The next question for the candidates is on Hurricane Helene. At least 135 people have been confirmed dead across six states after the storm tore across the southeastern US.

Vance is asked how a Trump administration would reverse the impacts of climate change.

He says the Trump administration supports clean air and water and the best way to do that is to keep American manufacturing strong. He argues the Biden-Harris administration has allowed a growth in foreign manufacturing in some of the dirtiest parts of the world, which worsens carbon emissions.

Donald Trump has called climate change “a hoax” and says if elected he would "cancel" Joe Biden’s policies aimed at cutting pollution from fossil fuel. During his presidency, Trump pulled the United States out of the 2016 Paris climate agreement.

Phil McCausland
Reporting from the debate in New York

Perhaps it was nerves, perhaps he hadn't quite mastered the facts, but Tim Walz stumbled on the first question, which focused on the conflict in the Middle East.

He appeared to trip over his words and some details about the conflict that grew out of Hamas's attack on 7 October 2023.

His performance has smoothed somewhat since attacking Donald Trump's response to Iran and issues in the Middle East.

Image source, Reuters

Walz is now responding to Vance's answer to the question on the crisis in the Middle East.

He says Trump helped contribute to escalating tensions in the Middle East because the former president pulled out of an agreement to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

He also accuses Trump of "tweeting" during crisis moments rather than responding with diplomacy.

Image source, Reuters

In responding to the same question, Vance first turns to saying why he's asking people to support the Republican ticket.

During Trump's time in office, other countries did not step out of line, Vance says, before returning to the question.

Trump delivered stability, he says of his running-mate, as well as "peace through strength".

Walz cites the 7 October attack on Israel by Hamas while answering the question on whether he supports Israel launching a pre-emptive attack on Iran and says Israel has a right to defend itself.

He says steady leadership is key in this moment of uncertainty in the Middle East and notes ex-Trump administration officials have come out against the former president, including his former Chief of Staff John Kelly.

The topic of the Middle East is a fraught one for the Harris-Walz campaign, as the debate over US aid to Israel has caused divisions within the Democratic Party.

So far, the campaign has not deviated from the Biden administration's policy positions.

Image source, CBS News

The first topic of tonight's debate is a subject on many people's minds: the crisis in the Middle East.

Today, Iran launched a missile attack on Israel. The country says most of the missiles were intercepted by the Israeli Air Force in co-operation with the US Air Forces Central Command.

Tensions remain high as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened retaliation on Iran.

Democratic candidate Walz is asked whether he would support a pre-emptive strike from Israel on Iran.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from Las Vegas

I've just reached the North Vegas campus of the College of Southern Nevada, a local community college here in the area. They've invited me to sit in on a watch party they've organised for the VP debate.

With just a little while to go until the debate, about 20 students are in an auditorium with several large screened tuned to ABC. More are trickling in slowly.

As I arrived, a faculty member was asking students what issues they hope to hear about.

Instantly, I heard a voice yelling from the back of the room.

"Student loans!" the student shouted, to loud applause.

The students were then asked who agrees.

About half the hands in the room shot up.

Image source, CBS News

CBS’ Evening News host Norah O’Donnell and Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan are moderating the vice-presidential debate.

They both moderated the 2020 Democratic presidential primary debate.

Phil McCausland
Reporting from the debate in New York

It will be interesting to see what American voters make of the two vice-presidential candidates after the debate, as polls suggest they have two very differing views of the two men.

A Gallup poll released earlier today suggests that 37% of voters view Vance favourably, with 44% have an unfavourable view of him . The Ohio senator will aim to make a dent in that net negative view of him.

The poll suggests that voters have a less negative view of Walz, but his favourability has declined slightly in Gallup's poll. It currently sits at 38%.

In just a few minutes, the debate between Democrat Tim Walz and Republican JD Vance will kick off.

Stay with us for updates, analysis and fact-checking as the debate gets under way - plus you can click the button at the top of the page to watch the event live.

Anthony Zurcher
Reporting from the debate in New York

Illinois Governor JD Pritzker is in the spin room now, talking up his fellow midwestern governor, Tim Walz.

I asked him how Walz is planning to respond when his Republican opponent hits Democrats on the burdens that large immigration numbers have put on social services in many American cities. He told me Walz would point to the bipartisan immigration reform in Congress that failed to pass, mostly because Donald Trump encouraged Republicans to block it.

Will that be enough - even as polls show more American voters support Trump's immigration proposals, which include mass deportation of undocumented immigrants?

Pritzker disputed that, saying that polls indicate Americans want comprehensive reform.

Perhaps. But it’s clear that Trump has set the terms for the immigration debate for the last eight years - and Walz will be challenged to redefine them in tonight’s debate.

Marita Moloney
Live editor, in Washington DC

It's just 15 minutes to go until the two men vying to be the next US vice-president take the stage in New York City for their first - and last - debate of this election.

JD Vance and Tim Walz will face off on CBS News at 21:00 EDT (02:00 BST) - and you'll be able to follow the showdown right here - just click the Watch Live button above.

At the very least, "the debate will be a fascinating contrast between two men with very different styles and political beliefs and two campaigns with distinct strategies for winning the White House", the BBC's North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher writes.

He and several other BBC reporters are in New York City at the debate and will bring you updates and analysis of the lead-up, right through the debate and after.

What should you watch out for during the 90-minute head to head? You can expect domestic issues like the economy, immigration, crime and the recent devastation brought by Hurricane Helene, plus the conflict unfolding in the Middle East, to be put to the candidates.

Phil McCausland
Reporting from the debate in New York

The VP debate is about to start, and we've been spending time in the so-called spin room with some top campaign surrogates.

The spin room is a place for politicians and surrogates to meet with journalists before and after the debate to give their take on the evening's event and advocate for their candidates.

We just saw Arizona Senator Mark Kelly - a onetime contender to be Harris's running mate - with Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison. They were both singing Walz's praises while testing attack lines for Vance, and Illinois Governor JB Prtizker joined in later.

On the Republican side, Alabama Senator Katie Britt, New York Rep Elise Stefanik and Trump spokesperson Jason Miller have made the rounds with journalists ahead of the debate to promote Vance's candidacy and criticise Walz's record.

Crowds have been gathering outside the CBS studios in New York City ahead of the debate, which will be starting in 20 minutes.

Here's a glimpse of the scenes:

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, G

Image source, Reuters

JD Vance has arrived at CBS Studios in New York for the debate tonight.

He's getting here just before the head-to-head is about to start at 21:00 local time. We're still waiting to find out whether his rival Tim Walz has arrived yet.

Mike Hills
Visual Journalism team

Right now, the polls are very tight in the seven states considered battlegrounds in this election. As the table below shows, there are just one or two percentage points separating the two candidates in all of them.

One thing to note is that there are fewer state polls than national polls being carried out at the moment so we have less data to go on and every poll has a margin of error that means the numbers could be higher or lower.

But looking at the trends since Harris joined the race does help highlight the states in which she seems to be in a stronger position, according to the polling averages.

In the chart above you can see that Harris has been leading in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin since the start of August.

We’ll be keeping track of the poll numbers in all of the swing states as we approach the election here.

Walz under fresh scrutiny over misleading claimspublished at 01:24 British Summer Time 2 October

01:24 BST 2 October

We're expecting Republican JD Vance to attack Democrat Tim Walz tonight over inconsistent claims he has made, including about his time in the military.

Ahead of the debate, Walz has faced fresh scrutiny over his repeated statements that he was in Hong Kong when the Tiananmen Square massacre happened in June 1989, but a report by Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) has raised questions about his claim.

"I was in Hong Kong on 4 June, 1989, when, of course, Tiananmen Square happened", Walz said in a June 2019 radio interview, speaking about the crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing.

But MPR has found an article published by a Nebraska newspaper, external dated 16 May 1989 with a photo of Walz standing in a Nebraska National Guard storeroom.

The photo’s caption said that he "will take over the job" of staffing the storeroom from a retiring guardsman and "will be moving to Alliance" (a city in Nebraska).

The conservative website The Washington Free Beacon has also unearthed articles from two Nebraska-based outlets, external which both reported in April 1989 that Walz planned to travel to China in early August of that year.

The August departure date is consistent with promotional material from WorldTeach - the teaching program Walz went to China with, MPR has reported.

The Harris-Walz campaign has not provided any evidence Walz was in Hong Kong at the time of the massacre to CNN - BBC Verify has also contacted the campaign team.

The Harris-Walz campaign told The New York Times that it would not dispute that Walz had spoken erroneously about the timing.

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from the debate in New York

Image source, Kayla Epstein/ BBC

Top Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller is here in the spin room ahead of what he hopes is a strong performance for his candidate.

Asked by the BBC about how Vance might address his comments about Springfield, Ohio, or his 2021 comments about “childless cat ladies”, Miller said Vance would be prepared to answer questions on the topics.

“I imagine Springfield will come up, and if it does, it’s an opportunity to talk about the border crisis” and attack Harris on her record, Miller said.

As there are scheduled debates coming up, this could be the last word from the debate stage. What message do they want to send? I ask.

"If you want to fix the economy, if you want to secure the border, you have to vote for President Trump and JD Vance,” Miller said..

Will Vance show up in the spin room after the debate?published at 01:15 British Summer Time 2 October

01:15 BST 2 October

Anthony Zurcher
BBC North America correspondent, at the debate in New York

After the presidential debate last month, Donald Trump made an appearance in the media spin room, where he was quickly surrounded by a crowd of reporters. There are reports circulating that his running mate, JD Vance, will make a similar visit after tonight’s vice-presidential debate.

Since joining the Republican ticket in July, Vance has frequently fielded questions from journalists and appeared on television news programmes, seeming to relish the back-and-forth with the press. At his rallies, he often ends by soliciting questions from the reporters in attendance.

That, however, can make for testy exchanges.

At a Vance event in Traverse City, Michigan, last week, for instance, Vance took a question from a reporter with the local newspaper, the Traverse City Record-Eagle. As the journalist announced himself, the crowd drowned out his question with boos.

“We're having fun,” Vance said. “You're allowed to ask your question. They're allowed to tell you how they think about it.”

Just like the presidential debate, the vice-presidential debate will also have rules for moderation.

The debate will last 90 minutes, with two short breaks. There won’t be an audience in the CBS studios, where it's being held.

Both Vance and Walz have two minutes to answer a question before the other has two minutes to respond.

They are each allowed one minute for a rebuttal. They each also have two minutes at the end for closing statements.

Unlike the presidential debate, mics will not be muted - although CBS does reserve the right to mute someone's microphone if necessary.