That CNN mid-day anchor Daryn Kagan is Rush Limbaugh's paramour is no secret. But the extent of their relationship is now causing some headaches for the CNN apparatchiks sent out to dispell rumors: Is Kagan IM-ing Rush during their respective broadcasts, sending him pro-Bush messages that he, in turn, reads on his radio show as missives from his "mistress in Georgia?"
Some swear yes. CNN says no. Either way, she was off the air for a bit. Has CNN been punishing Kagan for being a righty within a liberal media machine, or just for exercising bad judgement during her broadcast? Or maybe they're not punishing her at all and it's all just not true.
CNN denies. Media Matters for America, however, has a video of a Bush speech and her on air comments in this article:
In his September 3, 2004, "Reliable Source" column in The Washington Post, Richard Leiby reported that a spokesman for Limbaugh confirmed that he "is dating CNN anchor Daryn Kagan." And a February 21 article in People magazine noted that "Kagan's romance with ... Limbaugh is getting serious." Kagan, who is based at CNN's headquarters in Atlanta, is the anchor of CNN Live Today, a news show that airs weekdays from 10 a.m .to noon ET and that carried Bush's speech live.
Shortly after Bush concluded his speech, Kagan introduced CNN national security correspondent David Ensor, whom she called "our CNN fact-checker." While noting that Bush "had promised some unprecedented details," which, she suggested, he did not provide, she then made a statement in Bush's defense when Ensor suggested that reporters would be looking for corroboration of Bush's assertion that "the United States and our partners have disrupted at least 10 serious Al Qaeda terrorist plots since September 11th, including three Al Qaeda plots to attack inside the United States":
[Transcript available at link]
Bill Hemmer left CNN recently for FoxNews, hopefully just for the money. Kagan can now clear her conscience and go to GOPNews, too, because she's on the verge of compromising CNN's integrity for fairness.
And so it goes....
Update: For Daryn Kagan's sake, I hope that it is not true. I actually was shocked to read it. She seemed like she had more class than to hook up with the likes of Limbaugh, who would disgustingly refer to her on the air as "his mistress." I would like to see her deny it on the air, however, so I can see her face when she does it. Mainly, to see if her denial seems more true than Bush's "apology" of the Katrina debacle. I wonder if The Daily Show is onto this?
"Daryn, say it isn't so."