Mehdi Hasan & Joy Reid ERUPT on CNN’s MAGA Pundit in Explosive LIVE Clash!

the sort of over-the-top behaviors are sort of a doubleWE performance, but you know, he's an idiot. He's the, you know, unfortunately the president of the United States. Scott uh Jennings is he's not a journalist, but he's on a network that is supposed to be journalistically inclined. >> Hey everyone, welcome back. This story is absolutely unbelievable because three former mainstream media journalists, Jim Aosta, Joy Reed, and Mie Hassan, recently sat down together and began revealing how cable news has been quietly compromised from the inside. They talk openly about everything from CBS executives admitting that certain politicians are actually good for business to a CNN pundit confessing on camera that his entire on-air persona is basically an act. When you hear what is said during this conversation, it becomes much easier to understand why so many people have completely lost faith in corporate media. Stay with me until the end because the final part of this discussion dives into something television networks almost never address on air. And once you hear it, the double standard becomes so obvious that it is honestly shocking. Let's get into it. >> Mainstream media has had problems for a long time in this country. And it's funny you should mention CBS. Les Moonveves famously in 2015 said about Donald Trump, he's bad for America but good for CBS. Right? So that was he was the former owner of CBS News. So they were very open about the fact that people like Donald Trump are good for the bottom line. >> And the bottom line is when you think that way, you think we don't want to insult his supporters too much. so that if in Minnesota um you know they can see that I shot a white Christian mom in the face, we need to figure out a way to make the news of that less painful for right-wingers so that maybe they'll watch us. And so what you wind up getting is reporting on the Tiffany network, the network where Walter Konhite used to work where, you know, that >> uh the shooter maybe had internal injuries, even though you could see him scamper away after shooting this woman and calling her an effing bee, you can see that he was fine. But now based on no sourcing, just based on a couple of anonymous sources, but the 60 Minutes article that was already had gone through legal and was already being promoted needed more work. >> Yeah. >> And they pulled that SECOT story on the pulled on the El Salvador in prison. And then, you know, the reason why they put it out there is they said, "Oh, we want to talk to an administration official." And then they never got that person on camera. >> I got to say something to these guys here. We were saying in the green room beforehand. We have to say though, thank God our fascists are so dumb, >> right? Cuz if we had smart fascists, >> this would be over already. We wouldn't be sitting here. And and and exhibit A I would give in terms of our discussion is Donald Trump now has a media that has enthralled him. He's managed. He doesn't just have Fox, he has social media, he has Zuckerberg, he has Musk, he has CBS. Um he may get CNN at some point. Um and yet instead of just quietly loving it and taking advantage of it, he has to throw it in people's faces. Yes. So he goes on CBS News, he's interviewed by Tony Dopal and he goes, "Well, you wouldn't have a job if Carla Harris won." And it's like, "That's the quiet part out loud." And poor old Tony then says, "I wrote it down." Tony waits till the end of the interview. He says, "For the record, I do think I'd have this job even if the other guys won." And Trump says, >> "Yeah, but at a lesser salary." >> Yeah. >> And you got to hand it to Trump. He's good at that. Yeah. He's good at just humiliating people in front of him. >> Good comic timing. >> Yeah. But how humiliating? like the president of United States is on your show saying you have this job and this salary because of me. >> And I will tell you this is why you know going back to when I was doing it over the White House, my sense of it was let them have it. You know what I mean? Do not hold back. I mean, we're not going to go bowling with these folks. As a matter of fact, they I had some administration officials tell me one time, Jim, we do these bowling nights over at the uh you know, the bowling alley over at the White House. The one person we're not allowed to invite is you. >> That's a true story. >> Badge of honor. >> I know. Badge of honor. But but >> but that is a problem right for our media. This is something we've seen in the US, in the UK, around the world. I saw it in the British press corp. Uh this idea that you kind of are pretend nasty to each other during the day, but everyone's super friendly at night and goes to the same parties. And you're always reminded of George Carlin, which is it's one big club and you ain't in it. And that is our media and politics right now. But the problem becomes, you know, when when you have a deranged Trump supporter like Caesar Seyok sending pipe bombs to CNN and sending pipe bombs around the country to people that do Donald Trump has demonized, that is a dangerous place to be. And I don't, you know, we joke around a lot about CBS and Tony Douple and they deserve it. But we're not out of the woods and this danger is still with us. >> This is exactly what people need to understand about how corporate media has been broken for years. When Medi brings up that famous Llays Mumbus quote saying, "He may be bad for America, but he is good for CBS." That single sentence captures the entire problem. This was never some hidden secret. The former CBS executive openly admitted that Chaos and Division Drive profits. They understood exactly what they were encouraging, and they continued anyway because the ratings kept climbing. What makes it even worse is that they do not just chase ratings by covering chaos. They often soften their coverage to avoid pushing away right-wing viewers. When something terrible happens, they twist themselves into knots trying to make it sound less offensive. That is not journalism. That is fear disguised as neutrality. Then Medi delivers one of the most brutally honest lines you will ever hear when he says, "Thank God our fascists are so incompetent." Because if they were actually smart, we would not even be having this conversation. They would have quietly consolidated power without bragging about it. Instead, what happens is a politician goes on CBS, sits down with Tony Dookupill and tells him directly that he would not even have a job if Camala Harris had won. When Tony tries to challenge him near the end of the interview, the response comes back that maybe he would have a job, but it would come with a much smaller salary. Be very clear about what that moment represents. That is not casual joking. That is not friendly banter. That is a political leader telling a journalist that his career depends on political favor. That is authoritarian behavior unfolding in real time and the network simply airs it. There is no correction, no strong defense of editorial independence, nothing. They allow the moment to stand because they are afraid of losing access. This is what happens when media companies care more about access than accountability. They slowly turn into extensions of power instead of watchd dogs over it and the public can already sense it. That is why trust in mainstream media is at historic lows. That is why independent voices are growing so quickly because people are tired of being misled by institutions that claim to be neutral while quietly bending the knee behind closed doors. >> Well, on that note, let's broaden it beyond CBS. Uh Joy, not Jim, for obvious reasons. Let's talk about CNN. >> Um Joy, just over the weekend, just over the weekend, Scott Jennings, CNN's resident MAGA pundit, >> popular guy here at the Howard Theater tonight. >> Worse booze than Barry Weiss. Oh god. >> Wow. He said we should not get our knickers in a twist >> in reference to the Epstein story. A horrible phrase to use in general. A horrible phrase in particular to use on that story. Um thankfully the other panelists called him out. He then made some racist remarks about all Palestinians being Hamas. Um >> he's used to doing this. >> Yes. He recently did an interview with Adam Freriedeland in which he said that he described his on-air performances as a quote mixture of showbiz and WWE. >> Why is a news network paying this man to give his opinions if he himself is admitting it's all a game, it's all a performance. >> And and you know, I had a guest on the Detroit Reo that actually described Donald Trump who is in the WWE Hall of Fame that that's what he's doing, right? The sort of over-the-top behaviors are sort of a WWE performance, but you know, he's an idiot. He's the, you know, unfortunately the president of the United States. Scott, uh, Jennings is, he's not a journalist, but he's on a network that is supposed to be journalistically inclined. Um, and and I'll start by saying I think the biggest scandal about Scott Jennings that I cannot explain is that he's supposedly only 48 years old. I cannot accept that. He looks >> it's like a Brendan Carr thing. It's >> it's insane. Like he had a he had a bad paper round. That's what they say in the UK. >> He's aging poorly. If he's only 48, I I don't even know what to say. I mean, I I I can't believe he's not very much old. >> Is this what switching to MAGA does to you? >> I I suppose so. MAGA makes you makes you age. Um, but but the other piece of it is it's such a tell that he actually wasn't embarrassed to say that on camera. Yes. >> So, he's not only admitting that what he's doing is a performance, right? He's performing for Trump. He's performing for Trump supporters. >> The over the top facial expression, >> over the top, the snarky, the sminess, snarkiness, all of it that it's it's it's it's and he knows it. But he's willing to say it because I don't think that he even takes the CNN audience um seriously enough or respect them enough. >> His audience is in the White House >> is is right. And so it CNN is is employing someone who has no respect for their audience and is doing a WWE performance for one person. And to me that says much more about CNN >> and their leadership than it does about elderly and weirdly young Scott. Now, this is where the conversation becomes truly unbelievable. Scott Jennings, who is CNN's regular conservative commentator, recently appeared on a podcast and openly admitted that his performances on television are basically a mix of show business and professional wrestling style entertainment. In other words, not journalism and not serious debate, but performance. He said this openly while being recorded, and he did not seem embarrassed about it at all. Think about the implications of that for a moment. Every time you see him on CNN making some outrageous claim, flashing that confident smirk and acting like he just defeated his opponents in an argument, he is admitting that it is an act. It is not genuine conviction. It is theater. And CNN clearly knows this. Yet they continue to put him on television and pay him anyway. Joy Reed explains the issue perfectly when she points out that he is not a journalist. Yet he appears on a network that claims to value journalism. That contradiction captures the entire problem. CNN wants viewers to take them seriously as a news organization, but at the same time they are platforming someone who openly treats the audience like extras in a performance designed for a single viewer. And who is that viewer supposed to be? It is not the people watching at home trying to understand the news. According to Joy, the real audience for that performance is the person sitting in the White House. That is who he's trying to impress. That is who the act is meant for. She makes it clear when she says CNN is employing someone who openly shows no respect for the audience while putting on a professional wrestling star performance aimed at one powerful individual. What makes this even more frustrating is that media literacy is already dangerously low. People struggle to know which sources they can trust. Misinformation spreads everywhere. Yet CNN responds to this crisis by putting someone on air who openly admits he is playing a character. How does that help rebuild trust in journalism? The truth is that it does not. It erodess trust even further. And the sad reality is that the network does not seem concerned because conflict generates attention. Drama attracts viewers. And in the end, those ratings are what matter most to them. >> Yeah. There was a time, I think, at all of the cable networks where, you know, you had to tell the truth. I mean, you can have an opinion, but you had to tell the truth, and you had to do it in a respectful way. That's right. And when we're talking about something as serious as the Epstein files, which Donald Trump, you know, I mean, today he was showing pictures of uh immigrants that he accused of being rapists and so on. And and my thought to that was, you know, there there's some stuff in the Epstein files that could be released if you want to put that out there, but he hasn't done that. >> But we have a president I mean, I I sometimes I have to step back and remind myself we have a person sitting in the White House who is an adjudicated, civily adjudicated sexual abuser. We know the woman's name, Eugene Carol. We could interview her at any time. She exists. And there are about 23 other women who have similar accusations. But he's never asked about it. To go back to the White House asked about it. He's never asked about it. And there is a there is a person who filed a lawsuit against Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein who claimed that she was abused, raped as a child. That exists. It's something that was released in the Epstein files. We never ask about it. We don't inquire about it. This man committed record fraud. Yet we're supposed to take seriously that he's very concerned about fraud in Minnesota. I mean every day. >> Well, he keeps pardoning fraudsters every day. >> And he pardons fraudsters. So it's fine. >> Oh, that's right. I forgot. I keep forgetting. That's right. And they paid him. >> Before I go to the audience, Joe, I got to ask you this. One of the biggest discrepancies I think many people would argue, especially in our audience tonight, I would guess uh between major media outlets and now independent media is the coverage of Gaza. Then Joy Reed steps in and calmly lays out facts that very few people in mainstream media seem willing to discuss anymore. She reminds the audience that the person currently sitting in the White House has been found liable in a civil court for sexual abuse. Not accused and not simply alleged, but ruled liable by a court of law. The woman involved has a name, Eugene Carol. She came forward, she testified, and a jury believed her account. On top of that, there are roughly 23 other women who have made similar accusations. What makes this situation so frustrating is how differently it would be handled if it involved almost any other public figure. If another political leader or celebrity had that kind of record, it would be mentioned constantly in profiles, interviews, and news coverage. Yet, in this case, the topic is rarely raised. Members of the White House press corp almost never ask about it. Major Sunday talk shows avoid the subject. It is treated as though it never happened. That silence reveals just how broken the system has become. The media is no longer consistently holding powerful people accountable. In many ways, it is shielding them. It sends the message that credible accusations and legal rulings simply do not matter if the person involved holds enough power. That is exactly why independent media has become so important today. The institutions that people once trusted have failed to live up to their responsibilities. They have chosen access over integrity and profit over principle. The only voices consistently calling this out are often those without massive corporate owners controlling what they can say. Journalism once followed a few simple principles. Speak the truth, challenge those in power, and amplify voices that would otherwise be ignored. Somewhere along the way, many of the largest media corporations abandoned those principles. Perhaps they did not forget them at all. Perhaps they simply decided those values were no longer profitable. And that reality should concern every one of us. Because when the press stops acting as a check on power and instead becomes a tool that serves it, democratic systems rarely remain healthy for long.

In this intense discussion, former mainstream media journalists Jim Acosta, Joy Reid, and Mehdi Hasan speak out about what they believe are major failures inside corporate news networks like CNN, CBS, and MSNBC. The panel debates how political pressure, ratings, and profit motives may be influencing modern journalism and shaping how major stories are reported. They discuss issues such as press freedom, media bias in international conflict coverage, and the growing tension between corporate media and independent journalism. The conversation also touches on the risks journalists face, the role of cable news personalities, and whether today’s media landscape prioritizes spectacle over accountability. The debate raises serious questions about the future of journalism and whether independent voices are becoming more important as public trust in traditional media continues to decline. ⭐ Fair Use Disclaimer: This video may include portions of copyrighted material used for commentary, criticism, news reporting, teaching, and research under Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act (Fair Use). All original content remains the property of its respective owners. 📌 Content Context: The discussion in this video is based on publicly available information, opinions, and media reports. It is intended for educational and informational purposes and should not be taken as definitive factual conclusions. 🎯 Intent: This content is not intended to defame, harass, or misrepresent any individuals or organizations. The goal is to encourage open discussion, media analysis, and critical thinking about current political and media issues.