reporters say they are optimistic about the sale to jeff bezos. b woodward said -- bernstein also said he had high hopes for bezos, saying -- jeff cohen, could you respond to that deco >> he might be innovative and he does have deep pockets, and if i was a journalist, i would want someone with deep pockets, as opposed to the grant family who has been bleeding money, but the reality is, as you pointed out, one of the big issues is the surveillance state. amazon, the company that has made this individual so wealthy, is so embedded with the surveillance state. i would be concerned. bob woodward, 40 years ago he unraveled a conspiracy and brought down a president. in the last 10 years, he has been very cozy with american presidents, republican or democrat. >> bob mcchesney, your response? >> it is absurd where we are at a point where journalism in this country is dying, being taken over by a commercial enterprise. we should stand back and understand how ridiculous the situation is, that we are reduced to this pathetic state of affairs. we need real jou

jeff bezos, john henry, warren buffett, they are good businessmen. if they are such bad deals, why do good businessmen want them so badly. >> some is self-interest in some cases. vanity plays in others. bezos is other. warren buffett loves newspapers. he's not looking to change the newspaper business. ditto for john henry. jeff bezos wants to experiment. he wants to shift this medium and help it into the new age. >> and then you have this. >> i'm going to have post-traumatic stress. i was at "newsweek" for a decade. >> this went under the hammer for next to nothing. having no longer been in print, it's online and hardly there at all. they have to deny they are up for sale. >> you are holding "the new york times." they had to announce they're not for sale. >> this is how these papers are changing. just this week i subscribed to the home edition of "the new york times" because i moved to new york. i did it at 7:00 in the evening on wednesday. 7:00 in the evening on wednesday. on thursday morning at 6:00 a.m., it was outside the front gate. >> i am happy

our panel weighs in next. >>> amazon founder jeff bezos send a thunder bolt through the media world withhe surprise purchase of the washington post. we've got an expert panel on what it means for that world and what bezos may do with the post. rebecca jarvis has background. >> reporter: the paper that brought down nixon and breaking news for more than a century this week made news. after 80 years, the graham family sold the washington post for $250 million to amazon founder and ceo jeff bezos. >> we will become a place that does its traditional jobs but tries things. and i hope it will succeed. >> reporter: it won't be easy. sales and profits both are shrinking. circulation is down 40% in the last decade. bezos told employees in order to turn it around, we will need to experiment. which is exactly how amazon got started. today it's worth more than $130 billion. surpassing expectations as he told cynthia mcfadden in 2009. >> did you have any idea how it was going to work? >> no, the business plan was very modest compared to what happened. >> reporter: bezos isn't alone. other billionaires

jay, jeff bezos is a guy who owns a literal rocketship company. he has a company that makes rocketships. he has a clock that is going to run for 10,000 years in the can desert. and he owns amazon. he's a distributor of industries and now he is buying one of these gatekeeper players, an entrenched institution that's been around for a long time. the kind of thing that in other times he disrupts. why do you think he's buying "the post"? >> i think it tells you about the scale of the ambition this generation of entrepreneurs have. i don't think they're simply interested in building huge businesses and dominating markets, they want to actually change the way we do things. and if it can be done better, it should be done better, is sort of the mott the toe of the geeks in silicon valley. and i think for me as i reflected on why bezos would want to do this, some of the things you mentioned came up, the fact that he wants to go into space. the fact that he wants to go into the future with his clock. and in some ways with "the washington post" what he's doi

i don't buy that with jeff bezos.se i think the "washington post" is $250 million when compared to his wealth of approximately $25 billion, people are saying it is like a millionaire buying a newspaper for $10,000. but i do think there is a responsibility that he recognizes, and there is a new platform. whoever is buying newspapers right now is going to change the way that newspapers are run. i think from what i know from him and what we have all learned about, is he is the kind of guy who has a long-term view of things. and you can say his political ambitions -- we all have them. he is no different. >> david: sam assuming these moguls are savvy businessmen, could the shift to individual ownership help the newspapers become profitable again? what do you say to michael who says that, yeah, there is probably political influence here. does that matter? and is it there anyway. >> yeah, i think the ca case -- john henry is very vested in boston and the surrounding area. i think he probably wants -- i think for him, part of

business to jeff bezos, bezos the individual, not connected to amazon.com. bezos is paying $250 million. the "washington post" company will retain control of the other major assets including kaplan test prep, post news week stations and cable one. the company says it will be changing its name although the new name has not been announced. allen and company did assist with this deal. jeff bezos as well as the ceo of the "washington post" company, donald graham were both at the allen and company conference last month. this deal probably took place now. as for what bezos has planned, he says in his press conference that he thinks the post plays a critical role in d.c. and the nation and the post values will not change. it has been on the cutting edge of some technology such as integration with facebook. we'll see what kind of technological things he tries with it. >> in terms of the name change, is it a name change for the corporate entity that would own the "washington post" or would it be for the newspaper itself? >> i believe it's for the new company. the new

of amazon.com jeff bezos.ere to talk about it, one of the former editors of the "post," len downie, who i think the newspaper won a record number of puleitzers under your reign. also in new york, the times former editor, bill keller. he's in our studio there. and we're joined by john harris, whoitudes work at the "post" and today is a columnist for the "new york times" says you may well be responsible for the decline of the "washington post" because you left the "post" and formed politico, john. we're glad to have you sitting across from len. let me just talk with you first, len. was the sale of of the "post" to jeff bezos a good things? >> i'm cautiously optimistic it will be a good thing for several reasons. the "washington post" company as it's currently called is a public company, the corporation is. so it had to-- it could not tolerate losses year after year in the newspaper, as don graham said he didn't want to keep cutting anymore in order to make the bottom line work out. jeff bezos bought it with a pr

jeff bezos bought the "washington post." it's because he's a poopy-head. with poop in his head. >> john: that sounds personal and extremely juvenile. >> i know, john, but jeff bezos has been one-upping me my entire career. i was just about to announce the acquisition of my own d.c. newspaper. >> john: which one? it's a major newspaper. why? >> john: the washington times? it's the washington coupon clipper penny saver. but soon to relaunch as the "washington postier" coupon super penny saver. i can't lose those coupon clippers. they're the only ones who buy print nuchs anymore snon how much did you pay for that? >> $900 million. john: what? it was going to be more but i had a coupon. >> john: is is this a good idea, john? newspapers have notoriously become money-losing businesses. >> i'm going to disrupt the paradigm. that's billionaire speak for [bleep] [bleep]. you see, newspapers thought that people want to pay money for information. but we now know from the internet that what they really want is is their own opinions fed back to to them for free. my new

and now jeff bezos. i don't represent bloomberg lp or michael bloomberg in any way. there have been reports that he has been interested in buying a big newspaper such as the "new york times." theynewspapers, these days tend to attract people with deep pockets. it requires a lot of money to keep them going or keep them funding into the future. >> the reality is that the future business model for a newspaper company is somewhat uncertain. advertising revenues continue to decline for some seven years. with profitability uncertain, future consumer habits unknown. we don't know what the next product will be to disrupt the way people get and give information. six or seven years ago, if we had talked about the iphone, we would not have known what that was. laptops were three years old. if you're going to buy a newspaper, you are not buying it for the business, dollars and cents. you are buying it a sense of civic responsibility. , tohe best or worst case help your friends and punish your enemies. these tend to be things that people who have made money elsewhere, and who hav

and, you know, jeff bezos may be the guy to do that. we hope so at "the washington post." >> healthy invests in reporters. what a great idea. there have been a real loss of newsroom jobs. the brand of "the post" covering washington could use some reinvigorating and use more reporting on federal agencies. that's what the paper has always had attention about. i assume you agree with me. >> we also need to cover our local city and our region. "the washington post" has always from the get-go within a local newspaper. and what's interesting here is we will have a publisher who is an absentee publisher. he's not moving here. he won't be here. how that affects our metro coverage, something we've been very strong on for decades, remains to be seen. >> the story you wrote about the "post" sale was "the new york times." let's explain to the viewers at home why "the new york times" ownership came up immediately once this happened. >> because "the new york times" is essentially the last man standing. a family own, family controlled newspaper that i

then there's jeff bezos.e amazon founder is shelling out $250 million for the "washington post," a paltry 1% of his personal fortune. as our jim acosta reports, billionaires have gone shopping in america's "newsroom." >> reporter: watergate brought down a president. >> have to get something on paper. >> reporter: but it made a newspaper. a triumph not just for reporters bob woodward and carl bernstein but also for the family that owned the "washington post" led by its publisher, kathryn graham, now that leg gas sin the future of one of the most important newspaper rests in the hands of one billionaire, amazon founder, jeff bezos, a stunning $250 million deal that gives an all new meaning to the term -- >> just follow the money. >> reporter: the post now follows other major newspapers. "wall street journal" bought by conservative media titan robert murdoch and "boston globe" purchased by red sox owner john henry to be snatched up by the super wealthy and perhaps the "new york times" could land in the portfolio

>> well, i've known jeff bezos for 15 years.is and is known to be an extraordinarily decent man. i got the joy of getting to know his wife a bit. it starts with that. he's principled. he's also a reader and a very good writer, as a statement to our staff which has been widely quoted reflects. he wrote that himself. he writes amazon's annual shareholder letter by himself. he's known for being a very patient long-term investor, as he was with amazon itself, as he was with the kindle and has been many other times so... and i don't want to appear to be speaking for jeff but he did speak for himself in his letter yesterday. he's not going to walk in the door with solutions. but he will walk in the door ready to try things. if you're jeff bezos or his peers, the founders or ceos of great internet companies, you know a lot of great technology. >> in fact your publisher and your editorial page editor and your executive editor will stay in place now. >> jeff has asked the whole management team to stay on. that includes catherine and mart

i read that jeff bezos tried to take his own crib apart with a screwdriver.at did that tell you about him? >> i was in trouble. >> why? >> he would not take no for an answer. you could argue all you wanted with him, even at 3, you are not ready for a big boy bed. and of course, he went and got a screwdriver, it was that can-do spirit. and i think, most young people have that. i don't think that they have the opportunity to use it. >> you two invested your retirement savings in the early years of amazon.com, that was a big risk. >> yes. >> what made you take the risk? >> it was not the entire retirement funds but a large part of it and jeff approached us with his crazy idea of opening a book store on the internet. but we believed in jeff. and what he could do. >> it was an investment in jeff. not in yet an unnamed company. and if he had followed my original advice, which was can't you do this on the weekend? or after work? we probably would not be buying so much online right now. >> the investment that we made in young people has paid off bit as much as our in

what jeff bezos will do is try to figure out -- he has a plan, by the way. he went away for three months and came back to buy it, so he has a plan. he will try to figure out how to fully digitize it. one problem they have had is the demographics. they have not been able to get out of the older demographics and that is what jeff bezos could bring in a big way. >> the purchase comes after they made significant newsroom changes, investing god knows how much money in this new kind of online video project with this in-house tv station. there have been staff reductions. to a certain extent, they are buying a paper that have made transformations. >> charles? >> in regards to whether we will have a paper in hand, the new owner said papers will not exist as papers in 20 years, i remember, this is a guy in amazon that sells things. he is not selling air or dots on the screen. he sells things that arrive at your door. he will probably try to sell the paper as a paper, but the one problem is i do not know anyone in my son's generation that reads and holds a newspaper, o

let's be clear, steve jobs revolutionized the music industry and jeff bezos shut down book stores as ike what jeff has done, he doesn't really focus on super short-term gains. you're talking about a guy who is a visionary here, a guy who accumulates things that appear to be unrelated. you know what that means? that means this is a guy with a vision. stuart: yet again, you got a dead right because you totally agree with me. you're a good man, good to be back. the opening bell is ringing and we're down a tiny bit and expecting a flat market at least in the early going today. a very, very low volume. it is after all, august and we're down 14. and general motors has cut the price of the volt. the 2014 model will start at just under $35,000. 5,000 less than the current model. you get about 7 grand worth of tax advantage, buy a volt now it's going to be under 30 grand. so, adam shapiro has it made any difference to the stock? >> they're takiig a hit. gm shares down at the opening bell 1/10 of a percent. they're having some trouble with this stock and it's down 1% the hoping bell. the people

that is what jeff bezos thinks.i found out and what he is going to find out is he does not neil: that will turn on him? >> probably not. neil: what did you do? >> i laid there until i got better. if you don't have a thick skin, i can't come and be on your program. neil: with all your other real-estate holdings, were you saying, we have to change things, we're losing money fast. was a difference in telling those guys and journalists guys? with the journalists think they're doing god's work. therefore that is a different standard than where everyone is economically tied together. neil: did they think you were stupid american? >> arrogant is a much better word. the difference between a newspaper person and an academic is small. they'll both run in the same scenario of thinking that they're doing -- after all, they're very educated and have done well academically. neil: how many business courses? >> i know of any because as to my experience to have a lot of trouble adding and subtracting. neil: of the problems -- file w

our panel weighs in next. >>> amazon founder jeff bezos send a thunder bolt through the media world with surprise purchase of the washington post. we've got an expert panel on what it means for that world and what bezos may do with the post. rebecca jarvis has background. >> reporter: the paper that brought down nixon and breaking news for more than a century this week made news. after 80 years, the graham family sold the washington post for $250 million to amazon founder and ceo jeff bezos. >> we will become a place that does its traditional jobs but tries things. and i hope it will succeed. >> reporter: it won't be easy. sales and profits both are shrinking. circulation is down 40% in the last decade. bezos told employees in order to turn it around, we will need to experiment. which is exactly how amazon got started. today it's worth more than $130 billion. surpassing expectations as he told cynthia mcfadden in 2009. >> did you have any idea how it was going to work? >> no, the business plan was very modest compared to what happened. >> reporter: bezos isn't alone. other billionaires h

not for jeff bezos parents. they invetted in future leaders with the bezos scholarship program. >> we came from can-do people. we came from people who thought most projects were things you could solve in the garage. i think that is what humanity strives to do is understand your surroundings. >> we're looking for students that are going to be leaders. bring them to aspen to the idea's festival, but then we ask them to go back and put on their own ideas festival in their community. >> the scholars are 12 students and teachers developing local ideas from exposure to global thinkers. >> it opened up a universe of ideas that i never would have had access too. >> the idea for the foundation shortly after amazon went public. we realized as a family we had an opportunity and also what we refer to in the family as a joyful responsibility to do something beyond ourselves. >> what happens when they leave? >> they have to apply for a grant from the foundation. we work with them. if the proposal doesn't look too polished, we

. >>> when we come back, in the news this week, the founder of amazon, jeff bezos, sharing his secretess tonight. our "person of the week." on, jeff besos, sharing his information tonight. ♪ [ male announcer ] advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator working together to help improve your lung function all day. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking advair. ask your doctor if including advair could help improve your lung function. [ male announcer ] advair diskus fluticasone propionate and salmeterol inhalation powder. get your first prescription free and save on refills at advaircopd.com. ♪ hands, for holding. ♪ feet, kicking. better things than the joint pain and

jeff bezos of amazon, getting ready to pay for the newspaper itself.ople thought "the washington post" company, most valuable asset inside the company is not the legendary newspaper that led to the watergate investigation that led to resignation of nixon in 19974. "washington post" sold "newsweek" off to barry diller and tina brown's "daily beast." that went defunct. "washington post," heart of the company, being sold to jeff bezos in a private transaction apparently. we'll let you know other details as we get them. >> dennis, we want to let you know, washington post company stock is down about 4% after-hours. again to be clear, they're just selling the newspaper "the washington post" to jeff bezos, is that correct? >> that's what it looks like, yes. liz: can i make a point here? when you say the educational business, let's not forget, kaplan test something valuable like you can not believe when it comes to the washington post. warren buffett is one of the biggest shareholders of "the washington post" company. he is not on the board anymore. he stepped

80 years, the graham family told the washington post for $250 million to amazon founder and ceo jeff bezos we will become a place that does its traditional jobs but tries things. and i hope it will succeed. >> reporter: it won't be easy. circulation is down 40% in the last decade. bezos told employees in order to turn it around, we will need to experiment. which is exactly how amazon got started. today it's worth more than $130 billion. surpassing expectations as he told sin they ya mcfadden in 2009. >> did you have any idea how it was going to work? >> no, the business plan was very modest compared to what happened. >> reporter: bezos didn't alone. other billionaires have jumped into the print business. what does he do next? it's innovate or die. >> it's dangerous not to evolve. if you want to ensure your extinction, cease to evolve. >> reporter: thr "this week," rebecca jarvis. >> you have been in the washington post for 40 years? and david, for ten years. and bloomberg west tv, and arianna huffington, editor and chief of the huffington post. your selling price was higher than the washin

considered slower growth, much more challenged, but rupert murdoch has an interest in publishing and jeff bezosest in publishing as well. >> you know, julia, let me also note here that mr. bezos is buying simply the publishing part of this business. >> exactly. >> not the entire company. the "washington post" stock, i should tell you, as you're looking at this chart, has a market cap of some $4.2 billion. the publishing arm of the "washington post" company is being sold for $250 million. so let's make that -- >> scott, the -- the "washington post" company has increasingly been largely about capland, which is the test prep business. so "washington post" company, though it had that name of the flagship paper, wasn't about the newspaper business anymore. it was largely about caplan, a fast-growing education company. this is really specifically the newspaper publishing part of the business, and the kaplan part of the business will remain part of the publicly traded company, and it says here they are looking to potentially change the name of that new company. >> well, it's clear where investors see

jeff bezos is one of the great revolutionary thinkers of our time. what do you think his mind, being applied to the newspaper business, is likely to bring as far as results? >> i think innovation more than anything, a fresh way of thinking for a business that is pretty calcified and pretty dependent on its traditions. the newspaper business tend to do a lot of things just because it's always done them that way, and bezos is the opposite of that. >> axelrod: well, amazon, certainly changed the way consumers get products. so consumers of news, what might they be seeing once jeff bezos is sort of-- has his finger prints on the newspaper? >> he's always had a laser focus on the consumers' point of view and what the pain points are for them. i think we can expect to see him really streamline the experience of a subscribing to and reading a newspaper, kind of fix all the small things that make it annoying to subscribe to a news, especially around the process of paying for your subscription. >> axelrod: so maybe not so much the content but how you access th

buffett is a great, great pal of jeff bezos. buffett told me he thinks jeff bezos is one of the most brilliant men in the world. also a great pal of the graham family. he had to do something with this deal. if he thinks there's money to be made there. >> he already made it. >> but he -- but he also still owns that big newspaper fairly big newspaper in buffalo and he says he's very happy with it and he'd like to buy more newspapers. but maybe there's something going on there we don't know. >> iell you, i worked at the "washington post" company, worked at "newsweek," i spoke with warren buffett, i don't believe he thinks there's money there. i think he thinks this is the best way to stay -- >> i'm not soothsayer for the industry, but i've noticedhose are media outlets that try balance, try fairness. the circulation is up, the online product is improving and also getting more interested takers or fox, of course, which is a multibillion dollar institution. there's money to be made in it. >> well, look, "washington post" is a differe

let's hope that jeff bezos is the same way too. if he's willing to spend $250 million of his own money. >> i'm being corrected on twitter. 87 newspapers in florida with the reporters in tallahassee, not one. actually, i will get the exact number of capital bureaus. i knew a lot of bureaus were being shut down a couple years ago. >> tallahassee is ferocious. another guy says this time joe, nbc, this is peter, joe misses the point. now there are hundreds of citizens doing the same thing on a scale that's not as easily influenced which, obviously, you do have a lot of people, you know -- >> they don't have the clout that the old statewide newspapers had. >> i've got here a couple of corrections in the newspaper and i need to work on my poker face when conservatives are on the set. >> all right. >> bob woodward, thank you. >> thank you, bob. >> howard fineman. >> listen, by the way, i even buy my shoes on amazon. >> don't talk them off. please. if you can find a deal for me. >> okay. >> then if i can say this, remember what bezos said

this is jeff bezos., deep pockets, this is his own, own effort to try to save this storied paper. must be nice when you have those kind of deep pockets you can finance it all on your own. >> yeah, long history of individuals owning trophy assets like newspapers. is the climate in washington state, do you think, better than washington, d.c.? >> i would think so these days in washington state. you've got microsoft, tech companies that are doing fairly well. in d.c., you have gridlock, dysfunction, although with so many people always in washington, that is one of the better real estate markets we have seen in recent years since you have so many people moving there in order to try to get something done or perhaps try to get nothing done. >> a lot of lawyers moving there, i remember rightly from my days there. >> a lot of lobbyists. >> good to see you. thank you for that. have a great day. the latest on "the washington post" and jeff bezos. u.s. futures now, pretty flat really. s&p half a point above fair val

jeff bezos realizes 250 million is chump change for the brand. yes, subscriptions are down but he'll realizes where they lag is in digital, their strength is in digital, this is probably a good and very symbiotic relationship. for a guy whose net worth is $225 billion, it's probably -- >> i jump in there and give him something to think about? >> yes. he can take that, i've seen it. >> this isn't a trophy prize for him. he has a strategic plan in place. he's been after this media space for quite some time. and amazon you, can't value that company. >> there's no doubt about it. but when he was asked if he had a plan, his ann was pretty much, no, i have no plan at this point in in time. >> he keeps it close to the vest. >> warren buffett has about $1 billion sunk into "the washington post" company. that's an interesting sideline. john henry, the owner of the boston red sox, i believe he's in the hedge fund or investment business. now, he got the "boston globe" for a song, $70 million. the "new york times" originally i think paid $1 billion. what are

as an individual, then jeff bezos must share don graham's -- the graham family's values.o that gives me some comfort. >> don graham's statement it sounds like they share the values. if we talk about trepidation, howard, there's certainly the cultural sort of moment that this is in terms of the "post" being sold to an online retail giant. i think for those of us that don't work at the post and maybe for americans just across the country, there is a question about the reporting. right? if you look at "the washington post" storied history, talking about the pentagon papers, the water gate scandal, more recently their top secret america piece -- series, the walter reed medical hospital series that won him the pulitzer. there's the question of like is there going to be an investment -- and is there an investment in had this digital age in terms of that kind of reporting, that kind of granularity, that kind of fact finding and that commitment to stories that may not get a lot of click-throughs at the beginning or ever but matter in terms of information and awareness. >> well, i

jeff bezos buying the washington post.le who have spoken with him in recent months. >>> and regeneron with a rare sales miss, the company's president and ceo will join us for an interview. >>> and serving up business at opentable with the stock up 35% this year, and we will talk to the company's ceo live later on. >>> we kick off with the bezos deal, and who knew that the amazon ceo would buy the washington post? live now with the latest is julia boorstin. >> simon, considering that the washington post revenue has been shrinking over ten years, it is more about the play than the upside. in bezos' letter to the employees he says that the company values the post and has no plans to change the company and wants to keep up with the internet transformation of the news business. it is not the first time that bezos has tablg evken a personae in a news asset. earlier he bought business site insider to help grow the operations. bezos joins a long list of billionaires jumping into the publishing business. last week red sox owner joh

"washington post" gets bought by amazon billionaire jeff bezos. how did the read yeah react to the news. what would it mean to the future of the newspaper business. >> we have a republican chairman understandably miffed. >> folks are against the nbc's plan to produce a mini series about hillary clinton's run before she runs for president. and head of rnc demands both nbc and cnn drop their clinton projects. how will it all end? oprah speaks out about the trayvon martin shooting. did her words help or hurt racial tensions? and democrats have become the targets of late night jokes. >> it was the president's birthday. look at this recent speech. >> you will interact with all americans of all walks of life because our citizens can learn too. >> kelly: judy miller, jim pinkerton, ellen ratner and affair ard grenell. i'm kelly wright. fox news watch is on right now. >> end of the war in afghanistan doesn't mean the end of threats to our nation. as i said before even as we decimated the al-qaeda leadership that attacked us on 9/11, al-qaeda affiliates an