Scott Pelley speaks: ‘CBS News is on fire’ and Bari Weiss should be removed | CNN Business

Scott Pelley says “CBS News is on fire” and the news division’s editor in chief Bari Weiss should be removed from her job. “My hope is that the leadership of Paramount will say to themselves, this isn’t working,” Pelley said in an interview with The New York Times, his first since being fired by CBS on June 2. Pelley said he perceived that Weiss was “putting a thumb on the scale” on behalf of the Trump administration during the most recent season of “60 Minutes.” A CBS News spokesperson said Pelley’s argument is not credible and that there is no political interference at the news organization. The bigger problem, Pelley told The Times, was “not any kind of political influence. The problem was the incompetence.” The interview, published Sunday morning, affirms that Pelley is not going quietly after the controversial housecleaning at “60 Minutes,” the most watched news program on American television. A spokesperson for Weiss declined CNN’s request for comment about the Pelley interview. At the end of May, Weiss forced out executive producer Tanya Simon; several other top producers; and two correspondents, Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi. Simon, who has