Good morning. Welcome to Axios today. It's Thursday, October 8th. I'm Naila Boodoo. Here's how we're making you smarter today. There's been a drastic spike in unemployment

among Asian Americans,

plus a historic Nobel Prize Award in chemistry.

But first, the alternate realities

at the Vice Presidential debate is today's one big thing.

Vice President Mike Pence debated Senator Kamala Harris last night in the first and only Vice

presidential debate.

Axios is co-founder Mike Allen is here with us now.

Mike, what do you think stood out to you most about last night?

Well, what stood out to me is we got to know Senator Kamala Harris of California in a way that most Americans don't.

Again and again, she stood up for herself when Vice President Pence tried to either talk over her or to interject.

Mr. Vice President, I'm speaking.

She said several times that the President wasn't honest and that sort of seemed to be one of her big lines of the night.

You respect the American people when you tell them the truth.

Yeah, that was a big part of what the virus conversation was. Vice President Pence was saying the way that you

show respect for the American people is to let them make choices in the best interest of their health.

He brought that up in defending what sure looks like a super-spreter event.

That was where he went in trying to speak as the head of the coronavirus

Task Force a tough record to own at this moment.

One thing I will say is I don't necessarily feel like the voters were served because people

didn't really answer questions. Well no that's right especially on the

important question of whether you would add justices to the Supreme Court

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