New “60 Minutes” Correspondent Trevor Phillips Says CBS News Boss Bari Weiss Will Either ‘Change the World’ or ‘Crash and Burn’

Deirdre DurkanMon, August 3, 2026 at 6:27 PM UTC

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Trevor Phillips (left); Bari WeissCredit: Tracey Welch/Dave Benett/Getty; Mary Kouw/CBS via Getty -

Trevor Phillips joins CBS News as senior global affairs correspondent and will contribute to 60 Minutes

Phillips praised CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, calling her leadership bold and potentially transformative

The veteran journalist, knighted in 2022, says he’s excited for this new career chapter at age 72

Trevor Phillips is embracing a new chapter at CBS News, and he’s offering an unfiltered assessment of the executive who recruited him.

The veteran broadcaster, who was recently named CBS News’ senior global affairs correspondent and will also contribute to 60 Minutes, spoke candidly about editor-in-chief Bari Weiss in an interview with The Daily Telegraph ahead of his move to New York from London.

“Bari and her team have a huge tanker of a network news organization to turn around, and they are assembling a little team on the bridge,” Phillips said. “The great thing about her is that she’s one of those people who will either change the world or crash and burn. But when they crash and burn, it’s in Technicolor.”

Phillips, 72, is joining CBS News after serving as a correspondent and host at Sky News since 2021. A longtime journalist, author and former politician, he previously chaired the United Kingdom’s Equality and Human Rights Commission and was knighted in 2022 for his services to equality and human rights.

Sir Trevor Phillips on September 10, 2025Credit: Tracey Welch/Dave Benett/Getty

Reflecting on accepting the position, Phillips said he viewed the opportunity as one worth taking at this stage in his career.

“You know, I’m 72. It’s a great adventure,” he said. “And who turns down adventures if someone is willing to take a chance on you?”

Phillips also addressed the debate that has surrounded Weiss’ leadership since she was appointed editor-in-chief of CBS News last year.

“In the U.S., the controversy has been framed as, ‘CBS News is becoming anti-woke.’ But that’s not what Bari is about,” Phillips said. “She has her own views, some of which I’m sympathetic to, some of which I’m not, but her point is that the media should be heterodox. There should be a variety of voices.”

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Asked about reports involving CBS News’ London bureau, Phillips declined to comment on speculation surrounding staffing decisions. Instead, he discussed the types of political figures he hopes to interview in his new role.

“What’s interesting in politics now is this current of thought, represented by Farage, Giorgia Meloni and Marine Le Pen, which essentially says the way we have done conventional politics is bust in a new world, and we need to do things differently,” he said. “We keep trying to fit it into the old Right/Left duopoly, and I don’t think that’s quite right. The interviews I’m interested in doing will include that group [of leaders].”

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Phillips also shared his philosophy on broadcast journalism and why he believes CBS hired him.

“I’m not the smoothest presenter on television or reader of the autocue, but I guess they think that I manage the chaos [of live guests] well,” he said. “Broadcast journalism has, to some extent, become the creature of entertainment. We need to return to the business of reporting. To put it in its crassest terms, the story needs to come before the reporter. Too many people who do what I do put themselves between the viewer and the story, and that’s not our job.”

Phillips’ arrival comes during a period of significant change at CBS News following Paramount’s merger with Skydance Media. Weiss has overseen a series of leadership and staffing changes at the network, including at 60 Minutes, prompting public criticism from some current and former CBS News journalists.

CBS News has maintained that its editorial decisions are intended to strengthen the organization’s journalism as it moves forward.

on People

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”