MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle has reportedly met with CNN Worldwide chief Jeff Zucker on multiple occasions in 2019 regarding a potential role at CNN.
This is according to Mediaite.
Ruhle, who joined NBC News in April 2016 as the co-anchor of Saturday Today, presently anchors MSNBC’s weekday 9 a.m. hour, and co-anchors the network’s weekday 3 p.m. hour with Ali Velshi,.
Since her arrival at NBC News from Bloomberg, Ruhle has emerged as one of MSNBC’s most high-profile voices in dayside. She brings a big personality to cable news, and as Mediaite’s Aidan McLaughlin writes, she does offer “an often emotional take on weighty news.” Perhaps there was thinking of a move from daytime news to more of an opinion program, similar to the path of Chris Cuomo.
There have also been rumblings for some time now that the two-hour edition of CNN Tonight with Don Lemon could return to being a one-hour program in the 10 p.m. hour. There’s a possibility that conversations between Zucker and Ruhle may have been had about that hour.
But if CNN is indeed looking to shrink Lemon’s on-air workload by an hour, CNN legal commentator Laura Coates would be the logical choice to take over 11 p.m. on a permanent basis. She has been anchoring CNN’s 11 p.m. hour more and more frequently as of late, as the impeachment inquiry ramps up and legal analysts are becoming increasingly in-demand. Coates also led the hour on many Fridays during the summer months.
CNN has yet to respond to our request for comment on the reporting.