TO All our colleagues at 60

FROM Lesley, Bill and Jon

We have had a hard time deciding whether to stay at 60 Minutes. We’re still deeply upset by the firings of Tanya and Draggan, strong leaders who everyone respected. As far as we can tell – because no explanation has ever been offered, they were expelled because they fought for our 60 Minutes values and stood up to protect our independence and integrity.
Newsrooms are not supposed to be run like dictatorships. Collaboration and argument are the way we have always worked at 60. Don Hewitt actually encouraged loud passionate advocacy for our pieces.

This goes for Sharyn, Cecilia and Scott as well, all at the top of the world of TV journalism who exemplified 60 Minutes’ ethos of tough questions and honest storytelling.

And Guy Campanile, an outstanding 60 Minutes producer whose advice on our stories was invaluable.

And Matt Polevoy, who ran our online operations, moved us onto YouTube, was working on developing 60 Minutes Podcasts and many other projects expanding our presence on the Web: vital and necessary for our future.

We want to express how sorry we are that these principled, fair and honest journalists were treated so shabbily, with such indecency. Tanya deserves to be celebrated, not cruelly cast off. Draggan too. It’s been heartbreaking.

But, we have decided to stay on.

We feared that our returning might be construed as an endorsement of the existing power structure. That is simply, categorically not the case.

Here’s why we’re are staying:

We don’t want to see 60 Minutes die.

We have been grieving because this whole mess has wounded and damaged the broadcast. We want to stay and fight, try to repair and preserve our reputation by continuing the Mike Wallace tradition of hold their feet to the fire as well as Morley’s brand of quirky off-kilter reports like his on why people in Finland like to tango!

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California defense tech startup Mach Industries said Tuesday it raised $300 million, nearly quadrupling the company’s valuation to $1.8 billion within a year.

The Huntington Beach startup’s soaring valuation underscores how defense tech funding is booming as armed conflicts such as the Iran war and the Russian-Ukrainian war continue. Infinite Capital and Ribbit Capital led Mach Industries’ Series C funding round.

“We’re delivering advanced unmanned systems at the pace the threat environment demands, and we’re grateful to our investors for believing in our ability to strengthen American and allied superiority on the battlefield,” Mach Industries Chief Executive Ethan Thornton said in a statement.

Thornton, 22, launched the Huntington Beach defense tech startup in 2023 after dropping out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he studied aerospace engineering.

The startup builds drones and other defense systems, developing products such as Viper, its vertical-takeoff strike vehicle; Glide, its high-altitude glider capable of launching weapons; and Stratos, its airborne satellite platform for surveillance.

Well-known venture capital firms such as Sequoia Capital, Khosla Ventures and Bedrock Capital have backed the defense tech startup.

The funding will help Mach Industries expand its manufacturing, advance its technology and deepen its partnerships with customers that include the U.S. Army and Air Force, according to a news release about the funding round. The startup has been growing its business, acquiring rocket-maker Exquadrum for $50 million in April.

As the Trump administration pushes to modernize and expand the U.S. military by partnering with major technology companies, some tech workers at companies such as Google, Amazon, Anthropic and OpenAI are raising concerns about the use of artificial intelligence in autonomous weapons and mass surveillance.

Despite these worries, some of the world’s largest tech companies are increasing their work with the U.S. military. In April, eight technology companies, including Google, Nvidia and SpaceX, struck a deal with the Pentagon to strengthen the U.S. military and establish an “AI-first fighting force.”

The effort has also benefited defense tech startups and AI companies that work with the military. Southern California has been a hub for aerospace and defense tech companies, including Costa Mesa-based Anduril Industries, which reached a $61-billion valuation this year.

President Trump on Thursday said he will invoke Cold War-era emergency powers to direct a nearly $700-million investment into the waning coal industry, including construction of a new West Coast coal export terminal in Oakland.

Speaking from the White House, Trump said he will use the Defense Production Act, a 1950 law that grants the president emergency authority over domestic industries deemed critical to national security, to construct a new export terminal on the West Coast for the first time to move supplies overseas. He also announced the upgrading of 13 existing coal plants across the country, the construction of two new coal plants in Alaska and West Virginia, and restarting a shuttered coal plant in Maryland.

“Today we’re taking historic action to bring down the price of energy and the cost of living for all Americans with the power of clean, beautiful coal,” Trump said. He was joined by U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Environmental Protection Agency administration Lee Zeldin and other top officials.

Trump and his energy advisors have said coal power is a matter of national security because of rising energy costs, primarily from the growth of artificial intelligence data centers. He declared a national energy emergency on his first day back in office, which was aimed at boosting domestic fossil fuel production.

High energy costs have also become an issue for voters, with residential electricity bills increasing nearly 11% since Trump resumed office in January 2025, according to the latest available data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The effort to establish a West Coast coal export terminal revives a fight that has played out repeatedly in recent years.

Beginning around 2010, the coal industry began pushing for new export sites in California, Oregon and Washington that would deliver coal from landlocked western states to energy-hungry markets in Asia. Those plans met fierce opposition from environmental groups and local communities concerned about climate impacts, coal dust, rail traffic and other potential downsides.

The plans were eventually abandoned, leaving the West Coast without a major U.S. coal export terminal — until now.

“Starting this summer, the West Gateway project will break ground and by summer 2028, over 12 million tons of clean beautiful coal per year will be shipped to countries all around the world,” Trump said.

While the administration leaned on coal as an energy cost solution, opponents said the move will actually increase soaring electricity prices — noting that renewables are generally cheaper than coal when it comes to new power generation in the U.S. A recent report from the nonpartisan think tank Energy Innovation found that 99% of all U.S. coal plants are now more expensive to run than replacement by new local solar, wind or energy storage.

“President Trump’s continued attempt to bail out the coal industry endangers public health and leaves Americans footing the bill for more expensive power,” said Shannon Baker-Branstetter, senior director for climate and energy policy at the Center for American Progress.

Baker-Branstetter noted that coal use has been declining for years due to market forces. At the same time, she said pouring taxpayer dollars into a new export facility “means there is no benefit at all to U.S. consumers, while the export terminals would burden communities next to the port with deadly soot pollution.”

The burning of coal is one of the largest drivers of air pollution, releasing fine particles known to be harmful to respiratory and cardiovascular health. At the same time, coal is a leading driver of human-caused climate change, responsible for about 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions from fuel combustion.

The move also follows the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to slow U.S. investment in renewable energy, particularly offshore wind power, electric vehicle initiatives and federal funding for solar projects.

“We wouldn’t have the buildings, the factories, the industry, the electricity grid we have today without the critical contribution of coal, the largest source of global electricity for 125 years in a row, and will be for decades to come,” said Wright, the U.S. Energy Secretary.

But investing in coal in 2026 is akin to “a taxpayer bailout to build new phone booths,” said Kit Kennedy, managing director for power at the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council.

“The Trump administration’s claim that this has to do with national security is just another false pretext,” Kennedy said. “Instead of bailing out dirty energy, why don’t they end their attacks on cheap, plentiful wind and solar power? That’s the surest way to cut our bills and end our dependence on volatile global energy markets.”

Kennedy added that the latest action from the White House will result in higher bills and dirtier air for Americans.

“The best thing for the air, the climate and our utility bills is to let these plants retire peacefully,” she said.