CBS News Executives "Aggravated" By Letterman's Use Of Internal News Feed: Report

David Letterman vaulted himself into the headlines this week by mocking John McCain for canceling an appearance on his show only to show up on the CBS "Evening News" with Katie Couric. And in a classic stunt, Letterman showed the internal CBS News feed on his show to demonstrate McCain's hypocrisy.

WATCH THE VIDEO

The New York Post's Don Kaplan reports that trick didn't go over so well with CBS News executives:

Asked if CBS officials had a problem with Letterman using the internal news feed, a spokeswoman for "The Evening News" refused to address the issue.

But several CBS News executives - who asked not to be identified - said that the stunt did not go down well within the news division.

"If we had done something like that to him, someone around here would end up getting fired," one said.

News officials found out Letterman was using the internal feed shortly after it showed up on an internal CBS feed carrying the "Late Show" taping.

"They were pretty aggravated," a CBS News source told The Post.

"But they were not about to start a fight with Letterman," the source said. "We're in the middle of a heavy, heavy news cycle and Letterman is Letterman.

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"He does whatever he wants and always has."

Read Kaplan's full article here or click below to watch video of the event in question.

WATCH: Letterman Mocks McCain For Canceling "Late Show" Only To Appear On "Evening News"

Letterman kept on McCain for a second night, saying Thursday, "I feel like an ugly date."

WATCH: Letterman Attacks McCain Day 2: "I Feel Like An Ugly Date"

Comments

[bellindaba]

BRAVO to LETTERMAN!!!

Letterman was so 'right on' in his reaction to John McCain. It would have been one thing if McCain had gone straight back to Washington, D.C. after cancelling the show....it even would have been understandable if when McCain called to tell Letterman that he had to go back to D.C. IF he had told Letterman....."I have to cancel but I also am headed over to do the News with KATIE COURIC because this is a 'hardball' issue that we are dealing with as far as the $700 BILLION BAILOUT is concerned so I ask for your understanding and I'll make it up soon."

But McCain did NOT do that.....he told Letterman he was headed for the airport to go to D.C. and then he went to do the interview with Couric.....and THEN he went to dinner and THEN spent the night in a hotel and THEN, FINALLY, the NEXT DAY, he went by to put in an appearance at President Bill Clinton's seminar BEFORE McCain FINALLY boarded a plane to D.C.!!!

Letterman has every right to be PISSED!!! There's so much B.S. going on from the McCain-Palin camp and there is no concern with dealing in HONESTY!!! I realize they are politicians but this is ridiculous!!

I was so proud of Letterman for not putting up with it and for, basically, saying:

"I'M MAD AS HELL AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANY MORE!"

[LibRS]

okkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk

[lizr]

Lying like a rug, so glad L etterman did not fall for it!

[applehead]

letterman is the true maverick.

[RepublicanForObama]

I agree!

Love Letterman!

[berrycooda]

Letterman is the true egotistic over paid supposedly comic with a microphone.

He is still smarting by being the "ugly date" stood up by Sen. McCain who apparently didn't think
his show was the most important place to be in the whole scheme of things.

Get a grip Dave.....you came in second.

[wotcanisay]

.... you came in second.....

AS WILL THE PALIN-MCCAIN TICKET IN NOVEMBER!

[LibRS]

you're joking right?

[lizr]

after this I am a die hard letterman fan!

[SwingVoter]

McCain could have simply told Letterman the truth and say, 'look Dave, times are serious with this economic down turn, and the country may not be pleased with me showing up on the "Late Show" instead of doing the people's business. Let's reschedule.' Dave would have replied, 'I understand Senator.' End of story. But since McCain thinks the economy is fundamentally sound, he lied to Dave and he was made to pay for his lies. He got caught and embarrassment was the punishment.

[anniegirl9]

Exactly! But more importantly, if he can't have the forsight to predict what offends someone, how will he not offend leaders of other nations.

Many may see this as trivial, but imagine this. McCain has a scheduled meeting with the Putnin. Last minute crisis comes up and he now had to meet with the Pres. of France, but instead of explaining the justifiable reason to Putnin, he makes something up. Putnin relizes McCain lied. Tensions with Russia are now made worse. Sure, maybe we don't go to war over it, but it makes it all the harder to get countries to trust us - thus work with us.

[lizr]

I am reading more stuff in my email about questionable judgment from McCain- more every day!

very scary!

[fumerunner]

McCain must be seething right now about so many things. But to the topic at hand, he probably is gnashing his teeth at Letterman and the people at SNL. By all accounts, McCain personalizes a lot and is increasingly insulated and paranoid. He probably thinks that by hosting SNL and appearing on the show a few times is enough to have the show never satirize him or his campaign. Same with Letterman. And I don't think he'll be going back on The View.
--
Regardless, the McCain campaign is probably at its lowest point so I am both eager and reticent to see what crazy stuff the spiraling campaign has planned for this week...especially buoyed by SNL's latest Palin fun and Letterman's week of finger-wagging. I tell ya...they are going to come out crazy guns a-blazing this week.
--

[kenann]

Kudos to Letterman! He's a better investigative reporter than the people who claim that as their job titles. He actually seemed surprised that McCain dodged him. I'm sure that his questions of why McCain was suspending his campaign would have been ten times harder than the softballs that I'm sure Couric lobbed to him and then had to edit.

[KISSman]

Seeing John McCain getting his makeup done on the news set while Dave is complaining about being lied to and snubbed by McCain made for priceless TV. Thankfully, Dave is powerful enough at CBS that he doesn't have to answer to those jokers in the big offices.

[BuzzingAlong]

Wonder if CBC has given McCain the questions for the second debate, especially since it is being moderated by a McCain shill?

[BuzzingAlong]

Don't the CBC Nes executives have any John McCain interview tapes they can edit?

[rockledge1900]

Holy crap, A presidential canidate found something better to do than to go on the Letterman show. Will wonders ever cease. Letterman is a pompous egomaniac who is still miffed that he didn't get the tonite show job. Talk about avoiding real issues. What? Are you liberal basement dwellers running out of material? This should definitely fall into the who cares column.

[ChrisR]

So if instead Obama had done the same thing to, say, Rush Limbaugh and ol' Rush got as pissed off to be lied to and then yapped on air about it, you'd call Rush a pompous egomaniac as well? Doubt it.
"Liberal basement dwellers?" I'm sick of all these lame insults which are coming from BOTH sides. Grow up.

[JaniceL]

"Liberal basement dwellers running out of material" - That's rich coming from someone who has nothing better to do than to play the mentally challenged troll making embarrassingly unsuccessful attempts at mounting his (or her) high horse.

[anniegirl9]

There is more than just comics here. And more than lies - which McCain is so free-wheeling about.

It shows an utter lack of diplomacy!

If McCain can not handle a simple matter of canceling an interview (which I doubt Letterman would have minded if McCain had not lied) with grace or honesty, how can we believe he will be any better at dealing with delicate foreign relations? It's funny that he pissed Letterman off. Not so funny when he pisses off Spain's prime minister. Haven't we seen where this kind of lack of respect has taken the US in the past 8 years?

[DrBillo]

cool it everybody--you are just playing in to a planned stunt that brings more money into the entertainment king,Lette­rman--this is not partisan,this is greed!

[Hollis-Greene]

Please share this with your friends... It's the Maverick in action.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ajm5JTf7jZs&feature=rec-fresh

You were the best Tim and all the 'Readers/Thinkers" in America miss you greatly...

[InternationalObserver]

Okay, let's take a reality check:

Once McCain announced he was 'suspending' his campaign to sort out this 'Crisis' he was obliged to cancel his Letterman appearance. You can't say you want to cancel a Presidential Debate, but then find time to appear on a Chat Show. So he had to cancel Letterman.

His mistake was NOT telling Letterman 'Look I can't do your show, it wouldn't be right. I'm going to an interview with Couric before I head to Washington, but I'd love to reschedule for next week". I'm a fan, but I think Letterman waaaay overreacted.

Imagine if it was the other way 'round? Say Obama made the big 'for the good of the country I'm going to suspend..." but then before heading out to Washington stopped for an appearance on Leno? FOXco would have had a field day!

[FWIW: I'm an Obama supporter. But I'm not one-eyed]

[subzerosteve]

Imagine if it were the other way around? Yeah! They would have a field day but Obama is not a loser like Mc Cain.

[Tags]

McCain reared his head pretty good when he blew Letterman off.

Putin's got his work cut out for him to top that, Alaskan airspace or no Alaskan airspace.

[dawlishgal]

Did these executives think that so few people watch Katie Couric that nobody would notice that McCain was on her show at the same time he was supposed to have been taping Letterman's? How was he supposed to act when McCain lied in his face about the importance of his going back to DC? McCain has a long history of acting like a bozo, then--after people notice- ONLY -then he wants to pass a law against bozo-behavior on the part of others. Witness McCain's membership in the Keating 5 and how he claims now that he has always been for regulation. and the way Keating gave him 112,000 bucks to intervene on his behalf WITH REGULATORS! I guess, if McCain gets his way, regulations are a good thing only because the presence of regulations will force lobbyists to cough up even more money in return for congressional influence..

Seems to me that if anyone had a right to be p*ssed off, it was Letterman. Afterall, these same executives surely knew that they were "stealing" McCain from his show and plunking him down on the newz.

[toppergem]

I agree with you. McCain deserved to be exposed by Letterman.

[lizr]

there is SO MUCH left to expose about MCCain that has still been hidden.