Distance between them, Vice President mike pence and senators Kamala Harris went head to head. They tablgd several issues, including Climate Change, covid, and the economy. He tassed a tax bill benefitting the biggest corporations of america leading to a two trillion dollar deficit that the American People will have to pay for. President trump and i will keep america growing. The the. We have Team Coverage tonight with a local look at the matchup between pence and harris. Abc7news contributor phil mather is here. Good evening. This was a 90minute debate that truly felt like a deekt unlike last weeks chaotic deekt. The debate covered a range of topics as you mentioned, starting with the issue of coronavirus. This debate is happening amid an outbreak at the white house. The two opponents sparred over the approach to handling this pandemic. President donald trump did what no other american president had ever done. That was he suspended all travel from china. Whatever the Vice President s claiming the administration has done, clearly, it hasnt worked. When youre looking at over 210,000 dead fwhoids our country. Susan page brought up Climate Change which led to a spirited debate. They were asked do they believe manmade Climate Change contributes to the fires. Vice president pence called for Forest Management as weve heard President Trump do it. He called out climate alarmists. The climate is changing. The issue is whats the cause and what do we do about it . There are no more hurricanes today than there were hundreds of years ago. Thank you. Thats your time. Wildfires to try and sell thank you Vice President pence. We have seen a pat western this administration which is that they dont believe in science and joes plan is about saying that were going to deal with this but were going to create jobs. Donald trump, and the question was the science is telling us this, you know what donald trump says . Science doesnt know. Those expressions with senator harris making the rounds on social media tonight. This was a policyfocused debate. The candidates discussed taxes, the Brionna Taylor case, health care, both candidates were certainly evasive at times but we saw much more civility. Were hearing from both campaigns that the campaigns are happy with their candidates performance. All right. Thank you. You talked about social media. You know were going to see this on social media for a while. A bit of distraction. Fly landed on Vice President mike pences head. The fly stayed there for a few minutes before taking off. Neither candidate acknowledged it. Right now lets bring in chronicle insider phil matyr. Take part in our live poll happening right now. Our first question, no flies involved, we hoerngs on any of us. Phil, who do you think won tonights debate . Its interesting, dan. This debate is the job of a Vice President thats to sell the product and the product is the president ial candidate. Kamala harriss job it was sell joe biden to any undecided voters and reinforce the base he already had. Mike pences job was to reinforce the base. At times it appeared he got the upper hand because he appeared to get under her squin especially when he attacked her record. On the other hand i would say that Kamala Harris was able to stand her way and stand her own against pence and she won because pences job was to somehow move the needle and get the trump campaign, which is having rough waters right now, to sort of reset and reenergy jazz. Im not sure he was able to accomplish that. I would say that theyre holding their own. She didnt make a big mistake. Thats the most you can hope for out of a Vice President ial candidate. She did mention joe bidens name a lot. She referred back to him, isaiah probably more than pence referred back to President Trump. That is interesting. If you are looking at the results at the bottom of the screen for who you think won, 88 are saying senator Kamala Harris. 12 percent, mike pence. The question about mike pence, did the debate change peoples opinion of him . Liz, what do think of that . I think of course were seeing a majorities of our viewers saying they support our senator here in california. Thats maybe no surprise. I think as phil was saying, there were good moments for each candidate. I think its hard tord say that one dwoid candidate won over the other. Do i think that this is going to change peoples opinions to have havent . I dont know. Im shocked to hear there are still undecided voters in this debate. It sooemd seems like most have decided who theyre going to vote for. Pence, his strategy is to really frame senator harris as being radical and i think we saw dhiem that when he talked about taxes. In some ways he was use that fwramg the green new deal. I think senator harris held her own. She talked about her record as a prosecutor here in california kchlt there was that interesting moment where she seemed to sort of tell the Vice President , mr. Vice president im speaking and she sort of shut him down, which i think will be interesting to see how that plays out. She probably practiced her strategy. I think there was a contrast between mike penguins what happened we saw from the president. I think people looking for a contrast to the president will be happy to see that the civil twi saw toinlt. Yeah. Although it looked like the respondents are saying it did not change their opinion of him. Go ahead, phil. Part of that is like i said, the product is the president ial koichltd the Vice President ial candidate in this case, Kamala Harris, she was strong. It was interesting. Mike tirico used to be a talk show host. He has that unflappable he was had a lower demeanor. He was much more sort of relaxed in his role tonight and he had an advantage because hes in lock step with the president. Kamala harris, we saw more emotion coming through. We saw her flustered at times, irritated at times. Also, she was at a bit of a disadvantage because it was a couple of months ago she was running against joe biden, the joe biden she talked about so admirably tonight. There were differences shes expressed and shes had different views and pence said you say this about biden, what about you . Theres an undertone of the biden, something happens to him, youre the president , while she was trying sell joe biden. Uhhuh, for sure. That brings us to the next question. 87 of you say no it didnt change your opinion of mike pence. Well flip this now. Did the debate change voters opinion of Kamala Harris. We all know very well here in california. What do you think . I think well see what happens but it wont be much of a surprise. We know that people from this kplunt fwam c state are familiar with Kamala Harris. Both candidates ignored questions outright probably mike pence ig noerld a few more than Kamala Harris did. Did it change your opinion of senator harris, no, 85 . Were in a largely democratic area. If we put these questions to people in other parts of the country, it would probably be flipped. It probably changed very few minds. There may be a few undecided voters but i doubt there are many, i suspect, in terms of percentage around the country. These debates seldom change minds especially in such a contentious debate. They reinforce your particular opinion. Let me ask a question there. Ok. Dan, liz, if it didnt change anybodys opinion and were going to say that, do you think that tonights debate or sales job, whatever we want to call it, would ignite voters to go out, would get them to go out and say, yes, im going to vote. If this is about turn did the Vice President ignite voters to go out and vote. I think they both ignited their core supporters to turn out. I think they both did a credible job in this debate. Thats a great question. I would say sure, if youre a mike pencedonald trump person you heard some things that remind you to get out and volt. If you want change and youre a Kamala Harrisjoe biden voter probably fired you up a little bit more to go out and vote. The lines were drawn even more clearly tonight, i thought, which probably helps voter turnout. I agree. I think those are already going to vote for one or the other are definitely going to go out and vote for them. Great discussion. Thank you all. Thanks, phil. Thanks. You can read phils column every wednesday and sunday. And in the 2018 general election, ballots were rejected across the u. S. Stephanie dug into the totals reported around the bay area and found one county that stands out. Nearly 23,000 mailin ballots were rejected across the bay area in the 2018 general election. According to an abc 7 analysis of federal election data, almeida county stands out. More than 8,000 mail in blarts rejected in 2018, or 1. 9 . San francisco county ranked swekd more than 37 loo ballots rejected or 1. 6 . Ballots, we cant count them because they didnt meet the decline with the postmark. Ma run and santa clara counties reportsed the lowest with. 5 and. 7 with mailin ballots rejected. We take a lot of time to cure that and so well reach out to the voter and say hey, yes, that is my ballot. I asked ef len mendez for the santa clara superstars office. They forget to sign it and it doesnt count. If they forget to write their address or any of the information on the envelope and turning it in late. No signature on the ballot or envelope. The signature doesnt match the Voters Registration card or the ballot isnt returned in time. In order to prevent that, get your ballot in early. We all have the ability to track the progress of our ballot using a new tool set up by the second of states office. Go to wheres my ballot. Sos. Ca. Gov or find the link on our website. Once you sign up, you will get text laerlts, emails or calls to notify when your ballot was received and if there are any issues. California law states as long as mailin ballots postmarked on or before elects day, ballots can arrive three days later and sfwil counted. That rule is changing for this election. Were extending the deadline to 17 days after the election for this november, anticipating any unexpected delays in the Postal Service but it must be postmarked on or before election day in order to count. More than 100,000 blots were reject ntd the california march primary this year due to late ballots and signature issues. Their first signature we have on file is from the dmv when they got their license when theyre 16. If that happens to you expect to get a letter in the nile sign or you can visit an elections waufs a valid i. D. To the ensure your vote counts. Dont forget remember to sign the back of the envelope. Remember to sign the back of the envelope. For a more detailed look at how many ballots were rejected in your county, we have posted an interactive map on our website. Stephanie, sierra, abc7news. To get anxious toss any questions about the selection, go to abc7news. Com election. Coming up next, the abc 7 team follows a glass fire in the north bay. What some are doing could put people and property in danger. Get set for a huge round of rate increases in Homeowners Insurance. Im michael finney. With the cost of wildfires coming up. Im meteorologist sandy. We know that when we take care of the earth, the earth also takes care of us. Youd be surprised by our environmentallyfriendly way of baking breads. Our ingredients are farmed per strict usda organic standards. Our bakeries are powered by renewable wind energy. And we support environmental causes through 1 for the planet. Oroweat organic bread. Great taste thats sustainably baked. And now, introducing our super delicious and nutritious organic kids bread featuring disneys mickey mouse and minnie mouse exclusive video from the abc7news iteam private firefighters detained by the chp and calfire are now under investigation for possibly setting illegal backfires. Weve been investigating in napa county and hykaing with cruise extinguishing hot spots in the glass fire. Its a story youll only see on abc7news. These illegal backfires can be dangerous if private contractors dont inform the incident command post what theyre doing. The iteam obtained this exclusive video from 4 00 friday. Private firefighters hired by napa valley wineries detained and suspected of settling illegal backfires. Its illegal to set a backfire if they arent part of the incident command structure, correct . That is my understanding. It is illegal. Calfire confirms that an investigation is under way that could result in charges and arrests. Safetys a priority not only for the public but also the First Responders working these areas. Back fires are an essential tool. Youre doing a great job. Thank you. This is in st. Helena last week. They decomplete the fuel before the wildfire arrived. The wildfire is coming up now meeting our burn. The owner of the vineyard show how that backfire saved his winery. We set fire so it was burning downhill as the fire was coming up him. Thats so important to get the distance. That saved our house and winy. The glass destroyed what used to be his parents house and this years harvest is probably ruined by the smoke. Hes thankful it didnt claim more of his lifes work. We were up 40 hours and all you could think is lets fight it. No, no. Its a serious thing. I get it. To find out more about the private firefighters i followed two oregon crews putting off hot spots off Spring Mountain road yesterday. Theyre working through a government contract. They also worry about free lance firefighters hired by the wineries. Guys that throw a pickup truck together and a tank in the back, they dont have any training, they dont have insurance, they dont have workmens comp. They arent an official business but they look like a firefighter. Jamie told me if private people set backfires without calling in to the command post, that could endanger any firefighters who are working nearby. When you get somebody whos running lone wolf people get hurt. Firefighters get killed. Ive been to enough firefighter funerals in my lifetime. I dont want to go to more. Calfire says the investigation should wrap up in the next day or two. Ill keep on top of what happens. For the iteam, abc nuis, abc 7 news. Calfire said there was minimal fire activity overnight. Cooler weather has helped. The fire is 62 contained after growing to more than 67,000 acres. More than 630 homes have been destroyed. This is one of 22 major wildfires burning right now in california. Evacuation orders are still in effect in the states first giga fire. The august complex in Mendocino County has burned more than a million acres if you can imagine. Its 60 contained. Tomorrow a group of u. S. Marines from Camp Pendleton is set to arrive to help fight the flames. Spare the air days but youve neverhree seen it like this. Now with xfinity internet, you can also save on wireless and streaming. Get internet thats packed with power and up to 400 in savings with xfinity mobile. Plus, stream your favorites with a flex 4k device included at no extra cost. Its three ways to get more and save more. Oh look, another 3 get xfinity internet and mobile together, plus a flex 4k streaming device, for just 35 a month. Click, call, or visit a store today. 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All right. Our air quality may not be perfect just yet but at least it feels like fall, dan. It does, alma. It is getting cooler, sandy. It is indeed. Today was definitely cooler across the bay. Since were on that roll well keep it going, as least for inland areas. I think people are enjoying the change in the air. As i show you here, were still dealing with mid and highlevel clouds coming in. Just leftovers of former hurricane marie. Were also watching this system here. Now, this system here is going to transport the moisture into the Pacific Northwest but what its going to do is keep that cooling going for us so were not expecting any heat wave anytime soon. It hopes the firefighters especially with the cooler, moisture pattern. Air quality still not so great. It is poor for sensitive groups in santa rosa right now. Conquered moderate. Hooergs some good news. While it is still going to be smokey and hazy tomorrow, the good news comes in with the sea breeze pushing some of that smoke out of here beginning on friday morning. The blues there indicating less smoke across our region and that will continue through friday night and even going into saturday, so at least that is encouraging. Spare the air continues tomorrow. Worst of the air quality will be in the north bay. Moderate air quality elsewhere. Friday, saturday, sunday, start to see more green showing up, or good air quality here locally and we need it. Visibility is good. San francisco mountain view, upper 50s. Temperatures definitely came down today. It was noticeable. Anywhere from five to 15 degrees cooler. Temperatures anywhere from the mid to upper dpifts in santa roads avenue. Till 65 in concord. Widespread clouds, watchy morning drizzle. Cooling continues tomorrow. Theres a chance of showers sarkts not looking very good for us. 5 00 tomorrow morning, both high and