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The turmoil at 60 Minutes is continuing to spill amid the 2026 TV schedule and into public view, with former CBS News staffers and executives raising new concerns about the direction of the long-running newsmagazine under CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss. New comments regarding morning meetings have now surfaced, and they come after weeks of departures, firings and public statements about the program's future.
Several 60 Minutes and CBS News alums have expressed frustration about recent changes at the news program, including the exits of correspondents Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi and executive editor Draggan Mihailovich as well as the replacement of executive producer Tanya Simon with Nick Bilton. Adding to that is Scott Pelley’s firing after a clash with Bilton. Former CBS News Senior Vice President Betsy West was cited by Variety, and she repeated claims she said staffers had made about the tone of morning meetings under Weiss. While speaking, West said:
News staff members at morning meetings that are supposed to be a rundown of the news say they often devolve into grievance sessions about Mideast politics or candidates [Weiss] opposes. It feels like she and the people she reports to are trying to check the independence of 60 Minutes and ultimately undermine the free press that undergirds our democracy.
West also claimed that three respected 60 Minutes journalists had said Weiss or her lieutenants tried to insert misstatements into their stories. She referenced a story about prison conditions in El Salvador that had been pulled, saying the piece had been factual and legally vetted before it was pulled because the administration did not provide a comment.
Former 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft, who worked on the program from 1989 until retiring in 2019, also spoke critically about Weiss’ future at CBS News. In comments cited by the outlet, Kroft said:
I think once the deal gets done with Warner Bros., people will demand that she be let go or move into another position. Everything she's touched has turned to shit... Everything she's touched has gone colossally wrong. And I don't think she's showed any talent for this position. She's only fulfilling other people's agendas.
Kroft previously criticized the recent 60 Minutes firings, calling them damaging to the program. In earlier comments, he argued that the changes did not make business sense, even though the show has remained one of television’s highest-rated news programs.
The latest comments follow Scott Pelley’s firing, which came after he reportedly accused Weiss of “murdering” 60 Minutes during a staff meeting. Bilton later accused Pelley of an “ambush” and “misconduct,” while Pelley alleged that new management had instructed him to inject “falsehoods and bias” into a politically sensitive story.
60 Minutes' future has also reportedly been complicated by the decision from Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim to remain at the show In a memo to colleagues, the three correspondents said they had difficulty deciding whether to stay and feared that their return might be interpreted as support for the current power structure. They said that was not the case.
Their stated reason for staying was to help preserve the program. Stahl later called the latest changes one of the hardest chapters of her career and said staffers had been waiting for the remaining correspondents to decide what they would do.
The CBS drama has also reached late-night commentary. As we previously covered in Bill Maher comparing the 60 Minutes firings to SNL cast changes, the Real Time host pushed back on the idea that leadership turnover at CBS automatically proved a political motive. Maher argued that companies change ownership and new bosses often bring in new people.
Still, critics of the changes have pointed to the specific nature of the departures and editorial disputes. One example repeatedly cited is the aforementioned 60 Minutes story about the Trump administration’s alleged handling of migrants sent to an El Salvador prison. The story was reportedly pulled at the last minute, fueling concerns that political considerations were affecting editorial decisions.
For now, the competing narratives remain unresolved. Supporters of the changes have framed them as part of a broader attempt to modernize CBS News. Critics, including several former CBS News figures, say the recent shakeups risk damaging the independence and identity of 60 Minutes.
