Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. Send tips | Subscribe here| Email Alex | Email Max The new boss of CNN said he owes JOE BIDEN his life. In his 2011 memoir, CHRIS LICHT, then the executive producer of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” described how he suffered a brain aneurysm in 2010 and rushed to George Washington University hospital, where his life “moved closer to the abyss’ edge.” While there, he was visited by program hosts JOE SCARBOROUGH and MIKA BRZEZINSKI. After Scarborough remembered that Biden had suffered two brain aneurysms, Brzezinski called the then-vice president, with whom she had a decades-long relationship. Biden ended up calling the hospital and connecting Licht with a top neurosurgeon, who quickly assessed the severity of Licht's condition and made treating the MSNBC producer a top priority. The incident was the beginning of Licht’s friendship with Biden, which he describes in his book, “What I Learned When I Almost Died: How a Maniac TV Producer Put Down His BlackBerry and Started to Live His Life.” While Licht was still in the hospital, Biden periodically checked in with him and his wife. At a party months later at the vice president’s residence at the Naval Observatory, Licht credited Biden for saving his life. “He is a great and kind person, and the photo taken that day of Jenny and me being embraced by the vice president of the United States will live on in our family forever,” he said. “My children will be able to tell their friends that in the worst moment of Daddy’s life, a busy public official put aside the important things he was doing to help.” Licht’s personal friendship with Biden adds a layer of complexity to his effort to revamp CNN’s political coverage at a transitory time for the network. After new corporate overlord Discovery axed the short-lived streaming service CNN+ before Licht’s first day on the job, the new CNN chief has taken a more low-key, deliberate approach to tackling some of the network’s challenges. Among them is how to win back some of the viewers it may have lost due to DONALD TRUMP’s demonization of the network (and CNN’s own subsequent zealous embrace of the role of Trump antagonist). The Daily Beast reported earlier this year that Licht was thinking of working to “tone down” more opinionated reporting from network stars like BRIANNA KEILAR and DON LEMON. Licht is handling part of the strategy personally, using his Rolodex to rebuild bridges between Republican regulars on “Morning Joe” during his time at that show and the network he now leads. He has good relationships with New Jersey Gov. CHRIS CHRISTIE and House Minority Leader KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-Calif.), and watched the Super Bowl with Republican pollster FRANK LUNTZ. One network source told West Wing Playbook he plans to continue meeting with figures on Capitol Hill in order to increase guests. The network also continues to make overtures to the current administration, hoping to increase access, which remains elusive at the highest level. West Wing Playbook previously reported that during one of his first days on the job, Licht visited the White House for an off-the-record chat with chief of staff RON KLAIN . The network has repeatedly asked for more town hall-style events with Biden, and anchors like JAKE TAPPER have regularly requested to interview the president. But high profile figures at the network have also shown signs that CNN won’t be a doormat for administration officials. DON LEMON has long been seen by some members of the Biden team as one of a handful of more sympathetic anchors (Lemon hosted one of CNN’s only town hall events with Biden since he became president). So it seemed to even catch press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE by surprise when the anchor pressed her about Biden’s physical and mental stamina during an interview on CNN on Monday. “Don, you’re asking me this question, oh my gosh! He’s the president of the United States, you know, he - I can’t even keep up with it,” she told him. “That is not a question that we should be even asking.” TEXT US — Are you LILY ADAMS, assistant secretary for public affairs at the Treasury Department? We want to hear from you. And we’ll keep you anonymous if you’d like. Or if you think we missed something in today’s edition, let us know and we may include it tomorrow. Email us at westwingtips@politico.com or you can text/Signal/Wickr Alex at 8183240098.
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