'60 Minutes’ CECOT episode ‘mistakenly’ streams in Canada

The 60 Minutes piece pulled by the head of CBS News has now been seen around the world, all because of a streaming slip-up. The story is a deep dive into treatment of Trump deportees at a notorious prison in El Salvador. CBS News editor-in-chief Barry Weiss decided to shelve it, saying that it was not ready. But the already-approved episode was published by a streaming platform in Canada all the while, and it's now gone viral. CNN's chief media analyst Brian Stelter has been tracking this one. He's got more. Brian, what happened here?

Isn't the internet amazing? That's my takeaway about this story because this video clip has spread all across the internet. It's on sites like Reddit and Blue Sky and X and even YouTube, although CBS has been trying to get it taken down. What happened is that it's actually pretty common in television. When a piece is taped, when a show is taped ahead of time, it gets transmitted,

it gets delivered to various computer servers. In this case, the finished episode on Friday was delivered to a Canadian TV network called Global TV because Global TV has the rights to air 60 minutes in Canada. So the episode was done as we talked about. People inside CBS thought it was ready to go. So it was delivered to Global TV and then it popped up on Global TV's streaming app, I think probably automatically and inadvertently on Monday. Some smart Canadian viewers

noticed this on the app. They started recording it off their TV sets and boom, now the thing is viral and now the whole world is able to see what all the fuss is about. And when you do watch it, and again these are bootlegged copies, but when you do watch the report, you see it's a pretty common, pretty ordinary 60 minutes investigation. It is notable that several of these detainees are interviewed describing

torturous conditions at the prison in El Salvador and I want to make sure we continue to center those perspectives because that was the point of the report in the first place. Here's what one of those deportees said to correspondent Sharon Alfonsi, quote, the torture was never-ending, interminable, there was blood everywhere, screams, people crying, people who couldn't take it and were urinating or vomiting on themselves.

So that's the kind of testimony that's included in the 60 Minutes report that was shelved over the weekend, but not shelved soon enough. It is, to be fair, to Barry Weitz, who has said this report was not ready and did not push the ball forward, a lot of these testimonies have been out there before. People can look at the Human Rights Watch report that was released in November. The New York Times, CNN, and other outlets have reported on these testimonies. The notable part about 60 Minutes, though, was that these interviews were on camera,

on the record, part of a taped piece that was going to be seen by more than 10 million people since 60 Minutes is the most watched news magazine in the country. So that's really at the crux of the dispute now and we don't know if CBS is going to go forward and actually broadcast this officially, but thanks to the stream it's out there now Kate. Are you hearing anything from CBS just about kind of this development? Yeah about this development in Canada, no. No comment from CBS about it. I think this was certainly embarrassing for the folks over there because they did try to shelve this segment. But look, internally there's been

a lot of turmoil about this. Scott Pelley, other correspondents speaking out at a meeting yesterday. 60 Minutes correspondent Tanya Simon defended the Sharon Alfonsi piece, said she believed it was ready for air but she had to follow her boss's orders, her boss being Barry Weiss. So this is something that's still very much alive and controversial inside CBS and as one person there said to me overnight, this leak in Canada was the best thing that could have happened

because at least now the reporting is out there.

Brian, thank you for your reporting, I appreciate it.

Joining me now is former CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armin Kataian, who of course was also a regular contributor to 60 Minutes. Armand, it's good to have you with us this afternoon. I know you watched the piece. I watched it as well today. I'm curious, your reaction to Sharon's story, especially in light of what you've heard about the changes that Barry Weiss is pushing for.

Well, I think it was a classic 60 Minutes piece. It was deeply reported. They had compelling characters, you know, giving firsthand accounts of the brutality and the conditions, the horrific conditions inside the prison. So, to me, it was an A-plus kind of a piece. And I know Sharon. We worked together at 60 and also at 60 Minutes Sports. She's a first rate television correspondent and a reporter. We spoke briefly through email yesterday. I told her I was very proud of her

and I gave her my full support. And she said, thank you very much on both of those accounts.

How is she weathering all of this?

Well, I don't really know. I mean, she's not talking beyond the memo that she wrote the email that she wrote, which I thought was incredibly courageous and putting her, I think, putting her job on the line. No question. She's not in a safe space right now. I'm I'd be pretty sure about that. But, um, you know, having worked there for eight years, it's a special

group of people. It's really not a job, it's your life. You completely invested in these stories. And certainly in her case, to have five different screenings, most of the pieces that I did,

some of them were investigative in nature, you would go through three screenings. To go five means that Tanya Simon, the executive producer and all the other people there that were responsible for this standards and practices vetting legal.

They were meticulous and crossing all the T's and dotting all the eyes. So you know, as I said, I watched it. I thought it was a classic 60 piece.

Yeah, absolutely. You know you talk about the email that she wrote, and you know, I've heard from a lot of people the courage that they see in that. The braver, as you point, her job very well may be on the line and being so public about it. A number of things that she wrote stood out to me, but this is one of them. She talks about specifically this push for statements, and it's important to note, she noted she did reach out to the White House, she reached out to DHS, she reached out to the State Department.

She writes in her email, government silence is a statement, not a veto, going on to say 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. That is especially poignant on the heels of recent comments from the president, in which he posted online that he wasn't happy with the direction of 60 Minutes

and said, if these are friends, then who needs enemies? Do you think Barry Weiss understands what she meant by a kill switch? Sorry, Armin.

No, that's okay. I mean, absolutely. I mean, when you are, when you're doing these kinds of stories, you're obligated to go to the other side for comment. And oftentimes we would give them not specific questions,

but obviously general directions in which these stories were going. And we were vigilant in trying to get the other side to talk. But if the other side doesn't talk, it's your responsibility to say that in the story. And that's what Sharon and the producer did, Oriana.

So now I'm hearing and reading about, oh, there was comments back from the White House and DHS. Well, the White House, if I'm reading things correctly, basically didn't respond directly to what Sharon and Oriana were asking. They went off on a different tangent

as they're known to do. So my big issue here, directly to what Sharon and Oriana were asking. They went off on a different tangent as they're known to do. So my big issue here, if I could make this one point is, I don't know Barry Weiss, I've never met her, but what I do know is this, is that if you're going to, and she has every right as an editor in chief

to raise questions and concerns about pieces, but not in the 11th hour, not after not seeing five different screenings and coming in a day and a half before this piece is aired, it's already been vetted. That's just not the way things work,

not at a network I've ever worked for. And I think, frankly, she's out of her depth here right now. And she should listen more than demand certain things or ask for certain things. And what I'm feeling in talking to people at 60

is there's just deep concern right now as to where the direction of the network is going.

Does that concern include a full loss, essentially, of editorial control?

I don't know. I mean, I don't wanna go on that plank, but I think what you're seeing here is, and in the eight years I was there doing these pieces, I mean, there was a system in place. There was, those screenings were, they were very, very important. And there was a rhythm to how these pieces got on the air. And now to come in at the 11th hour and say, well, we should do more of this and why isn't this

in the piece? That's understandable, but not at that point, not after you've missed five different screenings going back into December 12th.

And we should point out that's also part of the process for stories, right? There may be some back and forth. Your editors may have different thoughts, but that is part of the journalistic process. And Sharon even noted that she and her producer asked for a call, and they weren't granted one. Armin, it's really important to have your perspective, especially for the time that you spent there at CBS with your excellent work.

you spent there at CBS with your excellent work. Thank you.