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The Federal Communications Commission is ramping up the pressure on ABC and Disney by threatening
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to strip broadcasters of their station licenses.
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The FCC says the review of the licenses is tied to Disney's DEI initiatives, but it's
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widely seen as retaliation in the ongoing battle between President Trump and ABC and its
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late-night host Jimmy Kimmel.
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On his show last week, Kimmel paraded Saturday's White House correspondence dinner in advance,
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delivering a mock roast, which included this joke about the Trumps.
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And of course, our first lady, Melania, is here.
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Mrs. Trump, you have a glow like an expectant widow.
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Kimmel later said it was a joke about their age difference, but following the shooting
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at the dinner, the first lady yesterday wrote a post on X criticizing Kimmel saying he
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quote, deepens the political sickness in America and that people like Kimmel shouldn't
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have the opportunity to enter our homes each evening to spread hate.
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That was echoed by the president who said Disney should fire Kimmel and then re-iterated
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by press secretary Caroline Levin.
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Just two days prior to the shooting, ABC's late-night host Jimmy Kimmel disgustingly called
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first lady Melania Trump an expectant widow.
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Who in their right minds says a wife would be glowing over the potential murder of her
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This kind of rhetoric about the president, the first lady, and his supporters is completely
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deranged and it's unbelievable that the American people are consuming it night after night after
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For his part, Kimmel said last night that this is all a matter of free speech.
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For more on all of this, we're joined now by CNN's chief media analyst Brian Stelter,
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whose outside ABC's New York headquarters.
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Brian, thanks for making time for us.
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So the FCC says the timing of this license review coming within 24 hours of president
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Trump criticizing Kimmel is coincidental.
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How credible is that claim given the sequence of events?
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Well, I don't know any legal experts or FCC experts who believe that claim.
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There's been an open investigation of Disney involving the company's diversity practices,
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That's been going on for quite some time and it is true that just last week Disney turned
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over some documents in that probe.
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So that's going to give the Trump aligned FCC German Brendan Carr, the excuse or the rationale
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or the story that he can tell publicly about why this is happening.
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But listen, we've heard President Trump threaten local TV station licenses for more than
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This is the first concrete action that the government's taking to follow up on those threats.
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He is calling in the car is calling in these licenses for early renewal, which is a way
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to challenge the licensees.
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And it's going to cause a protracted legal battle.
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But the action today is being called by the lone Democrat on the FCC, Anna Gomez, quote,
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the most egregious action the FCC has taken in violation of the First Amendment to date.
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She basically says Brendan Carr heard Trump's complaint and today is entering the president's
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The last time the FCC revoked a broadcast license related to a station's programming
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There was a station in Jackson, Mississippi, which defended segregation on the air.
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What are the realistic outcomes here?
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Are we talking fines, conditions on licenses or something more severe?
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I think the process is mostly the punishment here.
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It is unlikely that ABC would have its station licenses in eight cities where it owns stations.
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It's unlikely those would actually be revoked.
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And if the FCC does try to revoke those licenses, again, it'll cause a protracted legal
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And there's lots of, there's lots of legal rationale or legal history to believe that ABC
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But here's the thing, Disney would have to be willing to fight.
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That's the big question here.
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Will Disney fight it out in court?
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Now, today, the company came out with a statement that says it believes it's confident
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it will prevail and it did cite the First Amendment.
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And my sources at Disney say they're willing to fight this First Amendment battle.
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Will that be true over a period of months and maybe even years?
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And by the way, this might not just be about Kimmel or about DEI programs for that matter.
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And this building is the ABT daytime talk show, the view and FCC officials have also been
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scrutinizing the view over alleged equal time violations.
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So basically, if you're the head of Disney, you have government pressure from multiple
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directions right now.
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This is a big test for the new CEO, Josh Di Amaro, who just took over for Bob Iger six
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But so far at least, my source is say he is willing to stiffen his spine and push back
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because this sure looks like a First Amendment clash.
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And tell our other broadcasters watching all of this, Brian, based on your reporting.
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Well, right now, we're talking about a handful of big companies and of course, PBS as
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well, broadcasters that are licensed by the federal government, channels like the One
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I work CNN, they're not licensed by the federal government.
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But this action that we are seeing from the government, it does potentially have a chilling
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effect all across the mainstream media.
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But I am hardened to say that when we've seen these other First Amendment stress tests
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in America during Trump 2.0, America's been passing the tests, maybe not within a plus
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But remember last September when Kimmel was briefly pulled off the air when there was
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another controversy, and then he was brought back less than a week later, that's an example
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of Disney recognizing that it has to defend its stars and defend the right of comedians
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and yes, journalists to speak freely.
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Normally, gosh, when we cover political leaders trying to silence a comedian, we're usually
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talking about authoritarian regimes, but right now it's happening here in America.
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CNN Chief Media Analyst, Brian Stelter, good to see you, thanks for being with us.