{"id":417089,"date":"2026-01-19T17:50:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T17:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/417089\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T17:50:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T17:50:07","slug":"cbs-viewers-react-after-60-minutes-finally-airs-el-salvador-prison-report-that-got-yanked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/417089\/","title":{"rendered":"CBS Viewers React After \u201960 Minutes\u2019 Finally Airs El Salvador Prison Report That Got Yanked"},"content":{"rendered":"

CBS News came under fire last month<\/a> after editor-in-chief Bari Weiss<\/a> pulled a 60 Minutes<\/a> report on the El Salvador mega-prison CECOT that was unfavorable to President Donald Trump<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The report, originally scheduled to air on December 21, finally aired on Sunday night (January 18). As previously reported<\/a>, the segment, based on a report from Sharyn Alfonsi<\/a>, focused on men deported to the infamous facility under the Trump administration. Weiss yanked it at the time due to a lack of an on-camera response from the White House.<\/p>\n

In an internal memo, Alfonsi blasted Weiss\u2019 decision, arguing that she had repeatedly sought comment from the White House and had received no response. \u201cIf the administration\u2019s refusal to participate becomes a valid reason to spike a story, we have effectively handed them a \u201ckill switch\u201d for any reporting they find inconvenient,\u201d she stated.<\/p>\n

The report aired on Sunday without comment from the Trump administration. According to Mediaite,<\/a> CNN\u2019s Brian Stelter<\/a> stated that Alfosni \u201cflew from Texas to DC on Thursday to interview a Trump administration official. But the interview \u2018did not materialize.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Alfonsi also said within the report, \u201cThe Department of Homeland Security declined our request for an interview and referred all questions about CECOT to El Salvador. The government there did not respond to our request.\u201d<\/p>\n

She later reiterated, \u201c60 Minutes has repeatedly asked the Department of Homeland Security for the complete records and criminal backgrounds of all 252 Venezuelan men the U.S. Sent to CECOT. It would not provide them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alfonsi did get one response from the DHS, who told her, \u201cWe are confident in our law enforcement\u2019s intelligence and we are not going to share intelligence reports and undermine national security every time a gang member denies he is one. That would be insane.’\u201d<\/p>\n

As Alfonsi noted, this meant the report relied on available ICE data, which showed that of the 252 men, only 33 had been convicted of a crime in the United States. Another 70 had pending charges.<\/p>\n

She added, \u201cIn a statement to 60 Minutes, the White House said \u2018President Trump is committed to keeping his promises to the American people by removing dangerous criminal and terrorist illegal aliens.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Fans took to social media to react to the segment, with many saying it came too late, especially as the report had already leaked online last month<\/a>. Others said CBS News tried to bury it in a \u201cdead slot\u201d against the NFL playoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a dead time slot while the whole country is watching Rams-Bears on NBC,\u201d wrote one Reddit user.<\/a> \u201cIf Weiss couldn\u2019t spike the piece completely to please Trump, she can at least make sure it has no audience.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJust a heads up to CBS brass, I would\u2019ve reached out for interviews before sending staff to DC, saving you money,\u201d said another.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIncredibly funny they paid for the CBS crew to go to DC to get the same lack of response from the government they were getting in the first place,\u201d added another. \u201cAlmost like the piece was thoroughly reported from the start and shouldn\u2019t have been shelved.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, finally broadcast the unchanged show during an NFL playoff game\u2026,\u201d one commenter wrote.<\/p>\n

Another added, \u201cThe same night when two of the largest media markets in the country will be watching playoff football. Not a coincidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWeiss held up this thoroughly sourced and vetted report for weeks; but immediately published that anonymous nonsense about Renee Good\u2019s assassin, John Ross, having \u201cinternal bleeding\u201d \u2013 a claim that is still not substantiated,\u201d another said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBuried in a death slot against Rams-Bears on NBC. As Weiss intended,\u201d wrote another.<\/p>\n

One YouTube commenter added, \u201cNever again!!! We won\u2019t forget!!!! Been watching for 45 years and after 60 seconds of selling out I\u2019ll never watch again!\u201d<\/p>\n

60 Minutes, Sundays, 7\/6c, CBS<\/p>\n

Read the latest entertainment news on TV Insider<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CBS News came under fire last month after editor-in-chief Bari Weiss pulled a 60 Minutes report on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":417090,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[10673,100518,199534,12,2481,88,199158,92,199535,3123],"class_list":{"0":"post-417089","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-60-minutes","9":"tag-bari-weiss","10":"tag-cecot","11":"tag-donald-trump","12":"tag-el-salvador","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-sharyn-alfonsi","15":"tag-tv","16":"tag-venezuelan-men","17":"tag-white-house"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=417089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417089\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/417090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=417089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=417089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=417089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}