On the August 29 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, during a segment on media coverage of Sen. Larry Craig's (R-ID) August 8 guilty plea following his arrest during an investigation of “lewd conduct” in a Minneapolis airport restroom, CNN national news correspondent Jeanne Moos said of the story: “It's causing commentators to tell personal stories you'd never expect. MSNBC's Tucker Carlson described how he was once bothered in a men's room.” Moos, the only CNN reporter to cover Carlson's comments, then aired a brief clip from the August 28 edition of MSNBC Live with Dan Abrams, during which, as Media Matters for America noted, Carlson was asked how he responded to being “bothered” and replied: “I went back with someone I knew and grabbed the guy by the -- you know, and grabbed him, and ... [h]it him against the stall with his head, actually!”

Moos noted that “Carlson later said the man physically grabbed him first,” apparently referring to an August 29 response Media Matters received from Carlson through an MSNBC spokeswoman:

Let me be clear about an incident I referred to on MSNBC last night: In the mid-1980s, while I was a high school student, a man physically grabbed me in a men's room in Washington, DC. I yelled, pulled away from him and ran out of the room. Twenty-five minutes later, a friend of mine and I returned to the men's room. The man was still there, presumably waiting to do to someone else what he had done to me. My friend and I seized the man and held him until a security guard arrived.

Several bloggers have characterized this is a sort of gay bashing. That's absurd, and an insult to anybody who has fought back against an unsolicited sexual attack. I wasn't angry with the man because he was gay. I was angry because he assaulted me.

Beyond Moos' reporting, CNN has not covered Carlson's comments. Blitzer introduced the segment by saying the Craig arrest “is giving new meaning to the concept of bathroom humor. Our Jeanne Moos says the political spectacle is truly most unusual.” Elsewhere in the segment, Moos aired clips of late-night comedians and other satire of the Craig story.

According to her CNN bio, Moos “carved out a niche in broadcast journalism with her off-beat, thoughtful reporting on the quirkier aspects of life in the 1990s [on] subjects ranging from the uncanny characteristics of automobile air fresheners to the pains of pantyhose runs.”

From the 7 p.m. ET hour of the August 29 edition of CNN's The Situation Room:

BLITZER: Sex scandals are certainly nothing new here in Washington, but Senator Larry Craig's arrest in a men's restroom is giving new meaning to the concept of bathroom humor.

Our Jeanne Moos says the political spectacle is truly most unusual.

[begin video clip]

MOOS: It's hard to hear this.

CRAIG: I am not gay. I never have been gay.

MOOS: Without being reminded of this.

[Former Gov.] JAMES McGREEVEY [D-NJ]: I am a gay American.

MOOS: The Craig affair has sure led to a lot of late-night gaiety, like [ABC late-night host] Jimmy Kimmel's “Unintentional Joke of the Day.”

CRAIG: Thank you all very much for coming out today.

JAY LENO (host of NBC's The Tonight Show): We have a clip of the press conference. Show the press conference today.

CRAIG: Thank you all very much for coming out today.

MOOS: Never have the nation's newscasts spent more time, literally, in the toilet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And what's with the hand signals?

MOOS: But there's something about the toe-tapping part of all this that media folks can't resist tapping into.

You expect it on YouTube.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: At 12:16 hours he started with the foot tap.

MOOS: But a TV station in Sacramento did its own re-creation of the Craig men's room incident. A colleague even provided --

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Here you go.

MOOS: -- a homemade stall divider.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: The senator allegedly started tapping his foot like this. Apparently that's a sign they're interested in having some relations.

MOOS: But if it's high-quality production you're after, check out the re-creation at the website Slate.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: I was able to see Craig's blue eyes as he looked into my stall.

MOOS: Slate used verbatim quotes from the arresting officer's report.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Craig moved his right foot so that it touched the side of my left foot, which was within my stall area. At 12:17 hours, I saw Craig swipe his hand under the stall divider for a few seconds.

MOOS: And a YouTuber posted this guide to men's room signals.

[video of foot tapping followed by text reading " 'Come to this airport often?' "]

Senator Craig denies anything lewd took place, allegedly telling police his “wide stance” explains his foot placement. The scandal is generating plays on words and puns. It's causing commentators to tell personal stories you'd never expect.

MSNBC's Tucker Carlson described how he was once bothered in a men's room.

CARLSON: I went back with someone I knew and grabbed the guy by the -- you know, and grabbed him.

DAN ABRAMS [host of MSNBC Live with Dan Abrams]: And did what?

CARLSON: Hit him against the stall with his head, actually.

MOOS: Carlson later said the man physically grabbed him first.

It's almost too hot a story for reporters to handle.

Red State Update comedians to the rescue.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tappy, tappy on the tootsie. A little peek a boo through the crack in the door. Hell, I can't keep up with all them signals. When I want to get some, I just go down to the bar and wait for the first woman to fall off the stool and tell her hair looks nice.

MOOS: At least that won't get a senator arrested.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

[end video clip]

BLITZER: Can't top Jeanne Moos with that. Thank you, Jeanne.