"Harris Was Relentless In Her Prosecution Of Donald Trump" - John Dickerson

>> Stephen: HEY, EVERYBODY, WELCOME BACK! TO THE LIVE "LATE SHOW" MY GUEST TONIGHT IS AN AUTHOR, THE ANCHOR OF "THE DAILY REPORT WITH JOHN DICKERSON," AND WAS JUST RECENTLY NAMED CO-ANCHOR OF "CBS EVENING NEWS." PLEASE WELCOME BACK TO "THE LATE SHOW," MR. JOHN DICKERSON. [CHEERS AND APPLAUSE] ♪ ♪ OKAY. WE LOVE TALKING TO JOHN DICKERSON HERE AT "THE LATE SHOW." YOU LAY THINGS OUT BEAUTIFULLY. HE PUT THINGS IN HISTORICAL CONTEXT. YOU HAVE SAID YOU BELIEVE CAMPAIGN COVERAGE SHOULD BE FOCUSED ON THE DEMANDS OF THE PRESIDENCY AND WHETHER CANDIDATES HAVE WHAT IT TAKES, LIKE A JOB INTERVIEW, WHAT DID TONIGHT'S DEBATE ADD TO WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE 2024 ELECTION? >> John: WELL, WE'RE GOING TO TALK ABOUT A LOT OF THINGS THAT HAPPENED ON THE DEBATE, BUT ON THIS QUESTION WHAT DID WE LEARN ABOUT HOW THEY VIEW AND SEE THE PRESIDENCY? WE LEARNED DONALD TRUMP SEES THE PRESIDENCY AS A THING WHERE HE CAN SNAP HIS FINGERS AND MAKE THINGS AND MAKE TRADE WAR'S WON. >> Stephen: BEFORE I'M EVEN PRESIDENT. >> John: EXACTLY. THAT'S UNREALISTIC. YOU CAN'T SNAP YOUR FINGERS AND HAVE THINGS HAPPEN. EVERYONE LEARNS THIS IN THE PRESIDENCY THAT IT'S GOING TO BE THIS DRIVE OF EXTRA ORDINARY POWER AND THEY END UP FRUSTRATED. >> Stephen: JUST WANT THE JOB YOU HAVE TO FEEL LIKE I'M THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN DO THE JOB. >> John: YOU LEARN RIGHT AWAY THAT IT'S A CREDIBLY FRUSTRATED BECAUSE YOU HAVEN'T SOME REALMS A LOT OF POWER. FOREIGN POLICY, YOU DO BUT IN DOMESTIC POLICY, YOU DON'T. YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO CONGRESS. ALL PRESIDENTS GO THROUGH THIS. WE LEARNED HE STILL PROMOTES THAT FICTION ABOUT THE PRESIDENCY. WHEN I THINK WAS MOST HONESTLY, THIS GOES TO WHAT KAMALA HARRIS WAS TRYING TO DO WAS DONALD TRUMP WAS THE FULL DONALD TRUMP AND HE GOT EMOTIONAL AT TIMES. HE WENT AND TALKED ABOUT CATS BEING EATEN, WHICH WAS VERY DIFFICULT TO FOLLOW. >> Stephen: WE ARE GOING TO DIG INTO THAT, JOHN. >> John: DEBATES ARE PERFORMATIVE. THERE'S THEATER. THAT THEY ARE, HOW YOU BEHAVE UNDER PRESSURE? AND HE, THAT'S WHAT THE PRESIDENCY IS ABOUT. AND HE HAD SOME MOMENTS WHERE HE WAS KIND OF ALL OVER THE PLACE UNDER THE PRESSURE OF THE DEBATE. >> Stephen: SHE HAD HER OWN PERFORMATIVE MOMENTS. SHE HAD DONE HER HOMEWORK AND TRAIN A LOT. POLLS SHOW 20% OF AMERICANS WANTED TO KNOW MORE ABOUT KAMALA HARRIS. GOING INTO THIS DEBATE. WHAT YOU THINK THEY LEARNED? >> John: TO YOUR PREPARATION POINT, WE DON'T KNOW WHETHER THE VOTERS WILL PICK UP ON THIS BUT IT IS CLEAR THAT SHE HAD A PLAN AND SHE EXECUTED THE PLAN. THE PLAN WAS TO MAKE DONALD TRUMP LOOK LIKE THE FULL DONALD TRUMP. SHE BAITED HIM RELENTLESSLY AND HE WAS INCAPABLE OF NOT TAKING THE BAIT. >> Stephen: WHICH IS SURPRISING. NOT THAT HE HAS CONTROL OVER HIMSELF. BUT AS YOU'VE SAID BEFORE, THAT'S USUALLY -- >> John: HIS JOB. HE'S THE ONE THEN WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THIS BEFORE, HE'S VERY GOOD AT THROWING OUT BAIT AND EVERYBODY TAKES THE BAIT AND HE IS A BENEFITING FROM THAT. IN THIS CASE, SHE WAS USING HIS STRATEGY AGAINST HIM AND I THINK IT HAD TWO POSSIBLE DOWNSIDES FOR HIM. ONE IS I THINK HER ARGUMENT WAS WE DON'T WANT TO GO BACK. YOU CAN SAY THAT. BUT AS A POLITICAL STRATEGY IT'S BETTER IF YOU CAN CREATE THE CONDITIONS AND THEN POINT TO IT AND SAY WE DON'T WANT TO GO BACK. CREATE THAT KIND OF INTEMPERATE RESPONSE. THE SECOND THING IS, WHEN HE WAS TALKING ABOUT CROWD SIZES AND EATING CATS, HE WASN'T TALKING ABOUT WHAT HE'S GOING TO DO FOR REGULAR PEOPLE. I WENT AND LOOKED AT THE TRANSCRIPT AGAIN AND THE ONLY POLICIES HE REALLY TALKED ABOUT FOR REGULAR PEOPLE WERE TARIFFS AND DEPORTING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WHICH ISN'T REALLY WHAT PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT AT THEIR KITCHEN TABLE IN TERMS OF HOW IT'S GOING TO AFFECT THEIR LIVES. >> Stephen: THE VICE PRESIDENT FACED QUESTIONS ABOUT BIDEN POLICIES. SHE OWNS THAT TO A CERTAIN EXTENT. THE VICE PRESIDENT DOESN'T HAVE A LOT OF POWER BUT SHE'S PART OF THAT IN ADMINISTRATION. SHE WAS QUESTIONED ABOUT THE ECONOMY, AFGHANISTAN, IMMIGRATION. HOW DID SHE DO IN TERMS OF PUTTING THE NEEDLE OF HAVING TO BE YOUR OWN PERSON BUT NOT THROWING HER OLD BOSS OR HER CURRENT BOSS UNDER THE BUS? >> John: BY AVOIDING EVER TRYING. YOU CAN'T BE A VICE PRESIDENT UNDER A PRESIDENCY "I DON'T KNOW" AND PUSH AWAY FROM HIM. YOU CAN'T DO IT. SHE DIDN'T MUCH TO DO THAT. THAT WAS PROBABLY THE SMARTEST THING. >> Stephen: FROM KIND OF THROUGH J.D. VANCE UNDER THE BUS. >> John: ASKED ABOUT WHETHER HE WOULD VETO A NATIONAL ABORTION BAN. HE HAD MANY POSITIONS ON ABORTION BUT EVEN IN THE COURSE OF THE DEBATE HE WAS ON THE ONE HAND SAYING IT'S A STATE ISSUE AND SO I'M NOT -- LEAVE IT TO THE STATES BUT WHEN HE WAS ASKED IF HE WOULD VETO ANY NATIONAL ABORTION BAN, WHICH IF HE WAS BEING CONSISTENT WITH WHAT HE JUST HAD BEFORE, HE WAS A COURSE I WOULD VETO A NATIONAL ABORTION BAN BECAUSE IT SHOULDN'T BE A NATIONAL ISSUE. BUT HE WOULDN'T SAY HE WOULD NOT ABORTION BAN AND HE SAID IT'S OKAY IF J.D. VANCE HAS SAID THAT BUT THAT'S NOT -- >> Stephen: "WE DON'T TALK A LOT." THE FACT THAT HE DOESN'T TALK TO J.D. VANCE A LOT MAKES THEM VERY RELATABLE. [LAUGHTER] YOU DON'T HAVE TO SAY A WORD, JOHN DICKERSON. >> John: THANK YOU. >> Stephen: DO KAMALA HARRIS -- SOME OF SAID IT'S LIKE A STAND-IN, STANDING UP TRUMPETS LIKE A STAND-IN FOR STANDING UP TO OTHER FOREIGN LEADERS OR LIKE THE PEOPLE THAT TRUMP LIKES, LIKE THE PUTIN, YOUR ORBANS. DID SHE COME ACROSS AS STRONG? >> John: YOU HAVE TO SEE. SHOULD STEP BACK AND REMIND THE CONTEXT. USUALLY ONLY HAVE DEBATES WE KNOW THE CANDIDATES SO WELL, IT'S IN OCTOBER. EVERYBODY KNOWS EVERYTHING ABOUT THESE CANDIDATES. KAMALA HARRIS IS NOT KNOWN BY EVERYONE SO THAT'S WHAT MAKES THIS DEBATE DIFFERENT AND ALSO MAKES A POTENTIALLY DIFFERENT FROM PREVIOUS DEBATES AND THAT THERE MIGHT BE SOME MOVEMENT IN THE POLLS. LEAVING ASIDE THE JOE BIDEN DEBATE, THAT WAS A SPECIAL ONE OFF. >> Stephen: SPECIAL IS A LOVELY WORD, THANK YOU. >> John: SO SHE WAS RELENTLESS IN HER PROSECUTION OF DONALD TRUMP. SHE DID NOT RELENT THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE DEBATE FOR WHAT I THINK WAS A STRATEGY, TO RATTLE HIM AND THEN SAY LOOK AT THIS RATTLED PERSON. WE DON'T WANT TO GO BACK TO THAT. WE'LL SEE WHO THE VOTERS LIKED IT OR NOT. WE WILL SEE WITH THE VOTERS LIKED IT OR NOT. SHE DID HER HOMEWORK. TO THE EXTENT THAT PART OF BEING PRESIDENT IS KNOWING WHAT YOUR TASK IS, DOING YOUR WORK REQUIRED TO ACHIEVE YOUR TASK AND THEN UNDER PRESSURE PERFORMING YOUR TASK IS TO SET IT OUT FOR YOU, THOSE ARE THINGS YOU WANT AND ANYBODY WHO'S TRYING TO BE IN A JOB OR HAVE TO EXECUTE THINGS. IN THAT RESPECT, YOU CAN DRAW A LINE IT SEEMS TO ME BETWEEN THE BEHAVIOR IN THE DEBATE AND THE KINDS OF ATTRIBUTES AND BEHAVIORS THEY WANT IN A PRESIDENT. >> Stephen: WE HAVE TO TAKE A QUICK BREAK BUT DON'T GO ANYWHERE. WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK WITH MORE JOHN DICKERSON LIFE FOLLOWING TONIGHT'S PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE.