In her leaked email to her colleagues, Alfonsi accused CBS News and Weiss of engaging in “corporate censorship” and of “betrayal of the most basic tenet of journalism.” Reporters at CBS News are threatening to quit over the Weiss decision, CNN’s Brian Stelter reported (it’s unlikely that anyone will actually quit due to the fast-shrinking job market for television reporters).
Weiss, who was appointed CBS News editor in chief in October, said in a statement Monday that the story “did not advance the ball” on what has already been reported about CECOT. “We need to be able to get the principals on the record and on camera,” she said.
There’s precedent warranting additional legwork on Alfonsi’s segments. Alfonsi was the lead correspondent on a debunked story in 2021 that DeSantis gave preferential treatment to the supermarket chain Publix to distribute coronavirus vaccines because the company donated $100,000 to DeSantis’s campaign.
“How is that not pay-to-play?” Alfonsi asked DeSantis when she confronted him after one of the governor’s press conferences.
Alfonsi’s producer for that story, Oriana Zill de Granados, also produced the “Inside CECOT” report.
Several Florida officials, including Democrats, blasted the 60 Minutes report, saying that DeSantis’s office was not involved in awarding contracts to Publix.
Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D., Fla.), who oversaw Florida’s emergency management division in 2021 and is known for tangling with the GOP, said that the division recommended Publix for the contract because other pharmacies were not equipped to distribute vaccines.
“No one from the Governor’s office suggested Publix. It’s just absolute malarkey,” he said.
But think of the long tradition of excellence at CBS News!
LOL at people upset "Network of Dan Rather" now sullied…. https://t.co/OrqLbIvHmb
— Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) December 22, 2025