So Dan Diamond, you are a health reporter.

So they tell me.

Dan Diamond works over at Politico.

I have to ask you, as someone who's an expert, as someone who's been following the coronavirus,

do you think this vice presidential debate should take place tonight?

I think it should take place because Americans need to hear from current leaders as well as the

potential future ones. But if the question is, should it take place in person, that I don't know.

When tonight's debate in Salt Lake City was originally scheduled,

it was supposed to feel collegial,

with the candidates positioned around a table,

as if they were having a friendly chat.

After the White House found itself in the center of a coronavirus cluster,

the plan started changing.

As of the time we recorded this,

the candidates were supposed to be 12 feet apart,

but they were still fighting over whether they were going to be surrounded by plexiglass shields.

Reportedly, the Trump campaign didn't want it to look like Vice President Mike Pence was in a plastic box.

I think there's some evidence that Plexiglass alone isn't going to protect against all of the

public health risks of being in the same room with someone who may have been exposed to coronavirus.

But in some ways, I think, Mary,

there's almost a metaphor here. Like Pence himself is in a box when it comes to how he's handled

coronavirus. He's the guy caught in the middle. Going into tonight, Dan's been thinking about

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