Transcript of “Face the Nation” show on Aug. 11, 2024
On “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” this week:
Republican Sen. JD Vance of Ohio
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly
Ret. Gen. Frank McKenzie, former commander for U.S. Central Command
Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan
Click here to browse full transcripts of “Face the Nation.”
MARGARET BRENNAN: I’m Margaret Brennan in Washington.
And this week on Face the Nation: Overnight, there are new reports of foreign interference in the 2024 election. This time, the target is former President Trump’s campaign. And we go in-depth with Trump’s running mate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance.
Vice President Kamala Harris picked a coach for her running mate, Minnesota’s Governor Tim Walz. But, last night in Las Vegas, she lifted a campaign play from the Trump playbook and raised him one.
(Begin VT)
KAMALA HARRIS (Vice President of the United States (D) and U.S. Presidential Candidate): That we will continue our fight for working families of America…
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: … including to raise the minimum wage…
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
(End VT)
MARGARET BRENNAN: That’s a proposal that will go over well in the battleground state of Nevada.
But can Democrats score in the heartland? We will talk with Kansas Democrat Governor Laura Kelly.
Plus: V.P. hopeful J.D. Vance has been on the offensive on the campaign trail.
(Begin VT)
SENATOR J.D. VANCE (R-Ohio) (Vice Presidential Candidate): Everything that Kamala Harris touches has been a disaster.
MARGARET BRENNAN: President Trump has said you are outstanding, but when you look at what decides elections, the vice presidential pick rarely matters. How are you going to prove him wrong?
(LAUGHTER)
SENATOR J.D. VANCE: Well, I think President Trump’s right about that, actually.
(End VT)
MARGARET BRENNAN: We will talk with him about campaign policy and how GOP proposals will impact Americans.
We will check in on two other big stories, the state of the economy with Bank of America CEO, Brian Moynihan. And retired General Frank McKenzie will give us an update on tensions in the Middle East.
It’s all just ahead on Face the Nation.
Good morning, and welcome to Face the Nation.
Last night, former President Trump said that his campaign had been informed that one of his top advisors was hacked by the Iranian government. We have got a lot more on that ahead, but we begin with our interview with Mr. Trump’s running mate J.D. Vance.
We sat down with him in Cincinnati Saturday morning, before the news broke about the hack.
(Begin VT)
MARGARET BRENNAN: You supported the Supreme Court ruling recently on mifepristone, the – the so-called abortion pill, that ruled opponents lacked the legal right to sue over the FDA approval.
SENATOR J.D. VANCE (R-Ohio) (Vice Presidential Candidate): That’s right.
MARGARET BRENNAN: This drug is used in like 60 percent of all abortions in the United States. In a Trump/Vance administration, would you use the FDA to block access to this drug?
SENATOR J.D. VANCE: Well, no.
What the president has said very clearly is that abortion policy should be made by the states, right? You, of course, want to make sure that any medicine is safe, that it’s prescribed in the right way, and so forth, but the president wants individual states to make these decisions, because, look, Margaret, California is going to have a different abortion policy from Ohio, which is going to have a different abortion policy from Alabama.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Right, but that was actually different, because, after Dobbs, the Supreme Court took up this case, right.
SENATOR J.D. VANCE: Yes, but – but, like you said, on…
MARGARET BRENNAN: They viewed it as different.
SENATOR J.D. VANCE: Sure, but, like you said, on a matter of legal standing.
But I think that what we really want is, when states and voters in those states make decisions, we of course want the states and the federal government to respect those decisions, and that’s what President Trump has said is, consistently, we need to get out of the culture war side of the abortion issue.
We need to let the states decide their specific abortion policy. And, look, what President Trump and I want to do on family policy is make it easier for families to start in the first place.
MARGARET BRENNAN: So, at his presser this past week, Donald Trump seemed to indicate he was open to restrictions on mifepristone.
He was asked by a reporter about this, and he said: “There are many things on a humane basis that you can do, but also give a vote.”
So he did seem to be indicating he’s open to restrictions on this particular drug.
SENATOR J.D. VANCE: First of all, even some of the reporters who were in the room at that press conference said it wasn’t clear what the reporter was asking. Maybe he couldn’t hear that person super clearly.
