Final presidential debate: Fast facts, how to watch, what to expect

Technicians install an eagle as they finish stage construction prior to the final presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump at the Thomas & Mack Center at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas on Monday. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI

Oct. 18, 2016 (UPI) — Here’s everything you need to know about the third and final presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, including how to watch, fast facts and what to expect:

FORMAT: Just like the first debate, the final meeting will be divided into six time segments of approximately 15 minutes each on major topics selected by the moderator. The debate will have no commercial breaks.

The moderator will open each segment with a question, after which each candidate will have 2 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. The moderator can also extend the allotted time per segment as warranted.

MODERATOR: Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace, who served as one of three Fox News moderators during a Jan. 28 Republican primary debate. Prior to joining Fox News, Wallace was chief White House correspondent for NBC News, after which Wallace worked at ABC News for 14 years as senior correspondent for “Primetime Thursday” and a substitute host for “Nightline.’

DEBATE TOPICS: Wallace has chosen the following debate topics: debt and entitlements, immigration, economy, Supreme Court, foreign hot spots and fitness to be president

WHEN: 9-10:30 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2016

WHERE: Thomas & Mack Center arena, University of Nevada-Las Vegas

HOW TO WATCH THE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE ONLINE: Major networks will stream the debate live online via YouTube. We’ve embedded one of those streams in this story for your convenience.

WHY: Several pundits are suggesting there is no point to holding this final debate because most people have already made up their minds. Another debate will just bring more pointless division and anger into an already red-hot atmosphere, they argue.

Quartz political writer Jake Flanagin says another nasty debate could actually be counterproductive, turning off undecided voters who would rather avoid the muck.

Michael A. Cohen of the Boston Globe says he was in awe of Clinton’s composure during the second debate as Trump threatened to throw her in jail and said she had hate in her heart. “No person should have to be subjected to what Clinton dealt with on Sunday and, more important, no great democratic nation should be subjected to it either.”

If Trump’s behavior over the past few days is any indication, he will spend the full 90 minutes of next Wednesday’s debate wading ever more deeply into the fetid political sewer that he now calls home. He will bring up every conspiracy theory — and every false charge — ever floated about the Clintons.
FAST FACTS

— Clinton spent 5 days preparing for this final debate, NBC News reported. As with the earlier debates, it doesn’t appear Trump has done much in the way of formal preparation, instead spending his time “talking to people at rallies,” spokeswoman Kellyanne Conway said.

— The Culinary Union is planning to stage “a wall of taco trucks” around Trump Hotel Las Vegas, making light of Donald Trump’s pledge to build a wall on the border with Mexico. The union is in a fight with the hotel, which is 50 percent owned by Donald Trump, because Trump Hotel has refused to bargain with workers over wage and benefit issues.

— This is the first general election debate moderated by a Fox News personality.

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