NEWSCBS Anchor Tony Dokoupil's Broadcast From Wrong City Ends in Chaos
Ratings-challenged 'CBS Evening News' anchor Tony Dokoupil suffered a series of setbacks during coverage of Donald Trump's China visit.
May 15 2026, Published 6:00 a.m. ET
The CBS Evening News broadcast on Wednesday, May 13, anchored by Tony Dokoupil, ended in chaos after their cameraman suffered a medical emergency live on air in Taipei, Taiwan.
During the final segment of the broadcast, Dokoupil was delivering a report on the upcoming summit between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The live feed suddenly disrupted as the camera violently shook, then abruptly cut to pre-recorded B-roll footage.
An audible dull thud was heard in the background as Dokoupil stopped mid-sentence and asked, "Is he OK?"
The network cut to New York studio anchor Matt Gutman.
He then informed viewers, "We’re gonna take a quick break, we have a medical emergency here. We are calling a doctor.”
The network cut to New York studio anchor Matt Gutman, who "signed off" the broadcast on Dokoupil's behalf.
“So I’m going to sign off for Tony Dokoupil, who’s been reporting in Taiwan,” Gutman said. “We’re going to go to break, we’ll be right back.”
The network later stated X, saying, “Tonight, during the final segment of CBS Evening News, our cameraman on set suffered a medical emergency. Thankfully, he’s okay and recovering.”
The chaotic end to the broadcast capped off an already logistically troubled assignment.
Mainstream media reports noted that Dokoupil was forced to anchor from Taipei, Taiwan (the Republic of China), rather than Beijing (the People's Republic of China).
This geographic separation occurred because Dokoupil failed to secure a Chinese journalist visa in time for Trump's state visit, forcing CBS to scramble and position him over 1,000 miles away from the actual summit location.
- Total Flop! CBS Anchor Tony Dokoupil Admits He Bombed in Gaffe-Filled Evening News Debut: 'First Day, Big Problems Here'
- 'Bully' Pete Hegseth Calls for Mark Kelly to Be Investigated by the Pentagon for a Second Time
- ‘It’s Been a Nightmare’: Martin Short Reveals Daughter Katherine ‘Fought for a Long Time’ Before Tragic Suicide
Want OK! each day? Sign up here!
The anchor's broadcast descended into chaos.
“On the surface, it might look like all the action is over there,” the anchor said, referring to Beijing. “...But if you zoom out from the state visit, you see one of the most important geopolitical stories of our time, and the big question tonight, will China, under Xi Jinping, try to take over Taiwan, risking war and economic catastrophe? This is what could happen here on these shores and in these streets if Xi decides to invade.”
This comes as CBS Evening News has hit a major ratings crisis, consistently dropping below the critical four million views benchmark since Dokoupil took over the desk in January.
The newscast recently bottomed out at roughly 3.7 million total viewers.
The newscast recently bottomed out at roughly 3.7 million total viewers, which is deep in third place behind ABC's World News Tonight (over 8 million viewers) and NBC Nightly News (around 6 million viewers).
Though the broadcast showed a slight week-over-week bounce in early May, overall viewership has plummeted by double-digit percentages year over year.
Media critics and industry insiders blame the plummeting numbers on Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss. She took over last fall and pushed a highly controversial "MAGA-friendly" ideological shift at the network.
