Rupert Murdoch twice discussed CNN with AT&T CEO: Sources

Rupert Murdoch telephoned AT&T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson twice in the last six months and talked about cable network CNN, sources briefed on the matter told Reuters. 

According to one of the sources, the 86-year-old executive chairman of Twenty-First Century Fox offered to buy CNN in both conversations. Another source said Murdoch had “zero interest”  in owning CNN.

Representatives of Twenty-First Century Fox, AT&T and Time Warner, CNN’s parent, declined comment. CNN has become the focal point in antitrust approval of AT&T’s $85.4 billion deal to buy Time Warner, hatched in October 2016.

US Department of Justice staff have recommended that AT&T sell