right here. that is followed immediately by tonight's debate. good night and stay tuned. hi, i'm bill o'reilly reporting tonight from hofstra university, long island, new york, and you can tell it's like the nfl out here, all right. clinton versus trump i think that's what we're doing on the debate stage. that's the subject. 90-minute debate, six 15 minute segments should get under way in about an hour. the three general topics tonight, america's direction, achieving prosperity, securing america. those are very general topics. can happen. you can say anything in those

topic. hillary clinton won the coin toss so lester hole's first question will go to her. the same question will be asked donald trump. each candidate will have two minutes to answer the initial question and the other candidate will have two minutes to respond. it's back and forth. there will be no opening or closing statements. so i like the format. i kind of think that it might take lester holt out of things but if a candidate does not tell the truth, the other candidate, it's up to him or her to call him out because holt really can't interrupt while trump and clinton are speaking. so that's the format here. i predict a bit of chaos with the back and forth and that might be very entertaining. bring it on. hillary clinton does have the advantage this evening. she has done these one on one debates before, most notably with barack obama. mr. trump has had debate experience only with a bunch of other people on the stage. a lot more difficult one on one. hillary clinton is much more versed in policy. she can razzle-dazzle with

figures. donald trump is more of a generalist, big picture guy. when it comes to specifics, you can expect more from hillary clinton on that front. but talking points believes it might not matter very much because demeanor, the way the candidates handle themselves will be what many americans are watching. example it would be unwise for donald trump to make faces as he sometimes did in the republican debates. remember that? also it would be a major mistake for mr. clinton to sound shrill or to call trump names. that would erode her status as a public figure. both candidates have been heavily coached and will come armed with one-liners but think better be cautious. as we saw over the weekend after the clinton campaign invited mark cuban to sweet in the -- sit in the front row, trump responded with an alleged invitation to gennifer flowers. right away, the presidential debate got into the world wrestling federation mode. fortunately, ms. flowers will not be attending this evening.

but the circus is on hold for a moment except for the people in the back and yes, hillary clinton did start that, there's no doubt about it. americans want authoritative problem solvers, not foolish game plays. the demeanor factor is extremely important tonight. in 1960, vice president richard nixon lost the elect because he looked bad at the debate, dower, sweaty, tense. by contrast, john k. kennedy came across as vibrant. >> i think mr. nixon is an effective leader of his party. i hope he would grant me the same. the question before me is which point of view and which party do we want to lead the united states. >> mr. nixon, would you like to comment on that statement. >> i have no comment. >> and that was nixon. although the elect was close, he won the president sphi eight years later, but he should have been won in 1960.

and then there are the one-liners. >> i will not make age an issue of this campaign. i'm not going to exploit for political purposes my opponents youth and inexperience. laugh [ laughter ] >> that witty line turned things around for ronald reagan who lost the first debate to walter mondale but made a comeback in the second thanks to that line. from then, there was no stopping him in 1984. in 1988, there was a vice-presidential debate between dan quail and john ben sewn. i have as much experience as jack kennedy did. >> i serve with jack kennedy. i knew jack kennedy. jack kennedy was a friend of mine. senator, you are no jack kennedy. >> now, that line was not enough

to elect benson's running mate, michael due cast kiss -- dukakis because the governor himself blew it. governor, if kitty dukakis were raped and murdered, would you favor an irrescue cal death penalty for the killer. >> no, i don't. i think you know i've poeps -- opposed the death penalty. >> finally, presidential candidates get their facts wrong in a big debate. they have grot trouble. >> mr. president, i would like to explore our relationship with the russians. our allies in france and italy are now flirting with communism. there is no soviet domination of eastern europe and there never will be under a ford administration. >> that blunder by president ford gave the election to jimmy

carter in 1976. back to tonight, the poll is pretty much a dead heat going into the big show. it's kind of shocking because many pundits believe hirveth would easily roll over donald trump. if mr. trump stands his ground tonight, looks presidential, senator clinton could be in major trouble. i was in colorado over the week and polls there say the race is tied. if colorado goes with trump, he's the next president. same things in states like pennsylvania and wisconsin. on friday, we told you that north carolina will now go to trump because of all the social unrest. social disorder always drives voters to the more authoritarian candidate. what's my prediction? as mr. t. once said in a "rocky" movie, pain. both candidates will be smashed by the opposition. no matter how good donald trump performs, press will say he blew it. no matter how astute hillary clinton may be, those who

dislike her will continue to dislike her. it's not like anybody will be going to disney world after this. that's the memo. top toir, reaction, joining us from washington, charles krauthammer. i'm not making any football predictions, but i'm going to ask for your prediction for the eenk. what do you think is going to happen? >> well, we'll know in two hours. so it's a bit of an odd question, but if i had to bet the house, i would say that the candidate with the lowest bar usually wins unless there's a big gaffe, like the ford gaffe. in the absence of that, i think trump has a better chance of coming out ahead, but i think it's also not likely that this will be a knock-out blow. this is a themi themematic deba. i don't think it's going to hinge on one or two lines. i think what trump has to do is show him sitting in the oval office. you could see him as a

responsible president making decisions that are very serious and dangerous. if he gives that impression and it's all about impression, he's won the debate. that doesn't mean he wins the presidency, but it means he clears the basic hurdle that an outsider has, the kind ronald reagan in 1980 when he showed he was not a crazy dr. strangelove. >> but ronald reagan had a pretty good accomplishment in california. trump doesn't have that. i want to go back that. you said the low bar. what you mean i think is because expectations aren't that high for donald trump, if he exceeds, if he does a little bit better, then he comes out the winner, right? >> yeah. that's exactly right. i'm glad you got it. >> okay. and it isn't easy because i'm dealing with a lot of ambient sound out here. but i'm still right on it, man. i'm still right on it. >> you've also told me that you are a simple man, so i did that

to make it simple. >> yeah, i'm a simple man so nothing really affects me. if you were coaching hillary clinton tonight, opening, she's going to get asked a general question by holt. you got to come out, first impressions mean a lot. you tell her to do what? >> look, i mean, her job, obviously, is to change an impression that has embedded itself in the national consciousness for 30 years and the one she sort of exacerbated, the element of it she's made infinitily worse this year is she's to the open and honest with the emails. when you go back to 2008, when barack obama said of her well, you are likeable enough. if she makes herself likeable enough, she can win this election. it's that people just don't like her. i think she represents in terms

of the political orientation, in terms of her experience, in terms of just people trusting her judgment in a crisis, she's got all the advantages. she has to somehow soften the image. she's got two choices. >> would you call it self-deprecating. >> very important to do something like that and to show yourself to be human. when did she make the comeback in 2008, when she shed a tear in new hampshire. i'm not sure it was a fake tear. it could have been very sincere. she needs to show that she can be liked. people could have her in their living room for four years. there's a way to do it. if she keeps -- if she doesn't shout and she doesn't get angry, i think she's got a good chance of doing something like that. >> all right. but trump may make ter cry. that could happen. anything could happen. i'm going to put forward questions i would ask and then charles is going to try to top

those questions. so stick with that. and later we'll have hume and dr. austin goolsby. factor is coming back from long island. ♪ and these are the lungs. (boy) sorry. (dad) don't worry about it. (vo) at our house, we need things that are built to last. that's why we got a subaru. (avo) love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru.

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flights, and packages. continuing now with charles krauthammer who is in washington. if i'm moderating the debate, i open with this with hillary clinton. i would say madam secretary, 66% of the american people according to a gallup poll feel the country is headed in the wrong direction, hell in a hand basket. barack obama has been leader for eight years. you are going to run your administration pretty much the way he does. how do you reconcile that fact? decent question. >> very good question. i would go and i would do this for the two candidates with a

sort of challenging personality question rather than a fact you'll one. i would say to her, you've been involved in major decisions in foreign policy while you were secretary of state. is there one in particular -- and i would say libya as an example -- where we ended up with dead americans, ended up with chaos, and ended up with establishing branches of isis in libya, would you say that you regret that decision and would you refrain from doing things like that in your administration? >> okay. it's a little general. she might be able to -- my questioning is going to be like micro-questioning. for example, to trump, i will say vladimir putin has done boom, boom, boom, boom. how can you possibly not condemn him? that kind of thing. >> yeah. and i would go differently. i would give him a question something like this. shortly after the convention, you said that there are things

you've said that you regret. name one specifically. >> that's a good one. i like that one. >> and it's short. >> how about this one, to hillary clinton but also donald trump. do you support colin kaepernick disrespecting the national anthem? yes or no and then explain. >> disrespecting is a bit of a tip-off. what i think you ought to say since you and i are in a contest here. you ought to say taking kneeling and not putting his hand over the heart when the flag is shown. i'll give you. that was a b plus. that was fine. >> go ahead. >> let the candidates define the nature of the kaepernick protest rather than the moderator. >> they will but they have to answer -- look, it's obviously disrespectful what he's doing. there's no doubt about it. if they say it season, then they

have got a lot of splainin' to do. trump would answer it in a heartbeat. i would behead him or something. to hillary clinton, she can't say anything bad about kaepernick. why, charles? why can't she? >> it's a tougher one would be do you -- what's your response to the rioting in charlotte, north carolina? we've seen some of the video. it is indecisive. what's your message to the people of charlotte and you know what trump is going to say. he's going to do the law and order thing and with hillary, she's got two constituencies, she's going to have to thread the needle and tread the line. that's going to be quite an interesting question, i think. >> you already got to answer that question and she said all of this has got to stop. what i'm interested in. i'm not trying to put damp water on the debate.

but you got to ask some questions where they have to answer yes or no. that's why the kaepernick question is a killer. because hillary clinton is going to say yes, i support his disrespect of the flag and the national anthem and here's why. no, i don't think it's the right thing to do, maybe there's another way. either way, she's going to tee people off. >> there's another question that would ask. it's kind of out of the box. it's a question about knowledge without being a gotcha question. it's got a lead-in. margaret thatcher comes in office. she ends up in a war in the falkland islands, a place nobody has ever heard and there are more sheep than people. didn't expect it. it defined her prime ministership. george bush comes into office. we get hit by 9/11. the war is the middle east. define his presidency. where in the world do you think there might be a threat lurking

that in your administration would be decisive or defining or very important in your administration? and that will tell you something about how they view the world. >> well, trump would say iran, and then clinton would say north korea, i would assume. >> that's not exactly obscure. what i'm talking about are unexpected events, the falkland islands, do you think the british had any idea they were going to be at war with argentina? no. what you would ask her is where is something lurking we don't know about now and where something might come. >> all right. that's an interesting question. you are much smarter than i am. what would you say? >> what would i say on kaepernick? >> i'll give you one week. >> no, no. on the unexpected attack, i would give you a week to think about it. >> okay. >> who me? what would i say? >> yeah.

>> i would say there's something going on between vietnam and china. that's going to happen because of those dopey islands. we'll be back tomorrow to analyze the debate. next up, dr. goolsby and brit hume and i also appeared on "ellen." we'll talk about that. moments away. thwow, it's nice.ew 2016 chevy malibu. let's check it out. do any of you have kids? i do yes. this car has a feature built in called teen driver technology, which lets parent's see how their teens are driving. oh, that's smart. it even mutes the radio until the seat belt is fastened. will it keep track of how many boys get it in the car? (laughter) cause that could be useful. this is ahead of what my audi has for sure. wish my beamer had that. i didn't even know that technology existed. i'm not in the market for a car but now i may be.

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continuing now about our predebate analysis from hofstra, university. so as a democrat, i'm appointing you, hillary clinton's surrogate tonight and i'm going to ask you some questions. >> oh, boy. >> i know you are an honest question. you are not going to dodge and spin. first question is one i posed to

dr. krauthammer. 66% of american people feel the country is going in the wrong direction. you as hillary clinton have gone along with president obama's policy. you haven't repud yatd one. how do you square that with disenchantment? >> are you asking my opinion? or am i her? >> no, you are her. >> i would say number one, i've outlined my own program that is different and distinct from what president obama has outlined. i want the biggest difference in infrastructure jobs since eisenhower. i want to make education debt-free for millions of americans. president obama did not do that. i think on president obama himself in the right track, wrong track, you have seen in the last two years as the economy has started gaining momentum, those numbers have begun to shift and actually 2/3 of americans say that their own

personal situation is improving. >> well, there's a cultural aspect to this but 66% of people are disenchanted the way the country is going. why do you think they are disenchanted? >> well, i think we had a terrible financial crisis and we've -- >> are you going to go all the way back there? are you going to go all the way back there? all the way back to 2008? you are really going to do that? >> i was going to go back farther. we've had rising inadequately for 40 years you can see why people are frustrated. >> okay. >> now we're going to turn the corner. it's improving. >> colin kaepernick disrespecting the flag and the anthem. do you support not his right to protest, but the way he's doing it? >> what do you mean not his way to protest, the way he's doing it? meaning that he's taking a knee or he's doing it? >> that he's disrespecting the

national anthem. you can protest it in many ways. >> if it were me, i would say, no, i don't agree with what he's doing, when i hear the national anthem, i stand up, i feel a tingle on the back of my neck and i put my hand on my heart. >> that's what you would say as hillary. >> in an environment, where there's violent protest taking place in various parts of the country, i'm glad that somebody feels that they want to object they do it in a peaceful way and we still live in a country where there's freedom of speech and you are allowed to say or think whatever you want. >> are you worried that children are imitating mr. kaepernick and losing respect for their country when they really don't know what the complicated issues are? are you worried about that? >> well, i certainly hope that's not happening. if i were hillary clinton, what i would say is -- >> it is happening. >> the take the american people seriously and i don't think they consider condemnation of either

their objective to the national anthem. i don't think anybody does or should take that kind of thing lightly. >> i'm sure you've seen this happening with the kids. you are a harvard graduate. >> i'm a regular guy. i'm not a pinhead college professor. >> so am i. >> i'll give you that. all right, doctor. thanks for being a good sport tonight. we appreciate it tonight. the factor moves along this evening. brit hume, mary ann marsh, katie pavlich all have thoughts. and o'reilly on the "ellen" program today. how did that ever happen? >> stay tuned for those reports.

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>> hume is on segment tonight, our pal has covered 11 presidential campaigns. pretty much seen it all from u.s. grant right up to the current clinton-trump deal. >> you are bringing up u.s. grant with me? >> because you are so close. you two were so close. >> i make you think of the civil war, is that what it is? >> you are in some other hidden location here. i'm out with the folks. but i want to ask you what i asked krauthammer and goolsby,

you got first shot. you are up and here's hillary clinton, she's got the first question. what do you hit her with right away? >> what on earth does stronger together actually mean? >> she can whale on that, hume. >> i wouldn't -- i don't know. she never has. what answer to that question that you can think of would really advance her cause? my sense about it -- >> bring all americans together and we want to have a big woodstock moment. we were all there. >> bill, that's an empty answer. >> well, are you expecting substance tonight, hume? are you really? >> well, i'm just saying that if you ask somebody a question, the challenge is to them to provide a meaningful answer that will make people look at them and say, yeah, that's the person i want to be president rather than somebody who is just spouting sort of empty cliches.

>> i would go for you didn't know c was classified. are you going to -- really? what do you think it was, cat? >> that's a good question. that's a good question. that was a fair question. >> how about trump? how about trump? >> if i were she, she would say well, i look at that, you often see letters in small lower case in parentheses in bodies of text and they simply mean that you are moving on to another point. it didn't strike me that it meant classified. some people would believe that. >> no. i wouldn't. what about trump? >> i would ask him if he's ever in his life apologized to anybody for anything. >> i'm sure he apologized to his mom or something. >> well, maybe so, but, you know, he's never done it -- he's come out and said -- he once said he regretted something. that was one in this campaign, and i think he was unfairly criticized in that case for -- that not being an apology

because i suppose broadly defined an apology is an expression of regret. it seems peculiar that a man that projects such strength would say that he doesn't apologize, never will apologize, almost never has to our knowledge, to a lot of people who look at somebody who is willing to say they are wrong when they have been wrong. that's associated with strength, not weakness. >> does it? >> trump seems to see it the other way around. >> you know what he would say to you. i want to apologize to o'reilly for telling him he should see a psychiatrist. >> or for ever going on the show, you mean. i don't remember that. i must have missed it. my apologies. >> he was mad at me in detroit. he never apologized, but, he may do that. now, on trump, you got a lot of places you can go because he's made some dubious statements. i don't know if lester holt is going to do that. >> well, you know, look, i don't know what lester holt is going

to do. all i can say is he's the last man on earth i would want to be in tonight. he's in an impossible position. as you saw as a result of what happened to matt lauer, who i thought was very unfairly criticized for his handling of the whole thing and the reps, the clinton camp has been working the reps on lester holt now for a week or month, trying to get them to get him to act as the fact checker on trump. i think they are afraid that trump is going to bury the blizzard of the audience in falsehoods in his favor and it's going to be too much of a job for her to clean up after him for her. my own view of that is less her holt needs to throw out pointed questions. each give the other the chance to answer and stay out of it. on the program i did tonight, bill, i didn't have real agreement with my two broadcast colleagues about that. there's a lot of disagreement in the media about that. it's kind of a major

controversy. >> but the format isn't he can't interrupt? you got two and two. so he's out. box, holt is, for four minutes, before he comes back in with another one. >> well, he can -- he can interrupt, i'm sure, he has the discretion to interrupt if he wants to. the question is how to do that wisely and i think it's extremely difficult because you have to figure, first of all, bill, what kind of a false hootd or misstatement rise ds to the level to be worth of an interrupt that breaks the flow the debate. it seems to me that you are going to be an interventional moderator, that's tough. you got to be careful. you have to be absolutely 100% certain that the assertion you are going to make is correct and we saw what happened to our colleague candy crowley when she undoubtedly unintentionally made a mistake in the romney-obama debate and people are still talking about it. >> right. all right. bret -- brit, thank you very much. when we come back here at

hofstra, o'reilly, ellen, and the debate. don't miss it. next.

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thanks for staying with us. i'm bill o'reilly and a personal

story segment as you may know. i've been doing some entertainment television in support of my new book, killing the rising sun. today, i appeared with ellen. >> whoever is going to win is -- there's going to be a lot of anger and a lot of hatred. don't you think it's worse than it's ever been and can you see a way to change that? >> you know, we have a big debate tonight. >> yeah. >> and i expect there's not -- trump and clinton are not going to be as nice -- as nasty as people think. i think they are going to be more measured. trump is a wild card guy. he can say and do anything. it would work in the primary debate and he will go, you are boring and that's it. hillary clinton is a little bit different. she's more measured and more policy oriented but if she goes after him, anything could happen because he's not going to take that. he's going to come back. joining us now to react,

katie pavlich here with us on long island. from washington, mary ann marsh. so first of all, mary ann, everybody, you know, even in l.a., even in l.a., it's all they are talking about is the presidential debate but i think it might be overhyped. what do you think? >> it's impossible to overhype this debate. over 100 million people are going to watch it. and the first 15 minutes could determine the rest of this election. don't under estimate this debate and the either candidates and what it means for the rest of this election. it could decide it tonight. >> if you were lester, what would the first question be that you ask trump? >> why do you want to be president of the united states? it's the most important question and simple question and revealing question. you want to hear from someone from the bottom of their heart. why do you want to do this job. it's the question that ended ted kennedy's ambition when roger mudd asked it.

i would like to hear that question asked of both these candidates. i think it will tell you everything about them, why they are doing this and what kind of president they would be. >> he's going to say i want to make america great again. what would you -- >> that's not the answer. >> right out of the box. >> i would ask hillary clinton how she plans -- if she wins the presidency, to represent those americans which -- there are a lot of them -- who believe she's above the law and there's a different legal standard for her than there is for them. she has that problem. i think tonight hillary clinton is at a disadvantage in the sense that she's been in the beltway for 30 years but donald trump is new. he's on the outside, but first impressions are everything, and so he's got to be presidential. >> we both agree they have to get out of the box strong. i would ask donald trump -- i wouldn't ask him why he wants to be president because i know he would -- i know what he would say. i want to make america great. we've done downhill. we're all divided. i would say to mr. trump why,

really, really, won't you release your tax returns? because americans want to know how you conduct business. now, that's a really tough one right out of the box, is it not? tough? >> no, i agree. >> right out of the box. >> what do you think, mary ann? >> i think it's the right question but you could go one step further and then say where's the letter from the irs that says you are under audit. he hasn't answered that. >> then you are questioning his honesty. >> yeah. >> for hillary clinton, i would open up with -- madam secretary, isis was created by president obama's mistake withdrawing troopds, u.s. troops from iraq. all right. would you agree with that? yes or no. that's where i'm going on her. she was secretary of state when that happened. you are both so awed by my wisdom that nobody is commenting. >> look at the position she was in.

she was secretary of state. she may have disagreed with the president. she's not going to admit that because she's not going to betray that confidence. >> agree to disagree. >> she betrayed the country but not the confidence. >> one of the main issues tonight is america's security and hillary clinton is going to have a very hard time walking the line of supporting her work under president obama which as trump would say is a disaster while also promoting her own plan moving forward. >> it depends on how astute trump is. because remember it's not lester throws a question out but then the candidates get to question each other. >> right. i think that's an important point. >> he's got to be on it. >> trump didn't do any mock prep, that's fine, i would hope that his team sat him down to study some of the intricacies of the middle east and the foreign policy issues we face. hillary clinton is going to have details talk about. he can't have a gary johnson what is aleppo moment tonight.

>> i don't know if he will have that. i don't know if he's going to give you a lot of micro. thanks very much. we appreciate it. we're in early. we had to set this debate up and the debate is going to begin in about 20 minutes and on tomorrow's factor, of course, we'll tell you exactly who won and who lost and why. all right. so -- we got a great line. we're going to bring krauthammer back. a whole bunch of other people you are going to want hear from. the factor tomorrow and i'm not saying this with any hyperbole, could be the most interesting factor of the year. i'll be tweeting during the debate just to annoy everyone. i'm going to tweet during the debate. you want to see that, @o'reilly factor. as always, we thank you for watching the factor. it's nice for me to do it. i'm bill o'reilly reporting from my home ground, long island. please always remember that the

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>> she's really unfit for office. >> donald trump versus hillary clinton, round one. >> hillary clinton can never be trusted with national skuft. >> if donald trump make america great he should actually start making things in america again. >> tonight the republican and democratic nominees going head to head. will trump show he has the temperament for the oval office? will clinton make the case to be the first woman to win the white house? the first debate is set to begin

just minutes from now. you are looking live, hofstra university in hempstead, new york, and we're just moments away from what is the most anticipated event in this unprecedent campaign. donald trump and hillary clinton face-to-face on stage together for the first time. good evening. i'm bret baier. >> hi, everyone. i'm megyn kelly. tonight the candidates will m e match up in the first of three debates, 90-minute face-off with no commercials and their tone could set the tone for this race. >> right now, 1,100 people, a third of them students and then they have two campaigns. we just heard from the debate commission and they said to this audience you have to be quiet. this is not a primary debate

audience. there's no clapping. there's no booing. this is essentially a library that you -- and it's a pretty cold library it's freezing in here it's 67. >> it feels colder than that. in a moment we're going have to turn on our golf voices and it will feel church-like as the candidates come out. behind us on the stage donald trump will be on the left side, hillary clinton will be on the right side. they have lecterns that have been adjusted appropriately for their heights. we just saw them come in, hillary clinton wearing all red. donald trump, blue tie, right? >> i think so. did not see the tie as he walked in. but hillary clinton's lectern is a little lower, smaller and it looks proportional when the camera takers take the angle. this is all mapped out. we're going to bring in our panel right now. >> okay, brit. thoughts. >> well, i was just thinking about this. it's a difficult position to be in with this much pressure.

there's pressure on everybody to include the moderator, perhaps, most of all, and my guess is that these candidates will probably be trying to stick to their own knitting to present to the audience the image of themselves that they want the audience to see, and i'm not how sure how much time or effort or energy either of them is going to devote to tripping up the other. maybe it will be targets of opportunities they will look for and try and spot and seize but it's a risky thing do and my guess is both of them will be concentrating on a message twhanlt to present to the american people and the manner in which they present it. >> dana perino, your thoughts. >> well, a lot of talk has been about the tone that both candidates should take, what kind of -- donald trump will come and will hillary clinton appear likeable. the more i think about it, i think donald trump has to go on the offense. he has to prosecute the case against obama and clinton because if he doesn't, no one else will. can he do that while looking

presidential? tougher to do but that will be important for him. for her, i think she's got to punch back. when he goes after her, she's got to figure out a way to punch back. in the primaries, in the republican primary, those who didn't punch back, did not move forward. that's going to be what she has to do as well as prove she's someone that will be likeable in your living room for the next four years. >> juan williams. >> historically the last six presidential races the candidate leading going into the debate also won the election. well, tonight we have a race that is basically tied and that means with donald trump as an x factor, given his tv experience and bomb bath, he's going have a huge audience and we don't know exactly what this debate might be. a lod of the attention during the debate and afterward on their physical behavior, sighs, looking at watches, anything

like that. >> former president bill clinton and melania trump being introduced here in the debate hall. >> as you can see, the trump family line up behind melania. we're told chelsea clinton will be here tonight as well with her husband. you see donald trump's son, daughter tiffany, daughter-in-law all there to support their candidate tonight. >> you see donna brazile, the dnc chair. and janet brown, the executive director of the debate commission speaking here in the hall. juan, i interrupted. sorry about that. >> not at all. i think it's very important how these two physic lynn ter act is critical. remember, first woman on this kind of stage in our nation's history, so how donald trump deals with that and how she deals with the alpha male behavior that donald trump has exhibited in the past in debates, critical. at home, each speaking to a

specific audience. hillary clinton wanted to get that vote. and donald trump having concerns that he can be president and behave in a presidential manner. >> and we're listening to lester holt introduce himself to the audience and talking about his neeg buckling from nerves. 's just honesty. no matter how many times you have done this, it's got to make you nervous. >> i know the public would appreciate it. 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 aisle given you a one-minute warni warning. >> there will be awkward moments of silence. we've played the game at the debate table when you're talking to the crowd. chris, your thoughts. >> the beginning of this debate just moments away. >> you know, the business about how quiet it is going to be in

that hall is a big deal especially for donald trump who likes to feed all of his rallies, right? when he has those big ten,000 people in a hall, fire them up, hooting and hollering. he feeds off that. and his energy derideds from that. it may be tough for donald trump to keep his attitude high. for hillary clinton, she has a different challenge. she's got to explain why she's here. what's the point of this candidacy. she thought for a long time it would be enough for her candidacy to stop donald trump from being president but as trump has sort of normalized and republicans are coming on donald trump, then hillary clinton has a less powerful argument. tonight she's got to say that there's a reason to vote for her beyond not just beating donald trump. >> we should point out it's come to the time when the polls have tightened around the country, that eight out of ten polls in the past few days have gone

donald trump's way. they have tightened in both the states and the national polls, but the clinton folks still feel confident that they have the path. >> well, she has an electoral college map that favors her but he has the momentum. to say it's tied is accurate but not the full picture. a month ago she was 10 points, 11 points ahead of him. now he's up over her by one. pennsylvania, a two-point race there. states that were considered part of her blue firewall are starting to turn at minimum purple and starting to look more and more red. >> we're in the golf voice. the main event just seconds away here on fox news channel. ♪ [grunting] ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ [engine revving] i don't think so. ♪

the first presidential debate of 2016 is here. the candidates are waiting backstage and it's go time. donald trump and hillary clinton will square off just moments from now. good evening, everyone. i'm megyn kelly. >> and i'm bret baier. tonight the debate will last 90 minutes without any breaks, each candidate hoping to make their case with the white house and gain new momentum as we get closer and closer to election day. the reason we're talking a little softly is because the 1,100 people in this debate hall have been told not to interrupt, not to clap, not to really be a part of this d