CBS News announced Friday that it will change how interviews are broadcast after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem accused the network of deceptive editing.
The change follows her appearance last weekend on “Face the Nation,” where she said her comments on deporting MS-13 member Kilmar Abrego Garcia were cut for television.
CBS Bows to Pressure
“In response to audience feedback over the past week, we have implemented a new policy for greater transparency,” CBS said in a statement.
The network said “Face the Nation” will now air only live or live-to-tape interviews, except in cases involving national security or legal restrictions.
Face the Nation
CBS promised that viewers would see full, unedited exchanges on television, while transcripts and uncut video would remain online.
Noem Fires Back
Noem said CBS “shamefully edited” her interview to downplay the threat posed by Garcia, a convicted criminal and gang member.
“This morning, I joined CBS to report the facts about Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Instead, CBS shamefully edited the interview to whitewash the truth about this MS-13 gang member and the threat he poses to American public safety,” she wrote on X.
What aired to roughly 2.3 million viewers showed her saying only: “One thing that we will continue to do is to make sure he doesn’t walk free in the United States of America.”
This morning, I joined CBS to report the facts about Kilmar Abrego Garcia. Instead, CBS shamefully edited the interview to whitewash the truth about this MS-13 gang member and the threat he poses to American public safety.
Watch for the part of my interview that @CBS tried to… pic.twitter.com/28fsGZug48
— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) August 31, 2025
Noem said the broadcast left out her sharper description of Garcia.
She continued in the full interview: “This individual was a known human smuggler, a MS-13 gang member, an individual who was a wife-beater, and someone who was so perverted that he solicited nude photos from minors.”
She added that “even his fellow human traffickers told him to knock it off, he was so sick in what he was doing and how he was treating small children.”
Noem stressed that Garcia “needs to never be in the United States of America” and that the administration will “do all that we can to bring him to justice.”
Kristi Noem
CBS responded to Noem by noting that the full video and transcript were available online.
Critics pointed out that far fewer people watch online clips compared to the millions who view national broadcasts.
Deportation Plans
On Friday, Fox News reported that ICE notified Garcia’s attorneys he would be deported to Eswatini, after claiming fear of persecution in Uganda and over 20 other countries.
The move signaled that the administration is determined to ensure he is removed permanently from U.S. soil.
Trump’s Win
The controversy comes less than a year after President Donald Trump sued CBS and parent company Paramount over editing an interview with Kamala Harris on “60 Minutes.”
In that case, the network cut a rambling Harris answer about Israel and replaced it with another response.
Trump argued the edit violated fairness rules under Texas law and misled viewers.
🚨BREAKING: Paramount, CBS’s parent company, agrees to a $16 million settlement in President Trump’s lawsuit over the edited 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris.
pic.twitter.com/aPrHJ3PVqp— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) July 2, 2025
Paramount agreed in July to settle the lawsuit for $16 million, with the funds designated for Trump’s future presidential library.
The Noem incident, critics argue, shows CBS has repeated the same editing tactics against conservative officials.
