Yanked "60 Minutes" episode aired in Canada
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The "60 Minutes" segment pulled from air by CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss did not include new comments from Trump administration officials, according to a copy of the segment viewed by Axios.
Why it matters: The segment, anchored by correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi, caused uproar internally over whether it was pulled for political reasons.
- The package was distributed via an app owned by Global Television which airs "60 Minutes" in Canada.
Zoom in: The segment included interviews with two people who were imprisoned at CECOT, an executive from the nonprofit Human Rights Watch and the director of UC Berkeley's Human Rights Center Investigations Lab.
- One college student, who was detained by U.S. customs before getting deported to CECOT, describes being tortured upon arrival.
- Another man told Alfonsi that he and others were taken to "a little room where there's no light, no ventilation, nothing."
- "It's a cell for punishment where you can't see your hand in front of your face. After they locked us in, they came to beat us every half hour, and they pounded on the door with their sticks to traumatize us while we were in there."
- "60 Minutes" also said it reviewed available ICE data to confirm Human Rights Watch's findings that suggested only eight deported men had been sentenced for violent or potentially violent crimes.
The other side: The segment ends with Alfonsi saying the Department of Homeland Security "declined our request for an interview and referred all questions about CECOT to El Salvador. The government there did not respond to our request."
- The segment included previous comments made by President Trump, who said El Salvador's prison system has "very strong facilities, and they don't play games."
- It also includes a clip of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt previously saying, "These are heinous monsters, rapists, murderers, kidnappers, sexual assaulters, predators who have no right to be in this country, and they must be held accountable."
Between the lines: According to a source familiar with "60 Minutes" correspondence with the administration, the "60 Minutes" team reached out to press officials at the White House, State Department and DHS, all of which provided comment to CBS News.
- None of those comments, which varied in length and substance, were included in the piece viewed by Axios.
- CBS declined to comment.
Go deeper... Scoop: Weiss told top "60 Minutes" producers that delayed segment had problems
