CNN’s CEO stands by Trump town hall but acknowledges production weaknesses, sources say
Chris Licht, Chairman and CEO, CNN Worldwide speaks onstage during the Warner Bros. Discovery Upfront 2022 show at The Theater at Madison Square Garden on May 18, 2022 in New York City.
Dimitrios Kambouris | Getty Images
Nearly a week after CNN’s town hall with Donald Trump, CEO Chris Licht has acknowledged internally there are some things he wished the network had done differently.
Licht continues to stand by the concept of the town hall, telling people both inside and outside of CNN that history will look kindly on the network’s decision to interview Trump in front of cheering supporters in a live town hall format.
But there are several production elements that he would have liked done in a different way, according to people familiar with his thinking.
Licht wished CNN had introduced the in-person audience to TV watchers so that viewers could better identify who they were, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions were private.
The crowd was a main character in the event as many Trump supporters cheered his responses and jeered CNN host Kaitlan Collins when she challenged him. Licht would have liked to openly question the crowd before the town hall began so the TV audience could better understand who they were and why they were supporting Trump, said the people.
Licht and other CNN executives also pointed to direction elements CNN could have done differently, such as focusing the camera only on Collins when she tried to fight off Trump’s lies about election fraud in 2020, rather than using wide shots on both Trump and Collins. That way, CNN could draw the audience’s focus to the substance of the question rather than the spectacle of Trump. CNN could have also graphically shown each question while Trump spoke, emphasizing his answers didn’t always match the topic at hand.
Licht was also displeased with the post-show tone from CNN’s anchors and panelists, said the people. The panel, co-hosted by CNN anchors including Jake Tapper and Anderson Cooper, looked morose after the event, clearly showing trauma from previous Trump interviews and speeches where he’d peddled election fraud lies and talked over questioners.
Instead of focusing on Trump’s lies, Licht and other CNN executives would have liked the hosts to home in on news made by Trump during the event, such as his claim that he would settle Russia’s war with Ukraine within 24 hours or his refusal to weigh in on a federal ban of abortion. CNN could have gone live to a reporter in Ukraine, as an example, which would have reminded the audience of the network’s journalistic range.
A CNN spokesman declined to comment.
Several high-profile CNN employees told CNBC they were embarrassed with the Trump town hall, with one person saying is was the network’s lowest point since a 2012 incident when the network initially misreported the Supreme Court had struck down the Affordable Care Act.
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav chose Licht to run CNN last year in attempt to reimagine the network as a down-the-middle, facts-only cable news network.
Other news networks will likely follow CNN’s lead in booking Trump interviews — especially if he continues to be the frontrunner to win the Republican nomination for president in 2024. NBC and its news networks have been in contact with many of the U.S. presidential candidates, including Trump, about scheduling upcoming appearances, according to a person familiar with the matter.
NBC isn’t likely to do a Trump town hall, given how CNN’s went, said the person. An NBC spokesman declined to comment.
Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the parent company of CNBC.
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An electric air taxi by Joby Aviation flies near the Downtown Manhattan Heliport in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., November 12, 2023.
Roselle Chen | Reuters
Air taxi maker Joby Aviation in a new lawsuit accused competitor Archer Aviation of using stolen information by a former employee to “one-up” a partnership deal with a real estate developer.
“This is corporate espionage, planned and premeditated,” Joby said in the lawsuit filed Wednesday in a California Superior Court in Santa Cruz, where the company is based.
Archer and Joby did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
The lawsuit alleges that former U.S. state and local policy lead, George Kivork, downloaded dozens of files and sent some content to his personal email two days before he resigned in July to take a job at Archer, which had recruited him.
By August, Joby said a partner that worked with Kivork said it had been approached by Archer with a “more lucrative deal.” Joby alleges that the eVTOL rival’s understanding of “highly confidential” details helped it leverage negotiations.
Joby also said the developer attempted to terminate the agreement, citing a breach of confidentiality.
Kivork refused to return the files when Joby approached him after conducting an investigation, according to the suit. The company also said Archer denied wrongdoing, and would not disclose how it learned about the terms of the agreement or provide results from an internal investigation it allegedly undertook.
The lawsuit comes during a busy period for electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) technology as companies race to gain Federal Aviation Administration certification to start flying commercially. ‘
The sector has also benefitted from President Donald Trump‘s newly minted eVTOL pilot program.
Joby argued in the complaint that it’s “imperative” to protect Joby’s work “from this type of espionage” to promote the sector’s success and ensure fair competition.
Last week, Joby said it completed its first test flight for a hybrid aircraft it’s working on with defense contractor L3Harris. This month, Amazon-backed Beta Technologies, another electric flight company, also went public on the New York Stock Exchange.
Joby shares have more than doubled over the last year, while Archer is up about 68%.
In August 2023, Archer settled a previous legal dispute with Boeing-owned Wisk Aero over the alleged theft of trade secrets. As part of the deal, Archer agreed to use Wisk as its autonomous tech partner.
A hearing is scheduled for March 20, 2026.
Joby and Archer year-to-date stock chart.
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