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One World with Zain Asher
Harris Picks Minnesota Governor Tim Walz As Running Mate; Trump Campaign Begins Attacking Walz As Vice Presidential Pick; Why Some Israeli Soldiers Refuse To Return To Gaza; Harris' Selects Tim Walz As Her Vice Presidential Candidate; Tornado Watch Issued For Carolinas, Including Charleston; Harris Brings New Energy To race But Still Faces Challenges; Aired 12-1p ET
Aired August 06, 2024 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[12:00:28]
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST: All right. Hello, everyone, live from New York. I'm Bianna Golodryga. Zain is off today. You are watching ONE WORLD.
And it's official. The top of the democratic ticket is complete and a new phase of the U.S. presidential campaign is now underway.
Kamala Harris has chosen Tim Walz as her running mate. The 60-year-old Walz, a onetime dark horse in the race, is the plainspoken two-term
governor of Minnesota and a former congressman.
He's set to join Harris in Philadelphia later today where they are kicking off a tour of battleground states.
Meanwhile, the Harris campaign just released this TikTok video contrasting Walz with the Republican nominee for Vice President, J.D. Vance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN): People like J.D. Vance know nothing about small town American. It's not about hate. It's not about collapsing in. The golden
rule, there's mind your own damn business.
Their policies would destroy rural America. They've divided us.
(MUSIC)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Well, Vance is in Philadelphia right now, we should note, where he's set to speak at any moment. Here's what he said about Walz just
moments ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. J.D. VANCE (R-OH), REPUBLICAN VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: It just highlights how radical Kamala Harris is. This is a person who listened to
the Hamas wing of her own party and selecting a nominee.
This is a guy who's proposed shipping more manufacturing jobs to China who wants to make the American people more reliant on garbage energy instead of
good American energy and has proposed defunding the police just as Kamala Harris does.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Eva McKend joins me now live from Washington.
So it appears it is official, Eva. We'll see the two of them later today.
And it's interesting CNN sources reporting that Harris told Walz that they are, quote, underdogs but have a winning message. And that, in addition to
the chemistry, that clearly developed between the two ultimately is what led to her decision.
EVA MCKEND, CNN UNITED STATES NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Bianna. She understands fully that they still need to run scared,
given the unprecedented nature of how this ticket came together.
I'll tell you, this has been an exciting development for Democrats over the last several hours. The Minnesota governor, he's a former teacher,
congressman, Army National Guard veteran. He's receiving praise from all corners of the party for being really a consensus pick. So he enjoys the
support of progressives and centrists alike.
His supporters describe him as the Midwestern dad that America needs. And he's also adopted this weird framing now widely used among Democrats across
the country. He calls the former president and other Republicans bizarre.
And he does that because he says it takes some of the venom out of the contest that people don't need to be afraid of their opponents. They can
just sort of needle them a bit as they pick apart their policy ideas.
GOLODRYGA: It is - it is notable. And, you know, he was a dark horse, as we said, just a few weeks ago. And we'll get further in depth in the show and
talk about the role of social media and his really pointing the phrase weird in describing J.D. Vance and the Trump ticket helped elevate him
nationally as well.
Eva McKend, thank you so much.
Well, I want to now bring in CNN's Whitney Wild who is standing by in St. Paul, Minnesota where Governor Walz has just departed.
And as we said, Whitney, just a few days ago, Governor Walz was not a household name. He will quickly become one. And you've been covering what's
going on behind you there for the last few hours. It's clear there's building enthusiasm as well in his home state.
WHITNEY WILD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Bianna.
What we saw, as soon as the news broke, was a crowd starting to grow around the edge of the residents here in St. Paul. And when he left, it was just
cheers.
And when we spoke with voters out here, they said that they were a mix of excited and relieved. And the reason they say that is because what they
know about their governor is that he is steady, that he is a fighter and that he's humble. And this is a combination that for them really puts him
in the highest echelons of leadership.
Minnesota has seen some very difficult times. In his first term as governor, there were riots that broke out after the George Floyd murder.
There was COVID. These were all really huge issues, very difficult times for the state of Minnesota.
And one woman I spoke with said, he was a steady voice in a time of real upheaval. And that's what they're excited for other Americans to learn
about their guy.
What we also know, Bianna, is that they believe that he is someone who can really bridge this gap between different types of voters.
[12:05:03]
If you remember, you know, he's a -- he's a more than two-decade member of the National Guard. He won a flip to seat actually in Mankato, Minnesota,
that had been occupied by a six-term Republican. And that was in 2006.
First time he ran for Congress, flipped that seat. And it was a huge moment. He held that seat for 12 years. Then he, you know, earned his spot
in the governor's mansion.
And so now, again, voters saying this is our chance to show the world why we believe in Governor Tim Walz.
And again, they call him in a couple of words, Bianna, a humble fighter. Back to you.
GOLODRYGA: A humble fighter, likable, the guy you want to hug. I mean, he's described as a very affable, likable guy.
But it is interesting, as you say, that he won that seat in a conservative district there six times. But even he himself admits that he narrowly won
it in 2016. Obviously, that being the year that Donald Trump won as well. And the Trump campaign and Republicans already quick to paint him as a
liberal, progressive.
Whitney Wild, thank you so much.
Well, as noted, Republicans are wasting no time criticizing the democratic vice presidential pick. And we're learning that some Trump allies are
actually relieved that Kamala Harris didn't choose Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro.
The Trump campaign, meanwhile, has already begun fundraising over Harris' selection of Tim Walz. The campaign is attacking Walz as dangerously
liberal, a West Coast wannabe, and threatening that the Minnesota governor would, quote, unleash hell on earth.
Jeff Zeleny joins me now live from Philadelphia.
It's that last one that I think is a bit much, unleashing hell on earth, maybe taking it a bit too far. But really holding in on this idea of him in
painting Walz and now along with Harris as sort of liberal West Coast out- of-touch elitist, appears to be the message that the Trump campaign wants to take.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: That is one of the things that they certainly are seizing upon. And that would be his
progressive record.
In the last couple years, in a second term as Minnesota governor, there's no question Governor Walz has signed very progressive even liberal
legislation. He defends that. Some of it is a free lunch for students across the state of Minnesota. It is gun bills. It is tax credits for
working families, things like that. He, you know, certainly defends that.
But, Bianna, the arc of his career is actually quite interesting. He was elected to Congress in 2006 during a strong democratic year, but from a
Republican district. So he certainly was a moderate Democrat and now is a progressive Democrat. And following that arc is what the campaign hopes to
lean into.
But look, the race now is to define Tim Walz, just as we saw the race to define J.D. Vance. So how he stands up under this scrutiny and pressure,
over the next coming days, will certainly determine sort of this momentum and the trajectory of this going forward here.
But for now, at least, the Harris campaign believes that Tim Walz is a great addition. We will see how they look tonight when they appear on stage
for the first time here in Philadelphia, Bianna.
GOLODRYGA: And also viewed as somebody who could possibly help in Wisconsin, as well in Michigan neighboring states there.
Jeff Zeleny, thank you so much.
Jeremy Thompson joins us now live from Washington. He's the former social media director for Harris' 2020 presidential campaign, joins us now live
from the show.
Jeremy, so there's clearly a lot of enthusiasm amongst the party base now and we have a solid ticket in place. We know that it's going to be Harris-
Walz. We'll see the two of them later together.
First of all, your reaction by this pick as we've noted it throughout the top of the show, he was a bit of a dark horse just a few weeks ago and now
here he is on the ticket.
JEREMY THOMPSON, FORMER SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR, HARRIS 2020 CAMPAIGN: Yes, for sure. As we were -- first of all, thanks for having me on here. I
really appreciate the time.
Look, I will say this. You've seen the enthusiasm from the party come out since the announcement was made on social media and, of course, within the
party. Because honestly, we're still right in the momentum from a few weeks ago.
I think the thing that I think is really important now, of course, is that Democrats need to get out and tell America exactly who the governor is,
what he stands for and really frame that before the rest of the world starts putting their opinions in there.
And I think tonight at six o'clock, 6:30, when Harris and Walz stepped on that stage in Pennsylvania, is going to be the start of that long party, as
we go into the convention.
GOLODRYGA: Can you talk specifically about the role of social media here? Because whether it's brat in that association with Kamala Harris that
really took off and now Tim Walz really coining the term weird when describing the Trump-Vance ticket, it seems to resonate with voters,
particularly young voters who, let's be honest, a few months ago when Biden was at the top of this ticket, there was a real concern about attracting
those younger voters.
[12:10:10]
THOMPSON: Yes. And, of course, anytime someone my age says, you know, the word brat, for example, it immediately becomes uncool.
But the reality is, is, you know, we're looking at social media and political campaigns. We've seen it involved from just a tool for
fundraising from a few decades ago to a tool to really tell the personal stories of who candidates are and what they stand for.
I'll give you an example. During my time as social media director, you know, I worked with a team that traveled with the vice president as she was
campaigning for president.
And what would happen is she would give us stump beach and then she would go out into what's called the rope line where voters and supporters are
standing by to really get to know her and meet her.
And what our goal was is to show those interactions. Because people from all over those who agreed with her policies, who might have disagreed,
would come and they would ask her questions from, you know, hey, I'm wondering how you're going to help fix the economy, for example, or hey,
you know, I have this issue in my town that's really important too.
One young woman asked the vice president. I am in a debate class and I really don't know how to succeed at debate. How can you do that?
Someone else asked her, you know, what's your favorite type of taco, right?
Those are the moments that are critical to show the voter base, especially young voters, because, well, we might be privileged to see that side of the
vice president, that dancing, that fun, that joyful warrior side. Most of America doesn't see that and that plays a long way into making sure that
those younger voters can see the person behind the policy.
And that is critically important in a world that is moving so fast, where your media narrative is defined by social media, and where younger voters
are looking for one thing, and that's authenticity at the end of the day.
GOLODRYGA: And that, no doubt, that that is an important part of the electorate, but it's not all of it. And we know there's still some
skepticism in terms of voter turnout among younger populations versus the older population and voters.
And so not to exclude them. We know that a real vulnerability here is cracking through those undecided voters, those Midwestern voters, those
anti-Trump voters as well.
How can this be done? What is the approach that can be taken on social media and the social media campaign for this ticket that doesn't exclude
those voters? In fact, it tries to specifically target them.
THOMPSON: Yes. I mean, first of all, we could determine if Walz is brat and then we could go from there.
But the reality is I think you hit the nail on the head, right? Social media is just one part of an inclusive campaign strategy.
What's going to convince these independent voters and moderate voters, and those who might not be keen on, say, former President Trump, is going to be
how the vice president gets out there and has those one-on-one conversations, how she shows up where they are at the end of the day, and
how she leverages the new vice presidential nominee, Governor Walz, to really have those conversations at the end of the day.
Look, most of America isn't on X, Twitter, right? Most of America isn't looking at Instagram every hour of the day. And we do know the older voters
really are important when it comes to solving a lot of these issues in America.
And so one thing that I think this campaign has done effectively and will need to do is make sure they get these two amazing candidates inside the
spaces where these people are.
So that means, you know, speaking at those small community centers, hosting those rallies in those swing states, as you'll see Harris and the governor
do, over the course the next few weeks or so, but making sure you meet voters where they are specifically.
The voters are there. They're waiting to hear your message. We need to do that in person. And let's amplify that on social media to really make sure
it resonates beyond onto the digital playing field.
GOLODRYGA: What just looking at it, again, this is early hours here. This news just broke a few hours ago.
What actually, in your view, does Tim Walz, just does having him on this ticket? What value added does that bring to a Harris campaign?
THOMPSON: Yes. Candidly, one of the things you've heard a lot about is his Midwestern roots and background, right?
I think one of the things that is critically important about him is in any vice presidential pick is that they are going to be the counselor and
advisor that the office of the president deserves.
A couple of things about him that I found pretty amazing, as I learned more about him over the past few months or so, was that, you know, he's from
Midwestern state. He has worked hard on behalf of voters, both on the Republican side of the aisle, but also on Democrats.
And I think Americans really are looking for people who can really help them in their homes and put aside a lot of this political, you know,
bullying that we see across the board.
The other thing too that I think is really important here is that, you know, the Democratic Party has to expand appeal to all voters and the
governor really helps achieve that.
One of the things that, you know, we're looking at from time and time again is who he is as a person.
And so I really think that when we think about this idea of being that humble fighter, for example, or being that person who is standing up for
the middleclass Americans, and the people who might feel forgotten, over time, the governor can really speak to those voters alongside the vice
president to really make sure that message sinks in.
Sometimes, the best message comes from someone you know and trust and he can make those introductions to introduce the rest of the country to the
vice president that we already know and love.
[12:15:02]
GOLODRYGA: And it is a challenge to balance what he got notoriety, for positive notoriety. And that is coining to the term weird when talking
specifically about Trump and Vance.
But he was clear and quick to point out that that's not indicative of how he feels about Republican voters, even Republican voters who support Trump
and Vance, because this hearkens back to the basket full of deplorables, right, in what Hillary Clinton really got attacked for when she was
describing voters for Trump in 2016.
And here's something that stood out to me in an interview that Walz gave to "The New York Times" just a few days ago. And he said in making the
distinction between Trump and his voters, he said, I keep coming back to this. If they're not voting for us, there's not something wrong with them.
There's something that's not quite clicking. So don't assume that they're just not clever enough to understand what you're selling them.
That really stood out to me. And I'm wondering how much you think that that will be incorporated into their messaging in this campaign.
THOMPSON: Yes. I think one of the things that we found out when the weird comment was made that it took a viral life of its own and became its own
threat across social media that's still being used today.
And that is one of the dangers, but also beautiful things about social media. But putting that aside for a second and looking at this idea of it's
not an us versus them, it's how do we reach the America that is looking for solutions to the common problems that we have.
I think one of the things that's really important here is that we've all said, over the past few weeks, that we need to lower the tone of the
political rhetoric in this nation.
And it's going to take the courageous conversations like Governor Walz has been having about people who people say are on the other side, for example,
of an issue to really help try and unify that and show that the Democratic Party can be a party of consensus. It can be a party that is meeting you
where you are specifically.
Look, I think one of the beautiful things about working on a presidential campaign, besides the lack of sleep that you get and the copious amounts of
sugar you use to keep yourself way up at night, is that you learn that the people who are fighting to be in charge of this country and lead us into
the direction that they are real people.
You learn that, you know, when it rains outside, the vice president sternly asked me where my jacket was because she was certain my mother would not be
pleased if I was outside raining without a jacket, right?
GOLODRYGA: Yes.
THOMPSON: You learn about the people who are on these campaigns. And I think that's what we need to do, right? I think the governor can really
help bring that humanity back into our political conversations, policies about helping people first. And let's amplify that message so we can really
move for resonation and the way we need to.
GOLODRYGA: Jeremy, you know that there had been sort of a public dispute among some of the more moderate Democrats and progressives as to whether
she should go with someone like Walz or the governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, who is very popular in that state, and as you know, a state that
is crucial for Harris to win in order to win the election.
And there has been somewhat of a really upsetting and harmful smear campaign over the past few weeks, specifically targeting Shapiro and
whatever people view his record on Israel, if you really take a deep dive, it's similar along the lines.
If anything, he's been harsher on Prime Minister Netanyahu than some of these other potential candidates.
But one thing that stands out is, obviously, that he is himself Jewish. This is something that Republicans are also pouncing on at this point.
Do you think this is an issue, as we hear from Harris, in the next few hours, perhaps days that you think she needs to address head on?
THOMPSON: Yes, candidly. You know, the anti-Semitism that we've seen in this country is disgusting. And it is indicative of a larger problem where
we're not having the conversations with one another as people and recognizing that there are issues that we all have to tackle all together
as a nation.
One of the things I think that is really important moving forward is that the Vice President and the governor need to move forward and quickly begin
the process of speaking about the values the American people care about for the most.
And I think the Vice President and President Biden have both come down harshly on the fact that, you know, there is no room for anti-Semitism in
the party.
But at the same time, though, as partners and global leaders, we really have to make sure that we are being the partners that the world deserves at
the end of the day.
And so I think as the vice president moves forward, as the governor joins the ticket tonight, and we move to the convention, we're going to see that
healing process move forward. We're going to see people expressing their right to freedom of speech. We're going to see the candidates both try and
find a way to bring that consensus together.
But at the end of the day, we're trying to figure out, how do we take the American values of a better future of hope and take that and move that
forward and communicate that?
Because at the end of the day, when the new president is sworn in, whomever that might be, you know, we're going to have to move forward as one country
and tackle these issues together.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. And we should know Josh Shapiro has already issued a statement on X, his full support of this ticket and saying that he will do
anything he can to help them through the election and win the election. We'll likely see him later today in Philadelphia as well.
[12:20:07]
Jeremy Thompson, thank you so much.
THOMPSON: Thank you.
GOLODRYGA: And still to come for us, a revived democratic ticket is giving some voters momentum for the Harris-Walz race for the White House.
Plus, violent anti-immigration protest grip U.K. cities following the stabbing of three young girls. Now, the new prime minister must respond to
the country's worst discord in more than a decade.
And why some Israeli soldiers are speaking out against the war in Gaza and are refusing to go back to fight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL OFER ZIV, FORMER ISRAELI RESERVIST: The main vibe was we shoot first, ask questions later.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It became clear to you that the system was not doing all the code to protect civilians.
OFER ZIV: Yes, yes, yes. Very, very clear at some point.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GOLODRYGA: About 100 people have been charged in connection with riots that have swept the U.K. Among them, a man charged with stirring up racial
hatred online.
The Crown Prosecution Service says, they've been working around the clock to make sure justice is served.
Violence has gripped U.K. cities in recent days after far-right protesters seized upon the deadly stabbing of three young girls in Southport last
month, spreading anti-immigration disinformation.
In Belfast, a man is in serious condition following an attack that police say they're treating as a hate crime.
And in Southwest England, in the town of Plymouth, several police officers and members of the public were injured after anti-immigration protesters
faced off against counter-protesters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I feel threatened, scared to come out of my house because Muslim people were not terrorists. That's how I feel like --
I feel like we're being threatened. It's not safe.
What we do as Muslims, we just pray five times a day. You know, we're not - - we're not terrorists. That's against our religion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Britain's Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, will chair another emergency Cobra meeting in the coming hours. He says the unrest is not
protest, but, quote, violent discord. He will head up another emergency government meeting Tuesday night to discuss the response to the disorder.
[12:25:01]
Some Israeli soldiers who have fought in Gaza are reconsidering what they were ordered to do in the enclave.
One former reservist tell CNN that he witnessed serious misconduct and says many troops were motivated by anger or revenge for the October 7th attacks.
Jeremy Diamond speaks to some Israelis who now are refusing to go back to war.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DIAMOND: Michael Ofer Ziv isn't just protesting Israel's war in Gaza. He served in it.
And now as the war enters its 11th month, he is refusing to serve again.
OFER ZIV: It just feels like this is my duty now. Like after doing whatever I did there, I feel like my duty to oppose this as much as I can to raise
my voice to be part of this -- of this fight.
DIAMOND: Michael served as a fire control officer, monitoring threats to Israeli forces in Gaza and approving airstrikes from across the border.
You were watching live feeds of these airstrikes happening.
OFER ZIV: Yes.
DIAMOND: And what were you seeing?
OFER ZIV: No audio, just video. We just see the feed. And then all of a sudden, you see just a building goes boom, you know, goes up in flames,
like a big mushroom of clouds.
DIAMOND: Looks like a video game.
OFER ZIV: Exactly.
And then you start seeing the aftermath of those strikes. At some point, your brain kind of cannot disconnect those two things anymore and they
start to connect.
This is happening in real life and has actual effect on those people. So you start connecting the dots.
DIAMOND: Once he connected those dots, there was no going back.
At the end of May, he and 40 other military reservists said they would not serve again, signing an open letter declaring, "Our conscience does not
allow us to stand up and lend a hand to the desecration of the lives of the hostages and to sabotage another deal."
OFER ZIV: I'm actually supposed to be there now. I was called back and told them I cannot come. I cannot, in clear conscience, come and do this and in
clear mind and heart, I cannot -- just cannot participate in this thing.
The main vibe was we shoot first, ask questions later.
DIAMOND: It became clear to you that the system was not doing all the code to protect civilians.
OFER ZIV: Yes, yes, yes. Very, very clear at some point.
YUVAL GREEN, FORMER ISRAELI RESERVIST: Because most of the pictures are taken --
DIAMOND: Yuval Green is taking the same stand after wrestling for months with his service as a combat medic in Gaza.
GREEN: I was always in conflict. It wasn't simple. But I felt like I can't abandon my friends at this moment, you know, when they need me the most.
DIAMOND: But the immeasurable destruction around him became impossible to ignore. And so was the language of revenge, he says, that seemed to imbue
everything Israeli soldiers in his unit did in Gaza.
GREEN: The way they spoke, the violent way they spoke, you know, ideas like killing the entire population of Gaza suddenly became almost normal.
DIAMOND: What was that moment when you decided, I can't be a part of this anymore?
GREEN: Basically they told us to -- after one of the houses we've used to protect ourselves, we went out of it. And this was a house in the middle of
the Khan Yunis, a place that would be definitely rehabilitated by the Palestinians afterwards.
And they told us to burn it down because we're burning down every house we're coming out of. And I said, all right, this is just not a good enough
reason to take away the house of two or three families. I'm not doing that. And if we're doing that, I'm leaving.
The commander of my company just didn't have good enough answers. And I just left.
DIAMOND: The next day, Yuval jumped into a vehicle making a supply run out of Gaza. He never went back.
There is a sense in Israel that if you refuse to serve or if you criticize the war, that you could be viewed as a traitor in some ways. Yes.
GREEN: A lot of the closer -- of my closer friends and, you know, families are, you know, are more afraid that I'd be harmed because of those
interviews than it was in Gaza. Crazy, right?
DIAMOND: The Israeli military has yet to try and call Yuval back to active duty.
But as the war rages on and a wider regional war looms, the military could prosecute Yuval and Michael for refusing to serve.
OFER ZIV: I do prefer to go to jail than to participate in what we're doing in Gaza. But I prefer to do neither if it's possible.
DIAMOND: He may need a ceasefire to turn that hope into reality.
Now, in response to Yuval Green's allegations, the Israeli military says that it follows Israeli and international law and that buildings are only
destroyed in order to, quote, remove a threat.
They say that any destructions of buildings that don't fit operational needs are, quote, contrary to the army's orders and the IDF's values and
will be examined.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Haifa, Israel.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:30:38]
GOLODRYGA: Welcome back to ONE WORLD. I'm Bianna Golodryga.
Kamala Harris' choice for a running mate has been in politics for about 20 years, but largely unknown to most Americans.
Tim Walz is currently serving as a second term as U.S. -- as Minnesota's governor. Before that, he served in Congress for 12 years. Walz is a former
high school teacher and football coach and also served in the Army National Guards.
CNN's Brian Todd has more on who Tim Walz is.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): I give you our Burleigh (ph) High School teacher from Mankato.
(CHEERING)
BRIAN TODD, CN CORRESPONDENT: Tim Walz has come up with an attack line against Donald Trump and J.D. Vance that's taken off.
WALZ: We're not afraid of weird people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
WALZ: We're a little bit creeped out, but we're not afraid.
TODD: Walz, not only doubled down on the line, but expanded on it when describing Trump on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" on Sunday.
WALZ: Have you ever seen the guy laugh? That seems very weird to me that an adult can go through six and a half years of being in the public eye. If he
has laughed, it's at someone, not with someone. That is weird behavior.
TODD: Walz has been characterizing the former president as weird for months, observers say, and now Kamala Harris and other top Democrats have
run with it.
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, DEMOCRATIC VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: And some of what he and his running mate are saying,
well, it's just plain weird.
(LAUGH)
BRIANA BIERSCHBACH, MINNESOTA REPORTER, STAR TRIBUNE: He just skyrocketed onto the national scene. I really think that he is taken on a new level in
terms of his national profile in the hunt for a new VP.
[12:35:04]
TODD: Tim Walz, a former six-term congressman who's in his second term as Minnesota's governor, served for more than 20 years in the Army National
Guard and was a high school geography teacher and football coach in rural Mankato.
Analysts say he enjoys a good popularity rating in the liberal leaning state, having pursued several progressive initiatives, including tighter
gun control laws.
One local reporter says even though he comes from a Republican leaning district, he speaks a language all Minnesotans can relate to.
BIERSCHBACH: He's very folksy. He kind of has this Midwestern dad vibe. He really knows how to kind of jump into a conversation with a stranger and
then make them feel like he's listening to them.
TODD: His state was front and center during the 2020 riots and damage in Minneapolis, following the murder of George Floyd by a police officer
there.
BIERSCHBACH: That is something that Republicans have been very critical about for years and use that against Walz.
TODD: So, can Walls help Harris in a state that Trump is hoping to turn into a battleground?
EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: He is possibly a bulwark against there being a real challenge in Minnesota for the
democratic ticket.
Minnesota is a state in 2016 and in 2020, again, Donald Trump said that he wanted to win and he thought he could.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GOLODRYGA: For more analysis on Kamala Harris' choice for running mate, democratic strategist, Caroline Heldman, joins us now live from Los
Angeles.
So here's what we know about Tim Walz. He's 60 years old, roughly the same age as Kamala Harris. He is a former National Guardsman, a former teacher,
a former football coach, calls himself burly, a former congressman, a hunter and gun owner.
And yet, over the years, he has in terms of his policy shifted a bit to the left. What if any element do you think brings the most to this to this
ticket at this point?
CAROLINE HELDMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, I don't think Kamala Harris had any bad choices in her top three picks. This feels like a vibe pick for
a vibe campaign.
Tim Walz is has this folksy way about him. He appeals to others in the center and across the political aisle. This is a man who unseated a long
time Republican in a congressional seat, in a rural area in Minnesota. So he definitely can reach the voters that Kamala Harris wants to reach.
I also think it was very strategic, right? She could have gone with a Sunbelt pick with Mark Kelly. And it's a harder road through Arizona,
Nevada, Georgia and North Carolina, but she's centering on the Rust Belt states, right? Wisconsin, Pennsylvania.
She is looking to have -- and Michigan. She's looking to have a win there. And there's lots of paths to victory. She clearly chose one by going with a
Midwesterner.
GOLODRYGA: Did she risk not going with Josh Shapiro for no other reason that she needs a win in Pennsylvania and he indeed is very popular there?
HELDMAN: You know, it's hard to say why she made that choice. I would guess that anytime you're talking about the presidency, there's going to be a
certain amount of anti-Semitism.
And I think it's heightened right now, even though Josh Shapiro had the same stance as all the other VP picks on Israel, he is seen as being more
pro-Israel than the other candidates by, I would say, the illiberal sliver on the left.
I don't know what our calculus was, but I'm imagining that 61 percent approval rating in Pennsylvania means that she'll probably do well in that
state. And maybe Tim Walz is going to appeal to folks in Wisconsin and Michigan.
Again, hard to say, but no bad picks for Kamala Harris.
GOLODRYGA: And Tim Walz was viewed by some Minnesotans and more of a moderate Democrat when he was first elected governor in 2018.
And as we noted, some of his policies have shifted to the left over time. He supports universal free school meals for students, voting rights for
formerly incarcerated, driver's licenses for migrants.
He also passed a paid leave and medical leave, sick leave, transgender rights protections, a tax credit aimed at low-income parents and a $1
billion investment in affordable housing. All of that collectively now is being used against him by the Trump-Vance ticket.
In fact, I'd like to play sound for you for what we just heard from J.D. Vance in response to this pick.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VANCE: Walz' record is a joke. He's been one of the most far left radicals in the entire United States government at any level.
But I think that what Tim Walz' selection says is that Kamala Harris has bent the knee to the far left of her party, which is what she always does.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: So we should also know J.D. Vance said that he called, tried it to call Tim Walz, left him a voicemail to congratulate him. He also said
that he is open and eager to debate him as well.
But how does the now Harris-Walz ticket combat that description?
HELDMAN: Well, that's a great strategy for the Republicans, right? Maybe they finally found something that will stick. Certainly, Tim Walz
popularizing weird is sticking with his critiques of Vance and Trump.
[12:40:09]
I think it's going to be a hard push for Kamala Harris, who is, you know, from San Francisco and California to be framed as anything but liberal. But
I imagine that Tim Walz will come out and share a lot of his more conservative or centrist policies.
This is a man who, you know, that Donald Trump is really challenged, trying to get Minnesota. And in fact with Biden on the top of the ticket, it was a
competitive state.
So he is coming from a part of the country that is far more centrist and he's going to play upon that.
I mean, this is a man who was, at one time, a high school teacher, a football coach, a military man and also the head of the gay-straight
alliance at his school. I think that really tells you a lot about who he is and how he can package himself to the center.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. It's really hard to just paint him with one broad brush stroke because, as you said, even going back to his earlier days, I mean,
he voted more moderately. And given the fact that he seemed to be an all- American kind of guy, a high school, a football coach, a teacher as well, a former National Guardsman. So he does seem to bring a lot to the ticket.
Caroline Heldman, thank you.
HELDMAN: Thank you so much.
GOLODRYGA: And still to come for us, a tornado watch is in effect for the Carolinas, including the city of Charleston, as Tropical Storm Debby moves
northeastward. We'll have a live report ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GOLODRYGA: All right. Now, millions across the U.S. southeast are bracing for more heavy rain, possible tornadoes and power outages, as Tropical
Storm Debby hammers the region for a second straight day.
At least five deaths are associated with Debby, so far, including four in Florida.
The storm, which may landfall on Monday as a hurricane, has also triggered a number of reported tornadoes in Florida and South Carolina.
And right now, a tornado watch is in effect for the Carolinas, including the city of Charleston.
CNN's Ryan Young is in Charleston right now, feeling the effects of the storm firsthand there. We see you standing in water.
From your vantage point, Ryan, what more can you tell us about the storm and its impact on residents there?
RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, if there is a bit of good news, that water has sort of lessen. We've seen it recede a lot and
the rain has really curtailed off.
Look, they got as much rain as they get in a month within a one day period.
[12:45:01]
And you can see there are areas just like this where it's been hard for people to pass. But these folks live on the coast, so we've seen a lot of
people walking their dogs, feeling stir crazy about the amount of rain that's going to be able to drop in the next 24 hours or so.
Fifty thousand sandbags were handed out to people all throughout this yesterday so they could be prepared for what was coming.
And so far, if you look down this direction, you can also see where some of the cars have tried to pass some of these waterways.
Now, some folks will turn around. We talked to one worker who was trying to get to work this morning. He worked at the port. One of the things he says
is, we have to make sure the boats were able to get through.
It took him two hours to get to work today. Normally, it takes 45 minutes.
If you look here, some cars, they're just not going to wait. They're going to try to pass through this water. That's what emergency officials were
worried about earlier today. People trying to do this when it was dark.
Luckily, no one got trapped. They had over 100 calls for service earlier today.
But take a listen to the man who said it was very treacherous getting on the way to work this morning.
Apparently, we don't have that slide. And you can tell, look, some people are very impatient. They're upset about the fact that some of the blockages
that are happening all throughout the city.
What we do know is in the next few hours or so, there'll be more rain coming through this area. There have been estimates of over 12 inches of
rain that could pierce this area in terms of making sure that ground is wet. Large trees have already started to fall. That's what they're
concerned about.
But right now, the people of Charleston have their fingers crossed that this is all they'll see because right now, the rain is not hitting that
hard.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. It is really a stubborn storm in the sense that it is slow moving and the concern about flooding and continued rains is a top priority
there also.
YOUNG: They're just hanging around.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. And also, a lot of worry about losing power.
Ryan Young, he'll keep us posted. Thank you so much.
YOUNG: Absolutely.
GOLODRYGA: Well, coming up for us --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PABLO CORREA, CO-FOUNDER, RURAL ARIZONA ENGAGEMENT: It's palpable. Now there's excitement. And if you can throw excitement on top of duty, there
is something closer to home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Some Democratic voters in key states are now weighing in on the race for the White House.
We'll take you to Arizona to see what Democrats are contending with. That story, just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:50:01]
GOLODRYGA: With the breaking news today that Kamala Harris has picked Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate. The race for the White
House is now set, Harris-Walz versus Trump-Vance.
And today's race looks a lot different than the one three weeks ago with President Joe Biden still in the mix.
CNN's John King shows us how the change at the top of the democratic ticket is playing out in the key battleground state of Arizona.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Door to door in the scorching desert heat.
CORREA (ph): It's hot out here though. Not much of a shadow in the middle of the day.
KING: Looking for votes in a place where everyone matters.
JACOB DIALS, CANVASSING MANAGER, RURAL ARIZONA ENGAGEMENT: We're just going around talking to voters.
This is Pinal County, Arizona. It is rural, Republican, and the pre- canvassing meeting --
DIALS: Stay safe, hydrate.
KING: -- includes a reminder a lot of Trump voters aren't happy when a progressive comes calling.
CORREA: You know it's getting hot out there. We definitely know it's not just the temperature. We just keep it moving, you know. Tell them thank
you. Have a good day.
Pablo Correa and Jacob Dials also walked these streets in 2020 when Joe Biden won Arizona by just 10,000 votes.
This year, things were looking rough. But now, this handout is a keepsake.
Ever had a campaign year like this?
CORREA: Ever had a campaign year like this?
DIALS: No.
KING: A new version with Kamala Harris is at the print shop.
DIALS: Now we're hearing conversations about like hope. I already told my friends, my family, my neighbor to go out and vote versus, yes, I'm going
to go out and vote probably.
KING: The canvassers are more excited. Democratic voters too.
CORREA: It's palpable. Now, there's excitement. And if you can throw excitement on top of duty, there is something closer to home with Harris at
the top of the ticket.
DIALS: It's way easier to support a candidate who can actually see go out and campaign and you like you have -- you have that energy around you.
KING: Melissa Cordero is proof of the new energy. She's much more active, she says, since her phone started humming at late July Sunday Biden stepped
aside.
MELISSA CORDERO, ARIZONA VOTER: I mean just red dots all over my phone screen, you know. Everybody's like, did you -- did you -- you know, did you
see this?
KING: Cordero is an Air Force veteran, active in a group called Common Defense. She was loyal to Biden when we first visited four months ago.
Excited to work with fellow veterans and other friends to back Harris now.
CORDERO: Not all veterans are for Trump. Not all veterans are MAGA crazy, Second Amendment people. There are ones out there that truly believe in
democracy and we want things like our reproductive freedom.
I think Kamala coming in has brought this like just energy that wasn't there.
KING: Sustaining that new energy for three months is one giant Harris challenge. Cordero also hopes for contrast with Trump on immigration and
other pressing issues here.
CORDERO: Jobs, money, rent caps, all the things that, you know, cause a lot of stress.
NICO RIOS, ARIZONA VOTER: There's a lot of art done here.
KING: Nico Rios was too young to vote in 2020, but supported Biden. He's 19 now. Compares Trumpism to fascism, eager to vote, but not for Harris.
RIOS: I can't commit to the Democrats. I used to think that they were better. I just don't.
KING: Rio sees both Harris and Trump as too harsh on asylum seekers and other migrants.
RIOS: Free Palestine.
KING: And his biggest issue is the Hamas-Israel conflict. Rios supports a socialist candidate who opposes any aid to Israel.
RIOS: There's nothing that Kamala can do in the next what, two, three months, that can wash that blood from her hands in my view.
KING: Harris can't win battlegrounds like Arizona if she doesn't reverse Biden's slide with Latinos and with young voters.
Rios does see some shift, but doubts Harris can do enough.
RIOS: I've certainly had friends ask me or had conversations about, you know, what's Kamala's deal? Is she better? Is she this? Is she that?
And so those conversations are certainly happening. I just don't know if they're happening in the numbers that the Democratic Party was hoping for.
KING: Tucson is Pima County, reliably blue. But independents like Ray Flores help settle competitive races.
He remains just where he was when we first met in March, planning to vote third-party.
RAY FLORES, ARIZONA VOTER: Who's the Libertarian Party right now?
KING: Flores sees both major parties as too focused on power and personalities as engines of division, not solutions.
FLORES: It's not, hey, let's win, it's humiliation, it's destruction. I kind of feel glad that the Olympics is going on right now.
I like when I see our country shaking hands and hugging other countries. And I wish that politics had the same respect for the competition that
sports does.
KING: El Charro Steak is one of a dozen restaurants Flores owns. He was in Europe on a month long family vacation when Trump was shot at and when
Biden stepped aside.
FLORES: I think our brand is important and it was -- it was being laughed at. I didn't like that we were the butt of the joke.
KING: Back now to catch up on business and a changed presidential race.
FLORES: I do look forward to seeing some sort of debate between them. I think that would be more than good television. I think it would be eye-
opening to see how they respond to each other.
This is a whole new game, right? So this is a fresh new -- and I think we can all -- should all kind of peel back and look at this as in a fresh new
way.
KING: A race with more fire and more energy now. A new option, perhaps enough to warrant another look at the menu.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[12:55:07]
GOLODRYGA: Our thanks to John King for that eye-opening report.
Well, some calm is returning to the world's biggest economy after Monday's massive stock tumble on Wall Street.
Investors were spooked Monday by a combination of fears about potentially slowing U.S. growth, rising Japanese interest rates and crumbling tech
stocks that triggered the meltdown.
We'll continue to watch the market. There you see the Dow up nearly a point, one -- a percentage and a half.
Well, that does it for this hour of ONE WORLD. Thanks so much for watching. I'm Bianna Golodryga.
I'll be right back with "AMANPOUR" in just a few minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:00:00]
END
