"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. she wants to get rid of your cows. no more cows. >> harris with a boost of 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, an 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 wlz, 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 nation. 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, specific lip blly 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? >>.

>> 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, was america ready to elect a black president. by around the year was to 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. 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. raf fence perger 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. tht'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 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 hoinls b hostages and she served up the 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 infermty, they're not going to like what they hear. i think it's incumbent upon the media to hkamala harris that every other nominee has 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. she's donald 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. >> 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 ab ceps 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 orhaving any high-profile prison 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 spekts what it would look like in the future. 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 exchange 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. 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 unite the 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? >> hy, 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 woking 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? >> lack, i believe democrats are going to win, and i tell you, obviously, when kamala harris became the candidate, i mean 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 mellal 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 bashir 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 bashir ticket would b 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 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 ser easier for unions. 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 kel will i 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. up with 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

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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 quiet and now is the 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 xwratsful 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. isher invesy look like other money 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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