CBS pulls '60 Minutes' segment on El Salvador's CECOT prison
Melina KhanCBS pulled a "60 Minutes" segment hours before it was set to air on Dec. 21, a move that has apparently sparked backlash from its correspondent.
The segment was set to feature the notorious El Salvador prison CECOT.
The news program announced the programming update in a statement around 4:30 p.m. ET on Dec. 21, adding that the piece "will air in a future broadcast."
"We determined it needed additional reporting," CBS News said in a statement to USA TODAY.
Sharyn Alfonsi, a correspondent who has worked at the network for more than two decades, reported the piece. Multiple outlets, including The New York Times, NPR and CNN, obtained an email Alfonsi sent to colleagues in which she said the decision to pull the segment "is not an editorial decision, it is a political one." USA TODAY has not been able to reach Alfonsi.
"60 Minutes," instead, aired a segment on a family of classical musicians, the programming update said. The show's social media comments have since been flooded with viewers calling on the network to release the original clip.
It's been a year of shakeups at the network, which is owned by Paramount. The company in October acquired the independent media company The Free Press and named its CEO, Bari Weiss, CBS News' editor-in-chief.
Pulled '60 Minutes' segment was on CECOT's 'brutal and torturous conditions'
An archived programming note said the segment, called "Inside CECOT," would feature interviews with Venezuelan migrants who had been deported to the prison by President Donald Trump's administration.
Alfonsi spoke to some of the now released deportees, who described "the brutal and torturous conditions they endured inside CECOT," the log line said, adding that the facility is "one of El Salvador’s harshest prisons."
CECOT, which is officially called the Center for the Confinement of Terrorism and is notorious for harsh and dangerous conditions, has been used to house some migrant detainees from the United States as part of a deal with El Salvador.
A Human Rights Watch report released in November details 40 Venezuelan prisoners' experiences at CECOT, where they alleged they faced constant abuse at the hands of guards. While the U.S. and El Salvador governments have accused these prisoners of being terrorists, the report found many of them had not been convicted of any crimes.
The prison also made headlines earlier in 2025 when Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident and Salvadoran native who was granted legal protection to stay in the United States, was deported to the prison by the Trump administration on March 15.
Abrego Garcia was released from prison Dec. 11 after U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis of Maryland said the Trump administration had no legal basis to expel him from the country. The Justice Department is contesting the ruling.
'60 Minutes' has faced criticism from Trump
CBS has been at odds with Trump several times in 2025.
In July, Paramount agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Trump over a "60 Minutes" segment that aired last year. He claimed it was edited in favor of former Vice President Kamala Harris during the election cycle.
Earlier in December, Trump also lashed out at CBS News over an interview with Marjorie Taylor Greene.
"THEY ARE NO BETTER THAN THE OLD OWNERSHIP, who just paid me millions of Dollars for FAKE REPORTING about your favorite President, ME!" Trump wrote Dec. 8 on Truth Social. "Since they bought it, 60 Minutes has actually gotten WORSE! Oh well, far worse things can happen."
David Ellison, the son of Trump ally and Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, took over as Paramount CEO in August after the company merged with Skydance.
David Ellison's Paramount is also mounting a hostile takeover of Warner Bros. after losing a bidding war for the company to Netflix. Trump has repeatedly taken aim at CNN, which is owned by Warner Bros., saying "it's imperative" that the news network be sold.
Melina Khan is a national trending reporter for USA TODAY. She can be reached at [email protected].