Donald Trump
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The head of 60 Minutes told the show's staff Monday that he would not apologise as part of any prospective settlement in a lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump against their network, CBS, according to people with knowledge of the remarks.
The comments by Bill Owens, the executive producer who oversees the long-running news program, came as CBS' parent company, Paramount, continued to pursue settlement talks with Trump. The president is accusing the network of deceptively editing an interview with his rival, the Democratic candidate for president, Kamala Harris. Many legal experts have described the lawsuit as far-fetched and baseless.
"There have been reports in the media about a settlement and/or apology," Owens said, according to two people who heard his remarks. "The company knows I will not apologise for anything we have done."
Many Paramount executives believe a settlement would increase the odds that the Trump administration would approve a pending multibillion-dollar merger with another company, and Shari Redstone, Paramount's controlling shareholder, supports the effort.
But the move has caused deep distress inside CBS News and particularly at 60 Minutes, which broadcast the interview with Harris in October. Journalists there believe a settlement would be an extraordinary capitulation because the editing of the Harris interview was in keeping with standard journalistic practice.
In the prime-time version, Harris appeared to give an answer, to one question, that was different from the response she gave in a preview of the interview that aired the day before. CBS has said that Harris had given one lengthy answer and that it had chosen to air different portions at different times.
At the meeting Monday, held at the 60 Minutes office in midtown Manhattan, Owens spoke to several of the show's correspondents -- including Anderson Cooper, Lesley Stahl and Bill Whitaker -- along with other on-air journalists and crew members. Some traveled to New York for the occasion.
Owens said CBS planned Monday to send an unedited transcript and camera feeds of the Harris interview to the Federal Communications Commission. The agency, which is led by Brendan Carr, a Trump appointee, formally requested those materials from the network last week.
"The edit is perfectly fine; let's put that to bed so we can get on with our lives," Owens said about the transcript, according to the people who heard his remarks.
Owens said he had not spoken with Redstone about the prospect of a settlement.
A spokesperson for Paramount did not immediately respond to a request for comment.