BREAKING: CBS fired Scott Pelley for telling the truth

Scott Pelley (Screengrab from 60 Minutes)

Good morning, this is Really American. It is Wednesday, June 3rd — and we have some major stories to cover today.

Scott Pelley was fired from 60 Minutes after publicly accusing CBS of instructing him to “inject falsehoods and bias” into his reporting and give politicians control over who interviews them — a statement that may be the most significant public accusation made against an American news organization in decades. President Trump has not been seen in public in seven days, and a pre-recorded interview released Wednesday showed new swelling under his eye that has not been previously disclosed or explained. Trump confirmed in that same interview that he called Netanyahu “f*ing crazy” during their phone call — and said “if there wasn’t me, there would be no Israel.” And thousands of Albanians are protesting in the streets of Tirana against Jared Kushner’s $1.4 billion luxury resort development on protected coastal wetlands — the latest example of Trump family members using the presidency to profit from foreign governments.

Before we get to the news — what is happening at CBS right now is one of the most alarming press freedom stories in American history. Scott Pelley just told the world that CBS instructed him to inject falsehoods into his reporting. Bari Weiss fired him for refusing. We cannot overstate how significant Pelley's statement is or how alarming his firing should be. One of the most respected institutions in American journalism has been brought under direct political pressure. Really American exists precisely because this was always coming. We are fully reader-supported, editorially independent, and not for sale. No billionaire. No political favor. No kill switch. What CBS is tearing down, independent journalism like Really American is building back up. If you believe a free press is worth fighting for, please consider clicking here to support Really American and help us keep growing. And if you're already a Really American subscriber, thank you for backing independent pro-democracy media. Subscribe or upgrade right now. And share this with everyone you know who still believes in a free press.

SCOTT PELLEY WAS FIRED AFTER SAYING CBS TOLD HIM TO “INJECT FALSEHOODS” INTO HIS REPORTING. THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT STATEMENTS IN AMERICAN JOURNALISM HISTORY.

Scott Pelley — one of the most respected journalists in the history of American television, a 37-year CBS News veteran and longtime 60 Minutes anchor — was fired Tuesday after he told the new executive producer of 60 Minutes to his face that Bari Weiss was “murdering” the show. The next day, Pelley issued a public statement that may be the most significant accusation made against an American news organization in modern history.

“New management has instructed me to inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story,” Pelley wrote. “I’ve been told to include assertions that are unverified. To date, in every case, I have managed to ignore these instructions or refuse them.”

He did not stop there. “Recently, politicians have been invited to choose correspondents for interviews on the broadcast. Giving politicians control over 60 Minutes interviews is not how this is done.” He described chaos and incompetence in the new management so severe that “in a case involving one of my stories, the entire program came within 19 minutes of not getting on the air at all.”

Pelley said 60 Minutes “lost its DNA” when its entire senior leadership and two of its best correspondents were fired. He said good people were silenced for standing up for their audience. He said the new owner is “casting this legend aside, apparently to curry a moment of favor with the Trump administration.”

Bari Weiss addressed staff Wednesday morning and called Pelley’s firing “the path he chose.” New executive producer Nick Bilton — a tech columnist with no broadcast experience — sent Pelley a letter accusing him of hijacking a staff meeting “with remarkable incivility and contempt.”

Former 60 Minutes producer Bill Owens said his colleagues “were fired by people who don’t even know what we do.” Former correspondent Steve Kroft said “Trump’s DNA is all over this.” Dan Rather, Glenn Close, and dozens of current and former CBS News staffers signed an open letter to David Ellison demanding he uphold editorial independence.

Scott Pelley was told to inject falsehoods into his reporting. He refused. He was fired. He said so publicly. This is not a media industry story. This is a democracy story. What Bari Weiss is doing to 60 Minutes is what happens when a billionaire with business before the president buys one of the most important journalism institutions in American history.

If you believe in press freedom and an independent media not shy of telling the truth, we need you to subscribe today and share this with everyone you know.

TRUMP HAS NOT BEEN SEEN IN PUBLIC IN SEVEN DAYS. A PRE-RECORDED INTERVIEW SHOWED NEW SWELLING UNDER HIS EYE.

President Trump has now gone seven full days without a single public appearance. His last in-person public event was a cabinet meeting on May 27th. Since then his White House schedule has been blank — not light, blank — while the country navigates an active war, a collapsing Iran deal, a diplomatic crisis with Israel, and one of the most turbulent weeks of his second term.

The only glimpses of Trump have come through pre-recorded interviews released this week. In one of those interviews — published Wednesday — observers noted new visible swelling under the president’s eye that has not been previously disclosed or explained by the White House. The administration did not address the swelling in the medical report released at 11:36pm on a Friday night last week.

That report already raised questions. Trump gained 14 pounds since his last exam. His resting heart rate rose from 62 to 73 beats per minute. His triglycerides nearly doubled. His leg swelling — which the White House denied existed until it could no longer deny it — was acknowledged but described as improved. The report omitted details that appeared in last year’s version. An AI-enhanced heart scan was used to claim his cardiac age was 14 years younger than his actual age — a tool cardiologists immediately called clinically invalid.

Mehmet Oz told reporters Tuesday that Trump gets tested “every single day” because “he likes the results.” A doctor commenting on the exam told CNN: “When I discuss this with some of my colleagues in cardiology, everyone laughed” at the AI cardiac age claim.

Trump turns 80 on June 14th. He has visited Walter Reed three times in 13 months. His schedule has been blank for seven days. A pre-recorded interview showed new swelling under his eye. The White House says he is in excellent health. The president has not appeared in public in a week. Nobody is explaining why.

TRUMP CONFIRMED HE CALLED NETANYAHU “F*ING CRAZY.” HE ALSO SAID “IF THERE WASN’T ME, THERE WOULD BE NO ISRAEL.”

In a pre-recorded interview released Wednesday, President Trump confirmed that he called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “f*ing crazy” during their Monday phone call — adding that he was “perturbed” by the “constant fighting with Lebanon” — while also declaring in the same interview that “if there wasn’t me, there would be no Israel.”

The confirmation came after Axios reported Monday that Trump had raged at Netanyahu in a profanity-laced call, saying: “You’re f*ing crazy. You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.” Netanyahu’s office had initially pushed back on parts of the account. Trump confirmed the core of it on Wednesday.

The call was triggered by Israel’s escalating military operations in Lebanon — which Iran has cited as the reason it suspended peace talks with the United States. Israel has killed more than 2,500 Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon since March, and Hezbollah has fired approximately 5,500 rockets at Israeli forces and 2,500 rockets into Israel in return. Trump claimed after the call that he had brokered a truce — Netanyahu immediately said Israel’s military operations would continue.

The Iran war entered its 95th day Wednesday with no deal signed, no Strait of Hormuz reopened, gas prices still elevated, and Trump’s own Secretary of State telling Congress Tuesday that “the war is over” — a claim that was immediately disputed by the senator he said it to.

Trump confirmed he called Netanyahu f*ing crazy. He said without him there would be no Israel. The deal is not signed. The Strait is still closed. The war is 95 days old.

THOUSANDS ARE PROTESTING IN ALBANIA AGAINST JARED KUSHNER’S LUXURY RESORT ON PROTECTED WETLANDS.

Thousands of Albanians have taken to the streets of Tirana and coastal towns to protest a $1.4 billion luxury hotel complex being developed by investors including Jared Kushner — Trump’s son-in-law and Middle East envoy — on an ecologically sensitive portion of Albania’s Adriatic coast, in what demonstrators say is emblematic of corruption, democratic backsliding, and the Trump family’s use of the presidency to enrich itself abroad.

The project — backed primarily by Saudi Arabian government funding through Kushner’s Affinity Partners investment firm — involves two developments: one on the island of Sazan, a former secretive military submarine base, and one on the Zvernec Peninsula, a 1,000-acre coastal area home to flamingos, pelicans, and protected wetlands. No environmental impact report has been released publicly, as normally required. Construction equipment has been spotted on site. Fencing with barbed wire has been erected. Video from the weekend showed protesters and security personnel physically clashing at the site.

The Albanian government approved the project over local objections. Prime Minister Edi Rama described it as a chance to attract foreign investment. Critics noted that no competitive tender was held and that the Trump connection appears to have been decisive in the project’s approval — and in the Trump administration’s cancellation last year of US sanctions against an ultranationalist Albanian Serb leader whose cooperation was needed for another Trump-connected energy project in the region.

“It’s not only transparency about environmental law — but it’s transparency in general,” said Taulant Bino of the Albanian Ornithological Society. “It’s about democracy.”

Jared Kushner is negotiating the Iran deal. He is building luxury hotels on protected wetlands in Albania backed by Saudi money. Don Jr. is making millions off Pentagon drone contracts. Trump bought Dell stock and the Pentagon gave Dell a $9.7 billion contract. The presidency is being used as a business. The people of Albania are in the streets about it.

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Scott Pelley was told to inject falsehoods into his reporting. He refused. Bari Weiss fired him. What CBS News is doing right now is one of the most alarming press freedom stories in a generation — and it is happening in real time while Really American is watching and reporting every move.

We cannot overstate how significant Pelley’s statement is or how alarming his firing should be. One of the most respected institutions in American journalism has been brought under direct political pressure. It is now the responsibility of independent media to build what CBS is tearing down.

Really American will never trade the truth for access. We will never pull a story because a powerful person called. We will never give a politician a kill switch over our reporting. If you believe a free press is worth fighting for — if you want journalism that answers only to you — please consider clicking here to support Really American and help us keep growing. And if you’re already a Really American subscriber, thank you for backing independent pro-democracy media. Subscribe or upgrade right now. And share this with everyone you know who still believes in a free press.