CBS news chief, in Israel, says Stormy Daniels interview coming

Porn actress suing US president to escape nondisclosure agreement over alleged 2006 extramarital affair

Stormy Daniels arrives for the 49th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, February 11, 2007. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)
Stormy Daniels arrives for the 49th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, February 11, 2007. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)

NEW YORK — The head of CBS News said Tuesday that a “60 Minutes” interview with adult film star Stormy Daniels is on its way but that more journalistic work needs to be done on the story.

News President David Rhodes’ statement at a conference in Israel Tuesday was the first time CBS publicly confirmed it had interviewed Daniels, who has alleged an extramarital affair with US President Donald Trump before he became president. Trump has denied this. Michael Avenatti, lawyer for the actress, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, last week tweeted a picture of himself, Clifford and CBS interviewer Anderson Cooper.

No air date has been set for the interview.

Rhodes, in remarks reported by Variety, said he could not imagine what the basis would be for any legal action by Trump’s team to prevent the interview from airing. BuzzFeed had reported that Trump’s lawyers were considering seeking an injunction to stop it.

CBS News president David Rhodes participates in a panel at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on August 10, 2015, in Beverly Hills, California (Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

“I haven’t seen such an injunction, and I can’t imagine what the basis for that would be,” Rhodes said. “The encounter between Anderson Cooper and (Clifford) was accompanied also by conversations with attorneys, documents were provided, and so we have to run all that down before it runs.”

Trump’s attorney, Michael Cohen, has not immediately returned messages for comment.

The actress has sought to invalidate a nondisclosure agreement under which she was paid $130,000 not to give details of her encounters with Trump. Clifford said Monday that she has offered to repay the money as long as she can speak openly about the situation.

Clifford filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles last week that sought to invalidate the agreement so she could “set the record straight.”

The lawsuit claimed the “hush agreement” that was signed days before the 2016 presidential election is legally invalid because it was only signed by Clifford and Cohen and not by Trump.

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