00:00CBS News is facing a rare internal revolt this morning after pulling a 60 Minutes investigation
00:08at the last minute. The segment focused on Venezuelan migrants deported by the Trump
00:13administration to El Salvador's notorious Seacott prison. But according to emails obtained by the
00:19Washington Post, the story was scuttled after the White House refused to grant an interview.
00:24The decision came from new CBS News editor-in-chief Barry Weiss, prompting a sharp rebuke from 60
00:31Minutes correspondent Sharon Alfonsi. In an internal email reviewed by the Washington Post,
00:36the New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal, Alfonsi warned that letting government silence
00:41kill a story hands the White House a kill switch over journalism, writing, quote,
00:46government silence is a statement, not a veto. Their refusal to be interviewed is a tactical
00:52maneuver designed to kill the story. CBS says the piece needs more reporting and will air later.
00:58Weiss called the move a routine editorial decision, but Alfonsi says the segment had already been
01:04cleared by lawyers and standards and that pulling it now, quote, is not an editorial decision,
01:09it is a political one.
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