USA11 June, 20262 min read
Bari Weiss Pulls 60 Minutes Segment On Trump Deportations Of Venezuelan Migrants To El Salvador
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Bari Weiss pulled the 60 Minutes segment on Trump-era Venezuelan migrant deportations. The director called the withdrawal political, highlighting internal CBS politicking.
CBS pulls deportation report
CBS faced a controversy after it pulled a report from its 60 Minutes program about the Trump administration’s deportations of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador, with the segment titled "Inside CECOT" scheduled for Sunday but not aired. The report, described as exposing the deportation of hundreds of Latin American immigrants to CECOT, a prison in El Salvador, was pulled hours before broadcast under the direction of the new editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss.
“The report, titled 'Inside CECOT,' was to be broadcast on CBS's prestigious public-affairs program 60 Minutes on Sunday.”
In the report, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt is heard in a press briefing asserting that the men detained at CECOT are all 'monsters,' 'rapists,' and 'criminals.' Sharyn Alfonsi said Bari Weiss's decision was not 'editorial,' but 'political,' and she lamented, "We are trading 50 years of golden reputation for a single week of political silence."
Alfonsi alleges political edit
The dispute also centered on internal decisions at CBS, where journalist Sharyn Alfonsi said in an internal email relayed by the press that the blocking was decided by the new editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss. Alfonsi wrote, "The sujet est factuellement correct," and argued that removing the report after internal checks did not match an editorial decision but "une décision politique," in the account cited by 20 Minutes.
CBS rejected Alfonsi’s framing, saying in a communiqué cited by the New York Times that the report "a besoin de davantage de travail," without providing details on the points concerned. The controversy unfolded as Bari Weiss was appointed editor-in-chief of CBS News in October, shortly after the Paramount-Skydance deal, and as Donald Trump sought to influence media coverage while pressing CBS over a prior 60 Minutes interview involving Kamala Harris.
What’s at stake next
The CBS turmoil is tied to broader corporate and political stakes, including a $16 million settlement with Paramount over a 60 Minutes interview that Donald Trump accused of being misleadingly edited. 20 Minutes said Trump obtained the $16 million agreement "pour clore une procédure" opposing 60 Minutes, and it described Trump’s conflict with media critics as part of the same pressure environment around CBS.
“The question, therefore, is whether Mr. Ellison will truly allow CNN to act with full freedom.”
In parallel, De Standaard linked the CBS precedent to concerns about editorial independence at the networks controlled by David Ellison, noting that critics cite CBS incidents after Ellison joined in 2025. De Standaard also warned that the question is whether Ellison will allow CNN to act with full freedom, while describing CBS’s pattern of controversy around Bari Weiss and the blocked "Inside CECOT" report as ammunition for skeptics.