Posted in: CBS, Opinion, TV, TV | Tagged: 60 minutes, opinion

60 Minutes: Weiss Believes Pulling Segment a Good Thing for CBS News

In a note to staff, CBS News' Bari Weiss tried making the case that pulling a 60 Minutes segment critical of Trump was really a good thing.

Published Wed, 24 Dec 2025 15:02:04 -0600

by Ray Flook

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As CBS News Chief of Staff Bari Weiss sees it, officially pulling a segment from CBS's 60 Minutes that was critical of the Trump Administration only hours before it was set to air was a Christmas present to the news team because "the majority of Americans say they do not trust the press." In a note to staff, Weiss, President Tom Cibrowski, and new senior editors Charles Forelle and Adam Rubenstein, defended the decision, claiming the segment was pulled "to make sure it is comprehensive and fair."

In the segment, correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi spoke with several Venezuelan individuals who were detained in El Salvador's CECOT (Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo/Terrorism Confinement Center) by the Trump Administration to discuss the brutal and torturous conditions they endured. Though the segment was cleared by the network's legal department and Standards and Practices, and given the green light to be sent to the press for promotion, the notice went out on Sunday that the segment was being pulled for a "future broadcast" (we have a full timeline of the controversy that followed here).

"Right now, the majority of Americans say they do not trust the press. It isn't because they're crazy," the memo read. "To win back their trust, we have to work hard. Sometimes that means doing more legwork. Sometimes it means telling unexpected stories. Sometimes it means training our attention on topics that have been overlooked or misconstrued. And sometimes it means holding a piece about an important subject to make sure it is comprehensive and fair." The memo continued, "Such editorial decisions can cause a firestorm, particularly on a slow news week. And the standards for fairness we are holding ourselves to, particularly on contentious subjects, will surely feel controversial to those used to doing things one way. But to fulfill our mission, it's necessary."

A silver lining in all of this is that should the segment eventually air, we will have a chance to compare it to the original segment. Canadian television network Global TV uploaded and made Sunday night's original episode available for viewing on its app (but not broadcast). Though the original episode was eventually taken down, it wasn't before a lot of folks were able to view it, download it, and share it on social media, YouTube, and Reddit.

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