CNN Chief Says Chris Cuomo ‘Made a Mistake’ in Advising Brother

“I am not surprised that Chris had conversations with his brother,” Mr. Zucker said. “Who wouldn’t? But he did cross the line by doing it with his brother’s aides present.”

Mr. Zucker told CNN staffers that “there are not special rules for Chris” and that “he is human and these are very unique circumstances,” referring to the anchor’s relationship with the Democratic governor and the network’s grappling last year with how to cover a “once-in-a-lifetime pandemic.”

The Washington Post reported last week that the CNN host joined calls with the governor to discuss his handling of the misconduct claims, which the elder Mr. Cuomo has denied. CNN said at the time that the anchor had erred but that he wouldn’t be disciplined.

Mr. Zucker said during the town hall meeting that he didn’t see the purpose of suspending Mr. Cuomo, adding that taking him off the air temporarily would amount to “punishment for the sake of punishing.”

During the meeting, Mr. Zucker also addressed the coming merger of CNN parent WarnerMedia with Discovery Inc., DISCB -0.44% saying that a CNN streaming platform under development, known internally as CNN+, would continue to be developed as a stand-alone service. He said that it would be launching within the next year.

Later in the town hall, Mr. Zucker was asked whether the deal with Discovery changes his plans to remain at the network through the expiration of his contract later this year. Mr. Zucker said that he is “still on the same timetable” that he announced earlier this year. But in light of the merger deal, Mr. Zucker said he plans to give his future at the network additional consideration.

Write to Benjamin Mullin at [email protected]