we have the palestinians we have everybody else writing all over the place pretty talk about charlottesville is 100 times charles the 1000 times the whole country is exploding because of you because they do not respect you and they have to respect their president they do not respect you throughout the world. what we did was incredible we rebuilt the military without the largest tax cut in history that largest regulation cut in history. the reason he has got jobs is because i cut the regulations and gave jobs. he is putting a lot of those regulations back on. all of the things we have done we've never seen anything like it in for that medical standpoint right to try it we can try space age materials instead of going to asia are going to europe and trying to get when you're terminally ill you can go and get something for you to sign a document they've been trying to get it for 42 years. you know what we did for that military was incredible choice for our soldiers.

instead of waiting for three months to see a doctor they can go out and get themselves affixed up and ready it up and take care of themselves. they are living highest approval rating in the history of the va. all of these things we are in a failing nation is not would be failing anymore going to make it great again. >> , president biden. stay with us because we have full analysis of this debate. it starts now on cnn. that is eight wrap the first presidential debate of the 2024 election cycle is in the books.

president biden former president trump addressing several issues tonight with moderators jake tapper and dana bash the economy, immigration, foreign policy and abortion among others. c-span coverage continues tonight of the first presidential debate. a look and now inside the spin room live coverage where the start talking to reporters to give their analysis of the evening c-span cameras are of course there on the ground. we will be bringing highlights for the next hour or so. we will also take your calls until midnight tonight but at that point we will re- air at rc tonight's debate in its entirety. we want to hear from you first. what is your reaction to tonight debate? what did the candidates say that resignation with you? what did you want to hear that you didn't hear? we divided the lines this way if you are supporting president biden: 2027488920 per if you

support the former president your line tonight (202)748-8921. if you are undecided, still undecided after tonight's debate: 2027488922. and if you have decided to support a third party candidate you can call us 2027488923. remember you can join the conversation on x with the handle at c-span also on facebook.com/cspan port you can text us your first name city and state 202-748-8903. calls are in supporting the former president. you are up first. what is your reaction to tonight's debate? angie? you are up. good evening.

>> caller: sorry driving to say. steve went peter in new york undecided your reaction to tonight's debate? susie well, i thought the format for tonight's debate was excellent. i thought the moderators did a great job. and. >> host: you said the performance i was excellent by the candidates question request or so without the moderators did well. i thought they did real well. >> did you like the forma ter? >> yes absolutely. absolutely a great format. jake tapper and dana bash were tremendous. now candidates, holy mackerel. they are not exactly lincoln and douglas.

i was undecided and now i am even more so. actually all they did attack each other. and they did not seem very presidential. >> either one of them. >> caller: they were like two guys on the corner. >> host: peter, what do you want to hear from these candidates that order to decide? >> caller: had liked it talk about the issues more about their own ideas rather than to attack the others ideas. and i would like them to show a little more decorum. right now i feel like hiding under the bed. >> host: peter undecided in new york karen and south carolina supporting the former president. how did your candidate do?

rick: hi i think he did quite well. he kept his demeanor cool, calm, and collected. to me he is the only one that can put america to be great again. he has the relationship with other presidents throughout other countries where biden does not. and he was right. all biden does is keep printing off money and more money and more money, letting in people from the border. give the americans the job. we need it. our children need it.

our grandchildren need it. so that is my opinion. >> host: karen, what did you like about president trump's first four years? what did you like about his record? >> caller: he kept his word. more products are being made in e usa. gas was being utilized from the usa. it was just his way of handling the usa. stu went all right karen and south credit would to a biden supporter how did your candidate do tonight? >> caller: hi, he did wonderful. joe is getting older.

but with the behavior we get out of trump and the way he treats women and the rights he has taken away from us it says a lot. it says a lot. i wish more people would pay attention to that. instead of some of these trump supporters that i see are just loud mouth right clothes diaper wearing trump supporters. >> you said he is getting older. did he show his age tonight? >> you know what, he did a little bit and he looks a little tired. but it is awful late. you know? he is not the only one who gets tired early. sue and kelly o'donnell reports for nbc at the white house tweeting out at 9:50 p.m. and tosource his family with the situation say president biden

has a cold. she also tweets out at 958 multiple sources say the president was given covid test and is negative for covid. let's go inside the spin room in atlanta a leader and the public of the house but one of the leaders talking to reporters. [background noises] [inaudible conversations] with the age problem? >> i think it was a weak performance. you do not get points for standing up and talking for 90 minutes. you have to defend his or her record which is absently failed to do. the fact we had a conversation about illegal immigration 10, 15, 20 illegal immigrants have come across but we talked about the unsettled deaths which are coming along with them.

we talk about the strength on the american position around the world. on every single one of those president trump was able to clearly articulate where america needs to go president biden was not able to do that. >> in these debates. [inaudible] was at strategic? >> what we wanted to do with the president wanted to do was to be able to come out and talk about the issues affecting american people. he was able to clearly articulate those issues and was able to clearly talk about these solutions is going to put on the table. absolutely print this was an opportunity for us to have two men on stage at the same time and talk about their vision for the world. we wanted to make sure but he wanted to make sure he's going to be able to get those points out in an articulate why he did a fantastic job with a pig looks thank you chairman. you think vital be the nominee? >> we will see certain if they're going to try to remove her from the ticket they are running out of time every single

day. >> how does this translate into the next few weeks? what is the plan? >> it's a great launching point. he was able to articulate his vision for the next four years. which is tremendously important. and when you think about it's not just a plan for america for the next four years. we are going to set the direction the world is going to go in for decades to come. this is going to be a transformative election because we are seeing right now a presidency defined by weakness and we are going to transition back to president trump and a presidency divided by strength. >> do you expect that. [inaudible] >> the chair of the republican national committee talking to reporters live in the spin room. c-span cameras are there on the ground. we have not seen at democrats yet and the spin room we are expecting to see some from the biting camp. when we do will bring you back inside the spin room. we are also taking your phone calls your text, your social

media reaction to tonight's first presidential debates. paul in miami, undecided, paul. what you think of tonight? >> caller: i like the format he did not have a catalling and people screaming and just delaying it. neither of these people are cognitively killing it and what a choice binary to parties. again not trying to be sarcastic about it. biden is a decent person. he looked aged and trump is i don't know, ideology does not stand for anything for just dance for winning. again, i don't know that it moved anything. >> so for you, how will you decide then? >> i'm going to decide this way. it's like i am undecided up until the minute i go in. that's kind of ridiculous.

am kind of leaning basically just third party. i'm a little scared trump in the sense i don't think he is a racist but i don't think he is a fascist by jumping he's the worst person in the world but i do think he is in four years not fearful of anything and would do anything that he wants to do with no threats of doing anything. that is concerning to me. but were still waiting. here we are. >> look at the former president do to convince you to vote for him? >> caller: biting get sick? no i am not a biden supporter. i just really -- it is sad too. >> for you it's third party or the former president. ort leaning a little bit towards biden. it's a really good staff let me

run this by you. casey on cnn reporter tweets out the voice open mouth look, visual contrast between president biden former president trump have all democrats i am talking to nearly beside themselves watching this debates. the prominent democrat is texting, saying gavin please, referring to the california governor. paul? [laughter] >> caller: yes, this is difficult. what a choice we have. it is not nice. these are not tremendously talented candidates. and i think at this point most people have made their mind unless -- a member the old governor edwin edwards of louisiana after he said they're

going to voting for me unless they find i am fed with a dead woman or a live child. and i think that's what it's come to have bad choices it's going to be last second people are going to make it. stupid paul so they hold the second debate between these two candidates? >> caller: of course they should. of course they should, absolutely. >> host: same rule same format? >> caller: i like it. and i get it for the hosts or the moderators dana and jake have a difficult time for you got to push these people i've worked with mediate years and years ago he'd like to push people and cut them off and stop. i think of for the opportunity to show that appreciate that. >> host: will go back to the spin room senator tim scott talking to reporters. >> talk about what that meant for the people living in the impoverished community center donald trump the opportunity to

sign into law. $70 billion committed often times the majority and minority. in those communities about 8% wage growth versus 3% 20% appreciation in your property values and that restoration of both. it was a really good for years for people group like i did. talk about opportunities in the private sector in that lifetime. has good to have your bad name called if it's in a bad way. it's not about me. it's about what can we do to make sure the american people experience their version of the american dream. that's what we should all be focused on.

>> •-middle-dot tim scott of south carolina also ran for president this year. rumored to be a possible pick for vice president former president trump. we are getting your reaction and new york supporting president biden, chase how does your guy do? >> i honestly think he is getting pretty old. they ask a few questions the first few minutes he got quiet and he stumbled a little bit. other than that he put up a good fight. these are pretty good debaters there's a lot of good points which with each of them personally in a wrestling match or something. i'm pretty glad nothing crazy happens. people yelling but they put up a pretty good match i am scared for our country and everything going on in it.

nobody is taking anything seriously. we need a real awakening. everything is dividing the whole country right now. everybody's got a come back together as one, you know. that is personally what i think it's really scary as pawns on the chessboard. all these people behind them. that is all it is. stu went curtis in san antonio, who are you supporting? >> caller: i'm going for the third party. i love president biden's heart is in the right place. that he is a little age. like everyone before me was saying. they sat down and donald trump i just don't trust him. stewart are you saying the president should step down now? >> caller: no yes i don't think he should run for. >> don't think he should be running now for month out from

the election? >> no i don't. i don't. not because it's a good president he age and his time is up. >> in the spin room george at senator warnock talking about reporters, let's listen in. >> one second period with members are fully represented the rich diversity biden has. tonight i think what you saw which is very clear choice in this election. when i saw out of donald trump was a man who took the stage who increasingly unhinged throughout the night and it reminded the american bid by the end of the debate exactly why they admired him in the first place four years ago. president biden take the stage did exactly what he did over the course of the last four years.

on behalf of the american people. he made the case for his accomplishment 15 million jobs the work he has done the day he took office to lower cost for americans and lower the cost of ins under $35. they have cap prescription drugs out of pocket for seniors they continue to do it in a second term donald trump saw somebody repeatedly refused to accept the bulk of the election. once again the same way they did so in 2020. he saw how that played out most of my only on january 6 he's all that promising to do that again. he is already spent his month out on the stump is going to be a bloodbath of he loses to the election. the five times of that pledge tonight was some talk about the fact that roe v wade he returned to roe v wade was a great thing. once again he sat on the stump

every day talking about the fact his extreme state-level abortion bands are playing out. that's a fundamental contrast of the american people saw in this debate. with that i'm going to turn over. [inaudible] >> hello everyone. i represent texas. we know abortion is on the ballot. and to be clear, tonight we saw two things. people can choose between a con in chief or commander-in-chief. what we saw was someone who sat up there was acting as if he was a used car salesman that wanted to tell us what ever and pretend as if it was fact. the reality is our president submitted to you would look like substance for the substance of the issue is simple. we have somebody who is bragging about the fact that he took a roe v wade away from us. where as we know the next step

they want to go after contraception and unfortunately in the state of texas they are talking about instituting the death penalty. the american people have to decide if they're going to choose themselves this election is not about all of the lies that trump is selling you put it what it is about is the fact. the facts are he took that right away from us and he wants to take more rights away from us but he did that every time he did not want to answer a question he decided to deflect. the reality is people are dying he had over 26000 women impregnated in the state of texas alone in that last year since the dobbs decision. as a result of rape. that is unacceptable for you all know the story of doctor even of the story of women who are potentially losing their lives for there is only one clear choice and that clear choice is joe biden. that is exactly what we are here. [inaudible] [inaudible]

>> elections are about the character. they are about jobs about the economy there about war and peace and a whole range of issues at the end of the day it's throughout the country. the american people got a chance tonight to be reminded about the character of donald trump. a man who stood there and lied for 90 minutes straight. i was also struck by was what he did not say every time he was asked a question that had something to do with the lives of the ordinary working class and jute notice he never answer the questions when he was asked about childcare, which is a real issue in this country.

patching an army of surrogates into a sea of reporters is the way they framed it, the biden campaign planned to send in that team that you saw on their screen deliver succinct statements and take questions and then leave the spin room. now others in support of president biden are expected to be in the spin room and that is the strategy from the campaign tonight. we have seen several republicans talking to reporters and we will hear more from tonight while we those that support the former president undecided and third party candidates.

jim, in whitewright texas. >> you're supporting the former president? >> that's correct. >> what did you think of the debate? >> i thought he was very composed. i don't know how anyone can look at the president of the united states and say that there's nothing with that person, clearly it's elder abuse, i can't believe that his wife and his handlers are putting him through this. he looked lost most of the debate. he really didn't answer a question. he just kept repeating his talking nineties she was given over the past two weeks at camp david. >> jim, have you supported the former president in 2016 and 2020? >> i did. the economy is in chatters right

now. the middle class is dying. the stat that the moderators gave a basket of groceries that was $100 at the beginning of the biden administration is now $120, it's about $150. i also thought it was interesting that the moderators would cut biden off when he was getting ready to go over a cliff and this his mic was supposed to be silenced when it wasn't his turn but, indeed, it wasn't. >> you -- you believe that happened many times? >> several times. i'm also curious which party demanded that no press was in the room and no audience which was also unprecedented. also the democrats are putting out speak toaster answer a few questions and run away from the

spin room. why is that? >> jim, let me ask you, you would have been open to third-party candidate if one was viable, why? >> do you concerns about the former president? >> i would have looked at third neater 2016 but i'm okay with the economy running on all full cylinders and former 20-year military man and other than the fact that he put out mean tweets i really have no issues. all the lies and stuff about about him being racist and january 6th and charlottesville, we all know, owe all know that's made up. all you to do is listen to the transcripts but most of biden supporters just listen to what you and other mainstream media tell them. but, again, i don't know how anyone can look at him and tell me there's nothing wrong with biden. >> all right. >> he is fit to be the commander in chief and the leader to have

free world. >> jim's thoughts in whitewright, texas, jim asking why reporters were not allowed in the studio. there was some pressure earlier this evening coming from the white house association, the white house reporters association at the white house asking for the pool reporter that follows the president around to be allowed into the studio. kelly o'donnell who represents the reporters at the white house association and went int studio during commercial. the white house association advocated f reporter for the duration of tonight's debate. here is a quote, potus and former president donald trump standing, this was the pool

reporter's report during the -- during the break 3 and a half -- 3 and a half minute commercial break that occurred tonight. there were two commercial breaks this evening. so sounds like a pool reporter was let in during a break. let's hear from you. >> yes, good evening. >> well, still undecided. quite frankly, i'm a naturalized u.s. accident, proudly u.s. accident and i feel like after this debate that we continue to be -- or i continue to be stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes my decision of who shall i vote for. i believe that the conversation -- well, definitely president

biden is in my opinion is not a viable candidate by all means regardless of what anybody say. you cannot ignore the obvious. i wish the democrats had presented a different candidate than president biden that is fact and hard t ignore. president trump has excellent economic track record that's backing him up significantly and the other hand i still believe that president trump continues to be a threat to the democracy and the greatness of this nation because his -- he was unable to clearly answer the question if

you would accept the result of the election. to me that was, you know, not a good indication because he repeatedly said that it's fair or i cannot remember the exact code. i cannot quote him but he repeatedly stated that it's fair and hear and, i mean, that's by his standards but by the -- he wouldn't probably acknowledge a fair election if it doesn't go along with what he would expect or like to see. as i said it's a hard decision to make, you're looking at both of them. president biden inherited a very good economic i would say momentum when he came into office so he's taking credit for what president trump has

established. >> all right, caller, i will leave it at that. i want to go into the spin room. jason miller, trump surrogate speaking to reporters there. listen. >> without getting stabbed or murdered, all the heinous crime migrant crime. >> again, put that aside, president trump will deliver his vision, we knew that president trump would win. we've been saying that all along. we want to get a fair shake for president trump to lay out his vision. how many times with that look on his face and president trump challenging what are you going to do to fix it? biden couldn't answer a single time. never once. thank you. again, other people can go and

talk about that. we just knew that president trump was able to communicate vision fairly without being cut off, we knew that he would win. >> you'll be setting up a patch -- match. >> i got my canned cap when i was vice president, that was not a good look. i don't think biden could make to it the tee. i mean, it wasn't a good look for biden but -- >> discussion about the future. >> jason miller senior adviser to the former president's campaign. they are talking to reporters. you heard him talking about the exchange between the two candidates about their golf games. they also talked about some other issues m policy issues tonight and we want to get your reaction to what you heard from them. frank, a pollster who has been on this program many times held

a survey, a focus group with undecided voters tonight. he tweeted this out at 10:00 p.m. after the first commercial break i asked my focus group of undecided voters how many are more convince today vote for joe biden, zero, raised their hands, half of them said or say they voted for biden in 2020.

>> as far as the economy goes,

as far as job creations, as far as when biden had turned around to say about he did make the mention of this congress he wasn't able to pass what he wants to do with the immigration. >> all right, so there's lots of fact-checking that happened during tonight's debate. new york times, washington post, cnn, politifact, many outlet that is you can go to do get -- to see what the candidates said and whether or not it was true. donald trump said 18 million peop have come over the border under joe biden, u.s. customs and bder data shows that nationwide border eights have stopped migrants about 9.7 million times during biden's presidency. then you have daniel dell for cnn, trump's claim 18 to 19 million people entering under biden is false.

total encounters through may 2024 both legal ports of entry and in between the ports was under 10 million. not all those people are let in and many of them are repeat tryers. then you have politifact, all the jobs created under joe biden ha gone to migrants. this is false. under biden native-born workers jobs rose 7.4 million, foreign-born workers jobs grow by 5.6 million. th you also have politifact on president biden. trump did tell cnbc that there's a lot you can do to cut social security but he quickly walked back his statement to match the position on on his website which is t protect the program. then there's this, joe biden sa donald trump wants to get rid of the affordable care act, that's half true, for years trump vowed to repeat and replace aca but in march he changed his view without giving details.

there is fact-checkers and you can go to cnn, new york times, that's just some of them but you can fact-check yourself, look to see what people are have researched on what you heard from the candidates tonight. sofia, indiana, support all third-candidate, which one? >> after the debate i'm supporting biden. he kept back going to biden he did not do rather than what he would do in those suations in answering the question. honestly, i thought biden did a great job on being on topic and making sure to answer the questions while also addressing what trump was also saying. >> sofia, your top issue in this campaign, why are you voting for president biden? what are the issues? >> i'm voting for biden because

honestly i like his answers during his debate. not only did he address the problem when he was asked on like trump personally, i liked his stance on taxes specifically and how he was talking about the 1 percenters and raising of taxes and why. i like how he personally addressed the problems and also explained why he had the standpoints specifically i liked how he talked about ukraine and russia in addressing what trump was saying. i thought that was -- that really turned my vote on how he was addressing that and then also the issues with iran specifically i thought he was very well spoken during those moments. >> all right, sofia there in indiana. we will go jacob here in washington, d.c. supporting the president, jacob.

>> hi, yeah, i'm supporting joe biden in this election and i will say i'm not, you know, i'm not super thrilled about it, man, but like we've gotten to a point now where to be a person in this country is to be frustrated with your leaders and your leadershipnd in this election we only have two choices. i don't think rfk will come to the finish line. >> reporters are saying democratic strategists are panicking, they didn't think that the president did well tonight, what do you make of that reaction from them? >> i think that's totally fair. he had a really bad night, he didn't look very coherent. he didn't look strong and it looked like he, you know, was quite frankly struggling to even make it through the full time of the debate, so, yeah, i mean, it didn't really affect my position because i don't really think personally there's much of a choice just because of, you

know, the fact that his opponent is a convicted felon oh who tried to overthrow the government but, yeah, he definitely had a bad night and honestly if this turned people off from voting for him, i would understand that. >> all right, jacob, jacob, how old are you? >> this would be my first presidential election voting. >> i'm sorry, i missed your age. >> i'm 21. >> jacob supporting the president on x if you follow us on x at c-span as our handle there, you can participate in a poll that we are doing this evening who won the cnn presidential debate right now it stands at 67.5% of those participating saying that the former president won this first presidential debate over the sitting president 32.5% saying that joe biden won tonight. again, these are just the folks that are participating in our poll, you can to it yourself if

you'd like to, if you go to x at c-span is our handle. jose in rio grande city, texas. hi, jose. jose in texas supporting president trump. it's your turn. all right, let me go to sabrina who is in georgia, sabrina, who are you supporting? >> hi, i'm undecided right now. but i do feel like the is a life or death situation in america and you need to either chose trump or biden, you can't choose third-party. >> why are you calli on the third-party line? >> i believe tt third-party is no feasible right now and so you need to choose and i have come to realization during this debate. >> okay, and what are the issues that are important to you? >> as a woman i'm very proroe v.

wade and i need to vote for biden and i was upset for biden during the debate because he was not attacking trump like he should have and seemed weak and trump was overly attack and not able to discuss the issues and points at all so i'm leaning towards biden because of that. >> abortion is the important issue for her this november. that topic did come up at the very beginning toward the beginning of tonight's debate. here both of the candidates on abortion. >> 7 states have no legal restrictions on how far end a pregnancy into abortion. do you support any legal limits on how late a woman should be able to -- >> second time between a doctor and extreme situation. a third time is between the doctor and -- i mean, between the woman and the state.

the idea that the politicians, the founders wanted the politicians to be the ones making discussions about a women's health is ridiculous. that's the no politician is making that decision. a doctor should be making those decisions. that's how it should be run. that's what you're going to do. if i'm elected i will restore roe v. wade. >> that means he can take the life of the baby in the ninth month and even after birth because some states democrat run take it after birth, again, the former governor of virginia put the baby down and then we decide what to do wit. so he's willing to as we say rip the baby out of the bombin the ninth month and kill the baby. nobody wants that to happen democrat or republican, nobody wants it to happen. >> that is simply. roe v. wade does not support that. but we are not for late-term

abortion period, period, period. >> under roe v. wade you have late-term abortion. you can do whatever you want depending on the state, you do whatever you want, we don't think that's a good thing. we think it's a radical thing. we think the democrats are the radicals, not the republicans. >> for 51 years that was the law. 51 years it was taken away because this guy put conservative members on the supreme court. he takes credit for take it away. what's he going to do, what's he going to do, in fact, if the maga republicans, if he gets elected and the maga republicans control the congress and they pass universal ban on abortion period across the board at six weeks or 7 or 8 or 10, something very conservative, is he going to sign the bill, i will veto it, he will sign it. >> the two candidates tonight squaring off in first presidential debate, that issue right there abortion, one of the many that they discussed. in the spin room across from the

-- the -- the studio that held the debate, cnn presidential debate, doug burgam, one-time presidential candidate talking to reporters. >> that's for democrats to decide. they've created the situation that they're in. they are going to have work their way through that. it doesn't matter who is up. president trump is going to win in the fall. >> i think tonight maybe matter more than any other presidential debate in history because the contrast between president trump and joe biden's weakness was just so absolutely clear. you could have watched this show tonight with the sound off and you would have figured out who won that debate and it would have been president trump. >> okay, we have to run. >> that is the current governor of north dakota, doug burgam, rumored to be vice presidential

pick for president trump. our cameras are there live this evening, we will continue to show you what the supporters of these two candidates are telling the media and while we do that, we are getting your reaction to tonight's debate. arnold in miami, florida, you're supporting the president, the former president? >> yes, i am. >> okay, tell us why. >> so in 2016 i didn't vote but the economy has taken off, my family was doing well, and so i voted for him in 2020. and now it's -- it's -- everything is a lot harder. it's clear, i mean, everything was reversed under biden and all i know my personal situation and those are the things that matter to me, my family, that's why i'm voting for trump. and when we get to immigration

too, we are talking about these numbers, fact-checkers, 18 million, 9 million, listen, i work in manhattan. i lived in new jersey. i have family there, it's visible, you can see it, the crime rate is up, it is directly affecting people, so it doesn't matter what that number is but it's affecting people. so we are voting based on that. >> all right, so that is why you're supporting the former president? >> yes. >> all right, do you have any concerns about the former president getting a second term? >> no, no, not at all. when he ran the first time they said he was going to start world war iii, this and that none of that lap, he brokered peace in the middle east. you don't hear anything about that. i'm much worried about than biden looking like a corpse on tv. >> we will go to brandon who is undecided in michigan. brandon, were you hoping tonight's debate would allow you

to make a decision? >> i was hoping that but honestly i think it is a pretty bad performance by both of them. >> tell us -- tell us where they both failed in your opinion tonight? >> obviously age for biden but for trump he couldn't stay on topic at all. questions about climate change and how to help people get over addiction and he kept coming thank immigration and i'm -- you know, i'm decided because i've been a staunch bernie supporter since 2016 and did vote for biden in 2020, yeah, he's helping people out a little bit, i cannot in good conscious vote for someone who has this response for israel. trump on the other hand, all i hear are things going to be taken away, not to help anybody out. >> okay, brandon, congressman robert garcia of california talking to reporters.

>> every single day. the president is out doing events every single day. he's doing press conferences, he's out there campaigning and we all see that. the idea that somehow it's going to affect the outcome. donald trump is lying. >> is it a problem, though, that you're getting questions about whether who is going to be on the isn't it correct normally if a candidate is has a bad night and onto the next but you're getting the questions for a reason, how much of a problem is that? >> look, i think we are -- you're asking the question we are being honest and clear, joe biden is our nominee, he's a good man, we trust him, we are behind him and i think the focus needs to be on the contrast of tonight. the truth is we had somebody in donald trump that all he did was lie, every single time. he lied and lied and so i would much rather have a president that may have had a minor --

maybe had -- needed drink of water to clear his throat that's a good man and delivery for the american people because i know that joe biden is not going to lead a coup and lead potentially insurrection to attack the capitol. we have a convicted criminal in donald trump. he's a criminal who faces multiple, multiple more counts. i think that that contrast is going to be made to the american people. >> go ahead. >> is it really fair to say, for example, you're minging the conviction but every indictment his polling numbers have only increased, the raising numbers only increased, is it fair to make the argument? >> both candidates raising a lot of money and at the end of the day polls have been close. we've always had close election. i think the biden campaign never said this was not going to be a close election. it was always going to be a close collection but, but the important thing every single day from here to november we are going make a contrast between somebody who has lowered the price of insulin, protecting a

woman's right to choose and students and lgbtq supported versus somebody who led an attack on the capitol and convicted criminal. that's an important distinction to make. >> you said just now -- >> congressman garcia, democrat of california talking to reporters. you heard reporters questioning him about concern of democrats of president biden remaining as nominee. biden hope today build fresh momentum agreeing two weeks before he's nominated. instead performance prompted wave of democrats and reopened discussions of whether he should be the nominee at all. tim, what did you think of tonight's debate? >> i mean, i thought it was a joke. i watched the entire debate and i don't remember anything that happened. i've seen like --

>> can you recall the candidates' positions on one issue that you care about? >> yeah, i can recall the -- the answer to the question about child care, none of them answered it and i thought it was striking because donald trump in 2017 doubled the child care tax credit. and i bet he doesn't even know he did that, and then 2021, joe biden is part of the covid stimulus increased even more and said he was going to cut child poverty in half and he let that expire which naturally would double child poverty. so donald trump didn't even bring this up. they don't even know -- they don't know what themselves have done and they don't know what each other have done, they argued about golf, that was a joke. >> okay. tim there in illinois.

matt tweeting out that the vice presenkamala harris was on cnn follo tonight's debate andhis is what she said, quote, joe biden is extraordinarily strong, what we saw tonight is the preside making a very clear contrast with donald trump, she says, yes, there was a slow start but it was a strong finish. john n boise, idaho supporting the former president. john, how did your candidate do? >> biden, i don't think he's going the make it another term. he's going downhill pretty fast. donald trump when he was in office, he brought the work back to the united states, he closed out theorders, he did bring the work back which i'm an electrician. he taxed me a little more, let me do my -- i thought it was for the good because we had so much

work, out of control. and so we made up for it. so i think i'm for trump. i think he's going to bring back the commodity here and everything, the businesses and i know biden has got business still going and there is some stuff in boise that he started but trump will do the exact same thing. he will not veto that. he will keep it going and everything. >> all right, the candidates also talked about immigration tonight, several times and if you missed any of tonight's debate you'll be able to find it on our website. we will reair add midnight tonight in its entirety. on that -- on the stage tonight as many of you know was robert f. kennedy jr., he decided to hold his own debate where he would respond to the questions given to the two candidates at the cnn debate.

here is what rfk, jr. had to say on immigration. >> mr. kennedy, the question which neither candidate answered was -- [laughter] >> there are millions of undocumented immigrants in the country now, what would you do? >> well, i want to comment on -- on digressions because, you know, i think president trump is right that there's a lot of bad people coming across. i think that's undisputed and we are seeing rise in crime at our associated with the immigrants but more importantly there's just a sheer number and i think a lot of the democrats allowed this to happen out of humanitarian impulse, out of the impulse of compassion but when you're actually down there and talking to people, it's not a compassion, it's an illusion. the people that i talked to, many of them hadden extorted, exploded, robbed and had been raped, they -- we have an

immigration policy in this country that is is now being run by the sinaloa drug cartel. the border patrol have been ordered not to do their job. catch and release, they bring them to the yuma airport, put them on a plane to any destination they want. it sounds like a hyperbole and they pay their ticket fanned they -- and then they get reimbursement from fema. many are on the street. they have asylum court date 7 years in the future, they can't legally work but they are taking advantage of predatory employers who are paying 6 or $8 an hour and those employers are bidding against union shops, getting paid 35 or $50 an hour and the union shops are losing the bid.

there are -- they are camped out in randal's island on the playing fields with children that are supposed to be playing for sports. so these kid, the wonderful new york city kids or scholarship -- >> all right. >> and now they are being -- the same thing is happening. they can't play their support because there's immigrants. >> time is up here. independent presidential candidate robert f. kennedy, jr. on the debate stage in a separate venue. he held that debate responding to what the two candidates were asked at the cnn debate streaming on x and on website as well. we are getting your reaction to cnn's debate tonight, the first in this 2024 election cycle. there are the lines on your screen. let's hear from debbie in new york, debbie, why are you

undecided still? debbie, it's your turn. you are undecided, tell us why. >> i am undecided because the choices really, between democrats, republicans as well as the third-party, i mean, it's like we have no hope. , what can we possibly do, where do we go from here? >> debbie, on the issues who do you lean toward? >> certainly biden. his policy is excellent, he's accomplished so much, the only thing that concerns me is his health and i wish he was 20 years younger, of course.

>> do you think he should be the nominee? >> i can't say i don't think he should be the nominee. i just wished we had somebody that was younger that was carrying the same policy he was -- who think it is same way, who accomplishes the same, you know, as president biden does. i really do like what he's doing, what he's done for the country, i like his decency and i like him as a human being as opposed to trump who lies. i think as americans we are all intelligent enough to know when we are being lied so blatantly. >> is there anything that the former president can do to convince you to vote for him? >> no. to be honest no. >> then what would you do? you're leaning toward president

biden but yet you say you're undecided, so what are you going to do? >> i am going the wait until the last moment. i have always been undecided to be honest with you. i was hoping mitt romney would run, oh, god, anybody but trump for god's sake. >> tyler in fort morgan in colorado also undecided. tyler, thanks for calling in tonight. >> yes, ma'am, i just want to thank you so much for the opportunity to call in, i feel like more than ever the country is so divided. we need to come together. i'm leaning more towards trump. i did vote for him in 2016. he's a viable leader when he came to the office he did -- trump is behind the troops, he's for the troops and he's for the country and i've seen a lot more

military programs underneath trump as opposed to now where there's programs the va is very undercompensated the wait times are extremely longer than what they were underneath trump. >> so tyler what's your hesitation then, why not say you're going to vote for the former president? >> i honestly was just trying to get -- get through on the phone call. >> all right. i'm going to go to roy in garland, texas. roy. you're going to vote for president biden in november? >> no.

>> i would never vote for him. >> your top issues. >> what? >> your top issues in this campaign, what you care about? >> all i care is getting trump so he will do the right thing, our country is falling apart and erybody is scared and biden letting all the immigrants in. i'm 74. we are all scared because people are being killed, thousands of them are coming across. he's not stopping it. i think they should put electric wire up there, anybody that tries to get in zap them. >> all right, talking about immigration supporting the former president. many of you mentioned the topic

of age, the president's age as we showed you reporters talking to democratic operatives and they are expressing concerns about the president's performance and his age. it was brought up at tonight's debate, take a listen. >> president biden you would be 86 at the end of your term. >> first of all, i spent half of my career being criticized being the youngest person in politics. i was the second youngest person ever elect today the united states senate and now i'm the oldest. this guy is 3 years i don't youd less competent. look at the horrible situation he left me. >> former president trump you would be 82 at the end of your second term, what do you say to

voters that have concerns about your capabilities to serve? >> well, i took two tests. i aced them, both of them as you know. we made it public. he took none. i would like to see him take one, easy one like go through the first five questions, he couldn't do it. i took two cognitive tests. i took physical exams every year and, you know, we knock on wood wherever we may have wood that i'm in very good health. i just won two club championships, not even senior, two regular club championships, to do that you have to be quite smart and you have to be able to hit the ball a long way and i do it. he doesn't do it, he can't hit a ball 50 yards. he challenged me to a golf match and can't hit a ball 50 yards. i think i'm in very good shape. i feel like i was in good shape 25 years ago, probably lighter. but good a shape as i was years ago. i feel the same. i was willing to take a cognitive test and you know what if i didn't do well, i aced them. >> you're going see he is 6'5

and 235 pounds, well, you said 6'4. well, anyway, anyway. just take a look at what he says he is and take a look at what he is. look, i would be happy to have a driving contest with him. i got my canned cap when i was vice president down to a six and by the way, i told you before i'm happy to play golf if you carry your own bag. think you can do it? >> that's the biggest -- >> i've seen your swing, i know your swing. >> president trump -- let's not act like children. >> one of the moments from tonight's presidential debate, the first in this election cycle with the two presumptive nominees from each party, debate taking place before the conventions, republicans will meet in milwaukee in july for

their convention, democrats in chicago in august to formally nominate the two candidates. jeff in flowery branch, georgia, jeff, what do you support? >> yes, yes, that's correct. good evening, i'm an independent voter, i wish there was a stronger third-party in the united states. i would like to point out to a lot of the callers that call in that the border problem has existed since the 60's or even a little bit earlier than that. so how many predents have we had where both parties that have not dealt with that issue? so that's not an issue just today, it's been an issue that has existed for years and years and years. now the gop party cut the border funding by 24%, they passed a law or not a law, one of their programs that cut security yard so biden had rebuilt that, so

the thing that i like to point out is, okay, so biden struggled tonight. i don't think it was an impressive performance but the other candidate never answered a question. the only thing i ever heard through the whole conversation was i'm great, i'm the greatest, i've been the greatest ever, i will be the greatest, that's all that man said. >> so who are you voting for? who are you voting for in november? >> i'm leaning towards joe biden but the reason i'm leaning towards joe biden is you can't put a person in office, number one, because of his convicted felons, he now cannot visit so many countries in the world. number two, this individual said, i'm the second mesiah that came out of his mouth, he's the white mandela, he's also referred to hitler numerous times and then he wants to be a dictator. you can't put an individual in the white house that says he

wants to be a dictator. and that's the only thing he's out to be. >> all right, jeff, william in wynwood supporting former president trump, is that right? >> yes, ma'am, it is. >> all right, what did you like, what did you hear from him tonight that you liked? >> i liked his immigration policy he talked about. i don't think he really went into depth for plan for mass deportation but i believe that is viable and probably good direction in the world. if you look at the countries in the world this kind of immigration has never been seen before in history and playing with fire if you ask me. i think we need to take a step back and kind of reevaluate, i

guess, what is happening. i mean, this is unprecedented. it never happened before on this scale. but, yes, so i think his immigration was a big thing i was focusing on. >> okay, john in illinois supporting president biden, right, john? >> yes, yes i am. >> tell us why. what did you hear from him that you liked? >> well, it wasn't so much what i heard from the president that i liked, it's more what he di't say. what i mean by that, i'm counting on president biden to really take a different stance especially on foreign policy coming up here because i think that's one place where domestic trump also really gets through on, you know, with his anti-china rhetoric. something like that is what i'm expected to come from the president. >> john, what do you make to have consternation by democrats that the president did not

perform well tonight? >> well, the consternation, that really comes down to, i think, just kind of how, you know, bothered the president seemed to be at least with just with trump's presence there, you know, again what i'm really counting on biden to do, a specific policy option, i want him and expecting him to line up several divisions of the army, roll up mexico all the way to colombia and then drop para troopers. >> okay, we will go camille in new york. camille, you are undecided. >> what did you think of the debate given your undecided? >> i think the moderators did a very good job. i thought that they asked relevant questions to issues that a lot of people have concerns about and i was not impressed with any answers from either side. i am a registered democrat. i did vote for president biden in the previous election during

the democratic primaries in new york i handed a blank slip because i've been unhappy with how biden has been running. i don't think i would ever vote for donald trump, i'm just really not sure what to do right now with what we are being given. >> what are you concerned about with the president, the foreign policy? >> absolutely foreign policy. i'm concerned about palestine and how things in israel are going, just concerned in general with roe v. wade being overturned, lgbtq rights, how things are going with education and things that have been passed in other states regarding religion in the schools and i think that things are just a little bit scary right now. >> camille, what should the president do to get your vote? >> i think he should take a harder stance on a lot of these issues that i mentioned previously. >> do you think he should -- do you think he should remain the

nominee after tonight's debate? >> to be totally honest in a perfect world i don't think he would, i don't think he should. >> you don't think he should. >> who would replace him at this point? june 27th, four months away from the general election. >> i -- i don't have an answer. i don't know. >> camille there in new york, more of the calls, first joining us from the spin room is meganational politics reporter with the associated press. meg, what is the headline tomorrow of this debate? >> hey, there, good to be with you. the headline from this debate is it probably didn't change a whole lot of americans' minds. we often hear that coming into these things but i would say that coming out of tonight there are probably those who don't love donald trump who are probably still feeling that way and voters who don't love joe biden are probably still feeling

that way too. of course, we are hearing different versions of who won, who lost and who is up and who is down from a lot of the surrogates doing spin in the room behind me but it's the voters in the middle who really haven't yet decided exactly what's going on for them when it comes to november 5th. i still don't feel like they necessarily have a clear picture of what they are going to be doing after tonight and they have a couple more months to decide but the timeline is getting shorter and shorter. >> what questions are reporters asking of those supporters for president biden? what are they asking of of those supporters in the spin room tonight? >> there was one scrum with all of the biden surrogates, i was in it and over and over there were questions about how they felt about president biden's performance, were they confident in his performance and gavin newsom particularly did he regret not running himself this cycle and there weren't a lot of clear answers to those. of course, these are surrogates

on behalf of the president so they are going to be saying something positive about the performance that they saw but the questions that came up from reporters like me who were in the spin room, how do you really feel about this? are you sure, is this something that you feel good about as a supporter of the president's campaign and obviously these are folks who have been supporting president biden and they're arguing that this is one debate and, of course, everyone is going to read into certain pauses or other things that happened during it. they're all portraying that confidence but i can tell you that there are also a lot of techs flying around from democrats that i'm in touch with and other former bind adjacent people that i've worked with in the past who are expressing concern and saying they didn't really like what they saw tonight and i'm sure a lot of conversations happening outside of that. >> what are the reporters in the room asking of those that are supporting the former president?

what are they following up on from tonight's debate? >> they're following up on some specifics certainly, repeatedly trump pivoted back to immigration over and over and so they're asking for clarity on does -- is this obviously still a top issue for him and what would he continue to say about things that he portrays as joe biden's failures along the u.s.-mexico border but a lot of what we are hearing from the surrogates, yeah, we feel really well about how our guy did tonight, joe biden didn't do that well and, you know, of course, we heard in the days leading up to tonight that trump surrogates and trump campaign kind of portraying that joe biden is a very seasoned debater and he's been doing it for decades and kind of just saying that they were coming into this thinking that he would be a very tough opponent and then tonight we heard a very big flip from that of, yeah, this wasn't a great night for the democratic

president and we as trump supporters are feeling super great. i heard the words devastation being thrown around by some of the surrogates who were back there behind me. clearly that's not my opinion but it's how it's being portrayed by some of the trump folks tonight. clearly their mood was jubilant and a whole lot of them out there on the floor before joe biden surrogates showed up and the last i checked they were still out there after the surrogates had left. >> where do the two candidates go next? >> well, the trump campaign is tonight having a different event with some of those who are purported to be on his vp short list, some of the names that we've heard thrown around is potential running mates the former president going into the republican convention that we will see next month and joe biden is heading up to north carolina which is one of the states that's very much up for grabs when it comes to general election, that's where he plans to be to meet with folks tonight and then we will see from there

where the crazy campaign schedule goes. >> on friday, tomorrow, the president will be in ralgh, north carolina at noon eastern ti. we will have coverage o it on c-span and also our fe video half appnd online at c-span.org and then we will have live coverage o t former president in chesapeake, virginia at 3:30 p.m. eastern time. again, on c-span2, on c-span no our free video mobile app and online at c-span.org. what is the strategies for those two campaigns to reach voters in the coming weeks? >> we said it a million times but it's a question of how do they get to those folks who haven't necessarily made up their mind. we have all talk today undecided voters and people who had maybe flip-flopped over the two campaign cycles where they've had options to select biden or trump in the past. i think they will need to be continue to go highlight contrast and key issues which is the economy which was the first

thing that came up tonight and obviously immigration a major concern to a lot of voters that i talked to but it's always the economy that comes up first. from the biden campaign, what we have heard from advisers in those circles, the president needs to argue specifics on how he has improved the economy, kitchen-table issues that are top of mind for a lot of people and for former president donald trump he's already doing it, he was doing it tonight trying to remind the people how strong the economy was during his manage and arguing that any failures that are happening these days are because joe biden is in the white house and not him and would take it right back where it was should he occupy the white house as president. i think we will continue to hear a lot of the messaging. the voters in the middle that they will need to reach with that message. >> meg, reporter of the associated press, we thank you for your time. >> thank you. .. .. ..it's way more than that.

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