Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

CNN Employees Freaking Out Over Possibly Working For Trump-Friendly Owner

Screenshot/Rumble/CNN

Employees at CNN “have real concerns ”about the network’s future after Paramount won a bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN senior media analyst Brian Stelter reported Friday.

Netflix ended its efforts to acquire the media conglomerate that owns CNN after Paramount offered $31 a share, which the board of Warner Bros. determined was a superior offer to the $27.75 a share offered by Netflix, PBS reported. Stelter questioned if Paramount CEO David Ellison, the son of Oracle founder and Trump fundraiser Larry Ellison, would respect CNN’s “editorial independence” given his relationship with President Donald Trump.

“Well, number one, nothing changes today, nothing changes tomorrow, no changes right away. This deal will take months to complete, at a minimum. I’m told Paramount would like to take control of the Warner assets this fall, but some states attorney generals, they might throw up roadblocks,” Stelter told “Situation Room” co-host Wolf Blitzer. “Here’s what I know, having covered this bidding war for months. Paramount executives have privately talked about their admiration for CNN, for the news gathering muscle and the global reach of CNN.”

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“They’ve also talked about the prospect of possibly combining or merging CNN with the CBS News news division,” Stelter continued. “That type of merger has been talked about for decades by past executives, but it’s never happened. It makes a lot of sense on paper, but it would actually be hard to achieve for a variety of reasons.”

Larry Ellison held a fundraiser for Trump in February 2020, according to Business Insider. He also met regularly with Trump in 2025, according to OpenSecrets. Ellison joined other tech company CEOs at the White House in January 2025 to announce a $500 billion investment in infrastructure for artificial intelligence.

David Ellison, who reportedly took steps to address complaints from Trump after CBS News was criticized over the editing of an interview of Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, named Free Press founder Bari Weiss as CBS News editor-in-chief in October 2025. Weiss since has reorganized the news division, including closing down its “race and culture” unit and brought town halls to the Tiffany network whose guests included Turning Point USA CEO Erika Kirk.

David Ellison attended Tuesday’s State of the Union address as a guest of Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.

“Now, more broadly, CNN employees and viewers have real concerns about whether Paramount CEO David Ellison will uphold the editorial independence that CNN is known for,” Stelter claimed. “There has been severe political turbulence in recent months, and President Trump has long sought to weaken CNN.”

“Last December, Trump said, ‘It’s imperative that CNN be sold,’” Stelter continued. “And now that is what’s happening. So far, Paramount has not yet commented on its victory in this bidding war against Netflix or telegraphed its intentions for CNN. And recent controversies at CBS News have unsettled and unnerved journalists there.”

Left-wing activists were angered after Weiss ordered CBS News to postpone airing a “60 Minutes” segment on El Salvador’s CECOT prison, claiming it was done to appease Trump, although the segment later aired. CBS News also changed their style guide to adopt the term “biological sex” when discussing transgender issues.

“Ellison has talked in recent months about how he wants to sustain the news business in the United States, and he’s talked about his belief that ‘the majority of the country longs for news that is balanced and is fact-based,’” Stelter said “And, Wolf, that sure sounds a lot like CNN’s mission. A lot of similarities here. And the bottom line is, CNN is a highly profitable business, and it would seem foolish for anyone to put that at risk.”

CNN is a distant third in ratings, according to TV Insider, drawing an average of 807,000 people during primetime, compared with 2.61 million for Fox News and 1.14 million for MSNOW (formerly MSNBC). CNN’s revenues have been between $1.8 billion and $1.9 billion, while it is projected to make about $600 million before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization are taken into account, the Hollywood Reporter reported.