CBS Cancels ’60 Minutes’ Segment on Venezuelan Migrants After Political Pressure, Alfonsi Claims

CBS News has canceled a planned “60 Minutes” segment that would have detailed conditions in an El Salvador prison housing Venezuelan migrants deported by the Trump administration, sparking criticism from correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi.

Alfonsi countered claims that the decision was editorial, stating in an email that the story had undergone multiple reviews and clearance by CBS legal teams. “It is factually correct,” she wrote. “Pulling it now — after every rigorous internal check has been met — is not an editorial decision; it is a political one.”

The segment’s cancellation followed reports that Bari Weiss, CBS News’ new editor-in-chief, requested significant revisions and additional reporting before the segment aired. According to multiple sources, Weiss insisted the segment could not proceed without an on-the-record statement from the Trump administration.

Alfonsi noted that relevant government agencies and the White House had failed to provide a response when contacted for interviews. “Government silence is a statement, not a VETO,” she wrote. “Their refusal to be interviewed is a tactical maneuver designed to kill the story.”

She further emphasized that CBS had been actively promoting the segment on social media for days and that viewers were anticipating its broadcast. “When it fails to air without a credible explanation, the public will correctly identify this as corporate censorship,” Alfonsi stated.

“I care too much about this broadcast to watch it be dismantled without a fight,” she added. In her email, Alfonsi warned that allowing such administrative refusals to become valid reasons for canceling stories would effectively grant the government a “kill switch” over journalistic reporting. She argued that CBS’s decision undermines decades of its commitment to editorial independence and high standards.