false questionable at right false claims being made but there we re claims being made but there were certainly a number. let's look at coronavirus, this is a covid-19 look at coronavirus, this is a covid—19 election. donald trump had called coronavirus a hoax and we don't think that's right. went back to commence he made in february when he was talking about the impeachment process and he said that with a hoax he then went on to say that the criticism of his handling of covid—19 was a hoax. we know the president has often played down the virus, we know he has said it will one day magically disappear but listening very carefully to the words he used on that day, we don't think he has directly called it a hoax. is for the vice president, mike pence said the trump administration had suspended all travel from china in the early days of the pandemic and saved hundreds of thousands of lives. that claim is wrong. there was no blanket ban on travel from china. yes, chinese citizens were prevented by and large from coming but

there were a number of exemptions for legal residents and others, and flight data analysed by the new york times suggested about 40,000 people arrived directly from china into the united states in the two months after president trump's restrictions were imposed and that most of the spread of the virus into the united states probably came from europe rather than china anyway. very interesting. anything else absolutely crucial that we should be picking up on? on various subjects there were things. 0n healthcare, vice president pence said that president trump and he have a plan to improve healthcare and protect pre—existing conditions for all americans. if they do have a plan, they haven't made a public yet and it's interesting that the moderator did actually press on that later in the debate saying what is this planned to cover pre—existing conditions, and he basically ignored the questions as we have been discussing and went on to talk about abortion and the supreme court instead, and then on the economy, and there

have been lots of debate to and fro throughout the campaign about the number of jobs fro throughout the campaign about the number ofjobs that have or haven't been created. , harris said that more than 30 million people have had to file for unemployment in the last few months. now, that is true to an extent by what she didn't say is that that number has already come down sharply, it is currently about 12 million people claiming for unemployment and of course she didn't give the context that there is a global pandemic or, as we all know, where economies have been crashing all around the world and i think it is fairto the world and i think it is fair to say that under any american president, republican 01’ american president, republican or democrat, that number of unemployed would have soared in april and may when the economy was being shut down almost completely. and just going back to the pandemic specifically and this may be unfair because you may not have had time to check it but when mike pence said we will have huge numbers of doses of vaccine by the end of doses of vaccine by the end of this year, i don't know any timetable where that is strictly accurate? no, it is obviously difficult to fact check a prediction. it sounded

very confident but we know that donald trump and his statement on video statementjust before this debate said we are about to roll out a cure, but i think you have too listen to what the medical professionals are saying and they are certainly skip call. it is possible that a vaccine might emerge before the end of this year but it is one thing giving it to one person in walter reed medical centre, it is another thing rolling out those sort of things all across the country so things all across the country so it is impossible to fact check that but from what we know about the process of trying to find a vaccine and just the sheer logistical challenge of getting it all around the country and all around the country and all around the country and all around the world, it sounds rather unlikely quite wanted to ask you that mike pence said joe biden had accomplished less than 47 years than donald trump had infour than 47 years than donald trump had in four years. that is one from the biography. , harris criticised president trump's record of course saying his tea m record of course saying his team had seen morejobs being lost and created. mike pence

took the democrats to task over the economic strategy. joe biden and kamala harris want to raise taxes, bury our economy undera $2 raise taxes, 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 americanjobs all across 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 and joe biden wants to repeal all of the tariffs that president trump put into effect to fight for americanjobs put into effect to fight for american jobs and american workers. joe biden says democracy is on the ballot. take no mistake about it. the american economy, the american comeback is on the ballot with four more years of growth and opportunity, four more years of president donald trump. this is supposed to be a debate based on fact and truth and the truth and the factors joe on fact and truth and the truth and the factorsjoe biden has been very clear, he will not

raise taxes on anybody who makes less than $400,000 a year. he said he would appeal the trump tax cuts. mr vice president, i'm speaking. i'm speaking. joe biden has said twice in the debate last week that he's going to the trump tax cuts. that was tax cuts that gave the average working family $2000 in a tax break every single year. that is absolutely not true. is the only going to repeal part of the trump tax cuts? if you don't mind letting me finish, we can have a conversation. 0k? joe biden will not raise taxes on anybody who makes less than $400,000 a year. joe biden will not end fracking, he has been very clear about that. lets get some reaction from actual voters to all this. first of all, kerry smith who voted for 0bama in 2008 and 2012, i understand plans to vote trump this time. then we have

gabriel, a student and a trump supporter, and annabel is a student in lexicon city virginia, first of all, let's go to kerry. did this feel to you like a good way to choose a president and a vice president? i wouldn't say it's a good way. i agree with some of your commentators that, i think most people's opinions are u nfortu nately people's opinions are unfortunately already made up and so there's probablyjust a small minority of people who remain to be swayed, and i do think this debate was better and more informative than the presidential one, but my watch it and presidential one, but my watch itandi presidential one, but my watch it and i wonder where we are at asa it and i wonder where we are at as a country that this is how we decide. but interesting, i think you were seriously distressed when mr trump won in 2016 and now you have flipped his way? yes. i was one of those people who cried in 2016 andi those people who cried in 2016 and i say that kind of laughing 110w and i say that kind of laughing now because it's been a strange

trip these four years. icon myself now a reluctant deplorable. i'm someone who, i'm still liberal, i'm trying to choose the most liberal candidate on the ballot and i have u nfortu nately candidate on the ballot and i have unfortunately viewed the republican ticket at this point being more liberal than the democratic one, so that's where iam at. democratic one, so that's where i am at. and i know you have moved, you are a democrat, that is fairto moved, you are a democrat, that is fair to say, but you have moved from pete buttigieg to joe biden, what are you thinking generally about tonight? i think that kamala harris proved to be a strong vice presidential candidate tonight. a move from pete buttigieg tojoe tonight. a move from pete buttigieg to joe biden tonight. a move from pete buttigieg tojoe biden because i thinkjoe buttigieg tojoe biden because i think joe biden buttigieg tojoe biden because i thinkjoe biden will restored decency in america. we are in a really dangerous position right i'iow really dangerous position right now in our country, we are moving away from democracy, joe biden has proven that he will fight for the american people and will be a servant to all,

i'io and will be a servant to all, no matter party affiliation, race, religion, and i think thatis race, religion, and i think that is the heart of what america is. there seems to be a feeling of general frustration that people were not answering questions, was that getting to you? did you feel you heard the a nswe rs you? did you feel you heard the answers that you needed? yeah, i think answers that you needed? yeah, ithinkl answers that you needed? yeah, i think i did. i think the point that resonated with me most in the debate was mike pence's inability to answer the question on why america is one of the wealthiest nations in the but has one of the highest death rates in the world. we have over 200,000 deaths and counting and i think it's really difficult to answer that question, why couldn't we be more prepared? why did we dismantle the pandemic response team. we have the resources, tools, but our leadership is inadequate and our leadership can't answer for the actions they have ta ken can't answer for the actions they have taken over these last few months. gabriel, i know you area few months. gabriel, i know you are a committed republican, you are a committed republican, you are regional director for the republican national hispanic assembly, what was your feeling about tonight, typically?” think it was a lot more civil

than we saw from both, in comparison to the presidential debate another vice presidential debate, i think that people were able to get a clear understanding and i think certainly that vice president mike pence was able to really speak to moderates and undecided voters as opposed to kamala harris who i feel was speaking more so towards her base with talking points rather than whole thoughts. will have been asked this question many times, i'm sure, but you will be voting for a president who has referred to mexicans as rapists and criminals, that's 0k? no, i rapists and criminals, that's ok? no, i wouldn't rapists and criminals, that's ok? no, iwouldn't say rapists and criminals, that's ok? no, i wouldn't say that's entirely true because when we find the entire quote of that, we find that mexico has in fact been sending people that are criminals that they do not want to deal with, and they have sent people who, some are, when the president said some, i assume are good people who really do come here to work and

that needs to be really highlighted here but what doesn't sit well with me is when you have people like joe biden get up there and say that he doesn't want his kids to grow up in a racialjungle. i think that should be highlighted more than something that the mexican government has had a record of doing. you surprised immigration was not covered at all tonight? yes, i wouldn't say that i was surprised though then again, i am sure that in the next presidential debate between trump and biden we will see that come up again. kerry, what do you want to see from the next debate? well, i was promised insults and grandstanding, no, i'm just kidding. what i would like to see and hear is why i have switched and i've decided to vote for trump. i want to see my party, the democratic party, return to liberal values, so i agree with the other boater who said that we are living in dangerous times and we are moving away from democracy stopping the problem is, a set primarily coming from the left at this point and it terrifies

me, soi at this point and it terrifies me, so i want to see a return to the principles of individualism instead of collectivism, i want to see a return to the values of free speech in this country and i don't currently see the democrats supporting that, that's why ice ai believe trump is the most liberal option at the moment. i would love to return to my old party, just think they have been corrupted. do you trust mr trump? as a friend, as a husband, i don't think i would. as a president, i'd trust him more than i do biden and harris, that's for sure. i was very pleased with his executive action against critical race theory being pushed in our critical labs with taxpayer dollars. that was very important to me. it took me this wasn't a short path stop it took me a while from being someone who came around from thinking of him as a demagogue to looking at some of the mischaracterisation of his

quotes in the media and finding out the full context of what he said and once they started going down that rabbit hole, once you realise that the press is lying to you about certain things, it makes you question everything you've ever believed that they have told you before, so it's been a really long journey for me to go from hating the man to sort of relu cta ntly hating the man to sort of reluctantly telling people, and even being willing to tell people that i am voting for him. thank you all very much indeed. anna, forgive me, would have liked to come back to you but we are slightly short of time. thank you very much. with me right now, our news correspondent paul hawkins who has been monitoring reaction across social media. apart from the reams of people saying they are fed up with me coughing and shuffling papers in the background, and the more important thing of the fly on mike pence's head, what's going on? we will get to that, that is trending on social media. i have been looking on searches, searches on google at the

moment and this is stuff that google provide publicly. searches that are taking place in the united states in real—time during the debate. unemployment all the way through the debate was steady at the top and then i've started here at the start of the debate, if you then play it, if we go like this in real—time throughout the debate, you can see that unemployment remains at the top, wages and crime flip around, abortion, and the supreme court, then at 3m shoot to the top and that is interesting, that is at the moment that kamala harris was pushed by mike pence on whether joe biden would pack the supreme court, a question she didn't answer and at that point searches for supreme court in the us shot up, interestingly, along with the topic of abortion. google, in the week up abortion. google, in the week up to october the fifth they said that 53% of people who search for kamala harris, the search for kamala harris, the search term they searched with her was abortion, so it's clearly something, there is certainly a level of curiosity

amongst american voters at the moment. if we then move it along on the same page on the google trending searches, the presidential debate is trending at the top. this is interesting, out of all the four candidates over the last two hours, kamala harris was the most searched candidate out of all four the most searched candidate out of allfour in the most searched candidate out of all four in the united states and it stayed like that for some time now, and on the right—hand side, that we'll that these candidate searches by name, so just that these candidate searches by name, sojust donald trump and joe biden, that was more red and blue before the debate started and it shifted towards joe biden as the debate has gone on. you were talking about what is trending on social media as well. this is what is happening in real time at the moment, mike pence is top. the word kamala only lept up to second part way into the debate. susan and moderator has also been trending, she has been getting a little bit of

stick for how she has moderated the debate, letting the candidates speak for longer than they should have and actually on the topic you were talking about, what kamala harris kept saying to mike pence, mr president, i'm talking. both of those have also been trending on twitter and then of course, the fly. i have to say, i didn't spot the fly on mike pence's head. many millions of people did. indeed, but are actually got a picture of it has i don't know if we can get that up on the screen, that it is. a picture of the fly on mike pence's head, taking a starring role and of course, i don't know how much time people have on their hands when they are watching these debates but there is already multiple account, mike pence's fly, multiple account, mike pence's fly, the pence fly, pence's hair fly, fly, the pence fly, pence's hairfly, et fly, the pence fly, pence's hair fly, et cetera, fly, the pence fly, pence's hairfly, et cetera, and various people making jokes such as, no flies on mike pence and various other quips.

0na more on a more serious note, karen pence not wearing a mask when shejoined him on the pence not wearing a mask when she joined him on the stage at the end. letter speak now to the end. letter speak now to the former communications director for the former communications directorfor president the former communications director for president trump's 2016 campaign. brian, if the polls are to be believed and i know you will tell me they were wrong in 2016 at about this point in the campaign then, really, all kamala harris had to do was hold the line. mike pence had to really shift the needle. did you honestly feel he did? thank you for having me, and typically i don't think the vice president shifted the needle, i think he gave a glimmer of the strategy going forward , glimmer of the strategy going forward, talking about the policies of the biden kamala harris ticket, but as for this event, this debate, for it to

shift the ground of the presidential debate, i think the status quo rains, president trump is behind it some key critical swing states, there is still some time left, less time thanit still some time left, less time than it was yesterday, but i think the clock is running pretty fast on this. with the pandemic rigging the sort of damage it did, it really does matter when kamala harris speaks directly to camera and talks about the massive failure of this administration, and i remember asking you this question we week ago after the presidential debate, whether you really honestly had an idea what the trump healthcare plan is. you could not see you now, could you? that one foundation that we know the healthcare plan is that there is going to be an exemption for pre—existing conditions. you saw the president put that in an executive order over the last couple of months, you have seen you talked about time after time and if you are

someone watching the statements of this president, you can clearly see that he is going to make existing edition a priority, so that gives the voters some comfort because is it enough? to convince voters that he is genuine and sincere, i don't know, i think he will have to keep pushing but if they hit that mark pretty often and correctly it puts him in good spaces. to be clear about this there is a lot of fear out there which you must have seen, you must be of, having had covid—19 symptoms at some point will be a pre—existing condition which you will not get cover for. condition which you will not get coverfor. i have not seen it, i'm sure it's out there, but i'm sure that there needs to pass legislation and they will do so wejust to pass legislation and they will do so we just opt out we have seen time after time where the healthcare industry and the pharmaceutical industry has gone overboard and has been a swift and strong reaction from congress and the administration both democrat and republic, so i would not be surprised if you saw something swept up in there as well, and healthcare plans,

pharmaceuticals, they can get creative but at the end of the day, we have seen when it comes to cracking the leash on this industry, that congress does not hesitate in a very bipartisan way, just look at the pricing hearings that we have had now that somebody had victor executives are in jail. let's talk again to miriam marsh, the democratic party campaign leader. did we picture tonight of what four years of a president biden would look like? and specifically, what would happen ifjoe biden cannot complete four years, because he rather dodged that question of what happens if your boss is incapacitated? she did does the question but i think by her performance denied she showed she could do the job andi she showed she could do the job and i think she did a really good job acquitting herself, and prosecuting the case for joe biden. more often than not, to brian's point, she returned

to brian's point, she returned to the camera and talk directly to the camera and talk directly to the camera and talk directly to the american voters about covid—19, about healthca re, about racial injustice, about the economy and a host of other issues, so i think in that context, kamala harris did a really good job for herself tonight, but i think in terms of the overall race, i agree with brian, this is a lost opportunity for the trump campaign. mike pence did nothing to help them tonight andi nothing to help them tonight and i would argue that he hurt them with women by the way he interrupted them with women by the way he interru pted co nsta ntly. them with women by the way he interrupted constantly. in a few minutes, 26 days ago, the clock is running and when you don't take advantage of these opportunities to change the dynamic of this race, that is a tough place to be in. he did indeed interrupter, ten times and overrode the moderator but he did keep banging away on this, he kept saying president trump cut taxes across the board, joe biden will raise

your taxes from day one, repeal the trump tax cuts, he will bury the economy under a green deal, abolish fossil fuels, repeal the trade tariffs that protect americanjobs. repeal the trade tariffs that protect american jobs. surely thatis protect american jobs. surely that is going to hurt? he was very good on hitting all of thoseissues very good on hitting all of those issues but those are not theissues those issues but those are not the issues that voters are focused on tonight, and going into the selection, this is a referendum on donald trump and how he has failed to address covid—19. covid—19 by itself, 2-1 to covid—19. covid—19 by itself, 2—1 to every other issue. then comes healthcare, the economy, then other issues including racial injustice, so this is one issue which is hanging around the trump campaign was magnetic and literally donald trump, is dominating this very end of the race which is exactly what they don't want, soi exactly what they don't want, so i think that is really what they need to look at and when you look at the polls, you see that reflected that is one more reason why donald trump goes into this stretch as the underdog. we you surprised that immigration was not dealt with

at all? i'm not because it has not been addressed in the debate the other night and it hasn't historically been addressed very much, and people are disappointed by that, but it's not surprising, and i think we would certainly benefit from the debate but i think right now, in this country, and around the world, covid—19 is dominating everything. thank you very much indeed. lets go live now to our correspondent in los angeles a stopper you have seen a few of these, what are you thinking?” think for 90 minutes, normal politics returned to america, this was a fairly typical vice presidential debate, and i think at the end of the day, the end of the day being election day, few people will remember all the things that we have been talking about for the last hour in terms of the

response to this debate, and we are living through times that are living through times that are farfrom the are living through times that are far from the normal, are living through times that are farfrom the normal, and it was quite right that coronavirus did dominate the first part of the debate, and if anything, this debate will be remembered for those non— moments, those non— answers, the nonanswer moments, those non— answers, the nona nswer about succession and what either candidate has said or not said to the candidate who will be president if they fall ill. really interesting area i thought was the supreme court, and kamala harris not answering the question about this packing of the court idea and whether the democrats would add more members to the supreme court and bearing in mind the next couple of weeks will be dominated by that very issue as we go through the confirmation hearings for amy coney barrett. just briefly but in case people wonder why getting so excited about this, it matters, this time, the vice presidential debate because of the health and the age of the presidential candidates, people really did need to decide whether they could visualise either of these

two people as president. it does matter for exactly that reason, clearly why the question about succession was asked. we didn't get any a nswe rs asked. we didn't get any answers but both of the candidates for president are banned in the 70s, donald trump has had coronavirus, he is talking in very positive terms how it is doing now, and of course, joe biden is in his late 70s, and i think it is fairfor americans to late 70s, and i think it is fair for americans to be able to make a decision about who they want to be in the number twojob. they want to be in the number two job. thank you very much for that, it is just 27 days, fewer than four weeks to the election but a lot of people have already voted, are already voting, we think about 4 million. at the moment the second presidential debate is scheduled for the 15th of 0ctober, scheduled for the 15th of october, we have no idea whether those will actually happen. we will be back to you if they do. much more for you at any if they do. much more for you atany time if they do. much more for you at any time at all the news that we have not managed to cover on the bbc website and our twitter feed.

thanks for watching. hello. the weather picture first thing not looking so great across england and wales, a lot of cloud out there and some outbreaks of rain. but hang in there because the afternoon offers a much brighter picture. here we are with this area of low pressure currently feeding in all of the cloud and the rain, but notice to the north of it how much clearer the skies are. we'lljust pick out this little white streak of cloud here, though, because that is a line of showers that will push into scotland and northern ireland. and they're set to be pretty punchy. but once this band of rain starts its journey southwards through the morning, skies will begin to brighten. so, by 9am, hopefully something a little bit brighter already into wales. scotland and northern ireland should see some decent sunshine from the get—go, but a lot of those showers already in the west turning quite heavy, perhaps clumping together into longer spells of rain.

just a few, i think, further south and for northern ireland. the front finally off into the continent after lunch, and that's when we'll see things brighten for southernmost counties. for much of england and wales, though, not a bad second half of the day at all. perhaps just some cloud hanging back across east anglia, but up to 17 degrees in the brightness, 11—12 further north for scotland and northern ireland. through thursday evening and overnight into friday, plenty of showers crossing scotland, a more organised band of rain trails back into northern ireland and sinks into northern england. either side of that cloud and rain, quite a chilly start to friday, patchy frost perhaps in some rural spots across england and wales and northern scotland. and then a lot of cloud around for northern england, northern ireland and wales first thing on friday, then this whole system sinks its way southeastwards through the day. so, we'll see cloud and rain moving in for southern and eastern england, i think, later on on friday. still plenty of showers further north, but hopefully interspersed with some sunny spells. and then from friday into the weekend, here's our next significant transition. we move into a northerly airstream. we move into polar air, that's the blue shading on the map behind me, and we do so because we finally pull away the low pressure that we've

been talking about all week towards the continent and allow a high to establish from the atlantic. the squeeze between the two, though, gives us that northerly airstream, so quite a chilly northerly breeze but a lot of dry weather and sunshine for the majority of the uk for the weekend ahead. but some on northern coasts could be prone to some thicker cloud, perhaps the odd shower and we may see some drifting in off the north sea into eastern england as well.

such as, no flies on mike pence and various other quips.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm david eades. the vice—presidential candidates take centre stage — mike pence and his democratic challenger kamala harris clash over the coronavirus crisis in their one televised debate together. if the vaccine emerges during the trump administration, i think it is unconscionable, and senator, just ask you, stop playing politics with people's lives. there were also clear divisions between them over china,