MCCAIN: CNN descended into sex scandal, anti-Trump hysteria and ridicule over howlingly bad ex-boss

It's official - CNN CEO Chris Licht is dunzo.

After a wildly chaotic 13-month effort to right the listing network's partisan ship, the corporate bigwigs have lost faith in the one-time cable news wonderboy and leftists around America are applauding.

But make no mistake, while Licht may be polishing his resume, CNN should be prepping its obituary, because the declining network has now rejected a life-saving transplant – and the prognosis is poor.

What an incredible rise and fall for CNN. Launched in 1980 by Ted Turner as part of Turner Broadcasting System, it was the first 24-7 cable news operation.

Derided as the Chicken Noodle Network, CNN was hamstrung by a lack of resources and struggled to compete with the legacy news outfits.

But the fledgling channel did what the big networks with crowded TV schedules could not: run a constant stream of breaking news.

When the Gulf War kicked off in January 1991, it was CNN's time to shine.

We all turned to correspondents Wolf Blitzer in the Pentagon and Peter Arnett on the ground when the bombs started falling in Iraq.

Incredible 'Live from Baghdad' footage was piped directly into living rooms. It was a defining cultural moment. Americans saw real, raw journalism, and CNN was rewarded with brand recognition that lasted decades.

CNN is where my family, like so many others, watched the second tower fall on 9/11. It is where I followed the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the launch of the Iraq war, and the deaths of Anna Nicole Smith and Michael Jackson.

CNN was truly the 'most trusted name,' but today, it's a smoking wreck.

It's official - CNN CEO Chris Licht is dunzo. After a wildly chaotic 13-month effort to right the listing network's partisan ship, the corporate bigwigs have lost faith in the one-time cable news wonderboy and leftists around America are applauding.

What an incredible rise and fall for CNN. Launched in 1980 by Ted Turner (above) as part of Turner Broadcasting System, it was the first 24-7 cable news operation.

How did it all go wrong?

Well, we can mark the beginning of this road to ruin from the moment that Donald Trump descended those golden escalators at Trump Tower in 2015 to announce his run for president.

From then Licht's predecessor, Jeff Zucker, who ironically introduced Trump 'the reality TV star' to millions of Americans on the wildly popular show The Apprentice – set himself up as Trump's best frenemy.

CNN covered his every move on the Republican primary trail, going as far as showing his empty podium in anticipation of rallies. But then Zucker quickly changed tact after Trump became the nominee.

The network became, 'Resistance-TV during the general election and into the Trump presidency,' CNN insider Steve Krakauer, who worked under Zucker, tells me.

Gone were the days of Larry King and Bernard Shaw - enter Don Lemon and CNN's Chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta. And the ratings were astronomical.

In an era of declining cable news viewership, left-wing rage over Trump was just what the doctor ordered.

Lemon, Anderson Cooper, and Chris Cuomo understandably railed against the administration in primetime, but the Trump Derangement Syndrome also infected the news operations.

Acosta infamously refused to relinquish the floor at Trump's first official news conference, as he peppered the new president with questions and even wrestled with a young White House staffer over the microphone.

Such behavior would have earned a reporter at Fox News a public rebuke or maybe even a pink slip, but not under Zucker. His news-warriors were on the front lines of the fight to save democracy – by any means necessary.

I and many others warned that CNN would come to regret its abandonment of straight news reporting for political warfare – and now the chickens have come home to roost.

Acosta infamously refused to relinquish the floor at Trump's first official news conference, as he peppered the new president with questions and even wrestled with a young White House staffer over the microphone.

Gone were the days of Larry King and Bernard Shaw - enter Don Lemon (above, with Jeff Zucker) and CNN's Chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta. And the ratings were astronomical.

The network cultivated an audience addicted to anti-Trump outrage. So, it should have come as no surprise that when Trump left office, CNN viewers left them, plunging by 75%.

But more than that, CNN built a roster of producers, hosts and anchors, who became convinced that they were more than lowly journalists.

'Licht was brought in to help return CNN to its roots as a news network and there was a huge vision clash with those who bought into the idea that they had a bigger mission than just providing objective news,' said Krakauer.

CNN chyrons became wildly biased, regularly slamming Trump as a liar even when the full story was much more complicated.

No longer 'the most trusted name in news,' CNN became Trump's worst nightmare. And years of ethically compromised leadership started taking its toll.

Chris Cuomo was exposed as coordinating with his brother, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, to help him weather allegations of sexual assault and harassment. And according to Cuomo, Zucker knew it.

Then Zucker's own inappropriate, consensual relationship with his second-in-command was revealed and he too was shown the door.

This is what Licht was up against – maybe an unwinnable battle – but Licht didn't do himself any favors.

I never thought this ex-producer of MSNBC's 'Scarborough Country' and 'Morning Joe' and later 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' was the right person for an incredibly difficult job.

He pulled toxic Don Lemon out of primetime and paired him with two respected female colleagues for a new morning show, which failed miserably.

The papers were constantly filled with leaks from disgruntled employees who criticized his poor communication skills. He was no Jeff Zucker, they said.

Then came last month's CNN town hall with Trump. The ex-president steamrolled CNN host Kaitlin Collins and notched a major PR victory in his quest for the White House in 2024.

Now after Licht's participation in a wildly ill-advised profile in The Atlantic Magazine exposed him as a self-obsessed, management neophyte – he's out.

Then came last month's CNN town hall with Trump. The ex-president steamrolled CNN host Kaitlin Collins and notched a major PR victory in his quest for the White House in 2024. 

To Licth's credit, this is exactly what he was hired to do, give a presidential candidate an opportunity to speak to the American public. But the execution was terminally sloppy.

The audience was packed with Trump devotees whose questions failed to knock Trump off his well-worn talking points and Collins were left debating the former president and a room full of critics.

Staffers revolted and Anderson Cooper grovelingly apologized to CNN viewers for the trauma that they must have endured while – gasp – watching a presidential candidate speak.

Now after Licht's participation in a wildly ill-advised profile in The Atlantic Magazine exposed him as a self-obsessed, management neophyte – he's out.

Well, its bad for Licht and worse for CNN.

As Trump eyes the Republican party nomination, the gravity of another general election will pull CNN's leaderless political partisans back into their advocacy roles.

The left-wing nuts may be happy today, but the high won't last long. This news will only hasten CNN's decline.

Licht's firing couldn't have come at a worse time for them or America.