Blow by blow: Clinton, Trump fail knockout in first presidential debate

The debate ended with Donald Trump questioning whether Hillary Clinton – and women in general – are up to the job.

Moderator Lester Holt pressed Mr Trump on his past statement that Mrs Clinton “doesn’t have the presidential look.”

Mr Trump argued he meant that she “doesn’t have the stamina,” though he didn’t rebut the charge.

He then summed up his case against Mrs Clinton: “Hillary has experience but it’s bad experience. It’s bad, bad, bad.” 

As the topic turned to nuclear arms and defence generally, Mr Trump sticks to his longtime position that countries such as Japan and South Korea should spend more to protect themselves.

"They may have to defend themselves or they have to help us out," he says.

Mrs Clinton assures US allies that its defence commitments will be honoured.

"Words matter when you run for president, and they really matter when you are president," she says.

Cyber-warfare threats
The third and final section of the debate is about threats to national security, starting with cyber-warfare.

Mrs Clinton says the US has seen growing cyberthreats from Russia, noting that Russian-linked hackers are suspects in a hack of Democratic National Committee (DNC) emails. 

"I know Donald is very praise-worthy of [Russian president] Vladimir Putin but he's playing a tough long game here," Mrs Clinton says.

"Wrong," says Mr Trump, who rebuts the suggestion that Russia was behind a hack of DNC emails.

“We don’t know” who was behind the hack, he says. Maybe it was China, maybe it was a "400-pound" hacker.

Mrs Clinton charges that Mr Trump was irresponsible by inviting the Russians to hack her email systems. He does not respond to that point.

The debate moves on from the economy to the racial strife that has erupted in several cities because of police shootings.

"Race remains a significant challenge in our country. Unfortunately, race still determines too much," Mrs. Clinton says.

Trump's business practices
Mrs Clinton scores some hits over Mr Trump's business career.

"If your main claim to be president of the United States is your business, then I think we should talk about that," she says.

She says that workers and contractors have been "stiffed" by Mr. Trump's businesses. She also notes that he has had multiple bankruptcies and highly-leverage businesses. She attacks him for his suggestion that the US negotiate its sovereign debt.

Trump calls for 'law and order'
Mr Trump’s answer to the issue of troublesome race relations: “We need law and order in our country."

He says the onus should be on police officers to remove firearms from people who he said should not have them.

“We have to take these guns away from people who shouldn’t have them, who are bad people,” he says. 

Private emails and tax returns
Two personal issues that have dogged both candidates throughout the campaign surface.

Asked about her use of a private email server while serving as Secretary of State, she says: "I made a mistake using a private email.”

"That's for sure," Mr Trump answers.

"If I had to do it over again, I would obviously do it differently. But I'm not going to make any excuses. It was a mistake and I take responsibility for that," she says.

Mr Trump says he will release his tax returns when Mrs Clinton releases her deleted emails.

"I think you've just seen another example of bait and switch here," she says, then launches into the possible reasons why her opponent won't release his taxes.

She suggests Mr Trump is not as rich as he claims, or not as charitable as he claims, or that his business dealings have complications or that he paid no federal tax returns. "That makes me smart," he quips.

Trump on the Fed's independence
Mr Trump again unleashes a searing criticism of the US Federal Reserve's independence: "The Fed is doing political things," he says.

He says interest rates are being held low to benefit Mrs Clinton and that the economy is in a "big, fat, ugly bubble."

Combatting ISIS
After much haggling about trade and taxation, the debate turns to foreign affairs, with Mr Trump lobbing his first attack against Mrs Clinton about Islamic State (ISIS).

“No wonder you’ve been fighting ISIS your entire adult life," adding that she doesn't have a plan to attack it.

Mrs Clinton counters that she does have a plan to combat ISIS. Then Mr Trump says she is telegraphing her plan to ISIS and she attacks him by saying he hasn't specified what his secret plan to combat ISIS would look like. 

Housing crisis
Mrs Clinton recalls Mr Trump's remarks on the 2008-09 housing crisis.

"Donald was one of the people who rooted for the housing crisis," she says. "He said back in 2006, gee, I hope it does collapse because then I can go in and buy some and make some money."

He retorts, "That's called business" but lets her finish her answer.

Taxation enters debate
Mrs Clinton says Mr Trump's tax plan will raise taxes on some middle-class families. That's because he would repeal the personal exemption and head-of-household filing status, which provides a larger standard deduction for single parents than for single individuals

More sparring over trade policy
“We are 5% of the world’s population. We have to trade with the other 95%,” Mrs Clinton says.

Mr Trump claims other countries are cheating and threatens to impose tariffs, which is something his advisers in recent days have said would be imposed only as a last resort.

Trade agendas disputed
Mr Trump follows with his first attack on Mrs Clinton – arguing that she is responsible for jobs being outsourced because she has been in public life for decades.

Mr Holt presses Mr Trump to state how he will force companies to return jobs to the US. Mr Trump says he will place a substantial tariff on imported goods, which he says would “stop them [jobs] from leaving.”

Mrs Clinton says: "We need to have smart, fair trade deals," she said, adding that the US also needs a tax system that rewards work.

She says Mr Trump's proposal amounts to "trickle-down economics all over again" — a reference to previous Republican policies to cut taxes on the wealthy.

Neither backs the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), which awaits ratification.

Mrs Clinton, who previously backed the TPP while secretary of state, says she now opposes it, and she says she doen't support all previous trade agreements.

Mr Trump says Nafta (the North American Free Trade Agreement negotiated by President Bill Clinton) is one of the worst trade agreements ever, Mrs. Clinton responds, "That's your opinion."

First question: who is best for America?
Mr Trump's opening remarks is about jobs “being stolen from us” and says the key to boosting the economy is stopping American companies from outsourcing jobs overseas.

Mrs Clinton opens the debate by being asked directly why she would be a better choice that Mr Trump.

She outlines many policy proposals while also connecting the need to grow the economy with her own family's future.

"The central question in this election is really what kind of country we want to be and what kind of future we'll build together," she says, noting it's her granddaughter's second birthday.

She starts with a proposal to build new jobs — "good jobs," she says — as well as making the economy "fairer," proposing equal pay, paid family leave, earned sick days, pay and profit sharing are among them.

"I want us to invest in you. I want us to invest in your future."

Preview report:
The US presidential campaign moves up another gear with today’s first of three live televised debates between the two candidates.

Campaign experts say the 90-minute event could shape the opinions of a large number of Americans who have yet to settle on their choice in what has been a bruising encounter so far.

After more than a year of campaigning and attacking each other from afar, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will meet face to face for the first time, on a stage in Hempstead, New York state.

“In many ways, with this debate coming up, we’re just starting,” says Mrs Clinton’s campaign manager, Robby Mook,

Her equivalent, Kellyanne Conway, says: “This will be the first time Americans have seen Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton on the same stage, and they’re going to be able to make their choice based on what they see.”

Campaign in home stretch
The campaign’s move into the home stretch may generate an audience that could top the record 80 million who watched Ronald Reagan debate then-President Jimmy Carter in 1980. In addition, the debate will be viewed by millions around the world. In New Zealand, it will be shown on Sky News as well as other international news channels.

The debate at Hofstra University will be carried by a variety of television networks and social-media sites. A vice-presidential debate and two more presidential debates will follow in coming weeks.

A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll says 34% of registered voters think the three presidential debates would be extremely or quite important in helping them decide whom to support for president.

About 11% of voters are considered “debate persuadables”—that is, they think the debates are important and are either third-party voters or only loosely committed to either major-party candidate.

The poll shows Mrs Clinton leading Mr Trump by six points – 43% to 37% ­ among people likely to vote. Two third-party candidates polled. 12%.