Tom Brokaw Opens Up About Blood Cancer Battle, Retiring From NBC News: 'I've Had A Bad Experience'

By Andy Swift
Tom Brokaw Health Update Interview Courtesy of CBS

Veteran news anchor Tom Brokaw is making a rare televised appearance on CBS Sunday Morning for a candid interview with longtime friend Jane Pauley.

In addition to his new memoir, Never Give Up: A Prairie Family's Story, Brokaw also discusses the ongoing battle with an incurable blood cancer that led to his 2021 retirement from NBC News after more than five decades on the job.

"I've had a bad experience," Brokaw says of the multiple myeloma diagnosis he received 10 years ago. "I kept thinking bad things wouldn't happen to me. But as I grew older, I began to develop this condition. And what you try to do is control it as much as you can."

Brokaw has had some success in his battle, with doctors originally not believing that he would live to see his current age of 83. Still, there's no denying the impact that the illness has had on his life, including taking him away from a career he loved.

"I've had to change my life in some way," Brokaw says. "I really had to give up my daily activity with NBC. You know, I had to walk away from them, as they were walking away from me. I just wasn't the same person. ... And so for the first time in my life, I was kind of out there, you know, in a place I had never been in my life."

Brokaw's full interview airs Sunday at 9 am on CBS. Hit PLAY on the video below for a sneak peek.

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