At the start of the second week of his new MS NOW daytime show, former NBC White House correspondent and current State of Play host Peter Alexander worried for the future of CNN amid a possible merger between Warner Bros. Discovery, which currently oversees CNN, and Paramount, which oversees CBS. 

Alexander showed his concern in a question to California Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta, who has tried to stop the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger with antitrust claims.

Alexander began his final question to Bonta and said, "Americans have obviously seen what has happened at CBS News. There's concerns right now that something similar could happen at a Warner Brothers-Discovery owned CNN."

 

On his new MS NOW show, Peter Alexander talked about the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger with Democrat California AG Rob Bonta, who is suing to stop the merger. Alexander seemed to agree with liberal claims that CBS News had somehow turned into MAGA TV, and worried CNN could be… pic.twitter.com/dkBW79X461

— Nick (@nspin310) August 17, 2026

 

Alexander continued his question to Bonta, as he invoked liberal boogeyman and Paramount CEO David Ellison:

David Ellison says that this fight is really about whether he can be trusted with CNN. You say that's a distraction from the facts in this case right now. Does California have any interest in one company owning both CNN and CBS News? Why is that so problematic?

Bonta responded and said his lawsuit against the merger was simply because of antitrust concerns. He then continued, as he was on a political show to discuss the lawsuit, and said, "That is something that David Ellison, who has politicized this case, wants to talk about. That's not what this case is about."

Bonta concluded,  "Of course, as a[n] American, as someone who's shown public service, as someone who cares about democracy and the rule of law and the future of this country, of course, I care about the independent free press and their ability to ask tough questions, hold the powerful accountable, be truth seekers, and truth finders and truth tellers. But that is separate from this antitrust case. So, we want to talk about this antitrust case. I hope David Ellison will at some point as well."

If Alexander actually watched some CBS News programming, he would notice the new operations and its biases were actually not much different than before, with some slight changes seen every once in a while.

For just a few examples, CBS Mornings interviewed Michigan Democratic Senate Candidate Abdul El-Sayed after his primary victory and gave softball questions that did not touch on many of El-Sayed's controversial opinions and connections to far-left figures. The same CBS show also defended Fauci over school closures after he pled the Fifth Amendment at a congressional hearing and sympathized with the Ceuta, Spain border invaders from Morocco.

They also still employ Margaret Brennan as host of Face the Nation.

To CBS's credit, some story selection has improved since the Bari Weiss/Ellison takeover, as last Friday's CBS Evening News was the only broadcast network evening newscast to mention the vandalism of the Washington, D.C. World War II Memorial. 

CBS has not changed as much as reported by liberal media outlets and certainly has not turned into CBS Newsmax. CNN would likely see a similar fate under a form of Ellison ownership.

The transcript is below. Click "expand":

MS NOW's State of Play
August 17, 2026
11:46:51 AM Eastern

(...)

PETER ALEXANDER: Let me ask you if I can. Americans have obviously seen what has happened at CBS News. There's concerns right now that something similar could happen at a Warner Brothers-Discovery owned CNN. 

David Ellison says that this fight is really about whether he can be trusted with CNN. You say that's a distraction from the facts in this case right now.

Does California have any interest in one company owning both CNN and CBS News? Why is that so problematic?

CALIFORNIA AG RON BONTA (D-CA): We have an interest in antitrust case, and our antitrust case talks about three markets: widespread theatrical release distribution, blockbuster theatrical release distribution, and cable channel licensing. And CNN is not a part of that. 

That is something that David Ellison, who has politicized this case, wants to talk about. That's not what this case is about. 

So, we'd like to talk about what this case is about, which is set forth in our complaint. Of course, as a[n] American, as someone who's shown public service, as someone who cares about democracy and the rule of law and the future of this country, of course, I care about the independent free press and their ability to ask tough questions, hold the powerful accountable, be truth seekers, and truth finders and truth tellers. But that is separate from this antitrust case. So, we want to talk about this antitrust case. I hope David Ellison will at some point as well.

(...)