The subject of intense scrutiny. The greatest failure of any president ial administration in the history of our countr President Donald Trump has put the health of america first. What does Tammy Duckworth say now . Firing line with Margaret Hoover is made possible in part by charles r. Schwab and by corporate fundings provided by stephens inc. Sator Tammy Duckworth, welcome to firing line. Its goodo be on, thank you. Does the Vice President ial debate restorer y faith in americas disality to disagree civilly . It did. What a changrom the pressure debate, huh . Thing that struck me is even though there was a discourse full of context, both of the candidates dodged some of the most serious questions before that. It would be refreshing, i think, for the americans to have straight answers some of those difficult questions,al espe the one about what would happen if the persons running mate beme incapacita incapacitated in the white house. Whats your fake on that . I think this is a limiting queson to ask a Vice President ial candidate. I think senator harris is more than qualified to step into the role of president , but i will tell you that from watching joe biden ride his bike around i think hes going to be around for a long time to come yet, but im fully confident in Kamala Harris abilities to step in and the abilities as president if she plans to. How about just answering the question, though . Whats the strategy . I was not part of the debate prep team, sot i dnow what the strategy there is, but i think senat Harris Mission was to focus the conversation on health care t and Global Pandemic were in, so i think thats what she was tdoing. You can seeded in the fact that the pandemic did take center stage isnt the debate. Take a listen to what we put they knew and covered it up. The president said it was a hoax. Hethey minimized seriousness of it. De the presint said youre on one side of his ledger if you wear a n mask. Youree other side if you dont. Under President Trumps leadershipperation warp speed we believe will have literally tens of millions of doses before the reality is when you look at the biden plan it reads an awful lot like what President Trump and i and the task force have been doing every step of th way. If this countrys Covid Response had not been led b President Trump and had been led by democrats instea senator, how ivny do you think would have been saved . Oh, i think hundreds of thousands of lives would have been saved. Its not even about a democratic alternate. If the Covid Response had actually even just followed any type of scientific recommendations you would see a much better response and fewer adath rates and spread of the virus than it under President Trump. Remember that this is the administration that actually defunded the Pandemic Response office that had been set up following the ebola crisis and the previous sars crisis. Of course that was under John Boehners program. He said it didnt go anywhere, it was streamline theyelined that office so itt. Could not do the job it was supposed to do. But even if they had followed Doctors Orders and what the cdc and world health was saying we uld be in aetter place. The World Health Organiz ion offered help to the United States at the beginning and President Trump turned it down and withdrewhe u. S. From participating with w. H. O. Effort in combatting this pandemic. This is a reel failure of the Trump Administration. Ive watched republican oadministrations respond pandemics, specifically as president bush did. So i would thinkus its not about democrats or republicans. Its about President Trumps failures so the civility from the Vice President ial debate disappeared almost immediatel because within hours President Trump called senator Kamala Harris a disparagingame repeatedly and suggested that gold sr families may have been the source of his getting the covid virus. He said that he will refuse to participate in the next debate if its virtual. Do phe americanple need to hear another debate between President Trumpennd vice pres biden . First debate instead of a ear a shouting match with psident trum shouting over President Biden as much as he did. But look, i think it shameful again that held blame others for catching this w virusn he know bad behavior,oing to rallies ery hes not Wearing Masks. Hes told peoe not to wear masks. And even now during a time period when we know hes still contagious hes still not Wearing Masks and subjecting those around him to this pandemic. Earlier he blamed military men and women andce police of for exposing hope hicks. He keeps trying to put the blame on oth hs buts to one not wearing a mask and prevents m other people fwear, masks. Then you have Speaker Nancy Pelosi who has started talking about invoking the 25th amendmt. Do you think thats appropriatt i think t no, i think we should be talking about the election. The American People in less than 30 day haves a chance to make their voices heard and in many e ateslready casting their ballots. Lets let the American People exercise the constitutional right and speak to who they want to be their next president. I want to show you an image of a u. S. Marine outside theit house signaling President Trumps return after his visit to walter reed medical center. R you spent a weuperating after iraq. What does that image say to you . Itws President Trump has no loyalty. He demands loyalty urdrom his subordinates but he has no lofolty from them. Him to expose those around him to this virus shows aer u and complete lack of loyalty from the chief to those aroundi him, espy the military men and women who serve under his command. Also just negligence. He exposed the porters, the aide in the white house, think of all the people who keep the white house running who by the way, have to catch Public Transportation to get towork, further spreading it in the public realm. Hes so selfinvolved and worried about his image so much hes not worried abo other people otherwise he wount have people dd at this point. To quarantine. Joint member had it looks like a meeting in one of the pentagons secure meeting rooms is the concern. Dimilitary leadership let i dont know i they did or not, but when youre in that eting i have been in a meeting room with other senators and none of the republican senators wore masks. We were still separated, six feet social distancing. I kept my mask on. Most of the democrats kept maskn i can see i that situation where you think youre socially distanced, y go ahead take off the mask. We know that that is masks are effective, butentilation and all of that is important as well. And if you want to keep yourself and those around you safe, you should be adhering to all the protocols as recommended by the cdc. Couldnt tell you what the military leaders werein but i can tell you right now, the rutions of the Administration Pence can set an example. He can still set a good example as opposed to where we are right now. The commander in chiein has bee he hospital annow leaders of our military are quarantining. That does not body well for our national security. As a veteran and someone from its been od by some the enate, military has done pretty well with covid, especially since the first incident and outbreak of covidn the South Pacific earlier when the pandemic just set in. Is that your observation that the military lot something right here that the rest of us could learn from . I do think so, the military has done fairly well with their response to covid19. And i have been working closely with military leaders to sow theyve handled it. Ill give you an example. Sending young recruits through basic training. They take them in, isolate them as a pause, including the instructors, and then they move forward as a cad. So w do this. But the military is a very civilian life. Nization than they can control the environment that military members live andr in, so its a little bit easier to do that. Certainly your commander gives a order to wear amask, social distance, the military men and women will do. Yeah, theres no free will. Well, you know, you follow lawful orders. If the orders are not lawful, when you dont have to follow them. At military m women give up a lot of their own they look after one another. They understand loyalty goes they know if they are sick they will speak up and isolate themselves from others. Its not jus about the one person. Its about everybody around them, and unfortunately were not seeing that in the white house right now. Let msk you about some of the covid relief, the economic i. President trump this weekend did negotiations on a stimstimulus release bill until the election. And hours after that he called or stand alone bills, Airline Relief and checks. Do you support the stand alone bill bills,yoenator . What take. Im somewhere in the middle. I think there should be a single bill that has everything in it. Thats the art of compromise. Everyone gets a litting something you want and there are things you dont i want protections for families and rkers. I want another round of stimulus payments. For me, compromise meansth comi to and putting something together. The president wants to cherry pick, and i dont know that cherry picking is good for oun y as a whole. I want money in there for w municipalities lost tax revenue and are right now facing severe financial distress. Pea yopeoria had to lay off te firefi. I want money for them. I think we could put something together. Im not saying i would be opposed to doing something important that stand alone, but i think its bettor put it all together. Wch bringse to how that affects people at home. You have two young daonhters. Of them was supposed to be starting kindergarten. Instead youre homeschooling her while being a senator. You said doing the bulk of teaching is harder than flying a helicopter. Do you think schools should have year . For promptly this i dont want schools to open if they cant keep our teachers ntd stu safe. What happened with abigail is typical of whats happening in this country. After homeschooling her since march, i haveut her into a private montorri program. She has blossomed. The difference of h being i school and Distance Learning has been really difficult. 99 of the children this country do not have parents who can afford tout their children into a private school program, and that is howrong. Wed be providing funding to our School Districts so they can open schools in a safe way while keeping students safe, keepingaf teachers with widespread or low f cost ore testing. And that should be in the next package andt it is far as the Trump Administration is concerned. It seems like this is something that congress should have thought about in the summer. Itn is. Itse package but Mitch Mcconnell refused to let u vote on it in the second. If the virus is here three years from now, would you still expect familie would keep their kids away from school . The virus probably will be with us three years from opnow. I there will be a vaccine, but whether its this virus or another fure ndemic, what we have learned is we need to be able to respond to pandemicwe a eed to have protocols in place. I want schools to reopen, b the path to reopening schools and the pat to reopening our economy is teing, isaking sure theres low cost and free testing everywhere so that when you get sick you shoul know to stay home. Av you should paid leave so you can afford to stay home for 14 da. That is how we reopen schools. That is how we reopenhe economy. Theres no magical vir pill that you can take or a shot that you can take. This virus will be with us three years from now. Its how we manage it thats going to determine how we open our economy. How are we going to have cheap testing everywhere . Whats it going to ta . It takes government investments. We gave the trillion dollars in tax cut to the richest 1 of this nation. We can afford to make sure theres widespread and low coast td feting so the front line workers, the people keeping my daughters supplied withch ken mcnuggets are getting tested and they dont have to decide believe it or not they test. Ford the 200 for the with respect to the e. O. E. S. Act, its no surprise Mitch Mcconnell wouldnt bring it. Itsor far than why not compromise . Why not try to move it forward . Weave seen so many example where theres just been no willingness to give an inch. Well, i would have to disagree with you from a democratic perspective, because i think we have been giving a inch. I would actuallyupport the compromise. I will tell you, though, that Speaker Pelosi and Steve Mnuchin have been negotiating for the past month and theyve actually been making progss. I wa having have, very much optimistic that we were going to get to an agreement, and then the president said thate did and that kind of stopped their conversations. But i will tell you that secretary of the treasury has been somody thatatou can nego with, and thats been a Pleasant Point in everything that has been doing on. El unfortun leader mcconnell has not come to a single meeting so, hes not everyone participate in the negotiations. If there is aeed for compromise here, its going to be leader mcconnell has to up to a meeting. You cant acly negotiate th someone if they dont show up. Yet theyve still passed almost 4 illion worth of fiscal stimulus. Amy Coney Barrett has bee nominated and her confirmation heargs are on monday after several gop senators tested senator ron johnston says he testedid positive and ell show up showing a, quote, moon suit if needed. Is it safe to hold a vote this month . It is not safe to hold a vote this nth, and im disappointed ron johnson would expose his colleaes to this virus, for him to expose not just the and workers at the capitol to the virus i just reonsible. Congress rules require members of congress to be present to cast the vote on thefloor. You know that very well, im sure. Would you support a move to vote by i would like a laook at it. To voting by proxy, i can see in a Global Pandemic, voting by proxy might be a thing, but i would have to see what the rules around that would be. I lovehis part about your bio you became the first sitting senator to give birth in office and your daughter was the when you secured the rules change. Youre public you conceived your children through ivf, and thats one of the reasonst you c support judge amy Coney Barrett, esident Trumps Supreme Court nominee. Tell me more. Well, this really started around 2013, 2014 when i was daughter. G ivf for my older the time there were amendments being proposed by the tea pty that life beginsit the fertilization of the egg. My doctor said, were going to harvest the eggs, lofertilize them, and implant them in you. He said, oh, by the way, ifs concept of life begins at conception i cld be hat just blew my mind quite literally, and unfortunately, you know, the current nominee to the supreme urt, she has signed on to ads from, you knowt groupst have said that they oppose ivf treatment and they actually believe that doctors who perform ivf treatment, involving the destruction of a fertilized egg,y that tould be criminalized. And i that would meahat so many families like mine couldnt become family. People struggling with fertility treatments could not use the miracle and create loving families lik mine has become. You wrote a letter to your republan colleagues urging them to vote no and consider the message it sends to vote in favorf a Supreme Court nominee who appears to believe that my daughters shouldnt even exist. Have you gotten any response from any of our colleaes . Ive got a lote of respo from the democrats. Nothing bu cckets from the republicans. Of course that has happened since weve all gone home, were not on the floor to talk to each other. Im happy to talk to my republicll gues. Im happy to have those conversations. But at this point in time, i think my republican colleagues are willing to set their personal feelings aside and just shove through in this power grab to try to the Supreme Court. Lets take a look at something that judge barrett said at her nomination speech. I clerked for Justice Scalia moreha20 years ago, but the Lessons Learned his philosophy is mine too. A judge must apply the law asn. Writ judges are not policy makers and must be resolute in setting aside policy views they might hold. Why n take judge barrett at her word that shell apply the i law aten as opposed to impose her personal views on to well, because shes actually written things both as a judge, both as a law professor to show she wont just do that. Es saying that now because she wants to be on the Supreme Court, buthe actuallyas written opinions where she said es not recognize judicia precedence and President Trump said hes only putting justices on the support that would overturn roe v wade. We know from what she has wrten she will let her personal opinions come into play. Her views are well know i think some of what her supporters would say isar there plenty of examples where cases have come before her where she ruled counter to her opinion. Sheand to protect people ing services of the Abortion Clinic from protesters. There have been examples where her personal opinion havent made its way to her judicial writings and judgments, her opinions. I guess thats my question to hiu is, her opinions are we known, why are we so sure that she wont take the texts seeking to change the text, which conservatives all judicial activism. Let me say my opposition her is on many fronts, so even if that were these there are other reasons to not vote for her, right . These supporter of her are trying to distract the American People from some of the real issu at hand, which is that she has said that she thinks e fordable care act was an overreach and needs to bere aled. And so if she had her way, she would and she has the potential if we pushouer t before the election to seven days later be hearing a case that couldliminate the affordable car act as we know it, which wod then take away Health Insurance from 20 million plus americans and take away t protection for preexisting conditions. Dont fall for this argument. Thhie are manys about her that make her not worthy of this seat on the supreme co tt, especial seat formerly held by ruth bader ginsburg. Take aook athis clip fro 1973 pherellis slaply was discussing her opposition to the equal rights amendment and the subject of women in the military came up. Draft. En are exempt from the Selective Service says only young men of 18 have to register, duh the equal rights amendment will make women subject to the draft. Nor could you have a sysm where by the women would get all the easy desk jobs and men get the fighting jobs. It would haveo be equal across the board in combat, on wahips and up and down t line. I love that. Alluse the women who g the nice easy desk jobs. You, as a woman who flew helicopters and s shot down serving her country in iraq, how do you reflect on how far weve come . Weve come a very long way, but e nowhar enough. Think that argument was very insulting to the moms of boys. It is to say that mens lives are less precious so the women shld face t dangers and women shouldnt . Americas daughters are just as e of defending liberty and freedom as her sonare. And were better when theres diversity Going Forward in terms of anything we do in our society, including the military. Senator duckworth, thank you very much for joining me on firing line. My pleasure. Announcer firing line with possible in part by charlesw r. S and corporate fundings provided by stephens inc. This program was mt possible in par contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Flex the ankle. Press through the heel. Arthritis is a big problem. Bring the arms to the sides of thchair. The statistics are pretty grim. One in three adults has arthritis, or is going to have to deal with that. And thats amazing. H been dealing with a painful illness that was affecting my hands and my feet. Yoga really is a huge part of my life, and i know that it repaired thingthat doctors told me uld not. Could not