Joe Biden says he'd shut down economy if scientists recommended

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has said he would follow public health advisors' advice if they called for a national shutdown if the coronavirus had not subsided by the time he takes office.

"I would be prepared to do whatever it takes to save lives. We cannot get the country moving until we control the virus," Biden said in an interview broadcast Sunday night on ABC News.

He even said he would not shy from a national shutdown if scientists said it was necessary.

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"I would shut it down," he said.

The former vice president's remarks came in his first joint interview with vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris. The pair accepted their party's nominations during a virtual convention last week. On Monday, Republicans begin their convention to nominate Trump and Vice President Mike Pence for a second term.

When asked about Trump's recent assertion that the only way he'd lose was if the election were rigged, the Democratic challenger dismissed any notions that the incumbent president wouldn't leave the White House voluntarily if he loses.

"The American people will not let that happen," he said.

"No one's going to allow that to happen."

The first Black woman on a major party national ticket, Harris said she and Biden are on the same page on race amid the nation's ongoing reckoning with systemic racism.

"There are real racial disparities that are rooted in systemic racism," Harris said, noting wealth gaps and the disproportionate effects of COVID-19 on Black and Hispanic communities.

Biden said they "have the same value set" and are "on same exact page about what the possibilities are right now."

"I signed on to bills that were about great ideas to fix the problem," Harris told ABC, arguing that she and Biden "are completely aligned on " making sure everyone has health care."