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politics, the first presidential debate. >> good evening, just two hours from now at hofstra university on new york's long island, a debate like no other in the modern political era. two candidate s like no other pair, including one who is debating a sole opponent in the same room for the first time ever. there are predictions tonight's telecast could be one of the wildly watched television events of any kind in history, during this extraordinary, all bets are off political year, this is the event people have been waiting for. 43 days from now, americans will go to the polls to choose the next president of the united states. and what happens tonight, what we witness on live television tonight could be a major component in that vote. we are here for all of it and headquarters in new york, brian williams, along with rachel maddow, and our team, our veteran chris matthews, on-site at hofstra, our entire team is here. and rachel, i've heard it said,

tonight is about the plausibility of donald trump. >> it's always about the plausibility of the challenger when there is an incumbent. hillary clinton, if you squint, seems like an incumbent, but in this case, it's an open seat. and so, i mean, yes, everybody makes a big deal out of the first debate every time around. but this is different. the stakes do feel higher. i mean, number one, biggest picture view, we've never had a woman in a presidential debate before. we've also never had a major party candidate in a presidential debate who has no political record, no record of public service, no record of military service, whatsoever. we've never dish mean, we've never seen hillary clinton and donald trump together. we've never seen donald trump debate a single opponent, as you mentioned, in your lead-in there. there's a lot that we haven't seen tonight, but because of the unusual nature of this pairing, i think, because of donald trump's unpredictability, we've

got yet another wild card in this, which is that somewhere between 80 million and 100 million americans will watch this. we could have a super bowl-sized audience tonight, which is something we've never had before in any presidential debate, and we don't know what it means to have a third of the country watching a presidential debate, regardless of what happens in that debate. this is all uncharted territory. >> it means there are executive at monday night football going -- >> donald trump arrived at hofstra on long island not too long ago. without tie, more of a walk-through kind of thing. thumbs up, walk through, that is. came in the back entrance with secret service, was inside for a short time, got back in the suv within and went back to whatever home or hotel their holding area has been. chris matthews, as we said, our veteran in washington, is going to be a big part of this. only tonight, he is our veteran

on the campus of hofstra. chris, good evening to you. >> yeah, hi, brian and rachel. rachel said it right. the audience could be 80 to 100 million people. and that means the people that normally watch programs like ours, maybe 5 million to 10 million people on an irregular basis. but we think maybe eight times that number of people, who have varying degrees of lesser interests. so they're going to be getting full exposure. and guess what, we, who watch this all the time, will see something we've never seen before. as rachel suggested again. the dynamic of them looking at each other from a few feet away, knowing that one is in the way of them becoming president. that person they're looking at is the only reason they're not going to be president. and so this is real chemistry here. and we have never, ever seen it before, guys. anything like these two are facing each other. >> yeah, i believe the measured distance between podiums is 12 feet, 3 inches. which sounds like a lot, but try it in intimate circumstances, especially with two people larger than life, one of them

physically larger by a fair piece than the other, thus the different height of the podiums, and it feels quite close. to the spin room we go. so named, a quaint title from another era, where there used to be adults where after a debate would go face the cameras and reporters, reporting for things called newspapers and tell them who they thought won the debate. well, these days, the verdict is usually on social media, that ricochets around the nation and the world, early on in the debate. but the spin room lives on. kristen welker covers the clinton campaign. kristen, what to expect? >> reporter: brian, we just got a little bit of early spin here in the spin room, just underscoring how unique this evening is. mark cuban, billionaire businessman, reality tv star, clinton supporter, who set off a firestorm this weekend, just walked through. just a background for our viewers, in case they don't remember. he sent out a tweet essentially

saying to donald trump, he's going to be sitting in the front row, baiting him, if you will. that trumped donald trump to threaten to bring jennifer flowers, someone who had a brief affair with bill clinton, if you ask bill clinton, but according to her, it stretched on much longer. she is not here, but mark cuban is here. so we got the chance to ask him about this exchange. i asked him if he regretted his tweet. he said, absolutelynot. he said he's also not here to start anything or to bait donald trump. take a look at what he had to say. >> i'm not here to cause a scene, right? i'm not here to jump up and down. donald will do that on his own. he doesn't need any help from anybody else. he's kind of a big boy, you know, sometimes. and he'll say what he's going to say. so i'm not here to cause a scene, i'm not here to make faces, i'm not here to stare him in the eyes, i haven't practiced the stink eye, i don't have a

little dance move, i don't have anything like that. he's good enough at that on his own. >> just gives you a sense of the unusual optics here tonight, brian and rachel, and governor mike pence just walked behind me, as i was starting this live shot. we'll be talking to him in a little bit. secretary clinton, as i covered the clinton campaign, i can tell you she has been preparing for tonight. she has been holding mock debates. she was preparing as late as today. she had a donald trump stand-in, former top aide from the state department named the phillippe ryan. he is someone who is good at throwing a sharp barb. she's preparing for two donald trumps, who who will be on the attack, and one who will be a little bit more restrained. and top aides say they think they'll get the donald trump who's a little more restrained. >> you're missing all the action by talking to us. you just missed begala who's eating something, who walked by you. and our favorite quote of the night, i'm not here to cause a scene, said mark cuban, to 20 cameras surrounding mark cuban. over to katy tur who's

surrounding the trump side of things. katy? >> reporter: hey, brian. i was jus talking to a campaign aide a moment ago, and he was giving me spin, as you will, saying all this hype about donald trump not being able to control himself, being wild, is overblown. that he knows he needs to come off as presidential in this debate, and that's exactly what he's going to do. he understands the narrative. and the narrative is not going to be good for him if he goes on the attack against hillary clinton unnecessarily. that being said, brian, i've heard that before. >> katy tur at hofstra with what passes for advanced spin from the trump. >> spin is supposed to be after. spin is so unavoidable at this point, they are spinning their candidates' performance befores the, which is absurd. but, i mean, as we were saying, this is such a big deal, that it's hard for there not to be a lot of speculation. the cure to just the speculation, though, is the numbers. and we've got some new numbers, courtesy of chuck todd, who's going to explain to us this new

latest nbc survey. chuck, what have we got? >> well, it's our nbc news survey monkey weekly tracking poll. this is online for those that are different methodology, this is one that's conducted online. methodologically sound. we studied it for over a year, before we went public with it. and it has matched our gold standard nbc/"wall street journal" poll. last week it showed five and so did our nbc/"wall street journal" poll. the new one, we still have a five-point lead for hillary clinton, 45-40. now, we have other polls that have been out there today, rachel, for what it's worth, that have shown a tighter race. look, everybody is going to have their spin on how to weight a poll, but some of those polls felt like they were headline generators, plain and simple. because when you looked inside it, it showed an instability in this race that actually went seen. all of that said, this 45-40 number tonight, while it may seem stable, i will say this, i do think there is more fluidity in this electorate, because after tonight, you'll have, i

think, the johnson and jillstein voters who will look at tonight more as a binary choice and at some point they need to move off the fence. history says that is what happens to third party candidates. once you see that first debate and voters realize, there's only two that have a shot, those votes start melting away into the major party candidates. and to me, that's how we could see movement. history says no real movement after the first debate. that wherefore the race is before is usually where it is after. maybe one or two points on either side. i think there is some fluidity, because of the gary johnson/jill stein factor. one in seven voters are sitting there right now. after tonight, they're going to start moving. which way do they move? that will create some mooucveme in my opinion. >> and there any way to tell which way those voters are likely to move? it's hard to imagine jill stein voters jumping to donald trump, but gary johnson is a little bit more of a black box. >> it's interesting, let me give you the breakdown of the gary johnson voters. we did this last week at our

nbc/"wall street journal" survey. when you ask gary johnson voters, if you have to pick between the two, they split dead even. but when you ask those same voters, how do you plan on voting in your congressional race? do you want to see the democrats control congress or the republicans, by a ten-point advantage, johnson voters lean republican. so they're republican leaning with, and the best way to look at it, college-educated white men. the biggest chunk are younger college-educated white men who have libertarian leanings, they're not as moved on social issues like conservatives, the way older conservatives are, they tend to lean right, but are turned off by trump. they like sanders, too. so i think they are up for grabs for clinton. but they may not be up for dprabs fgrabs for any other democrat. >> chuck todd, thank you very, very much. in addition to these national numbers are the state numbers, because that's how we vote. our own steve kornacki has some

of the latest in terms of the road to 270 and how the various states are polling right now for the two candidates. steve? >> we've got some new numbers at the state level. first of all, if you average all those new policy nationally, you can see hillary clinton come in tonight with about a 2.3 lead nationally. nationally, 2.3 points. but it's a battle in the states right now. i want to set up the new numbers by looking at it this way. donald trump, in terms of having a path to 270, what would it take? here's roughly what the electoral map looks like right now. if you're donald trump, if you average together the polls that are already out there in nevada, it's a slight lead, but he has a lead in nevada right now. if you're looking at what the path would look like. he has a lead in the arverage o polls in iowa. he's pulled into the lead in an average of polls in ohio. in north carolina, this is a republican state in 2012, a romney state, he would need to lock it down. that looks like probably a 50/50 proposition, but if you're trump and you could do that, and go to

florida, where the average of the polls has him down by a fraction of a point, you could see, he'd be getting very close. but that would not be close enough. and that's where the new polls that came out today come in to play. take a look at a coup of the states where we got in numbers from today. one is colorado. donald trump, a new poll today, ahead of hillary clinton by a point. now, this is just one poll, but we've seen several over the last few weeks in colorado, that have shown this to be very, very close. the instance of this is simple. the clinton campaign about a month ago topped advertising in colorado. after the democratic cross-petition, this state looked like it was going to be a runaway for the democrats. we all started saying, this is not going to be a battleground anymore. this raises the possibility that colorado is a battleground. if that's the case, look how the clinton number falls and there's an opportunity for donald trump. it's not just necessarily in colorado, though. look at the number we got out of pennsylvania today. pennsylvania, very much like colorado. we stopped talked about this as a real serious flip possibility

for donald trump after democratic convention. one poll, we'll wait to see if there's more, but for right now, one poll shows clinton up by just a point there. if that is something we see in more polls, that could be another opportunity for donald trump and another drawback for hillary clinton right now, and there's also this. one more state. this was on nobody's radar at the start of this campaign. it is the state of maine. and look at this, maine, 1988, the last time they voted for republican for president, statewide. hillary clinton barely leading this by three points, but maine is one of two states that gives it out by congressional district. so maine won, this is basically portland and southern maine. solid hillary clinton win. looks like she'll get an electoral vote there. but maine, too, this is the rural part of the state. this is western maine, bangor, lewiston, auburn. donald trump, a commanding double-digit lead. so it's looking right now like they are likely to split the electoral votes in maine, clinton and trump are. and then it would be a question of who could win statewide. but right now, hillary clinton,

if you're hillary clinton, you cannot count on winning statewide. so new opportunities, at least in the polls today, suggesting new opportunities for donald trump. the path that i'm putting together here, there's a lot of ifs involved for donald trump, but there is a potential path at this moment that's opening up to him. potential. >> steve kornacki at the board. some interesting numbers and states people did not anticipate we would be discussing at this point in the race. chris matthews is over at hofstra. chris, do you -- just as an axiom, do you -- do you see this as a toss-up right now? do you see it as a 50/50 race or a little bit on one side? >> it just seems whatever nothing happens for a couple of week, it goes back to that true north, that default of about 50/50 in terms of the decided vote between the top two candidates. what i keep looking at is our own number, which is two-thirds of the country don't like the direction we're in. and the amazing ability so far

of trump to tap into that dissatisfaction over uncontrolled immigration, loss of jobs and manufacturing, and bad wars. and he's been able to do that. the problem is, he's been messing up that message again and again with his off-topic or off-message comments. so, continue, he's got a chance to reach 90 to 100 million people with a pure message of dissatisfaction and say, that's what's deplorable. the situation itself, which i find deplorable. i think you can do that, but he has to avoid what hillary's going to try to get him to do, which is to show the bad trump. to show the trump that gets personal with her. that makes comments about ethnic groups, blacks, hispanics, et cetera. he has to be able to distill the good trump, politically, from the bad trump, and hillary's not going to let him do it. she's going to start -- the minute this debate starts -- reminding us that i believe 90 to 100 million people of everything bad trump has done in

this campaign. that's what i think it's going to be about tonight. >> chris matthews out at the hofstra campus. and my list of four things, the first thing i will say them this evening, a reminder to viewers looking for certain things in this coverage. it's been widely reported the crowd will be silent. that will be a different dynamic for donald trump. he will appear in split screen at all times. so all visual facial reactions will be on televion. the mikes will be open the entire time. and there will be no breaks. they'll go all the way to the end, 90 minutes, start to finish. it's a lot of uninterrupted television time and very concentrated relationships >> and it's hard to be good at that type of television for 90 minutes with no break, with them never off-camera and never off-mike. it requires incredible ly discipline and even really good politicians, neither of them have done this before. >> the music heralds our first break, but also our first reminder, we'll go commercial free the length of tonight's debate. when we come back, people who

have done this for a living, ie, prepped candidates to enter the debate hall, our best in the business panel and others, coming up when we continue.

they have opened up the debate hall on the campus of hofstra on long island, so you see selfies being taken and the first very, very lucky spectators going in. first of many reminders, they will get a dramatically different picture, perhaps, of the event tonight. so will our friends listening on sirius xm radio on terrestrial radio across the world, armed forces radio. audio of these events is often so different from watching it as folks are watching it at home on

television. >> that 1960 nixon/kennedy debate. people listening to that debate on radio thought nixon had won, quite clearly. it was the first televised debate. we've had a lot since then, but you're absolutely right. people in that room who were seeing the whole stage and looking wherever they want the whole time, will have a totally different thing than those of us who are watching their facing. >> great thing about radio, it's never sweaty. nicole wallace and eugene robinson here, as they were all season. nicole wallace with the bush xliii white house. and eugene robinson, pulitzer prize-winning journalist. nicole, what's happening in both camps. having been part of a political team on debate eve and debate night of. >> steve and i will save some stories, want what these days are like for staffers. you do different things with

incoming press calls. but i spent most of the afternoon on the phone with both campaigns. and what's so interesting, is katy tur and kristen both reported, what clinton prepped for is a more elegant donald trump. they actually practiced a scenario where he congratulates her for being the first woman nominee of either political party. they're prepared for him to compliment her and her husband for raising such a lovely daughter in chelsea clinton. i presented this theory to a senior prep aide and he said, it's a jump ball. that might be -- >> it's a jump ball, meaning, we don't know or we're keeping it secret? >> yes. >> either one of those. >> wow. >> so i think that that's one thought heading into this. the other is, during the primaries, during the republican primaries, one debate we didn't watch together, i don't know if i stood you all up, or we weren't convened yet, but the south carolina republican

primary debate, it was a night donald trump still had six opponents, and it was viewed -- it was a performance they thought it moight end his presidency. south carolina is a state with a huge military vote, and what we saw sort of as viewers, what i saw as an establishment republican was totally disconnected from the out. running away. and most people in the state thought he was a winner of the debate. our eyes sometimes deceive us. >> let's also bring into this conversation, before we get too far into this, steve schmidt. you mentioned your old colleague, steve schmidt, a veteran of many republican campaigns, as well as being campaign adviser to mccain/palin. steve, let me ask you, before we go to eugene robinson, what debate day is like and how a good campaign best prepares a candidate in the last hours before the stage, before the stage is theirs. >> it's a long, long day. a long day for the staff and a long day for the candidates. but the preparation is now over. the time to prepare is past.

this is now in these final hours getting ready to walk on to that stage, where these candidates might as well be on the space station, they're so far removed from the staff and the retainers and everyone around them. it's about keeping them loose. it's about keeping them light. and every one of these candidates say some version of the prayer that alan shepard said before he launched into space aboard freedom 7, and i'll give the sanitized family version of it, which was, dear lord, please don't let me foul this up. so the candidates are nervous. they understand what the stakes are. they handle it in their own ways. but their backstage right now, they're not prepping, they're not going over note cards. what they're likely doing is having a little food, making sure they're going to the bathroom one last time. a 90-minute debate, one of the things you're conscience of back there is how you're consume liquids, how you're staying hydrated before the debate. when the cutoff hour is. but they're around the people

backstage now that they're most comfortable with, that keep them calm. and they'll walk out to the side stage, where they'll walk, you know, on to full view of that stage, with one or two people, one of their most trusted advisers, who will have the last words for them. which, you know, is probably going to be something like, good luck. you're going to do great. we know you can do it. it's going to be a positive message. but, hey, remember to do this, remember to do that. and make this point, make that point. and all of that's over now. that ship has sailed. the dye is cast, and they're going to perform how they're going to perform. it's about keeping them loose at this hour. >> gene robinson, looking ahead at tonight, do you feel like we should build expectations based on what's happened in previous debates, or this totally its own animal? >> we have no other data to build on. we've talked a lot about which trump. we could ask which hillary clinton appears. i mean, i was thinking back to the first democratic debate, when she, at least to this

viewer, seemed just light years above martin o'malley and bernie sanders, right? she was in command of facts, she had a presence and an thoauthor that at that point in the campaign they lacked. bernie sanders got better at it as their debates went on. but i'm wondering if just all those years of experience, that practice in debates, one on one, i wonder if that won't show through at the top of this debate or not. the other thing i was thinking about is how these 80 to 100 million people will view this debate. and i -- you know, there's a tendency, because we're involved in politics day to day, and we're following it and it's like a big sort of pay per view boxing match. in fact, the presidential debates commission could have done pay per view and funded themselves for like the next eight years. >> or funded lots of other countries. >> but i think most people will be watching with a -- more of a sense of apprehension, right? because of these two candidates about whom they are unsure.

and it's -- so i don't think, you know, it's a festival for people. they're going to watch, but they're going to be nervous about -- >> and amongst supporters, even, both supporters o of each candidate will be apprehensive and nervous about their own candidates. >> a lot of folks are nervous heading into tonight. we're going to take another break. and when we come back, mike pence, the running mate on the trump ticket, standing by to talk to chris matthews in -- at the campus of hofstra. that's right after this.

we're back. we're inside 90 minutes to start time. let's go out to the hofstra campus. chris matthews with a special guest. >> thank you, brian. we're lucky tonight to have the vice presidential nominee, mike pence, the governor of indiana, joining us right now. governor pence, thanks for taking the time. >> you bet, chris. >> have you talked to the candidate today? have you talked to your running mate in these hours before the big night? >> i have, si saw him this afternoon when he came by for the walk-through and we talked this morning. y, we campaign together every week, and i know donald trump -- donald trump is ready to take to the stage tonight and take his case to the american people. >> you know, bobby kennedy back in '60 when his brother was about to debate nixon, he gave him a last-minute piece of advice. he said, kick him in the you know where. were you like that with trump? did you give him that kind of

sendoff? >> well, i'll -- i'll tell you that the thing about donald trump -- >> you can't do it in this case. >> well, he's been prepared for this debate in his whole life. i think the reason why he was able to move through that 17-way republican primary is because he's really given voice to the frustrations and the aspirations of millions of americans. and i think tonight, donald trump is going to be himself. he's going to lay out that vision that he has, to have a stronger america at home and broad and i've got to tell you, i'm incredibly honored to be here, incredibly honored to be standing with him in this campaign. >> you know, he's had a great ability to tap into the dissatisfaction of the country, and certainly he's done that. he got the nomination largely because of his ability to connect to that. how does he do that tonight without doing the other stuff, the ethnic stuff that has gotten him into trouble and gotten him off-message. how does he do it? >> i think donald trump tonight is going to seize this opportunity to really lay out, lay out his vision for the

future. and i really do think -- look, these are two very worthy candidates. they're going to take to the stage and it's not just a choice between two candidates. i would argue it's a choice between two paths and it's really a choice between two futures. and so i think what the american people are going to see tonight is a candidate in donald trump who's going to explain what he means about a stronger america on the world stage. he's going to lay out his plan to get this economy moving again with lower taxes and smarter trade deals and releasing the balance of power of american energy. he's going to talk about ending illegal immigration once and for all. and i expect there'll be lots of issues that come up, chris. you've been covering these for a long time, but my hope, frankly, is that this is going to be -- this is going to be a debate tonight where both candidates have a chance to lay out their vision, and i just can't wait to hear donald trump lay out that

plain-spoken vision to make america great again. >> is he going to throw that deplorables line back at secretary clinton? is he going to say, what's really deplorable is the situation we're in right now in this country, not the people that are dissatisfied with it? i can't believe he's not going to throw deplorables back at secretary clinton. what do you think? make a prediction. >> well, look, let's just see how the debate goes. i think what you're going to hear donald trump talking about is the hundreds of thousands and millions of americans who have been drawn to this campaign. you know, donald tells me all the time, when we see these large gathering, skbroun, chris, i'll have been get 400 or 500 people to come out and hear me at a rally when it's just me. and he always reminds me, mike, it's not ability me, it's not about us, this is a movement. and the american people know we can be stronger, we can be more prosperous. chris, you've been a great champion for working americans all of your life in all kinds of different roles. and frankly, working families haven't had a raise in this country in real income for more

than a decade and a half. and those are exactly the kind of people that have been drawn to this campaign. and i fully expect tonight that donald trump is going to talk about the people in this movement and invite the american people, people that are undecided in this campaign, to come alongside and help us make america great again. >> let's talk tactics. you know, the clinton campaign, like all campaigns, has leaked out spin. i never know what to believe. but they're putting out the word that hillary clinton is going to get under donald trump's skin tonight. how do you prepare against an effort to sort of taunt him into being his worst? >> well, look, i've gotten to know this man and his family over the last 2 1/2 months. and you know, what i can tell you is the american people are going to see a leader on stage tonight in donald trump, somebody that's broad-shouldered, who has the temperment and intellect to lead

this country. when people say, what's he really like, i tell them, he's a good man and he'll be a great president. and i fully expect all of those qualities and that vision will be in high relief. >> it's going to be a great night. thank you for spending the time with us, governor mike pence, running for vice president of the united states. good luck in your debate next week, we'll be covering that, as well, with a lot of interest. back to you, brian. >> chris matthews out at the campus, chris, thanks. we keep saying that tonight's sub-theme, according to many of the analysts, at least, is about donald trump's plausibility. he has taken part in 11 debates, none of them just two people on the stage. this is hillary clinton's 15th such debate. 40 year, overruall. we have distilled down, and there's a lot of matter, some material that speaks to trump's debate performance, tactics, techniques. it runs just over a minute.

please enjoy. >> you've called women you don't like fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals. your twitter account -- >> only rosie o'donnell. >> no, it wasn't. >> all i want to do is make america great again. >> you know, i think most people know exactly what new york values are. >> new york is a great place. it's got great people. it's got loving people. wonderful people. when the world trade center came down, i saw something that no place on earth could have handled more beautifully, more humanely than new york. you're really getting beaten badly. i know you're embarrassed, i know you're embarrassed, but keep fighting. keep swinging. don't worry about it, lil' marco. lyin' ted. i have not started on hillary yesterday. >> short, fat, tall, ugly. my goodness, that happened in junior high. >> i never attacked him on his look, and believe me, there's plenty of subject matter right there. that i can tell you.

>> mr. trump -- >> i know you're trying to get ratings, but it's a little bit risk. >> mr. trump -- >> look at those hands, are they small hands? and he referred to my hands, if they're small, something else must be small. i guarantee you, there's no problem. i guarantee you. >> because you had your head in your hands, i'm going to you right away. tell me why you had your head in your hands. that's like a scouting report. the good, the bad, and the ugly. why does it cause you to do this, my friend, nicole? >> it's, what, 7:39. i'm sweaty. hand size, you know? just because my hands are big, small, doesn't mean -- i mean, i just can't believe we went there. and i can't believe that the republican primary yielded this. you know, i wrote a piece for "the new york times" today about how i have sort of -- my understanding of why trump has gotten away with taking us there to conversations about hand size is because people view him as

sort of the antidote to rigged systems, that because he -- he's bragged about not paying much in taxes, and so they think he can fix a corrupt tax code. he's bragged about making political donations to buy influence, so his supporters think that he can fix a rigged political system. but the truth is, he is the guy who took us there. to hand size. >> well, we've got a scouting report out on hillary clinton ahead, as well. >> i think she should go there. i hemean -- >> on hand size? i think she should say, my hands are bigger than your hands, donald and see what happens. >> you don't have to blame the whole republican party process for this, though. because since he referenced the size of his genitals in a republican primary debate, as -- >> wait a minute, you are so much better than me. >> as the party's nominee, he has since found an excuse to release his testosterone level. >> i'm so glad you raised testosterone. hang on, guys. hang on. i worked for a president and a candidate for the presidency and i've been involved in the release of many medical records.

never have i ever released anyone's testosterone levels. >> nobody asked. nobody's ever asked -- >> nobody asked, nobody answered. >> so we know his testosterone level, we don't know his taxes. >> that's right. >> 2016. >> that's exactly right. >> on that note, there is one man who is the last man to have debated hillary clinton on stage. he, probably horrified at the medical nature of our conversation, is standing by to talk to us. after a break, we will talk with bernie sanders of vermont. cure cancer million? far off. liver disease treatment. that by voting yes on prop 61 - costs. dollars pass. don't let that happen. it - because one day it might.

we are back now, under an hour 15 to go as the crowd starts to filter in on the campus of hofstra university in new york's long island. >> joinings now is a man who has a lot of experience debating hillary clinton one on one, former presidential contender and still vermont senator,

bernie sanders. senator sanders, it's great to have you with us tonight. thanks for being here. >> good to be with you, rachel. >> did you learn anything from all of your debates with hillary clinton that you didn't know about her before debating her? >> well, she is a very, very strong debater. there's no question about that. and a very formidable opponent. and tonight, she's up against the guy who is a great entertainer. let's not forget that donald trump had a great and successful tv show. he knows his way around the tv cameras. he's going to be a very tough opponent for her. >> if you were up there tonight, if you had won the primary and it was you planning to debate one on one with donald trump, would you prepare to debate him as if he were a politician, who do you think you have to treat him pretty much differently, because of that entertainment background, because he's got such a unique background, do you have to treat him as a totally different kind of animal? >> no, i think what you do, and i hope what secretary clinton

does, stay focused on the issues that are of importance to the middle class of this country. stay focused on why, at a time of massive wealth and income inequality, trump wants to give hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks to the top 1%. who thinks that makes sense? trump does not want to raise the minimum wage. clinton wants to raise the minimum wage to a living wage. the scientists tell us, as you all know, that global warming is a real. it's a real threat to our planet. donald trump, he thinks that it's a hoax. you've got to deal with those issues. i think you have to put them on the defensive, with regard to the issues that impact ordinary americans' lives, and when you do that, i think that people will see that he is way off in another world unto himself, not dealing with the reality of the american people. >> senator, one of the hallmarks of your very successful primary run this year is the amount of success you got from young people. not just self-identified

progressive young people, but a pretty broad swath of young people, who had even considered voting in the democratic primary. what do you make in the recent uptick in the polls for young party supporting third party candidates, a little bit for jill stein, but substantially for gary johnson. what's your take on that request. >> i think there is a great deal of dissatisfaction among the american people in general and maybe young people in particular, with status quo establishment politics. and the two third party candidates are coming across as not being part of the establishment. but i would suggest not just to young people, but to any people, ask yourselves the hard questions. if you're young, for example, and you're struggling with high levels of student debt or maybe you can't even afford to go to college, take a look at what clinton is saying, in terms of making public colleges and universities tuition free for families making less than $125,000 a year. that is a very, very big deal.

take a look at her program, dealing with student debt, which impacts millions of people. trump has nothing to say about that. in terms of climate cha again, rachel, an issue that a lot of young people feel strongly about. do we really want to elect a president who thinks that climate change is a hoax? i think not. if you're working out there and making nine bucks an hour, clinton wants to raise the minimum wage to a living wage. trump does not. it's a big deal. think about how these candidates are coming down on the important issues facing the american people. >> senator, it's brian. i have one question on politics and one on process. the latter first. it's an hour to go, give or take. what are you likely to be doing as a candidate in the green room? are you batting it back and forth with an aide? is there last-minute material pivots you want to practice? are you quietly reading from cards. or you off-subject entirely,

trying to keep it a bit loose? >> well, i think if you are hillary clinton or if you are donald trump, you kind of know what you're going to be saying. and i don't think you have to go and rehearse it to the second before you go on the air. i think you want to relax. i think you want to go out there feeling good, feeling confident. and that's probably what i suspect both of them are trying to do now. >> and the second question, senator, how far out are you scheduled for appearances? how hard are you willing to work for this ticket, clinton/kaine. if they hit you for one, two, three places a week when the going gets tough here, have you said to them, here's my travel schedule, let me know where you need me? >> let me just say this. number one, i think that the election of donald trump as president would be a disaster for this country. and i am going to do everything that i can to see that that does not happen. when i campaign, i campaign

very, very hard. interestingly that you asked me that question, we're working on a schedule right now, which is going to be a very, very vigorous schedule. we're going to go all over this country. to go wherever secretary clinton's people think that i am needed and i am going to work as hard as i can to make sure that donald trump does not become the next president. >> senator bernie sanders of vermont, thank you for being with us tonight, sir. i know it's a big night. thanks for spending part of it with us. appreciate you being here. >> as we go to a break, we're coming up on the one-hour mark. melania trump and members of the family arriving now in the arrivals tent where the motorcades come and pick up and drop off passengers as people start to take their seats, we're coming up on the top of the hour. another break and more coverage when we come right back.

we are back. we're live inside the debate halls. we are coming up on the one-hour mark before we get under way. having done a scouting report of sorts on donald trump, his debate performance, style and manner, we have now a collection from hillary clinton over time, moments, tactics and methods she has used in debate.

>> i understand that this is the hardest job in the world and i'm prepared to take it on. >> he does go on. >> right here. sign it right now. >> we'll shake on this. >> no, i want your signature because i think everybody wants to see you signing something that you said you are for. >> i may be for a lot of things but i'm not dumb. >> i'm not just running ohhen a promise of change. i'm running on 35 years of change. >> it's not change that you can believe in. it's change that you ccan xerox. >> i don't think i'm that likable enough. >> you're likable enough. >> the amerin people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn e-mails. >> thank you. me, too. me, too. >> i stood up against the behaviors of the banks when i was a senator. i called them out. >> secretary clinton called them out. oh, my goodness.

they must have been really crushed by this. >> i think it's time to end the very artful smear you and your campaign have been carrying out in recent weeks. >> which enemy are you most proud of? >> probably the republicans. >> hillary clinton in debate. also, i'm reminded tonight, two cultural figures debating each other. if your standard is, have you been portrayed on "snl". >> yeah. is there -- are there precisely zero percent of americans who have zero opinion of you and don't know who you are. absolutely. it's also a good reminder that she's not only debated bernie sanders but barack obama and back to rick lazio. >> her 15th. we're back right after this for the top of the hour. one hour remaining.

♪ you know, they really are talking in upwards of 80 to 100 million americans watching what happens in that room. about a third of the way out from manhattan, we want you to know as we approach the top of the next hour, we'll probably go to that room a little early without a formal good-bye.