Sunday’s 60 Minutes scheduled to air report on Trump administration deportations pull suddenly The newsmagazine’s lineup a month ago sparked an internal battle over political pressure that eventually spilled into the public arena.
In this report, journalist Sharyn Alfonsi interviews deportees sent to El Salvador’s notoriously harsh prisons. sekot prison. When the new CBS News editor ordered the removal of segments critical of the administration from the Dec. 21 episode Barry WeissAlfonsi told her “60 Minutes” colleagues that it was “not an editorial decision, it was a political decision.”
Weiss argued that the report did not adequately reflect the government’s perspective and did not report as early as other news organizations had done earlier.
The story has been updated to include a statement from the Trump administration but no new on-camera interviews. Alfonsi will also provide more details about the two immigrants she interviewed about their experiences in prison, according to a person familiar with the broadcast. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the person was not allowed to disclose details in advance.
“CBS News leadership has been committed to putting ’60 Minutes’ on CECOT on the air as soon as it is ready,” the news division said in a statement. “Tonight, viewers can see it, along with other important stories, all of which are a testament to the independence of CBS News and the power of our storytelling.”
The decision has become a focus for critics, who say Weiss’ appointmentThe free news site’s founders had no previous television news experience, representing an attempt by the network’s new corporate leadership to curry favor with Trump.
Alfonsi said in an email that administration officials refused to make anyone available for on-camera interviews, calling it a tactical ploy designed to stifle coverage.
Alfonsi’s original story was mistakenly posted online after it was taken off the air in December. CBS News provided a version of the news magazine to Global Network, which airs “60 Minutes” in Canada, and posted it on its website before deleting the article at the last minute.
This allowed eagle-eyed viewers to see what Weiss rejected and provided the opportunity to compare it to what “60 Minutes” ultimately aired.
In the version aired in Canada, Alfonsi said the government declined an interview request and referred questions about prison operations to the Salvadoran government, which did not respond to 60 Minutes. The report included a brief clip of President Donald Trump saying prison administrators “don’t play games,” as well as a clip of White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt saying “heinous monsters, rapists, murderers, sexual predators, predators who have no right to be in this country” are being sent there.
Trump administration officials have become more visible to CBS News since Weiss was appointed, and she has sometimes helped arrange interviews. this the president himself Nov. 2 “60 Minutes” interview with Norah O’Donnell.
The New York Times reported on Saturday that after Trump’s interview with new CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokupil last week, Levitt told the network that if the conversation was not aired in full, “we will sue you.”
The entire 13-minute interview aired Tuesday, an unusual step for a broadcast network’s evening newscast, a half-hour summary of the day’s major news. CBS told The Times that at the time the interview was scheduled, it had decided to conduct it without editing.