CBS News published a “60 Minutes” report on the Trump administration sending detainees to a maximum-security “mega-prison” in El Salvador just hours before it was scheduled to air.
The network said Sunday that the episode would air at a later date, a move that raised questions about why it was postponed at such short notice.
“The lineup for tonight’s edition of 60 Minutes has been updated,” the show posted on social media just three hours before broadcast. “Our report ‘Inside CECOT’ will be broadcast in a future program.”
NBC News has contacted CBS for comment.
In a statement to the New York Times, CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss said: “My job is to make sure that every story we publish is the best it can be. »
“Withholding stories that are not ready for whatever reason – whether they lack context, for example, or are missing critical voices – happens every day in every newsroom,” she added. “I look forward to releasing this important piece when it is ready.”
A preview of the story had been broadcast and aired and was available online.
According to these clips, it profiled detainees who had been deported from the United States to El Salvador’s notorious Center for the Containment of Terrorism, or CECOT.
One clip showed correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi explaining how these prisoners were “chained, paraded in front of the cameras” and saying they had endured “four months of hell” in the facility.
The Trump administration sent about 250 Venezuelans to CECOT in March and accused them of being members of the Tren de Aragua gang. Many of the men, as well as some of their family members and lawyers, have denied the claim.
On Monday, the “60 Minutes” web page promoting the report was taken down. Instead, it said: “The page cannot be found. The page may have been deleted, its name changed, or it is simply temporarily unavailable.”
Alfonsi said the segment was removed for “political” reasons, according to a private memo sent to CBS colleagues and reported by the Times.
“Our story was reviewed five times and approved by both CBS lawyers and Standards and Practices,” the Times reported, Alfonsi wrote in the memo, a copy of which he had obtained, the newspaper said.
“This is factually correct. In my opinion, removing it now, after all rigorous internal checks have been carried out, is not an editorial decision, it is a political decision,” she said in the memo, the Times reported.
Interviewed by the newspaper on Sunday evening, Alfonsi said: “I refer all questions to Bari Weiss.”
It’s the latest in a series of controversies for CBS and its parent company, the new Paramount Skydance.
Last year, President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit against Paramount, accusing “60 Minutes” of misleadingly editing an interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris. CBS has denied this claim. Paramount settled Trump’s lawsuit for $16 million.
Skydance chief David Ellison sought to reshape the news industry, appointing Weiss — a TV newcomer and a prominent critic of liberal media — as editor-in-chief after acquiring his outlet, The Free Press.
In seeking federal approval of the merger with Paramount, Skydance pledged to embrace “diverse viewpoints” and represent “the varied ideological perspectives of American viewers.”
Sunday’s decision drew criticism from some Democrats.
“What is happening to CBS is a terrible embarrassment, and if executives think they can create value for shareholders by avoiding journalism that might offend the Mad King, they are about to learn a hard lesson,” said Senator Brian Schatz, Democrat of Hawaii. The decision “deserves an immediate explanation. It’s a big deal to release an article at the request of the White House,” he wrote on X.
NBC News has contacted the White House for comment.
Garrett Haake contributed.
