Transcript of ‘Extraordinary’: Dana Bash describes interview moment when Harris discussed historic call with Biden

We are back now with more of our special coverage of CNN's exclusive interview with the Democratic presidential ticket, Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walls. For the first time, we are hearing about how President Biden broke the news to his own vice President that he was dropping out of the race. Listen.

I'm just curious, staying on President Biden, when he called you and said he was pulling out of the race, what was that like? And did he offer to endorse you right away, or did you ask Go for it?

It was a Sunday. So here, I'll give you a little too much information. Go for it.

There's no such thing, Madam Vice President.

My family was staying with us, including my baby nieces. And we had just had pancakes. Auntie, can I have more bacon? Yes, I'll make you more bacon. And then we were sitting down to to do a puzzle. And the phone rang, and it was Joe Biden. And 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.

And what about the endorsement? Did you ask for it?

He was very clear that he was going to support me.

So when he called to tell you, he said, I'm pulling out of the race, and I'm going to support you.

Well, my first thought was not about me, to be honest with you. My first thought was about him, to be honest.

Let's bring in Dana Basch. She's in Savannah, Georgia, where this interview took place. Dana That is very interesting. And for those of us who lived through that weekend in a lot of different ways, she found out that morning, and she asked him, Are you sure? That's extraordinary.

It is extraordinary. First of all, I just want to say that I wasn't sure what she was going to say and what she would offer, if anything, about that conversation, which was obviously private, but it was also historic, which is clearly why she wanted to get some of it on the record for history now, because it's going to come out probably eventually. But are you sure? You're exactly right. That moment where, look, it wasn't as if it was a surprise in the instant that it happened, a lot of people weren't sure that the President was going to finally decide, You know what? I'm out of here. But obviously, we remember the pressure was mounting. We do know that from our reporting that just in case, she was not doing anything, but just in case, some of the people who are in the Kamala Harris orbit were just getting everything ready just in case it happened. But that was a human moment. This This is a man who took her out of the United States Senate, made her his running mate. She made history with that. And he was giving her some pretty big news about himself.

And then, of course, it was off to the races for her to try to do something even more historic to be the President, but also just with regard to the campaign process to scramble, to secure the nomination, which wasn't really, if you remember, Abby, It wasn't really set in stone that she was going to get it as quickly as she did. We weren't sure what the process was, but she sewed it up in about 24 hours. I also just want to say that just that human element there of what she was doing, you know this, you've covered her, and I know a lot of people at the table. She loves the Sunday dinner. She loves to cook. Being there in the morning with her family, making them bacon, about to do a puzzle. It was just the picture of it all.

It's certainly not what you would expect.It's really stunning. It's not what you would expect if somebody were, say, expecting big news that weekend, having the grandnieces over, going about your morning. I mean, it really was, despite all of the talk around it, she was continuing on. And you know this as well as I do, when you talk to people around her, that was the mentality that came from the top down in Harris world, was that they were going to be blinders on moving forward. And in that moment, that is exactly what she was doing.

Yeah, it was. And she was very careful. We've heard Republicans say, Oh, it was the former President. It was a coup, and she threw him overboard. That That's not what happened. There were some Democrats who wanted him to go. She personally, from your reporting, my reporting, everybody else, she was being very, very cautious and very respectful of to let him make his decision in his own way, in his own time.

All right, Dana, stay with us because we'll be back with you shortly for more from this great interview, but I want to bring it into the panel here. The word loyalty is something I heard from people in Harris world about how she approached what was happening with Joe Biden. But I know Scott, I mean, obviously, we've been talking about this on this show a lot because I know that you feel very strongly that maybe she should have, in your view, been more honest. I want to play what she told Dana about that question of what did you tell the American people about what Joe Biden was like as President, and was it the truth?

Right after the debate, you insisted that President Biden is extraordinarily strong. Given where we are now, do you have any regrets about what you told the American people?

No, not at all. Not at all. I have served with President Biden for for almost four years now, and I'll tell you, it's one of the greatest honors of my career, truly. He cares so deeply about the American people. He has the intelligence, the commitment, and the judgment, and This position that I think the American people rightly deserve in their President. By contrast, the former President has none of that.

It was a carefully worded answer, but one that really was very very careful not to even in the slightest way undermine President Biden.

Yeah, I simultaneously admire the loyalty, actually, because it would be tempting to just say, You know what? This was ridiculous. But she didn't. But at the same time, before he got out of the race, upwards of 80, 90% of the American people thought he was too old to run again, and she was out there in the face of that saying, No, he's fine. She's still saying that, and no one really believes it. I guess the real fundamental question is, are people going to give her the grace on that and say, Well, she's got to say that because it's her boss Or give it her credit for having grace, which is, I think, what-That's the point that she was showing.

We're not talking about, and maybe it's not relevant, but obviously, there's so much about how she is where she is, in part because of her friendship with the late Bo Biden. There There is a real friendship there. There is some respect there, and I think it did affect the relationship that she has with Joe Biden. I don't think that loyalty is perfunctury because there is a personal connection there.

Even when a year or two ago, when people were speculating about whether Joe Biden should throw Kamala Harris off the ticket, that loyalty played a key role in the reason why Biden was tuned all of that stuff out. She has been like this since the day she was selected and made a very clear decision that this is how she was going to see the role of president. I think that served her and her relationship with Biden, who feels like that's how he treated that role. I think it informed her decision for Tim Walsh, who said that he would be a similarly deferential figure.

But it's not just this interpersonal stuff. It's also on policy. Yes. Dana asked her, you've said Bidenomics is a success. She said, effectively, yes. She talked about prescription drug prices, she talked about manufacturing jobs, she talked about bringing down child poverty. She didn't back away from even the idea of Bidenomics.

You know what? I'm sorry, Ashley. Go ahead. No, please. If you ask the American people about any of those things, they would give those things high marks. The problem that the President got into is he personalizing all of this and any criticism of the economy, he took as a personal affront to him. He thought shepherding the economy through this disaster was one of his achievements, and those points were achievements. What she did in this interview that he never did was say, all those things are true, and yet people were feeling the effects of costs, and that's something we have to redouble our efforts to address. That is the right way to answer the question.

I agree. That's why I let you go first. No, I totally agree. I just want to say one thing on the loyalty and the vice president. I'll sound like a broken record. I don't think that's the fight you want to pick with this ticket when you look at-I'm not picking any fights. Are you not? No. I just don't think it's something that you can go down. I'm not the one here. I'm not picking fights. Okay. Well, I don't think Donald Trump wants to pick that fight when we look about what happened to his last vice president. I think there is a constant contrast that we owe it to the American people to remind them of. Is that Joe Biden and Kamal Harris were loyal. They were, I remember the night he spoke, she went up and said, I love you. It's real, and that's not what we can talk about.

It is such an important point because I think sometimes we get caught up in the spin. The spin that this was a coup does not make any sense because Joe Biden himself made the decision to step aside, A, and B, that the two of them still, apparently, maintain a very good relationship. We saw it on full display, what was it, a week ago?

Well, her involvement in it may have been more minimal, but there were people pushing him out.

Let's be honest. It feels bizarre to still be talking about something weeks ago. On the debate stage, is that how you want to spend time?

No, it's absolutely not.

But you know something? I'm sorry. There's a level at which this presidential politics works that is nonlinear, that is not all about paint to dot policy discussions. It's about who is this person? What is their character? In that sense, and that's why I said at the beginning of this discussion, I was actually impressed by the way she talked about the president because it reflected character. I think people want character in their president. They may not be thinking they're going to find it in Donald Trump.