Cuomo Vadis?

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Media circles were all abuzz yesterday when CNN New Day host Chris Cuomo interviewed his bro, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, about Sunday's tragic Metro-North train derailment, according to a story in today's New York Times.

Conflict of interest, wailed some media types who watched the six-minute interview, arguing that journalists can't objectively cover family members. No attempt to deceive viewers, countered defenders of the interview, who considered the kerfuffle much ado about nothing.

For his part, Chris Cuomo said he would not interview Andrew for a political story, but saw no problem soliciting information from him about the train disaster. As for the ethics-sensitive staff of "TUOL," we can't wait for TLC to air a reality show featuring Chris, Andrew and most essential, papa Mario. They can call it Cuomo Esta Ustad?--it's got to be more insightful than Honey Boo-Boo.

CNN Assembles Cast for A.M. Show Spring Debut

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Ratings-starved CNN, which will debut its new New York-based morning show sometime this spring, yesterday announced the team who will helm the program, the Huffington Post reported.

Chris Cuomo, who joined CNN two months ago after serving as co-anchor of ABC's 20/20 and as the network's chief law and justice correspondent, will co-host the morning show alongside Kate Bolduan, CNN's Congressional correspondent and Situation Room co-host.  Michaela Pereira, former anchor of KTLA 5 Morning News in Los Angeles, will handle the morning program's news anchor duties, according to the Huffington Post article.

CNN President Jeff Zucker kvelled about the program's "dynamic team."  Of course, every morning show crew that has ever existed has been labeled a dynamic team, even Steve Doocy, Gretchen Carlson and Brian Kilmeade of Fox & Friends on the Fox News Channel (a/k/a  The Cartoon Network), but Zucker was executive producer of the highly successful Today Show on NBC for 16 years, so "TUOL"'s morning radio-listening staff will cut him some slack.

CNN has not divulged the name of its exciting new morning show, but based on the ratings of its other non-newscast programming, it might consider Poison or Morning Sickness.

'So Long Dad' O'Brien: Anchor Expected to Leave CNN

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Soledad is Spanish for solitude. The New York Post is reporting that CNN morning anchor Soledad O'Brien may soon have plenty of "alone time" as she appears on her way out at CNN as part of the cable news network's personnel shake-up under new boss Jeff Zucker.

O'Brien, who has hosted Starting Point in the a.m. since January 2012, is being supplanted by Erin Burnett, who will take her place alongside recent CNN arrival Chris Cuomo, according to the Post article. O'Brien, who left NBC for CNN in 2003, has helmed documentaries such as Black in America and formerly hosted American Morning.

The Post indicated O'Brien's departure, in part, stems from her being miffed about not receiving a long-promised Prime Time slot on CNN. The network did not respond to the Post article.