CBS to release transcript of Kamala Harris' 60 Minutes interview at center of Trump suit

CBS has agreed to hand over the unedited transcript and camera feeds of former Vice President Kamala Harris’ October 60 Minutes interview to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

The decision follows a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump against CBS, in which he is seeking $10 billion over claims that the interview was deceptively edited to favor his political opponent.

According to the New York Post, on Friday, CBS stated it released the materials at the request of Trump’s appointee for FCC chairman, Brendan Carr. 60 Minutes has previously refused to release transcripts of its interviews, but this case has drawn heightened attention due to Trump’s allegations.

CBS’ parent company, Paramount, may ultimately decide to settle the case with Trump. This comes after the former president recently secured high-profile settlements in similar cases, including a $16 million settlement from ABC News over a defamation lawsuit involving George Stephanopoulos. Last week, Meta also agreed to pay $25 million to settle a lawsuit Trump filed after his suspension from Facebook in 2021.

The lawsuit against CBS focuses on editing discrepancies in Harris’ “60 Minutes” interview. The controversy arose after clips from the interview aired on both “Face the Nation” and “60 Minutes,” showing Harris giving different responses to the same question from correspondent Bill Whitaker.

Whitaker asked Harris a question regarding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In the Face the Nation clip, Harris responded with a lengthy statement, saying, “Well, Bill, the work that we have done has resulted in several movements in that region by Israel that were very much prompted by or a result of many things, including our advocacy for what needs to happen in the region.”

However, when “60 Minutes” aired the following day, Harris had a much more concise answer, responding, “We are not gonna stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end.”

Trump’s lawsuit claims CBS deliberately edited Harris’ response to obscure what he called her “word salad” and make her appear more coherent.

“To paper over Kamala’s ‘word salad’ weakness, CBS used its national platform on 60 Minutes to cross the line from the exercise of judgment in reporting to deceitful, deceptive manipulation of news,” the lawsuit stated. CBS has defended its editing decisions, arguing they were made to fit the time constraints of each broadcast. However, Trump’s lawsuit alleges the changes were “partisan and unlawful acts of voter interference.”