The controversial segment, titled “Inside CECOT,” was supposed to air on 60 Minutes in the United States. It focused on Venezuelan migrants deported by the Trump administration and detained at El Salvador’s high-security CECOT prison, where former detainees described alleged torture and abuse.
Just hours before broadcast, Bari Weiss, CBS News’ editor-in-chief, ordered the story pulled, saying it was “not ready.”
“I held a 60 Minutes story because it was not ready,” Weiss told staff in an internal message. While she acknowledged the testimony was powerful, she argued the reporting did not add enough new information beyond what outlets like The New York Times had already published. Weiss also stressed that the show needed to secure on-camera interviews with key decision-makers before airing.
But by the time the decision was made, it was too late to stop the episode from airing in Canada. Global Television Network, which broadcasts 60 Minutes north of the border, ran the episode as originally planned and later made it available on its streaming platform.
As a result, the pulled segment quickly spread online. Clips and full recordings began circulating on X and YouTube, uploaded by viewers who recorded the Canadian broadcast. While CBS could still file copyright complaints, the story is now widely accessible.
Inside CBS, the move triggered anger and disbelief.
Correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi, who reported the story, emailed colleagues expressing outrage. She said the segment had been reviewed multiple times and cleared by CBS lawyers and standards teams.
“It is factually correct,” Alfonsi wrote. “Pulling it now — after every rigorous internal check has been met — is not an editorial decision, it is a political one.”
The segment was produced by Oriana Zill de Granados and featured interviews with Venezuelans describing harsh treatment after being deported to El Salvador. The reporting added new firsthand accounts but did not include interviews with U.S. or Salvadoran officials directly responsible for the prison’s operation — a key issue Weiss cited.
Weiss has since told staff that she still wants the story to air once her concerns are addressed. But the Canadian broadcast has created an unusual situation: viewers can now compare the original version with any revised segment CBS eventually airs in the U.S.
For a program long seen as the gold standard of American television journalism, the episode has ignited a broader debate — not just about timing and standards, but about where editorial caution ends and political pressure begins.
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