The backlash continued to mount following Vice President Kamala Harris’ televised interview Friday, with critics calling out her unwillingness to give clear and specific answers.

In her first solo sit-down TV interview since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, Harris seemed to filibuster to avoid direct answers. One example came when the interviewer, Brian Taff of the Philadelphia ABC affiliate, asked for her “specific” plans to bring down prices for Americans.

“Well, I’ll start with this. I grew up a middle-class kid,” Harris responded. “My mother raised my sister and me. She worked very hard. She was able to finally save up enough money to buy our first house when I was a teenager. 

“I grew up in a community of hard-working people, you know, construction workers and nurses and teachers. And I try to explain to some people who may not have had the same experience. You know, a lot of people will relate to this.” 

HARRIS DODGES QUESTION ON LOWERING PRICES BY DESCRIBING ‘MIDDLE-CLASS’ ROOTS: NEIGHBORS ‘PROUD OF THEIR LAWN’

Vice President Kamala Harris went viral with her response to a question about how she’d bring down prices in an interview with Philadelphia’s 6 ABC anchor Brian Taff. (Screenshot/6 ABC Philadelphia)

Critics have slammed Harris on social media, saying she gave confusing answers to a number of questions. 

“Kamala Harris did her first local sit down interview after prepping for 53 days and it was a nightmare[.] She couldn’t even name 1-2 things she would do to bring down inflation,” Karoline Leavitt, Donald Trump’s press secretary, wrote in post on X following the interview. 

California state Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones told Fox News Digital if Harris becomes president, the entire nation would suffer.

“Kamala Harris has spent decades in public office, with a track record defined by rising costs and inflation. During her tenure in California, prices soared, and the affordability crisis has only worsened since she became Vice President,” Jones said. “Talk is cheap, and while she promises to lower costs, her actions have repeatedly resulted in the opposite. 

“Californians struggled under her leadership, and now the entire nation is bearing the brunt. America simply can’t afford a Harris presidency.”

Conservative podcaster Benny Johnson added that Harris’s answers made no sense.

“Kamala Harris: “My focus is very much about what we need to do over the next 10-20 years to catch up to the 21st century around, again, capacity, but also challenges.” What does this even mean?” Johnson wrote in a post. on X. 

Harris’ answer resembled the response she gave during the ABC News presidential debate against former President Trump Tuesday, when she was asked by moderator David Muir whether Americans are economically “better off than they were four years ago.”

“So, I was raised as a middle-class kid,” Harris told Muir. “And I am actually the only person on this stage who has a plan that is about lifting up the middle class and working people of America. I believe in the ambition, the aspirations, the dreams of the American people, and that is why I imagine and have actually a plan to build what I call an opportunity economy.” 

DREW BARRYMORE CALLS HER VIRAL ‘MOMALA’ HARRIS INTERVIEW THE ‘SCARIEST CONVERSATION I’VE DONE’

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a presidential debate at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia Tuesday.  (Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Although Harris drew praise from pundits for her debate performance, her sometimes unresponsive answers there foreshadowed Friday’s sit-down, particularly on economic matters. In the debate, Harris went on to tout the same proposals without answering whether Americans are better off now than they were four years ago. 

“Kamala Harris was very clearly and directly asked: Are the American people better off now than they were 4 years ago? She could not say yes because the answer is no — the American people are worse off today because of Kamala Harris and Joe Biden’s policies,” former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard posted on X following Tuesday night’s debate. 

TRUMP-VANCE TICKET HAS DONE COMBINED 49 INTERVIEWS SINCE LAST MONTH COMPARED TO ONLY 10 FOR HARRIS-WALZ

New York Times columnist Brett Stephens slammed Vice President Kamala Harris’ interview with CNN on Thursday as “vague” and “vacuous.” (AP/Stephen B. Morton)

Harris and running mate Tim Walz have only done 10 unscripted interviews for the Democratic presidential ticket thus far, while Republican presidential nominee Trump and vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, have sat down for at least 49 interviews. 

Harris still has not held a formal press conference since replacing President Biden as the Democratic nominee. Trump took questions at a news conference on Friday in California, his third extended presser in recent weeks.

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USA Today Washington bureau chief Susan Page said she believes Americans deserve to hear both candidates answer tough questions. 

“I think part of the job description of being president is answering questions, not because reporters have a right to ask them, but because Americans have a right to hear them,” Page told Fox News Digital. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign for comment. 

Fox News Digital’s Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report. 

The News

Denying the results of the 2020 election and casting doubts about the nation’s voting system cost statewide Republican candidates 2.3 to 3.7 percentage points in the midterms last year, according to a new study from States United Action, a nonpartisan group that promotes fair elections.

Why It Matters: Consequential races were close.

Even at the lowest end of the spectrum, 2.3 percentage points would have been enough to swing several critical midterm races that Republicans lost, including the contests for governor and attorney general in Arizona and the Senate elections in Nevada and Georgia.

In each of those races, the Republican nominee had either expressed doubts about the 2020 election or outright rejected its legitimacy.

And as former President Donald J. Trump illustrated at a town-hall event last week, election denialism is very much alive within the Republican Party.

But spreading such conspiracy theories again could hamper Republicans as they look to take back the Senate in 2024.

“The problem for a lot of Republicans right now is that the gap between what the base wants and what swing voters will tolerate has gotten very long,” said Sarah Longwell, an anti-Trump Republican strategist.

Background: A series of losses for election deniers

In the midterms, a slate of election-denying candidates ran together as the America First coalition. These candidates, organized in part by Jim Marchant, the Republican nominee for secretary of state in Nevada, sought to take over critical parts of the nation’s election infrastructure by running for secretary of state, attorney general and governor in states across the country.

But in every major battleground state, these candidates lost.

“What we found was lying about elections isn’t just bad for our democracy, it’s bad politics,” said Joanna Lydgate, the chief executive of States United Action.

The group arrived at the 2.3 to 3.7 percentage-point “penalty” number by comparing election-denying candidates in 2022 with Republicans who did not espouse similar views, and then comparing the 2022 performance to that of 2018.

On the whole, 2022 was a better year for Republicans than 2018 was. As expected, in statewide races with no election denier, Republicans did much better in 2022 than in 2018 on average, but the same did not hold true for election-denying candidates.

What’s Next: Big Senate races in 2024

Several candidates who were a core part of the election denial movement have signaled an intent to run again in 2024, including Mr. Marchant in Nevada. Others, including Kari Lake and Doug Mastriano, who lost races for governor in Arizona and Pennsylvania, are reportedly considering bids for Senate.

And as Mr. Trump continues to demand fealty to such beliefs and hold sway over Republican primaries, the issue is likely to linger in G.O.P. politics.

Most battleground states are not holding contests for governor and secretary of state until 2026, but several marquee Senate races next year will determine control of the chamber.

“What’s really interesting is that the results there are different from the results for congressional races and state legislative races,” Ms. Lydgate said. “We think that’s because in these statewide races for governor, state attorney general, secretary of state, voters really came to understand that those are the people who oversee voting. Those are the people who are in charge of your freedom to vote.”

Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp said a run for the White House could eventually be in his plans, although the governor has no immediate intentions to seek the presidency.

Kemp previously ruled out a 2024 presidential run earlier this year.

In an interview with WSB-TV, Kemp said he is focused on Georgia and his family. During his time as governor, he has managed COVID-19, anti-police protests, the 2020 presidential election and its aftermath, the ire of former President Trump and his own re-election to the governor’s mansion last year.

“Look, I never say never in politics,” Kemp said.

GOV. KEMP URGES REPUBLICANS TO SUPPORT A CANDIDATE WHO CAN WIN IN 2024, MOVE PAST PREVIOUS ELECTIONS

Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp said a run for the White House could eventually be in his plans. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Asked about potential future circumstances where he could see himself running for president, Kemp said that is to be determined.

“Does ‘your future’ mean like this year? Next year? Four years from now? I mean, I wouldn’t be able to answer that question right now,” he said.

The governor said he is ready to return to a sense of normalcy in governing the state of Georgia after a hectic past few years.

DEMS ‘WORRIED’ STACEY ABRAMS IS ‘LIKELY’ TO RUN AGAIN: BECAME ‘TPP MUCH OF A CELEBRITY’

Gov. Kemp previously ruled out a 2024 presidential run earlier this year. (Dustin Chambers/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“Honestly, Marty, the girls and I have been through a lot over the last few years,” Kemp said of his wife and children. “I’m ready to just get back to our normal governing life and family life.”

But despite his insistence that he is not planning to run for president this go-around, Kemp’s name continues to be floated as a potential candidate in 2024.

Kemp said he is prioritizing governing in Georgia and helping Republicans in the Peach State win their races.

“I just don’t see us winning the White House unless we do that,” he said. “There’s a lot of people I’m talking to about that, that are either in the race or they’re thinking about running, and we’ll just see how that plays out. But we’re going to continue to stay engaged.”

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said he is focused on Georgia and his family. (Todd Kirkland/Getty Images)

The governor said he remains committed to making Georgia “the best place to live, work and raise families.”

Kemp has not yet made an endorsement for president in the 2024 GOP primary. Republicans to have already announced their candidacies for president include Trump, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, businessman Perry Johnson, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, former radio host Larry Elder and businessman Ryan Binkley. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott are considering runs for the White House.

A 2024 campaign bid for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is getting closer.  

The governor is eyeing a launch into the 2024 presidential race within the next couple weeks, at least three sources with knowledge of the governor’s planning tell CBS News.  

The DeSantis political operation is also expected to move its headquarters to a new location in Tallahassee on Monday, which will kick-start a window for the first federal election disclosures for a potential 2024 DeSantis campaign, according to a person with knowledge about the move. 

This expected headquarters move was first reported by NBC News. 

Because the move out of their current home in the Republican Party of Florida office is likely to cost more than $5,000, it will kick-start a window of 15 days for DeSantis to submit filings with the Federal Elections Committee to register as a candidate and designate a principal campaign committee.

Those filings would be the most official sign yet, on paper, of a 2024 presidential bid for the Florida governor. 

A spokesperson for DeSantis declined to comment. 

“If you spend more than $5,000 to open your [2024] federal campaign headquarters, then you have officially taken action to run for office. There’s no debating whether that particular action reflects intent to be a candidate or not, so you would be obligated to file,” one campaign finance expert told CBS News on Saturday.

CBS News has previously reported that DeSantis is expected to officially launch a presidential campaign from Florida, though plans remain fluid, according to a person familiar with the governor’s planning. 

Earlier this week, DeSantis also disassociated himself from his “Friends of Ron DeSantis” state political committee, which has over $81 million in cash on hand. The move is a necessary step before a federal run, or that money is transferred to a super PAC that is supporting a DeSantis 2024 run. 

Since March, DeSantis has been traveling to multiple early presidential primary states and battleground states to promote his recent book and his track record in Florida, dubbed the “Freedom Blueprint.”

On Saturday, DeSantis was in Sioux Center, Iowa, to speak at the annual family picnic hosted by Rep. Randy Feenstra. He was greeted by over 600 attendees who each paid $50 to get into the event, which is raising money for Feenstra. 

Prior to his remarks, DeSantis met with more than a dozen Iowa state lawmakers behind closed doors Saturday morning in Sioux Center, according to a source who was present at the meeting. The source described the meeting with DeSantis as “informal but substantive,” adding that the governor was engaged and friendly. 

A pro-DeSantis PAC, Never Back Down, is building a campaign infrastructure in Iowa and bringing on key staffers according to information first shared with CBS News. Longtime Iowa GOP political strategist and lobbyist Jake Highfill, who has worked with Iowa state lawmakers in recent years, has joined the team to help run the Iowa operations. 

During DeSantis’ remarks, he lauded his own accomplishments in Florida and joked that Florida is the “Iowa of the Southeast” because of how the two states similarly handled the COVID-19 pandemic and are now tackling education issues.

The loudest applause came when DeSantis said he would “shut down the border immediately” to deal with illegal immigration.

In what could be perceived as a shot at the former president, DeSantis, without mentioning Trump, said governing is “not about entertaining or building a brand or talking on social media,” adding that “it is about winning and producing results.”

Trump was scheduled to host a rally on Saturday in Des Moines, Iowa, but it was canceled due to weather conditions, according to his campaign.    

— Robert Costa contributed to this report. 

The Biden administration said it will appeal a federal judge’s order blocked immigration authorities from releasing apprehended migrants without court dates — a policy the administration says is necessary as Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facilities are over-capacity following an extreme surge in illegal migration this week as Title 42 ended.

Justice Department attorneys on Saturday asked the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of Florida for an emergency stay on Judge T. Kent Wetherell II’s two-week restraining order on the Biden administration policy, notifying the court of the administration’s intention to appeal to the 11th Circuit, according to court documents.  

Wetherell blocked the administration’s “parole with conditions” policy Thursday in response to a lawsuit from the state of Florida. The order came as migrants surged to the U.S. border as the Title 42 public health order — which allows for the quick removal of migrants due to the COVID-19 pandemic — expired. Agents encountered over 10,000 migrants on multiple days and there were more than 25,000 in custody as of Friday morning.

The release policy was outlined in a Border Patrol memo this week, which says that migrants can be allowed into the country on parole — a process typically reserved for “urgent humanitarian reasons or significant public benefit” — if CBP faces overcrowding. The memo calls the practice “parole with conditions” as migrants are required to make an appointment with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or request a Notice to Appear by mail.

WHITE HOUSE RAGES AFTER FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS RELEASE OF MIGRANTS WITHOUT COURT DATES: ‘SABOTAGE’

Migrants board Border Patrol vans after waiting along the border wall to surrender to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents for immigration and asylum claim processing upon crossing the Rio Grande into the United States on the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas on May 11, 2023.  (PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)

Under a parole release, migrants are rapidly released into the country, do not get an alien registration number and do not receive a court date.  

The use of parole is being authorized if a sector capacity goes above 125%, if agents apprehend 7,000 a day over 72 hours or if average time in custody goes above 60 hours.

The Biden administration argues the restraining order on its parole policy will “irreparably harm the United States and the public by frustrating measures that are necessary to secure the border and protect the health and welfare of both migrants and Border Patrol Agents,” the filing states.

FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS BIDEN ADMIN FROM RELEASING MIGRANTS WITHOUT COURT DATES AS TITLE 42 EXPIRES

Migrants wait for a bus to take them to a processing center after they turned themselves over to U.S. Border Patrol agents after crossing over from Mexico in Fronton, Texas on May 12, 2023.   (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

Without its pandemic-era Title 42 authority, the Department of Homeland Security cannot expel illegal aliens presenting at the border and “lacks the resources to detain this record number of arrivals, or the staffing and facilities to safely process and issue charging documents to all these new arrivals in the normal course,” according to the government. 

DHS has said that without the ability to release migrants an overwhelming 45,000 people will be in custody by the end of May. 

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody argued in the state’s lawsuit that the “parole with conditions” policy was materially identical” to a “Parole + ATD” policy blocked by the same judge in March. Judge Wetherell agreed with that assessment in his order.

BORDER PATROL CHIEF AUTHORIZES RELEASE OF MIGRANTS INTO US WITHOUT COURT DATES AS TITLE 42 ENDS

U.S. Border Patrol agents hand out bracelets as they process asylum-seekers waiting between the double fence along the U.S.-Mexico border near Tijuana, Mexico on Monday in San Diego.  (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

Wetherell was not persuaded by the government’s arguments that blocking migrant releases will cause harm. 

“Putting aside the fact that even President Biden recently acknowledged that the border has been in chaos for ‘a number of years,’ Defendants’ doomsday rhetoric rings hollow because, as explained in detail in Florida, this problem is largely one of Defendants’ own making through the adoption an implementation of policies that have encouraged the so-called ‘irregular migration’ that has become fairly regular over the past 2 years,” he said.

On Friday, the White House called Wetherell’s ruling “sabotage.” 

Fox News’ Adam Shaw, Bill Melugin and David Spunt contributed to this report.

Former President Barack Obama is urging Americans to have a dialogue about gun violence as the U.S. recently surpassed 200 mass shootings so far this year, according to CBS News data.

Obama discussed the challenges of reducing gun violence and how gun ownership has become an “ideological” and “partisan” issue during an exclusive sit-down interview with “CBS Mornings” co-host Nate Burleson. The full interview will air on Tuesday, May 16. 

“I think somehow — and there are a lot of historical reasons for this — gun ownership in this country became an ideological issue, and a partisan issue, in ways that it shouldn’t be,” Obama told Burleson. “It has become sort of a proxy for arguments about our culture wars, you know? Urban versus rural. Race is always an element in these issues. Issues of class and education, and so forth.”

The comments come as lawmakers face renewed calls for further gun legislation from family members of shooting victims, activists and constituents. But any action would face staunch resistance in an increasingly divided Congress. “We have to recognize that we can ban these weapons, but there’s millions already out there,” Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy told “CBS Mornings” last week. “And somebody who decides to obtain one illegally, probably can.”

Last week, eight people were killed in a shooting rampage at an outlet mall in Allen, Texas. Days later, a Texas House committee failed to meet a key deadline to receive a floor vote on a bill that would raise the legal age to buy an assault-style weapon from 18 to 21.

The Obama Foundation on Wednesday announced an initiative — titled My Brother’s Keeper, or MBK — to help young men of color and their communities “remain safe from violent crime.” The program will provide coaching, educational opportunities, financial resources and more.

As part of the MBK Model Communities initiative, the MBK Alliance has identified four MBK communities that have instituted programming and initiatives that have prompted positive shifts in areas like education and reducing violence. These MBK Model Communities, selected from a network of hundreds that have an evidence-based track record of success in positively shifting outcomes for boys and young men of color, are: Newark, New Jersey; Omaha, Nebraska; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Yonkers, New York.

During his presidency, Obama called for stricter gun laws and urged Congress to reinstate the assault weapons ban following the 2016 Pulse nightclub attack in Orlando, which killed 49 people and wounded dozens more.

“Instead of just taking a very practical approach, like we do, let’s say, for example, with car safety, where we say, ‘All right, we got a bunch of accidents. Let’s have seat belts. And let’s make cars safer. And let’s engineer our roads so that we prevent them,'” Obama observed, “Instead of thinking about it in a very pragmatic way, we end up really arguing about identity, and emotion, and all kinds of stuff that does not have to do with keeping our children safe.”

According to a recent CBS News poll, three in four Americans say mass shootings are something we could “prevent and stop if we really tried,” and not something we have to “accept as part of a free society.” And about half of Americans say guns make the country “dangerous.” In 2021, nearly 49,000 people died from gun-related injuries in the U.S., making it one of the deadliest years on record, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

More of Nate Burleson’s interview with former President Barack Obama will air on “CBS Mornings” on Tuesday, May 16.

Kansas’ Democratic governor on Friday vetoed Republican legislation that would have provided a financial boost to anti-abortion pregnancy centers and prevented officials fighting outbreaks of contagious diseases from prohibiting public gatherings or ordering infected people to isolate themselves.

The two measures were part of a wave of conservative policies passed by GOP-controlled state legislatures this year, including ones in Kansas rolling back transgender rights and establishing new restrictions on abortion providers. But Gov. Laura Kelly’s two vetoes will stand because lawmakers have adjourned for the year, barring any attempt at overriding them.

The anti-abortion measure would have granted up to $10 million a year in new state income tax credits to donors to the more than 50 centers across the state that provide free counseling, classes, supplies and other services to pregnant people and new parents to discourage abortions. Lawmakers included it in a wide-ranging tax bill that also included an expansion of existing tax credits for adoption expenses and purchases from businesses that employ disabled workers. Kelly vetoed the entire bill.

KS GOV. LAURA KELLY STOPS SETTLEMENT BETWEEN STATE, SMALL GYM OWNER OVER COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS

Republican lawmakers pursued anti-abortion measures this year despite a decisive statewide vote in August 2022 affirming abortion rights. Abortion opponents argued that the vote didn’t preclude “reasonable” restrictions and other measures, while Democrats argued that GOP legislators were breaking faith with voters.

Kelly supports abortion rights and narrowly won reelection last year. Last month she vetoed $2 million in the next state budget for direct aid to the centers, but the Legislature overrode that action.

In her latest veto message, Kelly didn’t point to any individual provision in the tax bill but said bundling so many proposals together made it “impossible to sort out the bad from the good.”

In vetoing direct aid to anti-abortion centers last month, Kelly called them “largely unregulated” and said, “This is not an evidence-based approach or even an effective method for preventing unplanned pregnancies.”

Democratic Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly on Friday vetoed Republican-sponsored bills boosting crisis pregnancy center funding and banning state and local politicians from issuing COVID-style lockdown and quarantine orders. (AP Photo/John Hanna)

Abortion opponents argued that providing financial aid to their centers would help make sure that people facing unplanned pregnancies have good alternatives if they’re unsure about getting abortions.

House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, accused Kelly in a statement of a “political bias against helping vulnerable new mothers.”

Even if lawmakers still had a chance to override Kelly’s veto, they didn’t pass the tax bill initially with the two-thirds majorities required.

The other bill Kelly vetoed was part of an ongoing backlash from conservative lawmakers against how she, other state officials and local officials attempted to check the spread of COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021. They were particularly critical of orders closing schools and businesses during the pandemic’s first months and restrictions on businesses’ operations and mask mandates later.

“She said no to protecting the health freedom of Kansans and curtailing the powers of unelected bureaucrats,” Senate President Ty Masterson, another Wichita-area Republican, said in a statement.

But Republicans split over the measure because some feared it went too far in curbing state and local officials’ powers during outbreaks.

It would have stripped local officials of their authority to prohibit public gatherings and repealed a requirement that local law enforcement officers enforce orders from public health officials. Those officials also would have lost their authority to order quarantines for infected people.

KANSAS’ GOP-CONTROLLED LEGISLATURE OVERRIDES VETO OF NEW ABORTION BILL

The head of the state health department, appointed by the governor, would have lost the power to issue orders and impose new health rules to prevent the spread of disease or to order people to get tested or seek treatment for infectious diseases.

Kelly’s veto message said Kansas has been a pioneer in public health policy. A century ago the state’s top health official, Dr. Samuel Crumbine, was known internationally for campaigning against unsanitary, disease-spreading practices such as spitting on sidewalks and having common drinking cups on railroads and in public buildings.

“Yet lawmakers continue trying to undermine the advancements that have saved lives in every corner of our state,” Kelly wrote.

The bill also reflected vaccine opponents’ influence with conservative Republican lawmakers.

It would have prevented the head of the state health department from requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for children entering school or day care — something Kelly’s administration has said it doesn’t plan to do. State and local officials also would not have been able to cite a person’s lack of vaccination as a reason for recommending that they isolate themselves.