Hello and welcome back to Newsau. Last night's US presidential debate was actually

the second between the candidates for November's election.

That the lineup was different this time underlines the potential risk and reward for the candidates.

It was the Republican Donald Trump's televised thrashing of Joe Biden,

which crystallized the unease many members of the

Democratic Party and voters already felt at the prospect of the

octogenarian president running for re-election. So last night it was

his successor Kamler Harris debating Mr. Trump.

It was less traumatic and likely will have a less dramatic immediate outcome, but it still

delivered moments of clarity about the two candidates, even if there weren't many direct answers to direct questions.

A Washington correspondent Tom Bateman was watching.

Beast of this historic.

The ABC News presidential debate.

In a city that was at the heart of the American Revolution, a debate described by its hosts

as this election's most consequential moment.

Good evening, I'm David Bior and thank you for joining us for tonight.

And as it began, it wasn't just the first debate between Carmelah Harris and Donald Trump,

for the first time they'd met.

Kamala Harris.

Let's have good debate.

Have fun.

Kicking off on the economy, a key area of vulnerability for the vice president.

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