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At the last minute, CBS News held a segment about Venezuelan men who were deported by the Trump administration to a prison in El Salvador. It surfaced online anyway.
Dec. 23, 2025Updated 5:54 p.m. ET
One of this season’s most-talked-about “60 Minutes” investigations may be one that never made it to air.
CBS News caused a controversy after it pulled a report from Sunday’s episode of the long-running news program that featured the stories of Venezuelan men who were deported by the Trump administration to a brutal prison in El Salvador. But the 13-minute segment, as originally edited by “60 Minutes” staff members, soon surfaced online in full.
The last-minute change had already set off a political firestorm. Bari Weiss, the network’s editor in chief, said she postponed the segment because its reporting was flawed and incomplete. Her critics — including the “60 Minutes” correspondent who reported the segment, Sharyn Alfonsi — saw it as an attempt by CBS to placate the administration. CBS is owned by David Ellison, a technology heir who is trying to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery in a deal that needs federal regulatory approval.
Now the viewing public can draw its own conclusions. After a Canadian television network briefly posted the video on its streaming app on Monday, copies were quickly downloaded and widely shared on social media.
“60 Minutes” is seen by an average of 10 million viewers a week, and it is not clear if the bootlegged version of Ms. Alfonsi’s report will eventually reach a similar audience.
But the fact that the segment is widely accessible has complicated an already challenging situation for Ms. Weiss, who is facing backlash from her newsroom. She joined CBS in October from her upstart news and opinion site The Free Press, with virtually no experience in broadcasting.
