if it's wednesday, the new urgent warning from dr. fauci about the threat of another coronavirus surge tied to a holiday weekend. this one, of course, labor day. the next few day also be critical to controlling the spread of the virus in the fall. new data, new challenges and new hopes for a vaccine, but still no new relief coming from congress to help the struggling americans financially. as schools across america are trying to reopen, joe biden is expected to speak this hour on his plans to keep students safe. he'll take on president trump over the virus. we'll bring you those comments live. ♪

welcome to wednesday. it is "meet the press" daily. i'm chuck todd. for the past week the u.s. reported over 40,000 new coronavirus cases every day. 888 people in this country are dying every day. that average is the lowest since july 24th. anthony fauci today warned that labor day weekend has the potential to spread the virus even more. >> we know from prior experience when you get into holiday weekends, the 4th of july, memorial day, there's a tendency of people to be careless somewhat with regard to the public health measures we keep recommending over and over again. i want to use this opportunity almost to have a plea to the people of this country to realize we really still need to get our arms around this and to suppress these types of surges that weave seen. >> it comes at a sobering time and a sobering moment in this country's history, more than 185,000 people have died from

covid-19, more than 6.1 million people have tested positive. more than 20 million americans have lost their jobs since the pandemic began. united airlines announcing in the past two hours it plans to cut more than 16,000 jobs as early as next month when the deal with the government bailout is over. from kindergarten to college, schools are struggling with how to effectively and safely educate students. if one image sums up the situation in this country, this may be it. this is a picture that went viral of two young girls sitting in a taco bell parking lot so they could access wi-fi to complete their school work. let that sit in for a minute. a new study finds more than 14% of households with children say they sometimes or often go hungry. based on nancy pelosi's readout from her conversation with treasury secretary steve mnuchin, any financial relief from congress seems unlikely at best. as for the trump administration response, 39% approve of his

handling of the virus. he's not expected to discuss covid today during his trip to north carolina. we'll see joe biden in delaware and trump in north carolina. he joins us from the room where we're expected to hear biden speak and possibly take a few questions. carol lee is in wilmington, north carolina, where the president is expected to speak later this afternoon. mr. memoli, let me start with you and the virus. it's been in some ways the centerpiece of the biden campaign. as he now goes and starts to campaign outside of the state of delaware, making sure they stick to protocols -- i assume they know they're going to be held to a higher standard than trump gets held. >> that's absolutely right, chuck. the fact i'm talking to you on the phone is the indication of these kind of protocols that the biden campaign has in place so he can campaign throughout the country, but do so in a way that

keeps him safe, keeps the reporters covering him safe and keeps those in the community safe. they have a strict limit on the number of reporters allowed to be in the room as well as cameras. i'm off stage outside the room where we expect to hear the former vice president speak. in about half an hour or so, yes, we are expecting him to take some questions, a rare opportunity for us to do that. in terms of the messages of the campaign, chuck, i think the most consequential question of where the race stands right now can be in what the biden campaign planned to be talking about this week versus what we see them both talking about and putting on the airwaves. the biden kicked off with dr. jill biden yesterday, a sort of back-to-school tour. the sort of kitchen table issues they believe voters will be making their decision about, can you send your children safely into a classroom, the toll it's taking on families who have to arrange for different child care, things like that, because they can't. we'll hear the former vice president potentially make news about additional federal

resources he thinks should be made available to schools to help with this process. chuck, you can't deny what the campaign is putting money behind, though, which is this law and order message, response to the message we've seen from republicans over the last two weeks. the biden campaign says this is an indication if their point of view that this is not the strong issue the president thinks it is, that they can turn it around on him, use it aggressively against him as they think they've redefined what it means to be safe in america, not just safe in your cities, but safe from illness, safe in the economic security of you and your family. certainly the trump campaign looks at $45 million going on the air with this ad, taking his remarks from pittsburgh and takes it as a sign that they are playing defense, they need to acknowledge there's other issues and the president has been leading the way on it, chuck. >> so kenosha tomorrow. i guess it's going to raise the

question, ken noehe could have monday and chose not to. >> there are a number of factors, one, the travel logistics involved. two, i think it's a difficult position for the campaign to be in when you have democratic office holders saying the president shouldn't travel, couldn't come into the state and then the former vice president, a fellow democratic is going to be coming in. we saw just with hallie jackson yesterday the president of the local naacp frankly he didn't want to see either of the candidates in there. the way the biden campaign is addressing this is the format of the event, calling it a community meeting. he'll speak to the pain that was exactly the reason that the local naacp leader said he shouldn't come, that there is pain and he want to address that in a way that they don't believe the president served. >> play a little offense, play a little defense. carol lee, what's been interesting about the president is it does seem they want to

pretend covid is in the rear view mirror. it used to be they'd do an event, there would be a covid event, maybe a health care worker thing, a plant that makes masks. are they going to play lip service to the virus today? >> reporter: well, that remains to be seen, chuck. what we know is the president is coming here to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the end of world war ii. he's going to designate wilmington a world war ii heritage city. what we don't expect to hear from him is about the nearly 2,800 people in north carolina that died from coronavirus. this state, as the president arrives here, is seeing an increase in cases. it had 12,000 cases in the past week alone. to the extent the president does talk about the virus, i think you'll probably hear him talk about it in the context of veterans and health care and things that he's done to poor

veterans and health care throughout the pandemic. that's really the way he plans to talk about the virus for the next closing ten weeks of the campaign, which is put a positive spin on it, talk about a vaccine, things that might be coming on the horizon that are going to make it better and try to drive home this message, regardless of facts on the ground, as i outlined for you here in north carolina. the message that things are getting better and they're moving in the right direction. that's where they've decided that he should focus throughout the closing weeks of this campaign, chuck. >> there's two pieces of news on the virus this week. one has to do with the cdc is now the place apparently you're supposed to go if you want to apply to avoid being evicted, if you think you're on the verge of being evicted. you can apply to a special program. this is being run through the cdc. is this about the president's executive order because they're at a standstill with congress?

>> reporter: yes, that's right. we know from talking to white house officials that the executive order that the president adopted on evictions was the one they felt was most wobbly. so it was not necessarily the strongest one in the batch that he had signed. so we're seeing him try to shore that up because there's no guarantee and congress is obviously very far apart. that's before the president has even really weighed in. we've seen him come in during negotiations and seen them derail things. to the extent republicans and democrats can agree on anything in congress. we're seeing that. we're seeing one of the things the president did recently was come out and talk about plasma and this idea and the fda emergency usage. now we're seeing the national institutes of health coming in and undermining the message the president was trying to deliver about that. even where he does want to talk about coronavirus, a lot of times he'll get out there and then the experts come in and

they lay out the facts and it contradicts what the president is saying. >> mike memoli, carol lee, one in delaware, one in north carolina, thank you both. joining me is dr. tom inn g inglesby. we've heard a lot of concern and it's not because we have experience, memorial day and the 4th of july both kicked off spreads. at this point i guess we have to sadly expect it now this weekend. >> i don't think it's a forgone conclusion because americans have the chance to make good decisions, but i do think that they are still getting mixed messages from the top and from local leaders in some places where the message they might be hearing is this pandemic is moving behind us. and i think we really need to have a consistent message that

the pandemic remains squarely in front of us and we know what to do and know how to avoid increasing risk of transmission, and hopefully that most people in america will be thinking about that this weekend. >> one of the things i think people don't really comprehend is we are still, even as our caseload is going down, it's still higher than it was in april, back when we thought was our first peak. i'm curious what you see this month. we've had the opening of college campuses in quite a few parts of the country that has created some localized spikes. what do you think that tells us for the fall, for the next couple of months? what do you foresee here? are these college campuses going to be able to stay open? >> i think some of them will. there's a wide -- kind of a wide change in strategy around the country if you go from place to place about how they're opening universities and colleges. some are testing very carefully

and have very good communication programs and good programs to ensure social distancing. i think others have had a more lay san jose fair approach. many of them have had to close. in your question about the fall, i think it is true that, as we begin to reopen schools around the country in some places and universities in some places, as people begin to move indoors where it's colder, i think the risk of this disease resurging is real and serious. we have to do whatever we can to try to limit the kind of large gatherings, higher risk activities that have led to spikes around the country in the last six months. >> well, speaking of large gatherings and spikes -- you told one of my producers you wanted to talk about the spike in the midwest. it's something i've been noting to my colleagues as well. there was a huge event three weeks ago in sturgess, south dakota. to me it's not a coincidence

that we've seen a spike there, iowa, perhaps it's connected to sturgis, perhaps other things. what do you see as your level of concern about the midwest spike right now? >> first of all, it shows a trend really clearly about what's been happening since the spring, into the summertime which is a movement from the largest cities, the largest metropolitan areas in the country to places that are smaller, smaller towns or less populated communities or counties. that's been going on since summertime and seems to be continuing to go on. it's also true that a number of places in the midwest have had their highest number of cases, daily number of cases since the beginning of the pandemic over the last couple of days, and you're right, the sturgess rally i think was really unwise. it had hundreds of thousands of people gathering from around the country. sadly it's going to be sad to tell the full impact of what happened with sturgess. many people go home, they don't

know they're sick, they spread it to others. south dakota and north dakota are having their worst weeks ever with this virus, and i think we just have to keep learning -- seems like we have to keep relearning similar lessons which is when lots of people get together, don't wear masks, no social distancing, this virus takes advantage of it. >> sometimes i feel like you and i are having repetitive conversations. at the end of the day, maybe that is our best course of action because repetition, maybe it does pound through people's head. there was the cdc change in testing guidance. it certainly was a head-scratcher to a lot of us who are trying to figure out how we work, how we go into studios and things like that. it smacked of politics. are you going to abide by the cdc recommendations on testing? >> they left it open for public health officials and physicians

to decide what the right thing is, testing contacts and who to test, and i don't think we should change the path we were on before. i'm worried there was pressure from outside of cdc. my sense is cdc, the majority of people there are not supportive of this recommendation although it is on their website. i think we should continue to do what we were doing before. we know people who are contacts of cases are at very high risk of disease. they've spent indoor time together. those people should be tested. they should also go through quarantine as is recommended, but they should be tested. >> the usa not participating in the w.h.o. vaccine program. you called it a poor decision in the continued sort of campaign i guess by the trump administration to separate from the w.h.o., but what is the impact on us as americans with this vaccine? >> well, i think it is possible

that there are other places in the world that we're not working with right now, our government is not working with right now that could develop this vaccine first, that could develop the first safe and effective vaccine, the first or second. so when we step out of the process altogether, this international process, we then cut off our ability to participate in a vaccine distribution process if other vaccines get there first. we're doing a lot in the u.s. to make our own vaccine. the w.h.o. process does not in any way try to block that. there's no reason we can't do all we're doing already with companies to make vaccine and participate with w.h.o. but i think it seems like a very strange u.s. government reaction to the interaction between w.h.o. and china that doesn't make sense as a reason to cut off potential access to vaccine for americans. >> it only makes sense apparently to one person over there in the west wing.

dr. tom inglesby, as always, thank you for your expertise. we're waiting to hear from joe biden who is set to go after the president on his coronavirus response as he addresses his plan forgetting students back to school safely. once he begins speaking, we will bring you that event live. also ahead, the surging crisis in many places where students are already back, college. at the university of alabama, 1,200 students have the virus. let me repeat, 1,2000 students. we're live in tuscaloosa with the frantic effort. first, we just learned who will be serving as moderators for the upcoming presidential debates. fox's chris wallace will moderate, c-span's steve scully will moderate the second one. great to hear that, steve. our own nbc news white house correspondent kristen welker will moderate the third and final presidential debate. susan page will moderate the vp debate. congrats to all four of those folks.

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welcome back. as we said, we're spending this hour focusing on the coronavirus and how it's touching every part of our lives. there may be no more far-reaching issue when it comes to covid are schools. rhode island is rolling out a robust testing plan for k-12 schools. any student or staff member who feels sick or shows symptoms will be able to schedule a test through a hotline. the state says the school testing sites will be able to run about 5,000 tests a day. dr. anthony fauci says sending college students home without breaks is, quote, the worst thing they can do. utah state university is quarantining 300 students after the school found elevated levels of the virus in waste water in several dorms. james madison is moving classes online after more than 500 cases

on campus. the university of alabama reported 1200 cases. nbc news correspondent ellison barber is in tuscaloosa. ellison, this is -- what has to be a little concerning here is for the most part, the alabama student population is mostly in sta state. so one would think given they had a mask mandate and things they shouldn't have had a spike like this. lo and behold they have. >> reporter: one of the arguments that is coming from school officials in regards to that number is they say 1200 students when you consider the fact our entire student bod si is 30,000 is a relatively small percentage. 87% of those 1200 positive cases came in a span of just eight days. we have spoken to a number of faculty members, staffers who

say they feel like it is clear that the unit's -- >> ellison, i have to pause you. i apologize. i have to pause you because we promised we would take joe biden live. he's about to begin right now. >> -- briefed, as you know, in this room by our public health and education experts about what it's going to take to be able to reopen our schools safely and effectively. back to school is always a particular time. in all the years jill and i were married, she was going back to school, too, as a teacher. she's an educator and will be the first one to tell you that this should be a season of promise for our country, times when classrooms are crackling with the possibilities of the

new year, students' hopes and all about the future. this year we're facing the most difficult circumstances and we're seeing an awful lot of heart and a lot of grit from our educators, our students and to try to rise to the occasion here. but our government hasn't come up to that bar, hasn't shown much grit at all or determination. let me be clear, if president trump and his administration had done their jobs early on with this crisis, american schools would be open and would be open safely. instead, american families all across this country are paying the price for his failures and his administration's failures. like many of you, because you're all reporters, you also have a lot of friends and you have children. you're probably hearing the same thing i'm hearing throughout this pandemic. they're struggling to figure out how to do the right thing, but they're worried, worried like the devil.

what does it mean for my kids? is this setting my child's education back beyond just a semester? what impact will it have? how is my child going to catch up? what if i'm not doing enough to help my child succeed? all those questions and self doubt. president trump may not think this is a national emergency, but i think going back to school for millions of children and the impacts on their families and the community is a national emergency. i believe that's what it is. protecting our students, educators, communities, getting our schools open safely and effectively. this is a national emergency. president trump still doesn't have any real plan for how to open our schools safely. no real plan for how to help parents feel secure for their

children. he's offering nothing but failure and delusions from the start to finish to the american families and our children are paying the price for his failures. failure to take this virus seriously early on in january and february, and it spread around the globe. fail your to take steps we needed back in march and april to get this pandemic under control, to institute widespread testing and tracing to control the spread. failure to provide clear, national, science-based guidelines to state and local authorities, and failure to model even basic responsibility like social distancing and wearing a mask and failure to make sure educators and administrators have the equipment, the resources and the training they need to open safely under the circumstances we find now. donald trump and betsy devos,

secretary devos haven't stepped up. we're seeing the results. millions of students are starting the school year in the same way they finished the last one, at home, at home. parents are doing their best, but more and more were finding themselves at wit's end, struggling to balance work and child care and educational duties, or worrying about their lost paycheck and how they'll make ends meet while trying to keep their kids on track with remote learning. educate rers taking on countless hours of additional training to learn how to use remote tools so they can be there for their students. but they're worried about all the kids who used to count on our schools, all those children who need it so badly and particularly those children who need more than the education they provide their meals and safe places to spend the day.

we're all concerned about making sure covid-19 doesn't further exacerbate the disparities. the disparities that already have existed in our educational system. for so many poor children and in so many communities of color, it's unacceptable. it can't go on like this. we all want our schools to reopen safely with a plan that prioritizes the health of our students and our educators and staff alike. i laid out my plans back in june and july, roadmap for how to open, reopen safely and effectively. you can read them by going to joebiden.com. we need straightforward common sense solutions, but trump refuses to act. starving schools of the needed funding, funding they need now, now. they needed it beginning of the summer. now trump's fema director is

cutting schools loose. just yesterday fema announced after helping three districts -- i think it was three -- they announced they're not going to help pay for cloth masks, our ppe or for school settings, cleaning those basic health needs, to sanitize everything from the lavatories to the classrooms and safety costs for schools that don't qualify for emergency assistance. this is an emergency, mr. president. this is an emergency. donald trump and his fema should treat it as one. if i were president today, i would direct fema to make sure our kids k-12 get full access to disaster relief and emergency assistance under the stafford act. i'd make sure ppe and sanitation supplies for schools qualify as emergency protective measures which is a phrase they use to

fully be eligible for federal assistance. on top of that, i'd be working with the leaders of congress now, today, to pass emergency packages for schools so they have the resources they need in order to be open to safely. money for ventilation. i heard that a lot when i had all those health care experts up on the zoom. money for ventilation and other health measures, but also more money to hire more teachers. every recommendation we got was they're going to be -- they should be dividing into pods, smaller classes. smaller classes mean more educators are needed. keeping classes socially distanced, small. money for more psychologists and counselors. i introduced legislation a long time ago -- i proposed legislation a long time ago. we have one school psychologist

for every 1,507 children in school, and the health care, the mental health that our children need now, the anxiety they're feeling at home, in going to school, not being able to go to school. the nation's superintendents of schools have estimated they'll need at least $200 billion to support k-12 schools throughout the year for safe reopening. we need the money to hire educators for our four-year colleges and universities. for community colleges, hbcus, minority-serving institutions. democratic leaders are ready to get this done. they've already proposed such legislation. mr. president, where are you? where are you? why aren't you working on this? we need emergency support funding for our schools and we need it now. mr. president, that's your job.

that's your job. that's what you should be focused on now, getting our kids back to school safely, keeping schools safely able to remain open once they open, not whipping up fear and division, not inciting violence in our streets. get off twitter and start talking to the congressional leaders in both parties. invite them to the oval office, the oval office. stop your boast about never being seen -- you can do anything. you always talk about your ability to negotiate. negotiate a deal, a deal for somebody other than yourself. now, i'm happy to take questions you may have. i guess staff is going to call on whoever. fire away.

>> thank you, mr. vice president, two quick questions if i may. first, ahead of your trip to kenosha, wisconsin, last week your running mate senator harris said the officer who shot jacob blake based on what she had seen should be charged. do you agree with her and do you believe the same for the officers involved in the death of breonna taylor? >> i think we should let the judicial system work its way. i do think there's a minimum need to be charged, the officers, as well as breonna taylor. i might add, by the way, i think what happened in portland where one of the trump guys riding along in vans, inciting responses, shooting rubber bullets or paint balls, apparently there was someone shot by someone in the crowd

with a bullet, killed. i think that person should meet the legal requirements of whatever that calls for. it should be investigated and should follow through on what needs to be done. let the judicial system work. let's make sure justice is done. >> just quickly on a different topic, there's a new book by "the new york times'" michael schmidt that says when president trump made an unannounced visit to walter reid hospital in 2019, vice president pence was told to be on standby to take over in case president trump had to receive anesthesia. pence said last night he doesn't recall being told that. as vice president, were you ever told to be on standby or given any kind of special alert when president obama was going in for a medical appointment? i also just wonder whether you have any concerns about the fact that that walter reid visit that president trump made, it didn't follow prior protocol about presidential visits for medical examinations? >> i'm not going to speculate on what it means. but i can say that nothing this

administration does is normal. i'm not being facetious when i say that. who in god's name knows what it's all about. i just don't know. i don't know. i'm in the going to speculate. i'll let the experts do that. the only time that i have been on notice is when the president is out of the country and i'm in the country, not that i should wait for something to be immediately be aware of anything, but that that's something that might be called for. it wasn't called for. >> thank you. >> thank you, mr. vice president. on this visit to kenosha tomorrow, local democratic officials including the governor previously discouraged president trump from visiting. just yesterday the president of the local naacp said he didn't

want to see either of the candidates including yourself visit, that this is such a sensitive situation in the city. why is now the right time for you to go to kenosha and what do you hope to accomplish? >> well, we've spoken to all the loaders up there. although i have an outstanding call with the governor. i dealt with his staff. and there's been overwhelming requests that i do come because what we want to do, we've got to heal, we've got to put things together, bring people together. my purpose in going will be to do just that, to be a positive influence on what's going on, talk about what needs to be done and try to see if there's a beginning of a mechanism to bring the folks together. we have to heal. this is about making sure that we move forward, and so i've

gotten advice from sitting members of the congress and the senate as well to go and that i should go. i'm not going to do anything other than meet with -- meetings with community leaders as well as business people and other folks in law enforcement and to see -- start to talk about what has to be done. i'm not going to tell kenosha what they have to do, but what we have to do together. the idea that we are saying -- the president's current people to retreat to their corners and keep this moving is just a mistake. i spent my whole life including in this city you're in right now bringing people together, bringing the community and police officers together, bringing business leaders and civic leaders together. so that's my purpose in going. >> the fact that you're traveling to wisconsin at all, i believe this is only the third time in the last few months since the onset of the pandemic

that you'll be on a plane. you talked about how you want to make sure you follow all the advice of your doctors in terms of campaigning safely. but the question we keep hearing from voters and others is why aren't you out there more? you may be aware the president was calling into question your campaign schedule today. how far are you willing to push the envelope of what's safe in order to get the message out and speak to the voters directly? >> i think my message is getting out based on what all the polling data shows and the millions of people who have watched what i've had to say and the circumstances in which i've said it. but i would like to get out more, but i think a president has a responsibility to set examples, set the right example for how to get out, not go out and not wear masks and not to have large crowds of people standing next to one another, not wearing masks, not being the potential cal drum for significant outbreaks of covid.

what i've done is met with, via what i did this morning, the medical experts. so we orkd out a protocol where, how i get on the plane, what kind of plane i get on, how it's sanitized, how i engage people. it's like when i'm engaging you, it's always at a safe distance, everyone is wearing masks. the vast majority of people that i meet with that come into my home and the staff and the like, they're all tested as well. i'm just trying to set the example of wearing the protective gear, a mask which i have with me. i'm able at this distance to take it off, number one. number two, making sure that we proceed in a way with adequate social distancing and do it the right way. >> quickly, they announced the format and the moderators of the presidential debates today. nbc's kristen welker batting

cleanup for that last presidential debate. is there anything that could dissuade you from participating and how have you begun to prepare? >> i've begun to prepare by going over what the president has said, multiple lies he's told. what i'd love to have is a crawler at the bottom of the screen, a fact checker when we speak. if we really wanted to do something, i think that would make a great, great debate if everything both of us said was instantly fact checked by an agreed-to group of people out there. but that probably wouldn't get very far in the debate. i'm looking forward to debating the president, and i'm going to lay out as clearly as i can what i think we have to do to bring this country back and build it back better. i'm looking forward to the debate.

>> thank you, mr. vice president. one of the things i've heard a lot from voters across the country is a lot of them are worried and concerned about some of the ongoing violence we've seen including the situation in kenosha, wisconsin, where you're headed. obviously you're not president now and donald trump is. i'm curious, if you were president, what would you do to ensure that people are kept safe in situations like this? >> first of all, i wouldn't incite violence. i'd condemn it when it occurred. look, the vast majority of police officers are good, decent, honorable women an men. they pin on the shield that morning and have the right to go home that night safely, the vast majority. but just those that are not good cops, all the police i've dealt with my whole life -- i've gotten overwhelming support from law enforcement through my whole career, they're the ones that want to get rid of the bad cops

more than anybody else does because it reflects on them, number one. number two, i would make sure everybody understood if i were president that any violence, any violence, protesting is a right and free speech is a right. but to engage in violence, burning, looting and the rest in the name of protests is wrong and the persons should be held accountable for their actions. so what i would be doing is bringing people together in the white house right now. i'd be having that police commission set up. i'd have law enforcement at the table. i'd have the community at the table. i'd have people saying how do we get through this, what do we do to deal with this? i believe the vast majority of the community at large as well as law enforcement want to straighten things out, not inflame things. but this president keeps throwing gasoline on the fire

every place he goes. i noticed -- i didn't watch much of it, but i watched the reports from all of you -- not all of you, but from the press. when he was asked about what should be done with regard to a young man shot in the back seven times in front of his children, i didn't hear much of anything come from him. what should we be doing about -- went down the line. i wish he'd take responsibility. as much as he'd like to be running against somebody else, he's running against me, joe biden. and the fact is he is not acting very responsibly. >> you've outlined your plan to reopen schools safely. what about what happens in the interim? right now millions of parents across the country are facing

this very impossible task of having to work full time and help their children full time to learn virtually. what is your message to these parents and what can you do to help them in order to reopen schools? >> help is on the way. i laid out a clear plan for child care, a clear plan for starting early education as well so 3 and 4 and 5-year-olds are in school and the like. but i'm not president right now. what we should be doing is we should be providing for more help for people who, in fact, are trying to juggle the choice between, do i stay home with my 3, 4 or 5-year-old and take care of them in the middle of this covid problem, or do i go to work and earn a salary? what do i do? that's why i have a major initiative to deal with child care and elder care so people can be adequately paid to come and take care of folks, children, as well as the elderly that you may be taking care of,

a husband or wife may be taking care of, as well as making sure that those folks are able to get back to work. that's why focusing on day-care centers and making sure they're safe and healthy now is equally as important as dealing with -- almost as equally important as dealing with schools. we should be providing all the ppe and all the safety that is necessary to allow them to open. hundreds of them have been opening because some states have gone in and done that. there should be universal guidance coming from the president of the united states of america. there should be basic standards to how, in fact, what circumstance you can safely open a day-care center, you can safely open a child care center. in addition to that in the future, the idea -- this has brought home a number of glaring problems we have in america, this whole pandemic and what's happened in terms of jobs. the idea that we're in a situation where you have so many

parents who have to make the difficult choice as a single parent or working parents to decide whether one gives up their salary and stays home with a child under the age of 5 or 6 and/or somehow leaves them with somebody that is not particularly qualified and goes to work so they can earn a living is a choice that is not -- shouldn't be making. we're the only industrialized country in the world that forces people to make that kind of choice. no one should have to pay more than 7% of an income to provide for child care and be able to go to work. this is something that is a major element of my build back better program. but in the meantime, in the meantime, the most important thing that can be done is have cdc issue really straightforward guidelines on what circumstances you should be able to open up your day care center or child care center now, and there

should be clear standards. states should have the wherewithal to be able to go outnd a inspect those facilities now. you know, one thing i haven't mentioned and i think it warrants mentioning, one of the things we did -- when we inherited the great recession and we were going into the tank, heading off the cliff, heading to a depression, i was able to convince three republicans to change their vote and we ended up with the so-called recovery act. we spent over $800 billion in 18 months, kept us from going into a depression. what did we do? we spent billions of dollars making sure that states were able to maintain their essential workers. everyone from the fire departments, school teachers, their doctors, their nurses, their public hospitals. now what's happening? this republican administration will not support that, and the republican leadership in the united states senate will not

support it. so what's happening? we don't have that help. it's not out there. states are in real trouble. to quote my good friend mitch mcconnell, he said let the states go bankrupt. states have to balance their budgets under the law. communities, counties, cities, they have to balance their budget. there's a reason why the federal government is able to run a deficit, to compensate in times of real economic crisis. what's happening? nothing. nothing. guess what? we came out of that recession with the longest spurt of economic growth of any administration in american history, but these guys don't -- i could go on. businesses, look at the money that was passed under the c.a.r.e.s. act for businesses, small businesses to be able to stay open. you've got tens of thousands of them going out of business, many personal innocently. why? because the money didn't get to

small businesses. they're not open. we should be dealing with those businesses that have been burned out and damaged. we should be finding federal help for those businesses to get back on their feet. this administration seems to think it's all of a sudden going to go away, like angel dust is going to be sprayed around, everything is going to be okay. i just don't get it. they have to know better. they have to know better. we had an example just the last administration, how much good you can do and how much growth you can generate. i just don't get these guys. i really don't. i've been doing this a long time. i've never seen a president lack as much leadership, inability to make a deal and i'm told the reason they can't get anything done in the republican congress is 20 members of the united states senate say under no circumstances will they raise the deficit at all. well, that's wonderful and we're

in the position that we're in now. look at other countries doing a hell of a lot better. we have 186,000 people dead, t have contracted the disease, and no end in sight. it's just irresponsible. talk about a know-nothing congress. on the republican side. know-nothing president. i don't get it. i really don't get it. but it's going to change. come january, god willing. >> sir, what do say to teachers who are afraid to return to the classroom even if the safety protocols you proposed are in place? >> i say i understand their concern because so many teachers also have pre-existing conditions that lend itself to the fact if they were to contract the covid disease, covid-19, that they would be

very susceptible to being in real trouble. so it's understandable why they're doing it. but the first thing to do is make sure that all the protective capacity that we have available to us is made available. and then make choices about whether or not, let the districts make a choice whether or not they open fully, whether they rotate, and whether or not those teachers are able to be able to teach from home and remote learning. but it's really understandable why they would -- look what's happened in this covid crisis so far. 100,000 people have died who were above the age of 65. 100,000 out of the 200 some that have died or not 200 some, 189 or whatever it is now. estimated, i heard today, the estimates range from two significant universities, one is as many as 239, i think, and

another one said by december, 312 deaths. i don't know that, but it's going to go higher. and so i just don't -- i don't understand why it's a political problem. what is the politics about not being willing to go in and help provide the protective capacity for people to be able to go back to work? and to go to school? i don't -- i just can't fathom it. >> thank you, mr. vice president. you talked today about reopening schools. i wanted to ask you something you said last week about the potential of having to shut down the economy again. you were asked if you would be willing to shut it down if your

so, and you said, quote, i would be prepared to do whatever it takes, but i'm curious how you would do that at a federal level and economically, if you have economic advisers saying if you do this again, you could plunge the country into an even deeper economic crisis? >> well, look. i know you're tired of hearing me say this. i have been saying it since last january. the idea that you're going to be able to get the economy back on track without getting covid under control is completely counterintuitive. it's not there. it can't happen. so unless we're able to deal with the disease and drastically cut its impact on people's confidence and being able to either go to work or walk into a business or do business, then it doesn't matter a lot. there's going to be no need in my view to be able to shut down the whole economy. i got asked by david muir, if i

was asked to shut everything down, i took that as a generic question, am i going to follow the science. i am going to insist, and i insist now without any authority, that every responsible person in this country when they're out in public or not with a cohort that they have lived with because they know they haven't spread it, your husband, wife, et cetera, that they wear a mask. that they wear a mask and keep socially distanced. you can take a mask off when you're 12, 15 feet away. but i would follow -- i would really, really make the case, and by the way, when i find these folks talking about my freedom, i talk about patriotism. why do you wear a mask? to protect your neighbor. to keep someone else from getting sick and maybe dying. i call that patriotic.

this is the united states of america. every generation has made sacrifices to help others. in moments of crisis. >> you suggested there would be some kind of a federal mandate about masks. now you're saying you encourage people. >> no. what i suggested was i would ask every person in authority, there's a question whether or not a president under the constitution could mandate everyone wear a mask. and remember, all during the primary, i would have a lot of people telling me, i would by executive order do -- i'm a constitutionalist. you can't do things the constitution doesn't allow you the power to do. what i would do doing is putting as much pressure as i could on every governor, every senator -- excuse me, every mayor, every county executive, every local official, and everyone in business. putting pressure on them to say what you're doing is

irresponsible. make sure you wear a mask and maintain social distancing. and the vast majority of the american people accept that notion. >> one more quick campaign question. you raised $364.5 million. your campaign in the dnc last month. record for a monthly haul, appare apparently. how are you going to spend it? >> you want to go to dinner? no, i tell you what. look, what i'm having to spend a lot of it on is to counter the lies that are being told. by trump's campaign and swift boaters out there. the new pac. but what i'm trying to do is spend most of that, and by the way, i think the average contribution was like $40. we have over a 1.6 million people who contributed during this economic crisis, somewhere

between $5, $10, $15. that shows some enthusiasm about making sure we have a chance to become president of the united states. so what i will spend most of it doing is trying to explain to the american people how i want to unite the country, what i want to do to make the country better, why i'm so confident we can do it. why i'm so confident that we can bring the country together and be in a better position than before this crisis occurred. because there's been so many fissures exposed as a consequence that people are realizing my lord, i didn't know people in that circumstance didn't have help. i think we have an enormous opportunity to bring the country together. and once again, lead the world, and you heard me say it 100 times. not just by the example of our power but by the power of our example. thank you all so very much for taking the time. thank you.

>> thank you, guys. >> i know you always ask a hostile question, but go ahead. >> so you said, and you have to agree with me, that you have warned -- you said that you warned president trump in january that there was going to be a pandemic and what needed to be done. if you knew that, then why were you still hosting crowded campaign rallies in march? >> what i talked about was not what had to be done. what i said, you have to take this seriously. you have got to insist that we have access to wuhan. insist that we have access to china to find out for ourselves. we had 44 people from cdc there. you cannot continue to talk about the president of china saying he's done a marvelous job, he's doing a great, great job. when it got up to march, i kept saying, look, you have got to invoke, and you remember, i

think i was the first. i may be mistaken, person calling about the defense production act. we don't have enough of the -- it's amazing. we use a phrase like ppe and the public knows what that is now, but protective equipment and gear and ventilators. use that authority. use it to go out there now and don't wait, and don't wait to talk about the need for us to have masks and don't wait to talk about -- that's what i talked about. and then i began to lay out for him, we actually had a conversation. i can't remember when it was. i think it was march, maybe it was april, in that range. i said -- he said biden wants to help, i want to talk to him. i talked to him. i laid out what i thought should be done to reopen safely and the things we should do. he was very polite. he listened, and he said he would think about it, and that was the end of it. so what i would begin -- what began to become clear is as the science began to show that this was able to spread much more

easily than people thought, two issues. was a pandemic coming? and how did it most -- what's the most way the did the most damage? and as that became clearer and clearer, we concluded that we just can't continue to have these large rallies. and you know, think about it. here we are, the rest of the world, the places that have done extremely well in terms of dealing with this covid crisis around the world, you know, we have the five largest countries in europe have a population larger than the united states of america. yet, in the month of august, we're losing 1,000 lives a day and they're losing 57 a day combined. combined, all of them combined. so i just don't, as we learn more, and we did learn more, and by march and april, we knew a whole heck of a lot more, w