>> that's max frankel from "the new york times." you heard in the distance there sort of the background one of the other moderators actually tries at that moment, after ford stops talking, tries to hand that over the jimmy carter to respond, but max frankel can't hold himself back. he has to jump in with, i'm sorry, what now? i'm sorry, what did you say, sir? i mean, americans at the time could read you chapter and verse about the soviet domination of eastern europe about soviet tanks rolling through the streets of eastern europe and crushing the resistance, right? it was a very central part of the way that americans knew the world worked. saying there was no soviet domination of eastern europe, that would be thequivalent now to a president getting up on stage and saying, oh, yeah, north korea seems nice. right? like an american president getting up and saying you know what we need to worry about, the greatest geopolitical threat that we face and the greatest danger to the world? it's the canadians. those canadians, they're vicious.

max frankel asked ford a question about whether the united states was accepting of soviet dominationn europe. >> there is no soviet domination of eastern europe and there never will be under a ford administration. >> i'm sorry, could i just follow. did i understand you to say that the russians are not using eastern europe as their own spirit of influence? >> everybody's jaw just dropped. are you alive? are you aware? what he meant to say is i will not accept any soviet domination of eastern europe. >> governor carter, have you a response? >> charitably that was a momentary blip. uncharitably it was a loss of touch with reality. >> clearly a huge moment where the country makes the judgment, you know, that maybe we do need to go in a different direction and replace the president. [ indiscernible ] >> ford had never lost an election in his life. won 15 straight terms in the house. here he is beaten by a one-term governor of georgia. he was crushed. >> my voice isn't up to par. let me call on the real spokesperson for the family. peggy. >> it's been the greatest honor of my husband's lif

the questioners tonight are max frankel, associate editor of the "new york times", henry l. trewhitt, diplomatic correspondent of the "baltimore sun", and richard valeriani, diplomatic correspondent of nbc news. the ground rules are basically the same as they were for the first debate two weeks ago. the questions will be alternated between candidates. by the toss of a coin, governor carter will take the first question. each question sequence will be as follows: the question will be asked and the candidate will have up to three minutes to answer. his opponent will have up to two minutes to respond. and prior to the response, the questioner may ask a follow-up question to clarify the candidate's answer when necessary with up to two minutes to reply. each candidate will have three minutes for a closing statement at the end. president ford and governor carter do not have notes or prepared remarks with them this evening, but they may take notes during the debate and refer to them. mr. frankel, you have the first question for governor carter. mr. frankel: governor, since the democ

but mike, 1976, you know, jerry ford says that the soviets aren't dominating eastern europe, and max frankeld it again. and ford, who was sort of seen as a bumbler, who was making an extraordinary comeback at that time, obviously, that's something that connected with americans. >> well, as tom pointed out, i mean, both he and i were in nashua for that -- i paid for this microphone moments, and debates, if nothing else, tom, if nothing else, they're a tribute to the power of the single moment and a single line by a single candidate. >> yeah, i'm the one who asked dan quayle the third question about whether he was prepared to be president if something happed. he then compared himself to john f. kennedy, and lloyd benson turned to him and said i knew john f. kennedy. he was a friend of mine. you'renone john kennedy. that got a lot of play. dan quayle still got elected, but a friend of mike's who was a friend of kennedy's called later and said we have gone through the files. i we don't think lloyd benson was a friend of john. >> that didn't matter. >> didn't matter at all. >> no question, tom, t

he set himself up for this brutal moment with moderator max frankel of the "new york times," where fordhe iron curtain. >> there is no soviet domination of eastern europe, and there never will be under a ford administration. >> i'm sorry. could i just -- did i understand you to say, sir, that the russians are not using eastern europe as their own sphere of influence? >> each of those countries is independent or autonomous. it has it own territorial integrity. gilman: go get it, marcus. go get it. ...coach gilman used his cash rewards credit card from bank of america to earn 1% cash back everywhere, every time. at places like the batting cages. ♪ [ crowd cheers ] 2% back at grocery stores and now at wholesale clubs. and 3% back on gas. which helped him give his players something extra. the cash rewards credit card from bank of america. more cash back for the things you buy most. the cash rewards credit card from bank of america. you're at the top of your game.. at work or at play, you're unstoppable. nothing can throw you off track. oh hey, she's cute. nice going man. things are going gr