“60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley accused CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss of “murdering” the venerable newsmagazine at a staff meeting Monday with Nick Bilton, the technology journalist tapped to oversee the show, according to a source who was in the room.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Bilton, a documentary filmmaker and former tech columnist at The New York Times, told the group of “60 Minutes” staff members that Weiss “loves this institution,” the source said.Pelley interrupted Bilton and pushed back.“She is murdering ‘60 Minutes.
She does not love this place,” Pelley told Bilton, according to the source.“She was brought in to kill it, and she’s been doing exactly that.”The meeting was intended to be Bilton’s introduction to the “60 Minutes” team.
In another tense exchange, the source said, Pelley said Weiss has “no qualifications for her job” and told Bilton he has “slender qualifications” for his new role as executive producer of “60 Minutes,” the leading newsmagazine on television.CBS News spokespeople did not immediately respond to NBC News’ requests for comment.The details of the meeting were first reported by The Guardian.Weiss, a former opinion columnist and the founder of the website The Free Press, hired Bilton as part of a push to overhaul CBS News and “60 Minutes.” In a major shake-up on Thursday, CBS ousted Bilton’s predecessor, “60 Minutes” veteran Tanya Simon, and fired two correspondents, Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega.Alfonsi and Weiss had clashed late last year over a last-minute decision to postpone a “60 Minutes” segment about the Trump administration deporting Venezuelan men to a notorious prison in El Salvador.
Alfonsi said the story was pulled for “political reasons”; Weiss said it was “not ready” for air.The story, titled “Inside CECOT,” ultimately aired in January.It included statem...