The 60 Minutes segment that was spiked by CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss for not being ready is now readily available online, after the network that airs the show in Canada ran the original version of the program and subsequently released it online.
A source in Canada confirmed that as of earlier Monday evening, the full original 60 Minutes episode, including the “Inside CECOT” segment that was pulled at the last minute, was available via Global TV’s streaming platform.
60 Minutes had been slated to run the segment, which featured Sharyn Alfonsi as the correspondent and Oriana Zill de Granados as the producer speaking to Venezuelans who had been deported by the Trump administration to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison.
Weiss, however, asked that it be pulled before it aired.
“I held a 60 Minutes story because it was not ready,” she told staff Monday morning. “While the story presented powerful testimony of torture at CECOT, it did not advance the ball—the Times and other outlets have previously done similar work. The public knows that Venezuelans have been subjected to horrific treatment at this prison. To run a story on this subject two months later, we need to do more. And this is 60 Minutes. We need to be able to get the principals on the record and on camera. Our viewers come first. Not the listing schedule or anything else. That’s my north star and I hope it’s yours, too.”
By the time Weiss asked that the episode be adjusted, the network had already released that week’s lineup for the newsmagazine, and it came too late and ran in Canada (or whoever is responsible for transmitting the episode to the Canadian TV partner did not make the requested change).
The result is that the segment is now widely available on platforms like X and YouTube from viewers posting their videos of the segment, though copyright complaints from CBS could temper that enthusiasm.
Alfonsi, meanwhile, was outraged by the move, emailing her colleagues that “our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices. It is factually correct,” Alfonsi wrote. “In my view, pulling it now—after every rigorous internal check has been met is not an editorial decision, it is a political one.”
Weiss told staff that she is serious about getting the story on air once her concerns have been addressed, though Global TV’s move will now let viewers see whatever changes CBS makes to the final version.
