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CNN Live Event/Special
Pence and Harris Debates in Utah. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired October 08, 2020 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
DON LEMON, CNN HOST: Sing a song.
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CUOMO: Thank you for watching, our friends. We will be back. Our coverage of tonight's vice-presidential debate will continue.
SUSAN PAGE, DEBATE MODERATOR: 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.
PAGE: 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 socially distanced audience, and we've taken extra precautions during this pandemic.
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 enthusiasm only twice, at the end of debate and now, when I introduce the candidates. Please welcome California Senator Kamala Harris and Vice President Mike Pence.
(APPLAUSE)
PENCE: Thank you.
PAGE: Senator Harris and Vice President Pence, thank you for being here.
PAGE: 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. The two campaigns, and the Commission of Presidential Debates have agreed to the ground rules for tonight. I am 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.
This 90 minute debate will be divided in to 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. 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.
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 COVID 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. What would a Biden administration do in January and February that a Trump administration wouldn't do? Would you impose new lockdowns for businesses and schools in hotspots? A federal mandate to wear masks?
You have two minutes to respond without interruption.
HARRIS: 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. 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 28, the vice president and the president were informed about the nature of this pandemic. 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.
[03:05:00]
Can you imagine if you knew on January 28, as opposed to March 13 - what they knew, 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. 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, and frankly, this administration has forfeited ...
PAGE: Thank you, Senator Harris.
HARRIS: ... their right to reelection based on this.
PAGE: 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, 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.
PENCE: 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.
PENCE: 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.
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. And that was he suspended all travel from China, the second largest economy in the world.
Now, Senator, Joe Biden opposed that decision. 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. 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 to the delivery of billions of supplies so our doctors and nurses had the resources and support they needed.
And we began, really before the month of February was over, to develop a vaccine and to develop medicines and therapeutics that had been saving lives all along the way.
And under President Trump's leadership, Operation Warp Speed, we believe, we'll have literally tens of millions of doses of a 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.
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 the...
PAGE: Thank you, Vice President Pence.
PENCE: ... health of America first. And the American people, I believe with my heart, can be proud of the sacrifices...
PAGE: Thank you, Vice President Pence.
PENCE: ... they have made. It's saved countless American lives.
PAGE: Thank you, Vice President Pence.
Senator Harris?
Would you like to respond?
HARRIS: 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. 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 y'all tell anybody," he said, "Because the president wanted people to remain calm."
PAGE: Well, let's get the...
HARRIS: No, but, Susan, this is important...
PENCE: Susan, I have to weigh in here.
HARRIS: I want to add, but if -- Mr. Vice President, I'm speaking.
PENCE: I have to weigh in.
HARRIS: I'm speaking.
PAGE: You have 15 more seconds, and then we'll give the vice president a chance to respond.
HARRIS: Thank you.
So I want to ask the American people, how calm were you when you were panicked about where you were going to get your next roll of toilet paper?
How calm were you when your kids were sent home from school and you didn't know when they could go back?
How calm were you...
PAGE: Thank you, Senator Harris.
HARRIS: ... when your children couldn't see your parents because you were afraid they could kill them?
PAGE: Let's give Vice President Pence a chance to respond.
Vice President Pence, you have one minute to respond.
PENCE: You know, there's not a day gone by that I haven't thought of every American family that's lost a loved one.
[03:10:00]
And I want all of you to know that you'll always be in our hearts and in our prayers.
But when you say what the American people have done over these last eight months hasn't worked, that's a great disservice to the sacrifices the American people have made.
HARRIS: I'm referring to you and the president.
PENCE: The reality -- if I may finish, Senator -- 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.
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. Now, that's the reality.
PAGE: Thank you. Thank you, Vice President Pence.
PENCE: They also said to us, if we did everything right, Susan, we could still lose more than 200,000 Americans.
PAGE: Vice President Pence...
PENCE: Now, one life lost is too many...
PAGE: Thank you.
PENCE: ... 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, our doctors, our nurses, our first responders.
PAGE: Thank you, Vice President Pence.
PENCE: And I'm going to speak up on behalf of what the American people have done.
PAGE: Vice President Pence, you were in the front row in a Rose Garden event 11 days ago, what seems to have been a super-spreader event for senior administration and congressional officials -- no social distancing, 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?
PENCE: Well, the American people have demonstrated over the last eight months, they've been 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 their ability to take that information and put it into practice.
In the height of the epidemic when we were losing a heart breaking 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. The vacancy on the Supreme Court of the United States has come upon us and the president introduced Judge Amy Coney Barrett.
PAGE: Yes, thank you -- thank you, Vice President Pence.
PENCE: But at that -- if I may say, that Rose Garden event, there's been 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 scientist regularly and routinely advise.
The difference here is President Trump and I trust the American people to make choices in the best interest of their health. And Joe Biden and Kamala Harris consistently talk about mandates.
And not -- not just mandates with the coronavirus but of government takeover of healthcare ...
PAGE: Thank you. Thank you, Vice President Pence.
PENCE: ... the Green New Deal, all government controlled. We're about freedom and respecting the freedom of the American people.
HARRIS: 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 ....
(CROSSTALK)
PENCE: Which we've always done.
HARRIS: ... 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 enough 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.
So let's talk about caring about the American people. The American people have had to sacrifice far too much because of the incompetence of this administration. It is asking too much of the people.
PENCE: Susan, we talked ...
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: It is asking too much of the people that they would not be equipped with the information they need to help themselves to protect their parents and their children.
(CROSSTALK)
PENCE: Susan, the president ...
PAGE: No, I'm sorry. Kamala Harris -- Senator Harris, I mean, I'm sorry.
HARRIS: That's fine, I'm Kamala.
PAGE: 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?
HARRIS: 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 I should -- that we should take it, I'm not taking it.
PAGE: Vice President Pence, there have been a lot of repercussions from this pandemic.
[03:15:00]
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. 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? And if not, do you think you should? You have two minutes without interruption.
PENCE: Well, Susan, thank you. Although, I would like to go back to ...
PAGE: I think we need to move on to the issue ...
PENCE: Well, thank you but I would like to go back because the reality is that 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 three 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 is think is unconscionable. And Senator, I just ask you, stop playing politics with people's live. The reality is that we will have a vaccine, we believe, before the end of this year. And it will have the capacity to save countless American lives.
And your continuous undermining of confidence in a vaccine is just -- it's just unacceptable.
And let me also say, you know, the reality is, when you talk 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 7-1/2 million people contracted the swine flu, 60 million Americans contracted the swine flu.
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 we learned from that.
They left the strategic national stockpile empty. They left an empty and hollow plan, but we still learned from it.
PAGE: Thank you, Vice President Pence.
PENCE: And I think the American people --
PAGE: Mr. Vice President, you're time is up.
PENCE: -- I'm going to say again, can be proud --
PAGE: Vice President Pence, I'm sorry, your time is up.
PENCE: -- of what we had done, and, Senator, please --
PAGE: Thank you, Vice President Pence.
PENCE: -- stop undermining confidence in a vaccine.
PAGE: Senator Harris, let me ask you the same question that I asked --
HARRIS: Sure.
PAGE: -- 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.
HARRIS: So let me tell you, first of all, the day I got the call from Joe Biden, it was actually a Zoom call, asking me to serve with him on this ticket was probably one of the most memorable days of my life.
I -- you know, I thought about my mother, who came to the United States at the age of 19, gave birth to me at the age of 25 at Kaiser Hospital in Oakland, California. 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.
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. 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 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 in the United States, second only to the United States 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.
[03:20:00]
And then, of course, now, I serve in the United States Senate as only the second black woman ever elected to the United States Senate. I serve on the Senate Intelligence Committee where I've been in regular receipt of classified information about threats to our nation and hot spots 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, and after the four years that we have seen of Donald Trump, unifying our country around our common values and principles.
PAGE: Thank you, Senator Harris.
You know, 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 refused to answer basic questions about his health.
And my question to each of you in turn is, is this information voters deserve to know?
Vice President Pence, would you like to go first?
PENCE: 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.
But the care the president received at Walter Reed Hospital, 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.
But I'm just extremely grateful, and was more than -- more than a little moved by the broad and bipartisan support, and Senator, I want to thank you and Joe Biden for your expressions of genuine concern.
And I also want to congratulate you, as I did on that phone call, on the historic nature of your nomination.
HARRIS: Thank you.
PENCE: I never expected to be on this stage 4 years ago, so I know the feeling, but 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 I...
(CROSSTALK)
PAGE: Thank you -- thank you, Vice President Pence.
PENCE: ...think the choice has never been clearer.
PAGE: I want to give Senator Harris a chance to respond to the same question I asked, which is do voters have a right to know more detailed health information about presidential candidates, and especially about presidents, especially when they're facing some kind of challenge?
HARRIS: 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 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, 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?
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 there. He is honest, he is forthright, but Donald Trump on the other hand...
(CROSSTALK)
PENCE: Susan...
PAGE: Thank (ph)...
HARRIS: ...has been about covering up everything.
PAGE: Thanks -- thank you, Senator Harris. I want to give you a chance to respond, Vice President.
PENCE: Well look, I respect the fact that Joe Biden spent 47 years in public life. I respect your public service as well. HARRIS: Thank you.
PENCE: The American people have a president who's a business man, he's a job creator, who'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 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 4 years ago...
PAGE: Thank you -- thank you, Vice President Pence.
PENCE: ...and turned this economy around by cutting taxes, rolling back regulations, unleashing (ph) American energy...
(CROSSTALK)
PAGE: Thank you -- thank you, Vice President Pence.
PENCE: ...fighting for free and fair trade, and all of that's on the line...
PAGE: Thank you -- thank you, Vice President Pence.
PENCE: ...if Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are in the White House.
PAGE: You know that's a good segue into our third topic...
HARRIS: That's a great segue.
[03:25:00]
PAGE: ...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 percent in September, but the job growth has stalled, and that was before the latest round of layoffs and furloughs in the airline industry, at Disney, and elsewhere. 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. 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, uninterrupted.
HARRIS: 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 rich people are doing. Which is why he passed a tax bill benefiting the top 1 percent and the biggest corporations of America, leading to a $2 trillion deficit that the American people are going to have to pay for.
HARRIS: 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 Week. I don't think it ever happened. But Joe Biden will do that.
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 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.
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 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 (ph) about investing in the people of our country, as opposed to passing a tax bill which had the benefit of letting American corporations go off shore to do their business.
PAGE: Thank you, Senator Harris. 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.
PENCE: When President Trump and I took office, America had gone through the slowest economic recovery since the Great Depression. It's 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 in taxes. And with the rise in wages that occurred, most predominately for blue-collar, hard-working Americans, the average household income for a family of four increased by $4,000 following President Trump's tax cuts.
But America, you just heard Senator Harris tell you. On day one, Joe Biden's going to raise your taxes. It's really remarkable to think, Susan --
HARRIS: That's not what I said (ph). PENCE: -- 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 had a President who cut taxes, rolled 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 15 million jobs through the Paycheck Protection Program.
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 were 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. 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.
[03:30:00]
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. The American economy, the American comeback is on the ballot with four more years of growth --
PAGE: Thank you --
PENCE: -- and opportunity --
PAGE: Thank you --
PENCE: -- and four more years of President Donald Trump. 2021 --
PAGE: Thank you, Vice President --
PENCE: -- is going to be the biggest year in the history of this country.
PAGE: Thank you, Vice President Pence. Senator Harris?
HARRIS: Well, I mean, I thought 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 --
PENCE: He said he's going to repeal the Trump tax cuts.
HARRIS: Mr. Vice President, I'm speaking. I'm speaking.
PENCE: (Inaudible) said the truth (ph). Joe 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.
HARRIS: That is --
PENCE: Senator --
HARRIS: That is --
PENCE: -- that's the math.
HARRIS: -- absolutely not true. That tax bill --
PENCE: Is he only cutting -- is he only going to repeal part of the Trump tax cuts?
HARRIS: If you don't mind letting me finish, we --
PENCE: Please.
HARRIS: -- can then have a conversation, OK?
PENCE: Please.
HARRIS: 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 Great Recession, was responsible for the Recovery Act that brought America back.
And now the Trump/Pence administration wants to take credit when they - when they rode the coattails of Joe Biden's success for the economy that they had at the beginning of their term. Of course, now the economy is a completely disaster, but Joe Biden on the other 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 health care to over 20 million Americans and protected people with pre-existing conditions. And what it also did, was it saved those families who otherwise were going bankrupt because of hospital bills they could not afford. On the other hand, you have Donald Trump who's in court trying to get rid of...
PAGE: Thank you, senator.
HARRIS: ...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.
PAGE: Yes, but we need to give Vice President Pence...
HARRIS: I'd just like -- 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, they're coming for you. If you're under the age of 26 on your parents' coverage, they're coming for you.
PAGE: Senator Harris, thank you. Let me give you a chance to respond.
PENCE: 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 health care and to protect pre-existing conditions for every American. But look Senator Harris, you're entitled to your own opinion, but you're not entitled to your own facts.
You yourself said on multiple occasions when you were running for president that you would ban fracking. Joe Biden looked his support 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, it 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 American decline. President Trump and I will keep America growing. The V-shaped recovery that's underway right now will continue with four more years with President Donald Trump in the white house.
PAGE: Thank you very much, Vice President Pence. Hence 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 have seen record-setting wildfires in the west. Do you believe, as the scientific community as 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.
PENCE: Thank you, Susan. Well first, I'm very proud of our record on the environment and on conservation. According to all of the best estimates, our air and land are cleaner than any time ever recorded.
[03:35:00]
Our water is among the cleanest in the world.
And just a little while ago, the president signed the Outdoors Act, the largest investment in public land and public parks in 100 years. So President Trump has made a commitment to conservation and to the environment. Now with regard to climate change, the climate is changing. The issue is, what's the cause, and what do we do about it? 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. 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. 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.
You know what is 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. And so by creating a 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 Newsome from your state has agreed we've got to work on forest management.
And with regard to hurricanes, the National Oceanic Administration tells us that actually as difficult as they are ...
PAGE: Thank you -- thank you, Vice President Pence.
PENCE: ... there are no more hurricanes today than there were 100 years ago.
PAGE: Thank you.
PENCE: But many of the climate alarmists use hurricanes ...
PAGE: Vice President Pence, I'm sorry, your time is up.
PENCE: ... and wildfire to try and sell the bill of goods of a Green New Deal. And President Trump and I are going to always put American jobs and American workers first.
PAGE: Senator Harris, as the vice president mentioned, you cosponsored 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 Biden-Harris administration toward the Green New Deal?
You have two minutes, uninterrupted.
HARRIS: 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.
Joe Biden's economic plan -- Moody's, which is a reputable Wall Street firm has said we'll 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. Joe sees what is happening in 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.
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. Donald Trump, when asked about the wildfires in California and the question was the science is telling us this -- 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. Joe is about saying we're going to invest that in renewable energy, it'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. We will also reenter the climate agreement with pride.
PAGE: Senator Harris just said that climate change is an existential threat. Vice President Pence, do you believe that climate change poses an existential threat?
[03:40:00]
PENCE: 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. 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 cosponsor 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 cosponsored with AOC when she submitted it in the Senate. 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. We don't need a massive $2 trillion Green New Deal that would impose all new mandates on American businesses, and American families ...
PAGE: Thank you, Vice President ...
PENCE: ... Joe Biden wants us to retrofit 4 million American ...
PAGE: Thank you, Vice President Pence ...
PENCE: ... business buildings. It makes no sense, it will cost jobs. President Trump ...
PAGE: Thank you Vice President Pence.
PENCE: ... is going to put America first, he's going to put jobs first and we're going to take care of our environment and follow the science.
HARRIS: You know, on the issue of jobs ...
PAGE: Thank you, Vice President Pence.
Senator Harris?
HARRIS: Let's talk about that. You -- the vice president earlier referred to -- it as part of what he thinks is an accomplishment, 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. 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.
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: And the American people know what I'm talking about.
You know.
I -- I think about 20-year-olds -- you know, we have a 20-year-old...
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: ... twenty-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. 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.
PAGE: Thank you, Senator Harris.
Vice President Pence, let me give you just 15 seconds to respond, because then I want to move on to the next...
PENCE: Well, I'd love to respond.
Look, lost the trade war with China? Joe Biden never fought it. Joe Biden has been a cheerleader for Communist China through -- over the last several decades.
And -- 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. He said we needed a magic wand to bring them back.
In our first three years, after we cut taxes, rolled back regulations...
PAGE: Thank you, Vice President Pence.
PENCE: ... unleashed American energy, this administration saw 500,000...
PAGE: Thank you, Vice President Pence.
PENCE: ... manufacturing jobs created. And that's exactly the kind of growth we're going to continue to see as we bring our nation through this pandemic.
PAGE: Thank you, Vice President Pence.
PENCE: You have the green new deal...
(CROSSTALK)
PENCE: You have massive new mandates, your Paris Climate Accord. It's going to kill jobs this time, just like it killed jobs...
HARRIS: Mr. Vice President, I just need to respond very briefly, please.
PAGE: Fifteen seconds, and then we'll move on.
HARRIS: 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. PAGE: 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."
Vice President Pence, how would you describe our -- our fundamental relationship with China, competitors, adversaries, enemies?
You have two minutes.
PENCE: Thank you, Susan.
But let me -- before I leave that, let me speak to voting records, if I can.
[03:45:00]
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.
The American people deserve to know that Senator Kamala Harris was one of only 10 members of the Senate to vote against the USMCA. It was a huge win for American auto workers. It was a huge win for American farmers, especially dairy in the Upper Midwest.
But, Senator, you -- you said it didn't go far enough on climate change, that you put your -- your radical environmental agenda ahead of American auto workers and ahead of American jobs.
And I think the American people deserve to know that. It's probably why Newsweek Magazine said that -- that Kamala Harris was the most liberal member of the United States Senate in 2019, more liberal than Bernie Sanders, 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 it. He's made that very clear, made it clear again today.
And 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 had 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.
And again, the American people deserve to know, Joe Biden opposed President Trump's decision to suspend all travel from China. He said it was hysterical, he said it was xenophobic.
(CROSSTALK)
PAGE: Thank you, Vice President Pence.
PENCE: But President Trump stood up to China.
(CROSSTALK)
PAGE: Vice President Pence, you time is up.
PENCE: We're going to continue to stand strong.
PAGE: Thank you, Vice President Pence.
PENCE: We want to improve the relationship and 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.
PAGE: 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.
HARRIS: Susan, the Trump administrations perspective and approach to China has resulted in the loss of American lives, American jobs, and America's standing. There's a weird obsession that President Trump has had with getting rid of whatever accomplishment was achieved by President Obama and Vice President Biden.
For example, they created within the White House an office that basically was responsible for monitoring pandemics. They got away -- they -- they got rid of it.
PENCE: Not true.
HARRIS: 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. It resulted in the lost 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.
And let's talk about standing. Pew, a reputable research firm has done an analysis that shows that leaders of all of our formally allied countries have now decided that they holder in greater esteem and respect Xi Jinping, the head of the China's Communist Party than they do Donald Trump, the president of the United States -- the command and chief of the United States.
This is where we are today because of a failure of leadership by this administration.
PAGE: 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 (ph) 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?
[03:50:00]
HARRIS: So you know Joe is -- I love talking with Joe about a lot of these issues and you know, Joe, he -- I think he said it quite well. He says you know foreign policy might sound complicated but really its relationships. So just think about it as relationships.
And so we know this in our personal and professional relationships. You've got to keep your word to your friends. You've got to be loyal to your friends. People who have stood with you, got to stand with them. You 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 -- and -- and embraced dictators around the world. Let's take, for example, Russia. So -- 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 as plain in 2020. Christopher Wray, the director of the FBI said the same.
But Donald Trump, the commander and chief of the United States of the America, prefers to take the word of Vladimir Putin over the word of the American intelligence community.
You look at our friends at NATO. He's 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. 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 American less safe.
So, Susan, it's about relationships. And the thing that has always been a part of the strength of our nation, in addition to our great military, has been that we keep our word.
But Donald Trump doesn't understand that, because he doesn't understand what it means to be honest.
PENCE: Susan --
PAGE: Thank you. Thank you -- thank you, Senator Harris.
Vice President Pence, let me give you a chance to respond.
PENCE: 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. 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. 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. 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. Jihadi John was killed in the battlefield, along with the other Beatle.
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. Baghdadi had held her for 18 months, abused her mercilessly before they killed her.
But when Joe Biden was vice president, they hesitated for a month. And when 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.
PAGE: Thank you, Vice President.
PENCE: But we destroyed the ISIS caliphate.
And you talk about reentering the Iran nuclear deal. I mean, the last administration transferred $1.8 billion to the leading state sponsor --
PAGE: Thank you, Vice President Pence.
PENCE: -- of terrorism.
President Donald Trump got us out of the deal and --
PAGE: Thank you, Vice President Pence. PENCE: -- and when Qassem Soleimani was traveling to Baghdad, to do harm --
PAGE: Thank you, Vice President Pence.
PENCE: -- to Americans, President Donald Trump took him out.
PAGE: Thank you, Vice President Pence.
PENCE: And America is safer. Our allies are safer, and the American people know President Donald Trump will never hesitate to take action.
PAGE: Thank you, Vice President.
I would like to give Senator Harris a chance to respond but not at such great length --
HARRIS: Thank you.
PAGE: -- because, of course, there are topics we want to talk about.
HARRIS: But I would like equal time.
PAGE: Yes. Please go ahead.
HARRIS: Thank you.
First of all, to the Mueller family, I know about your daughter's case, and I am so sorry. I'm so sorry.
What happened to her is awful and it should never have happened.
And I know Joe feels the same way. And I know that President Obama feels the same way.
[03:55:00]
But you mentioned Soleimani, let's start there. 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. 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.
HARRIS: Take -- and 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 a bounty is? It's 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, Joe Biden would never do that.
PAGE: Thank you.
HARRIS: Joe Biden would -- but Joe Biden...
PENCE: Yes.
HARRIS: ...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.
PAGE: Thank you, Senator Harris. This is such an important issue, but we have other important issues as well, and...
(CROSSTALK)
PENCE: Susan, I want to respond to that (ph).
PAGE: ...I want to -- I want to make sure we have a chance to talk about...
PENCE: I really have to respond to that. Look, she has...
PAGE: Fifteen seconds, because we're trying to keep...
PENCE: Well I've got to have more than that.
PAGE: Well you -- I'm sorry, Vice President, but you've had more time than she's had so far.
PENCE: But the slanders against President Donald Trump regarding men and women of our armed forces are absurd.
PAGE: I'm sorry, Vice President Pence.
PENCE: My son is a captain...
PAGE: Yes.
PENCE: ...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.
(CROSSTALK)
PAGE: But -- thank you, Vice President.
PENCE: Let me also say...
PAGE: Vice President Pence...
HARRIS: (inaudible)
PAGE: Vice President Pence, I didn't...
PENCE: ...the American people deserve -- Susan, the American people deserve to know that...
PAGE: Vice President Pence, I did not -- excuse me...
HARRIS: (inaudible) can't deny...
PAGE: I did not create the rules for tonight. You -- your campaigns...
PENCE: ...Joe Biden and...
PAGE: ....agreed to the rules for tonight's debate...
PENCE: I...
PAGE: ...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...
(CROSSTALK)
PENCE: (inaudible)
PAGE: ...which is what I'm trying very hard to do.
PENCE: Go right ahead.
PAGE: 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.
HARRIS: Yes (ph).
PAGE: 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? Would you want your home state to ban all abortions? You have two minutes uninterrupted.
PENCE: 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 to kill more Americans, President Trump didn't hesitate and Qasem Soleimani is gone. But you deserve to know that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris actually criticized the decision to take out Qasem Soleimani. It's really inexplicable. But with regard to Joe Biden, it's explainable. His history records that Joe Biden actually opposed the raid against Osama bin Laden. 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 Coney Barrett become Justice Amy Coney Barrett.
[04:00:00]
