Bret Baier. Anderson Cooper. Dana Perino. Scott Jennings. Some of the most prominent — and loudest — voices in TV news are apparently on Bari Weiss’ radar as the Free Press co-founder tries to make her mark in her first month as CBS News’ editor in chief.
Such talent would ostensibly help Weiss fulfill her mission of “building the most trusted news organization of the 21st Century” by relying on figures the general public knows, while also generating buzz for a network whose programming has faced a precipitous ratings decline and drawn political scrutiny.
The potential big-name hires come amid the backdrop of sweeping layoffs and restructuring, including cutting streaming companion shows “CBS Mornings Plus” and “CBS Evening News Plus”; disbanding the race and culture unit; canceling the current iteration of “CBS Saturday Morning,” letting go of co-hosts Dana Jacobson and Michelle Miller; and closing its bureau in Johannesburg, which resulted in correspondent Debora Patta, who covered the Israel-Gaza war, getting laid off.
It didn’t go unnoticed that there were eight women among the layoffs of on-air talent, including contributors and correspondents Lisa Ling, Elise Preston, Nancy Chen, Janet Shamlian and Nikki Battiste. Patta is reportedly considering suing CBS News, according to the New York Post. She did not respond to a request for comment.
Nor was it lost on some that many of the laid-off talent were people of color. Trey Sherman, a producer on “CBS Evening News Plus,” said in a TikTok that “every producer on my team who got laid off is a person of color.” When he confronted a CBS News executive about this, he said the manager told him that, while more senior managers decided to cancel the show, the executive could decide who to keep, and he chose to keep people with whom he had worked before. All of those people, coincidentally, happened to be white, Sherman said the executive told him.
“I don’t care if you decided to keep people who have purple-colored hair,” Sherman said in his video. “You deciding to keep people who you had worked with before, which, don’t even know if that’s true — if the outcome of that decision is racist, the action was racist, that s— is f—ed.”
“CBS Mornings” co-anchor Gayle King is also reportedly planning to step down from her hosting gig once her contract expires next year, though CBS News told Variety that negotiations for King’s next contract had not yet begun.
CBS News did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Enter Baier and Cooper, who anchor two of the flagship shows on Fox News and CNN, respectively. Status reported last week that Weiss was interested in Baier for “CBS Evening News,” which has fallen further behind its ABC and NBC competitors after an anchor shift in January, while the Independent reported on Saturday that Cooper was also a potential replacement.
But there are clear complications. Baier remains under contract at Fox News until the end of 2028, and he told Meghan McCain on Monday that he had no plans to leave the network until that contract expires.
“I’m flattered by all the press and everything like that, but I’m in a multi-year contract with Fox. I don’t know where everything’s going,” he said. “I’m signed onto Fox, very happy at Fox and, you know, we’ll see what happens at the end of that.”
Perino is another person Weiss has eyed for the anchor chair, according to the Guardian. A former White House press secretary-turned-Fox News anchor, Perino represents a model for political staffers who’ve found second acts delivering news. Weiss is also a fan of hers, declaring as much on an episode of her podcast, “Honestly with Bari Weiss,” that featured Perino.
“The private Dana is even more gracious and shining than the public one,” Weiss said. “You are a person who models, frankly, just classy behavior, the kind of class that I think a lot of people have forgotten.”
But Perino, who also offered effusive praise for Weiss on the podcast episode, is even more of a stretch. She is locked into her Fox News contract into the next decade, making it harder to picture Weiss somehow luring her to the network at least five years early. (Fox News declined to comment.)
Cooper could be a more viable option. He is already affiliated with the network through his yearslong role as a “60 Minutes” correspondent, and his contract at CNN expires soon, according to Status. But Cooper has been a face of CNN for decades, often on the front lines of its coverage of both domestic and international issues and serving as its lead New York-based anchor for election coverage, so it’s also hard to imagine he’d want to leave. (Not to mention his passion projects, such as the network’s annual alcohol-fueled New Year’s Eve special with his close friend Andy Cohen or his podcast on grief, “All There Is.”)
CNN declined to comment.
While Weiss is eyeing on-air talent, she also tapped journalist Adam Rubenstein as her deputy at CBS News and the Free Press, according to the New York Post.
Internally, Tony Dokoupil and Norah O’Donnell are reportedly seen as top contenders for the “Evening News” slot. Dokoupil interviewed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after Hamas released the last living hostages from Gaza, a conversation arranged by Weiss. To execute one of Weiss’ first ideas at the network, O’Donnell — the former “Evening News” host before it switched to a two-anchor model — hosted a discussion with former Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice about the apparent end of the war once a deal was brokered.
Meanwhile, some people have already headed for the exits. “CBS Evening News” co-anchor John Dickerson said on Monday he would leave the network in December, opting to end his 16-year tenure at the Tiffany Network.
“I am extremely grateful for all that CBS gave me— the work, the audience’s attention and the honor of being a part of the network’s history— and I am grateful for my dear colleagues who’ve made me a better journalist and a better human,” Dickerson wrote on Instagram. “I will miss you.”
The decision was Dickerson’s alone, according to the Times, though the anchor “was cognizant that significant changes, including a revamp of the ‘Evening News,’ were on the way.” His exit follows the news organization’s head of standards, Claudia Milne, saying she would leave the network as well.
Changes are expected beyond the evening newscast. Weiss is reportedly interested in shaking up flagship newsmagazine “60 Minutes,” a program at the heart of President Donald Trump’s ire at the network. Such changes could mean correspondents like Scott Pelley and Bill Whitaker are shown the door, according to the New York Post. She is also reportedly interested in luring conservative pundit Scott Jennings away from CNN, meeting with him in New York, according to Semafor.
All in all, such moves indicate the tides of change are still approaching CBS News’ shore.
