CBS staffers are upset over unfolding ’60 Minutes’ drama
CBS News staffers are reportedly becoming increasingly upset about the drama unfolding over the “60 Minutes” Kamala Harris interview at the center of a major legal controversy.
Puck News reported Wednesday about the “mixed emotions” from staffers following comments made by “60 Minutes” executive producer Bill Owens, who told his colleagues at Monday’s meeting that the edit was “perfectly fine.”
“‘Is the edit fine?’ one CBS News insider asked rhetorically. ‘It’s obviously an unforced error.'” Puck News wrote. “Several sources said the discrepancy was preventable, and argued that Owens and ‘60 Minutes’ should have taken greater care to ensure consistency between the two interview clips, especially given the high stakes of the presidential election and the scrutiny at the time on Harris’s performance in interviews.”
Many at the network are pointing fingers at Owens “for leaving them vulnerable to this situation in the first place,” Puck News told readers.
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The raw transcript showed CBS aired two different portions of the same response then-Vice President Kamala Harris gave to “60 Minutes” correspondent Bill Whitaker. (Screenshots/CBS News)
According to the report, staffers at Monday’s meeting mulled issuing a public statement “or even resigning,” something correspondents Scott Pelley and Anderson Cooper pushed back on. Cooper reportedly warned the rebellious staffers that there were few to no alternatives in the current weakening media landscape where they could produce such work.
There is also increasing anxiety over the prospects of CBS News settling President Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit, something parent company Paramount’s controlling shareholder Shari Redstone is in favor of, which has staffers “quietly rebelling.”
“Everyone at the network, all the way up to CBS News C.E.O. Wendy McMahon, opposes the settlement and views it as a gross incursion on press freedom,” Puck News wrote.
CBS News did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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CBS News insiders are reportedly pointing fingers at “60 Minutes” executive producer Bill Owens for greenlighting the “unforced error” with the Harris interview. (Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile for Collision via Getty Images)
On Wednesday, the Federal Communications Commission released the unedited transcript and footage that CBS News handed over as part of the agency’s investigation into whether the network violated the FCC’s “news distortion” policy after a complaint was filed.
The raw transcript showed CBS News had aired only the first half of her response to “60 Minutes” correspondent Bill Whitaker’s question about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not “listening” to the Biden administration in a preview clip that aired on “Face the Nation,” but aired only the second half of her response during the primetime special.
“But it seems that Prime Minister Netanyahu is not listening,” Whitaker said in the exchange. “The Wall Street Journal said that he – that your administration has repeatedly been blindsided by Netanyahu, and in fact, he has rebuffed just about all of your administration’s entreaties.”
“Well, Bill, the work that we have done has resulted in a number of 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. And we’re not going to stop doing that. We are not going to stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end,” Harris responded.
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Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr said CBS News’ conduct is “hard to explain” following the release of the raw transcript and footage of the network’s “60 Minutes” interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
CBS News released the transcript and footage as well, defending how the Harris interview was presented.
“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,” CBS News wrote on its website.
In a preview clip that aired on “Face the Nation,” Whitaker asked his question to Harris about Netanyahu not “listening” to the U.S.
“Well, Bill, the work that we have done has resulted in a number of 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,” Harris responded in the “Face the Nation” clip.
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Harris was mocked by conservatives for offering a lengthy “word salad” to Whitaker. But when that same question aired the following night in the primetime election special, a shorter, more focused answer from the vice president followed.
“We are not going to stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end,” Harris said.
President Trump filed a $10 billion lawsuit against CBS News alleging election interference over the airing of two responses that aired from the “60 Minutes” interview with Harris. (Left: (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images), Center: Screenshot/60Minutes, Right: (Photo by Andy Manis/Getty Images))
Critics accused CBS News of editing Harris’ “word salad” answer to shield the vice president from further backlash, and there were calls for the network to release the full transcript after it only shared transcripts of what had aired. CBS News refused to release the raw transcript at the time.
In October, Trump filed a $10 billion lawsuit against CBS News alleging election interference over its handling of the “60 Minutes” interview, accusing the network of aiding his Democratic rival through deceptive editing just days before the election.
“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.
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Trump attorneys argued the edits were done in an effort to “attempt to tip the scales in favor of the Democratic Party as the heated 2024 Presidential Election — which President Trump is leading — approaches its conclusion.”
