Lesley Stahl

Lesley Stahl has been co-editor of 60 Minutes since March 1991. This season marks her 11th on the broadcast and her first season as anchor of 48 Hours Investigates. Stahl has had a remarkable year reporting for 60 Minutes. She made headlines last June with her interview of indicted terrorist Abdul Rahman Yasin, still wanted in the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993. In his first interview, Yasin told Stahl that New York Jewish neighborhoods were the original targets for him and his co-conspirators. Before that, Stahl interviewed Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon about the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and also made news with a report containing new information about notorious spy Robert Hanssen. Her interviews of Warren Buffett, Robert Rubin and Jack Welch about the economic prospects of America directly following the 9/11 attacks were quoted on the front pages of many newspapers. Prior to joining 60 Minutes, Stahl served as CBS News White House correspondent during the Carter and Reagan presidencies and part of the term of George Bush. Her reports appeared frequently on the CBS Evening News, first with Walter Cronkite, then with Dan Rather, and on other CBS News broadcasts. During much of that time, she also served as moderator of Face The Nation, CBS News' Sunday public affairs broadcast (September 1983-May 1991). For Face The Nation, she interviewed such newsmakers as Margaret Thatcher, Boris Yeltsin, Yasir Arafat and virtually every top U.S. official, including George Bush and Dan Quayle. From October 1990 to March 1991, Stahl added to her work at the White House and Face the Nation by joining Charles Kuralt as co-anchor of America Tonight, a late-night CBS News broadcast of interviews and essays. Her experiences covering Washington over 20 years became the subject of Stahl's book, Reporting Live. Over the years, Stahl anchored several CBS News documentaries, including "The Politics of Cancer" and "In the Red Blues," about the budget deficit, both for "CBS Reports." She has a collection of Emmy Awards for her interviews on Face The Nation and her 60 Minutes reporting. Her 60 Minutes reports "How He Won the War," about former FDA Commissioner David Kessler's battle with the tobacco industry, and "Punishing Saddam," which courageously exposed the plight of Iraqi citizens, mostly children, suffering the effects of the United Nations sanctions against Iraq, were both Emmy winners. "Punishing Saddam" also won Stahl a prestigious Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Journalism Award. She won another Emmy for her 1992 report, Lambs of Christ, a radical pro-life group employing scare tactics to dissuade doctors from performing abortions. In 1996, Stahl was awarded the Fred Friendly First Amendment Award given by Quinnipiac College in Hamden, Conn., in recognition of her journalistic achievements. She was also honored that year by the Radio and Television News Directors Association with an Edward R. Murrow Award for Overall Excellence in Television for her reports on the Michigan Militia. In 1993, she received a Matrix Award for Broadcasting, presented by New York Women in Communications Inc., which recognizes and honors women for outstanding career achievement. The University of Marylands College of Journalism honored Stahl as the Best White House Correspondent of 1991, and in 1990, she received the prestigious Dennis Kauff Journalism Award for lifetime achievement in the news profession.