CNN reporter: Jeff Zucker exit has lawmakers, including 1/6 committee member, 'devastated for our democracy'

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Media top headlines February 4

In media news today, an AP reporter spars with the State Department’s Ned Price over allegations on Russia, a report claims that Jeff Zucker and Allison Gollust gave Andrew Cuomo COVID ‘talking points’ to combat Trump, and an MSNBC broadcast gets interrupted by a ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ flag.

Lawmakers, including one who sits on the Jan. 6 committee, are reportedly "devastated" over the ousting of CNN president Jeff Zucker.

Following Zucker's shocking resignation, CNN's top journalists in the D.C. bureau reportedly had a tense Wednesday night meeting with Jason Kilar, the CEO of CNN's parent company WarnerMedia, who was grilled over the sudden ousting of their boss. 

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But according to Vanity Fair, it's not just CNN employees who are scarred by Zucker's absence. 

Embattled CNN boss Jeff Zucker walked away from the liberal network on Wednesday after failing to disclose a "consensual relationship" with a CNN staffer. (Getty Images)

"Toward the end of the meeting, in which prominent CNN journalists went hard at Kilar over Zucker’s resignation, special correspondent Jamie Gangel spoke up," Vanity Fair media correspondent Joe Pompeo wrote.

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He then quoted Gangle, who said, "'The first calls I got this morning were from four members of the January 6 committee, who felt devastated for our democracy, because Jeff was not going to be around to make sure that CNN is able to do its job.'" 

Gangel went on to clarify that she meant to say four lawmakers, one of whom sits on the Jan. 6 committee. 

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), chair of the select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol, speaks as Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), vice-chair of the select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol, Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) listen during a committee meeting on Capitol Hill on December 1, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Zucker stunned CNN staffers hours earlier informing them of his immediate departure from the network, saying he was "wrong" to not disclose his relationship with colleague Allison Gollust, an executive vice president and chief marketing officer. 

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Gollust, who is remaining with the company, issued her own statement, saying, "Jeff and I have been close friends and professional partners for over 20 years. Recently, our relationship changed during COVID. I regret that we didn't disclose it at the right time."

Jeff Zucker and Allison Gollust have been an item for years, according to a media industry veteran who worked with them roughly a decade ago. (Getty Images) (Getty Images)

Damning revelations have been reported since Zucker's resignation, including how his relationship with Gollust dates back to 1996 when she was a "trainee" and he was the executive producer of "Today" and how the two of them fed "talking points" to Gollust's old boss, then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, to combat attacks from then-President Trump in the early months of the COVID pandemic. 

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The CNN lovebirds were also reportedly "instrumental" in the televised Cuomo Brothers interviews in 2020 and Gollust personally appealed to the governor to continue his CNN appearances when his office began resisting.