Pence, Harris face off in VP debate with diverging views of America

Harris' chief of staff Karine Jean-Pierre told ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos that Harris won't spend the night fact-checking Pence on stage.

Instead, the former prosecutor will "bring the case forward" on how Biden and Harris could lead to a different America.

"This debate is about Donald Trump's failure to contain COVID-19, and not just that but to also help working families," said Jean-Pierre, adding Harris has a "very diverse team" that has prepared her for the debate. 

Jean-Pierre also criticized the example Trump has set since testing positive for the novel coronavirus last week. 

"You have a president right now when he left the White House, he decided that he was going to make a campaign by removing his mask. His rhetoric has been incredibly dangerous," she said. "As Joe Biden said, it's a tragedy that he believes that he was blessed to have this virus, when people are suffering."

Marc Short, Pence's chief of staff, noted that Harris, like Pence, is "also a very skilled debater and has a record as a prosecutor, so I think it will be a very engaging conversation for the American people and hopefully one that shows a clear contrast in visions between the two campaigns."

Short said Pence will argue the case that the Trump administration protected more American lives in its COVID-19 response. 

With less than a month to go until the election, early voting has already begun in 33 states and at least 5.5 million votes have been cast -- hitting record numbers across the nation. 

According to the United States Elections Project, spearheaded by the University of Florida's political expert, Michael McDonald, an unprecedented 5,618,155 voters have already voted and at least 69,786,179 ballots have been requested in early voting states. 

The coronavirus pandemic plays a factor in explaining the large early voting numbers as well as an increase in voter interest. Voters in 2020 are more eager to cast a ballot ahead of Election Day where polling sites could be viewed as overcrowded during pandemic standards. 

Seven states --- California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington -- have an all-mail ballot election meaning anyone registered to vote automatically receives a ballot to their registered address. 

-ABC News' Kelsey Walsh

Former Chicago Mayor and ABC News contributor Rahm Emanuel said that the night's debate, although also important for the 2020 race, is also "first debate of 2024."

"I would call this the first vice presidential debate of 2020," Emanuel said. "And the first debate of 2024, because they're auditioning for that post."

An hour ahead of the debate, ABC News learned the coronavirus outbreak has infected "34 White House staffers and other contacts" in recent days, according to an internal government memo, an indication that the disease has spread among more people than previously known in the seat of American government.

ABC News "World News Tonight" Chief Anchor David Muir said the news presents an additional hurdle for Pence as the Trump-Pence team faces an uphill battle in the polls.

"He's the head of the coronavirus task force and he will have to make the case tonight that the American people are supposed to be able to look to this White House -- look to Vice President Mike Pence -- to keep them safe, knowing full well the president is positive, 34 people around him are positive," Muir said.

"And we also know the president will be watching tonight. He knows where the polling is right now, and he's expecting a command performance for Mike Pence to help with these numbers," he added.