\t\t\t\t\t\tWhat To Know<\/p>\n
Tony Dokoupil<\/a> made his official debut as the new anchor of CBS Evening News<\/a> on Monday (January 5), but it\u2019s safe to say the former CBS Mornings<\/a> host suffered through some teething problems with some viewers declaring it a \u201ctrain wreck.\u201d<\/p>\n The issues started when Dokoupil went to segue into a segment about Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz<\/a>\u2019s decision not to seek re-election. As he introduced the section on Walz, a photo of Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly appeared on the screen instead, confusing Dokoupil.<\/p>\n \u201cTo other news, as you just heard from Jill\u2014oh, to other news now. Ah, to Governor Walz\u2014no. We\u2019re going to do Mark Kelly,\u201d Dokoupil said, per The Daily Beast<\/a>. \u201cFirst day\u2014first day, big problems here.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAre we going to Kelly here or are we going to go to Jonah Kaplan?\u201d Dokoupil then asked, referring to the correspondent covering the Walz story. There was a brief silence on set as photographs of Kelly continued to show on screen.<\/p>\n After finally getting on track with the Walz segment, Dokoupil ran into another error when he referred to Walz\u2019s home state by the wrong nickname. According to the Daily Beast, Dokoupil said, \u201cNow we go to Minnesota. A surprise announcement from the Great Lake State there today\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n However, the Great Lake(s) State is actually a nickname for the state of Michigan. Minnesota is known as the \u201cLand of 10,000 Lakes.\u201d<\/p>\n .@tonydokoupil<\/a> debut as the anchor of the \u201cCBS Evening News\u201d came widely heralded<\/p>\n \u2014by Tony Dokoupil.<\/p>\n But this is what happened on air during his debut.pic.twitter.com\/B6Oi3zO79S<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Don Winslow (@donwinslow) January 6, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Viewers were quick to criticize Dokoupil\u2019s first night on the job and took to social media to share their reactions.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is embarrassing. Newly installed CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil has major problems during his first regular broadcast. The inexperience of new CBS News chief Bari Weiss is on full display,\u201d wrote one X user.<\/p>\n \u201cPoor Tony\u2019s not getting off to a good start,\u201d said another.<\/p>\n \u201cTony Dokoupil is becoming a joke really fast!\u201d another added.<\/p>\n\n