I’m CHRIS WALLACE of Fox News. I welcome you to the third and final of the 2016 presidential

debates between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Donald J. Trump. This debate is

sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates. The commission has designed the format,

six roughly fifteen minute segments with two minute answers to the first question, then

open discussion for the rest of the segment. Both campaigns have agreed to those rules.

For the record, I decided the topics and the questions in each topic. None of the questions

have been shared with the commission or candidates. The audience here in the hall has agreed to

remain silent, no cheers, boos, or other interruptions, so we and you can focus on what the candidates

have to say. (APPLAUSE)

No noise except right now as we welcome the Democratic nominee for president, Secretary

Clinton, and the Republican nominee for president, Mr. Trump.

(APPLAUSE)

Secretary Clinton, Mr. Trump, welcome. Let’s get right to it. The first topic is the Supreme

Court. We -- you both talk briefly about the court in the last debate, but I want to drill

down on this because the next president will almost certainly have at least one appointment

and likely -- or possibly - two or three appointments which means that you will in effect determine

the balance of the court for what could be the next quarter century. First of all, where

do you want to see the court take the country? And secondly, what's your view on how the

Constitution should be interpreted? Is -- do the founders words mean what they say, or

is it a living document to be applied flexibly according to changing circumstances? In this

segment, Secretary Clinton, you go first. You have two minutes.

Thank you very much, Chris. And thank you UNLV for hosting us. You know, at the goings

on about the Supreme Court, it really raises the central issue in this election. Namely,

what kind of country are we going to be? What kind of opportunities will we provide for

our citizens? What kind of rights will Americans have? And I feel strongly that the Supreme

Court needs to stand on the side of the American people, not on the side of the powerful corporations

and the wealthy. For me, that means that we need a Supreme Court that will stand up on

behalf of of women's rights, on behalf of the rights of the LGBT community, that will

stand up and say no to Citizens United, a decision that has undermined the election

system in our country because of the way it permits dark, unaccountable money to come

into our electoral system. I have major disagreements with my opponent

about these issues and others that will be before the Supreme Court. But I feel that

at this point in our country's history, it is important that we not reverse marriage

equality, that we not reverse Roe v. Wade, that we stand up against Citizens United -- we

stand up for the rights of people in the workplace. That we stand up and basically say -- the

Supreme Court should represent all of us. That's how I see the court. And the kind of

people that I would be looking to nominate to the court would be in the great tradition

of standing up to the powerful, standing on behalf of our rights as Americans. And I look

forward to having the opportunity. I would hope that the Senate would do its job and

confirm the nominee that President Obama has sent to them. That's the way the Constitution

fundamentally should operate. The president nominates, and then the Senate advises and

consents or not. But they go forward with the process.

Secretary Clinton, thank you. Mr. Trump, same question. Where do you want to see the court

take the country and how do you believe the Constitution should be interpreted?

Well, first of all it’s great to be with you and thank you everybody. The Supreme Court

- it’s what it's all about. Our country is so, just so imperative that we have the

right justices. Something happened recently where Justice Ginsburg made some very, very

inappropriate statements toward me and toward a tremendous number of people, many many millions

of people that I represent. And she was forced to apologize. And apologize, she did. But

these were statements that should have never, ever been made.

We need a Supreme Court that in my opinion is going to uphold the Second Amendment and

all amendments. But the Second Amendment, which is under absolute siege. I believe if

my opponent should win this race, which I truly don't think will happen, we will have

a second amendment which will be a very, very small replica of what it is right now.

But I feel that it's absolutely important that we uphold because of the fact that it

is under such trauma. I feel that the justices that I am going to appoint-- and I've named

20 of them. The justices that I'm going to appoint will be pro-life. They will have a

conservative bent. They will be protecting the Second Amendment. They are great scholars

in all cases, and they are people of tremendous respect. They will interpret the Constitution

the way the founders wanted it interpreted. And I believe that's very, very important.

I don't think we should have justices appointed that decide what they want to hear It's all

about the Constitution of -- and so important -- the Constitution, the way it was meant

to be. And those are the people that I will appoint.

Mr. Trump, thank you. We now have about ten minutes for an open discussion. I want to

focus on two issues that in fact, by the justices that you named, could end up changing the

existing law of the land. First is one that you mentioned, Mr. Trump, and that is guns.

Secretary Clinton, you said last year -- and let me quote, the Supreme Court is wrong on

the second amendment. And now in fact, in the 2008 Heller case, the court ruled that

there is a constitutional right to bear arms but a right that is reasonably limited. Those

were the words of the judge Antonin Scalia who wrote the decision. What's wrong with

that?

Well, first of all, I support the Second Amendment. I lived in Arkansas for eighteen wonderful

years. I represented upstate New York. I understand and respect the tradition of gun ownership.

It goes back to the founding of our country. But I also believe that there can be and must

be reasonable regulation. Because I support the Second Amendment doesn't mean that I want

people who shouldn’t have guns to be able to threaten you, kill you or members of your

family. And so when I think about what we need to do, we have thirty three thousand

people a year who die from guns. I think we need comprehensive background checks, need

to close the online loophole, close the gun show loophole. There's other matters that

I think are sensible that are the kind of reforms that would make a difference that

are not in any way conflicting with the Second Amendment. You mentioned the Heller decision

and what I was saying that you referenced, Chris, was that I disagreed with the way the

court applied the Second Amendment in that case because what the District of Columbia

was trying to do was to protect toddlers from guns. And so they wanted people with guns

to safely store them. And the court didn't accept that reasonable regulation, but they’ve

accepted many others. So I see no conflict between saving people's lives and defending

the Second Amendment.

Let me bring Mr. Trump in here. The bipartisan open debate coalition got millions of votes

on questions to ask here. And this was, in fact, one of the top questions that they got.

How will you ensure the Second Amendment is protected? You just heard Secretary Clinton's

answer. Does she persuade you, that while you may disagree on regulation, that in fact

she supports the Second Amendment right to bear arms?

Well the D.C. versus Heller decision was very strongly and she was extremely angry about

it I watched and she was very very angry when upheld and Justice Scalia was so involved

and it was a well-crafted decision. But Hillary was extremely upset, extremely angry, and

people that believe in the Second Amendment and believe in it very strongly were very

upset with what she had to say.

Let me bring in Secretary Clinton, were you extremely upset?

Well, I was upset because unfortunately dozens of toddlers injure themselves, even kill people,

with guns because, unfortunately, not everyone who has loaded guns in their homes takes appropriate

precautions. But there's no doubt that I respect the Second

Amendment, that I also believe there is individual right to bear arms. That is not in conflict

with sensible commonsense regulation and, you know, look, I understand that Donald's

been strongly supported by the NRA; the gun lobby is on his side. They’re running millions

of dollars of ads against me and I regret that because what I would like to see is for

people to come together and say of course we're going to protect and defend the Second

Amendment. But we're going to do it in a way that tries to save some of these thirty three

thousand lives that we lose every year.

Let me bring in Mr. Trump back into it because, in fact, you oppose any limits on on assault

weapons, any limits on high-capacity magazines, you support a national right to carry law,

why sir?

Well, let me just tell you before we go any further in Chicago, which has the toughest

gun laws in the United States, probably you could say by far, they have more gun violence

than any other city. So we have the toughest laws and you have tremendous gun violence.

Chicago has been an epicenter of gun violence and according to FBI data, homicides in that

city account for a substantial proportion of a rise in violent crime. Scholars say that

violence there is largely concentrated in a few neighborhoods. While Chicago does have

strong gun regulations on the books, many weapons flow from other places, including

Indiana, according to this report in the Chicago Tribune.

I am a very strong supporter of the Second Amendment and I am - I don't know if Hillary

was saying it in a sarcastic manner - but I'm very proud to have the endorsement of

the NRA and it’s the earliest endorsement they’ve ever given to anybody who ran for

president. So I'm very honored by all of that. We are going to appoint justices, this is

the best way to help the Second Amendment. We are going to appoint justices that will

feel very strongly about the Second Amendment, that will not do damage to the Second Amendment.

Well, let's pick up on another issue which divides you and the justices that whoever

ends up winning this election appoints can have a dramatic effect there and that's the

issue of abortion. Mr. Trump you are pro-life. I would ask you specifically, do you want

the court, including the justices that you will name, to overturn Roe V Wade which includes,

in fact states, a woman's right to abortion.

Well, if that would happen because I am pro-life, and I will be appointing pro-life judges,

I would think that that will go back to the individual states.

This has been a major reason many evangelicals and other social conservatives have cited

for supporting Trump, despite the misgivings many express about his character, language

and temperament. Trump has set up an advisory council of anti-abortion-rights groups in

an apparent effort to reassure these voters. In the past, Trump had described himself as

“pro-choice.”

But I'm asking specifically would you like to -

If they overturned it will go back to the states.

But what I’m asking you sir is do you want to see the court overturn? You just said you

want to the court protect the Second Amendment, do you want to see the court overturn Roe

v. Wade?

Well if we put another two or perhaps three justices on that’s really what’s going

to be -- that will happen. It'll happen automatically in my opinion because I am putting pro-life

justices on the court. I will say this it will go back to the states and the states

will then make a determination.

Secretary Clinton.

I strongly support Roe v. Wade which guarantees a constitutional right to a woman to make

the most intimate, most difficult in many cases, decisions about her health care that

one can imagine. And in this case is not only about Roe v. Wade. It is about what's happening

right now in America. So many states are putting very stringent regulations on women that block

them from exercising that choice to the extent that they are defunding Planned Parenthood,

which of course, provides all kinds of cancer screenings and other benefits for women in

our country. Donald has said he is in favor of defunding

Planned Parenthood, he even supported shutting the government down to defund Planned Parenthood.

I will defend Planned Parenthood. I will defend Roe v. Wade and I will defend women's rights

to make their own healthcare decisions. We have come too far to have that turn back now

and indeed he said women should be punished; that there should be some form of punishment

for women who obtain abortions. And I could just not be more opposed to that kind of thinking.

I'm going to give you a chance respond but I want to ask you Secretary Clinton I want

to explore how far you believe the right to abortion goes. You have been quoted as saying

that the fetus has no constitutional rights. You also voted against a ban on late-term

partial-birth abortions. Why?

Because Roe v. Wade very clearly sets out that there can be regulations on abortion

so long as the life and health of the mother are taken into account. And when I voted as

a senator I did not think that that was the case. The kinds of cases that fall at the

end of pregnancy are often the most heartbreaking, painful decisions for families to make. I

have met with women who have, toward the end of their pregnancy, get the worst news one

could get that their health is in jeopardy if they continue to carry to term or that

something terrible has happened or just been discovered about the pregnancy. I do not think

the United States government should be stepping in and making those most personal of decisions.

So you can regulate if you are doing so with the life and health of the mother taken into

account.

Mr. Trump your reaction and particularly on this issue of life term partial-birth abortion.

I think it's terrible if you go with what Hillary is saying in the ninth month you can