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Erin Burnett Outfront

Harris & Walz Appear At Michigan Rally; Trump Intensifies Harris Attacks: "Radical Left, Communist". Aired 7-8p ET

Aired August 07, 2024 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:49]

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next: The Harris-Walz ticket off and running and we're now standing by for the vice president and her new running mate to take the stage in a crucial battleground state. This as team Trump steps up its attacks on this new Democratic ticket.

Plus, I'll speak with a former student who calls Tim Walz a role model, someone who protected him from vicious bullying in school because he's gay.

And breaking news, Taylor Swift canceling a series of concerts after police say they foiled a terror attack targeting her shows.

Let's go OUTFRONT.

Good evening. I'm Erica Hill, in for Erin Burnett.

OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news; Democrats taking their show on the road. You're looking at live pictures here out of Detroit, Michigan, where Vice President Kamala Harris is about to take the stage with her new running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Thousands of people at that event, the two arriving in Detroit just a short time ago after speaking to an energized crowd earlier in the day in Wisconsin.

In the past 24 hours, Harris and Walz have now hit three crucial battleground states, starting, of course, with last night's rally in Philadelphia, those three states, as I noted, crucial to a Harris victory.

And today, everywhere Harris and Waltz went, they had team Trump hot on their trail. Trump's running mate, Senator J.D. Vance, holding events in Wisconsin and Michigan today as well. At one point, Vance's plane and Harris's plane actually landed at the same airport in Wisconsin, at the same time.

Vance making his way then to a manufacturing plant to speak with a group of blue-collar workers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have a country that's going in the wrong direction, thanks to Kamala Harris and I think that it's important to say we could be doing so much better and not just that we could be doing so much better, we were doing so much better when Donald J. Trump was president of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Vance really focusing most of his attacks now on Harris, much like the former president who opted not to join Vance on the trail. He did though this morning, call into Fox.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT & 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Nobody knew how radical left she was. This is a ticket that would want this country to go communist immediately, if not sooner.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

HILL: Jeff Zeleny is OUTFRONT, live in Detroit there at the Harris rally.

So, a big enthusiastic crowd for Harris and Walz over the past couple of days. This could also be a honeymoon, as we know, barely 24 hours in, just over.

Is there a sense from the campaign that you're hearing in terms of a plan to keep that momentum alive?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Erin, the plan basically is one day at a time. And there are 90 days now until Election Day in November, and far fewer days until voting actually begins.

But I can tell you, enthusiasm is certainly only one sort of ingredient in a winning campaign, but you can see behind me here perhaps thousands of people have gathered in this hearing -- in this hangar, excuse me. And when Vice President Harris arrived, stepping off Air Force Two, it was a different moment. So enthusiasm does not win elections alone. But it's a key component.

And frankly, a month ago, Democrats did not have that. So talking to Democrats here in this audience, they are overjoyed by other new ticket, Vice President Harris and Governor Walz. Of course, you would expect that. But when you talk to other voters who have been really turned off by the selection, they too are suddenly now engaged and suddenly tuned in.

But the vice president herself makes the case. She did last night. I assume she will again tonight that they are the underdogs in this race. And that is how they are looking at all this.

But, Erica, $36 million was raised in the first 24 hours, it is much more than that I am told. So, that also buys something else. That buys television commercials and that continues the enthusiasm. We learn one piece of information today that former President Donald Trump is interested in holding a debate, but Vice President Harris on a network potentially other than Fox. So that, of course, would be a big moment in this campaign. But for

now, at least the Harris campaign wants to keep this momentum alive as they continue their battleground tour and of course that Democratic convention in Chicago is now less than two weeks away -- Erica.

HILL: Jeff Zeleny, appreciate it. Thank you.

Joining me now to discuss, we've got all the players here.

David Axelrod, I want to begin with you. You know, as Jeff just noted, enthusiasm is only one ingredient.

[19:05:00]

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes.

HILL: Right. Moving forward. We're 24 hours into this new team and team Trump really working to label Governor Walz in particular as the most liberal she could pick. This is the most liberal ticket you're going to see.

So, if you're managing this campaign, where do you go with that? Where do you take that messaging and how do you massage it to your advantage?

AXELROD: Well, look, first of all, the fact that let me just say as an aside before I answer your question, the fact that Trump is now changing his position on the debate tells me that they understand that they're in a real fight here. And so he needs to debate, which gives you a sense of where the race is.

Look, I think that the, they've got a guy here who is from central casting, like he drops out of a Norman Rockwell painting, right? He's small town America incarnate. You know, the teacher, the coach, 24 years in the National Guard and so on.

And people, a lot of folks in small town America recognized him as a neighbor and I think this is deeply worrisome to the other side. I think that what I would do with him honestly, is I would put them in an RV and I would send them the small towns and Pennsylvania, in Michigan, in Wisconsin because I think he'll relate well to people and if its a harder to caricature someone when you know them.

So that's what I would do with him.

HILL: You mentioned that, but the 24 years in the National Guard has said this is already popping up as an attack point actually, from J.D. Vance going after Walz today on his military record. I want to play part of that moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALZ: He said we shouldn't allow weapons that I used in war to be on Americas streets. Well, I wonder Tim Walz, when were you ever in war? When was this -- what was this weapon that you carried into war given that you abandoned your unit right before they went to Iraq, and he has not spent a day in a combat zone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: So just to clarify, Walz did serve in the National Guard, as we noted for 24 years. He filed to run for Congress, retire from the guard months before his unit was deployed, but he did at one point said hey, right, he talked about, quote, weapons that he carried in war. He was never in combat.

Is this proving to be -- it's early, but it's proving to be an effective line of attack?

ASTEAD HERNDON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I think it's hard to know, but I do know that we know the messenger has some problems. This is what J.D. Vance was chosen for it to be the attack dog for Donald Trump. And I think that this is an early preview of what are there going to go with Governor Walz. But this is someone who has given his life to service. I think it's going to be hard to caricature him as that.

But I think to David's point, it becomes harder as the American people come to know him more. And so what the Trump campaign is trying to do is try to do an early definition of Walz. But I think that will become more difficult as he gets more out there. But there was another point in that press conference with Vance that stuck out to me. They asked them, what makes you happy, what makes you smile. And he said, nothing really, because right now I'm angry.

That's the contrast with Walz I think it's really going to jump out. Walz is having a good time. He's going to be the person who is out there, a recognizable teacher, as David says, and it's going to be more difficult to kind paint him as a caricature if he's -- if he's following the kind of happy warrior mold, that I think he and Harris are trying to put out there.

This is one attack line there, certainly putting out there, but they're going to have to find something. I think they're going to have to find something more robust if they're going to try to define him outside of the ways that they're already pushing to define themselves.

HILL: David, would you agree with that that this needs to be, David Urban, a more robust line of attack?

DAVID URBAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: On which part, Erica? The military service part?

HILL: Yeah. Astead saying that may not be landing, right. And it may need to be a more robust attack. Was that the right attack or is there something that would be a better path?

URBAN: No -- no, no, I think the best path is let's get the governor in a van or in a motor home in Pennsylvania and let's let people hear about his record. I am all about the substance, about the issues. Let's let him defend some of the policies he took in positions he took in -- in Minnesota, which a lot of people in Pennsylvania are going to view extreme. The -- you know, he signed an abortion law, which is pretty unfettered and, you know, up to, the ninth month and abortion on demand kind of, quote/unquote. He signed laws that provide illegal immigrants with drivers license, educational benefits, health care benefits, which some people may see extreme.

He has a position that he will have to defend and I think that more people like David said, he looks -- he's a bunk, you're looking fella, right? He looks like Jim Gaffigan to certain extent, right?

So let's let them out there. Let's people probe them, ask questions about his positions, and defend his policy positions. This shouldn't be about what you look like, who you all or what your races. This should be about the policy.

So the more people get to hear about his policies, I think the people in some of these small towns won't be so thrilled about him. They won't be so thrilled about some of the more socialist kind of progressive policies that the governor has espoused and put it in place while governor of Minnesota.

HILL: I liked that both Davids are advocating for the same plan of attack but seeing very different outcomes here from the conversations and from the RV.

[19:10:04]

AXELROD: We have stock -- we have stock in an RV companies.

HILL: I think you clearly do.

After what you could take it on a tour of all the Major League ballparks in the country.

AXELROD: That wouldn't bad, yeah.

HILL: Listen, Donald Trump is claiming that he's thrilled about Walz as the pick. I want to play some of what he had to say.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

TRUMP: Nobody knew how radical left she was, but he's a smarter version of her if you want to know the truth. He's probably about the same as Bernie Sanders. He's probably more so than Bernie Sanders. This is a ticket that would want this country to go communist immediately, if not sooner.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

HILL: I do have to say I'm still struggling to understand what sooner than immediately. That's a separate issue. In all seriousness, when you -- when we hear Donald Trump say he is thrilled with Walz, behind the scenes, how do you think the campaign is actually feeling about this pick of Governor Walz?

ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, listen, there was a sigh of relief down in Palm Beach when it wasn't Josh Shapiro, a continent centrist who I think there were genuinely afraid of. But then I think they saw was performed, and I think he outperformed

expectations. Somebody said it well, he has a very progressive record, but he reads Republican. He reads Midwest or uncle, your dad, a relatable good communicator.

Now, there are no centrist in this race on either ticket. That's just a fact looking at the record. But one campaign is running a disciplined message which is making overtures to the middle, to independents. And that's the Harris-Walz campaign.

You saw it on display last night. There was this moment on the campaign trail today where people started chanting -- chanting, lock him up, and Kamala Harris had sort of a John McCain moment where she said, we're going to let the courts take control of that, rather than encouraging that divisiveness that has consumed our politics. The Trump campaign cannot land a message, I don't know why, because there -- to Urban's point, it's plenty of content to attack them on policies that are seen as too progressive and a lot of this country.

But instead, it's personal, it's name-calling. It's calling her Kamabla. I don't even know what that is.

She has truly confounded the Trump campaign and they've got a short runway to really try to define her an effective way. And I've yet to see them do it.

AXELROD: And they're facing a Democratic convention in a couple of weeks that will be all about defining her before -- before a big audience. Yeah, I think they, they do have problems, but it's interesting to me that the president is not out there. I mean, you know, he's making sort of drop-ins on "Fox and Friends", but I think part of the reason is he's not helping himself out there.

If I were his manager, I'd say I want you to take a rest because he goes to Georgia and he takes on a fight with the most popular Republican in Georgia. And clearly he is confounded by this new challenge. He thought he had the race under control. He doesn't have the race under control anymore, and they're struggling.

But in terms of this issue of communism, I mean I don't know that people in small town or big town America think paid family leave is communism. I don't know that they think that school lunches or communism, paid -- you know, free school lunches are communism. I thought -- I thought Walz did a good job of answering this question when he was asked this and one of his interviews.

So, you know, I think he -- I think he'll do okay. Dave Urban in those small towns when he has that back-and-forth.

URBAN: Erica, I'm going to be -- I'm going to be in those small towns, Ax. I'm going to be in there making sure he doesn't do okay.

AXELROD: All right. OK.

HILL: I'm going to put David Axelrod and David Urban in an RV.

AXELROD: I'd love to see you guys together. That would be great.

URBAN: People -- listen, there's -- no one's going to mistake as brothers, but, you know, Erica, David has a point there when you talk about things like communism, what does that mean, right? Does it -- does it mean much to people?

But you need to you need to peel back the onion and talk about issues. Well, you know, Governor, what, how do your policies, who's going to pay for those things? Who is going to pay for the free lunches? Who's going to pay for these things? Where does the money come from? And let people explain it.

Let's have a debate on the merits and to Trump's point about the communist part, don't say he's a communist, just say, look, Bernie Sanders is probably the most progressive, the most liberal member of congress. This was Bernie Sanders' pick for vice president. That's what people should be talking.

Josh Shapiro, beloved in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, who would have given the Trump -- excuse me, the Harris campaign a huge bump would have probably -- probably won the state for her, they passed over Josh Shapiro for Bernie Sanders, pick why? Because the only thing I can tell is Josh Shapiro is the Jewish faith. I can't tell any other reason why you commit political malpractice.

(CROSSTALK)

AXELROD: There are other reasons. I know -- I know something about this -- hold on a second, Dave. I know something about this process.

And I think what we -- what CNN reported and what others have reported is the truth. I don't think they could get together on what the role was. I don't think Josh Shapiro necessarily was hungering for the vice presidency if the vice presidency wasn't going to be what he thought he would be comfortable with. And I am not sure that she was comfortable with what he thought the vice presidency should be.

That is why I think he might well have ended up with a position.

[19:15:04]

But that's what happened, but I under stand the talking point. It's -- I mean, as a member of the Jewish community, I'm not very compelled by it, but I understand you're making it.

HILL: I also want to -- I do want it get in here --

URBAN: Again, again, Erica, just say real quickly, it's hard to make the compelling case then that Donald Trump is going to end the world if you can't have two senior members of Democratic Party agree to et together to take down the existential threat to the globe.

AXELROD: You want, I think if this thing devolves into a debate about judgment and vice presidential candidates, it may not, you may not end up on the losing end of that.

(CROSSTALK)

HILL: So I'm going to throw a different question to Astead before we wrap this up.

What I was struck by Astead is you've been doing some reporting since this shifted to the Harris campaign right before Walz was added about these so-called double-hater voters. So real quickly before we wrap this up, there is some movement there and there is some change.

HERNDON: There is absolutely change and there's more upside to Harris has specifically among the margin of others, that Biden was doing worse with, he was doing fine among regular Democrats, the type of people who vote in primaries, they were the ones holding on. It was the people who are less and less likely to vote in presidential elections, people of color, younger people, folks who only vote every four years, non-college educated voters.

All of that upside is much higher under Harris. We call people back from "Times" polling who had said they weren't going to participate, and they almost universally that they are more engaged in the race and more likely to vote for Harris because of this.

This was also true in the Wisconsin-Marquette Law poll today. Kamala Harris is doing much better than Biden, but even so they asked a hypothetical about what would happen if this race witness changed. And Trump was six points up.

That shows the clear switch that this moving her to the top of the ticket for the upside opportunity has provided the party.

HILL: What a month or really feels like a decade it has been. And there are still 90 days to go.

Appreciate it. Thank you all for being here tonight.

OUTFRONT next, the new reporting from inside the Trump campaign, why they were doing everything they could to prevent Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro from becoming Kamala Harris's running mate.

Plus, I'll speak with a former student who Harris mentioned while speaking about her new running mate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Coach Walz was approached by a student in his social studies class. The young man was one of the first openly gay students at the school, and was hoping to start a gay straight alliance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: And it's a story you'll see first on OUTFRONT. Walz, no stranger to China. In fact, he actually honeymooned there. So what does he think of the communist country?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:21:53]

HILL: Tonight, Vice President Harris and her new running mate, Governor Tim Walz, about to take the stage in the key battleground state of Michigan. And this comes as Donald Trump is out there celebrating Harris's pick for VP.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

TRUMP: He's a very, very liberal man and he's a shocking pick. And I'm thrilled. I could not be more thrilled. He's probably about the same as Bernie Sanders well new reporting reveals the Trump campaign was really doing everything it could to hurt Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's chances of joining the Democratic ticket, even forging an alliance with some of their enemies on the far left.

OUTFRONT now, Marc Caputo, national political reporter for "The Bulwark".

Marc, good to see you tonight.

So, one Trump adviser actually told you and I'm quoting here, we amplified the leftist on Twitter. We fed Shapiro opposition research to the media. We did what we could to create more noise and discontent.

Why were they so concerned about Shapiro on the ticket?

MARC CAPUTO, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, THE BULWARK: Shapiro sort of a dual threat in the eyes of the Trump campaign. One, he's a governor of Pennsylvania. He's got a job approval in the 60s. That's really good. Pennsylvania is the biggest swing state with 19 Electoral College votes and it's very crucial to Trumps path to victory.

Essentially, if the polling is right and he wins the South and Sun Belt states as most of the polling and indicated up until relatively recently, that left Pennsylvania this big prize and going up against Shapiro on the ticket in the Trump campaign's eyes just made it more complicated.

Also, Shapiro has more of a moderate record. He has endorsed, supported some things that Republicans have supported. One of the things, for instance, a school choice or vouchers.

And in the Trump campaign's eyes, this made it more difficult for them to argue or would have made it more difficult for them to argue and Kamala Harris was, quote, dangerously liberal, whereas with Walz in their view, it's a lot easier.

HILL: So, I wanted to get through a little bit more of what exactly this sort of strategy was behind the scenes to try to hurt Shapiro's chances. I think it's more tactics and strategy.

And this is not rocket science. This is not 4D chess. This is what campaigns do all the time. If they see an opponent they don't want to face, they do what they can to make sure they don't have to face him. So I'm not at liberty to say exactly what they did. But I was made privy to certain things where they made sure that the media reported a lot about Shapiro's IDF record, his Israel record, which was a big problem with progressives. And they made sure that some of their allies who are sort of go-betweens between them and the progressives would flag their social media posts to give it more amplification, to give it more traffic.

Now, the Trump campaign will admit that his advisers will say, like, look, we were not determinative in this effort, in this decision by Harris not to pick Shapiro. But what's indicative of is the fact that they didn't want to face Shapiro and that if they had to pick, they would take Walz or someone else over him.

HILL: Marc, good to see you. Appreciate it. Thanks.

CAPUTO: Thanks.

HILL: OUTFRONT now, Democratic Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania.

[19:25:00]

Senator, nice to have you with us tonight.

Your state, I don't need to tell you this, seen as a key to winning the election. Does choosing Governor Walz over Governor Shapiro make it more difficult for this Democratic ticket in November?

SEN. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-PA): No, that's -- that's ridiculous. I'd like to remind that Joe Biden crushed Pennsylvania in 2020 with Harris as the vice president by over 150,000 votes, and Harris can and will carry Pennsylvania regardless of who she chose for vice president as well. And that's how exactly how its going to play out.

HILL: There is this very clear Republican talking point that has emerged in the last 24 hours that Josh Shapiro was not chosen because of antisemitism in the more liberal wing of the Democratic Party.

Do you think there is an issue within your party of antisemitism? And are you confident that it's being addressed?

FETTERMAN: That's just absurd and dumb. They know Trump and everyone's talking about anyone other than Vance.

Now, let's -- why are we talking about appointing the dumbest choice and a vice president ever? You know, it's strange. Walz isn't on record claiming that he hates the police, but Vance does. And Vance now has confirmed and the interviews that Trump is a sexual abuser, and he has referred to him as Hitler's America.

And he is going after people that haven't have kids are cat ladies or Trump is going into rants about talking about who biracials and things, my own children are biracial, including Senator Vance's children are biracial. So if you really want to talk about anything, of course, they want to

talk about anything Trump would be more eager to talk about Stormy Daniels than talking about Vance. And that's been a train wreck and its just bizarre that we're still talking about some weird parlor game that's been over that we know what the ticket is, and that's going to win Pennsylvania.

HILL: President Biden just sat down for an interview with CBS News. He was asked about his feelings, about a peaceful transfer of power if Donald Trump loses.

Here's what the president had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm not coming at all. He means when he says. We don't take him seriously. He means it. All this stuff about if we lose, there'll be a bloodbath.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Donald Trump was referencing an economic bloodbath. That said, do you share President Biden's concerns if Donald Trump in fact loses come November?

FETTERMAN: I mean, of course, he -- he's just -- he's a sore loser and he got smoked in 2020 and he lied and Fox News had to pay $800 million in court because they -- Fox carried that kinds of lies. And, of course, Trump is going to try to do anything thing he can, but I don't think its going to be possible now because I think Harris is going to have definitive kinds of a win.

And that's why I'm proud to be part of that team. You know, Harris and Walz now, as they raised $36 million just that in 24 hours on that, and look at what happen in Philadelphia. Look at what seeing right now in Michigan, you look at the kind of energy that's across the nation right now.

And, you know, what really sucks for the Republicans, Walz is just a regular dude like his net worth is like a couple of hundred thousand dollars, which is much just like a lot for your average Americans and talking about communism like that dude that was on here like, that's just dumb.

You know, talking about communism and that kinds of -- it's bizarre and it's talking about school lunches and standing up for LGBTQ community, or talking about making insulin cost $35 or less. I mean, talking about communism, it's dumb and it's all just a weird kinds of a -- of a strategy because everybody wants to avoid talking about what a hot mess Vance is as vice president.

And how -- he's even marching up to vice president's, you know, plane. I mean, that's -- that's bizarre. Like who does who does that kind of stuff and, you know, thinking you're going to just march over -- I mean, it's -- I mean, that's -- that's whack. And it's like, if we want to talk about the vice president and the

choice, and there's some kinds of -- you know, we're going to have some kinds of like we can avoid picking somebody, like, let's talk about why you picked that guy because Vance is in his superpower is sinking. And that's why he won in Ohio and he has a terrible campaigner, and he barely got by in Ohio, which is a hard red state.

And he seemed so well hard to be now picked after saying terrible things about Trump right now. And now, he's been nothing but a drag on the Trump campaign.

[19:30:01]

And the Republicans are really eager to talk about anything other than, you know, how terrible of a vice president selection of Vance is.

Senator John Fetterman, we appreciate your time tonight, and I think it's clear where you stand on J.D. Vance, your fellow senator, as well.

Sir, thank you again.

FETTERMAN: Thank you very much.

HILL: Well, OUTFRONT next, you were looking at live pictures here out of Detroit. We are waiting on Harris and Walz. They're just about to speak. We're going to bring you that live.

Also ahead here, I'll speak with one of Tim Walz's former students, someone who actually reveal to whilst wife that he was gay before telling his own parents. Why he calls Tim Walz his role model.

Plus, the breaking news tonight, Taylor Swift canceling is series of shows after police uncovered a plot a terror plot to attack her concerts.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:35:11]

HILL: Tonight, Vice president Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz about to take the stage any moment in the key battleground state of Michigan.

Harris last night while introducing Walz as her running mate, highlighting his support for LGBTQ plus students.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: The young man was one of the first openly gay students at the school and was hoping to start a Gay-Straight Alliance.

At a time -- at a time when acceptance was difficult to find for LGBTQ students, Tim knew the signal that it would send to have a football coach get involved. (APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: So he signed up to be the group's faculty adviser.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Well, joining me now that student, Jacob Reitan, who was the first openly gay student at Mankato West High School. Kim Hermer, a longtime teacher at that school, also who taught alongside Walz.

It's great to have you both.

Jacob, you know, a lot has been made of the governors time as a teacher, as a football coach. As I understand it, you were subject to a fair amount of bullying. You said from some of those football players in particular, having their coach as an adviser to this new gay straight alliance was really important, I know in your view, it sent an important message. Why?

JACOB REITAN, SAYS THE WALZES SUPPORTED HIM AND OTHER GAY STUDENTS: Yeah. I mean, I was bullied in high school from different folks and it was a different time. The '90s was a time when the word gay meant stupid. And having the support of teachers like Tim and Gwen Walz and Mrs. Hermer, she was also my speech coach, was important.

HILL: Did you have any idea in that moment last night that the vice president was going to share your story?

REITAN: I didn't know that the story was going to be in the speech, but -- so it was surreal. I was actually at a watch party at a -- that was put on by the human rights campaign in here in Minneapolis. And I was in another room and people said she's talking about you, so very surreal.

HILL: Has it all sunk in yet?

REITAN: It's a little overwhelming. But at the same time, I'm more than happy to tell the story of Tim and Gwen Walz and all they did to support their students, gay and otherwise. They were involved in their students' lives in so many different ways, from football coach, to speech coach, to cheerleading coach, to the gay straight alliance adviser, to prom committee.

So they were involved in all manner of students lives at West.

HILL: You know, Kim, taking note this was the '90s, this was 1999. We're talking about "don't ask, don't tell", within the school and within the community. How much was there for this alliance were Jacob frankly at that time?

KIM HERMER, TAUGHT AT SAME HIGH SCHOOL AS GOV. TIM WALZ: I think we always focused on activities for students and we know as teachers that we really want to connect with students, we want students to feel like they belong somewhere. For students who were gay, that was probably the only thing that was there. Again, the '90s, something we're learning. We certainly are glad that we were a little bit on the forefront of that. Were proud of that, and were proud that we still continue with that today and that we hope all of our students find a home at Mankato West and that all students find a home in their schools.

And Mankato West was a special place. So many teachers were involved in students lives. I didn't know that I was going to be speaking today with Mrs. Hermer, but she was my tennis coach. She was another one of my speeches, speech coaches. I was at a wedding.

And so, it was a special school. But the Walzes were certainly special within that school. I remember when they were coming as teachers to West, they were heralded as these impressive newly married teachers from Nebraska. And we thought, boy, how lucky are we that we got these new teachers at West high school.

HILL: And now we are looking at your former teacher right there who just took the stage and we do need to take some of this, but your former teacher there, of course, now a candidate for vice president quite a trajectory.

Thank you both.

Let's listen in real quickly.

WALZ: Thank you for caring for your neighbors. Thank you for showing Michigan does.

(APPLAUSE)

WALZ: Look, we share a lot of things. That's one of them. We're neighbors and we're not weird.

[19:40:01]

That's for sure. But -- but I got to tell you something else we share is a care for the incredible natural resources. We in the Upper Midwest and our states, we care for 20 percent of the world's freshwater in those Great Lakes, and the Great Lakes have no better friend than your senator, Senator Stabenow.

(APPLAUSE)

WALZ: I got some members of Congress I had the privilege of serving with and some that are new to that place. Let's be clear. We got to put gavels in the hands of these Democratic representatives so that we can get some work done.

(APPLAUSE)

WALZ: My friend Dan Kildee, Debbie Dingell, Haley Stevens, Elissa Slotkin, Hillary Scholten, Representative Dander, I believe just one a primary year, Wayne County executive Warren Evans, and the chair of the Michigan Democratic party, Lavora Barnes. Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

WALZ: And I want to just take a moment it's been a pretty interesting 24 hours for me. I'll have to be honest and I don't know what it -- how I can explain to you walking into that arena in filling or that field out in Wisconsin or right here to what I have been told is the largest rally of the campaign.

(APPLAUSE)

WALZ: And look, and look, this is a place of working folks, students, folks who care. And I think about this, you came out here early, found a place to park, stood in the sun, sit here and wait, and you did it.

You did it for one simple and eloquent and beautiful reason. You love this country. You love this country.

I couldn't be prouder to be on this ticket and to help make Kamala Harris the next president of the United States.

Every day of her life, Vice President Harris fights for the American people. She's taking on predators, fraudsters, and transnational gangs. You heard it. She stood up to powerful corporate interests and she has never hesitated to reach across the aisle, try and find some common solutions.

And she has done it and this is what we know -- all the things that make me mad about those other guys and all the things they do wrong, the one thing that I will not forgive them for is their tried to steal the joy from this country. They try and steal the joy.

(APPLAUSE)

WALZ: But you know what, you know what, our next president brings the joy, she emanates the joy.

(APPLAUSE)

HILL: Governor Tim Walz there, of course, the newly minted vice presidential nominee on the ticket there for the Democrats is speaking at a rally in Detroit.

We're also waiting to hear from the vice president. Stay with us. Were going to fit in a quick break here. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:47:48]

HILL: The breaking news, you're looking at live pictures out of Detroit. Vice presidential candidate, Governor Tim Walz, speaking to voters in Michigan and in just a few moments, Vice President Kamala Harris set to take the stage there in Detroit.

All of this comes, of course, as people are learning more about Tim Walz and as he's facing some questions about his long history with China. Republican seizing on his dozens of visits to the country over the past 35 years, taking students on annual school trips, even going there on his honeymoon.

Will Ripley is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the summer of 1989, about two months after China's military massacre, pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square, Tim Walz, an American teacher fresh out of college, traveled halfway around the world to China, paying respects in Beijing, where so many people die.

WALZ: I felt it was more important than ever to go, to make sure that story was told and to let Chinese -- the Chinese people know, we were standing there, we were with them.

HARRIS: Welcome the next vice president of the United States, Tim Walz.

RIPLEY: Thirty-five years before becoming the Democratic nominee for vice president, Walz volunteer to spend a year in China, teaching English and American history to mainland Chinese students.

The Nebraska native later telling his hometown newspapers, he was treated like a king and there was no anti-American feeling whatsoever.

Walz moved to Minnesota, teaching high school there for years. He got married on June 4, 1994, the fifth anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. He wanted to have a date he'll always remember his wife told a local paper at the time.

They spent their honeymoon taking students on a two-week tour of China, Hong Kong, and Macau. Those students trips became a summer tradition.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would go back in a heartbeat, in a heartbeat because it wasn't political for us. It wasn't any of that. It was -- it was an educational trip with one of our favorite teachers.

RIPLEY: Kara Romehill (ph) says she and her classmates still talk about their trip to China with Mr. Walz in 1998.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It felt very comfortable, and we were all over, you know, train rides, a whole bunch of different places, just seeing a different culture and having respect for it while seen it, knowing that its different, but knowing that that's okay, too.

[19:50:02]

RIPLEY: Since entering politics in 2006, Walz has consistently criticized China's human rights record. In Congress, he co-sponsored a resolution condemning the arrest of Nobel laureate, Liu Xiaobo. He also met with the exhale Dalai Lama in 2016.

WALZ: Governor Tim Walz here, happy Chinese new year.

RIPLEY: All the while advocating empathy for every day Chinese people. Supporters say his understanding of the country could lead to more informed pragmatic policies.

Critics like Republican Richard Grenell, a former for Trump ambassador to Germany, label Walz pro-China and on China's tightly controlled Internet, some question Walz's reasons for traveling to China at the same year as the Tiananmen protests: 1989, great timing. The years he was in China make him suspicious. Comments untouched by government censors.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY (on camera): But tonight, they are censoring CNN's live signal inside China, going to bars and tone the minute this piece began. And this is the challenge that they faced in trying to portray Tim Walz.

Yes. He made 30 trips to China. He speaks Mandarin, he humanizes the Chinese people, knows how things work over there. But he's also co- sponsored a series the resolution supporting human rights in China and Hong Kong and has been a fierce critic of their government, Erica, which is why were being censored right now.

HILL: Censored in real time.

Will Ripley, appreciate the reporting as always. Thank you.

OUTFRONT next, we are continuing to follow this event. You're looking at live pictures here out of Detroit, of course, Tim Walz there.

We are standing by for remarks from Vice President Kamala Harris. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:56:16]

HILL: Vice President Kamala Harris just taking the stage there in Detroit. Let's listen

HARRIS: We are doing this. We are doing this.

(APPLAUSE)

(CHANTING)

HARRIS: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

OK, come on, we have to think we have business to handle, we got business to handle.

Good evening, everybody. Good evening, good evening, good evening.

Can we hear that for Tim Walz?

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: Isn't he amazing? He's got to be the most incredible vice president.

All right. So it is good to be back and to be with so many incredible leaders, I loved you.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer, thank you for your --

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: Thank you for your friendship, your sisterhood, and your leadership, and we are going to do this together.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist, thank you much.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: His parents are over there.

And the members of Congress, including Senator Debbie Stabenow, my dear friend.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: And your next United States senator, Representative Elissa Slotkin.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: We're going to get that done.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: Mayor Mike Duggan, thank you for the warm welcome always. And, of course, it is so good to be with the president of the United Auto Workers, my dear friend, Shawn Fain.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: And last year, last week, it was mine. It feels like last year.

Last week, it was my great honor to accept the endorsement of the United Auto Workers.

(APPLAUSE)

(CHANTING)

HARRIS: And the UAW has always worked to lift up the working people of our nation.

Do we need some help over there? I need -- we needed a medic over there, please. There should be medics in each corner. We're good? Okay. All right. Look, let's all take care of each other and look -- and look out for

each other, all right? That's what we are. We look out for each other. Okay.

So, I said to Sean -- as I've talked to Sean about this, this election is going to be a fight. We like a good fight.

When you know what you stand for, you know what to fight for, we know what we stand for.

So, I'm so proud to have UAW by my side because you all know how to fight and you know how to win.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: Today, I also bring greetings from our incredible president, Joe Biden.

(APPLAUSE)

HARRIS: That's all right.