U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris took the offensive in a high stakes debate hosted by ABC against Republican candidate Donald Trump. Topics ranged from domestic issues, including abortion, race and immigration, to international questions on trade, China and ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip.
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00:00A consequential moment in the neck-and-neck race for the White House.
00:05Presidential candidates, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump meet
00:10for the first time to debate key issues in an election just eight weeks away, starting
00:16off with the economy, a top issue for American voters battling inflation since the pandemic,
00:22Trump pinning the blame on his Democratic opponent.
00:25The people of our country are absolutely dying with what they've done.
00:30We're doing tariffs on other countries.
00:32Other countries are going to finally, after 75 years, pay us back for all that we've done
00:37for the world.
00:38The former president claiming that should he win back the White House, China and other
00:43countries will face higher prices, not Americans, an approach economists warn could backfire
00:49and also prompt foreign governments to retaliate.
00:53Harris accused Trump of weakening Washington in a competition with Beijing for tech supremacy,
00:59pointing to his sale of American chips to China, which helped modernize the Chinese
01:04military.
01:05A policy about China should be in making sure the United States of America wins the competition
01:11for the 21st century, which means focusing on relationships with our allies, focusing
01:16on investing in American based technology so that we win the race on A.I., on quantum
01:22computing.
01:23On the sale of chips, Trump blamed Taiwan.
01:27First of all, they bought their chips from Taiwan.
01:30It was a fast moving, energized debate with combative moments, Trump reusing his border
01:36czar label for Harris to criticize her handling of the hot button issue of immigration.
01:42Trump claiming immigrants are harming American life, falsely accusing them of eating pets.
01:48In Springfield, they're eating the dogs.
01:51The people that came in, they're eating the cats.
01:54You talk about extreme.
01:56On foreign policy, Trump and Harris addressed ongoing conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine.
02:02The former president insisting he could end Russia's war in 24 hours.
02:07Harris rebuted this, saying Trump could only do so because he would just give it up.
02:13Trump refused to say outright that he wants Ukraine to defeat Russian invaders, a troubling
02:18signal to U.S. allies across the world.
02:21For allies and partners in Asia with time honored concerns about the consistency of
02:26U.S. support, his refusal to do so undercuts some of the work that the Biden administration
02:33has done to date in building back confidence in the U.S.'s desire to show up for allies
02:38and partners and the consistency of that support.
02:41For almost two hours, Harris went on the offensive, baiting Trump with comments known to get under
02:47his skin.
02:48Even Fox News, a traditionally conservative and Trump-friendly network, said that tonight
02:53she won.
02:54The network and the Harris campaign both said they want another face-off in October before
03:00voters hit the polls on November 5th.
03:04With the older and much-criticized President Joe Biden having stepped back to let his vice
03:09president run for the top spot, Republican candidate Trump now faces a different, more
03:14energized rival in Harris as both campaigns kick into high gear for the final stretch.
03:21James Lane and Joyce Tsin for Talon Plus.