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

PENCE'S CLAIM: "We actually do know what failure looks like in a pandemic: it was 2009, the swine flu arrived in the United States. ... When Joe Biden was vice president of the United States, not 7.5 million people contracted the swine flu, 60 million Americans contracted the swine flu."

FACT CHECK: While Pence is correct that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates the 2009 swine flu pandemic infected an estimated 60.8 million Americans in its first year, it is misleading to compare the two outbreaks given H1N1's far lower fatality rate, and similarly misleading to call the Obama administration's response a "failure."

The CDC estimates up to 575,000 lives were lost to the swine flu worldwide. Of those, fewer than 13,000 were American, due in part to the Obama administration's "complex, multi-faceted and long-term response," the CDC later wrote. Thus far, COVID-19 has taken the lives of over 210,000 Americans, a little over eight months since the first known case of the virus was discovered in the United States.

"The team, in my opinion, in 2009, really demonstrated that the planning was worth it. Nothing is ever perfect. But I felt just so impressed and so proud of the job CDC did in 2009," Dr. Julie Gerberding, a CDC director during the George W. Bush administration, told ABC News.

-ABC News' John Verhovek and Lucien Bruggeman

Page turned the conversation toward abortion -- as Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett, a conservative, awaits her confirmation hearing in the Senate next week.

Pence, asked directly what he would want his home state of Indiana to do if Roe v. Wade is overturned, at first did not answer the question. Instead, he applauded Barrett as a nominee and defended her Christian faith.

"Let me say, President Trump and I could not be more enthusiastic about the opportunity to see Judge Amy Coney Barrett, become Justice Amy Coney Barrett," Pence said. "And our hope is in the hearing next week, unlike Justice Kavanaugh received, with treatment from you and others, we hope she gets a fair hearing. And we particularly hope that we don't see the kind of attacks on her Christian faith that we saw before."

Pence later returned to the original question on abortion, making his pro-life stance clear. 

"I couldn't be more proud to serve as vice president to a president who stands without apology for the sanctity of human life," Pence said. "I'm pro-life. I don't apologize for it. And this is another one of those cases where there's such a dramatic contrast."

Harris, in her response, first said it's "insulting" to suggest she or Biden would attack someone's faith -- before arguing Barrett's nomination should wait as issues like abortion are on the table and Americans are already voting.

"People are in the process of voting right now. And so, Joe has been very clear, as the American people are, let the American people fill that seat in the White House and then we'll fill that seat on the United States Supreme Court," she said. 

"There's the issue of choice, and I will always fight for a woman's right to make a decision about her own body. It should be her decision and not that of Donald Trump and Vice President Michael Pence," she added.

Trump tweeted in support of Pence saying he is, "doing GREAT" and Harris, calling her a "gaffe machine," a criticism he uses often to attack her running mate Joe Biden.

Biden has also tweeted in support of his running mate during the debate, saying that Harris is "showing the American people why I chose her as my running mate."

In speaking to American leadership, Pence brought up the case of Kayla Mueller, a humanitarian worker from Arizona who was kidnapped by the Islamic State in Syria in 2013 and died in the terror group's custody. 

Mueller's parents were in the debate's audience as Pence's guests and appeared last month at the Republican National Convention. 

Pence suggested former President Barack Obama and Biden carried blame for Mueller's death, saying they "hesitated for a month" while she was held captive. 

Harris, in her response to the topic of American leadership, first addressed Mueller's family.

"First of all, to the Mueller family, I know about your daughter's case and I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. What happened to her is awful and it should have never happened," Harris said. "And I know Joe feels the same way. And I know that President Obama feels the same way."