• Join Puck

    Directly Supporting Authors

    A new economic model in which writers are also partners in the business.

    Personalized Subscriptions

    Customize your settings to receive the newsletters you want from the authors you follow.

    Stay in the Know

    Connect directly with Puck talent through email and exclusive events.

  • What is puck? Newsletters Authors Podcasts Events Gift Puck Careers

CNN’s Debate Whisperers

Dana Bash’s interview with Harris and Walz is CNN’s latest “get” this cycle—from the Trump town hall to the Iowa G.O.P. debate and obviously debategate. It’s largely the handiwork of a relatively anonymous odd couple: Mark Preston and Christie Johnson.

Tim Walz and Kamala Harris
In truth, CNN’s real advantage in the political space comes from its offscreen veterans—the producers behind the scenes who maintain strong relationships on both sides of the aisle and out-negotiate their competitors in order to land these big bookings. Photo: Bing Guan/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Dylan Byers
August 28, 2024

On Tuesday, as scrutiny of Kamala Harris’s notably press-averse press strategy continued to wend its way through the national discourse, CNN announced that it had scored the very first interview with the Democratic nominee since her boss, President Biden, declared his withdrawal from the race some five or so weeks ago. Of course, that historic decision had been set in motion by Biden’s memorably calamitous showing during CNN’s own presidential debate—another major get in the lingua franca of TV news, for a network that, as loyal readers well know, has suffered more than its fair share of reputational and financial setbacks in recent years. (Dana Bash, who co-moderated the debate, will conduct the interview with Harris and Tim Walz, which will air on Thursday night).