Return to Transcripts main page
Erin Burnett Outfront
Harris & Walz Wrap PA Event, Launch Five-Day Battleground State Tour. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired August 06, 2024 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ASHLEY ALLISON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah.
DANA BASH, CNN HOST: Be yourself, and don't let the thin oxygen where you're going to be up in the stratosphere, get to you.
[19:00:01]
ALLISON: And I think that's what you're seeing and why people are resonating with it. There's an authenticity -- authenticity nature to it.
To the bracelets that you got at the Renaissance tour or the Eras tour, that's the cultural reference, and Beyonce "Freedom" song that she walked out --
BASH: Right.
ALLISON: -- to some of the biggest pop culture icons in the world, helping to lift up this campaign, telling the story of self, a daughter of immigrants, but also a former teacher, and a climate when teachers or so under attack. You know, I'm a former teacher. I see myself in Tim Walz, even though he's a white guy on the ticket.
I also see myself in Kamala Harris she's African-American woman. I think that you -- you don't have to like the policies they laid out, but you cannot deny the energy that is in the realm, and you cannot deny the aspirational feeling you get when you look at this ticket that anything is possible, you can come from Nebraska or you can come from San Francisco, and you can run for the top offices of the land.
That is what this country is about. That is the greatest part of America.
BASH: Jamie, you have some great new reporting about the process, the vetting process that Tim Walz went through, and the conversations that he had, including this moment on the teleprompters tonight.
JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: So most people don't know this yet, but one of the things that Tim Walz confessed when he had his vetting was he said to the team, if you pick me, I have to share something with you. I've never used a teleprompter before. I don't use them in speeches.
DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENATOR: -- had a big sigh of relief when he told them what the big news was. GANGEL: You have to have a vulnerability that was -- that was one you
want and you said, you're going to have to get me a teleprompter. You're going to have to get someone to teach me how to do it.
And our colleague, M.J. Lee, has reporting that in the hours before that speech, guess what? They had a teleprompter backstage and he was practicing with it.
I just want to add. Someone texted me, he reads Republican and I think that is the reason I was told by people who were familiar with the vetting that he was a favorite candidate because he may not be Governor Shapiro of Pennsylvania, but they feel he will connect an attract voters in Michigan, in Wisconsin, in Georgia, in North Carolina, that his Midwestern nice will play elsewhere.
I also just want to say about that speech is one of the reasons that Harris picked him. That's his superpower. He is authentic. He knows how to deliver even a tough line with a smile, where the line of the night I thought was when he said, let's be clear, crime was up under Trump -- that part I'm paraphrasing. but then he turned and he said and that's not even counting the crimes he committed. It brought down the house.
BASH: Okay. So let's ask Republicans are former Republicans -- still Republican supporter.
(CROSSTALK)
BASH: I was looking at a list. You can't say we're looking at these pictures. I was looking at Alyssa. The whole idea of his appeal, you know, we see in here the Trump campaign, J.D. Vance, I mean, they're going full steam ahead on saying he's a progressive and she's too liberal and so on and so forth.
Is that going to fly when he delivers lines the way he does, when he looks the way he looks, when he has the background that he does?
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: So listen, this was a flawless rollout for all intents and purposes, and I have a feeling that Donald Trump was feeling pretty confident this morning when Governor Josh Shapiro was not the picked somebody who was a moderate that they were a lot more afraid of running against.
But they shouldn't get too confident with this choice because Mike Walz, yes, has a progressive record that they're going to attack him for it, hands down. They're going to -- but to Jamie's point, he reads like a normie uncle, dad, white guy in the Midwest.
And I think that he's somebody who can play in those critical swing states, Wisconsin, Michigan, his home state of Minnesota, but also in Pennsylvania. And then he's boosted by the fact that a moment for Josh Shapiro, knocked it out of the park at the kickoff of this and made very clear he's going to be out campaigning for this ticket.
So it's not like it was a net loss that you didn;t get the Shapiro factor, this was a very, very strong event. However, there are flaws of Mike Walz. There's a reason --
BASH: Tim.
(CROSSTALK)
SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: One of the flaws is he has zero name ID.
(CROSSTALK)
GRIFFIN: There are there things that are going to be really relitigated, like the riots in the summer of 2020.
[19:05:03]
His slow-walking, calling out the National Guard, something that's been a vulnerability and that Republicans have called out Kamala Harris for.
But he -- I think they're prepared for what the attacks are and if they stick to the script tonight, it will work.
BASH: And, Scott, as you come in, one of his friends, told me this morning that his scent -- that his superpowers is how normal he is.
JENNINGS: Is he? I mean, I don't know. I don't know this guy. I mean, is it normal to let your biggest city in your state burn while you're the governor for four days, destroying thousands of businesses, hundreds of millions of dollars in property damage, while you do nothing? Is that -- does that sound normal?
Is it normal for your wife to say she opened the window so she can let the smell of tire fires waft in, so they can take in the smells of this radical chaos and anarchy on the streets of Minneapolis?
I don't -- I don't view any of that is normal. I look at this through the lens of decision-making. In two cases, they've showed us who they are.
Kamala Harris absolutely bowed down to the radical left in her party by not picking Shapiro who is Jewish. There was a nasty campaign run against him. Everybody knows it. No one wants to admit it, but everybody knows it.
BASH: We've talked about that.
JENNINGS: And she and she wound up choosing the person who was not Jewish and not as talented, and not from the state that she has to win. He did a nice job tonight. Everybody can see why he was the best choice, but she couldn't do it because the party is somewhat awash in antisemitism.
And for -- and for Walz, when he did what he did during the riots, to me, it was him saying, I don't have the strength or the character to stand up to this anarchy. So in two big decision points for this ticket, they've showed us they
will always bowed down to the radical left. So I think if you, if you want to talk about normal, to the normal people in this country, bowing down to the radical left is not normal. It shouldn't be normal. It should be a flashing red light to the normies of America, that this is not the ticket for you.
ALLISON: You know, one of the big issues in this election is a woman's right to choose and guess what? Kamala Harris got a choice to make, and she got to make the choice who was going to be her running mate and who she was going to go into the next 90 days, and maybe the next four years and maybe the next eight years.
You don't get to tell her who she has to run with. She gets to choose that. That's what leaders do.
There's no way you can say Tim Walz is radical because he wants to feed kids. He doesn't want kids to go home. You know, who are -- who gets hungry? White kids, Black kids, Brown kids, poor kids get hungry. That doesn't discriminate.
But that's not -- that's Tim Walz's policy. That's not a radical left.
JENNINGS: I say it's radical to let Minneapolis burn. Do you agree?
ALLISON: But let's go back to 2020. If you want to have a contest about who's more radical, you know, what's radical? Sending troops out to clear protesters out in front of the White House, so he could have -- Donald Trump could have a photo op.
You want to know what's radical? Not telling people on January 6 to stop that you lost the election and that trip -- his own vice president, Mike Pence, won't come in football field length of him right now. That's radical.
That's who your guy is. I'll take Tim Walz any day.
JENNINGS: There should have been -- there should have been troops on the streets of Minneapolis immediately it was burning.
(CROSSTALK)
BASH: Let me just say one thing while before you come in, and that is because you brought up Josh Shapiro.
JENNINGS: Yeah.
BASH: We have been talking about the fact that there was a campaign against him.
JENNINGS: Ugly.
BASH: That was clearly -- I want to say because based on the fact that he was Jewish, he doesn't have any different policy ideas than the other people. However, I don't think we have any evidence that that is why she didn't pick him. In fact, act if you watched him tonight, I want to stay on the people
who are on the ticket, but if you watched him tonight, he is top of the ticket energy.
GANGEL: Yes.
BASH: Not VP energy. There's no way in my way --
(CROSSTALK)
AXELROD: I know Jamie has good reporting on this and I have is some visibility into this.
BASH: Yes.
AXELROD: I think there was a real -- I don't think he was excluded for that reason. I'm not sure he was excluded at all. I think there was a mutual meeting of the minds as to whether this was the right fit for him with her.
I appreciate as the only -- oh, no, no, you're here. But just let me oh, yes, but I appreciate your -- I -- you know, antisemitism is something that a lot of us have faced in different ways. And my family has faced and so on. I don't like to see it exploited here.
One of the things that separated this rally from a Trump rally is it felt very wholesome. It felt very positive. It wasn't just a series of sort of appeals to hate and division and grievance and so I think, you know, I mean, I understand the talking point. I'm sure we'll hear.
(CROSSTALK)
[19:10:01]
GANGEL: Give me one second, Scott, Scott, Scott, one moment, take a beat.
I think it's important to add to that two things that we have from our reporting one is that even going into this selection, Josh Shapiro had some -- let's just say hesitancy or questions about whether he wanted to be the number two.
You may remember that three weeks ago, there were a lot of people who were not sure that Kamala Harris was going to be the most exciting ticket. It feels very different now, and he is someone who definitely has ambitions to run and he was looking at down the road.
And we have new reporting tonight from our team that, in fact, when he went into his vetting meeting and also in his in-person meeting with Harris, he made it very clear what kind of vice president he wanted this to be. It was much more of a two for the price of one. He wants to be in the room. He wanted to have a real say in these things.
There are sources -- we've talked to who feel that in those meetings. Shapiro sort of set the stage not to be picked as her number two.
AXELROD: Yeah.
BASH: Okay. Everybody, standby because our special coverage is going to continue. We just saw the first rally with Vice President Harris and Governor Walz. And we're going to continue talking about that.
Jake Tapper is going to be with us again from Philadelphia. Maybe he's going to have a wristband. I don't know. Kaitlan Collins is going to join as well.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:16:14]
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to a special edition of OUTFRONT, live from Temple University in north Philly. Were just moments ago, Vice President Kamala Harris and her brand new running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, made their first joint appearance as the presumptive Democratic presidential and vice presidential ticket.
Good evening. I am Jake Tapper in Philadelphia.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN HOST: And I'm Kaitlan Collins in New York.
Harris may not have picked the most recognizable of candidates, but you saw him on stage with her. Harris and the VP, that is a little known Midwestern governor. The clicked during the vetting process, we are told, because of Walz's, quote, happy go lucky and joyful presence. A connection that you could see on stage tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you, Madam Vice President, for the trust you put in me, but maybe more so, thank you for bringing back the joy.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: I'm thrilled to be on this journey with you and Doug.
Minnesota's strength comes from our values, our commitment to working together, to seeing past our differences, to always being willing to lend a helping hand. Those are the same values I learned on the family farm and tried to instill in my students.
I took it to Congress and to the state capital. And now, Vice President Harris and I are running to take those very values to the White House.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: You see those people behind Walz there. This rally tonight in Philadelphia was before an estimated 10,000 people and marks the first of several upcoming battleground appearances that we are going to see from the two of them, in Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, and Nevada.
TAPPER: And, Kaitlan, were just learning that since Vice President Harris announced Governor Walz as her running mate, the Harris-Walz campaign has raised more than $20 million, calling today one of its, quote, best fundraising days this cycle, certainly a measure of enthusiasm among previously glom Democrats.
We have a lot to cover over the next hour, but I want to start with M.J. Lee, who is OUTFRONT live in Philly.
M.J., what are you learning tonight about the new ticket, Harris and Walz?
M.J. LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, this was certainly an incredibly raucous and energize political rally, the first formal introduction of the Harris-Walz ticket. And what was really clear watching this event was how much this ticket and this campaign is going wait to lean into and really embrace the contrast between Kamala Harris and her new running mate.
We saw how much they talked about his biography, his Midwestern roots, the fact that he was born in a small town in Nebraska, that he was a teacher, that he served in the Army National Guard and was a football coach, all of these things are factors that the campaign is hoping will make this ticket more appealing to voters in the critical blue wall states.
We saw the Vice President Kamala Harris introducing her new running mate first, then when he took the stage, you'll notice that he delivered his remarks off a teleprompter.
There is a reason that I am bringing this up. We have learned that is a part of the vetting process, this is something that he actually brought up himself to the vetting team, basically saying he doesn't use teleprompters when he's giving speeches. In fact, he doesn't even own one and he told the team, look, if I were to be chosen as her running mate, this is something that I would need to learn.
And in fact, I was told by a source tonight that he did take some time ahead of this rally this evening to practice using a teleprompter. And I bring this up as one of the many details, clearly, many ways in which Tim Walz endeared himself to Kamala Harris and the entire vetting team throughout the course of this process.
[19:20:02]
And he was able to sort of convince the team as well that he would be a pick that would be committed to the vice presidency rather than being more worried about his own political future.
But, Jake and Kaitlan, as you were talking about this as a moment that Democrats are hoping to really capitalize on and they want to ride on this momentum.
And money, of course, is everything. And as you've mentioned, the campaign has announced that since the morning when Kamala Harris announced her running mate pick, the campaign has raised at least $20 million. They are holding being that this will be increased in the coming days as the two on the ticket now hit the road together to a number of battleground states.
TAPPER: M.J., can I just ask you very quickly -- have you seen this kind of enthusiasm before at a rally for President Biden?
LEE: I haven't, Jake, and I have been to a number of Biden events, including campaign events during the cycle.
It wouldn't be that atypical for the president's campaign, the former Biden campaign to maybe use up a high school gymnasium and how the press riser be in the middle of the room because that was all of the crowd, the peak number of people that the campaign could typically attract.
There were obviously moments here and there where the crowd would be a little bit more enthusiastic. But this kind of raucous rally where everyone was on their feet, every seat seems to be filled in huge arena that we are in right now -- no, this is not the kind of energy that we were used to seeing 16 days ago before the president dropped out of the 2024 race, Jake.
TAPPER: All right. M.J. Lee, thanks so much.
Kasie Hunt, Audie Cornish, Nia-Malika Henderson, and David Chalian are all with me.
And, Kasie, we just saw Harris and Walz on stage together for the first time. A source told CNN that Harris picked Waltz because, quote, the chemistry was really important to Harris and it really clicked for both of them, unquote.
What did you see watching them tonight?
KASIE HUNT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: I actually thought for a brand new political relationship, it was pretty seamless. I mean, Walz was clearly thrilled to be on that stage with her. She was very enthusiastic in her introduction of him.
And what came across to me was different, but very complimentary campaign styles. And I think there was a contrast between how Josh Shapiro handled this room tonight. He spoke ahead of the nominee and her running mate and clearly was adored by this crowd and it sort of that speech brought into focus for me some of the reporting around why he wasn't the choice that he and his team have kind of been putting out as well, that, you know, he prefers to be number one at the top of the governor of the state of Pennsylvania.
He makes sense to me at the top of the ticket. I think Walz really make sense in this. It's very difficult role being vice president, right? And you saw that kind of folksy relatability that so many people in the Harris camp had been telling us about all day.
AUDIE CORNISH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Also supporting role, right? Call him Coach Walz, which were already seeing that on the internet. It kind of reflects that sense of how he approaches teamwork.
HUNT: And I also appreciated that he shared an anecdote about his family's journey with IVF. That is something we have started good to hear from female candidates, female people, women in office. And it's a very personal journey.
And I think there are likely to be a lot of women who've had that experience who will appreciate that there are men out there that are willing to share that kind of thing.
CORNISH: I just want to add one more thing which is that the only time I saw them sort of back down the crowd is when they started to chant "lock him up". And I think it sort of reflects their effort to try and make it a forward looking campaign and not to spend all their time re- litigating all the bad things that they think Donald Trump has done, which is really preoccupied the party for so many years.
TAPPER: Yeah, she definitely -- Vice President Harris, definitely wanted to change, get the crowd to -- she didn't say stop, but she kind of held up her hands and said this is about more than just --
CORNISH: They want to talk about the future.
TAPPER: Yeah, this is about more than Donald Trump.
HUNT: She said it's about more than Donald Trump. This is a campaign about the future.
TAPPER: Yeah. Nia, there's been a lot of talk about Governor Walz as a messenger with his admirers saying that he's able to be both folksy and an attack dog, and he got his first opportunity as the presumptive running mate to do that.
Here's just a little bit of what he said about former President Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WALZ: He doesn't know the first thing about service.
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: He doesn't have time for it because he's too busy serving himself.
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: Again and again and again, Trump weakens our economy to strengthen his own hand.
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: He mocks our laws. He sows chaos and division.
[19:25:03]
And that's to say nothing of his record as president.
He froze in the face of the COVID crisis. He drove our economy into the ground. And make no mistake, violent crime was up under Donald Trump.
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: That's not even counting the crimes he committed.
(CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: And, Nia-Malika, the crowd here in Philadelphia, partisan Democratic crowd, they loved it. What do you think? What do you think of the pick?
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yeah, listen, I think this is a brilliant pick by Kamala Harris. There was a sort of Beltway favorite and that was Josh Shapiro and she wanted to go really to an outsider in many ways, a guy who grew up in a small town in Nebraska, on farming country, and is the leader of a Midwestern state where, you know, populism and progressive -- progressive policies have met, right?
So he can really, I think reframe what progressivism means, what liberalism means in a way that is palatable to a wide variety of folks. And you saw him there really leaning into the attack dog role, but he does it with the kind of righteous indignation and very memorable terms, right?
He talked about during the COVID crisis, that Donald Trump froze during the COVID crisis. One of the challenges I think for this ticket is really going to be to really paint the years of the Donald Trump presidency. There are some people who have a sort of nostalgia for what Donald Trump was like as president for those four years.
And so, there he is really painting a picture in saying, listen, this is a guy who wants to go out there and act like crime is ramping and out of control. But it actually rose under -- under Donald Trump.
And so listen, I think this is a pick that he's going to appeal to a wide swath of Americans. He's a very regular guy, sort of aggressively normal. That is going to play with older white Americans, downscale, sort of high school graduate folks of all races.
And so I think this was a really -- a real stroke by Kamala Harris to go her own way. They have a similar personality, right? If you've ever been around Kamala Harris, sort of office the record, she's very sort of funny and aggressively normal.
And that's kind of how he is and very warm. And so I think that's why this pairing really makes sense for her.
TAPPER: David Chalian, what did you think of their first outing? This presumptive ticket?
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yeah. I mean, definitely I think were going to hear more about Coach Walz and Teacher Walz than Governor Walz and Congressman Walz. I mean, I think they're going to lean into that biography and clearly Kamala Harris referred to him as Coach Walz. I counted at least five times in the speech to get to that appeal point that Nia was saying.
I do think though what Kasie and Audie were mentioning about a future versus a past. And this is where Donald Trump and his campaign, Jake, are in a bind right now and don't take it from me. I mean, Vivek Ramaswamy, a strong Trump supporter who was on our air earlier today and said good point blank, these last couple of weeks have been really tough for Republicans, bad for Republicans and this is a moment where they're trying to reset.
Well, we're going to see how that reset goes. But here's the bind that he is in: it's in that tagline that Kamala Harris uses that you heard that entire arena, Temple, chant back to her, which is we're not going back, and you have a ticket that looks like the future.
I mean, she talks about it as only possible in America here, right? So you have a ticket that's focused on the future and Donald Trump is running on a campaign to actually restore something from the past. And I just think that it presidential election this country are notoriously about the future and everything you saw in this outing was sort of pointing forward, and I think that's what the Trump campaign is going to have to respond to.
Obviously, rollout day is the best day for a ticket. They've got 91 very hard campaign days ahead all right.
TAPPER: All right. Thanks, everyone.
Kaitlan?
COLLINS: Thank you, Jake.
And now, I want to bring in independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
Senator Sanders, it's great to have you here tonight because you actually wanted Vice President Harris to pick Governor Walz as her running mate.
What did you make of their debut tonight in Philadelphia?
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): Well, it sounded very good. And the reason that I wanted Governor Walz is, as you know, he comes from a rural state. He has been a champion of the working class. He's passed some very good legislation.
And at a time when we have massive levels of income and wealth inequality, while its wild, 60 percent of people living paycheck to paycheck and a very, very rich are getting much richer. I think the American people want somebody who's going to stand up for them and take on powerful special interests. And I think that Governor Walz is the person to do that.
[19:30:04]
COLLINS: Well, in -- you were in his hometown of Mankato just a few days ago. Have you talked to Governor Walz or Vice President Harris since she became the presumptive nominee about what their agenda is going to look like?
SANDERS: I talked to the governor before. The other thing that I am impressed by the governor and others have said this, this is a guy who was a public school, high school teacher. That's what he was, a high school teacher.
He was a football coach, he was the ranking member of the veterans committee in the U.S. House. And we certainly want somebody at the highest levels of government who's going to be fighting for the veterans of this country?
And very significantly as the governor of the state of Minnesota and the reason that he is popular is he has been pro-labor. He has helped raise the minimum wage for gig workers. He has made sure that children in Minnesota do not go hungry.
Now, some people may think that's a radical idea, I don't. And I think one of the misunderstandings that exist in the corporate media and in the political establishment is that standing up for working people, expanding Medicare to cover dental, hearing and vision, expanding Social Security, so that the wealthiest not paying their fair share of taxes into the system, so we could raise benefits that ain't radical.
More than 70 percent of the American people want programs like that, including a majority of Republicans.
So I think to the degree that the vice president and the governor can stay focused on economic issues that benefit working people, demand that the billionaire class stop paying their fair share of taxes. You know what I think they've got to not only win, I think they have a chance to win pretty big.
COLLINS: Well, I'm glad you brought that up because I actually got to laugh out of you two weeks ago when I asked you about Trump's claim that Harris is more liberal than you are and now Walz is being hit for his record that you just laid out there, a progressive one as the governor of Minnesota.
Senator Lindsey Graham tweeted earlier. You know, Harris is feeling the burn and picks Walz. Thank you, Kamala. Governor Tim Walz is a dream for the radical left.
And I wonder if his record as governor is going to be this attack line from Trump and his allies. How you think he should respond to that? SANDERS: Well, I don't want to give Trump's people any advice, but I would suggest that if they want to do that, they should read some of the polling. If Governor Walz believes, for example, that we should cut the price of prescription drugs in this country in half to what they all around the rest of the world, over 70 percent of the American people believe that.
You want to attack them for being radical, I'll help pay for the ad. Walz believes we should cut prescription drugs that have, vote for Trump. I don't think so.
The American people overwhelmingly believe as the governor, does, that we should raise the minimum wage to a living wage, if the Republicans want to attack Walz and Kamala Harris for wanting to raise the minimum wage, I'll help contribute to those advertisements.
COLLINS: OK.
SANDERS: So, I think this whole narrative that if you stand up for working class families, it's somehow a negative is totally absurd. It's only believed by the corporate media and the political establishment. Working people know that the time is long overdue to have a government that represented them, rather than just wealthy campaign contributors.
COLLINS: We'll make sure at the Trump campaign sees that message.
Senator Sanders, thank you for joining us tonight.
SANDERS: Thank you.
COLLINS: And OUTFRONT next, we're going to speak to in Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, who's worked very closely with her home state's governor. How does she think he can help the attacks that he is too extreme?
Plus, we're going to hear from a former linebacker whom Walz coached when he was in high-school and why he credits the governor for saving his life.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:35:58]
TAPPER: Breaking news, just moments ago, the Democratic presumptive nominees for president and vice president, namely Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, officially launched the 2024 Democratic ticket in here, right here in Philadelphia.
They did it in front of a packed arena, 10,000 people packed in to meet the new VP candidate and see the presumptive new Democratic candidate for president. Pardon me.
OUTFRONT right now, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar.
Senator, thanks for joining us. You know Governor Walz pretty well, not just as the governor from your
home state, but you've been friends for quite some time.
How do you think he did tonight introducing himself to the country and how do you think he helps Vice President Harris?
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): I think you saw tonight. First of all, you had a big Vikings fan walking into an entire crowded arena of Philadelphia Eagles fans, okay. That alone is something to deal with.
Then he just I think he was incredible. One, he established that he wasn't just a cookie cutter candidate. He wasn't one bit nervous. He was just fluid. He went in there, showed his genuine respect and friendship with Josh Shapiro who had done the same to him, putting at rest those disunity noises that we're hearing from the Republicans.
And then he went on to do what he does. He was able to show how you govern. He was able to show that chemistry with the vice premier president and he was able to take down Donald Trump. And J.D. Vance all in one fell swoop.
So I think you're going to see, yes, someone who is courageous and brave, but someone who also has a heart from the heartland. And so I think it couldn't have gone better.
TAPPER: Well, he said that Shapiro was the kind of guy you wouldn't mind, a guy that to go see Springsteen with in Jersey, which prompted some boos.
So I would say as a Philadelphian, it's not good --
KLOBUCHAR: Well, wait a minute, he also commended, if you remember --
TAPPER: I'm just --
KLOBUCHAR: -- he commended --
TAPPER: Yeah.
KLOBUCHAR: He commended Shapiro in a big, big way for what he had done on the bridge, which was phenomenal. And I think what was most important was what Josh Shapiro said about Tim Walz.
TAPPER: Right.
KLOBUCHAR: And what he said about Tim Walz is he's respected and liked him.
TAPPER: I'm nitpicking. I'm nitpicking.
KLOBUCHAR: Okay, but that's what you do, Jake, and you do it so well.
TAPPER: I'm just saying, don't praise Jersey in Philly. That's -- its just common sense, but other than that sure.
Let me ask you because Republicans are saying the Governor Walz is to progressive. He is an extremist. This is Kamala Harris doubling down on far her-left radicalism.
Here's a little bit of what your Senate colleague, the vice presidential nominee from the Republican ticket, Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio said, just two minutes ago on Fox Business.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is clearly a ticket that is designed to increase inflation, to reduce law and order, and to make it harder to build a business or just a life in the United States of America. And I think they've set up the contrast very nicely for us and President Trump and I just have to make our argument to the American people.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
TAPPER: What do you think about that?
KLOBUCHAR: Well, first I have to say that the Minnesota unemployment is one of the best in the country, the lowest in the country. CNBC just voted Minnesota number six for doing business because of our great workers, because of our businesses and because of some good government.
And the final thing I'd say about this is that Tim Walz is going to be able to make this case like you saw him do today about we need to move forward instead of moving backwards.
And they can say whatever they want about him. But what you saw today and what Kamala Harris said today, he has always done things for the right reason, and he's on a mission, has a North Star, whether it was his troops and what he did as the highest enlisted officer in the Congress, signing up at 19 or 17, like so many rural kids do across our country.
What he did with his students and with his football team, taking it from a winless team to state champions of what he did for our state.
[19:40:07]
So this is going to be quite a case that Tim Walz is going to be able to make. And when you've got that mission and that focus, you can throw all the names at him, that he's too conservative, too liberal. He did this, did that, it's not going to matter because people are going to see the true person.
TAPPER: A proud Minnesotan this evening, Senator Amy Klobuchar, thank you so much. Good to see you.
Kaitlan?
KLOBUCHAR: Good to be on, Jake. Thank you.
COLLINS: Thanks. Thanks, Jake. Good to hear from the senator there.
We've got the entire panel here who was watching that event in Philadelphia.
And, Van Jones, I just want to start with you because we were watching this come out. Harris introduced Walz actually after Shapiro, who is also the running for this introduce Walz, what did you make of what you saw there?
VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: The sun came out. The sun came out, facing the rising sun, as we say, in the national anthem. It was beautiful, it was beautiful.
The language is so fresh now. We're going to defend everyone's freedoms. Don't be weird. Mind your own damn business. We won't go back.
This is a new language for a politics of possibility and hope again. They had hope and change. You guys had hope and change in 2008. Now we've got Hope and Gus.
Hope and Gus, it's kids name, Hope and Gus. You know, he brings his family into it.
He talks about IVF in these personal, personal terms. It's just beautiful.
And I -- listen, Kamala Harris is proving to be a pulse political phenomenon. Two weeks ago, she was just hoping that the president can hang on. She caught a loose football and she is running for a touchdown after touchdown after touchdown. It's just been beautiful.
COLLINS: A lot of energy and humor --
AXELROD: It's about Van.
(LAUGHTER)
COLLINS: Always of Van and on that stage tonight as well.
AXELROD: Oh, absolutely.
I mean, one of the things that every everybody showed it, but Tim Walz, I mean, you can kind of see him as the most popular teacher, you know, the way he sort of commanded the room there was sort of quietly but with this sort of laconic humor and how he says he is.
I said earlier today, he is a Norman Rockwell painting sprung to life. And that is you know, a lot of, a lot of folks thought Shapiro can help you win Pennsylvania. I think she traded I said this as well. She traded us date for his state of mind.
He is a guy who people can relate to and it's very hard, J.D. Vance can say what he will, Walz is actually who J.D. Vance pretends to be. And it's very hard to make the case that that guy is an extremist.
And I think if this race is actually we fight out on who is the most extreme party, that's not a good place for the Republicans because I don't think they're going to win in a fight against that ticket. JONES: Not against that.
COLLINS: And he also doesn't shy away from the fight. I mean, that is part of his appeal on the ticket.
JONES: Happy warrior.
COLLINS: He leapt over a better known candidates to become the pick because of part of this trial over the last two weeks and what he was saying.
Just to let everyone listen who didn't see what Governor Walz was saying earlier, he went after J.D. Vance. This is what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WALZ: Like all regular people I grew up with in the heartland, J.D. studied at Yale...
(LAUGHTER)
WALZ: ...had his career funded by Silicon Valley billionaires, and then wrote a bestseller trashing that community. Come on! That's not what middle America is. And I've got to tell you, I can't wait to debate the guy.
(CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
AISHA MILLS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I mean, like he can throw some shade, right? That's all the fun. The thing that is so exciting about all this. I have been completely depressed.
I think that most of America has been living with PTSD still coming out of COVID, which was four years ago, but its still kind of hangs on us and everything else that has transpired, in addition to Trump in the backdrop, running his mouth.
And so it's been very exciting to just have something joyful to smile about, laugh about the memes.
The thing that we need to talk about more is the fact that these two aren't just history makers, that's her story right now. But it's a cultural phenom that is happening that a lot of folks aren't quite paying attention to, but the people that the Democrats need to come out and vote, young people, people of color, they're all on TikTok. They were on Instagram, the memes aren't killing it right now.
And you can't overestimate the power of making people fulfill proud, excited, animated joyful, and having the cultural zeitgeist that is Kamala Harris right now, is really, really moving people. And I think its going to move people to the polls. COLLINS: And what we had heard from the Trump campaign was that they
were happy it was Walz, that they were worried it was going to be Shapiro of Pennsylvania, deeply popular there.
[19:45:03]
After seeing that tonight, do think there are still feeling that way, Shermichael?
SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I mean, look, it's very obvious that momentum is behind Vice President Harris and now her selectee to be a running mate. I get that. It's obvious. You're seeing this emergence of culture and politics.
And that sort of hard to defeat, right? I mean, it's hard to take the comp -- complexities of politics, whether its talking about the economy, immigration, or foreign policy, and turn those things and turn things to a reductionist message that mobilizes people around something else that everybody understands. And I think in a very interested in compelling way, or they have accomplished that.
That's not necessarily an easy thing to beat. I think Republicans are going to have to figure out some kind of way to message around so this movement, if you will, that I think many of us are witnessing. It is very eerily similar to hope and change with former President Barack Obama. You saw the folks in the crowd. A lot of diversity.
I think a lot of people who were perhaps worried about younger voters, maybe worried about young progressives to see someone like Walz and says maybe this is someone that can sort of help turn out some of those voters.
Now, I will say Republicans will look at him and say maybe once upon a time and in great halcyon period, he was more of a moderate. But today, his adopted positions that are somewhat more progressive. They will point to people like Ilhan Omar, Bernie Sanders and say, well, if they're endorsing him, obviously some of his positions on social issues or economic issues are far too much to the left for the average swing voter.
Will that be effective? I'm not sure.
COLLINS: Yeah. And you just heard Senator Sanders is view of that, saying to help pay for the ads to the Trump campaign.
Well, lot to talk about from that moment there with Vice President Harris and now her running mate on stage for the first time.
Up next, we have exclusive photos of Tim Walz when he was a teacher. We're going to speak to a former linebacker who is coached by him and why he says Governor Walz saved his life.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TAPPER: Breaking news, presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her vice presidential pick Tim Walz, governor of Minnesota, just moments ago, appeared together for the very first time as the presumptive ticket, the twice elected Minnesota governor and former educator, introducing himself to America, saying, quote, don't ever underestimate teachers. His background is a big part of the self.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WALZ: I had the privilege of teaching high school social studies and coaching football.
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: Including winning that state championship. Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
WALZ: Don't ever close the yearbook. Don't ever.
But it was my students. They encouraged me to run for office.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: And you are looking at new yearbook photo exclusively obtained by OUTFRONT.
Mr. Walz's students calling him the most inspiring faculty member.
[19:50:01]
OUTFRONT now, a former student and linebacker for him his football team, Daniel Clement.
Dan, thanks so much for joining us.
So you were around 16 when you first met, I guess you call him Mr. Walz. He was a social studies and geography teacher at the time. He was also your football coach. Here is a picture of you on the on the field with him. You're number 35.
What should Americans know about Coach Walz?
DANIEL CLEMENT, FORMER HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PLAYER: Well, I think you guys got a great glimpse of that moments ago, and just his energy, his care, his integrity, just a great overall human being.
He's one of my favorite people in the world. So it's a real excitement for me to get here and talk with him -- talk about him today.
So thanks for having me. I think VP Harris is very lucky to have him, just for the sheer fact that he's a great human and has everyone's best interests tonight. He truly, truly does, in my opinion.
TAPPER: What kind -- what kind of impact did he have on your life?
CLEMENT: Well, quite a profound impact I'd say. There's no question in my mind. I would not finish high school without Coach Walz. Him and I had met at a pretty pivotal time in my life at a time where, you know, it was kind of on the outs as far as schools concerned. It wasn't really attending class a whole lot was really ready to take the next step and just stopped going to school.
But Tim Walz, you know, he took the time he took the care and he really pulled me aside often in really said hey, Dan, let's -- let's give this a shot, right? Let's -- let's keep coming.
We need you here on the football team and I really hit -- had never really had attention or care from a -- from an adult teacher, male teacher, or a male role model at that time.
So for him to take the time, a lot of time out of his day to really show me the care that a young 16, 17-year-old boy raised by single mother really needed.
TAPPER: So you credit him with your staying in school and you credit him with a presumably having a better life. Is that what -- I'm taking from your comments?
CLEMENT: Yeah. No doubt. Like I said, there's no question I probably wouldn't have finished high school. I wouldn't have finished high school. And without that, you know, who knows where my trajectory would have gone, in authorized glide, struggles with substances. He was able to really pull me through that and assure that I finished school and then were able to contact even after school.
And recently now since I move back to Minnesota, it's been great. So, he's been a great influence on my life. Again, one of my favorite people. So --
TAPPER: That's pretty special. He and his wife Gwen have two kids, Gus and Hope. The governor posts a lot of social media videos with his daughter, Hope.
I want to share this one from last fall at the Minnesota state fair.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOPE WALZ, DAUGHTER OF GOV. WALZ: I think we're going to go do the sling shot.
GOV. WALZ: Which I don't know what it is, and they're keeping it from me. But then were going to go get some food, corn dog?
H. WALZ: I'm vegetarian.
GOV. WALZ: Turkey then.
H. WALZ: Turkey's meat.
GOV. WALZ: And now, in Minnesota, turkey special.
And we will go do some of those things and report back.
(SCREAMING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: It's -- it's pretty, pretty wild to see vice presidential nominee doing -- doing an amusement park ride like that.
What was he like in class? Was he funny? Was he a goofy? Was he serious?
CLEMENT: Well, I think it was a great blend of all those things. So for me, you know, to keep my interests, he had high-energy, right? Very funny typically. But, you know what it came down to be serious, he had no problem going there too, right?
He's a top of guy who's going to tell you what needed to hear. I need to hear it in football. I definitely needed here in the classroom, right. So he really helped pull me along there.
So, you know, I think he's just got all the right attributes given the situation, given the circumstances and he applies it well.
TAPPER: Dan Clement, thank you so much. Really appreciate your time and your candor.
OUTFRONT next, John King is talking to voters here in the great commonwealth of Pennsylvania. How did they feel about Governor Walz being picked instead of Josh Shapiro, their governor?
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:57:12]
COLLINS: Vice President Kamala Harris just wrapped her first joint event with her new running mate, Governor Tim Walz, telling voters in Pennsylvania that they are, quote, the underdogs in this 2024 race. Walz vowed to do everything he can to help Harris win and said, quote, we'll sleep when we're dead.
John King joins us now, live from Boyertown, Pennsylvania.
John, how are voters out there in Pennsylvania? What are they saying about this selection tonight?
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kaitlan, those we've talked to already say that they find Governor Walz to be funny. They find him to be interesting. They find it to be different.
I want to focus on the word different. I'm in Berks County, of Pennsylvania. There's a gun club right up the street. We're surrounded by farms. This is a rural area used to be solid, solid Republican.
Donald Trump won here with about 54 percent of the vote. So less Republican than it used to be.
Can Tim Walz come here? Pennsylvania is all about the margins, right? Can he come here and pick up a few votes? Because he talks like these people, he knows what its like to be on a form. He knows what its like to be at the gun club, right?
So that's one thing to watch for and I can tell you, not just here in my travels all year, you find a lot of voters, the people who didn't like Biden and didn't like Trump, the double-haters, they call them, independence, disaffected young people. They don't trust politicians. He talks differently. He's funny.
Now, Kamala Harris is the candidate, not Tim Walz, but does it help in this moment where she has a trajectory of momentum going this way, can she sustain it? One way to do that is to get a new look if you will.
So she has a big day today. Do people view them as differently? The environment and this election, Kaitlan, is a change election, with President Biden the top of the ticket. That change was going to be him losing. That's what most Democrats say.
Can she shift that mood now and say they're the change, they're new, and they are different? And I think the way he talks, coach Walz will play in communities like this.
Again, she's the candidate, so I don't want to overstate the power of the vice presidential candidate, but I think at a moment when they're getting a second look, there's something to this and trying to appeal in rural small communities like this. Yeah.
COLLINS: Yeah, and you heard him talking about in the Second Amendment on stage, was saying he doesn't think assault weapons should just be available to anyone.
I mean, you're obviously standing there in Governor Shapiro's home state. We saw Josh Shapiro coming out introducing the vice president tonight at nine not in the way that some had thought maybe he would when he was one of the final contenders. What's the sense from voters there about how he was not selected?
KING: Yeah, we've talked to a lot of Democrats here on this trip and a trip we were here in Northampton County northeast of here, a couple of weeks ago, most Democrats here love their governor and many of them said they wanted Kamala Harris to pick him.
However, the Democrats, we've talked to today, they're not going to not vote for Kamala Harris because Josh Shapiro wasn't picked. And a good number of Pennsylvania Democrats we talked to said we just got Josh Shapiro. He's a first-term governor, we like him. Can we keep him? Can she pick somebody else?
Now, overwhelmingly, there's no question Josh Shapiro would have helped here. Does that mean Governor Walz hurts here? I think it's too early to say that as we go forward.
But clearly, what the vice president decided on. Listen to how they talk about his governing experience. He has deeper governing experience and deeper campaign experience that Governor Shapiro does -- not to take any of the way for Shapiro, a rising star, but the Harris team and the vice president made the calculation. This guy has deeper experience. They believe deeper strengths. We got 90 days to find out.
COLLINS: Yeah. And as Governor Walz said, they will not be sleeping during those 90 days.
John King, I don't think you will be either. Thank you so much for joining us live from Pennsylvania. Thank you all --
KING: He's right about that. You sleep when you're dead.
COLLINS: None of us are sleeping, it's good to know.
Thank you so much for joining us. I'll be back here at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.
Our breaking news coverage continues right now with "AC360".
