Dana Bash talks landing Harris interview, new book on 'America's Deadliest Election'

A "charismatic figure who did whatever he could to hold onto power," allegations of election fraud and devastating violence — the first book from CNN's Dana Bash might sound like current events, but "America's Deadliest Election" is actually focused on a real-life political drama that played out more than a century and a half ago.

Louisiana's 1872 gubernatorial election was "full of racism, of corruption, of fraud, of intimidation," leading to "total chaos" and "disgusting violence" with the massacre of more than 150 Black men in the streets of New Orleans, Bash told ITK in a Tuesday interview. Both political parties at the time complained of corruption, and neither of the candidates for the governor's mansion would concede the race. 

"The ramifications, which affected the broader South, was the Supreme Court decision that effectively allowed for Jim Crow laws for 100 years in the United States of America," Bash said.

"It's not identical, but there are so many parallels between what happened then and the times that we're living in now."

"2020 was horrible. We're in 2024 and bracing for what happens in November, but the sad truth about our American story is that we have had elections that have been upended because somebody refused to concede. We've had governments that have been paralyzed — in this case, it was the state government in Louisiana — because of absolute chaos and leaders calling on their supporters to engage in violence. And we need to always learn from that," she said.

"I wish I knew more about this story before I was covering the election of 2020 and in particular, from November of 2020 until January 6, 2021," she said, referring to the day supporters of former President Trump stormed the Capitol in an attempt to halt the certification of the 2020 election results. 

The most important thing for journalists, Bash said, is to "know your history because you need to understand the context in which the times that you're covering are happening. And this is context that everybody should know."

CNN's chief political correspondent said NewsNation host Dan Abrams first brought the "under-covered and under-taught" period in American history to her attention. NewsNation and The Hill are both owned by Nexstar Media Group.

Bash teamed up with David Fisher, who co-authored several New York Times bestsellers with Abrams, to pen the book.

Bash credits Fisher with helping her manage an election year undertaking: "There's no way I could have done this by myself. In my mind, I would love to say that I could. Not only is this an election year, this is the election year 2024, which I feel like I don't even need to say more. It's been so topsy-turvy and all-consuming."

Bash's own roller coaster election year has included being front and center at two history-making political events. She served as co-moderator of June's presidential debate on CNN between President Biden and Trump, which led to the commander in chief dropping out of the White House race after a disastrous performance. And she landed the highly coveted first interview with Vice President Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), last month after the vice president became the Democratic nominee for president.

Bash, 53, said she viewed her role in the interview as an opportunity "to be [the] person who asked the first round of questions on behalf of the American people, on behalf of the voters."

"It was a big responsibility, but I really do try to approach an interview just as I would a debate, which is: It is really not about me. It's about them, and what they have to say and what they don't have to say, and how they react to things, and what their position is on things, and who they are."

Asked if there were topics she wasn't able to tackle due to time constraints during the roughly half-hour sit-down in Savannah, Ga., Bash replied, "As a reporter there are always a million things that you want to ask that you don't get to."

The Harris campaign, Bash said, "gave us a limited amount of time, and if we would have gotten more time, I certainly would have taken it. In fact, I took a bit more than I was supposed to, but you gotta push the envelope."

While The New York Times said Bash "navigated a tough night adeptly," some conservative critics said she handled Harris and Walz with "kid gloves."

Bash responded to the criticism by telling ITK with a laugh, "I want to put them in touch with the liberal critics who say that I'm a MAGA reporter who was only asking them Trump talking points. See how they can sort it out, and then get back to me."

Taking heat from both sides, the "Inside Politics" host said, "Doesn't necessarily mean I'm doing something right, but it's the world in which we live."

More books from Bash could be on their way after the Tuesday release of "America's Deadliest Election" — just not every four years.

"I hope so," she said of another potential literary effort, "but I do hope it happens in a non-election year."

Another thing that doesn't tend to happen in an election year for Bash is some R & R. Bash said while she was "so grateful" to get the call telling her she snagged the first Harris interview, she was supposed to be taking her one week of summer vacation at the beach with her 13-year-old son. 

Now she'll need to look ahead until after Election Day for any chance at a day off. 

"In my mind I have Thanksgiving mentally circled on my calendar, but I know the minute that I say that out loud that something's going to happen," she cracked.