Producers at CBS News stand by controversial Kamala Harris interview as Trump sues network

CBS News producers are backing the interview that's sparked Donald Trump's massive $20 billion lawsuit against the network.

The President is taking legal action against CBS for how they edited a 60 Minutes interview with his political rival, Vice President Kamala Harris. The contentious program was a primetime election special broadcast just weeks before the 2024 presidential election, showcasing interviews with the VP and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

Trump's lawsuit claims that the network manipulated Kamala's responses, splicing comments from one question to appear as answers to another. A seasoned producer defended the practice, stating, "Every '60 Minutes' interview is edited," and justified it by saying, "And the only reason for that was clarity and brevity."

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In the segment, correspondent Bill Whitaker questioned the Vice President on why Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wasn't "listening" to the Biden administration. The response that made it to air during the special was, "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."

The complete, uncut response, which detractors labeled as a "word salad," was: "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. 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.", reports the Irish Star.

FCC Chair Brendan Carr demanded the network provide the raw transcript of the interview as part of an investigation into potential violations of the FCC's "news distortion" policy following a lodged complaint. The comprehensive transcript of the interview, submitted to the FCC, was made public in February.

"Any segment, unless it's live, does not broadcast the full answer to every question," one 60 Minutes producer informed Fox News Digital.

"And the standard at '60 Minutes' is that you do not splice together questions and answers, which was not done, but is what Trump alleges on social media, which is false. So he's spreading misinformation about what transpired, and I believe people hear that and assume he's being truthful.

"That's why we don't let a 90-second answer run, because then you'd use a tenth of your story on the 'ums' and 'hmms'... like you ask a question in an interview and the person meanders around and then finally gets to the answer, and you're like 'Okay, that's the answer' but they were processing it," they detailed.

"If Trump wants to say that was like some agenda by '60 Minutes' to make Kamala look better, I just don't think it was, and look what happened. That's the other thing: she didn't win."

The Emmy buzz hit earlier this month when the 60 Minutes election special landed a nod for Outstanding Edited Interview at the forthcoming 46th News and Documentary Emmys.

In a sudden shift on Monday, CBS News head honcho Wendy McMahon tendered her resignation, underscoring in her statement, "It's become clear that the company and I do not agree on the path forward."

Presently, word on the street is that the network might just resolve the Trump lawsuit with a payout ranging from $30 to $50 million. A '60 Minutes' producer voiced their stance saying, "The unanimous view at '60 Minutes' is that there should be no settlement, and no money paid, because the lawsuit is complete bulls---,".