Onto debate, giving all of you your best chance yet to take measure of those men and the candidates who chose them. Its been eight days now since that first clash between Hillary Clinton and donald trump, and a new battery of polls show a solid bounce for Hillary Clinton, her National Lead is rising. The battleground statements moving her way. Jon karl in the hall tonight. Jon, clintons momentum fueled by that debate. Trumps reaction in the days that followed. And the revelation that trump may have paid no tax for nearly two decades. That really puts pressure on mike pence tonight to stop the bleeding. It sure does, george. Overshadowed Vice President ial candidates of the modern era. When they step out on that stage, they will be meeting each other for the very first time. But the pressure is on mike pence. He is the one that needs to change the dynamic. The momentum is with Hillary Clinton, trump is down, hurt by that last debate. Hurt by a weeks worth of distractions. Getting his campaign back on track. Cecilia vega covers the Clinton Campaign for us, also in the hall. We expect a pretty aggressive tim kaine tonight. Exactly, george. And we expect him to come out swinging, taking on mike pence by taking on donald trump from those 3 00 a. M. Tweets to his comments about women, but perhaps his most important job tonight, to not mess up. This waive of momentum that Hillary Clinton has been riding since that last debate. As we see the candidates coming into the hall earlier this evening, tim in with his mom. Mike pence there with his wife. Jon karl said it, david muir. These candidates have been overshadowed by the people at the top of the ticket. That have another job tonight, introduce themselves to the country. Our new poll shows more than 40 of americans cant even name the Vice President ial candidates. 41 couldnt name mike pence. 46 couldnt name tim kaine. They are meeting each other, as jon points out, tonight. They are character witnesses for very unpopular candides. Is, can he prosecute the case against Hillary Clinton . One of the questions, matthew dowd, are they the future of their parties . I think this is really a pause button in the race, but this is an audition for them, if theyre going to be National Players in their own party, regardless of the result. And they know that pressures on them, as well as the pressure on the two candidates above them on the ballot. A lot of National Players, the chairman of the Republican Party, the wives there, greeting each other. Little graciousness before the ba ahead. The debate will be moderated by Elaine Quijano of cbs news. Good evening, from Longwood University in farmville, virginia, and welcome to the first and only Vice President ial debate of 2016, sponsored by the commission on president ial debates. Im Elaine Quijano, anchor at cbsn and correspondent for cbs news. Its an honor to moderate this both are longtime Public Servants who have also proud fathers of sons serving in the u. S. Marines. The campaigns have agreed to the rules of this 90minute debate. There will be nine different segments covering domestic and Foreign Policy issues. Each segment will begin with a question to both candidates, who will each have two minutes to answer. Then, ill ask followup questions to facilitate a discussion between the candidates. By coin toss, its been determined that senator kai opening question. We have an enthusiastic audience tonight. Theyve agreed to only express that enthusiasm once at the end of the debate, and right now, as we welcome governor mike pence gentlemen, welcome. It truly is a privilege to be with both of you tonight. Id like to start with the topic of president ial leadership. 28 years ago, tomorrow night, lloyd benson said, the Vice President ial debate was not about the qualification for the vice presidency, but about how, Vice President has to step in without any margin for error, witht time for preparation, to take over the responsibility for the biggest job in the world. What about your qualities, your skills and your temperament equip you to step into that role at a moments notice . Senator cakaine . Elaine, thank you for being here tonight, and governor pence, welcome. It is so great to be back at Longwood University in farmville, virginia. This is a very special place. Woman, Barbara Johns, led a walkout of her high school. She made history by protesting school segregation. She believed our nation was stronger together, and that walkout led to the brown versus board of education decision that moved us down the path toward equality. I am so proud to be running with another strong, historymaking woman, Hillary Clinton, to be president of the United States. Im proud, because her vision of stronger together, building about economy all, not just those at the top, being safe in the world, not only with the strong military, but also strong alliances to battle terrorism and climate change. And also, to build a community of respect, just like Barbara Johns tried to do 65 years ago. Thats why im so proud to be her running mate. Hillary told me why she asked me to be her running mate. She said the test of a Clinton Administration will not be the signing of a bill or the passage of a bill. It will be if we can make better, learning environment, for school kids or teachers. Whether we can make a safer its going to be about results. She said to me, youve been a missionary and a civil rights lawyer, youve been a city councilman and mayor, a governor and a u. S. Senator. I think you will help me figure out how to govern this nation so that we always keep in mind that the success of the administration is the difference we make in peoples lives. And thats what i bring to the ticket. That experience, havinger at all levels of government. But my primary role is to be Hillary Clintons strong supporter as she puts together the most hisric administration possible. I relish that role. Im so proud of her. Ill just say this. We trust Hillary Clinton, my wife and i, we trust her with the most important thing in our life. We have a son deployed overseas in the marine corps right now. We trust Hillary Clinton as president and commander in chief, but the thought of donald trump as commander in chief, scares us to death. Governor pence . Elaine, and thank you, to the university for their wonderful university. Deeply humbling for me to be here. To be surrounded by my wonderful family and senator kaine, its an honor to be here with you, as well. And i just i also want to say i want to say thanks to everyone that is looking in tonight. Who understands what an e enormously important time this is in the life of our nation. For the last seven and a half place in the world weakened. Weve seen an economy stifled by more taxes, more regulation, a war on coal and a Failing Health care reform come to be known as obamacare. The American People know that we need to make a change. And so, i want to thank all of you for being with us tonight. I also want to thank donald trump. For making that call and inviting us to be apart of this ticket. I have to tell you, im a small town boy from a place not too different from farmville. My backyard. My grandfather immigrated to this country when he was about my sons age. My mom and dad build everything that matters in a small town in southern indiana. They built a family and a good name and a business and they raised a family, and i dream some day of representing my hometown in washington, d. C. , but i honestly, elaine, i never imagined, never imagined id have the opportunity to be governor of the state that i love, let alone be sitting at a table like this. In this kind of a position. So, to answer you would say, i would hope that the responsibility ever fell to me in this role, that i would meet it with a way that im going to meet the responsibility, should i be elected Vice President of the United States. And thats to bring a lifetime of experience. A lifetime growing up in a small town, a lifetime where ive served in the congress of the United States, where ive led a state that works in the great state of indiana. And whatever other frankly, i would pray, to be able to meet that moment, with that lifetime of experience. Senator kaine, on the campaign trail, you praised secretary cl secretary clintons character, including her commitment to public service, yet 60 of voters dont think shes trustworthy. Why do so many people distrust her . Is it because they have questions about her emails and the Clinton Foundation . Elaine, let me tell you why i trust Hillary Clinton. Heres what people should look at as they look at servant. Do they have a passion in their life that showed up before they were in public life, and have they held onto that passion throughout their life regardless of whether they were in office or not, succeeding or failing . Hillary clinton has that passion, from the time as a kid in the surbs of chicago, she has been focused on serving others, with a special focus on empowering families and kids. As a civil rights lawyer in the south, with the childrens defense fund, first lady of senator, secretary of state, its always been about putting others first. Thats a sharp contrast with donald trump. Donald trump always puts himself first. He built a Business Career in the words of one of his own campaign staffers, off the backs of the little guy, and as a candidate, he started his campaign with a speech where he called mexicans rapists and criminals, and he has pursued the discredited and really outrageous lie that president obama wasnt born in the United States. It is so we go back to think about these days where an africanamerican could not be a citizen of the United States, and i cant imagine how governor pence can defend the insultdriven selfish me first tile of donald trump. Governor pence, you have said that donald trump is thoughtful, compassionate and steady, yet 67 of voters feel he is a risky choice, and 65 feel he does not have the right kind of temperament to be president. Why do so Many Americans think well, let me say first and foremost that senator, you and Hillary Clinton would know a lot about an insultdriven campaign. It really is remarkable. And at a time when literally, in the wake of Hillary Clintons tenure as secretary of state, where she was the architect of the Obama Administrations Foreign Policy, we see portions of the world literally spinning out of control. The situation were watching hour by hour in syria today is policy and the weak Foreign Policy that Hillary Clinton helped lead in this administration and create. The newly emboldened aggression of russia, whether it was in ukraine or you guys love russia. You both have said Vladimir Putin well get to russia in a molt. I want to get back to the question elaine, thank you. Putin. We have that coming up here. Senator, i must say why the disconnect . At a time of great challenge, in the life of this nation, where weve weakened americas place in the world, stifled americas economy, the campaign of Hillary Clinton and tim kaine has been an avalanche of insults. Look, to get to your question about trustworthiness. Donald trump has built a business through hard times and through good times. Hes brought an extraordinary business acue men. Hes employed tens of thousands of people in this country. And paid few taxes and lost a billion dollars a year. Why the disconnect with your running mates . Theres a reason why people question the trustworthiness of Hillary Clinton, and thats because theyre paying attention. The reality is, when she was secretary of state, senator, come on. She had a Clinton Foundation accepting contributions from foreign governments. You are Donald Trumps apprentice. Let me talk about this issue isnt this a discussion . This is our open discussion. Governor, you had an opportunity. Let me finish my sentence if i can. The Clinton Foundation acc accepted from foreign donors while she was secretary of state. She had a private server i get to weigh in now. Let me just say which i senat governor pence doesnt think the worlds going so well, and hes goi let me tell you this. When Hillary Clinton became secretary of state, Osama Bin Laden was alive. We had 175,000 troops deployed. Do you know that iran was racing toward a Nuclear Weapon and russia was expanding its stockpile . Under secretary clintons leadership, she was part of the national team, Public Safety team that went after and revived the hunt against bin laden and wiped him off the face of the stockpile. She worked a tough negotiation with nations around the world to e li eliminate the iranian Nuclear Weapons eliminate . Absolutely, without firing a shot. And instead of 175,000 troops deployed, we have 15,000. These are very, very and iraq has been overrun by isis because Hillary Clinton if you want to put more american troops in iraq, you can propose that. Hillary clinton failed to agreement that is incorrect. I would like to move onto the economy. But id like to correct. And overrun president bush said we would leave iraq at the end of 2011. And elaine, iraq didnt want our troops to stay and they wouldnt give us the protection for our troops. And guess what . If a nation where our troops are serving does not want us to stay, were not going to stay. Secretary of state. There are a lot of people in this country wondering about the economy. Lets turn to the issue of the economy. According to the nonpartisan commtee, neither of your economic plans will reduce the growing 19 trillion Gross National debt. In fact, your plans would add even more to it. Both of you were governors who balanced state budgets. Are you concerned that adding more to the debt could be disastrous to the country . Governor pence . I think the this past administration of which Hillary Clinton was apart, weve almost doubled the National Debt is atrocious. Im very proud of the fact that i come from a state that works. The state of indiana has balanced budgets. We cut taxes, we made record investments in education and in inf infrastructure. I finished my term with 2 million in the bank. Virginia. He left his state 2 billion in the hole. The state of indiana, we cut employment in half, unemployment doubled when he was governor. I think hes a very fitting running mate for Hillary Clinton, because in the wake of a season where American Families are struggling in this economy, under the weight of higher taxes and obamacare and the war on coal and the stifling avalanche of regulation coming out of this administration, Hillary Clinton and tim kaine want more of the same. It really is they actually are advocating a trillion dollars in tax increases, which i get that, you tried to raise taxes here in virginia, were unsuccessful. A trillion dollars in tax increases. More regulation, more of the same of the war on coal and even former president bill chilinton calls obamacare a crazy plan. For all the world, Hillary Donald trump and i have a plan to get this economy moving again. Just the way that it worked in the 1980s, just the way it worked in the 1960s. And that is by lowering taxes across the board for working families, Small Businesses and family farms, ending the war on coal. It is hurting jobs and hurting this economy, even here in virginia. Repealing obamacare lock, stock and barrel and repealing all of the executive orders that barack obama has we can get america moving again. On top of that, the trade deals that will put the American Worker first and youve got a prescription for real growth. And when you get the economy growing, elaine, thats when you can deal with the National Debt. When we get back to 3. 5 to 4 growth, then were going to have the resources to meet our nations needs at home and abroad and were going to have the ability to bring down the National Debt. Senator kaine . Elaine, on the economy, theres a fundamental choice for p