Karoline Leavitt Bows Out; CNN's Dolly Parton Blunder Forces Apology | 8/28/26 FIRST LOOK

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0:33Hey, everybody. I'm Dave AI, and this is First Look. It's Friday, August 28th, 2026. We've got a packed show for you today. Caroline Levitt bows out as press secretary. Is Scott Jennings the favorite to succeed her? CIA chief John Ratcliffe made a surprise Moscow trip to warn Russia against attacking NATO. And CNN apologizes for an epic blunder in coverage of Dolly Parton's death. Let's dive in. Caroline Levitt's final day and the race to replace her. White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt's final day in the role was Thursday. She met with reporters one last time before officially stepping down.

1:17I'll miss you guys. I know that's probably not something anyone would expect me to say, but obviously it's been great working with all of you, she told the press corps. Then she gave the only advice that actually matters in that job. I think it's most important in this job to understand that President Trump is his own best spokesperson, she said. Trump, she added, and his other communications advisors like Stephen Chung, have joked that the president is the true communications director and press secretary here at the White House. That's not a punchline. That's the operating system of this administration.

1:54Trump talks, the media loses its mind, the American people hear it unfiltered. Leavitt understood that from day one. In an earlier interview, Leavitt, who was 27 when Trump appointed her, the youngest White House press secretary in American history, reflected on the tenure. It has been the honor and blessing of my life to serve as his spokesperson, she said. It has been the adventure of a lifetime. She earned it. She didn't go up there to manage the feelings of the White House press corps. She went up there to fight for the agenda the country voted for. Now she's stepping away. Trump still has not named her successor.

2:33So is Scott Jennings the favorite? If you ask the people who actually pay attention, yes. According to the results of a poll run in my newsletter last week, Scott Jennings, the conservative pundit known for confronting Democrats during debate shows on CNN, is the far and away favorite to be Levitt's successor. Jennings is also the leader on the Calci market, tracking who will be selected. A CBS News report suggests Jennings is not the front runner behind the podium. According to that report, Jennings has been under consideration, but is unlikely to be the choice. The same report says White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles is vetting potential candidates, but that no front runners have emerged behind the scenes yet.

3:17As the calendar turns to September, CBS says Americans can expect rotating members of the Trump administration at the podium until a permanent replacement is chosen. Jennings has largely dismissed the increasing conjecture around him joining the administration, saying on CNN this week, I don't know what's going to happen. Here's what has happened in the numbers. In the Rubin recap poll, Jennings has taken nearly 50 % of the vote. Alina Habba, Trump's former personal lawyer who briefly served as acting US attorney for New Jersey during his second term, registered 15 % in second place. She's the only other name in that poll that picked up double digit support.

3:59Earlier this month, Habba said she was flattered when her odds on Calci soared at one point, But added in a post on X, I'm not in the running for the job. On the betting market, Kalshi, Jennings remains the leader to be the next White House press secretary, although his chances tumbled this week. Similar to the Rubin recap numbers, Kalshi had Jennings at a 44.5 % chance of landing the job last week. That fell off to around 26 % this week, with his lead over Deputy White House press secretary, Anna Kelly, dipping to within 10 percentage points on Thursday. Markets move. Leaks move. Susie Wiles will decide what she decides.

4:43But if the job is to stand at that podium and refuse to play the media's game, Jennings is the name people keep coming back to because they've watched him do it in hostile territory for years. And by the way, if you wanna subscribe to my free newsletter, scroll down in the description and find a link or just Google Rubin Recap. Ratcliffe in Moscow, a warning, not a photo op. Central Intelligence Agency Director John Ratcliffe made a surprise trip to Moscow this week to deliver a warning to Russia. Do not attack NATO countries. That's according to the Wall Street Journal, citing sources briefed on the visit.

5:22This was Ratcliffe's first publicly known visit to the Russian capital. It followed new US intelligence assessments, also reported earlier by the Journal that Russian President Vladimir Putin could try to test the resolve of NATO with a limited assault on an allied country in the next few years. U.S. officials are concerned that Putin, squeezed in Ukraine and under pressure at home, could launch an assault ranging from a cyber attack to a small-scale land incursion, likely on a Baltic nation. There's a reason Putin might think he can get away with a limited test. A shortfall in critical Western munitions driven by expenditures in the Iran war, could factor into his thinking.

6:03The United States has degraded its stockpile of certain weapons because of transfers to Ukraine after Russia's 2022 invasion, as well as the Iran conflict. That's the bill for years of open-ended proxy war and a foreign policy that treated American magazines like an ATM. Deterrence is not a press release. Deterrence is inventory, will, and a president who means it. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow on Wednesday that Ratcliffe held talks with Russian intelligence officials during his time in the Capitol, but he did not meet with Putin. Putin was briefed on the talks, Peskov said.

6:42During an interview with radio host Glenn Beck on Wednesday, President Trump described the trip as semi-routine and then pivoted to the war that actually has to end. Something may come out of it, Trump said. we're working very hard to get that war ended, and frankly, they both want to see it ended at this point. A spokeswoman for the CIA declined to comment. Ratcliffe, one of Trump's closest aides, was the latest U.S. official to travel to Moscow following several visits by Steve Witkoff, the U.S. envoy for Ukraine-Russia peace talks. This was a rare visit by a U.S. spy agency chief with the Russia-Ukraine war now in its fifth year.

7:22The last known visit by a CIA director to Moscow was in November 2021, when William Burns, who led the agency under former President Joe Biden, warned Putin not to attack Ukraine. We know how that warning went. Putin invaded anyway. The difference this time is the man sending the message and the man sitting in the Oval Office. Trump is not trying to freeze this war in amber so Washington can keep writing checks. He's trying to end it, and Ratcliffe's trip is part of drawing a hard line. Ukraine is one fight. Touch a NATO country and you are in a different conversation. That's strength. The last crowd called it diplomacy while the stockpiles ran down.

8:06CNN can't even get Dolly Parton's face right. CNN was forced to apologize to Dolly Parton's family for mistakenly using a photo of a Las Vegas impersonator of the country music legend while reporting on her death. Let that sink in. One of the most famous faces on the planet. And CNN put up the Tribute Act. The cable news network aired an image of tribute artist Kelly Vaughn as it covered Parton's Tuesday death from cancer, leaving the 58-year-old Vaughn stunned as friends began bombarding her with messages. The errant image was broadcast during Laura Coates Live, some 12 hours after Parton's death was announced by her family.

8:49We regret the error and apologize to the Parton family, CNN told the New York Post in a brief Thursday statement. That's the entire statement. No explanation of how a billion-dollar newsroom confuses Dolly Parton with a Vegas impersonator. No names, no process, just we regret the error. Vaughn said the photo was taken in December when she appeared on the red carpet at a Las Vegas screening of Song Sung Blue, starring Kate Hudson and Hugh Jackman. I started getting all these texts in from friends saying that I was on CNN, and I couldn't believe it, Vaughn told the Post on Thursday. I was already heartbroken at losing Dolly because of how much she has given to me as a woman and an artist, she continued.

9:34But then to see these images of me on screen was just weird. Vaughn, a longtime singer and tribute performer who has portrayed Parton throughout her career, blasted the network for the mix-up. Somebody at CNN really messed up and didn't do their research, she said. She also made something else crystal clear. She has never tried to pass herself off as the real Dolly Parton. To be clear, I have never represented myself as being Dolly ever in my life, she said. I have always been known as a tribute act for her and many other stars. It was quite embarrassing, to be honest, Vaughn said of the CNN snafu.

10:14I thought about calling CNN, but was really consumed by the grief of losing Dolly. I just wanted to be at home with my thoughts, raising a glass of wine to that brilliant woman. Dolly Parton was a singular American original. Smoky mountains to the world, work ethic, humor, generosity, and songs that will outlast every cable chyron in existence. The country is mourning her. CNN used the moment to remind you why trust in that network is in the basement. They didn't need a conspiracy. They needed a photo editor who can tell the difference between Dolly and a woman who plays Dolly on the strip. If they can't get that right, why would you trust them on anything harder?

10:58And that's your first look this Friday. Quick recap. Caroline Levitt closed her historic run at the podium and left the succession fight wide open, with Scott Jennings still the name to beat in the polls and on Kalshi, even as CBS tries to talk him down. John Ratcliffe went to Moscow to tell Russia not to test NATO, while President Trump keeps pushing to end the Ukraine war. And CNN spent Dolly Parton's farewell, confusing her with a Las Vegas impersonator, then issued a two-sentence apology. We'll keep following all of it. I'm Dave Ai. Thanks for starting your day with First Look. See you on Monday.