60 Minutes Segment Pulled by CBS’ New Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss, a Decision Its Correspondent Calls ‘Political’

CBS News abruptly pulled a planned 60 Minutes segment examining Venezuelan men who were deported by the Trump administration to El Salvador’s high-security CECOT prison — a late change that triggered a pointed internal protest from the correspondent who reported the story.

The segment, titled “Inside CECOT,” had been slated to air Sunday night, according to a press release shared with the outlet. But it was removed just hours before broadcast. In an updated release, a CBS News spokesperson said the report required additional reporting and would air at a later date.

The decision quickly became a flashpoint inside CBS News, according to a private email correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi sent to fellow 60 Minutes staffers on Sunday.

In the note — first obtained by The Wall Street Journal and later by multiple outlets including NPR, The New York Times and independent journalist Yashar Ali — Alfonsi said she learned Saturday that CBS News’ new editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss, had “spiked our story,” calling the move “not an editorial decision” but “a political one.”

“Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices,” Alfonsi wrote, according to the outlets. “It is factually correct.”

CBS announced the programming change Sunday afternoon, roughly two to three hours before airtime — an unusual step for the long-running newsmagazine, which typically spends weeks or months producing segments, according to The New York Times and NPR.

In a statement issued Sunday night, Weiss described the decision as a standard newsroom call.

“My job is to make sure that all stories we publish are the best they can be,” Weiss said, in a statement quoted by The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. “Holding stories that aren’t ready for whatever reason — that they lack sufficient context, say, or that they are missing critical voices — happens every day in every newsroom. I look forward to airing this important piece when it’s ready.”

Weiss reportedly told colleagues over the weekend that the segment could not run without an on-the-record comment from a Trump administration official, according to NPR, which cited two people familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Alfonsi, however, wrote that her team had sought comment from the White House, the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department.

“Government silence is a statement, not a VETO,” Alfonsi wrote in her internal email to colleagues. “If the administration’s refusal to participate becomes a valid reason to spike a story, we have effectively handed them a ‘kill switch’ for any reporting they find inconvenient.”

The pulled segment focused on Venezuelan men deported earlier this year to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, known as CECOT.

In promotional materials released Friday, CBS News said Alfonsi had interviewed several men who were later released, and who described “the brutal and torturous conditions they endured.” Those promotions were later revised or taken down.

According to The New York Times, Weiss first reviewed the segment Thursday and raised concerns over several days, requesting additional reporting. Among the additions she suggested, the outlet reported, was securing a new interview with Stephen Miller — a senior White House aide and a key architect of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown — or another top administration official.

Weiss also questioned the use of the term “migrants” to describe the Venezuelan men, with NPR reporting that some of those deported had applied for asylum and were awaiting decisions in their cases.

The dispute arrives as CBS News faces broader scrutiny amid leadership and ownership changes. Weiss was appointed editor-in-chief in October after Paramount Skydance acquired her news and opinion site, The Free Press, earlier this year. She remains editor of The Free Press while also overseeing CBS News.

The network has also faced increased political pressure in recent months. As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump sued CBS last year over the editing of a 60 Minutes interview with then-Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. Paramount later paid $16 million to settle the lawsuit without admitting wrongdoing.

Trump has continued to attack the program publicly, criticizing CBS and its new ownership in recent social media posts even as Paramount executives seek federal approval for additional media acquisitions.

Most recently, the president, 79, criticized an episode featuring former ally-turned-critic Marjorie Taylor Greene. “THEY ARE NO BETTER THAN THE OLD OWNERSHIP, who just paid me millions of Dollars for FAKE REPORTING about your favorite President, ME!” Trump wrote on Truth Social this month, adding, “Since they bought it, 60 Minutes has actually gotten WORSE!”

In her email, Alfonsi warned the last-minute pull could damage 60 Minutes’ long-standing credibility.

“We have been promoting this story for days,” she wrote in the email, shared by Ali. “Our viewers are expecting it. When it fails to air without a credible explanation, the public will correctly identify this as corporate censorship. We are trading 50 years of ‘Gold Standard’ reputation for a single week of political quiet.”

“I care too much about this broadcast to watch it be dismantled without a fight,” Alfonsi said, per Ali.

Reached by The New York Times on Sunday evening, Alfonsi declined further comment, saying, “I refer all questions to Bari Weiss.”