’60 Minutes’ Confirms Correspondents & Teases Stories for Season 59 Premiere
What To Know
- 60 Minutes will premiere its 59th season on September 13 with a new correspondent lineup.
- The lineup includes Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker, Jon Wertheim, Norah O’Donnell, and Ross Douthat, alongside several new contributors.
- Exec producer Nick Bilton promised a refreshed approach and claimed Trump is ‘fair game.’
60 Minutes returns for its highly anticipated 59th season this Sunday (September 13) after months of behind-the-scenes turmoil and staff shakeups.
CBS News confirmed the official correspondent lineup on Tuesday (September 8), which includes Lesley Stahl, Bill Whitaker, Jon Wertheim, Norah O’Donnell, and Ross Douthat. They’ll be joined by contributors Matt Gutman, Sebastian Junger, Gianna Toboni, Trevor Phillips, and Ariel Levy.
A group photo of the on-air talent was taken at New York City’s Oyster Bar in Grand Central Station, per TheWrap. “These images are a perfect homage to CBS News’ broadcast beginnings where Cronkite and Murrow reported the news as we head into the 59th season of which set the foundation for 60 Minutes,” said the show’s new executive producer, Nick Bilton.
The season premiere will include a story on a U.S. Air Force officer who was rescued from Iran, featuring interviews with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Admiral Brad Cooper, the operational commander of the war with Iran.
In another segment, Wertheim will look at the Los Angeles Rams.
The news comes following a tumultuous few months for 60 Minutes, which has seen massive upheaval across the board. In May, CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss fired 60 Minutes producers Tanya Simon, Draggan Mihailovich, and Matthew Polevoy, and correspondents Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi.
After longtime correspondent Scott Pelley spoke out against Weiss and the firings during a heated staff meeting, he, too, was dismissed.
Weiss later hired new correspondents for 60 Minutes, including Phillips, a controversial former British politician, and Douthat, a right-wing opinion writer whose hiring drew backlash.
Many have criticized Weiss for pushing CBS News in a more right-wing direction in an effort to appease Donald Trump. However, on Tuesday, Bilton assured his team that the president would be “one thousand percent” fair game, along with “everyone else in Washington, regardless of which side you’re on.”
“Over the summer, we’ve made changes to every aspect of the broadcast to make it stronger,” Bilton told the New York Times. “While each of those changes represents a slight departure from the way it’s been done in the past, it will make for a new approach to 60 Minutes in its totality.”
Bilton said the “stress” has now “settled” and he “can see exactly what we have to do.” He added, “I‘ve never felt more that I’m in the right place doing the right job than I do right now.”
60 Minutes, Season 59, Premieres, September 13, 7 pm et, CBS
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R
RIP 60 MINUTES
I was at a book signing yesterday(Children’s author) non partisan and I asked with a show of hands how many people watched 60 minutes . 120 raised their hand out of say 150. When asked if any planned on watching this season—15 raised their hand.
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Can't wait to see the Hegseth interview. If it's anything like Doukopil's lovey, smoochy soft interview I'll know where the show stands politically. Bilton says Trump is fair game but I'll know it when I see it. I think we all know by now what Conservatives say and do are two different things. We will see.
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B
Can’t trust 60 Minutes anymore.
When you cover up the truth , ALL future stories are suspect
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