NYT Reporting, Chris Hayes Distorting, San Fran Recall | Winners & Losers in Today’s Green Room

Reporters Emily Steel, Jodi Kantor, Michael M. Grynbaum, James B. Stewart and John Koblin take the win Wednesday for their extenstive and exclusive reporting this week on CNN, Chris Cuomo, and Jeff Zucker.

The comprehensive report, headlined ‘How a Secret Assault Allegation Against an Anchor Upended CNN and Jeff Zucker,’ sorts through the sordid backstory which has dogged the network for months. In it, they detail how Zucker and “his secret romantic partner” and head of marketing Allison Gollust met with Cuomo to tell him that he was being suspended over his “unethical” behavior with regard to his brother, former governor Andrew Cuomo.

“Mr. Cuomo was shocked and offered to resign. Mr. Zucker countered that the anchor might be able to return at some point, according to people with knowledge of the conversation,” the Times reports. “Mr. Cuomo felt reassured. He and Mr. Zucker were confidants, their fortunes entwined. Mr. Cuomo didn’t bother to consult a lawyer.”

“Barely 24 hours later,” they write, “a letter arrived at CNN.”

From there the gripping report’s dramatic narrative builds quickly, as the reporters explain that a woman alleged Cuomo sexually assaulted her, and that he “tried to keep her quiet by arranging a flattering CNN segment about her employer.”

The report extensively outlines the accusation and the letter, emphasizing it came at the height of the #MeToo movement. The decision to fire Cuomo was made just days after it arrived.

It all set the stage for Zucker’s own ouster, writes the New York Times, as he faced declining ratings, criticism from investors over CNN’s “opinionated” programming, and of course, his having made “powerful enemies out of Mr. Cuomo and his brother.”

Chris Cuomo is reportedly seeking the remaining millions of dollars on his contract, and possibly more. Alison Gollust resigned from CNN on Tuesday night, around the time the report was published, and she immediately fired back at the company.

The report from the Times is detailed, direct, and revealing. It is now a centerpiece in the seemingly endless supply of reporting on problems from inside WarnerMedia’s CNN. And it is outstanding work by the reporters who put it together.

MSNBC anchor Chris Hayes was called out Tuesday after he falsely attributed allegations of illicit campaign funds as going to Donald Trump when they in fact were meant for Hillary Clinton.

Hayes retweeted Monday night a tweet from Detroit News reporter Robert Snell who posted two images from court documents that allege Ahmad “Andy” Khawaja and George Nader worked to “funnel funds from the UAE to the 2016 presidential election.”

“The America First campaign sure had a lot of foreign sponsors!” wrote Hayes in his irony-drenched tweet. Unfortunately for him, the ironic part wasn’t the America First campaign’s, it was his.

The finger-pointing was misinformation, because in reality those donations were not to Donald Trump but to Hillary Clinton, and he was called out for it by a host of Twitter users, to include Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

“Um, these were donations…to Hillary. ⁦@chrislhayes⁩ @msnbc will you correct? And apologize? And actually report the damn news? (You’re right—it’s a big deal, just doesn’t fit your partisan preference.)” Cruz tweeted.

In 2019, CNN reported on the donations, writing at the time: “Eight people, including a longtime political networker and a CEO, have been indicted on charges of funneling money illegally into Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and other political groups.”

Despite the rebuke from Republicans and the facts, Hayes did not take the tweet down, correct it, or reply to anyone criticizing him.

At this time, the tweet has not been flagged by Twitter for being false or misleading.

Polling has consistently shown that trust in the media is at an all-time low and continuing to decline. The gulf between Americans in what they believe on political or even medical issues widens as the marketplace becomes more polarized and tribal.

Meanwhile, elite media outlets relentlessly lay claim to the facts and the high ground. Presented with the opportunity to fight the bad perceptions and uphold the claims of virtue, Hayes has chosen to stand pat.

Sadly, in cable news, that is increasingly the choice made by the on-air talent.