Civil War At CBS News Over Contentious Interview
Plus, Hurricane Milton makes landfall; And Bob Woodward's Book Gives Behind-The-Scenes Look At Biden, Trump & Harris
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Good morning,
Hurricane Milton hit Florida’s Gulf Coast as a Category 3 storm around 830 pm ET last night, at Siesta Key, near Sarasota. Storm surge hit 10 foot levels on the coast south of Sarasota, leading to major flooding. While Tampa did not experience the worst case scenario for storm surge, the area saw 100 mph wind gusts and fresh water flooding.
What we know: Life-threatening flash flood warnings have been issued for over two million people. “Deadly” weather conditions will continue today as the storm moves across the state, officials said.
At least 19 tornadoes touched down in Florida ahead of Hurricane Milton landfall on Wednesday. State officials warn that number is expected to rise today.
Be safe!
Mosheh, Jill, & Lauren
PS: Don’t forget to refer friends & family to subscribe to the Mo Newsletter… you could get free Mo News merch — DETAILS at the bottom of this newsletter!
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📖 NEW BOOK ‘WAR’ LOOKS AT TRUMP’S CALLS WITH PUTIN & BIDEN’S THOUGHTS ON OBAMA, NETANYAHU
Veteran Washington journalist Bob Woodward’s upcoming book ‘War,’ set to come out Tuesday, is already dropping some bombshell stories ahead of the election. Some of the biggest revelations:
Former President Trump reportedly held seven secret phone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin AFTER Trump left office.
President Biden used a lot of f-bombs when talking about Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.
The book takes readers behind the scenes into how Biden and Trump have been dealing with the Russia-Ukraine war, the wars in the Middle East, and the upcoming election. It’s an unprecedented and unfiltered look at how world leaders talk to (and about) each other. Woodward has written dozens of books looking at every president going back to Richard Nixon.
INSIDE THE BOOK
Woodward— who wrote the book expecting a Trump-Biden rematch— writes that despite some failures by the Biden administration, the president has shown “steady and purposeful leadership,” compared to Trump who he claims is “unfit to lead the country.” He portrays Harris as a Biden surrogate that has little power in US foreign policy.
Trump & Putin: Woodward says that at the height of the pandemic in 2020, Trump authorized scarce COVID test machines to be sent to Russian President Vladimir Putin for personal use because he was afraid to contract the virus. “I don’t want you to tell anybody because people will get mad at you, not me,” Putin warned Trump.
Biden and his National Security team received intel before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, including battle plans. The book details that US officials thought there was a 50/50 chance Putin would use nuclear weapons against Ukraine and brought in Chinese and Indian diplomatic support to persuade him otherwise.
Behind the scenes, President Biden called Putin “the epitome of evil” and called out former President Obama for not taking Putin seriously a decade ago.
Biden & Netanyahu: “That son of a b----, Bibi Netanyahu, he’s a bad guy. He’s a bad f---ing guy!” Biden reportedly told advisers during Israel’s offensives in Gaza, believing that the prime minister cares only about protecting his political career and not defeating Hamas.
The two spoke on Wednesday for the first time since August.
Sen. Lindsey Graham: “Going to Mar-a-Lago is a little bit like going to North Korea. Everybody stands up and claps every time Trump comes in,” Graham, a Trump loyalist, is quoted in the book.
HOW HE GETS THE SCOOP
Woodward is a legend, going back to his time as a young Washington Post reporter breaking the Watergate scandal. His latest book is based on confidential documents, notes, first-hand accounts and witnesses.
Biden and Harris have not commented on the reporting, but Trump denies the stories in it, telling ABC News’ Jonathan Karl that Woodward is “a storyteller. A bad one. And he’s lost his marbles.”
Trump spoke with Woodward for his 2021 book ‘Rage,’ but later sued the author over not having permission to publicly release recordings of their interviews.
📺 INTERNAL FIGHT & CONDEMNATIONS AT CBS NEWS OVER MORNING SHOW INTERVIEW
Questioning by ‘CBS Mornings’ anchor Tony Dokoupil during a recent interview with author/activist Ta-Nehisi Coates has led to an internal food fight inside the news network, and is raising questions about the state of American journalism.
On Monday, network executives told staffers that Dokoupil’s conduct during a live conversation with Coates’ about his recent book regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict did not meet editorial standards.
At the same time, Shari Redstone, the CEO of CBS' parent company Paramount Global, backed up the news anchor and said news division leadership made a “bad mistake” with their handling of the interview’s aftermath. Redstone said she was “proud” of Dokoupil’s interview and that he “showed that there was accountability, that there is a system of checks and balances.”
LET’S REWIND
Last week, Coates went on ‘CBS Mornings’ to talk about his new book, ‘The Message.’ In part of the book, Coates portrays Israel’s treatment of Palestinians as a moral crime and compares it to the Jim Crow-south. Dokoupil pushed back, saying, “the content of that section would not be out of place in the backpack of an extremist.” Notably, the book lacks historical context about the long-running conflict, and doesn’t mention Hamas, terrorism, Iran, or corruption within the Palestinian Authority.
Dokoupil asked why Coates didn’t include references to Israel’s enemies who want to destroy the country as he framed the conflict: “Is it because you just don’t believe that Israel in any condition has a right to exist?”
Coates claimed Israel’s viewpoint is well-represented, and that he wanted to speak for those who he says don’t have a voice: “I wrote a 260-page book,” Coates said. “It is not a treatise on the entirety of the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians.”
The interview appeared to end in a civil manner with the two joking and laughing. But, it didn’t end there…
CRISIS MODE AT CBS
While some staffers felt Dokoupil respectfully challenged an author whose book has been accused of being one-sided, other CBS staff felt his questioning was out of line, and complained to network management and the CBS ‘Race and Culture Unit.’
During its weekly network meeting on Monday morning— which happened to take place on October 7— the network’s leadership effectively apologized for Dokoupil’s interview, saying that the questions and tone did not meet the company’s “editorial standards.”
Adrienne Roark, who is in charge of news gathering at the network, quoted extensively from the CBS News handbook: “There are times we fail our audiences and each other. We’re in one of those times right now…we will still ask tough questions. We will still hold people accountable. But, we will do so objectively, which means checking our biases and opinions at the door.”
Even though the meeting is supposed to be confidential, someone on the call leaked a recording of it to The Free Press.
The condemnation of Dokoupil led to a debate at the meeting with chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford pushing back on management: “I thought our commitment was to truth. And when someone comes on our air with a one-sided account of a very complex situation, as Coates himself acknowledges that he has, it’s my understanding that as journalists we are obligated to challenge that worldview. Tony prevented a one-sided account from being broadcast on our network that was completely devoid of history or facts. It was civil”
The network reportedly planned to bring in (and then canceled) a DEI specialist and “trauma trainer” to help staff members cope with the fallout from the interview questions. Subsequent meetings have apparently descended into verbal fights and crying.
As for Dokoupil, who joined CBS News in 2016, he appeared to be chastised and met with CBS’s standards and practices team and the network’s ‘Race and Culture Unit,’ which advises anchors on “context, tone and intention.” They reportedly claim that Dokoupil’s interview didn’t meet their standard for “tone.” Dokoupil stands by the interview questions, but has apologized to any colleagues who were upset.
THE BIGGER ISSUE
This speaks to a larger conversation happening in mainstream newsrooms, which are overwhelmingly liberal. There is not much diversity of political thought, and increasingly, whether it’s the NY Times, Washington Post, CNN, NPR, CBS News etc, fights have been breaking out if stories are not presented with certain progressive points of view. At CBS, they no longer even acknowledge that any part of Jerusalem is in Israel (even though it is recognized by the US government as the country’s capital).
MO NEWS PERSPECTIVE:
Mosheh was part of the team that founded that CBS morning show in 2012. At the time, Charlie Rose, Gayle King and Norah O’Donnell were the anchors. The goal was to create a venue for smart conversations, ask challenging questions, and address serious issues—a deviation from traditional fluffy morning show TV.
In this case, Dokoupil appeared to be endeavoring to do just that— with a darling of the left, Coates— that some liberal staff members felt was out of line. It was a rare and compelling discussion, similar to what we often expect to hear on podcasts.
As journalists, we sometimes ask questions in a more challenging way to elicit better answers. But, increasingly we have been watching as mainstream newsrooms appear to be home to a growing number of journalists who are only comfortable with challenging certain viewpoints and perspectives.
⏳ SPEED READ
🚨NATION
📌 Republicans in Congress call out hurricane misinformation coming from within their own party (CNN)
📌 True crime drama at Supreme Court pits Oklahoma against its top criminal court (NPR)
📌 Harris campaign, groups raise $1 billion since she became the presidential candidate, source says (REUTERS)
📌 About 3% of US high schoolers identify as transgender, national survey finds (NBC NEWS)
🌎 AROUND THE WORLD
📌 LoHaiti's gangs luring more children into crime and sexual abuse, Human Rights Watch says, as 115 people killed in attack (CBS NEWS)
📌 Israel strikes Damascus, Syria, targeting Hezbollah weapons smuggler (WSJ)
📌 Russia declares local emergency in region where Ukraine says it hit weapons arsenal (REUTERS)
📌 Emmanuel Macron gives rare sit-down interview about France’s cultural boom, the dangers of AI, Taylor Swift’s power and losing ‘Emily in Paris’ to Rome (VARIETY)
📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH
📌 Amazon same-day prescription delivery expanding to nearly half of U.S. in 2025 (CNBC)
📌 How the DOJ wants to break up Google’s search monopoly (VERGE)
📌 Hurricane Milton could cost insurers up to $100 billion, analysts say (REUTERS)
📌 Honda recalls 1.7M vehicles for defective steering gearbox component (FOX BUSINESS)
🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT
📌 A$AP Rocky, Pharrell, Lewis Hamilton and Colman Domingo will co-chair a historic Met Gala (CNN)
📌 Garth Brooks sexual assault accuser’s lawyers condemn singer for naming rape victim (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER)
📌 Frances Tiafoe apologizes after cursing out umpire in lengthy rant following loss: ‘not acceptable behavior’ (PEOPLE)
📌 North Carolinians Eric Church, Luke Combs on hurricane relief concert: 'Going to be emotional' (USA TODAY)
🗓 ON THIS DAY: OCTOBER 10
1845: The US Naval Academy was founded in Annapolis, Maryland to improve instructing midshipmen.
1966: The Beach Boys’ single ‘Good Vibrations’ was released by Capitol Records.
1973: President Richard Nixon’s vice president, Spiro Agnew, resigned from office after being accused of accepting bribes. He pleaded no contest to one count of federal income tax evasion.
He is the second of two vice presidents to resign the position, the first being John Calhoun in 1832.
1980: ‘Pac-Man,’ the arcade game, was released in North America.
