and our team is standing by, including the moderator of the debate, our own martha raddatz.ut we begin with abc's jonathan karl right now. jon? >> reporter: diane, it was an even harder fought than the presidential debate, but today, both men quickly hit the campaign trail, trying to take advantage of whatever momentum they can. fresh off the big debate, joe biden rallied supporters in lacross, wisconsin -- paul ryan's home state. >> i am sure you observed last night, we had a little bit of a debate. >> reporter: ryan, out for a family breakfast in kentucky, seemed pleased, too. >> i feel great. >> reporter: it was a debate that sets the stage for the campaign's final month, laying out big differences on the central issues. like whether tax rates can be lowered without adding to the deficit. >> not mathematically possible. >> it is mathematically possible. it's been done before. it's precisely what we're proposing. >> it has never been done before. >> it's been done a couple of times, actually. >> it has never been done before. >> jack kennedy lowered tax rates, increased gr

i wasn't the only hearing dream weaver whenever martha raddatz spoke >> martha raddatz did superbly an excellent excellent job today keeping both of these candidates in place, asking first-rate questions >> she was commanding. she followed up when she needed to. >> jon: i mean, we all really can't believe what she did. i mean really made us look like [bleep]. really [bleep]. with that whole journalism thing. any-who, we now turn back to our regularly scheduled show, rogue partisans killing time with tweets and other gimmicky crafts. >> joe biden was having an absolute meltdown in terms of his face movements >> ryan was coming across as robotic >> i'm seeing spikes now on thing like rude >> twitter was afire after the debate last night. >> we saw the congressman drinking a lot of water. biden on the other hand was not so thirsty. >> what is this on paul ryan's face? >> what you're seeing are 491 different points on his face that are measuring different muscle movement. >> jon: just quit. cnn didn't just talk to a guy with a 3-d model of paul ryan's face. they talked for five minutes wit

martha raddatz, abc news,. >>> and another reminder.a raddatz again tomorrow, of course, as she moderates the vice presidential debate tomorrow night. hope you are with us. and thank you for watching tonight. we're always here at abcnews.com. "nightline" later. we'll see you again tomorrow. good night. >>> on "the list."

martha raddatz, abc news, see mo seymour johnson air force base. >>> and another reminder.a raddatz again tomorrow, of course, as she moderates the vice presidential debate tomorrow night. hope you are with us. and thank you for watching tonight. we're always here at abcnews.com. "nightline" later. we'll see you again tomorrow. good night. >>> tonight arrest of two suspects in a homicide. southern california jail escapees now in custody after a west coast crime spree. >> reinstatement of ross mirkarimi. he's not on the job yet. one key supporter is now backing a recall. >> giants are still alive in the playoffs now, how will a's do tonight? we're live in oakland for another do or die playoff game. >> and the car of the future, here now. there is a new collaboration between skaly and one of the world's top auto makers. >> there is official weather service warnings expired and live doppler 7 shows rain, hail, and lightning still present in the sounl bay right now. >> and there is latest on what's happening. >> here is our live doppler 7 image. you can see there are scattered

martha raddatz, abc news,. >>> and another reminder.a raddatz again tomorrow, of course, as she moderates the vice presidential debate tomorrow night. hope you are with us. and thank you for watching tonight. we're always here at abcnews.com. "nightline" later. we'll see you again tomorrow. good night. pamela howze: it just seems like such an... infringement on our ves. how dare they step into my life that way. it's none of theirin business. he's trying to restrict us, agai he's taking us backwards. george allen is the last thing we need in washington. anncr: the democratic senatori campaign committee is. i responsible for the content of this advertising.

our own martha raddatz, of course, moderates in the middle seat. the pressure is on. the vice president, not to cede any of the energy or desire to his opponent as president obama seemed to do last week. their campaigns are relishing the spotlight. vice president biden's team sent out these photos of him practicing on a mock set in a delaware hotel, where congressman chris van hollen has played biden's opponent, congressman paul ryan, in practice debates. ryan has been in debate camp with top republican lawyer, ted olson, playing the vice president. and now, practice time is over. >> the time to memorize your answers or practice a pivot and attack or a punch and counter punch is over. by this point, you are trying to get to that happy place, the happy warrior. you are usually with the family. >> reporter: ryan today tweeted this photo of him and his 7-year-old son, sam, writing, "great pep talk from one of my most trusted advisers." ryan's challenge? to be seen as credible and keep romney's momentum going. in most battleground states, the race is essentially tied, and

and our very own martha raddatz will be moderating, sitting across from them at that table. she's our senior foreign affairs correspondent, former white house correspondent. and the two men have been preparing in marathon practice sessions, behind closed doors for days. 26 days now to go before americans get to the polls. your voice, your vote. and the race has been tighten g tightening. the pressure is on. and our team is right there on the ground in danville, kentucky, and abc's jake tapper is going to start us off tonight. >> reporter: good evening, diane. first, let's talk about the stage craft. vice president biden will be coming on stage from that side. congressman ryan from the other. the vice president cannot cede energy or desire to his challenger as the president seemed to do last week. their campaigns are relishing the spotlight. biden's team sent out these photos of him practicing on a mock set in a delaware hotel where congressman chris van hollen has played biden's opponent, congressman paul ryan in practice debates. ryan has been in debate camp with top republ

our own martha raddatz moderates. george stephanopoulos and i right here.e you then. >>> on the list, we go ba

saw martha raddatz at the presidential debate.dn't know she'd get a second shot at it again last night. saw martha raddatz at the presidential debate. we didn't know she'd get a second shot at it again last night. so why are you doing his? only your doctor can determine if your persistent heartburn is actually something more serious like acid reflux disease. over time, stomach acid can damage the lining of your esophagus. for many, prescription nexium not only provides 24-hour heartburn relief, but can also help heal acid-related erosions in the lining of your esophagus. talk to your doctor about the risk for osteoporosis-related bone fractures and low magnesium levels with long-term use of nexium. possible side effects include headache, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. other serious stomach conditions may still exist. let your doctor do his job. and you do yours. ask if nexium is right for you. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. insuring that stuff must be a pain. nah, he's probably got... [ dennis

mark ruffalo, said martha raddatz was great. eva longoria called martha the best moderator ever. ebert said he votes for martha raddatz to moderate all of the debates. >>> and terrific news about our dear friend and colleague, robin roberts. she is waking up in her own bed in her own home this morning. >> she's out of the hospital after spending a month there for her bone marrow transplant. back home, enjoying the riverviews she loves. she said part of her strength, coming from the good wishes of all of you who are watching. >>> and finally, marine biologists in south florida have an eye-popping mystery on their hands literally. check out what washed up on pompano beach. >> this eye ball is on ice until someone can determine its species. sorry if we ruined your breakfast. we do have an eye for great stories, don't we? >>> for some of you, now, your local news is coming up next. >> for everyone else, we'll be back with a marine who came to the rescue, even when he really didn't have to. stick around. sensitive teeth, i didn't want to change toothpastes. i already had a product tha

actor/director mark ruffalo, said martha raddatz was great. oria called martha the best moderator ever. and film critic, roger ebert said he votes for martha raddatz to moderate all of the debates. >>> and terrific news about our dear friend and colleague, robin roberts. she is waking up in her own bed in her own home this morning. >> she's out of the hospital after spending a month there for her bone marrow transplant. now, back home, enjoying the riverviews she loves. her doctors, nurses, family on-hand cheering her on for the next step in her recovery. she said part of her strength, coming from the good wishes of all of you who are watching. >>> and finally, marine biologists in south florida have an eye-popping mystery on their hands literally. check out what washed up on pompano beach. a giant eye, about the size of a softball. >> they think it belongs to a sea creature. they're just not sure what kind. so, now, this eyeball is on ice until someone can determine its species. sorry if we ruined your breakfast. we do have an eye for great st

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martha raddatz and matt dowd tell us who they think had the upper hand in a "nightline" report card. >>> and i'm getting to know you. from coors light drinkers to hbo watchers, how presidential campaigns are user hyper personalized information about what you like to do, buy and watch to try and win your vote. >>> good evening, i'm terry moran. tonight, the highly anticipated final round as president barack obama, republican challenger mitt romney took the stage to go head to head in the last presidential debate. this is a crucial night, and it could tip the scales in a side-by-side comparison, 15 days left until the election and millions of early ballots already being cast so here's how it all happened in florida tonight. the two men who would be president squared off for the last time in the homestretch of a race that could not be any closer. this time, in boca raton, florida, swing state turf and this time sitting across from one another. you could sense the urgency of the moment. >> i thought it should have been 5,000 troops. i thought it should have been more troops. >> and leade

across tr biden and ryan, martha raddatz. campaign sources acknowledge there are two unknowns in debate prep. raddatdoesn't have a history of moderating and -- they're looking to biden's sparring partner who serves alongside ryan on the house budget committee. >> he's a very skilled debater. i hope i can be of some help. showing how paul ryan likes to present the republican case. >> cnn has also learned aides have pored over ryan's past interviews. watch this. >> you and mitt romney are proposing $5 trillion in tax cuts. you're proposing to increase defense spending by $2 trillion. >> neither of these numbers are accurate. >> biden himself acknowledges he will be ready to respond if ryan disputes his record. >> i just want to make sure that when i say these things, no, no, no, i don't have the position or that's not the governor's position. >> to fully prepare, biden had a strict daily ritual. afternoons where biden rehearsed answering moderator questions. dinner time at home with his wife and after dinner, biden returned to

i think candy crowley did a good job, i think martha raddatz did a good job. i don't know the formula for a good debate. >> it seems that there are two choices here. you can have a moderator who holds their feet to the fire a bit and ask serious questions and is not let them michael around, and martha raddatz was the best example of that. if you are not going to do that, just let them talk to each other and have a bus to go up for time. >> what about the town hall format? >> no, i think i.t. is completely phony. i have an impossible standard -- leave them alone, except every once in awhile where they sasay something egregiously false. >> you cannot do that. who is the judge? in the last debate, candy crowley came on the side of the obama with the terrorists statement. when obama denied that there is a decline of oil production on anfederal lands, why didn't she intervene? it was an egregious statement when obama said "not true." you have to pick and choose. you cannot have that standard. the point is, you do that on the sunday morning shows to you have a guy o

i think martha raddatz did a good job. i don't know the formula for an ideal debate. >> is that the formula, stay out of it? >> it seems that there are two courses. even have a moderator who holds their feet to the fire a bit and asks them serious questions and does not let them che wiggle around. martha raddatz was the best example of that. if you are not going to do that, just let them talk to each other and have the buzzer for time. >> what about the town hall format? >> i think it is completely phony. i have an impossible standard, which is that you leave them alone, except every once in awhile where it they say something egregiously false. >> but you cannot do that too is the judge? in the last debate, crowley came on the obama site on the issue of the terror statement, and she said it is fossett let's not argue she is right or wrong. but when obama denied that there was a decline in production of oil and gas on federal lands, and there is a decline of oil production and gas on federal lands, so why didn't she interve

i'm martha raddatz of abc news. i hope all of you go to the polls. have a good evening. [ applause ] >> they are joined by their families, the vice president of the united states and the republican vice presidential nominee. a strong debate with clear differences on some of the most critical issues facing the american voter. involving taxes, medicare, abortion rights for women, the vice president came out swinging today. unlike president obama. he immediately raised the issue of romney's controversial 47%. and he also spoke aggressively about the president saving the american auto industry, gm and chrysler in particular, but there was a testy exchanges on medicare and so many other issues. it looks like -- looks like at least to me, pretty much of a draw as far as this debate is concerned. we'll have full reality checks from our john berman, tom foreman, going through the facts described today. who was telling more of the truth. who was fibbing a bit. going through all of that tonight. you also saw those focus group results at the bottom of the scree

i'm martha raddatz of abc news. i do hope all of you go to the polls. have a good evening. [cheers and applause] >> the one and only vice-presidential debate, wrapping up. you just heard that vice-president biden, at the end there, complaining about time. saying he wanted to be -- have more time at the end? we have the breakdown of time, in case you are interested at home. this is a rough estimate. but biden had roughly 41 minutes 50 seconds of talk time. and congressman ryan 40 empties and 5 seconds. this was a much different moderating style by abc's martha raddatz, than jim lehrer in the first presidential debate. she interrupted much more and asked many more pointed questions. republicans are already all over twitter, criticizing this moderating style because they feel she interrupted congressman ryan much more before he finished his thoughts and perhaps his charges. this debate was largely a cheerful affair on the vice-president's side of the table, it appeared. for much of the debate, he smiled and laughed in reaction to congressman ryan's answer, perhaps in an effort

martha raddatz in kentucky. >> we turn to the candidates for closing statements.nk you tianeman. the coin toss, again, as president biden starting with closing arguments. >> the me say at the outset that i want to thank you for doing this. and the college. the fact is, we're in a situation where we inherited a god awful circumstance. people are in real trouble. we acted to move to bring relief to the people who need the most help now. and in the process, we -- i case you have noticed, we of strong disagreements. you probably detected my frustration with their attitude about the american people. my friend says that 30% of the american people are takers. they -- romney points out, 47% of the people won't take responsibility. he is talking about my mother and father, the places i grew up in, my neighbors. he is talking about the people that have built this country. all they're looking for, martha, all they're looking for is an even shot. when they've been given the shot, they've done it. whenever you level the playing field, they've been able to move. and they want a

martha raddatz was played in debate prep for biden by his communications director, shayla murray and y, lieutenant governor of massachusetts. they're very focused on the moderator. ryan has even watched videotapes of raddatz's roundtables to get a sense of her style. >> mike allen with a look at the politico playbook. >>> coming up next, joe girardi pinch-hits for a-rod with the game on the line in the bottom of the ninth. we'll show you how a guy who makes 1/30th of a-rod's salary became the hero. sports is next. i'm bara ck o bama, and i approve this message. "i'm not in favor of a $5 trillion tax cut. that's not my plan." mitchell: "the nonpartisan tax policy center concluded that mitt romney's tax plan would cost $4.8 trillion over 10 years." vo: why won't romney level with us about his tax plan, which gives the wealthy huge new tax breaks? because according to experts, he'd have to raise taxes on the middle class - or increase the deficit to pay for it. if we can't trust him here... how could we ever trust him here? not in this economy. we also have zero free time, and my dad mov

but martha raddatz who i officially would now support for president, herself, martha raddatz kept itoving and stopped these guys from diving down talking points rabbit holes. >> with all due respect, that's a bunch of malarky. >> and why is that so? >> because not a single thing he said is accurate. first of all -- >> be specific. wasn't this a massive intelligence failure? was that really appropriate right in the middle of the crisis? you have refused, and, again, to offer specifics on how you pay for that 20% across the board tax cut. do you actually have the specifics, or are you still working on it and that's why you won't tell voters? >> and when he wouldn't give her the specifics she followed up by saying, okay, no specifics. by knowing what she was talking about particularly on foreign policy but essentially the whole night and by interrupting judicially and ab libbing appropriate follow-up questions martha raddatz covered a lot of ground that did not get touched if last week's debate, that has not been touched in the campaign much at all really and importantly helped expose s

i'm martha raddatz of abc news. i do hope all of you go to the polls. have a good evening. >> and there you have it. i thought it was an extraordinary night. 90 minutes spent right at the heart of the vitality, the center of vitality of the american democracy in action. 69-year-old vice president, 42-year-old congressman in the debate and questioned by our own, i think, great, martha raddatz. george, we're watching the families come up and we see paul ryan, kissing his mom, also his wife janna, who is a former tax attorney and, of course, mrs. biden is up there, dr. jill biden is up there, as well, and the families are joining them on stage. >> diane, you said it was extraordinary. that was a debate that lived up to the hype. real exchanges right from the start. there was just no question about -- you have to say, a lot of the credit is going to have to go to martha raddatz, she asked pointed questions, she kept control. he really forced the exchanges. as for the candidates, joe biden came in and gave the game that a lot of democrats wanted from barack

then martha raddatz, who i thought was assertive, some criticized her for being too aggressive.here you saw her scolding the vice president. she tried with paul ryan as well. maybe candy crowley is in the position of having to be just right. not the jim lehrer, who is completely invisible and to that end she said in politico today she doesn't want to be the wall flower but not this too intrusive martha raddatz type. she has a burden, though, right? >> she does. the thing that bothers me is candy crowley is only the second woman in 20 years -- she's the first woman in 20 years to moderate a presidential debate. she's only the second woman ever to do it. both have been relegated to the town hall debate where they're not really moderators. they're supposed to stand there and essentially call on the students in the class. in fact, the rules that the campaigns agreed to, although candy did not agree to them, she's not supposed to rephrase the question or open a new topic or otherwise intervene in the debate except acknowledge the people in the odd yaens. carole simpson, who was the l

martha raddatz's wedding. who knows what favors were exchanged with an eye toward the inevitable future debate. they all knew it was coming. he knew that. panini press would pay off eventually for the running mate he hadn't met yet. [ laughter ] >> stephen: for twenty years, every time she's made a monte cristo she's whispered "i owe you, barack obama." [ laughter ] and sure, obama was actually just a law school classmate of raddatz's husband julius genachowski who raddatz divorced in 1997. but what woman doesn't love doing favors for her ex-husband's friends? [ laughter ] so clearly the debate -- the whole thing is meaningless until ryan wins. point is, everything about obama is suspicious. unfortunately, not as suspicious as it used to be. in the good old days, we had a new obama scandal every week. he was a secret muslim; wasn't born in america; doesn't have a birth certificate; and was trained by joseph stalin, jeremiah wright, and general grievous. [ laughter ] [cheers and applause] it's like we've run ou