Scott Pelley Says Bari Weiss Tried to ‘Inject Falsehoods’ Into Reporting on Minneapolis

In his first post-firing interview, Scott Pelley is laying out all the reasons he thinks Bari Weiss is a terrible fit for CBS News. On New York Times podcast The Daily, Pelley specifically cites a time he felt Weiss tried to bias his reporting on the Minneapolis ICE protests. In February, 60 Minutes did a segment on protestors and the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Pelley was pleased with what he felt was the balanced account his team made. Hours before broadcast, Pelley’s boss got an email from Weiss. “Two of the things in the email include, can we make the protesters look more violent? Now, I’m paraphrasing. I don’t have the quote, but that’s what was communicated to me. And the other thing, Renee Good’s car. You need to describe her as driving toward the officer” Pelley told The Daily. “This is not what you see on the video…“You clearly see Ms. Good’s wheels turned completely as far as they will go, away from the officer.”

Pelley’s team did not wind up making those changes. Weiss never brought it up again, perhaps because “didn’t see the broadcast and didn’t realize that those changes hadn’t been made.” But Pelley still felt like Weiss had been trying to nudge the conversation towards the Trump administration’s take. “There was a thumb on the scale for the president’s version of events,” he said. When asked if Weiss should be fired, Pelley said “Oh, gosh, yes.” 

Pelley was asked if Weiss should be removed from her position. “Oh, gosh, yes,” he replied. “They don’t know what they’re doing.” he said. There are those who believe Weiss and co. know exactly what they’re doing, namely destroying CBS news from the inside. But Pelley still has hope. “There’s a subtle political bias that I’ve never seen at 60 Minutes before, or at CBS News before. So that is my hope: a return to sanity,” he said. “We can save this. It’s possible to land this plane. But right now, CBS News is on fire.”