Summary

  • Donald Trump is facing a slew of claims of sexual misconduct from women

  • In Florida on Thursday, he fought back by strongly dismissing the accusations

  • First Lady Michelle Obama decried his actions as "intolerable"

  • Last week a video tape emerged in which Mr Trump boasted of groping women

  • A series of recent polls suggest a fall in his support to rival Hillary Clinton

  1. An unlikely Trump convertpublished at 01:53 British Summer Time 5 October 2016

    Cassandra FairbanksImage source, Cassandra Fairbanks
    Image caption,

    From Sanders to Trump, via Black Lives Matter

    Activist and journalist Cassandra Fairbanks was once a darling of the left, who reported on the Ferguson protests and supported Black Lives Matter.

    But now she is trying to rally her 70,000 Twitter followers to support Donald Trump.

    Why?

    She's been telling BBC Trending the reasons for this unlikely transformation.

    Read the story here 

  2. Audience starts to gatherpublished at 01:51 British Summer Time 5 October 2016

    Eric Trump, son of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump (C), shakes hands with Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National CommitteeImage source, Getty Images
    Image caption,

    Eric Trump shakes hands with Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, in Farmville

    Democratic National Committee Chair Donna Brazile (L) talks with Republican National Committee Chair Reince PriebusImage source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    Preibus exchanges pleasantries with his Democratic counterpart Donna Brazile

  3. Whoopspublished at 01:47 British Summer Time 5 October 2016

    So the Clinton campaign didn't think to buy up the domain name clintonkaine.com, external - here's what you get when you click on it...

    Screenshot of clintonkaine.com website showing headline 'Crooked Hillary Slanders Sanders Supporters' - 4 October 2016Image source, clintonkaine.com

    Oops.

  4. Bingo!published at 01:42 British Summer Time 5 October 2016

    Here's our bingo card for tonight's debate, let us know if you get a full house!

    Bingo card showing terms that may be used by Mike Pence and Tim Kaine in vice-presidential debate - 4 October 2016
  5. First salvos...published at 01:37 British Summer Time 5 October 2016

    Ahead of tonight's battle, the campaigns have been exchanging blows.

    In the blue corner:

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    And in the red corner, Trump's spokeswoman had a direct response to that tweet: 

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    And there's this...

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  6. What's the youth vote saying?published at 01:34 British Summer Time 5 October 2016

    Because we're really cool, we took a look at what's trending on Yik Yak, an app popular with the under-25s. In Virginia, where the debate is taking place, it's set the app alight...

    Post on YikYak showing people discussing vice-presidential debate - 4 October 2016Image source, YikYak
  7. Google's hot topicspublished at 01:26 British Summer Time 5 October 2016

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  8. Trump gears uppublished at 01:21 British Summer Time 5 October 2016

    The Republican presidential candidate is ramping up for an evening of live-tweeting. This should be fun.

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  9. Biden's advicepublished at 01:19 British Summer Time 5 October 2016

    Vice-President Joe Biden appears at a rally in Scranton, Pennsylvania.Image source, Getty Images

    This guy knows a thing or two about debates. Vice-President Joe Biden was credited with rallying ruffled Democratic troops in his veep debate four years ago, after Obama fumbled his first match against Mitt Romney. While speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Biden had some advice for Pence and Kaine.

    "Think about whether you made the right decision," he said. "Because it could be a long day in that office over there," he added, pointing to the White House, "if you don't agree with the president."

  10. Ready to rumblepublished at 01:14 British Summer Time 5 October 2016

    Tim Kaine was lucky enough to spend these past few days at his home near Richmond, the capital of Virginia, where he used to serve as governor. He and his wife, Anne Holton, paid a visit today to the Robert Russa Moton Museum, which is named for the school that triggered the Supreme Court case leading to the desegregation of US public schools.

    Pence has been staying in a Richmond hotel where he has been fuelling himself on M&Ms, coffee and an afternoon jog. The Indiana governor has reportedly also prepared with 90-minute mock debates in which Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker played the part of Kaine. Walker ended his primary campaign for the Republican nomination last September.

    Tim Kaine and his wifeImage source, Reuters
    Image caption,

    Tim Kaine and his wife, Anne Holton, (L) after viewing the museum

  11. Swag bagpublished at 01:09 British Summer Time 5 October 2016

    Every politico this side of the Mississippi has descended on a small Virginia town for tonight's debate, and you can bet they'll be picking up some campaign swag to bring back to Washington DC.

    Farmville is so small that most of these out-of-towners are staying in hotels nearly an hour away in Richmond.

    While in Farmville, why not treat yourself to a Pence Pumpkin Spice Latte or perhaps a Sugar Kaine soda? The BBC's Suzanne Kianpour has bagged a pint glass and some bumper stickers to remember the occasion.

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  12. Son of the yearpublished at 01:04 British Summer Time 5 October 2016

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  13. Google's top VP questionspublished at 01:03 British Summer Time 5 October 2016

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  14. Who to follow in Farmvillepublished at 00:58 British Summer Time 5 October 2016

    The BBC has a team covering the debate in Virginia, and you can follow them all on Twitter:

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  15. Do Republicans have a time machine?published at 00:52 British Summer Time 5 October 2016

    We're just over an hour away from the start of the debate, but the Republican party has already claimed Pence was the "clear winner". Their premature post didn't go unnoticed on Twitter, natch...

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    Incidentally, the page has now been taken down by the Republican party. Here's what you get when you *do* click on it, external...

    404 page on GOP.com saying 'what do Hillary Clinton and this link have in common: they're both dead broke'Image source, gop.com

    (She's not, btw)

  16. Clinton slips on election countdownpublished at 00:46 British Summer Time 5 October 2016

    Hillary Clinton slipped while answering a question about energising undecided voters, saying there was 35 years instead of 35 days until Election Day. 

    For many on Twitter, that's certainly how it feels. 

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  17. Who is moderator Elaine Quijano?published at 00:42 British Summer Time 5 October 2016

    CBS News' Elaine Quijano, a Filipino-American, will become the first Asian American to moderate a general election debate tonight. 

    The 42-year-old CBSN anchor will also be the first digital news journalist to host a debate. 

    She's the youngest moderator to host a national debate since Judy Woodruff in 1988.

    Quijano was born in Chicago and is a veteran correspondent who covered the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the White House for CNN. 

    Correspondent CBS News Elaine Quijano speaks onstage during the 'CBSN' panel discussion at the CBS/ShowtimeTelevision Group.Image source, Getty Images
  18. Do people recognise the VP candidates?published at 00:39 British Summer Time 5 October 2016

    More than 40% of Americans cannot name the vice-presidential nominee of either major party, according to a survey by ABC News.

    We wanted to test this, so the BBC took to the streets of New York to see if people could pick out Tim Kaine or Mike Pence from a picture gallery of politicians and fictional VPs. The results were... interesting.

    Media caption,

    Vice-presidential debate: Do you know these men?

    And never slow to doff our caps at the good work of our rivals, the New York Times has compiled a nifty quiz , externalon the two men. It includes the tantalising question - who was referred to as a "human sweater vest"?

  19. Trump live-tweetingpublished at 00:36 British Summer Time 5 October 2016

    Donald Trump will be using his Twitter megaphone tonight to cheer on his running mate. We'll bring you some of his thoughts from virtual ringside.

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    Pence-Trump Rocky mock-up
    Image caption,

    Politics is a contact sport

  20. Farmville's historypublished at 00:07 British Summer Time 5 October 2016

    farmvilleImage source, EPA

    The scene of tonight's debate had a starring role in the US civil rights movement. In 1951, students at an all-black school here walked out because of deplorable conditions, paving the way for the outlawing of school segregation.

    A 16-year-old girl name Barbara Johns led the protest. At the time, students in the over-crowded high school were forced to study outdoors in tar-paper shacks, and to share torn textbooks. They demanded better, and the case ended up at the Supreme Court.

    When the justices' Brown v Board of Education ruling came down in 1954, the local government decided to shut the school for five years rather than allow white and black children to study together.

    The high school has since been converted into the Robert Russa Moton museum, named for the school that the building once housed. Kaine and his wife toured the museum earlier today ahead of the debate.

    A statue of Barara Johns at the Virginia state capitol in RichmondImage source, AP
    Image caption,

    A statue of Barbara Johns stands at the Virginia state capitol in Richmond. Here's a file photo of current Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe in front of the monument.