NewsNation's Dan Abrams hits Brian Stelter: To say CNN hasn't veered into left-leaning opinion is 'dishonest'

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Media top headlines February 8

In media news today, a CNN panel bashes Stacey Abrams over a maskless photo at school, Spotify CEO’s apology letter to employees over Joe Rogan gets slammed as contradictory, and James Carville says he wants to punch unvaccinated people in the face.

NewsNation host Dan Abrams took a swipe at CNN media correspondent Brian Stelter over his denial that the liberal network has become "opinionated" in recent years. 

Following a brutal week for CNN over the forced resignation of network president Jeff Zucker, Stelter ended "Reliable Sources" on Sunday with a monologue firing back at naysayers who've accused CNN of losing its way as a news organization.

"Jeff Zucker's departure was shocking to the staff of CNN. But CNN was not built by just one man, not by only Ted Turner, and it was not led only by Jeff Zucker," Stelter began. "CNN is so much bigger than any single individual. It is about teams and teams of people, thousands of individuals who make up CNN." 

BRIAN STELTER REJECTS CNN IS ‘LACKING JOURNALISM' AND ’OPINIONS ALL THE TIME' FOLLOWING JEFF ZUCKER EXIT

"This place is not perfect. It will never be perfect. We will always have flaws, we will always screw up, we will always have to run corrections, we will always have to keep working to make it better and better and better every single day. That is the goal," Stelter said. "But people who say we’re lacking journalism, that we’ve become an all-talk channel, that we’ve run off, and we're our opinions all the time, that Jeff Zucker led us astray, those people aren’t watching CNN. They’re not watching CNN. They’re watching complaints about CNN on other channels that don’t know what they’re talking about. That’s the truth." 

CNN’s Brian Stelter fired back at critics who say his network "lacks journalism." (CNN)

Abrams, however, took exception to Stelter's claim that CNN isn't dominated by opinion programming. 

"Yes, CNN has a very strong news-gathering operation, but it is also simply a fact that CNN has veered deeply into the opinion territory, the left-leaning opinion territory," Abrams said Monday night. "And look, you can make a solid argument that their ratings would be worse if they were just doing newscasts all day. But to say otherwise about their content is just dishonest, and that’s the bigger problem for me. Just own it. MSNBC and Fox are a bit more intellectually honest about what they do."

BRIAN STELTER SAYS DISCOVERY HONCHO JOHN MALONE, WHO COULD DECIDE HIS FATE, CLEARLY ‘NOT WATCHING CNN’

The Mediaite founder and chief legal analyst for ABC News then knocked the de facto CNN spokesman for his swipe at high-powered media executive John Malone, who sits on the board of directors for Discovery Communications Inc., the company set to control CNN in mere months when a looming merger is completed. Malone made headlines in December when he declared CNN should revert to nonpartisan journalism once the liberal network is under the Discovery umbrella, something Stelter said "disturbed" Zucker and that CNN staffers found "offensive."

"In response in a moment that was either incredibly brave or incredibly reckless, Stelter made clear he did not appreciate that assessment," Abrams said. "Reminder: Jeff Zucker is no longer the boss at CNN. And John Malone is soon to be the critical shareholder of CNN."

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 14: (EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE) Dan Abrams visits at SiriusXM Studios on November 14, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Steven Ferdman/Getty Images) (Photo by Steven Ferdman/Getty Images)

The "Dan Abrams Live" host warned Stelter that he may be "playing with fire" by going after Malone and echoed one of Stelter's guests, New Yorker columnist Ken Auletta, who warned the "Reliable Sources" host that "I would be concerned" as a CNN staffer about their future employment under the new leadership.  

JEFF ZUCKER SAGA: CNN'S BRIAN STELTER AVOIDS ADDRESSING GOLLUST AFFAIR BEING AN ‘OPEN SECRET’ ON HIS PODCAST

"I would too," Abrams agreed. "Anytime a new boss comes in, and the company isn't performing well, the key employees should be concerned." 

"It could take some time. Some of the faces on CNN and even the way it does business will likely change, whether they like it or not," Abrams added. 

FILE PHOTO: Jeff Zucker, president of CNN attends the grand opening of The Hudson Yards development, a residential, commercial, and retail space on Manhattan's West Side in New York City, New York, U.S., March 15, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo ___ CNN building Getty images (Getty images  |  REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo)

CNN has been under intense scrutiny following Zucker's resignation, which sent shock waves throughout the media industry when he announced his immediate departure for failing to disclose his consensual relationship with Allison Gollust, a deputy executive. 

Statements from both Zucker and Gollust suggest their relationship began during the COVID pandemic, despite new reporting that alleges the CNN lovebirds became an item in 1996 while working at NBC when he served as the executive producer of "Today" and she was a trainee in the communications department. 

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Reports also claim Zucker and Gollust gave "talking points" to her former boss, now-ousted Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in the early months of the pandemic to combat then-President Trump and were directly involved in orchestrating the infamous Chris Cuomo-Andrew Cuomo interviews.