The journalist and now ex-NYU fellow who belittled the "brutal and sustained sexual assault" on CBS correspondent Lara Logan last week in Cairo, Egypt is now on an apology tour. Well, sort of: Nir Rosen, who resigned his position at NYU's Center on Law and Security yesterday after the uproar his Tweets ("Jesus Christ, at a moment when she is going to become a martyr and glorified we should at least remember her role as a major war monger") caused, told CNN's Anderson Cooper he had no excuse, he "was a jerk," but then blamed his actions on the late hour, "It was 2 AM and I was just being thoughtless," and not really knowing what happened to Logan. But Cooper called him out on that.

Cooper was actually mentioned in Rosen's initial Tweet, "Lara Logan had to outdo Anderson. Where was her buddy McCrystal," referring to how Cooper was punched while covering the protests in Egypt.

COOPER: In your defense subsequent to this, you have said in a couple articles, in the one I read, I quote, you said: "I heard that Ms. Logan was roughed up like many other journalists. I had not realized it was something more serious."

That's hard to believe, though, reading your first two tweets. You clearly knew, it seems, what happened to her was sexual, because you said that she was trying to -- she had to outdo me, so clearly you knew I had just been punched a couple of times or roughed up a little bit. So you knew the attack on her was worse than that.

And in the second one, you said it would be funny if it happened to Anderson, meaning -- I can only assume you meant a sexual assault, because I had already been roughed up. So, didn't you -- you did know that there was a sexual assault involved?

ROSEN: At the time, I didn't know that. I have been in the Middle East and not really with much access to information.

And I just assumed that you were roughed up, and she was roughed up a bit more -- not that it's justifiable. No matter what, whether it's just roughed up, obviously, it's wrong. But had I known that it was a sexual assault then it is no laughing matter, especially for a man. And -- and there's no excuse for it. There's no defense. No matter I say or try to explain, I look like a jerk.

COOPER: But, again, it is hard to believe you didn't know it was a sexual assault. Not only did you say that she was trying to outdo me or -- and that it would be funny if it happened to me -- ... but you -- but you also -- you also linked to the CBS News statement which clearly says it was a sexual assault.

ROSEN: Yes, I should have read it. I just heard the word assault, not that that's just -- no matter what I say, it doesn't sound good. An assault isn't justifiable either; an assault terrible. I just assumed you were roughed up, and she was roughed up a bit more, and now the mainstream media is going to make a big deal out of this, instead of focusing on other events.

COOPER: But -- but you honestly want people to believe that you were linking to a CBS News statement that you yourself had not read?

ROSEN: I just -- I -- I was sort of re-tweeting. I heard the word assault. I figured, ok, many journalists are being pushed around and roughed up. Here's one more.

COOPER: But did you read the CBS statement that you linked to?

ROSEN: Not at the time. I -- afterwards, I did, and I realized that I was going to be in a lot of trouble.

Good job with that retweeting and commenting on stuff you don't know about! Cooper said, "You kind of sound like a bitter, jealous reporter who is angry at another reporter who is more well-known."

Rosen told NYU Local, "Had Logan been a non-white journalist this story would have never made it to the news. Ahmed Mahmoud, an Egyptian journalist, was killed in cold blood and nobody ever heard of him. Dozens of other women were harassed and nobody will ever hear about them." Well, the unfortunate truth is the American public is probably more interested when the chief foreign affairs correspondent for a major news network is attacked while trying to cover a story.

Rosen also said to NYU Local:

I think certainly my tweets have been unfairly attacked and blown out of proportion. That does not excuse my lapse of judgment for making them in the first place. I stupidly didn’t think that some crude banter would become fodder for thousands and I was not aware of the right wing attack machine waiting to take me down, nor did I realize, even though I was criticizing the celebrity culture in the media, what happens if you mock one of those celebrities, especially if you do it in such an offensive way as I did.

That said, I find the reactions sanctimonious and silly. A few crude jokes on twitter do not make a philosophy, they just make you a momentary jerk. I didn’t mean it and I have a record of eight years of risking my life for justice to prove my values. Had I been a right-wing writer I doubt this would have happened to me. That said, twitter is not a place for nuance and I should stick to long form journalism.

Rosen should be assured that a right wing pundit, Debbie Schussel, is being blasted for saying, "How fitting that Lara Logan was “liberated” by Muslims in Liberation Square while she was gushing over the other part of the “liberation.” Hope you’re enjoying the revolution, Lara! Alhamdilllullah [praise allah]."

Logan, who was recuperating at a hospital back in the U.S. before returning home, reportedly told friends that she plans on returning to work. The State Department says an investigation will be conducted to bring Logan's attackers to justice, a spokesperson for the Egyptian mission to the U.N. also said all instances of violence against reporters would be investigated.