Vice President Kamala Harris has been the Democratic candidate for president for less than three months. In that time, she’s dealt with unrelenting attacks from former President Donald Trump as she’s defended her record and pitched herself and her plans to the American public.
This week on 60 Minutes, correspondent Bill Whitaker interviewed Harris and running mate Gov. Tim Walz to learn more about the Democratic ticket’s plans on the economy, immigration, foreign affairs and more.
It is the third time Whitaker has interviewed Harris and his first sit-down with Walz. The interviews were conducted with less than a month to go before the Nov. 5 election, when Harris and Walz will face off against former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance.
One year after the Hamas terror attack on Israel, Harris discusses war in the Middle East
Whitaker asked Harris if the U.S. lacks influence over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and whether he is a close ally. President Biden’s White House has called for a cease-fire in Gaza, but Israel has pressed on with the war. The administration also called for a cease-fire in Lebanon, before Israel expanded its bombardment there.
“I think, with all due respect, the better question is do we have an important alliance between the American people and the Israeli people,” Harris said. “And the answer to that question is yes.”
How Harris says she’ll handle Putin, the Ukraine war
While the Israel-Hamas war has dominated headlines over the last year since Hamas launched the Oct. 7 terror attack, the Ukraine-Russia war has been grinding on for more than two years.
Harris said she would not meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate an end to the war without Ukraine’s involvement.
“Ukraine must have a say in the future of Ukraine,” she said. “Donald Trump, if he were president, Putin would be sitting in Kyiv right now. Let’s be clear about that. He talks about, ‘Oh, he can end it on Day One.’ You know what that is? It’s about surrender.”
Harris responds to Trump’s decision not to sit down with 60 Minutes
Voters will not hear directly from former President Donald Trump during the 60 Minutes election special. Trump, after initially accepting, later declined to participate.
“If he is not going to give your viewers the ability to have a meaningful, thoughtful conversation, question and answer with you, then watch his rallies,” Harris said. “You’re going to hear conversations that are about himself and all of his personal grievances.”
Voters’ top concern: the economy
The economy tops voters’ concerns as Election Day nears, but Harris defended the Biden administration’s record, pointing to low unemployment numbers. She also touted her campaign proposals to institute a federal ban on price gouging on food and groceries, expand the child tax credit and give tax breaks to first-time home buyers and people starting small businesses.
Whitaker asked how she intends to pay for her plans and get them through Congress.
“One of the things is I’m going to make sure that the richest among us who can afford it pay their fair share in taxes,” Harris said. “It is not right that teachers and nurses and firefighters are paying a higher tax rate than billionaires and the biggest corporations.”
Harris defends immigration record, shares plans for the future
Harris recently visited the southern border and embraced President Biden’s recent crackdown on asylum seekers.
“It’s a longstanding problem,” Harris said. “And solutions are at hand. And from Day One, literally, we have been offering solutions.”
Longer-term, Harris said, “We need Congress to be able to act to actually fix the problem.”
Earlier this year, bipartisan border security legislation failed after Trump urged Republicans to oppose it.
“Donald Trump got word that this bill was afoot and could be passed,” she said, “…and he wants to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem, so he told his buddies in Congress, ‘Kill the bill. Don’t let it move forward.'”
Gov. Tim Walz on the national stage
Unlike his running mate, who has been on the national stage for many years, Democratic vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz was little-known outside Minnesota just two months ago. Since Harris chose him as her running mate in August, he’s been on a much bigger stage, and facing more scrutiny than ever before.
He’s been criticized for misstatements about his military record and about his travels to Asia in the 1980s.
In his debate with Trump running mate Sen. JD Vance, Walz said, “I’m a knucklehead at times.”
“I think folks know who I am,” Walz told Whitaker, adding that he believes people know the difference between someone like him and a “pathological liar like Donald Trump.”
