Vice President Kamala Harris faced tough questions about how she would pay for her economic plans, whether Democrats were too slow to pass border security measures, how she would confront Russia over its war in Ukraine and more in an expanded '60s Minutes'. interview that aired on Monday.
The Democratic presidential candidate's conversation with CBS comes amid a media blitz that also puts Harris in front of friendlier interviewers with a more targeted audience. Her interview with Alex Cooper, host of the popular podcast “Call Her Daddy,” went live on Sunday. On Tuesday, she visits ABC's “The View,” talks with Howard Stern and appears on CBS' “The Late Show” with Stephen Colbert. Then she will participate in a Univision town hall on Thursday.
With no more debates currently scheduled between Harris and former President Donald Trump, this series of interviews could provide the best opportunities for surprising and news-making moments in the final four-week sprint to Election Day.
Here are five takeaways from Harris' session with “60 Minutes”:
Harris says Congress must take action on border security
Harris asserted that migration is a “long-standing problem” when asked about President Joe Biden's administration's approach to immigration policy and declined to answer whether officials should have acted sooner.
From the start, the Biden administration faced record migration in the Western Hemisphere, which was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. For the past three years, U.S. officials have struggled with the flow of migrants at the southern border.
Asked why the administration didn't crack down sooner, Harris cited an immigration bill proposed to Congress in early 2021 and blasted Republicans for rejecting a recent bipartisan border bill after Trump urged them to reject the measure.
CBS correspondent Bill Whitaker asked: “But there was a historic flow of undocumented immigrants crossing the border during the first three years of your administration. In fact, arrivals have quadrupled from President Trump's last year. Was it a mistake to have relaxed immigration policy as you did?”
“It's a long-standing problem. And solutions are near. And from day one, we have literally provided solutions,” said Harris.
Pressed about the record number of crossings and whether more action should have been taken sooner, Harris declined to answer. Instead, he focused on recent action that has resulted in a drastic drop in crossings and places the responsibility for action on Congress.
“We need Congress to take action to actually solve the problem,” she said.
No one-on-one meeting with Putin
Harris said she would not hold a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate a solution to end the war in Ukraine.
“Ukraine must have a say in Ukraine's future,” she said.
Harris said there will be “no success in ending that war without Ukraine and the UN Charter participating in what that success looks like.”
The vice president avoided answering whether she would support the effort to expand the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO, to include Ukraine, saying she would “reflect on whether and when that happens.”
“These are all issues that we will address if and when the time comes. At this time, we support Ukraine's ability to defend itself against Russia's unprovoked aggression,” Harris said.
She said that if Trump were president, “Putin would be in Kiev right now,” referring to the Ukrainian capital.
“He talks about, oh, he can end it on day one. Do you know what that is? It's about surrender,” Harris said.
Harris met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House last month, where she reiterated her unwavering support for the country.
“As I have made clear during our six previous meetings and during Putin's brutal aggression and war against Ukraine, my support for the Ukrainian people is unwavering,” Harris said. “I am proud to stand with Ukraine – I will continue to stand with Ukraine, and I will work to ensure that Ukraine has the upper hand in this war, to be secure and prosperous.”
The Harris-Cheney alliance is on display
In the interview, Harris was at one point seen in Ripon, Wisconsin — said to be the birthplace of the Republican Party — with former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney.
Cheney, who was impeached during last year's primaries for her role in the House investigation into the attack by Trump supporters on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, endorsed Harris and spoke at a rally in the key swing state last week.
“I hope that if you had said to me four years ago, 'Our Constitution will be under threat and it will be critical for the parties to come together and support Vice President Harris because she will defend the rule of law.' – I know I would have said, 'That's exactly what I'm going to do,'” Cheney told CBS.
When asked if she had imagined campaigning with Cheney four years ago, Harris responded warmly.
“That would be great,” Harris said, as both she and Cheney laughed.
“She's very diplomatic,” Cheney joked.
Walz says Harris told him to be more careful with his words
It also later featured Harris' running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who faced probing questions about past statements dissected by Republicans and the press after he became the vice presidential pick.
He acknowledged making false claims about his military record and that he was in Hong Kong during the Tiananmen Square unrest. But he said those moments were “expressing emotion, telling a story, having a bad date,” rather than being “a pathological liar like Donald Trump.”
Still, Walz said Harris encouraged him to choose his words more carefully.
“She said, 'Tim, you know, you need to be a little more careful about how you say things,' whatever it may be,” Walz said.
Harris criticizes Trump's decision to end the 60 Minutes interview
Trump withdrew from his “60 Minutes” interview after his campaign agreed to it and planned a sit-down at his Mar-a-Lago estate, CBS correspondent Scott Pelley said Monday evening at the start of the broadcast of the most viewed news magazine of the country. .
Trump sat down with “60 Minutes” correspondent Lesley Stahl in October 2020 and abruptly ended the interview when he apparently objected to Stahl's questions. Trump told reporters in Wisconsin last week that he would “like to get an apology” for that interview before sitting down for another interview.
The former president has largely answered questions alone in recent weeks from friendly interviewers, including Fox News.
“If he doesn't give your viewers the opportunity to have a meaningful, thoughtful conversation, Q&A with you, then watch his rallies,” Harris told Whitaker.
“You're going to hear conversations about himself and all his personal grievances. And what you don't hear is about you, the listener. You won't hear how he's going to try to bring the country together and find common ground,” she said. “And Bill, that's why I believe with all my soul and heart that the American people are ready to turn the page.”
CNN's Aaron Pellish contributed to this report.
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