Transcript - Debate: Vice Presidential Debate in Salt Lake City With Mike Pence & Kamala Harris - October 7, 2020 | Factba.se

Susan Page

00:00:00 - 00:00:31 (32 sec)

Good evening from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Welcome to the first and only Vice Presidential debate of 2020, sponsored by the non-partisan Commission on Presidential Debates. I'm Susan Page of USA Today. It is my honor to moderate this debate, an important part of our democracy. In Kingsbury Hall tonight, we have a small and socially distant audience and we've taken extra precaution during this pandemic.

Susan Page

00:00:31 - 00:00:55 (24 sec)

Among other things, everyone in the audience is required to wear a face mask and the candidates will be seated 12 feet apart. The audience is enthusiastic about their candidates, but they've agreed to express that enthusiasm only twice at the end of the debate and now, when I introduce the candidates. Please welcome California Senator Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence.

Mike Pence

00:00:55 - 00:00:56 (1 sec)

Thank you. Thank you.

Susan Page

00:00:56 - 00:01:42 (46 sec)

Senator Harris and Vice President Pence, thank you for being here. We're meeting as President Trump and the first lady continue to undergo treatment in Washington, after testing positive for COVID 19. We send our thoughts and prayers to them for their rapid and complete recovery and for the recovery of everyone afflicted by the coronavirus.

Susan Page

00:01:42 - 00:02:04 (22 sec)

The two campaigns and the Commission on Presidential Debates have agreed to the ground rules for tonight. I'm here to enforce them on behalf of the millions of Americans who are watching. One note, no one in either campaign or at the Commission or anywhere else has been told in advance what topics I'll raise or what questions I'll ask.

Susan Page

00:02:04 - 00:02:21 (17 sec)

This 90-minute debate will be divided into nine segments of about 10 minutes each. I'll begin a segment by posing a question to each of you, sometimes the same question, sometimes a different question on the same topic. You will then have two minutes to answer without interruption by me or the other candidate.

Susan Page

00:02:21 - 00:02:49 (27 sec)

Then, we'll take six minutes or so to discuss the issue. At that point, although there will always be more to say, we'll move on to the next topic. We want a debate that is lively, but Americans also deserve a discussion that is civil. These are tumultuous times, but we can and will have a respectful exchange about the big issues facing our nation.

Susan Page

00:02:49 - 00:03:16 (27 sec)

Let's begin with the ongoing pandemic that has cost our country so much. Senator Harris, the coronavirus is not under control. Over the past week, Johns Hopkins reports that 39 states have had more covered cases over the past seven days than in the week before. Nine states have set new records. Even if a vaccine is released soon, the next administration will face hard choices.

Susan Page

00:03:16 - 00:03:35 (18 sec)

What would a Biden administration do in January and February that a Trump administration wouldn't do? Would you impose new lockdowns for businesses in schools and hotspots, a federal mandate to wear masks? You have two minutes to respond without interruption.

Kamala Harris

00:03:35 - 00:03:58 (23 sec)

Thank you, Susan. Well, the American people have witnessed what is the greatest failure of any Presidential administration in the history of our country, and here are the facts, 210,000 dead people in our country in just the last several months, over 7 million people who have contracted this disease, one in five businesses closed.

Kamala Harris

00:03:58 - 00:04:22 (24 sec)

We're looking at frontline workers who have been treated like sacrificial workers. We are looking at over 30 million people, who in the last several months had to file for unemployment, and here's the thing. On January 28th, the Vice President and the President were informed about the nature of this pandemic.

Kamala Harris

00:04:22 - 00:04:46 (24 sec)

They were informed that it's lethal in consequence, that it is airborne, that it will affect young people, and that it would be contracted because it is airborne, and they knew what was happening and they didn't tell you. Can you imagine if you knew on January 28th as opposed to March 13th what they knew?

Kamala Harris

00:04:46 - 00:05:09 (23 sec)

What you might have done to prepare? They knew and they covered it up. The President said it was a hoax, they minimized the seriousness of it. The President said you're on one side of his ledger if you wear a mask, you're on the other side of his ledger if you don't. And in spite of all of that, today, they still don't have a plan.

Kamala Harris

00:05:09 - 00:05:34 (25 sec)

They still don't have a plan. Well, Joe Biden does. And our plan is about what we need to do around a national strategy for contact tracing, for testing, for administration of the vaccine, and making sure that it will be free for all. That is the plan that Joe Biden has and that I have, knowing that we have to get a hold of, what has been going on, and we need to save our country, and Joe Biden is the best leader to do that.

Kamala Harris

00:05:34 - 00:05:36 (2 sec)

And frankly, this administration has forfeited --

Susan Page

00:05:36 - 00:05:37 (1 sec)

Thank you, Senator.

Kamala Harris

00:05:37 - 00:05:39 (2 sec)

Their right to re-election based on this.

Susan Page

00:05:39 - 00:06:04 (25 sec)

Thank you, Senator Harris. Vice President Pence more than 210,000 Americans have died of COVID-19 since February. The U.S. death toll as a percentage of our population is higher than that of almost every other wealthy nation on earth. For instance, our death rate is 2.5 times that of Canada next door. You head the administration's coronavirus task force.

Susan Page

00:06:04 - 00:06:14 (10 sec)

Why is the U.S. death toll as a percentage of our population higher than that of almost every other wealthy country? And you have two minutes to respond without interruption.

Mike Pence

00:06:14 - 00:06:39 (25 sec)

Susan, thank you and I want to thank the Commission and the University of Utah for hosting this event and Senator Harris. It's a privilege to be on the stage with you. And our nation has gone through a very challenging time this year, but I want the American people to know that from the very first day, President Donald Trump has put the health of America first.

Mike Pence

00:06:39 - 00:07:01 (22 sec)

Before there were more than five cases in the United States, all people who had returned from China, President Donald Trump did what no other American President had ever done, that was he suspended all travel from China, the second-largest economy in the world. Now, Senator Joe Biden, Biden opposed that decision.

Mike Pence

00:07:01 - 00:07:20 (19 sec)

He said it was xenophobic and hysterical, but I can tell you having led the White House coronavirus task force that that decision alone by President Trump bought us invaluable time to stand up the greatest national mobilization since World War II and I believe it saved hundreds of thousands of American lives.

Mike Pence

00:07:20 - 00:07:42 (22 sec)

Because with that time, we were able to reinvent testing, more than 115 million tests have been done to date. We were able to see that the delivery of billions of supplies so our doctors and nurses had the resources for what they needed and we began really before the month of February was hard to develop a vaccine, and to develop medicines and therapeutics had been saving lives all along the way.

Mike Pence

00:07:42 - 00:08:00 (18 sec)

And under President Trump's leadership, Operation Warp Speed we believe, we'll have literally tens of millions of doses of vaccine before the end of this year. The reality is when you look at the Biden plan, it reads an awful lot like what President Trump and I and our task force have been doing every step of the way.

Mike Pence

00:08:00 - 00:08:20 (20 sec)

And quite frankly, when I look at their plan that talks about advancing testing, creating new PPE, developing a vaccine. It looks a little bit like plagiarism, which is something Joe Biden knows a little bit about. And I think the American people know that this is a President who has put America first and the American people.

Mike Pence

00:08:20 - 00:08:27 (7 sec)

I believe with my heart can be proud of the sacrifices they have made. It saved countless American lives.

Susan Page

00:08:27 - 00:08:29 (2 sec)

Thank you, Vice President Pence.

Susan Page

00:08:29 - 00:08:31 (2 sec)

Senator Harris, would you like to respond?

Kamala Harris

00:08:31 - 00:08:54 (24 sec)

Oh, absolutely, whatever the Vice President is claiming the administration has done, clearly, it hasn't worked. When you're looking at over 210,000 dead bodies in our country, American lives that have been lost, families that are grieving that loss. And you know, the Vice President is the head of the task force and knew on January 28th how serious this was.

Kamala Harris

00:08:54 - 00:09:08 (14 sec)

And then, thanks to Bob Woodward, we learned that they knew about it and then when that was exposed, the Vice President said when asked, well, why didn't you all tell anybody? He said because the President wanted people to remain calm. [Crosstalk]

Susan Page

00:09:08 - 00:09:08 (0 sec)

Well, let's get the --

Kamala Harris

00:09:08 - 00:09:12 (4 sec)

So, I've -- no, but Susan, I -- this is important and I want to add --

Mike Pence

00:09:12 - 00:09:15 (3 sec)

Susan, I -- I have to weigh in here. [Crosstalk]

Kamala Harris

00:09:15 - 00:09:16 (1 sec)

Mr. Vice President, I'm speaking. I'm speaking.

Mike Pence

00:09:16 - 00:09:18 (2 sec)

I have to weigh in here. I have to weigh in.

Susan Page

00:09:18 - 00:09:21 (3 sec)

You've got 15 more seconds and then we'll give the Vice President a chance to speak.

Kamala Harris

00:09:21 - 00:09:34 (13 sec)

Thank you. So I want to ask the American people, how calm were you when you were panicked about where you're going to get your next roll of toilet paper? How come were you when your kids was sent home from school and you didn't know when they could go back? How calm were you --

Susan Page

00:09:34 - 00:09:35 (1 sec)

Thank you, thank you, Senator Harris.

Kamala Harris

00:09:35 - 00:09:39 (4 sec)

How calm were you when your children couldn't see your parents because you were afraid they could kill them?

Susan Page

00:09:39 - 00:09:43 (4 sec)

Let's give Vice President Pence a chance to respond. Vice President Pence, you have one minute to respond.

Mike Pence

00:09:43 - 00:10:04 (21 sec)

You know there's not a day gone by that I haven't thought of every American family that's lost a loved one. And I want all of you to know that you'll always be in our hearts and in our prayers. But when you say with the American people have done over these last eight months hasn't worked, it's a great disservice to the sacrifices the American people have made.

Mike Pence

00:10:04 - 00:10:05 (1 sec)

Kamala Harris

00:10:05 - 00:10:07 (2 sec)

I referred to --

Mike Pence

00:10:07 - 00:10:21 (14 sec)

If I may -- if I may finish that. The reality is Dr. Fauci said everything that he told the President in the Oval Office, the President told the American people. Now, President Trump, I will tell you has boundless confidence in the American people and he always spoke with confidence that we'd get through this together.

Mike Pence

00:10:21 - 00:10:38 (17 sec)

But when you say it hasn't worked, when Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx, and our medical experts came to us in the second week of March, they said if the President didn't take the unprecedented step of shutting down roughly half of the American economy, that we could lose 2.2 million Americans and that's the reality.

Susan Page

00:10:38 - 00:10:41 (3 sec)

Thank you. Thank you Vice President Pence. [Crosstalk]

Mike Pence

00:10:41 - 00:10:45 (4 sec)

They also said to us, if we did everything right, Susan, we could still lose more than 200,000 Americans.

Susan Page

00:10:45 - 00:10:47 (2 sec)

Vice President Pence, thank you --

Mike Pence

00:10:47 - 00:10:59 (12 sec)

Now, one life lost is too many, Susan, but the American people I believe deserve credit for the sacrifices that they have made putting the health of their family and their neighbors first or doctors or first responders --

Susan Page

00:10:59 - 00:11:01 (2 sec)

Thank you, Vice President Pence.

Mike Pence

00:11:01 - 00:11:03 (2 sec)

And I'm going to speak up on behalf of what the American people have done.

Susan Page

00:11:03 - 00:11:30 (27 sec)

Vice President Pence, you were in the front row in the Rose Garden event 11 days ago. What seems to have been a super spreader event for senior administration, Congressional officials. No social distancing, a few masks, and now a cluster of coronavirus cases among those who were there. How can you expect Americans to follow the administration's safety guidelines to protect themselves from COVID when you at the White House have not been doing so?

Mike Pence

00:11:30 - 00:11:52 (21 sec)

Well, the American people have demonstrated over the last eight months that when given the facts, they're willing to put the health of their families and their neighbors and people they don't even know first. President Trump and I have great confidence in the American people and in their ability to take that information and put it into practice.

Mike Pence

00:11:52 - 00:12:17 (26 sec)

In the height of the epidemic, when we were losing a heartbreaking number of 2,500 Americans a day, we surged resources to New Jersey and New York and New Orleans and Detroit. We told the American people what needed to be done and the American people made the sacrifices. When the outbreak in the Sunbelt happened this summer, again, Americans stepped forward, but the reality is, the work of the President of the United States goes on.

Mike Pence

00:12:17 - 00:12:24 (7 sec)

A vacancy on the Supreme Court of the United States has come upon us and the President introduced Judge Amy Coney Barrett --

Susan Page

00:12:24 - 00:12:26 (2 sec)

Yes, thank you. Thank you Vice President Pence.

Mike Pence

00:12:26 - 00:12:44 (18 sec)

And if I may say that Rose Garden event, then a great deal of speculation about it, my wife Karen and I were there and honored to be there. Many of the people who were at that event, Susan, actually were tested for coronavirus and it was an outdoor event, which all of our scientists regularly and routinely advise.

Mike Pence

00:12:44 - 00:13:01 (17 sec)

The difference here is, President Trump and I trust the American people to make choices in the best interests of their health. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris consistently talk about mandates and not -- not just mandates with the coronavirus, but a government takeover of healthcare --

Susan Page

00:13:01 - 00:13:02 (2 sec)

Thank you. Thank you Vice President Pence --

Mike Pence

00:13:02 - 00:13:07 (5 sec)

The Green New Deal, all government control, we're about freedom and respecting the freedom of the American people.

Kamala Harris

00:13:07 - 00:13:15 (8 sec)

Let's talk about respecting the American people. You respect the American people when you tell them the truth, you respect the American people when you have the courage --

Mike Pence

00:13:15 - 00:13:16 (1 sec)

Which we've always done.

Kamala Harris

00:13:16 - 00:13:42 (26 sec)

To be a leader speaking of those things that you may not want people to hear, but they need to hear so they can protect themselves. But this administration stood on information that if you had as a parent if you had as a worker knowing you didn't have money saved up, and now you're standing in a food line because of the ineptitude of an administration that was unwilling to speak the truth to the American people.

Kamala Harris

00:13:42 - 00:13:52 (9 sec)

So let's talk about caring about the American people, the American people who've had to sacrifice far too much because of the incompetence of this administration. It is asking too much of the people.

Mike Pence

00:13:52 - 00:13:52 (0 sec)

Susan, we're talking about the --

Susan Page

00:13:52 - 00:13:54 (2 sec)

Vice President Pence --

Kamala Harris

00:13:54 - 00:14:00 (7 sec)

No, we are asking too much of the people. If they would not be equipped with the information they need to help themselves, to protect their parents and their children.

Mike Pence

00:14:00 - 00:14:02 (1 sec)

Susan, the President --

Susan Page

00:14:02 - 00:14:05 (3 sec)

[Crosstalk] I'm sorry, uh, Kamala Harris -- Senator Harris, I mean, I'm sorry.

Kamala Harris

00:14:05 - 00:14:06 (1 sec)

That's fine, I'm Kamala.

Susan Page

00:14:06 - 00:14:31 (25 sec)

No, no, you're Senator Harris to me. For life to get back to normal, Dr. Anthony Fauci and other experts say that most of the people who can be vaccinated need to be vaccinated, but half of Americans now say they wouldn't take a vaccine if it was released now. If the Trump Administration approves a vaccine before or after the election, should Americans take it and would you take it?

Kamala Harris

00:14:31 - 00:14:42 (11 sec)

If the public health professionals, if Dr. Fauci, if the doctors tell us that we should take it, I'll be the first in line to take it, absolutely. But if Donald Trump tells us that we should take it, I'm not taking it.

Susan Page

00:14:42 - 00:15:08 (25 sec)

Vice President Pence, there've been a lot of repercussions from this pandemic. In recent days, the President's diagnosis of COVID-19 has underscored the importance of the job that you hold and that you are seeking. That's our second topic tonight, it's the role of the Vice President. One of you will make history on January 20th, you will be the Vice President to the oldest President the United States has ever had.

Susan Page

00:15:08 - 00:15:35 (27 sec)

Donald Trump will be 74 years old on Inauguration Day, Joe Biden will be 78 years old. That already has raised concerns Among some voters, concerns that have been sharpened by President Trump's hospitalization in recent days. Vice President Pence, have you had a conversation or reached an agreement with President Trump about safeguards or procedures when it comes to the issue of Presidential disability?

Susan Page

00:15:35 - 00:15:39 (4 sec)

And if not, do you think you should? You have two minutes without interruption.

Mike Pence

00:15:39 - 00:15:43 (4 sec)

Well, Susan, thank you. Although I would like to go back to, uh --

Susan Page

00:15:43 - 00:15:44 (2 sec)

I think we should move on to the issue --

Mike Pence

00:15:44 - 00:16:15 (31 sec)

Well, thank you, but I would like to go back because the reality is, we're going to have a vaccine, Senator, in record time, in unheard-of time, in less than a year. We have five companies in Phase 3 clinical trials and we're right now producing tens of millions of doses. So the fact that you continue to undermine public confidence in a vaccine -- if the vaccine emerges during the Trump administration I think is -- is unconscionable.

Mike Pence

00:16:15 - 00:16:38 (23 sec)

Ans Senator, I -- I just ask you, stop playing politics in people's lives. The reality is that we will have a vaccine that we believe before the end of this year and it will have the capacity save countless American lives and your continuous undermining of confidence in a vaccine is just -- it's just unacceptable.

Mike Pence

00:16:38 - 00:17:13 (35 sec)

And let me also say, you know, the reality is when you talk about -- about failure in this administration, we actually do know what failure looks like in a pandemic. It was 2009, the swine flu arrived in the United States, thankfully it was ended up not being as lethal as the coronavirus. But before the end of the year when Joe Biden was Vice President of the United States, not 7.5 million people contracted the swine flu, 60 million Americans contracted the swine flu.

Mike Pence

00:17:13 - 00:17:38 (25 sec)

If the swine flu had been as lethal as the coronavirus in 2009 when Joe Biden was Vice President, we would have lost 2 million American lives. His own Chief of Staff, Ron Klain would say last year that it was pure luck that they did, quote everything possible wrong, and -- and we learned from that. They left the Strategic National Stockpile empty.

Mike Pence

00:17:38 - 00:17:42 (4 sec)

They left an empty and hollow plan, but we still learned from it --

Susan Page

00:17:42 - 00:17:42 (1 sec)

Thank you Vice President Pence.

Mike Pence

00:17:42 - 00:17:43 (1 sec)

And I think the American people --

Susan Page

00:17:43 - 00:17:44 (1 sec)

Vice President Pence, your time is up.

Mike Pence

00:17:44 - 00:17:44 (1 sec)

I'm going to say again, can be proud of what we have done --

Susan Page

00:17:44 - 00:17:46 (2 sec)

Vice President Pence, I'm sorry, your time is up.

Mike Pence

00:17:46 - 00:17:49 (3 sec)

Of what we have done and Senator, please stop undermining confidence in a vaccine.

Susan Page

00:17:49 - 00:17:53 (4 sec)

Thank you, Vice President Pence. Senator Harris, let me ask you the same question that I asked --

Kamala Harris

00:17:53 - 00:17:53 (0 sec)

Susan Page

00:17:53 - 00:18:12 (19 sec)

Vice President Pence, which is, have you had a conversation or reached an agreement with Vice President Biden about safeguards or procedures when it comes to the issue of Presidential disability? And if not, and if you win the election next month, do you think you should? You have two minutes, uninterrupted.

Kamala Harris

00:18:12 - 00:18:40 (28 sec)

So let me tell you, first of all, um, the day I got the call from -- from Joe Biden, it was actually a zoom call, um, asking me to serve with him on this ticket was probably one of most memorable -- memorable days of my life. Um, I -- you know, I thought about my mother who came to the United States at the age of 19 and gave birth to me at the age of 25 at Kaiser Hospital in Oakland, California.

Kamala Harris

00:18:40 - 00:19:02 (22 sec)

And the thought that I'd be sitting here right now, I know would make her proud and she must be looking down on this. Um, you know, Joe and I were raised in a very similar way. We were raised with values that are about hard work, about the value and the dignity of public service, and about the importance of fighting for the dignity of all people.

Kamala Harris

00:19:02 - 00:19:47 (45 sec)

And I think Joe asked me to serve with him because, you know, I have a career that included being elected the first woman District Attorney of San Francisco where I created models of innovation for -- for law enforcement in terms of reform of the criminal justice system. I was elected the first woman of color and black woman to be elected Attorney General of the state of California where I ran the second-largest Department of Justice and there I took on everything from transnational criminal organizations to the big banks that were taking advantage of homeowners to for-profit colleges that were taking advantage of veterans. And then, of course, now I serve in the United States Senate is only the second black woman ever elected to the United States Senate.

Kamala Harris

00:19:47 - 00:20:10 (23 sec)

I serve on the Senate Intelligence Committee where I've been in regular receipt of classified information about threats to our nation and hotspots around the world. I've traveled the world, I've met with our soldiers in our -- in war zones and I think Joe has asked me to serve with him because he knows that we share -- we share a purpose, which is about lifting up the American people.

Kamala Harris

00:20:10 - 00:20:18 (7 sec)

And after the four years that we have seen of Donald Trump unifying our country around our common values and principles.

Susan Page

00:20:18 - 00:20:41 (24 sec)

Thank you, Senator Harris. You know, neither -- neither President Trump nor Vice President Biden has released a sort of detailed health information that had become the modern norm until the 2016 election. And in recent days, President Trump's doctors have given misleading answers or refuse to answer basic questions about his health and my question to each of you in turn is, is this information voters deserve to know?

Susan Page

00:20:41 - 00:20:46 (5 sec)

Vice President Pence, would you like to go first?

Mike Pence

00:20:46 - 00:21:09 (23 sec)

Well, Susan, thank you, and let me -- let me say on behalf of the President and the first lady, how moved we've all been by the outpouring of prayers and concern for the President. And I do believe it's emblematic of the prayers and the concern that have ushered forth for every American impacted by the coronavirus.

Mike Pence

00:21:09 - 00:21:27 (18 sec)

But the care that the President received at Walter Reed Hospital and the White House doctors was exceptional and the transparency that they practiced all along the way will continue. The American people have a right to know about the health and well-being of their President and we'll continue to do that.

Mike Pence

00:21:27 - 00:21:47 (20 sec)

But I'm just extremely grateful and was more than -- more than a little moved by the broad and bipartisan support. And -- and Senator, I want to thank you and Joe Biden for your expressions, genuine concern. And I also want to congratulate you as I did on that phone call on the historic nature of your nomination.

Kamala Harris

00:21:47 - 00:21:48 (1 sec)

Mike Pence

00:21:48 - 00:22:05 (17 sec)

I never expected to be on this stage four years ago, so I know the feeling, but, um, the reality is, we've got an election before the American people in the midst of this challenging year and the stakes have never been higher, but the choice have never been clear, so --

Susan Page

00:22:05 - 00:22:20 (14 sec)

Thank you. Thank you, Vice President Pence. I want to give Senator Harris a chance to respond to the same question I asked which is, do voters have the right to know more detailed health information about Presidential candidates and especially about Presidents, especially when they're facing some kind of challenge?

Kamala Harris

00:22:20 - 00:22:56 (36 sec)

Absolutely. And that's why Joe Biden has been so incredibly transparent and certainly by contrast, the President has not, both in terms of health records, but also let's look at taxes. We now know because of great investigative journalism that Donald Trump paid $750 in taxes. When I first heard about it, I -- I literally said you mean $750,000? And it was like, no, $750. We now know Donald Trump owes and is in debt for $400 million.

Kamala Harris

00:22:56 - 00:23:20 (25 sec)

And just so everyone is clear, when we say in debt, it means you owe money to somebody and it'd be really good to know who the President of the United States, the Commander-in-Chief owes money to because the American people have a right to know what is influencing the President's decisions and is he making those decisions on the best interest of the American people, of you or self-interest?

Kamala Harris

00:23:20 - 00:23:39 (19 sec)

So, Susan, I'm glad you asked about transparency because it has to be across the board. Joe has been incredibly transparent over many, many years. The one thing we all know about, Joe, he puts it all out there, he -- he is honest, he is forthright, but Donald Trump on the other hand has been about covering up everything.

Mike Pence

00:23:39 - 00:23:40 (0 sec)

Susan Page

00:23:40 - 00:23:44 (4 sec)

Thanks. Thank you, Senator Harris. I want to give you a chance to respond Vice President.

Mike Pence

00:23:44 - 00:23:51 (8 sec)

Well, look, I -- I respect the fact that Joe Biden spent 47 years in public life and I respect your public service as well.

Kamala Harris

00:23:51 - 00:23:53 (2 sec)

Mike Pence

00:23:53 - 00:24:17 (24 sec)

The American people have a President, this businessman, a job creator. He's paid tens of millions of dollars in taxes, payroll taxes, property taxes. He's created tens of thousands of American jobs. The President said those public reports are not accurate and the President's also released literally stacks of financial disclosures.

Mike Pence

00:24:17 - 00:24:30 (13 sec)

The American people can review just as the law allows. But the distinction here is that Joe Biden, 47 years in public service compared to President Donald Trump who brought all of that experience four years ago.

Susan Page

00:24:30 - 00:24:31 (2 sec)

Thank you Vice -- thank you, Vice President Pence.

Mike Pence

00:24:31 - 00:24:34 (3 sec)

And turn this economy around by cutting taxes, rolling back regulation. [Crosstalk]

Susan Page

00:24:34 - 00:24:36 (1 sec)

Thank you. Thank you, Vice President.

Mike Pence

00:24:36 - 00:24:42 (7 sec)

Unleashing American energy, fighting for free and fair trade, and all of that's on the line if Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are in the way.

Susan Page

00:24:42 - 00:24:45 (3 sec)

Thank you Vice President Pence. You know that's a good segue into our third topic.

Kamala Harris

00:24:45 - 00:24:46 (1 sec)

It's a great segue.

Susan Page

00:24:46 - 00:25:08 (22 sec)

[Crosstalk] Which is about the economy. This has been another aspect of life for Americans. It's been so affected by this coronavirus. We have a jobs crisis brewing. On Friday, we learned that the unemployment rate had declined to 7.9% in September, but the job growth had stalled and that was before the latest round of layoffs and furloughs in the airline industry at Disney and elsewhere.

Susan Page

00:25:08 - 00:25:34 (27 sec)

Hundreds of thousands of discouraged workers have stopped looking for work. Nearly 11 million jobs that existed at the beginning of the year haven't been replaced. Those hardest hit include Latinos, Blacks, and women. Senator Harris, the Biden-Harris campaign has proposed new programs to boost the economy and you would pay for that new spending by raising $4 trillion in taxes on wealthy individuals and corporations.

Susan Page

00:25:34 - 00:25:47 (13 sec)

Some economists warn that could curb entrepreneurial ventures that fuel growth and create jobs. Would raising taxes put the recovery at risk? And you have two minutes to answer, interrupted.

Kamala Harris

00:25:47 - 00:26:26 (39 sec)

Thank you. On the issue of the economy, I think there couldn't be a more fundamental difference between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Joe Biden believes you measure the health and the strength of America's economy based on the health and the strength of the American worker and the American family. On the other hand, you have Donald Trump who measures the strength of the economy based on how rich people are doing, which is why he passed a tax bill benefiting the top 1% and the biggest corporations of America leading to a $2 trillion deficit that the American people are going to have to pay for.

Kamala Harris

00:26:26 - 00:26:46 (19 sec)

On day one, Joe Biden will repeal that tax bill, he'll get rid of it, and what he'll do with the money is invest it in the American people, and through a plan that is about investing in infrastructure, something that Donald Trump said he would do. I remember hearing about some infrastructure, we -- I don't think it ever happened, but Joe Biden will do that.

Kamala Harris

00:26:46 - 00:27:07 (21 sec)

He'll invest in infrastructure. It's about upgrading our roads and bridges but also investing in clean energy and renewable energy. Joe was going to invest that money in what we need to do around innovation. There was a time when our country believed in science and invested in research and development so that we were an innovation leader on the globe.

Kamala Harris

00:27:07 - 00:27:42 (35 sec)

Joe Biden will use that money to invest in education. So for example, for folks who want to go to a two-year community college, it will be free. If you come from a family that makes less than $125,000, you'll go to a public university for free. And across the board, we'll make sure that if you have student loan debt, it's cut by $10,000. That's how Joe Biden thinks about the economy, which is about investing in the people of our country as opposed to passing a tax bill, which had the benefit of letting American corporations go offshore to do their business.

Susan Page

00:27:42 - 00:27:45 (3 sec)

Thank you, Senator Harris.

Kamala Harris

00:27:45 - 00:27:45 (0 sec)

You're welcome.

Susan Page

00:27:45 - 00:28:02 (17 sec)

Vice President Pence, your administration has been predicting a rapid and robust recovery, but the latest economic report suggests that's not happening. Should Americans be braced for an economic comeback that is going to take, not months, but a year or more. You have two minutes to answer, uninterrupted.

Mike Pence

00:28:02 - 00:28:25 (23 sec)

When President Trump and I took office, America had gone through the slowest economic recovery since the Great Depression. When Joe Biden was Vice President, they tried to tax and spend and regulate and bail our way back to a growing economy. President Trump cut taxes across the board despite what Senator Harris says, the average American family of four had $2,000 in savings and taxes.

Mike Pence

00:28:25 - 00:28:45 (20 sec)

And with the rise in wages that occurred, most predominantly for blue-collar hard-working Americans, the average household income for a family of four were increased by $4,000 following President Trump's tax cuts. But America, you just heard Senator Harris tell you, on day one, Joe Biden is going to raise your taxes.

Mike Pence

00:28:45 - 00:28:47 (2 sec)

It's really remarkable to think, Susan --

Kamala Harris

00:28:47 - 00:28:48 (1 sec)

That's not what I said.

Mike Pence

00:28:48 - 00:29:14 (26 sec)

I mean, right after a time where we're going through a pandemic that lost 22 million jobs at the height, we've already added back 11.6 million jobs because we had a President who cut taxes, roll back regulation, unleashed American energy, fought for free and fair trade, and secured $4 trillion from the Congress of the United States to give direct payments to families, save 50 million jobs through the Paycheck Protection Program.

Mike Pence

00:29:14 - 00:29:40 (26 sec)

We literally have spared no expense to help the American people and the American worker through this. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris want to raise taxes. They want to bury our economy under a $2 trillion Green New Deal, which you are one of the original co-sponsors of in the United States Senate. They want to abolish fossil fuels and ban fracking, which would cost hundreds of thousands of American jobs all across the heartland.

Mike Pence

00:29:40 - 00:30:00 (21 sec)

And Joe Biden wants to go back to the economic surrender to China that when we took office, half of our international trade deficit was with China alone. And Joe Biden wants to repeal all of the tariffs that President Trump put into effect to fight for American jobs and American workers. Joe Biden says, democracy's on the ballot, make no mistake about it, Susan.

Mike Pence

00:30:00 - 00:30:04 (4 sec)

The American economy, the American comeback is on the ballot with four more years of growth and opportunity --

Susan Page

00:30:04 - 00:30:07 (3 sec)

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Vice President.

Mike Pence

00:30:07 - 00:30:13 (6 sec)

and four more years of President Donald Trump, 2021 is going to be the biggest economic year in the history of this country.

SUSAN PAGE

00:30:13 - 00:30:16 (3 sec)

Thank you. Thank you, Vice President Pence. Senator Harris?

Kamala Harris

00:30:16 - 00:30:28 (13 sec)

Well, I mean that -- we saw enough of it in last week's debate, but I think this is supposed to be a debate based on fact and truth. And the truth and the fact is, Joe Biden has been very clear. He will not raise taxes on anybody who makes less than $400,000 a year.

Mike Pence

00:30:28 - 00:30:30 (2 sec)

He's said he's going to repeal the Trump tax cuts.

Kamala Harris

00:30:30 - 00:30:33 (3 sec)

Mr. Vice President, I'm speaking.

Mike Pence

00:30:33 - 00:30:33 (0 sec)

Kamala Harris

00:30:33 - 00:30:34 (1 sec)

Mike Pence

00:30:34 - 00:30:48 (15 sec)

The important thing is you show the truth. Joe Biden said twice in the debate last week that he's going to repeal the Trump tax cuts. That was tax cuts that gave the average working family $2,000 in a tax break every single year.

Kamala Harris

00:30:48 - 00:30:51 (3 sec)

That is -- that is absolutely not true --

Mike Pence

00:30:51 - 00:30:55 (4 sec)

Senator, is he only cutting -- is he only going to repeal part of the Trump tax cuts?

Kamala Harris

00:30:55 - 00:30:59 (4 sec)

If you don't mind letting me finish, we can then have a conversation, OK?

Mike Pence

00:30:59 - 00:31:00 (0 sec)

Kamala Harris

00:31:00 - 00:31:35 (35 sec)

OK. Joe Biden will not raise taxes on anyone who makes less than $400,000 a year. He has been very clear about that. Joe Biden will not end fracking. He has been very clear about that. Joe Biden is the one who during the -- the Great Recession was responsible for the recovery act that brought America back and now the Trump-Pence administration wants to take credit when they ran -- when they rode the coattails of Joe Biden's success for the economy that they had at the beginning of their term.

Kamala Harris

00:31:35 - 00:32:02 (27 sec)

Of course, now the economy is a complete disaster, but Joe Biden on the one hand did that. On the other hand, you have Donald Trump, who has reigned over a recession that is being compared to the Great Depression. On the one hand, you have Joe Biden, who was responsible with President Barack Obama for the Affordable Care Act, which brought healthcare to over 20 million Americans and protected people with pre-existing conditions.

Kamala Harris

00:32:02 - 00:32:13 (12 sec)

And what it also did is it saved those families who otherwise we're going bankrupt because of hospital bills they could not afford. On the other hand, you have Donald Trump who's in court right now trying to get rid of --

Mike Pence

00:32:13 - 00:32:14 (1 sec)

Kamala Harris

00:32:14 - 00:32:23 (9 sec)

Trying to get rid of the Affordable Care Act, which means that you will lose protections if you have pre-existing conditions. And I just -- this is very important, Susan.

Susan Page

00:32:23 - 00:32:26 (2 sec)

Yes, Senator. [Crosstalk] We need to give -- we need to Vice President --

Kamala Harris

00:32:26 - 00:32:40 (14 sec)

I'd just like to -- he interrupted me and I'd like to just finish, please. If you have a pre-existing condition, heart disease, diabetes, breast cancer, they're coming for you. If you love someone who has a pre-existing condition --

Mike Pence

00:32:40 - 00:32:41 (1 sec)

Susan Page

00:32:41 - 00:32:43 (2 sec)

Thank you. Thank you, Senator Harris.

Kamala Harris

00:32:43 - 00:32:47 (4 sec)

They are coming for you if you are under the age of 26 on your parent's coverage, they're coming for you.

Susan Page

00:32:47 - 00:32:48 (1 sec)

Senator Harris, thank you.

Kamala Harris

00:32:48 - 00:32:49 (1 sec)

You're welcome.

Susan Page

00:32:49 - 00:32:50 (1 sec)

Let me give you a chance to respond.

Mike Pence

00:32:50 - 00:33:10 (20 sec)

Well, I hope we have a chance to talk about healthcare because Obamacare was a disaster. The American people remember it well. President Trump and I have a plan to improve healthcare and for present -- protect pre-existing conditions for every American. But look, Senator Harris, you're -- you're entitled to your own opinion, but you're not entitled to your own facts.

Mike Pence

00:33:10 - 00:33:49 (39 sec)

You yourself said on multiple occasions when you were running for President that you would ban fracking. Joe Biden looked at a supporter in the eye and pointed and said I guarantee, I guarantee that we will abolish fossil fuels. They have a $2 trillion version of the Green New Deal, Susan that your newspaper, USA Today said really wasn't that very different from the original Green New Deal, more taxes, more regulation, banning fracking, abolishing fossil fuel, crushing American energy, and economic surrender to China is a prescription for economic decline.

Mike Pence

00:33:49 - 00:33:58 (9 sec)

President Trump and I will keep America growing, the V-shape recovery that's underway right now will continue with four more years of President Donald Trump [Inaudible].

Susan Page

00:33:58 - 00:34:19 (21 sec)

Thank you very, very much, Vice President Pence. Once again, you've provided the perfect segue to a new topic, which is climate change and Vice President Pence, I'd like to pose the first question to you. This year, we've seen record-setting hurricanes in the South, another one hurricane Delta is now threatening the Gulf and we've seen record-setting wildfires in the West.

Susan Page

00:34:19 - 00:34:35 (16 sec)

Do you believe as the scientific community has concluded that man-made climate change has made wildfires bigger, hotter, and more deadly and have made hurricanes, wetter, slower, and more damaging? You have two minutes, uninterrupted.

Mike Pence

00:34:35 - 00:34:59 (24 sec)

Thank you, Susan. First, I'm very proud of our record on the environment and on conservation. According to all of the best estimates, our -- our air and land are cleaner than any time ever recorded and our water is among the cleanest in the world. And just a little while ago, the President signed the Outdoors Act as the largest investment in our public lands and public parks in 100 years.

Mike Pence

00:34:59 - 00:35:22 (23 sec)

So President Trump has made a commitment to conservation and to the environment. Now with regard to climate change, the climate is changing. But the issue is, what's the cause and what do we do about it? And President Trump has made it clear that we're going to continue to listen to the science. Now, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris would put us back in the Paris climate accord.

Mike Pence

00:35:22 - 00:35:44 (23 sec)

They'd impose the Green New Deal, which would crush American energy, would increase the energy costs of American families in their homes, and literally would crush American jobs. And President Trump and I believe that the progress that we have made in a cleaner environment has been happening precisely because we have a strong free-market economy.

Mike Pence

00:35:44 - 00:36:13 (29 sec)

You know what's remarkable is, the United States has reduced CO2 more than the countries that are still in the Paris climate accord. But we've done it through innovation and we've done it through natural gas and fracking, which Senator, the American people can go look at the record. I know Joe Biden says otherwise now as you do, but the both of you repeatedly committed to abolishing fossil fuel and banning fracking.

Mike Pence

00:36:13 - 00:36:31 (17 sec)

And so, by creating the kind of American innovation, we're actually steering toward a stronger and better environment. With regard to wildfires, President Trump and I believe that forest management has to be front and center and even Governor Gavin Newsom from your state has agreed we've got to work on forest management.

Mike Pence

00:36:31 - 00:36:39 (8 sec)

And with regard to hurricanes, the National Oceanic Administration tells us that actually is, as difficult as they are --

Susan Page

00:36:39 - 00:36:40 (1 sec)

Thank you. Thank you, Vice President. Thank you.

Mike Pence

00:36:40 - 00:36:45 (5 sec)

There are no more hurricanes today than there were a hundred years ago. [Crosstalk]

Susan Page

00:36:45 - 00:36:49 (4 sec)

Thank you. Vice President Pence, I'm sorry. Your time is up.

Mike Pence

00:36:49 - 00:37:03 (14 sec)

But many of the climate alarms used hurricanes and wildfires to try and sell the goods of a Green New Deal and President Trump and I are going to always put American jobs and American workers first.

Susan Page

00:37:03 - 00:37:25 (22 sec)

Senator Harris as the Vice President mentioned, you co-sponsored the Green New Deal in Congress, but Vice President Biden said in last week's debate that he does not support the Green New Deal. But if you look at the Biden-Harris campaign website, it describes the Green New Deal as a crucial framework. What exactly would be the stance of a Biden-Harris administration toward the Green New Deal?

Susan Page

00:37:25 - 00:37:26 (1 sec)

You have two minutes, uninterrupted.

Kamala Harris

00:37:26 - 00:37:47 (21 sec)

All right. So first of all, I will repeat and the American people know that Joe Biden will not ban fracking. That is a fact, that is a fact. I will repeat that Joe Biden has been very clear that he thinks about growing jobs, which is why he will not increase taxes for anyone who makes less than $400,000 a year.

Kamala Harris

00:37:47 - 00:38:14 (27 sec)

Joe Biden's economic plan, Moody's, which is a reputable Wall Street firm has said will create 7 million more jobs than Donald Trump's. And part of those jobs that will be created by Joe Biden are going to be about clean energy and renewable energy. Because you see, Joe understands that the west coast of our country is burning, including my home state of California.

Kamala Harris

00:38:14 - 00:38:35 (21 sec)

Joe sees what is happening on the Gulf states, which are being battered by storms. Joe has seen and talked with the farmers in Iowa, whose entire crops have been destroyed because of floods. And so, Joe believes, again, in science. I'll tell you something, Susan. I served when I first got to the Senate, on the committee that's responsible for the environment.

Kamala Harris

00:38:35 - 00:38:54 (19 sec)

Do you know this administration took the word science off the website and then took the phrase climate change off the website? This -- we have seen a pattern with this administration, which is they don't believe in science and Joe's plan is about saying we're going to deal with it, but we're also going to create jobs.

Kamala Harris

00:38:54 - 00:39:14 (20 sec)

Donald Trump, when asked about the wildfires in California and the question was, you know, the science is telling us this, do you know what Donald Trump said? Science doesn't know. So let's talk about who is prepared to lead our country over the course of the next four years on what is an existential threat to us as human beings.

Kamala Harris

00:39:14 - 00:39:33 (19 sec)

Joe is about saying, we're going to invest that in renewable energy, what's going to be about the creation of millions of jobs. We will achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, carbon neutral by 2035, Joe has a plan. This has been a lot of talk from the Trump administration and really it has been to go backward instead of forward.

Kamala Harris

00:39:33 - 00:39:36 (3 sec)

We will also re-enter the climate agreement with pride.

Susan Page

00:39:36 - 00:39:45 (9 sec)

Senator Harris just said that climate change is an existential threat. Vice President Pence, do you believe that climate change poses an existential threat?

Mike Pence

00:39:45 - 00:40:12 (27 sec)

As I said, Susan, the climate is changing. We'll follow the science. But once again, Senator Harris is denying the fact that they're going to raise taxes on every American. Joe Biden said twice in the debate last week that on day one, he was going to repeal the Trump tax cuts. Those tax cuts delivered $2,000 in tax relief to the average family of four across America.

Mike Pence

00:40:12 - 00:40:39 (27 sec)

And with regard to banning fracking, I just recommend that people look at the record. You yourself said repeatedly that you would ban fracking. You were the first Senate co-sponsor of the Green New Deal. And while Joe Biden denied the Green New Deal, Susan, thank you for pointing out. The Green New Deal is on their campaign website and as USA Today said, it's essentially the same plan as you co-sponsored with AOC when she submitted it in the Senate.

Mike Pence

00:40:39 - 00:40:58 (19 sec)

And you just heard the Senator say that she's going to resubmit America to the Paris climate accord. Look, the American people have always cherished our environment and will continue to cherish it. We've made great progress reducing CO2 emissions through American innovation and the development of natural gas through fracking.

Mike Pence

00:40:58 - 00:41:08 (9 sec)

We don't need a massive $2 trillion green new deal that would impose all new mandates on American businesses and American families.

Susan Page

00:41:08 - 00:41:08 (0 sec)

Mike Pence

00:41:08 - 00:41:19 (11 sec)

Joe Biden wants to say retrofit 4 million American business buildings. It makes no sense. It will cost jobs. President Trump is going to put America first -- [Crosstalk]

Susan Page

00:41:19 - 00:41:21 (2 sec)

Thank you, Vice President Pence.

Mike Pence

00:41:21 - 00:41:26 (5 sec)

He's going to put jobs first and we're going to take care of our environment and follow the science.

Susan Page

00:41:26 - 00:41:28 (2 sec)

Thank you, Vice President Pence.

Kamala Harris

00:41:28 - 00:41:29 (1 sec)

You know on the issue of jobs --

Susan Page

00:41:29 - 00:41:31 (1 sec)

Senator, Harris?

Kamala Harris

00:41:31 - 00:41:52 (22 sec)

Let's talk about that. You -- the Vice President earlier referred to -- as part of what he thinks is an accomplishment that the President's trade war with China. You lost that trade war, you lost it. What ended up happening is because of a so-called trade war with China, America lost 300,000 manufacturing jobs.

Kamala Harris

00:41:52 - 00:42:13 (20 sec)

Farmers have experienced bankruptcy because of it. We are in a manufacturing recession because of it. And when we look at where this administration has been, there are estimates that by the end of the term of this administration, they will have lost more jobs than almost any other Presidential administration.

Mike Pence

00:42:13 - 00:42:13 (0 sec)

Kamala Harris

00:42:13 - 00:42:34 (21 sec)

And the American people know what I'm talking about. You know. I think about 20-year olds. You know we have a 20-year old, a 20-something-year-old, who are coming out of high school and college right now and you're wondering, is there going to be a job there for me? We're looking at people who are trying to figure out how they're going to pay rent by the end of the month.

Kamala Harris

00:42:34 - 00:42:51 (17 sec)

Almost half of American renters are worried about whether they're going to be able to pay rent by the end of the month. This is where the economy is in America right now and it is because of the catastrophe and the failure of leadership of this administration.

Susan Page

00:42:51 - 00:42:56 (5 sec)

Thank you, Senator Harris. Vice President Pence, let me give you just 15 seconds to respond because then I want to move on to --

Mike Pence

00:42:56 - 00:43:26 (29 sec)

Well, I'd love to respond, look, lost a trade war with China, Joe Biden never thought it. Joe Biden has been a cheerleader for communist China through -- over the last several decades. And again, Senator Harris, you're entitled to your opinion, you're not entitled to your own facts. When Joe Biden was Vice President, we lost 200,000 manufacturing jobs and President Obama said they were never coming back.

Mike Pence

00:43:26 - 00:43:37 (11 sec)

He said we needed a magic wand to bring them back. In our first three years after we cut taxes, roll back regulation, unleashed American energy, this administration saw 500,000 manufacturing jobs --

Susan Page

00:43:37 - 00:43:39 (2 sec)

Thank you, Vice President Pence.

Mike Pence

00:43:39 - 00:43:46 (7 sec)

Created and that's exactly the kind of growth we're going to continue to see as we bring our nation through this pandemic.

Susan Page

00:43:46 - 00:43:49 (3 sec)

Thank you, Vice President Pence.

Mike Pence

00:43:49 - 00:44:00 (11 sec)

The Green New Deal, your massive new mandates, your Paris climate accord is going to kill jobs this time just like it killed jobs for the last -- [Crosstalk]

Kamala Harris

00:44:00 - 00:44:03 (3 sec)

I just need to respond very briefly, please.

Susan Page

00:44:03 - 00:44:06 (4 sec)

I -- 15 seconds and then we move on.

Kamala Harris

00:44:06 - 00:44:19 (12 sec)

Thank you. Thank you. Joe Biden is responsible for saving America's auto industry and you voted against it. So, let's set the record straight. Thank you.

Susan Page

00:44:19 - 00:44:46 (28 sec)

I'd like to talk about China. We have as our next topic, we have no more complicated or consequential foreign relationship than the one with China. It is a huge market for American agricultural goods. It's a potential partner in dealing with climate change in North Korea. And in a video tonight, President Trump, again, blamed it for the coronavirus saying China will pay.

Susan Page

00:44:46 - 00:44:57 (11 sec)

Vice President Pence, how would you describe our fundamental relationship with China? Competitors, adversaries, enemies? You have two minutes.

Mike Pence

00:44:57 - 00:45:24 (27 sec)

Thank you, Susan. Well, let me -- before I leave that, let me let me speak to voting records if I can. You know, everybody knows that NAFTA cost literally thousands of American factories to close. We saw automotive jobs go south of the border. President Trump fought to renegotiate NAFTA and the United States-Mexico-Canada agreement is now the law of the land American people deserve to know.

Mike Pence

00:45:24 - 00:45:57 (33 sec)

Senator Kamala Harris was one of only 10 members of the Senate to vote against the USMCA. It was a huge win for American autoworkers. It was a huge win for American farmers, especially dairy in the upper Midwest. But Senator you said it didn't go far enough on climate change that you put your -- your radical environmental agenda ahead of American autoworkers and ahead of American jobs and I think the American people deserve to know that.

Mike Pence

00:45:57 - 00:46:18 (21 sec)

It's probably why Newsweek magazine said that Kamala Harris was the most liberal member of the United States Senate in 2019, more liberal than Bernie Sanders, more -- more liberal than any of the others in the United States Senate. So, now with regard to China, look, Susan, first and foremost, China is to blame for the coronavirus and President Trump is not happy about them.

Mike Pence

00:46:18 - 00:46:49 (32 sec)

He's made that very clear, made it clear again today. China and the World Health Organization did not play straight with the American people. They did not let our personnel into China to get information on the coronavirus until the middle of February. Fortunately, President Trump in dealing with China from the outset of this administration, standing up to China that have been taking advantage of America for decades in the wake of Joe Biden's cheerleading for China, President Trump made that decision before the end of January to suspend all travel from China.

Mike Pence

00:46:49 - 00:47:02 (12 sec)

And again, the American people deserve to know that Joe Biden opposed President Trump's decision to suspend all travel from China. He said it was hysterical. He said that it was xenophobic.

Susan Page

00:47:02 - 00:47:04 (2 sec)

Thank you, Vice President Pence.

Mike Pence

00:47:04 - 00:47:09 (5 sec)

But President Trump has stood up to China and continue to stand strong. [Crosstalk]

Susan Page

00:47:09 - 00:47:13 (4 sec)

Thank you, Vice President Pence.

Mike Pence

00:47:13 - 00:47:20 (7 sec)

We want to improve the relationship, but we're going to level the playing field and we're going to hold China accountable for what they did to America with the coronavirus.

Susan Page

00:47:20 - 00:47:33 (14 sec)

Thank you. Senator Harris, let me ask you the same question that I asked the Vice President, how would you describe our fundamental relationship with China? Are we competitors, adversaries, enemies? You'll have two minutes, uninterrupted.

Kamala Harris

00:47:33 - 00:47:53 (20 sec)

Susan, the Trump administration's perspective and approach to China has resulted in the loss of American lives, American jobs, and America's standing. There is a weird obsession that President Trump has had with getting rid of whatever accomplishment was achieved by President Obama and Vice President Biden.

Kamala Harris

00:47:53 - 00:48:01 (7 sec)

For example, they created within the White House, an office that basically was responsible for monitoring pandemics. They got away -- they got rid of it.

Mike Pence

00:48:01 - 00:48:01 (0 sec)

Kamala Harris

00:48:01 - 00:48:20 (19 sec)

There was a team of disease experts that President Obama and Vice President Biden dispatched to China to monitor what is now predictable and what might happen. They pulled them out. We now are looking at 210,000 Americans who have lost their lives. Let's look at the job situation. We mentioned before the trade deal, the trade war they wanted to call it with China.

Kamala Harris

00:48:20 - 00:49:03 (42 sec)

It resulted in the loss of over 300 manufacturing jobs and a manufacturing recession and the American consumer paying thousands of dollars more for goods because of that failed war that they called it. Then let's talk about standing Pew, a reputable research firm has done an analysis that shows that leaders of all of our formerly allied countries have now decided that they hold in greater esteem and respect Xi Jinping, the head of the Chinese Communist Party than they do Donald Trump, the President of the United States, the Commander-in-Chief of the United States.

Kamala Harris

00:49:03 - 00:49:09 (6 sec)

This is where we are today because of a failure of leadership by this administration.

Susan Page

00:49:09 - 00:49:35 (26 sec)

Senator Harris, we've seen changes in the -- in the role of the United States in terms of global leadership over the past four years and, of course, times do change, what's your definition? We've seen strains with China, of course, as the Vice President mentioned. We've seen strains with our traditional allies in NATO and elsewhere, what is your definition of the role of American leadership in 2020?

Kamala Harris

00:49:35 - 00:49:54 (19 sec)

So, you know, Joe is -- I love talking with Joe about a lot of these issues and, you know, Joe, I think he said it quite well. He says, you know, foreign policy and might sound complicated, but really it's relationships. They're -- just think about it as relationships. And so, we know this in our personal professional relationships.

Kamala Harris

00:49:54 - 00:50:17 (23 sec)

You got to keep your word to your friends, you've got to be loyal to your friends, people who've stood with you, you've got to stand with them. You've got to know who your adversaries are and keep them in check. But what we have seen with Donald Trump is that he has betrayed our friends and embraced dictators around the world.

Kamala Harris

00:50:17 - 00:50:40 (23 sec)

Let's take for example Russia, so Russia -- I serve on the Intelligence Committee of the United States Senate. America's intelligence community told us, Russia interfered in the election of the President of the United States in 2016, and this playing in 2020. Christopher Wray, the Director of the FBI, said the same.

Kamala Harris

00:50:40 - 00:51:08 (28 sec)

But Donald Trump, the Commander-in-Chief of the United States of America prefers to take the word of Vladimir Putin over the word of the American intelligence community. If you look at our friends at NATO, he has walked away from agreements. You can talk -- look at the Iran nuclear deal, which now has put us in a position where we are less safe because they are building up what might end up being a significant nuclear arsenal.

Kamala Harris

00:51:08 - 00:51:35 (27 sec)

We were in that deal, guys, we were in the Iran nuclear deal with friends, with allies around the country, and because of Donald Trump's unilateral approach to foreign policy coupled with his isolationism, he pulled us out and has made America less safe. So, Susan, it's about relationships. And the thing that has always been part -- the strength of our nation, in addition to our great military, has been that we keep our word.

Kamala Harris

00:51:35 - 00:51:40 (5 sec)

But Donald Trump doesn't understand that because he doesn't understand what it means to be honest.

Mike Pence

00:51:40 - 00:51:40 (0 sec)

Susan Page

00:51:40 - 00:51:46 (6 sec)

Thank you. Thank you, Senator Harris. Vice President Pence let me give you a chance to respond.

Mike Pence

00:51:46 - 00:52:07 (21 sec)

Well, thank you. Well, President Trump kept his word when we moved the American embassy to Jerusalem, the capital of the state of Israel. When Joe Biden was Vice President, they promised to do that and they never did. We stood strong with our allies, but we've been demanding. NATO is now contributing more to our common defense than ever before thanks to President Trump's leadership.

Mike Pence

00:52:07 - 00:52:38 (30 sec)

We've strengthened our alliances across the Asia-Pacific and we've stood strong against those who would do us harm. You know when President Trump came into office, ISIS had captured an area of the Middle East the size of Pennsylvania, but President Trump unleashed the American military and our armed forces destroyed the ISIS caliphate and took down their leader, al-Baghdadi without one American casualty.

Mike Pence

00:52:38 - 00:52:59 (22 sec)

Al-Baghdadi was responsible for the death of thousands, but notably America's hearts today are with the family of Kayla Mueller, her parents, which are here with us tonight in Salt Lake City. Today, two of the ISIS killers responsible for Kayla Mueller's murder were brought to justice in the United States.

Mike Pence

00:52:59 - 00:53:22 (23 sec)

Jihadi John was killed on the battlefield along with the other [Inaudible]. The reality is, that when Joe Biden was Vice President, we had an opportunity to save Kayla Mueller. It breaks my heart to reflect on it, but the military came into the Oval Office, presented a plan. They said they knew where Kayla was, al-Baghdadi had held her for 18 months, abused her mercilessly before they killed her.

Mike Pence

00:53:22 - 00:53:44 (22 sec)

But when Joe Biden was Vice President, they hesitated for a month, and went armed forces finally went in, it was clear she'd been moved two days earlier and her family says, with a heart that broke the heart of every American, that if President Donald Trump had been President, they believe Kayla would be alive today.

Susan Page

00:53:44 - 00:53:44 (1 sec)

Thank you, Vice President.

Mike Pence

00:53:44 - 00:53:56 (12 sec)

But we've destroyed the ISIS caliphate and you talk about re-entering the Iran nuclear deal when the last administration transferred $1.8 billion to the leading state sponsor --

Susan Page

00:53:56 - 00:53:58 (1 sec)

Thank you, Vice President. [Crosstalk]

Mike Pence

00:53:58 - 00:54:00 (2 sec)

Of terrorism, President Donald Trump got us out of the deal --

Susan Page

00:54:00 - 00:54:01 (1 sec)

Thank you, Vice President Pence.

Mike Pence

00:54:01 - 00:54:04 (3 sec)

And -- and when Qasem Soleimani was traveling to Baghdad --

Susan Page

00:54:04 - 00:54:05 (2 sec)

Thank you, Vice President Pence.

Mike Pence

00:54:05 - 00:54:09 (3 sec)

The harm to Americans, President Donald Trump took him out.

Susan Page

00:54:09 - 00:54:10 (1 sec)

Thank you, Vice President Pence.

Mike Pence

00:54:10 - 00:54:16 (6 sec)

And America is is safer and our allies are safer and the American people know President Donald Trump will never have hesitated to take action -- [Crosstalk]

Susan Page

00:54:16 - 00:54:23 (6 sec)

Thank you, Vice President Pence. I would like to give Senator Harris a chance to respond, but not at such great length because, of course, there are other topics we want to talk about.

Kamala Harris

00:54:23 - 00:54:24 (1 sec)

But I would like equal time.

Susan Page

00:54:24 - 00:54:26 (2 sec)

Yes, please go ahead.

Kamala Harris

00:54:26 - 00:54:55 (29 sec)

Thank you. First of all, to the Mueller family, I know about your daughter's case and I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. What happened to her is awful and it should have never happened. And I know Joe feels the same way and I know that President Obama feels the same way, but you mentioned Soleimani. Let's -- let's start there.

Kamala Harris

00:54:55 - 00:55:21 (26 sec)

So after the strike on Soleimani, there was a counterstrike on our troops in Iraq and they suffered serious brain injuries, and do you know what Donald Trump dismissed them as? Headaches. And this is about a pattern of Donald Trump's where he has referred to our men who are serving in our military as suckers and losers.

Kamala Harris

00:55:21 - 00:55:56 (35 sec)

Donald Trump, who went to Arlington Cemetery and stood above the graves of our fallen heroes and said, what's in it for them? Because, of course, you know he only thinks about what's in it for him. Let's take what he said about John McCain, a great American hero and Donald Trump says, he doesn't deserve to be called a hero because he was a prisoner of war.

Kamala Harris

00:55:56 - 00:56:27 (32 sec)

Take -- and this is -- this is very important. When you want to talk about who is the current Commander-in-Chief and what they care about and what they don't care about. Public reporting that Russia had bounties on the heads of American soldiers. And you know what about is? It's when somebody puts a price on your head and they will pay it if you are killed and Donald Trump had talked at least six times to Vladimir Putin and never brought up the subject.

Kamala Harris

00:56:27 - 00:56:29 (2 sec)

Joe Biden would never do that.

Susan Page

00:56:29 - 00:56:31 (2 sec)

Kamala Harris

00:56:31 - 00:56:45 (14 sec)

Joe Biden -- Joe Biden would hold Russia to account for any threat to our nation's security or to our troops who are sacrificing their lives for the sake of our democracy and our safety. [Crosstalk]

Susan Page

00:56:45 - 00:56:52 (7 sec)

Thank you, Senator Harris. This is such an important issue, but we have other important issues as well and I want to make sure we have a chance to really talk about that.

Mike Pence

00:56:52 - 00:56:54 (2 sec)

Susan, I really have to respond to that. Look, she has --

Susan Page

00:56:54 - 00:56:56 (3 sec)

Fifteen seconds because I'm trying to keep --

Mike Pence

00:56:56 - 00:56:57 (1 sec)

Susan Page

00:56:57 - 00:57:00 (3 sec)

I'm sorry, Vice President you've had more time than she's had so far --

Mike Pence

00:57:00 - 00:57:07 (7 sec)

The slanders against President Donald Trump regarding men and women of our armed forces are absurd --

Susan Page

00:57:07 - 00:57:09 (2 sec)

I'm sorry, Vice President Pence.

Mike Pence

00:57:09 - 00:57:25 (16 sec)

My son is a Captain in the United States Marine Corps, my son-in-law is deployed in the United States Navy. I can assure all of you with sons and daughters serving in our military, President Donald Trump not only respects but reveres all of those who serve in our armed forces and any suggestion otherwise is ridiculous.

Susan Page

00:57:25 - 00:57:27 (1 sec)

Thank you, Vice President Pence.

Mike Pence

00:57:27 - 00:57:32 (5 sec)

Let me also say, the American people deserves -- the American people deserve to know that --

Susan Page

00:57:32 - 00:57:37 (5 sec)

Vice President Pence, I did not create -- I did not create the rules for tonight.

Mike Pence

00:57:37 - 00:57:38 (1 sec)

Susan Page

00:57:38 - 00:57:51 (13 sec)

Your campaigns agreed to the rules for tonight's debate with the Commission on Presidential debates. I'm here to enforce them, which involves moving from one topic to another, giving roughly equal time to both of you, which is what I'm trying very hard to do.

Mike Pence

00:57:51 - 00:57:51 (1 sec)

Go right ahead. Go right ahead.

Susan Page

00:57:51 - 00:58:10 (18 sec)

So I want to go ahead and move to the next topic, which is an important one as the last topic was and that is the Supreme Court. On Monday, the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to open hearings on Amy Coney Barrett's nomination to the Supreme Court. Senator Harris, you'll be there as a member of the committee.

Susan Page

00:58:10 - 00:58:32 (23 sec)

Her confirmation would cement the court's conservative majority and make it likely open to more abortion restrictions even to overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, access to abortion would then be up to the States. Vice President Pence, you're the former Governor of Indiana. If Roe v. Wade is overturned, what would you want Indiana to do?

Susan Page

00:58:32 - 00:58:38 (6 sec)

Would you want your home state to ban all abortions? You have two minutes, uninterrupted.

Mike Pence

00:58:38 - 00:58:58 (19 sec)

Well, thank you for the question, but I'll use a little bit of my time to respond to that very important issue before. The American people deserve to know Qasem Soleimani, the Iranian General was responsible for the death of hundreds of American service members. When the opportunity came, we saw him headed to Baghdad, kill more Americans.

Mike Pence

00:58:58 - 00:59:21 (23 sec)

President Trump didn't hesitate and cost Qasem Soleimani is gone. But you deserve to know the Joe Biden and Kamala Harris actually criticized the decision to take out Solem -- Qasem Soleimani, it's really inexplicable. But with regard to Joe Biden, it's -- it's explainable because history records that Joe Biden actually opposed the raid against Osama bin Laden.

Mike Pence

00:59:21 - 00:59:55 (34 sec)

It's absolutely essential that we have a Commander-in-chief who will not hesitate to act to protect American lives and to protect American service members and that's what you have in President Donald Trump. Now with regard to the Supreme Court of the United States, let me say President Trump and I could not be more enthusiastic about the opportunity to see Judge Amy Comey Barrett become Justice Amy Comey Barrett and she's a brilliant woman and she will bring a lifetime of experience and a sizable American family to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Mike Pence

00:59:55 - 01:00:26 (30 sec)

And our hope is in the hearing next week, unlike Justice Kavanagh received with treatment from you and others, and we hope she gets a fair hearing. And we particularly hope that we don't see the kind of attacks on her Christian faith that we saw before -- in the Democrat Chairman of the Judiciary Committee before when -- when Judge Barrett was being confirmed for the Court of Appeals expressed concern that the dogma of her faith lived loudly in her.

Mike Pence

01:00:26 - 01:00:40 (14 sec)

Dick Durbin of Illinois said that it was a concern. Senator, I know one of our Judicial nominees you actually attacked because they were a member of the Catholic Knights of Columbus, just because the Knights of Columbus holds pro-life views and you --

Susan Page

01:00:40 - 01:00:42 (2 sec)

Thank you. Thank you, Vice President Pence, you're time is up.

Mike Pence

01:00:42 - 01:00:44 (2 sec)

So my hope is that when the hearing takes place that --

Susan Page

01:00:44 - 01:00:45 (1 sec)

Thank you Vice President Pence.

Mike Pence

01:00:45 - 01:00:51 (6 sec)

That Judge Amy Comey Barrett will be respected, treated respectfully, voted and confirmed in the Supreme Court of the United States.

Susan Page

01:00:51 - 01:01:08 (18 sec)

Thank you, Vice President Pence. Thank you. Senator Harris, you're the Senator from and former Attorney General of California. So let me ask you a parallel question to the one I posed to the Vice President. If Roe v. Wade is overturned, what would you want California to do? Would you want your home state to enact no restrictions on access to abortion?

Susan Page

01:01:08 - 01:01:11 (3 sec)

And you have two minutes, uninterrupted.

Kamala Harris

01:01:11 - 01:01:39 (28 sec)

Thank you, Susan. First of all, Joe Biden and I are both people of faith and it's insulting to suggest that we would knock anyone for their faith. And in fact, Joe, if elected will be only the second practicing Catholic as President of the United States. On the issue of this -- of this nomination, Joe and I are very clear as are the majority of the American people.

Kamala Harris

01:01:39 - 01:02:02 (23 sec)

We are 27 days before the decision about who will be the next President of the United States. And you know before when this conversation has come up, you know, it's been about election year or election time. We're literally in an election, over 4 million people have voted, people are in the process of voting right now.

Kamala Harris

01:02:02 - 01:02:23 (21 sec)

And so, Joe has been very clear as the American people are, let the American people fill that seat in the White House and then we'll fill that seat on the United States Supreme Court. And to your point, Susan, the issues before us couldn't be more serious. There's the issue of choice and I will always fight for a woman's right to make a decision about her own body.

Kamala Harris

01:02:23 - 01:02:50 (27 sec)

It should be her decision and not that of Donald Trump and the Vice President Michael Pence, but let's also look at what else is before the court. It's the Affordable Care Act, like, literally in the midst of a public health pandemic when over 210,000 people have died and 7 million people probably have what will be in the future considered a pre-existing condition because you contracted the virus.

Kamala Harris

01:02:50 - 01:03:16 (25 sec)

Donald Trump is in court right now trying to get rid of the Affordable Care Act and I said it before and it bears repeating. This means that there will be no more protections if they win for people with pre-existing conditions. This means that over 20 million people will lose your coverage. It means that if you're under the age of 26, you can't stay on your parent's coverage anymore.

Kamala Harris

01:03:16 - 01:03:34 (18 sec)

And here's the thing, the contrast couldn't be more clear. They're trying to get rid of the Affordable Care Act. Joe Biden is saying let's expand coverage, let's give you a choice of a public option or private coverage. Let's bring down payment premiums, let's lower Medicare eligibility to 60. That's true leadership.

Susan Page

01:03:34 - 01:04:04 (31 sec)

You know, you mentioned earlier Vice President Pence that the President was committed to maintaining protections for people with pre-existing conditions and -- but you do have this court case that you are supporting, your administration is supporting, that would strike down the Affordable Care Act. The President says, President Trump says that he's going to protect people with pre-existing condition -- conditions, but he has not explained how he would do that and that was one of the toughest nuts to crack when they were passing the Affordable Care Act.

Susan Page

01:04:04 - 01:04:16 (12 sec)

So tell us specifically, how would your administration protect Americans with pre-existing conditions have access to affordable insurance if the Affordable Care Act is struck down?

Mike Pence

01:04:16 - 01:04:37 (20 sec)

Well, thank you, Susan. But let me just say addressing your very first question. I couldn't be more proud to serve as Vice President to a President who stands without apology for the sanctity of human life. I'm pro-life. I don't apologize for it and this is another one of those cases where there's such a dramatic contrast.

Mike Pence

01:04:37 - 01:04:43 (6 sec)

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris support, taxpayer funding of abortion all the way up to the moment of birth.

Mike Pence

01:04:43 - 01:05:04 (21 sec)

Late-term abortion, they want to increase funding to Planned Parenthood of America. Now for our part, I would never presume how Judge Amy Coney Barrett would rule on the Supreme Court of the United States, but we'll will continue to stand strong for the right to life. When you speak about the Supreme Court though, I think the American people really deserve an answer Senator Harris.

Mike Pence

01:05:04 - 01:05:30 (26 sec)

Are you and Joe Biden going to pack the court if Judge Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed? I mean, there have been 29 vacancies on the Supreme Court during Presidential election years from George Washington to Barack Obama, Presidents have nominated in all 29 cases, but your party is actually openly advocating adding seats to the Supreme Court which has had nine seats for 150 years if you don't get your way.

Mike Pence

01:05:30 - 01:05:52 (22 sec)

This is a classic case of, if you can't win by the rules, you're going to change the rules. Now you've refused to answer the question, Joe Biden has refused to answer the question. So I think the American people would really like to know if Judge Amy Coney Barrett is confirmed to the Supreme Court of the United States, are you and Joe Biden, if somehow you win this election, going to pack the Supreme Court to get your way?

Kamala Harris

01:05:52 - 01:05:59 (7 sec)

I'm so glad we went through a little history lesson. Let's do that a little more. In 1860 --

Mike Pence

01:05:59 - 01:06:00 (1 sec)

No, I'd like you to answer the question.

Kamala Harris

01:06:00 - 01:06:25 (25 sec)

Mr. Vice President I'm speaking. I'm speaking, OK? In 1864, one of the -- I think political heroes, certainly of the President. I assume of you also Mr. Vice President, Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln was up for re-election and it was 27 days before the election and a seat became open on the United States Supreme Court.

Kamala Harris

01:06:25 - 01:06:46 (22 sec)

Abraham Lincoln's party was in charge, not only of the White House but the Senate, but honest Abe said, it's not the right thing to do. The American people deserve to make the decision about who will be the next President of the United States and then that person can select who will serve for a lifetime on the highest court of our land.

Kamala Harris

01:06:46 - 01:07:00 (14 sec)

And so, Joe and I are very clear, the American people are voting right now and it should be their decision about who will serve on this most important body for a lifetime.

Susan Page

01:07:00 - 01:07:02 (2 sec)

Thank you, Senator Harris.

Mike Pence

01:07:02 - 01:07:13 (11 sec)

And [Inaudible] people, Susan, are voting right now. [Crosstalk] They'd like to know if you and Joe Biden are going to pack the Supreme Court if you don't get your way in this nomination?

Kamala Harris

01:07:13 - 01:07:15 (2 sec)

Let's talk about packing, come on --

Mike Pence

01:07:15 - 01:07:18 (3 sec)

Once again you gave a non-answer, Joe Biden gave a non-answer.

Kamala Harris

01:07:18 - 01:07:18 (1 sec)

Mike Pence

01:07:18 - 01:07:43 (25 sec)

The American people deserve a straight answer and if you haven't figured it out yet, the straight answer is they are going to pack the Supreme Court if they somehow win this election. Men and women, I've got to tell you, people across this country, if you cherish our Supreme Court, if you cherish the separation of powers, you need to reject the Biden-Harris ticket, come November the 3rd, re-elect President Donald Trump and we'll stand by that separation of powers and the nine-seat in the Supreme Court.

Kamala Harris

01:07:43 - 01:07:47 (4 sec)

Yeah, let's talk about packing the court then. Let's talk about the fact -- [Crosstalk]

Mike Pence

01:07:47 - 01:07:47 (1 sec)

Kamala Harris

01:07:47 - 01:08:27 (40 sec)

Yeah, I'm about to -- so the Trump-Pence administration has been -- because I sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Susan, as you mentioned and I've witnessed the appointments -- for lifetime appointments to the Federal Courts, District Courts, Courts of Appeal. People who are purely ideological, people who have been reviewed by by legal professional organizations and found to have been not competent are substandard and do you know that of the 50 people who President Trump appointed to the Court of Appeals for lifetime appointments, not one is black?

Kamala Harris

01:08:27 - 01:08:33 (6 sec)

This is what they've been doing. You want to talk about packing a court, let's have that discussion.

Susan Page

01:08:33 - 01:08:39 (6 sec)

All right, thank you. Thank you, Senator. Let's go on and talk about the issue of racial justice.

Mike Pence

01:08:39 - 01:08:46 (7 sec)

I just want the record reflect, she never answered the question. The American people -- well, maybe the next debate, Joe Biden will answer the question, but I think the American people know the answer.

Susan Page

01:08:46 - 01:09:06 (20 sec)

Thank you. Thank you, Vice President. In March, Breonna Taylor, a 26-year old emergency room technician in Louisville was shot and killed after police officers executing a search warrant on a narcotics investigation broke into her apartment. The police said they identified themselves, Taylor's boyfriend said he didn't hear them do that.

Susan Page

01:09:06 - 01:09:25 (20 sec)

He used a gun registered to him to fire a shot, which wounded an officer. The officers then fired more than 20 rounds into the apartment. They say they were acting in self-defense. None of them have been indicted in connection with her death. Senator Harris, in the case of Breonna Taylor was justice done?

Susan Page

01:09:25 - 01:09:27 (1 sec)

You have two minutes.

Kamala Harris

01:09:27 - 01:09:53 (27 sec)

I don't believe so and I've -- I've talked with Breonna's mother, Tamika Palmer, and her family and her family deserves justice. She was a beautiful young woman. She had as her life goal to become a nurse and she want to become an EMT to first learn what's going on out on the street, so she could then become a nurse and save lives, and her life was taken unjustifiably and tragically and violently.

Kamala Harris

01:09:53 - 01:10:41 (48 sec)

And it just -- it brings me to, you know, the eight minutes and 46 seconds that America witnessed during which an American man was tortured and killed under the knee of an armed uniformed police officer and people around our country of every race, of every age, of every gender, perfect strangers to each other, marched shoulder to shoulder, arm in arm, fighting for us to finally achieve that ideal and equal justice under law and I was a part of those peaceful protests.

Kamala Harris

01:10:41 - 01:11:07 (26 sec)

And I believe strongly that first of all, we are never going to condone violence, but we always must fight for the values that we hold dear, including the fight to achieve our ideals. And that's why Joe Biden and I have said on this subject, look, I'm a former career prosecutor, I know what I'm talking about, bad cops are bad for good cops.

Kamala Harris

01:11:07 - 01:11:34 (27 sec)

We need reform of our policing in America and our criminal justice system, which is why Joe and I will immediately ban chokeholds in carotid holds. George Floyd would be alive today if we did that. We will require a national registry for police officers who break the law. We will, on the issue of criminal justice reform, get rid of private prisons and cash bail and we will decriminalize marijuana and we will --

Susan Page

01:11:34 - 01:11:35 (1 sec)

Thank you, Senator Harris.

Kamala Harris

01:11:35 - 01:11:38 (3 sec)

We will expunge the records of those who haven't been convicted of marijuana.

Susan Page

01:11:38 - 01:11:40 (2 sec)

Thank you, Senator Harris. [Crosstalk]

Kamala Harris

01:11:40 - 01:11:44 (5 sec)

This is a time for leadership on a tragic, tragic issue of unarmed Black people in America --

Susan Page

01:11:44 - 01:11:55 (11 sec)

Thank you, Senator Harris. Vice President Pence, let me pose the same question to you. In the case of Breonna Taylor was justice done? You have two minutes, uninterrupted.

Mike Pence

01:11:55 - 01:12:25 (29 sec)

Well, our heart breaks for the loss of innocent, any innocent American life and the family Breonna Taylor has our sympathies, but I trust our justice system, a grand jury that refused the evidence and it really is remarkable that as a former prosecutor, you would assume that an impaneled grand jury looking at all the evidence, got it wrong, but you're entitled to your opinion, Senator.

Mike Pence

01:12:25 - 01:12:50 (25 sec)

I think -- and with regard to George Floyd, there's no excuse for what happened to George Floyd. Justice will be served, but there's also no excuse for the rioting and looting that followed. I mean it really is astonishing, Flora Westbrook is with us here tonight in Salt Lake City. This few weeks ago, I stood at what used to be her salon.

Mike Pence

01:12:50 - 01:13:22 (32 sec)

It was burned to the ground by rioters and looters and Flora is still trying to put her life back together. And I must tell you this, this -- this presumption that you hear consistently from Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, that then America is systemically racist and that as Joe Biden said that he believes that law enforcement has an implicit bias against minorities.

Mike Pence

01:13:22 - 01:14:05 (43 sec)

Is -- is a great insult to the men and women who serve in law enforcement and I want everyone to know who puts on the uniform of law enforcement every day that President Trump and I stand with you. It is remarkable that that when Senator Tim Scott tried to pass a police reform bill brought together a group of Republicans and Democrats, Senator Harris, you got up and walked out of the room and then you filibustered Senator Tim Scott's bill on the Senate floor that would have provided new accountability, new repeat resources, what we don't have to choose between supporting law enforcement, proving public safety and supporting our African-American neighbors for all of our minorities.

Susan Page

01:14:05 - 01:14:06 (1 sec)

Thank you, Vice President.

Mike Pence

01:14:06 - 01:14:13 (7 sec)

Under President Trump's leadership, we'll always stand with law enforcement and we'll do what we've done because they want to improve the lives of African-Americans --

Susan Page

01:14:13 - 01:14:15 (2 sec)

Thank you, Vice President Pence.

Mike Pence

01:14:15 - 01:14:19 (4 sec)

Record unemployment, record investments in education, and we'll fight for school choice for all of our members.

Susan Page

01:14:19 - 01:14:20 (1 sec)

Thank you, Vice President.

Kamala Harris

01:14:20 - 01:14:22 (2 sec)

I'd like to respond.

Susan Page

01:14:22 - 01:14:23 (1 sec)

Senator Harris.

Kamala Harris

01:14:23 - 01:14:43 (20 sec)

I will not sit here and be lectured by the Vice President on what it means to enforce the laws of our country. I am the only one on this stage who has personally prosecuted everything from child sexual assault to homicide. I'm the only one on this stage who has prosecuted the big banks for taking advantage of America's homeowners.

Kamala Harris

01:14:43 - 01:15:06 (23 sec)

I'm the only one on this stage who prosecuted for-profit colleges for taking advantage of our veterans. And the reality of this is, that we are talking about an election in 27 days, where last week the President of the United States took a debate stage in front of 70 million Americans and refused to condemn white supremacists.

Mike Pence

01:15:06 - 01:15:08 (2 sec)

Not true, not true.

Kamala Harris

01:15:08 - 01:15:42 (35 sec)

And it wasn't like he didn't have a chance, he didn't do it and then he doubled down. And then he said when pressed, stand back, stand by, and this is a part of a pattern of Donald Trump's. You -- he was clearly called Mexicans rapists and criminals, he instituted as his first act a Muslim ban. He -- on the issue of Charlottesville, where people were peacefully protesting.

Kamala Harris

01:15:42 - 01:16:08 (26 sec)

The need for racial justice where a young woman was killed and on the other side, there were neo-Nazis carrying tiki torches, shouting racial epithets, spit -- anti-Semitic slurs. And Donald Trump when asked about it said there were fine people on both sides. This is who we have as the President of the United States and America you deserve better.

Mike Pence

01:16:08 - 01:16:09 (1 sec)

Susan, Susan --

Kamala Harris

01:16:09 - 01:16:13 (4 sec)

Joe Biden will be a President who brings our country together and --

Susan Page

01:16:13 - 01:16:14 (1 sec)

Senator Harris --

Kamala Harris

01:16:14 - 01:16:20 (6 sec)

Recognizes the beauty in our diversity and the fact that we all have so much more in common than what separates us.

Susan Page

01:16:20 - 01:16:23 (4 sec)

Senator Harris. Vice President Pence let me give you a minute to respond.

Mike Pence

01:16:23 - 01:16:56 (33 sec)

Thank you, Susan. I appreciate that very much. You know, I think this is one of the things that makes people dislike the media so much in this country, Susan, is that you selectively edit just like Senator Harris did, comments that President Trump and I and others on our side of the aisle make. I mean, Senator Harris conveniently omitted after -- after the President made comments about people on either side of the debate over monuments, he condemned the KKK neo-Nazis and white supremacists and has done so repeatedly.

Mike Pence

01:16:56 - 01:17:15 (19 sec)

You're concerned that he doesn't condemn neo-Nazis, President Trump has Jewish grandchildren, his daughter and son-in-law are Jewish. This is a President who -- who respects and cherishes all of the American people, but you talk about having personally prosecuted. I'm glad you brought up your record, Senator.

Kamala Harris

01:17:15 - 01:17:16 (1 sec)

Mike Pence

01:17:16 - 01:17:30 (14 sec)

That's, uh -- I really need to make this point. When you were -- when you were D.A. in San Francisco, when you left office, African-Americans were 19 times more likely to be prosecuted for minor drug offenses than whites and Hispanics.

Susan Page

01:17:30 - 01:17:32 (2 sec)

Thank you. Thank you Vice President --

Mike Pence

01:17:32 - 01:17:39 (7 sec)

When you were Attorney General of California, you increased the proportion -- the disproportionate incarceration of banks in California.

Susan Page

01:17:39 - 01:17:39 (0 sec)

Mike Pence

01:17:39 - 01:17:52 (13 sec)

You did nothing on criminal justice reform in California. You didn't lift a finger to pass the first step back on Capitol Hill. I mean, the reality is, your record speaks for myself. President Trump and I have fought for criminal justice for --

Susan Page

01:17:52 - 01:17:54 (2 sec)

Thank you, Vice President Pence.

Mike Pence

01:17:54 - 01:17:58 (4 sec)

We fought for educational choice and opportunities for African-Americans, all of our members and we'll do it for four more years.

Susan Page

01:17:58 - 01:18:06 (8 sec)

Thank you, sir. Thank you. You know there is no more important issue than the final issue that we're going to talk about tonight and that is the issue of the election.

Kamala Harris

01:18:06 - 01:18:09 (3 sec)

But -- but he attacked my record. I would like an opportunity to respond.

Susan Page

01:18:09 - 01:18:13 (4 sec)

Let me give you 30 seconds because we -- because we're running out of time.

Kamala Harris

01:18:13 - 01:18:40 (27 sec)

I appreciate that. First of all, having served as the Attorney General of the state of California, the work that I did is a model of what our nation needs to do and we will be able to do under a Joe Biden Presidency. Our -- our agenda includes what this administration has failed to do. It will be about, not only instituting a ban on chokeholds and carotid holds, not only --

Susan Page

01:18:40 - 01:18:42 (1 sec)

Thank you, Senator Harris.

Kamala Harris

01:18:42 - 01:18:43 (1 sec)

I would like to go through --

Susan Page

01:18:43 - 01:18:48 (4 sec)

These are points that you made earlier in the hour and I want to talk about the election itself before we have to --

Kamala Harris

01:18:48 - 01:19:12 (24 sec)

But I want to talk about the connection between what Joe and I will do and my record, which includes, I was the first statewide officer to institute a requirement that my agents would wear body cameras and keep them on full time. We were the first to initiate a requirement that there would be a training for law enforcement on implicit bias because, yes, Joe Biden and I recognize that implicit bias does exist, Mr.

Kamala Harris

01:19:12 - 01:19:37 (25 sec)

Vice President, contrary to what you may believe. We did the work of instituting reforms that were about investing in re-entry. This is the work that we have done and the work we will do going forward. And again, I will not be lectured by the Vice President on our record of what we have done in terms of law enforcement and keeping our communities safe and a commitment to reforming the criminal justice system of America.

Susan Page

01:19:37 - 01:20:02 (25 sec)

Thank you, Senator Harris and I'd like to oppose the first -- I'd like you to respond first to the question on our final topic, the election itself. President Trump has several times refused to commit himself to a peaceful transfer of power after the election. If your ticket wins and President Trump refuses to accept a peaceful transfer of power, what steps would you and Vice President Biden then take?

Susan Page

01:20:02 - 01:20:05 (3 sec)

What would happen next? You have two minutes.

Kamala Harris

01:20:05 - 01:20:32 (27 sec)

So, I'll tell you, Joe and I are I think particularly proud of the coalition that we've built around our campaign. We probably have one of the broadest coalitions of folks that you've ever seen in a Presidential race. Of course, we have the support of Democrats, but also independents and Republicans. In fact, seven members of President George W. Bush's cabinet are supporting our ticket.

Kamala Harris

01:20:32 - 01:21:03 (31 sec)

We have the support of -- of Colin Powell, Cindy McCain, John Kasich, over 500 Generals, retired Generals and former national security experts and advisers are supporting our campaign. And I believe they are doing that because they know that Joe Biden has a deep, deep-seated commitment to fight for our democracy and to fight for the integrity of our democracy and to bring integrity back to the White House.

Kamala Harris

01:21:03 - 01:21:31 (28 sec)

And so, we believe in the American people, we believe in our democracy, and here's what I'd like to say to everybody, vote, please vote, vote early, come up with a plan to vote, go to iwillvote.com, you can also go to joebiden.com. We have it within our power in these next 27 days to make the decision about what will be the course of our country for the next four years and it is within our power.

Kamala Harris

01:21:31 - 01:21:59 (28 sec)

And if we use our vote and we use our voice, we will win and we will not let anyone subvert our democracy with what Donald Trump has been doing as he did on the debate stage last week, when again, in front Of 70 million people, he openly attempted to suppress the vote. Joe Biden on the other hand on that same debate stage because clearly, Donald Trump doesn't think he can run on a record because it's a failed record.

Kamala Harris

01:21:59 - 01:22:06 (6 sec)

Joe Biden on that stage said, hey, just please vote. So I'll repeat what Joe said, please vote.

Susan Page

01:22:06 - 01:22:24 (18 sec)

Thank you, Senator. Vice President Pence, President Trump has several times refused to commit himself to a peaceful transfer of power after the election. If Vice President Biden is declared the winner and President Trump refuses to accept a peaceful transfer of power, what would be your role and responsibility as Vice President?

Susan Page

01:22:24 - 01:22:28 (3 sec)

What would you personally do? You have two minutes.

Mike Pence

01:22:28 - 01:22:58 (31 sec)

Well, Susan, first and foremost, I think we're going to win this election because while Joe Biden and Kamala Harris rattle off a long litany of the establishment in Washington, D.C., an establishment that Joe Biden's been a part of for 47 years. President, Donald Trump has launched a movement of everyday Americans from every walk of life and I have every confidence that those same Americans that delivered that historic victory in 2016, they see this President's record where we rebuild our military.

Mike Pence

01:22:58 - 01:23:18 (20 sec)

We revived our economy through tax cuts and rolling back regulation, fighting for fair trade, unleashing American energy, we appointed conservatives to our federal courts at every level, and we stood with the men and women of law enforcement every single day. And I think -- I think that movement of Americans has only grown stronger in the last four years.

Mike Pence

01:23:18 - 01:23:41 (23 sec)

When you talk about accepting the outcome of the election, I must tell you, Senator, your party has spent the last three and a half years trying to overturn the results of the last election. I mean it's amazing. When Joe Biden was Vice President of the United States, the FBI actually spied on President Trump and my campaign.

Mike Pence

01:23:41 - 01:24:04 (23 sec)

I mean there were documents released this week that the CIA actually made a referral to the FBI documenting that those allegations were coming from the Hillary Clinton campaign. And of course, we've all seen the avalanche what -- what you put the country through for -- for the better part of three years until it was found that there was no obstruction, no collusion, case closed.

Mike Pence

01:24:04 - 01:24:23 (19 sec)

And then, Senator Harris, you and your colleagues in the -- in the Congress tried to impeach the President of the United States over a phone call and now Hillary Clinton has actually said to Joe Biden that under -- in her words, under no circumstances should he concede the election. So let me just say, I think we're going to win this election.

Mike Pence

01:24:23 - 01:24:38 (15 sec)

President Trump and I are fighting every day in courthouses to prevent Joe Biden and Kamala Harris from changing the rules and creating this universal mail-in voting that will create a massive opportunity for voter fraud and we have a free and fair election. We know we're going to have confidence in it.

Mike Pence

01:24:38 - 01:24:42 (4 sec)

And I believe in all my heart, that President Donald Trump is going to be re-elected for four more years.

Susan Page

01:24:42 - 01:25:04 (22 sec)

You know, I've -- I've asked -- I've written all the questions that I've asked tonight, but for the final question of the debate, I'd like to write a -- read a question that someone else wrote. The Utah Debate Commission asked students in the state to write essays about what they would like to ask you and I want to close tonight's debate with the question posed by Breckland Browne.

Susan Page

01:25:04 - 01:25:28 (24 sec)

She's an eighth-grader at Springville Junior High in Springville, Utah. And here's what she wrote, quote, when I watch the news, all I see is arguing between Democrats and Republicans. When I watch the news, all I see is citizen fighting against citizen. When I watch the news, all I see are two candidates from opposing parties trying to tear each other down.

Susan Page

01:25:28 - 01:25:46 (18 sec)

If our leaders can't get along, how are the citizens supposed to get along? And then she added, your examples could make all the difference to bring us together, end quote. So to each of you in turn, I'd like you to take one minute and respond to Breckland, Vice President Pence, you have one minute.

Mike Pence

01:25:46 - 01:26:14 (28 sec)

Breckland, it's a wonderful question, and let me just commend you for taking an interest in -- in public life. I started following the news when I was very young and in an America, we believe in a free and open exchange of debate and we celebrate that. That's how we've created literally the freest and most prosperous nation in the history of the world.

Mike Pence

01:26:14 - 01:26:36 (22 sec)

And I -- I -- I would tell you that don't assume that what you're seeing on your local news networks is synonymous with the American people. You know, I look at the relationship between Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the late Justice who we just lost from the Supreme Court, and the late Justice Antonin Scalia.

Mike Pence

01:26:36 - 01:26:57 (21 sec)

They were on polar opposites on the Supreme Court of the United States, one very liberal one, very conservative. But what's been learned since her passing was the two of them and their families were the very closest of friends. I mean, here in America, we can disagree. We can debate vigorously as Senator Harris and I have on this stage tonight.

Mike Pence

01:26:57 - 01:27:17 (20 sec)

But when the debate is over, we come together as Americans, and that's what people do in big cities and small towns all across this country. So, I just want to encourage you, Breckland, I want to tell you that we're going to work every day to have government as good as our people, the American people each and every day love a good debate.

Mike Pence

01:27:17 - 01:27:23 (6 sec)

We love a good argument, but we always come together and are always there for one another in times of need --

Susan Page

01:27:23 - 01:27:26 (3 sec)

Thank you, Vice President Pence.

Mike Pence

01:27:26 - 01:27:30 (4 sec)

And we've especially learned that through the difficulties of this year.

Susan Page

01:27:30 - 01:27:36 (6 sec)

Thank you, Mr. Vice President. Senator Harris, what would you say to Breckland?

Kamala Harris

01:27:36 - 01:27:53 (17 sec)

First of all, I'd love hearing from our young leaders and when I hear her words, when I hear your words, Breckland, I know our future is bright because it is that perspective on who we are and who we should be. That is a sign of leadership and is something we should all aspire to be and that, you know, that brings me to Joe.

Kamala Harris

01:27:53 - 01:28:18 (25 sec)

Joe Biden, one of the reasons that Joe decided to run for President is after Charlottesville, which we talked about earlier. It's so troubled him and upset him like it did all of us that there was that kind of hate and division. What propelled Joe to run for President was to see that over the course of the last four years, what Breckland described has been happening.

Kamala Harris

01:28:18 - 01:28:42 (23 sec)

Joe has a long-standing reputation of working across the aisle and working in a bipartisan way, and that's what he's going to do as President. Joe Biden has a history of lifting people up and fighting for their dignity. You mean, you have to know Joe's story to know that Joe has known pain, he has known suffering, and he has known love.

Kamala Harris

01:28:42 - 01:29:06 (24 sec)

And so, Breckland, when you think about the future, I do believe the future is bright and it will be because of your leadership and it will be because we fight for each person's voice through their vote. And we get engaged in this election because you have the ability through your work and through eventually your vote --

Susan Page

01:29:06 - 01:29:08 (2 sec)

Thank you, Senator Harris.

Kamala Harris

01:29:08 - 01:29:11 (3 sec)

To determine the future of our country and what its leadership looks like.

Susan Page

01:29:11 - 01:29:41 (30 sec)

Thank you, Senator Harris. Thank you, Vice President Pence. Thank you so much for being with us tonight. We want to thank also the University of Utah for its hospitality and most of all, our thanks to all the Americans who watched this debate tonight. Again, our best wishes for a quick recovery to President, the first lady, and everyone who is battling COVID-19. The second Presidential debate is next week on October 15th, a town hall-style debate in Miami.

Susan Page

01:29:41 - 01:29:50 (9 sec)

We hope you'll join us then. Good evening.