WEBVTT - ICYMI: Inside the Turmoil at CBS' 60 Minutes

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<v Speaker 2>Many of you have seen or heard or watched what

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<v Speaker 2>Scott Pelley said on Sixty Minutes on Sunday evening. It

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<v Speaker 2>was in reference to longtime executive producer Bill Owens announcing

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<v Speaker 2>to his staff last week that he's leaving, citing corporate

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<v Speaker 2>interference at the most watched news program in the US.

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<v Speaker 2>Here's what he said. Quote, Paramount began to supervise our

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<v Speaker 2>content in new ways. None of our stories has been blocked,

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<v Speaker 2>but Bill felt he lost his independence. That honest journalism

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<v Speaker 2>requires the independence that John's journalism requires. No one here

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<v Speaker 2>is happy about it. Joining us now with an inside

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<v Speaker 2>look at everything happening at sixty Minutes is Lucas shad

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<v Speaker 2>Managing editor for Media Entertainment. He joins us from Los Angeles. Lucas,

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<v Speaker 2>I feel like everything at this point is political, But

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<v Speaker 2>truly this story is political.

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<v Speaker 3>What's going on here, It's all tied up into the

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<v Speaker 3>ongoing saga at Paramount Global, which has been in talks

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<v Speaker 3>to sell itself for eighteen months. But Scott Pelly's comments

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<v Speaker 3>and the resignation of our I should say, the departure

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<v Speaker 3>of Billow and they didn't technically resign, I think is

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<v Speaker 3>the result or the culmination really of months of tension

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<v Speaker 3>between Cherry Redstone, who is the chairperson of Paramount Global,

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<v Speaker 3>whose family controls the company, and her news division, and

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<v Speaker 3>that started with frustrations related to kind of Gaza coverage

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<v Speaker 3>because Sherry is very passionate about the state of Israel.

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<v Speaker 3>That started on CBS this morning, continued on Sixty Minutes,

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<v Speaker 3>and then as she realized that Donald Trump suit against

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<v Speaker 3>Sixty Minutes, which was related to the editing of a

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<v Speaker 3>pam La Harris interview, might jeopardize the sale of the company,

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<v Speaker 3>it just escalated. And so you've seen her both publicly

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<v Speaker 3>and privately clashing with that news division, ultimately leading in

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<v Speaker 3>the news of the last week.

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<v Speaker 4>Lucas, tell us what your reporting has shown about those

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<v Speaker 4>public and private clashes, and just how unprecedented this is

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<v Speaker 4>to see the chair of a parent company of a

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<v Speaker 4>news organization intervene in coverage like this.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, there was a CBS This Morning segment in late

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<v Speaker 3>September I believe might have been early October, but right

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<v Speaker 3>around there where they interviewed Tanahasey Coates, who is the

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<v Speaker 3>author of a new book called The Message, and a

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<v Speaker 3>particular anchor, Tondakapil, was aggressive, shall we say, in talking

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<v Speaker 3>to and questioning tanahase The News division ended up scolding him,

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<v Speaker 3>and then Shay Redstone came out publicly and said that

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<v Speaker 3>they made a mistake in doing so and she didn't

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<v Speaker 3>think that his questions were over the line. And January

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<v Speaker 3>sixty Minutes did a piece on members of the State

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<v Speaker 3>Department resigning in protests because of the kind of US's

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<v Speaker 3>support for Israel and some of the violence in Gaza.

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<v Speaker 3>She didn't like that piece, and that was when she

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<v Speaker 3>started sort of privately saying maybe we should make a

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<v Speaker 3>change at sixty minutes. And it's really kind of it's

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<v Speaker 3>continued from there. I mean, you asked unprecedented. I don't

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<v Speaker 3>know that it's unprecedented. I mean people who own news

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<v Speaker 3>companies tend to like to influence what their news outlets say.

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<v Speaker 3>You know, some of that is just in the opinion.

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<v Speaker 3>Some of it's not. You know, we had John Malone,

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<v Speaker 3>who was one of the largest shareholders and Warner Brothers

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<v Speaker 3>Discovery talk I think pretty openly after he helped or

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<v Speaker 3>orchestrate the merger of Time, Warner and Discovery about how

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<v Speaker 3>CNN had maybe tilted a little too far to the left.

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<v Speaker 3>So there's it's sort of an evergreen topic. But people

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<v Speaker 3>do seem particularly perturbed in this case, partially because sixty

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<v Speaker 3>minutes is such a story brand and as operated with

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<v Speaker 3>a tremendous amount of independence over the years, and partially

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<v Speaker 3>because most people think that Trump suits against sixty minutes

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<v Speaker 3>is completely meritless.

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<v Speaker 2>Hey, Lucas, I want to know about sixty Minutes in

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<v Speaker 2>the future of sixty Minutes without longtime executive producer Bill

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<v Speaker 2>Owens and with Scott Pelly making these comments on Sunday Night.

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<v Speaker 2>I mean, is this, in your view, going to be

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<v Speaker 2>a news program that will continue to have the influence

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<v Speaker 2>that it's had over the last few years many years?

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<v Speaker 3>I think so yeah. I mean, look, I view what

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<v Speaker 3>Bill Owens and Scott Pelly have done as more warning

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<v Speaker 3>signals there's nothing that has changed about the programming of

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<v Speaker 3>the show, right, even though Shay Redstone wanted to know

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<v Speaker 3>about upcoming stories about Trump. They did a piece on

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<v Speaker 3>Trump on Sunday. Right, They're not changing their programming now,

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<v Speaker 3>will this be different in the new regime? Are they

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<v Speaker 3>going to hire some new producer of sixty minutes who

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<v Speaker 3>is more pliant as part of getting their deal approved

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<v Speaker 3>by the FCC? Theyre going to eliminate some of the

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<v Speaker 3>journalistic independence that it is enjoyed. Those are possible. None

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<v Speaker 3>of that's happened yet, and so I think what you're

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<v Speaker 3>seeing is a lot of news people concerned about what

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<v Speaker 3>could happen, and so it's very hard for me to

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<v Speaker 3>project out what it will because at the moment, I

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<v Speaker 3>think the brand of sixty minutes is fine and the

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<v Speaker 3>average person has no idea that any of this happened.

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<v Speaker 4>It's a good point, Lucas, just quickly, what did the

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<v Speaker 4>sixty minutes employees have to say about Bill's departure.

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<v Speaker 3>I mean, they're all they're all spooped and very sad.

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<v Speaker 3>You know, we spoke with one of them on the record,

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<v Speaker 3>many of them off the record or on background, and

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<v Speaker 3>yet they're they're you know, they all revere Bill as

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<v Speaker 3>a journalist and kind of stand behind him. And don't

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<v Speaker 3>like this idea that their owner is meddling and what

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<v Speaker 3>they're trying to do. I think, you know, sixty minutes,

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<v Speaker 3>as I said earlier, has long had a really strong

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<v Speaker 3>degree of independence, and that has meant sort of ignoring

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<v Speaker 3>what their own and bosses want to say. And this

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<v Speaker 3>notion that anyone is trying to take that away from them,

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<v Speaker 3>you know, is frightening and concerning to them.

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<v Speaker 2>All Right, Lucas, gonna leave it there. I know you

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<v Speaker 2>got a run. We appreciate you joining us today. That's

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<v Speaker 2>Lucas Shaw, Managing Editor, Media and Entertainment for Bloomberg News,

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<v Speaker 2>joining us out there in Los Angeles. This is the

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