Recorded live Friday October 23, 2026 -- Christiane Amanpour is leaving CNN after 42 years, and it is no coincidence that she’s walking out the door just as the Ellison-Skydance takeover closes in. Julie Roginsky, Michelle Kinney, and Jeff Jarvis follow the money behind the deal: Gulf sovereign wealth funds from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE financing the acquisition, the same UAE sheikh now tied to a reported slush fund that funneled money to Jared Kushner through an Azerbaijani bank, and a Kremlin meeting where Putin offered a sanctioned oil company to the very same investors. Jeff lays out why Larry Ellison’s debt load makes CNN and CBS a risk to the whole economy, and why Paramount’s reported eight-figure bid for an unreleased Lindsey Graham documentary looks like a catch and kill.

Then Trump melts down on the South Lawn when an NBC reporter asks whether the sexual abuse allegations against Amy Acton’s stepfather mean anything to him, and the three draw the through line nobody in legacy media will: the Ramaswamy ad, the Epstein files, the Lindsey Graham allegations, and a Republican Party that keeps asking women to look the other way. Julie, who worked alongside Graham to pass the Ending Forced Arbitration Act and the Speak Out Act, explains why two things can be true at once.

Plus: YouTube now takes 15 percent of all American TV time, an indie filmmaker is selling his movie for $4.99 straight to fans https://lonelyfeaturefilm.com, and Jeff gives Julie and Michelle homework with You Can See Everything, the Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim film about Elizabeth Holmes. https://variety.com/2026/film/box-office/you-can-see-everything-box-office-huge-second-weekend-clayface-leads-1236930604/

Breaking the News is part of The Mayday Network, an independent, women-led independent media where politics meets culture.

Follow The Mayday Network for more commentary, analysis, and rapid response — new content every day.

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/channel/the-mayday-network/id6754000270 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3nEYLKKfOvZyIdGCLNiraQ Substack: https://substack.com/@themaydaynetwork Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/TheMaydayNetwork Threads: https://www.threads.net/@TheMaydayNetwork Website: https://www.themaydaynetwork.com

Julie Roginsky, Michelle Kinney, and Jeff Jarvis break down the turmoil at CBS and 60 Minutes, Lisa Kennedy Montgomery’s Daily Mail column about Kimberly Guilfoyle, and The New York Times coverage they say is failing readers, from Elizabeth Bumiller’s Guilfoyle profile to Tom Friedman’s “democracy for diesel” column and a video debate between Times standards editor Patrick Healy and critic Mark Jacob. They also talk about the independent media filling the gap.

Breaking the News airs live Fridays at 11am ET on YouTube and Substack.

Breaking the News is a weekly conversation about the stories shaping American politics and media, hosted by Julie Roginsky, Michelle Kinney, and Jeff Jarvis. Every Friday, the three break down the week’s biggest headlines with the sharp, unfiltered perspective of people who’ve spent careers inside politics, journalism, media criticism, and entertainment — no both-sidesing, no false balance, just a clear-eyed read on what actually happened and why it matters.

Timestamps: use the same list as the YouTube version above.

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/channel/the-mayday-network/id6754000270 | Substack: https://substack.com/@themaydaynetwork | Website: https://www.themaydaynetwork.com

Part of The Mayday Network, an independent, women-led independent media where politics meets culture.

The Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Skydance merger is complete, and Julie Roginsky and Jeff Jarvis break down what it means when the Ellison family, Trump-friendly money, and financing from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE end up controlling so much of America’s soft power. They dig into the debt load, the hedge fund and private equity playbook that already hollowed out newspapers and radio, and the open question of whether CNN, CBS, and HBO can still tell stories that challenge the powerful.

Then it’s Fox News at thirty years old, and Julie shares what she saw from the inside about how “debate” gets framed before anyone goes on air. Plus Barry Weiss’s future at CBS, the 2028 Democratic wish list (Ossoff, Ro Khanna, AOC, Rahm Emanuel, and more), whether broadcast ads still move voters or field operations matter more, a Steve Hilton campaign ad that has to be seen to be believed, Karoline Leavitt’s move to Fox News, and Don Lemon’s talk of a presidential run.

This week’s episode was pre-recorded on Thursday. Michelle Kinney is producing, because the construction in her apartment is so loud that putting her on mic would have been a hostage situation for your ears.

Jeff’s new book, Hot Type, is out now, and he’s speaking Saturday at 10 a.m. at Historic New England in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Details and signed copies are at www.jeffjarvis.com.

Breaking the News is a weekly conversation about the stories shaping American politics and media, with Julie Roginsky, Michelle Kinney, and Jeff Jarvis. Part of The Mayday Network, an independent, women-led independent media where politics meets culture.

Follow The Mayday Network for more commentary, analysis, and rapid response — new content every day.

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/channel/the-mayday-network/id6754000270 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3nEYLKKfOvZyIdGCLNiraQ Substack: https://substack.com/@themaydaynetwork Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/TheMaydayNetwork Threads: https://www.threads.net/@TheMaydayNetwork Website: https://www.themaydaynetwork.com

0:00 Opening 1:10 Welcome 2:25 The deal is done 3:43 Gulf money 5:49 Debt and the distressed-debt playbook 8:01 Fox News turns 30 16:37 CNN, CBS, and Barry Weiss 21:06 Soft power and the next Bond villain 26:15 The 2028 wish list 32:37 Do TV ads still work? 39:23 The Steve Hilton ad 47:18 Don Lemon for president? 51:44 Jeff’s book, Hot Type 53:51 Why Mayday exists