Bari Weiss defends yanking ‘60 Minutes’ CECOT segment from broadcast: ‘It wasn’t ready’

CBS News Editor in Chief Bari Weiss defended her decision to pull a controversial “60 Minutes” segment on an El Salvador prison, telling staff Monday the piece “wasn’t ready” and needed more reporting — pushing back on accusations that the last-minute move was politically motivated.

Weiss addressed the backlash during a network-wide editorial call, saying she held the segment because “we simply need to do more,” according to a recording reviewed by the Wall Street Journal.

“I held a ‘60 Minutes’ story and I held that story because it wasn’t ready,” Weiss told CBS News staffers on Monday.

Bari Weiss became editor-in-chief of CBS News in October. Getty Images for Uber, X and The Free Press

She said the story “has already been reported on by places like the [New York] Times, the public knows that Venezuelans have been subjected to horrific treatment in this prison. So to run a story on this subject, two months later, we simply need to do more.”

She said the only newsroom she wants to run is one where editors can have “contentious disagreements” while assuming “the best intent” of colleagues — an implicit criticism of “60 Minutes” correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi.

“The only newsroom that I’m interested in running is one where we are able to have contentious disagreements about the thorniest editorial matters and do so with respect and crucially where we assume the best intent of our colleagues,” Weiss said on the editorial call on Monday.