Charlie Rose’s Cbs Colleagues: ‘deeply Rocked,’ But There’s ‘no Excuse’

Gayle King had slept less than two hours. At times, Norah O’Donnell seemed on the verge of tearing up. But nevertheless, the “CBS This Morning” anchors were there, seated at the glass table where they had hosted the show almost every weekday morning for the last five years. A chair for Charlie Rose, their third co-host, was missing. Rose was absent from Tuesday’s edition of the show he has been a part of since its inception: CBS News suspended him after The Washington Post published an extensive report detailing alleged unwanted sexual advances toward women by the 75-year-old broadcaster. And on the morning after the newsman became the newsmaker, the sexual harassment allegations against Rose were the top story on “CBS This Morning.” “We’re going to begin with news affecting all of us,” O’Donnell said matter-of-factly at the top of the program. “This one does hit close to home,” correspondent Bianna Golodryga said in introducing a story about the allegations. The “CBS This Morning” package recapped The Post’s reporting: Eight women, who were either employees or prospective employees of Rose’s, told The Post that he made unwanted sexual advances toward them between the late 1990s and 2011. Those advances included lewd phone calls, walking around naked in their presence, or groping their breasts, buttocks or genital areas, the women said.