Ted Nesi

NEE-see. Politics editor + investigative reporter @wpri12 (CBS) in RI/MA. Adjunct @Wheaton. #GirlDad. Lucky husband of @KimKalunian

[WPRI 12 @wpri12]

Rhode Island taxpayers’ tab for the Washington Bridge crisis has crossed $200 million, with more than two years to go before a new bridge is scheduled to open. https://t.co/GxaYJBVs20

[WPRI 12 @wpri12]

The R.I. Senate unanimously passed amended legislation on Wednesday designed to deliver accountability for victims of childhood sexual abuse. The proposal will now return to the House before heading to Gov. Dan McKee’s desk for his signature: https://t.co/VDTPdAHeyx

[Alexandra Leslie @AlexandraLeslie]

Incumbent Mayor Brett Smiley and state Rep. David Morales faced off in their first debate this week moderated by @Globe_RI reporter, @StephMachado.

I recapped some of the notable moments on @wpri12 at 5.
https://t.co/HDs57z7Dni

[Ted Nesi @TedNesi]

NEW: A Washington Bridge milestone - RI has now spent $200M addressing the bridge failure (and counting)

RIDOT chief says work on new bridge is "going great" - still slated to open late 2028

Lawmakers are moving to audit RIDOT over next 6 months https://t.co/7gtVEuVR61

[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

[Ted Nesi @TedNesi]

"Morales reversed course on two previous positions: He [...] also will not attempt to renegotiate benefits for existing retirees as a way to address the city’s pension crisis. He made the remarks about retirees’ pensions on WPRI’s Newsmakers in September, shortly after declaring"

[Steph Machado @StephMachado]

NEW: Incumbent Mayor Brett Smiley and challenger Rep. David Morales faced off in our studio for their first debate in the Democratic primary. They faced Qs on housing, immigration, snow, pensions and more, and sparred on their records. Listen now 🎧

https://t.co/k9EfIQBBxl

[Ted Nesi @TedNesi]

RT @Variety: CBS News has terminated “60 Minutes” veteran Scott Pelley after the journalist and executives felt they could not find a way t…

[Ted Nesi @TedNesi]

McKee is shrugging off his campaign's "sex yes" ad snafu, telling me today, "I don't think it's a big deal ... I'm glad we're still talking about the ad"

Foulkes senior adviser slams McKee team, saying mistake "shows what a clown show his campaign is" https://t.co/sBmiHEjyYc

[Steph Machado @StephMachado]

Get the🍿 ready

We taped the first head-to-head Democratic primary debate between @PVDMayor and @DavidMoralesPVD in our studio and you can hear it tomorrow morning on the Rhode Island Report podcast

Subscribe now (it's free!): https://t.co/wkSJqq059f…

📸Photos by Finn Gomez

[Alexandra Leslie @AlexandraLeslie]

Shekarchi: “I have no comment until the Ethics Commission completes its due diligence."

@wpri12

[Ted Nesi @TedNesi]

NEW: An unexpected theme of the first @DanMcKeeRI reelection TV ad? Sex positivity

Campaign just resent the spot to fix jokes on a gfx and bought another week of TV time - but stands by attacks

Foulkes spox calls McKee campaign "not ready for prime time" https://t.co/sBmiHEjyYc

[Alexandra Leslie @AlexandraLeslie]

NEW: The R.I. Ethics Commission voted to conduct a formal ethics investigation into former House Speaker Joseph Shekarchi on Tuesday.

Developing details here:

https://t.co/d5wgPEUxuN @wpri12

[Alexandra Leslie @AlexandraLeslie]

NEW: The R.I. Supreme Court has denied Providence's petition to exclude a high-ranking Cranston police officer from sitting on a police misconduct board when the panel hears the case of a controversial police officer for the *second* time in years.
https://t.co/a6E54XjbsE @wpri12

[Tim White @TimWhiteRI]

NEW: A Newport man is accused of inappropriately touching a 16-year-old girl on a Breeze Airways flight from Tampa to TF Green in November.

James Brugman is facing two federal charges. The victim says he also showed her explicit content on the flight.

https://t.co/iSHPER7T0y

[Ted Nesi @TedNesi]

Here's my weekly briefing on local politics (and more): https://t.co/BES43YNXDu

[Ted Nesi @TedNesi]

@StephMachado Thank you so much for commemorating my fourth annual 39th birthday pal

[katherine gregg @kathyprojo]

just re-read this WPRI story on the new union led group created to funnel $ to @GovDanMcKee 's campaign, and this jumped out: Ernie Almonte, GA's former auditor general & current chairman of the heavily taxpayer subsidized RI Convention Center Authority https://t.co/LpmOiq1dme

[Ian Donnis @IanDonnis]

Brown University Health lost $80M on its Massachusetts hospitals in the first 6 months of its fiscal year, reports @TedNesi https://t.co/rnGpRCsiPM

[Ted Nesi @TedNesi]

My Saturday column: https://t.co/BES43YNXDu

[James Pethokoukis ⏩️⤴️ @JimPethokoukis]

Has America 250 generated anything as lasting and cool as American Rocks from the Bicentennial (which was a huge, huge deal)? Not even close. https://t.co/yvrCmroWeC