CBS airs delayed '60 Minutes' report on Venezuelan deportations with added material

CBS News on Sunday aired a 13-minute "60 Minutes" segment about Venezuelan men deported by the Trump administration to a prison in El Salvador that had been postponed last month by the network’s editor in chief, Bari Weiss. The version that ran was the same as the original report produced by correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi, which had been accidentally streamed by a Canadian broadcaster and circulated online.

CBS added two short segments, at the beginning and the end, that included new comments from the Trump administration and additional details about the criminal backgrounds of the Venezuelan men, addressing two concerns Weiss had previously expressed. The postponement had touched off internal dispute: Weiss said the piece "was not ready" and sought changes, while Alfonsi called her story "factually correct" and said the delay was "not an editorial decision, it is a political one," according to memos and people briefed on internal discussions.

CBS said in a statement that its "leadership has always been committed" to airing Alfonsi’s segment and that viewers would see it "along with other important stories." In new material taped for the broadcast, Alfonsi said 33 of the 252 Venezuelan prisoners had been convicted of a crime in the United States and reiterated that eight had been convicted of a violent or potentially violent crime.

Key Topics

Culture, Venezuelan Deportations, El Salvador, Bari Weiss, Sharyn Alfonsi, Trump Administration