Harris defends shifting from some liberal positions in first interview of presidential campaign

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday defended shifting away from some of her more liberal positions in her first major television interview of her presidential campaign, but insisted her “values have not changed” even as she is “seeking consensus.”

Sitting with her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris was asked specifically about her reversals on banning fracking and decriminalizing illegal border crossings, positions she took during her last run for president. She confirmed she does not want to ban fracking, an energy extraction process key to the economy of swing-state Pennsylvania, and said there “should be consequence” for people who cross the border without permission.

“I think the most important and most significant aspect of my policy perspective and decisions is my values have not changed,” Harris said.

She went on to say: “I believe it is important to build consensus. It is important to find a common place of understanding where we can actually solve the problem.”

The interview with CNN’s Dana Bash came as voters are still trying to learn more about the Democratic ticket in an unusually compressed time frame. President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid just five weeks ago. The interview focused largely on policy, as Harris sought to show that she had adopted more moderate positions on issues that Republicans argue are extreme, while Walz defended past misstatements about his biography.

Harris hadn't done an in-depth interview since she became her party's standard-bearer five weeks ago, though she did sit for several while she was still Biden's running mate.

She said serving with Biden was “one of the greatest honors of my career,” and she recounted the moment he called to tell her he was stepping down and would support her.

"He told me what he had decided to do and ... I asked him, ‘Are you sure?’ and he said, ‘Yes,’ and that’s how I learned about it.”

She said she didn’t ask Biden to endorse her because “he was very clear that he was going to endorse me.”

Harris defended the administration’s record on the southern border and immigration, noting that she was tasked with trying to address the “root causes” in other countries that were driving the border crossings.

“We have laws that have to be followed and enforced, that address and deal with people who cross our border illegally, and there should be consequences,” Harris said.

Asked about Israel’s war in Gaza after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, Harris said, “I am unequivocal and unwavering in my commitment to Israel’s defense and its ability to defend itself.” But the vice president also reiterated what she’s said for months, that civilian deaths are too high amid the Israeli offensive.

She also brushed off Republican Donald Trump’s questioning of her racial identity after he suggested falsely that she changed how she presents herself for political reasons and “happened to turn Black.” Harris, who is of Black and South Asian heritage, said Trump's suggestion was the “same old, tired playbook.”

“Next question, please," she said.

Trump and Harris are set to debate on Sept. 10. In a post Thursday evening, it appeared Trump was paying close attention to the interview. After the debate was mentioned, he posted, “I look so forward to Debating Comrade Kamala Harris and exposing her for the fraud she is.”

Trump went on to say that his Democratic opponent “has changed every one of her long held positions, on everything. America will never allow an Election WEAPONIZING MARXIST TO BE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S.”

The debate will be the first-ever meeting for Harris and Trump. The opponents had only been in the same space when Harris, as a senator, attended Trump’s joint addresses to Congress.

During the early parts of the interview, Walz watched quietly and nodded when Harris made her main points. He was later asked about misstatements, starting with how he has described his 24 years of service in the National Guard.

In a 2018 video clip that the Harris-Walz campaign once circulated, Walz spoke out against gun violence and said, “We can make sure that those weapons of war, that I carried in war, is the only place where those weapons are at.”

Critics said the comment “that I carried in war” suggested that Walz portrayed himself as someone who spent time in a combat zone. He said Thursday night that he misspoke after a school shooting, adding, “My grammar’s not always correct.”

Asked about statements that appeared to indicate that he and his wife conceived their children with in-vitro fertilization, when they in fact used a different fertility treatment, he said he believes most Americans understood what he meant and pivoted to Republican opposition to abortion rights.

Democrats’ enthusiasm about their vote in November has surged over the past few months, according to polling from Gallup. About 8 in 10 Democrats now say they are more enthusiastic than usual about voting, compared with 55% in March.

This gives them an enthusiasm edge they did not have earlier this year. Republicans’ enthusiasm has increased by much less over the same period, and about two-thirds of Republicans now say they are more enthusiastic than usual about voting.

At a packed arena for a rally Thursday in Savannah, Harris cast her nascent campaign as the underdog and encouraged the crowd to work hard to elect her in November.

“We’re here to speak truth and one of the things that we know is that this is going to be a tight race to the end,” she said.

Harris went through a list of Democratic concerns: that Trump will further restrict women’s rights after he appointed three judges to the U.S. Supreme Court who helped overturn Roe, that he'd repeal the Affordable Care Act, and that given new immunity powers granted presidents by the U.S. Supreme Court, “imagine Donald Trump with no guardrails.”

The rally was the end of a two-day bus tour in southeastern Georgia. Harris has another campaign blitz on Labor Day with Biden in Detroit and Pittsburgh with the election rapidly approaching. The first mail ballots get sent to voters in just two weeks.

Long reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Sagar Meghani and Amelia Thomson DeVeaux in Washington contributed to this report.

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024, in Savannah, Ga. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris talks with the daughter of a supporter on the phone as she makes a stop at a volunteer appreciation event at The Gray in downtown Savannah, Ga., Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris talks as she makes a stop at a volunteer appreciation event at The Gray in downtown Savannah, Ga., Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally in Savannah, Ga., Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Savannah Mayor Van Johnson high-fives an employee as Rep. Nikema Williams, D-Ga., watches as Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris visits Dottie's Market in Savannah, Ga., Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris looks at an employees shoes during a stop at Dottie's Market in Savannah, Ga., Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris listens during a stop at Dottie's Market in Savannah, Ga., Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris talks during a stop at Dottie's Market in Savannah, Ga., Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Supporters for democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris grab fans to try to stay cool outside a campaign event, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024, in Savannah, Ga. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris talks during a stop at Dottie's Market in Savannah, Ga., Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris talks during a stop at Dottie's Market in Savannah, Ga., Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris waves as she exits her campaign bus in Savannah, Ga., Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speak to marching band members at Liberty County High School in Hinesville, Ga., Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to marching band members at Liberty County High School in Hinesville, Ga., Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

BUKWO, Uganda (AP) — Thousands of mourners in Uganda paid respects to Rebecca Cheptegei, the Olympic athlete who died last week in Kenya after her partner set her on fire, at a military funeral in a remote town near the Kenyan border.

Military officers played a prominent role in the funeral because Cheptegei held the rank of sergeant in Uganda's army, said military spokesman Brig. Felix Kulayigye, adding that she deserved a “gun salute that befits her rank."

Athletes, family members and others delivered their eulogies before thousands in a sports field in the district of Bukwo.

Cheptegei, who was 33, will be buried later on Saturday.

She died after her body suffered 80% burns in the attack by Dickson Ndiema, who doused her in gasoline at her home in western Kenya’s Trans-Nzoia County on Sept. 3. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed to his injuries.

According to a report filed by the local chief, they quarreled over a piece of land the athlete bought in Kenya.

The horrific gasoline attack shocked many and strengthened calls for the protection of female runners facing exploitation and abuse in the East African country.

Cheptegei’s body was returned to Uganda Friday in a somber procession following a street march by dozens of activists in the western Kenyan town of Eldoret who demanded an end to physical violence against female athletes.

Cheptegei is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in a worrying pattern of gender-based violence in recent years. Kenya’s high rates of violence against women have prompted several marches this year.

Ugandan officials have condemned the attack, demanding justice for Cheptegei. First lady Janet Museveni, who also serves as Uganda’s education and sports minister, described the attack as “deeply disturbing.”

Don Rukare, chairman of the National Council of Sports of Uganda, said in a statement on X that the attack was “a cowardly and senseless act that has led to the loss of a great athlete.”

Four in 10 women, or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women, have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the 2022 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey.

Many Ugandan athletes train across the border in Kenya, an athletics powerhouse with better facilities. Some of the region’s best runners train together at a high-altitude center in Kenya’s west.

Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics, finishing in 44th place, less than a month before the attack. She had represented Uganda at other competitions.

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Muhumuza reported from Kampala, Uganda.

Members of the public gather for a funeral service of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei ahead of her burial in Kapkoros, Bukwo District, Uganda Saturday, Sept. 14. 2024. (AP Photo/Hajarah Nalwadda)

Members of Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF) carry the coffin of their colleague Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Koriny Cheptegei, ahead of her burial in Kapkoros, Bukwo District, Uganda Saturday, Sept. 14. 2024. (AP Photo/Hajarah Nalwadda)

Members of Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF) stand at the casket of their colleague Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Koriny Cheptegei, ahead of her burial in Kapkoros, Bukwo District, Uganda Saturday, Sept. 14. 2024. (AP Photo/Hajarah Nalwadda)

Members of the public gather for a funeral service of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei ahead of her burial in Kapkoros, Bukwo District, Uganda Saturday, Sept. 14. 2024. (AP Photo/Hajarah Nalwadda)

Mourners pay respects to Ugandan athlete who died after her partner set her on fire

Mourners pay respects to Ugandan athlete who died after her partner set her on fire

FILE -Rebecca Cheptegei, competes at the Discovery 10km road race in Kapchorwa, Uganda, Jan. 20, 2023. (AP Photo, File)