TRANSCRIPT
"Tonight, with just over a month to go until election day, the first and only meeting between the two men who hope to become vice president of the United States. Democratic governor Tim Walz of Minnesota and Republican Senator JD Vance of Ohio."
Ninety minutes of debate on CBS News ... beginning with the conflict in the Middle East after Iran fired around 180 missiles into Israel in retaliation for the killing of Hezbollah leaders, the Iranian backed militant group.
Tim Walz was asked if he would support a pre-emptive strike by Israel on Iran as the first year anniversary of the October 7 attack by Iranian ally Hamas draws near.
"Israel's ability to be able to defend itself is absolutely fundamental, getting its hostages back is fundamental, and ending the humanitarian crisis in Gaza there. You saw it experienced today where along with our Israeli partners, and coalition able to stop that incoming attack, but what is fundamental here is that steady leadership is going to matter. "
Despite the escalating crisis in the Middle East, US voters are more concerned about the economy where Donald Trump's Republicans are seen as stronger than the Democratic Party of vice president Kamala Harris.
WALZ: "The bold forward plan that Kamala Harris put out there is one is talking about this housing issue. The one thing is there's 3 million new houses proposed under this plan with down payment assistance on the front end to get you in a house. A house is much more than just an asset to be traded somewhere. It's foundational to where you're at and then making sure that the things you buy every day, whether they be prescription drugs or other things, that there's fairness in that."
VANCE: "Donald Trump's economic policies to deliver to the highest take home pay in a generation in this country, 1.5 per cent inflation, and peace and security all over the world. So when people say that Donald Trump's economic plan doesn't make sense, I say, look at the record, he delivered rising take home pay for American workers."
Abortion rights are another contentious issue after the US Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe Versus Wade case, which protected women from prosecution for having an abortion.
Mr Walz has criticised presidential candidate Donald Trump's stance on the issue.
"Donald Trump put this all into motion. He brags about how great it was that he put the judges in and overturned Roe versus Wade. 52 years of personal autonomy. And then he tells us, oh, we send it to the states. It's a beautiful thing Amanda Zurawski would disagree with you on. It's a beautiful thing.”
A young bride in Texas waiting for their child at 18 weeks. She has a complication, a tear in the membrane. She needs to go in. The medical care at that point, needs to be decided by the doctor, and that would've been an abortion. But in Texas, that would've put them in legal jeopardy. She went home, got sepsis, nearly dies, and now she may have difficulty having children."]]
Immigration and the arrival of immigrants from Mexico and and South America is also a big issue with voters.
Mr Vance has pledged to carry out the biggest mass deportation in U-S history if Mr Trump wins the presidential election.
He has once again claimed that there are more than 20-million illegal immigrants in North America, a figure that is disputed with the Department of Homeland Security estimating the number is just over half that.
"You've got to stop the bleeding. You've got to re-implement Donald Trump's border policies, build the wall, re-implement deportations. And that gets me to your point, Margaret, about what do we actually do? So we've got 20, 25 million illegal aliens who are here in the country. What do we do with them? I think the first thing that we do is we start with the criminal migrants. About a million of those people have committed some form of crime in addition to crossing the border illegally. I think you start with deportations on those folks, and then I think you make it harder for illegal aliens to undercut the wages of American workers. A lot of people will go home if they can't work for less than minimum wage in our own country. And by the way, that'll be really good for our workers who just want to earn a fair wage for doing a good day's work."
Gun control is another big election issue with nearly 50,000 people dying in 2021 from gun-related injuries, a record amount.
But Mr Vance says tougher gun laws won't solve the problem.
"We have to make the doors lock better. We have to make the doors stronger. We have to make the windows stronger. And of course, we've got to increase school resource officers, because the idea that we can magically wave a wand and take guns out of the hands of bad guys, it doesn't fit with recent experience. So we've just got to make schools safer."
The debate was mainly civil and polite aside from this point when both men continued talking over the female moderators as they threatened to cut off the microphones for breaking the debate rules.
VANCE: "That is not a person coming in applying for a green card and waiting for 10 years."
MODERATOR: "Thank you Senator"
VANCE: "That is the facilitation of illegal immigration, Margaret, by our own leadership."
MODERATOR: "Thank Thank you, Senator for describing the legal process. We have have so much to get to Senator."
WALZ: "Those laws have been on the books since 1990."
MODERATOR: "Thank you, gentlemen."
Bruce Wolpe is a Senior Fellow United States Study Centre who has also worked for former US president Barack Obama and former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard.
"The debate was a draw. Everyone was expecting fireworks, a very pugnacious approach by Senator Vance, and a real heartfelt emotion from Tim Walz, the Democratic candidate for vice President, and it was civil, and we haven't seen that in debate in some time. I think ultimately, as everyone distils what occurred and what they discussed, that it would be seen as a draw."
He says Mr Vance presented a conciliatory front during the debate, counter to his often aggressive demeanour.
"For Vance, he presented it. Everyone was expecting to see someone ferocious. They didn't. So I think that helped him, and I think he was strong in talking about the economy and immigration. I think Waltz was very strong on abortion and gun rights and very strong in his support of Vice President Harris and everything to be done. But he could have, there were openings that he could have taken against fans, particularly on the 2020 election. Was it stolen, was it rigged? That sort of thing, and really gone harder on the democracy issue. He didn't do that, and I think some Democrats are disappointed with that."
This is the first and last vice presidential debate with little over a month to go until the presidential election.
