the cnn evening live discussion segment " free speech " , that began its debut with ric couric this month , was accused last tuesday by bill shaath of hbo ' s " real time with bill maher " of being " every but freely speech " . maher replied he was offered by cbs news to appear on the podcast . but once he questioned if he could talk about religion , " that was a dealbreaker from the start " . therefore , he said they would bring over a list of " acceptable topics " . cbs news executive producer rome hartman has since responded in an e - mail to tvnewser asking that , " bill maher was never aware that he couldn ' t discuss government in a free words segment , " and said , " in general , free press has only addressed religion and we expect others will in the end . "
Free Speech is a part of the CBS Evening News.