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FCC and CBS release unedited ’60 Minutes’ Kamala Harris interview amid Trump lawsuit

BBG News

On Wednesday, the Federal Communications Commission chose to share unedited transcripts and video clips from CBS News’ “60 Minutes” interview featuring former Vice President Kamala Harris. This action has ignited intense discussions about CBS News’ trustworthiness and journalistic liberties.

In response to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s action, CBS – a company owned by Paramount Global – independently released the transcripts and recordings from their October interview. They handed over this exact material to the government on Monday night, as requested by Carr, who was appointed to his position by former President Trump.

Carr proposed that releasing the unseen footage and making the case file accessible would be “beneficial to the public.” Now, the FCC intends to invite public opinions.

“The people will have a chance to weigh in,” Carr wrote on social media site X.

Carr’s investigation was initiated following a fall complaint to the FCC from a conservative legal non-profit organization, alleging political bias against CBS. Previously, this complaint, along with three others targeting news organizations, had been dismissed by Carr’s predecessor. However, within his first week in office, Carr decided to reexamine three cases that accused media outlets of liberal bias, one of which was the “60 Minutes” program on CBS.

In a different public announcement made online, CBS shared they were making an uncommon move by releasing “the exact scripts and videos from our interview with Vice President Kamala Harris, which we also gave to the Federal Communications Commission.

The uncensored sections of the interview demonstrated that the October broadcast on 60 Minutes matched their repeated promises to the audience, confirming that the 60 Minutes broadcast was both accurate and truthful, as claimed by the producers of CBS.

When sharing news stories, journalists frequently modify interviews – for length, space, or improved understanding. In doing so, 60 Minutes adheres to the truth and what is deemed most enlightening for the audience, while still abiding by the limitations of live TV broadcasting.

Hollywood Inc.

The most recent update involves early negotiations between legal teams from Paramount Global, as they aim to resolve the lawsuit Trump initiated in October, stemming from his disapproval of edits made to his ’60 Minutes’ interview with Harris.

During the Harris interview, Trump felt enraged and subsequently sued CBS for ten billion dollars about three weeks later. Trump claimed that CBS manipulated the editing process, a charge that CBS repeatedly refutes.

That case is pending, and not directly related to the FCC probe.

On the other hand, Carr’s FCC inquiry escalated the conflict, leading to concerns among certain journalists and 1st Amendment specialists that Trump and his administration might employ their power to suppress unfavorable media coverage about the president.

Controversy arose during a part of Harris’ response in the “60 Minutes” interview, when CBS News correspondent Bill Whitaker asked her if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had taken note of the Biden-Harris administration’s stance during the conflict in Gaza.

The team behind ’60 Minutes’ aired a more concise segment of the Vice President’s response on their show the following day, while we had previously shown a longer part of that same answer on Face the Nation.

In their writing, each section accurately conveyed the essence of the Vice President’s response. Upon close examination of the complete transcript, it was made clear that the interview was carefully trimmed, so as to incorporate the Vice President’s responses to numerous 60 Minutes questions in our initial broadcast, while maintaining a fair representation of those answers.

The report also indicated that the transcripts demonstrate CBS didn’t hold back during the Harris interview. Trump has consistently claimed that CBS was intentionally selecting a part of the interview to make the former vice president appear more advantageous, thereby influencing the election results.

According to their statement, the “tough queries posed to the vice president are self-explanatory,” (meaning) the difficult questions asked by the network were clear and required no further explanation.

Over the past few weeks, as a movie enthusiast, I’ve been eagerly waiting for some resolution regarding Shari Redstone’s push for a settlement in Donald Trump’s lawsuit. This move seems geared towards smoothing the way for her family’s sale of Paramount Pictures to David Ellison’s Skydance Media. However, this deal is not a done deal yet, as it requires approval from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), due to the transfer of CBS station licenses to the Ellison family.

Disagreements about whether the company would support “60 Minutes” in a debate became evident, highlighting significant internal discord within CBS, which is part of Paramount Global. Journalists expressed concern that such an action might be aimed at appeasing Trump, potentially damaging the esteemed reputation and heritage of “60 Minutes.

Hollywood Inc.

Brendan Carr’s move as FCC Chairman has raised concerns about the possibility of President Trump using his authority to intimidate or undermine media outlets that are critical of him.

A disagreement arose between Redstone and certain top-tier executives, and media personnel, who were disappointed because the company seemed reluctant to defend one of its flagship TV networks.

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2025-02-06 01:31

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