Forward

EXEC SUMMARY: While DC readies for the impeachment hearings, the rest of the media world rolls on... So let me start by previewing the Disney+ launch, then share some impeachment links and other stories...

Tomorrowland: Disney's future has arrived

Frank Pallotta emails: "Disney's Folly." That's what some in Hollywood dubbed "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" before it premiered in 1937. Critics argued that Walt Disney was risking his studio with an innovative film no one wanted. In the end, "Snow White" helped make Disney the company it is today.

Eighty-two years later, Disney is unveiling another risky innovation — one that could be as vital to the company's future as "Snow White" was to its origins: the launch of Disney+.

For CEO Bob Iger and his executive team and thousands of people working on the product and its programming, Tuesday morning's launch is one of the biggest moments in the company's history. And it's a landmark moment for the media business writ large. Everyone will be watching to see how Disney does...

Reinventing the company

Flashback to August 2017, the day Iger announced streaming services for ESPN and Disney. "That announcement marked the beginning of the reinvention of the Walt Disney Company," Iger wrote in his recent book. "We would continue supporting our television channels in the traditional space, for as long as they continued to generate decent returns, and we would continue to present our films on big screens in movie theaters all over the world, but we were now fully committed to also becoming a distributor of our own content, straight to consumers, without intermediaries. In essence, we were now hastening the disruption of our own businesses, and the short-term losses were going to be significant."

Short term losses, long term gains

Yes, Matthew Ball writes in this column for The Economist, "the shift to Disney+ is expensive up front in several obvious ways." But the service's "low price, hefty investment and considerable risk" comes with a much greater prize: "data and direct customer relationships." This new product "is about fortifying the entire Disney empire." As Ball explains here, "the endgame in SVOD isn't video, but entire ecosystems..."

Iger's test

Frank Pallotta adds: Iger is taking on arguably the most ambitious endeavor of his tenure during the twilight of his career at Disney. But he doesn't really have a choice, does he? "Iger has seen dinner and a movie become Netflix and Uber Eats," Jeffrey Cole, director of USC Annenberg Center for the Digital Future, told me. "Disney is fully committed to streaming because they think that streaming is going to be at the core of the whole company going forward." Certainly -- but will Disney be able to catch up to Netflix?

The promotional machine

On Monday I noticed ads for Disney+ on the radio; on TV; on a billboard; and on the top of a taxicab. I'm sure you're seeing them, too. ESPN's "Monday Night Football" aired a new clip from "The Mandalorian." And the blitz will continue on Tuesday's "GMA" -- lots of Disney+ plugs plus another clip from "The Mandalorian" "as we preview how the 'Star Wars' universe is expanding," a tipster says. "GMA" is also asking viewers about their favorite Disney scenes, and "sharing those vignettes one person per hour for 24 hours starting at midnight on social..."

Celebrating the day in Burbank

Disney isn't saying exactly when the streaming service will be up and running, but its website is counting down to 6am ET Tuesday. I hear there will be a Disney employee event on the Burbank lot on Tuesday to thank those who worked on the launch -- in other words, almost everyone at the company...

Lowry reviews one of the Disney+ debut films

Brian Lowry writes: Disney has made four movies this year that turned animated classics into live-action fare. The main distinction about "Lady and the Tramp," a passable if uninspired addition to that roster, is that it will debut on Disney+, as one of the higher-profile originals when the service signs on...

FOR THE RECORD, PART ONE

-- BREAKING: Jimmy Carter "was admitted Monday night to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta ahead of a procedure to relieve pressure on his brain." He "will undergo the procedure Tuesday morning..." (CNN)

-- Recommended reading: The NYT is out with a well-written summary of Trump, Ukraine and impeachment, billed as "the inside story of how we got here." It is on Page One of Tuesday's paper... (NYT)

-- Eugene Robinson's argument: "Rank partisan solidarity is all Trump's defenders have left..." (WaPo)

-- Nikki Haley's book tour continued on "Hannity" on Monday night... Haley will be on the "Today" show Tuesday morning... (Mediaite)

Spicer's "Dancing" days are over

Sean Spicer "was eliminated from 'Dancing With the Stars' Monday night, despite a supportive tweet from President Trump earlier in the day," Deadline's Anita Bennett writes.

Frankly, the surprise is that Spicer lasted this long, despite persistently low scores from the judges. He obviously received a big boost from Trump and MAGA voters who swarmed ABC with votes.

At 8:33, during the show's live airing on the East Coast, Trump tweeted and urged people to "vote for Sean." Trump had written, "He is a great and very loyal guy who is working very hard." After Spicer was voted off the show, Trump deleted that message and posted a new one: "A great try by @seanspicer. We are all proud of you!"

Counting down...

The first televised hearing of the Trump impeachment is Wednesday at 10am ET. No matter how much you-know-what Trump throws at the wall, it's still happening. He tweeted / retweeted 27 times on Monday -- all the usual lies plus ludicrous claims about Democrats "subverting Democracy" (he was quoting Bill O'Reilly there) and hating our country. Tony Schwartz, who wrote "The Art of the Deal" with Trump, and is now a harsh critic, has a radical suggestion: Just "ignore everything he says."

"Deja vu-ness"

Lesley Stahl, speaking on Showtime's "The Circus," comparing her days covering Watergate and Nixon's impeachment with these days:

"I'm feeling, this is what it was like. This is what it was like. The reporters were covering it like blankets, smothering it. The world was beginning to pay attention. The president was fighting, fighting, fighting. I'm beginning to feel a deja vu-ness."

The biggest difference, she said, is the existence of a pro-Trump media ecosystem...

Our deep dive into the transcripts

We combed through the deposition transcripts and noticed names like Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson, both of Fox, and John Solomon, a Fox contributor formerly of The Hill, popping up. Hannity, in particular, appeared to have a nexus to much of the shenanigans. Here are all the details.

About Hannity and Yovanovitch...

Early last week, Hannity denied that he ever spoke to anyone at the State Department about Marie Yovanovitch, the former US Ambassador to Ukraine. But then, a few days later, the transcript of George Kent's testimony was released, and it contained more detail. According to Kent, the State Department's counselor Ulrich Brechbuhl placed a call to Hannity and suggested "that if there was no proof of the allegations" against Yovanovitch, "that he should stop covering them."

I asked Fox if Hannity had any further comment, and he responded through a spokesperson with this: "I stand behind my comments that have been repeated on both radio and TV. The ambassador was only mentioned a few times in passing on my show. I have also stated numerous times on both radio and TV that I have never been contacted about Ukraine by Secretary Pompeo or anyone else at the State Department."

Hannity evidently didn't like our story, because he sent three angry tweets at me right before his show started on Monday night. Here's the story, co-authored by Oliver Darcy and Marina di Marzo...

W.H. press secretary or Fox News contributor?

Oliver Darcy emails: Stephanie Grisham on Monday defended her practice of not holding briefings with the press. In an email to me, Grisham said she will hold a press briefing "when the President wants me to." Grisham added, "That is ultimately his decision." (Reminder: It's been 245 days since the last on-camera briefing from a WH press secretary.)

In her email, Grisham claimed she has "no qualms" about appearing on mainstream news networks. BUT, since she has been press secretary, Grisham has basically only granted interviews to right-wing media. She has appeared on Fox at least 13 times, in addition to a handful of interviews with Sinclair and far-right One America News Network. During her appearances on those friendly networks, Grisham has been allowed to push Trump's talking points mostly unchallenged. She's used the platform to assail the press and disparage critics of the President...

>> Erik Wemple quipped: It "may be time to rename 'White House press secretary' to 'Special Envoy to Fox News.'"

A suggested Q the next time a Trump defender complains about anonymous leaks

Oliver Darcy emails: If you have spent any time watching Trump's defenders on TV, you've almost certainly heard them denounce anonymous leaks to the press. This refrain has intensified in recent weeks as details of the impeachment probe have leaked from behind the closed-doors testimonies. It's a talking point that deserves to be challenged.

Here's my suggestion. If a Republican lawmaker or White House aide appears on-air and peddles this talking point, he or she should be asked a simple question: Have you ever provided information anonymously to a reporter? And if they reply no, another follow up suggested by Georgetown professor Josh Chafetz: "Do you herby release any reporters with whom you might have talked anonymously from their obligation of confidentiality?"

Napolitano says he would vote to impeach

The AP's Dave Bauder spoke with Judge Andrew Napolitano, who has become one of the most important voices at Fox News because he has "emerged as one of Donald Trump's bluntest critics on a network where the president expects to hear encouragement."

"If I were a Democrat in the House, which I am not and never will be, I would vote to impeach," Napolitano told Bauder.

Okay, Bauder asked, what if you were a Republican in the Senate? "I think they're going to find some of his behavior difficult to defend," the judge said...

FOR THE RECORD, PART TWO

-- Stephen Collinson: "Everyone overuses the word 'historic,' but this week it might really be apt..." (CNN)

-- Radio 🔌: I'll be on "The Takeaway" with Tanzina Vega on Tuesday, talking about coverage of the impending hearings...

-- "A Warning" by "Anonymous" comes out this time next week... Kevin Liptak has new excerpts from the book here... (CNN)

-- ICYMI, here are five key quotes from Joe Biden's CNN town hall... (CNN)

Twitter asks for public's help on deepfakes

Donie O'Sullivan writes: Twitter is asking for public input as it figures out how to handle deepfakes and other manipulated media on its platform. There are concerns that deepfakes — super realistic fake videos — could be exploited ahead of the 2020 election.

Twitter says it is considering placing warning labels next to altered media and alerting users before they share content that includes alerted media. The company is not suggesting, however, that it might remove false or misleading videos.

>> Flashback: In May, Facebook and Twitter came under scrutiny for not removing a doctored video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. (That video was not a deepfake.)

About Facebook, Brown, and Warren...

"A little more than two weeks after Facebook announced a news initiative, the social network was on the defensive, responding to a published report that a website co-founded by the company's top news executive had displayed bias against Elizabeth Warren," the NYT's Marc Tracy reports. Judd Legum's Popular Information, a liberal newsletter, "reported on Monday that The 74, a nonprofit education policy website co-founded by Facebook's top news executive, Campbell Brown, had published several articles attacking Ms. Warren, a senator from Massachusetts and Democratic presidential candidate. One of them called Ms. Warren 'the second coming of Karl Marx.'" Brown said in a Twitter thread "that her involvement with The 74 had no bearing on Facebook News and that the articles singled out by the newsletter were opinion essays, not news articles..."

Hats off to John Oliver and HBO's lawyers...

Brian Lowry writes: There was a ton of buzz, deservedly, about John Oliver's show on Sunday, a take on anti-SLAPP laws that doubled down -- and then some -- on his skewering of coal baron Bob Murray.

Oliver explained the value of these laws in great detail, noting that "even if they are baseless," Murray's lawsuits "can do major damage." Vulture's Megh Wright has a great recap here. Oliver said Murray's 2017 suit against HBO "wound up costing over $200,000 in legal fees. And even though our insurance covered part of it — and we were lucky that HBO stood by us — this lawsuit was infuriating, took up a lot of time and resources, and resulted in a tripling of our libel insurance premiums, despite the fact that, to reiterate, we f---ing won this case! We badly need effective anti-SLAPP laws nationwide to deter powerful people like Bob Murray from using the courts to shut down people's legitimate dissent. And I know that after tonight, Murray will probably sue us again."

FOR THE RECORD, PART THREE

-- Nancy Duffy, who joined CNN in 2013 "to oversee the development and production of CNN pilots and HLN's original unscripted programming," has been promoted to senior vice president of program development. Read the memo from Amy Entelis here... (Realscreen)

-- "Sticking to sports, pretending that sports can take place in a vacuum, would have been profoundly dishonest," Barry Petchesky writes in his first public comments since being fired from Deadspin... (NYT)

-- The Zagat guide is back in print, Florence Fabricant reports: "After a three-year absence, the New York City survey will return on Tuesday with the same cover and pocket-size dimensions..." (NYT)

The Athletic and Axios are raising more $$

Kerry Flynn writes: Axios and The Athletic are raising more VC funding, The Information's Jessica Toonkel and Tom Dotan report. According to their sources, The Athletic is seeking $50 million at a valuation of $500 million. Axios is raising a "small amount of money."

Key quote: "If the companies succeed in the fundraisings, it would suggest that venture investors remain willing to put money into digital media firms showing signs their businesses can be sustainable — and aren't wholly dependent on advertising..."

Unionization effort at Hearst

Kerry Flynn writes: Employees at Hearst Magazines announced their plans to form a union today. It's been a massive, year-long effort across 24 media brands that encompass print and digital staffers in editorial, video, photo, design and social. That unit includes 500 staffers, which makes it the largest organizing effort with the Writers Guild of America, East.

>> Julie Kosin, culture editor at Elle, tells me, "Given how precarious the state of media is today -- every day you see something on Twitter -- we know how profoundly lucky we are at Hearst. But we want to make sure we're safeguarding the future. We want to understand how the company operates, feel like we have some sort of say..."

FOR THE RECORD, PART FOUR

-- The Daily Northwestern, a great college paper, is coming under withering criticism for apologizing for its recent coverage of campus protests. The paper did nothing to apologize for. Robby Soave sums up the foolishness here... (Reason)

-- Up north: "Don Cherry will no longer appear on Canada's No. 1 sports network" after his divisive on-air remarks about immigrants caused a firestorm for the CBC... (CNN)

-- Meanwhile, Monday night on Fox, Tucker Carlson made this anti-immigration argument: "If you cared about the environment... why would you want a crowded country? Isn't crowding your country the fastest way to despoil it, to pollute it, to make it, you know, a place you wouldn't want to live?" (Twitter)

FIRST LOOK

Variety's Actors on Actors is here

This week's edition of Variety, out Tuesday, showcases the outlet's Emmy Award-winning series "Variety Studio: Actors on Actors." There are 24 actors participating this year... And the cover pairings include Brad Pitt & Adam Sandler, Tom Hanks & Renée Zellweger, and Laura Dern & Sterling K. Brown:

Inside the Glamour Women of the Year Awards

Kerry Flynn writes: Glamour WOTY was an unsurprisingly glamorous and star-studded event with award winners Charlize Theron, Yara Shahidi, Ava DuVernay, Tory Burch, Greta Thunberg (accepted by Jane Fonda), Margaret Atwood, Megan Rapinoe, and RAICES organizers. Shoutout to Glamour EIC (and CNN alum) Samantha Barry, who made a "Succession" mention among other feats.

My favorite quote of the night was from Yara Shahidi's speech, which -- impressively -- was not displayed on the teleprompter: "To be a woman," she said, "is to be an abolitionist. To be a woman is to understand the power of our yes, of course, but to understand how groundbreaking and system-shaking it is to say no. But it's because no is productive. Our no doesn't just sit still saying, I am okay being discontent with the system in front of me. Our no takes action. Our no stands up. Our no is allyship. Our no understands that I must advocate for something greater than myself because I am you and you are me and we are of each other. Our no understands that we are tearing apart this system, what it means to connect in spite of... Our no has made it possible for rooms like this." Full text here...

Remembering Rick Ludwin

Brian Lowry writes: The story is by now a Must-See TV legend. Rick Ludwin, then the head of specials at NBC, gave up part of his budget to green-light a four-episode order of a series nobody else wanted, "The Seinfeld Chronicles," and the rest, as they say, is history. But the unwritten part is that Ludwin — who died Sunday at age 71 — was as gentlemanly a guy as you'd meet in those years, trusted by NBC's late-night stars and much admired by his peers. He will be missed by so, so many individuals in the entertainment industry and beyond...

FOR THE RECORD, PART FIVE

-- Alex Trebek was seen choking up on the "Jeopardy!" episode that aired Monday night... Contestant Dhruv Gaur wrote "We love you Alex!" and the message was soon trending on Twitter... (CNN)

-- "I'm so grateful for all the good wishes during my recent illness. Happy to say that the worst has passed," Pat Sajak wrote, tweeting for the first time since his emergency surgery... (CNN)

ICYMI...

How to catch up on Sunday's "Reliable Sources"

Read the transcript... Hear the podcast edition via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn, or your pod player of choice... Watch the video clips on CNN.com... Or catch the full episode via VOD or CNNgo...

Thanks for reading! Email me feedback anytime...