CBS News’ Major Garrett earned a heap of praise for his interview with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday’s “60 Minutes,” the leader’s first U.S. broadcast interview since the war in Iran again.
But, according to Status, the network‘s chief Washington correspondent wasn’t always set to speak with Netanyahu.
Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss booked the CBS News interview with Netanyahu and gave it to Garrett, choosing to then air it on “60 Minutes.” The move rankled staff at the highly rated newsmagazine, according to Status, as Garrett is not a correspondent for the show and longtime correspondent Lesley Stahl and her team had been trying to book Netanyahu themselves.
“It’s the editor in chief’s job to make decisions about bookings and interviews,” a CBS News spokesperson told TheWrap. “Major is a world-class journalist and did a tough, fair and newsmaking interview.”
The move is the latest intervention into the newsmagazine by Weiss, who is reportedly set to overhaul the show once its current season ends in a shake-up that could see at least one correspondent, Sharyn Alfonsi, leave the program.
Weiss’ roughly seven-month tenure leading CBS News has seen her temporarily hold an Alfonsi-led “60 Minutes” segment critical of the Trump administration’s immigration efforts and delay an Anderson Cooper-led segment focused on the administration’s decision to accept white refugees from South Africa, two instances that rankled the show’s team. Cooper said he would leave the program after this season.
It was also the second time Weiss had secured an interview herself and dispatched Garrett to conduct it, according to Status. A March “60 Minutes” interview with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has made CBS News his most frequent broadcast destination, was booked by Weiss and also given to Garrett, according to the outlet.
That move frustrated staff on the show, according to the outlet, but the Netanyahu episode brought it to a head due to Stahl’s monthslong effort to secure the prime minister herself. The network reportedly considered another CBS News program to carry the interview, but due to Netanyahu only being available to tape on Saturday, Weiss ultimately decided to slot it on “60 Minutes.”
