Kasie Hunt Is Ready to Enter The Arena

Kasie Hunt landed at CNN in August 2021 as the first official anchor hire for the CNN+ streaming service. She was brought on because of her deep experience covering presidential campaigns, Congress, and the Washington, D.C. establishment.
Her time at CNN+ didn't last long, though, as the streamer was shut down a month into its existence by the network's new owner, Warner Bros. Discovery. Since then, Hunt had been filling in on CNN's Washington-based shows and appearing as an analyst during election programming.
The CNN anchor and chief national affairs analyst also underwent a four-hour surgery to remove a benign brain tumor in 2021.
Before joining CNN, Hunt served as NBC News' Capitol Hill correspondent and host of MSNBC's weekday 5 a.m. hour Way Too Early. She also moved to mornings on CNN in 2023 and added additional responsibilities like anchoring the short-lived political show, State of the Race, on CNN International.
Nearly 18 months later, Hunt is on the move again to the more favorable time slot of 4 p.m. ET. Starting today, she'll anchor The Arena with Kasie Hunt, in the network's latest programming revamp.
Ahead of the show's premiere, Hunt spoke with TVNewser about her plans for the show and why The Arena will be the program that helps 'people understand why things are happening-and what is going to happen next.'
What is The Arena with Casey Hunt about?
This is a show where the conversation that we are having in Washington-but also across the country- about politics and culture will play out. We're planning for this to be a panel-driven show that also hopefully welcomes newsmakers on set where we can make news in the arena. Ultimately, [the show will] be a place where we are reflecting and pushing forward what is happening in Washington, in the country, in our politics, and in our culture.
We don't just want to be a political show-although, of course, considering the new administration and the news, there's obviously going to be a ton of politics. We want to be a place where people start to feel like they need to tune in to hear what our panel has to say, and to feel like they really are on top of where the narrative is going.
What will make The Arena different from CNN's other programs in terms of news and political coverage?
First of all, I think my colleagues put on great shows. Dana Bash, at noon has all reporters on her panels. Abby Phillip in the evening is very opinion-driven. We plan to have both. We plan to have reporters, big picture voices, and then also strategists from both sides of the aisle. My interest is in talking to people who are actually out there doing the work, who are in the arena, right?
They are reporting the news. They are driving the conversation. They are trying to win elections for their clients. They are seeing the data that's coming in from the country. They are people who I would call on the phone as sources and say: 'Hey, explain to me why this politician is acting the way they are?'
That's the kind of conversation I want to drive. I want to be less about the back and forth in terms of fighting over who's right or wrong, and more about helping people understand why things are happening and what is going to happen next. That's the kind of the group of people I want to put together, and I think it's a little unique compared to what else we have on the air.
You've had early wake-up calls on some of your previous shows. How does it feel to be moving away from that time slot?
My head is so much clearer now that I'm getting up at 6 a.m. instead of 3 a.m.! It's a significant adjustment. I have loved my time doing morning television; I grew up as a morning TV viewer, and am always going to be a morning TV viewer.
But I'm excited about the chance to be at a time where we are able to absorb everything that happens across the day and reflect it at 4 p.m. I'm definitely excited about getting more sleep, and I'll be able to take my kids to school, which will be really fun.
What made anchoring an early morning show unique and challenging?
It's different from other times during the day just because you have to make sure that you're figuring out a way to push forward into the day. There's not usually a ton that's happened overnight, so you need to make sure that you're really making it fresh for the audience. It can be grueling in its way. The hours are tough in that regard, and you have to build your life around making sure you're sharp at that hour of the day.
It takes a lot of discipline, especially, when you are starting at 5 a.m. That's very early! The biggest challenges are trying to make sure that you're at the top of your game from a broadcasting perspective and from a sharpness perspective.
When you signed off from CNN This Morning, I noticed that you gave a shout-out to CNN's different production hubs in New York, Atlanta, and D.C. Can you explain how that decentralized production system works and how it benefits news coverage?
Obviously, CNN has a deep history in Atlanta and we're moving more things back there. D.C. is also a really central place. It all works together. With all the shows that I've hosted, my teams have not been in the same physical location as me until now. My team for The Arena is going to be in Washington, but my team for CNN This Morning was based in Atlanta. It really is a question of getting everybody on the same page.
A lot of the tools that we developed during the pandemic, for example, make working this way very easy. Having a presence in Atlanta helps us offer a lens that is not quite as coastal or New York-centric, which is great for the news coverage.
What I was trying to say with that shout-out is that television is a team sport. That's my favorite part about it. There are so many people that do top of the line work in whatever their field is to get us on the air and have us be the best that we can be. It means a lot to me. In the case of CNN This Morning, it relocated from New York to Atlanta and that required my EP Bruce Williams to move his family down to Atlanta to keep working with me. I was really grateful to him for doing that.
As a D.C.-based show closely following what the Trump administration is doing, what do you think about the recent news about the White House restricting press pool access?
I'm not sure CNN has put out a formal statement on that, so I don't want to get ahead of that in any way. I used to work at the Associated Press, so I have been in the White House press pool and you cannot overstate how important it is, especially in times of a national crisis like September 11th.
That someone who is a highly trained journalist who explicitly goes in with the goal of providing unbiased actual accounting of what has happened with the most powerful person in America is something that every American deserves, regardless of who they vote for. And ensuring that it is possible to have someone like that with the president at all times is something that every single American deserves. There's a reason why the news organizations who have been included in the pool have been there for so long, and that previous Republicans and Democratic presidents alike have respected and responded to it.
Anyone who supports the current president may have to consider what it may be like if a president that they don't support politically is doing the same thing in terms of trying to control information.
There have been several news industry shake-ups lately, from Lester Holt's decision to step down from the Nightly News to several changes at MSNBC. What are your thoughts on the changing media environment and how is this show positioned to succeed amidst the upheaval?
Upheaval is nothing new. I came to CNN for streaming. I am not someone who is afraid of change or afraid to take risks. I have said a couple of times that I am a reporter first and the skills that make you a good reporter and a good communicator are things that translate no matter what the medium. I have written for wire services, magazines, and newspapers, I have been on broadcast TV, I have been on cable TV, and briefly was on streaming.
One of the things I think about a lot in an information environment that is incredibly crowded is how do you cut through the noise and how can you help viewers? I spend so much time thinking about my audience and I'm in this business because I want to be able to help people understand what was going on here in Washington. And help them make their own decisions about how they were going to vote and how they were going to conduct their own lives-not because I told them what to do, but because I gave them information that would help them.
I do think in this cluttered environment, people are looking more and more to individuals. People want to know the people they're getting their information and news from. We plan on not just being on cable; we hope The Arena will be on social media and online in innovative ways. The connection that I'm hoping to make with the audience is one that can cut through all this noise and make The Arena stand out.
Fox News recently launched a new show at 4 p.m. ET with Will Cain, and you two will be going head-to-head. How will you approach that time slot, especially seeing opinion programming creeping more into the dayside aspect of TV?
Well, I'm a reporter first and you can look at my background and understand that's where I come from. I really do believe that there is a place for real reporting on cable. I also don't spend a lot of time comparing myself to my competitors. I think that the best way for me to succeed is to be authentic to myself, because I think viewers can see right through you if you're not.
So what you're going to get at 4 p.m. on CNN is the show that I do and you will see me as a reporter and analyst. I'm not an opinion host and I don't have any intention of being an opinion host. Obviously we're all competitive, and everyone is quite well aware of the trends in cable news and how they're changing. The only thing I can do is just go on air every day and put on the best show I possibly can.
What's one thing we should look forward to when watching the premiere episode of The Arena?
I am not sure I can quite reveal a lot on that yet, but I am excited about the guests that we have lined up, both for our first day and hopefully our first week as well. I'm also really excited to show everybody how it's going to look, because I think that the team that has worked on our graphics and music and all that have done a really great job. I can't wait for everybody to see it.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Fox News

31 minutes ago

• Fox News

FBI increases surveillance of Iran-backed operatives in US: source

The FBI is increasing its monitoring of Iran-backed operatives in the U.S. as President Donald Trump weighs involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict, a senior law enforcement source confirmed to Fox News Friday. The White House said Thursday Trump will make a decision on U.S. involvement in the conflict within two weeks. The monitoring reportedly includes surveillance of possible sleeper cells linked to the Tehran-backed terrorist organization Hezbollah, according to CBS News. The Lebanon-based terror group also got a clear warning from Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz not to join the conflict. The decision to increase monitoring comes just days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed Iran was plotting to assassinate Trump because the regime saw him as a threat to its nuclear program. "They want to kill him. He's enemy No. 1. He's a decisive leader. He never took the path that others took to try to bargain with them in a way that is weak, giving them basically a pathway to enrich uranium, which means a pathway to the bomb, padding it with billions and billions of dollars," the prime minister told Fox News' Bret Baier during a Sunday edition of "Special Report." While Trump has called for an "unconditional surrender," he has yet to decide whether to involve the U.S. in the conflict. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday he would make a decision within two weeks. Critics from both sides of the aisle have called on the president not to get involved, while others see involvement as a necessity to protect American interests. On Friday, a U.S. official told Fox News the USS Nimitz, which left the South China Sea Monday, would arrive in the Middle East this weekend. The USS Carl Vinson has already been deployed for some time, meaning two U.S. aircraft carriers would be in the Middle East at the same time.

New York Times

36 minutes ago

• New York Times

Supreme Court Finds Retired Firefighter Cannot Sue for Disability Discrimination

The Supreme Court ruled on Friday that a retired Florida firefighter cannot sue her former employer under federal disability rights law for refusing to provide her the health benefits that she had once been promised. Justice Neil M. Gorsuch wrote the opinion in a tangled decision, finding that because the alleged discrimination took place after the firefighter, Karyn Stanley, had retired and left her job, she could not bring a lawsuit claiming that she was discriminated against in the workplace. Upholding a federal appeals court ruling, Justice Gorsuch wrote that the section of the Americans with Disabilities Act at issue in the case did not cover disability discrimination claims by retirees. In order to bring a successful claim, Justice Gorsuch wrote, a plaintiff must show that she held or wanted a job and 'could perform its essential functions' at the time of the alleged disability-based discrimination. In a dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, joined, in part, by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, argued that the justices had abandoned protections for vulnerable retirees. 'Disabled Americans who have retired from the work force simply want to enjoy the fruits of their labor free from discrimination,' Justice Jackson wrote, adding that Congress had 'plainly protected their right to do so' when it drafted the federal disability rights law. Justice Sotomayor, in a separate writing, argued that a majority of the justices appeared in agreement that retirees may be able to bring disability discrimination claims for actions that occurred while they were still employed. Ms. Stanley might have been able to argue that this would apply in her case, too, Justice Sotomayor wrote, but the court had not been asked to weigh in on that question. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.

UPI

43 minutes ago

• UPI

Analysis: Iran isolated in war against Israel

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the site of the Weizmann Institute of Science, which was hit by an Iranian missile barrage, in the central city of Rehovot on Friday. Pool photo by Jack GUEZ/UPI | License Photo BEIRUT, Lebanon, June 20 (UPI) -- Iran, which has spent decades nurturing a network of well-armed proxies to expand its influence in the region and shield itself from direct military confrontation, now finds itself on its own in the war that Israel had long been preparing to launch. Iran's military proxies -- especially Hezbollah, once considered its most powerful -- have been significantly weakened by Israel and no longer pose a serious threat, according to military and political analysts. Israel began to attack Iran last Friday, targeting nuclear and military facilities and killing top military commanders and nuclear scientists, claiming its archenemy was on the verge of developing nuclear weapons. The war quickly escalated, with Iran retaliating with missile and drone strikes while insisting that its nuclear program is intended solely for peaceful purposes. More than ever, both countries regard each other as existential threats. While Iran refuses to "surrender" or resume nuclear talks "under fire," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears intent on drawing the United States into the war to help finish the job. Concern is also growing over what Iran's proxies might do to support it if the conflict escalates further and threatens the very existence of the Iranian regime. Probably not much, as their own existence is at stake. Riad Kahwaji, who heads the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis, said that these militias were "like layers of defense for Iran," which invested a lot in them just to be able to spread its influence in the region and to keep wars and military confrontations away from its borders. Since October 7, 2023, Israel has gradually dismantled these layers; destroying Hamas in Gaza, severely weakening Hezbollah in Lebanon, and, to some extent, containing the Houthis in Yemen. The collapse of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria last December delivered the most devastating blow yet to Iran's so-called "Axis of Resistance," according to Kahwaji. "All this has basically paved the way for the military operation in Iran. ... The Israelis wouldn't have launched this war if they hadn't removed those layers first," he told UPI. "Now, whatever remains of these proxies still poses a threat, but they no longer constitute the major threat they once did." Would Hezbollah risk getting involved in the ongoing, devastating war between Israel and Iran? The militant group has kept a low profile since the Nov. 27 cease-fire that ended its 14-month war with Israel. Despite continued Israeli strikes on suspected positions and the assassination of its new field commanders, Hezbollah has so far refrained from retaliating. Hezbollah, once well-armed by Iran to deter Israeli attacks and defend Tehran's interests, seems unlikely to enter the conflict -- at least for now, according to Mona Yacoubian, director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Could Hezbollah be ordered to join the battle if the regime in Tehran feels it is facing an existential threat? Yacoubian argued that it's hard to see how Hezbollah in its current state could mount a significant threat to Israel. "Even if Tehran feels that it is facing an existential threat, it is hard to imagine ordering Hezbollah into the fight would make a significant difference," she told UPI. "It's unlikely." In addition to Hezbollah's capabilities having shrunk considerably, its fighters are no longer on the Israeli border and cannot launch any surprise ground offensive. In line with the cease-fire agreement, Hezbollah can no longer maintain military positions in southern Lebanon south of the Litani River and should be disarmed. The Lebanese Army has been deploying in the southern region, where it took control of Hezbollah's military infrastructure. But what could change? Kahwaji refers to an apparent division within Hezbollah, with the "ideologues" who are linked to Iran and its regime ideologically and the "pragmatics" who realized that the game is over and that entering the confrontation would be "a suicide and will not save Iran of its fate." Lebanon's top officials have been exerting pressure on Hezbollah to prevent the country, which is still recovering from the recent Israel-Hezbollah war, from being dragged into the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran. They have received a clear U.S. warning that any involvement in the conflict would restart Israel's war on Lebanon, something they want to avoid at any cost by preventing Hezbollah or other Iran-backed militant groups, primarily Hamas, from launching attacks or firing rockets into Israel from Lebanese territory to support Iran. Lebanon cannot afford another conflict after more than 20,000 people have been killed or wounded since October 2023, when the war started in support of Gaza. The Israelis' relentless strikes and bombardment caused widespread destruction estimated by the World Bank at $11 billion. Such a destruction left some of Hezbollah's Shiite popular base "not really excited" about coming to the aid of Iran especially when Tehran "did not come to their rescue when they were under fire," according to Kahwaji. However, there remains a risk that Hezbollah "could take action" if the United States becomes directly involved in military escalation against Iran, said David Wood, a senior Lebanon analyst at the International Crisis Group. Wood argued that Hezbollah knows Israel could retaliate with a military campaign against Lebanon, and its responses will be "disproportionate and so severe." "It would be difficult for Hezbollah to justify it," he said, noting that the militant group has adopted a strategy of avoiding trouble since the cease-fire accord was achieved. "It makes absolutely no sense to get involved in this new conflict." The question is whether a war between Israel and Iran, along with the weakening of the Tehran regime, could accelerate efforts to disarm Hezbollah. After all, Iran's deterrence strategy has collapsed, largely because Iran and Hezbollah failed to recognize that Israel fundamentally changed after October 2023, Wood said.