The 60 Minutes story that CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss abruptly pulled from the air on Sunday has been leaked—and the network is responding with copyright takedowns.
Canadian broadcaster Global TV aired the segment, which deals with Venezuelan migrants to the U.S. whom the Trump administration deported to CECOT, the notorious prison in El Salvador. Videos of the segment—in some instances, people recording their television screens—began circulating on Monday. But many didn’t last.
Paramount Skydance, CBS News’ parent company, began issuing a flurry of copyright notices on X, YouTube, and other platforms.
But the video was ultimately saved in the Internet Archive, among other places.
In it, a Venezuelan college student who sought asylum in the U.S.—and says he has no criminal record—describes what happened to him at CECOT.
“There was blood everywhere, screams, people crying, people who couldn’t take it and were urinating and vomiting on themselves,” Luis Munoz Pinto said. “Four guards grabbed me, and they beat me until I bled until the point of agony. They knocked our faces against the wall. That was when they broke one of my teeth.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to CBS News for comment on the 60 Minutes segment ultimately being aired outside of the U.S.
Weiss, 41, claimed the story “needed additional reporting” before it could air, telling The New York Times: “My job is to make sure that all stories we publish are the best they can be. Holding stories that aren’t ready for whatever reason—that they lack sufficient context, say, or that they are missing critical voices—happens every day in every newsroom. I look forward to airing this important piece when it’s ready.”
But Sharyn Alfonsi, the correspondent on the story, said “political” motives were at play.
“Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices,” Alfonsi, 53, wrote to her CBS colleagues, per The New York Times. “It is factually correct. In my view, pulling it now, after every rigorous internal check has been met, is not an editorial decision; it is a political one.”
President Donald Trump on Friday complained about his treatment on 60 Minutes. Paramount Skydance chief David Ellison is seeking to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery—a move that would require the approval of the Federal Communications Commission.
