Reuben Jones

Spectrum News Washington Correspondent covering NC and national politics + federal public health l Focused on Context l Story ideas: [email protected]

[Reuben Jones @ReubenJones1]

"Stupid on stilts."

Sen. Tillis rips into the new DOJ 'anti-weaponization' fund and calls it "tyranny."

Full Interview: https://t.co/DQo2kNNqjK #ncpol

[Reuben Jones @ReubenJones1]

New:

The House has Passed the Iran War Powers Resolution 215-208.

[Reuben Jones @ReubenJones1]

Here's the Politico article where the incident is referenced: https://t.co/4lSlTI6xkh

[Reuben Jones @ReubenJones1]

Tillis: "Did you actually tell Pulte you were going to punch him in the face?"

Bessent: "No sir. I actually said I was going to kick his ass."

Tillis: "Good. I share the emotion."

Sen. Tillis doesn't support Bill Pulte for National Intelligence Director if he's nominated.

[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

[Reuben Jones @ReubenJones1]

New:

The White House Correspondents Association Dinner has been postponed to Friday, July 24.

WHCA President @weijia has sent out an email saying it will be a more "intimate gathering."

[Reuben Jones @ReubenJones1]

"I wasn't pro-war but I was pro-troops."

Hundreds of "Donut Dollies" during the Vietnam War are now being recognized by Congress.

The women were sent to the war zone to boost the morale of troops but their work isn't well known.

Full Story: https://t.co/YZ5LijZTP9

WATCH:

[Reuben Jones @ReubenJones1]

Updated with statement from the White House:

"...The Trump administration’s historic $50 billion Rural Health Transformation was not meant to pay routine bills, but to push states to adopt meaningful healthcare reform that can actually make rural hospitals economically viable again.”

More: https://t.co/9xWYML2MFz

[Reuben Jones @ReubenJones1]

New:

Rep. Don Davis is calling for $25 million in federal funds to reopen the bankrupt Martin General Hospital in eastern NC.

Davis sent a letter to President Trump with the request.

First on Spectrum News👇
https://t.co/7pBNfmA1k9 #ncpol

[Reuben Jones @ReubenJones1]

The Donut Dollies were recognized in the Senate last month by @SenThomTillis and @SenGillibrand.

There's also a push to award them with a congressional gold medal.

[Reuben Jones @ReubenJones1]

"I wasn't pro-war but I was pro-troops."

Hundreds of "Donut Dollies" during the Vietnam War are now being recognized by Congress.

The women were sent to the war zone to boost the morale of troops but their work isn't well known.

Full Story: https://t.co/YZ5LijZTP9

WATCH:

[Cassie Semyon @casssemyon]

Secretary Scott Bessent says the Treasury is ready to create a new $250 bill with President Trump's image if Congress gives the go-ahead. The department's speed in developing the note stands in stark contrast with the years it has taken to create a new $20 bill bearing a portrait of abolitionist Harriet Tubman. https://t.co/hZvSXhTplG

[Reuben Jones @ReubenJones1]

New:

Rep. Don Davis is calling for $25 million in federal funds to reopen the bankrupt Martin General Hospital in eastern NC.

Davis sent a letter to President Trump with the request.

First on Spectrum News👇
https://t.co/7pBNfmA1k9 #ncpol

[Reuben Jones @ReubenJones1]

The Donut Dollies were recognized in the Senate last month by @SenThomTillis and @SenGillibrand.

There's also a push to award them with a congressional gold medal.

[Reuben Jones @ReubenJones1]

Have you heard of the Donut Dollies?

Hundreds of women during the Vietnam War went to the war zone to boost the morale of troops.

Now, they are being recognized by Congress.

I spoke with two of them:

https://t.co/1l3a5kbRFk

[Reuben Jones @ReubenJones1]

A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from paying any claims through the $1.8 billion settlement fund for people believe they were victims of a weaponized government.

https://t.co/CzqhHpt9JX

[Reuben Jones @ReubenJones1]

The Trump Admin. has paid nearly $2B to walk away from offshore wind projects.

A group of House Dems, including @RepDeborahRoss, have sent a letter to Trump with questions about the transactions, also calling it a "bribe."

My story from yesterday: https://t.co/Xt8u3JNWX9

[Reuben Jones @ReubenJones1]

DNC Chair Ken Martin is facing some calls to resign following the release of the controversial 2024 autopsy.

I asked NC Dem Chair Anderson Clayton whether Martin should resign.

[Michael M. Grynbaum @grynbaum]

Cecilia Vega, who was fired today by CBS, tells me: “I very much fear what comes next for and the future of” 60 Minutes.

Her full statement below:

[Michael M. Grynbaum @grynbaum]

CECILIA VEGA has been fired by "60 Minutes," per four sources.

[Ben Mullin @BenMullin]

Note from Tanya Simon, the outgoing EP of "60 Minutes":

"It has been an immense privilege to lead this broadcast, and I could not be prouder of what we have built."