When the US started deporting immigrants earlier this year, the first groups where hauled to El Salvador where they were turned over to the El Salvadoran government who placed them in the CECOT prison, which is well-known as one of the absolute worst of prisons in the world.
CBS 60 Minutes prepared a segment on the prison and the torture inflicted on men who had been deported from the US on flimsy or no evidence. A few hours before the segment was to air, Ms. Bari Weiss, the new CEO of CBS, ordered the report pulled off the air because Trump opposed it.
This is what happened:
On Friday morning, CBS sent out a press release promoting the upcoming segment. “Inside CECOT,” it was called. The network described it as a look at “one of El Salvador’s harshest prisons,” featuring interviews with recently released deportees who would describe “the brutal and torturous conditions they endured.” CBS ran promotional clips on the air and on social media. The 60 Minutes website had a page up for the segment.
On Friday night, Donald Trump held a rally in North Carolina. He complained about 60 Minutes, saying the program had “treated me worse under the new ownership” and that if the Ellisons, who now control CBS’s parent company, “are friends, I’d hate to see my enemies!”
On Saturday morning, Weiss weighed in with concerns about the segment. According to CNN’s reporting, she took issue with the lack of an on-camera response from the Trump administration. She suggested the segment needed an interview with Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, and provided his contact information to 60 Minutes staff.
By Sunday afternoon, the story was dead. CBS posted on social media that the segment would “air in a future broadcast.” The promotional page was taken down. The clips were removed from YouTube. A CBS spokesperson told reporters the segment “needed additional reporting.”
Here is a link that should take you to the original 60 Minutes segment. It may have been taken down by now.
https://archive.org/details/3mam75w3oec2n
CBS needs to change their name from CBS Broadcasting Company to BS Broadcasting Company – or just to Trump Broadcasting Company.