60 Minutes Exec: I Had to Obey Bari Weiss

CBS' flagship newsmagazine is now at the center of its own story after a finished 60 Minutes investigation into Trump-era deportations was yanked just before going on the air. In a private staff meeting on Monday, executive producer Tanya Simon said she backs the reporting on Venezuelan migrants deported to El Salvador's CECOT prison but couldn't resolve last-minute objections from CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss, according to a transcript obtained by the Washington Post. Weiss, brought in this year as the network's top editor, wanted additional reporting, including an on-camera interview with a Trump administration official.

The report leaked in Canada, but in the US, promo spots on the piece—which was vetted by standards, legal, and senior editors, including Weiss—vanished from the 60 Minutes website by Sunday; a CBS spokesperson said it will air after more reporting is done. The decision has triggered newsroom unrest and political backlash. Correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi, who led the segment, called the move "political" in an internal email and warned that conditioning broadcast on administration participation would hand officials "a 'kill switch' for any reporting they find inconvenient." Alfonsi said Homeland Security turned down an interview and referred questions to El Salvador's government, which didn't respond.

The piece included archival remarks from President Trump and press secretary Karoline Leavitt, who described deported migrants as "heinous monsters" and violent criminals. A Human Rights Watch report alleges systematic abuse and torture of Venezuelan deportees held in El Salvador. Weiss, meanwhile, speaking at a Monday editorial meeting, defended the delay as a matter of standards, saying she "held that story because it wasn't ready" and stressing the need to make "every effort" to get top officials on camera. She also noted the story did not "advance the ball" on CECOT, per the AP.

Media ethicists and journalism professors say the desire for on-the-record government comment is routine but argue that pulling a fully vetted, deeply reported investigation hours before airtime is rare, and risky, per the Post. Critics, including Democratic Sens. Brian Schatz and Ed Markey, accused CBS of capitulating to Trump. Simon told staff she wouldn't "ascribe motive," but she reiterated that she supports the story and her team. Axios has more on CECOT itself.