Why is AT&T trying to buy Time Warner?

Recode managing editor Ed Lee talks with Kara Swisher about the pending $85 billion merger of AT&T and Time Warner. Lee says the deal is in part a reaction to the rise of Netflix and will, in theory, let the companies create new kinds of online video and smarter digital advertising. However, last year the U.S. Justice Department sued AT&T in an attempt to block the deal, which Lee says is plausibly more motivated by President Trump’s animus toward Time Warner-owned CNN than by actual danger posed to consumers. He also talks about what would change for consumers if the deal goes through and why its success could lead to a dramatic showdown between Disney and Comcast for the right to buy 20th Century Fox. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices