CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss blocked a 60 Minutes segment from airing over the weekend after legitimate concerns over copyright issues. The segment, which was later aired by Canadian broadcaster Global TV, focused on Venezuelan migrants deported to El Salvador’s notorious Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT) prison, which falls under the Trump administration.
Videos of the segment briefly circulated on YouTube, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter).
Still, many were quickly removed due to copyright claims from Paramount Skydance, CBS News’ parent company. Yet copies of the clip were preserved on platforms like the Internet Archive.
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As per The Daily Beast, the footage was quite violent as Venezuelan college student and asylum seeker Luis Munoz Pinto described brutal treatment at CECOT.
“There was blood everywhere, screams, people crying, people who couldn’t take it and were urinating and vomiting on themselves. Four guards grabbed me, and they beat me until I bled. They knocked our faces against the wall and broke one of my teeth.”
It is one of the largest prisons in Latin America, which started in 2023. It has a capacity to keep 40,000 inmates. Many deported immigrants, as part of Trump’s mass deportation drive, are currently residing there. The footage included interviews with these detainees, but was taken down.
As per NBC News, Luis Munoz Pinto said that the conditions of the people kept in the infamous prison were beyond comprehension. They could never leave, and he was waiting for an asylum decision when he was deported to CECOT earlier this year. He has since been released but continues to say that he endured four months of torture.
This CECOT story in summary is just evil for shits and giggles.
To intentionally make an example of men like Louise Munoz Pinto…who applied for asylum legally..with no criminal record…and deport him and others to be raped/tortured is a level of evil I can’t wrap my mind around https://t.co/5mhGDDYCW0
— Cloud (@maestroxv_) December 23, 2025
The segment also featured clips of President Donald Trump praising El Salvador’s prisons and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem thanking El Salvador for working with the ruling government.
When the Trump administration announced the mass deportation policies, they were aimed only to target illegal immigrants and criminals who would be deported through a proper legal process.
However, as of 2025, several cases of abuse, forced arrests and messy detention cases have been reported across the country, making many citizens unhappy and causing unrest through protests and online feuds.
Jenique Jones, a credit specialist from Bethlehem and a longtime Trump supporter, told CNN’s John King that Trump has not kept his promises, and she feels let down, thanks to abrupt immigration raids, tariffs, and a million other impulsive changes in the system.
“We changed presidents at the beginning of the year, and the guy who moved into the White House said that he was going to fix it,” King said. “Has he fixed it? Absolutely not,” Jones responded. “I’m definitely waiting for him to fix it.”
Furthermore, CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss stated the story “needed additional reporting” before airing, as specific journalistic standards need to be met while content is published.
CNN got rare, exclusive access inside El Salvador’s Cecot prison, where some of the country’s most notorious gang members are held. David Culver tours the controversial high-security facility with prison officials, capturing firsthand accounts from inmates https://t.co/haOFa7um37 pic.twitter.com/CxJwvJB6ci
— CNN (@CNN) November 14, 2024
However, correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi argued political motives were involved. She added that the network was delaying the story because the Trump administration’s declining to comment would allow the government to block coverage by staying silent.
In November, Donald Trump sat down with Host Norah O’Donnell for a 60 Minutes interview, which was his first since resolving a legal dispute with CBS News earlier in 2025. The popular network reportedly agreed to pay $16 million to settle a $20 billion lawsuit filed by Donald Trump, who accused CBS News of deceptively editing an interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024.
The president had walked away mid-interview after he was upset.
The Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) is widely considered the harshest and most notorious prison in El Salvador and arguably in the World !🌍 pic.twitter.com/vzCRQgihGy
— D1 (@Temsuntbaba) December 19, 2025
Also, just like CECOT, Florida’s Alligator Alcatraz has been slammed for its inhuman living conditions, allegedly comparing them to concentration camps. Situated amidst lush greenery, it was built in just eight days. The compound reportedly includes 200 surveillance cameras, over 400 staff, and a capacity for 3,000 detainees.
Rep. Maxwell Frost exposed the conditions via a video on TikTok after he visited the facility in July 2025. “It’s literally a spigot that comes from the toilet… The food portions are horrible, it was very hot… I saw people sweating,” he added.
