Bari Weiss tells staff '60 Minutes' CECOT story wasn't ready, says disrespect among colleagues is unacceptable

CBS, '60 Minutes' face backlash after pulling El Salvador prison segment Fox News' Nate Foy joins 'America's Newsroom' to report on CBS postponing a '60 Minutes' segment on El Salvador's maximum security prison. CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss addressed the growing furor on Monday over her decision to delay the airing of a "60 Minutes" segment about the brutal El Salvador prison CECOT, telling staffers the story was "not ready" and it was unacceptable to engage in disagreements without respect. Weiss has angered CBS staffers, in particular "60 Minutes" correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi, by delaying the airing of a planned segment, "Inside CECOT," that featured interviews with Venezuelan men deported by the Trump administration to the notorious prison. Alfonsi lashed out at Weiss in a note to fellow "60 Minutes" staffers that accused Weiss of "political" meddling and corporate censorship. Weiss addressed the elephant in the room, according to a CBS News source, on Monday morning. "I want to say something about trust: our trust for each other and our trust with the public. The only newsroom I’m interested in running is one in which we are able to have contentious disagreements about the thorniest editorial matters with respect, and, crucially, where we assume the best intent of our colleagues. Anything else is absolutely unacceptable," she said , according to CNN, in comments confirmed to Fox News Digital . CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) "I held a ‘60 Minutes’ story because it was not ready. While the story presented powerful testimony of torture at CECOT, it did not advance the ball - the [New York] Times and other outlets have previously done similar work. The public knows that Venezuelans have been subjected to horrific treatment at this prison. To run a story on this subject two months later, we need to do more. And this is ‘60 Minutes.’ We need to be able to get the principals on the record and on camera. Our viewers come first. Not the listing schedule or anything else. That’s my north star and I hope it’s yours, too." Alfonsi's memo to her colleagues quickly went viral on Sunday night. She insisted her story had met rigorous standards and was being delayed because of politics. According to The New York Times , Weiss viewed the segment on Thursday and raised concerns about the lack of a Trump voice in the story, and ultimately decided on Saturday to hold it from airing. "Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices," Alfonsi wrote. "It is factually correct. In my view, pulling it now, after every rigorous internal check has been met, is not an editorial decision, it is a political one." Alfonsi added she had reached out to the White House, Department of Homeland Security and State Department for interviews, and their silence was effectively a statement that shouldn't veto the story from airing. "We have been promoting this story on...

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