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First African-American nightly news anchor to moderate Trump-Clinton debate

WASHINGTON, Sept 24 (KUNA) -- The first of three one-on-one debates between presidential nominees Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton is set to take place Monday night at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, but all eyes are also on the man in charge of the discussion: NBC News anchor Lester Holt.
A little over a year ago, the 57-year-old became the first African-American to present the weekday evening news on US network television. Holt has a 35-year career in journalism, and is a highly respected professional among his peers, but has only moderated one other debate back in January in the Democratic primary race.
For Sept. 26, Holt has chosen the themes of Americaآ’s Direction, Achieving Prosperity, and Securing America. The format will consist of six 15-minute segments for a 90-minute debate without commercial interruption.
Last week in an interview on Fox News, Trump called out Holt for being a "Democrat" and blasted the debate setup as being "phony" and "unfair." According to public records, Holt is in fact a registered Republican in New York state. He has no known incidents of bias in that regard.
It is unclear how Trump has been preparing for the debates, but Clinton has been holding mock debates with her staff and reviewing materials on a daily basis, her campaign said.
Earlier this week, she told talk show host Steve Harvey that she is ready for Trumpآ’s rhetoric.
"I am going to do my very best to communicate as clearly and fearlessly as I can in the face of the insults and the attacks and the bullying and bigotry that we've seen coming from my opponent," Clinton affirmed. "I can take that kind of stuff." The latest figures from a McClatchy-Marist national poll released Friday show the former secretary of state to be six points ahead of the real estate mogul, with 45 percent support for her, and 39 percent support for him.
US media reports suggest up to 100 million people will be tuned in to watch the debate on Monday.
On the other hand, Texas Senator Ted Cruz endorsed Donald Trump for the presidency on Friday after months of nasty personal attacks between the two during the Republican primaries this year.
Cruz had refused to endorse Trump during a speech at the Republican National Convention in July.
"After many months of careful consideration, of prayer and searching my own conscience, I have decided that on Election Day, I will vote for the Republican nominee, Donald Trump," Cruz wrote on Facebook.
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