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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Les Wexner Deposed By House Oversight In Epstein Probe; FBI Contacts Mexican Authorities In Nancy Guthrie Kidnapping; Rain Plans Naval Drill With Russia As U.S. Buildup Continues; Viral Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt A.I. Video Rocks Hollywood; Stephen Colbert Blasts CBS For Nixing James Talarico Interview; Eight Skiers Found Dead After California Avalanche. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired February 18, 2026 - 17:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: All right. Thanks to my panel. Really appreciate it. Thanks to all of you at home for watching as well. Don't forget you can now stream The Arena we are live or catch up whenever you want in the CNN app. The QR code is on your screen for that. You can also catch up by listening to The Arena's podcast, follow the show on X and Instagram at The Arena CNN. But don't go anywhere because Jake Tapper is standing by for The Lead. Hi, Jake.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Hey Kasie. So great to have you back in the bureau. We will see you tomorrow to be home in The Arena.

HUNT: Bye.

TAPPER: An unindicted coconspirator in the Epstein case just spoke to members of Congress. The Lead starts right now.

The billionaire behind Victoria's Secret Bath and Body Works, Abercrombie and Fitch, the man known as billionaire Les Wexner, once named as a secondary unindicted conspirator, though with notes that there was limited evidence of his involvement.

Today in a congressional deposition, Wexner testified about his ties to the dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. One of the lawmakers who was in Ohio for the questioning will join us here on The Lead.

And the agonizing waits now 18 days in for any information on Nancy Guthrie. What authorities in Arizona are saying about the search today.

Plus, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, on the stand what he told a jury in a lawsuit alleging Facebook and Instagram are intentionally designed to be addictive and harmful for children.

Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. And our lead tonight, Les Wexner, the former owner of Victoria's Secret, facing tough questions from lawmakers today over his involvement with dead pedophile and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Wexner's name was at first redacted in the conspirator document in the Justice Department's massive Epstein file release. It's now unredacted and it appears in hundreds of other records. A paper trail of authorities mission to understand how the retail tycoon helped Epstein grow his wealth and whether or not Wexner had any knowledge of Epstein's sexual crimes during their approximately 30-year long business relationship between the 1980s and 2010.

We should note Wexner has never been charged with a crime. He has through the years denied any wrongdoing related to Epstein, including today his statement to lawmakers reads in part, I was never a participant nor conspirator in any of Epstein's illegal activities. To my enormous embarrassment and regret, I, like many others, was duped by a world class conman, unquote.

Records in the Epstein files include allegations made to the FBI that Wexner had interacted with young women and potentially underaged girls around Epstein. And one of Epstein's most outspoken victims, Virginia Giuffre, alleged in a 2016 civil suit deposition that Les Wexner was among the, quote, powerful business executives to whom she had been trafficked.

Wexner has repeatedly denied that allegation from Virginia Giuffre. The ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee. Robert Garcia was among the lawmakers today who flew to Ohio to get answers from the now 88-year old Les Wexner on his financial and personal ties to Epstein.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ROBERT GARCIA (D-CA) RANKING MEMBER, OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: Mr. Wexner admitted that he traveled to both Epstein's island as well as his other properties. Mr. Wexner also admitted that Jeffrey Epstein had access to a lot of Mr. Wexler's wealth.

There would be no Epstein island. There'd be no Epstein plane. There'd be no money to traffic women and girls. Mr. Epstein would not be the wealthy man he was without the support of Les Wexner.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Let's bring in CNN's Kara Scannell, who's been following this deposition. And Kara, Les Wexner has for years denied any wrongdoing related to Jeffrey Epstein. You obtained a statement from his team today along that vein. What else do we know about his testimony today?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wexner has been consistent today as he has been in the past, saying that he had no knowledge of any of Jeffrey Epstein's crimes involving the sex trafficking of young girls. He also said that he was conned by Epstein and that he had no personal relationship with him.

Wexner did tell the committee that he first met Epstein in the 1980s when he was referred to him by sophisticated financiers to manage his money. He said he turned over power of attorney to Epstein to allow him to make transactions easily. And then he broke ties with him in the late 2000s after officials in Florida began investigating Epstein for his interactions with young girls.

And when Wexner learned that Epstein had stolen hundreds of millions of dollars from him, that did not land well with some of the Democratic members who were at the deposition today.

[17:05:00]

They said they did not find Wexner's answers to be credible. They said he didn't have a recollection of some things that they believed he should have, and his downplaying of their personal relationship, they just did not believe.

I mean, one thing that they did say Wexner said was that he was never interviewed by law enforcement during all of these years of investigations. And we looked into the Epstein files, and we saw that in 2007, 2008, there was some interaction with law enforcement who spoke with his attorneys.

And again in 2019, just weeks after Epstein was arrested and charged on those federal charges of sex trafficking, Wexner's lawyers went in and met with prosecutors and told them the same story that we're hearing again today, that Wexner was duped and conned by Epstein and that he had no knowledge of any of this.

Now, some of the lawmakers have said that they may subpoena some records of the finances of Wexner, but that, of course, would require Republican buy in. Jake.

TAPPER: Kara Scannell, thank you so much. Let's bring in Congressman Stephen Lynch. He's a Democrat from Massachusetts, who is in the room questioning Mr. Wexner earlier today. Congressman, thanks for joining us.

You said this afternoon that, quote, Les Wexner gave Epstein credibility. What did he say today that makes you draw that conclusion?

REP. STEPHEN LYNCH (D-MA), OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: Well, Jake, almost all of the Epstein's finances came from his relationship with Wexner. So, all told, in the scope of their relationship, several million dollars went from Wexner to Epstein. He provided the mansion in New York. He provided the Gulf Stream jet. Actually, he led to his entire success.

Epstein would never have been able to do all this but for the fact that he was on Wexner's payroll.

TAPPER: So, Maria Farmer, one of Epstein's survivors, and I believe the first one to come forward and accuse Epstein, she said that Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell sexually assaulted her in 1996 at Wexner's estate, in Ohio. And she also claimed that Wexner's security forbade her from leaving. Wexner's attorneys told prosecutors that Epstein owned property half a mile away and that Wexner's security team was not aware of any inappropriate incident occurring on his property. What did Wexner say today? I presume he was asked about that.

LYNCH: He was. He was. He was very vague. He insisted that it didn't happen on his property, but on his neighbor's property. But in that part of New Albany, you know, the next door neighbors about a quarter of a mile away. But he -- he was very vague. He said that he had never met any of the victims. He hadn't met Ms. Farmer.

There are a lot of things in the -- in the record and in the evidence that we know are inconsistent with Wexner's statements today. But the important thing was to try to get him on the record as we go forward.

TAPPER: One of Epstein's most prominent victims, Virginia Giuffre, who's no longer with us, she alleged during the 2016 civil case deposition that Epstein had trafficked her to Les Wexner. Now, Wexner has repeatedly denied the allegation.

His attorney stated in a court document that he was, quote, unaware of and never a participant in any of the abhorrent behavior engaged in by Epstein against Epstein's victims that Mr. Wexner had never met Ms. Giuffre and that any claims to the contrary are not true, unquote. I'm sure you. You all asked him about that. Did he comment on that allegation?

LYNCH: Yes, he did. He denied that as well. But he was confronted with that a number of times during the deposition. But again, he denied the allegations made by Virginia Giuffre. I had asked him repeatedly in my questioning about Virginia Giuffre. He said he never met her. He was never in her presence. I asked him very specific questions about that.

TAPPER: Mr. Wexner shared that Epstein had a remarkable amount of access to Wexner's wealth. Did he recall why exactly he granted this access to Epstein?

LYNCH: To be honest with you, Jake, based on his testimony today, I don't think he could pick Epstein out of a lineup. But we all know that he had a, you know, a 30-year -- 25-year relationship with him -- with Epstein. He gave Epstein power of attorney over his entire finances. Epstein had control of his children's estates as well.

[17:10:04]

So the testimony today was at total variance to the evidence that we have before us.

TAPPER: All right. Democratic Congressman Stephen lynch, thank you so much. Appreciate it, sir.

Later here on The Lead, the investigation launched into a ranch that Epstein owned in New Mexico and the alleged criminal activity there. That's still ahead. But first in Arizona, the tragic disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of Today Show anchor Savannah Guthrie. What investigators are saying today about the search and their belief in what are the next best possible steps to test DNA evidence found in the Guthrie house and on a glove.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) TAPPER: In our National Lead, yellow flowers, ribbons and signs at the home of Nancy Guthrie today as the search for the 84-year-old continues into its 18th day.

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One sign quoting her daughter, Today Show anchor Savannah Guthrie's latest plea to the kidnappers quote, it's never too late to do the right thing. Sources tell CNN that investigators have briefed U.S. Border Patrol agents and Mexican law enforcement authorities to be on the lookout for any clues that might assist in the finding of Nancy Guthrie.

I want to bring in CNN chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst John Miller. John, what do you make of investigators briefing authorities on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border? It's about 60, 65 minutes away, I think from Tucson. Is that standard in a case like this?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, it is. And remember the very first day that the sheriff called in his own search team and the volunteers, they also used Customs and Border Protection CBP dogs that came up from border and participated in that search.

So what it means is CBP border patrol has been looped into this since the very first day and they've had a high awareness of this. The other thing about crossing the border is if you're the kidnapper, crossing the border means you're creating a record of that movement. It's going to record your license plate, it's going to record the time of that movement. If you become a suspect, that's going to pop up.

The flip side to that is scrutiny about people crossing from the U.S. into Mexico and the number of vehicles that are stopped is far less than vehicles coming the other way. So, if you were only going one way, it might be a calculated risk you'd be willing to take just to get into Mexico where far fewer law enforcement authorities would have been looking for Nancy Guthrie.

TAPPER: According to Google data, the search term Nancy Guthrie address was searched multiple times in early January. Now she is the mother of a famous journalist. Is that meaningful at all to the investigation?

MILLER: It could well be. We see -- when we did our own analysis of Google data, we see a spike around the time that Nancy Guthrie was the subject of a story by Savannah Guthrie that, you know, ran on NBC. So that's a natural blip.

But we also see a smaller one that occurred not connected to any particular attention. And that raises a question of was that half a dozen or nine searches done by people for some other reason that we can't detect, or is that one or two individuals doing multiple searches trying to find that home address? That would be of much higher interest. And you know, before you ask the question, the FBI has already looked

into those records, has already worked with Google has already issued subpoenas and pulled those records that has led to at least one of the suspects that they looked at who has been since cleared.

TAPPER: The FBI's database found no matches for the DNA on that glove found not far from Nancy Guthrie's house. It's likely the glove is going to be sent now for genetic or genealogy analysis comparing the DNA found on the glove to any DNA sample uploaded to any of the Ancestry databases, 23andMe, Ancestry.com, etc. Experts, of course, say that this could take anywhere from minutes to years before investigators get a hit.

MILLER: Well, that's true. And no reason not to do it because remember the track record of this technique in multiple cold cases and not so cold cases, such as the Idaho student murders by Bryan Kohberger, where that became a key pointer towards him as a suspect as they developed him.

TAPPER: Ancestry databases like 23Andme or Ancestry.com, they've barred law enforcement from just automatically being able to access their data. So does law enforcement get a warrant to access the databases? Can those companies maybe send an alert to users asking if they'd be OK with the DNA being used to help solve the case? How does it work?

MILLER: Well, if they got a search warrant or a subpoena to turn over those records in violation of the legal agreement those companies have with their users and the privacy agreements they signed up for, it would certainly be likely to be litigated.

But there are companies that do provide that information to law enforcement. And I think you would start with those. But that's a really interesting legal question. You know, the kind of thing we would put to Elie Honig and say, what's the precedent here?

TAPPER: Yeah. John Miller, thanks so much. And if you out there, anyone, if you have information you think could help this case, please call the Pima County Sheriff's Department, 520-351-4900, or the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI. You can also reach the agency online at tips.FBI.gov.

Coming up next, the activity in Iran picked up in new satellite images as President Trump sends more U.S. military assets into the region. We're going to talk about with the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee as he also monitors what's going on.

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Are we about to go to war? Stay with us.

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TAPPER: Our World Lead, now Iran state media says that the Iranian navy and Russia will conduct joint drills in the Gulf of Oman tomorrow. That's just two days after talks between top U.S. negotiators and Iran's foreign minister only led to a promise of further talks.

Iranian forces are already conducting drills in response to the U.S. naval buildup in the area. A force including one, and soon two U.S. aircraft carriers.

White House press secretary Caroline Levitt was asked about Iran several times today, but she would not confirm or commit to any firm timeline for diplomacy to work.

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We're joined now by Democratic Senator Mark Warner of Virginia. He's the vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Senator, thanks for joining us.

SEN. MARK WARNER (D-VA), SENATE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Thank you.

TAPPER: I have to take a step back here and ask on behalf of my viewers when it comes to any potential American strike on Iran. Weren't we told that all of Iran's nuclear weapons facilities were destroyed last June? I mean, that's what President Trump was saying at the time. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Iran will never rebuild its nuclear, From there, absolutely not. That place is under rock. That place is demolished.

We've collected additional intelligence. We've also spoken to people have seen the site and the site -- the site is obliterated.

Their sites were obliterated. They're very evil nuclear sites.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So was that wrong? Were these nuclear sites not obliterated, or what's going on right now?

WARNER: Jake, our military did a brilliant job on the bombing, but no, they weren't obliterated. And matter of fact, the general in charge of the Defense Intelligence Agency for telling the truth, that said, we did great, but we couldn't obliterate. No one thought we could. So much of this was buried that there was no way got fired for that.

So the idea now that the President is potentially thinking about another military strike, and in many ways, you know, if he would have potentially taken some strike, what, five weeks ago when hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Iranians were on the street protesting the evil regime, the Iranian regime is awful. He couldn't actually take that effort then because we had 20 percent of our fleet off the coast of Venezuela blockading against Venezuelan oil coming out, our military is the best in the world.

But even when we get stretched and we don't have the other asset that we would normally have in the region, which is our allies support, because they are pretty upset with us in terms of his ploy about Greenland and dismissing and discounting the nations who fought side by side with us in Afghanistan for their military losses. You know, a country without allies is not as strong and America's not as strong as it should be.

TAPPER: So this afternoon we got some new satellite imagery from the Institute for Science and International Security that seems to suggest Iran is rapidly fortifying several of its nuclear facilities using concrete and large amounts of soil, presumably to bury key sites. What do you know about the actions Iran is taking right now?

WARNER: Listen, I'm not going to talk about classified activity, but clearly the consensus that was made that our strikes were effective but did not obliterate their program, and clearly they are trying to reconstitute.

But remember, our strength is amplified by having other nations in the region. For example, the more moderate Sunni Arab nations who are normally aligned against Iran, working in tandem with us, they're strengthened by having European allies who've got a presence in Iran and many times have more information about what's going on the street in terms of resistance than we do.

The notion that I understand that some supporters of the administration are saying, well, it's just going to be us and Israel alone. That's not the best plan, particularly since when, frankly, when the Iranians tried to strike back against Israel earlier in the year or last year, it was literally it was us, the Israelis, but it was also the British, the French, the Jordanians who helped out as well.

If we don't bring in our allies, any military strike and the president should keep all the options on the table. And Lord knows we'd like the negotiations to work. But America alone is not the strongest that we could be and should be.

TAPPER: So let's turn to the fallout from last week's European Security Conference in Munich. Specifically, I want to ask you about a meeting some U.S. lawmakers held with the prime minister of Denmark. CNN's Kasie Hunt was there, and she reports that Democratic senators found themselves in a painfully awkward moment with the Danish prime minister as some Democrats tried to smooth over pugnacious remarks. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham made at the start of the meeting that suggested Trump has not given up his designs on Greenland, unquote.

There are other reports in the international press that we have not confirmed here at CNN that say that Graham called the Danish prime minister little lady. You were -- I don't think you were in that meeting, but you were at the conference. What can you tell us?

WARNER: I was at not in that meeting. And I heard from many of our allies -- I heard from both from bipartisan senators in the meeting that there was consternation pushback.

[17:30:02] But I also heard from almost across the board, not only the president's, you know, kind of I think, slightly wacky approach to try to take over Greenland, where we used to have 17 bases and now we've got one. Not because of our choice, not because of the Danes choice, because of our choice to cut back that.

But also one of the things that the president said when he was so dismissive of the contributions of the Danes, the Brits and those other, you know, Coalition of the Willing that fought side by side with American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, intended to dismiss that. That was embarrassing and disgraceful.

And I think we come out of this where we're trying to say to the Europeans, hey, many of us still believe in these alliances, but they point back and say, then why isn't there more bipartisan opposition for some of these activities by the president.

TAPPER: Senator Mark Warner, Democratic Virginia, thank you so much, sir. Good to see you.

From a list actors to Hollywood directors. So many people in Tinseltown are worried about this AI video we're showing you depicting a fake fight between a fake Tom Cruise and a fake Brad Pitt. You might have seen it on your social media feed. It's not real. Hollywood is worried. We'll talk about it, next.

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TAPPER: In our Tech Lead, hey, you out there. Have you seen this epic new Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise movie? You haven't? Well, actually no one has because it's not real. But take a look at this AI generated clip. It's created using a platform called Seedance 2.0. It's an AI tool from the Chinese owned company ByteDance.

It went viral last week, sparking a fiery debate between Hollywood and the multibillion dollar tech industry. That is not Tom Cruise and that is not Brad Pitt, but it sure looks like both of them. Let's talk about this with Sean Astin. He's the president of the entertainment union, SAG-AFTRA. You might remember him, of course, from so many movies. "The Goonies,"" Rudy," "Lord of the Rings." I can't go through your entire CV, Sean. I only have a two-hour show.

But let's talk about this. First of all, when you saw that video, as I assume you have, of Cruise and Pitt and it's not really them, but it's a pretty good video, what went through your head?

SEAN ASTIN, PRESIDENT, SAG-AFTRA: Well, a bunch of things. First you think, well, that looks pretty realistic. And then you think, well, there's another example of mass copyright infringement. And then you think how long is it because is the tech there for it to sustain, you know, longer formed entertainment?

And then I think it's time for us to once and for all enshrine a federal intellectual property right in voice and likeness and, you know, and a lot of other stuff. I think, you know, you said one thing, you said it sparked a big debate. I don't think there's a big debate. I think some people want to use it and some people think it's wrong and you got to stop it.

TAPPER: Yes. Your union released a statement Friday condemning the clip and ByteDance saying, quote, SAG-AFTRA stands with the studios and condemning the blatant infringement enabled ByteDance's new AI video model, Seedance 2.0. The infringement includes the unauthorized use of our members' voices and likenesses. This is unacceptable and it undercuts the ability of human talent to earn a livelihood.

Seedance 2.0 disregards law, ethics, industry standards and basic principles of consent. Responsible AI development demands responsibility. And that is nonexistent here, unquote. ByteDance responded to the allegations with their own statement that says in part, ByteDance respects intellectual property rights. And we have heard the concerns regarding Seedance 2.0. We're taking steps to strengthen current safeguards as we work to prevent the unauthorized use of intellectual property and likenesses by users, unquote. Do you believe them?

ASTIN: Well, it doesn't matter whether I believe them or not. It matters whether they do that or not. You know, OpenAI had a similar issue and they very quickly reinforced the idea that they had an opt in policy, even though they were sort of in an opt out modality, meaning performers can see themselves, Bryan Cranston can see himself and say, you know, hey, you're not supposed to have that. And they go, oh, sorry, take it down. Or they can say, hey, Bryan Cranston, we want to use your image and likeness when I get your permission. And he'd have the opportunity to make that decision and get compensated for it and so forth.

So, I hope that they see the public outcry to not abuse people's rights, and I hope they choose, you know, to do what they said they're going to do.

In the meantime, we have an important piece of federal legislation called the no Fakes Act, which is in the Judiciary Committee now in the Senate. And it would enshrine that right to our own voice and likeness.

And, you know, you're a journalist, your job is to make sure that the First Amendment is protected and is respected and observed. And in the entertainment industry, both the companies and the talent have the same sense of, you know, reverence for the First Amendment.

But you shouldn't be able to make me say something I didn't say or do something I didn't do, or depict me in a way that I wouldn't, you know, in a setting I wouldn't put myself. That's just basic fundamental fairness. It goes not just to the professional entertainment industry. It goes to kids who are abused in this way. It goes towards anyone in our country and around the world who is, you know, when they post stuff on social media, when they find themselves, their images captured in whatever ways that they are subject to this same sort of abuse.

[17:40:03]

So it's time to put real guardrails in place that protect us.

TAPPER: Not to mention all the AI companies that don't really design these cityscapes or whatever, they just plagiarize them from the work of other people. Sean Astin, thank you. Please come back. We want to be talking about this and making sure artists are represented in this debate. We really appreciate it and we're all huge fans. My director just showed his kids "The Goonies" over the weekend. Just FYI. Just FYI,

ASTIN: Goonies never say guy.

TAPPER: Yes, exactly. Thanks so much.

ASTIN: Thanks Jake.

TAPPER: CBS Late Show host Stephen Colbert is responding after his network strongly urged him to not air an interview at the very least to know what likely would happen if he did. Why the comedian calls the statement from network lawyers crap. That's next.

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TAPPER: In our politics lead Stephen Colbert is again blasting his own network, CBS, after CBS released a statement denying that it had prevented the Late Show host from airing an interview Monday with Texas U.S. senate candidate Democrat James Talarico.

CBS disputed Colbert's account, writing, quote, the Late Show was not prohibited by CBS from broadcasting the interview with Rep. James Talarico. The show has provided legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the FCC equal time rule for two other candidates, including Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, and presented options for how the equal time for other candidates could be fulfilled, unquote. This is how Colbert responded to that official statement on his show last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN COLBERT, "THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT" HOST: I am well aware that we can book other guests. I didn't need to be presented with that option. I've had Jasmine Crockett on my show twice. But here's where I do want to tell the lawyers how to do their jobs. They know damn well that every word of my script last night was approved by CBS's lawyers, who for the record, approve every script that goes on the air.

Between the monologue I did last night and before I did the second act talking about this issue, I had to go backstage. I got called backstage to get more notes from these lawyers, something that had never ever happened before. And they told us the language they wanted me to use to describe that equal time exception. And I used that language. So I don't know what this is about. I don't even know what to do with this crap. Hold on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Let's discuss with our panel, including former FTC Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya, Nico Perrino -- Nico Perrino, who is executive Vice president for the foundation for Individual Rights and expression and CNN's Arlette Saenz.

So, Alvaro, let me start with you. Colbert points out that CBS's lawyers approved a script saying the network told him in quote, no uncertain terms that he could not air his interview with Talarico, which he put on YouTube. Then hours later, CBS released a statement disputing that. How do you make sense of what's going on here?

ALVARO BEDOYA, FORMER COMMISSIONER, FTC: I think when you zoom out the panel pattern, pardon me, is really clear. You had Bari Weiss pull down coverage of on 60 Minutes at the last minute. You had David Ellison, Larry Ellison promised the White House changes in coverage in this network if their purchase was allowed through.

And so if it were just some one off dispute between Mr. Colbert and the lawyers at CBS News, maybe it would be a he said, she said kind of thing. But that's not where we are. We are in a different place.

TAPPER: So, Nico, I want to play what the FCC commissioner, Brendan Carr said today about this. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRENDAN CARR, FCC COMMISSIONER: I was highly entertained. I think it was probably one of the most fun days I've had on the job watching sort of the hilarity of how this story played out. I mean, look, anybody that's, you know, not suffering from a terminal case of Trump derangement syndrome could see right away yesterday the exact story arc and how it was going to play out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: What's your reaction?

NICO PERRINO, EXECUTIVE V.P., FOUNDATION FOR INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS AND EXPRESSION: Well, the confusion is the result of the FCC. Going back to 2006 the FCC has issued guidance that equal opportunity rules do not apply to the news interview portions of these late night talk shows. And then back in January, they decided they were going to issue new guidance. They were going to apply to daytime and nighttime interviews, not by the way, to radio --

TAPPER: Right.

PERRINO: -- on broadcast, like so conservative talk radio is in the clear, at least based on this guidance. And then after that guidance issued, there's a probe into the views interview of James Talarico. And you could see why CBS's lawyers were getting a little bit skittish about interviewing James Talarico. All you have to do is show me the incentives and I'll show you the

outcome. The incentives here are for the network to just lay off anything that goes here. And this is why free speech advocates have long criticized the content regulations that come from the FCC on broadcast communications. It's like this bizarro world where the First Amendment doesn't apply. You have First Amendment rules for newspapers, you have First Amendment rules for books. Cable television, free speech applies.

But in broadcast you have all these content regulations. And this is these content regulations can be easily weaponized. Happened during the JFK administration. It's the reason that the Reagan administration got rid of the Fairness Doctrine. And now we know that President Trump doesn't like these late night shows. And so they're being weaponized, in my opinion, against these shows.

TAPPER: He doesn't like criticism, I guess.

PERRINO: No.

TAPPER: Arlette, the controversy is taking place within the context of this Democratic primary in Texas for the Senate.

[17:50:04]

Talarico is locked in this tight race with Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett. And early voting is just beginning in Texas. Listen to what Congresswoman Crockett said about all this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JASMINE CROCKETT (D-TX): Look at what happened when they tried to censor Seekot (ph). We found out that you could get a lot more views. So I think it probably gave my opponent the abuse he was looking for. So I think it's probably better that he didn't get on and that they went straight to streaming.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Last time I looked, the YouTube interview had more than 6 million views, which is a lot more than late night gets any show. And Talarico says he's raised more than 2 1/2 million dollars since this controversy began.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there's no question that James Talarico is trying to use this moment to his advantage. And it really could not have come at a better time for him. This video really ricocheted around the Internet on the very day that Texas voters started their early voting process down in the state. So he is, with those millions of views on YouTube, Google searches going up for Talarico, he's really bringing in brand new eyeballs onto his campaign at a really critical stretch.

Now, Jasmine Crockett, she's no stranger to viral moments. She's really built a lot of her prominence on the national stage from tangling with these GOP lawmakers. And she acknowledged right there that this is something that will help Talarico. The big question is what kind of impact this will have on the race. Crockett has been leading Talarico in the most recent poll.

Back from January, she was up 8 points among likely voters. And so there's -- just under two weeks to go until the primary we'll see whether this might shake things loose a little bit.

TAPPER: So one of the things that's interesting is, so we've seen, I think Talarico suggested that it was Trump and the Trump White House that shut this down. And there's actually no evidence that Trump or Brendan Carr played any role.

But there's also, as we've seen, no need. Right. It's like that old story of who will rid me of this turbulent priest, the King says, and then the Archbishop of Canterbury gets assassinated. Like, once you've established what you want as a rule, people have -- if you're powerful, people have a way of doing your bidding.

BEDOYA: The common thread is these massive media mergers. When Colbert got canceled, Paramount was about to buy Skydance. When Jimmy Kimmel was pulled off the air, Nexstar was about to buy Tegna.

And right now Paramount has this brief window where the Warner Brothers board said, you can give me another bid. And so it's re upping its show of loyalty to this president. And until we get these massive mergers in check, it's going to keep on happening in my view.

TAPPER: What do you think?

PERRINO: Well, I do think that the administration has come out for these late night talk show hosts. We saw that with Jimmy Kimmel, Colbert, his run I think ends in May. And Brendan Carr has his marching orders. He attended government meetings with a pin of Donald Trump's face on it, a gold pin. And President Trump repeatedly truths out criticisms of these hosts.

And these hosts are perceived to be left wing. I think they probably are majority left wing. And so that's why he's going after late night and daytime talk shows and not conservative talk radio.

TAPPER: Thanks to all. And we should disclose the current owners of Paramount want to buy Warner Brothers Discovery, which owns us.

Ahead, the urgent search after a terrifying avalanche in the California Sierras, here's some of the 911 calls for help. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:57:39]

TAPPER: Breaking news in our National Lead. The urgent search is on right now for a missing skier after an avalanche in Northern California. We learned today that eight other skiers tragically were killed while six were rescued. They were all returning from a three-day backcountry trip near Lake

Tahoe when a wave of rocks, ice and debris came crashing down on them. CNN's Stephanie Elam has more on this devastating accident.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was the final leg of a three-day cross country skiing trip when the avalanche hit. Eleven skiers and four guides were traversing the backcountry at Castle Peak, a more than 9,000 foot summit in the Sierra Nevada Mountains near Lake Tahoe when catastrophe struck.

SHERIFF SHANNON MOON, NEGVADA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA: They were nine women and six men. We were able to rescue one man and five women.

ELAM (voice-over): Eight people died on the mountain.

MOON: All six were rescued off of the mountain. Two of the six were not mobile. They could not walk. One was a Blackbird Mountain guide and five survivors were clients on that tour.

ELAM (voice-over): According to the Sheriff's Department, the survivors said the group was trying to get out when someone saw the deluge of snow and yelled, avalanche. An avalanche of snow, ice, rocks and debris about as long as a football field, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

The local sheriff's office received a 911 call around 11:30 Tuesday morning saying much of the party was trapped.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Castle Peak, reported as nine to 10 people buried, three others attempting to dig them out.

ELAM (voice-over): There were storm warnings to avoid the area as early as Friday. The National Weather Service in Reno issued a haunting forewarning, will you be able to make it home? With forecasters predicting that the storm would drop several feet of snow when all is said and done.

And on Sunday, the Blackbird Mountain Guide, the company leading the trip, forecasted a weak layer of snow that could create unpredictable avalanches. Then on Monday, the powerful winter storm began, pummeling the Sierras before Tuesday's tragedy struck.

Now, as recovery efforts continue, an urgent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please avoid the Sierras.

ELAM (voice-over): Stephanie Elam, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. This hour, big tech on trial. Facebook founder and Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg testifying in California courtroom today about claims that his social media platforms harm children and teens. [18:00:04]

In moments, I'm going to be joined by a father who lost his son, who participated in a --