![\"US](\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/693cbee91048d839fcaf87a9ae965a7564984d7d\/476_19_1214_729\/master\/1214.jpg?width=460&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=502abb9d7778168279d120ec55d2fbb3\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nFor weeks, Republicans and members of the media have called for the nominees to open themselves up to questions, especially the vice-president, who has for the most part sidestepped unscripted moments in the six weeks since the president ended his bid for re-election and endorsed her. Analysts and opponents were watching Thurday\u2019s interview closely for new insights into how a Harris administration would approach the presidency, how the candidates interact with one another, and how she would respond in more candid moments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s what we learned:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- \n
- 1.\u00a0<\/strong>Harris: \u2018My values have not changed\u2019Bash pushed Harris on how voters should view some key shifts on important policy positions over the years, including on immigration and the climate crisis. Harris responded resolutely saying her \u201cvalues have not changed\u201d but explained that experience has provided some new insights.\u201cAs president I will not ban fracking,\u201d Harris said, reversing a position she expressed during her first bid for the presidency. Explaining that she now believes a \u201cthriving clean energy economy\u201d can be built without a ban, Harris highlighted achievements from the Biden administration, including the US\u2019s landmark climate bill, the Inflation Reduction Act, that have helped set the course. \u201cThe climate crisis is real, it is an urgent matter,\u201d she said. \u201cI am very clear about where I stand.\u201dShe also spoke about her work on the border and how she plans to address the immigration crisis. \u201cI believe we have laws that have to be followed and enforced,\u201d she said, adding that she is the only person in the race who has prosecuted transnational criminal organizations, work she did as California\u2019s attorney general.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- 2.\u00a0<\/strong>Day one: strengthen the middle classIf Harris is elected president, she will start by working to strengthen the middle class with a strategy she is calling \u201cThe Opportunity Economy\u201d. Building from \u201cBidenomics<\/a>\u201d \u2013 a platform her predecessor used to move away from trickle-down policies that favor the wealthy and instead grow the economy \u201cfrom the middle out and the bottom up \u2013 Harris outlined her plan to help struggling families.\u201cPeople are ready for a new way forward,\u201d she said, highlighting that she hopes to bring down costs of everyday goods with key investments, cracking down on price gouging, and expanding the child tax credit. She also reiterated her plan to secure $25,000 in assistance for first-time homebuyers.While she agreed with Bash that prices remain higher than they were during the Trump presidency, she argued that she and Biden ensured the country recovered from the Covid-19 crisis.\u201cBidenomics is a success,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s more to do \u2013 but that\u2019s good work.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- 3.\u00a0<\/strong>War in Gaza: \u2018We have to get a deal done\u2019\u201cIsrael has a right to defend itself \u2013 we would,\u201d Harris said, emphasizing that she is \u201cunequivocal\u201d in Israel\u2019s defense and that that position would not change. But, she added: \u201cHow it does so matters.\u201dHarris told Bash she supports a two-state solution where Palestinians have \u201csecurity, self determination, and dignity\u201d, and said she is focused on both getting the remaining hostages out and a ceasefire.\u201cFar too many innocent Palestinians have been killed,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have got to get a deal done. This war must end.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- 4.\u00a0<\/strong>Tim Walz defends his recordThrough much of the interview, Harris\u2019s running mate Tim Walz nodded in support while she detailed their platform. But Bash had questions for him too, specifically about claims he has made in the past and corrections his campaign has had to make about them.Walz served in the army national guard for 24 years and retired in 2005 to run for Congress, nearly a year before his unit deployed to Iraq. He has been criticized by Republicans who first questioned his decision to depart before his unit deployed, and then scrutinized for a statement he made about \u201cweapons of war\u201d that implied he\u2019d been involved in active combat.Walz also incorrectly described the type of fertility treatments he and his wife sought in their effort to conceive, several times referring to their reliance on IVF. He later clarified they actually used another common fertility procedure called IUI, or intrauterine insemination, which does not involve creating or discarding embryos and is not a target for anti-abortion legislators.\u201cMy record speaks for itself,\u201d he said. \u201cI certainly own my mistakes when I make them \u2026\u00a0I won\u2019t apologize for speaking passionately \u2013 whether it\u2019s about guns in schools or protecting reproductive rights \u2013 the contrast could not be clearer.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- 5.\u00a0<\/strong>Getting the call from Biden\u201cWe were sitting down to do a puzzle,\u201d Harris said with a big smile. Before Thursday\u2019s interview, little was known about how she came to learn that Biden would be withdrawing from the race. She described a family breakfast with her \u201cbaby nieces\u201d, complete with pancakes and second-servings of bacon, that had just wrapped up when the phone began to ring.\u201cIt was Joe Biden. He told me what he decided to do,\u201d she said, adding that he quickly offered his support for her candidacy. \u201cMy first thought was not about me \u2013 it was about him,\u201d she said.\u201cI think history is going to show a number of things about Joe Biden\u2019s presidency,\u201d Harris added. \u201cHe puts the American people first.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- 6.\u00a0<\/strong>Impacting future generationsBash also asked about the now viral New York Times photo of young Amara Ajagu, one of Harris\u2019s young grandnieces, watching Harris accept her party\u2019s nomination, and what it means for her as a woman of color. Donald Trump had previously questioned her racial identity, making comments at the National Association of Black Journalists convention saying she \u201chappened to turn Black\u201d.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Harris called Trump\u2019s comments \u201cthe same old tired playbook\u201d, and dismissed them with a curt: \u201cNext question, please.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- But she took the opportunity to look past race while also recognizing the importance of this moment, especially for younger generations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- \u201cI am running because I believe I am the best person to do this job in this moment \u2013 for all Americans, regardless of race and gender,\u201d Harris said. \u201cBut I did see that photograph, and I was deeply touched by it.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In a primetime spot on CNN Thursday evening,\u00a0Kamala Harris\u00a0and Tim Walz sat for their first interview together as the Democratic ticket, taking questions from anchor Dana Bash on a range of important issues, including their plans for day 1 if they win the race, the approach to the war in Gaza, and how Joe Biden […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":43702,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_post_source_name":"","_post_source_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[6493,8217,10660,8348,5178,11941,6573,9204,12484,2848,10387,12283,9214,8938,8982,4024,6693,10484,5222,5200,8440,913,6576,5196,911,12644,5494,6738,5455,2888,3577,2629,6032,10453,3722,11491,12173,2702,6094,6546,11166,11493,6581,3095,7266,2471,11398,3114,9515,12329,990,6821,7039,8386,7574,3805,12103,10390,6200,6575,11304,8810,5655,9030,1502,5020,12524,11389,6348,11492,5251,5724,5273,10415,594,5140],"class_list":["post-43701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news","tag-abortion","tag-army","tag-bacon","tag-ban","tag-biden","tag-bill","tag-black","tag-border","tag-breakfast","tag-california","tag-campaign","tag-ceasefire","tag-child","tag-clean-energy","tag-combat","tag-common","tag-congress","tag-convention","tag-covid","tag-covid-19","tag-crisis","tag-democratic","tag-democrats","tag-economy","tag-election","tag-embryos","tag-energy","tag-families","tag-family","tag-fertility","tag-future","tag-gaza","tag-goods","tag-guard","tag-guns","tag-harris","tag-hostages","tag-identity","tag-immigration","tag-inflation","tag-innocent","tag-interview","tag-iraq","tag-israel","tag-ivf","tag-joe-biden","tag-kamala","tag-kamala-harris","tag-killed","tag-laws","tag-new-york","tag-palestinians","tag-phone","tag-platform","tag-presidency","tag-president","tag-price","tag-prices","tag-race","tag-republicans","tag-running-mate","tag-schools","tag-security","tag-success","tag-tax","tag-the-vice-president","tag-ticket","tag-tim-walz","tag-us","tag-walz","tag-war","tag-weapons","tag-woman","tag-work","tag-who","tag-young"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43701"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43701\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43703,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43701\/revisions\/43703"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nsemgh.com\/api-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- 2.\u00a0<\/strong>Day one: strengthen the middle classIf Harris is elected president, she will start by working to strengthen the middle class with a strategy she is calling \u201cThe Opportunity Economy\u201d. Building from \u201cBidenomics<\/a>\u201d \u2013 a platform her predecessor used to move away from trickle-down policies that favor the wealthy and instead grow the economy \u201cfrom the middle out and the bottom up \u2013 Harris outlined her plan to help struggling families.\u201cPeople are ready for a new way forward,\u201d she said, highlighting that she hopes to bring down costs of everyday goods with key investments, cracking down on price gouging, and expanding the child tax credit. She also reiterated her plan to secure $25,000 in assistance for first-time homebuyers.While she agreed with Bash that prices remain higher than they were during the Trump presidency, she argued that she and Biden ensured the country recovered from the Covid-19 crisis.\u201cBidenomics is a success,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s more to do \u2013 but that\u2019s good work.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n