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Warner Bros. Discovery Bidding War; Marjorie Taylor Greene Speaks Out; Interview With Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA). Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired December 09, 2025 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

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[11:33:03]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: New this morning, we're learning more details about a big meeting later today between Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and key members of Congress, the so-called Gang of Eight.

The key issue will be that controversial double attack on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat and growing calls for the release of video showing the second strike that killed two survivors.

President Trump was asked about his earlier comments supporting the release of the video. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: Mr. President, you said you would have no problem with releasing the full video of that strike on September 2 off the coast of Venezuela. Secretary Hegseth now says...

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I didn't say that. You said that. I didn't say that. This is ABC fake news.

QUESTION: Will you release a video of that strike, so that the American people can see for themselves what happened?

TRUMP: I don't know what they have, but whatever they have, we would certainly release, no problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Joining us now to discuss this and more, Democratic Congressman Seth Moulton Massachusetts. He's a key member of the House Armed Services Committee, and he's running for Senate against the incumbent Democrat, Ed Markey.

Congressman, thanks so much for joining us.

I want to start with that meeting...

REP. SETH MOULTON (D-MA): Good to see you, Wolf.

BLITZER: ... later today between the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, and other key members of Congress, the Gang of Eight, as you know they're called.

What do you think they will tell him about that second attack on the Venezuelan boat and releasing the video?

MOULTON: Well, first of all, it's amazing how quickly this administration releases videos that they want the public to see and how many excuses they will come up with for videos they don't want the public to see.

So I imagine this will be another litany of excuses from the secretary of defense about why they can't release this video, even though of course they can. This is the guy who claims to have all powers of declassification authority himself. And the bottom line is, the American public deserves to see what's happening.

BLITZER: And, as you just heard, the president clearly appeared to backtrack yesterday from an earlier comment saying he'd support releasing video of that second attack. What's your view of that?

[11:35:03]

MOULTON: Yes, once again, the president is outright lying, but he clearly is trying to protect his secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, who's been under tremendous fire from Democrats and Republicans alike because he's so unbelievably incompetent.

And his incompetence, his weakness puts our troops in danger, puts our nation in danger. I mean, this is a secretary who disclosed classified information about an operation about to happen that could have gotten those pilots shot down over Yemen because he wanted to share some cool stuff with his friends and family.

This is someone who is a -- himself a danger to our national security. So there's a good reason why a lot of Americans want to see him out of the job. But, for whatever reason, Donald Trump still wants to protect him.

BLITZER: I want to turn quickly to another pressing issue, Congressman, those continuing ICE crackdowns. You have just introduced a bill called the NOEM -- N-O-E-M -- Act, the National Oversight and Enforcement of Misconduct Act.

It's not lost on anyone that Noem is also the name of Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary. What's your bill about?

MOULTON: This bill simply holds ICE, CBP, other federal officials to the same legal standard, allowing people to sue for their constitutional rights, that local police are held to.

So we have all seen the videos of ICE abuses while local officers are standing by. That's because local officers can actually get prosecuted for abusing the law, but people cannot take those cases against ICE officials. This bill fixes that.

BLITZER: As we noted, you're running against Ed Markey in the Massachusetts Democratic Senate primary. He's a longtime incumbent who voters have viewed favorably over the years. Why should they replace him with you?

MOULTON: Because we just cannot wait another six years for new leadership, new leadership here in Massachusetts or new leadership in the country.

The bottom line is that the establishment Democrats have gotten us the status quo, a second term of Trump, who's hurting a lot of people all across America. I think it's time for a new generation of leadership in our Democratic Party. And that's what this race is all about.

BLITZER: Congressman, Pamela has a question for you as well.

Go ahead, Pamela.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: I'm just wondering.

We had you on a while back, and you talked about how the discourse among Democrats needs to change, that sometimes Democrats are trying to be too politically correct, right? And you said you experienced that yourself when you talked about the fact that you didn't want transgender girls playing in girls sports.

And I'm wondering now, months on, if you think that that change has happened within the Democratic Party and just your overall view.

MOULTON: Well, first of all, my record on transgender rights is 100 percent. I didn't say that they shouldn't be in sports absolutely. I said we ought to be able to have this conversation. We don't seem to be able to even take on these tough issues in the Democratic Party.

And, as a result, it not only hurts our ability to win elections. It hurts us -- our ability to protect the rights, including of transgender people, who we claim to protect. So we have got to work on this.

We are making progress. Both co-chairs of the Equality Caucus in Congress have said this as well. We need to have these tough conversations. And I think it's starting to happen more. But is it happening enough? Not yet. We still have work to do.

BROWN: And are you satisfied with the leadership right now for the Democrats?

MOULTON: I'm not satisfied with Chuck Schumer. I have said emphatically that I will not vote for him if I'm elected to the United States Senate. And that's a big difference between myself and Senator Markey, who's part of the establishment.

He's been in Congress for half-a-century, longer than I have been alive. And he wants to continue supporting the establishment leadership that's now in charge. BROWN: And just to be clear, when it comes to the transgender girls

in sports, you did say that you have two young daughters and you don't want them getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete.

And you had said at the time that you had gotten a lot of criticism from fellow Democrats when you made those comments.

MOULTON: That's right.

BROWN: So that's what I was referring to right there.

MOULTON: Yes. No, that's absolutely right.

And we need to be able to have that debate. What are the rules? The Olympics has rules. It allows transgender athletes in some places and not in others. We ought to be able to have that debate and set the policy ourselves, rather than ceding that ground to the Republicans, who are only going to pursue hateful policies for political goals and not protecting minorities in America.

BLITZER: You know, as you know, the president keeps calling affordability a Democratic hoax right now. What are you hearing from your constituents out there in Massachusetts?

MOULTON: That they cannot afford to get by, Wolf, that this is a major issue.

And so I have declared that we should as Democrats just state emphatically that there are three basic human rights that we should support, the right to afford housing, the right to afford health care, and the right to afford education.

If you can't get those three things, you can't pursue the American dream. And the reality is that a lot of people across Massachusetts and across America right now can't afford those things. It's getting worse. And Democrats need to lead the charge on making it better for working-class Americans.

[11:40:06]

BLITZER: All right, Congressman Seth Moulton, thanks so much for joining us.

MOULTON: It's great to see you.

BLITZER: Thank you.

BROWN: Thank you.

And, well, this just in: Assassination threats? Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene revealing how her son has been targeted after she spoke out against the president, her comments here in THE SITUATION ROOM and her exchanges with President Trump recently as well -- up next.

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BLITZER: And just into THE SITUATION ROOM, Georgia Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene sat down with us last hour for her first CNN interview since announcing her plans to resign from Congress.

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BROWN: She addressed that decision. President Trump's repeated attacks, turmoil within the House Republican Conference, and much more. She was also asked whether she's angry at the president, and here's what she told us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): As a Christian, I'm not angry at the president. It's easy for me to say a prayer for him and forgive him, but the part that I have had a very hard time with is the fact that he called me a traitor.

And because of his words, that brought serious threats against myself and my family. We had a pipe bomb threat on my home, a pipe bomb threat on my family construction company and staff, and had multiple pizza doxxings.

But the serious one was the direct death threats on my son. And I think that goes beyond anyone's arguments or disagreements or politics. All of our children and our family's safety should matter to anyone, no matter if they're mad at us or disagree with us. I think that should be something we respect.

BROWN: And when you told President Trump about this, can you tell us a little bit more about what his reaction was to these threats?

GREENE: Yes, it was shocking to me. I sent those death threats directly to him in a text message and informed him of what his name- calling and words were doing, the direct result. And it was a direct assassination threat on my son.

And he was extremely -- I won't repeat what he said, but it was extremely unkind, no sympathy, no care.

BLITZER: Hard to believe a president of the United States is calling a fellow Republican congresswoman a traitor. I mean, that's pretty, pretty awful.

GREENE: Wolf, I will add to that. I have a 98 percent voting record with President Trump, 98 percent. I don't see how that can be a traitor.

BROWN: Can you tell us anything more about what he said, though, when you told him about the death threats? Because I think that that's telling.

GREENE: I don't want to at this time directly repeat his words, but I can tell you in nature I literally was shocked, shocked that he was so unkind and accusatory.

There were other things that shocked me, though. I sent those same death threats to his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, and his deputy chief of staff, James Blair. They didn't even reply to me. And I would have expected at least Susie Wiles, who's a woman, a mother, a grandmother, I would have expected her to have said, this is unacceptable. We will send it to Kash Patel, something of that nature. We will make sure your family is safe.

I would have expected those responses, not for them to take sides in any way. I understand they work direct...

BROWN: J.D. Vance did respond, though, right?

(CROSSTALK)

GREENE: J.D. Vance, I give a lot of credit to. He was very kind and caring about that. And I did send to Kash Patel, and he said: "On it."

BLITZER: It's interesting. Your Republican colleague Congresswoman Nancy Mace says in a new opinion piece that Speaker Mike Johnson -- and I'm quoting her now -- "is better than his predecessor. The frustrations of being a rank and file House member are compounded as certain individuals or groups remain marginalized within the party, getting little say. Women will never be taken seriously until leadership decides to take us seriously."

Speaker Johnson recently said he's the -- quote -- "biggest champion of women GOP lawmakers."

Do you predict that some sort of women's revolt in the Republican House Conference could take place?

GREENE: I read her op-ed, and I thought it was masterfully written and she's right. And this is something that I have been speaking out against for quite some time now. It is extremely frustrating as a rank and file Republican member in our majority, our Republican majority, that many of us women are not taken seriously and our legislation is not taken seriously.

I will give you an example right now. Mike Johnson promised me that one of our Kelly -- it's in my bill. It's called Protect Children's Innocence Act. It's a key piece of legislation that is one of President Trump's top campaign promises, and that's to protect any child under the age of 18 from gender-affirming care.

Our position is, let these kids grow up. They need to grow up before they do any permanent changes to their body. Mike Johnson -- that bill has passed through the Judiciary Committee. It is ready to go for a House floor vote. Johnson promised me a vote on it after the shutdown, and it has yet come to the floor.

BROWN: Why do you think then Johnson says he is the biggest champion of women? And do you think that there could be more defections, particularly a revolt, as Wolf said, among women in the GOP?

GREENE: Well, you're seeing it. I don't know how he can speak out of one side of his mouth, but his actions fully show the hypocrisy.

Anna Paulina Luna, she has a discharge petition now on a bill that she fully believes in to change the way members of Congress are allowed to own stocks. And she has that in a discharge petition. Can't get the support from the speaker to bring it to the floor for a vote.

[11:50:10]

But you have seen Elise Stefanik. She went to war with the speaker just last week over an amendment she had that was extremely important. So you're seeing Republican women lash out directly at the speaker because he sidelines us and doesn't take us seriously.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And coming up, much more on the president's son-in-law, the Middle Eastern oil nations and one of the richest people in the world.

We have new details coming in right now on who is backing Paramount's so-called hostile bid to take over Warner Bros. Discovery and CNN.

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[11:55:26]

BLITZER: The battle for Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of CNN,is heating up.

Just three days after the media giant accepted the Netflix offer to buy Warner Bros. Studios and HBO, Paramount Skydance has launched a hostile takeover bid for the entire company, including CNN. And now there are new questions about how Paramount plans to finance the acquisition.

In the fine print, Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is involved. And here's what President Trump said yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I know the companies very well. I know what they're doing, but I have to see. I have to see what percentage of market they have. None of them are particularly great friends of mine.

QUESTION: Paramount is supported by Jared Kushner, Mr. President. Would that impact your decision?

TRUMP: If Paramount is? I don't know. I haven't -- I have never spoken with him about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Joining us now is CNN analyst Sara Fischer. She is the media correspondent for Axios.

So, Sara, tell us more about where the money is coming from and what you're hearing. SARA FISCHER, CNN MEDIA ANALYST: So this is a big play, Pamela.

They're valuing all of Warner Bros. Discovery at around $108 billion. And within that, some is equity, which means that you get an actual stake in the company. Some is debt. When it comes to the equity, the Ellison family is putting in roughly $11.8 billion.

But there are three sovereign wealth funds from the Middle East, from the Emirates, Qataris and the Saudis, putting in $24 billion. Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, his firm is also putting in some equity money.

Now, what's interesting here is that they stay in a regulatory filing that Kushner and the sovereign wealth funds won't get any voting control. That's unusual, right? Normally, if you're putting in 24 billion, you would want voting control.

The other part of this bid is about $54 billion worth of debt. And that's being financed by more established American companies, Bank of America Securities, Citibank and then Apollo Global Management.

BLITZER: If the shareholders of Warner Bros. Discovery approve this so-called hostile takeover bid from Paramount, is there any sort of conflict of interest consideration at play on the regulatory side?

FISCHER: It's a great question. Regulators would probe either deal, a Paramount deal or a Netflix deal, just for market share consideration, of course, Paramount and Warner Bros. together, bringing together two major studios.

But in terms of the foreign financing, typically, you have this group called the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. It's made up of Cabinet officials that will weigh whether or not foreign money should block a deal. In this case, because they're giving up their voting rights, I actually don't think that they're going to have a problem getting regulatory approval from that lens.

I think both of these bids, by the way, will face also investigations in Europe. And that's going to take a long time. Regardless of who gets picked, Wolf, if it's Paramount or Netflix, don't expect the deal to close before 2027.

BLITZER: And so what makes this deal one that Warner Bros. Discovery may not necessarily be able to refuse?

FISCHER: Great question.

So the Netflix deal is only for the streaming and the studios businesses. It's not for its cable networks, which include CNN. The Paramount deal is for all of it. And what Paramount is arguing is, you are given a great financial opportunity. We're going to pay you a premium for your cable networks.

What the Warner Bros. shareholders have to decide is, is that actually a premium? Because if they don't buy the cable networks, Warner Bros. Discovery is planning to spin them out publicly and they would trade on a public market.

Now, what Paramount is trying to say is, our deal is better than if they were to be spun out on a public market. But who knows if that's going to be the case?

BROWN: And how could the outcome impact the everyday American?

FISCHER: It's a great question.

I mean, the people in Hollywood are really concerned that there's going to be fewer buyers of their content, less competition. Hollywood stars are concerned because they don't want big tech behemoths getting in on their business.

One of the big challenges has been that Netflix doesn't traditionally like to distribute most of their content in theaters. So people are worried. Does this mean the end of the theatrical window? Netflix has offered assurances, saying, we promise we're not going to disrupt the Warner Bros. Pictures business. We will still put movies out.

But, long term, that's something people are worried about.

BLITZER: So is there anything Netflix can actually do to stop this or will shareholders get the final say?

FISCHER: What I expect is going to happen, Wolf, is, Paramount likely will come back with an even higher bid. And then, from there, Warner Bros. Discovery board is going to have to figure out what they're going to do. Netflix will have to also respond.

Do they bring out an even higher bid? Shareholders will have to consider that as well. I think that this bidding war, though, is not going to last through the end of the year. I think every party involved wants a decision made so that 2026 is about regulatory approvals and moving the deal forward.

[12:00:02]

BLITZER: Excellent analysis. Sara Fischer, thank you very, very much.

FISCHER: Thank you, Wolf.

BROWN: Thank you.

BLITZER: And, to our viewers, thanks very much for joining us this morning.

You can always keep up with us on social media @WolfBlitzer and @PamelaBrownCNN.

BROWN: And we'll see you back here tomorrow morning and every weekday morning at 10:00 Eastern.

"INSIDE POLITICS" with our friend and colleague Dana Bash starts now.