Why Kamala Harris Chose Tim Walz
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for every life-saving treatment, for every next step, for every care in the world. Cleveland Clinic. It's Wednesday, August 7th, right now on CNN This Morning. Don't ever underestimate teachers. Teacher, coach, National Guardsman, now candidate for Vice President Tim Walz introduces himself to America Plus. But the fact that Kamala Harris selected him, I think shows really, really poor judgment.

Donald Trump and J.D. Vance trying to define walls on their terms, giving us a sneak peek at their plan of attack. And this. And you know what else I love? I love being your governor. Why it didn't go to Josh Shapiro, who at one point seemed to be the VP favorite. Plus, Debbie still wreaking havoc as cities up and down the East Coast deal with massive flooding.

All right, 6 a.m. here in Washington, a live look at the White House on this Wednesday morning. Good morning, everyone. I'm Casey Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us. This morning, the newly minted Democratic ticket heading out onto the campaign trail with a jolt of energy.

I was in the room in Philadelphia last night and I have to say the excitement was at a level that has just been quite frankly completely missing from democratic events in recent cycles. Basically, since President Obama was running for reelection, here's a little bit of what it looked like. That was the moment that Walls and Harris took the stage together. Minnesota Governor Tim Walls and the current vice president introducing her pick for her own number two to a country that doesn't know him yet.

To his fellow veterans, he is Sergeant Major Waltz. To his former high school students, he was Mr. Waltz. And to his former high school football players, he was Coach. And in 91 days, the nation will know Coach Waltz by another name, Vice President of the United States.

Walls talked about his Midwestern roots, his military service, his record as governor. But it was Walls' attacks against Donald Trump and running mate J.D. Vance that drew roars from the crowd. If Trump gets a chance to return, he's going to pick up exactly where he left off four years ago. And I got to tell you, his running mate shares his dangerous and backward agenda for this country. These guys are creepy and yes, just weird as hell. That's what you see. That's what you see.

So you know what's out there. So say it with me. We aren't going back. We're going back. We are not going back.

All right, our panel is here to discuss Jeff Mason, White House correspondent for Reuters, Mo Alifi, the former communications director for the DNC, and Jonah Goldberg, CNN political commentator, co-founder of The Dispatch. Good morning to all of you. So, Mo, I have to say, the big Mo was with the Democrats last night in a way that, you know, I did not see on the trail with Democrats.

Hillary Clinton, quite frankly, Joe Biden similarly struggled to get a crowd going like this. What was your sense of how Walls and the presumptive nominee herself, Harris, rose to this moment or not? Yeah, I mean, holy smokes. This was...

I almost didn't recognize my own party, right? Right. Last night. This was, you know, Casey, I remember when we were in Milwaukee for the Republican convention talking. Yes. And talking about the energy and excitement that you felt there. And I remember thinking to myself, like, how do we come back from this? How do we combat it? There was no way to do it with Biden. This is how we do it.

Right. Last night, we saw not just two, but three national political figures on that stage with an energy and an excitement and a crowd that was fueling it. It's a whole new it's a whole new ballgame. And I think both

of the party's nominees last night rose to the occasion and Tim Walz introduced himself in a way that for those who didn't know him really connected I think with with a lot of folks so uh everyone I know in the party is love and life today yeah Jonah Goldberg uh ahead of this uh rally there were a lot of uh

Republicans who don't like Donald Trump, who were lamenting that this did not go to Josh Shapiro, the Pennsylvania governor. We're going to kind of show a little bit of what he had to say later on in the show. But I'm curious how you think Walz acquitted himself last night. If you still...

I feel like there was a shift from, oh, they should have picked Shapiro, to, well, OK, this guy has a profile that perhaps will appeal to rural Americans in a way that maybe Shapiro actually wouldn't. What is your sense of how he performed and the way they're trying to present him? Yes, it's funny. I was recording my podcast yesterday morning right around the time this was announced, and I was telling Jonathan Rauch from The Atlantic, oh, I think this is a big mistake. I think this is the first misstep since the rollout of Kamala Harris.

I think I've changed my mind about it a little bit. Interesting. Before I get to that, just stipulate, if they lose Pennsylvania, this was a terrible pick. And that will be remembered as a terrible pick simply because if a governor can bring you 10,000 votes and has a ground game that helps you carry the state, you have to win, and you don't carry it, there's going to be recriminations. That said, I've been saying for two years that this is a vibes election. And every time I try to come up with another mode of analysis, I'm proven wrong, right?

The right, the Trump campaign will go hard at his progressive record, and they should, because there's a lot of the stuff there that is worthy of attacking from a conservative point of view. But on the vibes level, he just comes across as a Midwestern good dude, right? And I think that that is a really good balance for Harris. I think it is a good...

opposition to JD Vance. And I think the most telling line that I think is more important isn't the weird thing, and I thought the couch thing was a false note.

is when he talks about how Kamala brings the joy, whether you love Trump or hate Trump, it's always so unbelievably dark and dour. And to have an optimistic candidate who's a ticket that is enjoying things, I think sends a really good message electorally, but particularly for the Democrats.

I mean, that does seem to be, Jeff, the biggest. It honestly feels like the biggest difference, what Jonah just hit on, kind of the vibes, quote unquote. I mean, they're different from when Hillary was running. I mean, even then, I mean, Democrats struggled to get excited about her campaign. And then with Biden, there was just this sense of dread, you know, and by the end, everyone was just...

hoping that nothing bad happened. This is so completely different. And the contrast with the Trump side of it is also stark, as Jonas says. - I remember in 2016 when Trump was getting these big crowds and making such a big deal of it that there was some counter spinning saying that crowds don't matter. You know, it doesn't matter that he's getting these big groups and that's not necessarily a sign that things aren't going very well on the other side. And then of course he won.

I think some crowds and energy really do matter. And I think that what Mo was getting to there is

is a sign and it's also something that we're seeing in terms of money, we're seeing in terms of volunteers coming out, and now you're seeing this voter enthusiasm in the stadiums. I remember at the conclusion about a week, week and a half before election day in 2016, I said something on the air about how covering Hillary Clinton didn't feel like covering a winning campaign in the final weeks and basically got laughed at by

the Hillary team because they were so sure that they were going to win. There is, I think, very much something to what you can feel energy wise. And the Kamala...

The Kamala Harris team actually put this up, Mo, on Truth Social. So that's Trump's platform. OK, if we're going to talk about crowd sizes, they're comparing the crowd in that this is the same arena in Philly. And they're arguing that it's a little bit hard to see, but they're arguing that the Trump crowd is smaller than the Harris Walls crowd was last year.

last night in Philadelphia, I will say that if we're going to go by crowd size, you know, they had a good night. They had a good night. And look, I think Jonah's point is one that can't be said enough. I think every election, frankly, is a vibes election in some way or another. And I think there are really only two vibes that matter in American politics.

One is hope and joy, and the other is fear and anger. What you saw last night was a party that is betting on the fact that people are tired of fear and anger, and so they're going to give to them the hope and the joy, right? A good campaign is one where the candidate and the crowd and the voters feed off of one another's energy.

And if last night can be sustained, like that's a good place to go into the fall. - Well, and Trump 2016, Jonah, was not devoid of fun. It just wasn't. Whereas now it's considerably different from that.

Yeah, and that's in part because Trump doesn't have a lot of new material, right? So it's like... And a lot of really terrible things have happened in that. And a lot of terrible things have happened. But like, and Trump's kind of bitter and all that kind of stuff. But the people who show up at his rallies are like the guys who shout, you know, Freebird at a Skinner concert. Like, they just want to hear the greatest hits over and over again. I don't know that that attracts new people to it. That energy now is kind of kitschy. I will also just say...

We'll talk about Shapiro in a second, but this is the first Democratic ticket

Jimmy Carter that doesn't have a lawyer, without a lawyer on one of the spots, right? I mean, like, Waltz is the first one who doesn't come from that slice of the meritocracy of the Democratic side that talks like a lawyer. And I think that that's part of the vibes thing, too. He talks like a normal person. Well, and also, can we put up just a VO of that, the video that Tim Walz had where they were

we're talking so Kamala Harris calls Tim Walz, right? Tim Walz takes the phone call from him. He's wearing a camouflage hat right there, right? And he's not, this is something he also seems to wear in his normal life. They start selling these hats on the Harris HQ website, like right away, they apparently sell out

Immediately, I mean, Jonah, this is something that like walls can do authentically that not a lot of Democrats in national office can these days. Yeah, and I don't think people should get ahead of themselves. They're not going to win the white non-college educated working class vote, right? They're not going to take that demographic away from Trump.

But they might limit how bad the damage is, right? If this whole election is going to be at the margins in a handful of states, if you can just keep Trump's gains to put a ceiling on them, that's enough. And I think that that sort of helps. Yeah, really interesting. All right, coming up next here on CNN this morning, a very striking result in a closely watched primary. It was radicalized means.

Cori Bush, member of the squad, vowing to fight back after losing her house seat. Plus, Tropical Storm Debbie regaining strength, about to make a second landfall. And this. We're white guys from the Midwest. I guess there are similarities there. J.D. Vance and Tim Walls already taking jabs at each other.

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Another member of the progressive House group known as the Squad now out. Congresswoman Cori Bush lost the Democratic primary in her Missouri seat on Tuesday. St. Louis prosecuting attorney Wesley Bell will now be on the ballot in November. But this race got nasty. And so, and I'll be honest, I was still good. But there were a couple times that, you know, it started getting to me a little bit.

At the center of the race was Bush's stance on the Israel-Hamas war. Bush was targeted by the pro-Israel group AIPAC. The group spent almost $9 million criticizing Bush and boosting her opponent. AIPAC also played in the race that ousted New York Congressman Jamal Bowman six weeks ago. Bush vowed to use her remaining time in Congress to fight back. As much as I love my job, what they did was radicalize me.

There's a lot there, Jonah Goldberg. Or Mo, actually. I should probably give this one to you. Since it's your party. I feel like I see there why she was so polarizing and why this result played out the way it did. Yeah, look. Yes.

her position on Israel-Gaza drew in a lot of outside attention and APEC got involved. And understandable to some point, right? Like you can and should be pro-Palestinian and still be able to say Hamas is a terror organization, which she had trouble saying, right? So I get that part of it. But the thing that she and Jamal Bowman had

in common besides the attention from AIPAC was they were both also really bad candidates and flawed candidates for other reasons. She was under investigation by the DOJ and House Ethics for improper use of funds.

She was really, really strident on some things like infrastructure. And so it's one of those things where I think you can definitely see some national lessons here, but also the biggest lesson is candidates actually matter, and I don't think she was the best for that district.

hard to say better than mo i mean that that matters a lot the strength of the candidate but i think it also underscores the importance of money in an election in the fact that the group like a pack was able to come in and have that sort of an impact with millions of dollars

just underscores how much that influence and how much impact that can have. - Yeah, I'm skeptical about the money part. I don't know about the Cori Bush race. - May have boosted her opponent. - Yeah, I know, but in the Jamal Bowman thing, I think if AIPAC hadn't intervened at all, Bowman would have still lost. First of all, I think nature's healing. What happens a lot, and this happens with Republicans as well, is that when they have really good years, some really bad candidates are swept in on waves.

And then when the tide goes back out, you're left saying, how do we get this detritus? And I think that, you know, Cori Bush was, for reasons having nothing to do with Israel stuff, a bad congressman, very radical, very left wing, and the Democratic Party is better off without her.

Coming up next here, talk about a hazard. Next, a golfer in California nearly hit by a crashing plane. I'm surprised nobody put the word for in this tease. This is one of five things you have to see this morning. Plus, America getting to know Kamala Harris's newly minted running mate. But then we're going to go get some food, corn dog. I'm vegetarian. Turkey then. Turkey's meat. Not in Minnesota, turkey's special.

All right, 24 minutes past the hour. Five things you have to see this morning. Here it is. Four, a wildly close call for a golfer after this plane crash landed on a course in Sacramento. The plane's engine failed when it was about 400 feet in the air. This is so terrifying. The NTSB is now investigating.

A baby is among those rescued from a German hotel after it collapsed overnight. At least one person was killed. There's no word on what caused this collapse. Fire crews say that the building is still shifting and they're still searching for several people who are missing.

An extra bumpy ride for people on the Santa Monica Pier after a 5.2 magnitude earthquake hit Southern California late last night. Officials there say there's a quote, low likelihood of any deaths or damage. The quake was centered just south of Bakersfield.

The Edge Hill fire destroying properties and injuring a firefighter in San Bernardino County, California. It is now fully contained with firefighters forced to battle the flames in 109 degree temperatures on Tuesday. All right, her tropical storm Debbie continues its path across the East Coast. Here you see damage in parts of Sarasota, Florida, where more than 17 inches of rain fell from Saturday morning

to Tuesday night and we are not done with it yet. Time now for weather. Debbie is expected to make a second landfall on Thursday after it regained strength off the Georgia South Carolina coast. Let's get to our meteorologist Allison Chinchart with more on this. Allison, good morning.

And good morning. And you said Thursday. I think that's kind of the key point. It's going to sit here for at least another day before it finally makes that second landfall, which means it's got a lot of time to dump even more rainfall on a lot of these areas that have seen plenty enough. Tropical Storm Debbie still has sustained winds of 45 miles per hour. That is actually up from the overnight because now that it's back over open water, it's able to intensify a little bit more. Very early into Thursday, we anticipate that to make a second landfall before finally getting picked up through that

front and sliding up into the northeast. In the short term, still the potential for some extra flooding across portions of the Carolinas not only today but also tomorrow. We just see it shift a little bit farther inland as the storm itself begins to move inland as well. But adding more rain is the last thing we need. Take a look at this video from Hilton Head, South Carolina, where you can see the sheer weight of that rain collapsing the roof here and very similar stories of all of that rain

From much of both of the states here, both South and North Carolina, forecast rain accumulation still looking at widespread totals of at least four inches. Some spots could pick up an additional six inches or even more. But it's also not just the southeast. Look at how much that moisture spreads into the mid-Atlantic and the northeast. So even some of those areas can expect several more inches as well. All right, Allison Chinchar for us this morning. Allison, thank you very much. All right, coming up next here on CNN This Morning.

She is battle-tested and ready to go! Tim Walz, Kamala Harris' choice for vice president. Why did she pass over Josh Shapiro? Plus, one of Arizona's fake 2020 electors takes a plea deal. That's in the Roundup. It's the new Ghost Burger from Carl's Jr. It's a juicy char-boiled Angus beef burger. Mmm.

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Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro introducing his good friend, now VP candidate Tim Walz in Philly last night. He's the hometown hero there. Shapiro had been a top contender for the role, but ultimately his vetting conversations with Harris just didn't go as well as they did between her and Tim Walz. Regardless, they showed a united front at last night's rally.

When Shapiro took the stage, hyping up the crowd, and look, this was a performance that underscored why Shapiro is going to be someone who is a rising star in the Democratic Party, why he was considered for this role. It also may tell us something about why he ultimately wasn't chosen. His mannerisms and his delivery reminded us quite a bit of someone else.

Let's just remember, because I think there's some folks out there that still have a little bit of brain fog. Listen, Pennsylvania, let's remember what century it is. Over the last two and a half centuries, it's been ordinary Americans taking up the baton from those patriots. There's a reason why generations pass.

of Americans fought and died for our democracy. Kamala Harris and Tim Walz believe in a real freedom where you can marry who you love and be who you are. Joe Biden stands for values that were enshrined in our founding documents a few miles from here. A clarion call for freedom.

I mean, it is pretty inescapable, Mo, who he is modeling himself after. And I know he has said when people have pointed this out, like, hey, hey, Barack Obama is one of the best orators that we've seen in politics, certainly of his generation. But the ambition is right there at center stage. Is that why Kamala Harris went with Tim Walz instead of Josh Shapiro? I mean, first, I got to say, I'm such a huge fan.

of governorship here he is so good out there and you're right he's a rising star in the party and he's his voice is going to be one that that is hurt for a while ago but i got a hot take on this okay don't mind i'll take on this what if the decision to overlook josh appear actually had nothing to do with josh appear oh and it was just that kamala harris

clicked better with Tim Walz. She had two great choices there at the end. She's got to pick one. And what if she just said, I

I like this folksy guy from the Midwest. I like this guy who grew up in rural America. I like his joyful vibe. I think he can speak to people in a way that in an authentic way that's different than any other voice that's out there right now. I like his progressive populist policies and the juxtaposition against the other guys running me. What if it was an affirmative choice for walls and not so much politics?

Any of the concerns that people keep voicing about Josh Shapiro? I think that's entirely possible. I mean, it's even probable It doesn't so first of all, I just think it was weird It turned out not to be as a false a note as I thought it might be to do this rollout

in Shapiro's home state if you're not gonna pick Shapiro. They could have done this rollout in Michigan, they could have done this rollout in Wisconsin, someplace where one of the finalists wasn't from, so it wouldn't seem like a in-your-face kind of move. But also, even if it's a second order or third order issue, the fact that a lot of people, sometimes boosted by the Trump campaign, we're now learning, but a lot of people in the Democratic Party and on the very online left

signaled out Shapiro because he's Jewish, and they did signal him out because he's Jewish. He doesn't have any positions on Israel that are different from any other people he's competing with or from Kamala Harris. But the whole genocide Josh thing, the fact that Waltz seems like the safer pick

than Shapiro tells you something about the problems running through the Democratic Party. Well, and, you know, there has been some polling that has shown that there are higher negatives among especially young Democratic voters for Shapiro than there were for some of these other choices. And one of the things that stood out to me the most, Jonah, about Shapiro's dress last night was when he looked at the camera and talked about his faith and the role that it played. Let's watch that moment. Eileen!

on my family and I lean on my faith which calls me to serve and I am proud of my faith. Now hear me, I'm not here to preach it y'all but I want to tell you what my faith teaches me. My faith teaches me that no one, no one is required to complete the task but neither are we free to refrain from it. That means

That means that each of us has a responsibility to get off the sidelines, to get in the game and to do our part. Are you ready to do your part? I mean, Jeff Mason, he clearly saw this as something that he wanted to address directly. And I will say that crowd, when he said, I'm not going to preach to you, the crowd started yelling, preach, preach. Yeah.

Yeah. No, he absolutely wanted to address it. And I think he also wanted it to just not become a thing for this party and for Vice President Harris. I remember just briefly thinking yesterday morning when the news came out that it was Walsh wondering, oh, I wonder if Shapiro is going to show up to the rally tonight. And he did. And not only did he, but he...

in a big way. He brought it. He did in a big way, which makes you almost wonder in some ways whether, wow, she's going to be able to benefit from him even without having him on the ticket because he made very clear that he's all in for her despite being passed over.

Well, I mean, and if being, it's very clear he has presidential ambitions, right? And there is no way that you buttress those ambitions if you don't go all in for the ticket. One thing that I think was also interesting about this is that, you know, we're reporting here at CNN that,

one of the reasons the conversation didn't go so well between Shapiro and Harris was that he was asking about the extent of his role as vice president, making clear that he wanted more responsibility. And this was a contrast with what Walls said to her. I asked Cedric Richmond about Tim Walls' personal ambitions, how that came across in their meeting. And he had a somewhat startling admission. Let's watch.

One of the things that Governor Walz said was that he actually didn't have ambitions to be president himself. Is that the case? And what role did that play in her decision? Well, I'll tell you what the most important thing was. She wanted someone who would always put the American people first.

She wanted someone who understood the role of the vice president of the United States, and she wanted someone she had chemistry with. Because they're going to have to do a lot of bold things, and they're going to have to be on the same page. And Governor Walz fit that mold, and he expressed that he didn't have ambition to be president.

So there you go, someone who understood the role of vice president. Yeah, look, I take all Mo's points about how they probably just click better, and I think that's probably right. But I also think, going back to my vibes thing, which I'm just going to always remember to stick with, is that Shapiro comes across, I mean, the comparisons to Obama are good and apt,

But that's not what you want in a vice president. Pity the person who had Barack Obama as a vice president outshining them all the time and everyone saying, "Oh, I wish he was at the top of the ticket," that kind of thing. No one looks at Waltz and says,

Oh my God, this guy is going to be the leader of the Democratic Party one day, and that's something you might actually want on a vice president. Seems so. All right, coming up here on CNN This Morning, the prisoner who didn't come home, American Mark Fogel's heartbreaking conversation with his family from inside a Russian prison, plus... Under those Friday night lights, Coach motivated his players...

I'm shocked and sickened and out of breath and out of energy. And like I said, I just feel like my soul is going to die.

That was Mark Fogle speaking to his family from a Russian penal colony. The Pennsylvania teacher was devastated he was not included in a prisoner swap that brought three other Americans home last week. Fogle is serving a 14-year marijuana smuggling sentence.

Four hotel workers in Milwaukee facing felony murder charges. The workers accused of pinning Devonte Mitchell to the ground for up to nine minutes after dragging him outside the Hyatt Regency Hotel. They told police he was trespassing. The employees have been fired.

An Arizona fake elector reaching a plea deal in the state's 2020 election subversion case. Lorraine Pellegrino pleading guilty to a reduced charge of signing false documents in order to get the rest of the counts against her dismissed. She was facing multiple felonies. All right, let's turn now back to 2024. We respect our neighbors and their personal choices that they make.

Even if we wouldn't make the same choice for ourselves, there's a golden rule: mind your own damn business. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz hitting on one of the election's most significant issues as his first rally as the Democratic vice presidential candidate last night, reproductive rights.

For Walz, it's personal. This is something that we rarely see from male politicians. He shared on a national stage his family's journey with fertility treatment. And this gets personal for me and my family. When my wife and I decided to have children, we spent years going through infertility treatments. And I remember praying every night for a call for good news. The pit in my stomach when the phone rang and the agony when we heard that the treatments hadn't worked.

So it wasn't by chance that when we welcomed our daughter into the world, we named her Hope. All right, joining me now to discuss is Democratic Congresswoman Angie Craig of Minnesota. She had endorsed Walz during the vice presidential selection process because she has long worked with the governor in their home state. Congresswoman, thank you so much for being here. Great, great to be with you this morning.

I want to start with that moment from Governor Walz about his family. It was a very personal one. It's something that we have started to see. I know I've spoken with a number of your colleagues, other women in public life who have touched on this.

But it's not as common that we hear it from men who obviously are partners to many people who go through this. So it stood out to me that he mentioned it. And it is also a contrast with how many Republicans talk about IVF. What did you make of how he presented that last night? And how would you like him to continue addressing it going forward?

Well, this was what we see all the time in Minnesota. It was just Tim being honest, Tim being open with voters, Tim telling his life story. And I think that's what makes him so unique as a candidate for vice president and as a politician is he's he is who he is. And just speaking from the heart, no matter what situation he's in. So I wasn't surprising to me at all that he used his own personal connection to IVF, to these individuals.

issues to reproductive rights to make his point and I think that's what the country is about to see they're about to see a man who is gonna bring you know every bit of himself with the level of energy that has just been extraordinary to campaign with two times while running for Congress

Congresswoman, you are in a frontline district, one of the districts that is most at risk in this very consequential election for Democrats who are trying to retake the House of Representatives. We've already seen Republicans focus on what they say is the liberal nature of Tim Walz's governorship in Minnesota, how that works in tandem with Kamala Harris's record in San Francisco.

Is this a challenge? How big of a challenge is this for you in running your own race? - Well, I can say tried and tested and failed in Minnesota. Tim ran for reelection in 2022. He won my swing seat district.

And this was exactly what I was saying and why I endorsed him is because he is battle tested in swing seats, which I think is going to translate really well to battleground states across the country. And he won his own red seat in Congress multiple times. So, you know, I think Tim can relate to just about anybody. And what makes him unique is.

is that, you know, I can remember a weekend where I, you know, we were turkey hunting in the morning, Tim and I, and then I think there was a sort of a gay rights event in the same weekend. So Tim can go anywhere. He can talk to anybody. He is somebody who's going to make you feel excited about the future. And this is exactly what I believe we needed, a thrust of hope in the election, and we've got it in spades.

Congresswoman, one thing that Republicans are already focusing in on is his decision to call in the National Guard in the wake of the protests, what had been peaceful protests in the wake of George Floyd's death that turned violent. And there is an argument, his critics say he waited too long. What do you say to those critics? Well, you know, again,

Republicans tried that in his reelection and they failed. So that's what has happened in Minnesota. Tim's got just an extraordinary record of working on behalf of all Minnesotans. You know, he truly believes exactly what he says. He's going to tell you what he thinks. And, you know, it wouldn't matter who we ran. They're going to.

dredge up something and criticize it. That's what Republicans in Minnesota have been trying and failing to do Tim's entire time in office. So I have no doubt that Tim is going to be able to go anywhere in this country. He's going to be able to talk about the issues with them. And, you know, Republicans are going to do what they do. And it's all for the

point of us trying to make sure that Donald Trump is never in the White House again. And I think, you know, Democrats are excited around this country and there's nothing that's going to be able to tamp that down. All right. Congresswoman Angie Craig for us this morning. Congresswoman, very grateful for your time. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you. All right. Let's turn now to this. This game is not over. This battle is not over. So let's hear it one more time together.

Clear eyes, full hearts. Let's go!

Kamala Harris's camp reportedly hoping her pick of Tim Walls will remind people of that guy. We should put him back on the screen. Eric Taylor, he was the fictional high school football coach from the TV show Friday Night Lights. The Harris campaign. I have some questions about the hair. Honestly, in terms of this comparison, I have to say. However, the Harris campaign really leaning into the coach title at the rally last night. Watch time.

They're just getting to know Coach Walz's story. Coach Walz taught social studies, and to his former high school football players, he was coach. It's like a matchup between the varsity team and the JV squad. Under those Friday night lights, Coach Walz. Coach! Coach! Coach!

Some Democrats telling CNN they think the moniker can help them this fall with the election homestretch overlapping with football season. Allies expect those teacher-coach attributes to be on full display, particularly across the country.

the South who doesn't want someone radiating positivity from the sidelines. One quipped in a text message, I will say I was texting with Kayla who wrote this story about, I mean, maybe I'm letting my crush on Coach Taylor show a little too much because I'm like having a little trouble. I'm having a little trouble with this comparison.

But it is interesting to me that this is what they seem to want to lean into the most about walls You know, I think you're gonna see them lean into a lot about him because I think there's a lot there But what I like look I'm calling him coach right not for any political reasons I just think he's I can connect with people in a way right people connect with a coach much more than they do with a governor and

or a congressman, right? And so I just think he comes across, and it's authentic. If what we saw last night we keep seeing throughout this campaign, it's authentic. He is a very relatable guy. He is a down-to-earth guy. He is maybe not Coach Taylor, but he is that goofy coach, right? That relatable, goofy coach. More like Coach from Cheers.

Right, exactly, exactly. So, you know, I love it. Jeff Mason, I mean, this is, I will say, a relatively rare biography. And we were talking in the break, Mo was pointing out this is the first time in decades that we have seen a ticket that doesn't have a Bush, a Clinton, or a Biden on the top of the ticket. Yeah.

This is also a situation where he's not a lawyer. The last time there was a vice presidential candidate who wasn't a lawyer was back to the 1960s. You have to go back to Jimmy Carter before there wasn't a lawyer on the ticket, you know, someone who was a non-lawyer who was on one of these presidential tickets. This was a guy who was enlisted in the military as opposed to being an officer. I mean, typically we often see, you know, military officers in public life. It's much less common to see he's the, you know, the highest ranking enlisted officer

uh person to be uh and this is a picture of him he talked about you know being able to go to school because he used the gi bill he does have a different profile from a lot of the people that we are used to covering here in washington i and i think the the piece about not having two lawyers on the ticket is actually a really important detail people like

to see someone on the ticket who they can have a drink with. I mean, how well did that work for George W. Bush when he was running? People could imagine sitting down and having a chat in the backyard and a drink or whatever it is. And I think that same idea certainly applies to him. He's a coach. He's a guy you can imagine

chatting with your kids, chatting with your wife, chatting with your husband. And it's not something that seems unrealistic or seems unauthentic. He's got hot dish recipes. Yes. I'll point out that Kyle Chandler, the guy who plays the coach from Friday Night Lights, is only two years younger than Tim Waltz.

He's had some Hollywood help. But look, the political scientists say that vice presidential picks don't matter, which was kind of a funny point for Donald Trump to be making recently. But...

The one example where people, the one point, the one exception that political scientists debate about was the Sarah Palin pick by John McCain. And some say it didn't matter, some say it did. People forget that McCain got a big bounce from Palin. It wasn't until later that she turned into a problem.

To the extent that she was a problem for McCain, it wasn't that people didn't want to vote for a ticket with her on it. It was that they thought it said something about McCain's judgment in picking her. And I think that that's the thing to look at here. I don't think Tim Walz is going to carry by himself Pennsylvania or one of the battleground states.

but it's the signaling from Harris that she's leaning into a different different vibe a different messaging about more Mamala than career lawyer thing having two prosecutors on the ticket would feel like overkill with Shapiro I think is the thinking and it's this appeal towards

normie voters that I think on the vibes level, Walt says the Republicans are gonna have a lot of ammo though about his actual progressive record on the policy stuff and if that does matter, it could hurt him. - Policy vibes. Vibes election? Guess we'll find out. All right, I wanna leave you with these kinds of vibes, watch. - I am delicate, authentic, charismatic, sensitive,

What even are these vibes? You're watching an ad roll out for Dolce & Gabbana's new perfume for dogs. It is called Fefe, I think? According to the company, it is a "tender and embracing fragrance crafted for a playful beauty routine. It has woody, creamy undertones. You can get a 3.4-ounce bottle for your fur baby for just $108. Fear not. It includes a Dolce & Gabbana dog collar and tag."

That's that for a kicker. Thanks to our panel. Thanks to you for joining us. My dog would be like, what the hell? What are you doing? My dog would not like it. He would think it smelled very strange. Thanks to you for joining us. I'm Casey Hunt. Don't go anywhere. CNN News Central starts right now.

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