Pelley to NYT: 'Thumb on the scale' for Trump's version of events under CBS leadership

[0:00] We're back with new warnings from former CBS News correspondent Scott Pelley in his first sit-down interview since he was fired from CBS last week after a high-profile confrontation where he accused editor-in-chief Barry Weiss of trying to murder 60 Minutes. [0:16] Now Pelley tells the New York Times he decided to speak out about what he says he saw as a, quote, existential moment for 60 Minutes. [0:25] Warning, CBS News is on fire. [0:28] There was a thumb on the scale for the president's version of events that I felt was a level of political influence that I had never seen in 37 years at CBS News. [0:47] CBS has denied allegations that Weiss has ever encouraged correspondents to alter stories to cast the Trump administration in a more favorable light. [0:55] Joining us now is Deadline Hollywood executive editor Dominic Patton. [0:59] And Dominic Pelley got choked up several times in this interview, and it's all there for people to go see for themselves. [1:07] It was a lengthy interview. [1:08] He explained what drove him to confront network leadership, ultimately leading to his firing. [1:13] What stood out most to you? [1:18] I think most of all, Anna, what stood out was the quote that you used at CBS News is on fire. [1:22] He also went into specifics earlier last week after his firing by Weiss and New 60 Minutes executive producer Nick Bilton. [1:31] He talked about a particular story that had been almost stopped 19 minutes before air on 60 Minutes earlier in its current—in its just-ended season. [1:40] He gave some specifics about that. [1:42] That story had to do with the ice killings of Americans in Minneapolis last year, and specifically how that story went down, a specific direction he received about how that story should be framed. [1:55] Let's put it that way. [1:57] He also said very clearly, I just decided to ignore them. [2:01] And he went on with his story, and there was no follow-up on that. [2:03] But clearly, as again, leading to that clip that you played from the interview with The New York Times, there was a distinct feeling that there was a political thumb on the scale. [2:12] And I think that he has talked about that before. [2:14] We have heard other now ex-60 Minutes correspondents talk about that. [2:19] And I think that we're getting a sense here that while there might not be so much a MAGA agenda at CBS News, there is a MAGA influence, one way or the other, at least implied to some of the correspondents. [2:32] And in a situation like this, you can have someone like Barry Weiss say, well, we've never told anyone to do that. [2:37] We've never made any— [2:38] Oh, we are having just a little— [2:42] Your correspondence. [2:43] Feel that's happening. [2:45] That's happening. [2:46] Yeah. [2:47] Dominic, I think we have you back. [2:48] There was just a little bit of an issue with your signal, but we see you and we heard you there at the end. [2:53] And I also noted when I was reading through and listening to the interview and reading the transcript that he talked about incompetence being a major concern of his within the leadership there at CBS. [3:06] And at one point, Pelley said, CBS editor-in-chief Barry Weiss should be removed. [3:11] Let's look at part of that. [3:15] Do you think Barry Weiss needs to be removed? [3:17] Oh, gosh, yes. [3:18] I do think that we would be far better off without her. [3:23] Maybe she goes back to the free press and has a sterling career. [3:28] But this is like somebody walking up to me and saying, there's a 747. [3:34] There are 400 people on it. [3:36] We need you to fly it to Paris. [3:38] I'm going to decline because I don't have a clue. [3:45] Dominic, Weiss still seems to have the support of David Ellison, who owns CBS's parent company. [3:51] Do you see that changing? [3:53] What does her future look like? [3:55] Isn't the bottom line still the bottom line? [3:59] You would think so, Anna. [4:00] But in the case of CBS News, that has not been the case since Weiss took over in October when she was appointed by David Ellison. [4:06] They have seen mass declines in their ratings on the CBS Evening News. [4:11] And now they moved on to something that clearly wasn't broken because CBS's 60 Minutes has been doing great online and on linear TV. [4:19] I don't know what their pain threshold is here. [4:22] It seems to be pretty high. [4:23] But remember, the bigger context here is the $111 billion deal that Paramount, which is owned by David Ellison, have to buy Warner Brothers Discovery, the owners of CNN, among many others. [4:35] That is the deal that they are trying to get through the government regulators' hoops. [4:39] That is the deal they need and want the Trump administration to approve. [4:43] Donald Trump has long said, as many conservatives have, by the way, over the decades, that he has problems with CBS, specifically 60 Minutes. [4:50] For God's sake, he sued them over a Kamala Harris interview and got a payout of $16 million. [4:54] So I think in many ways this is transactional. [4:57] Is Weiss's future connected to that transaction? [5:00] One would assume so. [5:01] But at this point, with the chaos over there, one would have assumed this would have been redirected a while ago. [5:07] So I think all bets are off. [5:08] Quickly, if you will, Pelley also said he supports the decision of the three remaining 60 Minutes correspondents, Leslie Stahl, Bill Whitaker, and John Wertheim, who say they will stay at the show. [5:19] In a statement last week, they said, we don't want to see 60 Minutes die. [5:22] How much power do they have in this moment? [5:26] Oh, Anna, I think they have a tremendous amount of power. [5:28] They basically saved the ship for Barry Weiss and everyone else. [5:31] But I think sometimes people are emphasizing a little in the wrong direction on that. [5:34] People talk about the three of the three of the thing, but they talked very distinctly in that statement, which we've heard at Deadline was crafted over hours and very specific. [5:44] They talked about if there is interference, if there is any thumb on the scale for them, they will leave. [5:51] So they've made it very clear this marriage could end in divorce and a divorce like this for 60 Minutes. [5:56] Well, as a piece of Ted Johnson and I did last week on Deadline, people are saying, look, we're supposed to be working on the next season right now in the summer. [6:03] We're running out of people and time and we need both. [6:06] So those three correspondents, they hold all the cards right now. [6:11] Dominic Patton, always a pleasure. [6:13] Thank you so much for being with us.