Rob Bonta Says He’s ‘Very Concerned’ by Bari Weiss’ BREAKING NEWS Revamp, Worries for CNN’s Future Under Paramount

California Attorney General Rob Bonta said he is “very concerned” about the state of BREAKING NEWS under Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison, appearing to allude to Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss’ shakeup at the network.

“As an American—and a proud American who cares deeply about our democracy and the future of it, its durability, its sustainability—I’m very concerned about the reports about what’s happening at CBS,” Bonta told Status in a Tuesday interview. “And I’m also concerned about the possibility that what’s happening at CBS could be part of an attempt to curry favor with the president who might want something similar to happen at CNN. And that led to an approval by the DOJ, even though the career attorneys thought there were problems with this deal and opposed this deal. We’ve heard that.”

Bonta’s comments followed a similar accusation made by former “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley, who said last month in an exit statement that Ellison was “casting … aside” the news program to curry favor with Donald Trump.

“’60’ has been the number-one program in America for decades because our beloved audience finds integrity, quality and humanity in our stories,” Pelley wrote at the time. “When stewardship of the program passed to my colleagues and me, our responsibility was to expand energetically into a new age of media technology while preserving the values our audience expects. Now, the new owner of our network is casting this legend aside, apparently to curry a moment of favor with the Trump administration. The waste is heartbreaking.”

Pelley was terminated from “60 Minutes” after a clash with Executive Producer Nick Bilton, in which he accused Weiss of “murdering” the program following the firings of Tanya Simon, Sharyn Alfonsi, Cecilia Vega and more.

When asked whether he thought Ellison was a good caretaker of BREAKING NEWS and if he was concerned for the WBD-owned CNN, Bonta, who is currently leading a coalition of state attorneys general in an antitrust lawsuit against the Paramount-Warner merger, voiced concerns about a “free and independent press.”

“I think that’s on the minds of many Americans and they’re worried about a lack of a free and independent press, overbearing editorial decision-making that undermines and undercuts free and independent journalism, that shuts down stories that should be told but then aren’t told, that favors the powerful when the powerful ask that a critical story not be told about them,” Bonta further noted to Status. “That’s not good for democracy. The truth should be told, whatever the truth is. And the truth should be told, especially about the powerful.”

Representatives for Paramount and BREAKING NEWS did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.

As we mentioned, Bonta and 11 other state attorneys general sued to block the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger on Monday. Bonta led the charge with the filing, blasting the merger as “unlawful.”

“Today, I am leading 12 states in challenging the proposed merger of Warner Bros. and Paramount and asking the court to block the deal,” Bonta said in a statement. “California’s film and entertainment industry touches the lives of Americans daily. We’re going to court to fight for a free and fair market and protect this iconic industry.”

The state AGs have argued that the merger would create an entertainment giant with increased leverage over movie theaters, as well as cable and streaming platforms.

In response, a Paramount spokesperson shared that they plan to “vigorously defend the transaction and demonstrate that this challenge is inconsistent with sound competition policy and the competitive realities of the media marketplace.”

“Delaying this transaction will only harm entertainment workers,” the spokesperson continued at the time, “who have already suffered over recent years as technology has disrupted their livelihood and cost California tens of thousands of entertainment jobs.”

Bonta and the other AGs then requested a temporary restraining order and an injunction to prevent Paramount and WBD from closing its proposed merger.

“Defendants have represented to counsel for the State of California that they may close and consummate the Transaction as soon as July 22, 2026,” the Monday evening filing stated. “Immediate relief from the Court is necessary to preserve the status quo and to protect this Court’s ability to order appropriate relief upon a finding that the Transaction is unlawful.”

Bonta explained on CNN that the legal move was meant to “make sure that the proposed merger is halted during the pendency of the litigation.”

“We have asked Paramount-Warner Bros. to agree not to close their deal, their proposed merger until the court can evaluate the merits of our case,” Bonta told Kaitlan Collins at the time. “They declined to do that.”