CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss has held a series of recent conversations with former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, according to people familiar with the matter.
The outreach is said to reflect Weiss’s interest in potentially bringing Cuomo to CBS, long known as the Tiffany Network. Status first reported the discussions Monday, citing text exchanges and an in-person meeting.
A person with knowledge of the situation confirmed to Our News Outlet on Tuesday that the talks have taken place.
Any move, however, would be complicated. Cuomo remains tied to NewsNation under a multiyear deal signed in 2024 and is still pursuing a wrongful termination lawsuit against CNN stemming from his 2021 dismissal.
That legal fight could be a major obstacle for CBS. CNN is expected to become part of Paramount, CBS News’ parent company, next year, making it unlikely that Cuomo would be hired while the lawsuit remains unresolved.
Cuomo, 56, was fired by CNN in December 2021 after revelations that he had assisted his brother, then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, during the sexual harassment scandal that ultimately forced the governor to resign. Cuomo’s former 9 p.m. CNN slot is now held by Kaitlan Collins.
Weiss, 42, is said to view Cuomo as a strong television presence and a “skilled broadcaster,” sources said.
The conversations come as CBS News continues to face ratings challenges. CBS Mornings, for example, posted its lowest-rated week on record during the week of July 13.
Bari Weiss has her eyes on a new prospect as she continues to try right the sinking ratings ship that is CBS News
Chris Cuomo – seen here outside CNN’s New York office with then-costar Don Lemon in October 2018 – has been talking to the Free Press founder in recent months, sources said this week
Mornings could be a possible landing spot for Cuomo should the talks ever pan out, Status founder – and former CNN media reporter – Oliver Darcy noted in his report.
Weiss took the reins in October after being hired by then-new Paramount CEO David Ellison. She promptly moved Tony Dokoupil from Mornings to the perennially last-place Evening News.
In the weeks before, she brought on former ABC Chief National Correspondent Matt Gutman to be CBS News’ chief reporter.
More recently, Weiss hired New York Times columnist Ross Douthat. He will serve as a 60 Minutes correspondent, the network said while announcing the move last month.
Norah O’Donnell, the former face of ‘CBS Evening News,’ was named a correspondent in the process. The moves are all part of an ongoing revamp designed to move CBS into the modern age and appeal to an audience that is more centrist.
Cuomo could be the perfect fit in that regard, with his post-CNN journalism featuring insight from conservatives like Tucker Carlson and Bill O’Reilly.
Weiss – the founder of the center-right Free Press – has been ‘enraptured’ by the host and such content, sources told Status.
Cuomo currently hosts the creatively titled Cuomo on NewsNation. The show launched in 2022.
Cuomo currently hosts the nightly show Cuomo on NewsNation. The program launched in 2022
Ratings, meanwhile, remain historically low at CBS. Mornings – after losing one of its anchors, Tony Dokoupil earlier this year – suffered it lowest-rated week ever for the week of July 13. The show is a possible landing spot for Cuomo, who was at CNN for nearly nine years
Dokoupil, meanwhile, recently scored his worst ratings-month on Evening News since taking the job in January. Weiss moved him after a disastrous dual-anchor experiment by her predecessors that sent more than 1.2 million viewers astray.
At the time, the show slipped below 4million total viewers – a meaningful marker that Dokoupil now regularly fails to hit.
Insiders told Status last month they believed Weiss’s moves since taking the reins have irrevocably damaged the CBS brand.
One CBS News staffer told the publication: ‘The problem is clearly Bari. We are all trying to clean this up, but we need Ellison’s help.’
The Daily Mail has approached CBS for comment.
Cuomo is currently suing CNN for $125 million, claiming the network wrongfully fired him and damaged his reputation by saying the host lied to them about helping his brother deal with sexual harassment allegations.
‘In fact, as the limited information released from WarnerMedia’s investigation makes clear, CNN’s highest-level executives not only knew about Chris’s involvement in helping his brother but also actively assisted the Governor, both through Chris and directly themselves,’ Cuomo’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, said in 2022 while filing.
‘As CNN has admitted, network standards were changed in a calculated decision to boost ratings. When those practices were called into question, Chris was made the scapegoat.’
Cuomo worked for CNN for nearly nine years. He hosted Cuomo Prime Time, which ran from 2017 until Cuomo’s exit in November 2021.
