Key lines from CNN’s interview with VP Kamala Harris, her first as the Democratic nominee | CNN Politics

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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.

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Vice President Kamala Harris sat down with CNN’s Dana Bash for her first major TV interview since becoming Democrats’ presidential nominee.

The interview was conducted in Savannah on the sidelines of a bus tour through the key Sun Belt state of Georgia and alongside her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Harris took in-depth questions on her policy evolution on key issues like fracking and defended her record on immigration and the Biden administration’s handling of the economy.

Here are key lines from the interview:

What would she do on Day One in the White House?

After a broad claim about focusing on the middle class, Harris made a larger point about moving on from Donald Trump.

Pushed by Bash about her specific plans, Harris said she would focus on her “opportunity economy” plan to bring down the cost of everyday goods and give parents of newborns a $6,000 tax credit “to help them buy a car seat, to help them buy baby clothes, a crib.”

She also mentioned housing affordability and her plan to give first-time homebuyers a $25,000 tax credit to help with a down payment.

But what about people who feel groceries were less expensive and housing more affordable when Trump was president?

So she maintains ‘Bidenomics’ is a success?

I maintain that when we do the work of bringing down prescription medication for the American people, including capping the cost, the annual cost, of prescription medication for seniors at $2,000, when we do what we did in the first year of being in office to extend the child tax credit so that we cut child poverty in America by over 50%; when we do what we have done to invest in the American people and bringing manufacturing back to the United States so that we created over 800,000 new manufacturing jobs, bringing business back to America; what we have done to improve the supply chain so we’re not relying on foreign governments to supply American families with their basic needs. I’ll say that that’s good work. There’s more to do, but that’s good work.

Harris

There’s a lot in that answer, but one thing worth noting is that the expanded child tax credit she mentioned has since lapsed. Given that Harris as well as Trump’s running mate, Sen. JD Vance, both have said they support a more generous child tax credit, it’s fair to think an expansion is possible no matter who wins the election.

Does she still want to ban fracking?

When she ran unsuccessfully in a crowded Democratic primary in 2020, Harris at one point said she favored banning fracking. Harris later changed that position, and during the vice presidential debate said the administration would not ban fracking. Many climate activists oppose fracking, but it is a key issue in battleground states like Pennsylvania.

What made her change that position four years ago?

Is there something specific that changed her mind?

Why did the Biden administration wait so long to implement asylum restrictions at the border?

Republicans have argued the administration should have acted much sooner to cut down on border crossings. While Harris did not answer the question specifically, she argued that earlier this year, before President Joe Biden used executive action to cut down on border crossings, Democrats worked with a few conservative Republicans on a border bill that Republicans ultimately turned against.

She said those agents could have worked to stop fentanyl from coming into the US. If elected, Harris said she would try to revive the border bill.

Does Harris still think illegal border crossings should be decriminalized?

This is another throwback to a controversial position Harris took during the 2020 Democratic primary.

Why has she evolved on these policies?

Bash asked Harris how voters should view her policy evolutions, to which Harris repeated, like a mantra: “My values have not changed.”

The most important and most significant aspect of my policy perspective and decisions is my values have not changed. You mentioned the Green New Deal. I have always believed and I have worked on it, that the climate crisis is real, that it is an urgent matter to which we should apply metrics that include holding ourselves to deadlines around time.
We did that with the Inflation Reduction Act. We have set goals for the United States of America and by extension the globe around when we should meet certain standards for a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, as an example. That value has not changed.
My value around what we need to do to secure our border, that value has not changed. I spent two terms as the attorney general of California prosecuting transnational criminal organizations, violations of American laws regarding the passage, illegal passage of guns, drugs and human beings across our border. My values did not change.

Harris

Would she put a Republican in her administration?

Anyone in particular?

On Trump’s insulting claim that she ‘turned Black’

Would she do anything differently than Biden on Israel?

Harris did not express any policy differences from Biden, and she reiterated the balance she struck at the Democratic National Convention: acknowledging both Israel’s right to defend itself and the suffering of Palestinians, repeating that a ceasefire deal must get done.

Walz was asked about multiple times when he misspoke

Vance, an Iraq War veteran, has accused Walz of misrepresenting his military service because one time Walz referred to carrying weapons of war “in war” even though he never deployed. The campaign has said Walz misspoke.

Walz has also previously mischaracterized the infertility treatment his wife underwent in becoming pregnant with their children. It was not in vitro fertilization, which some Democrats have argued would be in danger if Trump wins the election. Trump denies that claim, and on Thursday even proposed making the government or insurance companies pay for IVF treatments. The Walz family used intrauterine insemination, IUI, as opposed to IVF.

Separately, Walz’s congressional campaign in 2006 mischaracterized a 1995 drunk driving arrest for which charges were later dropped. Can voters trust what Walz says? He did not address the drunk driving arrest during the interview with Bash, but said, “I certainly own my mistakes when I make ‘em.” He went further on the IVF question.

Cutting hairs? Perhaps he meant “splitting hairs.”

Does Harris regret insisting that Biden is fit to serve another four years?

She contrasted that with Trump, whose rise in politics has been part of a decade that “has been contrary to where the spirit of our country really lies.”

The past decade also included the Biden administration

How Harris found out Biden was dropping out

She was spending time with her family and her young nieces.

Walz feels pride for his son

Bash asked about the video of Walz’s son, tearfully saying, “That’s my dad,” during the DNC.

Harris reacts to an incredible photo of her niece looking up to her

See the photo here.