00:00Okay, to politics now, the new Democratic ticket is reshaping the 2024 presidential
00:07race.
00:08Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Governor Tim Walz, made their first
00:11appearance together yesterday in front of a large crowd in Philadelphia.
00:16During his speech, Governor Walz made a big splash with voters holding nothing back against
00:21the Trump campaign.
00:22Listen.
00:23If Trump gets a chance to return, he's going to pick up exactly where he left off four
00:28years ago.
00:29Donald Trump's not fighting for you or your family.
00:34He never sat at that kitchen table like the one I grew up at, wondering how we were going
00:38to pay the bills.
00:39He set his country club up in Mar-a-Lago wondering how he can cut taxes for his rich friends.
00:48And I got to tell you, his running mate shares his dangerous and backward agenda for this
00:53country.
00:55CBS News political correspondent Kayleigh Huey Burns joins me now to talk about this.
01:02So Kayleigh, what I think is really fascinating about this announcement by the vice president
01:07selecting Governor Walz is you've got people who are on the far left of the Democratic
01:14Party, like Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who spoke to us this morning on CBS Mornings,
01:19who are in support of this move, and you've got others like Senator Joe Manchin of West
01:24Virginia, who is not a liberal, who are also applauding this move.
01:28What do you make of that?
01:29Yeah, that is a fascinating coalition, AOC and Joe Manchin, not a pair that you see mentioned
01:36together that often, but both praising this pick.
01:39Joe Manchin, you know, really kind of tapping into the folksy nature, the Midwestern appeal
01:45of Walz, AOC tapping into his progressive policies that he implemented as governor.
01:52But Vlad, watching that rally last night, it marked a notable shift in this campaign.
01:57As you know, I've been covering this campaign for all year, and what we saw last night is
02:02something that Democrats have been lacking, especially over the past couple of months,
02:07which has been energy and momentum.
02:10This was an introduction of a new phase of the Democratic campaign, but really a new
02:14phase of this campaign in its entirety, because now you have a Democratic Party not only united,
02:20but seemingly excited about this ticket, which quite frankly wasn't the case before, given
02:27everything that had happened.
02:28So they raised $20 million, the campaign says, since Walz was announced.
02:34And it's important to pay attention where they are going, Vlad.
02:38They made that announcement in Philadelphia today.
02:41They're headed to Wisconsin and Michigan.
02:44No secret that these are the states that are going to help determine this election.
02:49We might as well call Tim Walz blue walls, because the blue wall is something that Democrats
02:55need to hold in order to be successful here.
02:58So having Walz deployed into some of these Midwestern states to not only stumper the
03:04campaign but to counter J.D. Vance, who you heard him mention there, who is also likely
03:10to be parked in the Midwest.
03:11He's actually following the Harris campaign around to these various stops.
03:16He's also at these stops today in the Midwest.
03:19So that's telling that this is kind of the political epicenter for the next 90 days.
03:27So Caitlin, let me just explain to our viewers what they're looking at.
03:30We're showing images from last night of the vice president and Governor Walz in Philadelphia.
03:35But we're also showing a live picture of Senator Vance, who is actually now in the state of
03:41Michigan, as you pointed out.
03:43That is where the battle will be met by both the Democrats and the Republicans.
03:47So we're going to take that a little bit later after you and I finish our chat.
03:51But let me ask you one question about what you said.
03:54You talk about the enthusiasm that we saw yesterday at that rally.
03:58And there is no doubt that Democrats are energized and they're enthusiastic.
04:02But there was something telling in the vice president's remarks yesterday.
04:06She said, we are still the underdog.
04:09And I know you're already starting to hear, as I'm sure you are, the rumblings from Democrats
04:14who are suffering from PTSD of the enthusiasm that Hillary Clinton had back in 2016.
04:23And the fact that she did not visit some of those states that you're talking about, which
04:27many feel cost her the election.
04:29So is the vice president prepared to dig in and to do that hard campaigning in states
04:35where they may actually be popular with Democrats, but they need to go after those independents?
04:41That's right, Vlad.
04:42I mean, that was the most striking line to me as well, that she was calling themselves
04:45underdogs.
04:46And that's true.
04:47If you look at the polling, this is going to be a very tight race.
04:51And Vlad, it's also going to be a race that pits the Republican Party base against the
04:55Democratic Party base.
04:57There are so few people in the middle these days, independent voters, moderate voters,
05:02those who are deciding whether to vote at all.
05:05That is still a sliver of the electorate.
05:07It's a very coveted sliver of the electorate and could make the difference here, especially
05:12when you look at those three battleground states I was talking about.
05:14The margins in 2020 and in 2024 were very slim.
05:19So that's kind of the whole ballgame here.
05:21But this pick of walls and the pick of JD Vance, quite frankly, is also a recognition
05:25that this is a base versus base election.
05:28So energizing the party base is critical not only for fundraising and energy and momentum,
05:34but also turning people out, getting them to show up to vote is going to be critical
05:38for the Democratic side of the aisle.
05:41I've been covering the Trump campaign all year, too.
05:43He has been filling these rallies, these arenas, like we saw Harris and Walls fill yesterday,
05:49too.
05:50So that's going to be an important measure to kind of look at over the coming days, especially
05:55as they kick off this campaign.
05:57All right, Caitlin Huey Burns, breaking it down for us like she only can.
06:01Thank you, Caitlin.
06:02Appreciate it.
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