60 Minutes opened its new season with a Pentagon rescue story, a hidden-camera expose on pardon brokers, and a profile of the Los Angeles Rams — and critics noticed that the show looked a lot like the one that went off the air last spring.
Sunday night saw the show return to its old formula, with a well-known guest, a tough investigation, and a final segment on technology. The new graphics, a new correspondent, and a larger social-media push were part of the broadcast. Yet none of these changes did much to alter the show’s overall appearance and tone, which still resemble those of past seasons.
Rescue Over Iran
In the opening portion of the broadcast, Norah O’Donnell sat down with an Air Force colonel who had been shot down over Iran. His account detailed a harrowing descent, serious injuries sustained, and a climb up a 7,000-foot ridgeline prior to his rescue two days later. He referred to the escape as a “modern day miracle.”.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and General Dan Caine, who serves as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, both agreed to be interviewed. The Pentagon gave full cooperation, and declassified footage of the operation was shown.
The segment centered solely on the rescue operation itself. It did not touch on the ongoing war in Iran, which has been reported by other outlets within the CBS News organization. Nor did it reference one of the more alarming stories circulating around Washington: Hegseth’s purge of top experienced generals.
The colonel ended his account with a message about teamwork and leadership. “It’s a story of the teamwork, the training, of the faith, of the decisions and the leadership to do something that will live in history as an example of what America’s willing to do, in order to uphold our promise and leave no man behind,” he said.
Pardon Brokers Expose
The second part put the cameras on pardon brokers, catching two of them, Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl, attempting to talk Ammon Covino, a convicted felon, and his wife, Crystal, into spending $300,000 for their claimed power to get a pardon request in front of Donald Trump.
Burkman told the couple bluntly that they needed to pressure the president. “You have to put pressure on the president from all directions in a consistent way to force his hand. We literally want to put the pen in his hand and get him to sign it because he’s tired of hearing about it,” he said.
The show pointed out that Burkman and Wohl have a history of political stunts, which made their role in pardon brokering unsurprising. In the video that ran, they appeared unfazed by the hidden camera. They attempted to downplay the practice by claiming it was not much different from what occurred during the Biden and Obama administrations.
Lesley Stahl’s segment also highlighted the numbers. About 70 percent of Trump’s clemencies in his second term have not gone through the standard channels at the Department of Justice. Including the pardons of the January 6th rioters, the figure rises to 92 percent.
Trump’s behavior at the White House was described as “ethically sound manner.”, according to the segment. A college professor was interviewed, saying that even as brokers charge ever higher fees, “in the end, it falls on the administration.”.
The show also ran through some of the notables who got pardons, including the CEO of Binance, who “boosted a Trump family crypto venture, though both sides deny any connection to the pardon,” Stahl noted.
Rams and McVay Profile
The third segment shifted to sports, profiling the Los Angeles Rams and their head coach, Sean McVay. 60 Minutes and Bill Wertheim got access to the team’s preseason practice, billing the franchise “as maybe the — premier NFL franchise: blue chip; gold standard.”
The segment did not mention the Rams’ drubbing in their opener against the 49ers. That may have been foreshadowed by McVay himself, who said, “Success is never linear, you know? It’s– it– it’s always up and down.”
He acknowledged that he was speaking about the progress of practice, which is what “not in a good place right now,” means.
Douthat’s Closing Pitch
The Last Minute closed with a new correspondent, Ross Douthat, who showed up to discuss the most recent warnings about AI. He also pitched for the show’s future, with the drama of the last year or so left unsaid.
“We may have a narrow window this year, not the next 10, to make artificial intelligence safe for humanity,” he said. “That clock is ticking, and so is ours. For almost 60 years, it has meant the same thing: Journalism you can trust. Where we’re headed, we’re going to need it.”
The Interference Question
This premiere lands during a time of intensified attention. Not long ago, executive producer Tanya Simon and top producers were removed, alongside correspondents Cecilia Vega, Sharyn Alfonsi and Scott Pelley — each of whom has said that the executives above them interfered.
In June, CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss pushed back on the claim, telling The Wall Street Journal that “What’s being called ‘editorial interference’ is in reality the job description of an editor in chief.” Not long after he took over as the new executive producer, Nick Bilton told staffers that the show “will never be instructed by the ownership of the company on these stories.”
The corporate ownership has done plenty to raise suspicions. The previous owners of Paramount, the parent company of CBS, settled a lawsuit Donald Trump filed against the network over how 60 Minutes edited an interview with Kamala Harris. New owners Skydance have waged a not-so-subtle effort to woo Trump as they sought administration sign-off for their proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery.
The Ratings Risk
Interference or not, the risk that 60 Minutes faces is ratings. Losing its position as the No. 1 news show on television would be a blow to the franchise.
The three parts of the premiere were a war story, a corruption expose, and a sports profile. The Pentagon rescue was the sort of exclusive that every network wants. The expose on the pardon-brokers is a sharp piece of investigative journalism, but it follows a template the show has used for years. The Rams profile was lighter fare, and the team’s poor start was avoided rather than reported.
“For almost 60 years, it has meant the same thing: Journalism you can trust.”
What Changed, What Didn’t
Some noticeable changes came with the new season. A fresh set of graphics is part of it. Douthat now shows up in the final portion of the program. There’s also been an expansion in the show’s social-media activity.
The basic structure stays the same. Interviews, footage, and narration are what make up the individual parts.
| Element | New Season |
|---|---|
| Graphics | New design |
| Correspondents | Douthat added |
| Social media | Increased |
| Look and feel | Familiar |
What Remains Unanswered
The first episode left viewers with more questions than answers. While the show has pledged independence under Bilton, the actions of the people who own it cast doubt on whether that pledge will actually hold up.
The opening broadcast served as a reminder that the doubts concerning 60 Minutes do not center on the standard of the reporting itself. Rather, they concern the circumstances within which the show functions.
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