Key points from the first interview with Harris and Walz

US Vice President Kamala Harris defended her change of heart on key issues in her first interview since joining the presidential race.

The Democratic presidential candidate was asked about why her policies on immigration and climate have become more moderate since she ran for president in 2019.

“I think the most important and significant aspect of my policy perspective and decisions is that my values ​​have not changed,” she told CNN’s Dana Bash.

She also vowed to “turn the page” on the divisive rhetoric of the Trump era, in the joint interview with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Her Republican opponent Donald Trump described the interview on Truth Social as “BORING!!!” when it ended and described Ms. Harris as a fraud.

The vice president was forced to defend the White House’s economic performance as inflation and high living costs continue to hurt Americans.

When asked why she had not yet implemented her ideas to address the economic problems, she replied that they had already done a lot of good work, but that much more needed to be done.

Polls show that voters believe Trump is the best way to handle the economy.

These are the main points from the interview.

When asked about her shift from a liberal to a more moderate position, she said her values ​​were consistent, citing her commitment to tackling climate change as an example.

When asked about her decision to reverse the ban on fracking, a technique used to extract gas and oil from shale rock, she said she was confident the U.S. climate goals could be met without a ban.

The main Republican attack is to paint Ms. Harris as an extremist, and her 2019 statements are evidence of that.

At the time, she also advocated closing immigrant detention centers and decriminalizing illegal border crossings.

She is now taking a tougher stance on the border, citing her time as California’s attorney general when she “prosecuted transnational criminal organizations.”

Earlier this year, she sponsored a bipartisan border security bill that would have included hundreds of millions of dollars to build even more walls.

Trump pressured Republicans in Congress to block the deal, which Ms Harris called a cynical political move in the CNN interview.

Ms Harris was also asked about the war in Gaza and reiterated the White House position that both Israel and Hamas “need to make a deal” and that the Palestinians have a right to their own land bordering Israel.

“This war must end and we must make a deal to free the hostages,” she said.

While she stressed the importance of a deal, she gave no details on how it would come about.

She would not commit to an arms embargo against Israel, as some on the left of her party have demanded.

Explaining her moderate stance on immigration, the Democratic presidential candidate told CNN that her travels across the country as vice president had made her a believer in consensus building.

She further said she would include a Republican in her presidential cabinet.

She said it would fulfill her promise to be a president “for all Americans.”

“I’ve spent my career inviting diversity of opinion. I think it’s important to have people at the table when important decisions are being made who have different points of view.”

CNN’s Dana Bash asked Ms. Harris, born to immigrant parents from Jamaica and India, about recent comments by Trump suggesting she adopted a black identity later in life for political reasons.

The comments sparked outrage, but the vice president did not respond.

This time she gave a very short answer.

“Same old, tired script. Next question, please.”

When asked later in the interview about the historic nature of her candidacy, she said she believed she was the best president for all Americans, regardless of race or gender.

Mr. Walz was asked about misleading statements he has made about his military service and his personal struggle to have children.

Ms. Bash asked him to clarify a comment he made in which he said he “carried” an assault rifle “into war.” The campaign has clarified that Mr. Walz has never been to a war zone.

The governor said he was “openly expressing his emotions” and “speaking passionately” about the topic of gun violence in schools when he made the incorrect statement.

That “passion” also extended to his false claim that his wife had undergone in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments — which have become a political flashpoint in the American debate over abortion access — to conceive their children.

She had intrauterine insemination, not IVF.

“I talked about our infertility issues because it’s hell, and families know that,” he said on CNN.

Ms. Harris described the moment President Biden called her to tell her he had decided to end his re-election campaign in July.

She said her family was visiting when she got the call. They had just finished eating pancakes and bacon and were working on a puzzle.

“My first thought wasn’t about me, to be honest, my first thought was about him,” Ms Harris said when asked if she had asked for his support.

The vice president also said the president could have served again.

“He’s so smart, and I’ve spent hours and hours with him in the Oval Office and in the situation room. He has the intelligence, the dedication, the judgment and the spirit that I think the American people rightly deserve in their president.”

She said that Trump, on the other hand, had none of these qualities.