this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk, on pbs in america or around the globe. i'm mike embley — our top stories: donald trump and joe biden clash during bad—tempered exchanges over coronavirus and the economy in the first televised donald trump and joe biden clash during bad—tempered exchanges over coronavirus presidential debate. and the economy in the first televised presidential debate. mrtrump was mr trump was challenged to reveal how much he paid in income tax. the new york times i'm not going to answer the said hejust paid 100 —— $750. question. the question is... would you shut up man? people out there need help. why mr trump was challenged to reveal how much he paid didn't you do it over the last in income tax after he new york times said he'd 75 years? you screwed things paid just $750 when he became president four years ago. up. crosstalk. you were the will you tell us how much you

last president america has paid in federal income taxes in never had was a in 47 months, i 2016 and 2017? millions of have done more than you have donein have done more than you have done in 47 years, joe. dollars. you paid millions of have done more than you have done in 47 years, joe. bubbly dollars? millions of dollars, not you needed to hear their and you get to see it. when? but it gives you an idea. —— at the the end of the debate, both canddidtae probably. were asked if they would ensure their supporters will reperct the result whover wins. but did either candidate gaine the upper hand — and how will it influence us voters who haven't already fic tens of thousands of decided who to back in november's presidential election. ballads manipulated, i cannot go on without. once if you justjoined us... there have been more than 90 minutes of bad—tempered exchanges between donald trump and joe biden in the first televised debate ahead of november's election. the presidential rivals traded personal insults and argued over the response to coronavirus, the economy, race, healthcare and the supreme court. mr trump refused to confirm whether climate change had caused wildfires and reiterated his belief that poor forest management was a major factor. mr trump sought to malign

mr biden by questioning his son's business dealings in russia. mr biden said mr trump's claims were not true and accused him of being president putin's puppy. the debate began with questions over supreme court nominee amy coney barrett and quickly became heated setting the tone for the rest of the evening. he does not have a plan. he doesn't have a plan. and the fa ct doesn't have a plan. and the fact is, this man doesn't know what talking about.” fact is, this man doesn't know what talking about. i have one more question to you, mr vice president. if senate republicans, we were talking originally about the supreme court, if senate republicans go ahead and confirm justice barrett, there has been talk of ending the filibuster or even packing the court, adding to the nine justices there. packing the court, adding to the ninejustices there. you call this a distraction by the president but in fact, it wasn't brought up by the president, it was brought up by some of your democratic colleagues... in the congress. the question is you have reviewed in the past to talk about it. are you willing to

tell the american people tonight whether or not you will support either ending the filibuster or packing the court... whatever position i take, that will become the issue. the issue is, the american people should speak. you should go out and vote. you are in voting now, vote and let your senators know how strongly your senators know how strongly you feel. vote now. are you going to pack... he doesn't wa nt going to pack... he doesn't want as of the question. i'm not going to answer the question because... because the question because... because the question is, crosstalk. will you shut up, man? you get the idea. i'm joined now by katty kay in washington and laura trevelyan in cleveland. i will come back to you in a second —— katty kay. i see two men nickering and does this seem men nickering and does this seem like a sensible way to choose a president of the

united states? —— occurring. first off, mike, i know you would never do that. you are a sensible man and you always listen to what we have to say was not the problem with snipers make debate is it didn't really move the needle very much —— tonight's debate. you had donald trump coming to it some seven or eight points behind and by relentlessly attacking joe biden and interrupting him which joe biden then ended up doing as well, he didn't change any perceptions of himself. the american public knows what they have had for the last four yea rs. have had for the last four years. they know who donald trump is and they either love him or they really hate him and a very, very, very few people in the middle, perhaps in the suburbs of this country, perhaps many of them women, are undecided and wavering. 0ne perhaps many of them women, are undecided and wavering. one of the things they have concerns about is character. well, by playing to type tonight, donald trumpjust playing to type tonight, donald trump just reaffirmed the character and i'm not sure that necessarily helps him very much. and i think the polls

suggest he would have fared better than me, 40% of voters haven't made up their mind yet. a point for you as well. donald trump has dismissed joe biden as sleepyjoe, trump has dismissed joe biden as sleepy joe, as trump has dismissed joe biden as sleepyjoe, as essentially geriatric and stupid. there is a point that by simply functioning as he did, disproving that, it is a win forjoe biden? disproving that, it is a win forjoe biden? yes, the trump campaign and the president himself has set the bar very low forjoe biden by describing him as senile, by suggesting he is on drugs, earlier in the evening, suggesting he was going to get instructions from an earpiece from his campaign. all of that helped, paradoxically, set the bar low forjoe biden paradoxically, set the bar low for joe biden and paradoxically, set the bar low forjoe biden and so by being there for 90 minutes and by pushing back against the president fairly forcefully and by doing something that i think was quite effective way he

spoke directly to camera and directly to the american people about things like healthcare, covid, about things like policing, that probably was about as much isjoe biden needed to do. he is not, as marianne marsh, the democratic strategists said earlier, he is not the best debater, he gets lost in his thoughts even more thanl lost in his thoughts even more than i am doing right now and he mumbles and loses his train of thought. he did a lot of that but he pushed back against donald trump. he seemed reasonably strong, he was coherent and there for 90 minutes and when the bar has been set at senile, that is already better, right? indeed. idid already better, right? indeed. i did wonder, if you were a voter that was angered by the deaths of lack citizens at the hands of police who had been energised for the lack lives matter protest —— black citizens, black lives matter. do you see any hope to make you

turn out and vote? i'm going to speak in purely, strategic, political terms. the more that joe biden is not seen as being pulled is the left of the democratic party, the better it is for him in the general election. that has always been true of the democratic candidates and this time around as well. i think biden answered that a very well, that was it something you could listen to an answer. they were not many moments where you could hear a whole answer but he made the case he has asked for more funding for community policing in the country and i think one of the things that donald trump failed to do and is being picked up a lot on is that he was asked point—blank by the moderator, will you condemn it white supremacists and he refused to do that. that is a moment in this debate which

will be replayed and replayed and replayed over the next few days and we still see from opinion polling that the majority of americans actually do support the peaceful process against police abuse in this country and i think when they hear the president not condemning the white supremacists in the country, that could be a problem for donald trump amongst some of those suburban female voters. katty kay, thank you very much for that. let us speak now to republican strategist ron christie. katty kay has a point, as ever, there was nothing in mr trump's performance that would move the needle. whatever you thought of him, you still think the same. good morning to you, mike. i think that is right. for the trump supporter ‘s that were looking for somebody to be bellicose and come out swinging. you had, they make trump supporter ‘s were very happy with what they saw. for the joe happy with what they saw. for thejoe biden happy with what they saw. for the joe biden supporters, happy with what they saw. for thejoe biden supporters, they we re thejoe biden supporters, they were looking for the vice president to be energetic and

to come out and stand toe to toe with a president of the united states, i think they got what they were looking for. my concern here is looking at the independence and looking at those two or three people who are truly undecided in the united states and what they saw tonight was cringeworthy.” didn't mean to cut across you there. do continue what you wa nted there. do continue what you wanted to say. prince -- cringeworthy in the fact they we re cringeworthy in the fact they were not respectful towards each other, they levelled insults towards each other and as one person who has counselled presidential candidates over three presidential elections, the one thing that you do in advance that you follow the rules, you have a clear delineation of what is accepted and what is not accepted and i think both candidates did themselves a disservice this evening by not following the rules and not

being courteous to each other because this time when these troubling times, the american people, their elected and soon to be elected officials. surely it will be a problem for quite a few voters was not not only the president still thinks the stock market is the economy but he will not condemn white supremacy and he will not accept the science of climate change. this is something i have been very critical of president trump fora for several years. the notion that you have good people on either side of the issue, from charlottesville. side of the issue, from cha rlottesville. i side of the issue, from charlottesville. i thought white supremacy was very much apparent. it was very clear that the president had an opportunity as the leader of our country to have said no, this is entirely not acceptable, this is entirely inappropriate for people to be acting this way and that opportunity eluded him. it relates to his tax returns, as

it relates to his personal finances, i cannot understand why any president, candidate, presidential candidate, running for office, wouldn't release those returns and so the american people have an opportunity to see, is there something that is a conflict of interest? is that something missed? a interest? is that something missed ? a missed interest? is that something missed? a missed opportunity for this president running for re—election to show the american people he has transparent as possible and once again he elected not to do so. ron, i don't know what it was like for the candidates the stage but it was pretty root all for the audience. that was 90 minutes of excruciating watching. ijust wonder, we have two more of those to go through, to more of those to get through, i think we're all going to get far more than i can find in my casement. how can find in my casement. how can they make it better? —— casement. how can we get something out of the debates that are going to help the american voter? —— basement.

good evening to you, katty kay. americans need to go back home, reflect, recognise, they did a disservice to the american people. we are talking about electing the next president of the united states. the american people deserve a candidate who could step up and say, "i'm not a republican, i'm nota democrat, i am one who is here to serve the american people andi to serve the american people and i think both of the candidates went back to the respective corners and they only pointed to the sound but they need to speak to these troubling times and say this is my vision, this is why i believe my agenda is best put to move the american people forward so yeah, it was cringeworthy to watch, at best, it was terrible at the worst.

ron, i have to tell you, the president is still effectively discrediting the election. this particular point when he urged his supporters, specifically, to go into the polls and watch which you know any people will read as intimidation. how does that play? i don't think it plays very well at all. there area number of plays very well at all. there are a number of states here in the united states that have had mailing elections and they have been able to conduct those very successfully. —— male in the. what the president should have said, in my humble election, he should have said we have not seen anything like this in a nationwide basis. let's make sure we can do this right and protect the integrity of the ballot box but the notion it is inherently fraudulent from the start i think is going to put a lot of people in the position of saying, is this a free, fair and open election? questions we should not be answering at this point in the 21st century. my view. katty, i think

point in the 21st century. my view. katty, ithink you point in the 21st century. my view. katty, i think you had a question. i was just view. katty, i think you had a question. i wasjust wondering whether ron thought, i mean, it is partly that the trump campaign went into this saying they were going to offer a positive view for the future and the president himself did set most of the interrupting pattern of that debate, ron, so i don't think trump can change, can he? he was the same trump that he has been in previous debates in the primary campaigns back on the 2016 campaigns. if you can't change then is it worth having the next two debates? i think it is worth having the next two debates. trump is clearly going to be trump but as one who has beenin to be trump but as one who has been in the debate room, to prepare the candidate and get on that stage, you have to be disciplined, you have to do have a message. you have to have a message. you have to have a message. you have to

have a statement or a roadmap to the american people and say this is why, if you are president st trump, why you need to re—elect me. here is my vision for the second term. he had a large opportunity to sway voters and say, ok, what is the trump agenda for the next four yea rs trump agenda for the next four years and he very much went on the attack, did not lay out his vision for the second term, it is a missed opportunity. i look to what the vice president said, mr biden, he should have attacked him and said, well, you haven't articulated what the next four years will be for you, mr president and here is where i as a joe you, mr president and here is where i as ajoe biden in my next administration would lead the country differently. ido i do believe it is important to hear also from the vice presidential debate what the nextin presidential debate what the next in line would articulate as the vision for the years

ahead. what message would you say voters should take from your candidate festival, president trump? i would not call him my candidate but what i would say is president trump tried to be very strong on law and order and push back under the vice president in relation to taxation and restoring order to taxation and restoring order to the country. if the was my candidate, which he is not, vice presidentjoe biden was personable and energetic. he came across as someone you can trust and feel comfortable with if he were to head the reins of the power of government. both candidates had their strengths but by and large they both could have been more positive and they probably turned off

more voters than energised by their performance. your thoughts on that? i think that having a debate for the president of the united states where three elderly white men are on stage yelling at each other, speaking over each other, speaking over each other, calling each other names, is not a good look for the united states. it does not show this big, diverse energetic country in the best possible light and i know the reviewers across the world, because i have been getting tweets and text, looking at this saying, is that what this presidential election has come to because it is not a great look for america and for this presidential process and really calls into question how useful these debates are and whether

american voters are well served by them. it is impossible the next two debate might not happen? joe biden's campaign could always say we are going to pull out. of course, the front campaign would then say he could not take it. —— the donald trump campaign. they may come out feeling they have done very well out of it. i would be surprised if the president's campaign would not want more. i am sure everybody is taking notes and thinking how can we keep this train on the tracks and make sure people can hear what they are saying. thank you very much. president trump went into the debate on the back of revelations in the new york times about his huge business losses and tax avoidance. and what seemed to be his huge personal debt. will you tell us

how much you paid in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017. millions of dollars. millions of dollars and he will get to see a doctor when? first, let me tell you something. it was the tax laws. before i came here, i was a private developer, a private business people stop unless they are stupid, they go through the laws. he passed the tax bill that gave us all these privileges for depreciation and for tax credits. we build the building, like the hotel on pennsylvania avenue, which by the way was given to me by the 0bama administration, the man got fired right after that happened. do you want to respond vice president biden?

the tax reform that put him in a position that means he pays less tax than a school teacher, he says he is smart and can ta ke he says he is smart and can take advantage of the tax code. he does take advantage and that is why i'm going to eliminate the donald trump tax cuts and make sure we invest in the people who in fact need the help. people out that need help... why did you not do it over the last 25 years? because you are the president screwing things up. you are the was president america has ever had, come on. i have done more in 47 months then you have done in 47 yea rs. months then you have done in 47 years. you get a clear flavour. laura trevelyan, what are the headlines? what message would voters ta ke headlines? what message would voters take and why should

voters take and why should voters trust this man or the other man? i am not sure i have any answers. it was chaotic, confusing and competition. you would start to follow a policy discussion and it would become competitive. does it move the needle? the president's advises we re needle? the president's advises were saying he was going to articulate a vision for his second term but it was hard to decide, apart from a lot of attacking ofjoe biden's position. the democrats who will nervous about the candidates stumbling and faltering, mostly he did not. in the end it does it change the dynamic of the race very much? what joe biden did a lot of was talk directly to camera, trying to speak to people in their kitchen, especially people who might have an empty

chair. a special tone of voice he reserved for that. did it work? well, that is the question. we will know the a nswer to question. we will know the answer to that after election day. the president did not show compassion or empathy for the 200,000 families who have lost loved ones to coronavirus. he preferred to focus on how speedily we could get to a vaccine saying it could happen even within weeks. joe biden deliberately trying to draw a contrast and the sympathetic towards people who lost a loved one but it goes back to the president not wanting to portray the coronavirus pandemic as a huge issue and instead wanting to focus on getting the economy back and reopening. joe biden saying you cannot do that until you conquer the virus. president trump's is would have loved his performance, it was red meat taking the fight but didn't do

anything to people in the suburbs and particularly older people? he insisted he paid millions of dollars in taxes. it looks possible that could be established one way or another. his refusal to condemn what is a —— white supremacist and also refusal to acknowledge climate change. he says he has paid millions of dollars in taxes more generally but would not refute the new york times claimed that he paid $750 in 2016- 2017 in claimed that he paid $750 in 2016— 2017 in personal income tax because of all the reductions he was able to make. he was pressed about white supremacist and what his message would be, he said proud boys, a group of white

supremacist, they should stand back and stand by which does not sound like he wanted them to be called off altogether. a classically slightly confusing moment. a lot of sound and fury, not very much like. very ugly and pointing to several more ugly debates to come. the supreme court supremely important. for many republican voters the most important thing about a donald trump presidency. joe biden got stuck. he simply said he did not say anything about the numbers on the supreme court. the progressive left of the democratic party wants to pack

the courts to expand the number of justices beyond the the courts to expand the number ofjustices beyond the nine who we re ofjustices beyond the nine who were there because, if amy coney barrett is confirmed, there would be 86—3 republican majority onto the cot. —— a 6-3. if majority onto the cot. —— a 6—3. if they were to have control of senate and house, they could rectify that imbalance butjoe biden would not go on the record on that. he said he was not the president and completely sidestepped it because it was such a hot button issue and it would rev up the right if he said he would appoint more justices. he was not clear on that one instead he tried to link the supreme court to the fa ct link the supreme court to the fact the court was going to hear a very important case on the future of 0bama care just one week after the election. he was saying the supreme court justice appointment would be

directly influential on 0bamacare. much more anytime you wanted on twitter and our website. hello there. most parts of the country enjoyed some sunshine on tuesday — temperatures reached 21 celsius in kent. today, though, we are going to find cooler and wetter weather arriving across the uk, and sunshine will be in short supply. and that's because all this cloud has been massing out in the atlantic and is now starting to stream in, and these weather fronts are bringing with it some outbreaks of rain that will push their way eastwards steadily through the day. now, ahead of that rain, it's a milder start to the morning. temperatures in double figures in most areas. but the winds could be quite strong and gusty through the irish sea first thing, and we have got a wet start to the day across many western areas. some early brightness perhaps across eastern england, but the rain will push steadily eastward through the day. some heavier rain over some of the western hills. and while some western

areas may well turn a bit brighter in the afternoon, there will still be some heavy showers around as well — so not a straightforward clea ra nce. temperatures will be lower — 14 degrees in scotland, northern ireland, highest temperatures in the southeast before that rain sets in from mid afternoon onwards. that rain does then move away overnight. that weather front takes the rain into the north sea. then behind that, the air gets cooler. so, temperatures will be lower still, i think, on thursday. maybe still quite damp in the northeast of scotland for a while, there will be some sunny spells elsewhere, some showers likely to break out, particularly across more southern and western parts of england and into wales, perhaps into northern ireland as well. the winds will be lighter, there will be some sunshine at times, but the air is still on the cold side with temperatures only 12—15 degrees on thursday despite the sunshine. as we move things into friday, where we have got the threat of some heavier rain coming into southern parts of the uk, together with some strengthening winds, gales, possibly even

severe gales as well. looks a bit drier and less windy as you head northwards into scotland and northern ireland, but it's still on the chilly side. some uncertainty as we head into friday and into the weekend as well, because we've got a potentially rather nasty area of low pressure, and essentially over the weekend, we are going to find low pressure dominating right the way across the uk. so the weekend forecast doesn't look particularly appealing. it's going to remain on the chilly side, there will be a lot of cloud around, some strong winds 00:28:25,179 --> 4294966103:13:29,430 and some rain at times.