As CBS News handed over an unedited transcript of a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris to the FCC, the show’s executive producer told staffers that he would not apologize for the segment, according to a source familiar with the matter.
In a meeting with staffers on Monday, Bill Owens addressed concerns amid an FCC inquiry as well as reports that Paramount Global is in talks with President Donald Trump‘s team over a lawsuit he filed over the segment in October.
Also speaking at the meeting were Anderson Cooper and Scott Pelley, and other correspondents were also present. The New York Times first reported on the meeting.
The FCC asked for the unedited transcript of the segment last week, as part of an inquiry into whether the show violated the agency’s rarely enforced “news distortion” policy. A conservative group, the Center for American Rights, claims that 60 Minutes deceptively edited the Harris interview to help her electoral prospects in the 2024 election.
CBS handed over the transcript and unedited video from the segment on Monday.
At issue in the complaint is the fact that the answer to a question that Harris gave in a Face the Nation promo was different than the one that aired on 60 Minutes. But the show said that it was merely a different portion of the answer to the same question, and that the editing was done for time purposes.
Trump filed a $10 billion lawsuit in a Texas federal court, claiming violation of the state’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act, which is typically used to target false advertising.
While CBS has defended its editorial decisions as protected by the First Amendment. But Paramount Global is seeking regulatory approval of Skydance‘s acquisition of the company. Shari Redstone, the controlling shareholder of Paramount Global, is said to favor a settlement of the lawsuit as the company seeks to pave the way for the regulatory green light.
Jessica Rosenworcel, FCC chairwoman under Joe Biden, dismissed the 60 Minutes complaint before her exit from the agency, warning that the agency “should not be the president’s speech police.”
But her successor, Brendan Carr, who was appointed by Trump, revived the complaint while citing the agency’s “news distortion” policy. Broadcasters are subject to enforcement “if it can be proven that they have deliberately distorted a factual news report,” per the FCC. The agency, though, notes that its authority is narrow and they are “prohibited by law from engaging in censorship or infringing on First Amendment rights of the press.”
On Fox News on Monday, Carr said, “There’s no way that the FCC can adjudicate this claim without getting a copy of the transcript.” He said that they will watch the video to see “was it edited for clarity and length, which would be fine, or are there other reasons why the editing took place. We are going to take a look at that, and we are open minded as to potential consequences.”
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, a Democrat, blasted the FCC inquiry as a “weaponization against CBS.”
She said in a statement, “Let’s be clear. This is a retaliatory move by the government against broadcasters whose content or coverage is perceived to be unfavorable. It is designed to instill fear in broadcast stations and influence a network’s editorial decisions.”
