Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, accompanied by and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, left, speaks during the third presidential debate at University of Nevada in Las Vegas, Wednesday for the third presidential debate. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) </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. </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> This debate will be moderated by NBC news anchor Lester Holt for whom this will be the first time handling a presidential debate.

On Monday 9 pm (6 am IST), the two US presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, face off in their first debate. The US presidential debate is a tradition followed since 1960 to know the candidates off their campaign trails and convention halls.

This debate will be moderated by NBC news anchor Lester Holt for whom this will be the first time handling a presidential debate. The Presidential debate, which is televised across the country, takes place usually at a university with a large audience of over 1500 people. The first presidential debate of 2016 will take place at Hofstra University in New York.

This is one of the most anticipated events as the two candidates come with certain amount of baggage. There are scandals looming over both Clinton and Trump, weekly polls wavering in their predictions and back-and-forth negative campaigning.

The Republican candidate Donald Trump is known for his “showmanship”. The former TV show host has enraged the public since his announcement as candidate in 2015 by calling “Mexicans rapists and murderers”. But Trump has his fervent following as he won state after state before being somewhat reluctantly crowned as the Grand Old Party’s candidate. Trump’s claim that he’s an “outsider” (meaning someone not from the political circle of Washington DC) has been his biggest pitch working in his favour.

On the other hand, Clinton may make history by becoming the first female president of America. While Trump faces flak for his over-the-top appeal and harsh stand on immigration, what’s working against Hillary Clinton is another ball game altogether. Ghosts of her private email server during her time as secretary of state continue to haunt her. It is also one of the reasons why she’s rated “untrustworthy” by democrats.

How much of the debate will influence the voters? Will we get clarity from Trump on his policies? Will substance trump style?

If you are wondering why you’ve been hearing about the US elections, which will take place in November 2016, for more than a year now, here’s a quick lesson through the process involved.

US elections 101: How does the US elect its president?

The first-ever televised debate between John Kennedy and Richard Nixon was rated as the most-viewed TV programme then. Today, it will be televised, live-streamed, live-blogged (like this one) and live-tweeted. It may probably even be the highest-viewed programme ever and yes, that’s including Game of Thrones season finale. </s> 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> Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's plane (TOP) passes Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's campaign plane at McCarran International Airport on October 18, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada, on the eve of the two candidates' third and final US presidential debate. (AFP PHOTO/Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images)

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's plane (TOP) passes Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's campaign plane at McCarran International Airport on October 18, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada, on the eve of the two candidates' third and final US presidential debate. (AFP PHOTO/Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images)

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump waves as he heads to his plane after a rally at Grand Junction Regional Airport on October 18, 2016 in Grand Junction Colorado. Trump is on his way to Las Vegas for the third and final presidential debate against Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. (Photo by George Frey/Getty Images)

An employee wearing a mask of Donald Trump poses for a photograph at the Shenzhen Lanbingcai Latex Crafts Factory on October 18, 2016 in Shenzhen, China. Shenzhen Lanbingcai Latex Crafts Factory, located in the industrial area of Shenzhen with 20 to 30 employees, produces all sort of Halloween and party costumes and masks. It runs a small scale production of Donald Trump masks for local distribution within mainland China costing from 30 Renminbi onwards as the third Presidential Debate 2016 between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton happens on Thursday. Chinese media have derided the election as a risible variety show in which the candidates' spectacular personal failings have taken precedence over the business of governance. (Photo by Anthony Kwan/Getty Images)

A worker paints a mask of Donald Trump at the Shenzhen Lanbingcai Latex Crafts Factory on October 18, 2016 in Shenzhen, China. Shenzhen Lanbingcai Latex Crafts Factory, located in the industrial area of Shenzhen with 20 to 30 employees, produces all sort of Halloween and party costumes and masks. It runs a small scale production of Donald Trump masks for local distribution within mainland China costing from 30 Renminbi onwards as the third Presidential Debate 2016 between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton happens on Thursday. Chinese media have derided the election as a risible variety show in which the candidates' spectacular personal failings have taken precedence over the business of governance. (Photo by Anthony Kwan/Getty Images)

A worker paints a mask of Donald Trump at the Shenzhen Lanbingcai Latex Crafts Factory on October 18, 2016 in Shenzhen, China. Shenzhen Lanbingcai Latex Crafts Factory, located in the industrial area of Shenzhen with 20 to 30 employees, produces all sort of Halloween and party costumes and masks. It runs a small scale production of Donald Trump masks for local distribution within mainland China costing from 30 Renminbi onwards as the third Presidential Debate 2016 between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton happens on Thursday. Chinese media have derided the election as a risible variety show in which the candidates' spectacular personal failings have taken precedence over the business of governance. (Photo by Anthony Kwan/Getty Images)

Masks of Donal Trump are seen in a basket at the Shenzhen Lanbingcai Latex Crafts Factory on October 18, 2016 in Shenzhen, China. Shenzhen Lanbingcai Latex Crafts Factory, located in the industrial area of Shenzhen with 20 to 30 employees, produces all sort of Halloween and party costumes and masks. It runs a small scale production of Donald Trump masks for local distribution within mainland China costing from 30 Renminbi onwards as the third Presidential Debate 2016 between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton happens on Thursday. Chinese media have derided the election as a risible variety show in which the candidates' spectacular personal failings have taken precedence over the business of governance. (Photo by Anthony Kwan/Getty Images)

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton departs the stage following the third and final US presidential debate with Republican nominee Donald Trump (background) at the Thomas & Mack Center on the campus of the University of Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 19, 2016. (PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images)

Republican nominee Donald Trump speaks as Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton laughs during the final presidential debate at the Thomas & Mack Center on the campus of the University of Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 19, 2016. (ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump during the third presidential debate at UNLV in Las Vegas, Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2016. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

LAS VEGAS — Trailing in the polls, Donald Trump had little to lose in his final debate against Hillary Clinton. He still managed to send shock waves, refusing to say he would accept the results of the 2016 election if he loses.

Trump largely steered clear of making personal attacks against Clinton at the start of the debate, but repeatedly clashed with the former secretary of state as it went on. He called her a liar, questioned her experience and at one point labeled her “such a nasty woman.”

Unconventional as always, the celebrity businessman wouldn’t commit to conceding the election if he fails to win the White House, a staggering declaration by a presidential nominee.

More than an hour into the debate, Trump would not commit to honouring the election results if Clinton wins. Pressed by moderator Chris Wallace, Trump said he would “keep you in suspense.”

Clinton said it was “horrifying” that Trump wouldn’t heed the nation’s tradition of having a peaceful transfer of power. The businessman has argued without providing any evidence that the election is rigged against him and has suggested Clinton would be an illegitimate president because she used a private email server as secretary of state. He said she “never should have been allowed to run.”

Trump faces the possibility of a large gender gap against Clinton and some of his commentary is unlikely to help him with women voters in swing states.

At the end of the night, Trump referred to Clinton as a “nasty woman” and denied again that he had engaged in any sexually aggressive behaviour, blaming Clinton’s campaign for the series of women who have charged him with groping and other forms of harassment and assault in recent days. The GOP candidate said he didn’t know his accusers.

“I didn’t even apologize to my wife,” Trump said, “because I didn’t do anything.” In an interview earlier this week, Melania Trump said her husband apologized to her.

Clinton didn’t let the moment go, noting that Trump had derided the women as unattractive and “disgusting.” Clinton said, “Donald thinks belittling women makes him bigger.”

The candidates had their first extended exchange over abortion rights of the general election. Trump said he thought Roe vs. Wade would “automatically” be overturned if he is elected because he will appoint justices who are against abortion rights. But he refused to say whether he personally thinks the landmark case should be overturned.

Clinton said she’d strongly defend the ruling and offered a passionate defence of a woman’s right to have an abortion, even as Trump accused her of supporting “ripping” babies from their mothers’ wombs.

“This is one of the worst possible choices that any woman and her family has to make, and I do not believe the government should be making it,” Clinton said.

A question over immigration quickly turned into a sharp exchange over Russia’s role in the election, an issue that has become central to the campaign.

Asked about her apparent support for “open borders” in a private speech to a Brazilian bank, Clinton pointed out that the excerpt came from a hack of her campaign chairman’s personal email — an intrusion that U.S. intelligence agencies blame on Russia. She called on Trump to “reject Russian espionage against Americans” and cast him as a “puppet” of Vladimir Putin.

Trump shot back that Clinton was the “puppet,” saying “of course” he condemns Russia or any other country interfering in the U.S. elections. But Trump said he doubted that Russia had hacked emails from her campaign. Trump went onto say that Putin is not “my best friend.” He added, “She doesn’t like Putin because Putin has outsmarted her at every step of the way.”

The Republican, who has called for building a wall the length of the U.S.-Mexico border, also blamed some “bad hombres here” for drug epidemics around the country, and promised “we’re going to get ’em out.”

At the end of President Barack Obama’s two terms, Trump tried to reach voters who may be in the mood for a change in Washington. He cast himself as an outsider, acknowledging to Clinton: “The one thing you have over me is experience. But it’s bad experience.”

Trump said, “The problem is, you talk, but you don’t get anything done, Hillary.”

Clinton responded by comparing her record over the past three decades to Trump’s resume as a businessman. She pointedly noted that on the day she was inside the White House Situation Room during the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, Trump was hosting his NBC reality show, “Celebrity Apprentice.”

Trump did not appear to do enough to connect with women, college-educated and suburban voters who have gravitated to Clinton during the fall and helped her build a solid lead in preference polls.

His unwillingness to say he’ll accept the results of the election should he lose will give Clinton another way to argue that he doesn’t have the temperament to be president.

And now Trump has little time to make up ground. When the debate got underway, about 2.2 million Americans had already voted and many more will take part in in-person early voting next week. Clinton’s campaign expects more than half the electorate in the battleground states of Florida, North Carolina and Nevada will vote before Election Day.

For many voters, the debate may have been the final chance for Clinton and Trump to make their case. </s> FARMVILLE, Va. (AP) — Republican Mike Pence and Democrat Tim Kaine have arrived at the site of the first and only vice presidential debate.

The candidates will face off just past 9 p.m. at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia.

Advisers for the candidates suggest there could be fireworks during the 90-minute affair, although vice presidential debates rarely change the direction of a presidential race.

Elaine Quijano of CBS News serves as the moderator.

Neither candidate is as well-known as his running mate. Pence is a first-term governor and previously served as a congressman. Kaine is former Virginia governor and now serves the state in the Senate.

Donald Trump is campaigning in Colorado, but he said he’d be “live tweeting” the debate. Hillary Clinton is at home in New York. </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.
Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican Party nominee Donald Trump hold the first presidential debate of the 2016 presidential election at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York.