hi there, this is kristen zee. welcome to our daily program. we are asking questions to get answers for new real time. let's begin with the presidential election. more bombshells today, the day after the vice presidential debate. joining us to unpack what happened and the future of the remaining debates, two political experts you see here. lonnie chen who served as senior adviser to republicans and mitt romney in his presidential run, wtartrl marinucci, thank you j.

presidential debate commission's surprise announcement that the next presidential debate will be virtual, not person, and then, all hell broke loose? i can say hell on tv, right? the standards have changed? carla, walk us through what happened? >> president trump immediately said he is not interested in a virtual debate. he feeds off that audience. this is supposed to be a town hall debate, by the way. so he might have gotten a set of questions that is far different than what he is getting from the mora joe ben said, okay, i will do a town hall that night on abc, and now, the trump side is coming back with another proposal for two more debates within one week in the last week of october. and the biden camp is saying the last week of october as

originally planned. and trump has to decide which way he has to go, and biden says, he changes his mind every five seconds. so we will see how it plays out. >> all right, well, lonnie, why do you think mr. trump opposing the virtual format? >> i think he believes he has an advantage in person. he can force him off balance, do the things you saw in the first debate where he was interrupts and disrupting the kcadence. it's harder to do online. there is a delay, and a production element. donald trump's background is a reality tv star. he likes a well-produced event and i think he believes it will be more difficult in that setting. for a variety of different reasons, i think he favors the in-person format. if they go ahead with the same

debate schedule, just pushed back by a week. >> i want to ask you the pushing back by a week. what is wrong with an october 29th third debate from the stand point of biden, i should say? why not have that. i know never has there been one so close to the election. but why is that beneficial? >> i think it's precisely that point. most americans will have had access to some kind of early voting, mail-in voting by the time we get to that point in the campaign. independent mig it might be too late to force a difference. and if you're biden, we have leads in the the polls, what we really want are fewer opportunities for error. the general rule in politics f you're behind, you're asking for more debates. you want more opportunities to confront your opponent. if you're ahead, you're co

comfortable sitting back. the biden campaign and looking and saying there is very little incentive a few days before election day when there is on the potentially down side. >> carla, i want to ask you, vice president biden is going to do it with abc news. it's still going to be a town hall. clearly, the president is energized by crowds and likes the in-person, the biden camp must think -- this format as well with his empathy he is known for. the connection. do they think that format will benefit him? >> an hour for joe biden in a town hall setting without the interruptions of trump every couple seconds, that may well work for him. and it's very interesting that trump has pulled out of this and now leads biden with the story line that he's the one that wants to talk to the people.

and remember, joe biden was being accused of being in the basement so long for donald trump. that is one of the president's frustrations. he is still quarantined in the white house, and that was the objection of the biden team. why will we subject or candidate to possible infection? they make the argument from a safety point of view, the covid pandemic and handling point of vi view, that it's safer and more secure. and it resonates with a lot of american voters who are saying what is the point of doing it in person? in this case, the biden team has a good point here. >> i think a lot of peoe ngwh ie in-perso or virtual, having a debate at all. we will get into it more in a little bit. i do want to ask you, in terms

of how the presidential debate commission came to the announcement, without consults camps, which they have done all along, and the plexiglas, we have seen, how do they just drop the bomb on this? what would have precipitated that after the vice presidential debate? is it something there? >> look, i don't know. and i think they're running out of time. they have to make a decision on what's going to happen. and the production values and the decisions that are going to huge contests, one of the other factors was the commission took a lot of heat for the last debate, the dumpster fire that it was and the interruptions and the online format also addressed some of that. it's easy to shut off somebody online than in person. i know both camps -- you're right, didn't get the exact chance to weigh in right away. but at this point, time is

running out fast. and lonnie said, people are voting as we speak. >> well, yeah, lonnie what do you think about that? in terms of the debate commission. it's gotten criticized quite a bit because people haven't been happy with what they have seen on tv. and it's had very little teeth. it's sitting there and getting both sides to agree to something. how did it come to pass? and does this suggest going it's going to be more proactive in the future? >> it is highly surprising the commission on presidential debates didn't do outreach to the campaigns on the issue. we will find out there was some form of outreach. it would be highly unusual just to bring it on both campaigns. when i participated in presidential debate prep in 2012, we were aware of what the commission was thinking about. le and changes in the temperature of the room had to

be vetted with the campaign. so i have a hard time believing this is simply sprung on them. if it was, it was probably poor form. it gave the ability to go rogue in a way that the commission doesn't want. but we will learn more about that in the coming day, i'm sure. >> the president can hold rallies instead of the debates. the battle coming on after the one and only vice presidential debate with mike pence and kamala harris. so who won? and lonnie, i will start with you. if you don't think there is a clean winner, talk about what candidate's strongest momentum one. >> well, first, you have to take a deep breath last night and witness a real debate, an old school conversation between two people. i think both candidates were able to achieve something important. i think for pence, he was able to quite frankly put the policy

contrast on full display. if you have four years of joe binds a president and kamala harris, here is what you have, whether it's energy policy. i thought the attack was effective when he was able to pin harris down on the issue of repealing the trump tax cuts. i think that was effective. and harris, really, her introduction to the american people in a lot of ways. yeah, we saw her in the primary debates, but most americans didn't know who she was, whether she would be able to answer queps credibly, and i thought she met that bar last night, and it was a solid introduction. in this point of the campaign, though, the problem is if you believe the polling, it's not clear to me that any of the debates will be a game changer.

>> all right, with he will take a short break on the air

republican candidate. >> all right, we are back with a reporter from politico. and we were talking more about the debate last night. now i want to continue with carla talking about who you think won? >> i think the american people won. there is a lot of side stepping but i think when you saw the ratings on this debate, by the way, were 50% higher than the last one. that shows that people are interested. the fact that the

such a big deal and a meme on twitter, maybe it was a game changer. i think for -- introduced herself to folks. she was not the vicious aggressor, the kneecaper who came out against joe biden. but she did prosecute the case, especially in the opening lines there, where she came out -- box just swinging on the trump handling of the covid pandemic. that is one place where pence was weak. but i think, look, pence was able to represent trump's case and the trump administration better than trump was able to do it last th w aerbigea he's very od -- overl, i ias ie in cnn poll outht after, women thought -- 69% of women thought harris was the winner in that debate. that showed a gender gap and maybe she did come out ahead of

him there. in part because of that line out there on twitter all night, vice president, you're interrupting me, may i continue. a lot of women identified. i have been there. i wonder if that may have hurt pence. bus suburban voters really matter. >> i wonder if that's just women towards democratics and the democratic party, and men more to the republican party in the and if you think that over time, the divide is getting wider and wider, and if so, where does it lead us? >> yeah, the gender gap is growing and that is a troubling tend in republicans in and we are seeing it in the polling in this election. you see that vice president biden and president trump run actually pretty close when you look at male voters across the

country. the margins are small but there is a huge gap when you look at how women view the two candidate, and depending on the poll you're looking at. overall, this reflections the challenge in having -- if you're repairing a male candidate against a female, that dynamic is always something you got to watch out for. and you got to think about how it's going to reflect on your candidacy, how it's going to reflect on people's perceptions of you and given the frame, they have preconceived notions how each candidated is relating to women, i think it's a difficult task, and as a result, you know, it created some moments last night that you couldn't have had if it was two men on stage, and i think that was very specific to the debate last night. >> yeah, yeah, house speaker nancy pelosi told reporters she

will talk about the 25th amendment tomorrow, for folks who don't understand, can you talk about what that amendment means and what needs to happen to trigger it? >> it get to incapacitated, and if the president is not able to carry out his office. this is what the kids call trolling, i think, and nancy pelosi decided that nothing is going to happen in the next 20 days. she is not interested in legislating. she is not interested in engaging with the president. it's campaign mode. this is probably her effort to provoke a response or a tweet from the president. i'm sure the president will oblige. i'm sure there will be tweeting tomorrow. i'm sure the political feeder

has reached its apex. >> carla, i have a feeling you want to the jump in and say something about that, democrats will probably say, the president did put an end to the stimulus talks. >> yeah, nancy pelosi knows how to get ournd trump's skin. it only took trump a few hours after the debate that undo all the good that mike pence accident, going on fox news this morning with an hour-long rambling discussion where he called kamala harris a monster and communist and almost seemed to glam gold star families for the covid he got. and republicans have to be shaking their head at that, and coming off the interview, that made a lot of news, nancy pelosi looks like she's going to go for and it make her onus tomorrow and you know that is going to distract trump from the message he needs to get out. his window is closing with the

polls opening up the way they are. the time is going fast, and they've got to make the case to the american people, every day that pelosi's out there, with theatrics like that, i think joe biden is winning. >> well, the president also called himself a perfect physical specimen today. he called the regeneron cocktail a cure. now, what would you advise the president at this moment? >> well, you know, this is a tough one. because the president would not be one to listen to the kind of advise i have to offer in this regard. i think the best thing for him to do now would be to recognize that covid is a remarkable tragedy for so many americans and it's affected so many people in a fundamental way. it's affected all of our ways of life, and while we're glad that he's feeling better and his

wife, the first lady, is hopefully the same, the reality is for many americans, that is not their experience with covid, and i think showing more empathic relationship, being able to say, look, this has been tough for you, i got through it and learned from it. that put him in good stead with the american people. that's not the approach he has taken. the approach he has taken for supporters, they love it. supporters think this is a guy who is strong. he is able to defeat covid. those are the things -- the president has been very good at playing to the basic support he has. we have seen it repeatedly throughout his presidency. we have s

and we're with stanford stad lonnie chen, and carla mayorinucci. i want to see the challenges of the trump administration is

overcoming the pandemic and the handling of the pandemic. the white house is still not revealing when the president's last negative test was, saying that is private medical information. itard to contract trace everyone he has been in contract with if that information is not available. do you think this continues to be something that will impact voters' opinion of the president in terms of how he is handling covid? are they going to ding him for it essentially? >> i think it continues to be a news story, right? the fact there hasn't been more transparency, and i would hope they could see the advantage in being transparent with the president's health information. particularly if it's relevant or understanding when he got the virus or how long he might be contagious or who else might need to be contract traced. those are questions that relate to when the president's negative

tests or when his first positive test occurred. i think when it comes to health status or presidents, presidential candidates, you always want to err on the side of letting the public know more. we're not asking for every last detail of the president's medical information. but resfoekt his covid diagnosis, i think this is one area where being transparent can be helpful to the cause. >> all right. i want to ask you about something that happened today as breaking news. the kidnapping plot against michigan's governor governor gretchen whitmer. i want to know how you think it's going to play and reflect on the candidates? >> i think it's a huge issue. we still don't know if the president has been briefed on this. he hasn't at least -- that i have seen a sweet from him, when you talk about a domestic terrorist attack on a governor,

a sitting governor of the united states. we know that gretchen whitmer like gavin gavin gavin gavin subject of the president's tweets. and how big of a plot might it be? what other threats are out there? this is a domestic terror incident, i think just jaw dropping and the fact we haven't heard anything on president trump on it yet is stunning, frankly. i think people are walting fiti that, and it's got to influence a lot of americans who are worried about issues of national security. this is an issue of national security when you talk about a plot like this. very detailed. and i think we all deserve to know what levels these group goes to and how extensive are they at this point? th w s nt t exploow all

presidenti craziness, if you will, that surrounds it, how is it affecting the down ballot races. lonnie what do you think? >> the senate races are crucial because they will help determine the environment we will have for policymaking after the election. if joe biden gets elected, he has a unified democratic congress, that means it won't go done there there is a divide of congress. many of the senate races are quite impactfulle and will decide who has the majority of the senate. you look at arizona, colorado, iowa, north carolina, now south carolina, where lindsay graham the incumbent is under fire. these are the races that will determine the majority of the senate, and president trump, the level of support he gets is going to help dictate how

successful or unsuccessful the down ballot republicans are. the better trump does, the more likely some of the republican candidates get re-elected. and where the states lagging the president, arizona, north carolina, if the president's support falls in the swing states, their support i think will fall as well, and that will have a major impact on the senate and the making of policy. >> carla, you get the last word. i would like a check where we are in national polls and what it suggests about the white house and the senate right now? >> we have 22.2 million ballots gone out to californians this week, at this point, this is all about turnout. both for the republicans and democrats. a lot of the down ballot races will be affected and i think democrats are counting on more turnout, at least now here in california. but the fact is republicans have come back.

they are flow the seconow the s party in the united states -- in california. they have come back and been able to do that. there is nail biting going on, all over the country when it comes to turnout. -- whoever you're with, vote. >> yeah, i just did so. i put my ballot in the mail and got my little sticker. and thank you so much. i appreciate your conversation. two more minutes we made usaa insurance for members like martin. an air force veteran made of doing what's right, not what's easy. so when a hailstorm hit, usaa reached out before he could even inspect the damage. that's how you do it right. usaa insurance is made just the way martin's family needs it - with hassle-free claims, he got paid before his neighbor even got started. because doing right by our members, that's what's right. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. usaa ...this one's for you.

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>> well, we are out of time. thank you so much. >> thanks. >> good to be with you. >> and we're back. thank you so much for joining us today on this voe, getting answers. we cover just about everything in the political world today. we'll be here every weekday at

3:00 on air and answering your questions. tonight, several developing stories as we come on the air. the chilling plot. the fbi stopping an alleged terror plot to kidnap an american governor. the governor of michigan. prosecutors now say governor gretchen whitmer was being targeted by violent extremists. federal agents raiding several homes, arresting 13 suspects, including seven alleged member of a right wing militia group. the messages the fbi intercepted. the suspects accused of plotting to kidnap the governor and then what they allegedly planned to do next. and governor whitmer coming before the cameras today. pierre thomas standing by tonight. the next presidential debate is off, after the debate commission telling president trump and joe biden that the next town hall debate would be virtual to prote