CBS abruptly pulls '60 Minutes' segment on migrants sent to El Salvador prison—what to know
Story by Siladitya Ray, Forbes Staff, December 21. 2025
CBS News on Sunday pulled a segment from “60 Minutes” on the condition of a maximum-security prison in El Salvador, which houses hundreds of Venezuelan migrants deported from the U.S., in a move that comes just weeks after Trump complained about another segment of the show, and said CBS had “gotten WORSE” after being acquired by Skydance Media.
Last week, CBS News had promoted a clip of the segment showing shackled deported migrants being taken into El Salvador’s CECOT maximum security prison, where they said they “endured four months of hell.”
However, the segment did not air on Sunday, and 60 Minutes’ official social handles put out an Editor’s Note saying: “The broadcast lineup for tonight's edition of 60 Minutes has been updated. Our report "Inside CECOT" will air in a future broadcast.”
In an internal email, 60 Minutes correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi told her colleagues that CBS’s new Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss had “spiked our story,” the Wall Street Journal and New York Times reported.
Alfonsi said the story was “screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices” and was “factually correct.”
The email added, “In my view, pulling it now—after every rigorous internal check has been met is not an editorial decision, it is a political one.”
In a statement to several outlets, CBS News said, “We determined it needed additional reporting,” before reiterating that the segment would air in a future episode.
Crucial Quote
In a statement shared with the New York Times, Weiss said: “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.”
Chief Critic
In her email, Alfonsi noted they had requested responses and interviews from the DHS, the White House, and the State Department and added: “Government silence is a statement, not a VETO. Their refusal to be interviewed is a tactical maneuver designed to kill the story. If the administration's refusal to participate becomes a valid reason to spike a story, we have effectively handed them a "kill switch" for any reporting they find inconvenient.”
CBS abruptly pulls '60 Minutes' segment on migrants sent to El Salvador prison—what to know |
