CBS News has published the full, unedited transcript and unredacted video from the camera feeds of former Vice President Kamala Harris’ Oct. 7 interview with “60 Minutes.”
The network released all the material related to the interview shortly after the Federal Communications Commission chairman Brendan Carr made it available as part of an investigation into a “news distortion” complaint by The Center for American Rights.
The interview has also prompted a $10 billion lawsuit from President Trump. CBS has steadfastly maintained that it did nothing wrong, but the questions from Carr come as the agency is reviewing Paramount’s pending $8 billion merger with Skydance Media, prompting concerns within CBS News that the company might settle with Trump in order help clear the deal through regulatory scrutiny and facilitate the approval process.
The full video provides some insight into how TV news packages are assembled, and in this case, the choice to incorporate different answers for time and clarity — a fairly standard practice that Trump has argued was done in order to make Harris look better prior to the election.
The network declined to comment beyond the statement released in concert with the video and transcript, which read, “They show – consistent with 60 Minutes’ repeated assurances to the public – that the 60 Minutes’ broadcast was not doctored or deceitful,” CBS News said in a statement on Wednesday. “In reporting the news, journalists regularly edit interviews – for time, space or clarity. In making these edits, ’60 Minutes’ is always guided by the truth and what we believe will be most informative to the viewing public – all while working within the constraints of broadcast television.”
“The issue here concerns one question from ’60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris: whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is listening to the Biden-Harris Administration,” the statement continued.
“We broadcast a longer portion of the vice president’s answer on Face the Nation and broadcast a shorter excerpt from the same answer on 60 Minutes the next day. Each excerpt reflects the substance of the vice president’s answer. As the full transcript shows, we edited the interview to ensure that as much of the vice president’s answers to 60 Minutes’ many questions were included in our original broadcast while fairly representing those answers. ’60 Minutes” hard-hitting questions of the vice president speak for themselves.”
The move comes after the network handed the materials over to the FCC on Monday evening, complying with the agency’s investigation into the complaint against CBS by Center for American Rights, a conservative group that describes itself as a “nonpartisan public interest law firm.”
The complaint specifically took aim at Harris’ response regarding a question on Gaza, which was different in the final cut that aired on Oct. 7 compared to an earlier promo on “Face the Nation.”
In addition to making the materials public, Carr said the agency would also seek comment from the public to weigh in on its investigation. Public comments will be due March 7, with replies due March 24.
Daniel Suhr, the president of the Center for American Rights, issued a statement that said, “Transparency is the key to restoring public trust in the media. We applaud Chairman Carr for taking media integrity seriously, and we look forward to seeing the American people have their say through the FCC’s public comment file.”
Carr has previously said that the complaint would “likely arise” in the FCC’s review of Paramount Global’s pending merger with Skydance Media.
The deal, which is subject to the agency’s review due to a required transfer of broadcast licenses of Paramount’s 28 owned-and-operated local TV stations, is currently on track to close in the first half of 2025
