CBS News Editor in Chief Bari Weiss defended her decision to pull a controversial “60 Minutes” segment on an El Salvador prison, telling staff Monday the piece “wasn’t ready” and needed more reporting — pushing back on accusations that the last-minute move was politically motivated.

Weiss addressed the backlash during a network-wide editorial call, saying she held the segment because “we simply need to do more,” according to a recording reviewed by the Wall Street Journal.

“I held a ‘60 Minutes’ story and I held that story because it wasn’t ready,” Weiss told CBS News staffers on Monday. When reached by The Post, CBS News confirmed the accuracy of the Journal’s reporting.

Weiss said the story “has already been reported on by places like the [New York] Times, the public knows that Venezuelans have been subjected to horrific treatment in this prison. So to run a story on this subject, two months later, we simply need to do more.”

She said the only newsroom she wants to run is one where editors can have “contentious disagreements” while assuming “the best intent” of colleagues — an implicit criticism of “60 Minutes” correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi.

“The only newsroom that I’m interested in running is one where we are able to have contentious disagreements about the thorniest editorial matters and do so with respect and crucially where we assume the best intent of our colleagues,” Weiss said on the editorial call on Monday.

Alfonsi blasted the decision in a Sunday email to top correspondents, writing that she learned just a day earlier that Weiss had “spiked our story” and arguing the move was political, not editorial.

The segment had been promoted heavily and was scheduled to air Sunday before CBS abruptly pulled it just three hours before broadcast — an unusually late programming change that triggered an internal uproar, according to the New York Times.

“Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices,” Alfonsi wrote, according to the Times.

“Pulling it now … is not an editorial decision, it is a political one.”

The Times reported that Weiss first reviewed the segment Thursday and requested numerous changes over the following days, including asking producers to seek a fresh interview with White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller or another senior Trump administration official.

Weiss also raised concerns about referring to the deported Venezuelans as “migrants,” noting they were in the US illegally, people familiar with the discussions told the Times.

Alfonsi countered internally that her team had sought comment from the White House, the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security, warning that allowing an administration’s refusal to participate to delay a story would hand officials a “kill switch” over coverage, according to the Times.

CBS said the segment would air at a later date.

Weiss rejected Alfonsi’s characterization during the morning call on Monday, saying the prison conditions had already been reported by the Times and others and that airing a similar story months later required additional reporting, including making “every effort” to get key principals on the record and on camera.

“To me, our viewers come first, not a listing schedule or anything else,” Weiss said on Monday.

“That is my North Star and I hope it’s the North Star of every person in this newsroom.”

The Post has sought comment from the White House and CBS.