Clinton and Trump tackle big topics in first debate

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. — There were plenty of memorable moments in the first presidential debate, including the Obama birther movement and the war in Iraq.

The candidates also discussed the division in race in the United States. Hillary Clinton said Donald Trump's view of black communities is too grim.

Trump spoke about the need for law and order, one of his favorite campaign themes. He says that includes inner cities, where he says blacks and Hispanics are "living in hell because it's so dangerous."

Clinton says it's too bad that Trump "paints such a dire, negative picture."

She says those neighborhoods create businesses and violent crime in them has come down. She says to reduce "systemic racism" in the justice system, she favors eliminating mandatory prison sentences and creating more second-chance programs.

The candidates also discussed the release of Trump's tax returns. Clinton said Trump has a simple reason he won't release his tax returns: He's got something to hide.

She said that Trump may not be "as rich as he says he is." Or "maybe he's not as charitable" as he says he is. Clinton says perhaps Trump doesn't pay any federal income tax at all.

Trump said he'll release his returns when the IRS audit is over and when she release the 33,000 missing emails.

There were a few moments when the candidates agreed. Trump said to Clinton, "I agree with you" when it comes to not allowing people "on a watch list or a no-fly list" from buying guns.

Political Historian Tom Whalen said that both candidates won their portion of the debate, and that their supporters will say that, as reported on FOX25 News at 10.

The sentiment before the debate

As the presidential candidates prepared to square off in the first debate Monday night, a new Quinnipiac poll showed the race is a dead heat.

According to the poll, released Monday, the margin between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump is simply "too close to call."

The poll of likely voters across the nation shows Clinton taking 44 percent of the vote and Trump taking 43 percent.

"In this Super Bowl of American politics, the ratings will be huge and the contenders start dead even," said the poll's assistant director Tim Malloy.

The poll also shows it's basically a two horse race with Libertarian Gary Johnson at eight percent and the Green Party's Jill Stein holding just two percent of the vote.%

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In terms of the debate, to which only Clinton and trump have been invited, 84 percent of voters say they plan to watch and 41 percent say they expect Clinton to win -- with 32 percent expecting Trump to prevail.

How the debate worked

The debate will be divided into six time segments of approximately 15 minutes each on major topics to be selected by the moderator and announced at least one week before the debate.

The moderator will open each segment with a question, after which each candidate will have two minutes to respond.

Candidates will then have an opportunity to respond to each other. The moderator will use the balance of the time in the segment for a deeper discussion of the topic.

According to Quinnipiac, 55 percent of likely voters say they're "more motivated than usual" to vote in the election.

The poll indicated women are more likely to choose Clinton and and non-white voters are even more likely to choose Clinton.

The debate will be broadcast on FOX25 News at 9 p.m., with FOX25's Sharman Sacchetti covering the preps and wrap-up live from Hofstra University on FOX25 News all evening.

Cox Media Group