Secrets of Trump Destroying CBS Finally Revealed

0:00Seriously, why aren't Democrats in Washington doing more to stop Trump? I know. Have you heard about Phil Weiser in Colorado, though? No. Is he different? Yeah. A.G. Weiser sued the Trump administration 65 times. He's beating Trump in court again and again. Things like protecting Obamacare against Trump's illegal tariffs. And he even won against Ticketmaster. So he actually gets results. Exactly. As governor, Phil will fight for Colorado. Paid for by Phil Weiser for Colorado Registered Agent Nannan Noskezi. Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile, with a message for everyone paying big wireless way too much.

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2:04Things like protecting Obamacare against Trump's illegal tariffs. And he even won against Ticketmaster. So he actually gets results. Exactly. As governor, Phil will fight for Colorado. Paid for by Phil Weiser for Colorado registered agent, Anna Neskazi.

2:19Michael Popok:Independent journalism is under attack. No, I'm not just talking about legal LAF and the Midas Touch Network, 60 Minutes, according to a correspondent, a senior correspondent there, Sharon Alfonsi, and a newly released internal memo protesting the spiking of her story this past Sunday to cover the torture prison of SICOT in El Salvador, the Trump administration's virtual control over it, having interviewed hundreds of prisoners at great courage and risk to do it. That story, according to the reporter, was spiked by Barry Weiss, the new editor-in-chief of CBS, brought in after Donald Trump settled with CBS and with its parent company, Paramount, to the tune of up to$30 million, required them to have an ombudsperson on board and hire a new head of 60 Minutes and CBS News in the form of Barry Weiss, all because his buddy, Donald Trump's buddy, Larry Ellison's Nepo baby son, David Ellison, was buying the channel.

3:23Michael Popok:Suddenly, all the approvals that were being threatened suddenly came flying out. And then when the first important story for 60 Minutes came out just a couple of months after the settlement, it gets killed. It gets spiked by 60 Minutes. And thank God for Sharon Alfonsi coming forward. That memo is now public. I'm going to read it to you here on the Midas Touch Network. And you can see the context that we're talking about. We're on YouTube. We're on podcasts. We're not regulated by Donald Trump. We don't have outside investors. You see what happens when an amazing reporter courageously like Sharon Alfonsi tries to do a story to tell the American people about other human beings being tortured and the Trump administration being complicit in it.

4:10Michael Popok:and they get a veto because, quote, unquote, they wouldn't be interviewed for the story. How many 60 minutes exposes and investigative reporting had an element of it where the correspondent, whether it was Mike Wallace, the late, great Mike Wallace or someone else looked at the camera and said, we asked for a comment from the government and we couldn't provide it. Sometimes you can get the gotcha and sometimes you can't. It can't be the, well, we can't get an interview. Therefore, you know, two sides. No, it's investigative journalism, Barry Weiss. You don't need two sides to the story. You just need enough corroborating evidence and witnesses to tell your truth.

4:47Michael Popok:And according to Sharon Alfonsi, this got vetted five times, including by legal at CBS, before it was about to air this Sunday. That page is now down. You go to that CBS page, that page is down. I'm Michael Popak. We're up. We're on Midas Touch. Hit the free subscribe button here Thank you for everyone that contributed to Legal AF YouTube channel, getting to 1 million subscribers this week, this weekend, in just about a year's time. Let me read to you from Sharon Alfonsi's missive, her memo, her broadside against her employer. At great, I am sure, at great sacrifice and personal risk. invitation to Sharon Alfonsi something goes wrong in 60 minutes come over to Midas Dutch come over to Legal AF let's talk here's what's been reported from her memo posted by Sharon's by Brian Stelter news team this is her internal memo thank you for the notes and text I apologize for not reaching out earlier I learned on Saturday that Barry Weiss spiked our story inside Seacott, which was supposed to air tonight.

6:00Michael Popok:We asked for a call to discuss her decision. She did not afford us that courtesy or opportunity. Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and standards and practices. There's also an ombudsperson that Donald Trump forced them as part of the settlement over the 60 minutes interview with Kamala Harris, where he didn't like the editing around her responses. They settled for$30 million, including$15 million worth of propaganda public service announcements for the Trump administration. That's why we said Tiffany Network done, CBS done, 60 Minutes done. We said that several months ago.

6:40Michael Popok:Here's Exhibit A, everybody. First major story critical of the Trump administration, kill switch. Here's what the reporter said. We requested responses to question and or interviews with Department of Homeland Security, the White House, State Department, government silence is a statement, not a veto. Their refusal to be interviewed is a tactical maneuver designed to kill the story. Listen to these words she wrote. If the administration's refusal to participate becomes a valid reason to spike a story, we've effectively handed them a kill switch for any reporting they find inconvenient. If the standard for airing a story becomes the government must agree to be interviewed, then the government gains control over the 60 minutes broadcast.

7:27Michael Popok:We go from investigative powerhouse to a stenographer for the state, a propagandist. These men, she means the seat-caught prisoners and the reporters, risk their lives to speak with us. We have a moral and professional obligation to the sources who entrusted us with their stories. Abandoning them now is a portrayal of the most basic tenet of journalism, giving voice to the voiceless. We know that torture is going on there because Armando Abrego Garcia, the only guy to get out of there and be able to get back to the United States because of the Supreme Court ruling in his favor, his lawyers said in their filings that upon arrival at the Seacott prison, he was tortured upon arrival.

8:12Michael Popok:Multiply that by thousands, including sexual abuse. That was going to be the story of inside CICOT. And we already know from prior filings in the two lawsuits involving Abrego Garcia, including from the UN and responses from El Salvador to the UN Human Rights Watch, that the Trump administration effectively controls what happens in CICOT prison with its own detainees. There were 250 Venezuelan detainees. They're not being tortured any longer in CICOT prison because they got exchanged by Donald Trump in a prisoner swap with Venezuela, a country we are purportedly at war with. Holiday headlines, family debates, and group texts that won't quit.

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10:27Michael Popok:Mike Wallace, famous now deceased reporter, journalist for 60 Minutes, was going to run a whole story. And the legal department at 60 Minutes killed it because of big tobacco. They eventually released the story. They almost ruined Wygand's life and all those associated with it, including Don Ewitt, the producer. sir. And that was a huge black eye on that quote unquote Tiffany network in 60 minutes. Did they learn their lesson? No. She and Sharon Alfonsi reminds them of that in the memo when she says CBS spiked the Jeffrey Wigand interview due to legal concerns, nearly destroying the credibility of this broadcast.

11:07Michael Popok:It took years to recover from that low point. By pulling this story to shield an administration, we're repeating that history. But for political optics rather than legal ones. I care too much about this broadcast, she writes. We're trading 50 years of gold standard reputation for a single week of political quiet as if somebody else isn't going to run this story. Here's what Senator Markey had to say about it last night. He said, this is what government censorship looks like. Trump approved the Paramount Skydance merger. He used his FCC, Federal Communications Commission chairperson, Brendan Carr, to threaten the licenses of CBS over the 60 Minutes interview.

11:46Michael Popok:He then weighed in with his big fat thumb in the transaction and got a settlement with 60 Minutes and CBS as a condition of approving the merger. Let's be frank. Marky, Senator Marky says, a few months later, CBS News' editor-in-chief kills a deeply reported story critical of Trump, a sad day for 60 Minutes and journalism. And similarly, Brian Schatz, he said, what is happening to CBS is a terrible embarrassment. And if executives think they can build shareholder value by avoiding journalism, that might offend the Mad King. They're about to learn a tough lesson. This is still America, and we don't enjoy bullshit like this.

12:26Michael Popok:Do you see why we created the Midas Touch Network five, six years ago? Why we created Legal AF, the YouTube channel, over a year ago? Why collectively almost 7 million people get their news and information, especially about law and politics, from these channels. You see, you can't trust 60 Minutes. I'm not blaming Sharon Alfonso. Alfonso, we knew this was going to happen when the settlement happened. We just didn't know it happened this quickly and this publicly about this particular issue. This is a Stephen Miller special too, because Stephen Miller within the Trump administration is the architect of all things, Alien Enemies Act, the detention and removal of people working with Homeland Security.

13:07Michael Popok:Yes, you can blame Christie, no, but it's really Stephen Miller. He's the domestic president for this particular issue. And I'm sure he's the one that spiked the story, made the phone call. Barry Weiss, she was brought in particularly from quote unquote new media to take over 60 minutes, to take over the journalistic integrity there. She doesn't even have the courtesy or the balls to meet with her correspondent to say why the stories being spiked. Instead, they come out with, it needs more reporting. It was about to go live on Sunday, you nimrod. You want us to believe it needed more reporting?

13:46Michael Popok:From who? From the interview that's never going to be granted by the Trump administration, hence the kill switch that the reporter, the correspondent is talking about. We're going to follow it closely here. We're glad you're here on Midas Touch. And again, thank you so much for the bottom of our heart, for helping make Legal AF YouTube cross the 1 million subscriber threshold. We have over 400 million reviews. We've only been up and running a year. We've got a full slate of interviews and reporting for you today and commentary. 10 videos every day, new videos every day up on Legal AF. Take a moment, hit the subscribe button below.

14:24Michael Popok:Until my next report, I'm Michael Popak. Can't get your fill of Legal AF? Me neither. That's why we formed the Legal AF Substack. Every time we mention something in a hot take, whether it's a court filing or a oral argument, come over to the Substack. You'll find the court filing and the oral argument there, including a daily roundup that I do call, wait for it, Morning AF. What else? All the other contributors from Legal AF are there as well. We got some new reporting. We got interviews. We got ad-free versions of the podcast and hot takes. Where? Legal AF on Substack. Come over now to free subscribe.

15:04Seriously, why aren't Democrats in Washington doing more to stop Trump? I know. Have you heard about Phil Weiser in Colorado, though? No. Is he different? Yeah. A.G. Weiser sued the Trump administration 65 times. He's beating Trump in court again and again. Things like protecting Obamacare against Trump's illegal tariffs. And he even won against Ticketmaster. So he actually gets results. Exactly. As governor, Phil will fight for Colorado. Paid for by Phil Weiser for Colorado Registered Agent and in Noscazy.

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