Cesar’s Conspicuous Call

NBCU News Group boss Cesar Conde is — yet again — facing questions about an eyebrow-raising editorial decision that was made within his palace’s walls.

Earlier this month, MSNBC Films announced it had acquired "Separated," the documentary from Academy Award-winning filmmaker Errol Morris, based on the book from NBC News correspondent Jacob Soboroff which detailed the horrors of Donald Trump's child separation policy. The film premiered over the summer at the Venice Film Festival to rave reviews and will complete its Academy Award-qualifying theatrical run at the IFC Center in New York later this week, in addition to playing in several other markets later this month. If it manages to win an Oscar, it would be the first for MSNBC Films and NBC News Studios, which produced the film.

Inside MSNBC, the documentary has garnered strong support. Both Morris and Soboroff have appeared on several shows to promote the film. Chris Hayes attended a screening over the weekend and described it afterward as an "absolutely urgent" film "that truly shook" him. And Rachel Maddow, the progressive channel's marquee star, also recently saw the film and was deeply moved by it, I’m told.

In fact, according to people familiar with the matter, Maddow was so impressed by the documentary that she offered to play a key role promoting it. Upon seeing the film, Maddow volunteered to do an entire special on Trump's child separation policy in the immediate hour preceding its network premiere, the people said. In effect, she would use her mega-platform to hype the documentary and juice its premiere ratings — an offer that still, to my understanding, stands.