♪ ♪ tonight, the face-to-face debate, no holds barred. >> everybody knows he's a liar. >> you're the liar. >> i just want to make sure -- >> last in your class, not first in your class. >> donald trump and joe biden clashing, from covid-19 to jobs to race. >> are you willing tonight to condemn white supremacists. >> non-stop bickering on the issues, as well's personal insults. >> you a're the worst president america's ever had. >> who came out on top? our political team ready to break it down. this special edition of "nightline" starts right now. >> good evening. thank you for joining us. the first high-stakes presidential showdown, throwing

jabs and talking over each other, slinging insults on both sides. so how did donald trump and joe biden do? we go to jonathan karl. >> this debate was a total mess. from the president you had very little offered in the way of a coherent vision of what he would do over the next four years. a lot of bullying, serial interrupti interrupting of the moderator. from the vice president a litany of insults at the president. a clown, a racist, pupity, puppet. this was not uplifting in any way. very little by way of substance. much more heavy on insults. you could argue neither man won the debate. and in it ththat sense, the rea loser was donald trump. he needed to change the dynamic, the trajectory of the race and

it's hard to see that anything he did in this debate will do that. >> more on that contentious matchup, here's janai dmnorman. are your if y . >> reporter: if you were a voter who wanted to hear what the candidates had to say on the issues, that would be hard, they constantly interrupted each other. >> everybody knows he's a liar. >> but you agree, you're the liar. >> i want to make sure -- >> you graduated last in your class, not first in your class. >> because you were president screwing things up. you're the worst president america's ever had. >> reporter: with polls showing the president trailing in most battleground states, he came out swinging. >> you could never have done the job we did. you don't have it in your blood. >> if i may ask my question, sir. >> reporter: moderator chris wallace, tasked with trying to

contain the melee. >> i'm the moderator of the debate. >> i guess i'm debating you rather than him. >> it's hard to get any word in with this clown. >> the country would be better served if we could allow both people to speak with fewer interruptions. >> reporter: days after the bombshell reporting that the president had only paid $750 in income taxes. >> will you tell us how much you paid in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017? >> millions of dollars. >> you paid millions of dollars. yes. millions of dollars, and you'll get to see it. >> when? >> reporter: stark differences between the two candidates rala bear on the covid-19 pandemic, an issue on which the country doesn't think the president has handled well. >> when he was presented with the number, he said it is what it is. it is what it is, because you are who you are. that's why it is.

the president has no plan. >> we've done a great job. the only thing i haven't done a good job, and that's because of the fake news. no matter what you say to them, they give you bad press on it. it's fake news. they give you good press, they give me bad press, that's the way it is unfortunately. i don't care. i've gotten used to it. >> this is the same man who told you by easter this would be gone away. by the warm weather it'd be gone. miraculous, like a miracle. by the way, you could maybe inject bleach in your arm and that would take care of it. >> reporter: some of the most contentious moments came during moments about racial justice and policing. >> this is a president who's done everything as a dog whistle to generate racist division. you talk were helping african-americans, one in one thousand african-americans has been killed because of the coronavirus. >> you have repeatedly criticized the vice president

for not specifically calling out antifa and other left wing extremist groups. >> that's right. >> but are you willing tonight to condemn white supremacists and militia groups. >> sure. >> and say that they need to stand down and not add to the violence in these cities as we've seen in kenosha and -- >> sure, i'm willing to do that. i would say almost everything i see is from the left wing, not from the right wing. >> what are you saying? >> i'm willing to do anything, i'm willing to see peace. >> say it. do did. >> you want to call them, what do you want to call them? >> white supreme iltacists. >> proud boys. >> stand back and stand by, but i tell you what. somebody's got to do something about ante pa aifa and the left. this is not a right wing problem. this is a left wing problem. >> antifa's an idea, not an

organization. >> oh, you got to be kidding. >> reporter: the president making his case for why voters should choose him. >> the job that we've done, and i'll tell you something. some people sea maybe the most important. bit end of the first team, i'll have approximately 300 federal judges and court of appeals judges. 300, and hopefully three great supreme court judges. justices. that is a record, the likes of which very few people. and you know one of the reasons i'll have so many judges? because president obama and him left me 128 judges to fill. >> under this president we've become weaker, sicker, poorer, more divided and more violent. when i was vice president, we inherited a recession. i was asked to fix it. i did. we left him a blooming economy and he caused the recession. with regard to being weaker, the fact is that i've gone head to head with putin and made it clear to him we're not going to

take any of his stuff. he's putin's puppy. he still refuses to say anything to putin about the bounty on the heads of american soldiers. >> reporter: the former vice president pledging to abide by the voters' choice. >> his own homeland security director and fbi director says there's no evidence at all that mail-in ballots are the source of being manipulated and cheating. they said that. this is all about trying to dissuade people from voting, because he's trying to scare people into thinking that it's not going to be legitimate. >> reporter: while the president continued his unfounded claims that the election will not be fair. >> as far as the balance rots are concerned, it's a disaster. there's fraud. they found them in creeks. they found some with the name trump the other day in a wastepaper basket. this is going to be a fraud like you've never seen. it's a rigged election. >> millions of mail-in ballots have gone out. what are you going to do about it? and are you counting on the

supreme court including a justice barrett to settle any dissn d dispute? >> reporter: we asked rick klein to fact check some of the biggest moments. >> president trump claimed we are weeks away from a vaccine for covid-19. that is just not the case. experts in his own administration and the drug industry are estimating it will be at least mid 2021 before a vaccine is widely available to the public. vice president biden said there are 100 million americans who have preexisting conditions and could lose their health care. it's correct, there are several estimates that there are third of americans who have preexisting conditions, although those in danger of losing their coverage is half that at most. the president said that problems with mail-in voting are so vast he won't be able to trust the result. that is beyond alarmist.

there's been no widespread problems. there are a lot more states doing mail-in voting but no evidence that any of that will contribute to any questioning of the election's integrity itself. >> reporter: more than a million americans have already cast their ballots, with enthusiasm close on both sides, how many minds were changed tonight? >> our thanks to janai. coming up, linsey davis breaks down on the highlights with our powerhouse political team. ♪ not much, how about you? are you answering my text in person? i am, yeah. lol come on in. this is tech that helps you be there. the nissan altima now offering the most tech-advanced engine in its class

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"nightline," trump versus biden continues. here now, linsey davis. >> welcome back. many people coming away feeling disappointed with tonight's debate. it was a contentious battle. frustration, interruptions and a lot of low blows. here to break it down is our powerhouse, chris emmanuel. it was raw, it was contentious.

is this what was planned, and did this work ultimately for the president? >> it was not always planned. it was hotter than it was planned to be. i think that the advice was for the president to be aggressive, but it was hotter than it was planned to be. so, in that respect to answer that question, no. did it help the president? listen, i think we're going to have to see as time goes on. these people get different perspectives on things as they move a day or two away from this. i don't know what the perspective will be. as i said earlier tonight, i think the problems that the president had tonight can potentially be fixed, you know, potentially, you can turn that heat down a little bit. >> and rahm, question to you, president trump of course has been attacking joe biden for months, but this was the first time -- >> you noticed. >> they were face-to-face actually in the same arena, because it was really so combative. how did you think that joe biden fared? >> your question has the answer.

you know, if you're e you're e y difficueffective as a leader, you have to have a toolbox. people are exhausted by donald trump and nothing tonight changed their feeling of of of f ex-as y exhaustion. people look to joe biden. and it's very hard to be steady. that said, he had steady moments. and he also smiled. at no time did either trump smile, look at the camera, talk to the american people about their lives, their future. therefore, i think trump lost this debate, because he lost be being who he is, donald trump. >> the "new york times" reported that trump paid $750 in federal taxes in 2017 and 2016. but trump flat out denied it, saying he's paid millions in

taxes, do you think americans believed that, and how much does it matter? >> dit's such a small portion, don't know what you remember. i think people take away the food fight, the tenor and tone. he needed to go out and make this a choice. he had moments where he did this in the debate, but then it devolved again. it's a status quo situation, the debate, which means he didn't get ahead, which is what he needed to do. >> yeah vivette, coronavirus was issue, do you think joe biden's attacks on the president and his handling landed and were they effective? >> i think they did. donald trump has continued to

try to blame this on china. he tried to say that there would have been more death if joe biden was president. nobody believes that. i mean the reality is, joe biden has provided real solutions about things we can do now to prevent future deaths. if we just require everyone to wear a mask, guess what, we cut that in maf. donald trump had no rebuttal to that. what i loved that joe biden did is how this affects african-americans. he did that in rebuttal that he's the best president african-americans have ever had. he said you care so much about african-americans, they're being hurt disproportionately by this virus and you've done nothing to remedy that. >> governor christy, h christy,h sure, i'll do it, what do you want me to say exactly, and all he said was say stand back and stand by. some might perceive it as a call

to action. why does he have a difficult time? why not condemn white supremacists? >> he said it up top yes i will. and he said it all the way back at charlottesville, and his full statement at charlottesville, he said i denounce white supremacists and nene the heat was so high. they were both yelling, trump was yelling, biden was yelling, chris wallace was yelling twrieing to gtwrirying to get in between them. i didn't hear exactly what he said. i've heard him say this before. so i don't think he has a problem saying it, and he said it up at the top, sure i will. that was a little bit of trump sarcasm, too. i've talked to him about this. he feels like he has denounced it a number of times, and when he said yes, sure i will, what

exactly do you want moo to me to say, he feels frustrated, he has said a number of times that he denounces white supremacists and neo-nazis. i think that was him saying to wallace, tell me exactly what you want me to say to put this to rest. >> the fear of white supremacy, the fear of what's happening in our country as it relates to black people has fueled the largest global civil rights movement of our time, and he can't say, he knows exactly who he's talking to. and i do think that proud boys moment, which many people in my connection say, did you hear that? that stokes fear in the hearts of so many people, the idea that you're saying "stand by"? for what? we know that those individuals take to heart what he said, that has fueled a lot of shootings that have happened. he knows that his words matter, and that should stoke fear in the hearts of not just black americans but all americans.

>> thanks so much, the round table. that is it for us tonight. byron? >> we'll be right back with reactions from voters. it's hard. eliminate who you are not first, and you're going to find yourself where you need to be. ♪ the race is never over. the journey has no port. the adventure never ends, because we are always on the way. ♪ ♪ shh! i took mucinex dm for mye phlegmy cough. what about rob's dry cough? works on that too, and lasts 12 hours. 12 hours?! who studies that long? mucinex dm relieves wet and dry coughs. stop struggling to clean tough messes with sprays. try clean freak! it has three times the cleaning power to dissolve kitchen grease on contact. it works great on bathtubs.

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and now, some post-debate reactions from voters across america. >> i thought joe biden was calm, cool and collected while trying to debate a giant toddler, and that's an insult to toddlers. i watched it with my mom. she said her blood pressure was rising. >> i intend to vote for president trump, because i believe that, you know, he has a strength that i don't see in the joe biden in the last 47 years. trump has got an exuberant personality. oftentimes it's caustic. but at the same time, he is getting the things done. >> i have not seen president trump be a leader, and i want to see the next four years, because i have children, and my son, i don't want to see the same cycle repeating over and over. that's what i'm hoping for the next four years. a change must come, and a change will come.

>> voices of voters. finally tonight, in regard to a neofascist organization that promotes and engages in political violence, the president of the united states said, and i quote, stand back and stand by. it was a late maya angelou who said, when people show you who they are, believe them. that's "nightline" for this evening. thanks for the company, america. goodnight. ...this one's for you. you inspired us to make your humira experience even better... with humira citrate-free. it has the same effectiveness you know and trust, but we removed the citrate buffers, there's less liquid, and a thinner needle... with less pain immediately following injection. ask your doctor about humira citrate-free. and you can use your co-pay card to pay as little as $5 a month. humira can lower your ability to fight infections.