Latest news with #BillWhitaker
CBS News
06-07-2025
- CBS News
Breathtaking sights and sounds from Wyoming's Green River Drift
It is 4 a.m. and 60 Minutes correspondent Bill Whitaker is preparing for a horseback ride on Wyoming's Green River Drift, the longest running cattle drive in the United States. Whitaker is saddled up to join Brittany Heseltine, then a 29-year-old range rider. Her job is to guide and watch over roughly 600 cattle in mountain pastures during their summer grazing. It was her third on the drift. The job lasts about five months and can be grueling. While on the remote range, Heseltine lives in a small, isolated trailer without running water and cell service. "It's just absolutely amazing to be out here alone in nature with all the wildlife," Hazeltine told Whitaker in 2021. "And I get to work my dogs and drive my horses every day. And, of course, the cattle. It's something that really soothes my soul and it really speaks to me, I guess. It's really difficult to explain, but I love it." Whitaker and 60 Minutes joined Heseltine for a one-and-a-half-mile trek that lasted close to three hours before the herd stopped for a bovine siesta. Watch Bill Whitaker's full 60 Minutes report below. The video above was originally published on October 17, 2021 and was produced by Sarah Shafer Prediger and Keith Zubrow. It was edited by Sarah Shafer Prediger.
Daily Mail
03-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
60 Minutes star tears up over $16M Trump settlement with CBS
The 60 Minutes correspondent whose interview with Kamala Harris sparked a high-profile lawsuit from President Donald Trump had tears in his eyes while addressing colleagues at a meeting following news of the company's decision to settle the case for $16million . During a Wednesday morning meeting with 60 Minutes staff, Bill Whitaker, 73, appeared 'teary-eyed as he spoke about the institution he loves,' Status reported. The meeting, with with CBS News President Tom Cibrowski and interim Executive Producer Tanya Simon, occurred just hours after parent company Paramount agreed to the multimillion-dollar settlement. Trump's lawsuit, seen by many experts as frivolous and sure to fail, claimed that Whittaker's October 2024 interview with Harris ahead of the presidential election was deceptively edited. Whittaker, described as 'quite somber' at Wednesday's meeting, was joined by fellow 60 Minutes correspondents Lesley Stahl and Sharyn Alfonsi in addressing the 'dispirited staff.' The pair expressed 'deep frustration and dismay' at the decision to settle a suit 'widely regarded across the legal community as absurd,' Status reported. The settlement was seen as necessary to complete Paramount's proposed $8billion media merger with Skydance, which requires approval by the Trump administration. Paramount brass had reportedly worried that any large settlement could be considered a bribe. At another meeting the same day, Paramount co-CEO George Cheeks defended the settlement. 'Look, companies often settle litigation to avoid the high and somewhat unpredictable cost of legal defense, the risk of an adverse judgment that could result in significant financial as well as reputational damage and the disruption to business operations that prolonged legal battles can cause,' he said, speaking to investors at Paramount's annual shareholder meeting. 'The concern is what happens next,' one 60 Minutes staffer told Status, of the prospect of shakeups at the network following the merger. 'Is this it? Or [does Skydance] say we are going to bring a new person in and start tinkering around with this show.'
Daily Mail
03-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
The 60 Minutes star who wept after CBS settled Trump lawsuit for $16m
The 60 Minutes correspondent whose interview with Kamala Harris sparked a high-profile lawsuit from President Donald Trump had tears in his eyes while addressing colleagues at a meeting following news of the company's decision to settle the case for $16million. During a Wednesday morning meeting with 60 Minutes staff, Bill Whitaker, 73, appeared 'teary-eyed as he spoke about the institution he loves,' Status reported. The meeting, with with CBS News President Tom Cibrowski and interim Executive Producer Tanya Simon, occurred just hours after parent company Paramount agreed to the multimillion-dollar settlement. Trump's lawsuit, seen by many experts as frivolous and sure to fail, claimed that Whittaker's October 2024 interview with Harris ahead of the presidential election was deceptively edited. Whittaker, described as 'quite somber' at Wednesday's meeting, was joined by fellow 60 Minutes correspondents Lesley Stahl and Sharyn Alfonsi in addressing the 'dispirited staff.' The pair expressed 'deep frustration and dismay' at the decision to settle a suit 'widely regarded across the legal community as absurd,' Status reported. The settlement was seen as necessary to complete Paramount's proposed $8billion media merger with Skydance, which requires approval by the Trump administration. Paramount brass had reportedly worried that any large settlement could be considered a bribe. Whittaker was the one to preside over the Kamala Harris segment at the center of the just-settled lawsuit brought by Donald Trump At another meeting the same day, Paramount co-CEO George Cheeks defended the settlement. 'Look, companies often settle litigation to avoid the high and somewhat unpredictable cost of legal defense, the risk of an adverse judgment that could result in significant financial as well as reputational damage and the disruption to business operations that prolonged legal battles can cause,' he said, speaking to investors at Paramount's annual shareholder meeting. Cheeks also noted that the settlement did not include an apology to Trump, something the president had previously demanded. At the gathering with 60 Minutes staff, Cibrowski and Simon vowed to protect the show's editorial independence going forward. 'The concern is what happens next,' one 60 Minutes staffer told Status, of the prospect of shakeups at the network following the merger. 'Is this it? Or [does Skydance] say we are going to bring a new person in and start tinkering around with this show.' 'The institution could unravel,' the employee warned.
Washington Post
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
Paramount, Trump in ‘advanced' discussions to settle $20 billion lawsuit
A settlement appears close in President Donald Trump's lawsuit against CBS parent company Paramount, which he sued in October 2024 over a complaint about the editing of a '60 Minutes' interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris. The parties began mediation in April, though it had not been clear whether they were nearing a resolution to the case. Trump had filed the lawsuit for $20 billion, alleging that CBS had aided Harris's bid for president by editing an answer she gave to a question asked by correspondent Bill Whitaker about Israel in an effort to make her sound better and 'sabotage' Trump's campaign.
Fox News
28-06-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
'60 Minutes' Kamala Harris interview at center of Trump lawsuit runs afoul of Cronkite-era CBS guidelines
The infamous "60 Minutes" interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris that sparked President Donald Trump's $20 billion "election interference" lawsuit conflicted with Walter Cronkite-era CBS News guidelines. Cronkite, who was the face of "CBS Evening News" from 1962 to 1981, was the premier anchorman of America's golden age of network news. In 1976, at the height of Cronkite's reign as "the most trusted man in America," CBS News president Richard Salant penned a 76-page document outlining CBS News standards. Page 58 is focused on editing and suggests the "60 Minutes" interview at the center of Trump's lawsuit against CBS News would have been frowned upon during the Cronkite era. "The objective of the editing process is to produce a clear and succinct statement which reflects fairly, honestly and without distortion what was seen and heard by our reporters, cameras and microphones," Salant wrote in the 1976 document, which has come to the attention of the Trump legal team. Trump's lawsuit alleges CBS News deceitfully edited an exchange Harris had with "60 Minutes" correspondent Bill Whitaker, who asked her why Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wasn't "listening" to the Biden administration. Harris was criticized for the "word salad" answer that aired in a preview clip of the interview on "Face the Nation." However, when the same question aired during a primetime special on the network, she gave a different, more concise response. Critics at the time accused CBS News of editing her answer to shield the Democratic nominee from further backlash leading up to Election Day. The raw transcript and footage released earlier this year by the FCC showed that both sets of Harris' comments came from the same lengthy response, but CBS News had aired only the first half of her response in the "Face the Nation" preview clip and aired the second half during the primetime special. CBS News, which has denied any wrongdoing and stands by the broadcast and its reporting, did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital when asked if the Cronkite-era standards have changed. "If more than one excerpt from a speech or statement is included in a documentary broadcast, the order of their inclusion in the broadcast will be the same as the order of their inclusion in the speech or statement, unless the broadcast specifically indicates otherwise," Salant wrote in the 1976 CBS News Standards guide. When Cronkite died in 2009 at age 92, his Associated Press obituary said the famed anchor "valued accuracy, objectivity and understated compassion" and "always aimed to be fair and professional in his judgments" regardless of personal views on a topic. Two polls pronounced Cronkite the "most trusted man in America": a 1972 "trust index" survey in which he finished No. 1, about 15 points higher than leading politicians, and a 1974 survey in which people chose him as the most trusted television newscaster, according to the AP. Salant, who was running CBS News when "60 Minutes" was launched, was lauded by The New York Times when he died in 1993. "He was credited with raising professional standards and expanding news programming at CBS," the Times wrote. CBS News, along with parent company Paramount, are currently in mediation with hopes of settling with Trump. The mediator recently proposed the network end the president's $20 billion lawsuit with a $20 million settlement, according to the Wall Street Journal. Last month, Trump rejected Paramount's $15 million settlement offer as he sought at least a $25 million payout as well as an apology. According to the Wall Street Journal, Paramount "isn't prepared" to give one.
