Transcript of Oliver Darcy Explains The Destruction of CBS | Hour 2

Summer is pretty much my favorite time to be a sports fan. The biggest soccer tournament of the summer just wrapped up, baseball's on every night, racing never takes a weekend off, and my calendar basically revolves around first pitches, green flags, and whatever game everybody's texting about. I realized I'm the MVP of my group. I'm always the friend that says, "Hey, I've got it. I've got a place, I've got some ice cold Miller Lite, I got the TV, I got a big comfy blue leather couch, come on over." That's the behavior of a Miller Time MVP. I almost never watch the big ones alone. I'd much rather be with my friends. And if I am alone, we're texting, we're sipping on our Miller Lites, toasting the day, toasting the big games. For me, Miller Lite is just a part of a big game routine. It's brewed for taste with simple ingredients, clean, refreshing, and easy to drink, especially in the Miami heat. It's a true American pilsner and the original light beer since 1975. An all-American summer starts with an all-American beer, Miller Lite. Go to MillerLite.com/Dan to find delivery options near you, or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer.

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I should credit the reporting on David Lloyd and Stephania Bell being expected to be laid off by ESPN today. That's Ryan Glaspegel, who is reporting that. And in keeping with some of these media conversations that we like to have around here, Oliver Darcy is the founder and lead author of the newsletter Status. He's the co-host of Power Lines podcast. And the reason we're having him on is because I find super curious some of what's happening at CBS. Thank you for joining us, Oliver. Thank you for lending us your expertise. Can you explain to me in digestible portions why CBS seems to be going out of its way to get rid of and ruin some of its best shows?

Well, there's a big merger happening that is involving the parent company of CBS News. So that's Paramount. And to get approval for Paramount, this huge media corporation that owns obviously the iconic studio, the streamer, but also outlets like CBS News, they need federal government approval and they need to get— they need Donald Trump basically in, in their corner. And to get Donald Trump in your corner, you have to play to his ego. And how do you do that when you own CBS News? Well, you maybe adjust the programming to be more of his liking. He pays a lot of attention to what's on CBS News. And so When you wonder what's going on there, you have to think about this big $110 billion deal that Paramount, the parent company of CBS News, is going to hopefully complete. You know, they were hoping to do it by this, this week, actually, or last week. And they've been stuck by the states. But that's why I think a lot of the decisions are being made. So when you look at what's happening at 60 Minutes, you look what's happening at the CBS Evening News, some of the other programs on that channel's air.

That is the backdrop for these decisions being made.

When you say stuck by the states, 11 states are suing to stop this merger. So true or false question, did CBS ax The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and gut 60 Minutes because Trump hates both those shows?

I obviously think it's more nuanced than that. At least Paramount and CBS would say so, but it's hard to ignore. I mean, I think there's, I think if Stephen Colbert were, for instance, a conservative opinionist or sorry, a conservative comedian, I think he'd still be on the air today. Now they are blaming budgets and saying that the Late Show's, you know, economic standing was not very good anymore and they needed to just get rid of the show and move on. And that's, that's definitely true. Late night's definitely in a tough spot from a budgetary standpoint, but it's the number one— it was the number one show on, on late night, Stephen Colbert. And so it's hard to ignore that. And Donald Trump had called for his firing. And so you look at the decisions being made, basically universally, they are in a— being made in a manner that, that helps them with the Trump administration. Um, so I personally don't buy the fact that CBS canceled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert just because of budget reasons. Maybe that was a factor in the whole thing, but there are other things they could have done.

They could have slimmed down the budget, they could have got— reduced the amount of days they were on air, they could have cut the band, they could have cut the studio audience. There's a lot of things they could have done to salvage that show if the budget was the only concern. But obviously Donald Trump is a big factor looming over this whole thing. So to answer your question, it's, you know, it's not cut and dried as they canceled it to appease Trump, but it certainly— I mean, that certainly played a role. And with CBS 60 Minutes, you know, Donald Trump has been ranting about 60 Minutes for a long, long time. He pays very close attention to that show. He sued the network, if you remember, for an absurd amount of money over an edit that 60 Minutes made on that show. So he hates 60 Minutes, he wants it destroyed, Now again, CBS would say, we're not trying to destroy 60 Minutes for Donald Trump, but you look at the decisions being made and it certainly seems like they're trying to overhaul that show to be more friendly perhaps to that administration. So, you know, it's not as easy to say they're destroying these shows because they wanna appease Trump, but you know, that's certainly playing a big role.

Before I ask you about what 60 Minutes is gonna look like when it begins its 59th season, it's the highest-rated news program for 52 shows straight seasons. Uh, can you give me and the audience some perspective on what 60 Minutes is, what it was, and what it's going to be?

I mean, it's the most successful show in all of television news. It's not only the most successful from a rating standpoint— this last season they averaged 9 million viewers, I think, which was an increase over the previous season, which is incredible given that linear television is, you know, declining— that 60 Minutes would actually increase its ratings, that's pretty much unheard of. But not only were they extremely successful in television ratings, extremely successful on social media, but they've been critically acclaimed. This show rakes in so many Emmys for CBS News. It just won Emmys in the last— this last year, actually, right before they did some of these firings. And so from, you know, in television news, it's considered the crown jewel of journalism. All the other networks, ABC and NBC, CNN, they'd all love to have a show like 60 Minutes. And it's been a powerhouse, not only just, you know, recently, obviously, but over the last several decades. It's, you know, done a lot of important investigative reporting. It's unearthed a lot of corruption. And people have grown up with the show. I think that's another thing. People have watched 60 Minutes, heard that clock ticking.

For many, many, many years. I think, you know, my wife, for instance, has memories watching that show with her parents. You know, that's what she started first, started watching, and we still watch it every Sunday. And so I think it means a lot of things to a lot of people. It's, you know, it's a part of their routine. It's baked into Sunday evening for a long, long time. And to see these correspondents who they very much feel like they know, that they're in their household every week, being fired without cause in many cases. And to see the show being radically overhauled when it is so successful, it doesn't— it doesn't sit well with a lot of people.

Bari Weiss had no broadcast news or managerial experience and has come in feeling like she needs to fix 60 Minutes. So tell me, is Scott Pelley right when he says, quote, she was brought in to kill 60 Minutes?

Those are really tough words by Scott Pelley. And also, it's funny you say she was brought in to fix 60 Minutes. The show wasn't broken. This was the most successful. This is like having a Lamborghini in your garage, just, you know, fresh out of the dealership and saying, you know what, I need to open the hood and just replace some parts for no reason. You're like, you have the fastest car in the neighborhood. Everyone around the neighborhood is looking at your car and saying, wow, that's a, that's a fast, beautiful car. And you have it in your garage. And for whatever reason, you just start to start tinkering with the engine and maybe giving it a new paint job. And you're like, what is going on there? Why would you do that? That makes no sense.. I think that's sort of what's happening to 60 Minutes. It wasn't broken, it was a perfectly well-running show, was the most successful show. In terms of what Barry Weiss was brought in to do, look, again, I don't want to be acting as her spokesperson, but I think they would disagree and say they want to improve the show and ensure that it has a long life after linear television is over.

The problem for them is that this show has already been doing really well on digital. So when they say we want the show to be better on digital, which is why they would claim that they're overhauling it. You say, well, Paramount and CBS just put out a press release like a couple of months ago touting how well the show is doing on YouTube, how well it's doing on TikTok and Instagram, saying that it's growing at a very fast rate on these platforms. So their, you know, explanation for overhauling it doesn't really make sense. I think that's why Scott Pelley and others are saying that Barry Weiss was brought in not to improve the show because the show didn't really need improvement, but to destroy the show. And then this all goes back to Donald Trump, because Donald Trump wants this show destroyed. He doesn't like the institution. He doesn't like being held accountable every Sunday evening when he knows record audiences are watching. He wants the show gone. And, you know, again, it's very difficult to ignore that context when looking at what's happening at CBS News.

Yes or no, 60 Minutes still exists a year from now.

Yes, of course. Whether it's the same 60 Minutes, though, that everyone knows, I think that's the open question.

More likely to be so in 3 years or so. Barry Weiss is still running CBS News or 60 Minutes is gearing up for its 62nd season.

You know, that's a tough one. I have a hard time imagining that Barry Weiss will be running CBS News in 3 years, but crazier things have happened. 60 Minutes, I'm confident, will be around for a very, very long time. I think, again, the question is, is it going to be the critically acclaimed program that we have grown up watching, or is it going to be a shell of its former self like Newsweek or Time magazine?

So Paramount touts how well 60 Minutes is performing both on television and in social media clips, but they cannot point to the same type of metrics when it comes to the evening news. All their choices on the evening news seem to be blowing up in their face. The ratings are abysmal.

Plummeting.

And they seem to keep heading in that direction. Every month there's a new low. So do they address the changes that they made with CBS? Do they ever— with CBS Evening News, do they capitulate there?

Well, that's the question. It's like, Barry Weiss, why are you messing with 60 Minutes? It's the highest-rated program on television news. And then you think about, like, if you imagine being a 60 Minutes producer, correspondent, and the person tinkering with your show that's not broken is the same person who has overhauled the evening news and led that show to historic low ratings. Like, these are the lowest ratings we've seen in the 21st century on the CBS Evening News. I mean, that show was already not doing super well. It's always been really in third place, at least in modern times, but it is now just dropping viewers like flies. And so it's like, why is this person now deciding that they want to overhaul the, the actually successful program on the network? Why not at least address the mess that you've made at CBS Evening News. And, you know, whether they're going to acknowledge mistakes, I don't really think so. I don't really think that's Perry Weiss's style. She's left Tony DiCoppo in place. They're backing him as the anchor. They're trying to kind of spin these numbers to look as positive as possible. But it's really bad for Tony.

And by the way, it's also really bad for the CBS Morning Show. That show is seeing some of the lowest ratings ever posted, like ever in the show's history. So all the shows that Barry Weiss has actually touched, you know, she's like the opposite of Midas, right? Everything she touches seems to crumble at her fingertips. And so, again, people are wondering inside CBS News, across the industry, why is David Ellison, the owner of Paramount, giving Barry Weiss so much power? She has no television news experience. She has no managerial experience. I think her digital experience is very questionable. At least she has it, though. But why is she overseeing a news network? You know, she used to brag to people, according to people I've talked to, that she didn't even own a television. And this is the person you put in charge of a news network that's on TV. It just doesn't add up.

So is the Ellison family just in line to be the next Murdochs and reshape network television in this conservative way, or are they just presently going the direction that the wind blows? And when Donald Trump is no longer in office, we might see them go back to the middle and ease up on this hard-right turn.

I assume. I mean, look, they're going to have some big problems when Democrats take control of Washington. Like, there's no doubt about that. And they're already having problems now with the states, you know, the Democratic states, a dozen of them suing to block their deal. So they are going to, I think, change a little bit when the political winds start to change around them. That said, Larry Ellison, you know, the, the Oracle founder and the person really bankrolling all this, you know, his son is in charge. But, you let's be honest, the money is— money is the person who's actually in charge. He's a conservative. You know, according to The Washington Post, Larry Ellison joined a call of election deniers trying to figure out how to overturn the 2020 election. So this is someone who's a Trump ally, someone who seems to be quite MAGA, and he's the one in charge of this network. So, you know, I think, yes, they will probably adapt as political winds change. But at the core, this company is an owner who is conservative, who until like as of like this year, I think, or maybe late last year, we asked Oracle, we, I asked them, I said, is Larry Ellison, does he still think the 2020 election was stolen?

Like this? Can he clarify that for us? Like, is he an election denier? Pretty simple question, I'd say, especially if you have Washington Post stories out there saying you are trying to overturn the election with Trump and they won't answer. So I think that gives you an indication of where Larry Ellison's personal politics lie.

We have less than a minute left, Oliver. What do you have for Oliver Roy?

Uh, if not for the FCC that's under the Trump administration right now, he brought up this lawsuit against CBS. Do CBS actually defend themselves in this situation if not for that? Because they had the potential merger here. So because of the merger, do they defend themselves?

Well, they are, they're trying to defend themselves. They are, they're definitely trying to fight off these Democratic states that have sued. And I think what will be interesting to see is, is there some sort of ultimately settlements between Paramount and these Democratic states that have sued to block their big merger of Warner Brothers Discovery? Remember, one of the things alarming people about them owning Warner Brothers Discovery is not only the significant antitrust issues with two major studios, Paramount and Warner Brothers, now potentially combining, which would definitely eliminate jobs in Hollywood. It's going to be a a big deal there. But also Warner Brothers Discovery owns CNN. And so you would see the merging of CBS News and CNN, and it would be controlled by someone who's behaving very much like a Trump ally, kowtowing to the White House at every turn. And so that has alarmed a lot of people. Like, you know, it's one thing for Larry Ellison and David Ellison to own and control CBS News. CNN is a different animal. It's a global news network., and they would have complete control over the network. And so that's alarming people. And I think that's one of the things that the state attorney generals, even though it's not an antitrust thing, they are looking at and they're certainly paying attention to.

And we talked— I talked to California Attorney General Rob Bonta last week and he told me, he said, you know, if David Ellison were to divest CNN from this deal, it wouldn't solve all their issues. They wouldn't get an approval right away from just that action., but it would certainly have a lot of value, uh, to a potential settlement. So I think that's the thing to keep an eye on is does Paramount walk away from CNN as they try to push through this $110 billion merger?

His newsletter, it's well reported. It's called Status. If you wanna subscribe, his podcast, Power Lines, wherever you get your podcast. Thank you, Oliver. Appreciate the time.

Thank you. It's been a blast.

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Dan Levitar!

John, can you rate my Al Pacino from that billiard scene in Carlito's Way if I do it for you? I think it's pretty good.

Yeah.

Jonathan Sasslow!

You think you're big time? Well, you're gonna die! Big time!

That is my infamous On a scale of 1 to 10, that's a, that's a 7.6.

Solid. Good job.

Good job.

That's a Sui nominee right there.

Good.

This is the Dan Le Batard Show.

Before he came on, we were talking about the layoffs at ESPN and you mentioned Stephen A. Smith. And I saw something here recently. I don't know if you guys pay any attention to the Mark Twain Award that's given out every year in comedy, but, uh, Bill Maher is getting it this year. And he and Trump, uh, had some conflict, and for a while it looked like he wasn't going to get it, and now he is getting it. But it is a star-studded affair that ends up getting televised by Netflix, at least in part, because previously when Jon Stewart wins it, a bunch of comedians show up to support their friend the comedian, and they all do a show that's a comedy show in honoring whoever the comedian is. The problem is that Bill Maher has very few friends in comedy. So Stephen A. Smith is among the people who are going to be presenting, uh, Bill Maher because Stephen A. Smith in his political turn has ended up on that show a few times and they've, I guess, become recent friends. But Bill Maher is one of these people that Norm MacDonald used to look down his nose at because he's like, do you want to be a comedian or you want to be a smart guy?

Which one would you like to be? And because Bill Maher fancies himself smart guy, he has no comedian— or he has very few comedian friends. I should say, or very few comedian friends who are going to show up to this lifetime achievement to make this go up. Look for me on the list of people because Jay Leno is going to be there. He's famously neutral on all fronts, but Bill Maher is having legitimately difficult times getting the comedians to be there to make that the kind of show it is every year that people want to watch.

You have, in reverse order of what they've put on Netflix here, Stephen A. Smith, John Mellencamp, Jay Leno, Ariana Huffington, Woody Harrelson, Matt Friend, Whitney Cummings, and of course, the ever lauded Louis C.K.

Cougar.

What's he going to say?

That's the one that got you, John.

Probably a little ditty about Jack and Diane.

John Cougar Mellencamp is the one that—

No, Louis C.K. is the one with the little ditty.

Wait a minute. A little ditty about Jackass and Diane.

Yeah, the previous one was the Conan O'Brien Mark Twain Award, right? That one was dystopian. That was like, all right, they're letting us have this party, it's probably the last one for a while.

Conan O'Brien though is universally sort of beloved throughout the industry because of just his generosity, his kindness, his demeanor. And so look up comparatively the guest list. Tell me the comedians who were there for Conan O'Brien, because I'm guessing the people that Conan O'Brien had to say no to are better than the people that Bill Maher said yes to on who it is that would be representing him. Because the Conan O'Brien one had some, some real comedy legends involved.

You have David Letterman, Adam Sandler, Stephen Colbert, Sarah Silverman, Bill Burr, Nikki Glaser, Will Ferrell, and John Mulaney all there for Conan O'Brien.

So is this just—

so is this politics on Bill Maher, though?

It's not just that. I mean, some people are looking past that. I think it's because of the involvement in the arts of this administration appearing there might be a cosine and put people in a, in a tough spot for their brands.

So we were talking, Zaz, about the brand of ESPN. What does the brand of 60 Minutes mean to you? And do you care what is happening to 60 Minutes? As someone who spent the entire—

What are you doing to the boy?

What's up?

Talk about the Odyssey, Dan.

He was thinking throughout the Odyssey. Maybe he's a changed person. He, he can't stop thinking about the Odyssey. Maybe he's got— why do you guys laugh?

What does the brand of 60 Minutes mean to you other than that? Is that the ticking clock that shows up during Nance and Rome?

Do you think I like nothing outside sports? Very few.

Yeah, sports are the only thing that goes on in my head.

You like Pearl Jam?

Yeah, that's right, that's right.

The Odyssey.

I like other things. I'm not dumb.

So I asked a question and you guys laughed at Zazz when I asked him. That's unfair what you guys just did to Zazz. Your stories, he doesn't anything on 60 Minutes.

What you did to him was okay.

How do you know?

Maybe I'll give you 60 Minutes.

Maybe I listen, maybe I watch every Sunday night, maybe it's part of my routine. Get ready for the work week, you know, I got to sit on the couch in the Zaslo mansion family room. That couch is very uncomfortable. And we watch 60 Minutes.

I saw the look on your face when Dane asked you that question.

You couldn't hide it.

You're lucky we said nothing. You're lucky you got nothing. You got to listen. What you had in that interview, which is nothing.

You know what, I had so many thoughts. I had the best thoughts on 60 Minutes.

You know what, Mike, we'll lay out.

Go ahead.

Oh no, no, no, no, your thoughts.

I'm not giving you any of them.

Oh, I don't deserve built up too much. It's been built up too much.

Maybe 2 people in the show.

Maybe, maybe on Zaslo Show 2.0, I'll give you some 60 Minutes thoughts. Maybe not. I don't know. We'll see. I can't break the future. But I was gonna wind up giving you—

do you know the theme song?

Yeah, it's the clock.

Do it.

Oh, you know, stay out, man. Well, that's because he's watching Broncos-Raiders 425.

I know what he's doing.

He's watching Broncos-Raiders.

I'm not giving you anything on— I, I had so much material on 60 Minutes right now. I was gonna give you, and now you get nothing. You go home and you will think about, wow, I wonder what Zaslav thinks about 60 Minutes, and you're not gonna get it now.

So you're withholding as an act of revenge and defiance.

It's not revenge.

It's more just like it's been built up too much, so I'm not saying it. The reason that I asked the question is because sometimes around here, around the circus tent, I force-feed you, as I'm going to in a little bit here, some nutrients from the real world that aren't in the playground that I believe can be viewed as a tune-out by the audience. I don't much care on certain subject matter, and in the case of Oliver Darcy, is that a tune-out for you, Zazz? Did you start checking your phone? Were you uninterested in the subject matter that was on our and your show? I want an honest answer here. Tony and Mike are looking at you as if—

They can look all they want. I don't know why you think that just because I didn't ask any questions there, that means I'm not into 60 Minutes. Maybe it's my favorite show. Maybe I was so enraptured with all the information there that's like, I don't want to interrupt, I just want to listen about my favorite shows.

Okay, you've said that already, but I'm asking you if Oliver Darcy was a tune-out. Was Oliver Darcy to you a tune-out?

I already told you I've embargoed my thoughts.

So all thoughts? You're embargoing all your thoughts? So I can't ask you any follow-up questions? All your thoughts on 60 Minutes are now embargoed? If anybody wants them, they should get them on Zaslo 2.0?

Zaslo Show 2.0.

With—

why do you look like he was in Transylvania?

The sun didn't move in 45 minutes that he was on with us. It just stayed the same.

Cinematic.

He was like Widow's Bay.

I feel like Renfield's gonna grab something off his desk.

You think he shot that in IMAX?

Dan Levitar.

My algorithm on Instagram is dance, all boobs.

Jonathan Saslow.

It's a good algorithm.

This is the Dan Levitar Show.

What do you think is going to happen here with Jeff Berardelli when I start talking about climate change and El Niño?

Manager for the Tampa Bay Rays, isn't he?

You think— are you confusing him with Rico Baldelli?

Rocco? Rocco.

Sorry, I'm sorry. My bad.

I thought we were getting an Italian baseball player.

Yeah, whatever.

Who's this guy?

That's why, man. Oh no. Zazz is going to have plenty there though.

What did—

let me see.

What is the fine on Rico Baldelli? Uh, what is it? What is the fine?

$5.

You messed up the first, first name.

Oh, but that's—

wait a minute. $5 is the maximum fine.

He's with the Rays now. He was with the Twins first.

No, I'm trying to figure out who he was confusing. No, he was— I'm trying to figure out who he was confusing Jeff Berardelli with, because Jeff Berardelli, for those of you who do not know who that is, uh, he is is, uh, just about the only person that I have heard in weather talking about what is coming here with El Niño, because I think the news media at large is sleeping on some of the major stories affecting our world. And I would think that if you needed to prepare for catastrophic events, I would think that you would want the media giving you some information so that you could prepare for that, so that you could feel slightly less helpless about about what's coming this way because I— it is being ignored in a way that I find alarming because the people who have real expertise in this area are saying that what's headed this way this winter is going to be life-altering for a great many people, and it's being undercovered because of all of the things that are happening in media that make people comfortable climate denying, which they're not going to be that comfortable with when what happens in Venezuela comes to the United States and all sudden it's your city that's being affected.

So the reason I'm doing this is honestly, it is not to antagonize you, it is not to horrify you, it is simply to inform you of something that I believe is being wildly underreported by a news media whose responsibility it is to help you with some of these things, but is being gutted in a way that makes it hard to help with some of these things. On Just Information.

Die!

We're all gonna die!

Die.

No one gets out alive. We're all going to die. Our tap water is on fire and we're all wondering why. Let's turn on the news and find out how we're going to die.

Rocco Baldelli, now part of the front office for the Los Angeles Dodgers. That's where I thought he, you know, I thought he's gonna be on the show with us today.

So global warming will lead to rising sea tides, which put more pressure on tectonic plates, which mean for more and more, more frequent earthquakes and more powerful earthquakes worldwide. Because I was asking the same question, I'm like, are earthquakes tied to climate change? Apparently so.

So 20 minutes from now, if you think that's a tune-out, I am warning you that this person will be here, and he is, I believe, right now America's foremost expert on these things. And it is— it's not not to be alarmist, I promise you. It is simply so that you could get some information. In, for example, Florida, we run the risk, given what's happening around here and how difficult it is to get things to Florida, if you have major outlets sort of flooded, uh, there's going to be food issues and water issues that are going to complicate your life. And so the only reason that I am doing this is because I don't really understand, and I really don't, how is that what would usually be one of the stories of our lifetime is being criminally underreported in a way that's going to leave people underprepared for something that they should at least see coming or, or be warned about. I promise you, I'm not doing this gratuitously because I don't think it gets clicks. I think it does the opposite. I think people run away from this. They're going to skip right through this because many people don't want to hear about this because of how helpless it makes them.

And a crazy fun fact about Jeff Biradeli is that he actually met his wife at Camp Fiesta.

Whoa.

Yeah.

His, his wife is a former camper from Camp Fiesta turned counselor, and they met when Jeff was working at a local station down here and came out to do a news story. My dad introduced them.

Wow.

You should lean in. All right. I'm being alarmist. I don't know how you can be not an alarmist and then play a song saying that we're all gonna die.

Yeah.

I didn't play that. That was a Roy editorial decision.

Yeah.

But you like the song.

Who wrote the lyrics? You like the song.

That is, uh, not, I think he wrote 3 of them.

I'm alarmed by everything that you said. So just Just lean in, do the J. Billis. All right, take offense.

Uh, I don't think that this is something that I get rewarded for in any way. Usually when you say of the news, "It bleeds, it leads," it's because the news you think is doing something simply to get your eyes on it. That's— I'm doing the opposite of that. Like, I believe that these things are largely a tune-out, and yet I insist on doing them even though the rule— what are the rewards? The rewards are you guys think I'm rooting to be right on climate change. You've said when you show video on a Friday of—

you're rooting to not be wrong.

No, I'm not.

I wish to be— this is the most I've ever wished to be wrong.

This—

I've never wished to be wrong.

I hope all the climate change deniers are right and that when they say no, we're not doing any damage to the Earth by taking all its oil, that'll be really embarrassing for you. Yeah, and then I will be wrong and fired.

Basically be Chris Cody.

Yeah, I'll be, I'll wrong for firing Chris Cody as the leader of a media company who gets it wrong. But I— look, me getting this wrong, you— it's almost the opposite, I think, in some ways, of Chris Cody, because you guys argued on behalf of Chris Cody gets all the attention here and there are no consequences to being wrong. Me being wrong saves everybody's life.

Me being right here—

hold on, you being wrong saves everybody?

Yes.

So like, there are a lot of people that have kind of tapped out on this, not because it's not something that they don't care about. I'm worried about this consider me alarmed. I'm gonna vote that way and we'll see if it works out, but I think the resignation that I have at this time is, well, whatever we got in place is only making this worse. So yeah, you're telling me that things are going to be bad, I gotta prepare for them, I kind of know that, I feel hopeless.

Okay, so let, let me just put some context on this for you just so that you understand where portions of my life have been lived for, I'm gonna say, the last 5 years. You've You have heard me say here that I am— we have talked about what our show's friendship is with Adam McKay. He has put me with a great many climate scientists so that I can be more informed about this. I would say that Adam McKay has largely gone a little nuts over the last 5 years because he made a movie thinking that his art and ego as somebody who was responsible for a decade of comedy in the movies, a movie during the pandemic trying to warn everybody with all of America's major stars in it, hey, the world's gonna end here. It's a pretty big news story. We should be paying attention to the fact that climate scientists are like moving to the Northeast and learning how to hunt and fish because the numbers that El Niño brings suggest the kind of calamity that we've never seen on Earth before. When that person makes a where he's dedicating his life in the arts to making something to get America's attention and it doesn't work, he feels pretty alone with the knowledge that he understands the news media is not covering this correctly.

It's kind of the biggest story of our lifetime and we're not covering it.

Zazz, are your thoughts embargoed here?

Probably like John Werthheim's the best, to be honest with you. Embargo back on.

What are you looking at on your—

No, don't worry about what I'm looking at.

What is it? What are you—

Don't worry about that.

While we were talking, give me—

Don't worry about that.

What were you looking at there?

Was I looking at something? Looking at the reporters on 60 Minutes, maybe.

Who's that guy with a mustache?

That's Bill Whitaker, dog.

You were trying to figure out how you were gonna lead Zaslow Show 2.0 today because you got to do that now. You got to give us, you got to give us an essay, a written and read essay on how much you care about 60 Minutes as the lead.

I do. I just told you my favorite, it's Al Jon Wortham. And bar go back on.

So at 11:15, we're going to be talking about this thing that nobody wants to talk about, and you can ignore it unless LeBron has the courage to make his decision, and then we'll blow this out.

So honestly, you can't blame us anymore. This one's on Bron. This entire day of programming on Bron.

If we were to go back to what it is that America put on display at the end during the World Cup, I ask you this question sincerely. Are we done with the Buffers?

No, God no, are you insane? Bruce and Michael Buffer, still titans of the industry, still somebody who you can go— we were out there with Bruce Buffer in Vegas. Dan, you should see the way that he moves. Oh my God, walking through the crowd, no security, no nothing, he just does his thing. He is on command.

He saunters.

He saunters, he really does. He's kind of like, not McGregor as much as back, but like a little bit more forward. But he's walking around and you're like, oh my God, that's Bruce Buffer. Comes in, gives a hand, hi, shake, a little kiss, Yeah. Does his thing. Incredible. No, I'm not done with it. Maybe you might be done with him and you're friends, but I don't know.

Not us.

No, I'm a Bruce Buffer guy. I still get up for the Let's Get Ready to Rumble, though. Michael Buffer has aged.

He has.

What a crazy story.

That's a great story. Crazy. Do people know that story?

Crazy.

I don't think it's believable.

There are—

I don't know.

What does this guy know?

Well, wait a second. You of all people to not be skeptical with this story. It's pretty unbelievable. They're in the same line of work.

Yeah.

You kidding me?

It's not believable.

He didn't know.

They're both like the voice.

They didn't know. It's like, hey, wait a second.

I mean, I believe it. I've seen specials on it. Didn't quite cry.

I met the man.

Came close.

Met the man, I hugged him.

Came close.

It's a beautiful story.

Put it on the poll at Levitard Show. Does Bruce Buffer saunter at Levitard Show? Because he does. He does walk a little bit like Conor McGregor. I think in some ways he has passed his brother, even though his brother has copyrighted Let's Get Ready to Rumble. Every time someone says that it's his, it's Michael. I, I'm crediting him. I'm telling you that it is.

It's not—

that's not how it works.

I don't know if that's—

you can't sing Hey Jude and credit the Beatles and expect to not be sued.

Yeah, they're litigious.

I, I didn't say it his way. I just said— so, so you can't say the words. So you're saying— you guys are saying— I don't think you guys understand how copywriting works. You guys are telling me that because he copyrighted, he's the only one allowed to say it in public?

That's what you're saying?

It's like what it means.

It's like, yeah, you can't say that.

You could say it, but you have to give him money now.

Yeah.

Has Bruce Buffer passed Michael? Because he's been—

nah, not for me, really. No, but I'm older. Yeah, I'm older. Like, there was nothing, man. Like, it's legit. When Michael Buffer came out and said those words, you knew that you were either watching a big-time heavyweight boxing match or a Halloween Havoc. I don't even know what that is.

He sold, he sold the rights to that phrase to Halloween Havoc.

That was a WCW deal.

That's Bill Whitaker, dawg.