Us steel shares plunged amid growing Uncertainty over its possible merger With Japan's nepon steel now this comes After The Washington Post reported President Biden is ready to formally Block the proposed $14 billion Acquisition however the White House Downplay the report saying talks Among Us officials remain ongoing so for more On this I'm joined by CBS News chief White House correspondent Nancy ctis all Right Nancy what more do we know about This potential deal and why President Biden would want to block it so we know Anarie that a a Government Review has Been underway for some time taking a Look at this potential deal and the National Security ramifications and While that review has not yet been Completed there are signs that US Government is leaning towards concluding That the National Security concerns Associated with selling a a major uh us Manufacturer like US Seal to Steel to a Foreign government um would have National Security implications that Could not be mitigated and we certainly Have signs as well from President Biden And vice president Harris that they Don't favor the deal either this is Controversial however because us steel Itself is saying we want to be sold uh We want to be sold to the a Japanese Company um Japan is an ally it is not an
Enemy of the United States so they say They're are no National Security Implications here and furthermore they Say that Japan is going to invest in US Steel and so if this deal doesn't go Through they're actually going to lose Workers potentially um and and so it is A it is a an issue where we're in an Election year us steel is uh is based in Pittsburgh in the largest Battleground State in the country uh steel workers And the unions we know uh favor the Ownership of this company remaining in The US but you've got the company itself Saying actually will be stronger if We're sold this is a really uh sticky Situation in Marie it definitely is it's Really fascinating and I want to ask you A question about something else I find Completely fascinating I totally went Down a rabbit hole with this the justice Department announced that it seized Dozens of web domains and file charges Against two Russian operatives uh the Attorney General outlined um sort of a Miss a disinformation scheme pretty Widespread using influencers American Influencers I want to play a little bit Of what uh he had to say yesterday it's Coming faster and faster it's now ai Fueled uh they're now using bot farms in A way that was not possible before and Therefore it's a bigger threat than it Ever was
Before just to clarify this is a scheme That uh the justice department says uh The Russian government was behind can You talk a little bit about this Disinformation scheme and and sort of Like what sort of information was being Pumped out there yes so they say that a Pair of Russians who work for RT the Russian media Outlet spent more than $10 Million first of all to set up a company In Tennessee uh to pump out Disinformation that is illegal that is Money laundering and um and that they Also paid influencers as you pointed out To pum out uh propaganda that was favor To the Russian government um and Sometimes that meant sewing Disinformation about the US election on Both sides and sometimes that even meant That they were Imitating legitimate US news websites uh Like the Washington Post to make them Look like uh they were saying something That they weren't and so now the justice Department has gotten involved it just Gives you a sense and Marie of how Widespread the efforts are to sew Disinformation ahead of the November Elections indeed and how this messaging Can be very subtle not necessarily overt But it is crafted to get your attention And plant seeds um it's really Interesting Nancy thank you
