LOS ANGELES — Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson and Green Party nominee Jill Stein failed to make the cut to participate in the first presidential debate on Sept. 26.

The Commission on Presidential Debates said that only Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump met the threshold for inclusion in the debate. Participants much have demonstrated a 15 percent level of support based on recent polls.

The board of directors of the commission determined that Johnson averaged 8.4 percent and Stein averaged 3.2 percent.

The commission looked at polls from ABC-Washington Post, CBS-New York Times, CNN-Opinion Research Corporation, Fox News and NBC-Wall Street Journal.

Clinton was at 43 percent and Trump at 40.4 percent.

The first debate will be held on Sept. 26 at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y. Lester Holt will moderate.

The commission said that the third-party candidates may still be eligible for the second and third debates in October if they meet the threshold closer to those dates. The second debate will be on Oct. 9 and the third on Oct. 19 at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

In a statement, Johnson said, “I would say I am surprised that the CPD has chosen to exclude me from the first debate, but I’m not. After all, the Commission is a private organization created 30 years ago by the Republican and Democratic parties for the clear purpose of taking control of the only nationally-televised presidential debates voters will see. At the time of its creation, the leaders of those two parties made no effort to hide the fact that they didn’t want any third party intrusions into their shows.” </s> Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will have the debate stage to themselves at Hofstra University in two weeks.

The bipartisan commission that manages the general election skirmishes said Friday that two third party candidates seeking podiums had failed the qualify for the first match.

Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson was once thought to have a shot at reaching the 15 percent threshold in national polls. He came nowhere close in the surveys that were used to determine who made the cut, however, attracting a little more than half of what he would have needed - 8.4 percent.

Green Party candidate Jill Stein was even worse off at 3.2 percent.

The Commission on Presidential Debates said Friday afternoon in a statement that its 'Board determined that the polling averages called for in the third criterion are as follows: Hillary Clinton (43%), Donald Trump (40.4%), Gary Johnson (8.4%) and Jill Stein (3.2%).

'Accordingly, Hillary Clinton and her running mate, Tim Kaine, and Donald Trump and his running mate, Mike Pence, qualify to participate in the September 26 presidential debate and the October 4 vice-presidential debate, respectively. '

Those debates will take place at Hoftra, in Hempstead, New York, less than 10 miles outside the Big Apple, and Longwood, University, in Farmville, Virginia.

'No other candidates satisfied the criteria for inclusion in the September 26 and October 4 debates. The criteria will be reapplied to all candidates in advance of the second and third presidential debates,' the statement said. </s> Hofstra University’s debate stage will be set for only the two major-party candidates later this month, as the nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates announced Friday it has excluded Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein.

That makes the Sept. 26 debate the first head-to-head showdown between Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican candidate Donald Trump.

Under the commission’s rules, Johnson and Stein each needed to average at least 15 percent support in the most recent polls of five national polling organizations to be included.

Johnson had been vying for a spot and a Twitter campaign #LetGarydebate has been underway. But, according to the commission, he didn’t come close.

Polling numbers showed Clinton with 43 percent, Trump with 40.4 percent, Johnson with 8.4 percent and Stein with 3.2 percent.

The commission’s criteria for participation will be reapplied to all candidates before the second and third presidential debates, scheduled Oct. 9 at Washington University in St. Louis and Oct. 19 at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas.

Johnson, in a post on his Facebook page Friday, wrote, “I would say I am surprised that the CPD has chosen to exclude me from the first debate, but I’m not. After all, the commission is a private organization created 30 years ago by the Republican and Democratic parties for the clear purpose of taking control of the only nationally televised presidential debates voters will see.

“Americans are tired of rigged systems, and the monopoly on debates created by the CPD is a prime and skillfully executed example,” he wrote.

Stein has been pushing to open the debates, organizing a petition drive on the issue.

On her website, she said, “Voters have a right to hear directly from their possible choices for the highest office in the land. These choices should reflect the diversity of American political opinion, and not be restricted to two candidates nominated by establishment parties awash in corporate donations and billionaire support.”

Clinton’s running mate, Tim Kaine, and Trump’s running mate, Mike Pence, qualified to participate in the the Oct. 4 vice-presidential debate at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia, the commission announced on its website.

The 90-minute debate at Hofstra, to be held in the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex on the Hempstead campus, will be divided into six segments of about 15 minutes each on major topics that will be chosen by the lone moderator, “NBC Nightly News” anchor Lester Holt. The subjects will be announced at least one week ahead of time.

The commission, which oversees the event, said the moderator will begin each segment with a question. Each candidate will have two minutes to respond, and then may respond to each other. The remaining time in the segment will be devoted to “a deeper discussion of the topic,” the commission said.

Hofstra — Long Island’s largest private university — will become the first school to host presidential debates in three consecutive presidential election cycles.

In 2012, Democrat Barack Obama, running for re-election, and Republican Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, shared the stage. In 2008, Obama, then an Illinois senator, and Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona faced off there. </s> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Libertarian Party presidential candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party hopeful Jill Stein have failed to quality for the first planned U.S. presidential debate on Sept. 26, the Commission on Presidential Debates said on Friday.

Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson is seen during an interview before a rally in New York, U.S., September 10, 2016. REUTERS/Mark Kauzlarich

The commission, citing the averages the various candidates have achieved in selected polls, confirmed that Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton had met the criteria.

It also said that the vice presidential running mates of the two leading candidates were the only two to qualify for the vice presidential debate set for Oct. 4.

The first presidential debate will be held at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York and the vice presidential debate at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia.

Using the average of five national polls, Clinton scored 43 percent, Trump 40.4 percent, Johnson 8.4 percent and Stein 3.2 percent, the commission said. Selection for the debates requires at least 15 percent support.

Johnson and Stein were both constitutionally eligible and had ballot access in enough states to theoretically win an electoral college majority, but missed the polling threshold.

Stein’s campaign website said she and her running mate Ajamu Baraka will both attend the first presidential debate, and urged supporters to join them. The campaign said it might ask supporters to attempt to escort the candidates into the debate in an action that “may lead to arrest — it is possible but not definite. There will be actions you can take with us at Hofstra that do not risk arrest.”

The campaign said it is “organizing nonviolent civil resistance training for this.”

Johnson said in a statement that: “I would say I’m surprised that the CPD has chosen to exclude me from the first debate, but I’m not.”

The commission was a private organization created by the Republican and Democratic parties “for the clear purpose of taking control of the only nationally televised presidential debates voters will see,” Johnson said.

The last time a third-party candidate was allowed to participate in the televised debates was in 1992, when Ross Perot met the requirements running as an independent. </s> Watch CNN's Brian Stelter's interview with Gary Johnson on "Reliable Sources" Sunday at 11 a.m. ET.

Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green Party nominee Jill Stein will not participate in the first presidential debate, and their running mates will not be in the vice presidential debate, the Commission on Presidential Debates announced Friday.

The decision means Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump will be the only two candidates on the stage on September 26, and Tim Kaine and Mike Pence, their respective running mates, will be the only participants on October 4.

The candidates needed to make a 15% polling threshold across several major national polls in order to qualify for the debates. The commission determined that the polling averages for the candidates had Clinton at 43%, Trump at 40.4%, Johnson at 8.4% and Stein at 3.2%.

Johnson said he wasn't surprised by the decision to "exclude" him from the first debate. "There are more polls and more debates, and we plan to be on the debate stage in October," Johnson said in a statement. Stein's campaign did not immediately respond to a CNN request for comment. The commission said it will review the criteria for the second and third debates in the future, but didn't specify in the release when it would make the announcement. NBC's Lester Holt will moderate the first debate on September 26. CNN's Anderson Cooper and ABC's Martha Raddatz will lead the second debate, a town hall format, on October 9. Fox's Chris Wallace will moderate the third debate on October 19. </s> DENVER — The commission that oversees presidential debates has invited only Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump to the first presidential debate. It excluded two third-party candidates who had hoped the event could help them talk directly to an electorate unhappy with the two front-runners.

The Commission on Presidential Debates said in a statement Friday that Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson and Green Party nominee Jill Stein were polling too low to qualify for the Sept. 26 event. The commission since 2000 has invited only candidates polling at 15 percent or above in an average of five polls. Johnson was at 8.4 percent and Stein at 3.2 percent.

Johnson, a former New Mexico governor and ex-Republican who is running with former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, has been pushing aggressively to get into the debate. He and Stein could still qualify for the two remaining ones in October if their poll numbers hit 15 percent, but that will be challenging without the national exposure of the debate.

In a statement, Johnson slammed the commission as a tool of the Democratic and Republican parties and vowed to make the October contests.

"The CPD may scoff at a ticket that enjoys 'only' 9 or 10% in their hand-selected polls, but even 9% represents 13 million voters, more than the total population of Ohio and most other states," Johnson said. </s> It’s official – Gary Johnson and Jill Stein failed to make the cut for the first presidential debate.

The exclusion is a major blow to the already long-shot bids of Johnson, the Libertarian Party nominee, and Stein, the Green Party nominee. The debate would have offered Johnson and Stein the largest audiences of their campaigns.

The Commission on Presidential Debates announced Friday that Johnson and Stein failed to meet one criteria for participating in the debate – receiving an average of 15% support in five national polls.

“… the Board determined that the polling averages … are as follows: Hillary Clinton (43%), Donald Trump (40.4%), Gary Johnson (8.4%) and Jill Stein (3.2%). Accordingly, Hillary Clinton and her running mate, Tim Kaine, and Donald Trump and his running mate, Mike Pence, qualify to participate in the Sept. 26 presidential debate and the Oct. 4 vice-presidential debate, respectively,” the board said in a statement. “No other candidates satisfied the criteria for inclusion in the September 26 and October 4 debates.”

Some notable Republicans who have expressed disdain or skepticism of Trump have been calling for the inclusion of Johnson and running-mate William Weld in the debates, including 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. </s> Sunday night is round two of the Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump presidential debates -- it’s likely to attract a lot of attention, especially given the emergence of a decade-old tape of Trump speaking about women in surprisingly vulgar terms that have earned him the condemnation of most Republicans, even those who have supported his campaign.

The debate, which will be a town hall meeting format, will be hosted by ABC’s Martha Raddatz and CNN’s Anderson Cooper at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

Both candidates squared off at the first debate on Sept. 26 at Hofstra University on Long Island in Hempstead, New York.

NBC appears to be the only major broadcast news network not airing the debate. Instead, it will be airing the NFL’s New York Giants away game against the Green Bay Packers.

Watch CBSN starting at 11a.m. ET for full coverage of the debate

The bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) said half of the questions in the second debate will be posed directly by citizen participants and the other half will be “based on topics of broad public interest as reflected in social media and other sources.”

Each candidate will have two minutes to respond to each question and the moderator will be able to facilitate a deeper discussion for an additional minute. Gallup is selecting uncommitted voters to participate in the town hall.

The commission determined which candidates was eligible for the second debate by averaging support among five different general election polls and it also required that each candidate must have constitutional eligibility -- like being at least 35 years of age and a natural born citizen of the U.S. Each candidate must also have his or her name appear on enough state ballots “to have at least a mathematical chance of securing an Electoral College majority” in November’s election.

Earlier this week, the commission announced that the polling averages from the five polls for the second debate had Clinton at 44.8 percent and Trump at 40.8 percent. With Libertarian Gary Johnson at 7.4 percent support and Green Party candidate Jill Stein at 2.6 percent support, they both did not qualify.

Most voters said Clinton won the first debate, according to polls. Trump also complained about his microphone at the first debate and the commission later admitted that there was an issue with his audio, which affected how he was heard in the debate hall.

While Trump suggested he would bring up Bill Clinton’s sexual history during the second debate, he told the New York Post’s Page Six that he isn’t planning to do that after all. That was, however, before the Trump tape emerged. Since then, Trump has already brought up Bill Clinton’s past twice -- “Bill Clinton has actually abused women,” he said of the former president in what was supposed to be a video apology for his own lewd words.

That vulgar tape has caused several Republican lawmakers to call for Trump to quit the presidential race, paving the way for Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, Trump’s running mate, to lead the GOP ticket. On Saturday, however, Trump remained defiant about staying in the race, tweeting out that “I WILL NEVER DROP OUT OF THE RACE, WILL NEVER LET MY SUPPORTERS DOWN!”

Clinton’s campaign condemned Trump’s 2005 comments, calling them “horrific,” but has not commented further on the controversy. According to her campaign, her first remarks on Trump and the tape are planned to be early in the debate Sunday night.

The debate also comes a few days after Hurricane Matthew affected millions along the southern part of the East Coast, including in key battleground state Florida.

Trump held his own town hall event on Thursday night in New Hampshire after his advisers urged him to practice for Sunday night.

Since the first debate, The New York Times published a report that showed he posted a $916 million loss in his 1995 tax returns they obtained, which means he could have avoided paying federal income taxes for up to 18 years. Trump has said that he can’t release his returns because he’s under audit, but that doesn’t bar someone from making them public. The Trump campaign has also not provided evidence that the GOP presidential nominee is currently under audit.

→ What: Second general election presidential debate

→ Where: Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri

→ When: 9 p.m. ET

→ On TV: CBS News, other broadcast/cable news channels

→ Online: CBSN, among many websites, will live-stream the event

→ CBSN will cover the debate beginning at 7 p.m. ET </s> Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will make history as they take the stage together for the first time on Monday night (Tuesday morning India time), when they meet in New York for the first of the three presidential debates. It is for the first time in US presidential history that a male and female candidate will be facing off.

Both candidates have a lot at stake and each will have different opportunities and challenges in the debates.

Here are 7 things you need to know, including some you probably didn’t know, about the US presidential debate.

IMAGE: Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will face off in their first debate on Tuesday morning Indian time. Photograph: Reuters

1) Where is it happening and when?

The first debate will be held at the Hofstra University in New York’s Long Island area. Hofstra is no newcomer to the debates, having hosted them in 2008 and 2012.

The debate will air in India at 9 pm ET (6.30 am IST on Tuesday). The questions will focus on three broad themes: America’s Direction, Achieving Prosperity and Securing America.

The second debate, on October 9 at Washington University in St Louis, will be moderated by Martha Raddatz of ABC and Anderson Cooper of CNN, while the third debate will be held on October 19 at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas. It will be moderated by Chris Wallace of Fox News.

2) Why is the debate historic?

This will be the first time in history that a male and female candidate will face off on a presidential debate stage. And like it or not, they will be judged differently.

Gender communications research shows that men, when they are aggressive, are received positively. When women are perceived as aggressive, they are received negatively. A lot thus rides on these debates.

3) How does the debate work?

The debate, which will be moderated be NBC News’s Lester Holt, will be 90 minutes long with six 15-minute segments and shall have no commercial interruptions.

Apart from the three broad themes referred to earlier, three more questions related to news events that took place this week will also be put to the candidates.

The moderator will open each segment with a question. Each candidate will have two minutes to respond; each will then be allowed to reply to the other's response. The moderator will use the remaining time for follow-up questions.

Each broad theme will be discussed for 30 minutes.

4) How are the candidates prepping for the debate?

While Clinton has a lengthy record of meticulous preparation and formidable performances, Trump has been more unpredictable on this front. After his controversial utterances he needs to be more a sober candidate and stick to the script.

To prepare for the debate, Clinton has been holding mock debate sessions where her aide Philippe Reines essays the role of Trump.

Trump aides said their candidate, who like Clinton participated in numerous TV debates during their respective parties’ nominating races, was preparing hard for the event. His coaches have focused for weeks on training him to stay on course and not drift off the message by booking events where he is trained to stick to the teleprompter.

5) What are the stakes for the candidates?

Both Clinton and Trump enter the debate as the two most deeply unpopular presidential candidates in recent history. The temerarious Trump needs and will have a chance to show the depth and steadiness worthy of a commander-in-chief.

Clinton will have a chance to prove her honesty (some 55 per cent of American voters fail her on this count) and will also have to prove that she has fully recovered from her recent bout of pneumonia.

6) How many people will watch the debates?

Many observers believe that the size of the audience is expected to challenge the presidential debate record of 80 million who watched the 1980 debate between then president Jimmy Carter and Republican challenger Ronald Reagan.

7) What about the candidates’ running mates?

The vice presidential bets Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia and Governor Mike Pence of Indiana will have one debate at Longwood University in Virgina on October 4. That debate will be moderated by Elaine Quijano of CBS News.
The Commission on Presidential Debates officially announces the invitation of Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton, and GOP nominee Donald Trump, to the first presidential debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, on September 26. However, third party candidates, Gary Johnson and Jill Stein, have not met the criteria, and will not be participants in the debate.