Tony Dokoupil started his first day anchoring the “CBS Evening News” with multiple hiccups.
The former “CBS Mornings” co-host launched as the new evening anchor with several flubbed segment transitions and openly admitted to the first-day slips on air.
“First day, big problems here,” Dokoupil said during the broadcast, which started with him introducing a segment on Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as a photo of Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly appeared on screen.
“To other news, as you just heard from Jill—oh, to other news now. Ah, to Governor Walz—no. We’re going to do Mark Kelly.”
Shaking his head with a grin, the 45-year-old journalist tried to resolve the mix-up with the control room.
”Are we going to Kelly here or are we going to go to Jonah Kaplan?” Dokoupil asked the control room. His question was followed by an awkward silence before he proceeded with the story about Mark Kelly.
Shortly afterward, Dokoupil stumbled again, mistakenly calling Minnesota the “Great Lakes State,” a moniker that belongs to Michigan.
Minnesota is known as the “Land of 10,000 Lakes.”
The moment comes one month after Dokoupil was elevated to the evening anchor chair by CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, who was reportedly in the studio for his error-filled debut.
The decision drew backlash, with some CBS staffers calling Dokoupil’s promotion an “insult” as Weiss works to make the network more appealing to conservatives.
Dokoupil, however, pledged to viewers that his sole priority is delivering unbiased news.
“Here’s my promise to you, today and every time you see me in this chair: you come first,” Dokoupil assured. “Not advertisers. Not politicians. Not corporate interests. And, yes, that does include the corporate owners of CBS. I report for you.”
He added, “I tell you what I know, when I know it, and how I know it. And when I get it wrong, I’ll tell you that, too. It also means I’m going to talk to everybody, and hold everyone in public life to the very same standard.”
Dokoupil’s new role comes as CBS News undergoes several changes after Skydance’s $8 billion acquisition of Paramount, CBS’s parent company. The merger also followed a lawsuit settlement between CBS News and President Donald Trump.
“CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil” airs weeknights at 6:30 p.m.
