CBS mornings co-host Tony Dokoupil admits 'regret' to teary staff at crisis meeting after bosses condemned him for controversial interview on Israel

CBS host Tony Dokoupil told his assembled colleagues he was sorry about the row over his fiery interview with a pro-Palestinian writer, and claimed it may have left some of them in danger.

Bosses at the network slammed the CBS Mornings presenter for bringing his 'bias' to the screen after he told best-selling author Ta-Nehsi Coates his essays about Palestinians 'would not be out of place in the backpack of an extremist'.

Chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford was among stars who defended Dokoupil on Monday, insisting reporters were 'obligated to challenge' contentious opinions.

But sources admitted the network remained deeply divided over the issue after another 'teary' staff meeting on Tuesday where Dokoupil addressed his colleagues for the first time.

'Tony said he regretted putting his colleagues in that position especially the ones overseas and in danger,' one told the NY Post.

Coates was invited onto the program to talk about his new book 'The Message' - a collection of essays based on his conversations with Palestinians living in Israel and the West Bank.

Dokoupil, whose ex-wife and children live in Israel, accused him of undermining the country's right to exist and demanded to know why no pro-Israel voices were included.

'The content of that section would not be out of place in the backpack of an extremist,' he told his guest.

'Why leave out that Israel is surrounded by countries that want to eliminate it? Why leave out that Israel deals with terror groups that want to eliminate it?'

Coates insisted that there was no shortage of pro-Israel voices in the US media, and that he was trying to tell 'those stories that I have not heard'.

Dokoupil doubled down, claiming that people who read 'The Message' will finish it believing Israel is a horrible place that should not exist.

'What I struggled with throughout this book, what is it that so particularly offends you about the existence of a Jewish state that is a Jewish safe place, and not any of the other states out there,' he asked.

'If Israel has a right to exist, and if your answer is no, then I guess the question becomes why do the Palestinians have a right to exist?

'Why do 20 different Muslim countries have a right to exist?'

Coates fired back: 'There's nothing that offends me about a Jewish state. I am offended by the idea of states built on ethnocracy, no matter where they are.

'I would not want a state where any group of people lay down their citizenship rights based on ethnicity. Either apartheid is right or it's wrong. It's really, really simple.

'I am against a state that discriminates against people on the base of ethnicity.'

Co-hosts Gayle King and Nate Burleson sat in shocked silence through the six-minute exchange, and some staffers voiced anger at Tuesday's meeting that they have continued to remain tight-lipped about the matter.

Dokoupil had a private meeting with the pair on Monday before CBS News boss Wendy McMahon and president of content development, Adrienne Roark gathered staff together to haul him over the coals.

'We will still hold people accountable,' Roark said. 'But we will do so objectively, which means checking our biases and opinions at the door.'

She said the interview did not 'meet our editorial standards', adding 'it has been addressed, and it will continue to be in the future'.

But some staff were furious at the Jewish reporter being carpeted for doing his job.

'It sounds like we are calling out one of our anchors in a somewhat public setting on this call for failing to meet editorial standards for, I'm not even sure what,' Crawford told the meeting.

'I thought our commitment was to truth. 

'And when someone comes on our air with a one-sided account of a very complex situation, as Coates himself acknowledges that he has, it's my understanding that as journalists we are obligated to challenge that worldview so that our viewers can have that access to the truth or a fuller account, a more balanced account.

'And, to me, that is what Tony did.'

But one CBS staffer told the Post that the acclaimed author should not have been allowed on the network to air pro-Palestinian opinions.

'This is more a failure of CBS News not reading books and evaluating if they should be promoting them,' he added.

'I think Tony did what every good journalist is supposed to do — make sure that both sides are represented in a discussion.'

And Coates himself came to the defense of Dokoupil on Tuesday, insisting 'I don't really have a problem with a tough interview'.

'I knew when I wrote it I would be confronted,' he told Democracy Now.

'Was he rude? Was he aggressive? I can't really get into that, it's not really something I think too much about,' he added.

'The question I would ask though is how often, on any major news organization, do you see someone who is a defender of the Israeli state project get confronted in that kind of way?'