CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss is planning to let Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil loose on the network’s 60 Minutes show as part of a major shake-up of the newsmagazine.
Weiss, who has turned CBS News into a more Trump-friendly network during her tenure, is plotting major changes to 60 Minutes by “opening it up” to the wider news division and allowing other anchors to appear beyond its usual correspondents, sources told the New York Post.
As well as adding Dokoupil—whose promotion to the evening news slot has been a gaffe-filled ratings disaster for the network—to the roster, other CBS News correspondents such as Matt Gutman are also expected to be given new roles within 60 Minutes. One of the show’s current contributing correspondents, Norah O’Donnell, is also being awarded more airtime next season.
Dokoupil’s transition to the hard-hitting, in-depth format comes after a scathing Vanity Fair article in April that cited more than 20 current and former CBS staffers and industry insiders, many of whom questioned his credentials and news sensibilities.
“He must have been [Weiss’] seventh or eighth choice, because nobody would take the f---ing job,” one CBS correspondent told the magazine of how Dokoupil became anchor. “I mean, she wanted Bret Baier. She wanted Anderson Cooper. She wanted a name, and she does not see Tony Dokoupil as a name. A useful idiot for sure, but not a name.”
On his second day on the job, Dokoupil dropped jaws when he veered off script while covering memes about Secretary of State Marco Rubio, saying, “Marco Rubio, we salute you. You’re the ultimate Florida Man.”
The CBS correspondent told Vanity Fair the moment showed a “lack of sophistication” as a journalist. “This is what happens when you get somebody who’s only ever worked on a morning show, where he just thinks, Oh yeah, why don’t we dedicate two minutes of this 19-minute broadcast to glazing Marco f---ing Rubio?”
“The Marco Rubio thing was outrageous,” another CBS journalist said. “It just alienates the audience. I don’t think even a MAGA Republican wants to see that in their news.”
Dokoupil also raised eyebrows with a gaffe about legendary CBS anchor Walter Cronkite, saying he would be “more accountable and more transparent than Cronkite or anyone else of his era.”
“I just don’t even understand how you could say something like that,” a CBS executive told Vanity Fair.
“This is exactly what Bari has been talking about doing—breaking down the silos at ‘60 Minutes’ and making clear that the show is no longer an island unto itself and subject to its own rules and editorial standards,” a source told the Post.
Weiss’ intervention in the editorial process at 60 Minutes has already caused numerous headaches and tensions within the show’s team.
Status reported on Tuesday that Weiss went behind veteran 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl’s back to secure an interview with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, only to hand it to CBS News chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett to conduct.
Stahl, who spent months attempting to secure an interview with Netanyahu herself, was reportedly so irate at the move that the 84-year-old is considering leaving the show altogether at the end of its current season.
Weiss was reportedly so desperate to land the interview with Netanyahu that she allowed him to choose who would conduct the sit-down.
“Bari did what she had to do to secure the interview,” a source told the Post. “Bibi’s office picked Major over Stahl.”
It is believed Netanyahu picked Garrett because he thought he would give the Israeli leader an easier ride.
“Major Garrett was a friendly face and a reliable choice because he would not challenge Netanyahu,” one source told the newspaper.
In a statement, a CBS News spokesperson said: “It’s the editor in chief’s job to make decisions about bookings and interviews. Major is a world-class journalist and did a tough, fair, and newsmaking interview.”
This is not even the first time Weiss has gone over the heads of the 60 Minutes team. In March, Weiss booked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for an interview and also assigned it to Garrett, rather than one of 60 Minutes’ actual correspondents.
The network’s MAGA-curious boss also controversially pulled an “Inside CECOT” segment about the notorious El Salvador prison that was highly critical of Donald Trump’s hardline deportation policy just before it was due to air in December 2025.
Weiss claimed the piece from 60 Minutes correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi needed additional reporting, including on-air interviews with administration officials. It eventually aired on Jan. 18 without any new interviews.
The fallout is expected to result in Alfonsi leaving the show. There have reportedly been no talks about renewing her contract, despite it expiring at the end of the month.
