defend their running mates. lit set the stage for the second debate between donald trump and hillary clinton on sunday night. with hillary clinton gaining momentum and trump on the defensive after their first face-off last week. here is wolf blitzer with more on what to expect tonight. >> anderson, tim kaine won a coin toss so he'll get the first question tonight. the viewers will see senator keane on the left. governor pence on the right. they will be seated this time at a table. there aren't any lecturns this time so the candidates will be closer to one another. they will also be closer to the moderator of cbs news. that proximity could effect the tone of the debate. jake tapper, we're getting a little preview of what's to come, aren't we? >> reporter: that's right, wolf. spoiler alert. the republican national committee apparently accidentally posted a blog in which they declared that mike pence won the debate.

usually people in washington wait until the debate is over. but it does happen every now and then that an ambitious press secretary will get ahead of him or herself. but this notes that mike pence won the debate. the consensus was clear after the dust settled. pence was the clear winner. mike pence's tom moments from the debate it says were when he discussed the economy and highlighting hillary's scandals, plural, mike pence made the most of his opportunity to debate tim kaine. the other clear winner of course was donald trump. obviously this of course was just an accident. the republican national committee has taken it down. but it does illustrate a larger point wolf, which is every time a president gives a state of the union address there is a press secretary from the opposing party that accidentally hits send and the opposition of that member of congress to everything the president has yet to say becomes clear. it is one of those things people

tend not to like about washington d.c., wolf. >> indeed. a little awkward for the rnc right now. dana bash is with us as well. mike pence was really brought on as a sort of counterbalance to donald trump. >> no question about it. since he was picked. not only is he a counterbalance because he is a career politician and has been for the past decade plus. but because he can explain things in a more traditional way for a politician. and we've seen that for the past three months, talking about ways that donald trump really meant to say x or meant to say y. and what's been interesting is that the used the way mike pence has cleaned up donald trump's remark, controversial remarks as a template. so there is no question when it comes to his tax issue and everything else that we've been talking about over the past

week. mike pence is going to try do that tonight. >> interesting. stand by. you can bet that donald trump and hillary clinton will be listening to every word their running mates have to say tonight. cnn's sara murray joins us. how will donald trump watch this debate? >> reporter: well donald trump is on the west coast right. now he's in las vegas and we're expecting him to watch the debate from his hotel there in vegas with guests. and he put out on twitter today that he is going to be live tweeting throughout the vp debate. some people might look at this as counterprogramming, as a way to almost steal the event from his running mate. but it could also bring in viewers that won't otherwise tune in. we'll see if that comes to fruition. but as you said, wolf. even though this is a vp debate. this is certainly a referendum on the two candidates at the top of the ticket so you can bet they are going to be watching

closely. >> i'm sure they will be. brianna keilar right now. what are you learning about hillary clinton's plan to watch this debate tonight? >> reporter: wolf, she's going to be watching from her home in westchester county. and one aide tells me she's preparing to watch a debate very different from the one she participated in earlier this week. her debate prep actually on hold because her team is helping out tim kaine. and then you have president obama who is going to watch at least part of the debate. the white house says they say he has great affection for senator tim kaine. perhaps not surprising because tim kaine did support him all the way back in early 2007 and also rumored to be on his vice presidential short list. and president obama headed to ohio next week to help with hillary clinton after canceling his event in miami tomorrow. a big post event debate he was supposed to bauecause of the impending hurricane. >> andersen over to you.

>> a lot to talk about with our panel. do you think the strategy for a vice presidential debate is different than the presidential debate? >> i think it is with these two at the top of the ticket. because this race boils down to a referendum on both of them and not the vice presidential candidates. i can't remember. i've been playing very close attention for thirty years. i can't remember an election like this where both candidates were viewed unfavorably by a majority of the public. it is really a referendum on each of them. i can't tell eohow often i get telephone calls from individual whose don't extol the virtues of the hillary clinton or donald trump. >> and do you expect them to not be talking about each other but their respective bosses? >> i think from everything we've heard the candidates and the people around them say, it is going to be about the top of the ticket. keane, for instance, said he's isn't the main event tonight.

he's the inbetween space. and i think this entire debate isn't the main event. it is the in between space and the main event is next sunday. for pence he's got to try to get momentum back in the -- wind in the sails of the donald trump and buoy the hopes of the republicans across the country. last week really disspirited them. and if you are keane you really just want to continue the momentum. almost like a relay race. he gets a baton from hillary clinton. he had a strong first leg. she's got to have a strong second leg tonight. >> they are sitting at a table. in some ways it is much more intimate. i don't know if that makes it harder to go at each other? >> it does. and look. what michael -- what michael said is really true. when you prepare a candidate for a vice presidential debate. the first thing you say -- your job is to make the case for our candidate to go after the other

candidate to score point, to put points on the board. and that is the discipline here. but i was -- dana said something interesting about mike pence. as you observe him over the last couple of months, he's sort of very quietly tries to make sense of things that sometimes seem absolutely senseless. he's like there is that character that barack obama had t anger translator. he's like trump's rationality translators. he takes these things trump says and tries to make sense of them. i think keane is going to give him the opportunity to do that all night long. >> i think that look, the argument that pence has to make is over and over again "we are change." she is corrupt. she is stats quo. we are change. and the and the argument the

other has to make is we are --. however. whether pence is actually going start to go on the attack. whether he's going to raise bill clinton's infidalities. and whether we see that as a foreshadowing of what is going to happen -- >> if donald trump is tweeting tonight he gets to play the heavy and mike pence doesn't need to. but the fake press release reveals that the best moments for mike pence were the economy and also when he highlighted hillary's scandals so we know he is going to do that. >> but those scandals aren't necessarily personal scandals. i think there was great disappointment on the part of republicans that donald trump didn't raise those kind of issues in the last debate. i highly doubt he's going to be the guy who delivers -- >> paul, do you see mike pence going down that road? >> no. because it is not smart. and mike is smart.

he'll attack on e-mails and issues but not on their personal lives. but keane has a couple of aces in the hole here. a couple of home state celebrities, from indiana. a native of east chicago indiana. graduate of indiana law school. judge --. i hope tim is watching. tim don't play your harmon kah now.ica now. tim will i think defend the khan family and put mike pence on the spot. >> we tro v to take a quick break. we're learning about a surprising new edition to

hillary clinton's roster of campaign surrogate. stay with us for more of alas--

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narrator: it wasn't that long ago. years of devastating cutbacks to our schools. 30,000 teachers laid off. class sizes increased. art and music programs cut. we can't ever go back. ryan ruelas: so vote yes on proposition 55. reagan duncan: prop 55 prevents 4 billion in new cuts to our schools. letty muñoz-gonzalez: simply by maintaining the current tax rate on the wealthiest californians. ryan ruelas: no new education cuts, and no new taxes. reagan duncan: vote yes on 55. sarah morgan: to help our children thrive.

we're less than an hour from the vice presidential debate here at longwood university in virginia. as cnn cover this is campaign we're traveling the country. we're talking to voters in key battleground states in partnership with instagram, facebook and ca technologies. you can get involved. post a photo on instagram. tell us who you are voting for with the #my vote. your picture could be used in our election coverage. we heard earlier from tim kaine's wife. and now let's talk to mike pence's wife, karen pence. she's with cnn's sara murray. >> reporter: thank you very much for being here. your advisors tell your husband tonight wants to focus on poms but inevitably he's had to answer for more controversial things donald trump has said. does he ever feel like he netherlands to needs to be the clean up act? >> you know i think tonight is going to be a lot of the fun. i look at mike's whole life. his whole battleground.

and he's really ready for this. he was on the debate team in high school. history major in college. worked for a policy think tank. law school. congress. governor. so i think tonight, i think what he really wants to show is maybe a contrast between the two. i think really if i had to say what mike really wants to accomplish tonight. he wants to show a vision. a vision for america. >> so how did he prep for this big moment? he's not new to the debate stage but this is a very big audience. what did he do today? >> today was kind of fun. we came in last night and we got up this morning and worked out at the hotel. then we came over here to farmville. did the run through and then actually our whole family went for a jog. local school let us run around the track. it was kind of fun to get some fresh air and get the blood pumping. and he took a nap. >> a little family fitness and relaxation. anything he does right before the stage to make sure his head is in the right place ready to

go? >> that is a great question. he loves music. he has all kind of soundtracks on his phone. and on the way over here just now he said honey i need to get -- >> is there like a favorite band? >> gosh i don't know. he does the whole gamut. usually he likes the soundtrack from a movie. i don't know what he has on there tonight. >> one of the things we've seen. it's been a raucous presidential campaign. and he has been clear that mike pence does not like negative campaigning. at the same time he has a running mate who's out there threatening to throughout bill clinton's infidelities into the mix. do you think that is fair? >> one thing about mike he likes to say there is a real contrast between he and his running mate. donald trump is larger than life figure and mike always says there is me. and i think he has a very gentle

personality. he's someone who is just 100% integrity. honest. truthful. but he'll tell it like it is too. he's not afraid to show a contrast. >> i have to ask. because donald trump, he's this vegas. but he says he's going to be tweeting tonight. buzz that make you nervous at all. does that make your husband nervous at all? >> we've gotten to be such good friends with the trumps. mike and don talk at least once every day. and we've gotten so close to their family. i know eric is going to be here tonight. it is such an honor to be on the ticket with him. we have such a fondness in our heart for him. it will be fun to see what he tweets actually. no we're not afraid of it. >> thank you very much for joining us. good luck to you guys tonight. wolf i'm going to throw it back to you. we're getting new information on the clinton campaign. i want to get to jeff zeleny, he's also in the spin room. jeff, what are you learning? >> reporter: we are learning tonight that al gore is going to be coming out on the campaign

trail for hillary clinton in the coming weeks. al gore of course the former vice president who unsuccessfully ran for president in 2000 has been essentially on the side lines politically speaking. he did endorse the political campaign in july but he'll be coming out in the final weeks to help go after those young vote who are may with siding with gary johnson or jill stein. he'll be campaigning for hillary clinton for the first time coming up in the coming weeks. wolf. >> standby, jeff. dana, what do you think of al gore coming out there and effectively going out on the campaign trail for hillary clinton means? >> first i think jeff is right hooels going to try to get millennials and maybe he'll be in florida and try to reach back to some of the people who think they got rab robbed there. but i just think there is so much irony in the fact that al gore has been in campaign since bill clinton. al gore in the clinton didn't want any clinton anywhere near the campaign trail.

and looking back a lot of think that was a big mistake. >> a lot of people do and he lost florida by a close margin and a third party candidate, ralph nader got the votes.

we're back at longwood university in farmville, virginia. just minutes before the vice presidential debate. tonight the focus on mike pence and tim kaine as they battle on behalf of donald trump and hillary clinton. i want to go john king at the magic wall. john, what do these vice presidential candidates bring to their tickets? >> let's try to talk about the state of the race, wolf and what mike pence and tim kaine are hoping to do tonight. first let's remind people we look at our poll right now.

hintd has a five point lead in our latest national poll. also there are two third party candidates, gary johnson and jill stein but their support is so low they don't make the cuts for debates and neither do their vice presidential candidates so it will be tim kaine and mike pence making the cases. what strategic goals are they looking? a key dipole for mein is to help donald trump with college-educated whites. the philadelphia suburbs. the research triangle in north carolina. right here in northern virginia. donald trump is struggling with a traditional republican constituency. mike pence, one of his big goals tonight try to help donald trump with these voters are. for tim kaine, keep what you got. hold the board here and also make progress with millennials and never trump republicans. tim kaine is hoping maybe they don't like hillary clinton. maybe they think -- he's trying to make the case to millennials

to support the ticket. and favorability ratings. mike pence has a higher favorability rating tan his running mate. a lot of the american people when we ask these question, they say we don't know tim kaine. we don't know much about mike pence. that might just about change. >> we'll see tonight if they in fact raise their proeflsz. we're about 35 minutes from the start of the debate. let's talk with our partisans. jeffrey lord. how concerned are you about the battleground state polls that we've been seeing, particularly since the debate, seems to be shifting to hillary clinton. are you confident they can shift back? >> sure. sure. they absolutely can. >> i knew you were going to say that. to be honest. >> of course. but while we were waiting, i was reading an article about the carter/reagan debate in the polls after the carter/reagan debate.

and uniformly -- and this is time magazine saying that the pollsters of the day said it was within a point or two for either and of course it turned out to be a ten point landslide for then governor reagan. i just feel we should have a sense of caution here. events happen so fast. i personally am convinced that what could determine this election is whatever event has occurred within the last 24-48 hours before the voting. although i take david's point of voting already in progress to account. but still, i think in states like pennsylvania where we are voting on election day, you know, if something happens that can push in the trump direction -- >> paul. you have been involved with campaigns. is that a reality? >> it is no longer a reality. this thing can move. this is not over. okay? and it can move. but there are some important differences between from when president reagan came from a tie to a landslide. first 45% of us americans, split tickets. now about about 5.

we're much more polarized. i don't think that is a great thing for america. but it is much more settled before the thing even begins and as ax pointed out a while ago, 40% of us will vote even before election day. so it is the target groups that king was talking about. can pence validate mr. trump among college educated voters? can tim kaine help millennials for hillary. >> what's about to happen is going to be a tragedy tonight no matter what and here is why. you are going to have two very serious people who are policy heavyweights in their party who come from deep philosophical traditions and they are not going to talk about that. they are going to drag out big garbage cans and through them at each other mainly. because we're now in a world where the trump effect has pulled politics down so low. that the most important thing he can do tonight is make sure the

mud stick. keane can do tonight is make sure the mud sticks on trump. and the main thing pence has do is throw mud back on him. that is bad for the country as far as i'm concerned. everybody is going to say we want policy discussion. that is not going happen the way it should because of trump. >> i think it will happen. mike pence has ample material to talk about policy. he has a record in the state of indiana where he brought down taxes and unemployment. and he'll bring up that record. and i think mike pence has a really unique opportunity to draw a contrast of what a politician should be. a politician should go in and engage in public service, not personal enrichment. mike pence has never taken a salary about $200,000. and he can contrast with hillary clinton who went in and came out broke and somehow enriched her herself -- >> the first thing he ever did was get in trouble. if you want that talk about pence, was get in trouble for using campaign cash for personal reasons. so the idea that he's a person who's going to president a case

about personal enrichment? that is the first thing he ever did. >> he's going to prosecute the case flawlessly because he's trained for this. he know about this moment. going through the foundation, which is a huge pay for play scheme. >> i think he's the -- >> -- [inaudible]. >> also being donald trump's running mate. he's a flawless man. are you kidding? >> abides by the law. >> this is the point van is trying to make. trump has hijacked america's election for his own narcissism that we can't have an honest debate. these are pretty impressive people. by the way they both have deep christian values that bring them to totally different places. tim is very committed to the civil rights and economic justice. and governor pence on abortion and -- i was going say gay rights but he's against gay rights so denying rights to

gays. that could be an interesting debate. and van is right woe we won't have it because of this freak show. >> this is a number that came out our cnn poll that really interested us. white college graduate, right now hibbert llary clinton is wi with white college graduates by 13 points. mitt romney won white college graduates by 14 points. republicans have won that cohort since 1956 in this country. white college graduates are going to be watching this debate. mike pence could potentially make a difference to these graduates. if he does talk about substance. if he does say this is why i'm a conservative. if he does defend trump in a way that appeals to them. but so far this is very dangerous territory for donald trump. very dangerous. >> what we have here is donald trump is still the outsider candidate. and mike pence is the bridge.

to non outside folks at least trying to make their decision. and i think he can in fact do very well and help translate that for him. but make no mistakes. he's not going to be diluting trump's outsider image. >> one of the things that was interesting to me was -- because i take your points on economics. but pence was losing his race for governor when he left. and interestingly, i saw an ad from indiana over the weekend for governor, where his lieutenant governor is running for governor. and he talked about working with mitch daniels for ten years on the economy. and never mentions mike pence, who is the sitting governor who appointed him. which tells me he has some problems there. >> i don't think we're going to lose indiana. >> i agree with you. but there must be some weakness in this economic argument if the people in his own state don't respond to it. >> other voters, galoloria was talking about college-educated white voters. and also older voters. one of the things you see in the

polls is hillary clinton is actually doing really well with older voters. obama lost older voters over 65py eight points in 2008. lost by 12 in 2012. and hillary clinton is overperforming barack obama in temples of older voters. i think in terms of his temperament and preservation i think mike pence can do some good in helping the republican ticket with those olders voters because they are not doing as well they need to do right now. >> can i say it is an old school debate in so far as you have two old school middle aged white guys, credentialed capable of going for ninety minutes. and the public act as if it demands substance and wishes we were having more of a substantive conversation when in reality there is a huge market for incivility. and i think that frankly to the extent they are substantive tonight you are going to have a lot of cliques, i hope not. in terms of people's attention

sulliv spans. >> american history is replete. the grover cleveland because he fatherhood an illegitimate child. this stuff has been going on for two centuries. and michael is absolutely right. there is part of the american people that like to pick up the tabloids in the morning and they want to see it. >> i love that you know the grover cleveland chant. >> knows the chant by heart. >> as you'll know mama went to the white house, ha ha ha. >> -- >> right. >> paul you focused grouped that out didn't you? >> there is another portion of the electorate they think really want toos see a case more change mesne made. and even this tacit acknowledgment --. you had bill clinton today say obamacare is the one of the craziest things. premiums are spiking for americans. guess what, they can't make that argument because they have been in control for decades and the

white house as secretary of state. >> why do you say that? that's not true. george wush, what are you talking about. >> there is an art to it. and i do think vice president george herbert walker dush did just right. he was going to be kinder and gentler than president reagan. -- >> kinder and gentler than whom? >> exactly. and this is a little bit of a departure. with trump trying to make the case with mike pence tonight is that trump is so eccentric. such a lightning rod. last night in a debate in new hampshire where -- running against the governor. in the debate she was asked is donald trump a role model for your children? she said of course. and then this morning put out a press release no i misspoke,

he's not a role model. what is mike pence going to say? is donald trump a role model for your children? >> yes, of course. >> yes. >> that's not going to get him a lot of votes. >> i don't to hurt your case but is bill clinton? >> absolutely. >> point made. >> no doubt you are right there is a mood for change in the country. it is not unusual after two terms of a president. we've been through hell as a country in the beginning of this administration when he came to office and this economic crisis. it's been a jarring time. i would argue, you know, that we're better off than we were then. but be that as it may there is a mood for change in the country. the question is what kind of change and is it the change that donald trump is offering the kind of change that people feel comfortable with. so far he hasn't gotten over that hump. mike pence has to help people believe tonight that this this is change they can live. >> the irony, since you like to do the history stuff.

in '92 there was the slogan which was is the economy stupid a change versus more the same and county forget healthcare. that was the 1992 clinton playbook. >> and it worked. >> and trump is trying to have that be his playbook. that is ironic. and here is the deal. what's so tragic. and will will be so tragic for you guys is probably most of the republicans who got knocked off, the other 17 might have been able to prosecute the case. you don't have a candidate who can stick with that very simple message. the discipline that bill clinton had in '92, officer not seen for more than 48 hours in a row. and tonight what you are going to see an actual difference. you are going to see pence -- hold on a second. let me just finish. you are going to see pence actually be presidential. and be disciplined and actually make a bigger contrast of this freak show with trump. >> the media claiming trump did so horribly. the polls showing a lot of voters agree with that sentiment. but despite that the latest cnn

poll which included voters after having seen the debate shows trump is most trusted on the two issues most important to voters. terrorism and the economy. he is the guy who can prosecute this case but despite a horrible performance the polls bear that out. >> what's going to happen tonight is -- as i think mike pence will stay on message. tim certainly will. donald trump won't. >> he's tweeting tonight. >> he's going to have that twitter gone. and bet you dollars to doughnuts. >> john king is reporting -- i just saw on twhart his campaign folks are going to be around him while -- >> unless one of those trump suits is a straight jacket made in bangladesh or -- they can't control him. he's attacked the pope. maybe he'll attack the holy father. rosie o'donnell. who the hell knows. >> you could argue that hillary clinton looks like change because she's a woman just by

virtue of that fact. but the question is risk. hillary clinton has been making the argument about risk this entire campaign against donald trump. when he gets up at 3:00 in the morning and starts tweeting about alicia machado, people get up in the morning and they read that. and they say, oh. well what is he going to do when it is actually an important thing? >> -- missiles off at 3:00 a.m. >> so the risk argument. and donald trump is his own worst enemy on the risk argument. >> for the record i'm not sure if he got up at kz or just stayed up. i'm not saying that historically i'm just saying for the record i don't know. >> hillary clinton -- whether there was literally 3:00 or not. but it was benghazi and four people are dead because of that. so -- [inaudible] >> let's listen to janet brown who's the director of the commission. >> -- of 2016 here at longwood

university. on a normal evening willet hall would be hosting a basketball game. and as you can see it has been turned into a venue where a conversation will be taking place that will be watched all over the world by tens of millions of people. that is courtesy of the skills of the commissions production team. the audio, set, lighting, and other production team members are without peer in this business. they have transformed this into something that a huge national and international broadcast will be telecast from. and i hope you will take the time to look in your programs and read their names and appreciate the extraordinary work that they do. there are a lot of people to thank for all of the work that's gone into this evening. and i'd like to start by introducing the co-chairman of the commission mike mccurry and frank farenkoff.

[ applause ] >> thank you janet. and thank you farmville and longwood university. you have been spectacular hosts. give yourselves a round of applause. [ applause ] we've been very warmly welcomed. i want to tell you a little about the non portsen condition on presidential debates which gain in 1987. conducting these debates, we are now in our eighth series of debates that have been hosted by the commission. the board of directors of the commission, the commission itself is made up of 16 prominent leaders from both the public and private sector. they are democrats, republicans, independents and probably some none of the above. that we are delighted that tonight we've got one of our members of the commission with us. the former president of the league of women voters and the president of the council on

foundations. i'd ask dorothy to stand up and take a bow please. we are also pleased to have one of the original members on commission of presidential debate, the former vice chair, david narcross. now, one of the responsibilities of the commission is to design the format for these debates and four years ago we made a change to allow longer blocks of time for the candidates the to engage each other and the issues. tonight we'll have a debate that is quited into to nine 10 minute segments. each begins with our moderators posing a question. only the moderator know what is the questions are. the commission does not. the campaigns do not. and the candidates themselves do not. the debate also -- this is very important -- is for the public. and as janet said. millions of people will be watching this. so it is very important that you respect the rest of our american

citizens watching this debate by not interrupting this debate with any booing, cheering, clapping. or one of my cousins in jrnl would say "hooting and hollering." so please just be quite and respect the time that the candidates have to be with each other to discuss the issues. also the use of cell phones, cameras or electronic devices is also strictly prohibited. now if any of these groups aared you will probably find yourself being asked to leave the hall. so please honor those rules. about 9:00 live our friends from the network go live. you will probably hear a bit of commotion. that is part of our process back there. and with that. someone i've enjoyed working with. frank farenko iff, the co-chairf

the commission. >> thank you. i want to join mike and janet in welcoming you. the cpd is a non partisan, private organization. it is -- we get no money from the political parties. we get no money from candidates. we get no money from the government. whether state and local or federal government. we're privately funded by a number of foundations and organizations and individuals who firmly believe that those who would be president and vice president of the united states should debate. should debate so that the american people sitting at home watching on television or streaming on their other devices can makean decision as to who they are going to support and hear that issues discussed that are going to be important. and i want to take a moment and mention the sponsors for the debates. the anheuser busch companies who

do a great job for us every year. the howard g. buffett foundation. the kovler fund. the law firm of krul and moreland. and aarp. please join me in giving a hand for their support. [ applause ] now i'm just going to mention two other things that we do other than these debates every four years. we have been involved for the last four years in something that most of us in this audience, other than the students who are here don't know a lot about. most of us as i look around this audience. we grew up reading newspapers and magazines and watching the television news to find out what's going on in the world and what's going on in politics. that is not the way it is today for millions and millions of young americans because social media has changed everything.

so over the last four years we've been working with very closely this social media platforms in this country. to make sure we understand what those people who on social media are interested in, what are their concerns? what questions do they think ought to be asked? and those platforms are helping us tonight and throughout the debates by letting the moderators as mike said are the only people who know what questions are going to be asked, what's on the minds of those people. so the important thing is to get every american possible educated about the candidates and the issues and get them out to vote on election day. and the last thing i'm going to mention is -- and that's something else we do between the debates and that is our international program. the united states of america and our system of democracy is a beacon throughout the world. we're not perfect. we never say we are perfect.

but through particularly emerging democracies around the world, they look to our system. and they are fascinated by this concept of having debates between the leaders. in the last 20 years we've been working with 35 nations around the world. we've brought some of them to washington. sometimes we send people there, where they are now having these types of debates. and in in fact in a couple of weeks in nevada, unlv, the final debate. we will have 50 people from 45 nations there for a three-day seminar. they will participate and they will watch the debates. so we're extremely proud of that program. and as mike said something else we're extremely proud of. and this is this university. it has done a remarkable job. we owe a debt of gratitude to the student, to the faculty, to all the workers and people who work so hard setting up the chairs that you are sitting on. they did a remarkable job.

and they are very very fortunate because they have a remarkable leader. it is my pleasure to introduce the president of longwood university, taylor --. [ applause ] the two co-chairman of the presidential debate commission. the form is very different tonight than we saw in the first presidential debate. >> reporter: we're told there will be nine segments of ten minutes each. so you should expect much quicker exchanges about the topics that the moderator brings up. also the candidates, the nominees, will be seated a at table. that might lend itself to more conversational interactions, perhaps less aggressive. but we shall see. >> dana the tone of that trump debate was pretty combative. these two candidates seem a bit more affable, shall we say. so to tone might be a little more high level?

>> it could be. they are more affable. they are genuinely nice guys and people have covered them for years. people on the opposite side of the aisle will tell you that, that they are nice. and the question tonight is going to be whether or not either of them sheds that mr. nice guy, sharpens up the rhetoric. sharpens up the arguments as the people inside the campaigns at the top of the ticket frankly hope they do, especially when it comes to mike pence going after hillary clinton's record. >> we're waiting for the spouses of the candidates are going to be introduced momentarily. the moderator will be introduced. anderson in the meantime back to you. >> let's continue to talk with our panel as we watch the events in the debate hall. for people at home, david, what are you going to be looking at for tonight in terms of the score card? what are you watching? >> well i think you are going to see very quickly what the strategies are. is pence on the -- is he spending much time on himself or is he on the attack? will keane do what we suspect and raise some issues that have

arisen in the last week and ask pence to comment on them? >> to continue prosecuting what they say is a lack of judgment. >> in short, pence is coming to try and change the momentum of the last week and keane is trying to continue the momentum of the last week. and we'll be able to judge pretty quickly who's being more successful in that tacsk. >> i think what you also might hear from keane to pence is how can you defend donald trump on x, y and z when you have disagreed with him on so many important issue, including the muslim ban. including trade for example. how can you defend him not releasing his taxes when you are released your taxes. >> interesting. >> i don't think that is that hard for pence. i think he'll say look he's the candidate. he'll set the policy. we agree on many things. we don't agree on some things. just as you don't on xy and z with hillary clinton.

so i wouldn't waist time on that. i would raise controversial things that have happened in the last few weeks and before and i would force pence to say yay or ney on these things. does this represent what you think? >> and alicia machado -- >> and keane is going to try to bring up some of the things that pence has done in indiana around lgbt rights because i think that is going to speak to those college-educated, more moderate voters. i think he's going to try to wrap that around trump to make him, again, more unacceptable to a certain segment of voters. >> and pence by the same token will use the issue of taxes. he signalled that. keane raised them. he cut them. keane doesn't -- keane and clinton don't understand business. we understand business. but that opens up a whole other discussion this week that runs to the taxes and the business -- >> -- strategies -- >> they need a growth strategy because that which brought them thus far is now limiting them. all that behavior from donald trump this week with the beauty queen t way he conducted himself

in the debate t tax issues. these are things that coffuld he been handled when there were 16, 17 others on the stage because he had that hardened base who were always going to be with him. but i haven't seen a growth strategy since they entered the general election process. >> this is where i hope mike pence brings in a little of the personal side. they have become very close with the trump family. tell us those personal stories because this is a opportunity to be character witnesses for both vp candidates. give us an anecdote how trump has the right temperament. and mike pence said i'm haer to tell trump's story. >> and stick to the economy. i mean that is always the always the number one issue in an election. when you have 70% in these polls that say the country is going in the wrong direction, speak to that issue over and over and over again. you can't do it enough. >> i think -- i think for tim

kaine, there's an obama coalition out there that he needs to talk to. definitely, he's going to have to -- right now donald trump is down and he needs to keep him down. and he needs to remind people who maybe haven't been watching tv all weekend and all week, all the things that have happened. that's important. but there's also an obama coalition out there that needs to be reminded that tim kaine is a friend of theirs. this is not the vp that the young millennials wanted. they would have loved to see an elizabeth warren. they would have loved to see -- >> bernie sanders. >> fine. you could go down a whole list of more firebrand progressives. i do think it's important. she's still struggling to get that obama coalition fired up. and i think right now, he has a very low bar to hit, but he could hit a bar and remind people, he has gone -- he speaks spanish fluently, he has been there on the front lines, he has gone overseas. he needs to remind people -- >> spent two decades as a civil rights and -- >> exactly. and i think sometimes people

assume that everyone knows that about tim kaine. people do not know that. and it's important that we don't forget that there's an obama coalition out there that needs to be spoken to tonight. >> the tougher challenge is pence. he needs to reverse the momentum, he doesn't just need to draw, he needs to win. i think you do that by attacking. i disagree, kayleigh, it would be nice if he the -- but let's face it, they're not popping the popcorn and watching trump's "playboy" videos together. this is a guy with deep christian values. >> i don't think that's what she was talking about. >> mike pence is not like donald trump in any way. but what he can do is go on the offense. how can he do that? not look disagreeable. he should have studied joe biden. joe biden four years ago, the president, i know it's true, he lost badly in the first debate to mitt romney, biden began to come back. he had a very aggressive debate with a very principled conservative paul ryan, but did it without being nasty. it was a really masterful -- >> yeah. let's toss it back to wolf. wolf? >> anderson, janet brown, the

executive director of the vice presidential debate commission is about to introduce the two wives of these candidates, ann holton and kara pence. both of these women are impressive in their own right. >> absolutely. we dgot to hear from them earlir this hour. one of the things interesting about ann holton, the wife of tim kaine, she is not only a local, like tim kaine is, she's the daughter of a governor, a republican governor. so she is -- let's listen in. >> let's listen in. [ applause ] [ applause ]

>> these wives, dana, they're going to have a front row seat together with other special guests who have been invited tonight. a very, very prime location. >> that's right. anne holton and karen pence, and the moment that we just saw, i have to say, of the two of them shaking hands, giving each other sort of knowing looks, that they're two people on the planet who know what the other is going through. >> -- and cbs news correspondent. [ applause ] >> hi, everyone. i'm elaine quijano of cbs news and i am honored and humbled to be with you here tonight. thanks for coming. now, we have a lot of business to get to, a lot of issues to cover, so i would ask for your help. if everyone could right now please check to make sure that

your cell phones are off, i'll give you a moment to do that. and while you're doing that, i will remind you that there is to be no cheering, no booing, no noise of any kind, as the debate gets underway. and with that, i am going to take my seat, get situated, once again, thank you all for being her here. >> elaine quijano of cbs news, dana, she's going to be the moderator. she's got a tough assignment tonight between these two vice presidential candidates. >> listen, this is incredibly hard, no matter who you are, no matter what you've done, this is -- the stakes are incredibly high. this is the vice presidential debate, but they know that there are lots of eyeballs. and elaine quijano is a former colleague here and we know she can -- she can do a good job. >> yep, we know her quite well from her years here at cnn, as well. jake, this is a moment for these two vice presidential candidates, potentially, to

shine. but the stakes for them are really enormous. >> that's right. and this is the biggest moment for a vice presidential nominee. obviously, the presidential nominees have two other debates left, plus, obviously, everything they say and do will be focused on microscopically, but for tim kaine and mike pence, this is the moment for which they have been preparing since they were picked. this is the opportunity to aggressively prosecute the nominee of the other party, the presidential nominee, not vice presidential, and to present an alternative vision, a positive vision, to make the case for the nominee, that maybe the nominee doesn't make as well for him or herself. >> a good point. anderson, let's go back to you. >> wolf, thanks very much. we're probably about five minutes away or so from this debate. the pressure certainly on elaine quijano is enormous. i think this is her first debate certainly like this. but it is a more -- not informal, but more intimate

setting, which i'm not sure exactly how that affects the flow of the debate. >> i think she got a good draw here, because these guys are not donald trump, they're not -- she's not going to -- they're not going to try and paint outside the lines, i suspect. they're both, they're calm, they're courtly, they're -- and i think that they will play by the general rules here. but you still -- i mean, you're sitting there and the nation is watching and you're trying to pry meaningful things out of them and not just talking points. and -- >> and i think that configuration could have an impact. it would be far more easy for me to say something negative to paul than it would to nia -- >> stand by, america. >> and, go! >> and it also puts some pressure on elaine, because she's right at the table with the two other candidates there, so does she jump in, does she hang back? it will be interesting. >> and they're not going to hang back. because these people are

aggressive. >> but they are both skilled at delivering the knife with a smile, right? so you've got the temperamental differences could not be -- especially with regard to trump versus pence. so, in that setting, you're kind of all sitting there together, it's kind of like you're at the bar, but you've got to be able to deliver it with a knife -- a knife with a smile. and i think this setting actually supports both of them doing that. >> well, it's also so much about the last presidential debate was about baiting donald trump, you know, hillary clinton baiting donald trump, getting him off his game. i don't imagine there being a lot of sort of baiting going on here. i think they both have their points, their strategies going into this and they're going to hammer away at it. >> and they're not really debating each other. roger ailes, who apparently has been coaching trump, wrote a book years ago called "you are the message." the message to tim and mike tonight is, you're not the message. the other fella is, the other woman is. and in that sense, it could be an unsatisfying debate. they're going to attack past

each other, each attacking the other's principle. >> and when you hear how they've spoken about these debates and consider the temperament of these two guys, you know they're going in there to do exactly that. >> they will be trying out some new attacks. i mean, that's the -- listen, let's not forget, the war to settle the score is on sunday. i'm sorry, sir, but it will be the war -- >> the war to settle the score! wow! >> sunday will be the brawl to end it all. anderson, that will happen. so, but tonight, you'll see them trying to figure out some of the fakes and jabs. >> it will be interesting to see whether this foreshadows what's going to happen on sunday night. look, most of the advice -- >> this is the flap before the scrap, right? >> wow. we've got a few more minutes. let's see how many we can come up with. >> need a rhyming dictionary. >> usually vice presidential debates don't move the needle very much.

quayle's disastrous performance in '88 didn't move the needle, right? but, but, this is going to let you know whether attacks -- they're going to test out some attacks. >> well, that's the -- david, would a presidential campaign test out attacks through the vice presidents in a debate? >> maybe somewhat, but look, here's the thing, pence has to stop the bleeding and hold the fort until trump gets on that stage on sunday night. if trump has a good night sunday night, it could change the picture. if he doesn't, whatever pence does tonight will be irrelevant. >> if they stop the bleeding and hold the fort is a mixed metaphor. >> speaking for myself, ten days ago, i didn't know the name alicia machado. i wonder who else is out there whose name we don't know that perhaps by the end of this debate, it wouldn't be surprise me if tim kaine had someone -- >> or mike pence. >> and michael, there's ample material there. are we going to see pence plant a bomb like wells fargo, for instance, hillary's out and out talking about wells fargo, but we know that her foundation took in thousands of dollars from wells fargo. who will drop that little bit of

information to frame the media narrative for the forthcoming -- >> one of the things -- >> somebody who worked for the trump taj mahal in atlantic city who sold pianos and never got paid and all of a sudden they tie it to a tax issue. >> where this could go, there was a great column in the "wall street journal" today by bret stevens, who is decidedly not a trump fan, but he wrote a column, as if a speech for donald trump. and the aspects of it were liberal hypocrisy, and wherever you go, donald trump's -- one of the reasons he strikes a nerve with people is because she has they're raising this fuss, and think of alicia machado in all of this, and hillary clinton this morning talking about -- or yesterday morning, wherever it was, talking about with a young women about bullying women, and there you've got this whole string of women who feel they've been personally bullied by hillary clinton, bringing these things out. and what you're dealing with here is hypocrisy on a whole host of issues. whether it's the on