it will be asked by ann compton. compton: governor clinton, can you lock in a level here tonight on where middle-income families can be guaranteed a tax cut or, at the very least, at what income level they can be guaranteed no tax increase? gov. clinton: the tax increase i have proposed triggers in at family incomes of $200,000 and above. those are the people who in the 1980s had their incomes go up while their taxes went down. middle-class people, defined as people with incomes of $52,000 and down, had their incomes go down while their taxes went up in the reagan-bush years because of 6 increases in the payroll taxes. so that is where my income limit would trigger. ms. compton: there will be no tax increases-- gov. clinton: right. my plan - compton: --below 200,000-- clinton: -- notwithstanding my opponent's ad, my plan triggers in at gross incomes, family incomes of $200,000 and above. then we want to give modest middle-class tax relief to restore some fairness, especially to middle-class people with families with i

one of the people in that video is ann compton. ann compton now a retired abc news white house reporter, she was under the protective pool for the president of the united states on that fateful morning small group of reporters that the president, when he was going to a secure base, brought the pool with him. that's how important the pool is. >> right. >> and the campaign is notable for its openness and transparency, but to mention 9/11 and what happens reminds me of the middle east, the middle east is a low social trust environment where conspiracy theories flow. and we're becoming that kind of society. we had 90 minutes of silence. immediate for some people to want to fill conspiracy. but if we just saw hillary clinton, she looked fine. and so it is often wrong to think every void needs to be filled with a conspiracy. >> the fact that you said for 9 minutes, part of me said, well, yeah, you got to take time to figure out what the heck happened. we think 90 minutes is a long time and, yes, in our world it is. 90 minutes is nothing.

john masic of the boston clobe, ann compton and sandra van oker. we will follow a format agreed to by representatives of the clipton and bush campaigns. it contains no restrictions on the content or subject matter of the questions. each candidate will have up to two minutes for a closing statement. the first question goes to mr. perot. he will have two minutes to answer followed by rebuttals of one minute each by president clinton and then president bush. gentlemen, good evening. the first topic tonight is what separates each of you from the other? mr. perot, what do you believe tonight is the single most important separating issue of this is? -- campaign? >> the principle issue that separates me is that people came together on their own and put me on the ballot. i was not put on the ballot by either to have two parties. by any foreign lobbyist money. by any special interest money. this is a movement that came from the people. this is the way the framers of the constitution intended our government to be. over time we have developed a government tha

and ann compton served in 1998 and in 1992 and a retired white house correspondent for abc news. thank you both for being here this morning. >> thank you, brian. >> delighted to be here. >> jim, i know that lester is busy preparing, but he is taking a little bit of time off, and if he is watching right now, what is your advice for lest er holt? >> well, two things. first of all, he must remind himself that it is not about him or the mod rayer or the. and second thing, he should remember that no matter what he does on monday night, he is going to be criticized for it. that is because the rules have changed. the rules are much more wide open than they have been in the previous years and in previous election cycles meaning that the candidates can speak directly to each other, and can question each other, and there is more time to be devoted to each subject, and each question, and the moderator's job is to keep the flow going, and to make sure that everything is maintained and fairness is maintained, ets, and the job is much more difficult, and no matter how he does it, he will be cr