Image source, Getty Images

We've now turned back to immigration, and Harris is touting her work as "the only person on this stage" to prosecute smugglers.

She's always laid the blame on border issues on Donald Trump for his efforts to tank a bipartisan border security bill - a common refrain from Democrats.

"You know what happened? Donald Trump got on the phone to some folks in Congress and said kill the bill. Why? Because he preferred to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem."

She's now discussing the rhetoric at his rallies, saying that supporters leave his rallies "out of exhaustion and boredom".

Courtney Subramanian

Both Trump and Harris can be heard when their microphones are muted, which was a major point of contention in the lead-up to the debate.

Harris is heard saying "that's not true" as Trump is speaking.

Trump, too, can be heard responding as his Democratic challenger speaks.

Harris's team wanted to unmute the mics so she could lean into her prosecutorial skills and directly question Trump. Though Trump said he was open to the idea, the Trump campaign resisted the request and insisted to the previous agreed upon rules to mute the mics when the other candidate is speaking.

Kayla Epstein
US reporter

Harris has woven lots of facts and stats into her answers so far. But abortion is one of Harris's strongest issues, and she gets personal and vivid when speaking about it.

"I have talked with women around our country," she said, her voice rising. She said women "suffering from a miscarriage" were "being denied care in an emergency room because the health care providers are afraid they might go to jail".

Harris has taken the lead on the Biden administration's messaging on reproductive rights, so this is comfortable terrain for her.

"There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it is born," the moderator says after Trump alleges that some states allow babies to be "executed" after birth.

Harris notes that Trump appointed three of the Supreme Court justices that overturned the national right to abortion two years ago.

She says that multiple states have passed "Trump abortion bans that make no exceptions for rape and incest".

"You say this is what people wanted?" she says, describing women who are "bleeding out back in a car in a parking lot" because they can't get an abortion.

"They don't want that," she says, her voice becoming emotional.

Moderators have now turned to one of the most important issues for voters: abortion rights.

They ask Trump to clarify his position on the issue, given his mixed messages on it in the past.

Trump starts by claiming Democrats want to allow abortion in the "ninth month" of pregnancy.

The Democrats are "radical" on that, he says, claiming Harris's pick for vice-president, Tim Walz, in particular has advocated for abortion in the ninth month.

Trump goes on to say he helped bring the issue back to the states to decide and says he believes in exceptions in cases of rape and incest.

Image source, Getty Images

Courtney Subramanian

Harris has already brought up two areas Trump and his allies would rather not talk about: Project 2025 and the Covid pandemic.

Trump has denied any involvement with Project 2025, a conservative policy proposal that was drafted with a second Trump administration in mind, but the policy blueprint does overlap with the Republican policy platform.

Harris also raised Trump's management of the pandemic, saying she and Biden cleaned up the "mess" left by Trump.

The former president's team has sought to focus on the way of life - and America's economy - before the 2020 pandemic.

Inflation is not the worst in US historypublished at 02:18 British Summer Time 11 September

02:18 BST 11 September

Trump said: “We have inflation at the worst in our nation’s history".

This is false. During Biden’s time in office, inflation peaked at 9.1% in June 2022, at a time when prices were rising sharply in many countries.

Inflation was last above 9% in 1981, but it has been much higher than that at several other points in US history.

Since its peak in mid-2022, inflation has dropped significantly , externalto 3.3%, external for the year to May 2024. Higher prices remain the number one issue for many voters.

Harris is targeting Trump's policies on the economy, saying 16 Nobel Prize-winning economists have criticised what he says he will do and that they believe it will trigger a recession by next year if implemented.

"Donald Trump has no plan for you. Because he is more interested in defending himself than looking out for you."

Trump hits back, saying economics professors think his plan is "brilliant", and "a good plan".

Courtney Subramanian

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are each taking the stage with one goal in mind tonight, and they both have to do with President Joe Biden.

Trump will try to tie Harris to Biden, painting her as responsible for every unpopular part of the administration's record. He's likely to zero in on immigration, inflation and crime.

For Harris, the debate is a balancing act - she'll need to distinguish herself from Biden as a candidate of change without throwing her boss under the bus.

When asked about whether Americans are economically better off today than they were four years ago, she didn't directly answer the question.

Vice-President Harris is responding to Trump's attacks on the economy now, shifting blame to his administration.

"Donald Trump left us with the worst unemployment since the Great Depression," she says.

"What we have done is clean up Donald Trump's mess," she adds.

Harris also cites Project 2025 - what she calls a "detailed and dangerous plan" that she says Trump will enact if he takes office.

Courtney Subramanian

The lecterns are adjusted to accommodate the large height difference between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. Trump stands at 6 foot 3 inches while Harris is 5 feet 4 inches.

Over the weekend, Trump said on his social media platform, Truth Social, that no accommodations should be made for the debate to make them appear closer in size.

Image source, Reuters

In response to Harris, Trump has vowed to place tariffs on other countries.

He added that they are "finally... paying us back for what we've done for the world".

In particular, he mentioned China, saying that the government has taken in "billions" from the country with tariffs that have remained in place, even after he left office.

He then immediately pivoted to immigration.

Harris then pivots to trying to contrast with her opponent.

She says Trump plans to "do what he's done before" and give "tax cuts for billionaires and corporations".

She says Americans will face a "Trump sales tax" on the "everyday goods" they rely on.

The first question is on the economy - "Do you believe that Americans are better off than they were four years ago?"

Harris answers first and says she plans to build an "opportunity economy".

She pledges to tackle the cost of housing and help young families.

"My passion, one of them, is small businesses," she continues.

Madeline Halpert

Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have just taken their places on stage, and with that, the debate is now underway.

The two shook hands as they met on stage.

You can watch live by clicking the link above on the page.

Image source, Reuters

The presidential debate is about to start.

Stick with us for all the updates and analysis.

It's a huge moment for the 2024 presidential election. Donald Trump and Kamala Harris debating for the first (and likely only) time.

You can watch every moment of ABC's Presidential Debate live at the top of this page.

And stick with us for our text updates and analysis throughout.

Image source, Reuters/Getty

The word unprecedented gets thrown around a lot in coverage of US politics, but it certainly feels like the right phrase for this election.

Let’s hit the rewind button to zoom in on some of the key moments.

27 June: Joe Biden and Donald Trump debate. Biden’s performance is panned and it sets off what proved to be a runaway train of calls for him to step aside.

13 July: Trump survives an assassination attempt but is injured after being shot in the ear at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

15 July: Trump appears, bandage on ear, to a standing ovation at the Republican National Convention (RNC). JD Vance is announced as his running mate.

18 July: Hulk Hogan, Kid Rock and Dana White appear on stage ahead of Trump’s RNC speech. Trump speaks for the first time about the assassination attempt.

21 July: Biden withdraws from the presidential race and endorses Kamala Harris.

6 August: Harris announces Tim Walz as her running mate.

22 August: Harris officially accepts the nomination from her party at the Democratic National Convention.

Intertwined with these dates we also saw - Trump question Harris’s racial identity, asking a room of black journalists: “Is she black or Indian?”; the FBI opened an investigation into claims both Republican and Democratic campaigns were targeted by hackers working for the Iranian government; and both VP picks faced mounting scrutiny over their past comments.

John Sudworth
Reporting from Michigan

Image source, Getty Images

The auditorium is slowly filling up here at a United Autoworkers Union watch party in the Detroit suburbs.

The UAW has pledged for Harris, and is fighting to help the Democrats hold on to a state which could turn out to be make or break for winning the White House.

But one of the organisers here, Joe Losier, tells me that it's tough. His dad and his uncles, union men with long histories in the car industry, have all gone over to Trump. And he's no longer sure about his sons.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the debate in Philadelphia

Image source, Bernd Debusmann Jr/BBC News

A few minutes ago, I caught up with Karoline Leavitt, the Trump campaign's national press secretary.

She's making the rounds, touting Trump's record ahead of tonight's debate with Harris.

I asked her what success would look like from the campaign's viewpoint.

Success, she said, is "very simply President Trump prosecuting the case against Kamala Harris and tying her to Joe Biden's record". It's a message we've been hearing repeatedly from Trump campaign officials.

On the other hand, Leavitt said "the bar is very high" for Harris.

"She has a lot of questions to answer. There's a lot in her very long record that is very liberal and very unpopular. She'll have to defend that tonight," she says.

I also asked Leavitt what Trump had done to prepare for his face-off with Harris.

"President Trump is prepared by nature of what he does on the campaign trail every day," she responded, before rattling off a series of interviews, podcasts and radio interviews the former president has done.