they came in and participated in this primary. some of the voters that i have been talking to, they say -- they keep connecting him -- governor walz to his union support, saying that they believe he is a strong supporter of unions. say that's a reason why they view vice president harris -- democratic voters -- as a stronger candidate with this selection. he got the endorsement of kennedy, who is on the ballot here in michigan. >> thank you very much. that wraps up the hour for me. i'm jose diaz-balart. thank you for the privilege of your time. andrea mitchell picks up with our breaking news right now. right now on "andrea mitchell reports," breaking news. it's walz. vice president kamala harris picks tim walz to take on former president trump and j.d. vance in november. the new democratic ticket kicking their campaign off in battleground pennsylvania today. the first stop in a three-month

blitz. this hour, analysis from our top correspondents and political experts. just moments ago on a tarmac in philadelphia, reaction from donald trump's running mate j.d. vance. >> more instructive for what it says about kamala harris, that she doesn't care about the border, about crime, about american energy and most importantly, she doesn't care about the americans who have been made to suffer under those policies. ♪♪ good day, i'm andrea mitchell in washington. we can fact check j.d. vance in a moment. the democratic ticket is set. kamala harris has chosen tim walz as her running mate. the newly named harris/walz tick ticket cemented, capping off a 16-day vetting sprint. walz has accepted the offer. we expect to see a video from the campaign featuring the new pain. in a text today to supporters,

harris called walz a battle tested leader who has a track record of getting things done. a military veteran, high school social studies teacher, a defender of harris, walz's gay hair and midwestern demeanor is aimed at winning over older white men in rust belt battleground states. when walz's father died, the family relied on social security benefits to make ends meet. he has that military experience having enlisted in the national guard at 17 and serving in the guard for 24 years. walz is the first sitting democratic governor tapped for the vp slot in 100 years, and the first person on a democratic national ticket to not have attended law school, since jimmy carter in 1980. governor walz backed free school

lunches, enshrining abortion rights and expanding background checks for gun purchases while being a hunter himself. nancy pelosi defending him as a moderate dem in an effort to pre-empt attacks. >> to character him as left is unreal. he is right down the middle. he is a heartland of america democrat. 25 years in the national guard. longest serving non-commissioned officer ever served in the congress of the united states. he brings the security credential. he brings the rural credential. he will do well in rural america. >> popular in his home state, he started to become a household name recently, coining the trump campaign as weird. a description the harris camp made its own. >> it's true, these guys are just weird.

they are running for he man women haters club. that's what they go at. that's not what people are interested in. >> in five hours, the pair is going to appear together for the first time as a joint ticket on the campus of temple university kicking off a battleground state tour abridged because stops in georgia and north carolina had to be dropped because of the track of tropical storm debby. black suvs left the walz's home less than an hour ago, greeted by cheers from neighbors who gathered outside. we begin with yamiche alcindor, chuck todd, susan page, and michael sheeran. yamiche, take us inside the process. we know somewhat of what went on overnight. what made harris make her decision? >> reporter: vice president

harris made this decision based on a number of things. she made it this morning. she went to bed last night and said she wanted to sleep on it. this morning she told her staff what her decision was. of course, it was tim walz of minnesota, the governor there. this came down to personal rapport, someone she feels like she can trust, someone who will have her back, especially as this campaign goes on and they expect republican attacks to become more and more pointed. his executive experience as a governor who not only has the experience when it comes to leadership but also on policy. i was told by sources that they like the fact that he codified roe v. wade. he is focused on paid family leave. focused on having a universal school lunch program, child tax credits. those are part of his executive experience. he was a football coach. he was a veteran of the national guard. he was also someone who was a hunter and a gun owner. someone who felt like he could

talk to middle america. i was talking to someone, the attorney general who told me even though minnesota is blue, they fight for it every single time. every single race they knock on doors, they build coalitions, they talk to neighbors. they understand they have to win people's votes. this is a state and a governor i'm told by keith ellison that understands how to fight for people's thoughts and minds and hearts here. there's the issue of messaging. he settled on the word weird. one word to describe republicans. one word to describe donald trump, j.d. vance. the harris campaign has been putting it out in emails. j.d. vance is a creep. the idea that they are trying to get very direct and effective with the language here. that all was the things that went into it. they were supposed to roll it out this morning. our reporting got ahead of them a bit. it was broke before they were ready to roll it out. they did roll it out.

we see merchandise, a new website. we expect to see a video soon. we will see both tim walz and vice president harris behind me here in philadelphia. they will come here to a crowd of people waiting in anticipation for them to make their debut. >> chuck, let's talk about this. when you talk about battlegrounds, minnesota is not battleground. it usually goes democratic, even went that way in 1972 when nothing else did. it's adjacent to the media market in wisconsin which is a swing state. i was talking to two former governors last night. together, they were saying that walz would be the do no harm, take no risks. josh shapiro would be a home run. they both preferred him because they thought he was more of a fighter, he was to quote one, a really great political animal, which is from politicians. >> if you are harris though --

>> that's high praise for josh shapiro. they are saying that this was the less risky choice. >> that's what i'm taking away from this. it's not lost on me that there was a labor campaign against kelly, mark kelly. there was a quiet progressive campaign, fedderman ended up going public against shapiro. the voucher issue. most delegates at the convention have a relationship with one of the teachers unions. that isn't something -- >> walz is a teacher. >> she's the leader of the democratic party right now. if you told me her calculation is, i don't want any new dust-ups in the party, we have to be united. if you looked at your three candidates that way, right, look, if she picked kelly, it would have been an acknowledge acknowledgement she has a border problem.

shapiro, a strategic pick. most presidents learn over time that the best way to pick a vice president is for somebody you are personally comfortable with, somebody that shares your philosophy. i think tim walz won this. there's not a long history of walz and harris having a personal relationship. i think walz won this on tv. i think walz was able to show that he can do the things you need a running mate to do, go on the attack, keep your opponents on their feet, but translate your governing style to a different constituency. i like to say, sometimes people speak washington and sometimes people speak american. tim walz speaks american. he will not tell you about a subcommittee chai. he will talk about helping veterans and things like that. in that sense, it strikes me that's what harris is looking for. it does tell me -- i have a yellow flag going, huh, if you

squeal loud enough, she hears and responds. there's going to be people that will come away from this experience thinking, huh, the progressive backlash is what got her off of shapiro or off of kelly. in fairness, maybe they didn't vet either. that's also a possibility when all is said and done. on substance, i can't help but have that takeaway. >> the choice, susan, it would have been a gimme for pennsylvania. he is so wildly popular in pennsylvania. that was something that would have certainly been in the bag. except for the fact that the sitting senator, john fedderman -- they have another race that could end up being competitive, because it's so well financed from the republican side. bob casey up against david mccormick. you don't want more dissent there. in terms of a very public push

by women's groups. there were a number of groups who didn't like something that happened with shapiro's close advisors that they felt he had not been aggressive enough on. then you have to wonder whether the last push by netanyahu, which i covered the last few weeks when he was here, the tough speech, not embraing the hostage release deal, the cease-fire deal, and then not only one assassination, which was fairly understandable, but the one deep in the heart of tehran, which is now likely setting off a whole another cycle of retaliation, did netanyahu scuttle shapiro. >> if the democrats lose the presidency and pennsylvania, there will be a lot of second-guessing. on the other hand, tim walz is the opposite of weird. a high school coach and history teacher and a guy that seems as

normal can be. i wonder if vice president harris was affected by her own difficult relationship with joe biden in the early years of their presidency, of their administration. she didn't want that. maybe in hindsight that will turn out to be a great decision if tim walz is appealing to rural americans and gets some swing and even republican votes. maybe they wouldn't have gotten with shapiro on the ticket. i think often you are fighting the last war. that was for kamala harris the last war. >> it took a long time for them to warm up. reportedly the east wing not warming up to her as well. because of some of the shots she took at joe biden when they were running against each other, particularly the miami debate. >> i think we know shapiro is very ambitious. if she had a fear that her running mate -- if they didn't share some of the same philosophy -- she's picking

somebody from the different wing of the party. are they going to worry about their own brand above the administration? i think when you looks at that -- if you are in her head, i can see why she goes with walz. she goes, walz -- we share -- we're in the same lane of the democratic party. i said this earlier, tim walz is younger joe biden. >> no ambition to run for president. >> no. >> talk about the influence of the obama team, which is part of the harris team, blended in. if anybody else -- nancy pelosi might have had impact. she mentioned today that he had been a very effective chair of the subcommittee on veteran affairs on bringing benefits to veterans when they worked together in the house. >> yeah. i think all of those endorsements from the different parts of different wings of the

party are important. the point chuck made about unity and the desire that she has to keep everything unified rather than splitting into some kind of a factious dispute. for me the thing that was striking was -- two things. one, walz is a kind of happy warrior in the model of ronald reagan. able to deliver a punch but do it with a chuckle. i think that that doubles down for harris on this message to americans, a happiness and optimism versus the dark, foreboding description of america that trump and vance are offering. that helps. i think that there's a way in which this is a play to the recognition that this is a base election. at the end of the day, if it

comes down to a handful of votes, it's not about persuading republicans to cross over but rather to make sure that every single voter in your coalition turns out. it seems like at least in the early hours that much of the democratic base coalition behind harris is rallying around him, the progressives in the left in particular. like chuck said, this is a do no harm pick. it remains me of tim kaine when hillary clinton picked him, who probably was the safest pick. obviously, didn't help her win. that probably had more to do with her than him. it does feel like that kind of a do no harm pick. >> yeah. yamiche, when it comes down to it, this likeable quality, taking down j.d. vance as i know rural america and people are kind to each other.

donald trump is just weird. rather than saying that he is destructive and scary and frightening. that kind of attack animal i think could be very persuasive as well as the chemistry on that visit on sunday. >> reporter: that's right. i have been talking to voters that have been lining up in lawn chairs and bringing their stuff to get ready to see tim walz and vice president harris. they have been telling me -- these are harris supporters -- harris/walz supporters now. they expect to see more of that language, and hope to see the weird language, the language of calling trump and vance creepy. one voter told me a few minutes ago, it's creepy vance is following them around the country. why is he doing this? it's weird he is -- they are on tour and he is on tour with them. you can imagine that's the kind of energy and the kind of thing they will lean into, these two candidates. you see j.d. vance making his stops and trying to troll them.

that might backfire. you might see democrats talking about him as someone who is problematic. i will say, we talk about who tim walz is. i was told by keith ellison, he is not just an old white man. he said, look at his background on civil rights. he appointed the first black woman to serve on the minnesota state supreme court. he appointed the prosecutor who got the conviction in the george floyd case. there's a lot we will learn about the background when it comes to civil rights and race. >> you point out keith ellison in minnesota, the ag. i want to point out where you are. i think you are on the temple campus where they will do their rollout tonight. there are places you can be in philadelphia. we were at independence hall. the constitution center. they are in north philly. that is a really diverse community. it used to be largely black. it's adjacent to fishtown. there's a white working class

community there. it's a campus. it's a big campus. great basketball, great school. i have roots there. >> reporter: i would remiss if i didn't say my husband is happy i'm here, because he is an eagles fan. >> there you go. yamiche, chuck, susan, michael. thanks to all of you. party politics. a dive into both sides of the aisle as the candidates and their running mates -- we showed part of d.j. vance, they will give a three-month sprint to the finish. we are back in 90 seconds. you are watching the right place. msnbc. why use 10 buckets of water when you can use 1 fire extinguisher. and to fight heartburn, why take 10 antacids throughout the day when you can take 1 prilosec.

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six digestive symptoms to help you feel better. six digestive symptoms. the power of nature. iberogast. within minutes of finding out that vice president kamala harris had chosen tim walz as a running mate, the trump-vance campaign fired off an attack, calling the governor a west coast wanna-be. walz is relatively unknown to most of the country. in a new poll, 71% of americans said they did not have an opinion of him or had never heard of him. that could come as an advantage to the harris campaign. a blank slate. joining me now, 2016 presidential candidate john kasich, and former republican national chair michael steele. we are all pumped, not because

of who but because it's happening. we have a running mate. we have a 90-plus day campaign. governor kasich, what are your thoughts about governor walz compared to the second place choice, second place we understand that was josh shapiro? >> i thought they were going to go with shapiro. that would have been -- >> you are an ohio guy. you are talking borders. >> i'm also western pennsylvania. i think shapiro would have helped them. i was surprised they picked this gentleman. i have been talking to democrats about the fact that i thought it was important for kamala harris to avoid being labeled one way or another. all of them agreed with me. maybe they didn't want to argue with me. i think by picking walz, they have sort of labeled themselves as progressive. i don't know that sells. we have to see.

basically, the -- i know what the republicans are going to say. i know what the democrats are going to say. it's a campaign for him, biography versus ideology. how does that work out? his biography is good. a regular old joe out there. the ideology could cause problems. that's kind of how i look at what we are going to see in the next three months. >> what about the fact that walz has been described as being folksy? vance is speaking in philadelphia. this is what he had to say about his opponent, if they end up having a debate. >> the big news of the day is that tim walz has been nominated as the vp or is the presumptive nominee for kamala harris. my view is it just highlights how radical kamala harris is. they make an interesting tag team. >> what do you think, michael

steele? >> a couple of things. one, i think you got the hillbilly against the real hillbilly. that's going to be yale versus the guy who is actually -- spent his time on the ground, fixing f-150s. his narrative is strong. i don't buy the top line that some are pushing out that this is now a progressive ticket. look at his voting record in congress. far from progressive. last time i checked, feeding kids lunch and breakfast is not a conservative thing. it's what a governor should do. i think there are a number of counter narratives with respect to what the governor can say about what he did and how he led in his state. i think the more ticklishish for them, which i'm sure that kamala and his team have accounted for, was the riots during his time as

a result of the george floyd murder and his response. i'm sure that's something that they have figured out a response to. i think this is a strong pick. shapiro was one of my top choices, for sure. you know what it says about kamala is she's willing to go against the grain a little bit. i think that bodes well for how she may set up her administration. we will see. >> john, does it say something that shapiro is more ambitious, younger, might have -- there might have been friction there and that she had a rocky way to go in the beginning as vice president with the biden folks and getting those teams to work in sync? >> i mean, i suppose that's positive -- it's possible. they just didn't click as much as we can.

i don't like to disagree necessarily or argue with my friend michael. i can tell you, he callsprogres. there's a lot of thought that kamala is a progressive. it's not like somebody is making that term up. i grew up in western pennsylvania, in blue collar pennsylvania. the biography -- i will repeat it -- is good. i'm not an expert on all of his issues. people don't know who he is. i guarantee you it will be a race to define him as far left -- they will define her as far left. my conversations with democrats were, if you want advice, don't let her get trapped in ideology. the press is trying to do that. let it be more amorphous. i don't think they can do that. i think we will hear about his positions. i agree with michael. i'm the one that expanded medicaid. i was the first republican in america to do it. i understand about caring for people. the question is, if you look at the overall record, and you have

somebody calling themselves a progressive, people from minnesota, some interests who have talked to me about -- i don't know enough about him. but i think it's a battle of biography, who he is. he likes to fish and hunt and all those things. that's great. versus his ideology. he claims to be very liberal. we will see where it goes. the country is basically center right, center left. it's in the middle. the question is, if they can define them as hard left, they don't win. if they can define themselves as common sense, more fixing problems, then they can win. it's a matter of who is going to define who at this point. >> let me tell you one little thing that could be a first step in their favor. he has been endorsed by aoc and joe manchin. >> there you go. >> all he needs now is snoop dogg, the most popular man in america.

>> i think he will get the snoop dogg vote. i think to the governor's point, this boils down to maga versus if it's progressiveness. that's what the country is going to decide. one team wants to be an authoritarian regime. the other wants to govern the nation. you can decide on ideological lines. i hope they land on the side of governing the country, not setting up a dictatorship. >> as always, the two of you are great. thanks for being with us. next, a closer look at the harris-walz ticket. this is "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. through 99% of grease and grime in half the time. yeah, it absorbs grease five times faster. even replaces multiple cleaning products.

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pennsylvania, clearly, was not decisive here. what are the advantages to this ticket? this is being described as the do no harm ticket. >> pennsylvania is critical. michigan, midwest states. she had great candidates to pick from. it tells you about how deep the democratic bench is. tim walz is a great pick. i predict american will fall in love with tim walz. just think about who this guy is. he is from the midwest. he grew up on a farm. he was a high schoolteacher. he was a high school coach. he has been a veteran for i think 24 years, serving in the army. his dad was as well. he won in a congressional district that had previously been held by republicans, which meant he had to cross over. he became a governor of a state and has done an unbelievable job. he has common sense solutions. he is a regular guy. he is really smart. he brings the credentials.

i think he will do very well in all of the battleground states along with, of course, the vice president as she seeks the presidency. >> being, as i say, a do no harm choice, middle of the road guy, gray hair, white hair, a teacher, popular with the unions. was there a decision -- there clearly was a decision not to take any risks. there were a couple of risks. there were women's groups upset about a cabinet member in pennsylvania, or one of the advi advisors. there was the risk of in the middle of the fighting over gaza when just a week or ago, two weeks ago, the prime minister was here and was not talking about embracing the cease-fire deal and assassinates someone in the heart of tehran and we are facing war in the middle east. >> i don't agree that it's a safe, do no harm pick.

tim walz has an incredible record that folks in america have been looking for. if you think about who donald trump picked, he picked a guy that's not real. j.d. vance is not who he says he is. he is not ready to be the president of the united states. vice president harris actually picked somebody who actually is capable of governing from day one should he be called upon to do so and someone who has an incredible record of running something and getting things done. he is a great fit for all of the states across america. he grew up on a farm. this guy believes in the second amendment. he is a hunter, fisher. he will relate to lots of people. he can talk a dog off a meat truck. you have seen the statements he has made. he is really good. i think he is going to add great value to the ticket. i think it's going to be a major plus for us. as far as israel and anti-semitism, let me say this. vice president harris has been really strong in her commitment to israel. she understands that israel is one of our greatest allies.

she has been very aggressive in speaking out about anti-semitism, as all of us should. her husband has led that effort on behalf of president biden. he will continue to do that. tim walz will be just at strong on those issues as she is. >> moments ago, j.d. vance said he wants to debate tim walz. here you have j.d. vance and the way he portrays himself, representing appalachia. you have tim walz, he is a farmer. he was arguably very effective in his debut on national television a couple of weeks ago where he was talking about, i know rural america and people are kind to each other and they don't attack each other. was the coining of the phrase weird and important factor here? he was the first person donald trump weird instead of dangerous and a threat to democracy. it was the putdown that the campaign quickly embraced. >> correct.

he speaks in plain english that people understand. it is true that donald trump and j.d. vance are weird. everything that they think about is so over the top and so strange. tim found the word that actually most of america went, you know what, i recognize that. i will buy a ticket to that debate between walz and vance. i will sit in the front row. i can't wait for it to occur. if there's anybody that understands middle america, it's a guy that grew up on a farm, that hunts, that fishes, that was a teacher, that goes to the state fair. i'm not sure j.d. vance could find a hardware store. i bet he could fix your car before he goes to the governor's mansion and runs a great state. i feel good about the pick. i think the team is going to be great. vice president harris and he get along really well. >> i will buy a ticket to the debate, too. thank you. >> see you there. coming up next, former top

lawmakers in washington on how voters in key states are going to respond to the democratic ticket. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. (kevin) now our businesses get fast and reliable internet from the same network that powers our phones. (aaron) so whatever's next... we're cooking with fire. (vo) switch to the partner businesses rely on. (bell ringing) someone needs to customize and save hundreds with liberty mutual! (inaudible sounds) (elevator doors opening) wait, there's an elevator? only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, ♪ ♪ liberty. ♪

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welcome both. steve, you served with governor walz. nancy pelosi flagged he was active in securing veterans benefits, as a subcommittee chair. he is being portrayed by j.d. vance as, quote, progressive, whatever that means. he does have the endorsement of aoc and joe manchin. how do you describe governor walz? >> i think that the vice president's decision was just brilliant and reflects astute judgement not only for politics but for the country. i served with tim walz for ten years in the house of representatives. when i chaired the democratic congressional campaign committee, he was at my side. i'm going to say something about him you can't say about most members of congress. this guy was a no flash workhorse. quietly operational. whether it was pursuing a policy

that would protect and defend veterans or pursuing a political objective, he got it done. we could rely on him. the other thing that i noticed is, everybody says he is that rural football coach, high school football coach and he projects that. but this guy knows how to throw a punch, as you were talking about with my friend mitchell. it was tim walz who figured out how to define the trump candidacy in one word rather than the usual 42-point democratic talking points. the third thing that really brought us closer was that this guy knows how to win red leaning districts. this guy flipped a district that had two democrats in it in recent memory. he would advise me on what districts could be competitive, how to message in the rural districts. you put it together, and i think you have the perfect candidate for vice president and a very good and solid judgment by the

vice president. >> claire, what about not doing pennsylvania? no democrat can win without pennsylvania. josh shapiro would have brought pennsylvania. you had, of course, john fedder fedderman in dispute with the sitting governor, which is not a great factor. >> you know, at the end of the day, i think both candidates were terrific. this was about how kamala harris felt about her partner. whether or not there was a working relationship there that she felt would really benefit the country. she knows the role of vice president. she knows what it entails. she knows what is necessary. she was in a great position to judge these two candidates over who would perform that job best. who is, frankly, most qualified to be president of the united states. we are talking about a guy who from public high schoolteacher

to almost 25 years in the national guard as a high ranking non-commissioned officer, to a member of congress, to a governor of a midwestern state, this is someone -- this resume of these two candidates are quite something. i don't think this was about rejecting josh shapiro as much as bringing somebody to the ticket who can plainly and clearly speak to most of america. this is not an elite guy. this is not an ivy league guy. this is somebody who knows about cleaning the filter on his furnace than j.d. vance would ever hope to know. you know who this guy is? he is who j.d. vance is pretending to be. he is that salt of the earth, normal midwestern guy that is going to communicate -- i agree with my friend steve israel. this guy is going to slice and dice the trump-vance ticket with

a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye. >> yeah. it's really striking, steve, that he can be an attack dog without appearing as an attack dog. he has been described by j.d. vance as a left wing west coast wanna-be, whatever that means. it's san francisco liberal or one of those terms that are attached to californians. there's nothing about this guy that looks to me like california. in terms of anything -- >> yeah. of course, j.d. vance will say that. tim walz's view of west coast is the west coast of a lake. as if fighting for health care is a bad word, protecting the affordable care act, standing up for reproductive freedoms and battling climate, as if those are bad values.

tim walz still established an ability to message and mobilize xhoounties that generally voted for republicans. they understand it was never about ideology. it was about them. that's an indispensable attribute in politics. >> great to see both of you. a word view. how a harris-walz white house would confront challenges overseas as the governor works to show people he is ready on day one. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. tchec (vo) they're back! verizon small business days are here. august 5th to the 11th. get a free tech check. and special offers.

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with the israel-hamas war on the brink of escalating into an all-out war with iran, ukraine's fight against russia stalemated, the u.s. facing north korea and china, whoever wins in november will handle multiple crises on all fronts. joining us now, jeff mason, white house correspondent and ben rhodes. jeff, as a governor, how much experience does tim walz have with foreign policy, obama whit house. so, jeff, as a governor, how much experience does tim walz have with foreign policy, national security issues? he was in the national guard for 24 years. but that's about it. i guess he was on the veterans affairs committee in congress.

>> sure, well, i think that national guard experience is something that was appealing to vice president harris, that background and being able to talk about his military connection there. but in terms of foreign policy, there is a lot of open questions, andrea. he did condemn hamas after the october 7th attacks in israel, saying that the vast majority of palestinians were not hamas, and hamas did not represent palestinians, but other than that, he's been pretty quiet. and so, we'll see. i think that the vice president's choice of him, however, shows that as a governing partner she believes he can step up, whether it is on foreign policy or domestic policy. and certainly his time in congress, in addition to the national guard experience that you referenced, also gave him some exposure to the world and to foreign issues. but, in general, he doesn't arrive at the table with a huge resume of dealing with world leaders and that's something that he'll -- he'll no doubt

sort of bone up on, as he prepares for this on the campaign and if he ends up getting the role, if the two of them win in november. >> and he did serve on armed services as well, ben, but i guess there is no experience like being in the middle of it. we have seen the changes in kamala harris, the evolution, you know, when she first went to munich in '23 and then in '24, a lot more responsibility. she was playing a key role we now know from president biden in negotiating for the hostage release. negotiating with the germans, with the slovenians, and also, of course, in both cases meeting with president zelenskyy. but she certainly has been more forward-leaning and while being even-handed on israel has -- was one of -- acknowledged by a lot of people in the white house, openly acknowledged she was much more forward-leaning on talking about the civilian casualties before the president and some of his other advisers were prepared to did that.

>> yeah, i mean, look, i think if you look at the ticket, i take a couple of things away from it. first of all, kamala harris is very comfortable with her own foreign policy national security bona fides, right? this is somebody who has been vice president of the united states for almost a full term, at a very busy time for american national security, has traveled the world, met foreign leaders, represented the united states at summits. she knows the people. she'll be taking the baton in full stride on these issues, and then i think with governor walz, coming on board, you know, what he brings is that experience of having been in the house, and having been a governor. when you're a governor, you're interacting with trade issues you're interacting with climate issues, the kind of industrial policy that the biden administration's approach, domestic issues, connected to overseas issues. and if you look at his record in the house and as governor, he's been a supporter of ukraine, he's been a proponent of human rights in places like china, a pelosi ally and you know how

much those issues are centered there. he's someone that on gaza, if you look at what he's done, he's condemned hamas, when you had that uncommitted effort in minnesota, he spoke out about the need to listen, to constituents in his state and other places that are deeply concerned about the civilian casualties in gaza. i think he's someone who seems to share the same kind of values and world view as kamala harris. and i think, you know, where they can complement each other is he brings that experience as a governor, she brings that experience as a vice president, and, you know, i think around the world, if you talk to foreign leaders and people in other countries as i do, there is -- i think there is going to be relief that the drama of the last month is done, this is the ticket, kamala harris is a known commodity, governor walz is certainly a democrat that is familiar to them, i think, the stabilization of the democratic party is something that is bringing a lot of relief to a lot of allied capitals. >> jeff, what do we expect in terms of the crisis in the middle east because this could

exacerbate tensions just as sure going into the dnc in chicago with the memories of 1968. >> absolutely it could. in fact, it is going to be a complication or at least a point on vice president's to do list as she is unveiling her vice presidential candidate. i was at the white house yesterday having a meeting with an official who said that she was in the situation room at the time that we were in our meeting and she was with president biden, discussing this issue. so that's something that, you know, she still has a day job to do and that day job will be affected by this very shortly and will underscore the importance of the foreign policy in addition to domestic policy for this entire ticket. >> and what we have seen also, ben, is a lot of people you worked with to elect barack obama. we have seen david plouffe, we have seen stephanie cutter, people going in to work with the biden people hand and glove. >> yeah, well, you know, andrea,

i think it is reflective of the fact this is an allmoment. and i think everybody is -- everybody is going to jump on board the ship and row whatever oar they can pick up. i think there is a convergence of the entirety of the democratic party that has been very cathartic. look at the last couple of weeks, there was some painful divisions, family divisions, andrea, family fights that were taking place for a few weeks there, and once that was resolved, what you've seen is everybody get on board and everybody want to do their part and the kamala harris, the energy and excitement she's captured, it is somewhat reminiscent of that obama coalition from 2008 and 2012 that plouffe and cutter have a lot of experience mobilizing. and so i think everything feels additive. this is -- you want to catch one of those periods in the campaign, andrea, and we know it won't last, we know there will be valleys as well as peaks, but you want to capture the energy and extend that as well as you

can. and into the fall. >> jeff mason, ben rhodes, thanks to you and we'll have that energy tomorrow. thanks for this edition and be sure to tune in tomorrow, nancy pelosi joins me to discuss her new book "the art of power and the new addition to the 2024 democratic ticket." chris jansing starts after a short break. ticket. chris jansing starts after a short break. keeping him fresh everywhere. ♪♪