CNN.com - Transcripts (2024)

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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm John Vause. Live in Atlanta. Coming up here on CNN Newsroom.

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KAMALA HARRIS, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: What I believe the American people deserve, which is a new way forward and turn the page on the last decade.

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VAUSE: Heavy on hype, light on details, as Kamala Harris sits down for her first interview since officially rising to the top of the Democrat ticket. Crewless, adrift on fire and carrying a million barrels of oil, the world's biggest ever oil spill is just waiting to happen in the Red Sea. Also this.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The current outbreak in Gaza is a stark reminder of how quickly infectious diseases can reemerge where health systems are compromised.

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VAUSE: Israel and Hamas agreed to pause the killing in Gaza for hours at a time, to allow life-saving polio immunization to hundreds of thousands of children.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.

VAUSE: For anyone expecting detailed policy announcements or in depth explanations of flip flops on key issues, even a direct answer on what she'll do day one if elect a president, then they may be left disappointed by the first sit down interview by Kamala Harris since she became the Democratic nominee for president.

Harris has been undergoing pressure to answer some tough questions about her policies, as well as her role during the Biden administration.

For the most part, she spoke in broad terms, avoiding specifics. She explains her shift from anti-fracking to not being anti fracking, saying, quote, my values have not changed. This was a joint interview with running mate Tim Walz. That too the focus of much criticism. Overall, Harris tried to frame the race with Donald Trump as a new way forward. After nearly a decade of Trump and his negative, nasty politics.

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HARRIS: I am so proud to have served as vice president to Joe Biden, and two, I am so proud to be running with Tim Walz from President of United States, and to bring America what I believe the American people deserve, which is a new way forward and turn the page on the last decade of what I believe has been contrary to where the spirit of our country really lies.

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: But the last decade, of course, the last three and a half years has been part of your administration.

HARRIS: I'm talking about an era that started about a decade ago where there is some suggestion warped, I believe it to be, that the measure of the strength of a leader is based on who you beat down, instead of where I believe most Americans are, which is to believe that the true measure of the strength of a leader is based on who you lift up. That's what's at stake, as much as any other detail that we could discuss in this election.

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VAUSE: Standing by in Washington is CNN political commentator and Democratic strategist Marie Cardona, and on the other side of the country, in Mountain View California, Lanhee Chen, former policy director for Republican Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign, also fellow at the Hoover Institute at Stanford University. Thank you both for staying up late. It's good to see you.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You too. Thanks for having us.

LANHEE CHEN, FORMER POLICY DIRECTOR FOR REPUBLICAN MITT ROMNEY's 2012 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: Thanks John.

VAUSE: OK. So one area where Harris is seen to be especially vulnerable is the area of immigration and the southern border. As Vice President, she was charged with trying to improve border security, and when asked about that, here's how she responded.

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HARRIS: A bill was crafted, which we supported, which I support, and Donald Trump got word of this bill that would have contributed to securing our border, and because he believes that it would not have helped him politically, he told his folks in Congress, don't put it forward. He killed the bill.

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VAUSE: So Lanhee, first to you, when it comes to immigration, well the most important key issues to voters in this coming up election, did Donald Trump give Harris a Get Out of Jail Free card?

CHEN: Yes, look, I think that's the best answer she could have given in that context, there's no question that the killing of the bipartisan immigration bill was a loss, not just for the country, but politically, was something of a gift to Democrats.

Now I do think Republicans and Trump are still going to attack Harris for the several years before that immigration bill came forward, and her inactivity or lack of action on the border given her responsibilities addressing, as she says, the root causes of migration, but putting that aside from moment. It's a very effective talking point. She used it tonight, and I think that diffuses in some ways, the issue for her.

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VAUSE: And so just overall, if you look at this sort of totality, it seems that, you know, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. You know, she's doing this sort of, you know, do no harm strategy throughout this interview.

CARDONA: I think that's exactly right, John. But more than that, I actually think she did very well, especially for those voters who don't know her very well. What she did was she talked about what she and Tim Walz would do, you know, she talked about what she would do the first day in office. But overall, what I believe voters want to hear from a leader are their values. How would they lead? What is their true north? What do they believe in? What will wake them up in the morning, and what will their priorities be?

And Kamala Harris tonight, focused on that she would wake up every day, focused on what working class families need, what middle class families need, expanding the middle class talking about an opportunity economy, talking about the accomplishments of the Biden Harris administration, but also understanding and connecting with those voters who are still struggling with the high cost of groceries, with the high cost of mortgages and rent.

She was very specific on those policies, and also the issues of expanding our rights and freedoms, which, as you know, John, that's going to be a huge issue this election, the way that it has been ever since Donald Trump appointed the three extremist Supreme Court judges that took away Roe v Wade, that continues to be an incredibly energizing, mobilizing issue for men and women in this country. And so I think that her framing this election in terms of a contrast

and a choice between somebody who's going to expand your rights and freedoms give you the opportunity to live the American dream, versus somebody who only wakes up thinking, how can they benefit themselves, and frankly, how to stay out of prison. I think that's a contrast that's going to go in her favor in November.

VAUSE: Also seen in many ways, that Harris is sort of wanting to have both sides of the equation of, you know, she's walking both sides of the argument, if you like, like, when she embraced Bidenomics, she's asked specifically about the economy, and, you know, the fact that inflation was high, people being suffering. Here she is with her support, qualified support for Bidenomics. Listen to this.

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HARRIS: When we came in our highest priority was to do what we could to rescue America. And today, we know that we have inflation at under 3 percent a lot of our policies have led to the reality that America recovered faster than any wealthy nation around the world. But you are right, prices, in particular for groceries, are still too high.

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VAUSE: So Lanhee, there it is that qualified support year. We did very well, but we still got work to do. I wasn't part of it. That was Joe Biden. Is this something that voters will understand, or does it give Trump an opening?

CHEN: Yes, I think this is a very confusing answer in some ways, because she's trying to have her cake and eat it too. Essentially saying, look, you know, we did the right things, we had the right policies, but don't associate me with Biodenomics, the term. And I think it is confusing, because the policy she's proposed, the things that she's talking about doing aren't really going to have an impact on the challenges and problems that she says that she's trying to address.

You know, all of the policy she's rolled out thus far, if you investigate them and you actually look at them, even some progressive economists have argued, for example, that her plan to stop price gouging is bogus. So it will be interesting to see how she continues to navigate this tightrope, not just being on both sides of an issue like with fracking, where I thought she gave a disastrous answer tonight.

But on other area, issue areas where she port, you know, tries to pretend as though she's got solutions that have nothing to do with the last four years in office, when in fact, she's got to own both the successes and the challenges and failures we've seen during this administration.

VAUSE: What was interesting, though, Donald Trump apparently didn't really like the look of the interview. He made that comment during a town hall. Listen to this.

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DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: She did an interview today. She didn't want to go in alone. How do you think President Xi is going to do it? He's just savoring it. So she went in with this vice president, guy that nobody ever heard of.

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VAUSE: In fact, Harris, when asked about one of Donald Trump's earlier attacks, kind of had this to say, listen to this.

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HARRIS: I think sadly, in the last decade, we have had in the former president, someone who has really been pushing an agenda and an environment that is about diminishing the character and the strength of who we are as Americans, really dividing our nation. And I think people are ready to turn the page on that.

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VAUSE: So Maria, many have tried, all have failed, to take the high road when dealing with Donald Trump. Is this the election when that might work?

CARDONA: Absolutely. I think she was brilliant in those answers, John. I think one of the other places where she gave a brilliant answer which was related to Donald Trump's sexist insults is when Dana Bash asked her about Donald Trump, wondering, you know that how she had suddenly turned black. She didn't take the bait. She said, same old, tired playbook, next question, and that's exactly what she needs to do, because the American people understand what a putrid person, what horrific character Donald Trump has.

And frankly, what these polls are showing, the energy and the optimism and the mobilization behind Kamala Harris, is showing that Americans are sick of it, and they are responding to her. They are responding to her because she is the one who is showing that she's connected to the struggles and what American families and middle class families want and need.

And you know, Republicans are going to be trying to attack her on this policy and that policy, but the fact of the matter is that she is threading that needle. She is not running away from the policies that are majorly popular, like the $35 insulin cap, the $2,000 prescription drug cap, the expanding rights and freedoms, protecting LGBTQ communities, making sure that students can actually get away from crushing student debt.

Those are incredibly popular policies, and at the same time, she's saying, but we have to do more. That is not confusing. That is something that voters who are struggling can absolutely understand, and they're happy to hear, for example, if you're trying to buy a house that she wants to give a $25,000 tax credit for first time homeowners, that is very simple to understand.

Contrast that to somebody like Donald Trump, who has Project 2025, where economists say we'll explode inflation, we'll have class families, you know, costing tons of new taxes.

VAUSE: And if you want to see the entire interview once again, or for the first time, CNN will replay the exclusive interview with Kamala Harris. Kamala Harris at Tim Walz, 7:00 a.m. in London, 10:00 a.m. in Abu Dhabi. That's what about 30 minutes from now, followed by another replay, actually 40 minutes at 2:00 p.m. in London, 5:00 p.m. in Abu Dhabi.

The biggest Israeli offensive in the West Bank in years appears to be continuing with Jordan now accusing Israel of committing war crimes. Israeli military officials say a commander with the militant group Islamic Jihad is among five people killed Thursday. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has our report.

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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For the second day in a row, bursts of gunfire cut through the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank. Israeli soldiers and border police are raiding the northern West Bank in one of the largest operations in years, triggering clashes with Palestinian militants who are deeply embedded here.

Israeli forces have killed at least 16 people in 48 hours, according to health officials. Israel says 16 were militants. Palestinian militant groups said just eight of their fighters had been killed. In Jenin, Israeli forces have surrounded several hospitals. Ambulances must stop and be inspected before taking patients in for treatment. Markets and bustling downtown streets have been turned into a ghost town, one where streets, water and electrical lines will need to be repaired.

DIAMOND: This is the aftermath of an Israeli military operation in the city of Jenin, streets torn up by those D9 bulldozers, and we've seen scenes like this across this city. Those bulldozers, as well as armored Israeli military vehicles came rolling down this street. Clashes with gunmen were told ensued.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Suzanne Gillard (ph) and her grandchildren were woken by the sound of bulldozers and gunfire at seven in the morning. It was loud, very loud. Everybody was terrified. She says, this Israeli operation is different from the regular raids this city has grown used to. They want to take revenge, she says, from who I ask. From the resistance, we stand with the resistance, and hopefully we will stay standing and steadfast.

Israel says it is targeting militant groups who have mounted dozens of attacks against its soldiers and civilians. In the Palestinian city of Tulkarm, Israel killed one man it says was behind some of those attacks. Mohammed Jaber, an Islamic Jihad commander. But at Al-Razi Hospital in Jenin, the victims of Israel's raids are also children like 15-year old Usama who to leave his home to buy bread. [01:15:00]

I took two steps and they started firing at me, Usama says, two rounds of gunfire, one bullet came here and one bullet came here.

DIAMOND: And did you see any soldiers before you got shot?

DIAMOND (voice-over): No, he says. He now faces a long recovery and the life trapped in this seemingly endless cycle of violence.

DIAMOND: In a statement, the Israeli military confirmed that they shot Usama, claiming that he posed a serious threat to security forces. They also said that they coordinated his evacuation to a hospital with the local Palestinian ambulance service, despite making such a serious allegation against him, Israeli authorities have not arrested him. Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.

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VAUSE: At this hour off the coast of Yemen, a huge oil tanker is adrift on fire and carrying the equivalent of a million barrels of oil. The crew abandoned ship days ago after coming under attack by Houthi rebels who later rigged the ship with explosives set them off.

According to U.S. officials, the fires are still burning. Some oil has started to leak, but the barrels of oil remain intact for now, but the threat of an environmental catastrophe remains very real. The Greek flag tanker was attacked by Houthi rebels who have been targeting shipping in the Red Sea in support of Palestinians in Gaza.

Well, let's go to Jorgen Lian. Mw. Jorgen Lian is the head of Shipping Equity Research for Investment Bank DNB markets. He joins us this hour from Oslo in Norway. Thanks for being with us.

JORGEN LIAN, HEAD OF SHIPPING EQUITY RESEARCH, DNB MARKETS: Thank you. Good to be here.

VAUSE: So the ship right now, there's no crew. There's what, 150,000 tons of crude on board, which is, what about a million barrels of oil? Your State Department is warning all the ingredients are now in place for an environmental catastrophe. Listen to this.

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SABRIAN SINGH, DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: Those barrels remain intact. Right now, the vessel itself is leaking some oil from where it was hit. There is still a fire going on, or multiple fires still burning on the ship itself. Those fires have not been able to have been put out by anyone, because the Houthis are threatening to attack.

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VAUSE: There's a Pentagon spokesperson, not a State Department person for its worth, but the Houthis have said they may allow the tanker to be moved by tug, even if they are true to their word, and that remains to be seen. How do you move a 900 foot oil tanker carrying a million barrels of oil while it's on fire? And where do you take it?

LIAN: Good question, somewhere where people can start to work and make and deescalate the situation would be the answer. So it's very clearly a big potential catastrophe that's sort of waiting to happen, and let's see how it develops in the coming days.

But moving it better, it should be possible, as I said, to somewhere safe, where people that are familiar with this kind of events can offer their help and limit the potential impact of any spills or anything.

VAUSE: What sort of impact, though, is this event, which is very visual, if you like, when you look at the explosion on board this tanker, what sort of impact is that having on the rest of shipping around the globe?

LIAN: I think this illustrates very clearly that the risk of sailing through the Red Sea to transit the Suez Canal, which is a very important shipping archery in global trade continues to be very, very dangerous. I think it also highlights that there are still quite a bit of transits in the area and owners and ships that are still using the shipping lane to profit, I would say. It's a shorter distance naturally, and the people who are willing to take that risk, they do it because there's an opportunity.

So depending on how this plays out, I think there could be some reactions from the larger shipping community to try to limit the potential of more hazards like this popping up in the coming months, and there are a few avenues to go, in that sense, through the banking system and the lending system, where you can have requirements to the ships that you finance that they do not transit this area, all the way to sort of a blockade, if the risks are continuing to be as large as they are right now, you could physically try to limit the flow of ships through that area as well.

So there are ways this could, this could go and also then escalate in terms of the situation that we see in shipping, where you have much longer sailing routes for many of the ships today already, that could get even worse by having to push even more ships around Africa, for instance. And that all tends to tighten the shipping market, which then leads to increased costs for everyone on the shipping they have to pay for that shipping service as well.

VAUSE: And long term, the Houthis have not made any viscerally sick or what they plan to do.

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The Iranian permanent Mission to the United Nations warned that as long as the war in Gaza persists, the Houthis will continue to target oil tankers bound for the Israeli regime in the Red Sea. They mean the oil tankers in the Red Sea, not Israel. Attacks by Houthi said so far somewhat at least two ships and killed three crew members. All of this in the Red Sea.

You know, this is a vital thoroughfare that accounts for 10 to 15 percent of world trade. You mentioned this. This is greater Reuters. Houthis occupy a very unique piece of real estate when it comes to these attacks. Yemen is right on the Red Sea that's within range of the missiles and the drones which they control. Is there anywhere else around the world that presents a similar sort of danger, a similar choke point?

LIAN: This is sort of at center stage, I would say, when it comes to shipping and global trade, you have them latkes trade as well, which is in Southeast Asia, which is similar. You've had events in the Panama Canal as well. Those are really the three main choke points, I would say.

But among them, I think the Suez Canal and the implications of closing that down is clearly the largest one. So they're, of course, very aware of the situation and able to use that geographical location that you have in Yemen for the Houthis to make a meaningful impact. And therefore, you know, get their attention that they are seeking as well, and as long as the hostilities continue against the Hamas.

But also, I think it's important to highlight the deescalating situation further north against Hezbollah is also sort of a similar event that I think could sort of fuel a continuation of the current situation, which is very severe when you look at it in context of global trade.

And I would have thought earlier on that it wouldn't last this long, but it continues. And I think the situation today is that people have adapted, and we're more sort of in we have the measures in place and the trade routes in place now, and we've adapted to a new situation. And as things look right now, doesn't seem like it's going to end very soon, either.

So it's sort of a new reality with increased risk, and then it comes becomes a question, how people are going to manage that risk, and how the international community is going to act after events like this, to limit the potential of further situations like the one we're seeing right now.

VAUSE: Jorgen Lian in Oslo, Norway, thank you, sir. Appreciate your time.

LIAN: Thank you.

VAUSE: Less than a month after Ukraine took delivery of its first F- 16, and now the first one has gone down during a Russian attack, but much more has been lost just to fight a jet for that in a moment.

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VAUSE: Ukrainian government has appointed a special commission to investigate the first loss of a Western supplied F-16 fighter jet. The plane went down during a Russian aerial attack Monday. Pilot error is not believed to be the cause of the crash, according to a Ukrainian defense. More now from CNN's Nick Paton Walsh.

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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: the loss of the first F-16 jet certainly a moment of great symbolic importance for Ukraine. Remember, they only have six of these delivered so far out of 80 that the European allies have pledged to supply. This is something that the Biden administration prevaricated yet again over for months about whether they would provide the clearance needed for these U.S. made jets to be given to Ukraine. Six are there. One is now out of action. Crashed, it seems, according to Ukraine defense officials, whilst repelling what they refer to as the one of the biggest Russian onslaughts against Ukraine of the war so far, over 200 missiles and drones fired on Monday night, part of over 400 we've seen over the past days.

A Ukraine defense official saying that the pilot, named as Oleksiy Mes, callsign Moonfish, seems to have taken out three missiles and a drone in the hours before his plane went down, and what they referred to as a crash. Scan (ph) details as to how this happened, and international experts, Ukraine says will be invited to probe the details here, but it forms part, I think, of questions that may start growing around the compressed nature of the training regime for F-16 pilots.

Oleksiy Mes one of Ukraine's most celebrated and skilled sent to the U.S. to advocate for the delivery of F-16 and, of course, to the very complex nightmare of maintaining these western aircraft in a war zone where they are target number one, frankly, for Russia.

But the loss of this aircraft comes at a time when Ukraine is desperately trying to turn the narrative in its favor, launching that surprise incursion into Russia's border areas, Kursk Region for three weeks now, taking over 100 settlements with pressure now put on the Belgorod region to Kursk south. Local officials in Russia saying they're actually starting to evacuate people from those border areas to suggesting Russian may be trying to maybe receiving Ukrainian pressure from there as well.

The same time, long range strikes by Ukraine against oil depots, ammunition site, airfields deep inside Russia, even up as far as the Arctic Circle, aviation warnings last week near Murmansk. And so this forms part, I think, of a bid by Kyiv to project strength deep inside Russia, while at the same time too, asking its western backers, namely the White House, to provide specific authorization to hit targets inside of Russia. A list of those targets given to the White House, they want to use U.S. supplied longer range weapons to hit certain parts of Russia's infrastructure, not yet disclosed, but that list also given to Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, a bid, I think, to turn what red lines are around Russia and being a Russia hawk into part of the conversation of the U.S. election campaign.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy throwing everything he can, it seems, into the battlefield, into the political arena here, trying to seize on the months ahead, ahead of the U.S. election and likely grueling winter, which may alter Ukraine's fate, if indeed someone new comes into the White House or old, who may have a different thought as to how much support Ukraine could be giving.

But bear in mind, too, Ukraine seeing setbacks on the eastern front as well, near Pokrovsk, with Russia continuing to push forward towards that vital Ukrainian military hub. So, a mixed picture for Ukraine, but one where it's desperately trying to restore control of the narrative. Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, London.

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VAUSE: When we come back. Did Carmel Harris play to see during her first big interview as the nominee right here on CNN, more on that, but in a moment. Also, hundreds of thousands of children in Gaza will soon be getting the polio vaccine. He tells us how the life-saving vaccinations will be carried out amidst the war.

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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

Well, it was the U.S. vice president's first sit-down interview since becoming the Democrat nominee for president, s chance to fill in some of the blanks for voters.

Appearing alongside her running mate, Governor Tim Walz, Harris told CNN, she will focus on the middle class from day one. She also reiterated support for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians. And the Democratic nominee also defended some policy shifts on issues like fracking as well as decriminalizing southern border crossings.

When pressed, she says her values have not changed, but her time as vice president has given her a new perspective.

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KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think they 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've 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 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: Larry Sabato is the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. He's also the editor of "A Return to Normalcy: The 2020 election that almost broke America". Good to see you.

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS -UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Nice to see you, John.

VAUSE: Ok, so for the Harris campaign, the mantra for this interview on CNN seems to be "do no harm".

Listen to this.

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DANA BASH, CNN HOST: If you are elected, what would you do on day one in the White House?

HARRIS: Well, there are a number of things. I will tell you first and foremost, one of my highest priorities is to do what we can to support and strengthen the middle class.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: You know, strengthening the middle class is aspirational, it's the big picture goal. It's not exactly what you do on day one. Harris didn't really give a specific example of what she would do on day one.

It seems she played it fairly safe for the entire interview, not a lot of specifics, but did she play it too safe?

SABATO: Oh, I think for a first interview and this is her first real post-nomination interview, maybe even longer than that.

And for Walz, certainly the first one where she's -- where he is with his running mate and they have an opportunity to discuss things.

But look, you get general impressions from an interview like this. And I think people's general impression would be that the nominee for president and vice president were both acceptable and friendly and conversational. You're not going to learn in-depth about policy.

For those of us who follow politics incessantly, you know, 24 hours a day almost, we particularly wouldn't learn anything new. But I think for people who casually follow politics who know this is important, who are just tuning in because after all its Labor Day weekend and that is traditionally when campaigns start, they really start years prior. But in this particular case it really is the beginning of a campaign.

They would learn something, they would get impressions of the candidates that give them some sense of who they are and how they approach things. And they came across as normal.

And that is actually a big plus in American politics these days. You don't get a lot of normal people who are running for higher office or people who come across as normal. VAUSE: Well, very good point. There was one interesting moment when Harris was actually asked about one of Donald Trump's recent attacks on her. Here it is.

[01:34:50]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: He suggested that you happened to turn black recently for political purposes. Questioning a core part of your identity. Any --

HARRIS: Same old tired playbook. Next question, please.

BASH: That's it?

HARRIS: That's it.

BASH: Ok.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: She just didn't even respond to it. There's just a smile and let's move on.

I mean you know, just rising above that sort of fray, that political mudslinging if you want to know what kind of person Harris is, I guess that's one of the examples that she just gave everybody.

SABATO: Yes, it is. And also it was absolutely the correct answer because what was Donald Trump trying to do? He was trying to elicit from the Harris campaign, from Harris supporters and eventually from Harris herself something that would enable him to divide the American electorate into the 60-plus percent who are going to vote, who will be white and the 30 percent plus who are going to vote who will be of some other nationality. Black or Asian or Hispanic and so on.

And that's what he wants because divisiveness serves Donald Trump. She didn't play into it. And that's what she has to do. Notice how different this is than in 2008 when Barack Obama ran and it was impossible to avoid the historical implications of having potentially a black president.

Well, you know, been there done that. We haven't had a woman president. We haven't had a president of Asian descent. But that's not what she wants to discuss and it's not what people want to hear, actually.

They want to hear substance and policy. Now she got into some of that. Most of it was superficial.

VAUSE: Yes. Well, you know, the fact that this was a joint interview, that created (ph) a lot of criticism from conservatives mostly saying Tim Walz was there to prop Harris up. "The Wall Street Journal" opinion piece had this.

"The one on two format, will limit Ms. Harris' time in answering questions. It will also make it harder for Miss Bash to post follow-up questions that bore in on the vice president's contradictions with previous positions.

Mr. Walz will be there with a parachute to rescue the presidential candidate if she has a rough go or struggles to answer something. This is one more Harris campaign insult to American voters."

You know, none of that actually happened in reality during the interview. And we should note that every election since 2004, a presidential candidate and their running mate has sat down for a joint interview.

SABATO: That's precisely right. In fact it goes back much further than that. This really began with Jimmy Carter picking Walter Mondale as his vice president. And that's how the administration was rather (ph); it was also how the campaign was run. They did a number of joint events together.

But the point here is that that insinuation by "The Wall Street Journal" turned out to be completely wrong and I noticed that Walz never really interrupted or added very much to what Harris was saying.

He was asked specific questions about his own background and his own controversies. And that was a smaller part of the actual hour- presentation.

VAUSE: Yes. He's says to mute (ph) all the time to Harris -- he certainly catches himself out of the -- out of the picture in many, many ways. And I guess that's what a vice-presidential running mate does at the end of the day.

SABATO: Yes. He's getting -- he's getting in practice for being vice president.

VAUSE: Larry, so good to see you. Thanks very much.

SABATO: Thank you, John.

VAUSE: Meantime, the Republican nominee for President Donald Trump has surprised, even stunned many by promising the cost of IVF treatments would be covered either by government or private health insurance companies. But Donald Trump offered few details and that's raising a lot of skepticism.

CNN's Omar Jimenez is traveling with the former president.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was a short appearance here in western Wisconsin, where from the time that he took the stage to when he wrapped up, essentially to when you're seeing these scenes behind me, it was about 35 minutes or so.

And over the course of those 35 minutes, he answered questions from voters in a town hall format. One that was moderated by Tulsi Gabbard who formerly ran for president as a Democrat, is now an Independent and has endorsed the former president.

And over the course of the answering to these questions, the former president touched on some of the familiar themes we've heard throughout this campaign cycle.

Him railing against the situation at the border, railing against the economy under the Biden administration as well.

But we also heard him touch largely in many different aspects on the reproductive rights issues. For example, the way this town hall began was with Tulsi Gabbard talking about her struggles to conceive using IVF.

And that opened up a conversation where the former president said that he is putting forward a proposal that would essentially make the government or insurance companies pay for IVF. That is something that he unveiled over the course of Thursday.

[01:39:50]

JIMENEZ: Now, Wisconsin wasn't the only place he went too. He also went to Michigan earlier in the day, Thursday. But what's critical about both of those stops is these are two battleground states that will likely be essential to whoever takes the White House.

Wisconsin in particular, or actually both to them, I should say, were states that Trump won in 2016, then Biden won back in 2020. Wisconsin, by just the slimmest of margins -- 20,000 votes or so. And so this will likely be a location that the former president, but also the Kamala Harris campaign will return to as they try to lock up the mount of votes they will need for one of those two to make it into the White House.

Omar Jimenez, CNN -- Lacrosse, Wisconsin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Israel and Hamas have agreed to a pause in fighting in parts of Gaza so that hundreds of thousands of children can be immunized for polio.

An Israeli official confirms to CNN the pauses will last seven hours over three days, starting Sunday in central Gaza, then to the north and then onto the south.

Hamas has welcomed the U.N. request for humanitarian pauses, and they say they're ready to cooperate to ensure security for the vaccination campaign.

And earlier, I spoke with Dr. Hamid Jafari, a regional director of polio eradication for the World Health Organization. I asked him if they are unable to finish this immunization in time, is there the possibility of extending that window beyond the three days.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DR. HAMID JAFARI, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: Well, I think in order for us to be able to stop this outbreak and prevent its international spread we must target achieving 100 percent coverage. At least 90 percent is what would be the minimum acceptable in a very complex, and constrained environment.

Ideally, what we do is to do house to house vaccination all across the geography, that will be all across Gaza over a short period of time, five to seven days.

But we have been able to negotiate, you know, three days. The agreement is that if an additional day is needed to cover any children that remain in that particular area, then that extra day would be provided for vaccination.

So it is going to be very tight. We are not doing house to house vaccination, people are moving. So the risk of missing children remains high.

VAUSE: So for most -- (INAUDIBLE) Gaza's hospital and health services have taken a pounding by the Israeli military.

Mick Ryan, the director of WHO's Health Emergency Response Program, says its clearly one of the major reasons for the return of polio to Gaza. Here he is.

MICK RYAN, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: the current outbreak in Gaza is a stark reminder of how quickly infectious diseases can re-emerge, where health systems are compromised. Many other diseases are spreading, while our collective capacities to prevent, detect, and respond to them continue to be hindered.

VAUSE: And when it comes to viruses and contagious diseases, what happens in Gaza, as you say, will not stay in Gaza. So acting now to stop the viral spread, it's not just in the interest of Gaza, it's not just in the interest of Israel, it's in the interest of the entire world at this point.

DR. JAFARI: Absolutely.

Polio remains a public health emergency of international concern under international health regulation. You recall two years ago, a similar polio virus was detected in the sewage samples in London, sewage samples in New York, and in New York (ph), there was also a paralytic case of polio caused by a similar virus.

So this virus traveled fast and the conditions in Gaza with displacement, with overcrowding, lack of clean water, and significant exposure to sewage. This virus is transmitted fecal oral (ph) transmission so extensive exposure to virus, the transmission we think is all across Gaza. It's widespread and its intense.

So it's going to take a very rigorous effort to vaccinate all children and stop this outbreak and prevent its spread.

And the you know, neighborhood is, you know, has weak health systems like Lebanon is going through a crisis, (INAUDIBLE) in a post war situation. So the risk of spread internationally remains high.

VAUSE: It's been what -- 25 years since polio was last detected in Gaza. And the WHO and other aid groups worked for years to make that happen. Just, in many ways, it must be devastating to be in this situation right now.

JAFARI: It is tragic. No case of polio for 25 years and Gaza had a very high immunization coverage rate against polio and other vaccine- preventable diseases of children.

So since the start of the war in October last year the immunization services also started to decline because of the destruction of health facilities, health centers.

[01:44:46]

DR. JAFARI: So the polio case, the only polio case so far that has been confirmed in Gaza is in a ten-month-old child because it's the youngest that are not getting vaccinated and they are the ones that are most vulnerable.

VAUSE: Dr. Hamid Jafari, thank you so much there in Amman, Jordan. Appreciate your time and your insight, sir.

DR. JAFARI: Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Still to come here on CNN, violent confrontations ramping up in the South China Sea. We'll tell you how the United States is responding.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: U.S. National security adviser Jake Sullivan met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday, ending a three-day visit to Beijing, which was meant to try and improve strained lines of communication.

Xi says he's committed to a stable, healthy relationship with U.S. a line he has often repeated. Sullivan has hinted that the President Biden and Xi may hold talks in the coming weeks, adding the U.S. President wants to ensure competition does not veer into conflict, a line which Biden has often repeated.

Sullivan also addressed one flashpoint issue of potential conflict, the growing number of confrontations between Chinese and Philippine ships in the South China Sea.

CNN's Ivan Watson has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Collisions, water cannons, and screaming matches involving sailors armed with a knives and axes. A spree of incidents and collisions in the last several days adding new tensions to months of skirmishes between China and close U.S. ally, the Philippines, in contested waters of the South China Sea.

A David and Goliath struggle CNN witnessed firsthand earlier this year.

And as you may see, there is a large Chinese Coast Guard ship directly in front of this Philippines Coast Guard vessel.

Growing concerns that one of these confrontations in the South China Sea -- could spiral out of control.

DR. RAHMAN YAACOB, SOUTHEAST ASIA SECURITY EXPERT, LOWY INSTITUTE: Are we going to see a military conflict between the Philippines and Chinese? Could be.

WATSON: The confrontations revolve around several contested reefs and shoals. Most of them are located well within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines, and as you can clearly see, much further away from mainland China.

Beijing places the blame squarely on the Philippines.

LIN JIAN, SPOKESPERSON, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): We urge certain individuals in the Philippines to start going further down the path of stirring up trouble and making provocations.

WATSON: Meanwhile, the Philippine president issued this warning back in May.

FERDINAND MARCOS JR., PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES: If a Filipino citizen is killed by a willful that is, I think very, very close to what we define as an act of war. And therefore, we will respond accordingly.

WATSON: Washington has a mutual defense treaty with Manila.

[01:49:45]

WATSON: At a meeting with the Philippine Armed Forces chief this week, a U.S. Navy commander suggested U.S. ships could get directly involved in the maritime dispute.

SAMUEL PAPARO, U.S. INDO-PACIFIC COMMAND COMMANDER: Escort of one vessel to the other is an entirely reasonable option within our mutual defense treaty among this close alliance between what -- between the two -- the two of us.

WATSON: However, during a visit to Beijing on Thursday, President Biden's National Security Council advisor called for a de-escalation with the People's Republic of China.

JAKE SULLIVAN, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Nobody is looking for a crisis, not the Philippines, not the United States and we hope not the PRC.

WATSON: But things can get very unpredictable very quickly when large ships play a dangerous game of chicken on the high seas. Ivan Watson, CNN -- Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Ice cream and summer, they are synonymous, but rising prices and rising temperatures could be threatening the ice cream cone business, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: French President Emmanuel Macron denies inviting Telegram founder Pavel Durov to Paris. Says he had no prior knowledge of his arrival. The Russian billionaire, who also has French citizenship which was fast-tracked, was arrested Saturday.

He's under investigation for offenses related to criminal activity on the messaging platform. Macron says the arrest was undertaken independently by the Justice Department.

Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov warned the incident should not be turned into a political persecution, something they know all about in Moscow.

The CIA confirms that U.S. agencies provided intelligence to Austrian authorities that helped them foil an attack on Taylor Swift earlier this month. The agency says the ISIS-inspired plot was quite advanced and threatened to kill tens of thousands of people at one of Swift's concerts in Vienna. Three teenagers have been detained in connection with the terror plot.

Well, this is new. An airport departure board being written by hand. That's been the situation in Seattle International Airport where a cyberattack continues to disrupt operations. System outages have now gone on for almost a week.

The airport is warning Labor Day passengers to expect blank information screens and to only bring carry-on bags if possible. But flights are continuing kind of as normal.

(INAUDIBLE) by Boeing, rather, troubled Starliner spacecraft is set to return home from the International Space Station but without its crew. NASA announced the spacecraft will return to earth in September 6, land in New Mexico's White Sands Space Harbor, that is, if all goes according to plan and that's never a guarantee with Boeing.

The astronauts who rode aboard the Starliner June 5 will remain on board the International Space Station. They will return to earth in a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule maybe sometime in 2025.

Mister Softee has been a part of the fabric of New York summers for decades. But now and while it seems counterintuitive, increasingly hot weather could be threatening the ice cream business.

Here's CNN's Nathaniel Meyersohn.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) (MUSIC)

NATHANIEL MEYERSOHN, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: The Mr. Softee ice cream truck. It's the sound of summer bringing back memories of childhood and a simpler time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We run down the stairs, ice cream man is coming.

[01:54:48]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's look at all the wonderful tasty treats Mister Softee brings to your door.

MEYERSOHN: Since the 1950s, Mister Softee has been part of the fabric of summer. It's no wonder people travel from all over.

The taste may be sweet, but selling it is harder than ever. Inflation and competition now threaten franchise owners.

CARLOS VASQUEZ: Easy, easy, slow, slow.

MEYERSOHN: When Carlos Vasquez started ten years ago, a vanilla cone cost $1 now it's up to five bucks well beyond the rate of inflation.

VASQUEZ: It's part of the war. Gas go up, milk go up, all the parts of the milk go up.

MEYERSOHN: The price isn't the only thing that's going up. The temperature has been rising.

You'd think people want ice cream when it's hot, but surprisingly they're staying home.

VASQUEZ: It melts. You get dirty and you ask for the extra napkin. If the weather is really hot it's not really good for business. It's weird.

MEYERSOHN: Ice cream is best shared with a friend, whichever toppings you like.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN HOST: I want the famous standard vanilla cone.

MEYERSOHN: To talk economics and ice cream. I invited along my friend Richard Quest.

QUEST: You know (ph) the sprinkle man.

MEYERSOHN: I'm traditional.

QUEST: No. It's all traditional.

MEYERSOHN: That was good.

QUEST: Why did you want to tell me about this?

MEYERSOHN: It's a symbol of New York, but it's also changing and the future I think is very much up in the air.

We have to look at it as a small business that is -- very much could go extinct at some point.

QUEST: No we don't.

MEYERSOHN: No?

QUEST: WE have to look at it as bloody good ice cream on a hot, sunny day. Cheers.

MEYERSOHN: Cheers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: I'm John Vause.

Coming up next here, CNN's exclusive interview with U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, in its entirety.

After that, Kim Brunhuber will pick up our coverage with more on CNN NEWSROOM.

See you next week.

[01:57:05]

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