most passionate about and that is the security of this nation, the safety of bringing law and order back to our streets, getting this economy moving for every american again and having a supreme court that will uphold our constitution and ending illegal immigration. those are the issues i expect you're going to lehear a lot abt tonight and his willingness to focus on the issues the american people are most concerned about i think is why this campaign has the momentum it's got today. >> you talked about little ol' me. i should point out you have released your tax returns. >> yes, he has. mike pence the vice presidential nominee. our coverage continues right now with this special edition of "ac360." we are about an hour away from seeing donald trump, hillary clinton side by side on this stage, an epic moment in american politics, 18 months in the making. we're live on the campus of

hofstra university outside new york city on this high stakes night for the candidates and for the country. welcome to the viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm anderson cooper with a special edition of "ac360" on this debate night in america. tonight polls show the presidential race is a dead heat. and this first clinton/trump debate could possibly seal the election for one of them. it's a chance for the candidates to reach out to more voters at one time than at any point in the campaign so far. it's expected to break su viewership records with perhaps 100 million americans tuning in. now let's go to wolf blitzer inside the debate hall. wolf? >> anderson, what a picture it will be when donald trump and hillary clinton step on the stage right behind us. this will be an endurance test. 90 minutes with no commercial breaks. viewers will see donald trump at

the lectern on the left. this is the first time he's ever debated against only one opponent. you'll see hillary clinton on the right of your screen. the moderator, nbc news anchor lester holt, he'll be seated in front of them. he'll ask the questions, try to keep the candidates to their times and try to make sure the audience follows the no-applause rule, jake tapper, the first few moments of this debate could clearly set the tone for the debate. what are you looking for? >> what a night. first of all, these two have not met face to face curing this election. i don't even know if they've been in the same room since donald trump married melania trump and invited the clintons to his wedding. is it going to be friendly? is it going to be gracious? are they going to be nice to one another? it has been a very, very vicious battle. they have said very, very tough things about one another. wolf, keep in mind those in this auditorium, unlike some of the previous debates we saw during

the primaries and caucuses are going to be told not to make noise, not to applaud, not to cheer. it really is going to be a focus on just the two candidates. >> it's going to be a major, major focus indeed. >> dandana, the first impressio are important but what are you going to be looking for? >> the fact you mentioned, it's going to be 90 minutes straight. in the past there have been breaks, he's time to catch his breath. tonight he has no chance to step back. the question is will he be able to keep not just his energy but his focus for an hour and a half. and also the question is whether or not he will suffer from not doing the traditional debate prep. hillary clinton not only did mock debates with the stand-in for donald trump, she also did it at this hour or an hour from now to know how it feels doing it in the evening. so she did it realtime. we're going to see whether or not that is going to matter that donald trump really just had discussions about policy and

personality and so forth with his aides sitting around a table. >> the debate hall, the excitement is building. anderson, over to you. >> wolf, thanks very much. a lot to talk about. briana keilar is in the spin room. he's advised the trump campaign how to get under her skin. >> reporter: tony swartz is no fan of donald trump and you are advising hillary clinton's advisers in this debate prep, right? >> i have been doing that, yes. >> reporter: and you're not paid. you told me you feel this is your penance. >> this is my penance for having created a man who has become a monster and i've spent 30 years feeling bad about it and now i feel like i've got to show there there's nobody behind the curtain. he's the wizard who isn't a w wiza wizard. >> reporter: but you spent 18 months with him as you co-authored the art of the deal. there must have been something

that you saw during that time of donald trump that was appealing. >> honest to god and i kept a journal during that period there was nothing i found appealing. i know that sounds extreme and crazy but this is a man who i really believe lack as conscience at the deepest level. so there wasn't anything. he was effective in certain ways, he's a dominant, aggressive personality and he pushes and he pushes and he pushes and he gets a lot of what he wants. >> reporter: did you ever see a situation that is, i mean, obviously not as high stakes as this but i'm sure there were moments over the course of that year and a half that you saw a high-stakes moment. >> well, what i saw was the way he did business. so as i've said many times before, he was a liar then, he's a liar now. so he lied his way through many, many different situations. he was able to get a lot doing it. the problem is we don't want that man to be president of the united states. >> reporter: all right,

anderson, back to you. obviously some very strong opinions from tony schwartz, who has been spending a considerable amount of time advising hillary clinton's advisers ahead of this debate. >> thanks. let's go to jim acosta, who is also in the spin room with one of donald trump's most famous and ardent supporters, legendary basketball coach bobby knight. jim? >> reporter: that's right. it goes to how unconventional this campaign has been. bobby knight, the legendary hoosier basketball coach who has advised donald trump from time to time, he gave him advice during the debate prep. tony is schwartz described donald trump as a monster. is that the man that you know? >> there's no way i would even pick that name to even be close to what i think of donald trump. i think donald trump is an extremely sharp man, very smart, a tough-minded man. i was a history and government major so i've studied this every

election since i've been out of college. look at this person or that person and i've always enjoyed that. as i look at donald trump, i say here's the guy that can deal with problems. you know, he's not -- he's a national figure but he's an ints national figure. they know him all over the world. he has acquaintances here, there and everywhere. and donald trump is going to provide us with a great military. he's going to have a much better relationship to all of our military people than anybody's had before -- >> let me ask you this. you were involved in the debate preparation. what did you tell donald trump? you were just telling me a few moments ago before going on camera he needs to watch his step a little bit. >> he just needs to be in a conversational voice and if there's something he doesn't like, just say, hey, that's your prerogative, i just think a little bit differently. what i've seen from him is that that part of his background, the

problem solving part is to me the most important tool in this election. now, there are two things that would bother me from the other side. one was benghazi. it will never happen in a donald trump administration. the second is accepting money from foreign countries and using it for your own self. that's two things never going to happen in that administration. >> coach knight, thank you very much. i understand we'll see some live pictures of donald trump arriving. back to you. >> thank you very much. have you ever seen anything this? what in particular should viewers at home watch for? you earlier said it's not the opening statements, it's really what happens after that. >> yes. i think these things are measured in moments, exchanges and moments that are memorable. the thing that interests me having been involved in this in a couple of election campaigns, preparing candidates for these

debates, this is an incredibly pressureful exercise. and the reason that you prep is that because there are so many different variables that could come up and you want to kind of anticipate as many as you can. if donald trump truly hasn't prepped in the traditional way for this, it would be an extraordinary achievement to perform well under this kind of pressure. >> i always think of debates as someone who moderated some during the primary season, it's a three-dimensional game of chess that you're planning for, an infinite number of moves and countermoves and it helps to practice it. >> there's no question about it. given the pressure of the moment to have to make those calculations right then and there is a very difficult thing to do. in my experience the candidates who are prepared do better than the candidates who aren't properly prepared. >> but if you're donald trump, you trust your gut and you've always been a gut player and

you've never been on this stage before and it's gotten him very far, the difference this evening is the audience because he always gets his energy off the audience. some people would say he makes mistakes when he gets his energy off the audience, but he's going to have a quiet audience tonight. >> so they say. that's what the presidential debate commission wants. who know what is will actually happen. >> right, and anything can happen but previous presidential debates have had quiet audiences. this is a year unlike any other but it's going to be different for him. >> michael? >> governor pence said in a cnn interview a few minutes ago his advice is be yourself. i don't know what that means to donald trump. just a month ago there was a particular day where he was seemingly presidential when he went to mexico city and stood alongside the mexican president and i looked at him and thought he looks like an individual with some stature. that very same night he went to phoenix and did a rally and it

have the fire brand trump. which one shows up in 55 minutes. >> and whoever shows up, can he sustain it for 90 minutes? no commercial breaks, no bathroom breaks, no phone call to a friend. you've got to stand there and talk in depth about these issues. it's hard to imagine that even if he's mexico trump, can he sustain that? >> donald trump was himself early on, and a lot of audiences loved it, it worked during the primary debates. what has now gotten the polls really close seems to be the new management -- >> being tied to the teleprompter, not ad libbing as much, not saying as many provocative things. the fact is he's got the people who respond to that. he needs to win people hover o o who -- he needs to show whether he has the temperament to be president. that's what he needs to show at

the start of this. >> we're getting new information about where bill clinton will be or won't be tonight. we'll have that for you ahead.

>> president garaves was not ony a great servant. she was one of our great presidents.

michael, don't people say they're craving honesty? >> honesty is a popular attribute these days. >> it's an unintended consequence of the second amendment when you think about it. you put it into law that the president can only have two terms in office but by doing so you create the potentially dangerous situation, a politician with absolutely nothing to lose. >> i'm former president richard graves. and, frankly, i don't give a damn who approves this message. ♪ born to the wild cure cancer million? far off. liver disease treatment. that by voting yes on prop 61 - costs. dollars pass. don't let that happen. it - because one day it might.

we're closing in on one of the biggest nights in the history of american politics, the first debate between hillary clinton and donald trump, only minutes away. the pressure on both candidates is enormous right now with the race in a dead heat. we're live here on the campus of hofstra university on this debate night in america. let's check in with cnn's jeff zeleny, who has new information on where bill clinton will be tonight. what are you learning, jeff? >> reporter: wolf, for all the intricate planning that has gone into the clinton operations debate night, there is still one question hanging over many in the campaign. that is where will bill clinton be tonight? he has never been in the audience for one of these major presidential debates that his wife has had on stage. he's never been sitting in the audience. i am told by two advisers that he will be behind stage. he will be one of the last people to talk to her before she goes out on stage for this

90-minute debate without breaks. i'm told he's not likely to be seated in the audience. he want to watch this in realtime without cameras watching him. he gets emotional, sort of like a sporting match i'm told so he's not likely to be in the audience. but they're not ruling it out. they're holding a seat for him in case he changes his mind. he could call an audible at the last minute. for now he'll be at the backstage and not in the front of the house. >> we're also getting information from inside the trump campaign. i want to go to sarah murray. what are you learning? >> reporter: not everyone in and close to the trump campaign is convinced that donald trump is fully prepared to debate hillary clinton tonight. some are saying they flat out don't believe he's ready. others are saying they're holding their breath. this is not a candidate who is doing a deep dive into

preparation books. donald trump would right down five to six bullet points on a bla blank sheet of paper and he feels that's enough for him. some in the campaign worry he might be getting a little too confident and it's causing some to say he could use a dose of humility before he goes on to that debate stage. wolf? >> john king is over at the magic wall. john, give us some perspective. >> wolf, if you go back in history, some debates matter, some don't. political scientists believe the first debate is generally the most important. carter versus ford. president ford was unpopular because of the hangover from watergate, pardon of richard nixon. he entered the first debate down 11 points. in the first debate, mr. ford turned in a pretty solid

performance and he closed the gap in that race. unfortunately for president ford, he made a major gaffe in the second debate about soviet influence in eastern europe. that first debate put him back in play. i remember this debate well, 1992 the reform party candidate ross perot, the country was starting to come back. ross perot was at 10% coming in. he went up to 15%. bill clinton went on to win the presidency but george h.w. bush never quite recovered there. we all remember this back in 2000, the year of the recount. al gore came in as the sitting vice president leading in the rate. the first debate, this was the eye rolls and the sighs, the split roll we'll be watching tonight. george w. push took the lead in

that race and kept the lead. and in 2012, president obama was a favored. he came in with a big healthy lead, but remember four years ago that first debate? this guy didn't seem like he wanted to be there. he didn't show up, he was distrrd. governor romney was pretty animated. it made the race competitive. conservatives thought they were going to win. in the end president obama went on to a convincing victory. but his disappointing performance in that first debate did shakes things up. so a little bit of history in the past as we look forward to a big one tonight. >> no doubt about that. we are closing in on debate time, some 39 minutes away. let's talk to some of our panelists. jeffrey lord, i mean, is, you know, briana was talking about some concern among some of trump 's supporters that perhaps he's overconfident or hasn't prepped enough. is there a danger in that do you think? >> you know what this sounds to me like?

two words -- roger ailes. roger ailes came in, this brought him in and said, mr. president, stop with this, stick with your themes, don't do details. that is the flip side of what we're hearing here when they say he's not prepared in the traditional policy way. what i think they're saying is somebody is saying to him stick to the kind of things that you know and bring the debate all back to that. >> and there of course mark cuban in the audience. >> the difference is reagan actually knew the policy. he was having a hard time getting it out. the hard part is there is this grading on a curve. i think it's very important. putin iin is not going to grade the president on the curve when she's in the white house. isis is not going to grade on a

curve. you have the most qualified person ever running against the least qualified person ever. we have to make sure we don't lower the standard. he can't get credit for being the most improved bigot, the most improvedmongeror. he's got to answer questions. this is the most difficult for america internally and externally. he's got to meet a high bar, not a low par. >> donald trump has given policy speech after policy speech -- >> he read them very well. >> while hillary clinton was calling half of his supporter deplorable and getting into negatives. thee debates are not about the bat of of the 15-point plans. this is a battle for the heart of the american people and the person who can reach through that screen and connect with that person sitting at home wins. that's what we saw from george w. bush, who did not win on

policy battle but won the hearts of the american people. >> this is part of the asymmetry that van is talking about. we're going to grade on a curve. the idea that trump has a policy is absurd but hillary maybe too much policy. fear not, van. voters don't even really think this is show biz or even a debate, they think it's a job interview and they have one question. what are you going to do for me? not how are you going to entertain me or offend my neighbor who i never liked anyway, what are you going to do for me? i think that's the problem. if all we do is look at trump's temper, he will be -- he will be -- it's not let trump be trump, it's let trump be sedated. he'll go 90 minutes without saying anything terribly racist. he needs to not merely be reasonable, he needs to be credible and i think that's a

bar he can't possibly reach. >> you mentioned the change versus the status quo. the wall street journal/nbc poll came out and they asked this question in july and asked it in september, big change versus steady leadership. in the summer it was 56/41 for big change and it was even in this poll. there was some suggestion as you get closer to the election people focus more on the actual job of president and that's why how donald trump performs in this debate is going to be important. yes, you have to connect with people and that's a task for hillary clinton but he also has to prove he's up to the job. >> yet the polls are tightening. doesn't that argue against the idea that -- >> i think they've been tightening because he's been a more disciplined candidate. tonight is the final exam. >> when you say he's more disciplined, he reads the teleprompter better. at a certain point we have to

stop giving him credit -- i got a kid that can read the teleprompter. it doesn't make him ready to be president. >> you're right but the question was why have the polls tightened? >> there's a tendency for us to talk about this race as if it's five weeks out. it's a dead heat. it's a big night, the first debate. i look at it slightly different, which is to say seven states are voting. so for many people, this is it. they're going to go cast ballots based on what they see this evening. by the time that second or third debate takes place, that i already cast their ballot in stone. >> and maybe what they see in the first 30 minutes this evening. >> or sooner. >> i have to ask this question, isn't it also tonight about why you believe what you believe? i mean, you are seeing these two people, we know they differ on lots of things, we understand that. we've been through this campaign for the last 18 months and most of the american public understands that they differ. but why? i mean, this debate will kind of mind that hopefully about where

each of these candidates come from and what informs their world views. because people are making character judgments here they vote for president. >> we've been talking a lot about what donald trump needs to do. what does secretary clinton need to do? >> that's hillary's biggest challenge. she has 112,000 words of policy on her web site and donald trump has 3,000. >> don't pretend you're not the person who counted all those. >> but that's not how you win. what people want to know is exactly what gloria said. why are you doing this? what motivates you? because she not comfortable showing her heart and i think because she's a woman and i think because she's a clinton, people default to this it must be about glory or money or ego or fame. she needs to open up her heart a little bit, very difficult to do when you're standing next to -- >> you've been involved with the clintons for a long time and you

would speak to candidate clintons before debates, you suggested she should write down two names on a piece of paper. >> daughter think and charlotte. this is the arc of her family. her mother daughter hi had a childhood where she was abandoned, neglected, abused. hillary has now lived the american dream so that her grandchild is perhaps the most privileged child in the world. the one time hillary showed real emotion was in the new hampshire primary when someone asked her how she keeps going and she talked about how great this country is and she broke down and started to cry. >> i disagree. i would write down if i were her other names. not her family but other people's families, people she's met along the way and talk about how what she wants to do in the country will impact on their lives. >> that's what you said last

night, you just didn't finish the sentence. >> do you remember that -- >> do have what they have. >> can i break the third wall here? donald trump and hillary clinton are going to be just fine. they're going to be fine. they're both going to be rich, healthy with really impressive families. it's the viewers at home who have to decide -- >> that is the risk that -- >> what they're going to be asking here, what donald trump should be asking is a version of ronald reagan's questioning, are you better off now than you were four or eight years ago? are you better off now than you would be four or eight years from the present? >> we have 3.5 million people climb out of poverty this year, this year under this president. so if you want to -- >> and include food stamps and all of that. >> here's the problem with that. i had a clinton reporter hold up the wall street journal and say wages have gone up, they're not pre2007 levels, if only we could get this news out, vote worries come to us. that's not what it's about. how do voters feel?

60% believe the economy is rigged against them. that is astonishing. that is what brought bernie sanders to the forefront, it is what undergirds donald trump being here tonight. >> van, we have to go. >> i agree with you that in fact people do need to feel like change is coming. and i think that hillary clinton because there's been this whole fight about personalities, she hasn't talked about her plans to make improvements and we should tonight. >> i was wrong, we have more time. >> feelings matter but facts matter, too. donald trump comes into the campaign doing better in the polls but look at the following headlines and "new york times" has a week of whoppers, they counted 31 untruths in a six-day span, politico counted 87 lies. it's not -- if people feel something like, for example, mexicans are flooding over our border and taking our jobs, it's the duty of our leaders to say

mexicans are leaving, we've lost a million mexicans, mr. trump's wall will slow down their departure. >> this may sound like a stupid question because obviously facts are incredibly important but is there a danger of her getting too much into the weeds? >> we know she knows the facts. she wins on the wonk basis. i would counsel her differently and say search for a moment where you could insert a little bit of levity. don't be afraid to smile. we talked about how the lack of audience participation if they follow the rules will benefit her because he typically feeds on the crowd. she has difficulty modulating her voice. if that room stays silent tonight, she won't feel the need to raise the pitch. >> all of you policy wonks are so smart, why are we in so much trouble? that's the argument about the

political class basically, the best and the brightest. >> on your point about asking people are they better off than they were eight years ago, i walked into the white house eight years ago and we had just had the worst quarter since 1930, economy shrinking by 8.9%, 800,000 people lost their jobs in january of -- >> the world today is better than it's ever been. life for human beings on every metric is better than it's ever been. i'm not just talking about the united states. i'm talking globally. >> the great strength that trump has is that the status quo is not perfect and, frankly, a lot of people are anxious. even though they're doing okay, they're afraid that maybe their kids won't be doing well. his great strength is to say, listen, if you are don't like the protests, if you don't like the things you see on television, i can make it better. but her great strength is she can actually make a credible claim that he would make it worse. if you want chaos, he's the chaos bringer. if you want riots --

>> change agent. change agent. >> her big problem and you are correct on this, her big problem is she's been so busy trying to explain that he could make things worse that she has not been clear about how she can make things better. but her plans, if you look at them, actually would make things better according to every expert and his plan could cost us 3 million jobs. >> this is where the enthusiasm problem comes in for her. as she planexplains what she wo do for you, why she believes what she believes, she has to get people, voters, more enthusiastic about voting for her. every metric we've looked at donald trump supporters are way more enthusiastic about him than hillary clint hillary clint hillary clinton supporters are

about her. she has to get those people to walk away from this debate and feel good about hillary clinton. >> one of the things in talking to some democrats, there was a good feeling about hillary clinton after the 11-hour benghazi hearings, they felt she did very well and felt she was very competent. that's the kind of feeling they need to go away with tonight. they need to have some you go, girl, rallies and remained them why they liked her in the first place. >> and there was a great feeling about her after the democratic convention. she did a great job there and they did a great job of presenting both a positive vision and making the case and balancing in the appropriate way and giving people a sense of positive feeling about where she wants to lead. there were a lot of clues in that convention about how she should conduct herself in this debate. >> she got an eight-point bounce out of it. >> in the last 48 hours, she's

talked to david's old boss. the president of the united states of america has a bead on donald trump better than anybody in america. he uses ridicule, levity and humor and ridicule -- >> i just want to check in with jeff zeleny standing by. >> reporter: hillary clinton has spent weeks and months going through donald trump's record, deciding what she will or won't fact check. but we're learning some new parts of her strategy tonight. a couple of advisers say she will decide this on the fly, what feels right at the moment. but she has a list of places she will and she won't. one place she will fact check is on birthbirtherism. she does intend to bring that up and fact check because that's good politically for her. something she will not fact check is something about the iraq war or something about his business record because he knows that so well. but birtherism is one thing, anderson, she intends to fact check fully. >> jeff zeleny, thanks very

much. david axelrod, that is an issue among democrats and probably independents for hillary clinton does very well. >> yes. and i think it works on a number of different levels. it speaks to this level of intolerance and divisiveness that bothers some of these college educated white voters but it's motivational for voters who need to get out for hillary clinton in this election. i want to make one other point and that is on this issue of preparation, we heard sarah report that donald trump's aide said he's not one to jump into history books. >> i think there's a sense that it doesn't matter, he'll have advisers to tell him stuff. in that building your advisers all tell you different stuff. your advisers don't always agree. >> which is why you have to have good judgment. >> i didn't is why you have to actually know something before

you get in there. that's part of the problem we have with this guy, nobody has confidence or should have confidence yesterday that he does have that level of preparation. homework matters. as a man, let me say this. to see a woman like hillary clinton be prepared, do her work, actually put in the hard preparation and have that to be a negative, for it to be almost like -- let me just finish this. it is very, very difficult to become a master of a single policy area. she is the michael jordan of policy in multiple, multiple areas and we almost treat it like it's a bad thing. >> president clinton arriving -- >> speaking of another policy expert. >> we'll see secretary clinton getting out of the vehicle. i think we saw donald trump arrive a short time ago. >> we did. >> earlier in the day. there is secretary clinton at hofstra university. >> if you're a young woman watching this woman walk in here right now and you think to yourself the way you you get

ahead is that you work hard, you do your homework and then to see her actually almost put down for being and mocked for being well prepared, she's like the valedictorian running against the crazy frat boy. >> you know where i'm going to go with this, the difference between ronald reagan and jimmy carter. jimmy carter was everything you say. he gloried literally in reading the air force budget line by line by line. he tried to brief ronald reagan when he was president-elect and reagan took no notes and carter thought disaster lies ahead. this is not a workable argument for her. >> can we go back to ronald reagan? you're setting the bar too high for your man. a little advice. when you say reagan is the

standard and then this lil pugs -- lilipucan walks out, you set the bar too high for your candidate. >> there was not one metric by which more than 50% were concerned about something from donald trump. but the one -- the one concern was 57% concerned about hillary clinton's e-mail scandal. >> let's listening to what's happening in the hall. >> we are very pleased that you all are here. one year ago hofstra was asked if they would agree to serve as the 2016 backup site and 68 days ago, they were activated. when you look around this campus and you think about all the work that has been done in the last ten weeks while starting a new academic year, it is absolutely phenomenal. this is the result of a fabulous

team effort. the work on the debates themselves started two years ago and it has involved an extraordinary amount of teamwork between a lot of large organizations. there are many individuals who deserve particular thanks and we're going to start this program by introducing the co-chairs of the commission to thank some of those people. i'd like to introduce frank fierenkov and mike mccurry. >> good evening, ladies and gentlemen. we want to join also in welcoming you here tonight. and this is a special night for hofstra university. they do a tremendous job and they're actually setting a record tonight. this is the third consecutive cycle where they have hosted a presidential debate and they do a marvelous, marvelous job and we're very thankful for them.

>> paul kirk, then the chairman of the democratic national committee and i was chairman of the republican national committee and tonight is also a special night for us with regard to the commission. this is the 20th presidential debate we have done starting in 1988 in the general election and we're so proud that all of you could be here tonight. but we would not be possible to do what we do without the marvelous people who serve on our board and some of them are here tonight. and i want to introduce them and have them to stand up and take a quick wave. i don't know where they're seated. john griffin, he's done a marvelous job working with the social media platform people. and i see congressman jane harmon, former congressman harmon of california who now runs the woodrow wilson institute of scholars. great friend of mine. i've got a couple of grandkids

at notre dame. father john jenkins, president of the university of notre dame. go irish but it's not been a good start, father john. and dorothy "dot" whiting. dot? the 90 minute has been broken into six 15-minute segments of time. lester holt will start each of those six segments by asking a question to one of the candidates. that candidate will have two minutes to answer. the other candidate will have two minutes to respond and answer and then for the next 10, 11 or 12 minutes depending on how things go, we want the candidates to actually debate, to talk to each other, to challenge each other on the issues. the moderator is also there to

make sure that they drill down on the issues and we get some answers rather than the old thing that we used to see in the old debate. only lester holt knows the questions that will be asked. the commission does not know, we have no control over it and of course the candidates do. the last thing i have to do tonight is to be the public scold. and what i mean by that by all estimations, there could be as many as 100 million people watching around the world in the united states what happens on this stage tonight. and this debate is for them, for them to observe these candidates, to listen to them, to consider what their position is on the issues and to see them in this atmosphere that we have here. it is not -- this debate is not for us, the lucky ones who get to sit in this audience and be part of history really. this is a very historic debate tonight. so this is not like the primary

debates. there's no clapping, there's no cheering, there's no booing, there's no sound. you, please, be quiet. let's not interfere with what those 100 million people are doing in trying to exercise their view of democracy by listening to what these candidates say. you'll get a chance to applaud in a few minutes when the two candidates come out and meet right where i am and when it's over you get a chance to applaud. so please, please follow that. it's very, very important to us, it's important to the candidates and we don't want to have anything disrupting what's happening. like i say, we've done 20 of these and only on one or two occasions have we had a problem. we're putting our trust in you and i think lester is going to talk to you about this also. paul kirk and i started this way back in 1987. when teddy kennedy died, paul was named by the governor of massachusetts to fill teddy's seat until a special election was held and he had to step down as being my co-chairman.

we were very, very lucky to have this gentleman standing to my right, he's usually on my left but that's another story. mike mccurry, who did such a tremendous job as spokesman to the white house for president william jefferson clinton. mike. >> thank you, frank. >> our partnership is really a valuable one and we really do work well together, but the commission on presidential debates itself is totally nonpartisan. it's a nonprofit organization. we don't get funding from the government, from political parties or from any public entities. so we, therefore, rely on a number of corporations and individuals and foundations that have been really generous in allowing us to put these debates on. i'd like to list the names of our 2016 national sponsors. the anheuser-busch companies, the howard g. buffett foundation, the kovler fund,

krohl and mooring, aarp and the national governors association. would you please join me in thanking them for the work that they've done. [ applause ] >> now, in addition to putting on these debates, we have this time around incorporated a lot of social media aspects into some of what you will see in the coming debates and certainly some of what you see here tonight, and that's involved a lot of partnerships we've developed with technology companies, social media companies and others you will see listed in your program. i encourage you to take look at that and see some of the ways in which we bring the educational aspect of these debates to a much wider audience through the work we do with these partners. some my wonder what does the commissioner on presidential debates do when it's not a presidential campaign election year? we are very proud of the work that we do internationally. one of the things that we have done is to lend expertise to

other countries that are interested in sponsoring their own debates. they learn from our staff, learn from people we send abroad to help them with their function. you'll see more information about that also listed there in your program. and then finally i would join with everyone who has complimented our friends here at hofstra. we could not have done this in the record time that it took hofstra to pull this together without some incomparable leadership from the president of the institution. >> the debate is now minutes away. we're going to take a one-minute break. we'll be right back.

hillary clinton and donald trump are getting ready to walk

on stage for their first debate. the first woman to head a major party presidential ticket facing off against an unconventional candidate who defied the odds and won his party's nomination with no political experience. jake, the stakes are enormous right now. >> they're enormous. though rome won't built in a day, each candidate has considerable challenges. for hillary clinton, one of the biggest issues voters have with her is whether or not she's trustworthy, whether or not she's honest. she needs to convince people her motivations are pure, she's not just out for power, she wants to improve people's lives. usually democrats poll better whether they care about people like me. trump has to convince people he has the qualifications, the ideas, the knowledge and the temperament. this is a change election in many ways and in a lot of ways hillary clinton does represent the status quo.

the concerns about so many people have about whether or not donald trump has the temperament for the job, he needs to start assuaging those concerns. >> they're about to introduce the spouses, dana. this is going to be in a moment i think the 1,100 people who have gathered here in this debate hall, they're going to be pretty excited. >> absolutely. and not only are we going to see mrs. trump, who is as her husband is very new to politics, but somebody who is incredibly seasoned at this, bill clinton. i think it's also fascinating he doesn't like to be in the room. he likes to be behind the scenes in the green room for a number of reasons i'm told. first of all, i think it's where she prefers him to be so she doesn't catch his eye and try to think is he trying to send me a signal of some sort but from his perspective, he's so invested in this, he doesn't want to be seen on camera doing anything that he shouldn't be doing in terms of his reaction. >> and we saw him walking in,

bill clinton and melania trump. those are the two spouses of these two presidential candidates. >> and we talk about how hillary clinton is the first female to head a major party presidential ticket. in addition to the unprecedented nature of donald trump, we also have the fact that a first spouse would be a former president, something we have never seen in this country before. and after that, we'll be hearing from lester holt, the nbc news anchor, the moderator of this debate. the pressure is enormous on him. >> enormous on him. and he obviously has been, as the debate commission co-chair said, keeping his own counsel. but the one thing that i thought was really fascinating and it's important for our viewers to remember is that when they start, they're each going to speak for two minutes, but there will be a time when lester holt is going to pull back. it's in the rules, and the two of them are going to actually debate, they're going to go at it. they're going ten minutes to go sort of head to head in whatever way they want, on whatever issue

they want. and so that, i think, is going to be so telling as to how they interact with one another, what topics they choose to use, and the kind of tone and tenor they take with one another. >> and i'm curious to see if this crowd here will remain silent. you heard the warning, no applause. maybe when they're all introduced in the beginning, at the very end. but i'm curious of the 1,100 people here, a lot of partisans, are going to heed that advice. >> that's right. the debate hall hear at hofstra university is full. but you heard the co-chairs of the presidential commission, the commission on presidential debates, realliedy ed ied y eya keep it quiet. have respect for the two individuals on the stage. >> anderson, we're only moments away from the start of this debate. >> that's right, 8 minutes, 30 seconds or so. let's get some final thoughts from our panelists. david, a cheat sheet for viewers

at home. what are you going to be watching for and what do you encourage them to? >> i think everybody's set up the parameters, how does trump do in terms of the basic mastery and temperament test. and does hillary clinton connect, connect in a very human way and give people a sense of her motivations. those will be the things i'm looking for. and then there's the non-linear things, the reaction shots, how someone reacts unexpectedly -- >> the moments. >> those moments that we talked about before, yeah. >> you know, it's a magnifying glass for them, when you have that split screen. and we're on a large panel here, not everybody's looking at every time we yawn or roll our eyes or whatever. and i think that this is something that's difficult for someone to master, if you really haven't been constantly under that kind of scrutiny before. donald trump was on, you know, a panel of 16 or 17 other candidates. hillary clinton has been the there before. she knows how to do this. and it will be interesting to

see donald trump perform. >> and how they see the electorate and how they're trying to reach out to particular segments of the electorate. college-educated white women, for instance, for donald trump. he's struggling with those votes. and bernie sanders supporters. i mean, a lot of those supporters are parked in those third party slots, with gary johnson and jill stein. are they going to reach out to those folks? because that is, i think, is what is really limiting hillary clinton's ability at this point to pull away. >> michael? >> themes have carried him thus far. jeffrey was right to say that was roger ailes' advice to reagan in '84 before the mondale debate. but the rules have changed. and as we've discussed extensively here these 15-minute pods, i want to see the final 30 minutes. i want to know what does he still have in his tank to speak with specificity on the issues. if he can do that, it will be a good night for donald trump. otherwise, it will be a better night for hillary. >> jeffrey? >> he's got television skills and i think that will play a real role in this.

she does not. she's just a political figure. i think that could play a role in this. and, you know, win expei expect do very well with it. >> i'm looking for that connection moment. sometimes we underestimate donald trump. we recall when ted cruz had the new york values line of attack, and donald trump flattened that when he talked about 9/11 and his experience and how new yorkers rose to the occasion. i think we'll see that donald trump come out tonight very strong. >> i think hillary clinton uses the republican's words when she challenges him. in other words, you have 50 republican security experts who are against trump. even cruz would not say that he thinks trump is fit for office. rather than her attacking, just quote the republicans who are still so uncomfortable with this man's leadership. i think that's important. >> there's an enormous battlefield that i think donald trump has left open for hillary, and that is the future. when your slogan is "make america great again," that's inherently backward looking. i think tonight she can say, here are my ideas for the

future. >> former president clinton being introduced as well as melania trump, donald trump's wife. family members also coming out, there's ivanka, her husband, jared kushner. and i should point out also, not the first time they have met, bill clinton attended the wedding of melania trump to donald trump along with secretary clinton, family members, it is something candidates like often to see their family members sitting in the front row. it wasn't clear whether bill clinton was going to be. he often likes to be backstage, watching on television. >> i can tell you, he doesn't want to be sitting out there. he's proud of his wife. >> let's listen. >> -- nbc nightly news. you can welcome him now. >> thank you, janet. thank you. good evening. nice to see every seat is filled. there was some question whether we would have enough interest for tonight, but i guess we've taken care of that. mrs. trump, president clinton, good to see you.

good to see everyone. that thud you heard backstage was the sound of my knees buckling when frank mentioned a potential audience of 100 million. but it's just tonight, and in a moment, it will just be the three of us, and hopefully just the two of them. that's what it's all about. as you can imagine, this is not an easy job. i'm going to ask your help tonight. you heard the admonition, if you can please refrain from clapping or booing or reacting in any audible way, that would make my job a lot easier and i know the american public would appreciate it, because we really want to hear what they have to say tonight and i'm happy to be the one facilitating that conversation. so what's going to follow are some awkward moments of silence. i'm going to take my seat here in my office for the evening and i'll give you a one-minute warning when we're about to come up on the air. and then no fancy lights or musical opens. we just go to it. so thank you for being here. i hope you enjoy the debate. >> all right. they're getting ready, jake. the stakes could not be higher.

what are these two candidates need to do? >> well, for donald trump, he needs to show himself as somebody who can be trusted with the presidency. we've talked about this all night, that many, many voters have concerns about his temperament, and he needs to show the american people that he can be restrained, he can be in control, he can behave the way they expect an american president to behave. hillary clinton has spent a lot of her campaign trial to delegitimize donald trump, disqualify him. i think you'll see her continue to do that tonight, and that will probably be her primary task, as well. >> and you know, they're going to be on camera. this is 90 minutes without commercial interruption. but they'll be in a split screen, so when donald trump is speaking, we'll see the reaction of hillary clinton and vice versa. >> that's right. and when it comes to donald trump, so much of what he expressed in the primary debates was without words. it was with his facial expressions, lots of facial expressions, to make a point, to maybe vamp, to mock his

opponents, to do all kinds of things and send various signals. is that person going to come? is he -- has he been practicing his poker face or practicing to minimize that when he needs to? unclear. and same goes for her. she's obviously much more experienced at the one-on-one debate, much more experienced on being on camera all the time. i mean, she has been for a while. but sometimes, you can see when she's irritated. so, the question is whether or not she wants that to come out. >> and we're just a couple minutes away from the start of this debate. anderson, back to you. >> incredibly exciting. no doubt, tense moments for the candidates. i think it's going to be starting in about three or four minutes. you know, david, every candidate has a different kind of way they prepare for it. and particularly in these final moments, how much of this is about opening statements? i mean, how much do they prepare those opening statements? >> well, i think both campaigns,

if they're preparing correctly, know what they want to do when they get out there. they know what the first, the first plays are, what the language is. it's very important to start quickly, make a big impact in the first 15 minutes, because a lot of folks are writing stories on this campaign are going to begin composing their impressions of the campaign almost immediately. twitter is going to be -- >> that was something john f. kennedy did against richard nixon very effectively. he basically kind of defined early on, and nixon basically just responded. >> true. but it's more than that now because of the lightning speed at which these things get judged. you know, back in 2012, we know within 10, 15 minutes that we had lost the debate to mitt romney because the media reaction and the punditry were pounding us on twitter and we knew what the spin was going to be off of this debate. >> even during the debate, within the first -- >> oh, my goodness, yeah. yeah. we were glum in our room, 15 minutes in. so, you know, the beginning is very, very important. >> i think they're each going to try and make a large impression

right away. and whether it's hillary clinton challenging him on something like birtherism right away or whether it's donald trump challenging her on her e-mails, as kayleigh was talking about, right away, they're going to play to their base and then they're going to try to broaden it out, i would think. but i think you've got to do it immediately in this day and age. >> he needs to remember, primary season is over. that which brought him thus far could not carry him all the way to the white house. it could, in fact, hurt him if he plays some of the same cards that were successful in that season. >> they also both have to be very well aware at this point of what voters they still need to reach. >> exactly, exactly. you know, there are maybe 6 to 15% of folks who are undecided. it's a very diverse group of people who are still undecided. some of them are romney republicans. some of them are bernie sanders supporters. so they've got to tailor their messages to that. and i think one of the things hillarclto