Important From Acosta, Baffling From Bartiromo | Winners & Losers in Today’s Green Room

CNN Newsroom’s Jim Acosta helped shine a light on the human side of of the war in Ukraine with two interviews during this weekend’s shows.

The first, on Saturday, was with Bohdan Yurov, a bar owner in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. Yurov has transformed his business into an emergency shelter and a distribution center where he has been organizing volunteers to help deliver food, medicine, and other supplies around town, helping feed about 1,800 daily.

“We will stay strong and we will keep the city and we will keep the country, but it’s only possible with the whole world being united,” Yurov told Acosta. “Like literally, we get up every morning only because we understand that there is a reason to continue fighting.”

Ukrainian restaurateur Misha Katsurin spoke with Acosta on Sunday about the strife Putin’s propaganda had caused within his family, with his own father in Russia not believing his description of the war and the damage caused by Russian troops to civilian areas.

Katsurin created a website to help Ukrainians share the truth about the war with their Russian relatives, to reach out with “love” and “respect.”

Two people with two stories out of the millions affected by this war, but they were important voices to hear.

Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo received harsh resistance across social media after using a bizarre snippet of apparent gossip to criticize the Biden administration’s handling of the Russian invasion of Ukraine during Fox and Friends on Sunday.

“I was on the phone all weekend with various people about this conflict right now,” started Bartiromo when asked to comment on the conflict. “What I took away from all of my phone calls is the strategy of this administration has been underwhelming and not enough.”

“Some people have told me over the weekend that they feel that at the end of the day this administration does not see Putin as the enemy, they see him as a partner on many issues,” Bartiromo declared.

She never cited any sources for her outlandish accusation, just a nebulous “some people.” Twitter users buried her with backlash, with many pointing out former President Donald Trump’s unrepentant praise for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle conveyed her sharp disappointment in watching Bartiromo’s “downward spiral” while others just called her “nuts” or an “idiot.”

There are many fair criticisms of the White House’s response to the Ukraine crisis. But Bartiromo’s attempt just didn’t make sense.