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What We Know with Max Foster
Paramount Launches Hostile Offer For Warner Bros. Discovery; Trump Announces $12 Billion In Aid To U.S. Farmers; Zelenskyy Stresses Importance Of Unity In Push For Peace; Fighting Erupts Again Between Thailand And Cambodia; Tsunami Warnings & Evacuations In Japan After Major Quake. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired December 08, 2025 - 15:00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:24]
MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST: One of the year's biggest mergers goes hostile.
This is WHAT WE KNOW.
The battle for Warner Bros. Discovery heating up. Paramount has launched a hostile takeover bid for the media giant after Warner Bros. had come to an
agreement to sell some of its assets to Netflix.
Now, Paramount is going straight to shareholders with an all cash offer it says is more valuable than Netflix deal. A reminder, Warner Bros. Discovery
is CNN's parent company.
CNN's chief media analyst Brian Stelter joins me. Were you expecting this, Brian?
He's not quite there yet, but well come back to him in a minute. Will we?
Oh. Hi, Brian. You are there. Were you expecting this?
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Hey. Control room. I'm not here anymore.
FOSTER: No, he's not there. Okay, okay.
We're going to come back to Brian in just a moment.
President Donald Trump, meanwhile, throwing a massive economic lifeline to U.S. farmers. At the White House just moments ago, he unveiled a $12
billion aid package calling farmers the backbone of America. Many have suffered under Mr. Trump's tariffs and trade policies, but he blames the
Biden administration for their struggles.
CNN's Kevin Liptak is at the White House.
Just on that thought, were these troubles started in the Biden era or did they come under this broader issue with tariffs?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, certainly costs have been rising starting in the Biden era on things like seeds and fertilizer,
but it really is the president's tariff policy. President Trump's trade policies that have really hurt American farmers in a lot of ways. And so,
this bridge payment that the president is announcing today is very much an acknowledgment, tacit, at least, that a lot of the president's trade
policies have hurt some of Americas farmers, particularly when it comes to China.
And you'll remember that when the president imposed that stiff new tariff on China, amid that, heat -- heating up trade war between Washington and
Beijing, China cut off all purchases of American soybeans. China, the biggest foreign market for American soybean farmers. And that had really
been devastating for an industry that had been already suffering. Some of those other effects of higher costs that I had been discussing earlier.
And so, what President Trump is doing today is allowing for some of these bridge financing to go into a place to allow these farmers to better plan
ahead for the coming year.
Now, China has said that it will resume purchases of American soybeans, that coming after the president and the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, met
earlier this year. President saying that he has essentially pressed his counterpart in China to resume those purchases to really kind of bolster
these American farmers. I think there's still a huge amount of uncertainty, though, when you talk to American planters about whether China will
actually fulfill some of these commitments.
And you'll remember back to President Trump's first term in office, he received a similar commitment from President Xi to really up Chinas soybean
purchases, only to see China renege on that during the COVID pandemic. And so still, a huge amount of uncertainty. And so, I think what the president
is doing today is really trying to tamp down on some of that.
Now, we've been listening to him speaking. He is pinning a lot of the blame on the prior administration for not negotiating better trade deals, for not
doing more to help out farmers amid some of these rising costs. But certainly, it is the trade war and the tariff war that has been hampering
them, at least when it comes to this year's challenges, Max.
FOSTER: Will there be some opposition to this within his party? Because this is taxpayer cash, isn't it? And a lot of it.
LIPTAK: Yeah. And I actually think that even though the farmers are themselves the recipients of it, what they have said throughout all of this
is that they want trade, not aid, that they want the president to help improve the trading conditions with China, either by removing some of these
tariffs or making more of an effort to get China to increase its purchases, and not necessarily having to rely on handouts from the government.
And so, yes, there will be some opposition to this, I think, certainly from the farmers themselves, even if they are not saying it out loud. And even
though they are benefiting from some from some of this bailout. The president does have Republicans in the room with him today. Certainly from
some of these states where the farmers will be affected.
And the president has made no secret that he also sees political benefit to this.
[15:05:00]
He has said that farmers supported him during last year's elections, that he is thankful for their political backing during his multiple presidential
campaigns. And so certainly the president himself does, I think, see this as something of a political payback for people who were very supportive of
him as he mounted his bid for the White House.
FOSTER: Okay, Kevin, appreciate it. Thank you.
Back now to that merger deal involving Netflix, Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery. CNN's chief media analyst Brian Stelter is here with me.
So, we've got Paramount coming out -- coming out with a hostile offer, which is very difficult to get through, isn't it? But they've got some
advantages. They're going for the larger business and they've clearly got some sympathy in the -- in the administration right now, which might help
with regulation.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Yes, indeed. This is a very, very unusual move because it's one of the biggest hostile takeover bids that
we've seen in corporate America in history. Paramount believing it has a superior offer going directly to the shareholders of Warner Bros.
Discovery. And now we wait to hear what WBD and Netflix's case is.
In fact, just a few minutes ago, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos was on stage in New York City. He said that Paramount's play was entirely expected. He
said, quote, we have a deal done, and we're incredibly happy with the deal. We're super confident we're going to get it across.
So, the word from Netflix is that it is going full steam ahead with this plan to buy Warner Bros. and HBO, but Paramount is making a bid for all of
Warner Bros. Discovery, including CNN and other channels. So, in some ways, the argument that's happening right now is about how you value these
assets, whether you should value them all together or you should break them up first.
And then really, the question on the table today, how much are channels like CNN worth? Clearly, HBO and Warner Bros., you know, the movie studio,
the streaming service, that's been valued by these bidders at $25, $26, $27, $28 a share. But there's now an argument over how much the other
channels are worth and whether they should be included in the purchase price.
So, Paramount going directly to shareholders and also saying today that their deal is better for Hollywood, for movie theater owners than Netflix's
deal is.
However, Ted Sarandos shooting back a couple of minutes ago and saying, hey, Paramount is going to lay more people off. It's going to cut more
jobs. So, you see very much now back and forth, a P.R. tug of war between these media moguls.
FOSTER: It comes down to accounting, doesn't it? Because I know that Netflix might be offering a lower price per share, but they're arguing it
could be more than the Paramount deal when you take into consideration the way the new business will be structured and sold, you know, parts of it
potentially sold off -- potentially sold off.
STELTER: Yes, that's absolutely right. Because Discovery Global is the new company that will be formed with CNN and TNT and other channels, and it's
impossible to know exactly how much that would trade on the stock market on its own. So, you know, what you have right now are a lot of bankers and
lawyers haggling over that.
And the market is speaking as well today. You know, Paramount stock up now 7 percent on the day. Some investors believing that Paramount will
eventually prevail and be able to get a lot bigger.
One argument we've heard in recent weeks is that Paramount CEO David Ellison and his father, Larry, have President Trump in their corner, and
that's why Paramount would be able to get this deal approved by U.S. regulators more quickly. Netflix and WBD basically rejected that. And
earlier today, President Trump did post on Truth Social, a very scathing message criticizing Paramount. He was mad about "60 Minutes" episode that
aired on CBS last night.
So, you know, Trump in some ways is one of the X factors here. He's not the only X factor because he doesn't get a veto. And regulators in Europe are
going to want to take a close look at any such deal as well.
But for now, the action becomes the -- I think the focus becomes on Paramount. And what's it going to do? Is Paramount going to stay at $30? Is
it going to raise the bid even more? What will shareholders do? Those are the questions for the next few days at least.
FOSTER: But also, consumers I guess as well. You just listed the pros and cons for shareholders there. But is this consolidation good for the
consumer? Because whatever comes out of it is going to be a massive streaming platform.
STELTER: Well, I'll say that as a consumer, I view some of this as inevitable, meaning if the consolidation doesn't happen one way, it'll
happen another way. If you think we should all think about as television viewers, as TikTok users, how we consume media nowadays, you know, because
I know from Netflix's point of view, they're up against YouTube. They think they're up against Amazon and Apple. They're thinking about the big tech
giants.
And if you view the regulatory landscape that way, Netflix doesn't look so big. But if you view the landscape as being about Netflix versus HBO Max
versus Amazon Prime, then Netflix is the king, right? Netflix is the biggest by far.
So, one of the regulatory debates going forward here with one of these deals is going to be how you size up the marketplace and how you decide
what is too big.
FOSTER: Brian, fascinating. Thank you so much for joining us.
Top Euro leaders reaffirming their commitment to Ukraine as U.S. President Donald Trump once again appears to cast doubt on the future of peace talks
with Russia. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meeting in London today with the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, along with the French
president, Emmanuel Macron, the German chancellor, there, at the back as well, Friedrich Merz.
Before moving on to Brussels, Mr. Zelenskyy stressed the importance of both U.S. and European participation in the negotiations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT; The things which are very important for today, I think unity between Europe and Ukraine and also
unity between Europe, Ukraine and the United States. There are some things which we can't manage without Americans, things which we can't manage
without Europe. And that's why we need to make some important decisions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Clare Sebastian spent the day outside 10 Downing Street. She's here with us now.
I mean, you've seen so many of these meetings unfold. We've been covering it and we keep talk about progress.
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah.
FOSTER: But there's still no deal.
SEBASTIAN: Right. I mean, I think the big question now is, have we just witnessed yet another flurry of diplomatic activity that then crashes hard
into a wall of Russian intransigence and falls apart? I think there's a risk, right?
Russia has already signaled over the weekend, the Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov, who's their key negotiator, saying that the U.S. document as it
stands, we don't exactly know which version he's talking about, but possibly something that's come out of talks with Ukraine would need radical
changes in order to be acceptable to Russia. So, they are already signaling that.
The U.S., the -- sorry, the European side and the Ukrainians, they want to see this momentum continue. They are desperately trying to force through
their perspective into this document. We now see that Zelenskyy says that he's left his national security advisers in London as he's gone on to
Brussels and then Rome to hash out the latest version of the plan. They hope it will be ready tomorrow night and then they'll send it to Trump.
But look, his own son, Trump's own son is now saying how unpredictable he is. So, we don't know what kind of reception that will get. And we've seen
Trump again critical of Zelenskyy leading into these talks today, saying that he was disappointed, of course, alleging that he hadn't read the peace
plan.
So, it isn't clear what's going to go, what's going to happen from here. But I think what is clear is the enormous pressure that's on Europe now,
right? They are having they've spent a year trying to convince Trump to support Ukraine to stay in this process, to put pressure on Russia. It's
not clear that it's worked at this point.
And if there isn't a good peace deal coming out of this, a lasting peace deal, as the Europeans always say, Europe faces an enormous uphill climb.
That's going to be the subject of debate in the coming weeks to finance Ukraine enough to keep them in the fight.
FOSTER: Any suggestion of where Trump's patience will run out with both sides?
SEBASTIAN: It's not clear at this point. There's been threats throughout, obviously, as you and I have seen, this sort of feels like a merry go round
at this point to walk away from this. But the motivation seems to continue to be the idea that he wants to add to his list of wars that he stopped
and, you know, pushed for potentially that Nobel Peace Prize.
This one, I think, is, difficult again, because of the inability of Russia to compromise. And I think the more you see the U.S. swing back to the
Russian perspective, the more you see the U.S. criticize Zelenskyy and criticize Europe, frankly, in the latest national security strategy, the
harder it gets, I think to bring Russia to the point of compromise, the more they feel emboldened by this process.
FOSTER: Clare Sebastian, thank you.
A separate peace agreement brokered by President Trump is in danger as fighting resumed today between Thailand and Cambodia. Both sides signed a
ceasefire deal in October, tying Cambodian leaders were sitting alongside President Trump during a ceremony in Malaysia.
As Ivan Watson reports, both sides have accused each other of launching attacks along their disputed border.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This latest round of fighting between Thailand and Cambodia marks the potential unraveling of a
peace plan presided over by U.S. President Donald Trump less than two months ago. Both Thailand and Cambodia have accused each other of strikes
along their disputed border Monday morning, and of spreading fake news about the conflict.
A Thai military official says that their air strikes were retaliation for a Cambodian attack earlier on Monday that killed a Thai soldier, and Thailand
says it only targeted military infrastructure.
Cambodia's ministry of national defense has denied those allegations, calling them false information in a statement on X.
The Royal Thai Air Force says around 70 percent of Thai civilians have been evacuated from border towns. One civilian is reported to have died during
the evacuation due to a preexisting medical condition.
Winding back the clock a little, Thailand and Cambodia fought a five-day border conflict in July that killed dozens of people and displaced about
200,000. It was the deadliest violence in recent years stemming from a border dispute that goes back generations. The two countries agreed to an
initial ceasefire in July, after both the Thai and Cambodian leaders held calls with U.S. President Trump.
An extended ceasefire declaration was signed in late October on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit. It was witnessed by Trump and Malaysian
Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
President Trump saw this as a major diplomatic victory, but on the ground, tensions began to rise again within just a couple of weeks. And now, with
the ceasefire on the verge of collapse, it's unclear whether the U.S. president will again personally involve himself in this conflict.
Ivan Watson, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Major earthquake has struck Japan, prompting a tsunami warning for nearby coastlines. The quake struck around 11:15 p.m. local time in
northeastern Japan, about 70 kilometers off the coast. That's about 44 miles. Residents are also being warned about the potential of future
aftershocks.
Our Hanako Montgomery has the latest from Tokyo.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A magnitude 7.6 earthquake was reported off Japan's northern coast, and a tsunami warning has now been
issued for three prefectures, Hokkaido, Aomori and Iwate prefectures.
Now, tsunami warning in Japan means that we could see waves of up to three meters hitting Japan's shores, the Japanese government has warned.
Residents living especially close to the shorelines of Japan to get to higher ground to evacuate to safety, while they still have time.
Now, the Japanese prime minister has also urged her government to respond to this disaster wholeheartedly and also putting all their efforts into
responding to this. Take a listen.
SANAE TAKAICHI, JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER: Working closely with local authorities and under the principle of putting human life first, the entire
government must devote its full efforts to emergency disaster response measures, including the rescue and relief of victims.
MONTGOMERY: Japan is no stranger to earthquakes, given that it is one of the most seismically active nations in the world. But of course, when a
huge earthquake like this one does hit Japan, it is extremely shocking for its residents, especially those who live close to the epicenter. We've seen
videos of people's homes looking, of course, completely tossed and turned in this earthquake. People shouting and obviously fearing for their lives.
Now I myself live in Tokyo, but I even felt the earthquake. I was actually just getting ready for bed when I felt my entire apartment shaking for at
least 30 seconds. The earthquake actually felt quite long, which can be jarring again for residents living in Japan.
Now, we are getting some preliminary reports about potential injuries, about potential damage. The chief cabinet secretary saying at a press
conference earlier on Tuesday morning, local time, that there are some reports of injuries in Aomori prefecture. He also added that there were
some calls made to ambulance services and also some fires reported in that prefecture.
He also added that the bullet train service between Aomori prefecture and Fukushima prefecture has been suspended for now, as they are continuing to
respond to this disaster.
Hanako Montgomery, CNN, Tokyo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Since Hanako filed that report, Japanese authorities have downgraded that tsunami warning to a tsunami advisory. We'll bring you more
updates as we get them.
Coming up, a Trump peace plan unravels as Thailand and Cambodia resume cross-border attacks. We'll talk to an expert about what may have gone
wrong.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:21:29]
FOSTER: Back to one of our top stories. Renewed cross-border fighting between Thailand and Cambodia could dismantle a U.S. brokered peace plan.
The Thai foreign minister tells CNN another agreement could be hammered out, but the U.S. may not be involved.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SIHASAK PHUANGKETKEOW, THAI FOREIGN MINISTER: We continue with the military operation until we feel that our sovereignty and territorial
integrity are not challenged. We're not really convinced that the joint declaration is working according to its intention. I think this is
something that we have to work out with Cambodia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: We don't know tonight is Donald Trump's peace deal about to fall apart?
Joining me now is Joshua Kurlantzick. He's a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Thank you for joining us, Joshua.
I mean, there's a long history of tension along this border, isn't there? So how serious is this one for you?
JOSHUA KURLANTZICK, SENIOR FELLOW, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: It's quite serious. And I would also say it's not about to fall out Trump's
apart -- Trump's peace deal is falling apart. It's quite serious because both sides have no reason to back down. The Thai military wants to look
strong. There's an upcoming election in Thailand, and the military plays a role in it.
Cambodia wants to look strong. They feel, incorrectly or not, that they were attacked this time first. So, there's really no reason for either side
to back down.
FOSTER: How do you expect it to move forward then? I mean, are we going to see similar incidents every night?
KURLANTZICK: Well, I don't expect it to move forward towards some sort of resolution anytime soon. I can't tell you every night, but I expect to find
to get worse. Yes.
Remember also that Thailand is by far a dominant military power over Cambodia. So, they have the ability to do largely what they want. But yes,
I expect to see a whole stream of incidents possibly ramping up with more displaced people, more casualties, et cetera.
FOSTER: And just explain this disputed border and how it's never been resolved, has it? The tension between the two sides and this line wasn't
drawn by them, obviously.
KURLANTZICK: I got to do that real quick. A long time ago the line was drawn by, in part by France, which was, Cambodia's former colonial power,
and in part with Thailand. Thailand was never colonized, and there were areas of the border that were left not clear, including one area this and
the area also contains a very prominent, very historic, very beautiful temple that both sides both sides claim.
FOSTER: In terms of what this means for Donald Trump's peace efforts, then do you think he's got a chance of resurrecting this one? If it does
continue?
KURLANTZICK: I think Donald Trump has got a staggering amount on his plate. Starting with the economy and the run up to the 2026 midterms, plus
Ukraine, plus a million other things, plus they just released the national security strategy. I don't think this is going to be a priority. And I
think also it's not a priority because he likes wins and there's no win forthcoming anytime soon in this.
[15:25:02]
FOSTER: Yeah, it's depressing, isn't it?
Joshua, thank you so much for joining us today.
Syria celebrating a year since a lightning rebel offensive toppled longtime dictator Bashar al Assad. Our troops are marching and tanks are rumbling
down streets across Syria today as people turn out for military parades. Others are driving in a caravan of cars, waving flags out of windows,
honking their horns with joy. Rebels led by Islamist Ahmed al-Sharaa seized Damascus on December the 8th last year, ending nearly 14 years of brutal
civil war and a half century of iron fisted rule by the Assad family.
Al-Sharaa, who is now president, began the day by performing prayers at dawn in military fatigues. Since he took power, he's managed to reshape
Syria's foreign ties, including with the United States, which once had a $10 million bounty on his head.
The president spoke with CNN's Christiane Amanpour in Qatar.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AHMED AL-SHARAA, SYRIAN PRESIDENT: Quite frankly, Syria has been through a number of serious phases over the past 100 years, particularly over the
past 60 years. Syria was living in a strong and extreme isolation, and it was living through a stifling economic embargo. The policies of the former
regime actually prompted the majority of regional players and international players to shy away from Syria. This time last year, yes, you were at the
Doha Forum and we were getting ready to storm Damascus, and we probably changed the plans for the Doha Forum back then, as we were advancing
militarily on Damascus.
Over the past year, Syria managed to regain a large number of its regional and international relations and ties. And I think we have gone beyond the
rapprochement phase and everything we promised. I believe that we've kept since we entered Damascus, and this has managed to build trust between us
and a large number of regional and international players.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: The president of Syria there.
Now, Donald Trump has said a lot of things about the immigrants ICE have arrested. When we come back, I will tell you about a new study that raises
major questions about the people Border Patrol is targeting.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:30:42]
FOSTER: A stunning new report cast serious doubt on Donald Trump's claim that his immigration crackdown is getting criminals off the streets. The
data deportation project looked at arrest records from immigration roundups that have been going on, going on since Trump took office. It found that
nearly 75,000 of the people arrested by ICE have no criminal record at all. A separate CNN study finds that only 10 percent of those arrested have a
serious criminal conviction in their background.
Our Priscilla Alvarez has been diving into all the numbers, and here's what she found out
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This data really backs up what we have been hearing anecdotally from attorneys, as well as advocates who have
worked with a lot of those immigrants who have been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and by U.S. Border Patrol over the last several
months. And many of these cases, there had not been criminal records. Yes, these were people who were in the United States illegally, but they did not
fall into the categories that the administration has repeatedly talked about, about national security and public safety threats, just based on
their records.
So, this data again shows that of the 220,000 arrests that have happened in these last nine months, nearly 75,000 people had no criminal records. This
is according to the Data Deportation Project, which, as you mentioned, is a group associated with U.S. Berkeley Law School.
Earlier this summer, though, we had been seeing similar data crop up. That is that less than 10 percent of immigrants taken into custody since this
was October of 2024 had any serious criminal convictions. So, this has been a trend that we have been seeing over the last several months, that is that
many of those taken in don't have these criminal records.
Now, Tom Homan, the White House border czar, was asked about ongoing operations, including the one happening in Minneapolis targeting
undocumented Somali immigrants and who exactly they're targeting. And this is what he had to say. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM HOMAN, WHITE HOUSE BORDER CZAR: We're looking for public safety threats to national security threats and illegal aliens. Nothing has
changed, Dana, from day one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALVAREZ: Now, this is something that I have also been hearing from my sources. Again, they continue and maintain that those that they are
targeting are public safety, national security threats. But that doesn't mean that if they are targeting someone who is a threat, that they won't
also take those around them. Those are called those, quote, collateral arrests. And those can be people who are here undocumented but may not have
a record.
We also see this with the U.S. Border Patrol operations in places like Chicago, charlotte and now New Orleans, as they do these sweeps, they may
just take people in based on reasonable suspicion. This all goes to show what we have been hearing and many of these incidents, which is that people
across the board who are undocumented in the United States are being taken in by federal immigration authorities and face deportation.
Many of these cases and in other cases are still trying to work through the immigration process while they are in detention is just overwhelming. With
around 66,000 people in detention now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Now, the final moments of trade on Wall Street stocks falling today. The Dow Jones down just over half of one percent.
This is our business breakout.
U.S. President Donald Trump says he will sign an executive order blocking states from regulating artificial intelligence. Critics worry the move
could allow companies to evade accountability should their tools cause harm. Mr. Trump says there should be one rule book for companies to follow.
IBM is buying data infrastructure company Confluent in a deal worth $11 billion. It'll allow IBM to ramp up its cloud computing offerings as it
seeks to capitalize on the boom in artificial intelligence. The deal is expected to close by the middle of next year. There's been a leadership
shakeup at Berkshire Hathaway ahead of the exit of legendary investor Warren Buffett. In a letter, the 95-year-old announced a number of staffing
changes, including the retirement of the company's CFO. Buffett will step down at the end of the year after six decades in charge.
International leaders and philanthropists have pledged nearly $2 billion to help fund efforts to wipe out polio. But the global polio eradication
initiative says a $440 million funding gap still exists. U.S. cuts to foreign aid and global health have partially driven that shortfall.
[15:35:02]
One of those donating to the cause is Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who's been critical of the Trump administration's cuts.
He spoke to CNN's Becky Anderson.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL GATES, MICROSOFT CO-FOUNDER: The final 1 percent has turned out to be very difficult. And, of course, that's going to be true in an eradication.
The toughest place on earth are where you're going to end up and here we have Afghanistan and Pakistan, and then parts of Africa where its spread
back, even though we did get to zero there.
So, you know, we have to keep vaccinating the kids. The disease goes away when you vaccinate 90 percent of the kids. The vaccines incredible. In
fact, we recently improved it.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: Bill, you have criticized the dismantling of USAID as a gigantic mistake. How costly do you believe the decisions coming
out of Washington have been on the global development agenda? Let's be frank here.
GATES: Yeah. What we saw in the first six months of the year, driven by the DOGE effort, was a complete cut off. You know, sudden, no plan, but
kind of a fight between DOGE and USAID. That ended with everybody at USAID getting fired. And so that was tragic.
Then there was a restoration Secretary Rubio, you know, came in and said, no, we need to bring some of this back. And so, the trend line is the years
gone on is to get some restoration. As we speak today, it's not clear whether we'll end up with the 10 percent cut, which we could handle and
drive new efficiency and innovation and be okay, or a 40 percent cut.
But I'm hopeful that the president and the Congress will take that in the right direction. And I certainly spending a lot of my time making the case
that, you know, the U.S. can't afford to continue to be generous and our values haven't changed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Bill Gates there and our international viewers can see more of that interview on "Connect the World" airs on Tuesday at 9:00 a.m. Eastern
Time, 6:00 p.m. in Abu Dhabi.
Well, still to come, the Hollywood front runner will tell you about the film that scored the most nominations today from the Golden Globes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:40:38]
FOSTER: It's the time of year when we begin to identify the best of the best from Hollywood. The Golden Globe nominations were announced today.
Leonardo DiCaprio's "One Battle After Another" scored nine nominations, including best musical or comedy director, screenplay. Numerous acting
nominations as well. The best drama list is led by "Sinners", which scored seven total nominations. Three of the six best drama nominees are foreign
language films, including Iranian director Jafar Panahi's acclaimed "It Was Just An Accident".
CNN entertainment correspondent, Elizabeth Wagmeister, has more on this year's "Golden Globes".
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Max, a big day for Leonardo DiCaprio's "One Battle After Another", which leads all
nominations on the film side with nine nominations. Following that film is sentimental value, and then Michael B. Jordans "Sinners", which was not
just a critically acclaimed film but also a huge box office hit.
Now on the television side, HBO's "The White Lotus" leads with the most nominations, followed by "Severance", which tied for the second most
nominations with Hulu's "Only Murders in the Building".
Now, the Golden Globes is often referred to as the biggest party of awards season. It is the first award show every year. It honors both television
and film, so you get a wide variety of stars. But the Golden Globes has faced a fair amount of criticism over the years for simply recognizing the
most famous celebrities out there.
And this year, make no mistake, you do have a ton of A-listers who are nominated. Everyone from Leonardo DiCaprio to Dwayne Johnson, who got his
first Golden Globe nomination, Julia Roberts and George Clooney are also among this year's nominees.
But this year, what's really being talked about in the industry is that the globe's actually honored many art house films, not just these commercial
films. So that is being well received in Hollywood today.
Now, what's maybe not being so well received is there's a new category called cinematic and box office achievement, and it has received some
pushback because people in the industry are saying, are we just honoring films for making the most money? And that's exactly what it is. But it's
also a way to get eyeballs on these award shows.
So, in that category, you are seeing some of these bigger box office hits, everything from the next "Avatar" movie, which hasn't come out yet. So, a
bit confusing how it got that box office achievement nomination and also "K-Pop Demon Hunters", which has been a huge hit but had a limited
theatrical release and was largely on Netflix.
Now, one last point, Max. This is the first year that podcasts are being honored at the Golden Globes. That means that Alex Cooper of "Call Her
Daddy" is now officially a Golden Globe nominee, along with podcast host Amy Poehler and Dax Shepard. Now that category had gotten quite a bit of
pushback because people were wondering, are political podcasts going to be honored? But political podcasts were shut out. So, it's more of the pop
culture podcast that seem to get the attention this year.
The Golden Globes, as I said, are the first awards show to kick off awards season, but we still have a little ways to go. They'll be in January after
the New Year's.
All right, back to you, Max.
FOSTER: Thank you to Elizabeth.
As we mentioned at the top of the show, Hollywood's award season comes as the industry is gripped by the real life drama of who will by Warner Bros.
And you can see why it's so valuable in this list. The studio scored the second most nominations in the movie categories today. The list was led by
Neon, which got a lot of nominations for the foreign films that it actually distributes.
Donald Trump was asked about the deal a few minutes ago in the Oval Office. He said he'd be looking at the company's market shares.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Talk about Netflix last night saying you have concerns about them.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know -- I know the company's very well. I know what they're doing, but I have to see -- I have
to see what percentage of market they have. We have to see the Netflix percentage of market. Paramount, the percentage of market. I mean, none of
them are particularly great friends of mine. You know, I just -- I want to -- I want to do what's right. So it's so very important to do what's right.
REPORTER: 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've never spoken to him about it. He's really trying to work on Gaza. I think his primary thing
is Gaza.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: So what we want to know is will the real life merger drama overshadow the party in Hollywood?
Joining me now is entertainment journalist Segun Oduolowu.
Thank you so much for joining us. I mean, it's going to be a big topic of conversation this award season, isn't it?
SEGUN ODUOLOWU, ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST: It's absolutely going to be a large topic of conversation, Max. And first of all, let me first talk about
that leather jacket that you're wearing, which is absolutely fantastic. That's what I want to know about. But realistically, I'm not sure what
President Trump was saying, because what do we need to know? Youve got the biggest, baddest bully on the block, Netflix, trying to buy its competitor.
That screams monopoly. Together they would pretty much run streaming and film.
It makes sense for Netflix because they've got money to throw around, and if the deal goes through, they would have a monopoly. Like I've said
before, just with what they can show you and who they can show it to, they're in different homes, countries, they're already doing film and
television. And with that library that Warner Bros. has now, the streaming giant just starts swallowing up competition.
Now that we have at the, you know, at a late stage moment, Paramount and Skydance trying to come in and, and muddy up the waters. But this feels
like an episode of "Succession" when a media giant is trying to be bought or broken up for pieces. So, keep your eyes peeled, because a lot of people
are affected by this.
FOSTER: Are you concerned, then, that any consolidation is going to be bad for consumers?
ODUOLOWU: I'm absolutely. I can't stress how much I'm concerned. First and foremost, creators of color, we are going to find pools shrinking
tremendously. Where are you going to start putting and submitting when you can, instead of being able to go to multiple sources? Now you can only go
to one. We've already seen a pullback in DEI, which is affecting the product that's coming out. But now I can raise that -- those rates of what
I'm giving to consumers.
So, let's think about it. Netflix has steadily been raising its rates. I remember when they delivered DVDs and it cost you $7.99 a month, $7.99. We
haven't seen that price in years.
And $89 billion, which was what they've pitched for Warner Bros. Discovery, it's coming back to us, the consumer. That money needs to be raised
somewhere. And if they're the only person there, the only streamer or the biggest streamer on the block, then you can bet we're going to feel it in
our pockets.
FOSTER: So, you're talking about market share. Donald Trump's talking about market share as well. But, actually, Brian Stelter earlier was saying
a big debate with the regulators is actually what is the market because these companies claim to be competing with YouTube and a much broader
market, which is all the media companies, plus all the tech companies. And when you look at it like that, Netflix or, you know, Paramount, if they go
ahead with this merger, won't be as big as you think.
ODUOLOWU: Yeah, that's a shell game. And that always screams funny money.
So, if you say you're competing with YouTube and other sources -- well, yeah, in the -- in the totality, you're competing for attention span. And I
can take YouTube on my phone wherever I go. So yeah, maybe there's a little bit of validity to that. But realistically, you're trying to get people
sitting at home on their sofas that are going to think of or look for something to watch, and you want them to be you. You want when I'm putting
my phone down and I'm sitting down to dinner, I'm watching Netflix or it's Netflix and chill, or I'm watching what Warner Bros. Discovery has to
offer, and I'm watching their news services.
So no, it isn't -- it isn't that the market share is that big. Just look at the streaming numbers. As you pointed out earlier when you were talking to
Elizabeth Wagmeister, when you see those nominations of the streamers, right?
Look at the Golden Globes. In the best drama category. Three of the shows come from Apple, right? Most of the streaming services are what we're
watching. If you let two of the biggest merge together, I don't need a degree in math, mine's in journalism, but I don't need a degree in math to
understand the market share.
FOSTER: Okay, here's my other devil's advocate question. This is the -- you know, execs in the industry might say, you know, they're really
struggling to make money from big movies, streamings struggling to make money. They're competing with the tech companies.
So, this is a way of saving the content we all love by creating much bigger companies so they can consolidate and make the big movies that we want,
which at the moment are looking less and less efficient.
ODUOLOWU: I would say that that is a load of horse, and I can't say that on television what that really is, because when has big companies ever
thought about the little guy?
[15:50:06]
When has it ever been in the little guys or the little woman's benefit when big companies get even bigger? And if we want to talk about why the box
office is suffering, it's because what they're offering us is dreck. I mean, "Wicked: For Good," yeah. No, that -- it ain't that good. "Zootopia
2", I didn't ask for that.
And those are the two biggest movies of the year so far. We're coming off the worst October in 30 years because it's a bunch of retreads and repeats
and intellectual property that isn't that smart. And I don't want to live on that property.
We need more ideas. We need better ideas. And that comes from diversity. We preach diversity in everything we do, in the foods that we eat, in our
stock portfolios and our friend groups have varied interests. Why would the conglomeration of two big companies make it better for what we have to
watch? We'd be dictated to what we can see.
And no, I don't -- I don't -- I don't think that's the case at all.
FOSTER: A great perspective, Segun. Thank you so much for joining us. Love your jacket, too.
ODUOLOWU: Always a pleasure. Look at us. Stylish.
FOSTER: Another reminder, Warner Bros. Discovery is the parent company of CNN.
Now, Paris's top museum has had a run of bad luck. Let's just say that. A jewelry heist and now a busted pipe causing chaos. More on the leaky Louvre
just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: The Louvre, this has some big problems recently. First, it was jewel heist, now it's a water leak.
Melissa Bell has more from Paris.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: More difficult headlines for the Louvre Museum here in Paris is the world's most visited
museum, it seems had some sort of water leak back in November that caused damage to some 300 to 400 books in its Egyptian antiquities department.
We understand from museum directors that none of these were particularly precious first editions. Simply 19th or 20th century books that were
consulted by Egyptologists. And there is some hope that many of them can be restored.
Still another difficult headline. Just weeks after that spectacular October heist that so captured the worlds attention. Even now, the jewels have not
been recovered. There have been a number of arrests, however, four of the suspected burglars and several of those believed to have been their
accomplices have been arrested. The search continues, though, for the jewels themselves.
[15:55:01]
There was also, we understand, in the autumn, one of the galleries that houses Egyptian vases and certain offices that had to be closed because of
structural concerns. And what we saw just a few weeks ago was the publication here in France from France's public audit body, the Cour des
Comptes, accusing the museum of having overspent on acquiring art at the expense of refurbishing its ancient infrastructure. That report, of course,
coming after the heist and really pointing to a lack of deficiencies in the updating of the museums infrastructure and security.
And if all that were not enough, there will also now be a strike by some of the museum staff on 15th of December. They are complaining about working
conditions and the difficulty that comes from that poor infrastructure that I mentioned.
So, a difficult few months here for the Louvre Museum in Paris.
Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Say the least.
I'm Max Foster. That's WHAT WE KNOW.
Stay with CNN. More after the break.
END
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