I want to welcome everyone to the beat. I'm Ari Melbert, the Trump administration's effort to gut the First Amendment continues to draw blowback. ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel after government pressure from the FCC, but the move now has ABC and its parent company Disney in crisis. So first let me tell you tonight, we have new reporting and some special guests on the internal

decision making there, a company that has caved, but may yet change gears again. Meanwhile,

this Kimmel suspension has galvanized this national debate about Trump's effort to censor

and silent critics and the press. And up top, I can tell you, there is broad evidence of a broad plot here.

Donald Trump's attacks, threats, and lawsuits against a whole range of outlets, speakers, and

critics. And right now, tonight he ends this week with a fresh loss. There's that new unusual

lawsuit he filed against the New York Times, basically like Kimmel, in effect, because he didn't

appreciate or agree with their coverage of him, their criticism. Well, today a federal judge

tossed that entire claimed $15 billion suit, noting it's decidedly improper and impermissible

in its claims against the newspaper's First Amendment protected reporting.

Now, Trump has lost.

The suit is tossed.

He can still respond in court.

He can try to refile something that would, unlike this case, clear the very low hurdle of what is just a permissible suit.

The case is technically separate from ABC, but clearly is the same playbook. And the Times fighting and winning quickly hangs over all of this tonight because it's the same playbook.

And top Republicans also are not defending everything Trump is doing as it's all cast in the

open this week, a Republican senator warning the censorship effort should make everyone careful about any lines we cross

and diminishing free speech, while none other than Ted Cruz rebuking Trump's efforts to try

to control or decide your free speech.

I think it is unbelievably dangerous for government to put itself in the position of saying,

we're going to decide what speech we like and what we don't if the government gets in the business of saying.

We don't like what you, the media, have said.

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