In a five-point memo sent to CBS News staff on Sunday, Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss laid out each of her reasons for postponing a “60 Minutes” segment on the Salvadoran prison where the Trump administration has sent hundreds of illegal immigrants.
Weiss prevented the segment on El Salvador’s CECOT prison from airing on Sunday over concerns that the piece lacked important information, such as “the Trump administration’s argument for why it sent 252 Venezuelans to CECOT.”
The segment, spearheaded by CBS News journalist Sharyn Alfonsi, focused on interviews with some of the illegal immigrants who were sent to CECOT and have since been released. After Weiss pulled the story from Sunday’s lineup, Alfonsi claimed that it was for “political” reasons, arguing that if they hold a story because the government has not commented on it, they are becoming a “stenographer for the state.”
Weiss, however, argued that the segment did not attempt to go deep enough to present its viewers “with the full context they need to assess the story.” In the first point her memo, Weiss argued that other legacy media networks had already extensively covered the “horrific conditions” at the Salvadoran prison and CBS News needed to do more to “advance” the story to justify a “60 Minutes” segment.
“Last month, many outlets, most notably The New York Times, exposed the horrific conditions at CECOT. Our story presents more of these powerful testimonies—and putting those accounts into the public record is valuable in and of itself,” Weiss said in her memo. “But if we’re going to run another story about a topic that has by now been much-covered, we need to advance it. Among the ways to do so: does anyone in the administration or anyone prominent who defended the use of the Alien Enemies Act now regret it in light of what these Venezuelans endured at CECOT? That’s a question I’d like to see asked and answered.”
The segment reportedly focused on highlighting the “brutal and torturous conditions” endured by those sent to CECOT. Despite CBS News pulling the segment domestically, it aired briefly in Canada and then was shared online.
Weiss urged “60 Minutes” producers to “push harder” to set up interviews Trump administration officials, such as adviser Stephen Miller and border czar Tom Homan.
“At present, we do not present the administration’s argument for why it sent 252 Venezuelans to CECOT. What we have is Karoline Leavitt’s soundbite claiming they are evildoers in America (rapists, murderers, etc.). But isn’t there much more to ask in light of the torture that we are revealing?” Weiss asked. “Tom Homan and Stephen Miller don’t tend to be shy. I realize we’ve emailed the DHS spox, but we need to push much harder to get these principals on the record.”
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In her third point, Weiss criticized one of the angles of the “60 Minutes” segment, arguing that it focuses too much on the illegal immigrants sent to CECOT who do not have criminal histories and not enough on the violent criminals who have been removed from America.
“The data we present paints an incongruent picture. Of the 252 Venezuelans sent to CECOT, we say nearly half have no criminal histories. In other words, more than half do have criminal histories. We should spend a beat explaining this,” Weiss said. “We then say that only 8 of the 252 have been sentenced in America for violent offenses. But what about charged? My point is that we should include as much as we can possibly know and understand about these individuals.”
Weiss also blasted the producers’ decision to include analysis from students at the University of California, Berkeley, asking, “What does the analysis add?”
Weiss concluded by telling the staff that CBS News should better explain “the legal rationale by which the administration detained and deported these 252 Venezuelans to CECOT.”
“It’s not as simple as Trump invoking the Alien Enemies Act and being able to deport them immediately. And that isn’t the administration’s argument. The admin has argued in court that detainees are due ‘judicial review’—and we should explain this, with a voice arguing that Trump is exceeding his authority under the relevant statute, and another arguing that he’s operating within the bounds of his authority,” Weiss argued. “There’s a genuine debate here.”
CBS News said on Sunday that the CECOT segment would air at a later date.
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