CNN’s Scott Jennings is the personal voice for the unheard masses
Shortly after 10 p.m. on an otherwise unremarkable April night two years ago, the control room doors at CNN’s New York headquarters swung open.
Scott Jennings peered inside and felt his pulse quicken. The political analyst — a Kentucky native whose tailored suits complement his Appalachian twang — spotted an unexpected guest sitting at the panel beneath the klieg lights: Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.
At the last minute, the producers decided they would keep Weingarten on set after her interview with host Alisyn Camerota. It was a break from standard protocol. Typically, guests exit after their segment. But this time, she would stay — joining the post-interview panel. Jennings, the lone conservative, would be seated just inches from her. The timing could not have been more charged: America’s parents were still seething over the prolonged Covid school closures, and Weingarten had spent the week on Capitol Hill defending her role in them.
“I looked at the stage manager and said, ‘You’re putting her out there with me?’ ” Jennings recalls. “He nodded. I had about 60 seconds to channel every frustrated mom and dad in America.”
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