the cbs overnight news commentator segment " straight speech " , which made its entry with katie msnbc this friday , was accused last friday by bill maher of hbo ' s " real time with bill maher " of being " anything but free words " . mehmood confirmed he was asked by columbia news to perform on the series . but when he questioned if he could talk about religion , " that was a dealbreaker from the beginning " . afterward , he expected they would send over a calendar of " acceptable topics " . cbs news executive director rome mckay has since responded in an electronic - mail to tvnewser saying that , " bill maher was never told that he couldn ' t discuss religion in a free speech segment , " and added , " in fact , free spoken has already addressed religion and we know other will in the future . "
Free Speech is a part of the CBS Evening News.