Gingrich Returning to Revamped 'Crossfire' on CNN

Newt Gingrich will be back in the spotlight again when he appears as a host of CNN's revamped "Crossfire" political debate show on Sept. 16.

Speaking to The New York Times, Gingrich acknowledged jokingly that he is now a member of the so-called media elite that he bashed as a candidate. "Yes. And I hope to move it to the right," he said.

The other "Crossfire" hosts will include S.E. Cupp, a conservative columnist and commentator, as well as liberals Van Jones, a former adviser to President Barack Obama, and Stephanie Cutter, a deputy manager of Obama's 2012 re-election campaign.

Reviving the show with Gingrich as a host was reportedly one of the first ideas that CNN Worldwide president Jeff Zucker put forward when he took over in January.

During an onstage interview at the Brainstorm TECH conference in July, Zucker said, "Newt is an incredibly smart, intellectual thinker. I think, frankly, one of the criticisms of CNN that it didn't have enough conservative points of view on the air was probably a valid criticism."

In the 1980s and 1990s, Gingrich was one of the most frequent guests on "Crossfire."

"Why did he get asked back over and over? Because he was very good at it," CNN Washington bureau chief Sam Feist told the Times.

Asked whether he would use the CNN role to launch another presidential campaign, Gingrich answered, "In a planet where things happen the way they do nowadays, who knows? If you'd have said three years ago, CNN is going to relaunch 'Crossfire' and get Gingrich to co-host, who'd have guessed?

"Things evolve."