New York Times columnist Bret Stephens challenged MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle on Vice President Kamala Harris’ apparent strategy to avoid press scrutiny at all costs, and Ruhle worked overtime to defend her.

Both Ruhle and Stephens appeared together on comedian Bill Maher’s show, and the conversation turned to the rapidly approaching presidential election — and Stephens argued that Harris’ refusal to give any real answers on any specific policies was not doing anything to persuade undecided voters like himself.

WATCH:

Bret Stephens asks Stephanie Ruhle why Kamala Harris has not done interviews and stated clearly what her policy positions are. Ruhle responds that ‘We don’t live in Nirvana’:
Bret Stephens: “I’m an undecided voter. I’m not sure I want to vote for Kamala. My fear is that she… pic.twitter.com/y80j8kDIWh

— Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) September 21, 2024

“I’m an undecided voter. I’m never going to vote for Trump, I’m not sure I want to vote for Kamala. My fear is that she doesn’t really have a very good command of what she wants to do as president,” Stephens began. “It would be great for her to sit down with [Maher], or George Stephanopoulos, or you, Stephanie.”

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Stephens went on to raise the topic of the ongoing war between Israel and the terror group Hamas, noting that Harris had not been any more clear about her position on that topic than she had about other issues.

“It’s not too much to ask Kamala, ‘Are you for a Palestinian state, if Hamas is going to run that state?'” he queried.

“If you don’t like her answer, are you going to vote for Trump?” Ruhle replied, suggesting that it didn’t matter who Harris was or what she might do, provided she fulfill the one most important condition: not being Donald Trump. “Kamala Harris is not running for perfect, she is running against Trump. We have two choices. There are some things that you might not know her answer to. In 2024, unlike in 2016, we know exactly what Trump will do, who he is, and the kind of threat he is to democracy.”

“The problem that a lot of people have with Kamala is that we don’t know her answer to anything,” Stephens protested again.

“But you know his answer to everything,” Ruhle pushed back — despite the fact that she herself, during that same appearance, had repeated the false claim that Trump was behind and in favor of implementing The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025.

“People also are expected to have some idea of what the program that you’re supposed to vote for … I don’t think it’s a lot to ask for her to sit down for a real interview,” he said.

Still, Ruhle continued to defend Harris, suggesting that getting answer out of Kamala Harris was something that only would happen in a perfect world: “When you move to Nirvana, give me your real estate broker’s number, and I’ll be your next door neighbor. We don’t live there.”

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) unleashed a new round of attacks against Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorists in southern Lebanon on Saturday, conducting airstrikes that resulted in powerful explosions ripping through the night sky.

“The IDF completed an additional series of strikes in southern Lebanon since the afternoon, with the direction of the IDF Intelligence Directorate, the IAF struck approximately 290 targets, including thousands of launcher barrels, alongside additional terrorist infrastructure in multiple areas in southern Lebanon,”  the IDF said.

“The IDF will continue operating to dismantle and degrade Hezbollah’s capabilities and terrorist infrastructure.,” the statement added.

Images and videos from the airstrikes on Saturday included:

Footage has been released by the Israeli Air Force showing today’s Strikes against Hezbollah Sites in Southern Lebanon, targeting 290 Locations of Military Infrastructure, including Thousands of Launcher Barrels primed to fire on Northern and Central Israel. pic.twitter.com/RmE81MYuP0

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) September 21, 2024

באחת התקיפות בלבנון אפשר לראות רקטות עולות לאוויר pic.twitter.com/bduoua2CFJ

— איתי בלומנטל 🇮🇱 Itay Blumental (@ItayBlumental) September 21, 2024

Israeli airstrikes reported in the Western Beqaa Valley, Lebanon, a short time ago. pic.twitter.com/WCXU8yFfE7

— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) September 21, 2024

Massive explosion reported against a Hezbollah site in southern Lebanon as Israeli force jets carry out a wave of strikes. pic.twitter.com/QXkbdvOkHu

— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) September 21, 2024

The Israeli military says that approximately 180 targets and thousands of launcher barrels were dismantled in Lebanon.

Following the sirens that sounded throughout the past day in the areas of the Upper Galilee, Golan Heights and Safed area, approximately 90 projectile launches… pic.twitter.com/JPPReypMM9

— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) September 21, 2024

🚨🚨🚨🚨
BREAKING:

A squadron of F-16 fighter jets is launching intense and unprecedented airstrikes on various Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon.

👀 pic.twitter.com/mHGBmFpckA

— Omar Abu Layla (@OALD24) September 21, 2024

Relentless Israeli attacks on different towns and villages in south Lebanon. Israel is saying it’s targeting long range missiles. pic.twitter.com/o2kc5I6cyw

— Ali Hashem علي هاشم (@alihashem_tv) September 21, 2024

Hundreds of Hezbollah Rocket and Missile Launchers were Struck tonight across Southwestern Lebanon, with several of them meant to fire into Central Israel. pic.twitter.com/x70tT6xwyN

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) September 21, 2024

Israeli Strikes are continuing against Hezbollah Sites in Southern Lebanon. pic.twitter.com/zP3e4pnvFx

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) September 21, 2024

Hezbollah Positions across Southern Lebanon are being Pounded right now; with Residents near Sidon having described the Flashes as being so Bright, that it looked like the Sun was in the Sky. pic.twitter.com/PVtavsbVRl

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) September 21, 2024

Massive Strikes now near the Town of Kafra. pic.twitter.com/eFIanrT4Ak

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) September 21, 2024

The strikes came after Israel carried out an unprecedented strike against Hezbollah on Tuesday and Wednesday, detonating thousands of pagers and walkie talkies that Israel’s intelligence services had secretly built through legitimate manufacturing companies that it created as part of a plan that was at least 15 years in the making.

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The detonation of the devices was enormously successful for Israel, thousands of Hezbollah terrorists were injured, with many sustaining severe injuries that will keep them off the battlefield forever, like missing limbs and blindness. Hundreds more were critically injured and dozens were killed. The attack also outed numerous terrorists to their communities who may not have known that they were part of the organization.

Other benefits of the attack included its minimal collateral damage, the decimation of Hezbollah’s ability to communicate, and inducing a state of fear and paranoia within the organization.

Israel also decimated Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force on Friday, killing its entire senior command in an airstrike.

מתחת לאדמה ובלב מעוז חיזבאללה בביירות: צה”ל חיסל את צמרת מפקדי ׳כוח רדואן׳ בארגון הטרור חיזבאללה

לכל הפרטים: https://t.co/s6Q3TBEZSv pic.twitter.com/BD05UKfYCv

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) September 21, 2024

The IDF noted that Hezbollah’s military top chain of command has been nearly entirely eliminated following the airstrikes yesterday.

Hezbollah’s military chain of command has been almost completely dismantled after a dozen significant terrorists including Ibrahim Aqil were eliminated yesterday.

We will continue operating against any terrorist organization that poses a threat to our civilians on all fronts. pic.twitter.com/F2Ewyx4WdL

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) September 21, 2024

Among those killed in Israel’s airstrike was Ibrahim Aqil, the Head of Hezbollah’s Operations Unit and the Commander of Hezbollah’s Radwan Forces, who was also in charge of Hezbollah’s “Conquer the Galilee” attack plan, the IDF said in a statement.

“Aqil and the Radwan commanders who were eliminated today were planning Hezbollah’s ‘Conquer the Galilee’ attack plan, in which Hezbollah intended to infiltrate Israeli communities and murder innocent civilians,” the statement said.

Aqil is one of the founders of the terrorist group and had a $7 million bounty on his head from the U.S. government over his role in the 1983 bombings of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, which killed 63 people, and the U.S. Marine Corps barracks, which killed 241 U.S. personnel.

The Radwan Force is the unit that is reportedly primarily responsible for Hezbollah’s terrorist operations against Israel, with one of its top goals being the conquering of the northern Israeli region of Galilee, The New York Times reported.

“The Radwan Force is dedicated to duplicating what happened on Oct. 7 in the south of Israel in the north,” said Tamir Hayman, a retired general who led Israeli military intelligence until 2021. “For that exact reason, it’s unacceptable for Israel to allow its fighters to remain in the border area.”

This story has been updated to include the latest figures from the IDF.