nature on "sunday morning" is sponsored by subaru. >> we leave you this sunday morning surrounded by wildflowers near toledo, ohio. i'm tracy smith. please join jane pauley when our ununununununds again next "sunday morning." i'm ed o'keefe. today on "face the nation," two weeks after vice president kamala harris replaced joe biden on the democratic presidential ticket, what difference has that made? we'll tell you. former president donald trump still adjusting to his new opponent, is testing new lines of attack. >> we have to work hard to define her.

i don't want to even define her. i want to say who she is. she's a horror show who will destroy our country. she supports mandatory gun confiscation. harris is a radical trans activist. she wants to get rid of your cows. no more cows. >> harris, exploiting a sudden boost of democratic enthusiasm, is trying to turn the page on the former president. >> it was the same old show, the divisiveness and the disrespect. let me just say, the american people deserve better. the american people deserve better. >> as for the american people, what are they thinking with just three months left until election day? our new cbs poll takes a look at the state of the race nationwide, and in the all-important battleground states. trump ally arkansas senator tom cotton will be here along with united autoworkers president shawn fain who endorsed harris last week. we'll get the latest on the rising tensions in the middle

east with deputy national security adviser jon finer. then, inside the historic deal to free three americans including "wall street journal" reporter evan gershkovich from russia. we'll hear from journal editor paul beckett who made it his daily assignment to bring evan home. it's all ahead on "face the nation." ♪ ♪ good morning. welcome to "face the nation." margaret is off. we're now just hours away from presumptive democratic nominee kamala harris announcing her choice for a running mate and today cbs news has learned at least three of the contenders, minnesota governor tim walz, pennsylvania governor josh shapiro and arizona senator mark kelly are traveling to washington to meet with the vice president in person. as she holds those meetings we're getting a fresh look at

the state of the race nationwide. something president biden never enjoyed this year, a slight edge over donald trump. across the battleground states the two candidates are tied, 50-50. all in all, essentially even race. for more let's go to our executive director of elections and surveys, anthony salvanto. happy sunday. out on the road this week talking to democratic voters, there was a sense of increased enthusiasm, excitement, a sense that they might actually be able to win this thing now. is the polling reflecting that? >> good morning, ed. the short answer is yes. let me remind everybody this is a shift because joe biden, when he was the nominee, was down 5 points nationally to donald trump. so what's behind this is really interesting because you see more democrats now say, not only are they excited about harris as a nominee, but that they're going to vote. that will make your poll numbers go up. in fact, if you look at our estimates across each and every one of the battleground states from pennsylvania to michigan,

south, georgia, arizona, and others, they're all even or close. that is your re-set race. you see core democratic constituencies saying they're going to vote, specifically black voters are enthusiastic. their numbers are up from july. i want to talk about the women's vote. not only does harris do better than biden was doing, but women tell us they think harris would look out for the interests of women much more so than donald trump. so it's not just the demographic break. that's the rationale behind it, ed. >> they were the ones that seemed most excited, women. bottom line, what you're saying is over two weeks she's brought the race back to even in essence. >> big re-set. >> but make history as the first black woman to be nominated by the democratic party, potentially the first black woman to win the presidency, does the polling suggest the

country's ready for that? >> so when people assess the state of the country that answer is yes. i'll give you some historical context. there's an old cbs polling question that goes back 25 years, which was, is america ready to elect a black president? by around the year 2000, that number was low, it changed when barack obama was running, and it went to a majority saying yes. and now, you ask a similar question, is america ready to elect a black woman president, and you get over two-thirds, including people who aren't voting for her. that's the state of the country. what's also interesting, ed, the way the script has flipped on some of these campaign dynamics like who has the mental and cognitive health to serve as president, that was something that joe biden was trailing on before he left the race, now it's harris who is seen as having more of that. she's also closer to trump on key views, like being competent, being effective, more so than joe biden was, which all in all goes back to that idea of democratic excitement like they think they've got a better candidate to take on trump.

>> and explains part of why they've been attacking trump and calling him weird and raising questions about his age as well, they must be seeing that as well now. the race to define harris is under way. they're spending tens of millions in her campaign to play up the fact that she was a prosecutor and worked with the president on various issues. the former president calling her a san francisco liberal and doing other things, but on the issues also, does he still enjoy an advantage over harris now the democrat on the big issues and concerns of voters? >> that's really important because some things in this race have not changed. the idea that you would be better off financially if trump were elected, trump still has a big advantage over now kamala harris on that. and the idea that his policies would slow or decrease the number of migrants trying to cross the border, that he still has an edge on. to your point about defining harris, well, there is a larger number who say they think her policies are similar, mostly the

same, but not entirely the same, as joe biden's. so it's that little bit of difference defining what that is, that i do think is going to be key do watch in the campaign in the next few weeks. >> anthony salvanto, our executive director of elections and survey, thanks for now. >> thank you. we turn now to arkansas republican senator tom cotton, good friend of the former president and a big ally of the trump-vance campaign. senator, great to see you. thanks for being here. >> thank you, ed. >> i want to start with something mr. trump said in atlanta, he attacked the governor of that state brian kemp and secretary of state brad raffensperger, both republicans. take a listen. >> raffensperger and brian kemp, your governor, who i got elected, by the way, if it wasn't for me he would not be your governor. i think everybody knows that. very disloyal person, indeed. very disloyal. your governor, kemp, and raffensperger are doing everything possible to make 2024 difficult for republicans to

win. what are they doing? i don't know. they want us to lose. that's actually my opinion. and we can't let that happen. >> must win state for the former president, and he also said both raffensperger and kemp, quote, don't want the vote to be honest. why attack a governor and a secretary of state, who are popular with republicans in that key battleground state? >> ed, i think it's obvious those guys have their differences and they have had them for a long time, but what they agree on, what we all agree on, is what a disaster kamala harris would be as president. she is a dangerous san francisco liberal who wants to do things like take your health insurance away on the job and give it to illegal aliens because she wants to decriminalize illegal immigration into this country. that's just a small tip of the iceberg of her radical views. so, obviously, they have their differences, but we're all united in the need to stop kamala harris because if you think the last four years have been bad for your family, the

worst is yet to come if kamala harris gets elected president. >> governor kemp made that point, i want to defeat her as well, but stop attacking me and focus on the issues. he continues to not do that. do you think he's underestimating the strength of the harris campaign now that she's at least brought the campaign back to even. >> we always knew this campaign was going to be a close race. she's only been the nominee two weeks now. she hasn't answered a single question, not one single question, by the media, ed. only one single unscripted moment thursday at andrews air force base welcoming the hodge -- hostages back, and she served up the incomprehensible word salad for which she's become famous. when she has to encounter the media, i'm sure you're going to insist she does, she has to answer for things why she wants to eliminate oil and gas production in this country, why she wants to ban gas powered cars, confiscate private firearms. we knew this race was going to be close all along, whoever the democrats want to put up against president trump, but kamala

harris has only been the nominee two weeks and hasn't answered a single question. when the american people get a better look at her and her radical positions i think you're going to see that they don't want her to continue the biden-harris legacy. >> i appreciate you're critical of her not doing interviews and engaging in more unscripted events. you've done a decent job there of explaining the potential policy differences between the former president and the vice president. but trump doesn't do that himself? >> no. i dispute that. >> what earned him the most attention this week? questioning whether or not the vice president is black. that became the big focus on him this week, instead of those conversations about policy that you suggest should be the focus of the campaign. >> ed, i dispute that. i watched his conversation at the national association of black journalists. i watched last night at his rally in georgia. the vast majority of that time is spent contrasting his record of peace and prosperity and the

biden-harris record of high inflation and a wide open border and war and chaos around the world. i know you played a clip of him airing differences with other republicans but the vast majority of it is what you showed at the beginning of the show when he talks about kamala harris' record of being a radical trans activist wanting to ban cows, oil and gas production. that's where president trump's focus has been throughout this campaign and as the american people start getting answers from kamala harris, as you said, i'm sure you're going to insist upon, you've got shamed by the white house last month for having the temerity to ask about joe biden's age and infirmity, they're not going to like what they hear. i think it's incumbent upon the media to hold kamala harris to the same standard every other nominee who earned their nomination has ever been held to. donald trump in 16, barack obama in 08, had to go through more of a year of testing at town halls and vfws and debates because they earned the nomination. kamala harris had it given to her. for two weeks she's dodged the

press. she can't dodge the press for another 13 weeks. >> are you okay with him questioning whether she's black? >> he wasn't saying what matters is how she identifies as her race. he explicitly said he didn't care. one was fine, both was fine. she identifies as a dangerous san francisco liberal. that's the danger to the american people. >> let's move on to some other things. the former president congratulated vladimir putin for the prisoner exchange suggesting he had extorted -- he has in recent day suggested he extorted the united states by getting this deal. you yourself haven't weighed on what you make of this agreement. do you agree with the former president that putin got a better deal here? >> of course we all join in the joy for the family and friends of the american hostages that were released, we're always welcoming them back. unfortunately, that joy is tempered by the reality that there are going to be more hostages in the future and families have to grieve for their absence in the future because vladimir putin, like the ayatollahs have played joe biden and kamala harris like a fiddle.

i mean there's even reports suggesting that putin specifically took evan gershkovich hostage because of previous failed hostage exchanges between the biden-harris administration and russia, because he was a prominent reporter for a prominent global media company. what you see now is there's a market for this kind of hostage taking. that's why the ayatollahs take hostages because they got $6 billion from joe biden. you didn't have that with donald trump. he got more than 50 hostages back to the united states without paying a dime of ransom or having any high-profile prisoner exchange. he also was willing to use our military to conduct hostage rescue missions, another thing joe biden has never done. of course, we join in rejoicing at the return of the american hostages, but we have to realize that if kamala harris is elected president, it is once again going to be open season on americans overseas. >> what would a deal under a trump administration have looked like? >> well, part of the point is

that you might not have these hostages taken in the first place. there's "wall street journal" reporting that indicates that the germans went forward with this now because they believe that vladimir putin was scared of donald trump becoming president again. again, we don't have to speculate -- >> guarantee -- >> we don't have to speculate what it would look like in the future. for the first time in 100 years we have the record of a former president to compare to the biden-harris administration more than 50 hostages returned under donald trump. not a dime of ransom. no high-profile prisoners exchanged either. >> senator tom cotton of arkansas, thank you for being here. >> thank you, ed. >> "face the nation" will be back in a minute. stay with us. the nation" will back in a minute. stay with us. if you have heart disease and struggle with ldl-c... even with statins and a healthy diet... listen to your heart.

talk to your doctor about repatha. repatha plus a statin lowers ldl-c (bad cholesterol) by 63%, and drops the risk of having a heart attack. do not take repatha if you are allergic to it. repatha can cause serious allergic reactions. signs include trouble breathing or swallowing or swelling of the face. most common side effects include runny nose, sore throat, common cold symptoms, flu or flu-like symptoms, back pain, high blood sugar, and redness, pain, or bruising at the injection site. talk to your doctor about repatha. we're joined now by united autoworkers president shawn fain in detroit this morning. thank you for being with us. i wanted to start by asking you, president biden stepped out of this race on july 21st and your union endorsed the vice president ten days later.

what did she actually do to earn your endorsement? >> hey, thanks for having us, ed. i mean, many things. it's the body of work. it's one thing we do as a union, we put the membership in charge and we listen to our members, listen to our reps all over the country and move forward. the thing we've done most of all we look at the body of work between the candidates. when you put kamala harris and donald trump side by side, there's a very telling difference in who stands with working class people and who left working class people behind. you know, you go back to 2019 when donald trump was president, gm workers were on strike for 40 days. where was donald trump then? what is it he do or say about these striking workers? you know what he did? he did nothing. he said nothing. kamala harris, she was actually out on the picket line before it was a popular thing to do. she stood shoulder to shoulder with striking workers to say i got your back. you know, and you go further,

lordstown, ohio, multiple plants closed in this country when donald trump was president. donald trump told workers in lordstown assembly in ohio, don't sell your houses. you want to know what he did and said afterwards to help change that situation? he did nothing. workers in lordstown got sent all over this country to gm plants and their lives were wrecked. you want to know what kamala harris and the biden administration did and their team did, they went to work when they became -- when they took over the white house and they actually put a path forward. they located a new battery plant in lordstown, ohio, and now, under harris and biden, those workers are moving back home now. they were -- that were dislocated under trump. trump's been all talking for working class people. inflation, one of the biggest issues facing this country is inflation. it's not policy driven. it's driven by corporate greed and consumer price gouging and that's what donald trump stands for. the rich get richer and the working class get left behind. >> does the fact that she is now even with trump both nationally

and in the auto making state of michigan, eliminate your union's concerns about democrats' ability to win in november? >> look, we believe democrats are going to win. and i tell you, when kamala harris became the candidate, there's a new energy around the campaign, there's new passion. we're hearing from people that we weren't hearing from before. there's reason why, because they see a difference now. they see a path forward. they see that we can have a better life than what we had under trump. we don't want to go backwards and i believe we're going to win michigan. we can't just look at polling and say hey, the polling has changed. it's getting better. we got this. we got to keep the pedal to the metal until the end of this thing and ensure it's going to happen. >> you know this weekend she is trying to sort out who should be her running mate. there are believed to be at least six in the mix. four governors, a senator and cabinet secretary. of those six give us a sense, who is your favorite?

who would be the best for organized labor? >> well, i mean, you know, we've really broken down these candidates and looked at them and i'll tell you my favorite is andy beshear from kentucky. the man stood with us, you know, on the picket line. you know, he's been there for workers throughout every bit of our walk. and, you know, he's won in a state where mitch mcconnell is from. it's been a red state traditionally. he's won twice there. i believe he brings a huge dynamic and the harris and bashear ticket would be unbeatable. both would be dynamic candidates. we like tim walz from minnesota. we think he's an awesome guy for labor, 100% behind labor, and those would be our top two if we had to pick any. ultimately, look, i mean vice president harris has to pick who she's most comfortable with because it's her running mate and who she's going to be serving with. you know, that's who we believe would be best for labor and for working class people, but, you know, that's her decision. >> you didn't mention the pennsylvania governor josh shapiro. he has been supportive of

private school vouchers, not something the teacher unions are a fan of. understandably. >> yeah. that's a struggle, yeah. >> are there any other union issues in his history? >> i mean, i just -- you know, one of the bigger ones is the school vouchers, obviously. i mean, you know, i don't believe that, you know, that, you know, public education should be -- it's been under attack under republican administrations forever, but they want to pass vouchers so the rich people can subsidize their kids' education and the working class kids can get excluded. there's no guarantee we can go to those schools. that's one of the bigger issues we see with shapiro. >> mark kelly, until recently, didn't support the legislation that essentially provides more legal protections for unions, makes it easier for people to unionize. suddenly he supports it as his name gets floated. does that do enough to assuage your concerns about him? >> not really. look, when the act was out there

being discussed and debated, people showed where they were when they voted on it. that's what we look at, and so that was a concern of ours. you know, so, obviously, that's a problem area for us. >> i mean, if shapiro or kelly are the guy does it make it harder to convince union members to go out and knock on doors and vote for harris? >> i don't think it makes it, you know, impossible or harder. i mean, obviously, there's just candidates we think are better for labor. ultimately, look, we know this, kamala harris is for labor. she's for working class people. we've watched -- this election is about, you know, we saw this in our contract campaign for the big three. i mean, 75% of americans supported us in our strike because they're all -- union or not, they are all living the same thing. wages suppressed, we don't have adequate health care, people want retirement security and lives back. they don't want to have to work seven days a week or two or three jobs. kamala harris gets that. if you look at the comment you played by former president trump a little bit ago talking about

the governor from georgia saying he was a very disloyal, that's the difference in what this election is about. trump expects people to pledge loyalty to him. it's all about him. kamala harris is about the people and that's what this election is about and that's why i believe the people will vote for kamala harris. >> do you think jd vance and himself calling himself the most labor friendly senator in congress helps republicans at all with the organized labor union? >> i think that's a complete joke. jd vance is a fraud, not for working class people. let's be real. he talks about his hill billy roots. i got hill billy roots. one lesson my parents and grandparents taught us, you don't forget where you come from. i don't work for venture capitalists. i work for working class people. he went to work as venture capitalist that destroys communities, business, ruins people's lives. that's not someone that stands for working class people. >> shawn fain, president of the united autoworkers, thank you for joining us this sunday. we'll be right back with a lot more "face the nation." stay with us.

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that's the power of we. ♪ ♪ check your cost and coverage before talking to your health care professional about wegovy®. we turn to the prisoner swap that freed evan gershkovich from russian captivity. the "journal's" assistant editor paul beckett joins us now. you devoted your life getting him released over the last 400 plus days. most importantly, people would be wondering, how is he and his family doing this morning? >> thanks very much. they're doing fine having a wonderful reunion in texas where all the detainees were taken when they come back. it's a joy of us to think of them getting reunited. >> you're wearing one of the buttons that became ubiquitous with this movement, i stand with evan. it was something seen in the pages of the journal every day, on the website and across the world. talk to us briefly and we'll talk more about it after the break about the decision to be

so public about his case when in most instances detained americans it's kept a little quieter. >> very early on, someone in the government, who always i will be grateful to for this advice, said there's a time to be loud and a time to be quiet, and now is a time to be loud. so we stayed loud until we knew the time to be quiet and that time to be quiet was wednesday and thursday of this week. >> because it ultimately led to his release? >> correct. >> and it earned the assistance of world leaders, celebrity, but especially evan's mother? >> she's an extraordinary advocate for him. the whole family has been. in her own way a power player in getting this done, and we're just so grateful to everybody who contributed. cbs high among them. everybody came out and said we stand with evan and that meant the world to us. >> we do and we did and do. we'll talk more about it in a moment. please stay with us. managers, but we're different. (other money manager) how so? (fisher investments) we're a fiduciary, obligated to act in our client'' best interest.

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editor paul beckett, security advisor jon finer and an all-star political panel. stay with us. nd an all-star political panel. stay with us.

welcome back to "face the nation." we return to our conversation with "wall street journal" assistant editor paul beckett whose assignment in essence for the last several months has been to bring home evan gershkovich. you've certainly completed that assignment quite well. i want to go back to this decision to be public about his

stuation, versus many cases where they tell people keep quiet about it, that's better. was there a concern being so public, it potentially put him at greater risk or other colleagues either at the journal or publications greater risk? >> there is a fascinating argument around that. the russians didn't give us much of a choice because they came out and said he is a spy. total nonsense. what were we going to do then? we had to quickly and loudly make it very clear to the world that he works for the "wall street journal" and "wall street journal" only. to some degree that became academic. i do think the biden administration had an idea of what it would take to get him back from the moment he was seized, and i don't think that changed for all our noise. i don't think the dynamic changed. if anything, maybe it expanded the aperture so 16 people came back. >> we were talking about this a little in the break, you're working with an administration

to get a colleague home, but at the same time, as any good aerican newspaper does, covering and scrutinizing the exact same people that some of you at least had to be on the phone with. that had to be a little awkward at times? >> we tried to separate the two as best we could and appropriately so. we had the newsroom, who was covering the story, and we have written -- huge amount of tremendous journalism on the case and related cases and the dynamics. we've covered it aggressive will as a story. then there were a few of us who were ambassadors for evan and we went about that advocacy work with the appropriate i think separation from the coverage just so that we could do everything we could to get our guy back, while also delivering for our readers and the country on what was happening. >> there's always conversation when americans are freed in these kinds of negotiations that it potentially puts more americans at risk in the future. i also wonder, given the high-profile nature of evan's

case, whether it's going to make it harder for journalists who are american or work for american outlets, to be working in places like china, iran, hungary, russia, even some parts of latin america? does this now increase the risk for all of them? >> it's a very complicated picture. first of all we have huge respect, i have huge respect for the fact that united states dedicates such efforts to get its citizens back. not every country does that. secondly, nobody ikes these deals. i don't think the administration likes the deal. i think and we're grateful for that, that they saw a travesty of justice -- remember vladimir putin is the aggressor here, he committed crimes against these people and bringing them home ends a path that would have had evan gershkovich this week in a russian penal colony. so we understand the risks, we understand the hypotheticals. i think the key to all of this is, what can now be done to prevent these countries doing this in the future?

we need to find a way to take away the incentive to do it in the first place. once they've been taken that conversation becomes mute because you're going to leave them there or get them back. it's pretty binary. >> right. do you expect evan to return to reporting for full-time for the journal? >> the amazing thing about this he gets to do whatever he wants. >> he put in a formal request as he was leaving russia in writing in russian to vladimir putin saying, could we conduct an interview together. has he gotten any response yet? >> i saw a spokesman for the kremlin said that it would be considered. i think we might ask that it be done over here. >> or at least remotely. well, paul beckett, you've been a hero to so many at the "wall street journal" and so many of us in journalism devoting yourself to this we're thankful. we're so thrilled for evan and his family and the detained americans now home. >> thank you to cbs and to you for all your support. >> we'll be right back. cbs and

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we turn now to deputy national security adviser jonathan finer. thank you for spending some of your time this sunday morning with us. i want to start with the fact that united states, united kingdom and jordan are advising citizens to get out of lebanon right now. is the biden administration anticipating israel will strike inside lebanon soon? how real is the risk that a second front could open up in lebanon? >> well, ed, what we're trying to do is prepare for any eventuality, any possibility. that's only responsible for the united states. obviously, we've been quite clear that we'll work with our ally israel to defend itself against any threats that it faces and we are in a moment that appears to be of heightened threat. what we have said to our own citizens should they choose or desire to leave lebanon, the time to do that would be while commercial options are available as they currently are. beyond that, these are personal decisions we will leave to people to make.

we've raised our travel advisory to level 4, which discourages americans from traveling to lebanon, and we are preparing for whatever may come. but this is no prediction about future events. it is prudent planning for them and for our government. >> is that why the u.s. is deploying additional fighter squadrons to the middle east and moving in other naval vessels? >> you're referring to the announcement made on friday where the united states and our pentagon said that we are moving a carrier, aircraft carrier group, to the region and some additional air assets. that is entirely focused on defending israel against a potential threats it may face and out of our desire to both deter those threats, defend against them and deescalate the situation and avoid it sliding into a regional war, we, obviously, had a very close call on a broader regional conflict on april 13th when the united states worked very closely with israel and with our other partners and allies to defeat a threat and an attack that iran made against israel, and should

that situation arise again, we want to be prepared to do it. the overall goal is to turn the temperature down in the region, deter and defend against those attacks, and avoid regional conflict which has been our goal really since october 7th. >> i want to talk to you a little bit about the prison swap from this past week. the president and jake sullivan, the national security adviser, are focused on the case of mark fogle, american schoolteacher being detained by russia. why was he left out of this deal? is it realistic to think he can be home by the end of the biden administration? >> so i want to say a few things. one, predictions about future events like this is not a business i want to be in. but we think about mark fogle every single day, and not open think about him, work on his case every single day. we are going to do what we can to try to bring mark home. we worked to try to get mark included in the deal that consummated last week and we are right back at it to get mark back to the united states and united with his family. beyond that i don't want to get into the details.

>> more specifically, what is the administration doing to ensure that the next mark fogle or paul whelan or evan gershkovich, isn't captured? either in russia or elsewhere? >>that's a really good and important question, ed, and we're doing a few things that are novel in this administration. one is, we have created a list of countries for which there is a heightened alert for americans who travel there, that they may be detained unlawfully or wrongfully, and we draw a lot of attention to places where we do not think americans should travel for that reason. second, and this came about in work with congress under a statute called the levinson act which has been passed, there are new sanctions authorities available to the u.s. government against countries and officials who conduct these wrongful or unlawful detentions and we'll deploy those as well as the public messaging we've been discussing about where americans should and should not travel.

beyond that, we have also been clear, though, that united states will work to get americans in these terrible situations home and reunited with their families. >> i want to bring you to a situation in this hemisphere, in venezuela, the secretary of state on friday said that the opposition candidate won more votes than nicolas maduro and spoke with opposition leaders. did the opposition candidate edmundo gonzales win that election? >> we've been clear, edmundo gonzalez got the most votes in this election and what is interesting about the current moment is that you have seen very few countries come out and ratify what the maduro regime has claimed, which is that it won the election. you have seen a number of countries take a position that we've taken, based on a whole range of factors, not just what the opposition claims but exit polls, quick counts that took place based on a significant percentage of actual data tally sheets from precinct level voting places in venezuela that

suggests not only edmundo gonzalez won but that he won with quite a considerable margin. what we are focused on now is conveying to the regime that it needs to focus on, if it believes it won this election, showing its work, showing the data which it has refused to do and we know the reasons why that is the case. and if not, embark on a transition back to democratic norms in venezuela. we are working very closely with key countries in the region that have influence in venezuela to try to stay on the same page and build a coalition for a process that will lead back to a transition to democracy in venezuela. that's been our goal from the minute the administration arrived. >> given that maduro is likely to stay in power at least for now, is the united states anticipating another influx of migrants from venezuela? >> we'll have to see how that plays out. one of the things that we've been clear about as well is that the detention of anyone involved

in protesting peacefully against what the regime has claimed is not acceptable to us. we are concerned about the prospect of instability should there continue to be these detentions. we believe that the regime should do the right thing, acknowledge the results of this election and embark on the process of transition back to democratic norms. >> deputy national security adviser jonathan finer thank you for your time. we'll tlk to you again soon. >> thanks very much, ed. we'll be back in a moment. i debate

for some political analysis including more from our latest cbs news poll we're joined by cook editor in chief amy walter making her "face the nation," debut. cbs news senior white house correspondent weijia jiang and our director of elections and services anthony salvanto back with us as well. anthony shared the top line numbers suggesting we're back to a tie and there's certainly some wind at the back of the vice president. how is the harris campaign planning to capitalize on this newfound enthusiasm? >> this week she's going to be getting a lot of miles crisscrossing the country going to battleground states with her running mate, we don't know exactly who that is yet, but whoever it is going to be, will

be at her side. and they really want to use this week to, as you mentioned, drum up even more energy, even more enthusiasm, because they know it's a fleeting moment. we were in a fundraiser with the vice president and she was very direct and said look, we are the underdogs, despite what the polls say, despite what we're seeing at rallies, we still have a lot of work to do. so, you know, they're trying to use what they can and use this big announcement to really set that up. >> and amy, you wrote in a piece that despite the shift in polling, and the enthusiasm for the vice president, the fundamentals of the race are still leaning in trump's direction. remind the viewer why. >> yeah. anthony, also highlighted this too, she is new and yet, she's not new. she's new to a lot of voters. she's not defined very well in the minds of a lot of voters. she is the incumbent and the incumbent party right now has a lot of baggage, notably the frustration about the state of the economy, what we saw in the cbs poll, what we're seeing in

the other polling like "the wall street journal" poll where donald trump still has a sizable lead on who do you think would do a better job on the economy, who would do a better job on handling the border. who has better temperament to be president, harris has a significant advantage there. >> yeah. >> this was the case that the biden campaign had been making for months and months. if we can make this election a referendum on trump rather than about a referendum on the current state of the economy, then we have a real opportunity to win here. what harris has been able to do is not just get the energy up among the base, but the focus is now back on to donald trump and thanks to this interview here, the reminder when the focus does go back on to donald trump, it doesn't always end well for the campaign. and the campaign message. >> i thought it was telling one thing i heard senator cotton saying is, you know, everyone else in recent years has had to go through years of this or months of this town hall

meetings and interviews and, you know, big stories written, she's doing this in 90 days. in essence trying to set the table for once again, it was unfair for us. that's kind of what i'm hearing. i don't know if you're hearing that at all because you hear from republicans. >> yeah. definitely is coming out of the trump campaign saying that she, you know, was handed the election and i think it's just part of this setup to probably say that the election wasn't fair and donald trump doesn't win. we've been seeing this, and also just how they categorize everything. there is a race to kind of define her at this point. and the race is between the harris campaign and the trump campaign. right. trump is on the stump post talking about, you know, questioning her identity or racial identity, but also, the harris people need to, you know, push forward with this. this little bump we see is coming from her base. >> right. >> or young voters that she's been able to convince or, you know, rally.

she needs to -- independent voters are the people who are going to decide this race, and she needs to, you know, i don't know if the prosecutor's move is what they want to hear. >> the subject of early advertising, reminding people she was an attorney general. >> her advertising and what the candidates say is important, what their ads are telling you what they want the campaign to be about. harris is not just leaning into the prosecutor, but about the economy, she's talking a great deal about that. they understand that if trump has a double-digit lead on who is doing a better job on the economy, that's going to be really tough for them to overcome. >> now we are sitting here with bated breath waiting to figure out who she's going to pick to be her running mate. the poll has some sense of what democrats broadly are looking for, right. >> yes. it's a lot of things. because, you know, people have their wants and then you kind of turn them into strategists a little bit. one of the things we asked is, should it be somebody from a

battleground state, and there's a high percentage that say yeah, it should be. a split between those who want to see a moderate and a liberal. in the abstract, that's the kind of thing that happens. it also goes back to this point about what people don't know about harris. obviously, this is a first big decision that people will see her make, and there's still that one in five people when we ask, do you feel you know enough about her or do you feel like you still can know more? this is one of those telling moments where it's going to be okay, this is part of that knowing more. is this decision. >> so weijia, how are they approaching this decision? >> well this is a very short time frame for the vice president. what has been communicated very clearly is that we should actually not expect a decision by the end of the weekend. because she's been on the road. she's been very busy with small windows to really focus on this monumental decision and so, you know, we know she is meeting in person with at least three democratic governors at her residence here in washington

today and having interviews in person and virtually with people who are not in the media, who are not confirmed as big, you know, headliners because she is taking this extremely seriously. >> to underscore what you're saying, there are names that have not been mentioned in the press who are being interviewed? >> mentioned in the context of going to the naval observatory today and sitting down with her face to face because, you know, just -- it's easy to assume well, that must mean they're on the shortest of the short list, but that's not the case. >> right. >> so, you know, she doesn't have a lot of time. aides have been frustrated. they wish that they had more time. but this is the way this has all played out. so one thing i've observed from the vice president is what really matters to her is her rapport with people, chemistry. it might just come down to that. at the end of the day we all know it's who's going to help her win and who's going to bring

to the ticket what joe biden is leaving behind. so that's a -- >> yet historically, ultimately. >> yeah. does it matter? does it not matter? usually is not as significant. we love it because we love politics and this is part of our day-to-day life. i don't think for voters, they're not viewing who they're voting for president through the lens of vice president. for people who don't know much about kamala harris, it's her first major decision she's making as an executive so tells you about her not just her thought process but the kind of person she wants to lead with, and for somebody who's not very well defined, to have somebody whoever she picks, the definition of that person, is also going to help define her. so right now you see the trump campaign leaning into she's liberal, she's way too liberal. picking somebody who's more moderate or centrist, the goal then, of course, would be to say, oh, well, there's some guardrails around that. and that was a lot of the

discussion we were all having before trump made his pick, right. is he going to pick somebody who is going to put the guardrails around trump for voters who say i don't know, trump's personality, his style it's a little much for me. instead, trump leaned -- i mean went way into somebody who had those same style that same personality, that maga sort of thing. >> yeah. to your point, he said that in the interview the other day. >> i have that footage. i want to show people. let's play what he had to say about jd vance. >> historically, the vice president in terms of the election does not have any impact. virtually no impact. you have two or three days where there's a lot of commotion as to who, like you're having it on the democrat side who it's going to be, that dies down and it's all about the presidential pick. virtually never has it mattered. >> not exactly singing vance's praises there. >> it wasn't.

leading up to the pick before he was announced, republicans were kind of split on this. i heard a lot of them saying, well jd vance, as long as it's not jd vance because he brings nothing to the ticket. the other side people said they like his background, this guy came from nothing, now he's a senator. but also, i mean, either way, for a presidential nominee to say that about his running mate, is pretty detrimental, whether it's -- he might very well be, you know, accurate, but it's kind of like, interesting to say that. >> especially because all you have to look at is what we've been talking about with regard to the republican ticket since vance was named, which is his comments from a few years ago about single cat ladies, how weird he is. taking away from trump and that is an impact in and of itself. >> you were one of the three that questioned him at the national association of black journalist events, questioned whether or not the vice president is black.

obviously, the biggest attention devoted to that. who do you think he's trying to reach by saying that? >> i don't think he -- that was a plan at all. i honestly question whether or not that is a talking point that's going forward. because when i talk to republicans, they say that they don't want to step into this conversation about race at all. i think that was -- it could have been him going off the cuff there. it's funny because when i interviewed him, i didn't expect that reaction from him. when i interviewed him in june he had a lot of different things to say, and i welcomed this opportunity because i thought hey, i'll get him on questions he didn't answer back then. did not anticipate him going off the rails like that. >> it was a fantastic read all about his relationship with guys like mike tyson and don king and how his relationship with african americans was rooted in that. >> yeah. >> the controversy about whether he should have been there or not where do you stand on whether he should be questioned in that setting? >> he's a republican nominee.

for years the national association of black journalists have encouraged presidential candidates to come there. haven't had a republican since george w. bush. so no, that was a great opportunity to question him. >> we got to leave it there, unfortunately. but weijia, amy, anthony we sit with bated breath on the running mate decision. see where this poll takes us next. thank you for being here. we'll be right back. poll takes next. thank you for being here. we'll be right back. imagine checking your own heart with medical precision from anywhere. introducing kardiamobile 6l, the fda-cleared ekg that provides six-times more heart data than any smartwatch. and it detects three of the most common arrhythmias in just 30 seconds, including atrial fibrillation, bradycardia and tachycardia. check your heart with the most advanced personal ekg outside the hospital. get yours at kardia.com or amazon. ♪♪ >> no application fee if you apply by august 29th at university of maryland global campus,

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