Jim Acosta

0:00Okay, I'm being, wait a minute, do we have a special guest who is standing by right now? Do we have a special guest? Am I, oh my goodness, it's Mark Ruffalo. Hey Jim, how are you? Good to see you, man. Oh my gosh, this is such a great surprise. Thank you so much for being with me. I think I got surprised here on this one. I think there were some texts going back and forth that maybe we might have you later on in the week or something, but you were able to pop in. This is fantastic. How are you? I'm doing okay. I'm doing okay. I'm actually shooting a movie in Italy right now. So it's so late over there. Oh man, it's so late over there. Yeah, but I wanted to, Norm Eisen, who I've been organizing with on this merger issue invited me to join him with you tonight. And there's so much going on. So I wanted to be, there he is. And there's, there's our other Hollywood celebrity, Norm Eisen. Not hardly, but I'm so pleased that Mark was able to join

1:02because the two of you, you know, as I'm looking at my screen, Jim, you testified and you led in speaking out at the shadow hearing that a Senator Schiff held in L.A. in Burbank. And now Mark has taken your example and I saved a great story about the two of us. And is leading similarly speaking out and has really as much as anyone has led what is now well over a thousand Hollywood actors and producers and writers and directors and working people. That's such an important part, documentarians, independent filmmakers. So it's a surprise appearance, Jim. And Mark, it's great to see you from Italy. This is incredible. Me too. Mark, tell us why you're getting involved in this. I mean, I went out to Burbank and spoke on it. I mean, to me, the prospect of combining

2:04two news organizations, putting them under the umbrella of the Ellicons, which is a very Trump-y Maga family that's already purchased Paramount and CBS to have them in control of CNN two. To me is not a good scenario, but your thoughts on how it might affect your side of the industry and what your thoughts are. Well, just on the consolidation front, we've just seen consolidation decimate our business over the last several years. I mean, I have some statistics here that pre-Disney Fox merger, we were putting out, they were putting out 20 to 26 wide release films a year. And after the merger was 10 to 17 and they were much smaller films and mostly put out by Searchlight on a TV front. Through before the merger, there was 900 TV shows in 2018 from a high of 108, 101, 108, 2 in 2016. And leaving out COVID and the strikes after that,

3:09after the merger, it was 319 to 739. And it's just been a downward spiral every time we've had these consolidations. What is terrifying to me is these guys are telling us they're going to make 30 pictures a year, starting out at $78 billion in debt. Now, just to make this tangible for people, that's 30 Avengers Endgame at $3 billion in gold. They'd have to make 30 of those. Now, that's a once in a decade movie. That was put together, used billions of dollars to put together the entire franchise to get to the place where they can make $3 billion on it. It's insane. And the idea that somehow they're going to make more movies right now between Paramount and Warner Brothers,

4:10they can only get 24 movies out a year separately. And that's in a very good year. Usually it's more like 14. And they're telling us that they're going to put 30 out with $78 billion in debt. And the idea that somehow they're going to put more movies out now than they have, and then those two studios did in the past decade with less money is just goofy, Trump-y, mass. Yeah. And so we're not buying it. It's funny. I was talking to people in the business about this merger saying, how can we let this happen? Everyone is saying, oh, it's a done deal. It's, you know, just lay down. Don't just go back to sleep. And I thought, oh, maybe that's true. But then I started to talk to people. And they were, we had this idea for the letter.

5:11And then it was just everyone signed it. Everyone we asked. And in some more days, there's 1,000 people. And we're talking from David. These are not just the usual suspects. He's a David Fincher. It's Yurgos Lathamos. It's Denis Valeneuve. It's JJ Abrams. These are people who have deals inside of Paramount. Right. And Warner Brothers. Right. And you would think in the case of the names you just mentioned, some of those folks would say, wait a minute. I don't want to mess with a good thing. What I got going here. And they showed some courage here. Showed some spine. Yes. And it's incredible. And it's only growing. We signed 500 more people on yesterday. And another 500 more today. And it's, yeah, go ahead, Norm. I don't want to tell you. How would Jim, we wanted to come on and save something special for you. We, thank you. The story of how this letter came to be.

6:14There was some conversation back and forth. And Mark sent me a note. And Jim actually was the morning of the Supreme Court argument in the birthright case. And I was there at the Supreme Court with the rest of the legal team. And Mark called and said, hey, are we going to do a letter? And he and I in a small group of others actually wrote the first draft of that letter. What more appropriate place? We brainstormed it was later in the day in Italy where he was, he was on a break from filming. I was early morning here in DC and other wonderful partners in this coalition. And that was the origin story. That was the origin story of this letter. And of course, I was so honored to be able to carry forward this battle for our democracy. Because that's what this merger is about on the entertainment

7:17on the side and on the news side. It also represents a tremendous threat to our democracy. We cannot see this kind of consolidation. Can you imagine if you're watching Fox News? And you're like, I've had enough of that. I'll turn over to CNN. And it's exactly the same. Well, and that's what that's the danger when you look at what the elephants have done to CBS. Jim, you're a news professional. Yes, it bothers me to no end to see what they've done over at CBS, what they've done to 60 minutes. And Mark, I mean, to me, it just, this is a no-brainer. The oligarch should not own the news. It's bad enough as it is. We would never see this happen if it wasn't under Trump administration. The DOJ would never, would never allow this to happen. Or we would spend three or four years in debate about it. Right now, the DOJ has just basically rubber stamped it.

8:19Tomorrow is a oversight committee hearing and Senator Booker's is holding an oversight committee. Not one Republican is showing up. The whole place was fall during the last, the Netflix merger with Warner Brothers. Every Republican showed up to that. Not one, the writings on the wall, Peg said that he wants CNN to be owned by the elephants so that he gets the war coverage that he wants, not the truth that the American people need to know about the war that we're sending our children into to die for. Okay, we don't need a cheerleading operation for the news. We have Trump saying he can't wait until the elephants own CNN. It's crazy for us to lay down. This is the trumpification of our media and our news, the same way they did to the university. This is the exact same thing. And if you don't fight it, if you capitulate, you're degradated.

9:23And so we have to fight. And that's what we're asking. We're at, right now, we're asking our agencies and the agencies and managers to get behind us because we're putting our asses on the line. Paramount we saw today, what they did to the anchor, even with their PR note of being so thoughtful and just illatory. And we really care about the artists, the first thing they do out of the gate is they cancel the anchors and the other end. They advertise the anchor. Because they want to send a message. How can someone who will do that? If a journalist exercises their first amendment, right? Their power, freedom of speech, as Richard Rushfield did of the anchor to say, this merger is a bad idea. And he expressed that. And then they crack down economically

10:24by pulling the advertising as has been reported by the rap. So that's what the reporting is. Can you trust that kind of an owner to protect opinions on CNN? I don't think so. I don't think so either. I don't think so either, Norris. Those nice words yesterday meant nothing. Right, and look what Victor Orbán did in Hungary. I mean, he just got his ass handed to him. But some of the damage is already done over there. It's going to take years to unravel that. Do we want a situation like that in this country, Mark, where it's going to take us years to unravel media consolidate? I call it media domination by people who are close to the folks in power. What's going to happen is, you know, to do this merger, this is the other thing that really needs to be said, is the crews. It's all the groups that are underneath us. Like, honestly, most of the people on that letter,

11:26they have either nothing to lose, or they have everything to lose by not signing it. It's the crews. It's the working people that this industry is supporting. And if you merge these two groups together, the first thing that they're going to do is start firing people and laying people off to serve a $78 billion in debt. They're going to have to get rid of half the crews. They're going to have to get rid of half of the bureaucratic side of one of these studios. And Los Angeles and Hollywood's already suffering so immensely. And that's the part of the story that needs to be talked about. And what we, and this is happening throughout the United States, and the thing that anti-trust laws are supposed to do is protect people from, and I'll tell you,

12:28the one thing I keep hearing is we're afraid to speak out against paramount and war and our brothers, because we know paramount addictive paramount is. And so as a group, we have to come together. It's only in our grouping that we have any power. Yeah. This moment is so powerful, because we've seen, again and again, Jim over the past 15 months of the Trump administration, that when people have stood together and stood up to the administration, they succeed. The CBS and ABC paid tribute money to the dictator by settling those cases. The Wall Street Journal, Rupert Murdock, all people, they fought, that case was thrown out this week. And we've seen that some law firms capitulated some fought.

13:29The ones who fought, they went to court. They were successful. And that's been, look at the public. And the public, the public, the public, the public. You know, everybody's a big public. I don't know when I've been, I don't know when I've been so proud of a pope. My favorite line was, I don't know anything about politics. I'm just here to follow the gospel. There you go. When they taped him on the plane. So I think that when we look back on this era, we're going to ask, where were the people who stood up? Just like now, they're going to ask that question in Hungary. They're going to take account. And Mark and I, from that conversation with a few others on the steps of the Supreme Court on my phone, I walked out of the other lawyers. Ted Hope, the wonderful Ted Hope, was on that conversation. Multiple others. The committee for the First Amendment,

14:31Jane Fonda's group, Jim, you are part of there, gathering at the Kennedy Center recently. And a number of other people. Mark and I wondered, who would step across, who would break that thin blue line of fear? But then Mark jumped and Ben Stiller jumped and the wonderful Damon Lindelof. He's worked at Warner Brothers for 15 years as a producer. And that was one of the highlights when he said to us, I'm taking the plunge. And then it became a delusion. It was over 1,000 now, it's over 2,000. And we're only beginning. It's a message to the state AGs and other litigants. You can investigate, you go to court, block this merger, we have your backs. And these people have the data and the information. They're the witnesses, they'll testify. They will help. The same day our letter was released,

15:33the UK Antitrust Authority announced, they were looking into it. No, to quote a Netflix show, nobody wants this. Nobody wants it, exactly. And Mark, I know it's very late where you are. Any final thoughts from you, I don't want to hold you up because I know you're in production and everything, but any final thoughts? I just think it's really important that we come together as a united front in our industry. And that every management firm, every agency, UTA, CAA, WME, all the smaller agencies, every union joined together in this. Because we're not just fighting for our industry. It's also signals to all of the other industries that are under consolidation right now in the United States that are driving workers' wages is down, that are laying people off, that are offshoring our jobs.

16:34This is a moment where we have to fight in oligarchy that is in full control of our Congress and our presidency. And the only way that we're going to win is if we fight. And the only way we can fight is by doing it together. And that's the message that we all have to understand. And the more we see each other, the braver we become. And that's for every industry in the United States right now because every industry in the United States is under attack. The workers are under attack. Yeah. I couldn't have said it better myself, Mark. I mean, I think that's, it's absolutely dead on. I think the people feel that right now. It's why you're seeing so many people take to the streets these days for the No Kings protests. It's why you saw the people of Minnesota chase ice out of their city. And it's happening in this industry that's being threatened again by another oligarchal takeover. But Mark Reffel, what an honor to have you in here, man.

17:36Thank you so much. I had to be here. I love your work, Jim. And I have for a long time and I appreciate it. You're one of those brave people who stood up very early on. And for the American hero, for the American hero. Thank you. Oh, man. Thanks for credit for doing it in the dark days. Not now when the moment it was gone. Now it's fun. All I ask is put me in the next Avengers movie. It's all I ask if it's your in, but all right. Thanks, Mark. And thanks, Norm. Norm is our Captain America. Norm, thank you so much. Good to see you, my man. Always, Jim. Thank you. It was fun having our surprise. Wow. You got a two-fourth question on me today, Norm. I'm going to get you for that. I was like, Jim is like, what? I mean, Mark Reffel, oh, is in. I was like, what? Incredible. It's the first appearance we've done together. You deserve it, buddy. You better than anybody. Truthful. Not neutral. That's it. Thank you for all you do. We admire you. All right. Thank you, Captain America. Really appreciate it.

18:36Thanks, Norm. All right. That's the great normizing. And the great Mark Reffel, oh, holy, folks, I'm not being facetious here. I'm not being a showman here and playing this up as some kind of surprise. This was an actual surprise. I did not know that Mark Reffel, oh, an actor who I've admired for many, many years. I mean, not just for his artistic endeavors, but also for the passion that he brings as an activist. You know, the conservative bag of folks like to make the term activist a dirty word. It's not. It means you care about your community. It means that you care about your country. And Mark Reffel, oh, has been doing that for a very long time. And I think Norm Eisen falls under that category, too, as somebody who believes in activism because it is what is good for our country. It's the American way. It may quickly turn to the mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, who is standing by. She probably also has some thoughts on Donald Trump

19:37and his mental state, but I wasn't going to start there first, mayor, but good to see you. Thank you. Good to see you as well. Thanks for coming on the program, really appreciate it. And if I'm not mistaken, you've also said you were running for re-election as the mayor of Los Angeles. Did I get that wrong? No, you did not. And yes, I am. Very good. And I guess a lot of different places to start. I know one of the things that we wanted to talk to you about is this pending merger between one of brothers' discovery and paramount. I know a lot of people in your community are very concerned about that. I definitely want to ask about that. But if you don't mind me being kind of a newsy guy and starting with the newsy question, what was your reaction to former congressman, Eric Swalwell, deciding to resign from Congress, dropping out of the race or governor? I know this has been huge news out in your neck of the woods. What are your thoughts? Well, honestly, I was shocked. I was shocked by what I learned about my former colleague.

20:37Literally, I said one seat away from him and you just share it for 10 years. I never had any idea. Never had any idea. So I was shocked, as I'm sure a lot of people were. And I think, boy, talk about that. That was a downfall that was lightning fast. I think it's really tragic. I really do. And I don't know he's going to have to pick up his life. He's got three small children and obviously a wife. And so I'm concerned about him personally, but definitely think he did the right thing. And I know you called for him to resign and get out of the race. Why did you think that was important? Well, I don't think that you can really move forward, especially in the fourth largest economy in the world. That just doesn't make it. And then, of course, we're all concerned that having a Republican governor

21:38in the state of California would be quite tragic, considering the Republican choices that is. Yeah. And have you made a decision as to who you're backing in that race? I don't want to get you any trouble. No, no, no, you're not getting me any trouble. Antonio Villarragos, the former mayor of Los Angeles. And I know a lot of people counted him out, but I have known Antonio for five decades. And we have worked together. And I endorsed him day one, the minute he jumped into the race. And what I think a lot of people don't understand about him is that he's a fighter to the end. And he was mayor of Los Angeles very successfully. And he also was speaker of the assembly. I followed in his footsteps. And so he's been in Sacramento. He's led the legislature before. He knows how Sacramento works. And I think he is very qualified for the job. No disrespect to the other candidates.

22:38But he's my candidate and he's been my candidate from day one. And I know that a big part of your campaign for re-election and a big initiative that you've undertaken as mayor is to take on homelessness and to try to help people who are unhoused in Los Angeles. Tell us about what you're up to. It sounds like this is a pretty big initiative. I guess for folks who haven't heard about it, what can you tell us about it? Sure, well, let me just tell you, it was a tough decision to leave Congress. But that's how important the issue was. In the nation's second largest city, we have 40,000 people who are unhoused. And a good 40% of them are literally living on our streets. So while homelessness went up by 18% in the nation, it went down by just about that amount in the city of Los Angeles for two years in a row. And what's notable is that's the first time we've had a decline in street homelessness. So I came in to change. I've been doing everything I can to disrupt the status quo here

23:40and to make a new approach. And it's the first time we've had a reduction in street homelessness. But the other big issue in Los Angeles is this city is so expensive. And one of the key drivers to the lack of affordability is the price of housing. So I have fast tracked building. We have 40,000 units that are currently going through the process. 6,000 of those units are actively under construction now. We have a long way to go in our city, but we have so much to look forward to. We have the World Cup in literally a few weeks. We have the Olympics in two years. So Los Angeles has a very, very bright future. And it's my goal in seeking reelection is that we carry this out and prepare our city to welcome the world and that the games benefit the entire city, not just the elite of Los Angeles. Yeah, and I guess I was just talking to Olivia Troy, who you probably know, and she just announced that she's running for Congress.

24:41And she brought up ICE as a really important issue for her campaign. I'm wondering what your thoughts are. It sort of feels like we haven't heard a whole heck of a lot from Stephen Miller lately. It sort of seems like the ICE issue has not been on the front burner and that the Trump administration, the White House, has decided to maybe turn down the temperature a little bit on that. What have you noticed in LA? Are they still out there and doing what we've all watched them do on our TV screens and our phone screens over the last year or so? Well, and let me just tell you, Jim, this was such a tragic moment in the history of our country. You know, the anniversary, this is the 250th year of our democracy and to be invaded by my own military. To worry in the city of Los Angeles that the federal government was literally attacking us. 4,000 National Guard troops, 700 Marines, and there was nothing happening here. Yes, we had some protests. At the end of the protest, there was some vandalism.

25:44I would say it was akin to a Laker Championship plus where everybody is celebrating and then there's Nuckelheads at the end who start graffitiing up and breaking windows and of course we absolutely aggressively denounced that. But there were no riots in the city. And what I believed from day one is that we were a laboratory that we were the Petri dish and that this was going to go around the country. And in fact, it did. But to directly answer your question, no, this has not stopped. It's not as dramatic as it was before. They're not speeding down the street, hunting people down. But they absolutely are still chasing people through the parking lots of Home Depot, chasing people in car washes and just arresting people and detaining people almost every day here. It's just not in the headlines. And that's when it becomes even more frightening is when people think that this is going away and it hasn't. So our neighborhoods are still being terrified.

26:46It has continued to depress sectors of our economy, destroying businesses where workers and workers and customers don't want to go, parents who don't want to send their kids to school. This is still having massive consequences in our city. Yeah, and I know one of the issues that has come up just in recent weeks I actually traveled out there to offer my thoughts on this. I testified at a hearing that was shared by Adam Schiff, the senator out there on the merger of Warner Brothers Discovery in Paramount. And just the other day, I'm sure you saw this. I think this was in Monday's New York Times. They broke the story that there were hundreds of artists and other folks who were in the entertainment industry and some journalists like myself signed on to a letter to say that this merger should not happen. What are your thoughts on this and what would the impact be for LA? Because we're talking about production studio shutting down that kind of thing. Well, and I will tell you that I think it was a thousand or more.

27:47And I am deeply concerned about it, especially. I mean, this is our foundational industry. You know, we are the creative capital of the world. And we were just on the rebound in terms of filming, returning to Los Angeles. And so we just opened up thousands of square feet of sound stages, ready for production. And so I'm very concerned that while we were moving things forward, that it could be a very serious setback. So the idea and I already described as the city is being, you know, not affordable and all of that. And to lose these middle class jobs. And so we definitely are keeping an eye out because whatever happens, we do not want it to be another body blow to our local economy. Yeah. And when I was at this hearing with Senator Schiff, Noah Wiley, the star of the hit TV show, The Pit, he testified there. And he said, you know, there's been this trend

28:47to take television and film production to other parts of the country, like places in Georgia and so on. And he made a point of wanting the show, basically done in LA to show that this can be done. And so it's an extremely important part of the community. And it had been on the decline. But like you said, it's coming back. But it seems to me, if this merger were to go through, it would be kind of a body blow. Well, that's what we're, yes, that's what we're fearful of. Yeah. And as I said, whatever happens, it cannot result in massive layoffs or a setback in our economy. We just, it just can't. And you mentioned the Olympics. You mentioned the World Cup. When I was out there, I thought to myself, wow, the Summer Olympics coming back to LA, this is going to be extraordinary. Is the city going to be ready? I know we've got some time to go. But I guess in May or time, it's not a lot of time. Oh, no, my God, no, we have a clock up. We know we have a countdown for the Olympics

29:50and the Paralympics. And no, I will tell you that I'm quite confident that the city will be prepared. We have an entire office in my administration that is set up just to stay on top of city preparations, working lockstep with LA28. As you know, LA28 is an independent separate organization that is literally putting on the games. But as hosts for the games, we have to make sure that every aspect of our city is prepared from the roads, to the venues, to the transportation system, all of those things that are in support of the games. And are you concerned at all that Donald Trump might mess with it in some way? I mean, he's talked about retaliating against certain places if they don't go along with what he wants to do. Is that part of your calculus? You know, this might be ironic for some of your viewers. I'm actually not worried about it. It's so helpful to me in this job that I served in Congress

30:52that I went through Trump's first term that many of the people he's appointed as cabinet members were my former colleagues in the house. And I continue to have relationships and communication with them. I think he is as obsessed and as interested and committed to these games as anybody. I mean, just think about it. It puts him on the world stage, not that he needs to be put on the world stage. He's automatically on the world stage, but it puts him on the world stage in such a positive way. The last thing in the world he would want would be to stain his reputation. That's weird, you know, say. Right. By messing with the games. No, that's true. But I will say, you know, he has proven himself to be pretty unpredictable lately. And I mean, just lastly, I did want to ask, I mean, you know, his true social pose, portraying himself as Jesus. You know, he claims that he was just showing himself as a doctor, which doesn't sound believable at all.

31:52I don't know if there's anybody on Earth who believes that. But, you know, LA has a pretty sizable Roman Catholic community. I have to assume that they were pretty peved about that. They're already peved at him as already in LA these days. But what was your reaction to that? And do you, Donald Trump, can go the distance? I mean, we talked about whether he might mess with you in 2028. Do you think he can make it to the rest of his term? The way he's been behaving? Well, yeah, I do. I mean, I don't have any reason to think he won. I think we raised the same questions through his first term. Yeah. And that was a long time ago. And, you know, he's still there. I have to assume that he will be just fine. And, you know, I don't know what time of the night to that true social tweet was done. But, you know, who knows? But no, I think that he's invested in these games in an absolute major way. Yeah. And maybe that's an incentive that maybe he might not,

32:53mess with it too much. He wants to start. I don't think so. Yeah, yeah. Well, all right, Karen Bass, the Mayor of Los Angeles. Great to see you as always. Thanks. Thanks for coming on the program. And let's do this again soon. Absolutely. I would appreciate that. And congratulations to you on your show. I appreciate it. Best of luck getting ready for the games. I know it's going to be here fast. So I know you're ready. Thanks. Mark Ruffalo surprised me on my program today. And injected all of us, I think, with a little bit of what we all needed, which is a little chuck on the shoulder to say, the work is not done yet. That's the saving this democracy, preserving and protecting the freedoms that we have. That work has not finished yet. And the work continues each and every day. And my hat is off to all of those artists, directors, producers, crew members, people who work in the entertainment industry, and are trying to stop the oligarchs taking over the media and the news in this country.

33:55That is not the American way. Rising up against it is very much the American way. And I appreciate Mark Ruffalo for coming on the program. I appreciate Norm Eisen as well, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass. And my friend Olivia Troy, who's running for Congress. Congratulations to her good luck with her campaign. And thanks to all of you for watching. Thanks for you for tuning in and subscribing to this program, independent media matters, folks, with the oligarchs taking over the media, with the oligarchs taking over the news. Now more than ever, supporting independent media, supporting independent voices, strong independent voices. I don't have a boss upstairs who's going to call me after my show is over and say, oh, you really should take it easy on the elephants. You really should take it easy on Donald Trump posing as Jesus, those television executives, they might call you and say, what was he really trying to be like Jesus? Maybe he was trying to be like that doctor. Maybe he does care about the Red Cross. Bologna, bullshit. I don't have to put up with any of that because I'm independent. That's why I'm here.

34:56That's why we do this each and every day. And when you support, you subscribe, you share, you like. It does wonders in terms of supporting the work that we do. And in the meantime, thanks everybody for watching. I'm still a little blown away by having this surprise day. It really means a lot to have Mark Ruffalo in the program. If you missed it, we'll put it online in just a little bit so you can catch up and watch. You just can't miss. You can't miss a moment on this show, folks. You never know what's going to happen, but in the meantime, still reporting from Washington. I'm Jim Acosta. I'll see you next time.