HARRIS: ... But here’s the thing, we also have to, on this election issue, understand that this longstanding adversary decided they wanted to attack us where we are strong. And one of the almost intangible strengths of America is that we can hold ourselves out as a democracy, imperfect though we may be, flawed though we may be. And it’s an intangible strength. It gives us the authority to walk in rooms and actually talk about human rights, talk about civil rights, talk about concepts of freedom, right?

So they decide, let's get at them. Let's attack that. So they decide to attack what is the strongest pillar of a democracy, which is free and open elections. So let's get Americans going at each other. What's going to get heat?

TODD: The easiest way to do it.

HARRIS: And they tried out a bunch of different things. and you know what caught heat? The issue of race. So Russia exposed America’s Achilles heel. And all of a sudden, then guess what, for those who want to marginalize the conversation about race and racial inequities and say, oh, well, that’s identity politics or that’s this or that, guess what, now it is also a national security issue, and we need to deal with it.