The interview started well enough as CNN anchor Kasie Hunt spoke with Karoline Leavitt, the national press secretary for Donald Trump’s campaign, on Monday. It should have been a six- or seven-minute exchange about this week’s presidential debate between Trump and President Joe Biden.

But Hunt dramatically — and rightfully — cut the interview way short because Leavitt would not stop verbally attacking CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, the moderators for the debate.

Hunt was in Washington, D.C., while Leavitt was in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Hunt opened with a pitch right down the middle and allowed Leavitt, if she wanted, to take a big swing at propping up Trump and/or bashing Biden.

After a brief introduction and setup, Hunt asked, “Can you tell us what Donald Trump is going to do differently on the debate stage this time?”

Leavitt started off fine, talking about Trump being well-prepared while criticizing Biden for relying on advisers and so forth.

Leavitt then said, “And that’s why President Trump is knowingly going into a hostile environment on this very network, on CNN, with debate moderators who have made their opinions about him very well known over the past eight years and their biased coverage of him. So President Trump is willing to bring his message to every corner of this country to voters to ensure that he wins this election in November. He looks forward to doing that. And I know the American public looks forward to hearing from him.”

OK, that all sounds like standard work for a press secretary — checking off several talking points and even getting in a quick jab at CNN. Not saying she was right or even accurate in her attacks on Tapper and Bash, but, fine, she got in her shot. It also seems to be a part of a larger strategy to cry foul ahead of time in case the debate doesn’t go the way the Trump campaign hopes.

It’s also OK for Hunt to stick up for her colleagues, which she did by saying, “So I’ll just say, my colleagues, that Jake Tapper and Dana Bash have acquitted themselves as professionals as they have covered campaigns and interviewed candidates from all sides of the aisle. I’ll also say that if you talk to analysts of debates, previous, that if you’re attacking the moderators, you’re usually losing. So I really want to focus in on what these two men are going to do and say when they stand on the stage now.”

Hunt then got back to Trump and the debate/campaign strategy.

And that should have been it for the sniping about the moderators. Leavitt got in her shot about Tapper and Bash. Hunt got in her defense of Tapper and Bash. Let’s all move on and get back to the nuts and bolts of the race.

But Leavitt wouldn’t let it go, saying, “Well, first of all, it takes about five minutes to Google Jake Tapper, Donald Trump to see that Jake Tapper has …”

Hunt interrupted with, “Ma’am, we’re going to stop this interview if you’re going to keep attacking my colleagues.”

Leavitt didn’t care. She charged on. The two then tried to talk over one another with Leavitt continuing to attack Tapper and Bash, and Hunt continuing to defend them while trying to shift the interview back to the candidates.

Then it happened.

Hunt finally had enough, abruptly saying the interview was over: “Now I’m sorry guys. We’re going to come back after the panel. Karoline, thanks very much for your time. You are welcome to come back at any point.”

After Leavitt’s feed was cut off, Hunt said, “She is welcome to come back and speak about Donald Trump. And Donald Trump will have equal time to Joe Biden when they both join us … this week in Atlanta for this debate. Our thanks to Karoline.”

Was it a bit of a quick hook? Perhaps. But Hunt fairly warned Leavitt, who would’ve been best served to get back to her Trump vs. Biden script.

The exchange, and the fact that Hunt actually followed through with her threat and shut down the interview, immediately went viral.

Afterward, Hunt tweeted, “You come on my show, you respect my colleagues. Period. I don’t care what side of the aisle you stand on, as my track record clearly shows.”

Meanwhile, The Hill’s Dominick Mastrangelo reported that Leavitt then appeared on the podcast hosted by former Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon. There, Leavitt said, “They don’t want spokespeople and defenders of the president to go on that same network and bring them up (alleged instances of bias by the moderators against Trump).”

Bannon then said he thought Thursday’s debate would be “totally 100% rigged.” He also said CNN owed Leavitt an apology and that if she does not get one then — wait for it — Trump should cancel the debate.

Leavitt also tweeted, “You cut off my microphone for bringing up the debate moderator’s history of anti-Trump lies. This proved our point that President Trump will not be treated fairly on Thursday. Yet he is still willing to go into this 3-1 fight to bring his winning message to the American people, and he will win.”

Trump supporters likely see Hunt as being petty. But, again, Hunt warned Leavitt, who already got to say what she wanted to say about CNN and Tapper. It was time to move on.

Hunt could’ve let it go, but not only did she stand up for her colleagues, she shut down an interview that was headed down a path of repeated accusations and material that really is of no interest to TV viewers.

Good for Hunt.

More Post mess

Another day. Another story about embattled Washington Post publisher and CEO Will Lewis.

This one from The New York Times’ Jo Becker and Justin Scheck: “Will Lewis Says He Helped Hacking Investigation. Scotland Yard Had Doubts.”

This all goes back to the phone-hacking scandal in which British tabloids were listening to private phone messages of politicians and celebrities and paying public officials to land big scoops. Lewis was brought in by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. to help clean up the mess and work with investigators.

“But,” Becker and Scheck wrote for the Times, “confidential documents obtained by The New York Times and interviews with people involved in the criminal investigation show that, almost from the beginning, investigators with London’s Metropolitan Police were suspicious of News Corporation’s intentions, and came to view Mr. Lewis as an impediment. “

They added, “Scotland Yard detectives were shocked to learn that the company had deleted millions of internal emails, despite notices from a lawyer for an alleged phone hacking victim and the police explicitly asking that any documents related to the investigation be preserved, according to police records and interviews with investigators. And while the company took steps to save some relevant emails amid the deletions, the police were deeply skeptical of one of Mr. Lewis’s explanations for those deletions — especially since he admitted it couldn’t be corroborated.”

There is much, much more to this story, so I encourage you to read it.

Something new for MSNBC

(Courtesy: MSNBC)

MSNBC is trying something new. Well, for them anyway. It’s called “MSNBC Live: Democracy 2024.” It’s a live event, featuring MSNBC hosts and others on Sept. 7 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York.

There will be two panel discussions. The first features MSNBC hosts and contributors Jen Psaki, Chris Hayes, Joy Reid, Alex Wagner, Andrea Mitchell and Katy Tur talking about the 2024 presidential race, the changing electorate and the critical stretch of the campaign. In addition, Steve Kornacki will break down the latest polling.

A second session will feature Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O’Donnell, Ari Melber, Stephanie Ruhle, Michael Steele, Alicia Menendez and Symone Sanders Townsend talking about the election and the various campaign issues.

Luke Russert will moderate the events.

In addition, there will be a dinner and then a preview of an upcoming MSNBC film.

I asked Russert what he hoped audiences would take away from the events and he told me in an email, “I’ve learned from traveling across America that MSNBC viewers are engaged and dedicated. Having an opportunity to connect with our audience on such a personal and organic level is a dream come true. We hope attendees leave feeling inspired and that they had a meaningful connection with the team they see on TV every day.”

Tickets for the event are a tad pricey: They start at $119 and go up from there, including $808 to attend the second session and the dinner/reception.

The Associated Press’ David Bauder wrote, “Live events are a growing business for many news outlets, forced to think of different ways to make money with readership, viewership and advertising revenue declining. MSNBC has ramped up its effort this year with the help of creative director Luke Russert. The journalism-centered events business has grown in fits and starts before accelerating in recent years. It is particularly robust in Washington, with the Post, Politico, Semafor, Punchbowl News and Puck all active.”

MSNBC president Rashida Jones told Bauder, “The fact that we’ve seen others in the industry host similar events, that’s been a bit of a precedent. One of the benefits of our brand and our content is that there are a lot of ways to engage with it.”

Media move

Big news if you follow media reporting. Charlotte Klein, who has been writing media stories at Vanity Fair, is going to New York Magazine, where she will write about the media in columns and features.

New York Magazine editor-in-chief David Haskell said in a statement, “For the last couple years, seeing a Charlotte Klein byline created a pit in my stomach; I knew I was about to read something envy-inducing. During her time at Vanity Fair, Charlotte has distinguished herself as a trusted media reporter of this fascinating time in our industry, dogged and curious and careful and fair. She’s going to do terrific work here, helping all of us understand better where the media business is heading through what I’m sure will become a must-read column.”

Klein previously worked at New York Magazine as a fact-checker.

Media tidbits

• Big breaking news Monday evening: CNN’s Evan Perez and Devan Cole with “Julian Assange agrees to plea deal with Biden administration that would allow him to avoid imprisonment in US.” And here’s The New York Times’ Glenn Thrush and Megan Specia with “Assange Agrees to Plead Guilty in Exchange for Release, Ending Standoff With U.S.”
• The Associated Press’ Dave Collins with “Bankruptcy trustee discloses plan to shut down Alex Jones’ Infowars and liquidate assets.”
• Speaking of this week’s debate, The New York Times’ Michael M. Grynbaum with “In This Debate, CNN Is the Decider.”
• For Columbia Journalism Review, longtime media reporter Paul Farhi with “When they won’t even say ‘no comment.’”
• Writing for KUOW, an NPR station in Seattle, Scott Greenstone with “Everett Herald’s new owner appears to censor story about layoffs.”
• The New York Times’ James B. Stewart and Benjamin Mullin with “The Future of Streaming (According to the Moguls Figuring It Out).”
• The Wall Street Journal’s Tim Higgins with “Is Elon Musk Misunderstood, or Understood All Too Well?”
• Here’s a media feud for you: Awful Announcing’s Ben Axelrod with “ESPN’s Stan Verrett slams Jason Whitlock over Angel Reese takes.”
• After 25 years at ESPN, “SportsCenter” anchor John Anderson is moving on to join the faculty of his alma mater, the University of Missouri. The New York Post’s Ryan Glasspiegel has more.

Hot type

• Fun data reporting from The Washington Post’s Daniel Wolfe with “The mysterious tyranny of trendy baby names.”
• Andscape’s Clinton Yates with “Reggie Jackson reminds us that MLB’s Rickwood Field game isn’t a kumbaya moment.”

More resources for journalists

• Dynamic, in-person, five-day workshop for new newsroom managers.
• Outstanding training for BIPOC journalism leaders.
• Manage big responsibilities without direct reports? Try Lead With Influence.
• GlobalFact 11 — June 26-28. Get your virtual ticket to the world’s largest and most impactful annual summit for professional fact-checking.

Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at tjones@poynter.org.

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