hi there. this is kristen sze. welcome to our daily program called "getting answers". let's go ahead and show you a highlight from their first outing. >> fight climate change through a clean energy revolution.

build on the affordable care act so everyone has the peace of mind that comes with health insurance, and finally, the dignity, the respect and the pay they deserve. will protect a woman's right to make her own decisions about her own body. and pass a new voting rights act. >> someone who watched that closely, senator harris's political mentor, willie brown, joining us now to share his thoughts with us. always great when you can do that. how you doing? >> fine, and you? >> doing just fine myself. i got to ask you, we were both watching the same thing for the past hour, how important was the

first outing for the ticket? >> biden with kamala harris, kamala harris is such an impressive person on the podium. she's such an impressive person in her interviews, in her exchange with the media world. with the proper handoff to her, of what they want to cover. she could cover it not so much, not the kamala harris fashion but team member. she demonstrated today, she can be a true team member.

>> her usual self and energy level today, toned down, did you think that? >> no question, she was toned down. as a matter of fact, i'm almost certain she did not even write that speech. nor did her staff. she has the responsibility to deliver it. she delivered it, but i hope they'll become a lot smarter. i hope they'll allow her to do what kamala harris, when she did, to bar when she did to sessions, and when she did to the other persons seeking the approval of the u.s. senator. she stood out among all the senators. hers was not political as such. hers was one of a skilled

prosecutor. the appreciation of the facts. biden should let her do her thing. it would be like somebody trying to control how tiger woods played golf. he played golf because he was better than anybody else on the golf course. she is better than anybody else on the course apology. >> do you think that was for the biden people, or what they deemed the american audience might expect or want? there's been a lot of reporting in the past week over expectations for the vice president, should she be a female rooted in sexism, that you deferential for example, and rule number two in a way that people expect. so how much do you think that was for biden, how much for the

american public? >> well, this single worst thing. allowing kamala harris to be kamala harris. this gender business. it will be demonstrably provided. however, if they tried it, have her do something that she's not terribly comfortable with doing. she is a true, clever, examiner. she is a true person who can prosecute an issue, equal to or better than most men and women.

she will be doing wonders for females in this country, if they allow her to be just herself.f.. >> tough balance between relatable, authentic and also tough and ready to lead from day one. do you think she accomplished that with her speech today? >> there's no doubt in my mind that the public observed the person that could be president. >> i give her an a plus. >> nowhere to go up. already at an a plus but perhaps

an a plus plus in the future. i'm sure there will be many opportunities. she was trying the case against the trump administration. >> we'rem e w public health crisis in a century. the worst economic crisis since the great depression, and we experience a moral reckoning with racism and systemic injustice, that has brought a new coalition of conscience. america is crying out for leadership.

more than the people who elected him. >> is that a preview of the approach that they will take, that this election will be the referendum or about the referendum? >> by this shelter in place, eat in our own home cooking, and being able to go to our jobs and earn our salaries without it being subsidized meagerly by the unemployment benefits. she addressed that effectively, as meaning ful

and worse off, then you ought to try something new. that's essentially the message that has to be delivered and she is delivering it well. >> it seems like the administration as already gotten with regard to senator harris, they called her a radical with in the past 2 hours, she's been called nasty. it seems like they can't get her name right. give people a quick lesson in how her name was actually said. it seems to be floating out there, incorrectly, on many channels. >> kamala is kamala. that's her name. not kamella, or those kind of funny corruptions.

i think they think she will react to that. i hope she doesn't. i hope she ignores him. well as to how a have reverse mortgage works. people think that the bank takes your home, but that is not true. that's absolutely 100% wrong. the home is ours. we can sell it if we want to at any time. i like the flexibility of not having a payment, but i can make the payment if i want to. you're responsible for keeping up your property taxes and you're responsible for paying your insurance on the property. for us, it was a security blanket. the value of our house, was to fund our long-term health care. for years, reverse mortgage funding has been helping customers like these use the equity from their homes to eyw imanaofavinfiiaserity

make an appointment so they can tell you how it works. access your equity. stay in your home. have peace of mind.

we are back with former mayor of san francisco, willie brown. just a few days ago, you said that you would advise senator harris to say no to the vp slot if offered, and hold out for attorney general. do you still think that or are you kind of warming to the idea of her being vp? >> no, i've always said she could be vp. as a matter of fact, as early as

january 21st, 2019, when asked at an event in dallas, and they played it back for me yesterday, they said, who should the ticket be in 2020 for democrats? i said, biden, president, kamala harris, vice president. 2019. january 21st. on the air, i said that. and so i've been of that opinion for a long time. what i needed to do and what we all needed, because clearly they were on her case and would have announced it some time ago if some of her fellow democrats had not tried to stop it. we needed to find a way to distract, period, and i'm glad she didn't take my advice. really glad. glad she's the nominee. >> all right. well, i got to ask you. what are you hearing? i know you talk to all sorts of folks from all walk of life in the political circles.

what are you hearing from people who might be white, black, east indian or i should say asian or other groups, progressives, more conservative types, police un n unio unions, what are their reactions to senator kamala harris being the vp nominee? >> >> for the first time since july of 2008 when barack obama became the nominee, there was s different than anything before. that buzz is back. people are excited about kamala harris and how she can and cannot and how new this is. a woman on the national ticket, in either political parties. it's absolutely fabulous and believe me, i walk the streets.

i did like 8 miles in the last 24 hours of walking around, seeing and talking to people at all these parks and restaurants outside and what have you, and invariably, when they notice it's me, even with the mask on, they ask me about what's happening nationally, as you are doing, and it's all about kamala harris. it is not about anybody else and that's good from the democratic point because it means those people may actually show up to vote. >> vice president biden said he wants someone to have the relationship he had with president barack obama where the vice president would be the last person in the room giving counsel before the president has to make an important decision and someone to challenge what he says.

if they tell it like it is. do you think senator harris can do that and is that person? >> i do believe exactly that. what senator harris has to be concerned about is whether or not she'll have access to all of the information. there's still a number of b that challenge the fact she challenged biden where she talked about buses, she said that little girl on the bus, i'm that little girl. some of them, up to this day, not forgiven her for calling biden out. she's capable of calling anybody out, period, and she will do so to the benefit of the ticket and the people in this nation. >> she seemed to have

all had done in the civil rights struggle. we want to ensure we report in a way that does not reflect sexism or bias that we're all products of the society, and there was a really good letter, leading women including valerie jarrett and the leaders of times of and super majority. planned parenthood and advising us as journalists to not report on the heritage of black women or women of color as that perpetuates a misunderstanding about who is legitimately american, but i want to weigh that against the fact that she was very outfront about her being a product of two immigrant parents from india and from jamaica, and she talked about how that's enriched her and how

her story is the story of america. so, you know, how should we approach that? >> well, i have a great amount of respect for journalists. i'm sorry that i am not a true journalist. i wish i could rise money, many times, in my public utterances, the expression of my own bias. i hope that the journalist who will be covering this campaign will do so in a way that represents dignity and respect and honor for journalism. left to that device, the training and discipline that will cause them not to wander over the line and become an extension of the attacks and extension of the misrepresentations, the extension of the misinterpretations and simultaneously, ought to take on

every politician as equal. always talking and picking your brain. have a great afternoon. we'll check in again soon. take care. all right. when we come back, breaking news today. oakland unified with the

all right. so the news broke during midday live today. oakland unified reached a tentative deal with the union, the school year on monday

lakeisha young, executive director o oland. thanks for joining us, tell us about your kid situation. i have a daughter who's a senior, so you can imagine what she's going through right now. a my daughter had 50 minutes of instruction a day. some other kid applying to college with a full day of instruction today. 30 minutes of class for the next couple of weeks. i have not spoken to a parent

happy with the limited instruction that's kicking off the school year. >> the reason your daughter was getting 50 minutes a day is because had not come up with a framework that they can agree to,eacherted f hours of instruction a day, and i just got to ask you, where do you stand on this? where do you think the right balance is? there's a bargaining table, and a lot of these conversations are being had in our best interest without asking us what we really want for our children. we launched a summer learning hub, provided virtual instructions over 200 families by 75 hours instruction in a five week period and never did we hear parents being okay

it was well before the prices. so i think problem number one, who's at the table speaking on behalf of who's representing us? >> i should adjust what i said there because i said they were disagreeing over whether it's a 6.5 hour or -- we don't actually know, even when they agree on the number own or something like that. >> our learning hub this summer, at least 3.5 hours of live instruction with the teacher. so our parents want live

instruction. they want quality instruction. we're open. obviously, parents are open to be collaborative around best practices, but our parents want their children taught by a teacher. >> do you know of a lot of parents who are setting up these pods, learning pods where they hire a tutor to come to their home and teach just a few kids? and if you know that's happening, what do you think the impact is and the broader implication is? >> our families are the families who cannot afford to pay to create the learning that they want to see happening when they know that what they want is not happening. once again, that's why we created the virtual learning hub is because we wanted to create that opportunity for our families to get access to high quality instruction outside of the system. and in terms of like, the pandemic pods, which is the

name, you know, i'm a parent and i'm not going to pass judgment on any parent setting up a scenario for their child or children that are going to work best. parents, no matter what your social/economic status, a lot of our values and a lot of our aspirations and desires for our children are the same. so if you can afford it, that's great. that's why we created, parents on both sides of the socioeconomic scale, unhappy with the learning and education plans being put in front of us. remember i said to you earlier and the children grade level. that needs to get solved. >> it's not going to get solved with 50 minutes a day, that's

for sure. >> do you have laptops for three kids? >> yes, my kids have computers andrew dymbu in our hub, we mad every student got a computer this summer. coming into oakland, they'll not arrive until later this month. so when we launched our summer hub, we had to ensure that every single kid had a chrome book or laptop, and if not internet access, a hot spot. so this is serious business. >> lakeisha young, executive director of oakland reach. thank you for sharing your thoughts. thank you for getting creative and thank you for demanding that parents be at the table and have a say in your kids' education. how about poor fred wilson? what a shame. so soon after retiring. i hear his wife needed help with the funeral expenses. that's ridiculous! -he had social security. -when my brother died, his wife received a check from social security, all right-- for $255!

the funeral costs were well over $8,000. how on earth did she pay for it? fortunately, my brother bought additional life insurance -before he retired. -whew! i bet that cost a pretty penny, huh? not with colonial penn. coverage options start at just $9.95 a month. less than 35 cents a day. i have it myself. we both do. -both of you? -that's right. neither of us had to answer any health questions or take a physical exam. in fact, no one our age can be turned down. for any health reason. -no one? -no one? nope. hm. is this a plan that offers a lot of protection at first, and then reduces it little by little each year? no! i've had this coverage for years. my benefit never decreases as i get older. your rates go up every year, right? no, not at all. friends keep telling friends about guaranteed acceptance whole life insurance from colonial penn life insurance company.

with this coverage, your premium never increases for any reason, and your benefit won't decrease simply because you grow older. options start at just $9.95 a month. if you're age 50 to 85, you cannot be turned down because of your health. colonial penn specializes in protection for mature men and women. to find out more, call now. (male announcer) call now and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner and this free prescription savings card that can help you save up to 80% on prescription drugs.

thank you for joining us on this interactive show, "getting answers." we spoke with san francisco mayor willie brown, former mayor tonight, breaking aheair.yor te today, joe biden and kamala harris for the first time appearing together as running mates, making their case. president trump already responding tonight. the former vice president and his running mate, senator kamala harris, appearing together in delaware, walking out in masks. socially distanced. joe biden saying he has no doubt he made the right pick, that her story is america's story. biden referencing trump's attacks already, calling harris nasty. saying is anyone surprised that donald trumps that a problem with a strong woman? senator harris saying he's ready to get to work. that when she's had doubts about these times, she thinks about the doctors and nurses on the front lines, the farmers, the factory workers. on racism and systemic

injustice, she says there is a new coalition of conscience. and what she said