The White House sent CBS a statement that it did not use for the “60 Minutes” CECOT segment that was delayed by network editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, in which it called on the show to amplify stories of Angel Parents.
“As ’60 Minutes’ finalized its ‘Inside CECOT’ report last Thursday, CBS sent the White House a request for comment. A WH spokesperson responded within a few hours. The quote was not included in the ‘60’ report – so, judge for yourself whether it should have been included,” CNN media analyst Brian Stelter wrote on X Tuesday.
The statement from White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said, according to the New York Times, “60 Minutes should spend their time and energy amplifying the stories of Angel Parents, whose innocent American children have tragically been murdered by vicious illegal aliens that President Trump are [sic] removing from the country.”
Fox News Digital reached out to CBS and the White House for comment.
Hours before “Inside CECOT” was set to air on Sunday, “60 Minutes” released a statement saying that the segment was being delayed after it was “determined it needed additional reporting.”
The segment, which was leaked online after airing in Canada, features correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi interviewing Venezuelan deportees who were sent to El Salvador’s maximum-security prison after being deported by the Trump administration.
Fox News Digital reported that CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss made the decision to delay the segment after determining that, while the interviews were “powerful,” the story ultimately did not “advance the ball” and “was not ready.”
While the segment omitted the White House statement, it included a clip of White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying in March of the deported Venezuelan men, “These are heinous monsters, rapists, murderers, kidnappers, sexual assaulters, predators, who have no right to be in this country and they must be held accountable.”
Alfonsi accused Weiss of spiking the story based on politics and suggested in a memo that the administration had been silent when she sought interviews. However, it’s been reported that the State Department and Department of Homeland Security, as well as the White House, sent on-the-record statements that weren’t included in the segment.
“Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices,” Alfonsi wrote Monday. “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.”
“If the administration’s refusal to participate becomes a valid reason to spike a story, we have effectively handed them a ‘kill switch’ for any reporting they find inconvenient,” she added.
The full segment aired in Canada through Canada’s Global TV app and quickly spread online on Monday.
The video did not include any sit-down interviews with Trump officials or any administration statements beyond the brief clip of Leavitt, and another short clip of President Donald Trump praising El Salvador’s tough prison system.
Alfonsi noted on “60 Minutes” that the Department of Homeland Security declined an interview request and referred CECOT questions to the El Salvadoran government, which didn’t respond to its request.
Fox News’ David Rutz contributed to this report.
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