Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Harris Picks Tim Walz. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired August 06, 2024 - 09:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:30:05]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: And just to remind you what the breaking news is, vice presidential candidate - sorry, presidential candidate, vice president but presidential candidate Kamala Harris has, according to our sources, picked her vice president. That will be Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota.

We are waiting right now to see what's happening at his home. We've been seeing a little bit of movement. Lots of people coming and going and clapping and taking pictures and yelling out in support there in St. Paul, where he has his residence.

We are also looking at the markets right now. The bell has just rung. Yesterday it was a mad, crazy show. The Dow down 1,000 points when it started. Now, look at those numbers, it's up, up, up.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: A little bit. A little bit.

SIDNER: Not great. Not great, but up, not down.

BERMAN: Right.

SIDNER: Like it was yesterday. So, some things have changed there.

But what the big story is this morning, really is, that Harris has picked her running mate before the convention. And we will hear more about that soon.

Let's go to MJ Lee.

MJ Lee, we have been talking to you about how this happened. We've also been talking to you about whether or not that phone call has happened. And a lot about who Walz is and what he brings now to this ticket. What can you tell us this morning?

MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, particularly, as you were talking about just the economic news and volatility of the last 24 to 48 hours or so, I mean you think about the three people that we have been reporting on as having been the final three contenders for Vice President Kamala Harris, Tim Walz, Mark Kelly, and Josh Shapiro, I do think you could make an argument, and perhaps this was a part of the thinking for the vice president and her team, that Tim Walz is somebody that could be an effective messenger broadly when it comes to the economy.

You know, we were talking about just his roots and what he represents on this ticket for the vice president and serving as such a contrast to her and everything she brings to the ticket. Going back to his Midwestern roots, the fact that he can really speak to rural America, talk to those white working class voters, the more moderate voters, particularly in the middle of the country. You can look at the news of the past 48 hours and make the argument that he can be a successful sort of wide spectrum economic messenger when it comes to these issues. He is generally good at talking about sort of the lives of everyday Americans. He has certainly had a record in defending sort of the center left economic policies. He has been effective at doing that a lot of folks would say in his state of Minnesota. And his political salesmanship on that very point has been exemplified by what we have seen him do in his home state.

You know, up until this point, the Biden administration, particularly in the last year or so, has really tried to tell a story of an economic turnaround, particularly after the Covid pandemic. And of course, at this point, anything that is a record of the Biden administrations, that goes directly to and speaks directly to the record of Vice President Kamala Harris as well. And I do think you can imagine, you know, the volatility of the last 24 hours, if that extends to something greater, more economic bad news perhaps, more volatility in the coming weeks and months, particularly heading into November. If we are in a situation where the Biden administration and Democrats as a whole are more on the defensive on this issue, again, I do think you can imagine a scenario where Kamala Harris and her team would have thought, let's go with somebody or certainly at least give points to somebody who can be an effective messenger when it comes to the economy and can speak broadly about this issue on - not just on the coast, but again in the middle of the country as well.

So just something - one of the many things we should keep in mind as we are talking about this Tim Walz choice, guys.

SIDNER: Yes, he has worked on that One Minnesota Budget, which has a lot in it. We will see how he will do as the presumptive vice presidential nominee.

Thank you so much, MJ Lee, for all your reporting this morning. It's been great.

John.

BERMAN: All right, with us now, CNN political director David Chalian.

David, we've been through a few of these over the last 25 years or so. What jumps out at you this morning?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, what jumps out at me is that this - I've heard all the excellent reporting about their chemistry and the like, but this, to me, seems to be a pick that is trying to double down on the energy that the Harris campaign has created in the Democratic Party for the last couple weeks. This is a pick that is likely to excite the Democratic grassroots, that is likely to keep younger, more progressive people engaged.

[09:35:01]

Now, there's a flipside to that, which is the frame that we're already seeing from the Republicans, John, is, you know, this is a far-left, radical, liberal ticket. And we do know that Walz has a pretty progressive record as governor, largely in part to the fact that he has a Democratic legislature trifecta there and was able to sign a lot of Democratic policy priorities into law. But that is part of what is going to keep the Democratic enthusiasm and excitement rolling into Chicago, and then they hope rolling out of Chicago and into the fall campaign.

And I - when you have a moment like this in American politics that Kamala Harris is happening, you want to lean in and do things that are going to compound the positive aspects of that. And I see what - this pick as their attempt to do that.

SIDNER: He's known as a happy warrior, right? He - he's smiling. He's putting his message out there without being combative, but say here's what I'd like to do.

But one thing I am curious about, David, is independents. The party is one thing. The Democrats are one thing. That progressives, you can be - can be very loud and forceful. He is a bona fide progressive. But what about the independent voters? What about those voters who are not in the party, who they are trying to bring to the party because she's going to need them at some point here with this tight, tight race.

CHALIAN: Yes. Well, in a state that is pretty closely politically, excuse me, divided like Minnesota, Tim Walz doesn't get to be governor and get to be a popular governor without bringing some of those independents around.

I would also note that in 2006, when he won his congressional race to become a member of Congress, and that was a Democratic wave year, he did so in a Republican-leaning district. Again, dependent on independent voters like you're saying, Sara.

So, I - while he has a progressive record and while the Republicans will attempt every day to paint him as sort of an out of the mainstream liberal, he's that folksy charm we've been talking about that, that - that able to communicate with everyday folks, that is what he's going to take on the campaign trail in places like Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan, where I think we are basically going to see him live in those three states and try and take what he was able to do successfully in Minnesota and try to translate on that in - on behalf of Kamala Harris and the entire ticket in those critical upper Midwest rust belt states.

BERMAN: All right, David, standby for a minute, if you will.

With us now is CNN political commentator Jamal Simmons, who was the communications director for Vice President Kamala Harris. Jamal, as you are watching this unfold, what is it that you think pushed Walz over the line here?

JAMAL SIMMONS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, you know, I was with the vice president when she went to Minnesota a couple times back in - a couple years ago. And she and Governor Walz seemed to have a, you know, not a very familiar relationship, but they had an easy way about them as they were interacting and doing the events together.

But what I'll say about him is, I've been asking some of my Democratic friends what they think. And you terms like good guy, solid, reliable. He's somebody who I think brings together people. You know, he's an enlisted man. He was the highest ranking enlisted man in the House. And so we haven't really had someone who was an enlisted officers, not an enlisted man, not an officer who was in the - in the military, who's in the vice presidency in a long time. So, this is going to be a really, I think, a balancing choice, as people have said.

You know, she could have gone all aggression, right? It could have been like Mark Kelly, fighter pilot, astronaut. It could have been Shapiro, on the stump, in people's faces, you know, like really coming at them. I think she went for maybe a little more of a cuddly choice, right? Like, maybe somebody who everybody feels is going to like make everybody feel safe and make everybody feel like this is something that this administration can do and they're not going to - not going to just be in the middle of always bang, bang, bang on the Republicans. But let's bang and then let's govern. Let's bang and let's govern.

SIDNER: The fact that he is a veteran, as you mentioned. The fact that he is openly a gun owner and talks about that. But has also passed legislation for things like gun safety in his state, passing different kinds of legislation to try and keep abortion rights in his state. How will those things be used, not just within the party, but outside of the party as well?

SIMMONS: You know, I'm hearing these reports that some Republicans are, you know, ready to come and - and - and try to go after his record on some of the stuff. But, you know, I think Democratic voters, first of all, they're voting for Kamala Harris. They're excited to get rid of Donald Trump. This isn't going to be that big of a - none of these issues going to be able to get the deal.

But also as the vice presidential nominee, you know, it's - it's not his policies that are going to really matters. It's going to be Kamala Harris' policies. Because what she learned when she ran for president, or vice president in 2020 is that she's got to side up with the president of the United States, find her way to his policies, and then find a voice in those policies and convey that message. That's what people are going to vote for. It's really the top of the ticket.

[09:40:01]

Now, what this does do is, this is a choice, as all these choices are, this is a - I'm sorry, I'm banging this table around. This is a choice that - I'm producing while I'm talking - but this is a choice that is - it shows you how the vice president is making decisions. And I think that's the thing about all these VP choices that always matters is, what is it that you think is going on here? And I think if you look at her career, right, here's somebody who is a local official. She was a DA. She was a statewide official. She was a federal - a senator. Then she was vice president. She moved up very methodically through the political process. And so I think she understands order. She likes to have a fair amount of order. And I think this is a choice that enforces that and says, not only are we going to go out and win this election where I'm going to have a governing partner that can help me govern this country and keep us on the right path, like Joe Biden had us on.

And just optically, it looks like the flip side of the Biden-Harris choice, right? Like, they're the same age, but, you know, Governor Walz looks a little bit, you know, like - he's a little grayer. He's got a little bit more of that - that Midwestern, you know, appeal. I think that he is kind of a Biden-ish figure in terms of how it looks. So, I think they're going to offer America kind of a very similar and good choice to make versus Donald Trump and J.D. Vance, who seem to be off doing a bunch of weird things that nobody understand.

SIDNER: And to be fair, Tim Walz was the one that came up with this sort of weird line, and that went viral.

BERMAN: Yes.

I mean, Jamal Simmons, so happy about the pick he's destroying the table in front of him. Hulk smash for a VP pick right there.

Jamal, thank you very much. Standby if you will.

Look, we've got a lot more information coming in. Kamala Harris has selected Tim Walz of Minnesota to be her running mate. When will we see him first? When will we see him maybe emerge from that fenced off house in St. Paul, Minnesota? Stay with us. Our live breaking news coverage continues after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:46:36]

SIDNER: All right, our sources, just as - to recap, telling us that the vice president, now the presumptive presidential nominee, Kamala Harris, has picked her vice presidential running mate, and that person is Tim Walz of Minnesota, the governor there. We are watching his home to see any movement there as he is going to have to make his way to Philadelphia, where she is having a rally.

But I am curious, to our Jeff Zeleny, one of the reporters that helped break this story, tell me why Walz. What is it about him that really attracted the campaign and Kamala Harris to bring him to her side?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, we are piecing together these puzzles that have been really underway for the last 15 or 16 days here. An extraordinarily quick search. But talking to a variety of sources, they say the governor's authenticity. That word comes up again and again as authenticity impressed Vice President Harris and her team.

Of course, a lot of vetting goes into this. So, a team of Democratic lawyers, led by Eric Holder, the former attorney general, were going through the financial backgrounds of all of the candidates. He, of course, passed the vet, but they were taking a specific look at, you know, all the bills he signed as governor, all of these statements he made. But it was the authenticity, I'm told, that broke through to Vice President Harris.

In the final days of this search, he really elevated from being one of the contenders to a final contender because she found him genuine. She found his appeal interesting. And the chemistry is something we also heard a lot.

But, Sara, this is also interesting. We've talked so much about the district that he came from when he first was elected to Congress back in 2006, it was a red Republican district. He won that and he would go on to hold that for a dozen years. But a source close to Walz tells me this, he talks and looks like a lot of the voters that the Democrats lost to Trump. And that, of course, speaks to not only Minnesota, but really across the Midwest and indeed western Pennsylvania, that many Democrats have, you know, now become more of an urban party. So, they believe that - that Governor Walz on the ticket sort of opens the door back up to a broader party. We shall see.

Again, Vice President Harris is at the top of the ticket. It is the Harris-Walz campaign, not the other way around. And vice presidents often do not make a huge difference. But on the margins, perhaps.

But, Sara, we are going to get a look at that here tonight in Philadelphia but then on the road in the coming days. Tomorrow is a key stop in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. That, of course, is in western Wisconsin, not far at all from Minnesota. And that is where he is going to appear with her. And then later in Detroit. And meeting at a UAW headquarters on Thursday as well. So, it's the labor support. It's the progressive support. Really the tenants of the Democratic Party coming together. And the intent here for the Harris campaign is to keep this momentum alive. Don't do anything to slow it.

But we shall see how that falls into place. She's been on a bit of a rocket ride here. There's no doubt about it. And they're hoping this choice continues that on. But we shall see.

But again, it's his authenticity, a word we hear over and over, that impressed her and indeed won her over.

Sara.

SIDNER: Jamal Simmon said, he's cuddly and he is happy and a happy warrior.

Jeff Zeleny, thank you so much for all of your great reporting this morning. We couldn't have done it without you.

John.

BERMAN: Cuddly.

SIDNER: Cuddly.

BERMAN: I think it's the first time -

SIDNER: It's the first time that we've heard that.

BERMAN: First time people have been touting that as something on the ticket.

[09:50:02]

All right, I want to go back to Philadelphia, but a different part of Philadelphia. That's where CNN's Kristen Holmes is, outside the location where J.D. Vance, the Republican vice presidential nominee, will be holding a rally later today.

Kristen, I think it's safe to say that the Republicans were going to criticize whomever Vice President Harris picked, but what are they saying so far this morning?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, John. I mean, look, they had been preparing opposition research on all of these top contenders. They've been talking about Governor Shapiro. They have been talking about Governor Walz. But I will tell you, moments before we broke the news that Governor Walz was the pick, they did tell me - a source told me that is close to Donald Trump that they hoped that it was Governor Walz over Governor Shapiro, saying that they believe that Shapiro could help in the critical battleground of Pennsylvania, something that they worried about because Pennsylvania is going to be so tight. They also said that they had hoped it was going to be Governor Walz because of the fact that they could paint him as a liberal.

One of the talking points that we have already started to hear from Republicans is that the Harris-Walz ticket is one of the most progressive tickets or one of the most liberal tickets in modern history. That is because of the fact that Walz has emerged as the favorite among progressives. And as we heard David Chalian say that, of course, Walz has had a history, particularly in Minnesota, of reaching out to those independent voters, reaching out to those moderates. But none of that is going to be coming through in this Republican messaging.

And we did just get a statement from Donald Trump's campaign. And I want to skip some of the name-calling part of it, but get to a little bit of what Jeff Zeleny was saying, and David Chalian was saying, about this idea that Walz has an ability to be, I know one person said cuddly, but also reach across the aisle, potentially reach out to moderates. This folksy idea. They seem to be addressing that, not only in this statement, but also in the kind of attacks that we've seen from Republicans overall. This one says, "Walz has spent most of his governorship trying to reshape Minnesota in the image of the golden state." Remember, part of their argument is that Kamala Harris is this radical liberal from California. "While Walz pretends to support Americans in the heartland, while the cameras are off, he believes rural America is mostly cows and rocks." They link to an old video from 2017. And then he go - they go into some of his agenda items, saying, "from proposing his own carbon-free agenda, to suggesting stricter emission standards for gas powered cars." Again, one of their biggest talking points is that they want to get real of electric vehicles, the mandate around electric vehicles. "And embracing policies to allow convicted felons to vote. Walz is obsessed with spreading California's dangerously liberal agenda far and wide."

Just remember, the whole entire talking points for Donald Trump, and Republicans, have been that Kamala Harris is this radical liberal, that she is far left of President Joe Biden. The other part is that all of Biden's policies, particularly the ones that are less popular when it comes to immigration, when it comes to inflation, when it comes to crime are now Harris' policies as well. They are now going to bring Walz into that, saying that he is behind all of those kind of liberal policies.

If it works, obviously we'll wait and see. Walz has to get out there and talk to the voters. As David Chalian was say, he has had a history of being able to reach out to independent voters in this climate. We'll see whether or not it works.

BERMAN: Kristen Holmes in Philadelphia, thank you so much.

SIDNER: All right, joining us now, CNN political commentator Maria Cardona and Doug Heye, former communications director of the RNC.

Thank you to you both for coming on.

DOUG HEYE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Thank you.

SIDNER: You now know who the pick is. It is Tim Walz, according to our sources. We do not know if he's gotten that phone call yet, but that is coming. And then he will head to Philadelphia where there is going - Kamala Harris will be on the stage talking to a group of potential voters.

Maria, first to you.

What do you think about this pick, Tim Walz the governor of Minnesota? This is his second term. He also served in Congress.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I'm so excited about Governor Walz as Vice President Kamala Harris' new VP pick, Sara. I don't know him well, but I did get to know him a little bit when we served together on the Democratic National Convention's rules and bylaws committee. He was a co-chair. And I got to tell you, when we did the very first meeting and I knew Governor Walz was the co-chair, I looked onto the Zoom and I was looking for a gentleman who was in a suit and a tie, right? The kind of image you have of a governor, a sitting governor, and I didn't see any of it. I'm like, where is he? And then all of a sudden he started talking and it was this guy in a car, in a t-shirt, with a baseball cap on, and he looks over and he's like, hey, Maria. I mean it was so authentic and he was so joyful and he has just a heart of gold from everything that I hear of people who know him well, who have worked with him. And that is what one of the few great qualities that he brings to the ticket.

[09:55;10]

But I do want to answer a couple of things that I know Republicans are going to, like Kristen said, are going to go after him on, supposedly his liberal policies. And look, we have to remember, he won a Republican seat and held it for a dozen years as we are seeing and hearing in all the reporting. He governed as a centrist when he had a Republican legislature because, as you have said, he knows how to reach across the aisle.

And then when we - when he had a Democratic legislature, he started passing policies that were incredibly popular to the vast majority of Minnesotans. And so that is not going to be, I think, an attack that's going to land credibly at all. They're going to do everything Republicans will do, everything that they can to try to paint him that way, but it's just not going to work because he's going to be able to speak to the authenticity of who he is.

He grew up in a town of 400 people. He went to school and graduated from a class of 24 people, 12 of whom were his cousins. So that is just not something that is going to - is going - it's going to land.

BERMAN: I will say, it is a victory for the humanities as Governor Walz was a social studies teacher.

SIDNER: Social studies teacher, yes.

BERMAN: A setback for STEM in schools across the country.

I want to bring in Doug Heye for a moment here.

Doug, Walz versus the other possible contenders here. You are a Republican. Do you think this makes it a harder or easier Democratic ticket to beat?

HEYE: I don't think it matters all that much. And, you know, I met Congress when he was in Congress - I met Congressman Walz several times. I can - I won't confirm cuddly, but I'll say definitely affable. A very nice person. Somebody that's real and relatable to talk to.

But I think of past presidential nominations. You know, think of that debate when Lloyd Bentsen eviscerated Dan Quayle. And what happened? We sort of only remember Lloyd Bentsen for one question and one answer. That ticket lost.

I was at the first event that John Edwards and John Kerry had in Raleigh, North Carolina, after Edwards was - was picked. The race in North Carolina was over as soon as that rally was over. And we know John Edwards and John Kerry didn't have much chemistry.

But I got an email just a little while ago from the Republican Governors Association. Obviously, Tim Walz is a governor. And they're not talking about bears in parks. They're not talking about cat people or even electric vehicles. The first thing they talk about is the Biden-Harris and now Walz economic agenda. If it's the economy stupid, if that's what matters, the economic anxiety that people are feeling in this country about anytime they go and spend money at a grocery store or a movie theater or anything like that, and certainly what we saw at the stock market yesterday, that's what's going to be top of mind for voters. That's what Republicans are going to focus on.

And we remember, yes, he's the vice presidential pick, but this is Kamala Harris against Donald Trump. This remains the movable force, the - yes, well, this remains a very real race. And I'm so tongue-tied because I thought it was going to be Josh Shapiro.

SIDNER: Doug Heye, I think that a lot of Republicans thought that as well.

Doug Heye, former communications director for the RNC, and Maria Cardona, our political commentator, thank you both so much for coming on this morning.

The big news today, Kamala Harris has picked her vice presidential contender.

BERMAN: We are standing by to hear from Governor Walz for the first time. We are standing by the see Governor Walz and Vice President Harris together later today in Philadelphia. This is CNN's special live coverage. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)