Former CBS News employees are demanding an independent investigation into “60 Minutes” into the Kamala Harris interview scandal — even as the network stubbornly digs in and refuses to release the full, unredacted transcript, The Post has learned.
The long-running news show has come under fire for allegedly scrubbing the Democratic presidential nominee’s response to a question from “60 Minutes” correspondent Bill Whitaker about Israel that aired during a special episode on Monday.
Her response was starkly different from the “word salad” the vice president served up in a clip to promote the interview that aired on “Face the Nation” the day before.
The controversy has prompted media insiders and critics — including Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump — to question the ethical standards at the Tiffany Network. “I think there should be an outside investigation,” a former CBS News reporter told The Post on Thursday. “Obviously, there is a problem here. If they care about journalistic integrity, they will conduct an investigation or release the full transcript.”
A second CBS source said the discrepancy in response makes it appear 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 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 to launch an investigation into the matter.
However, CBS has a history of releasing full transcripts of its news programs and launching investigations.
In 2013, the network investigated a “60 Minutes” segment by correspondent Lara Logan about a terrorist attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi that left Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans dead.
The inquiry, led by then-executive director of standards and practices Al Ortiz, discredited the report, finding it “deficient in several respects.” Logan and her producer were asked to take a break.
Two sources suggested that CBS tap Ortiz, who retired in 2012 after 43 years at the network, to conduct an outside review of the Harris interview.
Ortiz did not respond to requests for comment.
CBS has also 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 Chairman Jerome Powell.
The release of a full transcript would shed light on where Harris’ response came from — but it could also raise more questions about 60 Minutes’ impartiality.
Other networks also release full transcripts of high-profile interviews that are unedited, such as ABC News’ interview with President Biden in July and CNN’s meeting with Harris and her running mate Tim Waltz 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 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
“But it seems that Prime Minister Netanyahu is not listening,” he says.
Harris responds, “Well, Bill, the work that we’ve done has resulted in a number of moves in that region by Israel that were driven by a lot or as a result of a lot of things, including our advocacy of what should happen in the region. .
On “60 Minutes,” the camera zooms in on Whitaker, who asks the same question.
Harris’s response was different.
“We will not stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need to end this war.”
A network insider said it’s the same shot of Whitaker, just a tighter focus on the correspondent’s face.
The insider didn’t know why “60 Minutes” aired a close shot of Whitaker.
“Why is the answer to the same question so different?” asked the former CBS News staffer. “This must be answered. Was this answer a continuation of a longer answer or was it an answer that came much later in the interview.”
Former CBS reporters said it’s possible there was a miscommunication between the show and the department that edits the promos since “60 Minutes” was still editing the show when the promo aired.
In a best-case scenario, Harris’ response to “60 Minutes” may have come right after the terse response she gave in the “Face the Nation” clip.
They said that if her response was part of an extended response to the same question, then no journalistic misconduct had been 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 is ethically problematic.
“60 Minutes is held to the highest journalistic standards,” the former CBS employee said. “Releasing the transcript would answer everyone’s questions and allow them to stand behind the integrity of the story they are reporting.”
“The stakes are very high. It’s a presidential election. Trump is asking for the transcript and reporters are asking for answers,” the source concluded.
The discrepancy in the clips has the internet swirling with theories that “60 Minutes” took an answer from another part of the interview and fashioned it to look like an answer to Whitaker’s question so that Harris would look better.
It is also unclear whether Harris was allowed to answer the same question in a different light.
Sources close to the network have said the interview has been 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’s normal practice for every telecast to be time-edited,” offered a TV news insider. “There is no cheating.”
The Harris campaign distanced itself from the CBS edit Wednesday night, amid speculation from sources that there may have been pressure from the vice president’s team to deliver a more concise and forceful response.
“We do not control CBS production decisions and direct questions to CBS,” a Harris campaign aide told Variety.
In recent days, Trump accused CBS of “meddling in the election,” posting on Social Truth on Tuesday: “A giant fake news hoax by CBS & 60 Minutes. Her real answer was crazy or dumb, so they they actually replaced it with another answer to save it or, at least, to make it look better.”
He continued: “A FAKE NEWS FAKE, which is totally illegal. REMOVE THE CBS LICENSE. Interference in elections.”
On Thursday, Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel pushed back against Trump’s attacks on the broadcast station. She called his request to revoke CBS’s license “threats against free speech” that “should not be ignored.”
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