the latest in the rate house with apolitical experts, and affirmative action on the ballot in california. no analysis ows four times more women than men dropped out of the labor force in september, setting back years of au gr in workplace equality. the reasons why and what can be done about it, coming up. welcome to "kqed newsroom." i am priya david clemens. following the debacle of tween president trump and te vice president biden, the commission on debates has decided the next debate should y.be held virtuall trump has said he will ipnot paate . biden said he

would. the president continued to protect an image of stanngth recovery from his covid-19 infection. on wednesday come he claimed that experiment of drug he had been given was,quote, a cure for coronavirus and he felt, quote, perfect. we begin tonight's discussion with a focus on california's junior senator, kamarris, who stepped onto the biggest debate stage of her life this week. joining me now by skype from mountain view is lon heat, a former adviser to enthe presal campaigns of what mitt romney and marco bio. amy allison, the founder and president of she, the people, for women in politithank you s so much for joining let's start with you, amy. you been a supporter of senator harris for maars. what was the significance of seeing her on stage? >> senator harris brought it it was the first time that those of us women of color and those across the multiracial demoatic base actually got hear the issues, and she

brought those issues of racial justice, economic justice, she mentioned breonna taylor. her job one was to make sure that thecoalition that need to come to the polls in 25 days was amped up d to show her chops as orformer prosec and member of that senate judy mack that she can hold the trump administration and pence's specific role in the il mishandling of es of the response to covid accountable. she did all those things. i think she was stellar. >> what were your thoughts on vice president pence's performance? talking about vice president did what he needed to do, which primarily was to create that policy contrast with the biden/harris ticket. we have not had an opportunity least not in e previous debate the policy issues did not come up, but heyou did vice president pence raising questions about how much people taxes would increa if they voted for joe biden. >> senator harrispast embrace of the green new deal and how out of step that is particularly in the industrial midwest i think vice president

pence did whhe needed to do. he presented the contract and >> amy, thers a lot energy around ousting donald trump but less enthusiasm for joe biden as a candidate. to use the indications that senator harris isable to bring in younger voters that she's been targeting? >> my work with she, the people is organizing the most critical voters of the democratic pacly ician healed that is women of color. look, i'm a black woman. stmen, black women in es like georgia, texas, florida, and michigan, those i must win states. we're going to put them over the tod his incredible enthusiasm particularly with harris on the ticket, so i think that spans age and that , spans ra the short answer is there is enthusiasm to op the maess that's been happening in this country, stop the bleeding, st someone who embraces white supremacy, and get back to a sense of normalcy. we're going to see historic numbers of voters this next month. >> and the president is

trailing significa the national polls by 10 points or more. is also trailing in some battleground states. you have been speaking with the campaign. what are the plans to change this trendi know he'spl ning on a rally on the white house lawn tomorrow. >> i think definitely, one of the issues that thcampaign is dealing with is the fact the president has been off the campaign trail now for ovwe a because of his covid diagnosis, because of his time in the hospital. he has not been able to be out there, and i think those events for the campaign are clearly catalyzing events but they are opportunities for the campaign to drive narrative, for him to t earned media coverage areas where the president needs to be successful, but i don't think there's any question that the president at this point, gin what the public polling is, both nationally and in me changers. states, needs me it's going to be very difficult for him to do that in the context of the campaign wherhe

annot be out there campaigning and where the overwhelming burden of e news cycle is focused on covid and covid response. i think that's an issue on which the hipresident and team have been on the defensive. >> he said he will not participate in this virtual debatelkand there's about pushing the debates back a little bit. it's hard for me to see the president as wiing to step away from such a large platform, from tens of millions of people watching to see what he has to say. where do you expect the debates are going to end up? >> the esident needs these debates more than vice president biden does. i think based on where the pollr g is, based on assessment of the race right now, it ishard to see how not having debates would benefit en the pres to my point earlier about a game changer, debates can provide that opportunity. they are one of the few events when you get to see the candides side by side inan interactive format, and to not have that i think is a big challenge for the president. so it was a little puzzling he

was not interested in doing a ki debate of this . perhaps he believes the and present interaction works more to hisfavor. a but nonetheless ancampaign, the campaign that is down generally will want more debates and more opportunities to engage. >> so amy, would it be beneficial to do joe biden to continue debating, is it better for the debates to end at this point? >> let's look at the elephant in the room. it isn't just that they are on the ropes becae of covid-19. they were responsible for the botched response. ey failed, and they failed s americans. americe dying. i had a good friend who lost her dad just two days ago, and i think 's affecting a lot of people in a way that is not being acknowledged. mean, look. the last event that trump he at the white house was a superspreader event. this is the reason that so many people and his close advisers and staff, top milita officials are all quarantining or have positive d codiagnoses , so the fact of the matter is that we can't go beyond that. i think ultimately, sought

trump's the behavior on the debate stage. he would not prevent a discussi about points of view or policy, and this is not a regular election seon, so we cannot read it that way. whether or not he agrees to have an online bate, a virtual debate where they could potentially cut his mic off and give joe biden an opportunity to actlly speak, it almost secondary. i think the point right now is, and for democrats, is turning out the vo. there's enough voters in swing states, that's going to be the big focus for the democrats, whether or not there's a debate. >> let's talk about what's going to bring the voters out or have them filling other day, the president has reversed course and said he supports a $1.8 trillion coronavirus relief package. what is with this back-and- forth, an how important is this as an issue on the campaign trail? >> whas for animates the

back-and-forth, you know, i think part of it is that the president kind of go back and forth in terms of trying to figure out whether this is something he wants or doesn't at the end ofthe day, it is clear that the economy is still in need of assistance, that obviously some form of recovery legislation is going to be out there. the problem is we're running out of me before the election. you've got 20 days. we're going to supreme court hearings before the senate nexth week, but week after that is probably going to be taken with more supreme court. ch time and space to get is another recovery package done, but there's clearly a need for it. i think both republicans and democrats can see that. the polical dynamic in washington though is so broken right now, that the president has said he's opento it. he said he was not open to it. you have similar vacillation coming from nancy pelosi office as well. today, nancy pelosi is out there talking about the 20 at the moment and disqualifying the president. i thk that shows u where things are. i don't think this will get

done before the election, and i certainly don't expect relief to be ming before th elecon. >> will be certainly keeping an eye on the scotus hearings next week let's turned out to some of our state ballot measures. i want to ta about pr16, which is to repeal affirmative action here in california. a recent poll on the public fopolicy institute in caia indicates less than a third of likely voters support prop 16 and some in the chinese community said this proposition would increase his commission ainst them. republicans lyare stro against this proposition. can you talk us through what some of their concerns are? >> well, look. racial preferences havebeen illegal in california since 1996, since the passage of proposition 290 it's okay been state law, not rato of al preferences in effect, and during that period of time, we actually seen increases in the percudtage of black ts and hispanic students at the university of california . we seen increases in th well. tage of asian udents as and so, the question now on the ballot is reinstating or putting in place these racial preferences really when it's unclear why it is that that is

necessary, and rather than trying to create a situe ion at university of california and many public institutions in california have had for many years, this idea of a hoapstic oach, try to look at a canada to figure out whether this candidate is qualified not just by basis of their racial background, but more broadly all of the ises that that candidate rings with the picked we want to go from that sort of a system where we lookat people comprehensively to one premised fundamentally on race? i think that's probably why op 16 is not more popular us bepeople don't want to return to a time when we so strictly used race to divide us and look and see who would get into colleges or be hired. >> amy, i know piu are ch at the bit to get in on this question. i'm curious about why you think it has not resonated with voters, despite the outpouring of support for racial justice that we sought the route th summer and into the fall on our streets, and people protested. e look. jority of people in california are demanding racial justice. there's a tremendous suppt for

leveling the playing field when it comes to race for admissions and for opportunities for businesses, small businesses to contract with public entities, and i reject wholeheartedly that the idea that there is not a lot of support for prop 16. i think what the challenge has been is awareness. i mean, we have in e state of california as well as nationally a focus on people's health, focus on the fact that a third of california's can't pay rent. there is not a loof relief coming from anywhere. i mean, those are all a lot of the issues that make it difficult for people tofocus onwhat is happening statewide. but when wethhave foun when people understand that prop 16 undoes a great wrong, that, you know, it puts california in with most of the statth. most states allo consideration of race in the history of racism as part of their assessment in that i'm

joining groups like affirmative action, and aclu and kamala harris supports this. that would bring back a level of balance and offer asian americans, latinos, and black t been available since those rules were changed more than a decade ago. turnout. et's turn to voter the democrats focusing more on turni out likely democratic voters or on getting the independents to come over and join them? oh this is not a persuasion game at all. we have the number of vote need record turnout, and look. work at facing both the le pandemic where pehave to have two vote safety. we have national messaging coming from the white house and other places that tries to minimize confidence in vote by mail. >> and wehave a situation where women of color, in particular who typically happen

ignored by both parties, actually are the margin of victory in some of the key swing stales, so it's about turnout for the next 25days. >> where the republicans need rm to focus in of turnout? >> the president has focused on turning out his base. that's not going to be in a. the base of support for enthe pris strong, vocal, but the numbers are not sufficient to get him across the finish line in places like pennsylvania and michigan, wisconsin, florida, arizona, state he's gotog to need win to win the presidency. it is about figuring out how to get swing voters, undecided th voters to come the president, notwithstanding some of the dialogue that we have heard from the president directly i think itgot a focus on what his next four years are going to look like and the policy vision versus the e personality becathink that is going to make it a little more challenging for him to get the support he needs. >> we'll be watching. thank you. visit

kqed.org/voterguidefor d ballot measures including e summaries and arguments for and against them. some analysts have slsuggested economicdown related to the pandemic should be dubbed a she session rather than a recesse to the disproportionate impact on working women. the latest jobs numbers continue to showcase the struggle. be a proximally 1.1 erllion people age 20 who left the workplace between august and september, approximately 85000 were women, where 216,000 were men. according to analysis by the national women's law center. the economic impact of the impact has been particularly acute for women of color. accoing to the california budget and policy center, more than k % of bland latinx women losttheir jobs this spring compared to 10% of white women.

joining me now bysky from sacramento is kristin schumacher, a senior policy analyst at the california budget apology center, joined by sky from fayetteville, kansas a professor of economics at the university of arkansas. ladies, thank you both so much for joining me. yo i appreciateare here doing this discussion despite the fact that you are also working mothers, like me, and you also have young children. let's start with you. let see how this virus has impacted your ability to work, and impacted your time at home with thes kids. >> ibeen really hard. unfortunate because i have a flexible job so we can work from home, so we are doing whate we can to turns and be able to work well providing some support for schooling for the kids, but has meant that we work all the time. there is no break. >> kristin, do you have a similar experience? >> absolutely. our health care provider close temporarily right when the pandemic hit, we lost care for ou4-year-old, and also have a 7-year-old who instantly

started engagingin distance learning, and so my husband and i were fortunate also to be able to work from home, but it met we did not have any, any outside regiving help, and we had to balance work and caregiving and distance learning for our kids. it's incredibly challenging, and we ended up working in wee hours of the morning and late into the night juto try to get everything in. it was very difficult. >> it continues to be. yet, youknow, i thinin many ways we consider ourselves lucky because we still have our jobs. there are many, many thousands of women who do not, and i would like, krtin, for you to dive into that particular issue for us. and you talk about which sectors of work are being most impacted by the virus, and the correlation betwann those sectorwomen's employment? >> absolutely. job losses in california have been concentrated in low-paying

industries such as the hospitality and leisure indestry. that incjobs at restaurants, hotels, or at entertainment venues, just as an example. this means that these workers were probably already receiving low wages and low pay, and and makes them less likely to be able to afford an economic setback, like losing their jobs or having thhours cu dramatically. and these job losses have hit women hard, particularly women of color here in california. >> and hamma, you mentioned th another piec's a big part of the problem. that is childcare. you have been studying this been doing at the university of southern california. can you tell us how covid is impacting working mothers? >> yes. so we have been studying that with school closures and the increased need for childcare at home, at we see isthat women are doing much more of the work then men. with data back from april, may, we see that one out of three working women declared be the ly person in the

household providing childcare. that's compared to 1 out of 10 e men, and in nt data that we are just collecting some preliminary results, it shows improved. ion now has not if any it's even a little bit worse now. >> and hamma, what are your concerns about this, but women making this hard financial decision that they may not be able to work because they need totake home and take care of r thds and seniors in the family? >> my concern is that in r work, we see that these chdcare arrangements have consequences for women in the labor force in terms of working hours. for instance, we see more women than men are having to reduce their working hours, or they th are leavinlabor force, like you say come altogether to mbine combat this increased childcare needs. to be able . to do >> kristin, you been tracking women's well-being in california since 2016, and this updated women's well-being index

. can you give us a snapshot of how women are doing economically in the state of california, and perhaps some gi variance by ? >> share, so california women's will being and ducks shows women living in the san joaquin lley, northern sacramen valley, north coast, and parts of the inland empire are worse compared to women in other th regions atstate. for example in many counties in the san joaquin valley, more than one omfive live in poverty. just for a lile bit of context study, women and poverty means a single mom with two kids is trying to make ends meet on lessthan $20,000 a year. i think many of us can agree that is unattainable, especially in a high costilla california. and haa, we've be talking about women as a broad group, but when you look at my disproportionate impac latinas. can you tell us why this is and what those numbers look like? >> yes. so latinas as well as for african-american women, they have been t pacted the hard

in terms of employment loss merely because they work more in the service sector that has been more affected by this pandemic, and also what we see in recent data is that titerestingly, s ' families and african-americans are having theikids, they are happy to have their kids in online schooling or hybrid, soey lso have increased childcare needs, so i wonder if this also makes it harder for t threcover becausethey have the kids at home. >> kristin, arwe seeing a lifornia in terms of how of latinx and black women are facing more unemployment than white women? >> absolutel the california women's well- being index shows prior to the pandemic, much larger share of black, latinx, native american women were mobe likely to unemployed and to live in poverty, and this just means

many women, particularly women of color wealready struggling to make ends meet, and many likely as a result of this health and economic craris facing a financial cliff. >> kristin, i'd like to turn how women compared to men economically in the state. yo what d numbers show you? >> so when we're looking at women, just aggregated by race ite men here in california, the highest earning demographic group, we know latinx women earn only $.42 as coared to white men's dollar, and that means because of that wage gap, they have feweresources for their household to pay the bills, to pay for childce, housing, and food for example. >> and we note that as a woman loses her job, she immediately becomes more economically

unstable. she is not able to save as much coquirement, her family s poorer, and she becomes more dependent on her partner, so could you talk a cities long- term implications of women losing their job to this pandemic, hamma? yes. so women losing their jobs as well as women reducing, having to reduce their working hours will have importan i implicatiothink in the we know that when women leave the labor force, it's very hard for them to come back. they reduce working hourand it will have implications for future promotions , and this represents a big setback in eq terms of gender lity. >> these issues are not new, hamma. what do you see as the most important way to pport women in the workplace? >> my focus in this issue is outside the workplace, that this is a crisis we are all living, and we need more support, so unfortunately not everybody has the flexibility in their jobs to work from home, and i think, i hope that o

employers can be understanding and supportive, e fact this is a section we are living. >> the issue of womedealing with childcaraling with senior care, and dealing with home care as well as their work in the workplace. that struggle is not new,but the ount to which it has financially impacted women and taken away some of e gains overrecent years we've made in terms of equality in the workplace. that is certainly new and icexacerbated by the pand so i would like to ask you as well. systemically, what can change, what needs to change in order to promotewomen to a place of equality in the workplace in california? >> so, we need two things here in t nation as whole and specifically in california. we need to make sure families access to childcare. eir kids have a healthy place

to thrive and learn and grow while they are at work. this is critically important. we know childcare providers have been hit hard by this pandemic, d many have osed their doors. and if families do not have a place fototheir children learn and grow, it's going to stymie our economic recovery, we're going to be unable to gr show real economicth without adequate childcare infrastructure to support our economy. and the thing i would add is we need comprehensive paid family leave in the uned states. re weone of the few countries in the world that does not have a national paid family leave program, and there's no reason in a rich country like the united states that workers should have to make a choice between paying their bil caring for their family. >> hamma, there's been back and ek whether or not new this stimulus talks would resume. it looks like potentially they are back on. if there's a new stimulus that is passed, what is the mo important thing you think women need in order to regain some of

this economic strength that they had? >> honestly,i ink the ti limi for women right now is that schools were not able to fully reopen for education across the country, so i think what will happen ismore support , for school to have the means to safely open for kids to tend five rsys in . >> kristin, anything you will be looking for in terms of a package that would girelief lus to women? >> absolutely. you know, i'm thinking the most right now about women and workers who have lost their jobs and how they're really struggling to pay the bills and put food on the table, and so i'm looking for federal policymakers to reinstate the 600 per week additional unemployment benefits that ended in july and in a high

cost state like california, it's critically important that unemployed workers do not lose their homes especially in the midst of a pandemic i would also hope federal policymakers would boost food assistance. we know here in california, more than one hoin 5 eholds, black and latinx household with kids do not have an eighth food for their families, and boost of food will help families feed their children and make itthrough this economic downturn. >> kristin schumacher the california budget and policy center, hamma rodriguez with the university of arkansas, insight. for your time and >> thayou. you can visit cal budget b7 or to explore an interactive tool the revealed differences in women's econssic well-being acthe state. and you can find more of our coverage at inform. inspire. inlve./ . before we go, we want to bring yo a momeof something beautiful in our shared world. this week, our videographer jim took a drive to the marina

headlands d capture the sights and sounds of the coast and pacific ocean. from all of us here at "kqed newsroom,"hanks for joining us. good night. ♪

robert: high stakes and running mates. >> the american people have witnessed what is the greatest failur any presidential administration in the history of our country >> i ask you, stop playing politics with people's lives. robert: showdown over the health of the nation. president trump i'm not going to waste my time. >> we don't know wha the president is going to do. robert: and it alarms democrats. >>t this is about president trump but we are reminded about the health of the currepr ident. >> that is absurd, i think tho discounted. robert: next.