ALL THE RESIDENT’S MEN: Why Did Shari Redstone Do It?

The Redstones also worried that Mr. Trump’s lawyers could cherry-pick raw footage and internal communications and do more damage to CBS News’s reputation than any settlement would. Ms. Redstone said CBS personnel had told her that in October 2023, when Scott Pelley of “60 Minutes” interviewed President Joseph R. Biden Jr., the president had seemed drowsy and had to be prodded to answer. She and Tyler worried that CBS might be accused of editing the interview to conceal Mr. Biden’s failings.
“This case was never as black-and-white as people assumed,” Ms. Redstone said.

One person who witnessed the interview in person, and another who recently reviewed the raw footage, said the Redstones’ concerns about the Biden interview were overblown. Mr. Biden gave some typically circuitous answers, but he never had to be prodded, they said. On air, Mr. Pelley characterized Mr. Biden as seeming “tired.”

Why would CBS News worry about its reputation being “damaged,” when that reputation was built on six decades of tilting in only one direction?

Incidentally, here’s NewsBusters’ reporting on Pelley’s October 2023 interview with Biden: ’60 Minutes’ Escorts Fumbling Biden, Slams Danger of ‘Hard-Right Republicans.’

UPDATE: As with many of Biden’s reelection ads, a lot of cuts in this interview; two-shots to B-roll to medium shots to close-ups to reverse angle shots, to likely hide the long gaps and rambling in Biden’s answers — and Sundown Joe still comes across as the very definition of lethargy:

By the way, here's footage of the Oct. 2023 interview CBS maliciously (and illegally) edited. (Courtesy of @theMRC) https://t.co/mQxzFXyyPg pic.twitter.com/SrOZMbFrQd

— Tony Kinnett (@TheTonus) August 19, 2025