'That Wasn't Good': Watch CNN's Anderson Cooper Struck by Debris During Intense Hurricane Milton Coverage

It’s unlikely that everyone follows all the columns I write for The Western Journal. However, not long ago, I discussed a baffling segment on Anderson Cooper’s CNN show, where he spent nearly 10 minutes interviewing 10- and 11-year-olds about their thoughts on the presidential election. Spoiler: there wasn’t much insight there.

At that time, I pointed out that Cooper had established himself as a serious journalist. His breakthrough moment came from his somber and in-depth coverage of Hurricane Katrina back in 2005.

Interestingly, while Hurricane Helene was wreaking havoc along the East Coast, Cooper chose to focus on those young political minds. I made a simple suggestion then: "How about paying attention to the storm instead and leaving the kids to their parents, Anderson?"

Fast forward to Hurricane Milton, and we get to see how CNN covers major weather events almost two decades after Hurricane Katrina. My new advice for Cooper and his team? Go back to the kids’ political hot takes.

In footage that has gone viral and now symbolizes everything wrong with modern media’s disaster coverage, Cooper — who apparently felt it necessary to dramatize the situation by venturing into the storm — quickly realized it wasn’t the best idea when a piece of debris hit him in the face.

A smart call, indeed. And while we’re grateful Anderson is unharmed, one has to wonder why he or his superiors deemed this necessary.

In grainy footage that once again proves hurricanes are, in fact, both windy and watery, Cooper was reporting from the Manatee River in Bradenton, Florida, as Milton battered the Gulf Coast.

It’s important to note that if you’re a fully grown adult and need to witness a hurricane’s force, there are plenty of unmanned live cameras that provide continuous coverage. In fact, a single Tampa station — WTVT-TV — had seven such feeds streaming as of 2 a.m. Thursday, Eastern Daylight Time.

But, of course, CNN decided to send a highly paid journalist into the storm to give us an “on the ground” experience. And what did we learn from this bold move?

“The wind has really picked up,” Cooper said during his segment, which aired just after 9 p.m. EDT.

“The water’s really moving. You can get a sense of just how fast the wind is moving there. You can see it in the light there. It is now just whipping off the Manatee River. It’s coming from kind of the north, I guess northeast. And the water now is really starting to pour over. If you look at the graph – whoa!”

That’s when something struck him in the face. Thankfully, it didn’t seem heavy — and I don’t enjoy seeing people get seriously injured on live TV — but still, there it was:

“OK, that wasn’t good,” Cooper remarked.

“I’ll probably go inside shortly. But you can see the amount of water here on the ground. Landfall.”

Ah, yes. Landfall. Water. Debris. Wind. Almost like … a hurricane. You know, the type of storm that every CNN viewer has either experienced or watched detailed coverage of before.

Sending reporters into the midst of a storm like this is typically the domain of daredevils who’ve made hurricane coverage their signature. Jim Cantore of The Weather Channel — fondly referred to by Floridians with a grim sense of humor as “The Angel of Death” — is one of the most famous figures in this genre. But there’s always someone from every network looking to boost their Instagram followers. They’ll brave any storm just to shout into the camera at midnight, “THE WIND IS REALLY STRONG OUT HERE!! YOU WON’T BELIEVE IT!!”

As if we didn’t already know.

Cooper, on the other hand, is the closest thing CNN has left to an actual star after what seems like countless talent reshuffles at the so-called “Most Trusted Name in News™.” He doesn’t need to venture into a Category 3 hurricane to keep his job.

Frankly, CNN should be shielding him from these situations, not sending him into them. No one deserves this, but let’s be blunt: if you're going to risk one of your employees getting hit by debris live on air — potentially suffering a serious, if not fatal, injury — perhaps your prime-time anchor isn’t the best candidate.

Or maybe this is a message to Anderson. He reportedly earns $12 million annually at a network that’s constantly trimming the fat. One week, he’s interviewing kids about Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, and the next, he’s being sent into a Category 3 hurricane. What’s next? Piloting a 737 Max for 72 hours or heading to space aboard a Boeing Starliner?

I joke, but only a little. The real issue is this: unless CNN is subtly encouraging Anderson to quit, the network has turned into a parody of its former self. We don’t need anyone out in the middle of a hurricane to tell us what a storm feels like — least of all one of the network’s main stars.

Stick to the kid interviews, Mr. Cooper. Really.