Harris Touts Her Background As Prosecutor on Campaign Trail
BURNETT: Tonight, Senator Kamala Harris, her prosecutorial skills have made her stand out on the Hill. It's how you've seen her over the years in those moments. But how has the response been among the ultimate jury, primary voters? Kyung Lah is OUTFRONT.</s>KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Drumming up support in South Carolina ahead of this week's Democratic debates. Kamala Harris used the words of the courtroom to tout her record as a prosecutor.</s>SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So let's read that rap sheet, shall we? Yes, black Americans, he said, what do you have to lose? Well, we know civil rights investigations are down, hate crimes are up. We had a lot to lose.</s>LAH: Her argument on why she is best positioned to make the case against the president.</s>HARRIS: Let's talk about looking at that rap sheet where he has embraced dictators like Kim Jong-un and Putin and taken their word over the American intelligence community. Let's prosecute the case.</s>BEVERLY DIANE FRIERSON, SOUTH CAROLINA VOTER: I think today was a good preview of what to expect. You can tell there was fire in her spirit.</s>LAH: Beverly Frierson, a retired teacher first noticed Harris during Senate hearings.</s>HARRIS: Can you think of any laws that give government the power to make decisions about the male body?</s>BRETT KAVANAUGH, SUPREME COURT JUSTICE: I'm happy to answer a more specific question.</s>HARRIS: Male versus female.</s>LAH: That handling of powerful Washington players also swayed Brandi Brooks.</s>BRANDI BROOKS, SOUTH CAROLINA VOTER: When I saw the Kavanaugh hearings, I thought she was amazing, super strong.</s>LAH: From Supreme Court nominees to former Attorney General Jeff Sessions.</s>JEFF SESSIONS, FORMER ATTORNEY GENERAL: I'm not able to be rushed this fast. It makes me nervous.</s>LAH: To most recently the current Attorney General William Barr.</s>HARRIS: Has the president or anyone at the White House asked or suggested you open an investigation of anyone? Yes or no, please, sir.</s>WILLIAM BARR, ATTORNEY GENERAL: The president or anybody else.</s>HARRIS: Seems you would remember something like that and be able to tell us.</s>LAH: Viral cable moments racking up millions of views online. But there is another narrative about Harris's prosecutor past that as a district attorney and then California's attorney general, she was more cop than reformer. Harris has pushed back on the trail and in interviews.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For whatever reason, they think a black person should never lock up black and brown people.</s>HARRIS: Yes, but here's what how I feel about this Charlamagne. Are you saying if a child is molested, if a woman is raped or somebody is shot down and killed --</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They should go to jail.</s>LAH: In the days leading up to the Democratic debate, Harris is determined to showcase that career as a top credential.</s>HARRIS: I know how to get that job done. We need somebody on our stage when it comes time for that general election who knows how to recognize a rap sheet when they see it and prosecute the case.</s>FRIERSON: She no nonsense. Sometimes people play games with you or attempt to do so. She makes it clear, you don't try that with Kamala Harris, because I'm well-prepared and I can handle it.</s>LAH: Now, Ms. Frierson who first was impressed by the courtroom skills expects her to deliver in the first Democratic debate. Harris will be on stage with Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, two older white men who currently lead her in the polls. Erin, her campaign tonight says that she is in Miami for last minute debate preps -- Erin.</s>BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Kyung. And I want to go now to go now to Keith Boykin, Democratic strategist. All right. So, Keith, Karen Tumulty, a "Washington Post" columnist, wrote when Harris entered the race it seemed the senator from California might be the one who had it all, experience, charisma and exciting potential to make history as the first African-American and Asian woman to sit in the Oval Office. And then Tumulty talked to a voter, a 30-year-old woman in South Carolina who said, quote, she is intrigued by Harris and excited about a possibility of a female president, but she thinks Harris needs to soften up a little bit and let people in a little bit. She is all business. If she would show personal side, I think she'd be amazing. Is this relevant to the fact that she has been sort of flat-lining in the polls?</s>KEITH BOYKIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I don't know. I think the voters get to decide whatever issue they want to determine whether this candidate is acceptable for them. In this case, I wonder if this is not some sort of gender issue because the same issue I remember when Hillary Clinton ran they felt she was too strong.</s>BURNETT: The word soft is a flag.</s>BOYKIN: Exactly. It happened in 2008 and 2016 when she decided to run as a grandmother for Hillary Clinton. I think, you know, if you look at Kamala Harris's record as a prosecutor, she kind of scares Republicans. When Jeff Sessions testified in front of Senate Judiciary Committee, he said that she made him nervous.</s>BURNETT: Yes.</s>BOYKIN: You know? Donald Trump called her nasty. She tripped up Kavanaugh and Pompeo.</s>BURNETT: She is really good in those moments.</s>BOYKIN: She's really good on those moments, and I think that can be a good thing and a bad thing for her. It is good for the general election especially at going against Republican. But it can also hurt her in the primary process when she has to face people who criticize her being too harsh.</s>BURNETT: So, you heard Kyung say she is in Miami for last-minute debate prep. What does she need to do on the stage with Biden and Bernie Sanders?</s>BOYKIN: I think -- I honestly believe the first thing she needs to do is introduce herself. I mean, if you look at where she is at the polls, look at the great announcement she had back in February from Oakland.</s>BURNETT: Yes.</s>BOYKIN: She hasn't really been able to take off from that point. I think part of it is that people say, according to the CNN polls, that they are intrigued by her but don't know enough information.</s>BURNETT: So, she needs to introduce herself which sometimes starting with the basics is the way to go. All right. Thank you, Keith. And next, President Trump's new defense saying the woman accusing him of sexual assault in a dressing room is not his type. Plus, Jeanne Moos on President Trump and whether he read the Mueller report. He has now told us two very different things.