The cameraman who suffered a medical emergency live on air during Tony Dokoupil’s CBS Evening News broadcast in Taiwan had been flown in at the last minute after Dokoupil failed to get a Chinese visa, according to a report.
Dokoupil’s broadcast from Taipei ended in chaos on Wednesday after the cameraman collapsed on air. “We’re gonna take a quick break, we have an—a medical emergency here,” Dokoupil said before the feed cut off. CBS Evening News later said on X that the cameraman was “okay and recovering.”
Sources have identified the cameraman as Randy Schmidt and said Schmidt fainted during the broadcast, according to the New York Post.
Schmidt had been part of the rushed preparations for Dokoupil’s broadcast before fainting, sources told the Post.
CBS News was prepared for Dokoupil to provide its viewers with coverage of President Donald Trump’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping from Beijing, but was forced to position Dokoupil in Taiwan at the last minute after the anchor reportedly failed to get his visa for the People’s Republic of China.
Schmidt, who was previously based in CBS News’ now-closed Tokyo bureau, was told at 7 a.m. Wednesday in Tokyo that he would need to fly to Taiwan for the assignment, a CBS source close to the network told the Post.
After boarding a 2 p.m. flight, he landed in Taiwan at 5:05 p.m. local time, and he arrived at his hotel around 7 p.m., a CBS News source close to the network told the Post.
Dokoupil and Schmidt went on air at 6:30 a.m. Taiwan time on Thursday, which translates to 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday.
One critic alleged that Schmidt had worked a 24-hour shift before collapsing, according to the Post. But the CBS News source told the outlet that Schmidt “definitely had downtime” and rested overnight before the broadcast.
CBS and Schmidt did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Dokoupil, 45, was in the middle of introducing the high-stakes U.S.-China summit when the camera shook, and the broadcast abruptly cut to B-roll footage.
A thud sounded before Dokoupil stopped mid-sentence and asked, “Is he OK?”
After a moment, Dokoupil said over muffled noises in the background, “We’re gonna take a quick break, we have an—a medical emergency here.”
“We’re calling a doctor,” Dokoupil said.
More B-roll footage of Chinese landscapes played before the feed cut to CBS News chief correspondent Matt Gutman, who signed off for Dokoupil.
The broadcast had been plagued by technical issues throughout, with Dokoupil appearing to struggle with his earpiece.
It remains unclear whether Dokoupil’s visa issues were due to a late application or another problem, according to Semafor.
At the beginning of the broadcast, Dokoupil acknowledged: “On the surface, it might look like all the action is over there,” 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.”
The reported visa setback comes as CBS Evening News ratings have been in a free fall since Dokoupil took over the storied program in a rocky debut earlier this year, during which he introduced himself twice within 80 seconds and admitted, “first day, big problems here.”
