Mr. Biden good afternoon, folks. Welcome to the queen theater. Im here today to talk about a crisis. A crisis being felt across the United States of america. And jill and i have just been briefed, as you know, in this room by our Public Health and education experts about what it is going to take to be able to reopen schools safely and effectively. Backtoschool has always been a special time. It is in your family and mine, but particularly in mine, all the years jill and i were married, she was going back to school, too, as a teacher. She would be the first one to tell you this should be a season of promise for our country. Times when classrooms are crackling with the possibilities of the new year, students hopes, all about the future. But this year, we are facing the most difficult circumstances. We are seeing a lot of heart and grit from our educators, our students, to try to rise to the occasion. But our government has not come up to that bar. Hasnt shown much grit or determination. To be clear, if President Trump and his administration had done their jobs early on with this crisis, american schools would be open and open safely. Instead, American Families across this country are paying the price for his failures and his administrations failures. Like many of you, because you are reporters, you have friends, children, youre probably hearing the same thing i have been hearing. They are struggling to figure out how to do the right thing. They are worried. They are worried like the devil. What does it mean for my kids . Is this setting my childs education back beyond just a semester . What impact will it have . How is my child going to catch up . What if i am not doing enough to help my child succeed . All those questions, the selfdoubt has been engaged. President trump may not think this is a national emergency. But i think going back to school, for millions of children and the impacts on families in the community, is a national emergency. I believe that is what it is. Protecting our students, our educators, communities, getting our schools open safely and effectively, this is a national emergency. But President Trump still does not have any real plan for how to open our schools safely. No real plan for how to help parents feel secure for their children. He is offering nothing but failure and delusions, start to finish, American Families and children are paying the price for his failures. Failure to take this virus seriously early on in january, february, as it spread around the globe. Failure to take steps we needed in march and april to get this pandemic under control, to institute widespread testing and tracing to control the spread. Failure to provide clear, national, sciencebased guidelines to state and local authorities. And failure to model even basic responsibility like socially distancing and wearing a mask. And failure to make sure educators and administrators have the equipment, resources, and training needed to open safely under circumstances we find now. Donald trump and betsy devos have not stepped up. We are all seeing the results. Millions of students are starting a new school year in the same way they finished the last one, at home. At home. Parents are doing their best, but more and more are finding themselves at wits end, struggling to balance work, childcare, and education duties. Or worrying about their loss paycheck and how they will make ends meet while trying to keep their kids on track with Remote Learning. Educators are taking on countless hours of additional training to learn how to use Remote Learning tools so they can still be there for their students, but they are worried about all the kids who used to count on our schools. All those children who needed so badly, particularly those who need more than education. They provide meals and safe places to spend the day. You now, we are all concerned about making sure covid19 doesnt further exacerbate disparities, the disparities that already have existed in our educational system. For so many poor children, so many communities of color, it is unacceptable. And it cannot go on like this. We all want our schools to reopen safely. With a plan that Prioritizes Health of students and educators and staff. I laid out my plans back in june and july, a roadmap for how to reopen safely and effectively. You can read them by going to joebiden. Com. We need straightforward, commonsense solutions. But trump refuses to act, starving schools of the needed funding, funding they need now. Now they needed it beginning of the summer. Now trumps fema director is cutting schools loose. Just yesterday, fema announced, after helping three districts i think it was three they will not help pay for cloth masks, ppe for school settings, cleaning. Those basic health needs. Sanitizing everything from laboratories to classrooms. And safety costs for school that do not qualify for Emergency Assistance. This is an emergency, mr. President. This is an emergency. And donald trump and his fema should treat it as one. If i were president today, i would direct fema to make sure our kids k12 get full access to Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance under the stafford act. I would make sure ppe and sanitation supplies qualify as emergency protective measures, which is a phrase they use, to fully be eligible for federal assistance. On top of that, i would be working with the leaders of congress now, today, to pass emergency packages for schools so they would have resources they need in order to be able to open safely. Money for ventilation. I heard that a lot when i have those healthcare experts up on the zoom. Money for ventilation and other health measures, but also more money to hire more teachers. Every recommendation we got was they should be divided into pods, smaller classes. Smaller classes mean more educators are needed. Keeping classes socially distanced, small. Money for more psychologists and counselors. I introduced legislation a long time ago calling for i proposed legislation a long time ago we have one School Psychologist every 1507 children in the school. And the health care, the Mental Health our children need now. The anxiety they are feeling at home, going to school, not being able to go to school. The nations superintendents of schools have estimated they need at least 200 billion to support k12 schools throughout the year for safe reopening. We need the money to hire educators as well for our fouryear colleges and universities, community colleges, hbcus, minority serving institutions. Democratic leaders are ready to get this done. They have already proposed legislation. Mr. President , where are you . Where are you . Why arent you working on this . We need Emergency Support funding for schools and we need it now. Mr. President , that is your job. That is your job. That is what you should be focused on now. Getting our kids back to school safely, keeping schools safely able to remain open once they open. Not whipping up fear and division, not inciting violence in our streets. Get off twitter, and Start Talking to the congressional leaders from both parties. Invite them to the oval office. The oval office. And stop your boast about you always talk about your ability to negotiate. Negotiate a deal. A deal for somebody other than yourself. Now im happy to take questions you may have. I guess staff is going to call on whoever, fire away. Thank you, mr. Vice president. Two quick questions for you, if i may. First, ahead of your trip to kenosha, wisconsin tomorrow, last week your running mate, senator harris, said the officer who shot jacob blake, based on what she had seen, should be charged. Do you agree . Do you believe the same for the officers involved in the death of Breonna Taylor . I think we should let the the judicial system work its way. I think there is a minimum need to be charged, the officers, as well as Breonna Taylor. I might add, i think what happened in portland, where one of the trump guys in bands, inciting response, shooting rubber bullets or paintballs, apparently there was someone shot by someone in the crowd with a bullet, killed. I think that person should meet legal requirements, whatever that calls for. It should be investigated and follow through on what needs to be done. Let the judicial system work. Lets make sure justice is done. On a different topic, there is a new book by the new york times, Michael Schmidt that says when President Trump made an unannounced visit to walter reed hospital, Vice President pence was told to be on standby in case the president needed to be on anesthesia. As Vice President , were you ever given any special alert when president obama was going in for medical appointments . Do you have any concern about that walter reed visit, if it followed prior protocol about president ial visits for medical examination . I will not speculate on what it means. Nothing this administration does is normal. Ive not been facetious. Who, in gods name knows what this is all about . I just dont know. I dont know. Im not going to speculate. I will let the experts do that. The only time i have been on notice is when the president is out of the country and i am in the country. Not that i should wait to be immediately aware of but that is something that might be called for. It wasnt called for. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Vice president. The visit to kenosha tomorrow. Local officials had previously discouraged President Trump from visiting. Yesterday, the naacp president said he did not want to see either candidate visit. Including yourself. That it was such a sensitive situation in the city. Why is now the right time to go to kenosha, and what do you hope to accomplish tomorrow . I have spoken to the leaders there. Although, i have an outstanding call with the governor, dealt with staff. There has been overwhelming requests i do come. We have to heal. We have to put things together. Bring people together. My purpose in going will be to do that, to be a positive influence on what is going on, talk about what need be done and try to see if there is a beginning mechanism to bring folks together. We have to heal. This is about making sure we move forward. I have gotten advice from sitting members of the congress and senate to go. And that i should go. Im not going to do anything other than meet with Community Leaders as well as Business People and other folks in Law Enforcement to start to talk about what has to be done. Im not going to tell kenosha what they have to do. What we have to do together. The idea that the president s people retreat to their corners that is a mistake. I spent my whole life, including in this city, bringing people together. Bringing the community and Police Officers together. Bringing Business Leaders and Civic Leaders together. That is my purpose in going. On the fact you are traveling to wisconsin at all, i believe this is only the third time in the last few months since the onset of the pandemic you will be on a plane. You have talked about how you want to make sure you follow all the advice of doctors for campaigning safely. The question we hear from voters is, why are you not out there more . The president was calling into question your schedule. How far are you willing to push the envelope of what is safe to get your message out . And to speak to voters directly . My message is getting out, based on the polling data and the millions of people who have watch what ive had to say in the circumstances in which i have said it. I would like to get more. A president has the responsibility to set examples. Set the right example for how to go out. Not go out and not wear a mask, and not to have large crowds of people standing next to him, not wearing a mask, not to be the potential cauldron of significant outbreaks of covid. I have met with via, this morning, with medical experts. So we worked out a protocol of how i get on the plane, what kind of plane, how it is sanitized, how i engage people. It is like how i engage all of you wherever i go. It is at a safe distance. Everyones wearing masks. The vast majority of people i meeting with have been tested as well. Im trying to set the example. Wearing the protective gear, a mask, which i have with me. I am able at this distance to take it off. Number number two, making sure one. We proceed in a with adequate social distancing and do it the right way. And lastly, quickly, they announced the format and moderators of the president ial debate today. Cleanupwelker batting for that last president ial debate. Is there anything that could dissuade you from participating . How have you prepared . I have begun to prepare by going over what the president has said. The multiple lies he has told. What i would love to have is a crawler at the bottom of the screen. I would love a fact checker at the bottom of the screen. If we really wanted to do something, i think that would make a great debate. Everything both of us said was instantly fact checked as we move forward. That probably would not get very far in a debate. Im looking forward to debating the president. I am going to lay out as clearly as i can what i think we have to do to bring this country back and build it back better. Im looking forward to the debate. [indiscernible] thank you, mr. Vice president. One of the things i have heard from voters across the country is a lot of them are worried and concerned about ongoing violence in cities in this country, including kenosha, wisconsin. Im curious, obviously you are not president now and donald trumps, but if you are president , what would you do to ensure people are kept safe in situations like these . First of all, i would not incite violence. I would condemn it when it occurred. The vast majority of Police Officers are good, decent, honorable women and men. They put on that shield every morning and have a right to go home at night safely. The vast majority. But just those who are not good cops, all the police i have dealt with my whole life, i have gotten overwhelming support from Law Enforcement my entire career. They are the ones who want to get rid of the bad cops more than anyone else because it reflects on them. Number one. Number two, i would make sure everyone understood, if i were president , that any violence protesting is a right and free speech is a right but to engage in violence, burning, looting, the rest, and the name of protesting, is wrong. Persons should be held accountable for their actions. I would be bringing people together in the white house right now. I would be having that Police Commission set up. I would have Law Enforcement at the table. I would have the community at the table. I would have people saying, how do we get through this . What do we do to deal with this . I believe the vast majority of the community at large as well as Law Enforcement want to straighten things out, not inflame things. This president keeps throwing gasoline on the fire every place he goes. I noticed, i did not watch much , but i watched the reports from all of you, from the press, and, you know, when he was asked about what should be done with regards to a young man shot in the back seven times in front of his children i did not hear much of anything come from him. What should we be doing about it . He went down the line. I wish he would take responsibility. As much as he would like to be running against someone else, he is running against me. Joe biden. The fact is he is not acting responsibly. [indiscernible] sorry. You have outlined your plan to reopen schools safely. But what about the interim . Millions of parents are facing this Impossible Task of trying to work fulltime and help their children fulltime to learn virtually. What is your message to these parents . What can you do to help them while you work to reopen schools . Help is on the way. I have laid out a clear plan for childcare, for starting Early Education as well. So threeyearolds, fouryearolds, and fiveyearolds are in school. But im not president now. But we should be doing is we should be providing for more help for people who are trying to juggle the choice between, do i stay home with my threeyearold and take care of them in the middle of this covid problem or do i go to work and earn a salary . What do i do . I have a Major Initiative to deal with childcare and eldercare so people can be adequately paid to take care of folks, children and the elderly that you may be taking care of, a husband or wife may be taking care of, as well as making sure that they are able to get back to work. That is why focusing on daycare centers, making sure they are safe and healthy now is as equally important as dealing with schools. We should be providing all the ppe, safety, sanitary capacity necessary to allow them to open. Hundreds of them have been opening. Because some states have gone and done that. There should be universal guidance coming from the president of the United States of america. There should be basic standards as to how in fact and what circumstance you can safely open a daycare center, a Childcare Center. In addition, in the future, the idea, this has brought home glaring problems we have in america, this pandemic and what has happened in terms of jobs. The idea that we are in a situation where you have so many parents who have to make the difficult choice, as a single parent or working parents to decide whether one gives up their salary and stays home with a child under the age of six or five, and or somehow leaves them with somebody that is not particularly qualified and goes to work so that they can earn a living, is a choice that we should not be making. Were are the only country in the world that forces people to make that kind of choice. No one should have to pay more than 7 of an income to provide for childcare, and be able to go to work. This is something that is a major element of my bill back build back better program. In the meantime, the most important thing that can be done is to have cdc issued straightforward guidelines on what circumstances you should be able to open up your Day Care Center or your Childcare Center now. There should be clear standards. States should have the wherewithal to go out and inspect facilities, now. One thing i have not mentioned and it warrants mentioning, one of the things we did remember when we inherited the Great Recession and we were heading off the cliff into depression, i was able to convince three republicans to change their vote and we ended up with the socalled recovery act, which 1800 billion dollars in three months. What did we do . We spent billions of dollars making sure states were able to maintain essential workers. Fire departments, schoolteachers, doctors, nurses, public hospitals. Now what is happening . This Republican Administration will not support that. Republican leadership in the u. S. Senate will not support it. What is happening . We dont have that help. It is not out there. States are in trouble. To quote Mitch Mcconnell he says let the states go bankrupt. States have to balance their budgets under the law. Communities, counties, cities. They have to balance their budget. There is a reason the federal government is able to run a deficit. To compensate in times of crisis. What is happening . Nothing. Nothing. Guess what . We came out of that recession with the longest growth of any time in american history. I could go on. Businesses. Look at the many past under the cares act for businesses. Small businesses able to stay open. You have tens of thousands of them going out of business, many permanently. Why . Because the money did not get to small businesses. They are not open. We should be dealing with those businesses that have been burned out and damaged. We should be providing federal help for those businesses to get back on their feet. But this administration seems to think it is going to go away like angel dust. Everything will be ok. I just dont get it. They have to know better. They have to know better. We had an example the last administration, how much good you can do and how much growth you can generate. I just dont get these guys. I really dont. Not a joke. I have been doing this a long time. I have never seen a president lack as much leadership, inability to make a deal. I am told the reason they cannot get anything done in the Republican Congress is 20 members of the senate say under no circumstances will they raise the deficit. That is wonderful. We are in the position were in now. Look at other countries. They are doing a hell of a lot better and we still have 186,000 people dead. 6 million, whatever the number is, that have contracted the disease . No end in sight . It is just irresponsible. Talk about a know Nothing Congress on the republican side. A know nothing president. I dont get it. I really dont get it. It will change come january, god willing. What do you say to teachers who are afraid to return to classrooms even if the protocols you propose are in place . I understand the concern. So many teachers also have other preexisting conditions that lend itself to the fact that if they were to contract covid19, they would be very susceptible to be in real trouble. It is understandable why theyre doing it. The first thing to do is make sure all the protective capacity we have available to us is made available and then make choices about whether or not they open fully, rotate and whether or not teachers are able to teach from home and Remote Learning. It is really understandable. Look what has happened in this covid crisis so far. 100,000 people have died who were above the age of 65. 100,000 out of the 200,000, 189,000 or whatever it is. I heard today that estimates range from two significant new server cities significant universities one is going to be as much as 239. Another one said by december, 312. I dont know that. It is going to go higher. I dont understand why it is a political problem. What is the politics about not being willing to go in and help provide protective capacity for people to be able to go back to work . To go to school . I cannot fathom it. [indiscernible] [laughter] thank you, mr. Vice president. You talked about reopening schools. I wanted to ask you about something you said last week on the potential of having to shut down the economy again. You were asked if you would be willing to shut it down if your experts advise you to do so. You said i would be prepared to do whatever it takes. You would listen to the scientists. Im curious how you would do that at a federal level and balance that if you have economic advisors saying, you do this again, you could plunge the country into an even deeper economic crisis. Look. I know youre tired of hearing me say this. I have been saying it since last january. The idea that you are going to be able to get the economy back on track without getting covid under control is completely counterintuitive. It is not there. It cannot happen. Unless we are able to deal with the disease and drastically cut its impact on peoples confidence of being able to go to work or walk into a business or do business, then it does not matter a lot. There going to be no need, in my view, to shut down the economy. I got asked by david muir a question if i was asked to shut everything down, i took that as a generic question, am i going to follow the science . Im going to insist and i insist now without any authority, that every responsible person in this country when they are out in public, not in a cohort they have lived with because they know they have not spread it, husband or wife, etc. , that they wear a mask and keep socially distanced. You can take a mask off when you are 12 feet, 15 feet away. I would follow, i would really make the case. By the way, when i find folks talking about my freedom i talk about patriotism. Why do you wear a mask . To protect your neighbor. To keep someone else from getting sick and maybe dying. I call that patriotic. This is the United States of america. Every generation has made sacrifices to help others in moments of crises. You suggest there would be some kind of a federal mandate about masks, and now youre saying no. What i suggested was, i would ask every person in authority there is a question whether or not the president under the constitution could mandate a mask. And, remember, during the primary, people were telling me, i would buy a new executive order. I am a constitutionalist. You cannot do things the constitution does not allow you the power to do. I would be putting as much pressure as i could on every governor, senator, excuse me, mayor, county executive, local official and everyone business, putting pressure on them to say, what you are doing is irresponsible. Make sure you wear a mask and maintain social distancing. The vast majority of the American People accept that notion. Million ine 354 your campaign at the dnc was a record. A record for a monthly hall, apparently. How are you going to spend it . You want to go to dinner . [laughter] no. What i am having to spend a lot of it on is to counter the lies by Trumps Campaign and a new pac. But what im trying to do is spend most of that by the way, the average contribution was like 40 bucks we have over 1,600,000 people who contributed in the middle of this economic crisis between five dollars, 10, 15. I think that shows general enthusiasm and wanting to make sure we have a chance to become president of the United States. What i will spend most of it doing is trying to explain to the American People how i want to unite the country, what i want to do to make the country better, why i am so confident we can do it. Why i am so confident we can bring the country together and be in a better position than before this crisis occurred. There has been so many fissures exposed as a consequence of what has happened, people are not w now realizing, my lord, i did not know people in that circumstance did not have that kind of help. We have enormous opportunity to bring the country together. Once again, lead the world. You heard me say it 100 times, not just by the example of our power but by the power of our example. Thank you all so much. Thank you, guys. I know you always ask the hostile questions. Go ahead. [indiscernible] you said you warned President Trump in january there was going to be a pandemic and what needed to be done. If you knew that, then why were you still hosting crowded Campaign Rallies in march . No, what i talked about was, not what had to be done. What i said is you have to take this seriously. You have to insist we have access to wuhan, in china, to find out for ourselves. We had 44 people of cdc there. You cannot continue to talk about, the president of china saying he has done a marvelous job, a great job, when it got up to march, i kept saying, i think i was the first, i may be mistaken, person calling about the defense production act. We dont have enough of it is amazing we use a phrase like ppe and the public knows what that is now. But protective equipment, gear and ventilators. Use that authority. Use it to go out there now. Dont wait. Dont wait to talk about the need for us to have masks. And do not wait for us to talk about that is what i talked about. I began to lay out from we had a conversation, i cant remember, i think it was march. Maybe april. In that range. He said, if biden wants to help, i want to talk to him. I talked to him. I laid out what i thought the things i thought we should do. He was very polite. He listened. He said he would think about it. That was the end of it. What began to become clear was as the science began to show that this was able to spread much more easily than people thought, two issues, was the pandemic coming . And what was the way it did the most damage . As that became clearer, we concluded we cannot continue to have large rallies. Think about it. Here we are. The rest of the world, the places that have done extremely well in terms of dealing with this covid crisis around the thed, you know, we have five largest countries in europe have a population larger than the United States of america. Yet, in the month of august, we are losing 1000 lives a day and they are losing 57, combined. All of them, combined. More, and we did learn more, and why by march and april we knew a heck of a lot more, why werent we doing what needed to be done . Why worry being told we have plenty of protective gear why where we being told we have plenty of protective gear . And the one thing i pushed a lot on, and i was not the only one, was the need for testing and tracing and to make sure you have the capacity to test and trace before it got so out of control. We need to do that now. But here is the thing, and i will end with this. I apologize for keeping you. [indiscernible] [laughter] we dont see that often. That i just do not quite understand is what is clear is some of the things the president says are simply not this crisis, and is put onous pressure professionals in the administration from the cdc, to , why do wetheboard think, drilling, when we get a vaccine that is good and works, why do we think the public is going to line up and be willing to take the injection . Have lost so much confidence in the American People and what is said. Because they are finding out, again today, plasma, that doesnt quite work the way we thought it was. A lot of pressure on the person who says that. President has said so many things that are untrue and wrong. He looks at it in one way, that if the stock market is high and moving, and we are reducing the number of people who are in real trouble economically, then it does not matter what i say. That is the objective. That is the objective. The objective is to keep the American People safe so we can begin to get back to normal, rebuilding our economy and bringing back economic growth. Thank you. [indiscernible] thank you, guys. Holdsay, President Trump a Campaign Rally in pennsylvania. Watch live at 7 00 p. M. On cspan, coming up in an hour, nikki fried, Florida Agriculture commissioner discusses florida and campaign for the 20 and the federal response to the covid19 pandemic. 8 445 avik roy discusses the herd immunity approach. With the new school year beginning in schools and colleges across the country, the acrostic candidate joe biden said if he is elected help is on the way. To School Systems and parents. Good morning, this is washington journal. We start the program asking you about your experience so far. How is it going back either remotely or in person, is it working . Four those of you in the eastern and central time zones. 2027488001