Top of the Ticker: Turns out you actually can go home again. Nearly two decades after his final “Courage”, legendary Newser Dan Rather returned to CBS News over the weekend for an extended chat with Lee Cowan on CBS Sunday Morning. Timed to the May 1 premiere of Netflix’s biographical documentary, Rather, the interview covered nearly five-decade career at the Eye, as well as the circumstances that caused his exit in 2006 following a 60 Minutes II report about then-President George W. Bush‘s military record. Speaking with Cowan, the 92-year-old journalist referred to that period as his “lowest point,” but emphasized that he remains proud of his legacy, saying: “The closest you can do about legacy is not think about your work—think about what you did as a person.” (Look for TVNewser’s interview with Rather director Frank Marshall later this week.)
Watch Dan Rather’s CBS Sunday Morning interview below:
In developments regarding more recent CBS News personnel, the CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell has announced a pair of media moves. CNN’s Carolyn Cremen is coming aboard as a New York-based senior broadcast producer, while Face the Nation’s Avery Miller will join the Washington, D.C. bureau as a senior producer.
Correcting the Record: The One America News Network has retracted an article alleging that former President Donald Trump‘s one-time lawyer Michael Cohens had an affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels. “OAN apologizes to Mr. Cohen for any harm the publication may have caused him,” the network wrote in a letter posted on its website. The retraction was published as both Cohen and Daniels are expected to testify in the Trump hush money trial currently unfolding at the Manhattan Criminal Court. Earlier this month, OAN settled a defamation case with election and voting technology company, Smartmatic, over allegations that the network had promoted Trump’s false theories about the 2020 presidential election.
New Suit: NBC News is reporting that Hunter Biden “imminently” plans to file a lawsuit against Fox News alleging defamation. An April 23 letter from Biden’s attorneys obtained by the network accuses Fox of “conspiracy and subsequent actions to defame Mr. Biden and paint him in a false light, the unlicensed commercial exploitation of his image, name, and likeness, and the unlawful publication of hacked intimate images of him.” Fox is also still facing its own defamation case with Smartmatic over its coverage of the 2020 election, although the network settled a similar suit brought by Dominion Voting Systems last year.
In a statement provided to TVNewser, a Fox News spokesperson said: “Hunter Biden’s lawyers have belatedly chosen to publicly attack Fox News’ constitutionally protected coverage regarding their client. Mr. Biden is a public figure who has been the subject of investigations by both the Department of Justice and Congress, has been indicted by two different US Attorney’s Offices in California and Delaware, and has admitted to multiple incidents of wrongdoing. Consistent with the First Amendment, Fox News has accurately covered these highly publicized events as well as the subsequent indictment of an FBI informant who was the source of certain claims made about Mr. Biden.”
Speaking of Texas, the Lone Star state’s own Matthew McConaughey will narrate the upcoming Fox Nation documentary, Deep In the Heart. Set to stream on the platform later this year, the hour-long documentary introduces viewers to some of the critters great and small that call Texas home and the importance of keeping their environments preserved. And they’ll no doubt feel alright alright alright knowing that McConaughey is representing them in voice as well as spirit.