NEWS: In joint memo, Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker and Jon Wertheim say they will stay on at 60 Minutes.
While they say they are heartbroken over fired colleagues, they cite one reason for staying:
"We don't want to see 60 Minutes die"
Full memo in next tweet:
@NPRinskeep This was a stunning interview. The back and forth between De Shields and Inskeep sounded like old friends catching up, and De Shields drops some deeply philosophical knowledge. Superb! Thanks @nprnews, and @NPRinskeep, for bringing @Andre_DeShields into my life... This is @NPR!
My interview with @NPRinskeep on the morning edition @NPR regarding the relationship between President trump and prime minister Netanyahu, against the backdrop of the Trump administration's efforts to reach an agreement with Iran while Israel continues its military operations in Lebanon.
https://t.co/Io5Z8YuZEc
Still thinking about this wonderful interview with André De Shields, @NPRinskeep. Good for the soul.
Question: Do you have days when you wake up and say, I don't know if I can do it today?
Answer: OK. I'm going to answer that very specifically.
No.
https://t.co/HiSsQM6odL
NEWS: Just fired veteran correspondent Scott Pelley says 60 Minutes has lost its DNA
He alleges new CBS News management "instructed me to inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story" this season. (He says he ignored or refused.)
FULL STATEMENT
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
“Checks and balances” are plural for a reason.
It’s not unusual that a judge blocked the creation of President Trump’s “settlement” with himself, creating a $1.776 billion fund to reward people Trump seems to have been targeted by the government.
What’s unusual is that the administration calmly said it would comply.
The $1.776 billion fund itself began with an end run around the court overseeing Trump’s lawsuit against himself. Trump dropped his suit and made his settlement without consulting the judge, who is now investigating the case.
Now, suddenly, the administration says it will comply. What changed?
It has to do with Congress.
https://t.co/AIbATHDSK9
"Slowly is the fastest way to get where you want to be."
Broadway star Andre De Shields famously said this when winning a Tony award at 73, but says people misunderstand his meaning:
https://t.co/KOlkrnHOpI
“Slowly is the fastest way to get where you want to be” - @Andre_DeShields, Broadway actor whose interview w/ @NPRinskeep I was lucky enough to hear this morning.
At 7:20 ET, Broadway actor Andre De Shields walks into the NPR studios in a zebra-striped jacket. talks about winning his first Tony award at 73, and contemplates his nomination for another now that he is 80.
Is the U.S. willing to release frozen Iranian assets - essentially paying Iran - for a peace deal? State Dept spox Tommy Piggott tells NPR there will be no “short term” payment but the longer term depends on Iran’s behavior.
https://t.co/TOi1wYGmSb
This NYT story is another sign of an uncomfortable truth about Trump’s immigration policy.
Some who support Trump clearly don’t like to be informed of this:
https://t.co/VwCFVxsTcg
If you have your doubts about the plan for UFC fights on the White House lawn, so does the UFC’s Dana White.
He talked about it in an NPR interview that also touched on the immigrants and refugees who are among UFC fighters; the risks they take; and how UFC fans vote. 1/2