We are Just Moments Away from one of the most consequential events of this president ial campaign. President biden and former President Trump face off in the first debate of the general election, the two meeting for the First Time Since 2020. They will outline their contrasting visions for america. This is also a chance for you, the voters, to judge the candidates and one of the only facetoface confrontations before the election. Our cbs news team will be back after the debate for analysis and factchecking. Now to atlanta for the first president ial debate, hosted by cnn. H will make his case to the American People with just over four months until election day. Good evening, im dana bash, anchor of cnns inside politics and coanchor of state of the union. Jake i am jake tapper. Dana and i will comb moderate. Our job is to facilitate a debate between the two candidates tonight. Before we introduce the moon want to assure the rules of the debate with you. Former President Trump will be on the left side of the screen. President biden will be appearing on the right. A coin toss determine their positions. Each candidate will have 2 minutes to answer a question and one minute each for responses and rebuttals. An additional minute for followup clarification or response is at the moderators discretion. Dana when its time for a candidate to speak, his microphone will be turned on and his opponents microphone will be turned off. Should a candidate interrupt when his microphone is muted, he will be it will be difficult to understand for viewers at home. At the end of the debate each candidate will get 2 minutes for closing statements. There is no studio audience tonight. Prewritten notes, props, or contact with Campaign Staff are not permitted during the debate. By accepting our invitation to debate, both candidates and their campaigns agreed to accept these rules. Jake now please welcome the 46th president of the United States, joe biden. Biden nice to be here. Thank you. Jake please welcome the 45th president of the United States, donald trump. Gentlemen, thanks so much for being here. Lets begin the debate and lets start with the issue voters consistently say is their top concern, the economy. President biden, inflation has slowed but prices remain high. Since you took office, the price of essentials has increased. For example, a basket of groceries that cost 100 then now costs more than 120. Typical home prices have jumped more than 30 . What do you say to voters who feel they are worse off under your presidency than they were under President Trump . Biden youve got to take a look at what i was left when i became president , when berger what mr. Trump left me. We had a economy in free fall. The pandemic was so badly handled. Many people died. All he said was its not that serious. Inject a little bleach and youll be all right. The economy collapsed. The Unemployment Rate rose to 15 . It was terrible. We had to try to put things back together again and thats exactly what we began to do. We created 15,000 new jobs. We brought out a position where we have 800,000 manufacturing jobs. Theres more to be done. Theres more to be done. Working class people are still in trouble. I come from scranton, pennsylvania, a household where the Kitchen Table, things that werent met during the month were a problem. The price of eggs, gas, housing. Thats why im working so hard to make sure i deal with those problems. And were going to make sure we reduce the price of housing here we are going to make sure we build 2 million new units. Where i went to make sure that we capped rents so corporate greed can take over. Corporate greed is the reason why were in this problem right now. We are in a situation where if you had taken a look at all that was done in his administration, he didnt do much at all. By the time he left, things were in chaos. Literally chaos. So we put things back together. Those jobs, we made sure we had a situation where we know he brought down the price of prescription drugs, a major issue for many people. 15 for an insulin shot as opposed to 400. No senior has to pay more than 200 for any all the drugs they can include beginning next year. Were going to make that available to everybody, all americans. We are working to bring down the price around the Kitchen Table and thats what we are going to get done. Jake thank you. President trump. Trump we had the greatest economy and history of our country. We have never done so well. Everybody was amazed by it. Other countries were copying us. We got hit with covid. And when we did, we spent the money necessary so he wouldnt end up in a Great Depression the likes of which we had in 1929. By the time we finished, and we did a great job, got a lot of credit for the economy, the military, no wars, and so many other things. Everything was rocking good. The thing we never got the credit for and we should have is getting us out of that covid mess. He created mandates that was a disaster for our country but other than that we had given them back a country where the stock market actually was higher than precovid, and nobody thought that was even possible. The only jobs he created were for Illegal Immigrants and bounce back jobs. Bounce back from the covid. He has not done a good job. Hes done a poor job. Inflation is killing our country. It is absently killing us. Jake thank you. President biden. Biden the greatest economy in the world, hes the only one who thinks that i think. I dont know anyone i also thinks that. The fact of the matter is, we pride ourselves on the situation where we found ourselves in the situation, he awarded the wealthy, the largest tax cut in American History. 2 trillion. Raise the deficit than any more than any president any one term. The only president whose lost more jobs since herbert hoover. The idea that he did something was soon vacant. The military. When he was president , they were still killing people in afghanistan. We still found ourselves in a position where you had a notion that we were this safe country. The truth is, im the only president this century that doesnt have any this decade that doesnt have troops dying anywhere in the world, like he did. Jake President Trump, i want to followup, if i can. Trump am i allowed to respond to him . Stephen im going to ask you a followup and you can do whatever you want with a minute. You want to impose a 10 tariff on all goods coming into the u. S. How will you ensure that doesnt drive prices even higher . Trump its going to cause countries that have been ripping us off for years like china and many others in all fairness to china, its going to force them to pay us a lot of money, reduce our deficit tremendously and give us a lot of power for other things. He made a statement, the only thing he was right about is i gave you the largest tax cut in history. I i also give you the largest radiation cut in history. Thats why we had all the jobs. The jobs went down and then they bounced back and hes taking credit for bounce back jobs. You cant do that. He also said he inherited 9 inflation. No. He inherited almost no inflation and it stayed that way for 14 months and then it blew up under his leadership because they spent money like a bunch of people who didnt know what they were doing and they dont know what they were doing. Probably the worst of administration history. Theres never been. As far as afghanistan is concerned, i was getting out of afghanistan. We were getting out with dignity, strength, with power. He got out, the most embarrassing day in the history of our countrys life. Jake President Trump, over the last eight years under both of you or administer rations, the National Debt soared to record highs. According to , your administration approved a . 4 trillion in new debt and President Biden, youve approved 4. 3 trillion in new debt. Former President Trump, many of the tax cuts you signed are set to expire next year. You want to extend them and go even further, you say. With the u. S. Facing trillion dollar deficits and record debt, why should top earners and corporations pay even less in taxes than they do now . Trump because the tax code spurred the greatest economy weve ever seen just prior to covid and even after covid, it was so strong we were able to get through covid much better than just about any other country. But we spurred, the tax spurred. Now, we cut the taxes, as an example the Corporate Tax was cut down 20 from 39 plus beyond that, we took in more revenue with much less tax and companies were bringing back trillions of dollars back into our country. The country was going like never before. We were ready to start paying down debt or we were ready to start using the liquid gold right under our feet, the oil and gas right under our feet. Were going to have something that nobody else has had purely got hit with covid. We did a lot to fix it. I gave him an unbelievable situation with all the therapeutics and all the things that we came up with. We give him something great. Remember, more people died under his administration, even though we had largely fixed it. More people died under his administration than our administration, we are right in the middle of it. Something which a lot of people dont like to talk about. But he had far more people dying in his administration. He did the mandate which is a disaster. Mandating it. The vaccine went out, he did a mandate on the vaccine which is the thing that people most objected to about the vaccine. He did a very poor job, just a very poor job. I will tell you not only poor there by throughout the entire world, we are no longer respected as a country. They dont respect our leadership. They dont respect the United States anymore. We are like a third world nation between weaponization of his election trying to go after his political opponents, all of the things hes done here we become like a third world nation and its a shame. The damage hes done to our country and id love to ask him and will why he allowed millions of people to come in here from prisons, jails, and mental institutions to come into our country and destroy our country. Jake President Trump, we will get to immigration later in this block. President biden, i want to give you an opportunity to respond to this question about the National Debt. Biden he had the largest National Debt of any president in the four year period. The 2 trillion tax cut benefited the very wealthy. When im going to do is fix the tax system. For example we have 1,000 billionaires in america. I mean billionaires in america. They are in a situation where they have a point to percent in taxes. If they paid 24 , 25 , either one, they would raise 500 million. Billion dollars i should say. In a 10year period. We be able to wipe out debt, make sure those things we need to do child care, eldercare elder care, making sure we continue to strengthen our health care system. Making sure were able to make everything a solitary person eligible for what ive been able to do with covid excuse me. With dealing with everything we have to do with look. If we finally beat medicare jake thank you, President Biden. President trump. Trump hes right, he did beat medicare. He bleated to death. Hes destroying medicare. These people are coming in. They are putting them on medicare, Social Security, they are going to destroy Social Security. This man is going to destroy Social Security. Millions of people coming in, trying to put them on Social Security. He will wipe out Social Security, medicare. He was right in the way he finish that sentence and its a shame. What happened to our country in the last four years is not to be believed. Foreign countries, im friends with a lot of people. They cannot believe what happened to the United States of america. We are no longer respected. They dont like us. We give them everything they want and they think were stupid. They think we are very stupid people. What were doing for other countries, and they do nothing for us. What this man has done is absolutely criminal. Jake thank you, President Trump terry dana. Dana the first president ial election since the Supreme Court overturned roe v. Wade. This morning the court ruled another Abortion Case temporarily allowing emergency abortions to continue in idaho despite that states restrictive ban. Former President Trump, you take credit for the decision to overturn roe v. Wade which returned the issue of abortion to the states. However, the federal government still plays a role in whether or not women have access to abortion pills. They are used in about twothirds of all abortions. As president , would you block abortion medication . Trump first of all, the Supreme Court just approve the abortion pill. And i agree with their decision to have done that. I will not block it. If you look at this whole question that youre asking, complex but not really complex. 51 years ago, you had roe v. Wade and everybody wanted to get it back to the states, everybody, without exceptions. Democrats, republicans, liberals, conservatives, religious leaders. What i did is i put three great Supreme Court justices on the court and they happen to vote in favor of killing roe v. Wade and moving it back to the states. This is something that everybody wanted. Ten years ago or so they started talking about how many weeks and how many this and getting into other things but every legal scholar throughout the world, the most respected, wanted it brought back to the states. I did that. Now the states are working it out. If you look at ohio, it was a decision, it was an end result that was a little bit more liberal than you would have thought. Kansas i would say the same thing. Texas is different. Florida is different. Theyre all making their own decisions right now. And right now the states control it. Thats the vote of the people. Like ronald reagan, i believe in the exceptions. I am a person that believes. Frankly, i think its important to believe in the exceptions. Some people, you have to follow your heart. Some people dont believe in that but i believe in the exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother. Some people dont. Follow your heart. Youve got to get elected. The problem they have is theoretical. They will take the life of a child in the eighth month and ninth month and even after birth. After birth. The former governor of virginia, he was willing to do this. He said well put the baby aside and well determine what we do with the baby, meaning well kill the baby. What happened was we brought it back to the states in the country is now coming together on this issue. Its been a great thing. Dana thank you. President biden. Biden its been a terrible thing what youve done. The fact is the vast majority of constitutional scholar supported roe. Thats his idea that they are all against it, its just ridiculous. This is a guy who says states should be able to have it. We are in a state where in six weeks, you dont even know whether you are pregnant or not but you cannot see a doctor and have them decide on what your circumstances are. The idea that states are able to do this is like saying were going to turn civil rights back to the states and let each state have a different role. For so many young women whove been, including young woman who was murdered, went to the funeral. The idea that she was murdered by an immigrant coming in. They talk about that. Heres the deal. Theres a a lot of young women being raped by their inlaws, spouses, brothers and sisters. Its just ridiculous and they can do nothing about it. Dana thank you. Trump there have been many young women murdered by the same people he allows to come across our border. We have a border thats the most dangerous place anywhere in the world. Consider the most dangerous place anywhere in the world. He opened it up. These killers are coming into our country. They are raping and killing women. Its a terrible thing. As far as abortion is concerned, its back with the states. States are voting. In many cases, its frankly very liberal decision in many cases its the opposite. But their voting and its bringing it back to the vote of the people which is what everybody wanted, including the founders, if they knew about this issue which frankly they didnt. But they would everybody wanted it brought back. Ronald reagan wanted it brought back. He was able to get it. Everybody wanted it brought back. Many president s have tried to get it back. I was the one to do it. This gives it the vote of the people and thats where they wanted it. Every legal scholar wanted it that way. Dana staying on the topic of abortion, President Biden, i will let you do that this is the same topic. Seven states have no legal restrictions on how far into a pregnancy a woman can obtain an abortion. Do you support any legal limits on how late a woman should be able to terminate pregnancy . Biden i support roe v. Wade which was three trimesters. First time is between woman and the doctor. Second time is between a doctor and an extreme situation. The third time is between the woman and the state. The idea that the founders wanted politicians to be the ones making decisions about a Womans Health is ridiculous. No politician should be making that decision. A doctor should be making that decision. If im elected, im going to restore roe v. Wade. Trump so that means he can take the life of the baby in the ninth month and even after birth because some states, democrat run, take it after birth. Again, the former governor of virginia. Put the baby down. Then we decide what to do with i