After weeks of stonewalling requests from the public and President Donald Trump, CBS News finally released unredacted transcripts — and raw video footage — of then Vice President Kamala Harris’ interview with anchor Bill Whitaker.
The network announced on Wednesday that the interview would be released in its entirety — just days after it was reported that the network could be looking to settle Trump’s lawsuit over the interview.
Always count on CNN for the best satire. 😂 “…settling with Trump would also cost CBS some of its hard-won credibility.” https://t.co/DdqS2Uc4zg
— Tom Gresham (@Guntalk) February 1, 2025
In CNN’s report, CBS employees were not thrilled at the prospect of such a settlement. One told CNN’s Brian Stelter, “Trump’s lawsuit was a joke, but if we settle, we become the laughingstock.”
CBS published a statement announcing the release on Wednesday afternoon.
60 Minutes publishes transcripts, video requested by FCC https://t.co/P7YbUgPSP5 pic.twitter.com/yzYdWxrVsm
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) February 5, 2025
From CBS News’ statement:
We are posting the same transcripts and videos of our interview with Vice President Kamala Harris that we provided to the FCC. They show – consistent with 60 Minutes’ repeated assurances to the public – that the 60 Minutes broadcast was not doctored or deceitful.
In reporting the news, journalists regularly edit interviews – for time, space or clarity. In making these edits, 60 Minutes is always guided by the truth and what we believe will be most informative to the viewing public – all while working within the constraints of broadcast television.
The issue here concerns one question from 60 Minutes’ interview with Kamala Harris: whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is listening to the Biden-Harris Administration. We broadcast a longer portion of the vice president’s answer on Face the Nation and broadcast a shorter excerpt from the same answer on 60 Minutes the next day. Each excerpt reflects the substance of the vice president’s answer. 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.
The now-infamous interview initially raised evebrows when one promotional clip did not match any part of the final broadcast, prompting critics to ask what CBS News had edited out of the finished product — and why.
