‘First Day, Big Problems Here’: Tony Dokoupil Had Some Issues on CBS Evening News

CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil ran into some issues during his first regular broadcast of the program on Monday.

Last month, CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss appointed Dokoupil to the hosting job, which he was to officially begin on Monday. But after the U.S. invaded Venezuela on Saturday and abducted President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, Dokoupil hosted a special Saturday edition of CBS Evening News to cover the breaking developments.

During Monday’s installment of the show, Dokoupil wrapped up a segment on Venezuela by suggesting it serves U.S. interests if it means the influence of China, Russia, and Iran is lessened in the country.

“What is actually about?” he said, “Well, if you zoom out a bit, you can maybe see the outlines of an answer. For decades, Russia, China, and Iran have been building a presence in Venezuela, a base of power and influence in the hemisphere. With Maduro now out, that base of power and influence could be out too.”

Dokoupil then pivoted to “other news.” That’s when trouble began.

“All right, to other news,” he said. “As you just heard from Jill, well, to other news now. Uh, to Governor Walz. No, we’re gonna do Mark Kelly. First day, first day, big problems here. Uh, are we going to Kelly here or are we gonna go to Jonah Kaplan?”

The question was succeeded by about four seconds of dead air.

“We’re doing Mark Kelly,” the anchor continued. “Possibly demoted from his rank of captain in the Navy. Hegseth issued what’s known as a letter a censure for the Arizona democrat over his participation in the video, they called on service members to defy illegal orders without specifying which orders he had in mind.”

Weiss’s tenure at the network is off to a rocky start internally. Last week, The Independent cited multiple disgruntled staffers at CBS News, who said she was planning to accompany Dokopuil and the CBS Evening News team on a 10-city broadcast tour across the U.S. According to the report, Weiss planned to travel with an entourage that included a five-person armed security detail.

Watch above via CBS News.