US & Iran Plan To Meet Again, CBS: Colbert & Cooper, Social Media On Trial

0:02Iranians are ending 40 days of mourning for people killed in protests. Authorities are watching intently while also negotiating with the United States. What do those talks mean for protesters and the world? I'm Michelle Martin. That's Steve Inskeep. And this is Up First from NPR News.

0:20Late Show host Stephen Colbert has spent two days publicly debating his network. He says CBS blocked him from broadcasting an interview with the Democrat in response to government threats. And because my network clearly doesn't want us to talk about this, let's talk about this. How, if at all, does the CBS move connect with its political interests? Also, how does Mark Zuckerberg defend social media platforms against the charge that they're addictive? Stay with us. We've got the news you need to start your day.

0:55We are following two timelines of the story in Iran. One is a schedule of talks with the United States. Negotiators met yesterday and talk of meeting again. The other is a timeline deeply rooted in Iranian culture. It's 40 days of mourning for the dead. Analysts have been watching to see what Iranians do when they emerge 40 days after the killings of thousands of protesters in January. NPR International Affairs correspondent Jackie Northam is following both timelines. Jackie, good morning. Morning, Steve. First, what's happening in Iran? What we're seeing is people there starting to have ceremonies to honour those killed in the protests by the regime.

1:32Iranians mark the end of mourning on the 40th day after the death, which is right about now. And NPR has talked to a number of people in Iran, and they say the regime is intolerant to these ceremonies. There are undercover agents at the services, and people are told they have to be held at night. No flowers, no filming. And in some cases, the government is simply not allowing the ceremony to take place at all. And there have been plenty of social media posts coming out over the past couple of days where you can see security forces opening fire at 40th day ceremonies. But I have to say, Steve, NPR could not independently verify those social media posts.

2:09We'll continue to try to gather more information day by day and be frank with you about what we know and what we don't. Let's talk also about the meeting over Iran's nuclear program. What happened there? Well, most of the information we're getting is from Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Arachi, who held these indirect talks in Geneva yesterday with U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. And afterwards, Arachi described the meeting as constructive with some progress, but said that there was still more to do before the next meeting, which is now expected to be in a couple of weeks.

2:44Arachi didn't say anything about Trump's core demand, which is zero enrichment. Trump doesn't want Iran to have nuclear weapons, But Iran insists that it has the right to enrich uranium for research and civilian use. Yeah, U.S. officials have made a variety of statements, sometimes indicating there was progress, sometimes indicating there was not nearly enough, a little bit hard to tell. And of course, the U.S. continues to gather military force in the region. How is Iran responding to that? Well, Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned ahead of the talks that Iran could retaliate if the U.S.

3:19launches a strike. And, you know, perhaps to press that point, Iran temporarily closed the Strait of Hormuz, which is a vital global shipping lane, to conduct military exercises. Trump indicates he's willing to give diplomacy a chance, but there's a growing call for action against Iran from hawks in government, such as South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. My colleague Daniel Estrin asked Graham if that meant regime change. We've got a chance here to stop this regime. History would judge yours poorly if we let the Ayatollah off the hook. How many times could we have stopped Hitler?

3:52A bunch. And Graham was speaking Monday while he was in Israel, which not only wants an end to Iran's nuclear program, as Trump does, but also wants to eliminate its ballistic missiles arsenal and its backing of proxies such as Hamas and Hezbollah in the region. And yesterday, a former Israeli defense minister, Yoav Galant, said that the conditions for striking Iran are coming together. NPR's Jackie Northam, thanks for the update. Thanks, Steve.

4:26Within 24 hours, CBS was the subject of a swirl of headlines. Anderson Cooper said he was leaving 60 Minutes, a Stephen Colbert interview was knocked off course, and CBS's parent company, Paramount, was given one last chance to bid for Warner Brothers' discovery. NPR media correspondent David Folkenflick is with us now to tell us all about this. Good morning, David. Good morning, Michelle. So, David Anderson Cooper is leaving 60 Minutes after nearly two decades as a correspondent there. What's the story? So Cooper is staying at CNN where he's been a primetime star, but he's also held this role as a correspondent at 60 Minutes.

5:01He said he's doing to spend more time with his small children while they still want to spend time with him. He's expressed concern to associates, three of whom spoke to us on conditionally not being named. They're not authorized to speak about what's happening within CBS. Cooper has said that he's concerned about the leadership of the new editor-in-chief, Barry Weiss. She came aboard with the proposition that the mainstream media is too woke, too anti-Trump. And a lot of her decisions have been interpreted as a corrective that is unwelcome by many of the journalists there. Cooper decided he didn't want to be part of it anymore.

5:31And then the late night host Stephen Colbert told viewers Monday night that he could not have on a particular guest. What happened there? So Colbert had invited on James Tallarico. He's a Texas state representative. He's running in the Democratic primary for a U.S. Senate seat. Colbert said that he was told that that interview could not run on the air. And here's what else he told viewers on Monday night. I was told in some uncertain terms that not only could I not have him on, I could not mention me not having him on. And because my network clearly doesn't want us to talk about this. Let's talk about this.

6:07And so Colbert did. Colbert said that he was told by CBS's lawyers they were worried about equal time rules. Now, this rule applies to radio and television stations that have broadcast licenses like those affiliated with CBS. And it's in effect during political campaign seasons. But news and talk show interviews are traditionally exempt. The head regulator of broadcast for the federal government named Brendan Carr, he's the head of the Federal Communications Commission, appointed that chairmanship by President Trump. And he has suggested that he might change the way he enforces that rule for late night shows and no longer exempt them.

6:42He's called them too partisan. It hasn't happened yet. But as Colbert pointed out, CBS nonetheless still said you could not present that interview on television. He pushed it onto his YouTube channel where people have consumed it. And there's a new development with CBS corporate owner Paramount. Yes. So this week, Warner Brothers Discovery is telling its shareholders to approve a deal valued at more than$80 billion to sell all of their studios and streaming properties over to Netflix. But they're offering Paramount one last chance to make a sweetened bid to improve its offer for the entire company, which includes CNN and other cable channels.

7:20So Paramount, the Ellison family behind it are keeping their fingers crossed. Is there a connection among all these different stories? I think you can't look at these as separate episodes. Right now, you have the Ellison family who are very close to Trump and want to stay on his right side. And you're seeing this play out inside the network, play out inside the news division in terms of how decisions are made or how they're interpreted, play out in the entertainment division. Colbert had his show canceled by previous ownership as they were trying to get the sale of CBS and Paramount, get through regulators.

7:53And Colbert, of course, has been one of the chief critics of the president on major television. So right now you're seeing a bunch of facets of the same issue as the Ellisons are hoping somehow to win over the bid for Warner and get approval from federal regulators. That is NPR media correspondent David Falkenflick. David, thank you. You bet. In a statement, CBS denied prohibiting The Late Show from broadcasting the interview with Tallarico. It said it gave, quote unquote, legal guidance about the equal time rule. Colbert responded last night. They know damn well that every word of my script last night was approved by CBS's lawyers, who for the record approve every script that goes on the air, whether it's about equal time or this image of frogs having sex.

8:37And I'll mention that Warner Brothers Discovery, Paramount Plus, and CNN are financial supporters of NPR.

8:48Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, will probably get some uncomfortable questions today. He testifies in a state court trial in Los Angeles over social media. The case centers on whether social media companies are legally responsible for young people if they become addicted to products like Instagram and Facebook. NPR's Bobby Allen will be covering Zuckerberg's testimony. Hi there, Bobby. Hey, Steve. I think it's pretty obvious to a lot of parents and even a lot of kids that the phone is addictive and that social media platforms are addictive on the phone. So what is an issue with this trial? Well, that issue is whether social media companies are legally culpable for social media addiction.

9:26And this is why Zuckerberg will be taking the stand. He's defending exactly against that allegation. And in particular, the allegation that Instagram was deliberately designed to hook young people. So the trial so far has focused on whether Meta's Instagram and Google's YouTube should be considered defective products for unleashing into the world all sorts of features that we all know by now, like infinite scroll. You keep scrolling, scrolling, scrolling. Auto-playing features, being able to like posts. So the lawyers battling the tech companies say the apps are like digital casinos. They argue that Instagram and YouTube affect kids' brains no differently than a slot machine.

10:03So Zuckerberg will likely argue that there are many safeguards in place to protect children and that the company has not placed profits over child safety. Who are the plaintiffs here, the people suing Meta and Google? Yeah, it's someone identified by her first name, Kaylee. She and her mother are accusing the tech companies of causing all sorts of mental health issues to her, like anxiety and depression. She struggled with body image issues. A big debate in court so far has been whether social media caused these issues or if they were pre-existing and social media just made them worse. And while this is just one person's story, this case is tied to 1 ,600 other pending cases filed by families, school districts, and others.

10:42And all these suits allege that social media apps downplayed the harms that platforms could cause young people and that there have not been enough checks in place to prevent young people from these harms as they've been scrolling. And legal experts, Sief, have compared these cases to the litigation of the 1990s against big tobacco that led to big changes in accountability. I feel that we've had interviews and stories about social media addiction, body issues, and a variety of other things for at least a decade, maybe more. Why has it taken so long to get a case like this to trial? Yeah, the wheels of justice turn slowly, don't they?

11:14But for years, social media companies have used a legal shield known as Section 230 to avoid all sorts of legal consequences of what people post to their sites. It's been described as an impenetrable fortress for Silicon Valley. But in recent years, plaintiff's lawyers have gotten pretty creative, and they are now suing tech companies under product liability law to say, you know what? these platforms are essentially defective products like a defective car or a defective toaster, and that Meta and Google, so the equivalent of a manufacturer, should be held liable. This theory has been so strong that it's, you know, it's made its way to this big trial, but the cases have been playing out for years, and the trial is expected to be quite lengthy.

11:53Even after Zuckerberg's testimony today, there will be many more weeks of testimony from company officials, addiction experts, family members, and others. And if a jury sides with the families, this case could result in a multi-billion dollar settlement and big changes to how social media apps operate. So, Steve, we will be awaiting the verdict. I'll be awaiting your coverage, Bobby. Thanks so much. Thanks, Steve. That's NPR's Bobby Allen. And Google, we should mention, is a financial supporter of NPR.

12:23And that is Up First for this Wednesday, February 18th. I'm Steve Inske. And I'm Michelle Martin. Are you loving the Olympics? Yes. Check out... Me too. Check out Up First Winter Games, a new video podcast from the team that brings you Up First. Find it every afternoon at youtube.com slash NPR. I'm also loving that podcast. It's a really cool product. Today's Up First was edited by James Heider, Pallavi Goy, Brett Neely, Mohamed El-Bardisi, and Alice Wolfley. It was produced by Ziad Butch and Nia Dumas. Our director is Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott. Our technical director is Simon Laszlo Jansen.

12:58and our supervising producer is Michael Lipkin, watching at all times. Join us tomorrow.