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Nov 06, 2024

Exclusive | Ex-CBS staffers call for outside probe of '60 Minutes' interview with Kamala Harris amid editing scandal

Former CBS News staffers are demanding an independent investigation into “60 Minutes” over the brewing Kamala Harris interview scandal — even as the network digs in its heels and refuses to release

Former CBS News staffers are demanding an independent investigation into “60 Minutes” over the brewing Kamala Harris interview scandal — even as the network digs in its heels and refuses to release the full, unedited transcript, The Post has learned.

The long-running news show has come under fire after allegedly cleaning up the Democratic presidential candidate’s answer to a question from “60 Minutes” correspondent Bill Whitaker about Israel that aired during a special episode on Monday.

Her reply was starkly different from the “word salad” the vice president served up in a clip to promote the interview shown by “Face the Nation” the day before.

The controversy has prompted media insiders and critics — including Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump — to question the ethical standards at the Tiffany Network.

“I think there should be an outside investigation,” one former CBS News journalist told The Post on Thursday. “Obviously, there’s a problem here. If they care about journalistic integrity, they would conduct an investigation or release the full transcript.”

A second CBS source said the discrepancy in the answers makes it seem that the network’s flagship show is “biased.”

“Their credibility has been called into question and their impartiality has been called into question,” the source said. “Don’t you need a full-throated review of what went wrong?”

On Thursday, CBS again declined multiple requests from The Post to release the full transcript.

The network did not comment on whether it planned on launching a probe into the matter.

However, CBS has a history of both releasing full transcripts of its news programs and launching probes.

In 2013, the network investigated a “60 Minutes” segment by correspondent Lara Logan about a terror attack on the US compound in Benghazi that left Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans dead.

The probe, led by then-executive director of standards and practices Al Ortiz, discredited the reporting, finding it “deficient in several respects.” Logan and her producer were asked to take a leave of absence.

Two sources suggested CBS tap Ortiz, who retired in 2022 after 43 years at the network, to conduct an outside review of the Harris interview.

Ortiz did not respond to requests for comment.

CBS also has released full transcripts in the past. It published Catherine Herridge’s 2020 interview with Trump, as well as Jan Crawford’s 2019 interview with then-Attorney General Bill Barr.

Earlier this year, “60 Minutes” provided Bloomberg News with a full transcript of its interview with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

Releasing a full transcript would provide clarity about where Harris’ answer came from — but it also may raise more questions about the impartiality of “60 Minutes.”

Other networks also publish full transcripts of high-profile interviews that are unedited, such as ABC News’ interview with President Biden in July and CNN’s sit-down with Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, in August.

At issue for CBS are two clips that have circulated on social media side by side showing a discrepancy in Harris’ answers to the same question.

In the “Face the Nation” clip, a wide shot reveals Whitaker asking Harris about Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:

“But it seems that Prime Minister Netanyahu is not listening,” he says.

Harris replies: “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.”

On “60 Minutes,” the camera is zoomed in on Whitaker, who asks the same question.

Harris’ response was different.

“We are not gonna stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end.”

A network insider said it is the same shot of Whitaker, just a tighter focus on the correspondent’s face.

The insider did not know why “60 Minutes” aired a tight shot of Whitaker.

“Why is the answer to the same question so different?” the former CBS News staffer asked. “This needs to be answered. Was this answer the continuation of a longer answer or was it an answer that came much later in the interview.”

Former CBS journalists said it is possible that there was a miscommunication between the show and the department that edits promotions as “60 Minutes” was still editing the show when the promo went out.

In a best-case scenario, Harris’ answer to “60 Minutes” may have come shortly after the wordy answer she gave in the “Face the Nation” clip.

They said if her answer was part of an extended answer to the same question, then no journalistic malpractice was committed.

But if the answer came from another question about Israel and was made to look like an answer to Whitaker’s question, then it’s ethically problematic.

“’60 Minutes’ holds itself to the highest journalistic standards,” the former CBS staffer said. “Releasing the transcript would answer everyone’s questions and it would allow them to stand behind the integrity of the story they broadcast.”

“The stakes are too high. It’s a presidential election. Trump is asking for the transcript and journalists are asking for answers,” the source concluded.

The discrepancy in the clips has caused the internet to spin theories that “60 Minutes” took an answer from another part of the interview and doctored it to look like an answer to Whitaker’s question in order for Harris to look better.

It is also unclear if Harris was allowed to answer the same question in another take.

Sources close to the network have said the interview was edited for time constraints and clarity but that still doesn’t answer the larger question of where Harris’ response came from and why it was edited that way.

The source added that “Face the Nation” had a longer version of the exchange on “60 Minutes” and that it was a “normal edit.”

“It is normal practice for every television broadcast to edit for time,” offered a television news insider. “There is no deceit.”

The Harris campaign distanced itself from CBS’ edit snafu on Wednesday evening amid speculation from sources that there may have been pressure from the vice president’s team to run a more succinct, stronger answer.

“We do not control CBS’s production decisions and refer questions to CBS,” an aide for the Harris campaign told Variety.

In recent days, Trump accused CBS of “election interference,” posting on Truth Social Tuesday: “A giant Fake News Scam by CBS & 60 Minutes. Her REAL ANSWER WAS CRAZY OR DUMB, so they actually REPLACED it with another answer in order to save her or, at least, make her look better.”

He continued: “A FAKE NEWS SCAM, which is totally illegal. TAKE AWAY THE CBS LICENSE. Election Interference.”

On Thursday, Federal Communications Commission chair Jessica Rosenworcel pushed back on Trump’s attacks on the broadcast station. She called his demand to strip CBS of its license “threats against free speech” that “should not be ignored.”