CNN President Jeff Zucker said Thursday he's "very open to talking" to Shepard Smith during the network's Citizen conference, calling the former Fox News anchor "an immense talent."



Smith, 55, parted ways with Fox News on Oct. 11 and won't immediately be able to take a new job reportedly due to the parameters of his contract.



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"There is no difference. I don't see it that way. I think you're wrong," Zucker said before adding, "It's completely erroneous." CNN’s Jeff Zucker tells @brianstelter: “We don’t set out to be anti-Trump,” we’re just “pro-Truth” #CITIZENCNN pic.twitter.com/HOncsgq6i7 — Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) October 24, 2019 The former NBCUniversal president also argued that CNN does not seek to be an anti-Trump network.

The president hasn't appeared on the network for any interviews since he was a candidate dating back to August 2016.

"I think Shep's a great journalist," Zucker told CNN "Reliable Sources" host Brian Stelter at the network's Citizen conference in New York on Thursday afternoon. "When he's available, he is somebody who is very talented and I would be very open to talking to him."Zucker said despite Smith's credentials as a journalist that there is "no difference" between Fox News's news side and opinion side when asked about the two sides by Stelter.