the government had an opportunity to go in front of judge leon and prove using documents, using economic evidence, all that it could muster to convince the judge that this was one of those instances in which any of the benefits to consumers from the merger were outweighed by cost. they did not do that. i read the opinion is largely about, fact specific failings of the government's case then, but the claims about the state of the law did merger cases, whether horizontal or vertical, often involve a couple of different types of evidence that we have muster together to try to persuade a judge that a merger either does or does not violate the act. -- clayton act. we use documents. we get testimony from some exec in the industry that says this price will go up or down and then we use economic analysis. the tradition in antitrust has been, review documentary testimony with some skepticism. lots of things gets said and investor bankers slide index and you see judge leon's skepticism when going to the documents. in favor of relying on economic analysis. so i think to me when i read the opinion a

how important are those in judge leon's decision? is what weink it call the leverage theory, or the bargaining theory. and all that is, is fancy economics talk. or, how the companies incentives change when they are operating as standalone companies before the merger into operating as a single entity after the merger. that would be that time warner content is very valuable, and the government argued that it must have content, and rival distributors to remain viable and competitive cap to the time warner content. but as a new combined entity with significant market power, there would be greater incentives to deny or frustrate byess to time warner content denying or raising prices through this bargaing leverage to their rival's jupiters. a very simple theory. it is very intuitive and easy to understand. as josh was describing, the 's opinion was focused on refuting and discounting the evidence provided. ,y discounting the economics the economic analysis performed by the government's experts. it focused on specific findings, and they did

how important are those in judge leon decision? >> i think it is what we call the leverage theory or the bargaining theory and all that if t economics talk for how the company incentives change when they are operating before the merger to operating after the merger. that would be the time warner content is very valuable than the government argued it was must-have content and distributors to remain viable and competitive would have to get access to the content. but as a new combined entity with significant market power, there would be greater incentives to deny or frustrate access to time warner content by denying or raising prices through this bargaining leverage to their rival distributors. very simple theory. very intuitive, easy to understand. the judge's opinion focuses primarily on refuting the government's theory by discounting the evidence that was provided to third parties, discounting the economics, the economic analysis performed by the government expert. they really hinged on very specific facts but a very specific findi

i think what you see in judge leon's opinion is it is clear that the evidence was not particularly strong. he spends a lot of time refuting the input. i am grateful for that analysis. we often see judges in larger thes reject or accept orernment expert analysis the party expert analysis without much discussion about why. you just see the wholesale option. he rejected some of the evidence of the input. he rejected some of the conclusions. this typically specifically the increase of something -- specifically the increase of something. thoroughcareful, very -- more thorough than we actually -- usually see in terms of the level of detail in the discussion of the analysis area there was one point where we agree -- the analysis. there was one point where we agree. i do not think there is anything controversial about the theories themselves. , i thinkcation here -- there may be cases later, a vertical merger challenge in the future where the government puts forward different evidence. one implication of the decision is clearly the doj or whoever is contemplating a vertical merger challenge will

judge richard leon is expected to announce his decision any moment now.et's bring you more on what to .xpect great to have you with us. let's begin with you -- there are three options here. they say yes to at&t, yes to department of justice, or yes to at&t but with conditions. which do you think it is? >> if you've been paying attention to the trial, the judge has to rule in favor of at&t. the justice department put up a very weak case. thereaid competition, and is no competition. they only leveraged -- the only leverage at&t and time warner will with other distributors. they will make them take all the other time warner material and that does not impact the consumer. they have a billion dollar loss that the government's expert economist came on with. it's not going to cost them five cents. it might actually save them money, as at&t argued in their case. scarlet: the government said this would be harmful to consumers. maybe the government's argument was weak, but is it that at&t made a better argument? did they make the case that the merger should go ahea

sources inside doj, they think they have a better chance with then, than a bush-appointed judge like judge leon on this issue. these liberal judges it's ironic they're praying for obama-era judges because they're the type of judges that would turnaround and say listen this is bad for the consumer. if there's one thing, liz that donald trump and elizabeth warren agree on it's that this at&t deal, the comcast deal with nbc/universal, they're bad for consumers and those judges on that panel might agree with that. liz: well let me just throw in this last thing before we go. now it looks like a, to me, bob iger has to somehow up his bid and number two the board of 21sn to brian roberts and brian roberts goes directly to the board. charlie: wait until if doj appeals, i think that there's an out here where you could say we don't want to get messed up in the justice department's regulatory agenda because they hate these deals. you can credibly argue that justice department will try to kill a comcast bid for us why get involved? i'm telling you that's not, that is, i've spoken to a lot of people about t

diana moss of the america antitrust institute, do you agree with judge leon's legal arguments? >> could not disagree more. poorly framedis a opinion. it is obviously, a big loss for the government. we disagree on a number of grounds including the judges rejection of the government's theory. specific case.ct raises any number of issues regarding how antitrust issues the same time,t we think it is a pretty isolated case. not going to set a lot of precedent for other cases. judges decision, other judges are not bound by that. we do not see a lot of implications. >> what is the government. that he rejected that you think is valid? a vertical merger, we think a lot about horizontal mergers that eliminate head-to-head rivals. vertical mergers pairs of impulse with distribution. in this case, parent of content with distribution. merger, even of they put together complementary assets, can still have what we call horizontal effects and markets. in this case, the government's at&t's was a because of market power, combined with time warner, the company would have enhanced incentives to mak

the government had an opportunity to go in front of judge leon improve, using documents and economic evidence, all that it could muster to convince the judge that this was one of the instances in which any of the benefits to consumers of the merger were outweighed by costs. they did not do that. i read the opinion largely about fact specific feelings of the government's case than a broad sweeping claim about the state of the law. merger cases whether horizontal or vertical often involve different evidence to persuade a judge that a merger does or does not violate the act. we use documents and get testimony that says prices will go up or down. then we use economic analysis. the tradition has been that we view documentary with some skepticism and lots of things get said. then you see judge leon skepticism going through the documents in favor of relying on economic analysis. to me when i read the opinion as an economist regardless of the outcome, i think an opinion that favors the economic analysis over lines that appear in documents or testimony produce for the purpose of trial, to me t

and time warner merger that was approved late yesterday judge richard leone of the u.s. district court here in washington approved the eighty five point four billion dollar merger between eighty and t. and time warner having a major defeat to the u.s. department of justice the decision allows the birth of a media giant with massive and law to let the coal capacity in creation and distribution of content from sesame street to westworld the president also throws wide open the door to murder more murder media is that a moment when the corporate media landscape is already shifting rapidly and i trust lawyers from the justice department had demanded that both eighty and time warner divest certain assets before merging and soon when the parties barak the chief of the n i trust division now says the office is reviewing the decision in detail before deciding whether to ask for a stay or pursue appeals and here to help us delve more into the issue and what it might mean for consumers and margot's professor. a lecturer at american university and andre barlow a partner at doyle bar

thought this is what the judge was go going to do why are you so certain of that i think you know judge leon. he was really impressed by the fact that the government's own witness in the government conceded that there was going to be cost savings from this vertical merger and that those cost savings would be passed on to directv consumers so basically you know these cost savings passed on to directv consumers which is about twenty five million subscribers out there they're all going to see reduced prices so that was a concession by the government and its star economic witness professor shapiro besides that in terms of this case we're talking about is not a vertical for closure case which is your traditional vertical case meaning that eighteen thousand. would withhold that turner content from distributors rather this case was about raising the cost to these other distributors and when i say distributors talking about the cable companies we're talking about dish and we're talking about the virtual players like sony and you tube live t.v. and sling so you know that was the issue would they have

let me go to you, seth, on the legal, can what the judge's options are. richard leon could go a few different ways. allow the merger to go through, could disallow it but there could be a middle ground, right? >> true, basically three options that the judge can take. he can allow the merger to move forward without conditions. he can flatly reject it which i'm going out on a limb and say it's not going to happen in that manner or float in the middle and have it approved with certain conditions. i think it's likely that at&t is going to win this case. may be without conditions, but you are absolutely right. the judge has a number of options here and particularly interesting and historic case. this is a vertical merger, the justice department has not fought a case like this since the early 70s. this is a rarity not only in terms of the issue but a road map for what's happening next in the world of digital media. connell: no doubt, i want james to weigh in on that. seth, give me what a condition could be, if it comes to that. >> one of the conditions is the judge say i wil

we got to figure out what judge leon says. we don't know.ct, jim has a different view of many others behalf he's goi -- of what he's going to say. the fight over anti-trust and the risk that, obviously, disney believes this deal is far better positioned for any number of reasons. including the currency, the combination itself, the desire for the murdoch family to own the stock. anti-trust will be key here. comcast, remember, when it put nbc at comcast together years ago, did have to enter into behavioral remedies with the department waof justice in a consent to create much of which expires this summer. if you add more content to the distribution platform will it be a problem? they're a key offerer of broadband services in many parts of our country it's regional. not national unlike direct tv disney would argue that merging of distribution of content and the key broadband place they have in our country in terms of delivering would give them dominance in the region and direct distortion of competition. they can favor certain over the top offer

the actual course of the trial itself but as the days and weeks have stretched on, waiting for judge leon to deliver. certainly there were those that thought maybe the government does have a chance including the guy to the right of me there. >> boy, i was wrong. >> that was not the case 172-page decisn judge leon, jim, made it clear how he feels about the government's case and seemed to indicate why did you bother to bring it and we'll talk about what it means, but that will clear the path for comcast more on that in a moment but big day for at&t let's not forget that. they'll be able to complete the time warner deal let's call it next week. they said by the 20th if not sooner they move on from what was a long, hard battle they didn't expect to actually face when they first announced the deal. >> yeah. a lot of people was saying it was a stunning rebuke against the government that's wrong it was more of a bomb thrown at the assistant attorney general for ti-trust ther2 pages of saying the justice department didn't know what it was doing it was embarrassing. the verdict was embarrassing it

district judge leon. explain for us what at&t and time warner are looking to do with this merger. what a first -- when did a first-come about? guest: it cannot quite a long time ago before the election. it came out october 2016 is when he announced the merger. 80 $5 billion deal. at&t has been looking to buy a content company. owns a slew of cable networks. cnn, tbs, hbo. it owns warner bros., the fabled hollywood studio. they have been anxious to get their hands on it because at&t says the future is going to be in these bolt up content companies -- bulked up touching cavities. we need them to compete against facebook's of the world. not just offering their own type of content, but also advertising. in a big do for at&t is they can create this kind of innovative new advertising platform that they believe will change the business. the department of justice gets involved in says, not so fast. what are the concerns being put forth by the government in this case against the merger? guest: on the consumer level, the government says it has made the calculation this merger will end up co

we have not yet had access to the full 70-page opinion of judge leon but he went through each of theeories of why this merger would lessen competition and be bad for consumers and in each case he rejected the government's -- contention this would be a bad merger and a usual part of his opinion was him saying to the government, look, don't even bother appealing bec if you appeal, if you get a stay, you will kill the deal evenf you lose -- the appeals court sides with at&t and time warner. that the procedural will take over for the substance. so he was saying, look, admit you lost, and let thi deal go forward. you can sue later, he said to the government, to break up the mpany, but don't try to stop this merger at this late date. that was a very unusual thing that the judge did and it is basically a sign of how much he rejected the trump justice department arguments on -- in this case. >> and jeffrey, let me ask you, president trump when he was just candidate trump during the 2016 presidential campaign, he expressed opposition to this deal. now on its face his opposition, his political

judge richard leon will decide in about two and a half hours if at&t and time warner are able to merget all of the ed in this case. if the judge rules against the department of justice, then we can expect an appeal that possibly could push this case beyond the june 18th closing deadline, and june 21st merger deadline, and there is already talk within the two companies of pushing those deadlines in expectation that they may win this case. now, the government says that the combined company would be so large that it could set distribution prices as well as limit competition to the marketplace. the government also says that the combined companies would raise prices on customers because of the reduced competition. now, experts are sayin it's very difficult to prove that a vertical merger will hurt the customer per se. now, the government says that they only have to prove that a reasonable harm is done to customers. now, at&t argued that the larger company needs to be put in place in order to compete with big tech firms now producing their ownws like amazon, hulu, netflix, also google. now,

what a day, we will begin walter, i guess, are you -- do you applaud judge leon's decision did you expectay >> i expected it this way because you and jon fortt both said it on the show a few times when i was on, that vertical integrations are not something that would be stopped, and you turned out to be right i think it makes sense is a huge tectonic shift we're seeing with multiple converging forces. at parela wineberg where i work we have the disruption lab and you see this in media and telecommunications with the fact that we will have more vertical integration, a lot of mergers, of people who have content and distribution, that's why comcast will be going in for the fox assets you also see other things happening, including comcast being out from under the behaval remedies it had to agree to when it did its universal merger. also, you have the end of net neutrality happening and we're moving into a world in which big data and data about consumers matter so you're going to have experts in that field, amazon, netflix, ame.t's going to be a wild ride for the next couple of years when it c

that is why that decision came down today from judge leon. we will see, wolf, what the government does here and what has been a point by point by point takedown of the entire case. wolf. >> jessica schneider, thank you very much. good reporting. >>> let's bring in brian stelter and cnn chief legal analyst and jeffrey toobin and you were in the courtroom during that half hour presentation and i take it was dramatic. what is your takeaway. >> it was an extraordinary scene and district court opinions are handed out and no such ceremony. here the judge locked the courtroom, said no one could leave until he was finished talking and he knew that this information had the power to move markets so he did it after the stock market had closed and wanted everybody to get the news at the same time. the real issue is what does this mean for consumers. that is what this was really a fight about. the justice department said if at&t is allowed to buy time warner, our parent company, it will be higher costs for consumers. that time warner and at&t will jack up

judge leon was hin this.e have a few signs early on that he was relentless with the government ls thatere calling this antitrust, anti-competitive. he would put them through the drills and the motions, prove it, prove it. some say he has a libertarian bend here. but do you think the government failed to make their case that this was unfair? >> i don't think the government failed. this was a violation of antitrust law. it could be considered predatory for customers if you think about it. at&t controls the pipeline for distribution and now potentially the content, too, that they're putting out. you think about hbo. i'm not a game of thrones fans. but if theyay we'll give you hbo for free if you sign up for cell service -- >> neil: so they get preferential treatment. charlie gasparino, are you with us? >> yeah, i'm here. >> neil: lovely. so you've had a chance to digest a little bit about this. play this outs from here. >> we hear there's no conditions or no significant conditions. we want to see the decision. i

and time warner merger that was approved late yesterday judge richard leone of u.s. district court here in washington approved the eighty five point four billion dollar merger between eighty and time warner handing a major defeat to the u.s. department of justice the decision allows the birth of a media giant with massive and little let the capacity in creation and distribution of content from sesame street to westworld the president also throws wide open the door to murder more merger media is that a moment when the corporate media landscape is already shifting rapidly and i trust lawyers from the justice department had demanded that both eighty and time warner divest certain assets before merging and sued when the parties block the chief of the and i trust the vision now says the office is reviewing the decision in detail before deciding whether to ask for a stay or pursue appeals and here to help us delve more into the issue and what it might mean for consumers and margot's professorial lecture at american university and andre barlow of a partner at doyle barlow t

what i'm saying, judge leon wrote a narrow ruling on at&t time warner, justice trying to block that. ey may try to block, listen, this ruling, down set precedent. the judge himself said it. it is a narrow ruling that doesn't mean we can't go after this deal. i think, here is the thing, the problem with the media mergers, if you have transformational meals justice doesn't like, including vertical ones where you put distribution and content and you have to go to court, for years, that's a problem. you know, these companies do not want to be fighting the justice department for the next two years. it is really a problem with the deal. particularly if you get it before a butch of obama appointees, who if there is one thing that elizabeth warren and some of the liberals in congress agreen on with donald trump it, was that this deal was bad and those are the type of judges on the d.c. circuit. neil: let's say that doesn't happen, for whatever reason, they rethink. it doesn't happen. how, could others enter this fray? would there be bidding war between comcast and disney? >> there could. neil

federal judge richard leon will decide in about an hour, seen all of the evidence in this case. if the judge does decide against the department of justice allowing the merger to go through, we expect there would be appeal in this case. the appeal wil push it beyond or the contract beyond the june 18 closing deadline. the june 21st merger deadline within the contract. the companies are in talks right now we're hearing in order to move the deadline in anticipate afrgz the decision here. what the government tried to show in this case, the company would be so large, it would control the distribut new shows goingforward, also that it would be allowed to limit competition in the marketplace. the government also tried to show this large company could hurt consumers by raising prices because o that reduced competition. experts say it's difficult to show in a vertical merger that customers will be harmed but customers have to show a reasonable harm. at&t saying they need the merger to go forward to compete with the tech giants, producing the new shows in the future. talking about amazon,

circuit court of appeals, where again, it's a lottery system, judge leon was picked through a lotterymber out, though he does a lot of antitrust cases and did the comcast-nbcu deal. based upon how many obama-era appointees are in there, they can get a favorable panel and maybe block this deal. they are still leaning. there are senior people inside saying let's do it. final decision, not made, and by the way, it's not done until they make -- just so you know, as far as i'm concerned, i am telling you liz, this is not a done deal as far as the government. why would the government go after them again? line in the sand. they believe this is a bad deal. they think this is going hurt consumers and want to warn comcast essentially about buying us. we don't like the fact you're getting bigger. we may come after you, too. so i'm telling you these deals are -- liz: sounds like obama's d.o.j. they really didn't want bigger companies and powerful corporations. >> you know what the irony of this is? that the trump people, if they appeal, they're leaning towards it. they'll be banking on obama appo

that high for them to show there's some problem here that this could lead to higher prices, maybe judge leonnot want to smack down the justice department that hard. maybe he writes a very narrowly tailored opinion. we'll have to see. cheryl: right. charlie: but i would be very hesitant -- cheryl: standby. charlie: because you just don't know what jurors and judges think. cheryl: i'll just watch your twitter feed tomorrow. charlie: i understand 4:00 tomorrow the judge we'll see the preliminary ruling. cheryl: again i'll just watch your twitter feed. charlie: okay. cheryl: closing bell ringing and we've got seven minutes to go, markets are shrugging off that g 7. but coming up benefits from global trade problems countdown will be right back. at fidelity, our online u.s. equity trades are just $4.95. so no matter what you trade, or where you trade, you'll only pay $4.95. fidelity. open an account today. . . . ♪ cheryl: medical device-maker stryker looking to potentially take over rival boston scientific. let's go to the new york stock exchange and nicole petroleum. you have a lot more details.

tomorrow judge leon is due to issue his opinion on the at&t/time warner deal. comcast holding the shareholder meeting now. we're monitoring developments on that but, man, six week trial months of waiting. it's coming down to it. >> yeah, you know, when i spoke to the assistant attorney general for anti-trust, i mean, more confident than ever it will be blocked this time warner. that there's a tremendous possibility that your bill goes that's all he's about. and then, look, i read between the lines he'll do something enforcing his position even if he loses in court. so -- >> how would that work >> he can try, you know, sue to block something. one of the things we're all kind of thinking that is wrong is either/or. that the or a loss i think that's not going to happen i think there's some parts that the government is going to win and some parts the government loses. which would then allow comca to go forward with the bid the next day i know that in the discussion that i had he's pretty sure he liked the way disney approached its deal with fox. basically breaking

do you agree with judge leon's legal arguments in the at&t time warner merger case? why or why not?>> could not disagree

judge richard leon said today that the deal does not violate anti- trust law and can proceed.at&t announced plans to acquire time warner in october 2016 - then candidate donald trump pledged that his administration would block the deal, saying "it's too much concentration of power in the hands of too few." today...judge leon discouraged the government from asking him to put his own ruling on hold pending appeal and said if asked....he would deny a stay. next at 8one potentially dangerous gadget...has firefighters quite upset.why they say elon musk's flamethrow is a terrible idea. (pam) in sports... the giants continue to struggle in the 3-0-5 ... gary has that story...( ken ) plus the warriors championship parade gets interactive... very interactive... gary has the highlights... plus player reaction... coming up new tonight at eight...one of elon musk's latest products has firefighters in southern california burning mad.((pam)) and in a state known for its wildfires, authorities say, these products can do a lot of damage.stacey butler has the story. nat sound of flame-thrower

diana moss of the america antitrust institute, do you agree with judge leon's legal arguments? >> could not disagree more. poorly framedis a opinion. it is obviously, a big loss for the government. we disagree on a number of grounds including the judges rejection of the government's theory. specific case.ct

>> that's a great question basically i think the notion of direct to the consumer, judge leon's reportandscape as well as anyone could do you don't have to read the other -- >> if only all judges were as good as this guy >> and he even quoted bob dylan. this is good independent of that, skrojoe, tk back when the ford in manufacturing, jeff bezos is doing the same thing contracting and what judge leon indicated was manufacturer, intermediary, retailer, consumer you're going directly from the manufacturer to the consumer direct to the consumer and netflix has demonstrated that that works. they have 120 million subscribers globally they'll go to 200 million in the next few years s that a powerful argument about where the money's going to be. but, you know, i wrote this in 1975 when i covered mca. give the consumer what they want when they want it and do it at a low cost what you're talking about is the compression of the cost structure for me the consumer to watch when i want when i want. >> sounds like you're saying it's defensive then. >> not necessarily because the free market system a

there's also the potential that judge leon would allow the transaction but with conditions.th sides to offer remedies to address anticompetitive concerns but at&t and time warner say they want the merger to go through without any conditions whatsoever back to you. >> thank you, julia. >>> mike's got a trade on at&t for us. walk us through. >> so in situations like this where you have an upcoming catalyst, we commonly talk about the fact that options premiums get elevate sod that's when we'll look to maybe slightly more complicated spreads what i'm looking at here is a call spread risk reversal. i'm trying to capture some of that near term upside potential but avoid some of the near term downside potential. i'm looking to the july 27th, weekly options, 32, 34.5, 37 call spread risk reversal where i'm willing to sell the 37 puts, collect the 35 cents, buy the 34.5 calls, pay 80 and sell those 37 calls for 20 cents. that whole structure is going to cost me just a nickel. the idea here is that once that announcement comes down, the options premiums are going to drop as well and,

judge leon had on this that providers are incredibly persistent and affect it in the hearts and minds of consumers and has to be respected and acknowledged as part of the analysis whether a transaction should go forward. i think he did a service to the analysis of the vertical mergers and we will have influence on other things considered. more importantly something i've advocated for quite a while. >> speaking of the broader market july 12 to help ownership rules on the docket at the fcc. do you think that 39% rule is arbitrary? >> guest: so, i do. something that is established in statute. i was there at the time and was in the room. arguably it's not completely arbitrary because it's addressing a particular transaction at the time, but something that doesn't reflect the current marketplace at a party commission doesn't have authority to change that is something congress has done for 39% no longer makes any sense. intellectually i agree it should be 100%. i don't agree with an artificial limitation. the ability to change that is something congress will see. i said i would vote for and

whether they would, considering how it would delay the merger process there's also the potential that judge leonhe transaction but with conditions. he offered both sides to address remedies but at&t and time warner filed a brief saying they want the merger to go through without any conditions >> julia, thank you. >>> well, mike's actually got a trade on at&t for us why don't you walk us through? >> yes, sure in situations like this where you have an upcoming catalyst, we commonly talk about the fact that options premiums get elevated that's when we'll look to slightly more complicated spreads. what i look at here is a call spread/risk reversal the idea of capturing some of that near-term upside potential. specifically, looking to the july 27th, these are weekly options, 37 calls. i'm going to sell the 32, collect 55 cents, buy it for 34 1/2 calls, pay 80 and then sell those 37 calls for 20 cents. net-net that whole structure is going to cost me just a nickel the idea is once the options come down, the options premiums are going to drop as well. if the stock stays he, there's a decent chance this

all of comcast proposals and directors were elected as expected this comes ahead of judge leon's rulingntioned. if at&t wins, we can expect comcast to make its offer for fox's entertainment assets official this week here is what ceo brian roberts said about his interest in m & a today. >> as we discussed during our recent conference calls and webcast, opportunities arise for us to create more value for our shareholders like we did with nbc universal. our current offer for sky as well as our announcement last month that we're considering and are in advanced stages for an offer that fox is selling are perfect examples of this importantly, we set the bar high we haven't been and will remain disciplined. we are well positioned and have substantial opportunities for current growth in our businesses and are confident and excited about our future. >> as all this has been going on, kara, comcast stock price has not been doing well. it is down in the low 30s. even though we talk about disney all the time and the powerhouse that it is content wise, i mean, its stock price hasn't been doing so hot

we're going from the buggy whip to particle physics and were it not for this particular deal had judge leon said no had he said we are not going to and anyway and by the way i never rode dark times though i've lived it but here's the thing you would have never been able to go from one extreme to the other without this merger we're seeing something right now it's all going to be streaming it's going to be streaming everything right now sticks and tennis all of that is going to go by the wayside and what a.t.t. represents are millions and millions of consumers that for example netflix and others go directly to cable what's that cue the crickets. this is beyond explication and i'm not even in any way exaggerating on this well that may be why steve you know disney is also going after fox and disney's c.e.o. robert iger as a socially we don't wage his future in winning that media war and and there might be somewhat of a corporate grudges as you know dating back to two thousand and four when comcast actually tried to acquire disney what do you make of that one steve. well you know they came to ki

judge leon hit on this.istent and effective in winning the hearts and minds of consumers and has to be respected and acknowledged as part of an analysis on whether particular transaction can go forward. i actually think he did a service to the mergers and i think that will have an influence on other things that are considered but more importantly he's helped define a broader marketplace which is something i've advocated for for quite a while. >> speakin: : : two think the 39% rule is arbitrary? >> i do. : : : and then we will see it get litigated out with different opinions. >> host: a lot of credit's say that the meeting is set to benefit the sinclair merger. >> i've written about this at length it isn't about sinclair. it's to bthat's to be determinee will address this particular issue that it's not about sinclair. this is the one that they highlight. i can tell you i spend no time trying to think about this. we have a particular transaction but that is a particular thing we can analyze separately. my job

>> that's right, and while i think it's fair to say that judge leon was not persuaded by the quantifynot care here's the theory, they get a distributor, reach a price for the e quikwiequal, and say it's charter cable, it's felt by losing subscribers to other distributors, the pain to the programmer is felt by lost affiliate fees in advertising. if you can make the argument that any nonzero number of customers that leave that distributor go to directv and, therefore, the cost of the blackout to at&t is lower, then the price, by definition, is a higher number. >> my head hurts a little. so you're saying that -- so is it because directv is national -- >> no, because if -- >> because at&t owns it, and although there's small market share, they get some of the value. >> they get some of the value, and therefore -- >> that moves that price a little bit >> that's right. >> a little bit. >> so you can argue that it's very difficult to quantify it, but if the judge agrees, i don't really care about the theory of the quantilifica that self-theory is correct, and there's some issue of consumer pa

reporter: district court judge leon giving the green light for the merger. this is historic and could pave the way for a slew of deals where streaming giants like netflix, amazon and hulu have new rivals. the judge did not think the doj met their responsibility to deliver burden of proof. at&t, time-warner, cbs charter all higher in afterhours trading. the doj could appeal the judge's ruling. but the judge had a sharp warning for the government if they don't let his ruling stand. saying quote, to do otherwise i fear would undermine our system of justice and millions of shareholders and the business community at large. the do jrntion says they believe the market will be less competitive with this deal. lou: on wall street, stocks closed mixed and very flat. thedown down two pnts. jeff bezos likes dems except when they tax him. seattle repealed the tax against big business reportedly from pressure amazon. up nex left-wing loon robert de niro p his trump derangement on display at the tony awards. the president delivering a knockout blow. the world. i advance sci

we're going from the buggy whip to particle physics and were it not for this particular deal had judge leon said no had he said we are not going to and anyway and by the way i never wrote dark times though i have lived it but here's the thing you would have never been able to go from one extreme to the other without this merger we're seeing something right now it's all going to be streaming it's going to be streaming everything right now sticks and tennis all of that is going to go by the wayside and what a.t.t. represents are millions and millions of consumers that for example netflix and others go directly to cable what's that cue the crickets. this is beyond explication and i'm not even in any way exaggerating on this well that may be why steve you know disney is also going after fox and does the c.e.o. robert iger as a socially we don't wage his future in winning that media war and and there might be somewhat of a corporate grudges as you know dating back to two thousand and four when comcast actually tried to acquire disney what do you make of that one steve. well you know they came to

judge leon hit on this. over the top providers are incredibly persistent and effective in winning the hearts and minds of consumers, and have to be respected and acknowledged as part of the analysis trying to figure out whether a particular transaction should go forward. i actually think he did a vertical mergers. they will have an influence on other things considered. more importantly, he has helped define a broader marketplace, something i have advocated for for quite a while. >> speaking of the broader marketplace, coming up on july 12 you have media ownership rules on your docket at the fcc. do you think the 39% rule is arbitrary? commissioner o'rielly: well, i do. it is arbitrary, arbitrary is a strong word. it is something established in statute. something congress did. i was there at the time, in the room. arguably, it's not completely arbitrary, because it was addressing a particular transaction at the time, but it is not reflecting the current marketplace. i have argued the commission doesn't have a

warner >> this is really a victory for at&t rejecting the bid to block the acquition of time warner judge leon also not seeking a stay on the deal it is set to close on or before june 20th. we are reading through the judge's decision right now it points to the threat is that the tech giants pose to at&t to explain why it is not competitive, they're saying vertically integrated companies have provided affordable on-demand content. and facebook and google have ways to create effective and lucrative advertisements specific to the consumer, anti-trust chief saying that "we continue to believe that the competitive and innovative, we will closely review the court's opinion and consider our next temperatures based on the dramatic moves of the media stocks and after hours trading, there is no question that this decision opens the flood gates for more deals, next up, comcast will make a deal for fox as early as tomorrow >> let's talk here about what rich greenfield said about other people in play >> yeah, twitter bounced, it got added to the s&p 500 i'm still long, i think you will see it, even though

judge richard leon said the us government he hopes would appealed his ruling.amentally alter the us landscape the decades to come. shares in chinese telecoms equipment maker zte plunged by 39% as the company resumed trading after it reached a settlement with the united states over its handling of a sanctions violation. let's go to our asia business hub where rico hizon is following the story. nice to see you. zte shares dropping like a stone? absolutely and that has wiped out about 3 billion us dollars off its market value as it resumed trading on the hong kong stock exchange after it agreed to pay up stock exchange after it agreed to pay up to one point four billion dollars in penalty to the us government. the company was crippled when a seven—year supply ban was imposed on the firm in april for breaking at 2017 agreement after being caught illegally trading with iran and north korea. the van stopped zte from buying key base components. confirming details of the deal saying it will replace the board directors before the orders signed by the us. it has become h

. >> look, if you go and you read the judge's opinion, a judge leon, what he's saying is look they have no choice. they've got to do this so anti-what the government is saying they have to do it because of faang. by the way, delrahim on the government side was mentioning faang. the judge is saying at&t has no choice they must do this. i thought it was a little extreme. i feel like when i look at the deal say versus, yes, comcast or disney, i think that's -- those are deals that are getting international exposure international is where you have to be. >> i don't know if you saw it. there was note on netflix he said it was time to call it euro flix the impetus is heavy on ex-us. >> everyone is under penetrated. comcast, we don't talk enough about india. walmart made the huge stake in india. india 2025 the largest country india going more and more capitalist china getting close to the president. so anybody who can get india is someone who is ahead of the curve. if i'm going to do a big deal in the space, i want to get india i don't want to get more united states. >> yeah with all that, dow

in an unusual move yesterday, the judge in this case, judge leon, issued a stern warning to the justice department, not only about an appeal but about a stay. he could be asked to freeze the merger to go through the appeal. i want to read it. i hope and trust that the government will have the good judgment, the wisdom, and the courage to avoid such a manifest injustice. to do otherwise, i fear, would undermine the faith in our system of of skwrus of not only the defendants but the shareholders and the business community at large. that sort of statement telling the justice department i don't even want you to try to get me to freeze this merger. it is a manifest injustice to the defendants. >> thank you very much for explaining it to us throughout this entire process. >> reporter: thanks, alisyn. >>> the united states bidding to host the 2026 world cup, along with mexico and canada. will soccer's biggest event come to america? a next-generation, all-in-one work table and clamping system. pegasus holds tight at any angle. steel reinforcement makes pegasus superstrong. a workspace anyplace.

i saw what judge leon saw. charles: he said you go back to 1963, philadelphia national bank. regulators need not to have some ultimate reckoning. they can focus on competition and the ultimate impact on consumers instead of having to nitpick. why did this judge see it differently? >> one of the things the departme oftice conceded is directv would have cost savings from this transaction. at&t's acquisition of time-warner. at&t also owns directv. one of the things concede at trial there is would be cost savings. they would actually see lower prices. so that was conceded by the government. and i think the judge took that and he believed that was really significant. so what the case was really about was could the -- could the combined firmlly raise costs to its rivals? and the rivals are the distributors to dish net. the judge what he saw there is that he thought that the government lacked sufficient evidence ont point. charles: before i let you go. does this create a wild wild west scenario in this industry and ultimately are we look at two or three competitors in key industries

last two weeks and most believe that it is unlikely that the burden is fairly high, even though judge leonregularity by the appeals court that they will allow at&t to close the deal because if they did not, if the doj was successful and stay on the deal, that would essentially be a death knell, as well even if they were to have won the trial so we'll see and it's an important point and most people put it at a fairly low chance and not remote, but fairly low should they lose the doj and then seek -- >> tuesday the 12th. >> the singapore summit. >> the same day as the singapore summit and the next day, of course, comcast will probably make a bid. >> and i'm on vacation. >> yeah. they have to come in >> the busiest week of the year, the tcb, fed, doj, the cpi you name it. jim is joining us from the deals and corporate governance conference having made news with mal m mollenkopf >> he's the assistant attorney general for antitrust because i want to know if he will go, and i talked to steve mollenkopf today and it was much different than the steve mollenkopf i spoke to last night on "mad money,