‘60 Minutes’ Gives A Peek At Story Lineup For Season Premiere Following Tumultuous Revamp

The season premiere of 60 Minutes on Sunday will feature Norah O’Donnell’s interview with the the weapon systems officer whose plane was struck down in Iran, leading to a successful rescue operation.

The newsmagazine will be starting its 59th season with plenty of scrutiny: It’s the first original broadcast since a tumultuous revamp earlier this year. The network ousted executive producer Tanya Simon and brought in Nick Bilton to succeed her, while correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega were dropped and, sharply criticizing the changes in an all-staff meeting with Bilton, Scott Pelley was fired. The three correspondents have all claimed political interference in their stories, something that the network has denied.

Under CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss, the show has brought in Ross Douthat, a former New York Times columnist, as a correspondent, and upped O’Donnell’s role on the broadcast. Those joining as contributors include Gianna Toboni, former senior correspondent at Vice News, who is also a CBS News national correspondent; Sebastian Junger; Ariel Levy, a staff writer at the New Yorker; and Trevor Phillips, who is also senior global affairs correspondent for the network.

O’Donnell’s segment will feature interviews with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth; Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Admiral Brad Cooper, the operational commander of the war with Iran. In the interview, the officer is identified by the call sign Dude Four Four Bravo.

Another segment, from correspondent Jon Wertheim, will be a look at the Los Angeles Rams. Wertheim, Lesley Stahl and Bill Whitaker chose to remain with the show.

60 Minutes also leans more heavily in film-like narrative in a trailer for O’Donnell’s interview.