[captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2016] good evening. You are looking at a live picture of Longwood University in the small town of farmville, virginia, where in about 90 minutes, the Vice President ial nominees, mike pence and tim kaine, will meet in their first and only debate of the 2016 campaign. Approximately 500 people are in tonights audience. They are just beginning to take their seats. They will include 100 Longwood University students who won tickets in a lottery. Lets take a look at how tonights stage is set for the debate. There are no podiums. The candidates will sit sidebyside at a desk across from a single moderator for the full 90 minutes. Lots ofbe giving you information about the venue and the candidates themselves to set the stage for tonights debate. We are going to begin with our colleague, steve sully, who is inside the media center on campus. About theare talking inside of willow hall, a basketball arena turned media center. Those doors behind me are where the media aligned up and where most of the press will be watching the debate and then filing their stories, submitting their stories, whether it is a platform of print or broadcast. We are joining the networks with cameras lined up to do interviews and hear from the surrogates. , the surrogates will come out for donald trump and mike pence. Y will give you a suit live on cspan, we will give you a chance to see all of it unfold. There are nine segments as opposed to six. They will be 10 minute segments each, a total of 90 minutes for the debate. The moderator will ask for the opening question, and then eat candidate will have two minutes to respond. It is up to the moderator to followup for a deeper discussion of the issues. Elaine quijano of the new cbs news is the moderator. She worked for cnn. The stage has been close to the press for the last half hour. But we were allowed on the stage to give you a sense of what it is like for the moderator, what the candidates will be looking at, the time cues. This is what we saw earlier today. We are on the debate stage. Janet brown, this is the view the moderator will have for tonights debate. The two candidates are seated. Why . Janet we thought since we first tried this in 2000 in the Vice President ial debate that seating the candidates with the moderator makes for a more comfortable, relaxed conversation. It has proven very successful, and we are happy we can do it again this year. Steve give us a sense of where we are at, and how you were able to transfer this stage from Hofstra University to longwood. Janet it came on truck came on a truck on monday. Will beparticipants participating in the debate. The set looks very much the same. It will be loaded up after tonight and on its way to st. Louis. Steve tell me what happening behind this and who is behind the stage during the debate itself. Jenna the opening is where the cameras are. Behind the cameras is our production table where the executive producer and his , our timer producer and i, are during the debate. Thats where we are during the debate. Until absolutely the end when we go off there. A new look. Is why the change . Janet television and Technology Keeps perfecting and we need to keep using materials and colors that will be as pristine and elegant on air as ever. So we have done new fabrics and colors to try to update it just a little bit, try to give it a fresher look. It is similar to the old one. It is fascinating to work with our set and design guys to see what kind of considerations have to go into the fabrics, the construction of the sets, the lighting. These guys are geniuses. Steve and looking at the table, there is nothing for the candidates. Two blocks for the moderator. Why . Janet we want her to have the means to keep track of wherever she is in the debate. This debate will start with one question that each candidate will have two minutes to respond. The balance of the time, roughly five minutes, will be given to a discussion of that topic. We want the moderator to be able to keep track of where she is in the sequence of things. The candidates come with no notes, no props, nothing. They are able to take notes during the debate, but they dont bring anything with them. Steve what will a Vice President ial nominees see . Janet they will be looking at elayne. They will be looking at their spouses in the front row. They will be looking at cameras letterhead on to them. That our head on to them. They will probably be looking at this table more than any other thing. They will be looking at each other. They are in close proximity, as you can see. They will be looking at each other. The audience is lit. They will not be heard from or seen during the debate. Steve how do you think this will feel for governor pence and him cain janet both have been chief executives of their state kaine . Senator tim janet both have been chief executives of their state. I think this will be an interesting conversation. Bernie shot in 2000 when he started this format led what many thought was one of the best debates we have ever done in this format with that kind of conversation. My bet is that is what we will see tonight. Steve why farmville, virginia . Janet we got 16 formal proposals from universities. These are all submitted colleges that the are interested. We do a lot of digging to see if the institutions can do a debate and mesh it with the start of an Academic Year and all of those considerations. Longwood passed with flying colors. That you can take this you can take this debate to cities that are smaller. Steve there was a Vice President ial debate in kentucky a few years ago. Jenna absolutely. On very shorte order at the university of richmond in this same general zip code in 1992. The provost went on to be the president of center. He has hosted to debates in danville, kentucky. Thatnk in large part experience gave encouragement to longwood. Steve after tonight, two down, two to go. To st. You transfer this louis and then nevada . Janet there is an incredible load out. All of the equipment is loaded onto the trucks and heads to st. Louis. And ia remarkable effort, am so proud of the team that comes together to do this. Everything has to arrive in as pristine condition as it leaves here to be put together in very short order. Sunday is the town meeting. Steve where will you be tonight . I will be at the production table. Steve janet brown, thank you for the tour. Janet thank you, steve. Steve and just because it is mikegovernor tim kaine and pence on the stage tonight, that does not mean that other candidates are not active. Bill weld is live on facebook, joining us via twitter. And we have the Vice President ial nominee for the green party Live Streaming responses to the vp debate beginning at 9 00 p. M. Eastern. You can ask questions on twitter. Tim kaine sent out this message earlier today. Steve and team tromp sent trump sent out this tweet. Here is a little bit of the instagram video. I try to start every day with a little bit of quiet time. I spend time in prayer and devotion. I find that to be enormously important time in my day. Over the course of the day, my a word of often read prayer that we would have the grace to be able to meet this moment. Steve i asked janet brown why longwood. It costs longwood 5. 5 million to host the event. They had to upgrade the internet technology. Wellofficials think it was worth the investment to raise the University Profile and give the student volunteers and impressive line for their resume. Farmville, virginia, where is located is relatively close to uva. It has about 5000 students. In 1830 nine, it was a womens college. Permitted70 were men full. That might explain the student body, 68 female, 32 male. A cost about 11,000 purse a master to go to longwood. Hisrent president father is the president of william and mary college in virginia as well. We talked to him earlier about student involvement. Thing i am most proud of, we have a huge array of courses this fall. They are dedicated specifically to themes of the election, themes of the debate. I think our students at this point understand that this may well be one of the most important president ial debates in our lifetime, given the importance of the issues, the age of the president ial candidates, and the experience of the Vice President ial candidates. Not been more combined congressional and gubernatorial experience on the Vice President ial stage before. You can hear the excitement of students. What do you want students to take away from the debate . I really want them to take away enjoying an hour and a half of what i hope will be real substance, a real measure of civility, a Real Exchange of ideas. Those have been in relatively short supply in 2016. With all of the exotic dimensions of the 2016 race. I hope they relish that as a pattern for the future. You are watching cspans Preview Program of tonights debate from longwood, university, in farmville, virginia. Debate begins shortly after 9 00 p. M. Eastern. Next up, let me introduce you to just and who is joining us from inside the debate hall. He is a political columnist. Our goal is to learn more about the junior senator from virginia. Mensou look at these two bios, there is a lot of similarity. They are very close in age. , both lawyers, both have been married to the same woman for 30 plus years. Both parents of three children, in the marine corps, unusual today. Religiousvery strong beliefs. If those are the similarities, what differentiates the two when they come to the table . That this in mind debate is really about the top of the national ticket, mr. Rump and secretary clinton i think most of us are expecting these Vice President ial candidates to play the very Important Role of sharpening distinctions between the president ial nominees, and perhaps completing some of the Unfinished Business from last weeks president ial debate. Perhaps address some of the issues that have evolved over the past week, including the continuing dispute over Donald Trumps taxes. The style will be very different. There will be a level of civility here that i dont think we had last week. Instead of going for the jugular, they will be doing so in a mannered and polite way. We have a clip we want to the 2012audience from debate for the United States senate seat that senator kaine now holds. It was against former virginia and aor george allen former senator, two very experienced politicians at the table. We thought you at show we would show you what it looks like when tim kaine is in that situation. Seen a kaine we have whole lot of effort to block womens progress, and effort i stand strongly against. George allen and i have strong differences. I proud that when i was governor, we did a lot to bring businesses to virginia and have a profile that made us more appealing than other states. If you rank states top to bottom, we were better off during my administration than the allen administration. I support paycheck equity for women and the Lilly Ledbetter pay act. George allen has refused to support it. I support family medical leave. George allen repeatedly voted against it. I stand against ultrasound legislation, personhood legislation, and efforts to take away womens rights to receive fromaceptive coverage their workplace. You cannot have a Strong Economy for women if you take their choices away. Again, style and substance. What did you hear . Tim kaine has a great gift for being able to absorb vast quantities of complex information, giving it careful consideration, and then sharing it with a comparatively uninformed audience. Its a skill he developed and refined as a litigator in richmond. He is good at tailoring his message to his audience. He knows what words and phrases to use. Listeningeresting to that clip because tim kaine as a catholic opposes abortion but he is very forceful in his support of abortion rights. I think that speaks to the political nature of his personality. He is gentle, educated, and there is a tendency within the society of jesus to publicly wrestle with doubts over issues , and then parsing them a bit. Kane definitely has that tendency. Show tim kaines political biography to show the positions he has held. He is one of only 30 people in u. S. History who have held these successive seats, city council, mayor, lieutenant governor, governor, United States senator. But he got into politics in 1994 family. Of his can you tell us about what drew him into the political world . He is married to the daughter family. Modern republicanthe first governor of virginia, elected in 1969. Governor holton practiced a very different form of republicanism, one that has largely disappeared, a more moderate brand. Included athat particularly sharp commitment to equal rights. Interest ofpecial future governor tim kaines as well. Racial tension is very much a feature of richmond life. He will be promoting racial reconciliation. That she has spent his life promoting racial reconciliation he spent his life promoting racial reconciliation and had a council help him along. In what had been a redrawn , a majority white district, it largely lost the attention of the city. Tim kaine went into africanamerican neighborhoods knocking on doors, talking about how important it was that there in thee addressed africanamerican neighborhood that delivered tim kaines slender majority to allow him to defeat that incumbent. To ask you about his marine corps son and the fact that they are a military family. Has this affected his voting pattern on the use of force in the United States senate . Senatoroints about kaine. He serves on the Armed Services committee. National defense is a Major Economic driver in virginia. Governor spending direct and indirect accounts for 26 of the states economy. His son, matt, his eldest, is a First Lieutenant in the marine corps. One of the points governor kane has made during the campaign is secretaryuld trust clinton as president with his sons life. However, tim kaine came to the concerned about war powers. This put him at odds with barack obama. One thing he has stressed is rewriting the war powers act, making it more difficult to the United States to carry out war, than it has been for a number of years. If i may, this also connects tim kaine to the president of this university. The University President in an earlier incarnation was the studydirector of a through the university of virginia that looked at the issue of war powers, advanced the idea of a rewrite, and then this idea was dusted off by newly elected senator kaine when he went to washington in 2013. Are you privy to the names of people who will be cheering him on in the audience . Are a number of people the senator has invited. I think this will speak to one thehe recurring themes of evening for him, racial reconciliation. Is a civiluests rights lawyer of great prominence in richmond. The citys first africanamerican mayor, later a state senator. Were it not for his support, tim kaine would never have been selected as mayor of richmond relatively early in his tenure as a member of the city government. Finally, we have an informal bet among virginia reporters covering tim kaine how many sentences into his introduction, introductory remarks, he will make reference to the importance of this place, farmville, and , whereedward county defiance over School Desegregation led to the shutdown of Public Schools for over five years in the early 1960s. They were finally reopened under ae supervision of president ial commission, and now bright blue a very dot in the vast sea of red that is the virginia countryside. Perfect because our cameras are now showing governor tim kaine arriving. And we want to thank you for intog us some insight virginias junior senator as he makes the most highprofile appearance of his political career. Joel goldstein literally wrote the book on Vice President ial debates. We are going to talk to him their history and importance. The book is titled the white house vice presidency their hih to significance, mondale to biden. Nol the author of is that book. Thank you for being with us. Is this debate for governor mike pence and senator tim kaine . This debate to a great extent is there and reduction to the American Public. A large portion of the American Public has never seen them before, does not have fixed impressions of them. This will be an opportunity for a lot of people to form their first impressions. Debate, president ial with the exception of the is alwaysn debate, watched by far fewer people than the president ial debate, but on the other hand, it attracts more attention than other events involving Vice President of candidates. As you know, the first Vice President ial debate took place 40 years ago. And it has been part of the landscape since then. They come about . It really began when president ford challenged governor carter to debate and as part of the package, senator dole challenged senator mondale. They accepted on all sides and really began. As you say, it has been a feature of the campaign since then. In some ways, it has meant more for the vice presidency, i think, than the presidency. The president ial candidates get a lot of attention even without the debates, but for the Vice President ial debate, this is really the opportunity where the Campaign Spotlight shines on them, not only for the 90 minutes of the debate, but for the time before and after. What is fee challenge what is the challenge for governor pence and senator kaine . The Vice President ial debate is unique in part because the debate really is and so much about the two people on the stage, but the two people who are not on the stage. Most of what the Vice President ial candidates will be talking about is defending and celebrating the person at the top of the trigger, attacking the cross Party President ial candidate, echoing the themes of each of their campaigns. If they spend a lot of time talking about the person across the stage, they are probably missing the mark. Hillary clinton in her late 60s. Donald trump the oldest nominee for any major party. For theseant was it two candidates to pick their running mates . The Vice President ial candidate is always important in part because thats the first president ial successor. One of these two people will be Vice President. 20 of our president s, nine out , first became president when their successor died or predecessor died, or in one case resigned before the term was over. The vice presidency is important as the first successor, but really, since 1976, the last 40 years, the office has also become consequential as an ongoing part of the presidency. As a close president ial adviser, a troubleshooter, somebody in the president s inner circle. Was that one of jimmy carters legacies, the change in what he gavep and his running mate, Walter Mondale . Absolutely. Mondale really reimagined the vice presidency. Carter wanted to make it into a significant position. Mondale came up with a new vision of the office as a cross the Board Advisor and troubleshooter. Mondale the resources he needed to succeed. The five succeeding administrations, three republican, two democratic, have basically followed the corridormondale model with some variations from administration to administration. They been included. They love and significant. They have all been significant. Host both mike pence and senator kaine have had the run career, their own points of the new. How do these two nominees for the vice presidency thread that needle . That is often the challenge. There were certainly differences between jimmy carter and Walter Mondale. There were differences between gerald ford and dole. And georgeald reagan h. W. Bush. It is not unusual for there to be differences. Isically, the resolution that the president says the tone for the administration, ultimately sets policy, but the Vice President is at the table and here she has the opportunity to express views and to try and be persuasive. So i would expect that that would be the way in which either senator gainer governor pence would resolved or that senator kaine or governor pence would resolve differences. Officeho has changed the the most . Which Vice President has had the most of lines on the vice on the presidency . L Walter Mondale was the most in terms of really move in terms of really moving the office into the west wing and into the inner circle of the presidency and creating a new institution that really has survived for six administrations, 40 years. In terms of influence in the presidency, surly dick cheney during the First Bush Administration was very powerful. Not a significant i think a sometimes was suggested. But i think he hattie he had a great deal of incidents. Joe biden really has been the twoterm viceal president we have had. To his credit, he has been able to sustain a high level of involvement and influence with president obama throughout the entire two terms. Had a very hes consequential service as vice presidency. Joel jewel goldstein, goldstein, his book is called the white house vice presidency. Thanks for joining us. Joel thanks for having me. Host you are looking at a live picture of willet hall. One hour from now, the two less president ial nominees of the major parties will be facing off in a 90minute debate. Minutes, we will take you inside the debate hall for something you see only on this network, which is the briefing for the audience by the Debate Commission and by the moderators. So you get a real insiders view of how the debate is going to proceed just as if you are in the room itself. We hope you will stay with us for that unique aspect. Also in the debate hall is maureen,r riley we want to hear more about your 57yearold nativeborn hoosier governor and what he brings to the table tonight as he faces off against senator tim kaine. Maureen he brings to this debate format an experience as a radio talkshow host. Maureen he is very good on his feet. His unflappable. He is a disciplined messenger. For much of his career, he has been a communicator. He was a radio talkshow host in indiana before his six terms in congress. He liked to call his show Rush Limbaugh on decaf. One of the first things he did radio studiomini in the congressional office. He told me he viewed the job as all of application. He did a lot of the job as all communication. He did a lot of that. House conservatives, he was a spokesman for some of those issues. He was a chair and for the republican congress. Something that he has done most of his career appeared you like doing. He is very good at it. He will bring to this debate that kind of discipline to his message that you did not see in the first president ial debate with donald trump. Host we are going to air a clip from the 2012 debate when he Left Congress to seek the governorship of indiana. Why did he make that decision after 12 years in the house of representatives . Maureen he considered whether to run for president or to run for governor. Said he prayed about it and his heart was in indiana. Suspected that one other reason was he wanted to get the executive experience as a governor before deciding to run for president. Has he explained why he has agreed to join donald trump on the ticket . Again, he sees this as a chance to be an advocate for the republican party. One of the reasons he was chosen was to helpump unify the republican party, which was splattered after the primary. Pence is very wellliked i social conservatives. Many had urged him to run for president. When he came to the ticket, i think he sought as a way that he could unite the party and help them when the white house. Host lets look at this clip from october 17, 2012 against his democratic challenger for governorship of indiana. D a favorite theme of mike pence is spending. [video clip] pence i thought runaway spending i thought runaway spending firm both clinical parties. I led the fight. I stood for fiscal discipline and reform. Thats why i got called one of the hardest working members of congress. The truth of the matter is. Tax are a stubborn thing. Five of the six of the years that you were speaker of the house, indiana ran a deficit in dollars. Of millions of and friendly, john, when i look at your plans for more spending, and more boutique tax cuts, it looks like we are headed in the same path of red ink again. Host in terms of style and substance, would you hear . Maureen again, he is a good communicator. Cutting government. Spending is a. Favorite topic of his. Into the records of the Vice President ial candidates, we might hear governor pence talk about he cut taxes in indiana and senator kaine, when he was governor, pushed to raise them in virginia. Although he was known as a Strong Social conservative, he filed his own Party Leadership on spending and economic issues. About mikelked pence. We were also learning about 10 came tim kaine. Was sent out that by the campaign was governor for tonight. Ration he talked about seeking spiritual moments before he entered into tonights debate. Didnt he talk about how religion informs this man and his approach to public life . Maureen it is central to who he is. Its something that he will say that and his friends will say that. He sees Public Service as a advocateas a way to the beliefs that his faith informs. One of his friends told me it helps him in a pressure situation like this. Pence can stayw so unflappable, his friends said is because pence believes its because of his faith. Hell believes in his faith and he believes in fate and he believes that there is a role for him and he will fulfill that role. They have been married for 31 years. They have three children together. Can you talk about the relationship and how they have been involved in his public life. Maureen hes very close to his wife karen. She is his most important and advisor. Important in big moments like this, the two of them usually sherry moment. Cheekves a make is on the and they share a private moment of thought and prayer. I expect she will be doing that for him before tonights debate. Host what about his son in the marine corps . Does he talk a lot of him on the campaign trail . And how does that inform him on the Security Issues . The national convention, he said his most important title is dad. He is very proud of his son. He is proud of both daughters. They were there at the convention. National security hasnt come up as much for him in his role as governor. But having a son in the marines, that is a different issue for him than it would otherwise. Do you know who else will be cheering him on tonight besides his spouse . Maureen i havent seen the list of who his friends are, who he invited to be here tonight. Sorry, i cannot answer that question. Host have you seen any members of the trump family in the debate hall . Maureen mostly, ive been in the building were most of the media are housed. So theres not a lot of overlap between the two crowds. Mostly, ive been focused on my laptop in the media center for the last few hours. Host we have seen the donald trump promises to live tweet during the did during the debate in it. I give for joining us and telling us more about indianas makesor mike pence as he his way to this highprofile venue this evening. Maureen youre welcome. Host peters when peter swenn is with us. Is reportingws where Heller Clinton and donald trump will be tonight. Tim kaine sent out this tweet. Old to invite too your parents to your vp debate. Heres a picture of him with his parents. Both senator kaine and governor pence have sons in the marine corps. This is from the marine times in july. A gives a little detail of the two. It says the 26yearold Nathaniel Kaine joined the marines in 2012 and was recently deployed to Eastern Europe with the marine corps. Pences son is in Flight School at florida. I want to show you this article from the Washington Post. Being Vice President is dreadful. Running for it is so much worse. Everyone knows that being Vice President is a bummer, a job famously described by the 32nd person to hold it, its not worth a bucket of worms spit. It is office that comes with little authority, like to see which ursula from the little mermaid. It can strip you of your own voice. Only one thing worse, it is running for the godforsaken job. Be sharply epitomized tuesday night at Longwood University in farmville. Mike pence and tim kaine have probably had to study harder than their running mates, certainly the case for pence, in order to fully articulate opinions that might not initially have been their own. Eriods been their own thats just a little bit from the Washington Post article. I want to show you a little bit of bob doles debate from 1976. And then a recent phone interview that speed that suspended with him. [video clip] it is an appropriate topic, i guess. War not an issue like the in vietnam would be. All democrat wars, all in this entry. Up the killed and wounded, it would be 1. 6 million americans, enough to sit to fill the city of detroit. I think senator dole has earned the title of hatchet man tonight. I made some comments about democratic wars. I wish i hadnt made. Back and you get covered up with notebooks administration sent me all kinds of notebooks on Foreign Policy and economic policy. Through myreading all the recent conflicts had been started while democrats were in power. I guess i put that in the back of my mind and blurted it out during the debate. I like to have a little fun. I think i said george meany was ,han the big labor chief thought about being Vice President , but could not afford to take a pay cut. Mondale, he had fun, too, i guess. Post that was senator bob dole who was on the debate stage. Good political people watching. , that wasdience virginias governor. You can see folks all meeting and greeting 45 minutes before the debate gets underway. As we look at that debate hall, we will introduce you to one of the 14 members of the president ial Debates Commission, someone who has a lot of experience in debates over the years. She came to the Debates Commission from the head of the head of league of women voters. Thanks for being with cspan type. About a lot of folks wonder who makes the decisions about the format of thee debates and when timing is, who sits at the table. How does the Debate Commission and its executive director into cochairs actually function . Alsohy there are subcommittees of this commission that deal with these various issues you just outlined and bring them to the board where we vote on them. I chaired the committee on what our criteria would be for invitations to participate in the debate. But there were other committees with things for the format and the other things you mentioned. Then they bring them to the board. Just like any good board of directors like for any nonprofit does, we talked about than ourselves and made a decision. Host members ask a have a say in the outcome. Dorothy absolutely. It isnt just a couple of months every four years either. Residential and Vice President ial debates, it takes two years. Then we are busy the rest of the time with a lot of international work, which i hope your viewers will learn more about by going to our website, which is debates. Org, and learn what we are doing internationally. It is really quite amazing. Explain why it is that it is just the representatives of the two major parties tonight and not the green party or the libertarian . Dorothy or any other eligible person. I think the American People need to know that more than 1800 people filed to run for president this year. Obviously, you cant have a debate with 1800 people. Established we have frankly some of them are eliminated because they dont meet in the constitutional requirements in terms of age, place of birth and so forth. And we also require that anyone participating in the debates must be participating on the ballot in enough states to make it possible that they could win the majority in the electoral college. Those things are pretty well understood by everyone, i think. Its the last one that kind of gets all the conversation, which is how then do you still determine we had primary debates this year where there were 17 people. You dont have a good debate that way. You really need to be able to able,those who are most most qualified to win the election to be seen together on ,he same stage at the same time without knowing an advanced what theyre going to be asked and so forth. And you got to get them down to a reasonable number of people that makes it possible. So the last criteria that we debated about and we welcomed more advice and judgment and opinions from the american to achieve a level of 15 of voter interest and support in a variety of leading Public Opinion polls. That is not a perfect criterion. We know that. If anybodys got some better ideas, we would love to hear them. We debates this every four years. What it does though is allows it to be debates among those who are truly potential winners in the election. One thing we need to emphasize is that nobody has to agree to participate in the debate. We had an occasion where a person whod did meet the participateused to for some reason or the other. These are Campaign Decisions that are made. Thats their right to make them. But we want to include as many of these potential leaders of our country to participate as possible. And weve come to that as a criterion. And frankly, the only two this year that meet that level of 15 voter interest and support, in addition to the other criteria, are Hillary Clinton and donald trump. Host host if you look across at the members of the Debate Commission, they are former elected officials, longtime journalists, scholars of the. Rocess i looked at ages and the and this person on the commission is 52 years old, the gentleman who governing manager of allen and company. Much want young people to evolve in the process. Im wondering about lack of people of gen x or millennial age and the kind of thinking about the world that would bring to your deliberations and even format and style. Do you worry about that as a commission . Worded have not worried about it, but you make a next point. We are in the middle of this debate. This is not the time to be changing board membership, but what we will be considering board memberships and we will continue to do that and you just made an excellent point. So thank you for reminding us we need to be particularly interested in that demographic, the demographics that you just pointed out. We need to hear from those folks in a decisionmaking capacity as well. In the meantime, let us know what you think, all of you, particularly those of the age and the demographic that susan has just outlined. Because we do need to hear that. You introduced in the audience at the first debate. And here you are. Not all the commissioners plan to be attending. Do you plan to go to all for all four . Dorothy i might. In the terms of president ial debates, since 1976, which is when the league started sponsoring president ial debates and institutionalizing president ial debates, which i think was accomplished. With all the debate watching and being in the room over the years, do you have a most memorable moment . Dorothy oh, my goodness. Oneankly cant think of memorable moment. There have been so many. Fact, im going to have to blank out on you on that. I remember the president ial hometown ofin my louisville, kentucky, in 1984. Was sitting in the front row. I introduced the moderators and the panelists and then sat in the front row to watch the debate. Afterwards, what did you think of the debate . And i said, you know, im going to go home and watch this on a television tape because i was so concerned about making sure that everything went right that i just didnt hear it as well as i should have. [laughter] host you must be hard and by the numbers of the people who watch on television in the first president ial debate. This year, with so much other access to life screening and social media, it has taken the debate in many ways to many more people around the country and around the world. Dorothy i want to add a special thank you to cspan. You just reminded me of that. As i understand it, weve been told that a total of 84 Million People watched that debate at hofstra. I dont think that included the 15,000 or so that watched it that didng millions not include the cspan data, that i was told. So you all did a remarkable job in attracting our audiences. I was told 15 Million People. Even higher than we have been reading about in the media. Thank you, cspan. Host thank you very much. Sodont have any commercial we dont have to report in a numbers. Dorothy we know you all were there and covering it well. So think you very much. Dot dorothy is known as ridings who has spent her career think about how to put on president ial and Vice President ial debates. We will take you now to will it hall on campus. To on campus. To willett hall on campus. Facesf famous political and other interested people from the university and the political community. Open for lines will be your reaction. It is most important to us that you, as voters, think about what you heard. Towill have venues for you participate on twitter and facebook. So we will see you live after the debate tonight for your reaction. Ladies and gentlemen, if you take your seats please. Janet thank you very much and a good evening. I janet brown, the executive commissioner executive on the commission on president ial debates. Evening, willett hall would be hosting a basketball game. It has beenee, turned into a venue where a conversation will be taking place that will be watched all over the world by tens of millions of people. That is courtesy of the skills of the commissions production team. The audio, set, lighting and other members are without peers in this business. A huge and a Huge National and International Broadcast take place. I hope you will look in your programs and reader names and appreciate the extraordinary work that they do. People toa lot of thank this evening. I would like to start by introducing the cochairman of the commission, mike mccurry and frankfurt cough. Frank fahrenkopf. Mike i want to thank you. I want to tell you about the nonpartisan debates which began in 1987. We are now in our eighth series of debates that have been hosted by the commission. The board of directors of the commission, the commission itself is made up of 16 leaders from both the public and the private sectors. Democrats, republicans, independents, and some that are none of the above. Tonightelighted thats we have one of the members of the commission with us. The former president of the league of women voters and the [indiscernible] ridings tubb, thank you for being here. Take about. [applause] former chairman here, david norcross. [applause] one of the responsibilities of the commission is to design the format for these debates. Four years ago, we made a change to allow longer lots of time for the gander gets to engage each other and engage the issues. So tonight, we will have a debate divided into nine 10minute segments. Only the moderator knows what the questions are. The commission does not. The campaigns do not. And the candidates themselves do not. This is very important is for the American Public. As janet mentioned, millions of people will be watching this. So it is important that you are respectful to the rest of the americans watching this debate by not interrupting with any billing, cheering, clapping cheering,ooing, clapping. Please respect the time the candidates have to be with each other to discuss the issues. The use of cell phones, cameras or Electronic Devices are straightly prohibited. If any of these ground rules are violated, you will probably be asked to leave the hall. Thebout 9 00 live, back in back, you will hear a lot of commotion as our Network Friends go live. Ignore that. That is part of the process. I would like to introduce a very good friend of mine, a partner that i have enjoyed working fahrenkopf. Frank the cpd is a nonpartisan, private organization. We get no money from the political parties. We get no money from candidates. We get no money from the government, whether it is state, local or federal government. We are privately funded. We are funded by a number of corporations, foundations and individuals who firmly believe that those who would be president and Vice President of the United States should debate should debate so the people sitting at home watching on television or streaming on their other devices can make an answer to interested with air going to support. They will hear the issues discussed that will be important. And i want to mention the sponsors for the 2016 debate. We have the Anheuserbusch Companies who do a great job for us every year. That howard you buffett foundation. The kovler fund. The law firm of kroll and mooring. The National Governors association. And the aarp. Wont you join me in giving him a hand for their support. [applause] im just going to mention two other things that we do other than these debates every four years. We have been involved for the last four years in something that most of us in this audience, other than students who are here, dont know a lot about. Most of us, as i look around this audience, we grew up reading newspapers and magazines , watching Television News to find out what is going on in the world, what is going on in politics. Thats not the way it is today for millions and millions, particularly young americans. Because social media has changed everything. So for the last four years, we have been working with very social media platforms in this country to make sure we understand what those people who are on social media are interested in, what are their concerns, what questions i think are to be asked. And those platforms are helping us tonight and throughout these debates by letting the moderators who, as mike said, are the only people who know the questions it will be asked, whats on the minds of those people. So we are very involved with them. We are very thankful for them. The important thing is to get every american possible educated about the candidates and the issues and get them out to vote on election day. In the last am going to mention is Something Else we do between the debates. Thats our international program. The United States of america and our system of democracy is a beacon throughout the world. We are not perfect. We never say we are perfect. But particularly emerging democracies around the world look to our system and they are fascinated by this concept of having debates between leaders. The last 20 years, we have been working and 35 nations around the world. We brought some of them to washington. Sometimes we send people there where they are now having these types of debates. Couple of weeks in nevada, at unlv, the final debate, we will have 50 people from 45 nations for a threeday seminar and they will participate and watch the debates. We are extremely proud of that program. And as mike said, i will to you something us we are extremely proud of, this university. It has done a remarkable job. We owe a debt of gratitude to , tostudents, to the faculty all the workers and the people who work so hard setting up the chairs that you are sitting on. They do a remarkable job. And they are very, very fortunate because they had a remarkable leader. The my pleasure to reduce president of Longwood University , taylor reveley. Taylor thank you. Longwood has definitely been an absolute majestic, full cry getting ready for this great occasion tonight. And we are deeply honored to quijano lane quijano. Laine the years, no other state has had more leading figures hold the nations to highest offices than virginia. [applause] virginia, of course, is a crossroads of american history. Fact im ale, in specifically, is a crossroads of american history. The civil war drew to a close. Ere in its final week in a profound concurrence, this is where the Civil Rights Movement of its first powerful the 1951ith studentled strike, led by then 16yearold Barbara Johns at produce the majority of plaintiffs at brown the board of education. [applause] history is ads of place where leadership has been forged in reconciliation. Next month, americans go to the polls for the 58 president ial election in the nations history. Marks the next month first president ial election for almost all of our students. The commission on president ial debates believes deeply in the connection between education and democracy. Believes deeply that holding these crucial events in the heat and crocs of each president ial , these debates, holding these debates on College Campuses teaches the habits of democracy. And it is with that thought foremost in mind that i would like to say thank you so deeply to the commission for your trust in us. Thank you to the general ,ssembly, governor mcauliffe the virginia congressional delegation. Thank you to Prince Edward county, to farmville, to our devoted donors. Thank you to the thousands who have worked so hard in so many roles to make tonight happen. And thank you with all my heart, absolutely all my heart. Utmost monthn your after month to produce this grand culmination in the first semester of the year, in this pageant of democracy. And i will close with this thought. Faculty have our always believed that tonight, opportunity is an our students will cherish always. Maybe even more in time to come than they know even now. We are one of americas 25 oldest public universities. Our mission for the centuries and today is to educate citizen leaders. A high hope of this great occasion tonight as well, welcome to longwood and thank you all. [applause] jenna ladies and gentlemen, i want to i want you to join me in welcoming mrs. Karen holton and pam pence. [applause] thank you so much. Good evening, ladies. And now were now i would like to introduce our moderator for tonights debate, elaine q uijano, cbs correspondent. [applause] elaine hello, everyone. I am honored and humbled to be with you here tonight. Think you for coming. We have a lot of business to get do come a lot of issues to cover. So i would ask for your help. If everyone could right now please check to make sure that your cell phones are off. I will give you a moment to do that. That comeyoure doing i will remind you that there is to be no cheering, no booing, no noise of any kind as the debate gets underway. And with that, i will take my seat, get situated. Once again, thank you all for being here. [applause] [sneeze] [laughter] [no audio] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2016] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org]