Nick Barnets

MA Political Science-International Relations, Syracuse University. Foreign Policy Analysis, EU affairs. Greek-American

[Jon Favreau @jonfavs]

Elon Musk held up a chainsaw, fed USAID into the wood chipper, and at least 600,00 people have already died as a result - two-thirds of them children.

History's first trillionaire.

[Nick Barnets @NickBarnets]

It's because she's there to tame them and bring them to heel for the Trump establishment, not to make them "more successful" or "bring them into the 21st century" or whatever other spin they'll try to dress this with to justify her.

[Lauren @cabsav456]

This is unreal. Bari Weiss is already Editor-in-Chief at CBS News, and has made more than a few controversial decisions. Now, if the Paramount/Skydance merger with Warner Bros Discovery goes through, she will apparently oversee editorial direction for both CBS and CNN under a single corporate umbrella.

How is one person supposed to effectively lead two newsrooms of that scale? Especially someone with such limited broadcast experience? Her background is in print OPINION writing, not hard news reporting, yet she may be handed the keys to two of the largest broadcast journalism operations in the world.

This is exactly why massive media consolidation feels so corrosive. It concentrates enormous editorial power in the hands of a single corporate-approved favorite & risks diluting journalistic standards across multiple platforms.

State antitrust regulators are already moving to block the deal because of how unprecedented this level of consolidation is. But the fact that an executive could even attempt to give one person influence over both networks is, frankly, absurd.

[Yaroslav Trofimov @yarotrof]

Unofficial Russian media reports that the general assassinated in Moscow today is Lt. Gen. Alexander Maksimtsev, chief of general staff and first deputy commander of Russia’s Aerospace Forces. *No confirmation yet* In 2015, he was the commander of the Russian air component in Syria, and in his roles was responsible for many Ukrainian — and Syrian — civilian deaths. He was under European and other sanctions. Source: https://t.co/H75OWZjhZS

[Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1]

NYT: [Trump] said you were part of this gang of 'stupid, crooked people that don’t care about your country.'

SCOTT PELLEY: "Stupid? I can take that. Stiff? Yeah, probably. Don't care about the country? I've never worn the uniform. But I've been in combat for this country, in Afghanistan and Iraq, Kuwait. I've been shot at, spent nights in foxholes filling up with water in the desert. I'm not aware that the president of the United States has ever done any of those things for his country. Please correct me if I'm wrong. You become a journalist because you love the First Amendment. You become a journalist because you love the country. And while all the other descriptions that the president used about me might be applicable, not that one. [Tears up] There is no democracy without journalism. It can't be done. That is why I am a journalist."

[Marco Foster @MarcoFoster_]

Scott Pelley responds to Trump saying he doesn’t care about the country: “I’ve never worn the uniform, but I’ve been in combat for this country. In Afghanistan, and Iraq, Kuwait. Been shot at. Spent nights in foxholes filling up with water in the desert. I’m not aware that the president has ever done any of those things for his country. You become a journalist because you love the First Amendment, you love the country. While all the other descriptions the president used about me might be applicable, not that one”

[Lulu NYT @LuluGNavarro]

The full interview with @ScottPelley . https://t.co/69OMAPlcrn

[Edmund Lee 🐿️ 🗞️ @edmundlee]

First reported example of Bari Weiss meddling in 60 Minutes, finally someone asked the follow up up question, nicely done @LuluGNavarro

[Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 @IAPonomarenko]

No, you’re not sending “more money to Ukraine,” and you never have.

You used to send American money to American arms manufacturers so that American workers and engineers could have more contracts, jobs, salaries, and tax revenue while producing American weapons in America for Ukraine or replacing old equipment from U.S. stockpiles.

That allowed the Ukrainian military to keep saving their country, while your top-tier geopolitical enemy, a KGB dictatorship obsessed with hatred toward you, could be defeated in its war of aggression in Europe and critically weakened for decades to come -- without a single American soldier firing a single shot.

But then you decided to start pretending that night is day.

[AFP News Agency @AFP]

Thousands protest in Albania against Kushner real estate project.

The demonstrators argue that the estimated $1.2 billion project, led by Kushner and his wife Ivanka, will harm the environment, with plans for luxury hotels in the protected area of Vjosa-Narta on the southern coast
https://t.co/u7oTOLtMUi

[Anders Åslund @anders_aslund]

It is Albanians, not Americans, who are protesting against American corruption.
The US appears to have accepted the corruption of the Trump family, so we Americans have to rely upon the sound anti-corruption sentiments of others.
Truly embarrassing, but thank you, Albania!

[John Jackson @hissgoescobra]

Let’s be totally clear: @ScottPelley said what he did because he was ethically obligated to. He had no choice. Further, there’s not a single factual statement he’s made that’s in question. It’s Bari Weiss that can’t defend her actions. Period. We all see it. Plain as day.

[Nick Barnets @NickBarnets]

I'm so glad Scott Pelley is not letting these dirty people who've taken over CBS have the last word.

[Ben Mullin @BenMullin]

Scott Pelley just issued a statement on Bari's remarks this morning:

[Nick Barnets @NickBarnets]

Good-

[Reuters @Reuters]

Thousands of Albanians took to the streets of Tirana protesting ‌a development planned by a company linked with Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner on an environmentally sensitive part of the Adriatic coast https://t.co/U0oPD226aW

[Nick Barnets @NickBarnets]

A key goal of Russian disinfo warfare is to get westerners on western platforms to repeat rhetoric suggesting Ukraine started the war or that Ukraine is bad for bombing Russia & ignoring the fact that Russia invaded Ukraine & has bombed its civilians daily for many years now.

[Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 @IAPonomarenko]

And now the Kremlin says it is waging war against Ukraine to stop Ukrainian strikes on Moscow and St. Petersburg — strikes that simply did not exist until Russia invaded Ukraine.

The dumbest war in the dumbest timeline in human history.

[Nick Barnets @NickBarnets]

Pelley knew they'd get rid of him anyway, so he decided to go down guns blazing & call the new leadership that's been imposed onto CBS News to tame it & transform it into FOX News out for what they're doing, and I commend him for it. I hope he keeps speaking out.

[The Associated Press @AP]

CBS News fires longtime “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley a day after he allegedly said Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss was “murdering the show.” https://t.co/lmL0oeDi5j

[Brian Stelter @brianstelter]

Scott Pelley tells the NYT: "The collapse of values at the top has become untenable. The leadership of ‘60 Minutes’ is no longer recognizable. The principles I hold dear are gone." https://t.co/GOB29Bv0Qb

[Marc Polymeropoulos @Mpolymer]

Very sad to hear this news. And it’s personal. Scott Pelley was the consummate professional in the 60 Minutes extraordinary years long coverage of Havana Syndrome (multiple episodes, relentless and indefatigable reporting, where they deservedly won an Emmy). He and the producers righteously drove the narrative of an awful govt coverup and need for accountability. The truth is what he and the team was after, and they slowly and painstakingly uncovered the govt malfeasance and betrayal. Because he cared for the CIA officers and others from the USG who were critically injured in the line of duty. His patience, care and compassion for the victims was deeply deeply appreciated. I spent many hours over two separate interview sessions with Scott and the team. It was emotional and grueling and took me a long time to recover. But it was worth it, given the importance of the subject. Scott is a true legend in journalism and we won’t ever forget his dedication to supporting those in need.

[Caolan @CaolanReports]

St. Petersburg forum just opened. Russias flagship global showcase. Thick smoke fills the sky, the airport shut down.

Putin’s massive strikes on Kyiv after Victory Day have consequences. Russia won’t be hosting their events in “peace” ever again.

[Ben Rhodes @brhodes]

Some guy named Nick Bilton serving an audience of 1 (Bari) service an audience of 1 (Ellison) serving an audience of 1 (Trump). This is how oligarch-authoritarian takeover of media happens

[Dylan Byers @DylanByers]

New statement from Scott Pelley:

There has never been anything in America like 60 Minutes.

The Sunday tradition is the most successful program of any kind in history. For more than a decade, its innovative growth on every major online platform has extended its reach to countless millions around the world. This spring, at the end of our 58thseason, 60 Minutes grew rapidly with an unheard-of 9% jump in viewers on CBS.

“60” has been the number-one program in America for decades because our beloved audience finds integrity, quality, and humanity in our stories. When stewardship of the program passed to my colleagues and me, our responsibility was to expand energetically into a new age of media technology while preserving the values our audience expects. Now, the new owner of our network is casting this legend aside, apparently to curry a moment of favor with the Trump administration.

The waste is heartbreaking.

Last month, 60 Minutes lost its DNA when our entire senior leadership and two of our best on-air correspondents were cruelly fired without cause. Good people were silenced because they stood up for our audience. They stood for fairness against the forces of political bias; they stood for professionalism against chaos.

For my part, new management has instructed me to inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story. I’ve been told to include assertions that are unverified. To date, in every case, I have managed to ignore these instructions or refuse them. Recently, politicians have been invited to choose correspondents for interviews on the broadcast. Giving politicians control over 60 Minutes interviews is not how this is done. Finally, incompetence and unprofessionalism in the new management have wreaked havoc. In a case involving one of my stories, the entire program came within 19 minutes of not getting on the air at all.

At 60 Minutes, we have fought harder than anyone knows to save the program that became an American icon. We owed that to our millions of viewers. I am deeply moved by the thousands of wishes we have received to “keep up the good fight.” Most of the men and women of CBS News are still in that fight. But now the collapse of values at the top has become untenable. The leadership of 60 Minutes is no longer recognizable. The principles I hold dear are gone, and so I must leave as well.

I depart after 37 years at CBS with one emotion—a heart brimming with gratitude for the men and women of CBS News who encouraged and enriched my work, very often at the risk of their own lives. I pray for a day when those people and their ideals are honored again—a day when sanity, competence, and courage return.

Scott Pelley