joining me now is a man with all the answers, mike mccurry, the co-chair of the commission on presidentialates. you remember him as bill clinton's white house press secretary. he rarely comes out to play. he hasn't been on cnn in 12 years. mike, thank you so much for being here. what is the job description of a moderator? >> i think the job description is to get out of the way of the candidates. the candidates are the ones that have to fact check each other and moderators that have strong opinions, like you just expressed, you know, that's probably not the role that we expect for the people who are going to put the ball in play and let the candidates then have their discussion as they see fit. now, i think there are some questions about how do you best challenge someone who is actually saying something that is just outright wrong in the context of a debate like this. there are right ways to do that. i think we picked moderators who will be very effective at that. i don't doubt that donald trump is trying to work the ref a little bit right now in some of the things he's been saying, but tha

frank farencof and mike mccurry. [applause] >> good evening, ladies and gentlemen, we want to join also in welcoming you here tonight. this is a special night for hofstra university. they do a tremendous job and they are setting a record tonight. this is the third consecutive cycle where they have hosted a presidential debate and they do a marvelous, marvelous job and we have very thankful for them. [applause] >> the commission of presidential debate was formed in 1987 when paul kirk was chairman of democratic national committee and i was chairman of the republican committee. this is the 20th election we have done and we are proud all of you could be here tonight. it would not be possible foodo what we do without the marvelous people who serve on the board. some are here tonight. i want to introduce them. john griffin, managing partner of alan and company who did a marvelous job washing working with the social media platform people. congresswoman jane harmon who runs the woodrow institute. great friend of mine, i hav

the commission on presidential debates board is currently chaired by frank and michael mccurry. mike pharyncough is a former chairman of the republican national committee. janet brown is the executive director. the board members of the cpd: howard buffet, son of warren buffet. former senator john danforth of missouri, a republican. mitch daniels former governor of indiana and current president of purdue university. charley gibson, former anchor of abc news. john griffin, the managing director of alan and company. jane harmon former congress woman from california and director of the woodrow center. antonio hernandez the president and ceo of the california community foundation. the president of notre dame. jim lair. former executive anchor of news hour. newton, a senior counsel at sydney austin and former head of the fcc under john f kennedy. and dorthy writing, former president of the league of women voters. olympia snow. and former president of princeton university. that is the board that makes up the commission on presidential debates. now the minneapolis star tribune has a secret h

joining me now is a man with all the answers, mike mccurry. bill clinton's white house press secretary. he hasn't been on cnn in 12 years. thank you so much for being here. what is the job description of a moderator? >> i think to get out of the way of the candidates. the candidates are the ones that have to fact check each other and moderators have strong opinions like you just said. that's probably not the role we expect for the people who are going to put the ball in play and let the candidates then have their discussion as they see fit. i think there's questions about asking someone in a debate like this and there are right ways to do that. i think we pick moderators that are very effective at that. i don't doubt donald trump is trying to work the ref but that happens every four years. i think these moderators will present the candidates with opportunities to challenge each other to fact check each other and that's exactly the role they should play. >> so in my example that i've just offered, my cross-examination, it would be the responsib

and mike mccurry, who did such a tremendous job as spokesman to the office. >> thank you.ur partnership is a valuable one and we really do work well together. but the commission on presidential debates itself is totally nonpartisan. it's a nonprofit organization. we don't get funding from the government, from political parties or any public entities. so we, therefore, rely on a number of corporations and individuals and foundations that have been really generous in allowing us to put these debates on and i'd like to list the names of our 2016 national sponsors. the anheuser-busch companies, the howard j. buffet foundation, the kovlar fund, coral and murray, aarp and the national governor's association. would you please join me in thanking them for the work that they've done. [ applause ] now, in addition to putting on these debates, we have this time around incorporated a lot of social media aspects into some of what you will see in the coming debates and certainly some of what you see here tonight and that's involved a lot of partnerships that we've developed with technol

i'd like to introduce frank fierenkov and mike mccurry. >> good evening, ladies and gentlemen.e want to join also in welcoming you here tonight. and this is a special night for hofstra university. they do a tremendous job and they're actually setting a record tonight. this is the third consecutive cycle where they have hosted a presidential debate and they do a marvelous, marvelous job and we're very thankful for them. >> paul kirk, then the chairman of the democratic national committee and i was chairman of the republican national committee and tonight is also a special night for us with regard to the commission. this is the 20th presidential debate we have done starting in 1988 in the general election and we're so proud that all of you could be here tonight. but we would not be possible to do what we do without the marvelous people who serve on our board and some of them are here tonight. and i want to introduce them and have them to stand up and take a quick wave. i don't know where they're seated. john griffin, he's done a marvelous job working with the social media platfor

i would like to introduce frank and mike mccurry. [applause] >> good evening, ladies and gentlemen. if we want to join and welcome you here tonight. this is a special night for hostile university. they do a tremendous job. they are setting a record tonight. this is the third consecutive cycle where they have posted a presidential debate. they do a marvelous job. we are very thankful for them. [applause] the commission of presidential debates was formed in 1987 when paul kirk, chairman of the democratic national committee and i was chairman of the republican national committee, tonight is also a special night for us regarding the commission, this is the 20th presidential debate we had done starting in 1988. we are so proud that all of you could be here tonight. it would notbe -- be possible to do what we do without the marvelous people who serve on the board. some of them are here tonight. i want to introduce them and have them take it quick way. i don't know where they are seated. john grisham, marvelous job working with the social media site for people. [applause] congressman jane

i remember asking mike mccurry, the press secretary about a subpoena from a federal grand jury for president clinton and the lawyer said, don't tell the press, don't tell anybody about it. and they held it secret for over a week and a half in the white house. that sort of thing would not have happened before. it happens now that people kind of overlook it because clinton was in serious trouble. but, since then, the rules have been basically ignored by been basically ignored by everybody. george w. bush came in with not as much respect for the press as he might have because he was resentful of the way his father was treated with the way he perceived he was treated. it just got worse from there. today, the press corps has really got to fight for their lives to get through a day and to get the information they want. mr. spiner: you brought up social media. a lot of campaigns now focus on skipping that entirely and not only be able to reach out to their supporters but to target those supporters so that they know they can spend money on reaching undecided voters and maybe not spend as much money

the debate commission and two chairman frank farren and mike mccurry who was bill clinton's first press secretary and a blue ribbon panel of former officials of both parties, let it be known you are interested. you can't lobby. and i got the call yesterday and said would you agree to be a debate moderator and i said yes before they changed their mind. >> i am glad you got the call and didn't let it go to voice mail. >> no, you want to take that call. >> what was your emotion. you were thrilled and any sort of nerve and anxiety and i know you have done it before, chris. >> yes, this is different. i have done a lot of primary debate and not done a general election debate. the last debate, in las vegas and less than three weeks before the presidential election and the last opportunity that millions of voters get to see these two candidates and another candidate if one of the candidates gets on the stage to do comparison shopping. i will give you a sense of how i realize it was. it is six topics. and each 115 -- one, is 15 minutes and you you facilitate a discussion of total 15 on that topi

i was talking to mike mccurry and asking him why i wasn't named moderator.erator tonight. don't want to take it away from lester holt but i think i would play a whole different role in terms of i don't like to say fact checking, but if you're a journalist and you know that someone is standing in front of the american people and telling them an untruth, i think it is your obligation as the moderator acting on behalf of the american people to get the truth. that's what we are, we are truth tellers. at least the journalists that were of my era were. i'm not sure about today's. but i think the moderator should really call to task. >> here's the thing. there are ways you can ask a question to prevent a candidate from lying, right? you can start with that. >> you can start with basic facts. put them on the table and not dispute them. if trump -- trump does have more of a challenge. he has a more tenuous relationship with the truth if we were to be generous. lester holt can bring him back to reality by asking for his sources of information and by encouraging hillar

i talked to mike mccurry last night in washington dc, and he was very up front. that moderators should be fact checkers. i think they should be up to the standard that chris wallace has set. each candidate should be fact checking the other. do you think hillary clinton can play that role onstage? fact-checking trump in real-time? >> i think she is ready for that, but she would like some help from the moderator. traditionally, moderators have been keeping time, asking questions, because often the fact checking is open to interpretation. it is not just adding up the math, it is about how people view the facts. that is where it can be very thorny for moderators to step in. trump was doing a very trump-like pregame. he was in philly and went to gino's and said everything is going fine. he is not practicing, he is doing sunday that bedminster with his close circle, throwing questions around over fast food. a different approach. john: and having a cheesesteak. who can criticize a man for having a cheesesteak. jennifer epstein, kelly o'donnell, thank you. ♪ ♪ i have two

former clinton white house press secretary and co-chair of the commission on presidential debates mike mccurry. starts at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow morning on fox business. >>> details are emerging about the alleged new york and new jersey bomber raising questions about whether this could have been stopped. lot of people say yes. we'll be right back. if you have a typical airline credit card, you only earn double miles when you buy stuff from that airline. wait...is this where you typically shop? you should be getting double miles on every purchase! switch...to the capital one venture card. with venture, you earn unlimited double miles on every purchase, everywhere, every day. not just ...(dismissively) airline purchases. seriously... double miles... everywhere. what's in your wallet? juswho own them,ople every business is different. but every one of those businesses will need legal help as they age and grow. whether it be help starting your business, vendor contracts or employment agreements. legalzoom's network of attorneys can help you every step of the way so you can focus on what you do. we'll h

let me play what mike mccurry said yesterday. he was talking about why the bar is set where it is.f we can play that. actually, i don't think we have it quite yet, but he said that they had to set some sort of threshold, some sort of criteria, so they set the 15% bar more than a year ago in order to give everybody time to meet the threshold. wasn't it a failure of your campaign, sir, not to meet the 15% mark? >> you know what, here is another issue, i've never had an issue with 15%, but that my name has never appeared on the top line of any national poll. and # 9% of the media only reports the top line, so 70% of america right now doesn't even know i'm in the race.9# 9% of t reports the top line, so 70% of america right now doesn't even know i'm in the race.9% of the reports the top line, so 70% of america right now doesn't even know i'm in the race. so that is manipulation in a way that goes completely unnoticed by everybody. if mickey mouse were the third name, mickey would be at 30 because mickey is anybody but. but mickey is not on the ballot in all 50 states and i'm the only t

audience is told when they come in if you tune in a half hour before on c-span you'll see me, mike mccurrymy co-chairman and the moderator, lester, true of all the debates, talking to the audience. they're very fortunate to be in this place at this time in history. but there may be 100 million people the estimates are for this debate who are watching either on their television sets or on their ipads or iphones, streaming whatever, who are trying to make a determination of who they're going to vote for. it is very unfair for that audience to inject themselves by clapping or yelling or booing as you saw during the primary debates. so, realistically when we've done this and says on the tickets also, by the way, you're committing not to involve yourself in what's going on on stage. and over the years it's worked pretty well. the audience has been very respectful of what we hope is a dignified and respectable discussion of the issues by the candidates. >> okay. so, who is in the audience, mark cuban just tweeted he announced yesterday that he's been invited by secretary clinton and he thinks he

former president clinton, press secretary and cochairman of the debate mike mccurry will join us. a lot of head. stay right there. a big show coming your way. the story of the moment. a fiery first debate to lift up to the hype is the nominees wasted no time attacking one another. watch. >> i have a feeling by the end of this evening i'll be blamed for everything that's ever happened. >> why not. >> yeah, why not. >> i recommend a symptom of the reason i say that is not in a braggadocio sway. it is about time that this country has someone running up that has an idea about money. you see me all of the plays. you decided to stay home and that is okay. >> i think donald's just criticize me for preparing for the debate. and yes i did. note also prepared for it? i prepared to be president and i think that's a good thing. >> i think the strongest asset may be by far is my temperament. i have a winning temperament. i know how to win. >> command been provoked by tweet should not have his fingers anywhere near the nuclear code. >> when you tried to actually is an outcome that really does s

. >> kelly, in my sense, i talked to mike mccurry last night in washington, d.c.e cochairs one of the commissions on presidential debates. he said, i don't think moderators should be fact checkers. i think it should be up to the standard that chris wallace set. it's up to the candidates. i'm there to ask the question. if there's going to be fact checking, it should be each candidate fact checking the other. do you think if that is the case, hillary clinton is ready for that and ready to play that role on stage, fact checking trump in realtime? >> i think she is ready for that, but she'd like to help from the moderator. and i'll abstain on the specifics, because it's my colleague, lester holt. but traditionally, moderators have been keeping time and asking questions. because usually the fact checking is open to interpretation. it's not just adding up the math. it's how people view the facts. and that's where it can be very thorny for moderators to step in. on the other hand, trump today was doing a very trump-like pregame. he was in philly, went to a gino's, you kn

the cochairs of the commission are frank fahrenkopf, former republican national committee chair, mike mccurrypress secretary for bill clinton. yesterday they called me up and gave me the formal invitation, would you accept? and i said i would be honored and proud to accept. gregg: you didn't say, oh gosh, let me think about it just a moment, okay. so, look, this is, this is a real challenge. now you did some of the primary debates as a comoderator but as the first presidential debate, if i understand it correctly as a moderator. take us through how you go about this in crafting the questions you want to pose and topics you're going to discuss. >> well you make it sound like i've given this a great deal of thought and have a lot of experience. i'm going to be thinking about it and ficking it out and also quite frankly talking to some of my predecessors to get the benefit of their wisdom. a couple of points i think i would make though. first of all, i will be doing the last debate. that's the one in las vegas on october 19th, less than three weeks before the election. so the first thing is, you

yesterday i spoke with mike mccurry he is also the cochairman of the presidential debate listen to whathe have to say. >> he knew almost a year ago that he would have to get to 15% we announce it and we are required by law and precedent to have what we call preestablished adopt objective criteria. we set the number at 15% and frankly some members thought that was too hot low some thought it was too high but there was precedent for 15% and that seems to be a reasonable number. so you're nowhere near 15% do you think it's on democratic to not had you on the stage. >> this is a democratic party operative is speaking here. the commission is composed of representatives of the democratic and republican's party. the largest voting bloc right now of americans is independent people who had repudiated the parties in this race the vast majority of americans don't open hillary clinton the highest ratings are not liked not trusted ever in our history. they're saying they want other candidates in and these candidates are widely disliked. in 75 percent of the american public is saying they want all fo

guest: there are two co-commissioners, the top whole, one is mike mccurry was one of bill clinton's pressecretaries. a former headis of a national committee who has been there from the get go. there has been an executive, janet brown, who is more responsible --who is responsible for the -- i don't know how many off the top of my head commissioners, but they are invited to become commissioners and are invited by that administrative structure of the debate commission. they really try to get people from a variety of backgrounds and to try to get an even balance on political spectrum and that kind of thing. host: if you want to learn more about the commission, debates.org is the website. it has information on who was on the commission. let's hear next from steve, grand island, nebraska. a third-party supporter. caller: hi. the election of either candidate, might face congress or might force congress to rein in the president's executive power. the u.s. can survive for years of clinton or trump. it will be a long, long four years. both candidates are dangerous, but clinton will be predictable,

>> there are two co- commissioners like the top people, one is mike mccurry who is one of bill clinton'spress secretary, the others frank. [inaudible] , the head of the republicanan national committee who has been ja on from the get-go. also janetan brown who is more responsible for the kind of administration of the debate commission. then there are, i don't remember how many of the top of my head, commissioners. they head, commissioners. they are invited to become commissioners, they are invited by that administrative structure of the debate that i just named. they try to get people from a variety of backgrounds on the political spectrum. >> if you want to learn about the commission, the debate.org is the is the website where the commission on presidential debate. they have information on who's grande commission a background. that website is debate.org. let's hear from steve, grand island, nebraska. a third-party supported. >> hello. this might force congress to rein in the excessive executive power. i think the u.s. could survive for years of either clinton or trumpet but it will be al

in the context of moderator thing, i talked to mike mccurry and he said, you know, if hillary clinton isn't prepared to take donald trump apart piece by piece, she's committed political malpractice. all of the moderators have that view that you candidates, it's your job to dismember your opponent if he lies on stage. >> what i don't understand is -- why is it that everything everybody has said is wrong when it comes to demographics. there aren't enough white people to elect donald trump. if he's getting 20% among hispanics and 5% among black voters. that ends up not being true. there are enough white voters to elect donald trump. why is it the old adage that republicans need to unite. where are -- did the martians ship down into america while we weren't looking? >> i tell you one factor, like, in colorado. evangelical vote. the consolidation of republicans against hillary clinton and can make a big difference if electorates look more like 2004 than when president obama got elected and re-elected. that's the challenge for hillary clinton tonight is to build a coalition of enthusiasm na