Joining us backtoback special episodes of the whole story begin now welcome to the whole story. I'm anderson cooper. We have just two months to go before election day. The polls show a tight race between vice president kamala harris and former president donald trump with many voters still undecided. We're going to take the next two hours to examine five key issues for both campaigns. The economy, reproductive rights, immigration, foreign affairs and the state of democracy. First, cnn's audie cornish takes a look at harris's record on these policies during her time as a prosecutor, a senator, and as vice president she begins with the number one issue for most american voters, the economy one day after president joe biden announced his decision to drop out of the race and endorsed his vice president kamala harris, addressed a campaign. Staff at the wilmington, delaware headquarters building up the middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency in her first interview as candidate, she doubled down on that commitment. If you are elected, what would you do on day one in the white house? first and foremost, one of my highest priorities is to do what we can to support and strengthen the middle class. And when harris gave her first policy speech, that too was centered on the economy. As president i will be laserfocused on creating opportunities for the middleclass that advanced their economic security stability, and dignity. Biden campaign was focused on economic data that showed overall growth the idea was that voters just weren't gegetting the e messagage. The s veversion of t the campaign n t differenent tack, emphasizing cost like health care i'll take on the issue of the cost of health care housing provide firsttime home buyers with $25,000 to help down payment on a new home. And in raising a family, $6,000 in tax relief to families during the first year of a child's life republicans hammered her on the costs of her proposals. This is absolute socialism. All of these ideas are very the inflationary, even the nonpartisan committee for a responsible federal budget said the plan could increase the federal deficit by $1. 7 trillion over a decade. One thing she did not say is how any of this would be paid for. These are some expensive policies but harris is following the lead of progressive lawmakers who blamed companies reaping post pandemic profits to republicans. The plan sounds like government overreach economicic e experts arere skep as well. Therere is not great economo evididence thus far r ththat thk of the inflatition we have seen or anywhere close to it is caused by corporate profits democrats seemed happy to embrace the new language kamala harris has articulated a very important plan to make sure that we are lowering costs for everyday americans. You think it's smart policy, governor, any effort we make to keep m moe money in a americans pockets i worth walklk in the papath. When we t think thinknk ab young folks and what is top of mind for them. It's the cost of their grocereries and ththeir g and chchild childcare. When we're talking about the middleclass, i think that the vice president thinks about her own family. I grew up in a middleclass household for most of my childhood we were renters my mother saved f for well, over a decade to buy a home. H how do o you descriribe he popolitical persrsonality, care its cenenters around care. She has the skills of a prosecutor. She knows how to analyze the e facts put t toget, the case but her casase starts with the care of others. Vice president harris has made a focus of championing what we might call the care agenda, pushing these that were part of president biden's proposals early on, their bill back agenda, which will cut the cost of childcare by more than half extend the child tax credit and expand paid leave. But also things like medical debt relief, student debebt relilief, hehelping smalaller businesses, minorityowned businesses, get better access to capital. We have secured tens of billions of dollars in private sector iesfor r small businesssses and c communitiese across a america. T things likeke supportining middle class families and kind of creating an infrastructure of support around them. And a lot of her work also has been designed to help not only families with children, but those who are responsible for the caregiving of seniors anand i'm m and peoplele with disabilitities. She talalks about t the sandh econonomy. Peoplple who takeke of t their childldren, and peop who take care of their aging parents. And that's always been something of a focus for her when she was attorney general, her mother was diagnosed with cancer i spent many hours with her at the hospital fortunately, however, i had the type of job then where i could take the time i needed to be with my mother but far too many others cannot t harris ecoconom agenda for 2024, it would have a lot of those same care economy components but the vice president must convince voters she is better equipped on this issue than thehe business s min trump p and soso the challengegl be, can n shshe get themem to be confidident and hohow she woulu as an n ececonomic pololicy ste bideden administraration feelsle it has a good economic story to tell and vice president harris was part of that. They did after all, to phi economists predictions of a fullon recession and by many measures, the u. S. S. Panandemic recocover among the strongest in the world. They want to tout the economic numbers that they think are good. But that didn't help americans stuck on the numbers that we're not so good in 2022, inflation reached a 40 year high, and the current administration has battled to bring it down. There are many economists who lay the blame, at least in part, on the historic and expensive legislation passed by the bidenharris administration direction in the aftermath of the pandemic, when trump left office, inflation, i was oneandahalf percent and then 18 months later after biden and harris spepent 5 trillllion, we a 9% infnflation ratate. I thihink there a are some ececonomists w who argue t that was still a mistake because of the additional contribution it had to inflation. And inflation there's definitely a huge vulnerability for her especially as she tries to run on the biden white house record. One republicans are seizing on vice president harris was the deciding vote on the american rescue plan and also the inflation reduction act that l led to o inflation ng up more than 20. 1%. The ececonoy was certaiainly biden'n's biggg weakakness q question will be whether he, whether harris receives the same level of blame for inflation. What will be seen from vice president harris so fafar is an effofort to bothth p project opm about the economy and pride in the policies you have done. We were facing one of the worst economic crises in modern history. And today by virtually every measure our economy is the strorongest in t the worldld wh also empathizing with voters feeling their pain for high prices still we know that many americans s don't yet fefeel th progress in their daily lives is it very difficult balancing act, but she's been trying toto navigatete that in t the time se her r campaign s started up nex the leak dececision of dobbs changed. I think the trajectory of her vice presidency women in america no longer have a constitutional right to an abortion well, we say how dare they when yoyour child h has modederate to sesevere eczema. It's okay f for them toto show f so o off their c clear s skin a notiticeably lesess wiwith depi things because childldren's s s montnths than ololder with e ec have plentnty of reasosons to o ofoff their skin w with two pix beenen number one e prescribede biologogic by germrmany myththot anand allergisists they cacan s ahead d of their eczemema. I it helps blocock a key sou of i inflammatioion insiside th bobody. They can n cause excecelle to helelp he'll youour child sk frfrom within n serious alaller reactionons can occur r that cae severe. Tetell your dodoctor ab new or w worsening thing. I problems s such as eyeye pain o visision changeses, inclcluding blblurred visision, joint achehd pain, oror a parasititic i infe. Don't t change o our stuff. . 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B but skeche has topppped them anand made th eveven better bebecause now the come i in handsfrfree skeketch slslippers, just slipping and g with no bending down and no touching them, try handsfree sketcher slippers next to our whwhole story,y, s special, tht candidates and their record on the key issues of the election season. She anticipated the strength of what the blowback might be. She is a leader who sees around corners what does their past tell us a about how t they will lead one of the things that i think people misread ababout donald trump s so oftens a lot of the times these big statements are negotiating tactics. The whole story with anderson cooper next on cnn the day of the leak dropped, about the dobbs decision was really an earthquake inside the white house what we have seen tonight is not just a draft. We believe this is a roadmap for how they will take e row down the l leak decicision of dobbs changed. I think the trajectory of her vice presidency in may of 2022 politico published a leaked draft of a supreme court opinion, not just any opinion it was dobbs versus jackson women's health organization the decisision to overtuturn ro versus wade. I think everybody remembers where they were when they saw the actual words come down we were all outraged. Vice president harris was outraged. The vice president was due to speak that night at emily's list. One of the big political groups in the country that focuses on women and reproductive rights as the vice president began talking through which harkens sirens were at some poioint, she ststarted to intoto a a riff and d that riff to h how dare ththey do thisis, dare they come for women's rights? how dare they change this law? those republican leaders who are trying to weaponize the use of the law against women welell wewe say how dare theyey. She g up on thatat statage and she absolutely just blows the house down. How they tell a woman what she can do and cannot do with her own body and it felt likikea shshift in thehe room. T this incrcredibly focusused person n thatat's credibibly focus politicianan who u used fifight these restrictions on abortion as her nor store it's ininteresting g to me ththat sh would embrbrace this, , not for just thehe obvious r reasons of being g a woman popolitician, , cetetera. B but it't's righght at the t when in someme statetes, aborti would be crimiminalized specificalally, right? now, it makes sense e that the prosecutr wants to jumump in, the rolllli back of f roe was an abjbject attackck on peoplele, women who actually needed to get rereproductiveve keir and so h comments about h how dare they the reject