Tag: Deadline News

Donald Trump again lashed out at CNN‘s Kaitlan Collins, just as the Justice Department is defending the president’s ban on the network, MS Now and Politico from the White House.

Late on Tuesday, on Truth Social, Trump wrote, “All of the SLEAZEBAGS, like Third Rate ‘Reporter,’ Kaitlan Collins, of Fake News CNN, a truly unhappy person, said they weren’t going to be covering me. Then why were they ranting and raving like Lunatics, in the Press Area, at the United Nations? Why was she there? She’s got a ‘TRUMP’ addiction, and so does CNN and MSDNC. They’re all sick, treasonous, and demented! The ‘good news’ is that they have a great, for them, and totally disloyal Judge. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! President DONALD J. TRUMP”

Collins, CNN’s chief White House correspondent, was at the United Nations on Tuesday when Trump arrived to speak to the General Assembly. As she shouted a question at him, he said he was surprised to see her.

“You shouldn’t be here. You should not. You should not be here covering me. You said you weren’t going to cover me,” Trump told her.

On Friday, Trump banned the three outlets from the White House grounds. CNN, Politico and MS Now filed a lawsuit Monday claiming violations of the First and Fifth amendments. A judge will hold a hearing later Wednesday on whether to grant the news outlets a temporary restraining order.

CNN has made no announcement that it was not covering Trump. But after the White House removed it from the TV pool, the other four networks in the rotation agreed to suspend their participation in protest.

The judge assigned to the case, Timothy Kelly, was appointed to the federal bench by Trump in his first term. In 2018, Kelly sided with CNN after its then-chief White House correspondent, Jim Acosta, had his hard pass revoked.

In a filing late Tuesday, the Justice Department defended the ban, claiming that reporting from the outlets threatened national security. But the DOJ also cited stories that had nothing to do with those concerns, including a Politico report in which unnamed sources criticized the Trump’s midterm convention in Dallas.

Attorneys for the networks filed reports on Trump’s comment to Collins at the UN, apparently hoping to add to evidence that the ban is an effort to suppress freedom of the press.

A CNN spokesperson said, “Kaitlan Collins is an exceptional, trusted journalist being honored tonight for her depth of knowledge and the context she provides to audiences all over the world. She reports every day from the White House and the field with real strength and tenacity and skillfully brings that reporting to the anchor chair and CNN platforms every day. We stand by her to the fullest extent.”

UPDATED: Coming right up against a deadline set by a federal judge, the Justice Department tonight defended Donald Trump‘s ban on CNN, Politico and MS NOW from the White House grounds. The response comes despite an outcry across media outlets that the restriction is a flagrant violation of the First Amendment.

Leaning onto a Wednesday hearing on a temporary restraining order, the administration argued for Trump and top White House aides in its opposition filing that the “President’s actions are lawful under the First Amendment.”

Adding to that, and sidestepping Trump’s previous quip that there was no particular reason for the ban the Department of Justice is now claiming that CNN, MS Now and Politico have “engaged in a number of reporting incidents that have threatened national security” over stories on the construction of Trump’s much criticized ballroom. Swiping at past rulings on White House access, the DOJ is also maintaining that “While the D.C. Circuit has held that some areas of the White House grounds constitute a nonpublic that decision is wrong and should be overruled.”

After Trump banned the three outlets on Friday, CNN, Politico and MS NOW jointly sued the president and top staffers, claiming violations of the First and Fifth amendments.

“This ban could not be a more direct assault on the First Amendment nor a more blatant violation of our most fundamental constitutional principles,” their lawsuit stated.

Late Tuesday, the DOJ laid out POTUS’ POV.

“The White House is the home and workplace for the Nation’s Commander-in-Chief,” the 19-page document from Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate and others at the DOJ states. “Plaintiffs CNN, MSNOW, and Politico have long been granted privileged access to White House grounds. But the President concluded that they have failed to maintain basic minimum “standards of professionalism and decorum expected of those given access to the White House Complex, including” by ‘publishing sensitive or classified information.’”

The DOJ also claimed that the revocation of credentials was “preliminary” and that notices were sent to the networks on Tuesday. The letters, filed with the court and featuring no letterhead, gave them until Friday to contest the decision.

The letter to CNN stated, “No President has been as transparent to the public or as accessible to the press as President Trump. Nevertheless, your organization has exhibited behavior in violation of the standards of professionalism and decorum expected of those given access to the White House Complex, including by trafficking in verifiable falsehoods about national security and other issues, and publishing sensitive or classified information.” The letter to MS NOW cited, among other things, a report from a source that Trump had underestimated the “willingness of Iran to resume” the conflict. The letter to Politico pointed to a report on the funding of the ballroom and how the Secret Service would invest in security improvements.

Some of the stories cited had nothing to do with national security.

“In September 2026, Politico Playbook relied on unnamed sources to paint the Republican midterm convention in Dallas as a disaster. Media reporting showed that the convention had over 100 million live stream views,” the letter to the outlet stated.

Among the stories cited was a CNN piece on construction details of the White House ballroom, which the Trump team contended revealed “top secret” information. Other stories cited were reports on munition supplies in the war in Iran, and that the military had exhausted nearly 80% of its interceptors.

Snapping at UN credentialed CNN reporters while in NYC on Monday, Trump has found himself out of the usual spotlight.

Shortly after the filing on Monday, the five major TV networks that make up the White House TV pool said that they were suspending coverage in solidarity, leaving a void in video of Trump at the White House and other events. The pool is made up of CNN, NBC News, ABC News., CBS News and Fox News. Other outlets, like The New York Times, have protested the ban in other ways, like withholding their use of images from the White House.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly has scheduled a hearing for Wednesday afternoon on the outlets’ motion for the TRO. Trump has already signaled that he expects the judge to rule in the networks’ favor and plans an appeal. Even though he appointed the judge in his first term, Kelly sided with then-CNN correspondent Jim Acosta after the network sued the Trump administration for revoking his hard pass in 2018.

The three outlets’ legal team, led by Theodore Boutrous Jr., bolstered their case earlier on Tuesday when they noted a new D.C. Circuit decision on access to the steps of the Capitol. The judges ruled that the eastern steps of the Capitol were a “nonpublic forum” but speech regulations had to be “viewpoint neutral.”

Trump has complained about the three outlets’ coverage of him, telling reporters, “There’s something wrong with a country that can allow people to write purposely negative stories.”

Boutrous’ team also filed one of Trump’s Truth Social posts in which he said that he “sadly” appointed Kelly to the federal bench. They also filed a report on Trump’s outburst at CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, when she was among the reporters at the United Nations, asking questions of the president on Tuesday. Surprised at her appearance there, as she was credentialed via the UN, Trump told her, “You shouldn’t be here.”

Shortly after the DOJ filing, the president against attacked Collins, as well as the judge.

He wrote on Truth Social at 11:53 p.m. ET, “All of the SLEAZEBAGS, like Third Rate ‘Reporter,’ Kaitlan Collins, of Fake News CNN, a truly unhappy person, said they weren’t going to be covering me. Then why were they ranting and raving like Lunatics, in the Press Area, at the United Nations? Why was she there? She’s got a ‘TRUMP’ addiction, and so does CNN and MSDNC. They’re all sick, treasonous, and demented! The ‘good news’ is that they have a great, for them, and totally disloyal Judge.”

A top Justice Department official is minimizing the concessions state attorneys general received in the settlement of their antitrust lawsuit to block the Paramount-Warner Bros Discovery merger.

Stanley Woodward, associate attorney general, said in a statement Tuesday, “After a thorough review of the Paramount/WarnerBros deal, DOJ concluded that market dynamics create the necessary incentives to protect competition.

“The only antitrust related provisions in the States’ settlement require that Paramount honor its already-stated commitments to maintain and grow its movie and TV businesses.”

The DOJ signed off on the $111 billion merger in June, with no concessions from Paramount of requirements of divestitures. Merger opponents criticized the DOJ’s review as insufficient amid Paramount’s wooing of the Trump administration, and the next month a dozen state attorneys general sued to halt the transaction.

But a settlement was announced Monday that includes a set of behavioral conditions to last for five years, including a commitment by Paramount to release 30 films for the first and second years, and 32 films for the third, fourth and fifth years. The consent decree also includes a theatrical release window of at least 45 days. Paramount CEO David Ellison had previously stated he would commit to such windows and to the 30-movies-per-year releases.

Woodward said in his statement, “Consumers benefit when transactions close quickly after federal enforcers have concluded a substantive review. Under President Trump’s leadership, DOJ will continue to prioritize affordability for all Americans across our economy.”

At a press conference Monday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who led the 12 states in the litigation, repeatedly said the settlement would be an “enforceable commitment,” including that it would “significantly increase domestic production in the United States, and necessarily production right here in L.A., in Hollywood.” Among other things, he said, Paramount also would spend $300 million more each year in domestic film production, while agreeing to conduct Paramount and Warner Bros cable channel negotiations independently. The settlement also includes an independent monitor to oversee compliance, Bonta’s team noted.

Bonta had previously indicated that only a structural remedy — like a commitment to divest assets — would suffice when it came to a settlement. The consent decree does contain requirements to sell off Miramax and selected cable channels if there are breaches of the settlement terms.

Just last week, before the settlement was reached, the DOJ sided with Paramount in its motion to require that the state AGs put up a $1.88 billion bond as the litigation dragged on. The trial had been scheduled for March, but Paramount faced having to pay a $7 million-per-day ticking fee to Warner Bros. Discovery for each day that the merger didn’t close after September 30.

A federal judge has set a hearing for Thursday on the proposed settlement between state attorneys general and Paramount-Warner Bros Discovery.

U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin set the hearing for 11 a.m. PT via Zoom.

She wrote in an order Tuesday that the hearing would be to “address certain outstanding questions regarding the factual and legal underpinnings of the parties proposed consent decree, as well as the implementation of the proposed consent decree.”

The parties have filed a motion to approve the consent decree, which lays out a series of settlement conditions to resolve the lawsuit brought by the state AGs in July. Among the provisions are Paramount commitments to release at least 30 movies per year, and another to create an independent board to oversee CNN and CBS News adherence to journalistic standards.

The judge also canceled a scheduled hearing on whether to require the state AGs to post a bond as the litigation proceeded.

The judge said in a separate order that she would decide in “due course” on whether to dismiss the lawsuit brought by the Writers Guild of America to block the merger. The WGA said it also reached a settlement with Paramount to end its litigation.

Coming right up against a deadline set by a federal judge, the Justice Department tonight defended Donald Trump‘s ban on CNN, Politico and MS NOW from the White House grounds. The response comes despite an outcry across media outlets that the restriction is a flagrant violation of the First Amendment.

Leaning onto a Wednesday hearing on a temporary restraining order, the administration argued for Trump and top White House aides in its opposition filing that the “President’s actions are lawful under the First Amendment.”

Adding to that, and sidestepping Trump’s previous quip that there was no particular reason for the ban the Department of Justice is now claiming that CNN, MS Now and Politico have “engaged in a number of reporting incidents that have threatened national security” over stories on the construction of Trump’s much criticized ballroom. Swiping at past rulings on White House access, the DOJ is also maintaining that “While the D.C. Circuit has held that some areas of the White House grounds constitute a nonpublic that decision is wrong and should be overruled.”

After Trump banned the three outlets on Friday, CNN, Politico and MS NOW jointly sued the president and top staffers, claiming violations of the First and Fifth amendments.

“This ban could not be a more direct assault on the First Amendment nor a more blatant violation of our most fundamental constitutional principles,” their lawsuit stated.

Late Tuesday, the DOJ laid out POTUS’ POV.

“The White House is the home and workplace for the Nation’s Commander-in-Chief,” the 19-page document from Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate and others at the DOJ states. “Plaintiffs CNN, MSNOW, and Politico have long been granted privileged access to White House grounds. But the President concluded that they have failed to maintain basic minimum “standards of professionalism and decorum expected of those given access to the White House Complex, including” by ‘publishing sensitive or classified information.’”

Snapping at UN credentialed CNN reporters while in NYC today, Trump has found himself out of the usual spotlight.

Shortly after the filing on Monday, the five major TV networks that make up the White House TV pool said that they were suspending coverage in solidarity, leaving a void in video of Trump at the White House and other events. The pool is made up of CNN, NBC News, ABC News., CBS News and Fox News. Other outlets, like The New York Times, have protested the ban in other ways, like withholding their use of images from the White House.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly has scheduled a hearing for Wednesday afternoon on the outlets’ motion for the TRO. Trump has already signaled that he expects the judge to rule in the networks’ favor and plans an appeal. Even though he appointed the judge in his first term, Kelly sided with then-CNN correspondent Jim Acosta after the network sued the Trump administration for revoking his hard pass in 2018.

The three outlets’ legal team, led by Theodore Boutrous Jr., bolstered their case earlier on Tuesday when they noted a new D.C. Circuit decision on access to the steps of the Capitol. The judges ruled that the eastern steps of the Capitol were a “nonpublic forum” but speech regulations had to be “viewpoint neutral.”

Trump has complained about the three outlets’ coverage of him, telling reporters, “There’s something wrong with a country that can allow people to write purposely negative stories.”

Sen. Cory Booker (D-CA) weighed in on the proposed settlement reached between Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery and state attorneys general, criticizing the agreement, yet casting blame on the David Ellison-run company and the Justice Department.

In a statement, Booker said, “This is what happens when federal enforcers abandon their posts. States are left to carry the fight alone, and even the strongest state enforcers cannot outlast a company willing to say anything and spend anything. That is not justice. That is a price tag.”

Booker referred to Paramount’s threat to leave California if the state AG lawsuit blocked the deal, saying that such a vow “amounted to extortion.”

Booker, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee, held a “spotlight” hearing on the merger on Capitol Hill in April, with merger opponent Mark Ruffalo among the speakers. Ellison was invited but declined the invitation. The event was not an official Senate hearing, with members of both parties attending, but are designed to focus attention on an issue.

The settlement agreement does not force Paramount to shed assets unless it fails to honor a list of behavioral remedies, including commitments on film production and theatrical and cable negotiations.

Booker said, “This merger is illegal. It shrinks two of Hollywood’s major studios from five to four and combines two of the largest basic cable owners—putting nearly a third of the theatrical film market and nearly a third of basic cable programming under one roof. Behavioral promises cannot fix a structural problem. Media merger after media merger has ended the same way, with fewer jobs, lower wages, fewer stories told, and higher prices for families. Writers, crews, artists, theater owners, and consumers will pay the price.”

A Paramount spokesperson said of Booker’s statement, “We are proud of our deal – we are building a stronger Hollywood with more stories, more choice, and more competition. Nearly 70 jurisdictions reviewed it and unanimously agreed.”

Booker also expressed doubts about another provision of the settlement: An editorial review board to oversee CNN and CBS News compliance with editorial standards. But the senator said that the merger “threatens the First Amendment.” “An ‘independent’ editorial board handpicked by David Ellison and reporting directly to him will not stop the sweeping changes at CNN that President Trump says the Ellisons promised him. We have already seen what this administration does to the press—the President just barred reporters from the White House,” Booker said.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Larry Ellison, the CEO’s father and a major investor in the merger, told Trump that it could overhaul CNN. A Paramount spokesperson told the Journal that no commitments were made “to any government body, State AG or federal agency regarding the future of CNN or any other news property.”

Booker also said that the merger was “the product of corruption in plain sight.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “stood in the Pentagon press room and said he couldn’t wait for the Ellisons to take over,” Booker said. “Paramount was a constant presence at the Justice Department once it needed the deal pushed through. But when Congress asked questions, the company ignored our inquiries and refused invitations to testify. On the night of the shareholder vote, Ellison hosted a dinner honoring President Trump. Then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, the official responsible for approving this deal, was in attendance.”

Booker also said that he will examine “every merger this administration has approved,” a warning if Democrats win control of the Senate in the upcoming midterms.

Kara Swisher said that she will depart CNN now that a legal settlement has cleared the way for Paramount to acquire the network’s parent, Warner Bros. Discovery.

On her Pivot podcast with Scott Galloway, posted on Tuesday, Swisher said that she has “asked my agent to get me out of my contract. It ends December 31, so it’s only a few months, right? I just can’t. … I was trying to figure out ways I could work with them in some like licensing way, but then I thought, ‘F— these guys! I don’t want to work for them. I just don’t.”

On Monday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a settlement of a state AG lawsuit to block the merger, which includes the creation of an independent editorial board to oversee journalistic standards. But Swisher called such a board “dingbat nonsense,” citing the toothless nature of a board set up to oversee The Wall Street Journal when it was purchased by Rupert Murdoch in 2007.

Swisher has been a contributor to the network since 2023 and headlined an original series, Kara Swisher Wants to Live Forever, earlier this year. She said that the network had been trying to keep her.

“I have a lot of regard for the executives there now,” Swisher said. “I have other things that make more money, that matter more and have a bigger audience … I just don’t want to work” at the network with the David Ellison-led takeover.

Swisher has been a critic of David Ellison and his father, Larry Ellison, and their purchase of WBD.

She added, “I think they are terrible media owners. I would rather work for Rupert Murdoch.”

She said, “I can’t leave yet, but I will leave as soon as I can.”

A CNN spokesperson declined to comment.

At CNN, the pending merger has generated plenty of anxiety as to the pending changes under the new owners. At a Politico summit last month, Paramount’s Chief Legal Officer Makan Delrahim talked about plans for CNN and said that Ellison “wants to bring it back to news,” a remark that suggested that the network wasn’t doing so now and was in for a major shift in the way it covers stories.

As entertainment figures and politicos weigh in on the settlement of the Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery merger, the parties submitted details of a consent decree for a judge’s approval.

Among other things, the five-year decree requires a minimum number of annual film releases and another to spend $300 million more on domestic U.S. film production than was spent in 2025. It also sets levels of U.S. film production if Congress establishes a federal film tax credit. If there is a breach, one remedy is to divest the company interest in Miramax.

Restrictions also were placed on affiliate fee negotiations for cable channels, and requirements for negotiating separately. If there is a breach, Paramount may be on the hook to divest channels including BET, VH-1, Comedy Central, Smithsonian, Destination America and Science.

The consent decree also sets up a news editorial independence board to oversee CBS News and CNN, including establishing a set of standards and principles.

Read the proposed consent decree.

The decree also requires Paramount to continue the operation of its lot and that of Warner Bros.

The potential ownership of CBS News and CNN under one corporate owner has generated months of fear, anxiety and loathing at both networks, but the Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery settlement tries to resolve some of the issues with the establishment of an editorial independence board.

Per the terms of the consent decree reached with a dozen state attorneys general, the board will establish a set of guiding principles based on each network’s policies for “accuracy, independence, fairness and journalistic integrity.” The board will resolve any disputes between CBS News employees, CNN employees and management regarding any alleged violations of the principles. And it will monitor “adherence to ethical journalism as defined by journalism industry best practices and to editorial independence.”

The decree also sets up who can serve on the body, made up of five retired or active journalists who have worked for a minimum of ten years, and who will be appointed by the combined Paramount-WB board. No more than two members may be affiliated with the same political party.

“No member of any government or governmental entity, including federal, state, and local governments, may approve or have approval rights over members appointed to the Editorial Independence Board,” per the decree. Officers, directors or non-journalist employees of Paramount-WB also are restricted from serving on the board, whose members will have terms of three years. Paramount would have 180 days to establish the board.

A separate settlement with the Writers Guild of America includes a provision prohibiting writer layoffs at CBS News broadcast for five years, the guild said.

What the AGs’ consent decree does not do is restrict a combination of CBS News and CNN. Nor does it give the board oversight over who runs the respective news entities, something that has been an issue as CEO David Ellison tapped Bari Weiss to lead CBS News after Skydance’s purchase of Paramount last year.

That has raised concerns that the network would be steered rightward, or even in a direction more favorable to Donald Trump. Weiss previously worked as an opinion writer for The New York Times and founded The Free Press, the center-right opinion and analysis site that Paramount also purchased. As part of her changes, she ousted the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while some of the correspondents who were fired have alleged politically motivated interference. Weiss has defended her input to the show, saying it is part of the news process.

As part of commitments to close its purchase of Paramount last year, Skydance said that it would install an ombudsman to take complaints over CBS News. The person they hired, Kenneth Weinstein, was not a journalist but the former head of the rightward Hudson Institute.

Other actions have triggered further suspicions, including that, like CBS News, changes would be afoot for CNN, including appointing Weiss to oversee that network as well. As he sought administration approval to purchase Warner Bros. Discovery this year, Ellison hosted a dinner for the Trump White House tied to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, and he appeared at the president’s State of the Union address.

Seth Stern, chief of advocacy of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, called the consent decree’s oversight board “worthless.”

He said in a statement, “It’s unclear how the attorneys general or courts can constitutionally hold Paramount accountable for the board’s actions or inaction without themselves interfering in content. The attorneys general might be fine with censorship when they’re the ones doing it, but what happens when successors with opposing political views inherit enforcement powers?”

California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who led the state AG lawsuit, told reporters that the independent board would “ensure independent, objective, fact-based reporting at CBS News and at CNN.”

An independent board is unusual, not not unprecedented. A special committee was set up in 2007 to oversee editorial integrity at the Wall Street Journal, as Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp was looking to acquire the news outlet from the Bancroft family trust. The committee, though, does have a say in major newsroom positions, as it has to grant approval for the appointments of an editor-in-chief and editorial page editor. Comcast committed to an ombudsman when it acquired NBC Universal, with concerns over corporate interference in the editorial process. David McCormick, vice president of standards at NBC News, had already been serving as ombudsman in 1993, and expanded his duties to other NBCU news properties.