Fox News anchor and political analyst Howard Kurtz joins ‘U.S. News’ to discuss why CBS aired a ’60 Minutes’ report on the Trump administration’s deportation from a prison in El Salvador.
Following CBS News’ delay of a “60 Minutes” segment examining the Trump administration’s deportation of Venezuelan immigrants to El Salvador’s CECOT prison, some news outlets have raised questions about whether the move was intended to appease the administration amid an escalating war with Warner Bros. Discovery.
Paramount and its majority shareholder, the billionaire Ellison family, recently entertained a request from Warner Bros. Discovery reached $108 billion. Considering that WBD is currently moving forward with a deal to sell its movie and streaming assets to Netflix, Paramount’s bid is considered hostile.
This week, Weiss caused a stir with his decision to cancel the airing of a “60 Minutes” segment about CECOT, an unusual move since the network had already begun promoting the package before its Sunday night broadcast.
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CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss speaks on stage during a Book Club event with Peggy Noonan on Nov. 19, 2024, New York City. (Noam Galai/Getty Images for The Free Press / Getty Images)
Journalist Sharyn Alfonsi interviewed Venezuelan men deported by the Trump administration to the infamous prison for the episode, which leaked online Monday after airing in Canada. Alfonsi lashed out at Weiss in a letter he wrote to his colleagues, saying that this is a political decision and will be considered a corporate audit.
Weiss told employees on Monday that he did not believe the issue was settled, and asked his colleagues to have a respectful discussion. In his letter to his “60 Minutes” colleagues about the segment, Weiss called for aggressive efforts to get Trump officials on camera and criticized the “weird” segment that involved prison analysis by Berkeley students. He didn’t ask for the episode to be killed entirely, but instead wanted more coverage before it aired.
Liberal media figures think something rotten is going on, with a handful of reports claiming Weiss’ actions are linked to corporate machinations and the Ellisons’ connections to President Donald Trump.
A Tuesday report from New York Magazine’s The Intelligencer suggested that the Ellisons are fighting for favorable treatment from the Trump administration for partial consideration. Larry Ellison, the billionaire father of Paramount CEO David Ellison and an associate of Trump, offered $40 billion of his own money as equity to help make the deal.
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“The Ellisons, who are among the richest men in the world, bought Paramount earlier this year and are now after an even bigger fish: they hope that Trump uses his antitrust powers to complete Netflix’s purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery and allow Paramount, instead, to eat WB, creating a new entertainment and media juggernaut,” said New York Magazine.
Oracle founder, CTO and CEO Larry Ellison, accompanied by US President Donald Trump in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Jan. 21, 2025. (Andrew Harnik / Getty Images)
Despite this alleged power move, the Intelligencer said the Ellisons “still aren’t on Trump’s good side, and that the president is “still upset about 60 Minutes and still disagreeing with him — not as much as he’d like.”
Indeed, Trump took a shot at “60 Minutes” on Truth Social last week, saying the show was hurting him more than ever since David Ellison took over Paramount following its merger with Skydance Media this year.
A Monday report from the progressive outlet The Intercept was even more specific in its allegations of business interference related to Paramount’s bid for Warner Bros. Discovery.
The outlet argued that Weiss’ move to add the part “is a prime example of why Paramount’s new owner, David Ellison, hired him in the first place.”
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“[Weiss’] The job is to suck Trump, yes, but mostly as a means — not the end of it. If Trump favors CBS and Paramount, it could undermine the pending Netflix–Warner Bros. merger. Discovery, helped Ellison take over WBD himself, and strengthen the Ellison family’s media team to advance their corporate interests and right-wing views,” The Intercept said.
Paramount recently raised its bid for Warner Bros. Discovery reached $108 billion. (Photos by AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC/Getty Images)
The report went on to say that Trump’s second term has “completely abandoned antitrust law,” and that the Ellisons “have the opportunity to consolidate unprecedented control of the media into the hands of a single company.”
The company maintains that, with the power of federal antitrust laws, Trump could tip the scales in Ellison’s favor in the Warner Bros. bidding war. Discovery.
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According to the source, Weiss and Ellison’s “interference” with “60 Minutes” isn’t about promoting “Trumpism,” it’s about promoting Ellison’s agenda and growing their massive media empire.
Earlier this year, Paramount closed an $8 billion merger with Skydance Media that required approval from the Trump administration.
While that was going on, CBS News, owned by Paramount, settled an election interference lawsuit with Trump for $16 million over how it arranged a “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris. The case was called a sham by critics and the fix was seen as an effective bribery to bring the finish line together, while supporters said Trump was simply holding the liberal media to account for its dishonesty.
Paramount CEO David Ellison announced an aggressive takeover bid for Warner Bros. Discovery on 8 Dec. (Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Weiss’s defenders online said his views on developing the story were entirely reasonable, and reports that Alfonsi’s part did not include on-the-record responses provided to the White House, State Department and Department of Homeland Security created another discussion.
There is no evidence that Weiss made any editorial decisions based on business or political pressure. Since becoming editor-in-chief of CBS News in October, his tenure has been scrutinized for his ideological background, particularly for his pro-Israel and anti-resurrection views.
Alfonsi was also the author of a controversial “60 Minutes” segment in 2021 that alleged a pay-to-play scheme between Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., and Publix have been heavily criticized by Democrats and Republicans in the state.
One thing is clear though: If Weiss was hoping to generate less attention to the story by choosing to delay it, he was sorely mistaken. The segment, which can be seen here, is more censored than it would have been had it just aired as planned.
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Weiss and CBS News did not immediately return Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.
David Rutz and Joseph Wulfsohn of Fox News contributed to this report.
