Tag: Victor Blackwell

CNN announces Jim Acosta’s new show

by Allan, posted in CNN


CNN’s new Chief Domestic Correspondent Jim Acosta has been named CNN Newsroom Saturday and Sunday anchor. He will anchor weekends from 3-6pm. Prior to this new role, he covered the White House for CNN for the past seven years, and he served as Chief White House Correspondent since 2018. As previously announced, Pamela Brown now anchors CNN Newsroom on Saturdays and Sundays from 6-9pm, taking over after Acosta. She also serves as Senior Washington correspondent for CNN.

In addition, CNN announced Ana Cabrera will vacate her weekend post and move to weekdays, anchoring Newsroom from 1-2pm. After that, from 2-4pm, Alisyn Camerota and Victor Blackwell will co-anchor Newsroom since Brooke Baldwin announced she is leaving in April. Brianna Keilar will move to New Day with John Berman.

Camerota told CNN Worldwide president Jeff Zucker, “I would sometimes say to Jeff, you know, it’s kind of hard to do this and get up at 3. And he would basically say, get back in there, and that there was no time to take your foot off the gas. And he was right. So basically, I really wanted to see this through.” But now, Zucker has agreed to move her to afternoons.

Replacing Blackwell on New Day Weekend, Boris Sanchez will join Christi Paul as co-anchor on Saturday and Sunday mornings. Sanchez previously served as a CNN White House correspondent.

Victor Blackwell and Ana Cabrera to launch new weekday programs

by Allan, posted in CNN

According to media reporter Dylan Byers in a tweet, CNN afternoons will soon be made up of a new show anchored by Ana Cabrera, and a new show anchored by a duo of Victor Blackwell and Alisyn Camerota, who will replace Brooke Baldwin, who announced was leaving CNN.

Camerota is reportedly leaving New Day and will join Blackwell, who anchors the weekend version of New Day, in the afternoons. Afternoon anchor Brianna Keilar is set to move to New Day. At the time, it was reported Camerota herself wanted the move, saying she has “for some time sought a new position, citing the demands of early-morning TV.”

No word on who will replace Blackwell on New Day Weekend or Cabrera on CNN Newsroom Weekend.

Christi Paul stays home while her husband battles COVID

by Allan, posted in CNN

paulNew Day Weekend anchor and HLN correspondent Christi Paul has been staying home and nursing her husband while he battles COVID, she revealed on Instagram. Her co-anchor, Victor Blackwell, has been awaiting the results of his COVID test for twelve days. “I’m still waiting for results,” he said.

“Husband is positive with covid19. Girls & I are all negative,” Paul wrote on Instagram. “Haven’t been able to hold his hand or kiss his forehead . . . We all miss his presence at the dinner table, his laughter & his joshing us.”

Paul concluded, “But we know God gives us His strength when we’re weak & His wisdom when we’re confused & drained. This virus makes no sense. The testing, the paradigm, the transmission… I swear it’s all still a crapshoot.”

When she responded to a comment and offered an update, she said, “He’s actually a little worse today but it’s part of the ups & downs. He’s not in the hospital on a ventilator so I’ll take this. And I pray for everyone who is because this is rough.”

This CNN anchor is a presidential candidate?

by Allan, posted in CNN

File this one away under the ‘what’ category…

CNN weekend New Day anchor Victor Blackwell was apparently (somehow) mistaken for Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson today at a Des Moines, Iowa, coffee shop.

Yeah, I don’t know how, either…

Guest attacks CNN for breaking agreement

by Allan, posted in CNN, Video

Pat Brown, a criminal profiler, appeared on New Day for an interview with anchor Christi Paul. At the top of the segment, Paul tried to begin a discussion on Planned Parenthood shooter Robert Dear’s possible anti-government views.

Brown objected to Paul’s line of questioning. “Well, I’m a little disturbed because I made an agreement with CNN to appear this morning only under the condition that we do not talk about the particular shooter, use his name, or show his face.”

She added, “Not to talk about the particular mass murderer. I do not do that. I took a stand three years ago not to talk about individual mass murderers because I believe we in the media are increasing the number of mass murders. It has tripled in the last decade and it’s my belief that the notoriety we give them does this.”

Paul acknowledged her view, saying, “Okay, and I understand that. And I respect your views on that, surely. But we certainly can talk about the investigation into what is happening, can we not?”

“No, we cannot. I specifically said I will only come on if we don’t talk about this individual mass murderer,” Brown objected flatly.

After the abrupt end to the segment, co-anchor Victor Blackwell said, “Let’s be clear, and let me read from the e-mail from Pat Brown. Here’s the quote. Is my segment free of any photo or name of the mass murderer? That segment did not have any photograph nor use the name of the suspect and we held to that agreement.”

And, to an extent, he’s correct. They never said Dear’s name or showed a picture during the segment; however, his name did appear in the chyron.


(H/t Newsbusters)

“Coverage that does CNN proud”

by Allan, posted in CNN

As David Zurawik, the media critic for the Baltimore Sun, put it in a post today, CNN found some Baltimore coverage “that does [them] proud.”

CNN weekend anchor Victor Blackwell was reporting from the West Baltimore neighborhood where he grew up in April; and today, the network posted a followup video, with Blackwell following up on three high school students that he interviewed back then, who had expressed that they may never get out of Baltimore.

It turns out, Edison Jackson, president of Bethune-Cookman University, saw Blackwell’s original interview with the three teens in which they talked about their sense that they might never get out of West Baltimore, and the school official decided to do something about it.

He invited the three Baltimore students to the Florida school and offered them admission and scholarships that would cover all expenses beyond those not paid by federal grants.

Zurawik ended his praise column with “It’s a great story, and all praise to Blackwell and CNN for telling it in a such a way that it would touch viewers like the president of Bethune-Cookman.”

CNN/HLN Weekend Studios

by Allan, posted in CNN, HLN

CNN unveiled a new look for New Day Weekend and CNN Newsroom, moving into a very modified Studio H. The remodeled set, shown below, is very reminiscent of Studio 71, CNN’s New York studio for New Day weekdays:

2015/01/img_0577.jpg2015/01/img_0576.jpg2015/01/img_0578.jpg
HLN had a new look for Weekend Express too, since they moved into CNN’s Studio 7.

2015/01/img_0579.jpg2015/01/img_0580.jpg2015/01/img_0581.jpg