PRESIDENTIAL RACE | Rundown of debate points so far


HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (AP) — The Latest on the first of three presidential debates between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump:

9:27 p.m.

Donald Trump claims he never said climate change was a "hoax" created by the Chinese.

But he did.

Trump tweeted in January 2014 that, "Snowing in Texas and Louisiana, record setting freezing temperatures throughout the country and beyond. Global warming is an expensive hoax!"

In November, 2012, he said, "The concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive."

His Democratic rival Hillary Clinton made the charge during Monday night.

Trump is a denier of climate science.


9:25 p.m.

Donald Trump has the sniffles.

Trump's loud sniffing in the opening minutes of Monday's first presidential debate with Hillary Clinton is getting plenty of attention on social media. Some are comparing it to Al Gore's sighing from the 2000 presidential debate. The noticeable sniffing, or loud breathing, is generating hashtags like #trumpsniff on Twitter.

Much attention has been focused on both candidates' health going into the debate following Clinton's pneumonia diagnosis last month. Both candidates have since released details about their health history.


9:22 p.m.

Donald Trump says he wants Hillary Clinton to be happy.

Clinton referred to Trump as "Donald" in their first face-to-to-face debate. Trump hesitated before referring to the Democratic nominee as "Secretary Clinton."

"Is that OK?" Trump asked. "I want you to be very happy."

Clinton is the former secretary of state. Trump has never held public office so he has no formal honorific title.


9:20 p.m.

Hillary Clinton is asking American voters to decide whether she or Donald Trump can "make your life better."

The Democratic nominee opened the first presidential debate pitching her economic policies as the best way to help most voters. She added that voters should use the first of three debates to assess "who can shoulder the immense, awesome responsibilities of the presidency" and who can "put into action" their plans.

She did not use the argument to attack Trump. She said only, "Donald, it's good to be with you."


9:18 p.m.

Hillary Clinton is criticizing Donald Trump early in the presidential debate over a loan he got from his father to start his business career. The Democratic presidential candidate is calling her Republican rival's tax cut proposals "Trumped-up trickle-down" economics.

Clinton says Trump "really believes the more you help wealthy people, the better off we'll be." She also referenced a million-dollar loan Trump got from his father decades ago.

Clinton criticized her opponent's aggressive stance on trade, saying the U.S. is "5 percent of the world population" and that means having to trade with the other 95 percent of the world.


9:15 p.m.

Donald Trump is kicking off the debate touting his plan to create jobs and claiming that Mexico and other countries are "stealing them."

Trump says, "Our jobs are fleeing the country, they're going to Mexico and many other countries."

He says, "We have to stop our jobs from being stolen from us" and is claiming that Mexico's factory building is like "the 8th wonder of the world."

He's calling for renegotiating U.S. trade deals and says job creation will flourish under a Trump administration because of his plans to lower taxes and scale back regulations.


9:10 p.m.

Hillary Clinton is fielding the first debate question from moderator Lester Holt, who asked about her plan to create better jobs for American workers.

Clinton, the first woman to participate in a general election debate, first noted that it was her granddaughter Charlotte's second birthday and launched into her standard campaign promise to fight for fair pay for female workers and to increase taxes on the wealthy.

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9:05 p.m.

The first presidential debate between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump is under way. Clinton was heard asking, "How are you, Donald?" as they took the stage.

Clinton is taking the first question.


9 p.m.

Police on Long Island say about 2,000 protesters have gathered outside the scene of the first presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

Some of the diverse groups protesting Monday night's showdown at Hofstra University include Hardhats for Hillary, socialists and activists calling for a living wage. The protesters have been confined to an area several blocks long.

Nassau County police say 24 people have been arrested on mostly disorderly conduct charges. Police gave no other details on the arrests.