Harris suggests Republicans ‘quietly’ agree with some of her proposals

Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, joined "60 Minutes" for a high-profile interview in the final sprint to Election Day, facing questions on their economic plans, foreign policy and political missteps.

Harris was pressed repeatedly during the interview, which aired Monday, about how she would pay for a child care tax credit, assistance to first-time homebuyers and other measures intended to help people recover from the post-pandemic inflation. She said she would work with Congress for increased taxes on the wealthy and businesses.

“You know, when you talk quietly with a lot of folks in Congress, they know exactly what I’m talking about because their constituents know exactly what I'm talking about; their constituents are those firefighters and teachers and nurses,” Harris told "60 Minutes" correspondent Bill Whitaker.

It was a high-stakes sit-down for the vice president, who has faced criticism for not participating in as many interviews as her opponent, and opened her up to intense scrutiny in the final weeks of a close contest with former President Donald Trump. It comes as Harris embarks on a media blitz this week, appearing in a Univision town hall as well as joining Howard Stern on Sirius XM, “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” and the “Call Her Daddy” podcast.

The special edition of "60 Minutes" follows a half-century tradition at CBS of inviting the Democratic and Republican tickets to appear on the broadcast before Americans head to the ballot box in November. Trump, after agreeing to the interview, later declined to participate for unknown reasons.

“A week ago, Trump backed out. The campaign offered shifting explanations,” correspondent Scott Pelley said at the start of the program. “Trump has said his opponent doesn’t do interviews because she can’t handle them. He had previously declined another debate with Harris. So tonight may have been the largest audience for the candidates between now and Election Day.”

The vice president was also asked about the war in Ukraine, telling Whitaker that she would only meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to negotiate an end to the conflict with the participation of the Ukrainian government.

Asked if she would support NATO’s expansion to include Ukraine, she said it was an issue they would deal with “if and when it arrives at that point” but said the U.S. is supporting the Eastern European country’s ability to defend itself against Russia. She contrasted her position with Trump, who has been hostile to Ukraine and sympathetic to Putin, insisting he could negotiate an end to the war.

“Donald Trump, if he were president, Putin would be sitting in Kyiv right now,” she said. “He talks about, ‘Oh, he can end it on day one.’ You know what that is? It’s about surrender.”

Whitaker pushed Walz, in a separate interview, about false or misleading statements he has made in recent years, including saying he had been in China during the Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989 when he had in fact arrived later and misstating his retirement rank from the Minnesota National Guard. The governor said, with a chuckle, that the vice president told him he needed to “be a little more careful on how you say things.”

He repeated an earlier defense that any false or misleading statements are a result of garbled speaking and not ill-intent.

“I think folks know who I am. And I think they know the difference between someone expressing emotion, telling a story, getting a date wrong by — you — rather than a pathological liar like Donald Trump,” he said.