Steve Kroft to retire from ‘60 Minutes’ tonight

Steve Kroft, the longest tenured correspondent on the CBS newsmagazine “60 Minutes,” is retiring at the end of the current season, the network has announced.

Kroft, 73, will have his final segment on the program tonight. He first joined “60 Minutes” in 1989, becoming part of the correspondent lineup that included Mike Wallace, Morley Safer, Ed Bradley and Harry Reasoner.

“From the moment Steve Kroft arrived at CBS News in 1980, he has been shot out of a cannon and wherever he landed his stories broke news, had depth, and a strong sense of humanity,” CBS News president Susan Zirinsky, said in a statement. “From Central America to a tour of duty in London and back to New York, his destiny was clear — Kroft’s investigative instincts and ability to unravel the most complex stories made him a perfect fit for the ‘60 Minutes’ team.”

Kroft was the correspondent in one of the best remembered “60 Minutes” segments in 1992, when then-presidential candidate Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary responded to news about his alleged affair with cabaret singer Gennifer Flowers. Airing after a CBS telecast of the Super Bowl, it was watched by 34 million viewers.