"CBS Mornings"' Tony Dokoupil Mistakenly Says Buzz Aldrin Is Dead During onAir Debate: 'I Kind of Lost Track of It' Dave QuinnOctober 31, 2025 at 11:43 PM 0 Tony Dokoupi on 'CBS Mornings' Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 CBS Mornings anchor Tony Dokoupil on Friday, Oct. 31 said on air that Buzz Aldrin was dead The mixup happened while discussing Kim Kardashian's moon landing comments on The Kardashians Aldrin, 95, was the second person to walk on the moon and remains an advocate for space exploration Tony Dokoupil apologized to Buzz Aldrin on Friday, Oct.
- - "CBS Mornings"' Tony Dokoupil Mistakenly Says Buzz Aldrin Is Dead During on-Air Debate: 'I Kind of Lost Track of It'
Dave QuinnOctober 31, 2025 at 11:43 PM
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Tony Dokoupi on 'CBS Mornings' Friday, Oct. 31, 2025 -
CBS Mornings anchor Tony Dokoupil on Friday, Oct. 31 said on air that Buzz Aldrin was dead
The mix-up happened while discussing Kim Kardashian's moon landing comments on The Kardashians
Aldrin, 95, was the second person to walk on the moon and remains an advocate for space exploration
Tony Dokoupil apologized to Buzz Aldrin on Friday, Oct. 31, after mistakingly saying the former astronaut was dead.
During a live segment on CBS Mornings, the anchor, 44, misspoke while debating Kim Kardashian's incorrect comments about the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing with co-anchors Nate Burleson and Gayle King.
The exchange began when Burleson, 44, introduced a recent clip from The Kardashians where Kardashian shared a conspiracy about whether the moonwalk really happened.
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Tony Dokoupil, Gayle King and Nate Burleson on CBS Mornings Friday, Oct. 31, 2025
After watching the scene — in which Kardashian claimed that Aldrin, in his elderly years, has slipped up and admitted the historic moment didn't actually happen — the hosts weighed in on her comments.
"So . . . we're talking five or so decades we haven't been back," said Burleson, defending Kardashian's remarks. "Now, I get it. NASA has said in the past it's too expensive or the hype has died down or priorities have shifted for the U.S. in our plans to go to the moon. But yet and still, we haven't been back. Now, I'm not saying she's right. I'm just saying, her curiosities are fair."
"We did it with less technology than a flip phone, with computers the size of refrigerators and no GPS," Burleson said. "You're telling me that we've lost the WiFi password to the moon? We can't get there?"
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Astronaut Buzz Aldrin stands beside an American flag placed on the moon in 1969
Of course, the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing very much did happen, as many, many, many fact-checks have proven over the years. But Dokoupil, while trying to debunk Burleson's comments, stumbled into a snafu of his own.
"Nate, it is Halloween," Dokoupil said. "Buzz Aldrin's skeletal bones are going to come out of the ground and punch you in the face."
Seconds later, Dokoupil appeared to realize his error.
"I want to make sure Buzz Aldrin is actually dead. I kind of lost track of it," he said, turning to producers for clarification. "Please tell me right now if it's not, because I want to clear this up."
He then went on to provide more context to his joke, noting that Aldrin "used to punch people in the mouth who doubted the moon landing."
Tony Dokoupil on CBS Mornings Friday, Oct. 31, 2025
"I'm not stoking the flames of conspiracy theory, I'm just saying, there are fair questions why we haven't been back," Burleson replied.
But Dokoupil remained steadfast in his defense of the moon landing's validity: "We were highly motivated. We were in a race with the Soviet Union who we thought was going to go up there and drop nuclear weapons on our heads. We were afraid for our lives and we spent a huge portion of our national wealth on this. It's like every student was trying to be the best scientist to work on the problem. Yes, it happened. And then we were like, 'Alright, we did it' and we took a break. And we haven't been back."
Tony Dokoupil on 'CBS Mornings' Friday, Oct. 31, 2025
After Dokoupil finished, Burleson corrected him about Aldrin: "Buzz is alive, by the way."
"Is he?" Dokoupil said, visibly relieved. "Buzz, come on the show. We love you. Punch me in the face, actually. Punch both of us!"
"Buzz Aldrin, my apologies," he added. "I think Kim Kardashian owes you an apology as well."
Aldrin, 95, remains one of the most iconic figures of the space age.
On July 20, 1969, he followed Neil Armstrong down the ladder of the lunar module Eagle to become the second person to walk on the Moon, while crewmate Michael Collins orbited above.
The moment fulfilled President John F. Kennedy's 1961 pledge to "land a man on the Moon and return him safely to Earth" before the decade's end — and remains one of humankind's defining achievements.
In the years since, Aldrin has continued to advocate for space exploration and education, authoring several books and remaining an outspoken champion for future missions to Mars.
Earlier this week, on Tuesday, Oct. 28, Aldrin's s wife Anca Faur died. She was 66.
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Source: "AOL Entertainment"
Source: Entertainment
Published: October 31, 2025 at 06:09PM on Source: EVENING MAG
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