It was Audie Cornish’s first day as host of CNN This Morning, replacing Kasie Hunt.
Cornish’s demeanor is temperate, just as she was taught as a National Public Radio host. No Don Lemon-Jim Sciutto ego-driven excesses. In opening the show, Cornish modestly didn’t even make mention of her debut.
Even so, for those hoping for more political balance from CNN, it was an inauspicious beginning when considering the panel Cornish chose to assemble for her first show.
The panel was comprised of Jonah Goldberg, co-founder of the generally Trump-critical site The Dispatch, and two New York Times journalists who double as CNNers: Astead Herndon and Lourdes “Lulu” Garcia-Navarro.
Cornish’s predecessor, Hunt, was no conservative. Even so, her panels almost always included a traditional Republican in the person of either Brad Todd or Matt Gorman. Cornish invited…
