Battle of the network stars: Anderson Cooper and Martha Raddatz feuding as the rival anchors prepare to co-host upcoming presidential debate

  • Anderson Cooper and Martha Raddatz are reportedly butting heads over their roles in Sunday night's presidential debates 
  • The two are said to be arguing over who gets to ask what questions
  • Both networks are airing debate ads that only mention their anchor
  • A network source laughed off these claims however, telling DailyMail.com: 'Nonsense, the teams are getting along just fine' 

Things are reportedly getting heated between the two big names scheduled to appear at Sunday night's presidential debate

Co-hosts Martha Raddatz of ABC and Anderson Cooper of CNN are butting heads over what topics they will be quizzing candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton on at the debate, according to Page Six.

'Both Anderson and Martha want to shine, to be tough on the candidates, and not to be accused of bias,' a TV insider claimed.

'There’s a lot at stake. So there’s a lot of turf-grabbing going on - attempts to box each other out to get the territory they are most well-suited for.'

A network source laughed off these claims however, telling DailyMail.com: 'Nonsense, the teams are getting along just fine.'  

Anderson Cooper
Martha Raddatz

Feuding: Anderson Cooper (left) and Martha Raddatz (right) are reportedly butting heads over their roles in Sunday night's presidential debates

Both ABC and CNN have been heavily promoting Sunday night's debate, with CNN making absolutely no mention of Raddatz in their commercials.

ABC also makes no mention of Cooper in their ads, but do point out that Raddatz is the co-host of the night. 

The debate will take place at Washington University in St. Louis and take the form of a town meeting, meaning that the audience will actually b responsible for asking half of the questions for the evening.

Sunday will mark the first time that Cooper has ever hosted a presidential debate in his illustrious career.

It caps off a big year for the anchor, who in addition to hosting his CNN show also appears on CBS' 60 Minutes and has been a frequent guest host on Live With Kelly after Michael Strahan left the show.

There had been rumblings he might even become the permanent co-host of the show alongside his good friend Kelly Ripa, but that possibility was shot down when he recently signed his new contract with CNN.

Solo show: The networks are also both airing ads promoting the debate that only mention their anchor (CNN ad above)

Solo show: The networks are also both airing ads promoting the debate that only mention their anchor (CNN ad above)

As for what to expect from Cooper at the debate, it seems that the CNN anchor will be more about letting the candidates speak and less about fact checking based on comments he made about Lester Holt's performance as moderator of the first debate last Tuesday.

'Lester Holt has been, some have criticized him for not being enough of a traffic cop, for not stopping Donald Trump from interrupting,' said Cooper while interviewing Phil Donahue. 

'I think there is a value in stepping back. You don't want it to be about you. You want it to be a discussion about the two, and if one is interrupting the other, that tells the audience something, and people can make up their own minds about what exactly that means. 

'I'm not sure it's always good for the moderator to be stepping in and trying to direct and keep everything to time.'

Raddatz meanwhile moderated the 2012 vice presidential debate between Joe Biden and Paul Ryan.

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