‘60 Minutes’ In Damage Control After Explosive Firing & People Love All-Inclusives

**Raymond Liu** (0:01)
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That's att.com/morningbrew. Requires eligible vehicle, service, and coverage not available everywhere. Good Morning Brew Daily Show. I'm Raymond Liu.

**Kaila Lopez** (0:36)
And I'm Kail Lopez.

**Raymond Liu** (0:37)
Today, Meta wants to sell its AI agent to businesses, but will anybody buy?

**Kaila Lopez** (0:42)
Then, a fiery firing at 60 Minutes ripples across the media industry. It's Thursday, June 4th.

**SPEAKER_3** (0:47)
Let's ride.

**Raymond Liu** (0:53)
Good morning, everybody. As you can tell, Neal and Toby aren't here today. They are having fun at Toby's bachelor party. But today, I'm super excited to have Kaila guest hosting on the podcast. You may know her from co-hosting alongside Kyle Hagge from Per My Last Email.
Kaila, how does it feel waking up super early to talk?

**Kaila Lopez** (1:11)
Honestly, not as bad as I was expecting. That 3.3 wake up really hit different, but a few cups of coffee have done wonders. I feel energized. It's as if it's 9 a.m. So pretty excited to be here. And now, a word from our sponsor, Sage. Ray, have you ever had an awkward middle era?

**Raymond Liu** (1:28)
Yeah, yes, the seventh grade. And with the help of a lot of therapy and meditation, I've repressed most of that.

**Kaila Lopez** (1:35)
Wow, what a sad picture you've just painted. Anyway, Sage is designed primarily for small and mid-sized businesses in their quote awkward middle. They build AI-powered finance, payroll, and HR software for businesses of all sizes.

**Raymond Liu** (1:47)
Sage lives in that sweet spot, powerful enough to handle complexity, but not so bloated that you need a team of consultants to send an invoice.

**Kaila Lopez** (1:55)
That's part of why a whopping total of 6 million businesses use Sage globally across 150-plus countries.

**Raymond Liu** (2:02)
To learn more, head to sage.com/morningbrew, that's sage.com/morningbrew.

**Kaila Lopez** (2:08)
Things just keep getting worse for CBS after firing 60-minute correspondent Scott Pelley, and their damage control is, well, not doing much.
Here's where we are. Yesterday, the day after 37-year CBS veteran Scott Pelley was fired, Editor-in-Chief of CBS News Barry Weiss addressed staff, saying the firing came down to a breakdown of, quote, trust and mutual respect, and that leadership had tried to find a way back with Pelley before parting ways. But Pelley fired back almost immediately in a statement refuting the network's and Weiss' version of events. He said the word firing came up in the first 15 seconds of the meeting, that executives were openly hostile from the start, and that nobody offered a path to resolution. The turmoil has left employees feeling completely adrift according to NBC News, especially as this leaves only three full-time correspondents left at 60 Minutes. Ray, what does this mean for the iconic news program?

**Raymond Liu** (2:57)
It's looking pretty bleak for the news program. I just want to go over the depth of the exodus that 60 Minutes has had. CBS lost Anderson Cooper, who announced his departure in February. Correspondents Sharon Alfonsi, Cecilia Vega, executive producer Tanya Simon, a 25-year veteran for 60 Minutes, all have left. And that's a lot of institutional knowledge that is walking out the door. So a lot of people are saying the 60 Minutes that they're familiar with, which is a long-standing news program, is almost kind of unrecognizable at this point.

**Kaila Lopez** (3:31)
Yeah, I think that makes a lot of sense. This is such an iconic news program and it is, you know, very jarring to see so many big changes. This could also just be the new editor-in-chief looking to make her mark on this legacy media program. Weiss took over the news business last October after Paramount purchased her platform, The Free Press, for $150 million.
And this is not the first time that she's shaken up staff or editorial policies, including changes in headlining anchors for CBS Evening News or pulling 60 Minutes segments last season, which had critiques both inside and outside of the company. But ultimately, I think both parties are pushing for the same thing, right? They want this program, 60 Minutes, to continue to succeed. They want ratings and they want viewers. So as season 59 starts this September, only time-

**Raymond Liu** (4:23)
One shy of 60

**Kaila Lopez** (4:24)
I know, crazy.
60 seasons of 60 minutes. I think only time is going to tell if these changes result in better viewership for the flagship program.