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Trilateral Peace Talks End without a Major Breakthrough for Ukraine; U.S. Carries Out Massive Buildup amid Iran Talks; Meta's Zuckerberg to Testify in Social Media Trial; U.S. Lawmakers Deposing Former Victoria's Secret Owner; Tech Startup Teaches AI How to Perform Human Jobs; FCC Chair Carr Challenges Longstanding Exemptions for Talk Shows. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired February 18, 2026 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:00]
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is CONNECT THE WORLD with Becky Anderson.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): It is. And this is the second hour of the show from our Middle East programming headquarters. I'm Becky
Anderson in Abu Dhabi, where the time is just after 7:00 in the evening.
Multi-day peace talks between Russia, Ukraine and the U.S. coming to an end in Geneva.
And as talks with Iran and the U.S. advance, vice president JD Vance says president Trump has set some red lines.
Meanwhile, Mark Zuckerberg expected to take the stand in a landmark social media addiction case.
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ANDERSON: Well, the complicated peace talks between Russia and Ukraine taking on new twists today. Russian state media reporting that Moscow's
chief negotiator held a closed door meeting with Ukrainian officials in Geneva soon after the latest round of U.S. brokered meetings ended earlier
in the day.
CNN has reached out to the Ukrainian delegation for comment. Neither side is discussing exactly how much progress was made at the earlier talks.
CNN's Fred Pleitgen breaks it all down for us from Geneva.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Tough trilateral talks to try and end the war between Russia and Ukraine have
come to an end here in Geneva. But it's unclear how much progress was actually achieved.
Now the way that these talks worked is that, at the beginning, there was one big meeting with all the delegations -- the United States, the Russians
and the Ukrainians. But they then later broke into smaller working groups, some dealing with political questions, others dealing with military
technical questions.
Now Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, he came out and he said the going was very tough, especially in the political level. But as far as
military technical questions were concerned, apparently there was some progress.
And a member of the Ukrainian delegation confirmed the same thing to us here as well. Now at the end of the talks, both the leaders of the Russian
and Ukrainian delegations came forward separately and each spoke about how difficult the going has been.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VLADIMIR MEDINSKY, RUSSIAN PRESIDENTIAL AIDE (through translator): As you know, the negotiations lasted two days for a very long time yesterday in
various formats and also about two hours today. They were difficult but businesslike. The next meeting will take place soon. That's all we wanted
to say. Thank you.
RUSTEM UMEROV, SECRETARY, UKRAINIAN DEFENSE AND SECURITY COUNCIL: There is progress but no details can be disclosed at this stage. The next step is to
achieve the necessary level of consensus to submit the developed decisions for consideration by the presidents.
Our task is to prepare a practical, not merely formal foundation for this. Ukraine remains constructive. But the ultimate objective is unchanged, a
just and sustainable peace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PLEITGEN: One of the toughest issues that the delegations are dealing with here and in general, in these talks between the Russians and the
Ukrainians, is the question of territorial concessions that the Ukrainians might have to make as part of any peace agreement.
Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy came out and said that, quite frankly, the Ukrainians cannot be asked to give up the rest of the Donetsk
territory of Ukraine. That's a territory that's mostly held by Russia now.
But when the Ukrainians still hold key towns and where there's also some very important Ukrainian defensive lines as well. Zelenskyy saying that he
would never be forgiven, the U.S. would never be forgiven if Ukrainian soldiers had to pull back from those territories as part of any peace
agreement.
In general, the question of territories has been one that all sides acknowledge make it extremely difficult to make substantial progress.
Nevertheless, all sides say they want to continue the talks as soon as possible -- Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Geneva, Switzerland
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Sources say that Israel is raising its alert level amid indications of a potential joint U.S.-Israel strike on Iran. That comes on
the heels of a second round of nuclear talks between the United States and Iran in Geneva on Tuesday. Iran, for its part, painted the talks in a
positive light.
[10:05:00]
Well, the U.S. also reported some progress. It says there are still a lot of details to work through. But as CNN's Jeremy Diamond reports, the United
States is keeping military options firmly open
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: A massive U.S. military buildup is underway right here in the Middle East, even as the U.S. and
Iran are back at the negotiating table, it's clear The United States is preparing for possible military action.
Over the course of the last month, more than 250 U.S. military cargo planes have landed in theater. Based on a CNN review of flight data, that's a
significant uptick in activity, which suggests some of these flights are tied to preparations for potential operations against Iran.
That number also includes flights to U.S. bases in Europe, which have traditionally supported U.S. military operations in the Middle East.
Those flights involve cargo planes that can carry everything from personnel to vehicles to heavy equipment, like air defense systems that we know the
United States is deploying in the Middle East.
Satellite imagery is also giving us a look at the U.S.'s more muscular posture in the Middle East. This is Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. The U.S.'s
largest in the Middle East. A month ago, you can see 16 planes on the tarmac.
A few weeks later, there are 29 planes, including seven C-17 cargo planes and 17 KC-135 tankers. Those tankers are used to refuel jets mid flight, a
critical component of any air assault on Iran.
At this air base in Jordan, 12 F-15 fighter jets recently appeared in satellite imagery. We've also identified the deployment of Patriot air
defense systems at that large U.S. air Base in Qatar. These would be critical to protecting U.S. assets in the region in the event of Iranian
strikes.
The U.S. also has plenty of naval assets in the region. A U.S. aircraft carrier and three warships arrived in the Middle East last month. A second
aircraft carrier strike group is also now on its way.
But this is just what we can see from publicly available information. The last time the U.S. struck Iran in June, we also saw a big buildup of
military force in Europe and the Middle East but it was seven B-2 stealth bombers that delivered the biggest blow in Iran, according to the Pentagon,
those flew in undetected from the United States.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: I want to bring in Vali Nasr to the show. He's a professor at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University.
If you're a regular viewer of this show, you will know that Vali is a good friend of this show.
And it's always good to have you, Vali.
What do you make of Israel then raising its alert level?
What does what does this indicate to you if anything?
DR. VALI NASR, JOHNS HOPKINS SCHOOL OF ADVANCED INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: Well, the negotiations are ongoing and -- but I think the threat of war is
very real. And I think we're in a situation very similar to what happened in June, which is, while talks are happening, we may end up in a situation
of war.
And I think Israel, perhaps this alert suggests that we are closer than anticipated
ANDERSON: So let's just bring up how JD Vance is describing these negotiations. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: One thing about the negotiation, I will say this morning, is, you know, in some ways it
went well. They agreed to meet afterwards. But in other ways it was very clear that the president has set some red lines, that the Iranians are not
yet willing to actually acknowledge and work through
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Is it clear what those red lines are?
What do you make of that comment?
NASR: I mean, the red lines, we know one is that Iran would accept zero enrichment, not enriching at all, would talk about its missiles and be
willing to give them up. And also, we talk about its proxies and be willing to give them up as well.
But I think the larger issue is that Iran believes that it might get hit by the United States, whether it signs the deal or it doesn't sign a deal,
whether negotiations are ongoing or not.
So it's approaching these talks very cautiously and it doesn't want to give anything to the United States without certain guarantees of -- that
sanctions would actually be lifted, that the U.S. will not walk away from the deal again and it will not attack Iran but also that the U.S. would
agree to not push for maximal goals.
And so I think the -- whereas president Trump wants a big deal, wants it quickly, wants what he wants and then would work on the details later. So
as a result, the positions of the two are far apart. And just the three- hour meeting in Geneva would not cover them
ANDERSON: Yes, maybe approaching the talks cautiously, that is the negotiation team, you will have heard the supreme leader's remarks
yesterday; pretty bombastic stuff.
I just wonder what you make of Iran closing off the Strait of Hormuz yesterday, as these talks went down, ostensibly to carry out naval
exercises with Russia?
[10:10:02]
State news put out this video.
What's the signal that they are sending to the Americans, Vali?
And how big a risk at this point, do you believe, of miscalculation for Iran right now, given this massive military buildup that we are seeing in
this region where I am?
NASR: Well, I think both sides are being pretty bombastic. I mean president Trump has also said that Iran would be devastated if it doesn't
sign a deal.
And this time, the Iranians are also making their own military threats, trying to send a signal to both the countries around the Gulf but also to
the United States, that their finger is on the trigger.
And that they're capable of closing the Strait of Hormuz and they're capable of making this a much larger regional war and attack the United
States as well. So these -- this modest progress in Geneva and whether the talks continue or not, are happening under the shadow of war.
And both sides trying to threaten the other side with serious consequences. And I think the Iranian tactic is to try to convince the United States that
war is going to be costly. This is not like June (ph).
This is not going to be like Venezuela, that the United States will have to face certain costs and it has to calculate those costs before it actually
strikes Iran.
ANDERSON: The cost of sanctions, of course, on Iran at present, swingeing and it seems, if reports are correct, that what the Iranians aren't getting
at this stage is anything but a promise of slow-rolling the lifting of sanctions at this point.
And we see a continued squeeze on Iranian oil, for example and efforts by this U.S. Trump administration to really make things very difficult on the
economic front.
How big a stick is that squeeze on the economy by the U.S.?
And how much leverage does that Trump administration have when it comes to this conversation, this narrative on sanctions at this point?
I'm trying to get a sense from you of what the most important kind of narratives are at this point.
NASR: So the United States is right now pressuring Iran with both military threat and also with economic sanctions. I mean, after all, it was economic
sanctions that brought the protests, the massive protests that we saw into the streets and has destabilized the Islamic Republic significantly.
And I think the Islamic Republic is very conscious of the fact that one strategy the U.S. can follow is not to attack Iran but tighten the economic
squeeze on Iran and cause more protests and eventually a collapse of the of the regime.
And in fact, that's one reason why the Iranians are not willing to give U.S., even if they did what United States is asking, that this president
who once walked away from a deal that Iran did implement, that he's going to do it again.
In other words, Iran will sign a deal. The United States will slow-roll the lifting of sanctions. It will not lift them at all. And Iran will still be
under the shadow of, if not an actual war, of an economic war.
So Iran wants guarantees that it will not be attacked and that it will not be squeezed economically if it's going to make any concessions. And that's
not what the United States has put on the table and is not willing to negotiate that in detail
ANDERSON: Yes. Your analysis and insight is so important. And these are really, you know, very worrying times. Always good to have you on to
provide some steer (ph). Vali, thank you.
And I want to take a moment to reflect on the enormous stakes underpinning this revolving door of diplomacy by Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, The
real estate duo turned emissaries, mediators at this point.
When it comes to Russia's war in Ukraine, which we began this hour talking about, the numbers tell the story of a shocking human toll. A recent study
by the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimates 1.2 million Russian casualties and 500,000 to 600,000 Ukrainian casualties since
February of 2022.
That's approaching 2 million total troops killed, injured or missing in a conflict entering its fifth year with little sign of progress in peace
talks.
And for Iran, a country of over 90 million people, that hangs in the balance.
[10:15:04]
After enduring the 12-day war with Israel last year, deteriorating economic conditions and a crackdown on protesters decrying those conditions and the
Islamic regime itself.
There is one word we are hearing time and again from Iranians caught between their regime and a possible U.S. attack: hopelessness.
Well, Gaza has been lauded as a feat for the Witkoff-Kushner dealmaking approach. But it is worth noting the ceasefire they delivered last October
is fragile and Israel has killed at least 600 Palestinians since it took effect, adding to the more than 240,000 officially recorded as killed or
injured by the health ministry.
The Trump team's peacemaking will be put to the test tomorrow during the first meeting of Donald Trump's board of peace. I spoke to the board's
director general, Nickolay Mladenov, about the challenge ahead of disarming Hamas and rebuilding Gaza before Israel possibly resumes a full-scale war
there. He says time is of the essence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICKOLAY MLADENOV, DIRECTOR-GENERAL, "BOARD OF PEACE": The threat of returning to hostilities is there. And it is a very significant risk
because, obviously, you know, Israel is very anxious to make -- to see that this works.
We don't have a lot of time, actually. We have quite a limited window to make sure that this process works, because, otherwise, the options will
become very, very grim for everyone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Nickolay Mladenov speaking to me late last week.
Well, still to come on CONNECT THE WORLD, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg will testify today in a landmark case that could set a precedent for holding
social media companies accountable.
And an American billionaire answering questions this hour from U.S. lawmakers about Jeffrey Epstein. We will explain the former Victoria's
Secret owner's connection to Epstein and why he is under scrutiny.
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ANDERSON: Well, in just a few hours the Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is expected to take to the stand in a landmark social media addiction trial in
Los Angeles, which could set a precedent for companies in the future.
It is important to note that Zuckerberg is testifying as a witness. He's not a defendant in this case. In the past, Zuckerberg has been called
before Congress repeatedly. But this time, this is the first time that he'll testify before a jury and grieving families.
Now the plaintiffs in the case argue that Meta and YouTube intentionally designed addictive features that seriously harm the mental health of young
people. Meta says it strongly disagrees with those allegations. Joining us from New York is our tech reporter, Clare Duffy.
[10:20:00]
This is really important stuff, Clare, you've been covering this since they began.
What do you expect to see and hear today?
CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Becky, this is a huge moment in this trial. And we do expect Zuckerberg is going to get some tough
questions about the business model behind platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
How much the company tried to get users to spend more time on the platform through the design features of Instagram and Facebook; in particular, teen
users like the young woman who has filed this lawsuit.
We expect that he'll get questions about also the reasonableness of the efforts that Meta has taken to protect young users on the platform. Meta,
throughout this trial, has talked about safety features it rolled out, like parental oversight tools, teen accounts, which provides default privacy
settings and content restrictions for teen users.
And he's going to be asked about what Meta knows and what it knew about the risks to young people on the platform and whether those efforts were
actually enough to mitigate those risks.
Now Meta has argued that the young woman, Kaylee (ph), who filed this lawsuit, faced mental health challenges not because of Instagram and social
media but because she experienced a difficult childhood growing up.
A Meta spokesperson telling me ahead of this hearing today, the question for the jury in Los Angeles is whether Instagram was a substantial factor
in the plaintiff's mental health struggles. The evidence will show she faced many significant difficult challenges well before she ever used
social media.
But again, Zuckerberg going to face tough questions about whether he and the company put profits over youth safety as they designed these platforms.
Becky
ANDERSON: And he's been in front of Congress multiple times, Clare.
But this is the first time he will be in front of a jury and in front of parents, correct?
DUFFY: That's right. I mean, the fact that this is a jury trial makes this especially interesting and I think makes the outcome even more uncertain.
Legal experts tell me that it's going to be very important how Mark Zuckerberg performs on the stand today and whether the jury finds him
likable and trustworthy.
That is going to potentially impact the outcome in this case. And you mentioned the families. This is such a huge moment for parents who, for
years, have been calling on Meta to do more to keep it -- to keep their children safe.
And among the parents who are hoping to get a spot in the courtroom today are parents who were actually in the audience back in 2024 on Capitol Hill.
In that moment that so many of us will remember when Mark Zuckerberg turned around and faced parents and apologized for the harms that they say their
children have experienced on social media.
I spoke with one of those moms, Joann Bogard. She became an advocate on this issue after her 15-year-old son, Mason, died trying to replicate an
online challenge video he saw on YouTube.
And Joann told me ahead of this hearing today, we're all doing our best as parents but we're fighting these trillion-dollar companies. So parents very
much hoping that more changes will come out of this trial. And, of course, it's really going to be important what the jury makes of Mark Zuckerberg's
testimony today.
ANDERSON: Yes. You don't have to be a parent to be concerned about this. I am and I am concerned. But as I say, you don't have to be a parent to
understand just how important all of this is. Clare, thank you.
Well, right now, U.S. lawmakers are questioning the former owner of Victoria's Secret about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. CNN reviewed the
Justice Department's massive Epstein file release and found that Les Wexner's name was initially redacted in the coconspirator document.
Now the 88-year-old billionaire employed Epstein as a money manager. A federal memo says he severed ties with Epstein in 2008 after Epstein
returned $100 million in misappropriated funds to the Wexner family. CNN's Kara Scannell is in New York.
And Kara, at least one of the Epstein victims has named Wexner as an abuser.
Can you just tell us more about that and how significant this deposition will be today?
KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There is one of Epstein's most prominent victims, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who had said in a civil deposition in
2016 that Wexner was one of the powerful men that she was sex trafficked to by Epstein.
Now Wexner's lawyers have denied this. They have said that he was unaware of and never participated in any of the abhorrent acts that Epstein
committed against young children.
They also said that he was never in a room with anyone who was young along with Epstein. Interestingly, an attorney, Brad Edwards, who represents
hundreds of Epstein survivors, also has said that he didn't have any reason to believe that Wexner was part of the sex trafficking operation.
But that is a reason why Les Wexner is someone that lawmakers are interested in.
[10:25:04]
And specifically about his money, because he, according to the files that we reviewed, seemed to have been the primary source behind Epstein's
wealth. And it was that wealth that allowed Epstein to enter this world of the rich and the powerful.
All these famous names that we have seen come out through the files, through associations with him even just socially, even if there's no
allegation of any criminal activity. And we're seeing some of those people now pay the price, losing their positions of power.
But Les Wexner is someone that has been known to the FBI since the mid- 2000s, when their initial investigation began in Florida. And they started looking into those allegations and he is someone that they immediately
subpoenaed after Epstein was arrested again in 2019 on those federal charges.
His lawyers did meet with the Justice Department and they had said that that Wexner had met Epstein in the '80s, that he had hired him to run his
money. And they also said, according to Wexner's lawyers, that Epstein had stole hundreds of millions of dollars from them.
But this is the question that lawmakers have. They want to know why Wexner had given so much wealth to Epstein and just why he let him manage his
money for so long.
I mean, one thing that's interesting is that Epstein had bought Wexner's mansion in Manhattan at a deep discount. And that's part of the allegations
that Wexner said he stole from him.
But this is something that lawmakers want to get to the bottom of.
How much did he really know of what Epstein was doing?
And why would he let him manage his money for so long?
ANDERSON: And briefly, what has Les Wexner said publicly to date on all of this?
SCANNELL: When Epstein was arrested in 2019 and there was so much attention of his coconspirators, how could this have happened, Wexner said
he was embarrassed by the association and that he regretted dealing with him. Otherwise, he has been very quiet about this.
So you know today this is a closed door deposition. This transcript will become public at some point. It's unclear if lawmakers will ask him to come
and speak publicly or if there will be a video of this or if he will say anything afterwards.
But he has really led a quiet life, not speaking much publicly about it, other than saying he had regrets and he's embarrassed by his association.
ANDERSON: It's always good to have you, Kara. Thank you very much indeed.
Well, still to come, U.S. warships surge to the Gulf as Iran flexes its muscles. But a growing rift between Saudi Arabia and the UAE could
complicate a regional strategy. Details are ahead.
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ANDERSON (voice-over): Welcome back. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky Anderson, here on CNN. Your headlines this hour.
Russia's chief negotiator held a closed door meeting with Ukrainian officials in Geneva after the latest round of U.S.-mediated peace talks
ended earlier today. That is according to Russian state media.
CNN has reached out to the Ukrainian delegation for comment. Neither side discussed how much progress was made at the official trilateral talks.
Well, sources inside Israel says that the country has raised its alert level amid the potential for a joint strike with the United States against
Iran. Well, Israel is against a U.S. deal with Iran. Both the Americans and the Iranians reported some progress in nuclear talks this week.
However, U.S. officials say there are still a lot of issues to be worked through and it is unclear how long that diplomatic window will remain open,
given the U.S. military buildup in the region.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is set to testify today as a witness in a landmark social media addiction trial that could set a precedent for companies in
the future. The plaintiffs say Meta and YouTube intentionally designed what they call addictive features that seriously harm young people's mental
health.
Meta says it strongly disagrees with those allegations.
Well, if you think AI is coming for your job, a new tech startup sees it very differently. Mercor AI says it hires experts to train the technology
to catch things that humans might miss, emphasizing that it can benefit society. CNN's Hadas Gold with this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HADAS GOLD, CNN MEDIA CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Meet the people training AI to replace your doctor, lawyer, banker and even your sommelier.
What is the most surprising role that you have hired for to train an AI?
BRENDAN FOODY, CEO, MERCOR: Lots of fun ones. We've hired wine experts who are able to recommend what pairing you should have with your dinner.
GOLD: Brendan Foody is the 22-year-old co-founder and CEO of Mercor, one of the hottest startups in Silicon Valley, valued at $10 billion.
They manage a network of some tens of thousands of professional experts who helped train the major AI models to think, act and talk like them.
Most people, I think, believe that AI just learns off the internet and what's out there. Why do you need humans involved in the process?
FOODY: The largest driver of AI progress right now is how do we effectively identify model mistakes, measure those mistakes and allow
models to learn from them. And so the AI labs are hiring large armies of people to help create these data sets and teaching models how to learn from
them.
GOLD: The average expert is paid $95 an hour, although some specialized roles can earn up to $250 per hour. The most popular subject is software
engineering, followed by finance, then medicine and law.
Are these people not kind of training their future replacements?
FOODY: The way I think about it is that we're not going to run out of things to do. As a society, we have so many problems that we need to solve.
We need to cure cancer. We need to solve climate change and making everyone 10 times more productive so that they're able to better work on those key
problems is going to be a huge, huge benefit to how we make progress as a society.
GOLD: Mercor experts present the AI they are training with a prompt, then grade their response using a rubric they've created in consultation with
other experts in their field.
Dr. Alice Chiao is one of these experts. She used to teach at Stanford University's medical school. Now her student is an AI model.
So tell me what it's like when you sit down in front of the computer. What are you doing?
DR. ALICE CHIAO, AI EXPERT: I am looking at the AI model that I'm working with and I am posing real life questions or challenges that I've faced or
I've seen patients face. And I ask the model, provide me with the potential diagnoses, suggest several treatments and list the evidence that you used
to support these diagnoses.
GOLD: I've heard from doctors that sometimes medicine is a lot about a gut feeling. Can you train an AI on that?
CHIAO: So this is where it's really important to know that the AI is not a doctor, it's not a human being, it does not have the 20 years of clinical
experience that I or another one of my colleagues might have. This is where you need to be really careful.
GOLD: Do you ever feel like you're training your replacement?
CHIAO: No, I do not. I don't want to see it as AI taking over our job. I want to see it as AI taking over the aspects of our jobs that prevent us
from being good doctors, good healers and good listeners.
GOLD: While Mercor is paying millions of dollars per day, they say, to these professional experts, there are some things that can't be taught.
They told me that they tried to make one of the leading AI models funnier.
[10:35:03]
They brought in experts from "The Harvard Lampoon" and they just found that humor is something that is so subjective, that's at least one area where
humans have the upper hand.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, U.S. TV late show host Stephen Colbert calls out CBS again. He says the network pulled his TV interview with a Texas Senate
candidate amid FCC pressure. Why the network said that is absolutely not what happened. That is up next
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ANDERSON: Stephen Colbert continues to clash with his own network after CBS refused to air his taped interview with the Texas Democratic Senate
candidate, James Talarico
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHEN COLBERT, CBS HOST: Then I was told in some uncertain terms that not only could I not have him on, I could not mention me not having him on.
(LAUGHTER)
COLBERT: And because my network clearly doesn't want us to talk about this, let's talk about this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, Colbert said it was over the FCCs equal time rules. The segment was instead posted on YouTube. It is worth noting that CBS has
already pulled Colbert's show, which is now set to end in May. I want to get our chief media analyst, Brian Stelter, up for you.
Good to have you, Brian. CBS insists it didn't ban the interview, only offered, quote, "legal guidance."
What does your reporting suggest about the disconnect between --
(CROSSTALK)
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Yes, that legal guidance, though - -
(CROSSTALK)
STELTER: -- Colbert, you know, says he was basically banned from airing the interview. CBS says no, no; we just gave him guidance. I don't see that
much daylight between the two accounts although CBS says that Colbert was offered other options.
Those other options probably included booking the other people who are running in this race against Talarico, because that's what the equal time
rules specify. But let me step back and acknowledge.
Normally we don't talk about these equal time rules because they are rarely ever invoked. These rules in the U.S. only apply to local broadcast and TV
stations, not to cable channels like CNN.
And these rules are only invoked if a candidate running for office believes they've been slighted and that their rival has been supported by a station.
Then they can call up or they can email and they can ask for equal time. So that's how the rule works.
It does come into play every once in a blue moon. There was a day that Donald Trump hosted NBC's "SNL" and his rivals were able to ask for equal
time, like 10 years ago. So every once in a while this comes up.
But for the most part, these rules are not really relevant. However, the Trump-aligned FCC chairman, Brendan Carr, is trying to bring these rules
back in a big way.
He's trying to enforce these rules aggressively in a way that targets liberal shows like Colbert and ABC's "The View." So what you see here is
the Trump administration finding another pressure point against the media.
[10:40:04]
Another way to chill critical speech. And that's what Colbert is speaking out against.
He says he wishes his network, CBS, would, quote, "stand up to these bullies."
CBS, though, is looking at this saying, we're just having to react to the regulatory environment.
ABC's "The View" received a letter from the FCC inquiring about what's going on. CBS doesn't want to be the next target of an inquiry. So CBS
trying to exercise an abundance of caution.
And that's why the legal guidance was given to Colbert. So whether you believe CBS' account or Colbert's, the bottom line is the same here. It's
about Trump administration pressure against broadcast TV networks and how that is affecting the content on those channels.
ANDERSON: And how much pressure is there at this point?
For those who are watching internationally, who will not be, you know, as across perhaps the, you know, day-to-day machinations of this, just set the
scene for us, if you will.
STELTER: Yes. Well, the FCC in the U.S. has very limited enforcement power. But it does have the power of the pulpit. You know the public
pressure, the able -- the ability for Brendan Carr, the FCC chairman, to come out publicly and say what he wants to see happen.
And we've seen president Trump do that as well. He frequently criticizes Colbert and ABC's Jimmy Kimmel, NBC's Jimmy Fallon. And Trump has made no
secret of the fact he wants all those shows canceled. He does not want these critics on the air at all.
So far, the networks have resisted that pressure campaign. But it's an ongoing, you know, kind of battle, I think. And what we're seeing in some
cases is what the scholar Timothy Snyder once called "obeying in advance."
He said, in a country that is sliding toward authoritarianism, there are attempts to obey in advance. Corporations, organizations might fall in line
even before they have to and they'll obey in advance.
And that's what critics of CBS are saying is happening in this case. However, CBS, you know, it has many regulatory interests before the
government. It's trying to succeed with a media mega-merger, trying to buy CNN and the rest of Warner Bros. Discovery.
So you have to wonder if those broader corporate interests are at play in this case or not. One thing we know for sure is that Colbert is on the air
for three more months even though he's been canceled. And he's probably going to have a lot more to say about this topic between now and May.
ANDERSON: Yes. And just to underscore what you've just said -- thank you - - we've been reporting that CBS may be especially sensitive because its parent company is pursuing a major acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery,
which, of course, includes CNN. Right. Thank you, sir.
And that is it, folks, for CONNECT THE WORLD, at least. Stay with CNN though. "MARKETPLACE ASIA" is up next
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