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CNN interview with Kamala Harris and Tim Walz: How to watch it

CNN interview with Kamala Harris and Tim Walz: How to watch it

Assuming all goes according to plan, Vice President Kamala Harris has made good on her promise to give an interview to a mainstream media outlet before the end of the month (though it was a close call).

Agreeing to that was the easy part, although you might not know that because it took so long to come together. Harris is famous—or infamous, depending on which side of the political spectrum you're on—for not giving a full-length interview to any traditional media outlet since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee. Republicans and mainstream media (who aren't often on the same side of an issue) have lamented the silence; many Democrats have dismissed it with a “who needs them” comment.

Now it starts. And the real work begins.

When is the CNN interview with Harris and Walz on?

Harris and Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, have agreed to an interview with Dana Bash on CNN, the network announced Tuesday. The interview is scheduled for Thursday, August 29, at 6 p.m. Arizona time and will air on the network and stream on CNN.com. The interview will take place in the early afternoon.

How big is it? So big that CNN gave it a title: “The First Interview: Harris & Walz Exclusively on CNN.” When they break out the dramatic colons, you know they mean business.

If an interview seems like a big deal, Harris has made it so. She has devoted time to influencers who played a big role in the Democratic National Convention, but not to traditional media. Donald Trump and JD Vance have been popping up everywhere, Vance in particular (though the value of those appearances is sometimes questionable).

No one wants to overstay their hospitality. But Harris's reticence has only drawn more attention to the missing interview, putting her under enormous pressure to give this one. Why is the Oasis reunion a big deal? Because they haven't played in 15 years. If Harris had given interviews to major or even local media outlets in the last month, this would be just another interview.

There's no reason to think it will be easy for Harris and Walz. Certainly it shouldn't be an exercise in mutual appreciation like Elon Musk's conversation with Trump on X or any number of Trump's softball appearances on Fox News. Bash is a tough, fair interviewer; just look at her interviews with Kari Lake and Katie Hobbs during the 2022 Arizona gubernatorial race.

It should be a legitimate interview and not a quasi-campaign appearance.

What does Harris gain from an interview with Dana Bash?

The bigger question is whether Harris really needs to do this. She's being received like a rock star at her rallies. She's soaring in the polls. In a tightly controlled environment, she can get her message across with almost no interference. And it's clearly working. What's in it for her to sit down with a tough interviewer?

Legitimacy.

She's running for the toughest job in the world and will have to prove she can withstand the scrutiny that comes with it, as well as demonstrate the ability to respond quickly when confronted with unexpected questions. Her supporters on social media have cheered her on as she thumbed her nose at the mainstream media, saying who cares, nobody pays attention to the old-fashioned media anymore. While that's not entirely true, the media landscape has definitely changed; that's why the DNC invited both influencers and traditional journalists to the convention.

Think of the interview with Bash as a test. And it is a test that Harris must pass, in front of millions of people.

She made it the spectacle it has become. Now let's see what she does with it.

There is no debate: CNN’s Dana Bash’s interview with Katie Hobbs and Kari Lake was a must-see for the

How to watch the CNN interview between Harris and Walz

6:00 p.m., Thursday, August 29, on CNN; streaming on CNN.com.

Reach Goodykoontz at [email protected]. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. X: @guterK. Subscribe the weekly film newsletter.

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