CBS News
Menthol cigarette ban delayed due to “immense” feedback, Biden administration says
The Biden administration said Friday it would again delay a decision on a regulation aiming to ban menthol-flavored cigarettes, citing the “historic attention” and “immense amount of feedback” on the controversial proposal by the Food and Drug Administration.
“This rule has garnered historic attention and the public comment period has yielded an immense amount of feedback, including from various elements of the civil rights and criminal justice movement,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement.
The White House had already overshot a previous self-imposed date to decide on the regulation by March. The rule had been stalled in an interagency review process.
A senior administration official said it was hard to put a timeline on the delay, citing lingering disagreements after “months of hard conversations.”
The official said they are asking for more time to hear from outside groups, especially on the civil rights side.
They acknowledged high rates of Black Americans dying from use of menthol cigarettes, which drove the FDA’s initial push for a ban, but said there were civil rights concerns about how such a rule would be enforced.
The American Civil Liberties Union is among the groups that has lobbied for months against a menthol cigarette ban, warning it would “disproportionately impact people of color” and “prioritize criminalization ove republic health and harm reduction.”
“It’s clear that there are still more conversations to have, and that will take significantly more time,” Becerra said in his statement.
The White House has so far fielded more than 100 meetings over the proposal with dozens of outside groups for and against the regulation, ranging from convenience store associations to the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives.
Public health groups have voiced frustration for months over repeated delays to the FDA’s proposal that agency officials had hoped would be a core part of a federal push to significantly cut smoking rates in the U.S.
Advocates have worried that delays will push the rule into a window that would allow opponents to overturn the rule using the Congressional Review Act during the next presidential term.
“The administration’s inaction is enabling the tobacco industry to continue aggressively marketing these products and attracting and addicting new users,” Nancy Brown, CEO of the American Heart Association, said in a statement.
At a House Appropriations Committee hearing this month, FDA Administrator Robert Califf said the ban remained one of his agency’s top priorities and said he hoped it would be cleared by the end of the year.
“I’m a cardiologist and I practiced in North Carolina for 35 years. I probably have seen more people die from tobacco related illness than almost any physician because I was an intensivist who dealt with the end stage of the disease. This is a top priority for us,” he said.
–Nancy Cordes contributed reporting.
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CBS News
Kamala Harris will speak with “60 Minutes” tomorrow. Here’s what to know for the interview.
Voters will get the chance to hear from Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday as she presents her case for why she should be president in a “60 Minutes” election special.
For decades, “60 Minutes” has featured both Republican and Democratic nominees for presidents, but this year, former President Donald Trump backed out after previously indicating he would be on the show. Correspondent Scott Pelley, who’d been set to interview Trump, will instead travel to Arizona’s Maricopa County, home to more than 60% of Arizona’s voters and a critical battleground in a key swing state.
One thing is certain about the election; with the U.S. deeply involved in both the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, whoever wins on Nov. 5 will become a wartime president.
What Harris will discuss
Israel’s war started one year ago after Hamas launched a surprise terror attack and correspondent Bill Whitaker will discuss the ongoing war with Harris.
Harris will also discuss the economy, immigration, her record as vice president and the differences between herself and Trump.
Democratic vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz will also appear.
Whitaker joined the Democratic ticket on the campaign trail this week to gain insight into their platform’s priorities and values, and what the candidates believe voters should know.
Why Trump pulled out of the “60 Minutes” interview
Leading up to the candidate hour, Trump, through campaign spokespeople, was the first candidate to accept the “60 Minutes” request to be interviewed for the special, according to CBS News. It had been agreed that both candidates would receive equal time during the broadcast.
Trump last sat down with 60 Minutes in 2020. He walked out during the interview with Lesley Stahl. Trump referenced the incident on Tuesday night at a Milwaukee press conference when asked about his decision not to participate in the Oct. 7 “60 Minutes” election special.
“Well, right now, I went to – they came to me and would like me to do an interview, but first I want to get an apology, because the last time I did an interview with them, if you remember, they challenged me on the computer,” Trump said. “They said the ‘laptop from hell’ was from Russia, and I said it wasn’t from Russia. It was from Hunter, and I never got an apology, so I’m sort of waiting. I’d love to do ’60 Minutes.’ I do everything.”
The Republican nominee for president emphasized that he felt he was owed an apology from “60 Minutes.”
“Let’s see if they do it. I wouldn’t mind doing 60,” Trump continued. “I’ve done ’60 Minutes’ a lot.”
In a statement on Tuesday, Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung said that Trump’s team had not agreed to an interview.
“Fake News,” Cheung said in a post on X. “60 Minutes begged for an interview, even after they were caught lying about Hunter Biden’s laptop back in 2020. There were initial discussions, but nothing was ever scheduled or locked in. They also insisted on doing live fact checking, which is unprecedented.”
Previous Trump, Harris appearances on 60 Minutes
Trump previously sat down with “60 Minutes'” Mike Wallace in 1985, Pelley in 2015 and Lesley Stahl twice in 2016, first in July of that year and then again in November of 2016. He also spoke with Stahl again in 2018 and 2020.
Harris previously sat down with Whitaker last year. She also was interviewed by Norah O’Donnell, “CBS Evening News” anchor and “60 Minutes” contributing correspondent, in 2020.
