Tamara Keith and Amy Walter on what to expect from the Walz-Vance debate

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• Amna Nawaz:

  Deadly disasters collide with the closing month of campaign season, as the vice presidential nominees prepare for their first debate.

  To discuss all that, we're joined by our Politics Monday duo. That is Amy Walter of The Cook Political Report, with Amy Walter and Tamara Keith of NPR.

  Great to see you both.

• Amy Walter, The Cook Political Report:

  Good to be here.

• Amna Nawaz:

  So, as you have seen now, the devastation from Hurricane Helene has found its way into not only the presidential race, but also just politics writ large.

  Tam, I know you were following this. Earlier, former President Trump alleged without any evidence that Governor Kemp of Georgia had trouble reaching President Biden as he was trying to reach him on the phone to talk about aid. And President Biden was asked about this in the Oval, responded very, very angrily.

  Tell me about that response and what it says about this moment.

• Tamara Keith, National Public Radio:

  Yes, I think it's safe to say that what former President Trump said was contrary to evidence.

  Governor Brian Kemp of Georgia said that he spoke to President Biden yesterday on the phone, was able to reach him on the phone. President Biden reassured him, said, anything you need, just give me a call any time.

  President Biden, asked about this in the Oval Office during his second event of the day related to this disaster recovery, he said Trump is lying. And he said it made him angry. And the reason it upsets him is because he's not just lying about politics. He's also lying to people who need support and help.

  And so President Biden said that he was upset that Trump was implying that they weren't doing everything that they possibly could. So this went from a politician going to deliver supplies and aid along with a religious organization to a politician making this blatantly political in a swing state that is being affected by a disaster.

  And then the president and the vice president responding by doing everything they can to project and show that they are being as responsive as they possibly can. And this is disaster politics in the year 2024.

• Amna Nawaz:

  And now we know President Biden has also said he will be visiting Georgia on Wednesday and to Florida and North Carolina to follow.

• Tamara Keith:

  Yes.

• Amna Nawaz:

  But, Amy, as you watch this now as well, both presidential candidates changed their plans in response to the devastation from Hurricane Helene. You have two battleground states really badly affected, Georgia and North Carolina here.

• Amy Walter:

  Yes.

• Amna Nawaz:

  How could this impact the race?

• Amy Walter:

  Well, what I think is interesting, we're obviously putting a federal microscope or focus on this, which is important.

  And, obviously, the federal government does have a significant role to play. But I think, for people who live in those states, people who are affected by this, they are looking more to their local elected officials, to their governors especially. So we're going to hear — be hearing a lot more about Governor Kemp, who, by the way, doesn't have the best relationship with Donald Trump already after the 2020 election situation, and to Governor Cooper, Democratic governor in North Carolina.

  I think, in terms of the politics, where it impacts voting behavior more, is probably at the state and local level. And remember, when the national politicians go home, those local elected officials, they're the ones that are still there. So I don't think it's going to necessarily impact the way people are going to be voting at the top of the ticket.

  But it certainly is going to impact the way they see their local elected officials dealing with what is clearly going to be, not just a dayslong, but monthslong, maybe even yearslong cleanup effort.

• Amna Nawaz:

  Just want to clarify. I misspoke. President Biden is going to North Carolina on Wednesday, not to Georgia.

  But, meanwhile, we're also looking ahead to tomorrow, Tam. We know the vice presidential candidates will be facing off in their first debate, Governor Tim Walz and Senator J.D. Vance. What do we know about how they're preparing and their strategies going into this evening?

• Tamara Keith:

  So what we know is that Tim Walz is in Michigan, in Northern Michigan, doing debate prep with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in his personal capacity playing J.D. Vance in those mock debates.

  I think that what I have been told is that he is looking forward to it being over. I know that J.D. Vance has been preparing with Tom Emmer, a congressman from Minnesota, who says that he has been working hard to replicate Tim Walz's mannerisms. So they're doing the prep. They are preparing.

  And as we have come to expect, both of their campaigns are out there saying, well, my candidate may not be the best debater or don't undersell the other candidate. He's a great debater.

  What I would just say is I have gone back and through time there have been some spicy moments at vice presidential debates, "You are no Jack Kennedy," memorable lines that we may not even remember were part of a vice presidential debate, but really memorable lines.

  And you know how much they mattered? Not at all. This is — certainly, this debate will be part of the discourse. It is perhaps more important, will get more attention because right now there isn't another presidential debate scheduled after this one.

• Amna Nawaz:

  Right.

• Tamara Keith:

  But it's a vice presidential debate.

• Amna Nawaz:

  So what about this issue impacting — and I just want to put up a poll before we turn to you on this, because, when you go back to the September debate between Harris and Trump.

  We saw some polling from The New York Times, CNN and The Philadelphia Inquirer that voters saw Harris as the clear winner of that debate, but then polling averages in the weeks afterwards show really kind of little movement post-debate.

  (Crosstalk)

• Amy Walter:

  Yes.

• Amna Nawaz:

  So what do you expect come out of this?

• Amy Walter:

  We are living in an era where literally the polls, the head-to-head polls, do not move and they are not going to move. We have a 50/ 50 race and it's moving on the edges.

  What does matter, I think some of these moments, these viral moments do become part of the conversation, some — for some candidates in a good way, for others not a great way. We are still talking about pets being eaten. How many weeks has it been since that debate? So where is the focus? Is it on the mistake that one candidate made? Is it on a viral moment that does get attention?

  I think that's important. It's also pretty clear to me from listening in on the Trump campaign today and their press call that they kind of see this as a redo, basically getting Vance to do what Trump did not, which is, as they said, we need to make sure that Walz takes — he and Harris have to take responsibility for the fact that Harris has been the sitting vice president.

  What has she been doing for the last 3.5 years? She says she has all these plans. Why didn't she make that priority while she was sitting in, in that job as vice president? So, being as a more disciplined campaigner, as we know Vance is, I think that's where the whole focus is going to be.

  In fact, I think the issues around the two vice presidents themselves, who they are, is less important than their ability to make this race, for Vance, about Harris, and, of course, for Walz to make it once again about Donald Trump.

• Amna Nawaz:

  Amy Walter and Tamara Keith, always good to kick off the week with both of you.

  Thank you so much. Good to see you.

• Amy Walter:

  Great.

• Tamara Keith:

  You're welcome.

• Amna Nawaz:

  And please remember to join us tomorrow night for our simulcast of that CBS News vice presidential debate. We will have live coverage of the debate, plus additional analysis. That all begins at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.