They are reporting the news. They are driving the conversation. They are trying to win elections for their clients. They are seeing the data that’s coming in from the country. They are people who I would call on the phone as sources and say: “Hey, explain to me why this politician is acting the way they are?”
That’s the kind of conversation I want to drive. I want to be less about the back and forth in terms of fighting over who’s right or wrong, and more about helping people understand why things are happening and what is going to happen next. That’s the kind of the group of people I want to put together, and I think it’s a little unique compared to what else we have on the air.
You’ve had early wake-up calls on some of your previous shows. How does it feel to be moving away from that time slot?
My head is so much clearer now that I’m getting up at 6 a.m. instead of 3 a.m.! It’s a significant adjustment. I have loved my time doing morning television; I grew up as a morning TV viewer, and am always going to be a morning TV viewer.
But I’m excited about the chance to be at a time where we are able to absorb everything that happens across the day and reflect it at 4 p.m. I’m definitely excited about getting more sleep, and I’ll be able to take my kids to school, which will be really fun.
What made anchoring an early morning show unique and challenging?
It’s different from other times during the day just because you have to make sure that you’re figuring out a way to push forward into the day. There’s not usually a ton that’s happened overnight, so you need to make sure that you’re really making it fresh for the audience. It can be grueling in its way. The hours are tough in that regard, and you have to build your life around making sure you’re sharp at that hour of the day.
It takes a lot of discipline, especially, when you are starting at 5 a.m. That’s very early! The biggest challenges are trying to make sure that you’re at the top of your game from a broadcasting perspective and from a sharpness perspective.
When you signed off from CNN This Morning, I noticed that you gave a shout-out to CNN’s different production hubs in New York, Atlanta, and D.C. Can you explain how that decentralized production system works and how it benefits news coverage?
Obviously, CNN has a deep history in Atlanta and we’re moving more things back there. D.C. is also a really central place. It all works together. With all the shows that I’ve hosted, my teams have not been in the same physical location as me until now. My team for The Arena is going to be in Washington, but my team for CNN This Morning was based in Atlanta. It really is a question of getting everybody on the same page.
