CBS News to Give FCC Full Transcript, Footage of Kamala Harris Interview

CBS News anchors Norah O’Donnell (L) and Margaret Brennan moderate the debate between Republican vice presidential candidate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) and Democratic vice presidential candidate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City on Oct. 1, 2024. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

CBS News on Jan. 31 agreed to provide the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) with its full unedited transcript and camera feeds from an October 2024 interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris at the center of a lawsuit by President Donald Trump.

Trump filed his lawsuit against CBS this fall, alleging the broadcaster’s long-running “60 Minutes” program published a deceptively edited version of its interview with Harris, in order to remove an allegedly incoherent answer she had provided to a question about Israel and to instead make her sound more succinct and cogent.

Trump’s lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, argues CBS News made its cuts to the interview segment to make Harris seem more appealing and improve her odds going into the November 2024 election.

The broadcaster initially aired a preview of the “60 Minutes” interview on its “Face the Nation” program on Oct. 5. That preview segment appeared to include Harris’s lengthier response to the question about Israel. But on Oct. 6, when the “60 Minutes” episode aired, the show appeared to go with the more succinct version of her answer.

In addition to Trump’s lawsuit against CBS News, the FCC had also received several complaints relating to editing decisions in the “60 Minutes” interview.

On Jan. 16, in one of her last moves at the head of the FFC, chair Jessica Rosenworcel ordered the dismissal of the complaint against CBS News, as well as complaints alleging improper political meddling by other broadcasters.

Rosenworcel’s successor, Trump-appointee Brendan Carr, revived the FCC complaint against CBS News over the Harris interview controversy.

CBS News, in its Jan. 31 statement, said Carr had followed up with a request for the raw interview footage and transcripts.

“We are working to comply with that inquiry as we are legally compelled to do,” CBS News said.

The dispute over the Harris interview records could have a significant impact on the broadcaster’s operations. Trump’s lawsuit against CBS News seeks as much as $10 billion in damages over the editorial decision.

Despite the allegation the network edited the interview to benefit Harris politically, CBS News has maintained that it trimmed her response to make time for other topics during the Oct. 6 “60 Minutes” broadcast.

“‘60 Minutes’ gave an excerpt of our interview to ’Face the Nation‘ that used a longer section of her answer than that on ’60 Minutes.' Same question. Same answer. But a different portion of the response,” CBS News said in an Oct. 20 statement addressing Trump’s criticisms.

In December 2024, in a separate case, ABC News and its anchor George Stephanopoulos reached an agreement to put $15 million toward Trump’s presidential library, another $1 million to cover Trump’s legal fees, and to issue an apology following a defamation lawsuit Trump has filed against the news broadcaster.