The CBS News Crisis

Summary

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Podcast Summary: "The CBS News Crisis"

Podcast: What A Day
Date: June 4, 2026
Host: Erin Ryan (in for Jane Coaston)
Guest: Jeremy Barr, Media & Power Reporter for The Guardian US

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Episode Overview

This episode examines the escalating turmoil at CBS News under the controversial leadership of Bari Weiss, focusing on the recent dramatic shake-ups at 60 Minutes. Host Erin Ryan and media reporter Jeremy Barr dissect the resignations, firings, and what these changes signal for journalism in the Trump era, media consolidation, and the future of legacy news brands.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The "Monday Meltdown" at 60 Minutes

[01:24 - 03:34]

• Nick Bilton's First Meeting Disaster
  • Nick Bilton, appointed as executive producer by Weiss (despite lacking TV news experience), faces the 60 Minutes staff.
  • Veteran correspondent Scott Pelley confronts Bilton, grilling him about the recent firings, including executive producer Tanya Simon, and two correspondents.
  • The meeting becomes heated; Pelley defends Simon and the fired staff, calling CBS's treatment "rude."
  • Meeting ends abruptly, but Pelley receives a round of applause—a "West Wing moment" that highlights division and dissent within CBS News.

Quote:

“Pelley responded that the way CBS News had treated Tanya Simon was really the rude thing.”
— Jeremy Barr [02:43]

• The major concern: A highly successful show ("9.1 million watched last season") is being overhauled without clear rationale.

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2. Context: Why Is CBS News in Crisis?

[03:34 - 05:49]

• Destabilization Timeline:

  • Chaos began with Trump’s lawsuit against CBS in late 2024, followed by CBS’s sale to Skydance (David Ellison).
  • Mass resignations over fears of a pro-Trump settlement, followed by FCC approval (with a Trump ally at the helm).
  • Bari Weiss takes over in October after Skydance buys her publication, The Free Press.
  • Series of departures and editorial controversies, including shelving politically sensitive stories, followed.

• Weiss’s lack of broadcast experience and perceived political motives fuel resentment and suspicion.

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3. Is Bari Weiss Fulfilling Her Mandate or Failing?

[05:49 - 09:07]

• Jeremy Barr stresses how hard television news is to run, particularly 60 Minutes, which long had independence.
• Weiss's “meddling” cited as disruptive; her move to kill stories for "political purposes" drew blowback.
• The firing of Pelley (with the legalistic "for cause" letter) is unprecedented humiliation, even if the clash itself was anticipated.

Quote:

“Her first intervention was viewed very negatively and became this big public controversy... and things have been kind of exploding since then.”
— Jeremy Barr [06:44]

• Erin Ryan speculates about a "deliberate effort to destroy CBS News"—asking if the Ellisons (the new owners) want a weakened, more compliant news brand.

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4. The Ellison Endgame and the Shadow of Trump

[09:07 - 11:53]

• Speculation on Ownership Intent:
  • It's difficult to know what billionaire media owners ultimately want; generally, destroying an asset doesn't make business sense, Barr notes.
  • Parallels drawn to Jeff Bezos at The Washington Post—how owner interests may not align with journalism’s.
  • Ongoing rumors: If Ellison’s mega-merger is approved, will Bari Weiss be installed at CNN next?
• Allegations of Political Interference:
  • Pelley and other ousted correspondents allege deliberate efforts to soften coverage and "insert political bias" favoring Trump.
  • The fired journalists are experienced, not prone to public outbursts, lending credibility to their concerns.

Quote:

“I think Pelley’s argument... is that there was a deliberate attempt to soften coverage of the administration and to kind of weaken the show in a way that would help Trump.”
— Jeremy Barr [10:24]

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5. What Does Consolidation Mean for Journalism?

[11:53 - 13:13]

• Jeremy Barr reflects on a decade of ongoing media contraction and mergers.
• The CBS/CNN merger signals more layoffs and leaner operations.
• Bari Weiss’s track record so far breeds anxiety about her effect on CNN’s brand and editorial direction.

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6. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the mood at 60 Minutes after the meeting:

  “It sounds a bit like... a West Wing television news moment, but Pelley was obviously channeling a lot of concerns people had about the way they handled 60 Minutes.”
  — Jeremy Barr [02:26]

• On media moguls’ motives:

  “The machinations of media billionaires and what their long game is is very hard to truly understand... But generally speaking, destroying the value of an asset is supposed to be bad.”
  — Jeremy Barr [09:18]

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Other Major News Highlights

1. War Powers Resolution in Congress

[17:48 - 18:05]

• The House passes a war powers resolution to halt US military action in Iran, marking rare bipartisan resistance to President Trump.

2. Homeland Security and the World Cup

[18:05 - 19:04]

• Secretary Mark Wayne Mullen testifies on security for the upcoming US-hosted World Cup. DHS claims readiness but acknowledges significant challenges due to "complicated countries" participating.

3. Trump’s “Model Cities” Initiative

[19:20 - 19:40]

• President Trump unveils a $300 million DOJ initiative for city crime reduction, seen as a distraction from international turmoil.

4. Elon Musk’s Wealth

[19:40 - 20:34]

• Wall Street Journal reveals Musk’s “$3.6 million per hour” fortune and his continued provocative social media presence.

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Tone & Language

The tone is sharp, skeptical, and at times sardonic—reflecting both concern and weariness about the trajectory of legacy media under billionaire ownership, political interference, and consolidation. The speakers are clear about uncertainty for the future, yet underline the seriousness of the journalistic fractures at CBS News.

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• CBS News/60 Minutes Crisis — [01:24–13:13]
• Congress vs. Trump on Iran — [17:48–18:05]
• World Cup Security — [18:05–19:04]
• Trump Crime Reduction Initiative — [19:20–19:40]
• Elon Musk Wealth Facts — [19:40–20:34]

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Closing Thoughts

The episode ends with Erin Ryan and Jeremy Barr pondering the future of establishment journalism under intense political and corporate pressure, with the CBS News crisis exemplifying a broader media reckoning.

Memorable closing remark:

“Remember, the revolution will not be televised, but it will be secretly recorded and leaked to media reporters.”
— Erin Ryan [13:36]

Transcript

[Erin Ryan]

It's Thursday, June 4th. I'm Erin Ryan in for Jane Costen. And this is what a day. Reminiscing on how Bari Weiss's infamously panned New York Times column, we're all fascists now, might actually have made some salient points today. Homeland Security Secretary Mark Wayne Mullen goes before Congress and gets apoplectic when a congressman asks if he's racist. Calm down, Mark Wayne. No need to get emotional. And some House Republicans are finally brave enough to stand up to President Donald Trump's war in Iran. But let's start with drama and departures. In the media world, CBS News continues to devolve into chaos under the leadership of Bari Weiss. Since Weiss took over in the fall, there have been a series of brutal and seemingly arbitrary cuts that look suspiciously like catering to the president. And her latest move, picking magazine writer Nick Bilton, who has no TV news experience to run 60 Minutes, was a bridge too far for many who remained. And so this week, CBS News has once again found itself where no real journalist wants to be. Showbiz gossip columns. Here to talk about what happens when you hand over control of a legacy TV news department to neoreactionary dorks with no proper experience is Jeremy Barr, media and power reporter for the Guardian US Jeremy and I spoke on Wednesday afternoon. Jeremy, welcome to what a day.

[Jeremy Barr]

Thanks for having me. Appreciate it.

[Erin Ryan]

On Tuesday, veteran 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley was fired following a heated back and forth with the show's new EP at a staff meeting. So what happened at that meeting on Monday?

[Jeremy Barr]

Yeah, so it was supposed to be the first chance for Nick Bilton, who was hired as EP last Thursday, to meet the whole staff. And it basically very quickly became a confrontation between Scott Pelley and Bilton where Peli kind of unloaded on him and asked him basically to explain all of the firings last Thursday, which included Cecilia Vega, Sharon Alfonsi, Tania Simon, who was the executive producer, executive editor, and basically sort of grilled him on it as if he was grilling an interview subject that didn't really want to answer the questions. So it was supposed to be a more casual get to know you. And Peli obviously saw it as a chance to ask all of his toughest questions, honed by decades of experience in journalism. At one point, an executive asked, basically told him that he was being rude and asked him sort of to stop. And Peli responded that the way that CBS News had treated Tanya Simon was really the rude thing. So the meeting ended pretty quickly. And I mean, I think it was A pretty shocking experience for everybody who was there. But I had heard that there were many shows of support for Peli and that as it was ending, there was a round of applause. And it sounds a bit like kind of like a West Wing moment. It was maybe like a West Wing television news moment, but Peli was obviously channeling a lot of the concerns people had about the way that they handled 60 minutes and the idea of getting rid of the executive producer and getting rid of two of the seven correspondents. It was just a huge change for the show. Just a massive amount of turnover and kind of one of these situations where it's like, if it's not broke, why fix it? The show is super successful. Everybody writes every day about how viewers are fleeing television. But still, 9.1 million people watched the show last season.

[Erin Ryan]

Can you kind of give us a little bit of background of what led to the meeting? Like, what was going on at CBS News before that?

[Jeremy Barr]

I mean, things have been destabilized for maybe a year and a half now. I mean, in October 2024 is when Trump sued the network, and he sued the network a few months after they had agreed to sell it to Skydance, which is owned by David Ellison. Essentially, people started resigning in the spring of 2025 because they were worried that CBS was going to settle the Trump lawsuit. They ultimately did settle it that summer. And then the fcc, which is run by Brendan Carr, obviously a big Trump champion, approved the merger. And then in October, Bari Weiss is appointed editor in chief after Paramount's guidance buys the Free Press, her site, for a reported $150 million. And so the six, seven months of Bari Weiss's tenure have been, I guess, rocky, controversial. I mean, there have certainly been some good moments. Everybody has a learning curve here. But there's just been an incredible amount of attention on her and her stewardship of the network. And there have been other changes at CBS News. She put Tony Decopol in charge of the evening news show. But the 60 Minutes overhaul was really the first massive thing that she did. But really that, I think, raised the bar and raised the stakes for her tenure because the show is seen as such an institution in American broadcasting.

[Erin Ryan]

Right. As you mentioned, it's a ratings juggernaut for the network. Those are some Love Island USA numbers that it puts up every Sunday. But you mentioned Bari Weiss's background is sort of. She was like an opinion columnist who ran an opinion based on substack. And she doesn't have any TV experience, which is one of the complaints that I've read about in your pieces, and most media reporters that are covering this talk about that. So is Bari Weiss doing what she was brought in to do, or does she just suck at running a TV network?

[Jeremy Barr]

I mean, I've never run a television network, so I don't really. It's hard for me to say how hard it is or not hard it is. From what I understand, television is incredibly hard to produce. It's incredibly hard to get the dynamics right. It's incredibly hard to make news and to make an impact, to get people to watch. And you have to have everything perfect, and you have to have the right charisma and the right experience and the resources to pay for it. And 60 minutes for a long time kind of existed a little bit separate from CBS News. It was across the street. They kind of had a lot of room to operate separately. They were sort of protected by their success, I think. And I think that was one of the concerns when Bari Weiss was appointed is that she might start to sort of, I guess people would say, people who are critical of her would say, meddle. I think the first tangible sign of that was this whole controversy last December where Sharon Alfonsi, a veteran correspondent, accused her of shelving her story about the sicat prison for political purposes. And so I guess her first intervention was viewed very negatively and became this big public controversy. I remember it happened. I was in Missouri for Christmas break and hoping the news would quiet down. And it normally does quiet down before Christmas, but then it just kind of exploded all of a sudden. And things have been kind of exploding since then. But then the biggest of the explosions was obviously last Thursday. And then with the firing of Scott Pelley on Tuesday night, where we were able to see the actual letter that went to Scott Pelley telling him he was fired for cause and telling him basically that he was being a jerk and why he was being fired. I mean, I have never seen that before covering media to actually see the full letter. And people have pointed out that the language in it was a bit legalistic and used using terms like cause and trying to lay out a case for why he was fired. I don't know what happens here in terms of whether there's legal action. But even though we kind of expected that Peli would probably not stick around, I mean, the sources I talked to who were aware of what happened in the meeting basically saw the meeting as a kind of resignation of sorts or a kind of dare for them to fire him because he was obviously pushing back against management in a way that's not normally accepted in industry or any industry.

[Erin Ryan]

I mean, another question I had was like, you know, if Peli meant to leave in the first place, you know, if Peli was eventually realizing that it was. He was going to have to leave. It seems like his departure was exactly. He couldn't have scripted it better for himself. Like, he looks like the hero. He's getting the applause. He. He is. You know, he's emerging as this, like, you know, je suis Scott Pelley type figure in, like, the popular imagination. My question about Barry Wise sucking about, like, running a network was not meant to be glib. I just. I wonder if what the Ellisons wanted to do was destroy CBS News, if they could have found somebody who knew how to destroy it in a way that also didn't embarrass them.

[Jeremy Barr]

I think that the ultimate long game is the thing that no one quite knows for sure. And you can kind of like, piece together everything. I mean, I worked at the Washington Post for five years. People had a lot of questions about what the ultimate goal was. Was Jeff Bezos trying to weaken the Post to help Trump? Was he trying to. Was he worrying about his businesses? Kind of. The machinations of media billionaires and what their long game is is very hard to truly understand. I think we have to generally presume that you're not trying to tank a business you've acquired for a lot of money. I mean, I think I'm not a business school graduate, but generally speaking, destroying the value of an asset I think is supposed to be bad.

[Erin Ryan]

You're basically a business school graduate.

[Jeremy Barr]

The Post is worth less right now than what it was before. Bezos kind of shifted everything to the right on the opinion side. And obviously CBS News is a bit distressed in that regard as well. But I mean, in terms of whether he's doing it to appease Trump, to make Trump happy, I think what we can go off of is these conversations between Ellison and his father, Larry Ellison, with White House officials about changes they might make at cnn. So that's the next step, obviously, is whether the Trump administration approves the merger of Paramount and Warner Brothers Discovery, which would give David Ellison control of cnn. And then the question from there was whether Bari Weiss would be brought in to lead CNN in some capacity. And they have kind of not addressed that at all. But I think Peli's argument and the argument of other correspondents who've been fired is that there was a deliberate attempt to soften coverage of the administration and to kind of weaken the show in a way that would help Trump. I mean, Peli said in a statement yesterday that there were efforts to insert kind of political bias into his stories. We don't really have more details about that yet, but there's been some pretty big accusations made about political bias. I think that these are very experienced, serious correspondents that don't normally speak out unless they feel strongly about something. I mean, Sharon Alfonsi, Cecilia Vega, Scott Pelley, they're not people that are popping off on a regular basis on Twitter. These are people that are super experienced. I've met Scott Pelley last December after an event, and he shook my hand and said hi. But he was not going to chat about CBS News and gossip about Bari Weiss. That's kind of not his game. So for him to have this big blow up and then to release this statement and then another statement on Wednesday is a big deal.

[Erin Ryan]

Yeah, he's pretty mad. And as you mentioned, the Ellisons are now trying to own cnn. And how does this consolidation, how does it bode for the future of establishment journalism?

[Jeremy Barr]

I mean, I think media has been consolidating for a long time. I mean, I've covered media since 2014, which feels like 30 years, but I guess it's 12 years. But I've been covering layoffs and buyouts and contractions and merger, and everything is getting smaller. Certainly the obvious result will be less people employed by CBS and CNN just by nature of a merger. But kind of what it means for CNN long term is we're just kind of speculating on that at this point. But because the first seven or so months, eight months of Bari Weiss's tenure at CBS have been tricky, I would say. I think there's obviously concern that some of those issues will transfer to cnn. The ratings are not particularly good right now, but the brand is still good. And it's in airports in Hong Kong and everybody knows it. So I think whenever there is an American media brand that is at risk of spoilage, which that's not the right word for it, but damage, I don't know. This happened with the Post as well. People get very, very focused on it and are very concerned about it. And then you get lots of articles and lots of interest about it and

[Erin Ryan]

you have a Christmas vacation that is interrupted over and over and over again and will be forever.

[Jeremy Barr]

Right. I think that's the life of a media reporter in the Trump administration.

[Erin Ryan]

All right, Jeremy, thank you so much for joining me.

[Producer/Announcer]

Yep.

[Jeremy Barr]

Thank you for having me. Appreciate it.

[Erin Ryan]

That was my conversation with Jeremy Barr, media and power reporter for the Guardian us. We'll link to his work in the show Notes. Remember, the revolution will not be televised, but it will be secretly recorded and leaked to media reporters. If you like the show, make sure to subscribe. Leave a five star review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Watch us on YouTube and share with your friends. More to come after some ads what a day is brought to you by Willie's Remedy Are you tired of waking up hungover and worrying about what happened last night? Now you can have fun and relax without any of the regrets with Willy's THC infused social Tonic. For anyone trying to be more intentional this year, Willies gives you that social uplifting buzz without breaking your goals. My favorite time for Willies is after a long day at work. Just come home, pop in a couple ice cubes. My favorite mixer is like this cherry flavored carbonated water with a little bit of Willies. So tasty, so relaxing. It's like a nice little euphoric buzz without feeling intoxicated. None of the negative side effects. A lot of non alcoholic alternatives promise a great feeling, but don't deliver on the buzz. With Willy's you'll feel relaxed and euphoric in about 15ish minutes. Willies is perfect for me on a day where I have to work the next day where my brain can't be foggy as alcohol makes my brain foggy and I want to kind of turn the page when I get home. I come home from work, I've got these kids, they need me. I get them in bed. A Willy's Remedy is a great way to just put a cap on the night. Willy's is a premium THC infused social tonic crafted by the legendary Willie Nelson. What can't he do? Inspired by Willy's way of living, where peace flows freely and hangovers are a thing of the past, it's a low calorie, low sugar alcohol alternative that actually works, delivering a fast acting euphoric social buzz without the regrets that come with alcohol. Willy's social tonics come in 5 milligram and 10 milligram doses with best in class flavor experience so smooth and balanced you'll barely realize you're drinking a THC product at all. That's true, it does taste very good. You can enjoy the tonics as a shot, sipped over ice or mixed into your favorite mocktail. Like I listed before, Willies is not that feared edible you ate too much of in college. Each bottle of Willies is third party lab tested for accurate dosage so you can trust and customize your experience. Willy's unique blend of thc, cbd, CBG and L Theanine delivers a feeling of calm, clarity, euphoria and relaxation. One shot of Willy's helps you relax, unwind and de stress. Perfect for taking the edge off at the end of a long day or socializing with friends, Willy's offers the kind of feeling that makes good company even better. Willy's sold out three times in the first six months with over 50,000 plus happy customers and they just restocked. Willy's ships directly to your doorstep in 40/states. Order [e-mail] and use code WAD for 20% off your first order plus free shipping on orders over $95 and enjoy life in the high country.

[Producer/Announcer]

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[Erin Ryan]

Here's what else we're following today. Head of Line on this vote, the

[Jeremy Barr]

A's are 215 and the nays are 208. The concurrent resolution is adopted.

[Erin Ryan]

Listen to those Cheers. That's the liveliest I've seen Congress since the last time their per diem was increased. The House approved a war powers resolution for the first time on Wednesday that would halt the US Military action against against Iran. A handful of Republicans defied President Trump and joined with Democrats to end the three month long conflict that has reordered politics at home and abroad. The resolution next goes to the Senate, but Trump would likely reject any measure from Congress to limit his commander in chief authority. Homeland Security Secretary Mark Wayne Mullen was back on Capitol Hill Wednesday to testify in front of the House Committee on Homeland Security. Mullen discussed some of the latest security concerns, including those at the upcoming World cup games across the US I feel

[Jeremy Barr]

very comfortable where we're at and we

[Erin Ryan]

feel like we have a zero fail mission, but it's going to be complicated. We have 5 to 7 million visitors coming in. We have some very complicated countries that are going to be playing each other

[Jeremy Barr]

that have a tremendous amount of dislike against each other.

[Erin Ryan]

Oh, it's Mark Wayne Mullen, the soccer knower. Mullen said DHS is ready to help protect security at the games, but still still has, quote, a lot of work to do ahead of the first U. S. Based game in Los Angeles on June 12th.

[Jeremy Barr]

We are restoring law and order to America. Now. We're taking our next big step to defend public safety in America. At my direction, the Department of Justice is beginning what we're calling the Model Cities initiative to slash violent crime in major metropolitan areas all across our country.

[Erin Ryan]

In a video message to the American people Wednesday, President Trump announced a new $300 million initiative in an obvious effort to distract from all the chaos he's causing abroad. According to the doj, up to four cities will be chosen to, quote, receive awards supporting the implementation of comprehensive and innovative strategies to reduce crime, restore law and order, and enhance public safety. Oh, we want to. We want to reduce crime and enhance public safety. What a great idea. Why didn't anybody think about that in any of these cities? Qualifying cities can apply to take part in the program within the next 90 days. On today's segment of questions I really don't want answered, but someone answered them anyway. We have Just how rich is Elon Musk? Well, the Wall Street Journal crunched the numbers and found that on average, Musk has made $3.6 million every hour for 31 years. That equates to $59,492 per minute. That's a teacher's salary. $85.7 million per day, $602 million per week, $2.6 billion per month and $31.3 billion per year. And yet somehow he's still able to find time for racist and misunderstanding misogynistic posts on Twitter. And that's the news. Before we go, when's the last time you checked out the Crooked store, they've been adding great new pieces to help you show off your progressive media supporter status. The tried and true Call Congress design just dropped on a buttery yellow crew neck and a vintage navy dad hat. So when you need a break, skip the doom scroll and head to crooked.com store. It doesn't update quite as frequently as Twitter, but you're also not going to read a screed about women ruining the workplace on there. That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, brush up on your Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles lore, and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just comments, correcting me when I confused the supervillain Shredder with Master Splinter on yesterday's show. Like me, what a Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and [e-mail] subscribe I'm Erin Ryan and Cowabunga dude.

[Producer/Announcer]

What a Day is a production of Crooked Media. Our show is produced by Caitlin Plummer, Emily Foer, Erica Morrison and Adrienne Hill. Our team includes Haley Jones, Greg Walters, Matt Berg, Joseph Dutra, Johanna Case and Desmond Taylor. Our music is by Kyle Murdoch and Jordan Kanter. We had help today from the Associated Press. Our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America East.

[Erin Ryan]

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