we appreciate it. it's going to be quite an evening and please stay tune for our special coverage of the first presidential debate from hofstra university here in new york. >> live from hofstra university in new york, this is fox business' network special coverage of the first presidential debate. here is niel cavuto. neil: all right, you didn't hear from me but there's a presidential debate tonight and less than one hour away. the first time a man and a woman have been on the stage to decide who will lead this nation and there thereby becoming the most powerful person on the planet. you heard the expectations again and again, you heard how many people are supposed to be tune to this debate tonight. maybe in excess of 100 million and competing with football game. bottom line is if it will

break the records set by jimmy carter and ronald reagan in 1980, 80 million viewers turned in but humility is called in order, better than 600 million tuned to -- see see niel armstrong walk on the moon. 750million viewers, humbling, lou, big events. [laughter] lou: a mere 100 million would be satisfying. neil: if you get to that -- we are going to be focusing on this. this is the spin room as lou has been telling you. the before debate and after tries to set the tone and insist that their candidate is going to put in the best night and lower

the expectations ahead. just as i was walking in here, i don't know if you've seen it, but the expectations are radically lower and each side is saying, well, you know, hillary clinton's folks will say he's really the entertainer, his folks will say she's the one with experience, 40-some odd debates, we can't compete with that. but the idea that expectations have been lowered is probably risky at this stage. they're very high. there are even reports now that one or even both candidates might frequent this room either before, if you can believe that or even after the debate tonight. now, that would be kind of wild. lou: it makes me a little nervous. neil: you know i was watching with governor pence and i was noticed that all of the people circled behind you or are those

security people or for you? >> they were waiting to shake my hand. everywhere he goes now -- the governor is a terrifically fellow, he's smart, he's all of the things that you like in a leader, but he has a way with the press that is -- that is compelling. neil: i wonder how he deals with that kind of antorage. >> probably willing to have his life back. everything is invested in that. they represent the future of the country, how well and how they're following in a commotion he creates in donald trump. nil nil in this case really picked out of no where. probably no one's radar

specially controversies and here he is potentially vice president. lou: he acknowledged that it was a great surprise. it might have been a delightful surprise. you can tell the man is thriving and he is absolutely convinced that the candidacy of donald trump is the difference for this country and it will make the difference in the lives of hundreds of millions. neil: so he hopes. so he hopes, right? lou: he fully believes it's going to happen. neil: is it hard to argue with him when all the security is around you? lou: it's funny, i had no urge to argue with him at all. neil: both before and after, maybe we should set the stage a little, kennedy, what this room is all about and what's at stake?

kennedy: this room is casting your candidate as the victor tonight. it's happening before and after the debate. right now we have seen amarosa, former contestants on the apprentice. don king behind me. wrapped up in a gaggle and you ve gsip at'sutnuerin ct aut 5o 1 tio d ere e rors readg th thcandatesill herat me pnt. were wtingwillrumpake an aearae bere t debe? will that get into hillary's read. one can only hope. we can speculate. we don't exactly know much like the debate itself. we have press from all other the world. they have descended upon hofstra university like a murder of as t they would dive on the carcass.

neil: that's very eloquently put . ahead hillary clinton's people are saying, he's the entertainer. his people is saying, she's the experienced debater. we mopped the floor. kennedy: yeah, one only knows the one liners that will be dispersed. hillary clinton is well practiced, is she funny, that's to be seen, we don't know to someone who has so many variables as does donald trump. i do know that don king, the other king is to my right. neil: thank you very much. in the meantime i'm honored to be joined by the next fellow,

homeland security committee chairman, mr. chairman, very good to have you. >> i appreciate it. neil: if you had to sum up what's going on to be or should be the most pivotal point in this debate and subject that most people care about, what would it be? >> for me it's national security. i know that trump is going to bring it up tonight. i think it's a defining contrasting issue to hillary clinton who is the architect of failed policy. we have a destabilized middle east, a destabilized northern africa and certain libya has collapsed such that isis and al-qaeda affiliates can take a stronghold and conduct operations into the united states. i think this is one of those important issues of this election in my view and i know the candidate feels friendly about it too. neil: we are getting reports coming out. i didn't want to dump this on you that the shooter in that

mall in seattle had some communications, we already know that from turkey, but the early read that he was hispanic was proven wrong but that he might have been in communication, this is mr. trump arriving at the debate right now. he's here at the facility. that's only a few feet from where we are. if i can back, chairman, to what mr. trump has been bounding. it's here and it's in our country. it's everywhere in our country. >> the bell ground is in the united states. you look at the new york bomber, he received guidance. i showed the picture of the bloody journal, he wrote that i'm receiving guidance from the isis spokesman and the chief external operation guide for isis. what they are telling people now so not to come to syria but stay

at home and kill where you are. neil: we had that in the new york bombings and minnesota and now in this mall north of seattle and in communication with isis. >> what's shock to go me is the administration tries to downgrade and pretends it doesn't exist. he's not from -- he's hispanic as you pointed out. turns out he's from turkey and i wouldn't be surprised that he has isis connections. neil: the president says, look, what difference does that wording, that phrasing make, you say what? >> i think you have to define the enemy to to defeat it. that's what i told the candidate. if we define the nazis, we defeat the nazis, we define communism and we defeated communism.

that's precisely what it is. it's important to define it to defeat it. they want to pretend like it doesn't exist and the problem is it does. neil: donald trump will be blunt and throw that kind of language around. hillary clinton will be very reluctant, cautious, it's her style, she will try to urge presumably that it is a mistake to save a rabble. you say what? >> i say i would talk to trump personally, he wants to say that we are at war with isis. i believe we are. the battleground has been brought to the united states. we need a military strategy to defeat isis where it exists but also over the internet and trump will do that. we know what clinton has done and it'll be more of the same that we have seen in the last eight years. world is a far more dangerous place. i ask the question at the convention, do you feel safer than eight years ago and the american people they don't, they don't feel safe. neil: thanks for taking the

time. quite a few people wait to go get to you. we will see how the debate goes. 1100 seats in an environment that can fit better than 5,000. three ways as most of the people are making their way. one-third of the seats to clinton loyalists to clinton and friends and the other third to trump and the other to students and volunteers and better than 7500 of them participate in lottery to get the couple hundred seats would remain. but it's who on each guest list that's rather eye opening. you heard of mark cuban being special guest of hillary clinton. you would not believe how donald trump responded with his own list after this.

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neil: well, what we are 44 minutes away. i'm so excited. connell is taking a look at who is showing up here among some of the big names, mark cuban and a host of others.

connell: it's interesting niel. maybe it gives us nifción about what their strategy would be tonight. you're right, mark cuban has become quite frankly part of the story this evening himself arriving here a little while ago at hofstra, back and forth will he be going, the billionaire, owner of the dallas mavericks and he's here and what he had to say to reporters walking around in the spin room, he was mobbed by the reporters. what he had to say was interesting. here is mark cuban. [inaudible] >> too much time dealing with security and i'm not here to cause a scene and jump up and down. [laughter] >> donald would do that on its own. he doesn't need any help from anybody else. he's a big boy, you know, sometimes and he will say what he's going the say. connell: you heard him there.

he been getting the threats and that kind of thing he says. he's not here to make a scene, but he is here and some of the other guests 9/11 survivor, domestic abuse survivor, people like that. as for trump, his list is quite interesting, no gennifer flowers. you have people like mark guise, benghazi survivor. karen vaughn gold star mom. you have military support from a couple of generals, flynn. all of those people, niel are on the list. what does all of that mean? is there a point in the debate tonight where one of the candidates makes reference to one of the people in the audience and maybe then the

guests become strategist. neil: the light is so bright in there and we were looking at everything from the stage. you really can't see those people who are going to be finding their seats even the first row, you have a hard time making it out. the idea of psyching someone out by presence, governor chris christie of new jersey and a whole host of others, whose who for each side. it's hard to see them once you're up there. connell: that's a good point. it's not like the state of the union address where they are up in the balcony and want to make a point of someone who is in the story and bring it to light but if you can't see the person, you're right, maybe they won't be able to do it. the thought of benghazi survivor as mr. trump we wanted to make reference to that story and has a personal way of doing it even if you can't see the gentleman involved, does he make reference to that person in the audience? maybe if he does he's more

powerful, i don't know. neil: is it me or remind you of a broadway show. i think you have my seat. i think you will have to move down a seat. we will see what happens there. we have former governor bill richardson, former secretary of energy and among other things. he also ran for president. governor, very good to have you. >> nice to be with you, niel. neil: does it make a difference who is in the audience? this is the first time i can remember, governor, where maybe because of presence of mark cuban and supposedly meant to psych out donald trump that we haven't paid attention to it n. the past, you note family members, spouses, kids that sort of thing but it's gotten more scrutiny that i can recall. >> well, it's, you know, it's part of the whole package of this very important debate. the first one is the one that everybody remembers, the second and third not so much. this is -- neil: you're right.

>> you want to strike your best stuff out there and supporters. i wouldn't be surprised if some of the audience participants are pointed out by the candidates, you know, to make their point, but this is probably the most anticipated, most important debate that's ever taken place at least in the last four presidential elections. neil: maybe more, you're right about that. you know, expectations are vythr bowl and turns out to be a blowout or really doesn't get much of the fanfare that it would -- ahead of time and i'm wondering as i see governor christie and others here, and mark cuban is inside there, they can't shout, designated times, three times for applause. does the crowd play a role in the debate, in any debates?

did the crowd psych you out, bump you out, what? >> no, the crowd doesn't play much of a role. you're really talking. this is going to be the most watched debate probably in history. i think this is the first time that undecided voters, that independent voters are really going to make the start of their decisions on who they're going to vote for so i think what one of the things you mentioned earlier with one of your guests about national security, i do agree that that's going to be a critical issue national security, but i think hillary is going to be on the offensive there on this russian issue. you know, vladimir putin, the relationship between putin and trump, the ties between trump's people and some of the russians, the hacking of the democratic national committee, i think trump has to be on the defensive on that. how is he going to answer that? neil: well, you know, you raise a good point but by the same

tone he's going to mention the increase terror attacks, well, if you're doing such a fine job of keeping us way, it's a funny way of showing it. i'm wondering from your vantage point as well, you say the first debate is going to be crucial. he can made up, barack obama didn't do good in the first debate. this can be done in ultimate debates, right? >> well, yeah, although i think, niel, obama had a bad second debate. i think he was good the first one and then in the third he was good, you're right. neil: he was bad the first one and got better in the second, right? the president. >> the point -- the point here is, i think, hillary looks presidential, commander in

chief, working families, she's a superb debater, i mean, none of us came close to her in the primaries. i don't think anyby came close in the primaries with bernie sanders. trump is also a good debater. he's a showman, you're going to have the statesman versus the showman and it'll be interesting who the american people connect with more. neil: that's trivializing donald trump. he's gotten pretty far. >> no question. he's gotten very far because he's been a candidate that is a realty star. she's a showman. he brought something new into the debates. he defeated 17 other republican candidates. substance is what the voters are going to look at, who has the most substance. i think hillary is going to roll very big.

i think she's going to score a knockout. neil: we will see. i'm shocked that your candidate appears to be hillary clinton but we will watch very closely, always a pleasure. >> thank you. neil: all right, in the meantime there's this group here. remember the never trumpers, in way in heck we will support, many of them in republican party. fewer of them now. this crowd, what are they doing? what will they be watching? how do you think they will be leaning? this debate can go a long way toward deciding just that. we are in hempstead, new york, god forbid they assign same seat to multiple people

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. neil: you know, as you can see, the crowd's arriving, that is sheldon adelson next to rudy giuliani and his wife. a sense of the crowd on each side. each will get a few hundred of their closest friends and political confidants and the other third of the ticket go to student volunteers and to those who participated here at hofstra, a lottery, better than 7500 participate to get in that, i think about 250 to 300 seats, and even that might be generous, it could be as few as 150 seats. the rest going to the student volunteers. it's the luck of the draw tonight and in another half hour, they're all going to witness history. this next fellow is a remarkable individual because you may not know chris collins

at the drop of a hat here, the new york republican congressman caused shockwaves when he was among the earliest, certainly among the leadership and active and prominent players in the republican establishment to say, you know what, i'm for donald trump. now seems like almost everybody in the republican party has glommed over to mr. trump. the fact of the matter is it actually started with this guy from the fine state of new york. congressman chris collins. good to have you. >> yeah, lou, you know, february 24th was seven months ago. neil: that was tidal because it was so unusual that you know, the rank and file, were not too keen on donald trump, and you said we need to shake things up then. do you expect to see that tonight? >> i think we're going tonight see a presidential mr. trump, answering hillary's question of

or suggestion he doesn't have the temperament to be president. that's not a big challenge for mr. trump as we've seen the last month or so with all the speeches he's given. neil: he's avoided the zingers and all, can he do that for 90 minutes on a one-on-one state? >> i think he can. neil: have you advised him to do that? >> well, we all have. neil: really? >> if the zinger comes from hillary, she's going to do her best to trip him up, to take him off his message of change, make america great again. neil: they're going to try to get him slumming so he does something nasty, how would you advise him? >> that won't happen, she may get under his skin suggesting something, and he may slap back a little. he knows tonight is his chance to have the momentum push him to a victory on november 8th. he's not going to waste the opportunity to address 100 million americans as president trump, having the demeanor and the temperament that they're going to say, i don't know what hillary was talking about.

neil: does he have to handle things differently, congressman, because she's a woman or be on guard of the rick lazio type of theatrics, running for senator, lazio came over to her and it was considered over at the time. what do you make of that? what does he have to do? does the gender make a difference? what? >> it will make a slight difference. i think people look at hillary running for president as somebody on equal footing as donald trump, a man. i don't think it's the same thing as when rick lazio invaded her space in 2000. she was the first lady running for senate. neil: look at this shot, if you can, from the vantage point the candidates have, look at the crowd, it's a little deceiving, congressman, the lights can be so bright, hard to make out who's in the crowd. knowing who's there for each side, how important is that, let's say if hillary clinton is trying to have mark cuban there

to psych out donald trump, and donald trump with some of these benghazi key players, they might be there to psych out hillary clinton or make her think. does it have that effect? >> i think they both move beyond that. it's more they're going to have their confidants there. i think it's when they see their friends and their family there, that's more important than someone else like mark cuban being there, he's already said he's going to try to antagonize mr. trump. that's never going to work. it's more important for each of them to have their supporters, if they feel tense and look out and see their friends, that will have a calming effect. neil: it depends if you're getting along with him that night. >> well, this is going to be one that's going to be, i think, the game-changer for the next six weeks, i look forward to it. america's looking forward to it. neil: high expectations on this one. you keep hearing, and the congressman touched on it, the idea the urgent need for donald

trump to stay on message, to avoid snide comments, that's what they say at least. the push is to show the nice donald trump. jerry falwell, jr., how important that is and why he's urging just that. after this.

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with it, i earn unlimited 2% cash back on all of my purchasing. and that unlimited 2% cash back from spark means thousands of dollars each year going back into my business... which adds fuel to my bottom line. what's in your wallet? . neil: all right, moments ago, hillary clinton arriving at hofstra university, her husband, bill clinton was ahead of her here, and was already in the building. hillary clinton arriving just now. donald trump arrived about 20 minutes earlier. so donald trump is here. so now both candidates are here and the stage is set for this historic debate. 22 minutes away. we told you before the last segment about a congressman who broke rank and file and early

on decided to see donald trump as the best of the choices of the republican bunch. all the candidate were still in the race. far more influential especially to the republican base, the conservative base, the religious base was the backing of this gentleman, jerry falwell, jr., liberty university president, at a time when he committed to donald trump, it was influential winning over the so-called religious voters and those who had their doubts about mr. trump. jerry falwell, jr., with us now. good to see you. >> good to be here. neil: you took a lot of heat for that. >> i did. neil: particularly, we were talking about, on social media. why did you do it at the time you did it? >> two things. at that time, mr. trump had been a friend for years, but he was still a new york businessman and he really didn't have a position on many of the political. but two things impressed me, one he was so personable and

loved people so much. anybody and everybody, and he was very smart. so i concluded that if he loves people, all american people, and he's very intelligent and shrewd which i think he is, he'll end up taking the right position on the issues. i took a gamble and i'm proud to say he has come down the right side of just about ever issue. neil: but it surprised me because i think i mentioned in one of your first interviews when you did this that you had ted cruz who had spoken to loyalists and supporters of the university. >> he campaigned at liberty. neil: you launched it, and this is when the race is still early, and you didn't go him, why not? >> i didn't think he could win against hillary. i just thought donald trump was the one that had the charisma and the name recognition, and that's important in today's world. neil: so you are pragmatic as well as looking at the religious aspect?

>> i have to, we're not choosing a pastor in chief, we're choosing a president of the united states. if you have a child that is deathly ill, you want to choose the best doctor whether the doctor shared your faith or not. neil: did that rank at liberty university an exclusive man who might not be as pragmatic? >> not so much at liberty. but evangelicals across the country who are strong cruz reporters, i had to block a lot of folks on twitter. i think once they realized that maybe sometimes you have to be pragmatic. you have to choose the one who has the best chance of winning and who is closest to your views. in 1860, the average american, the only contact they had with the federal government was the post office. we didn't get from there to the strongest government in one fell swoop. it was incremental and not going to fix it in one fell swoop. i believe pragmatism is important and i think it's nothing wrong for a christian

to be pragmatic. neil: what do you think your dad would be saying? >> i think he'd be saying, go trump! [laughter]. neil: thank you, jerry falwell, jr. both candidates are here, they have no excuse, they're here. they're not really that far really from going on that stage. the crowd is about seated. 1100 of them, a lot of lucky students there. the organizers of the debate commission are there. going over the ground rules, asking what's expected, three pauses for applause, no yelling or screaming, and no commercials. 90 minutes, standing up, uninterrupted, and a lot more, after this. this woman owns this house,

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. neil: all right, this is the spin room, you heard a great deal about it, it's gotten very crowded over the course of the last 30 minutes or so. not only the candidates arrived but all of their key principals and backers and their loyalists and their confidants and

friends gather as well, but again, they're in the main theater. the candidates are here in this building. you see kennedy there, so all is right. but all of this comes at a time when it's how they position themselves going into this debate. both have very low expectations going in and the other person is an experienced debater or the hillary clinton thing, the other guy is the entertainer, we can't measure up, and afterwards, they say how incredibly they performed. we have a former national finance coach started out wanting ted cruz, moved to donald trump. very instrumental, i think, she's not going to admit, but very instrumental in getting senator cruz to belatedly but finally support donald trump. good to see you. >> great to see you, neil. >> you were saying something during the break, i don't want to give away confidences, he is

calm and cool. >> everything is well, hillary clinton is in a hotel room prepping, i'm surprised she needs that much prep time. donald has been on the campaign trail. neil: do you worry that's going to hurt him? he's been on the campaign trail too much. richard nixon was on the campaign trail the day of his first debate with jfk. might have hurt him? >> no, not at all. he's done six rallies in battleground states. if anything it's buoying him up. he gets his message to the american people and they give him feedback, and i think that he really thrives on being out with the crowds and hearing what they have to say. neil: one of the toughest groups for donald trump are women, that they either don't like his brash style or just don't understand him. how -- how does he win them over? >> i think he's been winning them over steadily. first of all, hillary really has a strong disapproval

rating, and secondly, i think a lot of women don't trust her, in light of the recent e-mail scandals and the fact that now cheryl mills and four other witnesses have been granted partial immunity, and this is highly irregular. neil: does it bother thought mainstream media by and large ignores that. they look at moderators or anyone who brings that up because it's not as consequential as donald trump's problems? >> well, it is and it isn't, first of all, i think all american women are concerned about feeding their families. they're interested in minimum wage being raised, interested in national security. so i think that those issues resonate well with american women, especially middle america and college educated women, like myself. neil: you got ted cruz to stop huffing and puffing, didn't you? >> well, i did, i mean realistically, he was showing a lack of distrust among his voters, and his donors. neil: yeah.

>> and vulnerable in the 2018 senate races. neil: and to 2020, maybe. >> and maybe 2020 too. neil: mica mosbacher, thank you very much, ten minutes away from a debate that some say will break all records. it's too soon to tell. this much we know. i have never seen a spin room this animated before the event even begins. stick around, you're watching fox business, where we mean business, your money, your life. all in a line, ten minutes from now. you're not a cook, if you don't cook. you're not a firefighter, if you don't fight fires. or a coach, if you don't coach. and you can't be our leader, if you don't lead. our next president needs to take action on social security, or future generations could lose up to $10,000 a year.

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♪ neil: all right. we're looking at the stage right now where the leaders of this presidential debate commission have gone over the brown rules. they took about as long as the debate is supposed to take tonight. 90 minutes to go through that. how they go through who sits in the audience, 1100 seats divide ed three ways between clinton supporters trump supporters and students who participated in a lottery to get to sit on history. i'm joined by trish regan and lou dobbs. they participated to get these seats. >> everyone keeps asking me. i don't know about you, but they

asked, what do you think will happen? what do you think will happen? my answer is absolutely no idea. >> could go so many different ways. neil: bill clinton and melania and shaking hands. bill clinton looking forward to night's debate. millions of americans will see the hillary clinton i have known for over 40 years. donna brazile. of course head of the democratic national committee but finish that point. i apologize. >> no, the idea, to me this is unprecedented. everyone is so anxious so excited to see what is going to happen. there is uncertainty whether you're talking about hillary clinton or donald trump. no one really knows how they are going to play this and how they will interact. that is fascinating potential. neil: trish, i had a guest earlier, this is not about winning over independents. each going back to his or her

base getting them psyched to come on out. >> i don't know. i think the base is there no matter what. she will do a little bit to motivate the base, that's for sure. she has a new commercial out likely should do something to motivate the base. it really hammers donald trump for how he has spoken about women over the years. neil: what about this guy? this buy under enormous pressure, right? should he be correcting errors that he sees? what do you think? >> candy crowley did famously with president obama and mitt romney and she was as wrong as she could be. the suggestion that the moderator, you have been a moderator of these things, moderator has some sort of special elevated knowledge and should be the -- neil: slippery slope. >> it's crazy. i think janet brown who you interviewed i think it was today, she said it exactly right. what in the world are people thinking about? that isn't the role.

the role to elicit and let people decide. neil: i wonder if it is necessarily fair and balanced have the moderator correct mistakes of donald trump's, not so zealous if they're hillary clinton? >> oh, yes. look, we all know that the media has its own buys biases typically to the left. so for the media should expect and lester to be correcting on the fly, i mean that has got to cut both ways and i think that is asking a lot of one person. >> implicitly this fact-necking devolved, they would be fact-checking one candidate and that would be donald trump. therefore you're watching liberal national media carry the water of one candidate and even posing the question. it becomes proboss truss. neil: we learned from the matt lauer experience it doesn't apply to both. he got heat for interrupting hillary clinton but fine interrupting donald trump.

you have to be careful. if you interrupt, interrupt both. if you correct one, correct boat. >> perhaps the answer ask the questions in polite way, meaningful questions. hopefully we'll see from lester here tonight. the candidates should have the opportunity to go at each other. as the moderator you make sure that -- neil: lou, you can say, what do you think what he just said? leave it up to them. >> that is i think a wise course. neil: focused on this, barack obama we remember four years ago had a bad first outperformance but he came back in the next two. noa lohad do th t cay crley ing,ou'r que rit buhow portt ll ts onbe for just trump? >> i think it is very important. primarily this, you may not agree, i think primarily because we see trajectory right now of momentum in these polls.

this could serve to validate that enthusiasm for him that is obviously growing and validate if on the other hand she missteps. validate what is obviously support that is withering away at least at the margin from hillary clinton. so i think it is -- >> again play for independents, right? i think the base is pretty much there. but there are a lot of americans, let's face it, when you look at likability, trustworthiness, et cetera they're look for an excuse or a reason i should say not to vote for her. they think he is too much of a wildcard. if he comes for war tonight and he is pretty straightforward and presidential, then that will give them the satisfaction i think that many are looking for and could tip the favor to him, when it comes to independents. neil: tryout for the biggest job on the planet and people at home feeling comfortable with you in that role.

>> what a job it's going to be because much has to be done by whoever wins. neil: crowd is in its place. lester holt is in his place. pretty soon candidates vying for the biggest and most important job on the planet will be in their place. ♪ announcer: live from hofstra university in new york, this is fox business network's special coverage of the first presidential debate. here is neil cavuto. neil: game on from hofstra university in hempstead, new york. all 1100 seats just about filled there. everyone who is supposed to be here is here. except those that will be going to the podium. the pressure is on to perform tonight and for these candidates the first time a man and a woman shared a stage vying for the presidency of the united states. well it doesn't get more historic than that the numbers you heard well telegraphed this could break a lot of records, at least debate records.

i'm with my friends and colleagues trish regan and lou dobbs. the one to break is the 1980 debate, one and only debate for jimmy carter and ronald reagan. that one had 80 million viewers. i think it is safe to say unless this football game is big, they will do that. >> what football game is what i'm supposed to say? i think you're right. what is at stake here tonight is the future of the country. even though we have records that show that these debates do not influence necessarily the turnout or margin of victory or level of support there is a sense about this one, that this is a special moment in history. that these are special candidates, historic candidates. he, because he is only candidate who has ever not served in public. had a government role, elected role before, and she because obviously she is the first woman

nominee of any major party. it is amazing what's at stake. all of the attention that it's garnered. >> that is such a positive. think about the people engaged in the political process. i don't think we've had an election quite like this. this is all anybody wants to talk about anywhere you go. neil: what is interesting you talk about it, trish, lou is largely right, that they don't move the needle much but at key times they have. jimmy carter, ronald reagan, that race was almost even. reagan did so well up seven points, went on to landslide. one and only debate and days before the election but it dramatically change. by and large to keep the momentum going. >> reagan was painted as a bit of a crazy. got up on the stage in the debate and presented himself in a way that made everybody comfortable. they were hemming and hawing, they got very comfortable with a president reagan that night.

the question is -- neil: usually with the challenger, that is what it is. john kennedy had to prove he was up for that task. ronald reagan famously had to prove -- >> incumbent party initially seems to defining the challenger. the challenger breaks through when you see the incumbent upset. neil: either reinforce the image or not, or not. the crowd we're told limited to three sets of applause throughout the night. >> probably good though, right? it can get a little rowdy. neil: indeed. they all know. >> will they vote on when to applaud? neil: can they call a friend? we'll see. we're five seconds away. this pressure for the candidates is obvious and for lester holt, wow. here we go. moderator: good evening from hofstra university, i'm lester holt, anchor of "nbc nightly news." iii want to welcome you to the

first presidential debate the participant are donald trump and hillary clinton. this debate is sponsored by the commission on presidential debates, a non-partisan, non-profit organization. the commission drafted tonight's format an the rules have been agreed to by the campaigns. the 90-minute debate is divided into six segments, each 15 minutes long. we'll explore three topic areas tonight, achieving prosperity, america's direction, and securing america. at the start of each segment i will ask the same leadoff question to both candidates and they will each have up to two minutes to respond. from that point until thend of the segment we'll have an open discussion. the questions are mine and have not been shared with the commission or the campaigns. the audience here in the room has agreed to remain silent so that we can focus on what the candidate are saying. i will invite you to applau however at this moment as we welcome the candidates. democratic nominee for president of the united states. hillary clinton, and republican nominee for president of the

united states, donald j. trump. [cheers and applause] clinton: how are you, donald? [cheering] trump: good luck to you. [applause] moderator: well i don't expect us to cover all the issues of this campaign tonight, but i remind everyone there are two more presidential debates scheduled. we'll focus on many issues voters tell us are most important. we'll press for specifics. i am honored to have the role but this evening belongs to candidates and just as important to the american people. candidates, we look forward to hearing you articulate your policies and your positions as well as your visions and your values. so, let's begin. we're calling this opening