Good morning, and welcome back to In The Room.

Last night, I opened my notebook to share the latest details on Jeff Zucker's surprise ouster from CNN, a seismic media event that has upended both the network and the broader cable news industry.

We continue that coverage today with a comprehensive account of last night's contentious meeting between WarnerMedia C.E.O. Jason Kilar and the distraught CNN employees who are perplexed by Zucker's firing and anxious about the future of their now rudderless network.

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Inside the CNN Newsroom’s Clash with Jason Kilar

Fear, anger, profound loyalty to Jeff Zucker and full-blown resentment for Jason Kilar dominated a confidential meeting in CNN’s D.C. newsroom on the night of Zucker’s February surprise.

Just after 7 p.m. ET last night, WarnerMedia C.E.O. Jason Kilar stepped into CNN's Washington D.C. bureau along with CNN's newly named interim leaders Michael Bass, Amy Entelis, and Ken Jautz, and did his level best to explain to staff why he had taken the dramatic step of forcing the beloved president of CNN Worldwide, Jeff Zucker, to resign over his failure to disclose a consensual relationship with his top aide, Allison Gollust.

It did not go well. The meeting, which I obtained a recording of last night, highlights the profound sense of loyalty that CNN's on-air talent have toward their longtime leader, despite his violation of company policy, and the anger they feel regarding the circumstances of his sudden defenestration. In the course of a more than hour-long Q&A session, three things became clear: CNN's top staff believe that Zucker's punishment was unnecessary; they are dubious about Kilar's motives for the decision (and wonder if his own fraught relationship with Zucker played a role); and they are at a loss to understand how the network will function in the absence of a leader who was intimately involved in nearly every aspect of the network's programming...

FOUR STORIES WE'RE TALKING ABOUT