossing of the Rubicon and I think people take it very very seriously David Ashrod do you believe that that this is sort of an inflection point or crossing the Rubicon is man said we've had several but this moment seems very important for the reasons that have that Van mentioned the congressman mentioned it's not just about this issue and this is a very serious issue because the FCC chair who's acting like a thug a minor mafia figure here threatening people you know and they say well we're going to decide whether a network is acting in the public interest I guess whether a particular program is in the public interest and we will decide what that public interest is that is what happens in authoritarian states but the point that Dan Goldman made at the end is really important I think you have we owe it to the president we owe it to the people around him to take him seriously he's been saying not just before but before since the current assassination but before it that he was going to go after say George Soros because he said he was funding agitators and this thing tonight this post should not be dismissed because what it means is he will define just as they will define the public interest they will define what is Antifa and they will go after everyone and everything that they put under that umbrella even though it isn't an organization it is a it is in many ways mythology but it gives them you know a pretext to go after their political enemies and you know Ram said Kara said well you know voters have a say they do have a say but but this is going to be a major effort to try and defund any opposition in this country by doing it under this rubric of Antifa and the radical left I think this is an inflection moment so it's it's quite concerning.
David Aksra thank you we have more breaking news than I deadly shooting in Pennsylvania three police officers were killed two more wounded we want to tell you about that we'll be right back. We have more breaking news tonight three police officers killed two remain in critical condition but stable after a shooting this afternoon it happened in rural part of York County about two hours west of Philadelphia law enforcement sources say the officers were on their way to arrest the shooter when shots were fired officials said the suspect is dead after being killed by police our chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst John Miller joins us now what else have you learned about what happened it's just awful. Well we've been gathering string on this since this terrible occurrence with three officers dead two others wounded the questions what brought them to this farmhouse in the middle of this rural area the dead man who is has not been identified by authorities but we're aware of his identity these charges were filed today and this involves stalking repeatedly criminal acts to cause fear loitering and prowling at night criminal trespass simple trespass so were they going to kind of they were going to arrest him on these charges now we were also told from our affiliate that neighbors said that the family had moved out a couple of days ago so it seems something has been building in the domestic situation around that house police were coming to arrest him today but if you look at that scene there's a long road that leads up to it and a long driveway that leads down to the house in other words if you're waiting laying and wait for the police you can see police coming from a long way away it appears from the from the idea that the officers showed up with the arrest team and the shooting started so fast he may have been expecting them and this may have been an ambush but we're still waiting for more information would officers have come in force would they have I mean based on those allegations how would they will the posture be so I mean the posture with five officers mean you know they came with an arrest team and a backup team in case they had to cover the front and the back it's pretty standard when they're going for rest even if there are misdemeanor charges which there was but it also is a reminder especially with emotionally charged situations domestic situations how fast and how violent these things can spin out of control condolences to the families John Miller thank you then just continues the source of Caitlin Collins starts now. Hey I'm Anderson Cooper on my podcast all there is we explore grief and loss in all its complexities.
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