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Walters Regrets Syrian Blunder

Counseled Assad ambassador’s daughter.

One of TV’s most respected news anchors and interviewers is now in the hot seat. In a statement Tuesday, Barbara Walters said she regrets trying to help the daughter of a former Bashar al-Assad ambassador land an internship and get into college in the U.S. Shererzad Jaafari, 21, had previously helped arrange an exclusive interview between Walters and Syria’s president last December. London’s Telegraph obtained emails exchanged between Jaafari and Walters in the aftermath of the interview, along with an email from Walters to a professor at the Columbia School of Journalism asking that he consider Jafarri as a master’s student. In the email, Walters added that she had already recommended Jaafari for an internship with CNN’s Piers Morgan. Nothing came from either opportunity.