Middleton. Couric was the only solo female evening news anchor in the United States, until December 21, 2009, when Diane Sawyer succeeded the retiring Charles Gibson for ABC World News. Couric and Sawyer were previous rivals as the hosts of Today and Good Morning America, respectively. In early 2011, Couric announced that she would be leaving her anchor post at CBS Evening News when her contract expired. Couric made her final broadcast in the CBS Evening News chair on Thursday, May 19, 2011. 60 Minutes (2006–2011) Couric was a 60 Minutes correspondent and contributed eight to ten stories a year for the program. She was the first to interview pilot Chesley Sullenberger after the "Miracle on the Hudson" airplane landing. She also interviewed Valerie Plame, Robert Gates and Michelle Rhee for the program. Palin interviews (2008) The Sarah Palin interviews with Katie Couric were a series of interviews Couric taped with 2008 U.S. Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin. The interviews were repeatedly broadcast on television before the 2008 U.S. presidential election. Couric received the Walter Cronkite Award for Journalism Excellence for the interviews. Steve Schmidt, McCain's senior campaign strategist and advisor, later reflected on the interview, saying "I think it was the most consequential interview from a negative perspective that a candidate for national office has gone through..." CBS Reports (2009–2011) Couric was the lead reporter for two CBS Reports series, which aired across all CBS News platforms. The first series, "CBS Reports: Children of the Recession", highlighted the pain suffered by the youngest of the then ongoing Great Recession's victims. The series won the Columbia School of Journalism's Alfred DuPont Award for Excellence in Journalism. The second series, which aired in early 2010, was "CBS Reports: Where America Stands", which featured veteran CBS News correspondents reporting on major issues facing the United States in the decade ahead with research by the CBS News Polling Unit. @katiecouric (2009–2011) Couric hosted a weekly, one-hour interview program on CBSNews.com. Her first guest was Fox News Channel host Glenn Beck. Subsequent interviews have included former Vice President Al Gore, actor Hugh Jackman, recording artist Shakira, First Lady Michelle Obama, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, singer Justin Bieber, actress Jane Lynch, talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, actor Daniel Radcliffe, Bill Gates, former White House Chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, national Tea Party movement leader Michael Johns, football player Drew Brees, and author