the participants are, republican vice president dan quayle. [applause] >> democratic senator al gore. [applause] >> and retired vide admiral james stockdale, who is a vice presidential nominee law for independent candidate ross perot. [applause] now the ground rules for tonight's debate, each candidate will have two minutes for an opening statement. i will then present the issues to be discussed. for each topic, the candidates will have a minute and 15 seconds to respond. this will be followed by a five minute discussion period, in which they can ask questions of each other if they so choose. now, leo they're up, responses to be determined by a draw. and we will rotate with each topic. at the end of the debate, each candidate will have two minutes for a closing statement. already our tv audience should know that the candidates were giving -- given equal allocations for his supporters. so i would like to ask the audience, here in the theater, to please refrain from applause or any parties and demonstration once the debate is underway, because i

gore: george bush and dan quayle want to protect the very wealthy. that is the group that has gotten all of the tax cuts under the bush-quayle administration. nobody here who is middle income has gotten a tax cut because middle-income families have had tax increases under bush and quayle in order to finance the cuts for the very wealthy. that's what trickle-down economics is all about. and they want to continue it. we're proposing to also require foreign corporations to pay the same taxes that american corporations do when they do business here in the us of america. george bush has not been willing to enforce the laws and collect those taxes. we want to close that loophole and raise more money in that way. mr. bruno: senator, can we stick to the cities, sir? sen. gore: excuse me? mr. bruno: stick to the cities. sen. gore: all right. well, he, he talked about ways to raise money to help the cities. what we're proposing is to invest in the infrastructure in cities and have targeted tax incentives for investment right in inner city areas. the enterprise

dan? >> okay. vice president quayle -- >> let me answer the question. you said, and i wrote it down here, personal negative attacks. has anyone been reading my press clippings for the past four years? [ applause ] i happen to -- i agree with one thing with senator gore, and that is we ought to look to the future. the future is who's going to be the next president of the united states. is it a negative attack, personal attack to point out that bill clinton simply has trouble telling the truth? he said that he didn't -- he didn't even demonstrate, he told the people in arkansas, 1978. then we found out he organized a demonstration. i don't care whether he demonstrated or didn't demonstrate. the question is tell the truth. tell us the truth. yesterday in philadelphia on a radio show, just yesterday on a radio show, he attacked ross perot saying the media it giving ross perot a free ride. the press asked him when the lights are on said what do you mean by ross perot getting a free ride? he said, i didn't say that at all. you don't have it both ways. no, i d

the participants are dan quayle. [ applause ] democratic senator al gore. and retired vice admiral james stockdale. he is with the independent candidate ross perot. now the ground rules for font's debate, each can dlat have two plnts for an opening. this will be followed by a five minute constitution neither which they can ask questions of each other if they so choose. the order of response has been determined by a drawing. our radio and tv audience should know they were given an equal allocation of seats for supporters. so could the audience please refrain from applause once the debate is under way been that plea from your moderator, let's get started. >> good evening, it's great to be here in atlanta for this debate where america will be showcased to the world. it is appropriate because in a real sense our constitution this evening will be about what kind of a nation we want to be four years from now. it's a pleasure to be with my two other scan dates today. mr.sto stockdale, especially an honor. mr. vice president, dan, if i may, it was 16 years ago that

defeatedratic ticket president bush and dan quayle in the general election winning 43% of the popularote to bush and quayle's 37%. perotndent candidate ross and admiral stockdale finished third. this debate from atlanta is about 90 minutes. mr. bruno: good evening from atlanta and welcome to the vice presidential debate sponsored by the nonpartisan commission on presidential debates. it's being held here in the theater for the arts on the campus of georgia tech. i'm hal bruno from abc news, and i'm going to be moderating tonight's debate. the participants are republican vice president dan quayle. [applause]

caller: dan quayle was also acting president? guest: george h to be bush did have some health issues. at onea heart condition point. transfernt, did he power to dan quayle. host: saint augustine florida is next. good morning. this is a hypothetical, let's assume that the vice president has to assume the role as acting president due to the incapacitation of the existing president. this is kind of far out. let's assume something immediately would happen to the vice president as well. , wouldhere is no vacancy we then say that the speaker of the house would fill that role? guest: yes. there would -- the vice president would still be acting as president. he would not be able to appoint a new vice president. next in line is the speaker of the house. before there was the 25th amendment, transferring power further down the line has no standards. if pence and pelosi this agreed, we have no w >> officials are about to give an update on the president's

you have been able to see dan quayle as i really am. and how george bush and i want to lead this country into the future. thank you, america, for listening, and thank you for your fairness. now you will have a choice to make on election day. you will have a choice of whether america is going to choose the road of michael dukakis or the road of george bush as we march towards the 21st century. the road of michael dukakis comes down to this -- bigger government. higher taxes. they've always believed in higher taxes. they always have and they also will. cuts in national consequence. national defense. back to the old economics of high interest rates, high inflation and old politics of high unemployment. now, the road of george bush is the road to the future and it comes down to this -- america is second to none with visions of greatness. economic expansion. tough laws. tough judges. strong values. respect for the flag and our institutions. george bush will lead us to the 21st century. a century that will be of hope and peace. ronald reagan

bush picked dan quayle. i think that says a great deal to the american people about the standards we'll set and the quality of the people that we will pick to serve in our administration. [ applause ] >> to each of you candidates, regrettably, i have to inform you that we have come to the end of our questions. that's a pity. before i ask the candidates to make their closing remarks, on behalf of the commission on presidential debates, i would like to thank all of you for joining us this evening. governor dukakis, yours is the first closing statement, sir. >> 28 years ago, as a young man just graduated from law school, i came to this city, came clear across the country, to watch john kennedy be nominated for the presidency of the united states, right here in los angeles. i never dreamed that some day i would win that nomination and be my party's nominee for president. that's america. that's why i'm proud and grateful to be a citizen of this country. 26 days from today you and millions of americans will choose

caller: dan quayle was also acting president? guest: george h to be bush did have some health issues. at onea heart condition point. transfernt, did he power to dan quayle. host: saint augustine florida is next. good morning. this is a hypothetical, let's assume that the vice president has to assume the role as acting president due to the incapacitation of the existing president. this is kind of far out. let's assume something immediately would happen to the vice president as well. , wouldhere is no vacancy we then say that the speaker of the house would fill that role? guest: yes. there would -- the vice president would still be acting as president. he would not be able to appoint a new vice president. next in line is the speaker of the house. before there was the 25th amendment, transferring power further down the line has no standards. if pence and pelosi this agreed, we have no way of knowing how that dispute would be resolved. if the president and vice president were both completely incapacitated, then it would be a clearer

. >>> in 1988 republican vice presidential candidate dan quayle and democratic vice presidential candidate lloyd bentsen debated in omaha, nebraska. a panel of four journalists asked questions of the candidate. >>> good evening. on behalf of the commission on presidential debates, i'm pleased to welcome you to this vice presidential debate. i'm judy woodruff of pbs's mcneil newshour and frontline. my colleagues are john margolis of "chicago tribune," tom brokaw of nbc news and brit hume of abc news. the importance of tonight's debate is underscored by two facts, both george bush and michael dukakis said their selections of a running mate would reveal a lot about themselves. based on the history since world war ii, there is almost a 50/50 chance one of the two men herep to t tonight will welcome president of the united states. the candidates are senator dan quayle, the republican nominee, and senator lloyd bentsen, the democratic nominee. for the next 90 minutes we will be questioning the candidates following a format designed and agreed to by representatives of the two campaigns. however,

senator dan quayle the republican nominee. and senator---for the next ninety minutes will be questioning the candidates following a format designed and agreed to by representatives of the two campaigns. however there are no restrictions on the questions that my colleagues and i may ask deceiving. by prior agreement between the two candidates the first question goes to senator quayle. and you have two minutes to respond. senator you have been criticized as we all know for your decision to stay out of the >> vietnam war >>. or your poor academic record. but more troubling to some of the comments that have been made by people in your own party just lastly former secretary of state said that your pick was the dumbest call george bush could have made your leader senator bob dole said that a better qualified person could have been chosen. other republicans have been far more critical in private. why do you think that you have not made a more substantial impression on some of these people who have been able to observe you up. the que

because the question you are asking is "what kind of qualifications does dan quayle have to be presidentat kind of qualifications do i have and what would i do in this kind of a situation, and what would i do in this situation? " i would make sure that the people in the cabinet, the people who are advisors are called in, i will talk with them and i will work with them. i will know them on a first-hand basis, because as vice president i will sit on the national secreted counsel, and i will know them because i will be coordinating the drug effort, i one of them because we will re-create the space council and i will be in charge of that. i will have day-to-day activities with all of the people in government. and then, if that unfortunate situation happens, if that situation, which would be very tragic, happens, i will be prepared to carry out the responsibilities of the presidency of the united states of america. and i will be prepared to do that. i will be prepared, not only because of my service in the congress, but because of my ability to communicate and to lead. it is not just age, it

for that lloyd bentsen was rewarded with a trip back to the senate and dan quayle became vice president. you are a supporter of kamala harris. she's had good moments in debates and not some great moments. what do you think is important for her to do tonight? >> i think she has to show the american public she can be president of the united states is where we started this question. i do think that mike pence is a great debater. you don't become governor and go to the the united states congress and be vice president of the united states without the skill set. we have to recognize that. but her years in the courtroom as a prosecutor will help her effectively as we know as kamala says, prosecute the case. one of my larger concerns, though, doesn't have to do with what is going on in the room in the debate hall. i think they will both hold their own. i think kamala has to overcome something else that no other candidate in history has which is the stereotypes of a black woman on stage like this. no one has ever seen what they are going to see tonight and the way it's covered from the descripti

the question you are asking is doeskind of qualifications dan quayle have to be president, what qualificationshat would i do in this kind of situation? and what would i do in this situation? i would make sure that the people in the cabinet, the people in the advisors to the president are called in, i will talk to them, and i will work with them. and i will know them. as vice president i will sit on the national security council. on a will know them first-hand basis because vice president george bush is going to re-create the space count and i will be in charge of that. i will have day-to-day activities with all the people in government, and then, if that unfortunate situation happens, if that situation, which would be very tragic happened, i will be prepared to carry out the responsibilities of the presidency of the united states of america. and i will be prepared to do that, i will be prepared not only because of my service in the congress, but because of my ability to communicate, to lead. it is not just age. his accomplishments. it is -- is accomplishments. it is experience. i have far more

bush big dan quayle, and before he did it he said watch my choice for vice president. it will tell all. and it sure did. it sure did. [applause] >> ann compton for the vice president. >> thank you, bernie. mister vice president yes we read your lips no no taxes. despite that same pledge from president reagan, after income tax rates were cut, each of the last five years some federal taxes have gone up, on social security, cigarettes, like are, even long distance telephone calls. now that money straight out of people wallets. isn't the phrase no new taxes misleading the voters? >> no because that's a pledge to that. and yes, some taxes have gone up. in the main point is taxes had been cut and yet income is up to the federal government by 25%, in the last three years. and so, what i want to do is keep this expansion going. i don't want to kill -- kill it off by a tax increase. more americans at work today than any time in the history of this country. and a greater percentage of the workforce. in the way you kill expansions, is to raise taxes. and i don't want to do that.

great program when the 25th amendment was put into effect and vice president cheney i think it was dan quayle am i correct about that? >> on two occasions for about two hours each. >> george w. bush did have some health issues and a heart condition at one point but at no point did he transfer power. saint augustine florida. this is a hypothetical but let's assume the vice president has assumed the role as acting president due to the incapacitation of the existing president and this is kind of far out since there's no vacancy would we then say the speaker of the house would fill that role? >> technically he would still be vice president acting as president so he wouldn't be able to appoint a new president so next in line the problem is just as it was the case for all in the 25th amendment transferring power further down the line if theyey disagreed we had no way f knowing how that would be resolved. then it would be a clear case but then we have a problem the linee had been contested and sy unconstitutional so depending on the context and the personalities, you might have someme problems with

paul: many years later he made to dan quayle, i knew john kennedy. and you're are no john kennedy. she said he came across as too confident. and that he needed to include the audience more in his answers and i think you might agree with me... it is a classic letter. she campaigned for him quite vigorously. she did what she thought she needed to do for the democrats to win. she thought it was vitally important. she had had repeated run-ins with eisenhower and completely disagreed with his policies and felt it was important for a democrat to get in. she hoped to resurrect some of the new deal policies that she has supported so strongly when her husband was pregnant -- her husband was president. once kennedy gets elected, the first thing he does is appoint eleanor roosevelt. alan: it is fascinating. not just for that campaign but presidential campaigns writ large. it is always an interesting challenge kennedy is trying to , particularly when kennedy is trying to frame himself is standing up for a new generation. we have new ideas, a new energy. you are trying to be new, new, new. at t

as clearly as i can, because the question you're asking is -- what kind of qualifications does dan quayle have to be president? what kind of qualifications do i have and what would i do in this kind of situation? what i do in this situation? that theake sure people in the cabinet and the people and the advisors to the president call in and i will talk to them and work with them. i will know them on a first-hand basis, because as vice president i will sit on the national security council and i will know the money first name basis because i will be coordinating effort. vice president george bush is going to re-create the space council and i will be in charge of that. i will have day-to-day activities with all the people in government. and then if that unfortunate situation happens about -- happens, if that happens, i will be prepared to carry out the responsibilities of the presidency of the united states of america. and i will be prepared to do that. i will be prepared not only because of my service in the congress, but because of my lead,y to communicate, to it is not just age, it is acco

back and i look at clear -- i think the biggest debate victory in my memory was benson against dan quayle jack kennedy. that was as one sided a debate as i have seen. it didn't make a bit of difference. bush clobbered dukakis. i am not sure tomorrow or the day after it will make a lot of difference. >> dana: my last question. do you think that joe biden is making a descent request to ask that president trump prove to be testing negative for coronavirus before the debate next thursday night in miami? >> chris: yes. look, according to the science people be can contagious for two weeks. next thursday will be 13 days after the president tested positive. so, sure, both of them should be on the record as testing negative. i didn't remember this. but in the third debate in 1960 between kennedy and nixon, it was a virtual debate. kennedy was in new york and nixon was on the west coast. a split-screen debate. not in the same hall. given the potential that one of them could infect the other, it could be biden re-infecting the president, i am not sure i understand the need for them -- why they could

during the 1988 debate, dan quayle elicited this blistering response. >> senator, you are no jack kennedy. >> body language plays a part. george h w bush deliberately looks at his watch. people see it is disrespectful. body language makes a difference in the debate between george bush and al gore. sighed over and over again. both president and obama and governor romney are seasoned debaters. if there is one thing that history taught us, expect the unexpected. prof. buhler: we have one more. it is not advancing now. there we go. i thought we would show a little bit from 2016 just to remind us how we got here. this is a little clip from one of their debates. we will let it go maybe five minutes. >> in a speech you gave to a brazilian bank for which you were paid $225,000, we have learned that you said this. hemispheric common market with open trade and open borders. is that your dream? >> if you went on to read the rest of the sentence, i was talking about energy. we trade more energy with our neighbors. then we trade with the rest of the world combined. i do want us to have an electric gri

that was al gore versus dan quayle versus ross perot's running mate, admiral james stockdale. fourth place was 2012. that was paul ryan versus joe biden. but look at the top three. turns out america likes women. who would have thunk? we at least like women on tv competing against men to be vice president of the united states. the top three most watched vice presidential debates of all time are the three with women in them. 1984, geraldine ferraro versus george bush. 2008, joe biden versus sarah palin. and last night turns out to have been the second most watched vice presidential debate in history after biden/palin in '08. the top three most watched vice presidential debates were the ones with women in them. i would not have expected that, but it's fascinating to see. this was the end of the debate last night, which might end up being the definitive sort of visual of the night. i know the fly is in competition, but this moment, right? senator harris and her husband onstage. vice president pence and his wife on the stage. vice president pence's wife breaking the debate rules by

1962, narrowly reelected in 1968, narrowly reelected in 1974, and finally gets crushed in 1980 by dan quayle who will la ter pop up as george h w bush's vice president. even though he was from a conservative state, he he took liberal positions. he was a democratic activist on constitutional issues. he is critical of haynesworth as well. he is worried that from the court, the result will be a string of anti-civil rights decisions. the striking thing about the haynesworth vote is not the kennedy opposition. it is we have all of these red dots on the rollcall chart. these are senate republicans who cast votes against haynesworth's confirmation. his were we have conservative democrats and liberal republicans. the last republican to be elected to the u.s. senate from new jersey. that was in 1972, a very liberal republican. jacob javits, the last of the new york liberal republicans would stay on the senate until 1980. margaret chase smith, publican senator from maine, deck relation of conscience against joseph mccarthy. charles mathias, a republican senator from maryland. basically every liberal o

that was al gore versus dan quayle versus ross perot's running mate, admiral james stockdale. paul ryan versus joe

memorable debate moments have actually come in vice presidential debates. 1988, lloyd benson telling dan quayle, you, sir, are no jack kennedy. 20 years later, can i call you joe? think, though, about the conversations we've had in the last week since the president's diagnosis with the coronavirus. talking about things like the presidential succession act, continuity of government issues. so the public certainly might be looking at these two participants on the debate stage tonight, not as potential vice-presidents but as potential presidents. so the stakes are very high. now, for senator harris, i think you look at it this way. a lot of those pushing for joe biden to pick her as his vice presidential running mate were thinking about this exact moment. thinking about her as a prosecutor. somebody who could really prosecute the case against donald trump and against four more years of mike pence as vice president. but her team is also aware of the unfair -- the gendered stereotypes she might be up against. secretary hillary clinton advising senator harris to be assertive, be firm but also not do

live laugh mike pence has been on the, oh crap i might be the next dan quayle trail. he's got an interesting style out there. when his plane lands, he hits the ground running. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> jimmy: "chariots of you're fired." [ applause ] i think when you're running it's harder for the flies to land on your head. meanwhile, donald trump's out there bitching about the big tech companies because they've been unwilling to help spread his smears against the bidens, which i understand. no one likes to have their messages suppressed. rather than retaliating, maybe just stop lying all the time and see if that solves it. this has been a very frustrating time for shirt-tucker rudy giuliani, who's been forced to find alternate outlets who will allow him to shovel the dirt he's dug up on hunter biden. >> he walked around the house nude, taking pictures consistently of his private parts. sometimes, sometimes facetiming women. sometimes facetiming women while smoking crack. it looks to be that he smokes crack twice a day. there are many pictures of him smoking crack. >> jimmy: tha

that was al gore versus dan quayle versus ross perot's running mate, admiral james stockdale. 2012 was fourth place, paul ryan versus joe biden. but look at the top three. turns out, america likes women. who'd have thunk? we at least like women on tv competing against men to be vice president of the united states. the top three most-watched vice presidential debates of all time are the three with women in them. 1984, geraldine ferraro versus george bush. 2008, joe biden versus sarah palin, and last

since then, what you see with vice presidential debates, dan quayle hurt george h w bush. it was not enough to lose the issidency, but if the talk -- if the dukakis campaign had won a more robust campaign, they may have been able to utilize quayle inayle -- dan a bigger way. al gore helps clinton less in the context of the debates but 46, alat clinton was gore was 44 and became a useful ticket where they took the bus trip around the country in 1992, showed a kind of youth. i think joe biden helped barack obama, i think joe biden provided a seasoning for people to see that barack obama was 46, but he had joe biden, who had been this foreign policy expert and had been in the senate since 1973. i think the vice president can hurt you more than they can help you and what both candidates are looking for is a vice president who is going to be a pit bull, who is going to do the kind of attack and do the kind of thing that the president, she or he would not want to say in a debates. that is what i think about the vp. the vp is not somebody who can really help you win, but they can

now nancy pelosi, and said, i am temporarily giving my duties as president to the vice president, dan quayle pa routine colonoscopy. and i think he was under anesthesia for less than an hour. and than he wrote a letter revoking his original letter. but that's what the 25th amendment has a capacity for. is if a president knows he is going to be incapacitated, he can write a letter and say, i am temporarily transferring the duties to the vice president. obviously, you have situations like when president reagan was shot, there was no chance to write such a letter. and that's when, you know, the authority issues can get somewhat murky. but, you know, here we have a situation, as you point out, this is not a crisis now. there is no evidence that the president is incapable of performing his duties as he's been doing them. but if he gets sicker, like boris johnson, the prime minister of great britain, who was in intensive care for a while, there is a constitutional provision that allows him to temporarily transfer his authority to the vice president. >> right. no reason to panic. there are systems

sometimes these vice presidential debates, like 1988 with lloyd benson and dan quayle, you're no jfk,ave memorable moments or governor palin and vp biden in 2008, but it's about the nominees. and what you see tonight is in vice president pence a useful asset politically to president trump. remember when pence was coming up the ranks in indiana, he called himself rush limbaugh on decaf, and president trump knew that when he put him on the ticket in 2016. someone who was more decaf nated in terms of his style because president trump wanted to be the dominant player in the party. and president trump continues to run the party, control the party, its message. and let's not forget, it wasn't too long ago that republicans were pretty muted when the president had his incendiary remarks at the first debate about white supremacy, about the peaceful transfer of power. that's the republican party today, tonight and tomorrow. >> alicia, the question folks like me ask folks like you on nights like this. were any minds changed in your view? >> always the question. i think there are people who were

an invitation to dine with the president but i'll be at jack in the box having finger food with dan quayle. >> a i'm asking you to make a dodo nation right -- and so what you see here with this conversation is an extraordinary sense of the gentle way in which a generation ago. political humor treated political figures. ... american politics has course and, why would we expect anything different? from american public humor reflecting what we, the people and we, the audience are looking for. i will hand it back to jeremy to offer up some questions. >> we have a good number of questions here so we're going to start at the top. baker asked, president trump's brings some humor that target him. he was made fun of. his rhyme or reason? what's the difference between helpful and harmful from the targets perspective? >> the examples you mentioned occurred before trump ran for president so it's important to recognize a person who's on their way up is in a different position than someone who has some within his president. >> he was, he was a target saturday night live, he hosted saturday night live an

again for you as clearly as i can because the whation you are asking is kind of qualifications does dan quayle have to be president. what kind of qualifications do i have, and what would i do in this kind of situation? what what i do in this situation? i would make sure that the people in the cabinet, the advisors to the president are called in, and i will talk with them and work with them, and i will know them on a first-hand basis because as vice president, i sit on the national security council, and i will know them on a first-hand basis because i'm going to be coordinating the drug efforts. i will know them on a first-hand basis because vice president george bush is going to re-create the face counts and i will be in charge of that. i will have day today activities with people in the government, and then, if that unfortunate situation happens, if that situation, which would be very traffic, happens, i would be prepared to carry out the responsibilities of the presidency of the united states of america, and i will be prepared to do that. i will be prepared not only because of my service in

even though that might not seem like a sharp elbow thrown, the response of dan quayle was uncalled foris will be the first non—white woman to be a presidential —— vice presidential candidate. a lot of focus on her, more than mike pence today. stay with us on bbc news, still to come... we look at how the vp debate will shape the polls or if it really matters to the voters. four men have gone on trial at the old bailey in connection with the deaths of 39 vietnamese migrants who were found in a lorry trailer in essex last year. the jury was told the four had allegedly already been involved in successful trips to smuggle migrants across the channel. they face charges of manslaughter and conspiracy to facilitate illegal immigration. our home affairs correspondent, daniel sandford reports. at court today to see justice done, relatives of some of the vietnamese people who died in the back of a sealed lorry trailer last october. all 39 died of a lack of oxygen. the two youngest were 15, the oldest 44. they were in the sealed trailer for some 12 hours, as the temperature rose to over 38 degrees

. >>> aside from lloyd benson telling dan quayle that he was no john kennedy, vice presidential debatesidential elections. there's a reason, after all, that we call them presidential elections. but this is 2020 and no previous rules apply. not only are the stakes being next in line to the president seemingly higher given the fact that both presidential candidates are guys in the middle of their eighth decade on earth, one of whom currently has a potentially deadly virus, but also there's the open question of whether or not we're going to have another debate between the presidential candidates after this vice presidential debate tonight. joe biden has already said, he will not debate donald trump next week in miami if the president is still infected with covid this time next week. the republican mayor of miami has also said he doesn't want president trump coming to his city for that debate if he's still positive next week. it's, therefore, at least theoretically possible this vice presidential debate might be it for this year. it might be the last moment the two campaigns are on stage to

dan quayle had a bad night, didn't make a particle of difference in the end.t kamala harris needs to do tonight is not some make some big mistake. she and her partner are ahead, no big mistakes would probably be the best outcome for her. >> martha: dana, quickly, both sides want to project some gravitas and a little bit of professionalism that maybe we didn't see from both of these individuals on the first time around. >> i think you'll get it, and also there is a saying, if you want to be here you have to see here. tonight, young girls all across the country can see that you too, you could be on that stage one day. >> bret: this can make a difference. as we have seen the polls, joe biden and kamala harris have expanded their lead in some of the battleground states, but we are still 27 days from the selection and a lot can change. as we've seen in 2020, there are about a thousand news cycles last. let's turn it over to susan page. >> susan: good evening from the university of utah in salt lake city, welcome to the first and only vice presidential debate of 202

caller: dan quayle was also acting president?: george h to be bush did have some health issues. at onea heart condition point. transfernt, did he power to dan quayle. host: saint augustine florida is next. good morning. this is a hypothetical, let's assume that the vice president has to assume the role as acting president due to the incapacitation of the existing president. this is kind of far out. let's assume something immediately would happen to the vice president as well. , wouldhere is no vacancy we then say that the speaker of the house would fill that role? guest: yes. there would -- the vice president would still be acting as president. he would not be able to appoint a new vice president. next in line is the speaker of the house. before there was the 25th amendment, transferring power further down the line has no standards. if pence and pelosi this agreed, we have no way of knowing how that dispute would be resolved. if the president and vice president were both completely incapacitated, then it would be a clearer case.

i remember back -- we showed a clip a little while ago of lloyd benson and dan quayle and lloyd benson won. >> that's right, 40 states, landslide for sure. the presidential debate have not had a whole lot of impact on the outcome of election. i think this year it's a little different given the age of top of the ticket folks and coronavirus issue that the president is dealing with right now. it's heightened the stakes of this particular debate. everyone is kind of looking to what do the number 2, heart beat away from the presidency candidates really have to say, what do they really believe and how do they think and impact future administration. steve: i mentioned at the beginning that you were the chief of staff for senator mike lee who we now know he's one of 3 republican senators including ron johnson and thom tillis who have tested positively for coronavirus. have you heard how he's doing because a lot of people are worried about him? >> yes, senator lee is doing well. he's experiencing most of the typical symptoms that come with the coronavirus and i think probably the -- the intere

narrowly reelected in 1968, narrowly reelected in 1974, and then finally gets crushed in 1980 by dan quayle who will la as george h.w. bush's vice president. by was a very creative thinker, someone who did not temper his opinions, even though he was from a conservative state basically took liberal positions. he was a democratic activist on constitutional issues. and he is critical of haynesworth as well. he is worried that if haynesworth gets on the court, the result will be a string of anti-civil rights decisions. the striking thing about the haynesworth folk, however, is not that kennedy and by opposing -- oppose him. it is that we have all of these red dots on the rollcall chart. these are senate republicans who cast votes against haynesworth's confirmation. remember, this is a time where we have conservative democrats and liberal republicans. clifford case, the last republican to be elected to the u.s. senate from new jersey. election is in a very 1972. liberal republican. more liberal and lots of democrats. jacob javits, the last of the new york liberal republicans , would stay in the

. >> he was actually dan quayle's father-in-law, and he really wanted to help build a republican partyd also build a nonpat government to build up what was a corrupt town. barry goldwater was involved in both. in 1950, he was the campaign manager for a guy named howard pyle, who ran for governor, and being barry goldwater, he flew howard pyle around the state in his plane. he would descend like a bronze god to these little towns and people would say wow, which one's the candidate? but here's the thing. when he ran for senate, he decided that he would run for senate by building a republican party. so he recruited people for every office in the state. someone said why are you qualified to run for senate in arizona? he was such a first citizen of arizona, his answer was i can call 10,000 people in the state by their first name. he build the republican party in arizona. >> and i'm going to call on you for just a moment, because you remember going to the goldwater department store. >> correct. >> when i first came to arizona in 1970, i worked for the old adams hotel, which was in downtown,

he was actually dan quayle's father-in-law, and he really wanted to help fill the republican party anduild a nonpartisan city government to clean up what was a corrupt town. it was called sin city. barry goldwater was involved in both. in 1950 he was the campaign manager for howard pyle who ran for governor. he flew howard pyle around in his plane, he would descend into these towns with the campaign and everyone said, wow, who is the candidate? he would recruit people for every office in the state. one quick point, someone said why are you qualified to run for senate in arizona? and he was such a first citizen of arizona, this was his answer. he said, i can call 10,000 people in this state by their first name. he built the republican party in arizona. >> i'm going to call on you for just a moment because you remember going to the goldwater department store. >> correct. when i first came to arizona in 1970, i worked for the old adams hotel, which was in downtown, and i bought a bathing suit at the goldwater department store on central avenue. at the time, you talk about him being in mar

with debating with dan quayle and al gore. he got out of the gate wrong by making a comment like, who am i because a lot of people hadn't heard of him before. he actually got a lot of applause when he did the debate but the media went to town on him. never really ready for that media frenzy that you have to expect. it made some people question whether perot could be president, because some people didn't think stockdale had the political skills to be president. on the other hand, admiral stockdale is some energetic u.s. military historian working on a biography of this man. they don't come better than admiral stockdale, and i hate to remember his fumbling on a debate question and not remembering what an extraordinary -- the service of admiral stockdale is almost unparalleled. >> carolyn barta, spring of 1992 progresses into summer, and the people who are enthusiastic about ross perot begin the work of meeting his challenge, of getting his name on the ballot in all 50 states. will you describe to our audience ballot access in th

and i will answer it as clearly as i can, because the question you are asking is what dan of qualifications does quayle be president? what kind of qualifications do i have and what what i do in this kind of situation and what would i do in this situation? i would make sure that the people in the cabinet and the people and advisors to the president are called in to talk with them and i will work with them and know them as -- on a first-hand basis because i will be coordinating the drug effort. ise president george bush going to re-create the space council and i will be in charge of that. i will have day to day activities with all the people in the government and then if that unfortunate situation happens, if that situation which would be tragic happens, i would be prepared to carry out the responsibilities of the presidency of the united states of america and i will be prepared to do that. i will be prepared not only because of my service in the congress, but because of my ability to communicate and to lead. it is not just age, it is accomplishment. it is experience. i have far more experience than many

senator dan quayle in indiana long before mike even became a member of congress there. so i've known him for quite some time. he's very solid. very smart. and certainly very much in control of himself gh these kinds of set -- in these kinds of settings. i don't see him making any mistakes tonight but a tall order to win back some of the people who've been lost by this campaign. and -- but i think he will make the best of it in his efforts tonight. david: thank you so very much. as i say it's always a pleasure to have you with us as joe watkins, former white house aide to president george herbert walker bush. for more on the importance of tonight's vice-presidential debate, welcome now lara brown, associate proffer at george washington university -- professor at george washington university and author of "amateur hour, presidential character and leadership." and put this in an historical context with respect to vice-presidential debates and talking about with joe historically they have not been the main item on the ticket. >> well, that's right. i mean, there is a lot of

vice president dan quayle made it clear to bush that he bush'sed with president decision to consideraxes as part of a budget package. president bush had ran on a platform at the republican convention of 1988 he famously said, "read my lips, no new taxes." and backed off that pledge. vice president quayle told him it was a mistake. vice president quayle pushed for president bush to seek an authorization from congress before committing the united states to the persian gulf war to push the rock -- iraq out of kuwait. there are examples in each vice presidency. vice president biden made a point of making sure obama was fully informed about considerations dealing with american policy in afghanistan and really pressed the various generals who were advocating a troop surge and pressed them, challenged them on the arguments they were making. one of the things that is striking is that we have not really heard of instances in which vice president pence has particularly given some of the problems with the handling of the coronavirus pandemic and the fact that the vice president has a leadership

although those of us who are of a certain age will never forget lloyd benson is classic putdown of dan quayle in 1988 senator you're no jack kennedy but this time the stakes are even higher the focus will we squarely i think on covert 19 and the pandemic sen campbell harris joe biden's running mate will attempt to lay the failures of the administration's ability to contain the virus squarely at the feet of not only day donald trump but also vice president pence she's also likely to bring up the fact that the trump administration is attempting to invalidate in the courts the affordable care act also known as obamacare in the midst of this pandemic that's claimed more than 210000 lives in this country as for his part vice president pence is likely to continue president trump strategy of trying to prove portray harris as some kind of dangerous left wing radical who might have joe biden in her thrall he's also expected to try as again president trump has to depict the coronavirus pandemic as something that is receding in the rearview mirror it's going to be a very consequential evening here's a p