Web Video: Gwen Ifill on the role of debate moderators

I know all of the debate moderators, and I have some idea of how they're preparing. But I don't know what they are prepared to say. I can tell you this, every debate moderator tries to figure a way to get past the speeches, to create, it's a rare opportunity to see a contrast between the two candidates on any issues. There's no question they disagree on climate change. This has no been a issue that's come up. I personally would like to hear them talk about it. I would like to hear the contrast between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on climate change and find out informed either of them is. We're down to the basic question at these debates: how informed are you not what would you do. And the way I, I'll get to your question about how you affect it in a minute, which I'm not sure you can, but I'll get back to it. My biggest experience with this, the first debate I moderated was in 2004. It was the vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney and John Edwards, who I always say if I had a chance to do it over again the questions would be different for each of them. At the time, I was trying to figure out, there's only one vice presidential debate, how do I get them to talk about something that's off their topics, something they haven't rehearsed for, something they wouldn't expect? And I came across a number, a statistic about African American, I mean HIV infection among African American women. Sky-rocketing at the time. No one was talking about this. And I prefaced my question by saying, 'You've both talked about AIDS in Africa, I want to talk about about AIDS in this country. Please don't talk about AIDS in Africa. What would you do if you were in this administration about sky-rocketing HIV infections among African American women?' Very specific. Dick Cheney's response was, 'Oh, I didn't know that.' End of response. John Edwards' response was, 'Well let me give you my three-point plan for AIDS in Africa.' I found out afterward from people who prepped him for that debate that that was the question they thought I was going to give them -- an AIDS in Africa question. So he didn't even hear the distinction. He just, it just clicked it. It clicked in. So at one point I had a choice. Neither of them answered the question. Neither of them knew about it. And I could have chased them around the table, but I kindof made a decision as a moderator that the viewers at home had learned what they needed to know about this which is that none of them knew or cared. And I to this day, all these years later, still get people who walk up to me and say, 'Loved that AIDS question.' People remember when these candidates reveal themselves for what they are -- what they don't know and what they do know. So I think that's part of the moderator's responsibility -- to let the viewers at home know what these guys, or woman in this case, are capable of. I don't know what for sure the formats are this year, but I do know that at least in the the town hall debate they are making some effort to solicit questions on Facebook or online. Those then get intensely vetted by the moderators. And because moderators like to be the ones to ask questions, I suspect very few of them might make it through. But it gives the, as you noticed in the primary debates, it gives the idea that somebody else is weighing in. When Judy Woodruff and I moderated a debate for the Democratic primaries we used a lot of questions that came from Facebook for that reason because we wanted to get outside of our voices. I don't know that if you do it that way you get heard, but it's better than it used to be when it was completely in the moderator's hands.