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Looks like MSNBC handled this as most of us expected: Alicia was back tonight and addressed the issue at the top saying that she would not be covering the story:

From AT&TSN SW’s website:

And, fun fact, she's the daughter of CNN's Gary Tuchman.

Yeah, in my opinion, it's probably WABC's hottest new show (by far more interesting than the First at 4 launch back in 2011) I personally am really becoming a big fan of this show! It's not a snoozer by any means. The new show is literally everything that I had hoped for and in some cases even better. The new laidback "down to earth" or "watercooler" format is just so refreshing to see and such a nice departure from the hard news. And what's nice is how dynamic the show can be in terms of the presentation and the adaptability of how they can always switch from the chill vibes and get serious when need be which really goes to show how they are really are professionals. The show has been on for about 3 weeks now. It's already almost a month in and it's such a solid show. I loved yesterday's segment with Jon DelGiorno flying NewsCopter 7 to discuss the story about the crane that collapsed back in July, over the city and just how he took the extra time to explain everything, as I was saying before, we now get to access more of the perspective of the reporter and presenters on this show which is so very refreshing, the viewer simply does not get that access during the other shows which is why this show is so refreshing and quite frankly the best thing I've seen WABC do in recent times because First at 4 honestly is just another newscast, I expected First at 4 to be like that, but Mornings at 10, really good. I hope it continues to evolve! The topics are solid not just boring trying too hard topics they are all compelling interesting stories and also the interviews they get to do with the local officials and talent and doctors, it really is almost like must-see TV. And because the talent are veterans and locals and WABC only hires the top-notch, you really get to hear their shared experiences, see their personalities, and get to know them on a bit more personable level, which is so cool. I also love how the producers purposely full-screen the camera on the presenters when they provide their perspective because it just again differentiates it from their ordinary newscast. Solid Job WABC with this show! Not to veer ofcourse here, but how are the sister stations doing? I believe there are two other O&Os that were gonna do this too. WPVI (6ABC in Philly) and WTVD (ABC 11 in Raleigh) how are they doing with their 10am shows? Do we know if they are following the same approach?

First time watching the full 10am show and it’s pretty damn good. A very unique hour for the traditional EWN brand. Dani appeared on today’s show to provide a hot topics type of segment with Shirleen, Mike and Sam that ran for about 8 minutes and then stuck around through the end. It’s really cool to see this water cooler style format. Though as someone said earlier, this is a show designed for Michelle Charlesworth rather than Shirleen.

they are almost entirely airing the CNNi feed anyway. CNNi is a shell of its former self. Most of the legacy anchors and reporters have left and its down to a few hours now. Zucker & Co really dropped the ball with CNNI and HLN. Focusing entirely on US politics have really destroyed CNN brand and IMO the other channels has been left to flounder and die and other channels have moved into their spaces. THere are loads of 24hr Streaming channels in the US that replaces what HLN used to do for decades. And CNN international has effectively been shelved and replaced with BBC and AJE. Sad Really. I dont think this bargain basement MAX effort will help do anything help them gain any traction. Its all just sad to watch this legacy channel flounder this way.

If they could simulcast the domestic CNN, I'm sure they would. It would be the easiest and most cost-effective route. But putting the entire U.S. feed on Max would undoubtedly run afoul of their cable contracts. There's probably a percentage of their schedule they can simulcast that keeps them within the bounds of their contracts. Similar to how MSNBC's "Morning Joe" is available live on Peacock, but the rest of the MSNBC schedule isn't live DTC. As to why they don't simply simulcast the International feed, my guess is because of a concern that a full day of international news wouldn't attract a large number of American viewers. I'm not saying there isn't an audience for international news, so don't come at me thinking I hate international headlines. I'm just saying that a domestic audience is more likely to want more American headlines than international ones. CNN Max is going to have a huge uphill battle. Fox Nation has figured out its streaming business model. NBC has NBC News Now and an MSNBC hub on Peacock. So CNN's main cable rivals have already figured out the economics of this and are positioned to scale up DTC as the cable bundle continues to implode. Now CNN has to play catchup, which seems like a theme for them as of late.

Seems 8am-10am will be a rotation between Fredricka Whitfield, Jim Acosta & Amara Walker. CNN MAX only has 4 hours of their own live shows, rest is all CNN US & International. CNN Press Release from today: CNN Max Launches In An Open Beta In The US Offering 24/7 Live News

Here's the schedule of what aired today from what I saw: 8am: CNN Newsroom with Fredricka Whitfield 10am: CNN Newsroom with Rahel Solomon 11am: State of the Race with Kasie Hunt (CNN International) Noon: One World with Zain Asher and Bianna Golodryga (CNN International) 1pm: Amanpour (CNN International) 2pm: Newsroom with Jim Sciutto 3pm: Quest Means Business (CNN International) And then at 4pm, it became a simulcast of CNN/U.S. with The Lead, The Situation Room, etc. (all of which also airs on CNN International). So, not a ton of original content, but nice for American viewers to see more CNN International. I guess I'm curious what the logic is for a few hours of CNN Max-exclusive newscasts and not just putting the entire U.S. or International feed on there. Or maybe the simulcasts are a placeholder until they launch more original shows. They are calling it a beta product for now. As for the "no commercials" promise mentioned yesterday, the Max-exclusive shows took a few short promo breaks. I'm just realizing that the background behind Fredricka is CNN's D.C. studio used for Inside Politics, The Lead, etc, just with an Atlanta skyline. Rahel had the same backdrop but with NY in there. Jim Sciutto was in front of an actual window overlooking the Capitol. (I thought it was the usual flashcam-monitor setup but it's not. Just now remembering that they used to have a small set featuring part of that window there. Now it looks like just a window.)

Could WABC be launching the new graphics soon? This promo, for a story on climate change, featured a new Eyewitness News logo and Virginia Hamilton as VO.

So sad to see Derrick Go! Definitely a class act and he was just extraordinary at delivering the news. He's gonna be missed, hope he gets to anchor chair in New York some day. Something I noticed today during the 10AM show commercial break: Noticed this new wordmark for an Eyewitness News promotion for Climate Change during the 10AM show. Could this be a glimpse of their upcoming new look? At first I thought it was KABC because they have the same wordmark, but then I noticed the ABC 7 logo is WABC's. But in the promotion it looks like the locations in the video are in California, so it to me looks like it could either be something that KABC is producing for WABC but slapping WABC's ABC 7 logo, or is it an element from the upcoming new graphics?

CNN Max has launched. "CNN Newsroom" is currently on, using the CNN International look. Nice seeing Fredricka Whitfield, who very rarely shows up on CNN outside of weekends.

Caught some of the WEWS 4:30am portion of Good Morning Cleveland and it was basically an edited series of packages with a little weather in between. Most likely, the future of Scripps newscasts. In another thread, someone likened this approach to news like the Al Schottlekotte approach WCPO used until the 80s. This was later copied by WIAT for their "42 Daily News" relaunch in the late 90s. Back when Al Schottlekotte did it, it was unique and driven by his personality. Now with Scripps launching this approach at their stations, it's cheap, lazy, and basically throws the concept of live news out the window. And in Cleveland, WKYC has once again seemingly come to their senses after "normalizing" their newscasts and it's WEWS once again that's gone off the deep end. Meanwhile, despite Nexstar taking hold of WJW, their dominance still remains and WOIO is now owned by a major broadcaster seeing how Gray has leaped ahead of both Scripps and Tegna.

Not all situations are comparable. Chris Cuomo crossed a huge ethical line. That doesn’t mean every other person related to a public figure in hot water is going to cross a line. Keep her off covering that story, fine. If there is evidence she crosses a line, do what needs to be done. Don’t assume a problem where one is not indicated and stymie her career for something she did not do.

Jeff Hullinger is leaving WXIA after 13 years.