According to The Hollywood Reporter, CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss (IHIP News, October 8) allowed a news segment on 60 Minutes that was pulled earlier this month to air this past Sunday. The segment was titled “Inside CECOT” and covered the recent deportations of hundreds of Venezuelans to the notorious prison in El Salvador. The ratings are expected to be lower than usual, since it is up against the NFL lead-in game, and had no NFL lead-in game to precede it.
THR noted that CNN’s Brian Stelter (The Morning Show, Reliable Sources) was the first to report this news. The segment’s logline reads: “Last year, the Trump administration deported hundreds of Venezuelans to El Salvador, a country most had no ties to, claiming they were terrorists. This unusual move sparked an on going legal battle, and 10 months later, the U.S. government still has not released the names of all those deported and placed in CECOT, one of El Salvador’s harshest prisons. Correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi speaks with some of the now released deportees, who describe the brutal and torturous conditions they endured inside CECOT.”
The Hollywood Reporter reported that CBS news stated that, “CBS News leadership has always been committed to airing the 60 Minutes CECOT piece as soon as it was ready. Tonight, viewers get to see it, along with other important stories, all of which speak to CBS News’ independence and the power of out storytelling.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Weiss said she delayed the story becaus it needed, “additional reporting.” She claimed it wasn’t ready and needed comments from the administration.
THR reports that Alfonsi combated this excuse with her own theory in an email to her colleagues, saying, “Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices. It is factually correct. In my view, pulling it now — after every rigorous internal check has been met is not an editorial decision, it is a political one. We requested responses to questions and/or interviews with DHS, the White House and the State Department. Government silence is a statement, not a VETO. Their refusal to be interviewed is a tactical maneuver designed to kill the story.”
Even though the segment was not available on its supposed airdate, it aired in Canada. This resulted in a viewer recording the news segment and uploading it rather quickly on various social media platforms, including X and YouTube.