For TV, the anniversary-of-Jan.-6 marathon was thorough. It began with morning shows, continued through an extraordinary, primetime special on CNN.
One thought that emerges from all this: Anderson Cooper must be the best TV interviewer anywhere.
It’s difficult to simultaneously interview six people on live TV, but Cooper’s talk with six Congress people was seamless and moving. A few minutes later, he had another quietly emotional talk with a congressman and his family.
We’re reminded of how easily Cooper does light interviews. Last year, when a concert was rained out, he was doing a video chaT with Barry Manilow. When asked about a specific song, Manilow (just a face on a video screen) suddenly asked his music director for back-up.
“I’ve gotta ask you, Barry,” Cooper said. “Do you carry your music director with you everywhere, just in case you need him?”
It turned out that the guy was in the same room, ducking out of the rain. But it was typical of Cooper’s skill with light subjects. (And no, I didn’t see his New Year’s Eve with a drunken Andy Cohen.) He’s just as good with serious ones, as we saw on Jan. 6.
Anyway, this was my preview of the anniversary coverage, now outdated:
As the first anniversary of the Jan. 6 crisis (shown here) nears, two things have been added and one has been dropped.
Removed is Donald Trump’s plan for a news conference at his Florida resort. Trump said he’ll wait until a Jan. 15 rally in Arizona; and he said it in a Trump-style statement:
“In light of the total bias and dishonesty of the J6 Unselect Committee of Democrats, two failed Republicans, and the Fake News Media, I am canceling the Jan 6th Press Conference at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday and instead will discuss many of those important topics at my rally.”
And added are a morning event with speeches by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, plus coverage throughout the day by the C-SPAN cable network.
Here’s an updated look at TV coverage. For the PBS documentary, check local listings; all of the other specific times listed are ET and are earlier in other time zones:
NEWS EVENTS
These are set for Thursday; all will be on C-SPAN and most are likely to be on cable news channels:
– 9 a.m.: Speeches by Biden and Harris.
– Noon: A moment of silence at the Capitol.
– 1 p.m.: Carla Hayden, the Librarian of Congress, talks with historians Jon Meacham and Doris Kearns Goodwin.
– 2:30 p.m.: Congressmen offer their memories and thoughts on the events.
– 5:30: A prayer vigil in Washington, D.C.
DOCUMENTARIES
– “Four Hours at the Capitol” is already on HBO Max. HBO2 reruns it at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
– “Homegrown: Standoff to Rebellion” reaches Hulu on Wednesday and the ABC News Live streamer on Thursday.
– “Indivisible– Healing Hate” is a six-part film that arrives Thursday on the Paramount+ streaming service, viewing the growth of anti-government extremism. It includes a reformed neo-Nazi … a mother who was victimized by hate crimes … the son of a notorious white supremacist … and a man whose child was killed in the 1995 bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City.
– “Preserving Democracy: Pursuing a More Perfect Union” debuts at 9 p.m. Thursday on PBS. Bill Moyers, the 87-year-old journalist, calls this “the most crucial period for American democracy since the Civil War.” But there are other crises the film looks at. This was “not the first time that the democratic process was nearly overthrown,” says Eric Foner, a Columbia University historian.
ALSO WEDNESDAY
– David Muir interviewed three people who testified during congressional hearings – Harry Dunn and Aquilino Gonell of the Capitol Police and Daniel Hodges of the Metropolitan Police. Parts of the interview will run on the ABC newscast and on “Nightline.”
– Lester Holt begins two days of anchoring NBC newscasts from Washington.
ALSO THURSDAY
– At 7 a.m., C-SPAN will take viewer calls and comments and show scenes from a year earlier.
– All of the morning news shows will be anchored from Washington. NBC will include an interview with Rep. Liz Cheney (R, Wyoming) … CBS will talk to Capitol police and will look at the online digital sleuths who have been working with law enforcement … MSNBC will include “Peril” authors Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, plus George Conway, a conservative foe of Trump.
– Woodward and Costa will also be on ABC’s daytime show, “The View.”
– Evening newscasts will also be anchored in Washington. NBC will include a Nancy Pelosi interview.
– The CBSN streamer will have specials at 5 and 8 p.m.
– C-SPAN will recap the day at 6 p.m.
– CNN will have Jake Tapper and Anderson Cooper anchoring a special from 8-10 p.m. It plans to have Pelosi and nine other congressmen, including three (Cheney, Jamie Raskin and Bennie Thompson, the committee chairman) who are members of the Jan. 6 committee.