’60 Minutes’ transcript at center of Trump’s lawsuit against CBS is vital to investigation, FCC chair says

Federal Communication Commission chairman Brendan Carr said on Monday that Americans deserve to see the unedited transcript at the center of President Trump’s lawsuit against CBS.  

In October, Trump filed a $10 billion lawsuit against CBS News alleging election interference over its handling of the “60 Minutes” interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris, accusing the network of aiding his Democratic rival through deceptive editing. Trump’s camp has said CBS essentially aired Harris giving two different answers to the same question, which raised eyebrows after her first answer was widely mocked as a “word salad.” 

Critics accused CBS News of editing Harris’ “word salad” answer to shield the vice president from further backlash. CBS announced on Friday it would comply and provide the FCC “with the transcript and camera feeds from a ‘60 Minutes’ interview at the center of a complaint alleging news distortion.”

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Carr appeared on Fox News Channel’s “America’s Newsroom” to explain why seeing the full transcript is so critical. 

“We have sought the unedited copy of the transcript in the video from this interview. And as part of an FCC investigation, there was a complaint filed under something called the news distortion policy. And that’s a 50-year-old policy at the FCC that applies to broadcasters,” Carr told host Dana Perino. 

“And the policy says you can’t, you know, swap answers out to make it look like somebody said something entirely different. The classic case is if someone says yes to an answer, and you splice in a no answer,” he continued. “Here it’s usually very difficult to make out news distortion complaints. You don’t want the FCC leaning in too heavily on this. But here… CBS played the same question on two different programs, and clearly the words of the answers were very different.”

As a result, Carr said that the FCC wants to see the transcript.

“It’s due today, and I expect CBS to provide it by the end of the day to see what in fact was said as part of our own news distortion investigation,” Carr said. 

Perino then asked the FCC chairman what sort of consequences CBS could face. 

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“Well, look, there’ll be the full suite of FCC options that are on the table that apply to any broadcast licensee. We obviously haven’t made any decisions, but there’s no way that the FCC can adjudicate this claim without getting a copy of the transcript,” Carr said. 

“You know, at the end of the Biden administration, my predecessor summarily dismissed this complaint, but I’m not sure how you can possibly do that without seeing the actual video to see what was the real answer,” he added. “Was it edited? Was it, you know, edited for clarity and length, which would be fine. Or are there other reasons why the editing took place?”

Carr said the FCC will be “open-minded” when it comes to potential consequences and transparency is “incredibly important” when dealing with this type of issue.  

“I do think the American public ultimately deserve to see this for themselves. And what’s interesting is, CBS releases other transcripts,” Carr said.

Trump’s lawsuit focused on an exchange Harris had with “60 Minutes” correspondent Bill Whitaker. In a preview clip that aired on “Face the Nation,” Harris was asked why it seemed like Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wasn’t 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 in the primetime special.

CBS previously refuted Trump’s claims. 

“Same question. Same answer. But a different portion of the response. When we edit any interview, whether a politician, an athlete, or movie star, we strive to be clear, accurate and on point,” the network previously said in a statement.