Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Vice President Kamala Harris are interviewed by CNN’s Dana Bash at Kim’s Cafe in Savannah, Georgia, on August 29, 2024. This is the first time Harris has sat with a journalist for an in-depth, on-the-record conversation since President Joe Biden ended his presidential bid in July. (Will Lanzoni/CNN)
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Vice President Harris outlined her day-one agenda to support middle-class families if she were to win the election this fall in her first sit-down interview since becoming the Democratic nominee for president. She addressed plans to make housing more affordable and to expand the child tax credit, and she acknowledged that despite economic growth since the pandemic, prices are still too high for many Americans.
“Prices, in particular for groceries, are still too high. The American people know it. I know it,” she said.
Harris, who was joined by her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, sat down with CNN’s Dana Bash for the interview during a campaign swing in Savannah, Ga.
The wide-ranging conversation was a high-stakes moment for Harris, after she had faced mounting pressure to do an interview with a major news outlet to share her own policies and take questions on her prior positions, some of which have changed since she became President Biden’s running mate in 2020.
Bash pressed Harris on her shifted stances on both banning fracking and decriminalizing border crossings. Harris in 2019, when she first ran for president, said she was against a fracking ban and was for decriminalizing border crossings. Her stance on both policies has changed since then — but Harris insisted that her values have not.
“I think the most important and most significant aspect of my policy perspective and decisions is, my values have not changed,” Harris said. “What I have seen is that we can grow and we can increase a thriving clean energy economy without banning fracking.”
Harris said she would keep her word that she would not ban fracking — an issue that is front and center in Pennsylvania, a critical swing state.
And on decriminalizing border crossings, Harris said, “I believe there should be consequences. We have laws that have to be followed and enforced, that address and deal with people who cross our border illegally, and there should be consequences.”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Vice President Kamala Harris are interviewed by CNN’s Dana Bash at Kim’s Cafe in Savannah, Georgia, on August 29, 2024. This is the first time Harris has sat with a journalist for an in-depth, on-the-record conversation since President Joe Biden ended his presidential bid in July. (Will Lanzoni/CNN)
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Harris also addressed foreign policy, namely the continued U.S. aid to Israel in its war in Gaza. When asked if Harris would withhold some shipments of weapons to Israel, Harris did not directly answer the question, and instead reiterated her call for a ceasefire deal and getting the hostages home.
“I remain committed since I’ve been on October 8, to what we must do to work toward a two state solution where Israel is secure and in equal measure, the Palestinians have security and self determination and dignity,” she said.
In the interview, Harris also committed to having a Republican in her presidential cabinet – and said it would be to the benefit of the American public to have someone who has different views and different experiences working with her.
The interview was wide-ranging, covering Walz’s record and past controversies, President Biden’s legacy and ability to serve, as well as the phone call between Biden and Harris the day he decided to step down from the race.
Questions over Walz’ comments on weapons of war, and his path to having children
Walz had only a few questions directed at him during the interview. He was asked about previous comments he made in 2018 about carrying a weapon into war – which Walz never did. He said he misspoke.
“We were talking about, in this case, this was after a school shooting, the ideas of carrying these weapons of war and my wife, the English teacher, telling me my grammar is not always correct,” Walz said.
“My record speaks for itself… I speak like they do. I speak candidly. I wear my emotions on my sleeves, and I speak especially passionately about our children being shot in schools and around guns. So I think people know me,” he said.
Walz and his wife used a method known as IUI to have children – but has said they used IVF in the past. On that issue, Walz said he thinks most Americans “get it if you’ve been through that.”
“I don’t think they’re cutting hairs on IVF or IUI. I think what they’re cutting hairs on is an abortion ban and the ability to be able to deny families the chance to have a beautiful child,” he said.
New details on the call between Biden and Harris when Biden stepped down
Harris revealed that she was spending time with her family, cooking breakfast and about to sit down for a puzzle when Biden called her last month to let her know he was ending his campaign for reelection.
“I asked him, ‘Are you sure?’ And he said, ‘Yes,’ ” Harris said.
She noted that Biden made it “very clear” that he was going to support Harris’ campaign for president. She called the president “selfless” and said he puts the American people first.
Republicans like Trump had been accusing Harris of trying to dodge tough questions
It’s been more than a month since Biden dropped out of the race, and in the absence of a 1-on-1 Harris interview or press conference, Republicans have accused the vice president of trying to dodge the press to avoid tough questions. “She hasn’t done an interview,” former President Donald Trump said during a news conference earlier this month at his Mar-a-Lago estate. “She can’t do an interview. She’s barely competent, and she can’t do an interview.”
Prior to becoming the Democratic nominee, Harris had taken plenty of questions from reporters as the sitting vice president. Her team says she’s done 80 interviews this year — in traditional, network media as well as on podcasts and social media.
But in these previous conversations she was generally selling Biden’s agenda. Like most vice presidents, she was a messenger and a deputy. Now, she’s running for the top job, and this CNN interview may be one of the first times she’s pressed to spell out her own policies and answer questions about how, if at all, she would govern differently than Biden.
“I think she’d have to answer more of these questions,” said Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. “I don’t think it would be possible to run for president and not answer them.”
Harris will, undoubtedly, face additional scrutiny about her record and positions when she faces off against Trump in the debate expected next month.
Trump, for his part, posted on his platform Truth Social as the interview with Harris aired on CNN.
“I look so forward to Debating Comrade Comrade Kamala Harris and exposing her for the fraud she is. Harris has changed every one of her long held positions, on everything,” he said. He also posted: “BORING!!!”
