Channel Change: In the business equivalent of a massive earthquake, CNN President Jeff Zucker, one of the most powerful media executives in the country, resigned after admitting a previously undisclosed romantic relationship with a fellow executive.

  “As part of the investigation into Chris Cuomo’s tenure at CNN, I was asked about a consensual relationship with my closest colleague, someone I have worked with for more than 20 years,” the 56 year old Zucker wrote in his letter of resignation. “I acknowledged the relationship evolved in recent years. I was required to disclose it when it began but I didn’t. I was wrong.”

  That other executive is Allison Gollust, CNN’s executive vice president and chief marketing officer, who says she will stay with the network.  She wrote in a statement that after working with Zucker for 20 years, “Recently, our relationship changed during Covid. I regret that we didn’t disclose it at the right time.”

  Both were publicly reported last month to have left their marriages because of the affair. We wonder why the man has to go but the woman can stay. He may have been the boss, but they’re both grownups and senior executives who broke the rules.

  Zucker started at age 26 as a field producer for NBC’s “Today” show and rose to become its executive producer. He became chief executive of NBCUniversal in 2010 before leaving in 2010 and going to CNNin January 2013. 

Special Ops: The US carried out a special forces anti-terrorism operation in Syria overnight in what the Pentagon described as a “successful mission” resulting in multiple deaths. Civilians may be among the dead.

  Several residents told The Associated Press they saw body parts scattered around a house in the village of Atmeh, near the border with Turkey. “There were no U.S. casualties,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in a brief statement, adding that more information would be provided “as it becomes available.”

The Ukraine Egg: As many as 3,000 American troops will be sent to Poland and Romania as reassurance to allies anxious over tensions over Ukraine. The US has been firm in saying it will not send troops into Ukraine itself.

  “It’s important that we send a strong signal to Mr. Putin and the world that NATO matters,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters. “We are making it clear that we are going to be prepared to defend our NATO allies if it comes to that.”

It’s Winter: More than 100 million people are under winter weather alerts affecting 25 states from the Mexican border to New England. It’s carrying snow, ice, and sleet. More than 20 inches of snow have fallen in the Colorado Springs area and a foot in parts of Illinois and Indiana. More than 2,300 flights were grounded yesterday and 3,563 today. 

Transitions: With a transgender female swimmer at the University of Pennsylvania smashing records, the governing body of US swimming has decided that a three-person medical panel will now determine whether “prior physical development of the athlete as a male” gives transgender swimmers an unfair advantage. 

  The medical exams will also include testosterone tests. 

  This is happening in part  because Penn’s  swimmer Lia Thomas, who competed on the men’s team for three seasons, has been posting the fastest times of any female swimmer. Although she’s undergoing hormone replacement therapy, she has shattered records for her university swim team, posting the fastest time of any female swimmer. In one race in December she finished 38 seconds ahead of the second place swimmer, a member of her team.

The Obit Page: Robin Herman, who as a hockey reporter for The New York Times made news herself insisting on access to the post-game locker room along with the male reporters, has died of ovarian cancer at age 70. 

  When Herman began covering the New York Islanders for The Times in 1974, she was denied access to the post-game locker room to get quotes and analysis from the players when they were in varying degrees of undress or even naked. She and other female reporters had a series of dramatic confrontations that put them in the headlines until female reporters in the locker room became no big deal.

  Interestingly, Herman was also a member of the class that entered Princeton in 1969, the first to have women.

From the 50: Former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores, who was fired last month and was rejected for new jobs with other teams, has sued the NFL and all its 32 teams claiming they have discriminated against him and other black coaches in hiring. 

  The league’s rules require teams to interview minority candidates. Through an accidental text exchange with New England’s Bill Belichick, Flores learned before his interview with The NY Giants that the team had already decided on a white coach. Although he had two out of three winning seasons with the Dolphins, Flores said in the suit that he was “humiliated in the process as the New York Giants subjected him to a sham interview in an attempt to appear to provide a Black candidate with a legitimate chance at obtaining the job.”

  Ross also claims that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered to pay him $100,000 for every game he intentionally lost in order to put the team in a more favorable position for draft picks.

Also from the 50: The Washington Football team, formerly the politically incorrect Washington “Redskins,” announced that the team will now be called the “Commanders.” They went by “Redskins” for 87 years and played under the generic name for two.

  Commander is a naval rank, but the team hopes the name will have some generic association with Washington in general. The team also revealed slick new uniform designs, but they are sticking with the burgundy, gold, and white that they’ve always had.

  Now maybe they can focus on winning games. They were 7 and 10 this past season.

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