AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Recovery from Hurricane Helene, the CBS News Vice Presidential Debate and a return to Butler, Penn., marked this past week in the presidential race.
(SOUNDBITE OF MONTAGE)
DONALD TRUMP: We do need some help from the federal government. They have to get together, ideally with the governor. The governor needs to - he's been trying to get them, and I'm sure they're going to come through, but he's been calling the president, hasn't been able to get him.
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Let me get this straight. He's lying. And the governor told him he was lying. The governor told him he's lying. I've spoken to the governor, spent time with him, and he told me he's lying. I don't know why he does this.
TIM WALZ: I'm going to thank Senator Vance. I think this is the conversation they want to hear, and I think there's a lot of agreement. This is one that we are miles apart on. This was a threat to our democracy in a way that we had not seen, and it manifested itself because of Donald Trump's inability to say - he is still saying he didn't lose the election. I would just ask that. Did he lose the 2020 election?
JD VANCE: Tim, I'm focused on the future. Did Kamala Harris censor Americans from speaking their mind in the wake of the 2020 COVID situation?
WALZ: That is a damning...
VANCE: Has she tried to...
WALZ: That is a damning nonanswer.
VANCE: Has she - it's a damning nonanswer for you to not talk about censorship. Obviously, Donald Trump and I think that there were problems in 2020. We've talked about it. I'm happy to talk about it further. But you guys attack us for not believing in democracy. The most sacred right under the United States democracy is the First Amendment.
VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: The tragic truth that we are facing in this election for President of the United States is that there is actually an honest question about whether one of the candidates will uphold the oath to the Constitution of the United States.
BIDEN: I'm confident it'll be free and fair. I don't know whether it will be peaceful. The things that Trump has said and the things that he said last time out when he didn't like the outcome of the election were very dangerous.
TRUMP: Exactly 12 weeks ago this evening on this very ground, a cold-blooded assassin aimed to silence me and to silence the greatest movement, MAGA, in the history of our country. MAGA - we love MAGA. For 16 harrowing seconds during the gunfire, time stopped as this vicious monster unleashed pure evil from his sniper's perch not so far away. But by the hand of providence and the grace of God, that villain did not succeed in his goal, did not come close. He did not stop our movement.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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