Overview
- The segment on Venezuelan deportees sent to El Salvador’s CECOT prison — featuring torture allegations and a claim that roughly half of 252 deported men lacked criminal records — remains withheld in the U.S. but aired in Canada and leaked online.
- In a memo signed by senior editors, Weiss reiterated that the story was “not ready,” saying CBS should hold contentious pieces until they provide full context and meet the network’s fairness standards.
- Correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi accused leadership of “corporate censorship,” saying the report passed multiple legal and standards reviews and that agencies declined on‑camera interviews.
- Reports say the White House, DHS and State provided written statements that were not used, and the leaked version included no substantive on‑camera defense from Trump officials — a gap Weiss urged producers to address.
- White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller publicly called for CBS to fire producers involved and condemned the shelved piece as a sympathetic hatchet job toward violent gang members.