CBS Frets Over Deportations to Africa, Changes at Pentagon Newspaper

Nicholas Spinnato
August 21st, 2026 9:49 PM

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On Friday, CBS once again proved it had not taken a ‘MAGA’ turn under new ownership with two unique stories to hit the Trump administration on CBS Evening News.

First, anchor Tony Dokoupil teed up a story on firings at the partially taxpayer-funded Pentagon newspaper Stars and Stripes, and related their firing to a previous interview on CBS: 

 

 

We turn to Washington, D.C., now, where the editor-in-chief and other journalists with the military news organization Stars and Stripes have been fired following an interview with CBS News.

White House reporter Nancy Cordes then expanded on the story and said, “Two of the three journalists fired today said they were let go for 'insubordination' after they defended their outlet's Independence in this interview with CBS Sunday Morning that aired last month.”

After a clip played from the aforementioned interview, Cordes related the military newspaper firings to the USS Lincoln story: “For decades, Stars and Stripes has covered issues crucial to military families, like working conditions on the USS Lincoln. “

Cordes closed her interview portion and hit Secretary Pete Hegseth on new Pentagon press policies: 

The Pentagon has taken several steps to limit press access under the leadership of Secretary Pete Hegseth. Most notably, kicking most of the Pentagon press corps out of the building after news outlets declined to sign a controversial reporting pledge.

However, the bashing did not end, as then CBS immigration reporter Camilo Montoya-Galvez bashed the Trump Administration for deportation to the Central African Republic.

Dokoupil, again, led with an introduction: “We turn now to a CBS News exclusive. The story of two men caught up in the trump administration's effort to carry out a record number of deportations. They entered the U.S. illegally, but instead of being sent back home, they have been sent to a third place: the Central African Republic, a country so dangerous the U.S. Warns Americans not to travel there for any reason.”

 

 

The story first defended a deported immigrant who said he never agreed to be deported to Africa. Then, the CBS reporter featured an Eritrean native who was deported and created the narrative of a deported father once again, with interview portions from the man’s son and wife in Maryland.

Montoya-Galvez continued, “CBS News could not find any criminal record for either man beyond traffic and immigration violations.”

Back live on-set with Dokoupil, Montoya-Galvez noted, “What is clear, Tony, is that the administration sees the deportations as an effective way to deter illegal immigration.”

Dokoupil responded, “The cruelty is the point.” Montoy-Galvez then said, “In this case, it is.”

Neither of the other broadcast network newscasts covered either of these stories on Friday. 

Just another reminder that, unlike what many liberals and elitist media seem to think has shifted at CBS News, the network has definitely not become CBS Newsmax or MAGA TV.

The transcript is below. Click "expand"

CBS Evening News

August 21, 2026

6:35:16 PM Eastern

(...)

DOKOUPIL: We turn to Washington, D.C., now, where the editor-in-chief and other journalists with the military news organization Stars and Stripes have been fired following an interview with CBS News. Details now from our chief White House correspondent, Nancy Cordes.

[Cuts to video]

NANCY CORDES: Two of the three journalists fired today said they were let go for "Insubordination" after they defended their outlet's Independence in this interview with CBS Sunday Morning that aired last month.

STARS AND STRIPS REPORTER LARA KORTE [From CBS News Sunday Morning interview]: I'm working for Stars and Stripes, not for the Pentagon, not for any administration, not for any policymaker.

CORDES: For decades, Stars and Stripes has covered issues crucial to military families, like working conditions on the USS Lincoln. 

But about half its annual budget comes from taxpayers, and in January, a Pentagon spokesman announced plans to refocus its content away “from woke distractions that siphon morale.” 

CORDES: Editor-in-chief Erik Slavin told CBS he began to worry then about censorship.

DAVID MARTIN: Do you have red lines in your mind?

ERIK SLAVIN: Yes, I do.

MARTIN: Give me a red line.

SLAVIN: Don't run a perfectly accurate story. Run this instead. Here it is, written by the Pentagon. That would be a red line.

CORDES: I asked White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller about the firings this afternoon. Does the White House believe that Stars and Stripes should have the editorial independence it has always enjoyed when covering the military?

STEPHEN MILLER: I'm confident if anybody was fired, it was for just cause.

[Cuts back to live]

CORDES: The Pentagon has taken several steps to limit press access under the leadership of Secretary Pete Hegseth. Most notably, kicking most of the Pentagon press corps out of the building after news outlets declined to sign a controversial reporting pledge. Tony?

(...)

6:38:42 PM Eastern

DOKOUPIL: We turn now to a CBS News exclusive. The story of two men caught up in the trump administration's effort to carry out a record number of deportations. They entered the U.S. illegally, but instead of being sent back home, they have been sent to a third place: the Central African Republic, a country so dangerous the U.S. Warns Americans not to travel there for any reason. CBS Camilo Montoya-Galvez now with details.

[Cuts to video]

CAMILO MONTOYA-GALVEZ: You never agreed to be deported to Africa?

YASMANI MORENO DE ARMAS: No.

MONTOYA-GALVEZ: ​​Last year, Cuban immigrant Yasmani Moreno de Armas was working and living in Florida. He's now in the Central African Republic, sent there by the Trump administration in late July, alongside dozens of deportees.

DE ARMAS: [Translated by Montoya-Galvez] We cannot leave, we don't have documents, and we are suffering and missing our families in a continent we don't know.

MONTOYA-GALVEZ: He told us from Bangui, the country's capital. [To De Armas] Before arriving there, had you ever heard of the Central African Republic?

DE ARMAS: [Translated] Never.

MONTOYA-GALVEZ: The Central African Republic is one of the poorest in the world. Armed conflict, political instability, and Russian mercenaries have also made it one of the most dangerous. 

Eritrean native [unknown] is also stranded in Bangui.

ERITREAN NATIVE: I miss my family.

MONTOYA-GALVEZ: His American citizen wife and their 5-year-old son live in Maryland.

ERITREAN NATIVE: My son, he asks every day to my wife, where is my daddy?

MONTOYA-GALVEZ: [Unknown] called her husband's deportation inhumane.

ERITREAN NATIVE’S SON: He played with me a lot. And then he missed me a lot. And I miss him a lot.

ERITREAN NATIVE’S WIFE: He is so hurtful, more than us, because he loves his dad.

MONTOYA-GALVEZ: CBS News could not find any criminal record for either man beyond traffic and immigration violations. 

[To De Armas] There are some people here in the U.S., Yasmani, who would say if you are here illegally or without papers, you should be deported. What would you say to them?

[Translating De Armas] You are saying people should be deported to their home countries, not to random nations in Africa.

[Cuts back to live]

And Tony, the deportation agreement with the Central African Republic has remained shrouded in secrecy. We do not know, for example, what that country is receiving in return for their deportees. The Department of Homeland Security has not responded to requests for comment. What is clear, Tony, is that the administration sees the deportations as an effective way to deter illegal immigration.

DOKOUPIL: The cruelty is the point. 

MONTOYA-GALVEZ: In this case, it is.

(...)

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