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MR. BIDEN: EVERY TIME HE STANDS UP AND DOES HIS ONE TO THREE CONFERENCES, HIS NUMBERS ARE GOING DOWN. SHANNON: HE ACCUSES THE PRESIDENT OF FORGETTING ABOUT THE AMERICAN WORKER AND BLASTS HIS HANDLING OF THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC. TONIGHT, JOE BIDEN CAME OUT SWINGING AGAINST DONALD TRUMP. MIKE C: IN A WIDE-RANGING NINE MINUTE EXCHANGE, THE PRESUMPTIVE DEMOCRATIC PARTY NOMINEE TOLD ME IN A ONE-ON-ONE INTERVIEW THAT HE URGED THE PRESIDENT IN JANUARY TO INVOKE TO DEFENSE PRODUCTION ACT TO GET THE VENTILATORS, MASKS AND SWABS NEEDED IN THE FIGHT AGAINST COVID-19, BUT SAYS TRUMP WAITED TOO LONG TO ACT. MR. BIDEN: THERE’S THREE THINGS WE CAN DO AND HAVE TO DO. WE HAVE TO TEST, WE HAVE TO TREAT, AND WE HAVE TO BE ABLE TO TRACK. HE IS WAY BEHIND THE CURVE BY ANY STANDARD. MIKE C: NO LONGER ABLE TO PRESS ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL BECAUSE OF THE COVID-19 CRISIS, BIDEN SAYS HE’S REACHED 50 MILLION PEOPLE THIS PAST MONTH ALONE WITH ZOOM INTERVIEWS LIKE OURS, AND ROUND TABLE LISTENING SESSIONS. MR. BIDEN: I BRING IN A LOT OF ROUND TABLES WITH PEOPLE AFFECTED BY THE VIRUS, DOCTORS, NURSES, FIRST RESPONDERS, ETC. SO I'M MAKING AS MUCH USE AS MY DOWNSTAIRS BASEMENT STUDIO THAT I HAVE NOW TO BE ABLE COMMUNICATE WITH PEOPLE BECAUSE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE REAL DEMONSTRATING SOME REAL HEART AND SOME REAL GUTS THE WAY THEY’RE RESPONDING. MIKE C: BIDEN TOLD ME HE WANTS TO ALLOW VOTERS TO MAIL IN THEIR BALLOTS. PRESIDENT TRUMP HAS ATTACKED THE IDEA, CITING THE POTENTIAL FOR FRAUD. ALLEGHENY COUNTY JOINED FIVE STATES ALREADY DOING IT. MR. BIDEN: THERE’S NO EVIDENCE IT PROMOTES FRAUD, NUMBER ONE. NUMBER TWO, IF WE ARE STILL ESSENTIALLY ON LOCKDOWN, WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE PEOPLE CAN VOTE. IT IS THE MOST DIRECT AND EASY WAY TO MAKE SURE PEOPLE GET TO VOTE. MIKE C: BEFORE THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, BIDEN SAYS EMPLOYEES WERE NOT SHARING IN THE SKYROCKETING CORPORATE PROFITS, AND AS PRESIDENT, HE SAYS HE’LL PUT THE FOCUS BACK ON THE WORKER. MR. BIDEN: I'M GOING TO BE SOMEONE WHO HAS ONE OVERARCHING ECONOMIC RESPONSIBILITY -- BRING BACK THE BACKBONE OF THIS COUNTRY, REESTABLISH THE MIDDLE CLASS AS A MAJOR PLAYER AND BRING EVERYONE ALONG THIS TIME. MR. BIDEN: -- MIKE C: HE TOLD ME HE REMEMBERS HIS DAD TELLING HIS FAMILY IN SCRANTON THAT HE LOST HIS JOB, AND THEY HAD TO MOVE, SOMETHING SCORES OF FAMILIES MAY FACE AROUND THE COUNTRY AND HERE IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA BECAUSE OF THE BUSINESSES SHUT DOWN. MR. BIDEN: A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE BEEN THROUGH A LOT OF TOUGH TIMES IN ALLEGHENY COUNTY BUT THEY ARE STRONG AND TOUGH. AND I TELL YOU WHAT, UNIONS ARE COMING BACK. THE KEY TO MAKING SURE THAT PEOPLE ARE GOING TO GET A FAIR WAGE IS EMPOWERING MORE UNIONS AND GETTING UNIONS MORE ENGAGED. I’M THE GUY TO DO THAT. MIKE C: BIDEN REAFFIRMED HIS COMMITMENT TO CHOOSE A WOMAN AS HIS RUNNING MATE, AND SAID HIS CAMPAIGN IS IN THE PROCESS OF VETTING CANDIDATES RIGHT NOW. HE DID NOT TELL ME ANY NAMES ON HIS SHORTLIST, BUT SAYS HE EXPECTS TO NAME HER BY THE T

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Joe Biden came out swinging against President Donald Trump in a one-on-one interview Monday, with the presumptive Democratic nominee accusing Trump of forgetting about the American worker and blasting his handling of the coronavirus pandemic."Every time he stands up and does his one- to two-hour press conferences, his numbers are going down," Biden said Monday.In a wide-ranging nine-minute exchange, Biden told Pittsburgh's Action News 4 anchor Mike Clark that he urged Trump in January to invoke the Defense Production Act to get the ventilators, masks and swabs that are needed in the fight against COVID-19. Biden said Trump waited too long to act."There's three things we can do, and have to do," Biden said. "We have to test, we have to treat and we have to be able to track. He's way, way behind the curve by any standard."No longer able to press the flesh on the campaign trail, Biden said he has reached 50 million people this past month with Zoom interviews and roundtable listening sessions."I bring in a lot of roundtables where people are affected by the virus -- doctors, nurses, first responders, etc. -- and so I'm making as much use of this downstairs basement studio that I have now to try to be able to communicate with people," Biden said. "The American people are really displaying some real heart, some real guts the way they're responding."Biden said he wants to allow voters to mail their ballots. Trump has attacked the idea, citing the potential for fraud. Allegheny County has joined five states that already allow it."There's no evidence it promotes fraud, number one," Biden said. "Number two, it's the most certain way that people -- if we still have this, essentially, lockdown we have now -- that people are going to be able to vote. It's a very severe and direct and easy way to make sure people get to vote."Before the COVID-19 pandemic, employees were not sharing in skyrocketing corporate profits, Biden said. As president, he said he would put the focus back on the worker."I'm going to be someone who has one overarching economic responsibility: bring back the backbone of this country, re-establish the middle class as a major player and bring everyone along this time," he said.Biden said he remembers when his father told their family in Scranton that he lost his job and they had to move -- something that many families may face in western Pennsylvania and around the U.S. because of the businesses that have shut down."A lot of people went through a lot of tough times out there in Allegheny County, but they're strong, they're tough, and I tell you what, unions are coming back," Biden said. "The key to making sure that people are going to get a fair deal and a fair wage is empowering more unions, getting unions more engaged, and I'm the guy to do that."While not mentioning anyone on his shortlist, Biden reaffirmed his commitment to choose a woman as his running mate and said he expects to name her by the time that the Democratic National Convention is held in August. He said his campaign is in the process of vetting candidates.