Transcripts For CNNW Debate Night In America 20201007

Debate. Both Vice President mike pence and senator Kamala Harris have to prove they have what it takes to fill that top job for the next four years, as running mates to the two oldest president ial nominees in american history. Its a stunning thing to think about this, how crucial this is. We expect the coronavirus and the Trump Administrations handling of it to be front and center during the faceoff. It will be a 90minute debate. The pandemics impact obvious on the stage, as you see there. Two plexiglass barriers have been put up to separate the candidates. The Vice President s team challenged and even mocked those barriers before finally agreeing to them. All while more members of the Trump Pence Administration have been testing positive for covid19. And i want to bring in anderson, who will be with me this hour. The Debate Commission has changed, enhanced the safety protocols since the president bill ill. Now we know he was possibly infected with his debate with joe biden. There will be more distance between the nominees. Senator harris will be on the left, she will be 12 feet away from Vice President pence. He will be seated at a desk to the right with those plexiglass barriers between them. The modmoderator will be 12 fee away, as well. Everyone in the debate hall must test negative or must test negative for coronavirus. The commission is promising to remove anyone in the audience who refuses to wear a mask, as members oh of the trump family did last week. As for the debate itself, it will be broken into nine tenminute segments. The first question of the night will go to Vice President pence based on a coin toss. Were covering it all tonight. Sara sidner will be watching the debate. David chalian will be watching who won after based on a cnn poll. Ryan nobles is first, so ryan, take us inside what you know about Vice President pences strategy tonight. Reporter well, erin, no doubt a week ago we saw a very combative and often a debate that was filled with personal attacks between President Trump and Vice President biden. Aides to mike pence say the situation tonight is going to be a lot different. Mike pences debate style is much different than President Trump. He has a lot of experience on the debate stage. Hes known to be methodical and in control, and also very good at keeping on message. And frankly, his aides say he will do it in a much more polite tone than President Trump did more than a week ago. Now, thats not to be said that mike pence wont take the opportunities to draw very specific and stark distinctions with Kamala Harris. He will take those opportunities when given the chance. The big difference between me and President Trump is that his aides say when he does so, he will do it with a smile. Erin . A totally different style. I want to go to kyung lah. Obviously, senator harris with a very different strategy as well. What are you hearing from her camp . Reporter well, expect covid19 to be a key line of attack from the senator. Both from the Pandemic Response to what is happening in the economy. As far as the Pandemic Response, she says, an aide says nothing is going to change tonight on the debate stage as to what happened because of the lives of Vice President pence and President Trump and they lied to the American People how dangerous covid19 is from the start. That 211,000 americans have died because of the failures of the administration, and she will specifically point to the fact that the head of the Coronavirus Task force is mike pence. On the economy, expect harris to talk about the high unemployment numbers, and that the stimulus talks were specifically pulled back by the president. So constantly, erin, youre going to hear the senator talk about the failures of the administration when it comes to the pandemic. All right. Thank you very much. I want to get the latest now on what we know and what we dont know about the president s covid19 infection and the covid that has been spreading throughout the entire white house. Our chief White House Correspondent jim acosta joins me now. The president tried to put a spin on his illness a short while ago, saying how amazing hes feeling. But you are hearing something different. Tell me. Reporter thats right, erin. Youre right, the white house just released a video of the president produced by west wing staffers as the president claims hes feeling just fine. But sources tell cnn the president has had some trouble breathing since his return from walter reed medical center. I talked to one trump adviser who said the president is having difficulty catching his breath at times, although this adviser cautions it does not appear to be serious at this point. Yet in this white house produced video youre seeing on the other side of the screen, the president claims hes been cured of the coronavirus, pointing to the experimental medications hes been on like the antibody cocktail. The president claims in the video he asked his doctors for the treatment and it was a blessing from god that he caught the coronavirus. And heres more of what he had to say. So we have these drugs, eli lily and the others that are so good. But they are, in my opinion, remember this, theyre going to say that theyre therapeutic. And i guess they are therapeutic. Its a cure. For me, i walked in, i didnt feel good. A short 24 hours later, i was feeling great, i went to get out of the hospital. Thats what i want for everybody. I want everybody to be given the same treatment as your president , because i feel great. I feel like perfect. So i think this was a blessing from god that i caught it. Reporter one thing we should note as some of the president s medications hes been on are not available to most americans. The white house claims this was recorded today. Though during the video, President Trump says he got back from the hospital a day ago, and the president did not appear in front of reporters today. So we cannot independently verify when that video was produced or exactly how hes doing. Ky tell you from talking to my sources, there are people here who are worried about the president overdoing it. That hes just trying to do too much right now and wondering how thats going to affect his health. As you saw, he claims hes been cured. Erin . Jim, thank you very much. Of course, hes on a very powerful steroid and may have not given us information on his lungs and lung damage, which is crucial for president and for somebody that would like to be president for a second term and the oldest president elected in american history. Mia, this debate tonight, to just think we were all sitting here a week and a day ago, and wow. Talk about a seismic change in what has happened. Youre now 14 and counting people infected in the white house. The president of the United States spent three days in the hospital with coronavirus, which his own administration thinks he had at that debate. And that is now front and center tonight. It will be front and center visually. The distance, theyre going to be apart 12 feet or so, and this is what biden and harris wanted this debate and this election to be about, covid. It just so happens that most americans are dealing with this virus and the fear of this virus in major ways every single day of their lives. Youll see her bringing the case to pence, who is the head of this task force. I think if youre pence, you want to try to make the case that theyre too liberal and they wouldnt know what theyre doing in the white house. Its always been the covid election. Now its the covid october, and its blaring red. So its so important, and i hook for Kamala Harris to take the case to the president through pence. Yeah, pence runs the task force, but shes going to make the case against a president who said that he down played the virus, and then he ultimately gets the virus. So do so many other people which he says is a blessing. Now he says its a blessing. So competence, compassion. I think that shes got the ability to drill down on this and take it i think in her world, its always to take the case against the president and the proximate person there is the Vice President. In the big picture tonight, there arent many opportunities left for a reset. You look at the data, and the data suggests this is getting away from the president. 16 points in a National Survey from cnn. My home state of pennsylvania, monmouth survey says that what was a fourpoint race is now 12 to bidens advantage. There are just 27 days to go until the final day of voting. So this is that rare opportunity that presents a chance. And i wonder how much pressure Vice President pence is under from the president to go hard and heavy tonight in this debate, which i dont think is pences inclination. And the way the president has been acting the past couple of days. He is on some very serious steroids. The number of tweets, the fast and furious, the sort of live reaction from this president that were going to see, thats going to be part of the conversation in how this is received. Hes been incredibly erratic. If youre pence, you have to be the stabilizer. We saw this last go around with biden having been the stabilizer after obama didnt have a great debate. So pence, who has this mid western, cool, easy sensibility manner about him is what youll see tonight, compared to harris, who can be the prosecutor. Thats why people like her, because she brings the fire. I expect her to do it in a way much more fluid than joe biden. One of President Trumps mistakes was not letting biden talk. I think that could have hurt him. You know, look, everybody not Everybody Knows who these two folks are. We still have the issue of who is undecided or who is going to be watching tonight. People want to see them mix it up on the issue of the president getting covid and whats happening in the white house for sure. People already know that pence is going to be different than trump, and hes going to make some excuses for him or try to ignore the kind of things that trump says and try to reframe it. But hes the Vice President , and unlike most republicans, he doesnt stand up to President Trump. So i dont think that people will say this is a Different Administration now. I think that the clock is interesting to keep an eye on tonight from this perspective. These are short segments. Ten minutes each. You know that in senator harris eyes, every one of these segments somehow revolves around covid. So the objective for her will be to work that in as often as she can possibly do. I think its do the advantage of the Vice President that theoretically, theres only one segment specifically dedicated to covid. Theres another piece here. Remember, pence knows how to go on the offense, as well. One of the things he wants to remind viewers of, Kamala Harris represents the extreme wing of the Democratic Party. Thats the argument they will make. Shes going to be on the defensive about that, and theres a lot of voters who may not have made up their mind who think yeah, shes the future of the Democratic Party. We have a very old potential president. She has to answer for that. Yeah. Go ahead. I was going to say, to that point, either person, trump or pence, im sorry or biden, are going to be the oldest president ever elected. People are looking at this debate in a way they have never looked before. Either one of these people could be president. And President Trump is ill right now. So that i think that magnifies how important this is. Typically, in some ways, Vice President ial debates are forgettable. But because these two are seen also as the future of their party, particularly if youre Kamala Harris, i think people will be looking at it. Also the history tonight, Kamala Harris, africanamerican woman, asianamerican woman, trying to be the Vice President. People are going to be looking at that. You want to be delicate, but the president has covid19. Joe biden, on his first day, will be older than Ronald Reagan was on his last day in office. Sobering. Very sobering. David, what role does the plexiglass play and the mask wearing . Theres a theater to this, as well as the safety part. Katie miller, spokesperson for the Vice President , mocked the barriers, even though she herself had covid and her husband just got covid. Mocked it, but now its there for most of them. Its idiotic to mock it. You had the president s family mocking america by not wearing a mask when the Cleveland Clinic, who i think has some authority on these matters, said everybody has to wear a mask. Its common sense. Are any of us were going to go by the precautions, were going to follow the precautions. I think its a reminder of how completely historic and unprecedented it is that they have physical barriers at a time of a pandemic. There is no escaping that the central question of this campaign is, how did they do in response to the pandemic . I think if youre Kamala Harris and youre joe biden, you hope its a reminder of the failures of this administration, if you look at all the data, the polling, 65 of americans disapprove of the way this administration has handled the coronavirus. If im mike pence, i dont want it there. Its a constant reminder. It would seem the ventlation would be more important. If im pence, im not happy its there. But also, thats how they felt i think when Amy Coney Barrett was unveiled at the white house. Thats when everybody got sick, because they had a private gathering, inside the white house with no masks, and then went outside where they had no mask and look what happened. Thank you all. And much more ahead on this special edition of outfront. Up next, should Vice President pence be taking part in tonights debate . Because hes had close proximity to multiple people with covid19 right now. Our medical expert also weigh in. Online last night and a yoga mat, to stay zen now, im gonna just buy a bike for him rakuten cash back on the stuff all in my home. I shop on rakuten. Rakuten you know limu,g after all these years i shop on rakuten. Its the ones that got away that haunt me the most. [ squawks ] cause youre not like everybody else. Thats why Liberty Mutual customizes your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. What . Oh, i said. Uh, this is my floor. Nooo only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. I remember herwho was because she had a bracelet that had the names of her children. She asked me, doctor, am i going to be okay . and i could not give her the answer that i wanted to give her. There is no excuse for why we dont have this under control at this point. Joe biden listens to medical experts. He actually has a plan that does the things that we should have been doing many months ago. And joe biden is not going to let his ego get in the way of fighting the disease. Ff pac is responsible for the content of this ad. But despite the rising pain and anguish made worse during the pandemic, Insurance Companies still refused to cover Mental Health and addiction treatment. Until now. Senator scott wiener went to work taking them on. Passing a law requiring the Insurance Industry to cover Mental Health and addiction treatment. Now more than ever, californians need Mental Health coverage. I wont let up until the stigma of Mental Health and addiction is finally over. As we await the start of the Vice President ial debate, some Health Experts are questioning whether Vice President mike pence should be participating. He attended President Trumps Supreme Court announcement 11 days ago, sitting in front. The ceremony seen as one possible coronavirus super spreader event. At least eight people who were there tested positive, including the president , the first lady who sat across from the Vice President. Senator like lee who sat behind him. The cdc recommends someone in close contact with someone with covid19 quarantine for 14 case. Close contact is being within six feet of someone for 15 minutes. As you can see, the Vice President has attended multiple events since september 26, often without social distancing or masks. Lets talk about this with dr. Sanjay gupta and cnn medical analysis dr. Jonathan reiner. Pences doctor says he does not need to quarantine, even though he attended the event where he was surrounded by numerous individuals that tested positive. The head of the cdc said he consults with a doctor and thinks its okay for him to attend. What do you make of it and does the plexiglass help at all . Well, so the first question, you know, the cdc guidelines apply to everyone, right . Regardless. And i know what dr. Redfield is saying, but you just read the guidelines, those are the guidelines that exist for a reason. It does appear that Vice President pence had close contact. As you said, within six feet for longer than 15 minutes to people who were covid positive. In this particular case, we can see the video and see the images that you were showing, anderson. I think the last line, that it doesnt matter what the testing shows, because we know that people can test negative one day and test positive the next day. The Vice President , unfortunately, was in the middle oh of a super spreader event. I think for anybody else who said i was surrounded by people with covid for longer than 15 minutes, they were close to me, that would be concerning. You know, from a pure medical standpoint, its very concerning that hes not quarantined. I dont know if theyre considering him an essential worker, and therefore he doesnt need to be quarantined. But this that case, he needs to be wearing a mask all the time in public. So it is concerning. And anderson, just regarding the plexiglass, i think the confusion about this, that may be good for respiratory drop let sort of protection, which is good. But as we know, and now the cdc has on their website, took it down. Now they have it back up. Is that there is a concern about this virus spreading via aerosols. And if you just want to visualize it, think of it like smoke. Smoke that can kind of linger in the air and travel further than six feet. Thats the concern and why the plexiglass could be helpful but is not a panacea here. Both pence and the second lady karen pence have tested negative, thats what we are told. An Administration Official has said that. Is that good enough . Would you sit on a stage with Vice President pence . Absolutely not. He should be quarantining. So were holding a debate in a quarantine. The cdc recommendations are unambiguous, very, very clear. And as you and sanjay said, if youve had a close contact with somebody who is known to be infected with the virus, you need to stay home for 14 days. Those are the exact words. Stay home for 14 days. And it doesnt matter what youve tested negative. So what is the explanation for forcing this debate to continue . There is no Public Health urgency that would be benefited by having this. To the contrary, only risk. And this administration hasnt exactly covered itself with glory as it comes to candor in terms of the disclosure, either by the white house people or the white house medical unit, when it comes to the health of the president. Frankly, i have no confidence in what ive heard from the white house medical unit or the white house. If i were bidens camp, i would have declined to do the debate tonight. But if the debate were going to go forward, i would have insisted that both parties be tested on site by neutral medical personnel to prove that testing is negative. We still dont have proof that the president himself was tested prior to the debate last week. I would insist that the Vice President be tested on site. President trump is saying he will participate in next thursdays debate. Biden says there shouldnt be a debate if the president is positive for covid. We dont even know if the president has been lying about when he actually became positive. How can the biden team be 100 confident standing on a stage next to him . Yeah. I mean, that i can completely understand that concern, because we dont have the data and they havent been forthright about when the president s last negative test was. We keep asking this, they still dont provide an answer. And its relevant and more and more things are hinging upon that very question, including the next debate. So we can show you when people generally are going to get out of the period of contagiousness. Again, this is from cdc guidelines, and we talked to the viral dynamic experts about this today. Roughly ten days after people have symptoms, thats when they should typically no longer be contagious. They should have at least 24 hours since their last fever, without using medications, such as fever reducing medications or steroids like dexamethasone, which the president is still taking. We dont know for sure, and obviously improving symptoms. But one of the things that, you know, should be done is as jonathan was mentioning, having negative tests and specifically a lot of people dont have access to these tests. Given that they do and we thought they were taking them daily, that doesnt appear to be the case. But they should have two negative tests separated by a day. So if you meet those criteria, theres a good chance hes not contagious, but we dont know. Theres not a lot of data theyre given us here. Doctor, just on those guidelines alone, its impossible to know when the president i mean, if its ten days after the first symptoms, we have no idea when the first symptoms actually were. I mean, we know hope hicks had symptoms on air force one wednesday evening. We dont know for all we know, the president , you know, was positive the day of the debate on tuesday. Right. We dont know. And its even more complicated than that. The cdc also states that some patients with severe or critical disease may need to be isolated for 20 days. Because they may shed virus. They may shed active virus, not just sort of viral remnants that cant cause an infection but real, active virus for up to 20 days. So think about the president. He was ill enough to require emergent transport to the hospital and treatment with a triple investigative regimen. So, i dont know, to me that sounds like severe disease. So to be on the safe side, i would isolate the president for 20 days. For 20 days. Testing is difficult, because many patients, even if they dont have our testing is so sensitive, that you can off pick up viral particles out for a period of time. But i would err on the side of safety. Use the cdc guidelines and isolate the president for 20 days. I appreciate both of you. Well be talking to you throughout the night. Well see how coronavirus is shaping the political night. John king is at the magic wall for us. Whether youre looking at the here and now, the data about the coronavirus today or going back through the eightmonth journey weve all been on, the Vice President is in a difficult position tonight, defending the president and his work as the head of the task force. Lets look at where we are right now, 27 days to election day. Look at this map. 24 states, almost half. Nearly half of the 50 states trending in the wrong direction thats the orange and the red. More new infections today than in the data a week ago. Not the direction you want to be going in, especially this close to the election. 24 states trending up, 23 holding steady. Only three states, only three of the 50 states reporting fewer new infections now than a week ago. That is not progress, especially as it gets cold and people head inside. This is very important. Remember, we go back to the beginning here. We went up the hill in march. Mostly on the west coast. Washington state and new york and new england and the northeast. On the 16th of april, the white house announced the reopening guidelines. One week after that, one week after that, the Vice President of the United States on the debate stage tonight said he was looking at the data, studying it closely. He believed by memorial day this would be behind us. All behind us by memorial day. Thats right here. We were only averaging, only is a rough word to use, but we were averaging 18,000 new infections a day on memorial day. Look what happened. The summer surge. People blew by the reopening guidelines. Texas, florida, georgia, arizona, up we went. More than 70,000 new infections a day. Yes, we have come down the hill, but just follow the red line. Were now heading back up at more than 40,000 new infections a day. So everyone was worried. A baseline of about 20,000 when we had the summer surge. What happens if we get a winter surge and the baseline is twice that . Thats what Health Experts worry about. The Vice President said in april, by memorial day, he thought this would be behind us. No, 5. 9 million cases, 78 of the new infections in the United States have happened after memorial day. 78 . 110,000 deaths since memorial day. Thats 52. Thats more than half of the deaths. 52 of the deaths in the United States. Of course, were still counting as we get closer to the election day. So what the Vice President said back then was dead wrong. It just hasnt turned out that way. Heres the problem in the here and now. The darker the blue, the deeper the color, the higher the coronavirus positivity rate, meaning people taking tests, the percentage coming back positive. 23 in idaho, 15 in wyoming. 20 in wisconsin. Lets just zoom in on the dozen states that have double digit positivity right now. That means more Coronavirus Infections today, more risk for more infections tomorrow. Look at this map. Battleground florida, wisconsin, nevada, three key states in the president ial race. Heres another way to look at this map. Only nevada, carried by Hillary Clinton four years ago, right now, the coronavirus is playing out, surging, cases increasing on Donald Trumps 2016 map. Smaller states, not very popular states out here. That was Trump Country in 2016. Right now, he said the virus would be gone in april. They are experiencing the coronavirus. This is a global crisis. The president and Vice President say america is leading the world, but not in the way you want to lead the world. This is the United States versus the European Union and this is japan. This is the sevenday moving average per 1 million residents. Remember in the beginning, the United States and the European Union went up the hill at the same time. The European Union flattened the curve for a very long time. Yes, the European Union right now, look at the czech republic, spain, the netherlands, they are having a surge. But they pushed the curve down, so as they deal with the surge, the numbers are lower. The United States never got the surve down. Now were dealing with this. So as the debate plays out tonight, if you say the United States is leading the world, anderson, this is not the race you want to be leading. And i want to come back to this map here. 27 days from the election day, it is indisputable. We are heading in the wrong direction. John king, thanks. As we count down to tonights debate, how both candidates prepared for the big night and who they turned to for help. If youre at home thinking about your financial plan. So are we. Prudential helps 1 in 7 americans with their financial needs. Thats over 25 Million People. With over 90 years of investment experience, our thousands of Financial Professionals can help with secure video chat or on the phone. We make it easy for you with online tools, esignatures, and nomedicalexam life insurance. Plan for better days. Go to prudential. Com or talk to an advisor. Plan for better days. All californians will be able to vote safely from home. Every active, registered voter will receive a votebymail ballot with a unique barcode. You can track it using wheres my ballot . And youll receive automatic notifications by text, email or voice call to let you know the status of your ballot once you mail it, drop it off at your polling place or at a drop box. Vote by mail ballots. Simple, safe, secure. Counted. Learn more at vote. Ca. Gov im voting yes on prop 19. Nineteen limits taxes on seniors. It limits property tax on people like me. Nineteen limits taxes on wildfire victims. It says so right here. If 19 passes, seniors can move closer to family or medical care. I looked at moving but i cant afford the taxes. Will you help californias most vulnerable . Vote yes on prop 19. We are less than 90 minutes away from the Vice President ial debate in salt lake city, utah. And now new insigts how mike pence and Kamala Harris have prepared for this night. Dana bash, i know you have been talking to debate insiders. Simply harris and pence both know this is the most important night that they will have this election. What are you learning . Absolutely, erin. Hes a smooth talker, shes a gifted prosecutor and debater. Those are the lines im hearing from sources in opposing pence and harris camps as they try to set expectations for tonight. One thing we can count on, this will be very different from what we saw last week. For mike pences debate prep in 2016, scott walker got really into kascharacter playing character. You need a hired president , not a youre fired president. Reporter walker used that line so much in preparing debates i laughed watching it, because he was like, boy, you keep repeating it. But it was because i kept using it. Reporter cnn is told the Vice President is preparing the same way this time around. A small group of advisers doing 90minute mock debates just like the real thing. With former Florida Attorney general pam bondi among others, playing Kamala Harris. Were looking very much forward to the Vice President ial debate. Reporter will debating Kamala Harris be harder than debating tim kaine . I think so. For two reasons, one because of her background as a prosecutor. I think that will make her effective. And two, i think the stakes are higher. Reporter harris is taking a particular approach. Pete beaut guttigieg is playing pence to get her ready. Is she coachable . She takes a ton of advice. She does like to have sort of a diverse, you know, group of viewpoints and a backgrounds that are giving her feedback. Reporter she recently got some blunt debate advice from the only woman ever at the top of the ticket. I think you should be prepared for the slights, the efforts to diminish you, you personally, you as a woman who is about to be our next Vice President. Reporter pence advisers are hoping he avoids cringe worthy moments like in 1984 when george w. Bush was debating geraldine ferrero. I recent your patronizing attitude. Shes historic on the ticket, thats a good thing for america. Reporter harris advisers see pence as skilled and smooth. Reporter theres a reason why people question the trustworthiness of Hillary Clinton. Thats because theyre paying attention. Reporter the senator certainly knows how to deliver a memorable line. That little girl was me. That was unbelievably effective. I thought it was where the whole world stopped for a moment. Reporter now pence aides are preparing him for harris to turn the conversation to coronavirus as much as possible. Were going to hear a lot about mike pence being the head of the Coronavirus Task force, arent we . I imagine so. But its in his title. If you get a big responsibility, it comes with accountability. He needs to be prepared to deal with that. Even if the president or first lady hadnt gotten coronavirus, thats still the elephant in the room. The American People are thinking about that. I think the more he leans in and says heres what weve done. Reporter harris aides are preparing her for the Vice President to call her radical. Hes been practicing on the stunt. Senator harris put their radical environmental agenda ahead of Wisconsin Dairy and ahead of wisconsin power. Reporter how should she respond to that . Its hard for them to throw out terms like socialism. It doesnt square with the experience and the issues that are most salient to folks lives right now. Sources on both sides note that the stakes are very high for each candidate, not just for what their performance means but for the men at the top of their tickets. But also for their own viability in the maybe not so distant future. Pence sources privately admit, win or lose now, hes almost surely going to eye a run for the gop nomination in 2024. If biden wins, theres talk because of his age, he will only serve one term, though biden of course has never said that publicly. Erin . The stakes could not be higher. Dana, thank you very much. Anderson . Yeah, theres going to be a lot to watch for. Lets check in with our group. David, what are you thinking . He was referring to Kamala Harris as a skilled prosecutor. She doesnt want to be a prosecutor on the stage. She can tear people apart, weve seen it in senate hearings, but the tone is going to be important here. You dont see her being on the attack . Its a question of how, and i think theyve been working on how that attack should come. Because pence, you know, pence is the velvet hammer. He cloaks his attack in warm words. So thats what happened with tim kaine four years ago. He hit him very, very hard. And pence was very, very smooth in the rebuttal. And she has added challenges, unfairly probably, because women get chosen i mean women get judged by a different barometer. I think mike pence now, i could be wrong in an hour, i think mike pence will probably being smart take note of the historic nature of Kamala Harriss candidacy and congratulate her on that. And then turn right away to say shes a stalking horse for the radical left and attack her that way. I think, you know, for mike pence to Kamala Harris is going to be talking covid, covid, covid. I can quite honestly, the president of the United States tonight, by talking about let me get this right how he may be cured, how catching the virus was a blessing from god. Im going to make what i got available to everyone, even though its hardly available to anyone right now. All of that doesnt make mike pences job any easier tonight. Well, for sure, because mike pence has had literally one job his entire job was covid. And he blew it. So you dont have to be a skilled prosecutor to knock him on that. But pence does have some advantages. First of all, he was a radio guy. Hes smooth. Kamala is a courtroom person. Those are different styles and they play different on television. Also, pence has been here before. There is no substitute for just experience. Hes done it before. This is her first time doing it. And his main job is going to scare people about her. So shes got to figure out a way to assert that shes not a scary person and defend herself and prosecute donald trump. Shes got the tougher job, but at the same time, hes sit thing with a big dunce cap on his head. Dont underestimate mike pen pence. He knows the Coronavirus Task force. Hes going to make a very strong case. You may not think its convincing, but i think hes going to do a better job than donald trump has ever done. I happen to believe what the white house has done is not nearly as bad as the way they portrayed it. Because i think they have done a lot of good things. They have communicated it poorly because donald trump isnt a good communicator. I think mike pence is. I think youre going to see probably the best case you will see for the administration ever put forward tonight for their covid response. Number two, i agree with van, theres no question that this is going to be focused on the fact, fact that shes had the most liberal voting record of any United States senator. Shes not a stalking horse for the left, she is the vanguard of the left. Thats what hes going to make it out to be. Doesnt this have to be about joe biden . You know, he can attack Kamala Harris and say, yeah, youre left wing and hes an empty vessel. But he has to talk about joe bidens record and she has to defend joe bidens record. Joe biden said hes the Democratic Party. But look who he chose. Hes going to serve one term, maybe. And look who he chose to fill in. The most liberal member of the United States senate. Isnt the backdrop for this, we have a president who is positive for covid19 in the white house, who is Walking Around the white house and possibly infecting others . And has been and the white house and the president have been covering up when he became positive, when he last tested negative. And hes saying its a blessing from god and is occurred. He said its a blessing from god because he now knows of the treatment that can help people. Not that he got covid. The fact that he didnt know that was a treatment before hand is pretty pathetic. Only when it happens to him that he wakes up and pays attention . He knows how effective it was because of the way he felt. This recalls the whole saga from the beginning, hydroxychloroquine, the miracle cure, and all the things that he did to minimize this when he obviously knew as i said, the messaging on the administration [ overlapping speakers ] this debate is happening on a night where there is a crime scene tape around the white house, essentially. It is a roped off covid zone. The other thing the president s illness does is it underscores the mortality of the guys at the top of the ticket. So we did a focus group in 2008 before the Vice President ial debate. People said they were going to pay a lot of attention because they knew john mccain was 72 and had had cancer and they were worried about Barack Obamas safety if he became president , and they were thinking about these people as people who could be president. And i think youre going to see that tonight. When the Vice President ial nominees take the stage tonight, millions will already have voted, thats a fact. Coming up, a brand new tally on how many ballots have been cast so far. Its not enough to just connect people. We have to make sure that those connections are positive. Its not enough to just give people a voice. We need to make sure that people arent using it to harm other people or to spread misinformation. Across the board, we have a responsibility to not just build tools, but to make sure that theyre used for good. I started facebook, i run it, and im responsible for what happens here. More dangerous and corrupt president than trump. Hes harming our basic values, giving rise to hate, and hes selling out america to big corporations. Im working to protect immigrants, women, communities of color, and lgbtq people. And im making corporations like pg e and Insurance Companies play by our rules. We need experienced leadership to wipe away trumps stain on america for good. We are back with our special debate coverage. Vice president mike pence and senator Kamala Harris, with a unique opportunity tonight to sway anybody who is left undecided at their faceoff tonight. Of course, motivate their base. Many americans, though, have already made up their minds, including millions who have already voted in this most unprecedented election. Our pamela brown has new numbers. This is a crucial part of this election. What are you finding out . This is a company that provides analytics to democrats, and advocacy organizations. What we are seeing so far is this continued surge in early voting. There are more than 5. 4 million votes cast in 31 states so far. You look at the breakdown by party. In 17 states so far, 54 democrats have cast their ballots compared to 25 of republicans. But member, all preelection polling elections will more likely to vote republican. One data point is the breakdown of gender. So far, 55 of the vote who are thiez these early voters in the battleground state. If you look at florida, for example, here on the screen. The hispanic votes making 9 of the ballot so far. Thats 6 of hispanics voting. You look at North Carolina, if we go to North Carolina here, there is a significant increase among black voters who represent about 17 of those who already cast their ballots. Just to put this in perspective for you, only 10 of the vote was made for black voters. We know there are key democratic and demographic. All right, do you have reporting on any issues . This is the big question the president keeps on trying to show so much doubt, any issues with early voting ballot . Thats right, the issue we see had to do with human error. Take a look at your screen here, 2 of the ballot that had been returned are waiting to be accepted with some being held while legal disputes are resolved. 357 ballots are on hold because they have incomplete witness information thats required. Not every state allows for the voters to fix the ballots for simple mistake. It is important for everyone voting by mail to follow instructions so that their ballots are not thrown out. Go to our website, cnn. Com vote. Erin. Pamela. Thank you so much. 5. 4 million votes thus far. What do we read into it . There is such a big push for people to vote early. Remember Michelle Obama did the democratic convention, get your ballots in tonight. There are people that dont want to go on election day. You worry about doing it right. I am filed in d. C. , i am worried that i will screw it up and people will. There will be doubt that could be illegitimate that it is cast on this process so. Thats what you take from it and in addition to that you have all these moments in time of huge news. The president getting covid and at a time people are voting. We dont know what the impact of that is on motivation North Carolina, you have this double digits increase of democrats voting early. You can end up on election day with a big win in a crucial stateme statement. Same situation with my home state pennsylvania. We are the first time able to vote absentee. Ballots received by 8 00 p. M. On Election Night can be counted through friday. So it is very possible that you can go to bed that night thinking the president has significant lead in pennsylvania, wake up and find out over the span of the next three days that it vanished. Stuff happens. It is the nature of human factors. There will be stories about ballots that were missed delivered. For sure. It is the nature of the way we run this by creating this artificial once a year largely by volunteers or people paid minimum wage and it goes away until the next year. You got to sign them or some of those votes are going to be tossed out. We have seen a lot of poor cases and by republicans to suppress the voting in some of these battlegrounds. Democrats feeling good of the process of voting. What they hope is such a big win. You have pennsylvania where trump is waiting to say i won election day, why should we keep counting . The most important president ial debate tonight. The two candidates on the ticket and never mind the crisis and the current president having covid. 5. 4 Million People have already voted. What does tonight do . We cant forget this is the time most people are taking the measure of these candidates. They are going to learn about something they dont know. We know all about them and most folks do not. Again with this unprecedented background of this pandemic. Well see them have a spirited and i suspect a debate thats a lot easier to follow than the chaos we saw a week ago with the president and former president. With Kamala Harris you have someone with a lot of women in particular are excited about, asian americans. People want to tune into see this historic moment. I believe she will bring a few oneliner like she did with joe biden. Who did she took down . She took down biden. You are right. I think thats going to be a big topic as well and well see. I want to under line something that Vice President pence in addition to being a good debater is a very good politician. He does know the administrations response to covid19 better and more fluently thatten tfluen fluently than the president of the United States. Hes going to make that case if there is progress on finding the vaccines and therapeutics. Hes going to say this administration is credited for that. Hes going to make that case. Hes not flashy and hes work man like. Hes a former talk radio host. If you answer telephone for a living in that manner, you are good at speaking on your feet. There is a kind of warmth that comes through on television. If are Kamala Harris, you got to worry about beating that stereotypes of black women, she does not want to be too aggressive but she has to be prosecuting the case. They keep on saying the case is close. Here is this historic figure of Kamala Harris and who by the way is the future of the Democratic Party as she sits here tonight as the running mate president ial Vice President and nominee down the road at least at this juncture. Boy, thats a lot to learn about somebody if you dont know about them. It is an exciting debate to watch. Regardless of where you stand on the issues, seeing this debate and seeing her there is a moment of history in this country. Thank you all very much. All of you, our coverage of the debate in america continues right now. We are about an hour away from the most important Vice President ial debate in the u. S. President trump infected with the virus that killed 211,000 so far. Vice president mike pence and senator Kamala Harris engaging their first faceoff at an uncertain moment during the pandem pandemic. Salt lake city, they are qualified feet away from the presidency. The pandemic is having an impact on the debate even before the candidates are asked of covid19. You see the barriers are on stage are barriers of that. More aides and allies testing positive at the white house. I am joined by wolf blitzer. President trump may have already been infected during his debate with joe biden last week. Right now the status is up in the air. Senator harris will be seated 12feet away from her opponent instead of 7feet originally planned. Viewers will see her on the left of the tv screen and theyll see Vice President seated to the right with the clear barriers between them. 12feet away from the candidates as well. The Debate Commission says every one in the hall must test negative in order to be allowed in including those on stage and limited. The commissioner will remove anyone in the audience who refuses to wear a mask during the debate as members of the trumps family did last week. 90minute segment and Vice President pence will get the first question based on the coin toss. Well cover every moment with daniel dale factchecking the candidates and well have the first word on who won from our cnns instant polls. We are getting late word from our candidate mission tonight. What do we expect tonight . Shes not here. Shes connecting the pain with americans suffering there this pandemic. Shes a woman of color making history by taking on this debate stage. Focusing on that, gender is a powerful tool, being a woman taking a softer approach and kelkti kekike connecting emotionally to people at home. It is something she deploys effectively when she was running for president. She was able to take politics and turn it into Kitchen Table issues. Saying if you need to buy tires for a family. Gender race optics, an issue especially when considered shes the first woman of color to hit the debate stage in a general election. They say it is not New Territory for the senator. Thank you, lets go to brian noble right now. Mike pence is prepared for attacks thatll come from Kamala Harris related to the fact that President Trump tested positive for coronavirus but also the Overall Administration response of the pandemic and while hes prepared to defend the administrations response and his own personal role of the head of the Coronavirus Task force. Hes ready to return fire. Expect mike pence to remind voters, something that the Trump Administration argues in full social siized medicine and they talk about Kamala Harriss connection to the far left element of the Democratic Party. They believe this is a broad vulnerability for the biden harris ticket and it is something that Vice President plans to hone in tonight in a big way. Wolf. Brian. Thank you. Jeff zeleny is working his sources. This is one of the last best opportunities to reset and potentially change the nar tirae of this race. For months the republicans trying to brand joe biden as the pl political left. If you talk to democratic operatives and every city across the country, they say thats one of their biggest challenges, simply the identity of this Democratic Party. Republicans tonight know the stakes are incredibly high. Wolf, i talked to a senior republican senator a shore time ago, this is how he frames it tonight. If we dont stop the bleeding tonight, it could be grim for the republican party. Thats what the stakes are. Not just for the presidency but also for the control of the senate. The Vice President has been preparing for this for mock debate sessions. Hes trying to tie her to some of those positions she held during the primary. Wolf, there is no question. The most important person in the audience is watching from home right behind me here, President Trump. He has made the Vice President s job so much more difficult because of his conduct over coronavirus for the last week. The question will any of this will breakthrough, certainly coronavirus and the president catching of it and the white houses handling of it is front and center now. Jeff zeleny, thank you. As the candidates prepare to take the stage here. The stakes are really amazing. Whats going on now . Absolutely. As if the plexiglass is enough of a reminder. They actually have it operated in the white house, the oval office and the west wing are a hot zone. The white house refused to answer time after time when did the president last tested negative. When did heit . Because if he had it and went to the gold star event two sundays ago and went to new jersey and ohio then thats the ultimate reckless behavior. We dont know the answer to that. We need to know as american citizens but most importantly the people who he was in contact with. When he thinks he could have gotten coronavirus. What about the people this time last week we were talking about his debate prep. Almost all of the people in that room, inside that room has covid. They all got tested before him. So it is really an open question whether they got it from the president. This all raises a big question. Can anyone, any of us or any people in the Biden Campaign trust what this white house is saying about their testing regiment and who it has been exposed to. Thats why it matters for tonights debate in which Vice President mike pence says repeatedly he does not have to kwaquarantine and he given us letters from his doctor that he was not exposed but he was at that rose garden event, we know that. If you are in the Biden Campaign right now and i have spoken to people around that campaign today. There is a lot of nervousness over there. It is still a system. They have to expect people who say they are negative are in fact negative. I am not sure of what happened there. And they actually took the test. First of all, their Health Experts have said even Vice President pence tested negative which he says he has, Kamala Harris should not page it and susan paige should not risk it. They should not go into a room where there is air circulating where pence is exhaling and thats a. At this point in the crisis, four years in the administration, you have to ask yourself, do you believer th th . Do you believe the white house when you say Vice President pence tested negative, would you bet your life on it . No. Since we are watching a debate with one of our friends and colleagues moderating there, we certainly hope so. And if there is a Lesson Learned that mike pence is not donald trump and despite the fact that hes been serving by his side for four years. The other question is whether we can rely on what the Vice President is saying but the fact that the tests are accurate. Stephen miller also at the debate prep room got five negative tests until just last night based on what they told us. Just last night so it is not unlike unlikely improbable that we can see same thing with the president. Health experts are saying you can test negative and still have the virus. The way this starts to impact tonights debate is going to be the whole argument that the pence Trump Campaign has been making it is all under control, we got testing and therapeutics. Speaking to someone close to harris, this could not have been served up better for what shes trying to accomplish tonight. We are living in a moment which everything that the Pence Campaign have said about the virus is put to the test based on the outbreak at the white house and you are going to see the Biden Campaign trying to take advantage of it. It is not said often to stephen millers credit, he isolated himself. Thats not what Vice President pence had been doing. Wolf. Still ahead, the white house is going through an extreme as it struggles to protect staffers from a contagious president. Daniel is warming up by breaking down the president s newest claims about the pandemic. Well be right back. clapping hey, you alright . Find the nonpartisan facts behind the real stories at usafacts. Org and a majority of americans. Say the vote for the next Supreme Court justice should wait till after the election. But instead of letting our voices be heard, trump and mcconnell are rushing it through and taking a short cut to the highest court in the land. Theres a pandemic devastating every corner of the country, but theyre just rushing to play politics with the court. Its a lifetime appointment, tell senators to do it right. Demand justice is responsible for the content of this advertising. But despite the rising pain and anguish made worse during the pandemic, Insurance Companies still refused to cover Mental Health and addiction treatment. Until now. Senator scott wiener went to work taking them on. Passing a law requiring the Insurance Industry to cover Mental Health and addiction treatment. Now more than ever, californians need Mental Health coverage. I wont let up until the stigma of Mental Health and addiction is finally over. Welcome back, standby for the Vice President ial debate. We are live in salt lake city. Tonights debate is the most important Vice President ial debate. It is a good chance that President Trump will be watching tonight, hes some where in the white house. Unclear of where he may be. Lets go back to jim acosta, the president returned back to office even though hes contagious. A new video released, hes calling a blessing pointing to the medication hes been on for days. Sources to the president say he continues to have problems breathing sometimes. Some aides are fearful of being sick because of the president having coronavirus on the white house ground. The President Trump is not wearing mask and not social distancing and not getting it. I feel great. I feel like perfect. Reporter the white house released a video tonight trump saying it was a blessing that he caught covid. I caught it and it was a blessing. It was my suggestion, let me take it. The it was incredible how it works. Reporter he claims it was a cure. Now they call it therapeutic. It was not therapeutic, it makes me better. I call it a curer. Reporter with the marines standing outside, President Trump returning to the oval office today with two close aides near by. A advisers claimed white house staffers will be protected from the commanderinchief. Obviously with the president he continues to work. We got a number of safety protocols with full ppe and masks and goggles for any direct interactions with the president. Reporter physicians outside the oval office socalled in the isola isolated cart, medical gowns and respiratory masks and plastic goggles. We continue to have a number of areas where we have disinfected for hard surfaces. Reporter it has been two days since mr. Trump returned from Walter Reed Hospital taking his mask off the balcony. How, i now i am better and m am immune. Reporter advisers saying he had trouble breathing sometimes. There are now only approximately 8 to 10 employees rotating in shifts. He still has the virus but it does not mean that we cant interwagner act h interact with him in a safe way. Reporter cnn has learned that if president is not tested everyday. White house officials using the term regularly. White house outbreak includes 20 people and three journalists tested positive for coronavirus and Administration Officials are looking into a debate prep session event nominating amy conen barrett. Other military leader like general mark millie tested positive. We have been checking on staffs and following necessary contact and tracing procedures. Reporter military aides to the president tested positive. There are other workers at the white house who are also at risk, from landscapers to janua janitors are all vulnerable. And the president i am told wants to get back on the campaign trail, yes, hold rallies or some kind of rally type event in the coming days. One adviser told me there is no way the president is going back to the hospital, anderson, unless it is an emergency. This adviser says the only way the president returns to walter reed is if hes on a stretcher. The white house continues to refuse to say when the president last tested negative, is that correct . Thats right, one admission we got was the president was not being tested on a daily basis prior to his positive test results last thursday. They admitted that. Reporter it does not help us pinpoint when he caught the virus but they are now saying that he was not tested everyday. Thats right anderson. Jim acosta. Misleading information about coronavirus. Daniel dale is joining us. Getting ready for tonights debate, i am assuming you had a lot of coffee. What have you been hearing . We have been spoken to the president in tweets and prerecorded videos. He claims from the video that the regeneron he took himself is a cure for covid19. Thats false, there is no cure for covid19. This antibody cocktail may proof to be effective but it is not a cure. Anderson, his grammar was a little vague. He admitted to bob woodward that the coronavirus is more lethal than the flu. We had more than 211,000 deaths confirmed than the estimated flu deaths for the last five flu seasons combined. Trump said in the tweet, the number of flu deaths are sometimes over 100,000. We have not hit 100,000 through deaths since 1968 according to the cdcs estimate. Trump also promised that vaccines are coming momentarily. Thats an exaggeration. We know according to all of the credible experts, it wont be distributed to most americans until some point in 2021, not immediately. We have a debate tieonight. Well hear from two candidates who dont lie nearly as President Trump does. I hardly have time to catch a breath keeping up with the dishonesty with the debate. I expect tonight to be a little more chill. That does not mean Vice President pence or Kamala Harris is going to be perfect. Pence has a history of paraphrasing what trump says. Harris has sometimes inaccurately describes her own record in the criminal Justice System and District Attorney and in the senate. Shes sometimes inaccurate about President Trumps record. So in some way i expect this debate to be easier on the factcheckers than the last one. I will certainly have some work to do after the debate. Anderson. Thank you, daniel. I dont even know what to ask. I want to take a moment to sort of say how bizarre this whole thing is now. We have two Vice President candidates who have to talk to each other through plexiglass and a president of the United States eager to get back out on the campaign trail having just contracted covid and people who want to talk to him have to wear yellow gowns and goggles to see him what else . This is the contest which we have a Vice President ial debate. I dont see any other way that it is going to be dominated by covid. What pences message has to be is dont worry, we got it under control. Here we are. You have donald trump saying maybe i am cured or the other day dont let covid dominate your life. This is whats the single worst thing you have heard from a president saying Something Like that when you have people grieving people that they cannot even attend funerals for. Trump is blowing this. Pence is trying to come out to save him because trump is fallen down. There was a moment trump could have gotten the country on his side. He does not have that capacity. What you are going to have tonight is pence is going to go out there trying to rescue this president. Thats the problem. I am not a doctor. The president says he feels fine. I am qualified to judge campaigns. Hes in deep distress. He blew himself up last week on the debate. Republicans, we are hoping that mike pence can do what the president didnt and make the case of what the president did not make and he wont get off the stage. The fact he released a video hours before this debate guaranteeing that this would be front and center, you know, it is tragic for the country. It is suicidal politically for him. We walk into this debate and all this commentary and anybody thats paying attention with the expectation that Kamala Harris is going to clean up. How could she not . How could mike pence do anything other than just, you know, pick up a gun and shoot himself in the head because it is over. Thats not going to happen. Expectations right now is how could it not be a huge win for Kamala Harris. It is a track for Kamala Harris. The question is can mike pence do anything to change the trajectory of the campaign when the president is taking himself down. The answer is mike pence knows this issue better than donald trump and better communicating this issue. Hell lay out what hes been doing. Kamala harris has done deb e debates with den othten other d. Kamala harris is a woman and a woman whos suffering like nobody can believe in this country. Single moms are trapped now. They can keep their kids home, they cant feed them, they cant go to work. I think the Vice President , if she chooses to be relatable, i dont think she will dont be a prosecutor tonight. Pence is tough. Dont under estimate him. You be that mother and that woman who understands for this country right now, a working mom, teachers who are mostly women who are crushed by this. She has to be more like joe biden. She got to have that empathy that you see at the top of the ticket to trickle down. We have President Trumps difficult path. Also, undecided voters will give us a sense of what they are looking for in tonights debate. Robinhood believes now is the time to do money. Without the commission fees. So, you can start investing today wherever you are even hanging with your dog. So, what are you waiting for . Download now and get your first stock on us. Robinhood. You cant claim that because its inanimate [ sigh ] people ask. What sort of a person should become a celebrity accountant . And, i tell them, nobody should. Hey, buddy. Whats the damage . [ on the phone ] i bought it the waterfall . Nope my new volkswagen. A volkswagen . i think were having a breakthrough here. Welcome to caesars palace. Thank you. Proposition 16 takes on discrimination. Some women make as little as 42 of what a man makes. Voting yes on prop 16 helps us fix that. Its supported by leaders like Kamala Harris and opposed by those who have always opposed equality. We either fall from grace or we rise. Together. Proposition 16 provides equal opportunities, levelling the Playing Field for all of us. Vote yes on prop 16. As we get closer to our Vice President ial debate. Lets take a look at where it stands right now. The Vice President prepares to debate tonight, a lot of pressure not only from President Trump but from republicans. We are changing our outlook tonight, our path 270. We have joe biden above 270. It takes 270 electoral votes. We have joe biden at 290. States that are solid blue. How do we get to 290 . Biden not only with a lead but a healthy lead. Nebraska, congressional district, nebraska does electoral votes by c. D. S. We have this one as lean red for iowa. Look at the state of the race with 27 days to go. A lopsided advantage for joe biden. People are saying i remember, we wre went through this in 2016. Rule nothing out. Look at the toss up states left. Ohio, North Carolina and florida, they are still on the map. Look at the recent polling from these states. Here we go. Lets bring it out and look at it here. Ohio, a competitive race perhaps, an advantage for ebide. In georgia, a toss up but advantage fine. In florida, the poll shows increasingly that donald trump has to win. North carolina, a tough race here. All the toss ups say biden is competitive. What do the democrats think 27 days out . They are dreaming. Joe biden has more money and on the campaign trail. Democrats think it is possible. They could sweep. It wont be just him taking the white house or the Senate Without a doubt. This is the democratic dream they also think they get this electoral voting. Can the president come back . Yes, he can. It is important as you think about this race. People say 2016, this is not 2016. Lets take a look at the polling. One thing to look at, yes, Hillary Clinton was up eight points nationally the last campaign. She won by about one or two if you look at the National Polls. Joe biden is up by a bigger margin. Bigger biden lead. You see this race is simply not 2016. Joe biden does well, better than Hillary Clinton. Trump at 32 nationally among women. Joe biden is more than 30 points ahead of that. Thats a 47point advantage. College graduate. 35 points. Look at noncollege graduate. Joe biden is a little ahead in our National Polls. This is a constituency that Hillary Clinton did not do well with and joe biden is doing well. Senior citizens, look at that lopsided joe biden leads. Can trump win . Yes, ohio, perfectly conceivable. Perfectly conceivable, he comes back in a state like iowa. North carolina voted for him last time. You can see trump winning there. You can see trump winning georgia and florida. So many states where you are behind, youre short money from joe biden. If all that happens, joe biden is stilwell ahead. This is a challenge in the final 27 days. Trump will have to flip pennsylvania or get arizona back. Can he win . Yes, he can win. This is not 2016. You look at this map and the recent trends right now is lopsid lopsided. It puts a lot of pressure on the president tonight and raises big question when can the president get back on the trail. Thank you, john king. David, what are you looking for tonight . Well, watching jon, taking you through the sort of biden collection of what biden has against trump. What i did was look at our National Polls to say how does that translate to the issues thats most important to voters. Thats fwoi thats going to be a road map for what you hear mike pence and Kamala Harris talking tonight. Take a look from our most recent National Polls this week at how the issue matrix splits between biden voters and trump voters. Coronavirus, 66 of biden voters say it is extremely important in their vote and only 21 of trumps voters, healthcare. 25 say trump voters, Race Relations so expect Kamala Harris to lean in every time of coronavirus and healthcare and Race Relations is the topic of discussion. The flip side for mike pence is when the topic is the economy, when the topic is crime and safety. You see those are the issues most important to trump ownervo. Look at Supreme Court nomination. It is equally important. So the Amy Coney Barrett issue will come up. David, thank you. Cnn put together a focus dprup group of undecided voters. Sarah sidner, what are you hearing from these undecided vote voters . Reporter a lot of things and a lot of different issues. This is an important debate to them. This is the first day of early voting starting today here in arizona. All right, lets get to these undecided voters here. We have ten people here who given us their time and theyre going to give us their honest opinion. Joseph, you are our undecided voter and so as everyone else here. Yes. Americans, many of them cant believe that anyone is undecided in this polarized time. Why are you still undecided . I want to know what the candidates plans are. It is crucial time, we need people willing to talk to each other and for trump, i want to see what his plans are to make it happen. I want biden to tell me how hes going to be able to reach across the isle because i want to know how they can Work Together to make the country better and not just make it. You are looking for unity. Yes. Reporter you are a first time voter, right . Tell me why you are undecided. What makes you unsure . I want to see what both candidates have to offer. Wi with. Reporter a lot of people are very much chosen who theyre going vote for. All right, i think the next thing we would like to ask folks is how important the Vice President is during this particular debate. We would like to start with vanessa. Four years ago i was in a different spot of my life. I am definitely i want to hear what they have to say. Reporter all right, lets go ahead and go over morgan. Morgan, you work in healthcare, correct . How important that this is a historic election. Senator harris is a woman of color and a first time in a major president ial ticket. Shes jamaican and indian decent is th. Is that important to you . Representation matters. Of where we are at in our country of so much division, it would be incredible to see unity in president ial. Reporter the unity is a theme here. What do you think of the fact on this ballot and someone of color and a woman that we have not seen it before in our history in a major ticket. I think it is glareat. I think it is great. Reporter all right, i want to give you about exactly whats going to happen going forward. All of these lovely folks have one of these. It is a cell phone that has our i. T. Department fixed up. They can tell you what they think and how strongly they feel about Vice President candidates, mike pence or Kamala Harris. Theyll make their vote. We are strongly adprgreeing or disagreeing. Some people will be in the middle. Well have to wait and see. Sarah sidner in phoenix for us. Thank you, we are minutes away from this historic debate. Thats right, wolf. I have to say this is the most important Vice President debate history. Who ever wins will be the oldest president in the United States and one of them has coronavirus. Hopefully one of them. We should take a moment to acknowledge the trailblazering manner with one of the nominees, first africanamerican, first woman on that stage ever. You know that tonight Kamala Harris is feeling that weight of history on her shoulders. Not just because of what we just talked about but americans are going to be looking at this debate to see who the potential next generation of each of their parties could be but also looking to see whether these two people have what it takes to be in the chair so to speak. Kamala harris understands the pressure of being a woman and a pressure of being a black woman in this political environment. I think her team is interested in seeing how mike pence feels with that. I am not sure if mike penc pence probably has not. He had no go in a toe to toe in a political setting with that kind of biography. I think we are all looking to see. I dont know if i have an answer of how pence is going to handle it. Scott walker who played tim kaine is involved in his debate prep right now. Hes convinced that the president will acknowledge it and how important it is. The question though is after that moment how he moves around and maneuvers around him. I am told from people from around the harris debate prep, they are cognizant of the fact that shes a woman. Yes, it is 2020. People. Reporter sometimes perceived differently by voters. Shes who she is and shes confident. Shes done very well so far. Thats something they are thinking about when it comes to perception. There is the whole angle and this is republicans talking point. Kamala harris is not a moderate. Thats their pitch. Joe biden is the empty ease sell and the Kamala Harris of the world. When presented with the more progressive aspect of the party, joe biden tends to distance himself. Thats not me. Kamala harris to be honest, she could sell herself as more of a moderate, she tends to run forward and embrace. She has in the primary. This is the pickle that shes going to be in tonight. She took a lot of positions in order to stay in the game that put her far on the left and frankly were kind of different from her political identity prior to that moment. Tonight pence is going to put her in a box on those issues. I am going to say well, you had this position 8 or 10 months ago. How is this different sns. Theyre deadly ready for the radical left. Which is it . Am i too far to the left or too far to the right . Well keep an eye on the debate hall. Our dr. Sanjay gupta is joining us right now. You can see live pictures at the debate stage right now. The seats are 12feet, three inches apart, complexiplexiglas coronavirus tested negative for the virus. Will that plexiglass do anything . Well, it will help with basic respiratory droplets which is a concern in terms of spreading coronavirus. But as you know, the cdc has on their website, there is also evident that this virus can spread aerosal. It can travel further than six feet. You look at these types of events, jake, well look back historically and say we are in the middle of the pandemic and the viral transmission is growing and we brought our Vice President candidates together for a debate. Virtual would be much safer and doing it outside would be safer. Theyre trying to make the best of the situation so the plexiglass offers a little bit of a protection. I agree which does not stand for the test of time. Audience have to take a coronavirus test and wear a mask. That will requires people to have a sense of honor and a lot of members of trumps family either refused to have masks on or took them off as soon as they got there. Is there a risk for the people in the audience . Of course, there is a risk. We are in a pandemic. At our hospital, we have not had a meeting with more than a handful of people since march. As dr. Gupta just mentioned, we know greater clarity that this virus is transmitted and not just by droplets but also areosal. So there is no reason we have an audience in that room. They should meet electronically. In 1960, the third debate, Richard Nixon was in california and j. F. K. Was in new york. Moderators was in chicago. This was 60 years ago. It should have been done now. The Vice President is under quarantine now. He should be home, locked at home for another seven days. There is no reason to have anyone there. St. Johns yeanjay, the harri says it is the clinics job. To be frank, they did not do it last time. I wonder if you trust that the commission on president ial debates and the Cleveland Clinic based on what you saw a week ago are up to the challenge of saying no. We have to do it its interesting. Im concerned about this, and ill tell you why. We reached out to the Cleveland Clinic about their protocols, and they said theyre taking the cues from the commission of president ial debates. The Commission Said theyre relying on the medical advice of the Cleveland Clinic. So theres a lot of this going on. But what are the protocols with regard to the testing, they said, you have to show that youve had a negative test within the last 72 hours. And you have to sign an affidavit. You dont have to show the test, theyre not reviewing the test. Theres not that honor system. 72 hours is sort of a strange time frame. We know you can test negative three days ago, and test positive a day or two days later. In this case, they did take pcr tests yesterday, but the Cleveland Clinic recommendations are only three days. And the type of test. They said you can take any fda authorized tests, not just the pcr tests but the antigen tests. Its a porous system, and you get the idea its more designed to check some boxes, not really catch people. This is the medical protocol, weve reached out to Cleveland Clinic to have them better explain to us why they would choose this system. They havent gotten back to us on this, but this is the system theyve got in place. Its not going to catch everybody, by any means. And this is also a problem, because the Trump Administration, the trump white house, are being opaque about the president s Current Health situation. Theyre still refusing to say when the president last tested negative. This is important because he theoretically contracted the virus on september 26th, the saturday when they had that event inside and outside the white house for their new Supreme Court nominee. After that date, he had an event with gold star families, tuesday, went to ohio, wednesday, to minnesota, thursday, to new jersey. We have no idea when he tested positive, and for some reason, the white house refuses to say when he last tested negative. Right. I have no confidence that he acquired it saturday the 26th. He may have acquired it earlier. If you look at the president s clinical presentation, he got really sick on thursday. Typically, patients get really sick about a week after they develop symptoms. He was certainly infected and infectious two days earlier at the debate. Theres another interesting point. The president met with the rnc chairperson Ronna Mcdaniel on friday, september 25th. We need to know from dr. Conley, because he knows the date of the president s last test. Just tell us when the president last tested negative. Its very important. Its important from a Public Health perspective. Ive never seen anything like this, and i just have to say, i was told today by an official in the office of the governor of minnesota that the white house has yet to reach out to the department of health in minnesota. Anderson . Jake, remarkable. David, should the next debate take place . Well, the question is, if it does take place, should it take place as planned, a town hall meeting with citizens asking questions of the candidates . Even if the president is somehow cleared to appear, should it go to a more remote debate . That seems like the wise thing to do. So tonight, in the final minutes up to this, it seems like theres a lot both sides can make obviously a lot of mistakes. What do you think Vice President pence has to do . Vice president pence has to say that Kamala Harris is, kamala, is a stocking horse for radical leftists in this country. And that joe biden is just going to do whatever they tell him. And i think shes got to say, covid, covid, covid. We saw a shot of karen pence and Kamala Harris husband at the debate hall. Shes got to say, you guys mismanaged this, you lied to us, more than 200,000 people are dead. And this would not have happened under a biden administration. And she has to be able to defend joe biden. Because pence is going to attack joe biden, attack his 47 years in public service, and she has to be the greatest defender of biden. Theyre now introducing the moderator. Ben . I wanted to state something that may be obvious, but its worth saying. This is a moment of great pride for a lot of people, a lot of women of color, asian people, black folks in front of the tv tonight. Kamala harris, the Africanamerican Community has rallied behind her because she went to a black college, shes a member of a greek letter organization, theres a massive support system locked in place behind her. People are very proud of her. People saying shes too liberal, were proud of the fact that shes standing up for people, fighting for climate solutions, and theyre proud of her walking out to make history tonight. I agree with gloria, he has to make the case that Kamala Harris is not a stocking horse. She is the vanguard, the likely successor, people are looking at both these president s as older men. This is a serious many times, i wish maybe it was these two instead of the two at the head. You may get your wish in this case. Yeah. And i think people are looking at this more seriously. Mike pence has to show hes in command, and tone will be very important for him. Hes going to go after her on her record. He has to do it in a way that doesnt turn people off. They both have that challenge. Thats a big thing. And secondly, for Kamala Harris, theres a reason, as the frontrunner in the Democratic Party, that she didnt make it to iowa. She has to reverse course as someone who had very uneven debates going into iowa. And thats why she failed. Can she execute and deliver a compo composed, confident message, or will she do what she did before, she was all over the place. You just didnt know what she thought. Thats a real issue for her. Were going to have someone on the stage who represents the emerging american majority in politics, and a white, evangelical, former radio talk show host from the center of the country, from rural america. Its striking to see the two of them sitting next to each other. And thats one of the subtexts, because they do represent the future. They both have to manage this tone stuff. If a black woman comes on too strong, shes angry. Pence could come off as sexist. But shes going to be able to manage it, shes done it over and over again. And how many times have we heard mike pence say we stand on his broad shoulders. We stand on his shoulders. Hes got to defend the president. No, if he goes out there and defends donald trump like he has for the last four years, you can mail this in. Look but doesnt he have to defend him . Mike pence is running for president tonight. Because the question is, not, you know, whether these guys are potentially be the president. Its when theyll be the president , right . When theyre going to run. These are older men who are not well. If i were mike, thats what i would be thinking. Im running for president , and i have to be my own guy. If hes out there apologizing for trump, that wont help donald trump. Thats tough. Hes the running mate. I understand that. But hes got to make the case that donald trump didnt effectively make on covid, and he has to prosecute the case on Kamala Harris being for stacking the court. For eliminating private health insurance. Those are big issues he can handle. Were seconds away. Lets go back to jake. Were hoping that coronavirus is only figuratively present in the debate hall this evening. And not literally present. But it certainly is going to be a major subject. The smog of it all, and the administrations mishandling of it, both when it comes to the national response, and the fact that the white house is a hot spot. Im happy that it seems everybody is wearing their masks their their seats. But those atmospherics are going to really frame this debate. The job for the pence side is going to be, how do you get the attention off of covid and on to some other things . With plexiglass right there. Were already seeing pence signaling, hes going to be aiming for something that could be a weakness for Kamala Harris. Foreign policy, hes nshes not experienced as hes become. Talking to sources in both camps, of course coronavirus is the other kind of entity on the stage there, unfortunately. And things have changed a lot since the president and his wife and so many other people in the white house have gotten covid. But when it comes to the substance of what t