Received this email from a friend? Sign up here.

Tuesday, July 16, 2024

Hello from night two of the RNC! Rupert Murdoch arrives in Milwaukee, Donald Trump Jr. hits Fox News, a jury finds former Ozy Media boss Carlos Watson guilty, Warner Bros. Discovery lays off more staffers, Elon Musk vows to move X to Texas, "Twisters" looks to take the box office by storm, and so much more. But first, the A1.

THE A1

Cracks in Cesar's Palace

CNN Photo Illustration/Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

Cesar Conde has found himself — yet again — on the receiving end of a stinging on-air rebuke from his high-wattage MSNBC stars.

For the second time in only a few months, questions about the NBC News Group chairman's leadership were raised in extraordinary fashion, with the "Morning Joe" team on Tuesday publicly expressing dismay that NBC brass had the day before pulled their broadcast from the air in wake of the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.

Joe Scarborough, speaking alongside co-hosts Mika Brzezinski and Willie Geist, offered viewers a peek behind the curtain into the conspicuous decision-making process that transpired over the weekend. Scarborough said that the "Morning Joe" team had been informed Sunday evening that all of MSNBC's opinion-oriented dayside lineup would be pre-empted for a single NBC News feed covering the attempt on Trump's life.

But, as Scarborough noted, "That did not happen." Instead of high-profile NBC News anchors, such as Lester Holt and Savannah Guthrie, anchoring special coverage, MSNBC aired two hours of "MSNBC Reports" and two hours of its streaming service's programming, NBC News Now. And oddly enough, no other MSNBC shows were pre-empted. Only "Morning Joe."

"We don't know why that was that didn't happen. Our team was not given a good answer as to why that didn't happen," Scarborough said. "But it didn't happen."

Scarborough, who said the entire "Morning Joe" team was "very surprised" and "very disappointed" in the turn of events spurred by NBC brass, even went as far to offer network leadership an ultimatum.

"Next time we are told there is going to be a news feed replacing us, we will be in our chairs," he said. "And the news feed will be us, or they can get somebody else to host the show."

While the top-rated, largely unscripted show has long been a must-watch for politicos in the Acela Corridor, the program has taken on additional significance in recent weeks, airing major news-making live interviews with President Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi and others as the president battles to continue his campaign. Without "Morning Joe" airing on Monday, viewers rebelled against MSNBC, opting to change the channel, Nielsen data indicated. During the four-hour block, the total audience was down 40%, and the demo plunged nearly 50%, compared to this year's average.

Spokespeople for NBC News Group and MSNBC did not directly respond to Scarborough's Tuesday remarks. But the flare up represented another embarrassing moment for Conde in which behind-the-scenes tension between MSNBC and NBC News Group found its way into the public view. It also raised questions about the progressive news network's editorial decisions and independence, particularly as Trump and his allies target its parent company, Comcast.

The move to bench the "Morning Joe" crew, after all, didn't happen in a vacuum. Over the course of the last year, Trump has assailed Brian Roberts, the Comcast chairman, applying pressure on him over his distaste for coverage from MSNBC. In November, Trump called Roberts a "slime ball" and declared the government "should come down hard on them" and "make them pay" for their supposedly "illegal political activity."

"Much more to come, watch!" Trump wrote at the time, a not-so-veiled threat.

Those attacks on Comcast were revived in the immediate aftermath of the Trump assassination attempt. Trump's allies leveled attacks against MSNBC, accusing the network in bad faith of radicalizing Trump's critics and, thus, creating an environment that led to the shooting. (It should be noted that, at this time, authorities have not determined the shooter's motive.) At the RNC this week, attacks on MSNBC have been in vogue, with GOP figures such as Donald Trump Jr. and Sarah Huckabee Sanders singling out the outlet and bashing it.

Suffice to say, Roberts and the Comcast team, which will potentially have M&A business before the next presidential administration, probably do not wish to find themselves on Trump's enemies list. A spokesperson for Comcast did not comment Tuesday when asked whether Roberts has weighed in on any of NBC News Group's recent programming decisions. Regardless, it's not difficult to imagine that he been irked by the situation at MSNBC, a small slice of the business at Comcast, that continues to cause headaches.

Which is why, perhaps, Comcast is involved in cleaning up the "Morning Joe" mess. I'm told that the company's president, Mike Cavanagh, rescheduled meetings on Tuesday to grapple with the fallout stemming from the "Morning Joe" commentary.

While this particular episode will almost certainly blow over soon enough, the underlying issues are likely to remain. Without strong leadership atop NBCU News Group — leadership that is truly respected by staff — it's hard to imagine that such eruptions from talent will miraculously come to a halt. If anything, the staff at 30 Rock might feel more empowered to speak out against network brass after the events of the last few months. And that can't bode well for Conde, who must be standing on thinning ice as it becomes more evident he is struggling to manage the increasingly vocal personalities who, at least on paper, report to him.

——— BELOW THE FOLD ———

CNN Photo Illustration/Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Junior Jabs Murdoch: Donald Trump Jr. claimed victory over media mogul and longtime Republican kingmaker Rupert Murdoch on Tuesday, asserting the 91-year-old no longer sits on the GOP throne as his father takes over the party. "There was a time where if you wanted to survive in the Republican Party, you had to bend the knee to him or to others," Trump Jr. told Axios' Mike Allen at the Republican National Convention. "I don't think that's the case anymore." The comments came after Murdoch, who has a long and complicated relationship with Trump, recently lost a behind-the-scenes struggle over the party's VP nominee, backing Gov. Doug Burgum. Further underscoring the divide, Trump Jr. said he advocated for his father to tap either Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host who Murdoch fired last year, or Sen. J.D. Vance for the nod. "I would have, you know, [Carlson] and J.D. would have been the two people I would have loved to see as a VP," he made clear.

► Like his father, Trump Jr. also claimed Fox News has been unfair to him, claiming he has been blacklisted by the right-wing cable channel. But a network spokesperson told me in a statement that Trump Jr. had been on the network's air just the day before and that he had been previously booked on "Fox & Friends" for a Wednesday appearance. Trump Jr. also appeared on "Hannity" Tuesday night. "He is and always has been welcome on all Fox News Media platforms," the Fox News spokesperson said. Statement aside, it is true that Trump Jr.'s appearances on Fox News had dried up. Media Matters' Matthew Gertz observed on X that his last weekday appearance on the network, prior to this week, was on May 10, 2022. And it is notable that the Trump family has been trashing Murdoch since the 2020 election, in which Fox News called Arizona for Joe Biden. Even on Tuesday, as Trump Jr. was complaining about his lack of Fox News appearances, he criticized Murdoch. "I just think conventional media, on both sides of the mainstream, I think they've done a lot of disservices to the people," Trump Jr. said, swiping at the mogul.

CONVENTION COVERAGE

Rupert Murdoch arrived at the RNC, attending after unsuccessfully lobbying Donald Trump to select North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum as his VP pick. Kaitlan Collins and I have more here. (CNN)
"And with that, he became one of the most prominent one-time Trump detractors to line up behind the former president and join a convention that has doubled as a resounding show of Republican unity," Jim Rutenberg, who broke news of Murdoch's attendance, wrote. (NYT)
Night one of the RNC averaged 18.1 million viewers. Fox News amassed the most eyeballs, with 6.9 million average viewers at 10pm. (Variety)
On night two of the RNC, CNN and Fox News aired misleading speeches in their entirety from Republican figures, often with little-to-no on-air pushback. Over on MSNBC, the network opted not to carry many of the speeches, instead prioritizing commentary countering the mistruths being promoted onstage.
Scott Jennings continues to draw scrutiny for misleading commentary on CNN, where he is a paid conservative pundit. Joe Lockhart became the latest to call out Jennings on Tuesday, writing on Threads, "I was a compensated contributor for CNN for more than 3 years and have really enjoyed many, many years of going on. I constantly disagreed with folks I was on with, but I always felt like it was a serious conversation where honest views were exchanged. This is different. Mr. Jennings blamed Biden for the attack. Now he's denying evidence is not real. This is not only a threat to journalism but to democracy. Look at history. This shouldn't be condoned and certainly shouldn't be compensated." (Threads)
Bloomberg published a transcript of its interview with Trump. The outlet highlighted all of Trump's false or misleading statements and annotated them with fact-checks throughout. (Bloomberg)
Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman reported how Tucker Carlson "helped sell J.D. Vance as Trump's running mate," reporting that the former Fox News host warned Sen. Marco Rubio could not be trusted for the role and would try to lead the U.S. into nuclear war. (NYT)
Vance's "Hillbilly Elegy" has shot up the Amazon bestselling books charts, and the film adaptation is now No. 6 on Netflix's Top 10 in the U.S., Elizabeth Wagmeister reported. (CNN)
Kari Lake used her RNC speech to attack the media in ugly terms: "You guys up there in the fake news have worn out your welcome." (Mediaite)
Charlie Warzel offered smart observations on what the Trump assassination attempt revealed about the flow of information in 2024: "Our information ecosystem is actually pretty good while the dust is up. But the second it begins to settle, that same system creates chaos." (The Atlantic)

THE INDUSTRY

IN THE BIZ

✂️ Cuts, cuts, cuts: Warner Bros. Discovery is laying off more staffers. Jennifer Maas reported that nearly 1,000 staffers were impacted in the latest cost-cutting round. (Variety)
WBD's shares closed Tuesday up nearly 8% after Bank of America analysts said the media conglomerate, which is CNN's parent, should explore selling assets or "strategic alternatives." (The Wrap)
David Ellison "is one step closer to taking full control of Paramount Global, but the legal drama has only begun," Eriq Gardner writes. Gardner spoke to Mario Gabelli, Paramount's largest voting shareholder outside of Shari Redstone, who voiced suspicions about the deal. (Puck)
Streaming viewership hit an all-time high in June, according to Nielsen, accounting for 40.3% of TV usage during the month — and making it the largest share of TV Nielsen has ever reported. (Deadline)
AMC inked a deal with Netflix to send 13 shows to the streamer. (THR)

THE FOURTH ESTATE

A jury found Ozy Media founder Carlos Watson guilty of fraud. Sentencing will take place in November, where Watson could face up to 37 years in prison. (NYT)
A group of former DCist journalists is launching the 51st, a nonprofit that will cover Washington community news. (WaPo)
Pete Wells, the iconic NYT restaurant critic, is parting ways with the Gray Lady. (NYT)

MEDIA MOVES

Adweek hired Saleah Blancaflor as its TV news reporter. (TBN)
The WaPo named Mark Selig the assignment editor for sports. (WaPo)
The NYT named Erin McCann senior editor and Joey Lee graphics/multimedia editor for the weather team. (NYT)

THE VALLEY

CNN Photo Illustration/Susan Walsh/AP

Musk's Vow to Move: If you work at X or SpaceX, prepare to move to Texas. Elon Musk vowed on Tuesday to move the headquarters of his companies to the red state. Musk made the announcement while complaining about "gangs of violent drug addicts" in the city of San Francisco, where X is currently headquartered. But he said the "final straw" had been a law signed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom banning school policies on trans student parental notification. The LAT's Laurence Darmiento has more here.

► Speaking of Musk: Kate Conger and Ryan Mac write that the billionaire's decision to back Donald Trump in November's election "broke with tradition set by the leaders of other major social media firms, none of whom have endorsed a presidential candidate," adding that "[b]y using X as a megaphone for his politics — posting to his nearly 190 million followers — Mr. Musk also erased any air of neutrality for the platform."

TOO MANY TABS

A WIRED investigation found that Apple, Nvidia, and Anthropic trained their A.I. off thousands of swiped YouTube videos. (WIRED)
Apple inked a deal with Taboola to sell ads across Apple News and Apple Stocks, Sara Fischer reported. (Axios)
Amazon's Prime Day sales were up 12% over last year in the event's first seven hours. (Bloomberg)

CURTAIN CALL

CNN Photo Illustration/Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures/Everett Collection

A Box Office Storm: "Twisters" is set to unleash high winds on the box office. The sequel to the classic film is on track to net about $50 million at the domestic box office in its opening weekend, Deadline's Anthony D'Alessandro and Nancy Tartaglione reported Tuesday. Overseas, the movie is set to earn $45-50 million, the duo added. The film will open this weekend in 4,000 theaters, including Imax, raising hopes it will continue the box office's recent hot streak. Read the full story here.

OFF STAGE

Anthony Hopkins responded to Donald Trump having brought up Hannibal Lecter on the campaign trail, telling Dominic Patten that he was not aware of that. "God, that was over 30 years ago," Hopkins said. "I'm shocked and appalled what you've told me about Trump." (Deadline)
Not funny: Jack Black canceled the remaining tour dates for his rock duo Tenacious D after Kyle Gass, his fellow band member, joked about the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. (CNN)
Taylor Swift's "Tortured Poets Department" led Luminate's mid-year chart. (Billboard)
Netflix OK'ed "Something Very Bad Is Going To Happen," a new horror series from the Duffer Brothers and Haley Z. Boston. (THR)
Colin Firth will star in Amazon's "Young Sherlock" series. (Variety)
Apple TV+ renewed Maya Rudolph's "Loot" for a third season. (THR)
The second season of "Bookie" will hit Max in December. (The Wrap)
A24 released the official trailer for "A Different Man." (YouTube)
Peacock dropped the official trailer for "The Killer." (YouTube)

Thank you for reading! This newsletter was edited by Jon Passantino and produced with the assistance of Liam Reilly. Have feedback? Send us an email. You can follow us on Instagram, Threads, and LinkedIn. We will see you back in your inbox tomorrow.

You are receiving this newsletter because you signed up for Reliable Sources.
To stop receiving this newsletter, unsubscribe or sign up to manage your CNN account

Get CNN web alerts | Sign up for a free CNN account