Key takeaways from the first interview between Harris and Walz

US Vice President Kamala Harris has defended her decision to change her views on key issues in her first interview since entering the presidential race.

The Democratic candidate was asked why her policies on immigration and climate have become more moderate since she ran for president in 2019.

“I think the most important and meaningful aspect of my views and policy decisions is that my values ​​have not changed,” she told CNN’s Dana Bash.

She also vowed to “turn the page” on Trump’s divisive rhetoric, in a joint interview with her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

Her Republican opponent, Donald Trump, described the interview as “BORING!!!” on Truth Social when it ended, and described Ms Harris as a fraud.

The vice president was forced to defend the White House’s economic record as inflation and high costs of living continued to hurt the American people.

When asked why she had not yet implemented her ideas to solve economic difficulties, she said they had done a lot of good but there was still much to do.

Polls show voters like Trump’s handling of the economy.

Here are the key takeaways from the interview.

Asked about her shift from a liberal to a more moderate policy stance, she said her values ​​remained consistent, citing her commitment to tackling climate change as an example.

Asked about her reversal of the ban on fracking, a technique for extracting gas and oil from shale rock, she said she believed the United States’ climate goals could be achieved without a ban.

The main target of Republican attacks is to paint Ms. Harris as an extremist, citing her 2019 statements as evidence.

At the time, she also advocated closing immigration detention centers and legalizing illegal border crossings.

She has taken a tougher stance on the border now, citing her time “prosecuting transnational criminal organizations” as California attorney general.

Earlier this year, she sponsored a bipartisan border security bill that included hundreds of millions of dollars to build more wall.

Trump has pressured Republicans in Congress to kill the deal, which Harris said in an interview with CNN was a cynical political move.

Ms Harris was also asked about the war in Gaza and reiterated the White House’s stance that both Israel and Hamas must “get a deal done” and that Palestinians deserve their own state in neighbouring Israel.

“This war must end and we must reach an agreement on the release of the hostages,” she said.

While stressing the importance of the deal, she did not give specific details about how it was reached.

She will not commit to an arms embargo on Israel as some leftists in her party have demanded.

In explaining her moderate views on immigration, the Democratic candidate told CNN that her travels around the country as vice president made her believe in consensus building.

She added that she would put a Republican in her presidential cabinet.

She said this would help her fulfill her promise to be a president “for all Americans.”

“I’ve spent my career engaging in diversity of opinion. I think it’s important to have people with different perspectives on the table when making some of the most important decisions.”

CNN’s Dana Bash asked Harris, whose parents immigrated from Jamaica and India, about Trump’s recent comments suggesting she adopted a black identity in her later years for political purposes.

The comments have sparked outrage but the vice president has yet to respond.

This time she answered very briefly.

“Same old, boring script. Please answer the next question.”

Asked later in the interview about the historic nature of her candidacy, she said she believed she was the best person to be president for all Americans, regardless of race and gender.

Mr. Walz was asked about his misleading statements about military service and his personal struggles to have children.

Ms Bash asked him to clarify a comment he made in which he said he “carried” an assault rifle in “war”. The campaign clarified that Mr Walz had never been in a war zone.

The governor said he was “emotional” and “speaking passionately” about gun crime in schools when he made the inaccurate statement.

That “passion” also extended to his inaccurate assertion that his wife used in vitro fertilization (IVF) — a politically contentious topic in the U.S. abortion rights debate — to conceive.

She had intrauterine insemination, not in vitro fertilization.

“I talk about our infertility problem because it’s hell, and families know it,” he told CNN.

Ms. Harris described the moment President Biden called her to share that he had decided to end his re-election bid in July.

She said her family was visiting her when she got the phone call. They had just eaten pancakes and bacon and were doing a puzzle.

“Honestly, my first thought was not about myself, it was about him,” Ms Harris said when asked if she would ask him for his support.

The vice president also suggested that the president could serve again.

“He’s very smart, and I’ve spent many hours with him in the Oval Office and in the situation room. He has the intelligence, the commitment, the judgment and the character that I think the American people deserve in their president.”

On the contrary, she said, Trump has none of the above qualities.