The Democratic ticket’s first major interview of the campaign | First Thing
Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz sat down with CNN's Dana Bash in a pre-recorded interview that airs Thursday night. Plus: peacocks in Scotland
Good morning.
Tonight, the US vice-president, Kamala Harris, will give her first major interview since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee. The pre-recorded interview, which was scheduled after some criticism of Harris's reluctance to expose herself to media scrutiny, will be with CNN's Dana Bash and will include Harris's running mate, Tim Walz.
What should we expect from this interview? This will be a big test of Harris's credibility after a prolonged honeymoon that has seen her surge ahead of Donald Trump in opinion polls. This is the first time she is going to take questions," said David Chalian, CNN's political director. Now is the opportunity to hear her ruminate aloud, with Dana asking her about her policy positions, her plans for the future, her plans for the country, in an unscripted setting."
Are Republicans happy with this setup? Republicans have long called for Harris, who has had a variable performance in past televised one-on-ones, to take questions live from the press. Some are mocking the setup of the interview, accusing Harris of being unwilling to risk a high-profile grilling without the protective presence of Walz.
What do the Arlington officials say happened? Arlington said in a statement that one of its representatives was verbally abused" and pushed aside after telling two Trump staffers that only cemetery representatives were allowed to take video and photographs in section 60, an area where recent US casualties, mostly from Iraq and Afghanistan, are buried. Federal law prohibits political campaign or election-related activities within army national military cemeteries," the statement said.
How has the Trump team responded? JD Vance, Trump's running mate, dismissed the row as media exaggeration over a little disagreement". He later accused the media of acting like Donald Trump filmed a TV commercial at a gravesite".
Continue reading...