The scandalous moments CBS brazenly scrubbed from Kamala Harris' tense '60 Minutes' interview

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: It looks like CBS got caught with some heavy-handed editing, and now the full, uncut interview with Kamala Harris is out in the open — thanks to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). And let’s just say, the differences are staggering.

President Donald Trump wasn’t kidding when he claimed the sit-down was rigged. Turns out, CBS only aired 20 minutes of Harris’ responses despite having a full hour of footage. Now that the original interview has been released — after Trump sued CBS News in October — it’s clear just how much was left on the cutting room floor.

The unedited version kicks off with Harris sneezing (she explains she’s "allergic to mold"), setting the tone for an interview where many of her responses were chopped, cropped, or erased entirely. Some of her most rambling answers, including her takes on why she should be president, foreign policy, and even Trump himself, were considerably trimmed - or removed altogether.

Here’s a breakdown of the biggest edits CBS made and the moments they didn’t want viewers to see, as recorded by the Daily Mail.

Harris’ comments on Trump being a 'racist' were cut

One of the most glaring edits was how CBS completely erased Harris’ lengthy answer when she was asked why she had called Trump a racist.

Interviewer Bill Whitaker put her on the spot: “And talking about that person you’re mentioning right now, you have accused Donald Trump of using racist tropes when it comes to Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, when it comes to birtherism, when it comes to Charlottesville. In fact, you have called him a racist, and divisive. Yet Donald Trump has the support of millions and millions of Americans. How do you explain that?”

Harris’ response was nowhere to be found in the CBS broadcast.

In the uncut version, Harris unloaded on Trump and slammed him for his “bouquet of microphones” and “most vile lies” about Springfield, Ohio - a reference to Trump’s comments about illegal migrants eating people’s dogs.

She even launched into an unexpected flex about her past: “You know, from the time I was a prosecutor, to attorney general, to now I'm Vice President, I learned very early in my career when the voters bestow on you the authority to have these positions, you must be very thoughtful about how you use that microphone in front of you.”

And then came the unexpected picture day rant: “One day when this happened was a school day, picture day for an elementary school. Picture day. You know what picture day is for our children. They get excited the night before when you put out the clothes they're going to wear, they go to school making sure their faces are clean, and their hair is done, and they go to school for picture day. You know what happened to these children? They had to evacuate that day because of the fear of the threats that were being issued in Springfield because of the words of Donald Trump.”

CBS’ edited version was a much tamer Harris simply saying, “So I say that I'm glad you're pointing these comments out that he has made, that have resulted in a response by most reasonable people to say it’s just wrong. It’s just wrong.”

Harris’ answers on Israel were chopped

Whitaker asked Harris: “What can the US do at this point to stop this from spinning out of control?”

What CBS aired: “Well, let’s start with October 7. 1,200 people were massacred, 250 hostages were taken, including Americans, women were brutally raped. And as I said then, I maintain Israel has a right to defend itself. We would. And how it does so matters. Far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed. This war has to end.”

What they cut was Harris’ follow-up about how “that has to be our number one imperative, and that has been our number one imperative.”

She asked herself, “How can we get this war to end?” before answering in a drawn-out, repetitive manner that CBS deemed unnecessary.

"Well, critical elements of that are we have got to get a hostage deal and a ceasefire deal done. We have to - we have to get aid in. We have to lay the path toward a two-state solution," she said.

"I do believe that we must maintain that as an objective, no matter how out of reach it seems at the moment. And the work that we have to do is also pay attention to what is happening every day in the region and put U.S. resources into everything we can do, diplomatically and otherwise, to de-escalate what is happening in the region."

She also gave a longer response about Netanyahu ignoring the Biden administration, referencing The Wall Street Journal’s reporting that the White House had been repeatedly blindsided by Israel’s actions. CBS cut it down to just: “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' thoughts on Iran were scrubbed

Whitaker asked a straightforward foreign policy question: “Which foreign country do you consider to be our greatest adversary?”

Harris answered: “Well, there are different reasons that we should be thoughtful about each. Most recently, I think there’s an obvious one in mind, which is Iran. And look, I mean, Iran has American blood on their hands, okay?”

"And what we saw in terms of just this attack on Israel, 200 ballistic 11 missiles, what we need to do to ensure that Iran never achieves the ability to be a nuclear power, that is one of my highest priorities. And that must be."

She was then asked: “If you have proof that Iran is building a nuclear weapon, would you take military action?”

Harris dodged: “I’m not going to talk about hypotheticals at this moment.”

CBS wiped this exchange entirely from the broadcast.

Harris' answer on why she should be president is trimmed

When asked why she should be president, Harris’ response in the uncut version was much longer and more detailed.

"But Madam Vice President, a quarter of registered voters still say they don't know you, they don't know what makes you tick. And why do you think that is? I mean, you have been vice president for almost four years. You've been on the national scene for longer. What's the disconnect?" Whitaker asked.  

In both the original and edited versions, Harris started off with: "It's an election, Bill. And I take it seriously that I have to earn everyone's vote."

But CBS cut out her next few sentences. "And that's why I'm traveling our country. I've seen you in a few states in the last couple of days. I'm talking with folks where they live. I'm listening to folks. And working to earn the vote of every American," Harris said.

She continued in both versions: "This is an election for president of the United States. No one should be able to take for granted that they can just declare themselves a candidate and automatically receive support. You have to earn it. And that's what I intend to do."

Harris' answer on NATO and the war in Ukraine is trimmed

When asked if she would expand NATO to include Ukraine if she were president, CBS cropped down Harris' response and jumped straight to her slamming Trump.

"How about as president, would you support the effort to expand NATO to include Ukraine?" Whitaker asked.

Harris responded: "Those are all issues that we will deal with if and when it arrives at that point. Right now, we are supporting Ukraine's ability to defend itself against Russia's unprovoked aggression."

But the full transcript revealed she actually said much more: "And doing what we can to continue to build and strengthen the alliance around the support for Ukraine's right to be an independent nation, free from having its borders forcefully taken by Russia."

"And we are going to continue to work closely with our NATO allies to continue to reinforce America's alliance in the context of NATO. Again, in this election, there's a real difference between me and the former president. I believe in reinforcing the strength of NATO, understanding again it is the greatest military alliance the world has ever known. Donald Trump would pull us out of NATO."

Instead of airing this, CBS cut her remarks about what the Biden administration was doing to support Ukraine and jumped directly to her attack on Trump.

In the broadcasted version, Harris was heard saying: "Donald Trump, if he were President, Putin would be sitting in Kyiv right now. Let's be clear about that. He talks about, oh, he can end it on day one. You know what that is? It's about surrender."

Harris' economic plan answer is chopped up

When Whitaker pressed Harris on how she intended to pay for her economic plan, CBS edited out her comments on inflation.

"It is estimated by the Nonpartisan Committee for Responsible Federal Budget that your economic plan would add $3 trillion to the federal deficit over the next decade. How are you going to pay for that?" Whitaker asked.

CBS aired the beginning of her response: "Okay, so the other economists that have reviewed my plan versus my opponent."

But the full transcript showed that CBS cut the next part: "Because this is an election and there are two choices, everyone from Goldman Sachs to Moody's to Nobel laureates, so on the first point, comparing my economic plan to Donald Trump's economic plan, they have reviewed it."

Instead, the broadcast pieced together her first sentence with this later part: "And determined that my economic plan would strengthen America's economy, his would weaken it."

Again, CBS removed her repeated mention of analysts and cut her remarks on inflation.

In the original transcript, she had said: "Sixteen Nobel laureates, Moody's, others have determined, after reviewing what Donald Trump is proposing, that he would induce inflation, increase inflation, and bring about a recession by the middle of next year."

CBS did, however, include the final part of her answer: "My plan, Bill, if you don't mind, my plan is about saying that when you invest in small businesses, you invest in the middle class, and you strengthen America's economy. Small businesses are part of the backbone of America's economy."

Harris' answers on China and Taiwan are edited out

When asked about China, Whitaker posed the question: "What about China? China is strongly asserting its dominance, its control of the South China Sea, especially around the Philippines. What is the US responsibility for keeping China from simply taking over the South China Sea?"

CBS completely removed Harris' response, which originally read: "Well, I have actually worked very closely with the leaders in the Philippines on just this very issue, and including the work that we are doing in terms of coordination between our military and training, and what needs to happen in terms of protecting the freedom of the South China Sea."

The network also cut another section of her answer, only keeping a voiceover snippet of her saying: "We must win the competition for the 21st century with China."

The full, unaired quote stated: "China, first of all, we must win the competition for the 21st century with China. We must be able to compete and win. We should not seek conflict, but we have to understand that there are parameters in which we must operate that include ensuring, for example, that we protect American business interests. What we -"

Whitaker followed up: "So say if China attacks Taiwan. Would we use military force to support Taiwan?"

Harris dodged the question, shifting focus to fentanyl instead: "Bill, I'm not going to get into hypotheticals. But listen, we need to make sure that we maintain a one-China policy, and - but that includes supporting Taiwan's ability to defend itself, including what we need to do to ensure the freedom of the Taiwan Strait."

She continued: "But on the issue of China, we also - again, these are not - We cannot afford to have foreign policy that is myopic. We must be able to also, as it relates to China, continue to do the work that we have begun to deal with the flow of fentanyl coming into the United States."

CBS cuts line from Harris' answer on the border crisis

CBS also edited out three words from Harris’ response about the border crisis.

She was asked: "You recently visited the southern border, and embraced President Biden's recent crackdown on asylum seekers. And that crackdown produced an almost immediate and dramatic decrease in the number of border crossings, and you said you would take it even further. If that's the right answer now, why didn't your administration take those steps in 2021?"

The version that aired was almost identical to what was originally said - except for one omission.

Harris responded: "So we came into office, and almost hours, Bill, after our inauguration, the first bill we proposed to Congress was to fix our broken immigration system, knowing that if you want to actually fix it, we need Congress to act. It was not taken up. Fast forward to a moment when a bipartisan group of members of the United States Senate, including one of the most conservative members of the United States Senate, got together, came up with a border security bill..."

However, CBS left out three words from the end of her statement: "...Which I support."

Here's the full edited interview released by 60 Minutes:

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