Big Oil Hits Record Profits Amid Trump's War

taking money from America's top companies, not through democracy where you might tax them in a normal way or have Congress and the American public involved, but rather he just wants to pull up about $800 million by shaking them down. And then that money goes not, again, to the general welfare. If you taxed companies and supported, say, Americans' health care, well, that would be democracy. But instead, it's all personal with him routing it to the pet projects or the reflecting pool, the ballroom. Companies have traded notes about what one Wall Street analyst calls the Trump transaction tax. The journal reports in this expose, which are payments outside of the cost of normally doing business. Another way of saying it is simply that we're replacing the free market with the market for Trump's affections. Remember, there are all kinds of debates in American politics. Larger government or small. More government intervention or less? More liberal or more conservative? that's not what we're living through, particularly in the unbridled second term of the Trump era, which might be one reason why he's so unpopular and so many independents and conservatives have turned against him, because it's not just betraying conservative principles, it's a type of self-dealing and corruption that most people don't recognize as ever occupying the White House. No other president has been so brazen as to take this much money out of U.S. companies and foreign governments for their own personal benefit. And then we have the petty projects that, again, as people pay higher gas prices, just sort of undercut his credibility. Five mil to wrap Washington statues and gold leaf, while Americans pay these higher gas prices and higher inflationary prices. And then we get this kind of advice from Trump officials. Most of the cheap cuts of meat are very inexpensive. If you buy a, you know, a porterhouse steak or a steak, it is going to send you back. You can buy liver or the cheaper cuts of steak that are very, very affordable. We once had Let the Meat Cake. Now we have Let the Meat Liver. Come on. Now. You can say, well, that's R.Robert F. Kennedy Jr.., and he does what he does, but there is a wider problem for Trump and a Republican Party running against these headwinds. One Republican is on the Senate floor saying Social Security is a scam, not exactly the message you want in a midterm race in Florida. I can tell you that. Trump officials have changed rules that raise drug prices on seniors. The uninsured crisis rolls on. We were covering that earlier this week. There aren't always video headlines sort of ways to show the story, but the GOP cuts to health care are pushing people off insurance and putting more people in emergency rooms. The safety net undercut. The price of gas up. And the only people who seem to be looking around and saying, yeah, this sounds good. More of this? are people in Trump's family and inner circle who are corruptly benefiting, and apparently those oil executives who make a lot of money off you paying higher gas prices. Not every story is this simple, but this one is. If you ain't an oil executive or a Trump family member, I'm not sure that you would look at the last few months as anything you want more of, and that's why Republicans are so panicked about these midterms.

I want to bring in, as promised, legendary democratic strategist James Carville. James, your view on this framework going into what are now midterms in, you know, 95 days. I like your introduction. This is 31 July, last year of July. Let's take the plane another 10,000 feet. This is the truth. We have lost a war. We lost a war to a third wave power. Get over. Right now, our debt-to-GDP ratio, I think, is higher than it was in 1946, after we actually won a war, right? And then today, in an oil field journal, which you alluded to very justifiably and very perceptively, A woman by name of O'Rourke, Meredith O'Rourke, is the president's and she says, she calls owners that had met from the president and says, the president wants just money. Now, pay up. And it goes between $5 and $50 million. That's the staggering level of debt, defeat, and corruption that the United States of America at the end of July in 2026 is facing. And I've got to tell you, I am not impressed by the response of a lot of people in a Democratic Party. If we're having a race in Michigan or initial, we're talking about Palestinian self-determination. If we're having a race in Wisconsin, we're talking about whether we should tax Holly Davidson 17%. We're not meeting the moment. The Democratic Party, this country is in grave peril, and in my opinion, the Democratic Party is not meeting the moment. Now, people will say, well, you got to have a presidential candidate. My hope and my prayers, anybody, any Democrat out there thinking, run for president, you have something to offer, for God's sakes, run, run, offer something. Because we're not getting, we've got nothing for problems, we're getting stupid talking points about a war that's going on for 5,000 years. And not likely to get solved between non-election day. But right now, I think your opening was good. I think the state of the country is even more perilous than you even let home debate. All right. Well, you've given us, James, two roads. The road to the Democratic Party intramural debate, of which you were always a proud... unafraid warrior and the economy. I'm going to start with the economy and then come back to the other one. But the Wall Street Journal calls it a tepid Trump economy. Seth Myers, where you look at whether Trump's become a punchline, saying this. He said he would make America affordable. He would do it on day one at a rally this week. He reflected on that promise. Let's hear how things are going. You know, they have this term. So here I am. I'm one day in office. And the fake news goes, affordability. Affordability. I said, what's affordability? What's that all about? What are you?

What's affordability? You're the one who said it. You said we were going to make America affordable again. Affordability is the noun form of the adjective affordable. You drop out. James. So if I were putting my Democratic talking points in order, I would say, well, sir, you said during the campaign you would get prices out from day one. Day one is not a made-up myth by Democrats. He actually said that. All right? I don't think Trump matters that much anymore. I think he's a washed up, fat old man. I think he's going to, in spite of everything that Democrats are doing, he's going to have a massive loss in November. And I've said this repeatedly. I think he's going to walk away. I don't think he's capable of leading this country. I don't think he has the energy. I don't think he has to enterling. What does he walk away mean? Are you trolling? Now, I got, you're trolling. You think he's going to quit? Yes, walk away Renee. You too young to remember that song. It was a great song. I had a girlfriend in high school named Renee. I love the song, Walk Away Renna. He is going to walk away. He is not skilled enough. He is not tough enough. He is not going to be able to deal with the massive defeat. He's coming his way. And we need to be less obsessed with Trump. and more obsessed with how do we get out of this horrific mess we are. And we're not going to get out by solving the Israeli-Palestinian Mideast. That's not going to happen. Let's go there. You said, yeah, the Iran war is six months, which is a lot longer than Trump. The Mideast conflict over. religion, geography. There are fights between different sects of Islam. There's fights between different sects of the Jewish religion. There's what's going on in Israel. There's Benjamin Netanyahu. You're saying that you think the Democratic Party what? I mean, it can advocate for human rights. You're saying it's getting too sidelined on that when there's bigger proverbial fish to fry. Right now, the United States needs to reestablish the fact that it is a powerful nation, of which it is neither right now. And if we want to play a row in the Middle East and other people, we can't do this by being the feeble, flaccid country that we are today. And until we come to grips with that, no one's going to pay any attention to us. They don't pay attention to us right now. They don't care. The Iranians, who by any stretch of imagination, is maybe a second and a half, third-rate power. The United States is the first-rate power of terrorists. Israel is, I don't know, almost a first-rate power. They're beating the tar out of us. They're willing let us surrender. And until we come, and my point is, until we come to a fundamental understanding of what our position is, We can't solve it. And I can't come on here and be a check. Go Team Go. USA. We got it. We're the greatest. We're 250 years. And I just hate to say this, all right, but we're the ditch right now. And we got to recognize that and we've got to pull out of it. I really mean that. I'm getting trouble, but I don't care.

Phil, you don't, you never mind in trouble. We have our shortest break, 90 seconds. James stays. We will be right back with James Carver. Hey, everybody. It's Rob Lowe here. If you haven't heard, I have a podcast. That's called Literally with Roblo. And basically, it's conversations I've had that really make you feel like you're pulling up a chair at an intimate dinner between myself and people that I admire, like Aaron Sorkin or Tiffany Haddish, Demi Moore, Chris Pratt, Michael J. Fox. There are new episodes out every Thursday. So subscribe, please, and listen, wherever you get your podcasts. With the Vivgarditrullo, Fgartigamad Alpha, and hyaluronidase QVC, pre-filled syringe, self-injection is in your hands. It's your treatment routine. Use at the time and same day each week. Take the pre-filled syringe with you on vacation. Or have it handy for cozy staycations. For more information, visit live vividly.com. That's L-I-V-E-V-Y-V-Y-I-D-Y dot com. Brought to you by Argenics. I used to lie awake, tossing and turning. Then I added magnesium breakthrough by bioptimizers to my nightly routine. Now they've launched magnesium breakthrough Advanced 10, with 10 bioavailable forms of magnesium, plus active vitamin B-6 and ionic trace minerals to support uptake. Go to buyoptimizers.com slash hags and use code hags for 15% off. Every order is backed by their 365-day money-back guarantee, so you can try it with confidence. We're back with James Carville, one of the best election experts in the country, speaks truth to power. said on air tonight that Donald Trump will quit before his term is up, so we'll run that tape someday, whether you're right or wrong. But I want to show you Texas. A lot of folks are looking at this and saying it is different this year. Trump intervened to pick what looks like a weaker scandal-plagued candidate in Ken Paxton. James Talarico is a different kind of Democrat, and the Times had them really close. Fox has James Talarico slightly up, Marjorie. Texas Tribune has him up five. Do you believe these numbers and what's happening in Texas? What's happening in Texas is the same thing I think is happening in the United States. Ken Paxton is a uniquely and deeply corrupt person. Everything about him reeks of corruption. That set the core of who he is. That, to me, is what's happening in the United States. And people say, oh, no, it's about cost, prices, affordability. I think the biggest problem in this country today is the breathtaking, sweeping corruption that we have everywhere. And you can't solve affordability. You can't solve costs. You can't solve anything. When...

You're shaking people down for $50 million. You're starting a war that's costing the average American citizen, I don't know, something like $1,100 since you started. You point out, Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Shell are making $60 billion in profit. Until we address the core problem, which is corruption, and it's the problem with Ken Paxton, deeply corrupt, man, in every sense that you can imagine. The president wants his money, a deeply corrupt place. I don't think affordability or cost or anything like that, or it's the economy. But I think this is a staggeringly corrupt era we living in. And I think you is a common, is it. host of an important TV show or me as a commentator, we got to remind people, the corruption is what's dragging us out. If you get priced out and you have this kind of corruption, it's not going to do any good. It's going to go right back on. I think you're hitting it. And I was talking about it with our team in the newsroom here today. Like, the abuse of power is the first core concern. in any system. And the founders had their little rules. Some of them worked. Some of them didn't. The idea that you're going to let people like Trump and his family pocket billions of dollars by abusing power. And then everyone else goes along with it. It's almost a Jan 6 level event, but just for the economy and for people's. trust in whether this government's going to regulate and protect what they do? I mean, what do you think Democrats should say about that in a way that connects? Because it's more tangible than some of the other rule of law issues, which are important in a different way. Let me give you just something stupid and cheap. Have you seen one Democrat say, I have a code of ethics plan or I have an anti-corruption plan or this is my plan? No, because we're not addressing. the fundamental problem. And maybe we can't do that in a congressional race because they go out and they take a poll and they ask people, what's the most important issue you face with, and 31% say cost of living, inflation, 17% say democracy and 15% say something else. If you don't address the core issue, and once you bring it up, people are going to understand that. When you talk about the boss wants his money, then you're going to break through and do it to people. But you can't take a poll and ask people to rank five things and then go back and regurgitate to five. And this can only be done in a presidential campaign. And man, every Democrat out there any of you are thinking about running. Oh, man, please run. Please run. Please talk about this. And you probably won't win. But, okay, most people don't win. But somebody's going to win. And I hope the person that wins is a person that goes in with a mandate and an idea how to end this staggering corruption in faces a country. And I really may not. I'm the 82 in Election Day. We appreciate you. You speak from the heart. James Carville. Thanks for joining us on a Friday.

Thank you. I always love being here. I don't know. I love Friday afternoon on here. Just kind of bored more relax coming out the weekend. But thank you very much. And remember, corruption is everywhere. You can't get a rayful. Thank you. Find it and fight it. Thank you, sir. Our thanks to James Carver. By the end of the hour, I want you to know, we turn away from some of the political fights to explain how Barack Obama... is striking a different chord with something brand new. We will reach that by the end of the hour. We also have a special guest on the MAGA billionaires who were just delayed and blocked in their bid to fast track the CNN purchase. So that's coming up by the end of the hour as well. But next, the legal humiliation for the Trump DOJ. Remember, we were told there was going to be a vote. There wasn't a vote. The reflecting pool charges drop. Trump ending the week with a lot of legal losses and wait until you hear why. Trump administration ending this week with another legal setback in developing news late today, a legal kind of humiliation for Trump's DOJ because they have dropped their much-hyped case against the former Olympian, David Hearn, who was charged in connection with this damage to the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, an issue that Donald Trump chose and that has bedeviled him over the last several weeks. The DOJ has a new filing that states it's become aware of information. showing that the damage was the result of a botched installation and not vandalism as initially represented by the administration. I want to repeat, a botched installation and not vandalism, which is what the administration had claimed. Think about how bad it got and how baseless the claims were that the DOJ has to now cough up and admit this. Trump administration has spent millions trying to shift the color to Donald Trump's demands. And yet, as you may have heard, it remains an algae-infested, greenish kind of pool. And then Trump tried to blame vandals, not just with rhetoric or words, which the president, like any American, is allowed to say things, but by using the power of his office, the power to investigate, indict, and jail. which apparently looks now more and more like cover and distraction from what was either ineffective or shoddy work performed by the hand-picked contractors of the Trump administration. This is not the biggest legal issue in the world, and we will cover more than one legal issue with our next guest, Ancush Cardori, but it is certainly a sign of the Times. Mr. Cardori is a former federal prosecutor. He writes open file and just wrote for the New York Times, quote, there are so many reasons to reject Todd Blanche. Here's another one. And we will get to that as well. Welcome back. Thanks for having me. You are obviously very well suited to explain how many things have to go wrong for the DOJ to bring a case like this and then retract it. The floor is yours.

Ari, I don't even know where to begin. I mean, humiliating doesn't even begin to describe it. You know, the piece today was about, you know, the sort of seemingly endless bungling at the Justice Department. In addition to all the things that I'm guessing you and I both object to, the abuses of authority, the improper objectives that they're pursuing. And it is very rare, I have to say, for someone to write a piece and then the same day get more evidence for the thesis. I mean, this is, I... I can't even begin to tell you how many things must have gone wrong. The investigation had to go wrong. I don't know who presented this case to get at charge. They should be asking themselves questions. And then it had to have been really bad. It had to have been really bad. There had to have been very strong contradictory evidence. There had to have been no chance that they were going to get this case over the finish line because otherwise they pursue plenty of pointless legal fights if they can. And so it's bad. This is what our news viewers are informed. They know what a Friday night news dump looks like. They're trying to get this done on Friday, presumably because if they held the case, it would have been worse and what? They would have been embarrassed in open court admonished by a judge. Yes. Yes, I'm guessing that is exactly what happened. Maybe they turned over some Brady information to the defense, discovered some Brady information that they should have already had, but didn't have. And yes, at some point, this is clearly was so bad that they knew that it would get exposed at some point during the course of the proceeding. And potentially even some of them may have had to deal with professional repercussions. I mean, this is, I agree with you. It's a small thing, but it's also emblematic of what is wrong with this department and this administration. They tried to send this guy to, you know, potentially to serve some time in custody or a fine or whatever for something that the administration itself screwed up. I mean, it's very disturbing. Yeah, it's a small thing. It's a green thing, much to the president's concern. But it relates to the wider corruption, not, I think, too strong a word under Todd Blanche. You've written about that. We also have this new filing in the self-dealing collusion IRS case. New York Times says Trump to appeal it. a sign that the president is doubling down on his fight for the deal that brings him personal benefits, even though they have, quote, jeopardized the confirmation of Attorney General Todd Blanche. I have about a minute left for you on that and the Todd Blanche vote derailed this week. Yeah, look, the Todd Blanche nomination seems to be sort of on the bubble. Trump made very clear today in a social media post that he is still interested in making these payouts if they can find a way to do so. With that being said, I have to say, John Quarinen and Thom Tillis are wasting their time. They will never get an assurance that these payouts will not happen unless and until they pass a law. Todd Blanche's word on this is meaningless. He won't be the Attorney General forever. And he testified to them. under oath that he thinks he's constitutionally obligated to do whatever he tells Todd Blanche to do. So this is kind of devolved in sort of a classic Washington sort of kabuki incoherent fight.

strongly put, fairly put. And as you say, fool me once, fool me twice. They can use the power of the Congress. They have delayed and blocked the nomination. That's a step that's revealed Trump's saying, no, I mean it. I still want, he still wants to fund convicts, have a future violent militia. It's all out in the open. And maybe that's the one benefit of the fight they had. Oncush, thanks for being here. Thanks for having me. Absolutely. What's Barack Obama listening to this summer? We will tell you by the end of the hour. That should be a little fun moment. But first, the backlash to how the mergers might be strengthening the Trump administration. It's like a dark cloud, the departure of Stephen Colbert to me. When institutional or political pressure brings some kind of suppression of free speech, it's not a good thing. There has been major news that spans Hollywood all the way out to news and politics when you look at that giant merger of Paramount and Warner Brothers, including CNN and HBO. But the big development now is the whole thing is on hold after these attorneys general across several states basically got a procedural victory on their antitrust suit. That's a setback for the merger and the Trump Allied Ellicence. Now, if the merger still ultimately goes through, if they went in court, it would consolidate two of the largest movie and TV studios into an empire. And we want to show you tonight a reminder of just how we got here and the countervailing views and pressures involved. Breaking news right now in Hollywood, Warner Brothers has signed a landmark $110 billion deal with Paramount. If my company's got that kind of green, I'm sure they can afford to uncancel one of their best shows. The FCC and Donald Trump being explicit and both with kind of background suasion that by far he prefers Paramount and the Ellison's taking this over. The people that have run CNN for the last long period of time are... And disgrace, I think it's imperative that CNN be so. More fake news from CNN. The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better. Tell your state attorneys general to block the Paramount Warner Brothers merger. We sued because this proposed merger breaks the law. It breaks century-old antitrust law. It's anti-competitive. It will raise prices. I would like to have a... a kind of robust marketplace. Price and market share are the issues. A judge temporarily blocked the merger between Paramount and Warner Brothers. As you can see, strong views on all sides, high stakes. And one of the voices there you just heard was a major Hollywood player. You've certainly heard of them, the executive chairman of WME Group, a CEO of the TKO agency, and really one of the most famous super agents in our time, Ari Emanuel, who has a new Wall Street Journal op-ed arguing for this controversial merger. The Paramount Warner merger could save Hollywood, where he argues this antitrust lawsuit.

puts the entertainment industry at risk, they say they're protecting competition, their actions threatened to destroy it. Emmanuel, of course, is a business leader, pioneering agent who's shaped a lot of what constitutes modern Hollywood. He's represented stars and film, TV, sports, and news. He doesn't represent me, but he does, you should know, represent some of our colleagues, both on this channel and other major news stars. He's the founder of the global events and experiences company Mari, and also co-hosts the podcast Rushmore, which looks at who should be involved in sort of the goat or Mount Rushmore level. leaders of their field, which is why he joined us last time. And if you go back far enough, you might know that Ari Gold, the HBO Entourage character, of course, is fictional, but many say inspired by Ari. Ari Emanuel joins me now. Welcome back. Hey, how are you? I'm good. We got a lot in your introduction. We're good. I got a lot in your introduction. You've done a lot of things. And you know this is controversial. On this program, we recently had one of the attorneys general who's opposed to the deal and says it's not only bad for diversity in media, it could be bad for democracy. Why are you writing now that it could be good? So can I frame things a little bit? So the states claim that giving one company too much influence over theatrical release and cable operators is bad. And then the WGA argues that the combination hurts writers. Both, I think, imagine a Hollywood that doesn't exist anymore in today's world. If you put Paramount and Warner's together, They account for less than the TV viewing, which includes streaming and cable and network, less than 20%. If you add YouTube, it's probably in the 13%. The combined company, I think last year, did 18 million, 18% of theatrical releases. Over the last six years, it was 22%. The AGs just forgot to include Lionsgate, MGM, Amazon, A24, both had huge movies recently. So I think it's just a false narrative, what they're talking about. And then I would just say the following. David Ellison has committed to 30 movies. Adam Aaron from AMC just endorsed the deal. If the AG thinks that theatrical is too much one, the percentages are wrong and less than they say.

And he's given them a 45-day window, which is what Adam Aaron and I think other theatrical companies are going to come out and say. Plus, he's going to do over 170 TV shows commit to $30 billion of spend. You know, we've gone through six years. We had the COVID years and then the strike of really hurting the theatrical business and the production business and et cetera. Sure. Blocking this deal, in my opinion, does not create more competition. It just permits two weaker players in the marketplace. And I don't think the AGs, because you're just going to have two guys that cannot compete with... you know, 250 to 300 million subs in the streaming area because it's not the movie business or television of old, it's of the new, which streaming has to be part of. Well, let me jump in. Let me jump in, Ari. That's one of the most interesting arguments you make, which is not that things might have been more diverse in the past. I think a lot of people could agree on that depending on the year you pick, but wake up and deal with the world we're in, which involves the internet and streaming. I want to play one of the attorneys general, though, so you can have the benefit of responding. We heard their side. Listen to this is Nevada AG, Aaron Ford. There are several antitrust violations associated with this merger. We have two big companies here, a movie company, TV companies that are trying to become one. And if that happens, we're going to see four companies that control almost all of the movies you see in theaters. Together, those four companies are going to control 85 out of 100 movies that are released in our movie theaters. This merger is going to combine two of the five biggest owners of basic cable TV. And so together they'd own about 59 out of every 100 cable channels in the country. You spoke to part of that, but what do you say to someone watching who says, well, wait a minute, if they control more movies and CBS and CNN and HBO, and they have a government link that a lot of people, as you know, are suspicious of, what do you say to the viewer who says, I'd take things the way they are over that kind of consolidation? Take the government link, put it to the side. We're going to argue back and forth. David has voted for Republicans. He's voted for Democrats. There's a way to handle that. As it relates, as I said to you, as it relates to the theatrical business, right? They're committed to 30 movies over the time. Their spend is going to be, you know, enormous. And you're talking about the percentage of the movie business, if you look at it over the last six years, is down to 22%. And they've already spent, they went from eight movies to 15 movies this year. And the head of the AMC, the largest theatrical release company, I believe the wrestler coming, have endorsed the deal. And as I said, on the cable, television, and streaming side, I think the number is 20%. When you add YouTube, it's like 13% of total viewership. So it's just like a false narrative. Really what's going on, in my opinion.

you know, the attorney generals, one is I don't think that people understand the kind of current environment we live in. The attorney generals are kind of using the antitrust enforcement as a tool to disagree potentially with the CNN editorial perspective that might be coming. I think there's a way to handle that. Here's what I would say to you. Well, let me, I'm going to sell you down again. No problem. It's Ari versus Ari. What you're saying it sounds like is you are concerned that the Democratic Attorney Generals are using antitrust to get into the courtroom, but it's not really an antitrust thing. They're using it as a pretext because they're worried that CNN's going to be magify. What is your sort of? Because none of the numbers. None of the numbers as it relates to... What's your evidence for that? And why would that be a problem? You get the floor. I just went through the numbers. They said it's about theatrical. The percentages say it can't be about theatrical. And the head of the distribution business, the largest distributors said, we want to deal. So it can't be about theatrical. And on viewership... It's less than 13% or less than 20% if you don't include. No, I get you on the numbers, but how do you know that you're a savvy guy? People know your brother's Rahm Emanuel. You have reason to believe that Democratic attorneys generals are what? Not on the level you're saying. Yeah. I think it's a false narrative. So they're just, they just don't want. David Ellison's father, quote unquote, controlling CNN. You actually heard this in a weird way. You heard this from Norm Eisen. You know, he did a tweet. He talked about it. He talked about this is about, he did two tweets. He talked about this is about CNN. It's not me supposing this. Norm Eisen has actually gone on record and saying, and kind of so has Banta. So here's what I would say to you. I'm happy that we have the filibuster in place. Because if we got rid of it during the Democratic, when the Democrats were in control, imagine post that, which a lot of people were screaming they wanted, the Republicans now didn't have a filibuster. And they could make any laws they wanted. So here's, let's take this out to its full thing. So by using this has now been approved. This has now been approved by, I think it's 65 countries, this deal, this merger, EU all over the world. So now we're saying in the United States, you can tell me all the reasons why. So now we're saying that even though 65 countries, every country in the world has approved it, an attorney general in California, New York, et cetera, can block it. Then when the Democrats can power, Republican Attorney Jay Jones can't block it. They can't block it forever. They can delay it. Okay. Delay it. So if we're going to become a banana republic, like I wish we had the filibuster, you couldn't do this, I actually think this is harmful. First of all, I think it's a constitutional crisis. Two, I do think if that is the case, the capital flows in our country are so great because

We have a country that you pass a law and you approve a deal and the rest of the world approves a deal. You get to go ahead with the deal. These attorney generals and Norm Eisen and all that whole group is saying, no, we don't approve it. We want to block it. You know, we want a filibuster. We want to get rid of the filibuster. We want to stay to be able to block things that the whole country, whole world is approved. We're a banana republic if this happens. And I don't think they realize the fact on the capital structures of money coming in. I'll give you the... I'll give you the final 30 seconds. I'm running over. But what you're arguing is if in the end the deal goes through, but a small group of people can upend an entire industry and the control of CNN and all of these jobs, then that might not be an efficient system, which I think on policy is a fair criticism. The flip side, though, to your argument would be if they actually stop the deal on any trust grounds, then the court system work because they're allowed to have their day in court. I give you the final 30 seconds. They're not allowed to cherry pick when and where they want to do stuff. We have a federal government that says, hey, we have approved this deal. Every other country in the world has approved the deal. And then rogue attorney generals in states can blame. We are affecting, this is a constitutional issue. We're affecting economic flows to the country. And this state. Over six years has had a huge problem with movies because of COVID and the strike. I hear that. No, I hear that. And the leading people, the movie theaters, actually want it. Yeah. But behind the scenes, they're all saying, this is really about CNN. Well, I'm over on time. We heard, as we like to do around here, we heard from the attorneys general. We've heard from you and you're an insider knowledgeable. We'll hear from the Ellisons if they want to come on. Ari, I appreciate you joining. No problem. I appreciate it. All right, thanks. Ari Emanuel. Joining us, we'll be right back. If you've ever wondered, what's on Barack Obama's playlist? Well, you don't have to because he has made an annual tradition of sharing a summer playlist, which is of interest to music fans and politicos alike. We have the brand new one, the former president, highlighting contemporary artists that he likes as well as some classics. In fact, he just spoke about how music unites us. The heart of the presidential center is going to be the music studio where kids are learning how to tell stories through music. What that does is it builds a community of activists. And it reminds people, you're not alone. You're not alone, and there's more than one way to engage. We know that music and lyrics, of course, can connect people in all sorts of ways. Now, when you look at some of the more recent artists, California rapper Vince Staples song, White Flag, makes the Obama list where he says sometimes love can turn to war. I've seen it all before. Not far from par the course. Try not to get too lost. It ain't no coming back soon as you're back against the wall.

Obama also has some classics that he apparently is listening to right now because he includes the Beatles Revolution. And I bet you know that one. You say you want a revolution? Well, you know, we all want to change the world. But when you talk about destruction, don't you know that you can count me out? Don't you know that it's going to be all right? And another new artist who we saw take a big Grammy turn, Dochi's song, Girl Get Up. which addresses not only racism, but the way we sometimes talk to each other online. Referring to the accusations that she was some sort of manufactured star, she says all that industry plant stuff is whack. I see it on the blogs. I see you in the chats. But what's the agenda when the it girl black? Y'all can't fathom that I work this hard. The list also. It's right up in the hip-hop sort of discourse. We know that Obama is a longtime rap fan. He talked about that on the campaign trail. There are remnants of the Drake-Kendrick battle and finding love. Outside is bad to what it was. You know what I'm saying? Atlanta, I'll tell you about my run. You know what I'm saying? I've been a minor for a heart of gold. Life gets dark when you're dark like me. Times get hard with a harp this big. If you feel like I feel, baby, then come on. Oh, come on. We could all use some of that right now. Each of those songs was on the new playlist. You can Google Obama's playlist to find it yourself. And I will know it as a music listener, he has very diverse and eclectic tastes for a playlist, which usually makes for a good one. We'll be right back. Hey, everybody, it's Rob Lowe here. If you haven't heard, I have a podcast. That's called Literally with Roblo. And basically, it's conversations I've had that really make you feel like you're pulling up a chair at an intimate dinner between myself and people that I admire, like Aaron Sorkin or Tiffany Haddish, Demi Moore, Chris Pratt, Michael J. Fox. There are new episodes out every Thursday. So subscribe, please, and listen, wherever you get your podcasts. With the Vivgard-Hitrullo, F-Gar-Tygamad Alpha, and hyaluronidase QVC, pre-filled syringe, self-injection is in your hands. It's your treatment routine. You set the time and same day each week. Take the pre-filled syringe with you on vacation. Or have it handy for cozy staycations. For more information, visit live vividly.com. That's L-I-V-E-V-Y-V-Y-V-I-D-Y dot com. Brought to you by Argenics. I used to lie awake, tossing and turning. Then I added magnesium breakthrough by bioptimizers to my nightly routine. Now they've launched magnesium breakthrough Advanced 10, with 10 bioavailable forms of magnesium, plus active vitamin B-6 and ionic trace minerals to support uptake.

Go to buyoptimizers.com slash hags and use code hags for 15% off. Every order is backed by their 365-day money-back guarantee, so you can try it with confidence. Wishing you a good weekend and we'll be back tomorrow at 6 p.m. Eastern for the beat weekend. I invite you to come join us at 6 p.m. all kinds of fun stuff there, including catching up on what you might have missed. That's 6 p.m. Eastern tomorrow. Mark your calendar or you put it in your phone. And we wish you a great weekend. That does it for us. Hey, everybody. It's Rob Lowe here. If you haven't heard, I have a podcast that's called Literally. with Roblo. And basically, it's conversations I've had that really make you feel like you're pulling up a chair at an intimate dinner between myself and people that I admire, like Aaron Sorkin or Tiffany Haddish, Demi Moore, Chris Pratt, Michael J. Fox. There are new episodes out every Thursday. So subscribe, please, and listen, wherever you get your podcasts.