Much is on the line for Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in what is widely anticipated to be the biggest American political event in modern election history. The two presidential candidates will debate one-on-one for the first time, in a commercial-free 90-minute contest centered around the top issues of 2016.
Clinton, 68, and Trump, 70, will be tested like never before, as for an hour-and-a-half, with no breaks, NBC News' Lester Holt pries into their views and policies on foreign and domestic matters. Presented by the Commission on Presidential Debates at Hofstra University in Long Island, New York, all of the questions are entirely up to Holt, but the rules specify that cameras will remain pinned on the candidates with no cutting away from the stage and no microphone adjustments allowed either.
How Holt's autonomy will come into play is uncertain. The Clinton camp has pushed for the veteran reporter to "fact-check" Trump, while the Republican nominee's team says Holt ought to remain silent and neutral, while the candidates themselves take each other to task for misstating the truth.
Americans, and the world, have a bounty of choices as to how they watch the debate, and each channel or network may offer a different experience. Bloomberg TV will offer its own on-screen fact-checking for each candidate, Politico reported Monday, citing spokespeople.
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Both candidates agreed in the end to support the outcome of the elections.
And we ask our followers
"She doesn't have the look, she doesn't have the stamina, to be president of this country you need tremendous stamina,you have to be able to negotiate our trade deals," Trump said.
"She has experience, but it is bad experience," Trump said.
"She's spent hundreds of millions of dollars of ads on me and it's not nice and it's not true," Trump said.
The single greatest problem the world has is nuclear armament," Trump said adding, "it's not global warming like your president says."
"I want to help all of our allies but we are losing billions and billions of dollars, we cannot be the policeman of the world," Trump replied.
"I want to reassure our allies...we have nuclear treaties, and i will honor them," Clinton said. "I want to say on behalf of the majority of the american people, our word is good."
A man who can be provoked by a tweet should not have his finger near the nuclear codes - Clinton
"You have to understand i'm a business person, I have common sense: we're defending them, they should at least be paying us, " Trump said on NATO.
"I have much better judgment than she has, there's no question about that. I also have a much better temperament than she has," audience member guffaws at Trump's words. "I have a winning temperament," Trump
Donald supported the invasion of Iraq - Clinton
Wrong! - Trump
He actually advocated for our actions in Libya - Clinton
(Trump silent)
It could be Russia, it could be China, it could be many people, Trump replies stressing that Bernie Sanders was taken advantage of by Clinton's people, by Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
As Clinton argued that crimes, including murders, have continued to drop under Mayor Bill de Blasio, Trump cut her short, saying that she was “wrong”.
Trump has endorsed New York’s “stop and frisk” policing practices, repelling Lester Holt’s argument that it was ruled “unconstitutional.”
"He has really started his political lie on this racist lie that our first black president was not a US citizen" Clinton said adding that Trump started his career in 1973 being sued by the Justice Department for racial discrimination.
When asked about Obama's birth certificate issue, Trump reminded that Sidney Blumenthal worked for her campaign and was a very close friend of Secretary Clinton.
Clinton said it is "troubling" increasingly we are seeing cyber attacks coming from states, the most recent of these has been Russia.
"I thinkDonald just criticized me for preparing for this debate, and yes i did, and you know what else i prepared for? To be president, and i think that's a good thing," Clinton said.
"The African American community has been let down by our politicians," Trump said."They've been used and abused in order to get votes by democratic politicians."
"I've just left detroit, i just left philadelphia, i've been all over the place and you decided to stay home and that's ok," he said.
"You brought up the word super-predator about young black youth, I think it was a terrible thing to say," Trump said reminding of Clinton's statement from the 90ies.
"Without law and order, we're not going to have a country," said trump, calling 'stop and frisk' a successful technique.
Arguing with Holt, Trump said stop and frisk wasn't ruled unconstitutional, "It went before a very against police judge" and the new mayor refused to appeal the case...he said it's held up in other courts around the country
"we have to take away the guns from these people who are bad people and shouldn't have the."
Donald Trump has equaled the US to a “third world country" when praising airports of China and Qatar.
He has also called America “a mess” when speaking of the $20 trillion debt, which he blamed on Clinton.
"Trump International is way under budget and way ahead of schedule and we should be able to do that for this country," Trump touts his business investment.
Clinton laid out her plan for dealing with racial tensions: restore trust between communities and police, make sure our police are using the best training, the best techniques, use force only when necessary.
Trump doesn't release his tax returns because he has something to hide, Clinton claims.
"May be he's not as charitable as he claims to be,we dont know all of his business dealing, he owes $650 million to Wall Street and foreign banks," Clinton said. "He doesn't want the american people to know that he's paid nothing in taxes."
Trump and Clinton have started the debated plunging into squabbling over the both candidates’ economic plans.
Clinton has called Donald Trump's plan to slash taxes "Trumped-up trickle down" while her Republican rival was shouting “You have no plan!"
Trump then accused Clinton of having “typical political” plan, which would “never work.”
Asked about tax returns, Trump touts his 104-page FEC document detailing his income as over $600 million in the last year.
"I will release my tax returns against my lawyer's wishes when she releases her 30,000 deleted emails," Trump says.
"Typical politician," "all talk, no action" Trump says of Clinton
Trump promises to bring back $2.5 trillion from overseas saying "politicians like Hillary Clinton" and bureaucratic red tape keep it from coming back.
"Trump loophole" a tax benefit he wrote for himself and his family, Clinton said
"Well at least i have a plan to fight ISIS," Clinton.
"You tell ISIS all your plans," Trump replies, " You've been fighting ISIS all your adult live."
Clinton:"Donald was one of the people who rooted for the housing crisis" - clinton
Trump:"That's called business"
"Under my plan I will be reducing taxes tremendously from 35% to 15%, a job creator like we haven't seen since Ronald Reagan," Trump says.
Clinton attacks Trump over borrowing $14 million from his father. Trump replies that his father gave him a very small loan in 1975.
minutes away
Mere minutes away from the debate starting, and the suspense is palpable on social media.
hillary arrives
Hillary Clinton has arrived, following her husband and former President Bill Clinton into the green room. Walking behind Clinton was her top aide, Huma Abedin.
protesters arrested
Protesters of all political persuasions raised their voices in the hours and minutes leading up to the first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton at Hofstra University. Some even blocked traffic, resulting in arrests.
26 September 2016
triggering
Directly outside the venue is a large sign warning Hofstra University students of “triggering” content ahead.
Tony Aiello of WCBS tweeted a photo of the sign, which read, “Trigger warning: The event conducted just beyond this sign may contain triggering and/or sensitive material. Sexual violence, sexual assault, and abuse are some topics mentioned within this event. If you feel triggered, please know there are resources to help you.”
The bottom of the sign provides phone numbers for counseling services, student advocacy services, a “Title IX Coordinator” and the National Sexual Assault Hotline.
podiums
WABC reporter Rita Cosby tweeted photos of the podiums before they moved onto the debate stage. One was customized for Clinton after the commission rejected her campaign's request for a step stool. At 6'2", Trump stands 10 inches taller than Clinton, but as they will be a considerable distance from each other, it is not expected to impact the optics for television viewers.