With the 2026-27 season premiere of \u201c60 Minutes\u201d just two months away, CBS News leadership is getting closer to deciding who will fill the recent departures of longtime correspondents Scott Pelley, Sharon Alfonsi, Cecilia Vega and Anderson Cooper.<\/p>\n
Seth Doane, a longtime correspondent based in Italy who is often seen on \u201cCBS Sunday Morning,\u201d is under consideration, along with chief investigative correspondent Jim Axelrod, who currently has a lead role in the \u201cEye On America\u201d series featured on the \u201cCBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trevor Phillips, a British journalist and former politician who recently joined CBS News as senior global affairs correspondent, is expected to have a role on the program, according to people briefed on the plan. Phillips had a long career in the U.K., producing and writing documentaries and most recently hosted the Sky News program \u201cSunday Morning with Trevor Phillips.\u201d<\/p>\n
Phillips received a knighthood in 2022 for his service to equality and human rights for the U.K. But he also generated controversy over his career for comments about the British Muslim community, which led to a yearlong suspension from the Labor Party in 2020.<\/p>\n
A CBS News representative declined to comment beyond saying the division is looking at a number of internal and external candidates.<\/p>\n
Dokoupil is expected to deliver four \u201c60 Minutes\u201d pieces a season. Major Garrett, the network\u2019s chief Washington correspondent, will also have a contributor role. <\/p>\n
Matt Gutman, hired from ABC News last year<\/a> as national correspondent, is under strong consideration. He is being put in front of test audiences, according to several people at the network.<\/p>\n Holly Williams, a foreign correspondent working out of Istanbul for CBS News since 2012, and Mariana van Zeller, a journalist for National Geographic Channel, are both said to remain in contention.<\/p>\n The newcomers will join Bill Whitaker,<\/a> Lesley Stahl, Jon Wertheim and Norah O\u2019Donnell,<\/a> who are all returning as correspondents. O\u2019Donnell will also continue in her role as senior correspondent for the network, occasionally anchoring specials.<\/p>\n The rebuild of the talent lineup comes after the upheaval at the program that has occurred since Bari Weiss joined CBS News as editor in chief in October.<\/p>\n Pelley was fired last month after confronting management about the May 28 dismissal of his colleagues<\/a> Alfonsi and Vega<\/a> along with the program\u2019s executive producer Tanya Simon and her second-in-command Draggan Mihailovich.<\/p>\n In February, Cooper decided not to sign a new deal as a \u201c60 Minutes\u201d contributor, as the CNN anchor cited a desire to spend more time with his family. But Cooper has reportedly told colleagues that he does not want to work for Weiss.<\/p>\n The internal disruption at \u201c60 Minutes\u201d followed a highly successful season. In its 57th season, \u201c60 Minutes\u201d was the most watched news program on television with an average of 9.1 million viewers a week, according to Nielsen data. The program bucked the overall decline in traditional TV viewing by growing 9% over the previous season.<\/p>\n After the dismissal of his \u201c60 Minutes\u201d colleagues, Pelley accused Weiss of trying to \u201cmurder\u201d the program and claimed she was putting \u201cher thumb on the scale\u201d for more favorable coverage of the Trump administration. He was fired with cause after confronting management at a June 1 meeting.<\/p>\n