Kamala Harris and Tim Walz get their first CNN interview: Here’s how to watch it

Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz will speak to CNN in their first joint interview. The interview with Dana Bash will take place on Thursday at 9 p.m. and is intended to build excitement for their party after the Democratic National Convention.

The CNN interview will be Harris’ first extensive, official conversation with a journalist since she entered the race for the Democratic presidential nomination after President Joe Biden withdrew his candidacy and re-endorsed her on July 21.

The first interview: Harris & Walz – exclusively on CNN will be streamed live for pay-TV subscribers on CNN.com, CNN Connected TV and mobile apps.

Former President Donald Trump’s campaign has counted the number of days since Harris spoke to the media, and the Republican nominee and his running mate, Senator JD Vance, have also mentioned it in their speeches at campaign rallies.

Vance even accused Harris of running a “basement campaign” and spread the hashtag #wheresKamala. He repeatedly asked the public: “What kind of election can there be when your own presidential candidate doesn’t even answer the difficult questions?”

“It’s been 37 days since Joe Biden dropped out and Kamala Harris was installed as the Democratic nominee. Kamala still hasn’t sat down for an interview,” Trump’s campaign team said Tuesday morning. “Kamala is avoiding the press for a reason. She doesn’t want to talk about her radical agenda.”

Trump’s campaign team asked Harris to answer questions about her support for “elimination of bail for violent criminals,” “raising funds for bail for violent rioters,” whether she believes “Bidenomics ‘works'” and whether she regrets “letting terrorists into the country.”

Newsweek sent an email to Harris and Trump’s campaign teams on Monday evening seeking comment.

Crisis communications expert James Haggerty previously said Newsweek that Harris was making a “mistake” by avoiding the press.

The last time Harris gave a lengthy interview to a major news channel was on June 24, when the Vice President appeared on MSNBC’s Good morning, Joe to discuss how the then Biden team was preparing to attack Republicans on abortion rights.

After a campaign rally in Michigan, Harris spoke briefly to reports on the tarmac at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport. She responded to criticism for not holding a formal press conference, saying she planned to do so by the end of the month.

Harris, however, was criticized for shouting at reporters on the way to Air Force Two to “calm down” and asking, “What do you have?” and “What else?”

Thursday’s interview takes place as Harris and Walz host a bus tour of Georgia, one of the key swing states for this election.

The state’s political landscape is heavily influenced by its large black population, which makes up a third of its electorate – one of the highest shares in the country. This demographic was crucial to Biden’s victory, and Kamala Harris’ campaign is counting on high turnout among black voters to win Georgia again in 2024.

The complexity of Georgia’s political environment is further compounded by Donald Trump’s ongoing legal battles. Trump and 18 others have been indicted on charges of alleged election tampering in Georgia, accusing them of attempting to overturn the 2020 results there. While Trump denies any wrongdoing, the case adds an additional layer of uncertainty to the 2024 race.

Reflecting Georgia’s volatile political dynamics, the Cook Political Report recently reclassified the state from “leaning Republican” to “undecided.” The latest FiveThirtyEight poll, conducted August 6-16, shows Harris averaging about 46% of the vote, while Trump is averaging about 49%.

Harris’ first campaign stop after launching her presidential bid was in Georgia. The event on July 30, which also featured a performance by rapper Megan Thee Stallion, drew around 10,000 people.

Meanwhile, a few days later, Trump held a rally in Atlanta where he spent 11 minutes of his speech insulting Georgia’s popular Republican governor, Brian Kemp, a move many Republicans called “risky” or worse.

Bash interviewed Republican vice presidential candidate Vance earlier this month. She asked the senator if Walz had called him “weird,” while Vance claimed that Harris and Walz “are not comfortable in their own skin.”

Bash co-moderated the Biden-Trump debate in Atlanta in June with Jake Tapper. CNN had previously clarified that the moderators would act as mediators and the microphones were muted.

Trump supporters like conservative political activist Charlie Kirk have already shared their thoughts on the CNN interview with Harris and Walz on social media.

“She needs emotional support to face the media and defend her untenable record,” Kirk posted on X, formerly Twitter. “Is this a joke?”

Political commentator Chuck Callesto responded to Kirk’s post by saying Harris has “zero competence” because her campaign team “doesn’t even allow her to appear on CNN alone.”

Update: 08/27/24 5:57 PM ET: This article has been updated with additional information.

This is a developing news story and will be updated with more information.