In this segment, Dennis Prager and a co‑host examine recently released tapes that allegedly capture CNN President Jeff Zucker pressuring journalists, including a directive to "nail" Kellyanne Conway. Prager emphasizes how unusual it is for a corporate CEO to intervene directly in editorial decisions, describing the tapes as evidence of political agenda enforcement. The co‑host likens Zucker’s behavior to the editorial control exercised by the Soviet newspaper Pravda, suggesting a lack of journalistic independence at CNN. They also question whether AT&T, CNN’s parent company, is comfortable with Zucker’s actions. The discussion notes that the story has generated over a million tweets—a record for their platform—yet CNN has remained silent, indicating a strategic decision to withhold a response despite public pressure.
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Hi, this is Dennis Prager, and this is what you missed yesterday on the show. What people have told me, Dennis, is that it's very unusual for a company president or CEO to be literally on the phone with people as they're on the air, which is one of the tapes show. He's telling— he's barking, put pressure on Kellyanne Conway. The direct quote from the tape is effing nail her. It's highly unusual for a company CEO or president to be barking political agenda orders on the phones with these journalists, which is what is happening in these tapes.
I say the following literally. I do not engage in hyperbole. I may be wrong, but I believe this literally. I think he would have fit in well as one of the editors at Pravda. This is exactly what they did. They would bark at people to what to say, what to focus on. News gathering is not a value to Jeff Zucker. Do you think that there are people, I don't, but maybe you do, you think, maybe we have no way of knowing, you think that people at AT&T are happy with Jeff Zucker?
No, I don't think so. I mean, there's a lot at stake, this is a publicly traded company, so. There hasn't been a crack that has formed, Dennis, in their response. They're not saying a word. The thing has gotten over 1 million tweets, which is a record as far as I'm aware of anything that we have done. It's achieved total social media critical mass, and no one at CNN has uttered a word about this. So they're keeping all their ducks in a row, but there's more to come, and I do think that they're going to have to— at some point they're going to have to issue some type of response.
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