For the first time, Americans heard from all five Democratic presidential candidates Tuesday night in a debate that was cordial but at times heated.

Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Martin O'Malley, Jim Webb and Lincoln Chafee took the stage and debated everything from how to handle the wage gap to a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants to Syria to Edward Snowden.

One big question mark is Vice President Joe Biden. He's still trying to decide if he will run for president. He will be watching from his home in Washington.

Live Updates

10:53 p.m.

Final round in the debate underway.

Which enemy have you made that you're most proud of?

Chafee: The coal lobby.

O'Malley: The NRA

Clinton: NRA, the health insurance companies, the drug companies, the Iranians, the Republicans

Sanders: pharmaceutical companies and Wall Street

Webb: The enemy soldier who threw a grenade at him and wounded him. "But he's not around anymore."

Closing statements underway.

10:48 p.m.

How will Sanders will get the Republicans to work with him as president? He says the GOP has been total obstructionists under Obama. He says we have to make them offers they can't refuse.

10:43 p.m.

Clinton is asked about paid leave for maternity. She says the California law has not effected jobs. She says we can design a law that does not affect small businesses adversely.

She says Republicans are always saying you can't have maternity leave, but they have no problems using big government take down Planned Parenthood. She says she's sick of Republicans complaining about big government except when it suits them.

Sanders says every other developed country on Earth has this and it is an embarassment.

O'Malley says in every generation we find a way to help people be more inclusive in our economy. And women should not have to lose or give up their jobs.

Sanders starts off the marijuana legalization debate. He says we have to think through the war on drugs, which has caused an enormous amount of damage. He supports it.

Clinton says she supports medical marijuana, but she is not ready to take a position on legalizing recreational marijuana until more research is done. She also calls for more prison reform.

10:35 p.m.

Clinton is asked about political insiders. She says she can't think of anything more outside than being the first woman president, but she says she is running because of the issues, but also because she can get results. She says she will stand her ground.

O'Malley says the thing everyone is asking for is new leadership and getting things done. He says he respects Clinton and what her husband have done, and we need new leadership.

Clinton says she is not campaigning because her last name is Clinton. She says we cannot afford to have a Republican succeed Obama.

Sanders says he is not a billionaire, does not have a Super PAC, he is raising money from people. He says there are 4,000 house parties across the country watching tonight because people want new leadership.

Climate change question from Facebook. O'Malley has a plan to move the country to a clean electric grid by 2050. He wants extensive tax credits for solar and wind energy. He says his first order in the White House is moving to a clean electric grid.

Webb is pro-coal and KeystoneXL pipeline, along with nuclear power. "We are not going to solve climate change with just the laws of this country. We need to solve this in a global way." He wants to compel changes in China and India.

Sanders says he introduced a tax on carbon a few years ago, and he also says campaign finance reform is essential because the fossil fuel industry, which he says denies the climate change, funds the Republicans.

Clinton says she and Obama once crashed a secret Chinese meeting during a conference and got a bilateral agreement on climate change with China. But it needs to go further.

10:25 p.m.

How would the candidates' presidency not be a third Obama term?

Chafee says he would change America's military policies.

O'Malley says he would bring back Glass-Steagall and do more to go after Wall Street.

Clinton said it would be obvious, because she would be the first woman president. She says he would build on his policies.

Sanders says we need a political revolution, and the government will work for all of us, not just billionaires.

Webb says it would be in the use of executive authority.

10:15 p.m.

Sanders is asked about immigration reform. Sanders says the proposal under the Bush Administration had guest worker provisions that was described as semi-slavery, and that's why he voted against it. He says we need a path to citizenship.

Clinton is asked if Obamacare should be expanded to undocumented immigrants. She says she wants them to be able to buy into the exchanges, but not get the subsidies.

O'Malley supports Obamacare for all undocumented immigrants. He wants a comprehensive immigration reform. He says he says we need compassionate reform.

Webb says he would not be opposed to it. His wife is an refugee and an immigrant. No country is a country without defining its borders. Webb says he introduced a pathway to citizenship in the 2007 immigration proposal.

Clinton is now attacking Republicans and their stances on immigration. Clinton also says undocumented immigrants should be able to get in-state college tuition if the states want to do it.

O'Malley said his state did that when he was governor.

Sanders is asked about problems with VA hospitals, and why it took so long for lawmakers to take action. Sanders and Sen. John McCain got bipartisan legislation passed to reform the hospitals.

Chafee is asked about voting on the Patriot Act. He says he does not regret his vote, and he would be in favor of reforming it.

Clinton says she does not regret her vote, but the Bush Administration chipped away at the process with warrantless surveillance.

Sanders says he was the only person who voted against the Patriot Act. He says he would shut down the NSA surveillance program. Government is not alone in watching our communications, corporation is doing it as well.

Chafee says he would bring home Edward Snowden, He says the federal government was acting illegally.

Clinton says Snowden broke the country's laws, and he shouldn't be brought home without facing the music.

O'Malley said Snowden put a lot of lives at risk.

Sanders says Snowden broke the law, and there should be a penalty but he educated the public, and that should be taken into consideration.

10:05 p.m.

Sanders is asked about voting against the 2008 bailout. Sanders says he told the U.S. Treasury Secretary that Wall Street should have paid for the bailout. He says he would not risk the country's economy, but it should not be done on the backs of the Middle Class.

Webb says he proposed a windfall profits tax during the 2008 bailout on investments. In the last 10 years, the Wall Street managers are not risking as much in terms of compensation as the American people in case something happens.

Chafee voted to repeal Glass-Steagall. He says it was one of his first votes when he came into office, seeming to indicate that he voted for something he didn't know about. He says there should be a new tax bracket tier to get money from those top earners.

Sanders is asked if his free college program pays for wealthy kids to go to college. He says those families would soon be paying a lot more in taxes if he is president. He says he would also pay for the program by taxing Wall Street.

Clinton says she would allow students currently in debt for college would be able to refinance their debt. She says she has a plan that would allow people to go to a four-year school for free, but they should have to work while in school. She also wants to get colleges to hold costs down.

She wants to expand Social Security for the poorest recipients.

Sanders says the way to expand Social Security by lifting the cap on taxable income.

9:55 p.m.

Don Lemon takes a Facebook question: Do black lives matter, or do all lives matter?

Sanders: Black lives matter. He says the reason is the black community deals with institutional racism, and it must be dealt with from top to bottom.

O'Malley: We have undervalued black lives and people of color in America.

Clinton: Says President Obama has done a lot for black people, but more needs to be done. He says policing and incarceration reform is needed. She says we need to do more for children, including early childhood education. We need a new New Deal for communities of color.

Webb: Every life matters. But he also believes we need prison reform.

Sanders is asked about income inequality. He wants pay equity for women workers, public colleges and universities free, raise minimum wage to $15.

Clinton says she has a 5-point economic plan.

O'Malley says he raised the minimum wage, did not increase college tuition. He says we also need to separate "casino, speculative banking" from regular banking by reinstating Glass-Steagall Act, the depression-era banking laws repealed in the 90s. He says we are just  as vulnerable as we were in 2008.

Clinton says there are more problems than just the banks. Her plan deals with that.

9:50 p.m.

Clinton is asked about Benghazi and her emails. She says she has been asking to testify before Congress. She says the committee that she will testify before is a partisan vehicle to drag down her poll numbers. "I am still standing, I am happy to be part of this debate, and I will continue to talk about the issues that are important to the American people."

She says the issue is important. She will be speaking before the House Committee on Benghazi on Oct. 22.

Sanders says he's tired of hearing about the damn emails. He says the people want to hear about the issues that actually affect Americans. The statement gets a standing ovation.

Chafee says there is an issue of American credibility out there. He says we need to have a president with the best ethical standards. Clinton says she has no response. More cheers.

O'Malley says he believes that now that there is finally a debate, the Democratic Party doesn't have to be defined by the emails anymore.

Sanders says we need to break up the big banks.

Clinton says she went to Wall Street in 2007 and told banks and mortgage houses to rein in risky mortgages and stop foreclosures. She says her plan would send the fraudulent bankers to jail.

Sanders: Congress does not regulate Wall Street, Wall Street regulates Congress.

Clinton says we need to support Dodd-Frank, the law put in place after the 2008 meltdown.

9:35 p.m.

Martin O'Malley says we failed in Libya because we did not invest in intelligence.

Jim Webb says it was wrong to go into Libya.

Webb dodges the question on whether Sanders is qualified to be president since he applied to be a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War.

Sanders says he is not a pacifist. When he was a young man he opposed the Vietnam War, not the men who fought in it, but the policy.

Lincoln Chafee says he supports the Iran Deal, and it did not lead to Russia in Syria.

Greatest National Security Threat:

Chafee: Arab instability

O'Malley: Iran's nuclear threat and climate change

Clinton: Nuclear weapons

Sanders: Climate change

Webb: Longterm -- China, Strategic -- Cybersecurity, Operational: Relations in the Middle East

9:30 p.m.

Clinton is allowed to respond. She says O'Malley endorsed her in 2008. She says we are already flying in Syria and Iraq. She says we are trying to figure out how to bring Russia on board a coalition.

Jim Webb is frustrated because he wants to be part of this conversation. He says there are three mistakes that led to Syria: Iraq, the Arab Spring and the Iran deal. The Iran Deal led to Russia's entry into Syria.

Webb says the problem is actually China, and its authoritarian government authorizing aggression and cyberattacks.

Sanders says he thinks Putin is going to regret what he has done. He thinks Putin is regretting what he has done in the Ukraine and the decline of his economy.

Clinton is being moved toward questions on Libya. She says Obama made the right decision on the coalition that invaded Libya. "Unless you believe the United States should not send diplomats to any place that is dangerous, there will always be risk."

9:25 p.m.

Clinton is asked about problems with Russia. She says Putin is the problem. We have to stand up to his bullying, especially in Syria. It is important that the United States make it clear to Putin that it's not acceptable to be in Syria and causing chaos. She says she would take a bigger leadership role.

Sanders says Syria is a crisis within a crisis. He says he will do everything in his power to stop America from getting into another quagmire. He believes the Arabs should lead a coalition. No ground troops in Syria.

Chafee is asked whether Clinton's regret on her vote on Iraq is enough. He says her vote is a sign of how she will handle things in the future. Chafee voted against action in Iraq.

Clinton says she debated this issue with Barack Obama during the 2008 Election and he eventually made her Secretary of State, and she thinks she has a lot of evidence on her policies.

Sanders says he thinks the president is trying very hard to thread a tough needle regarding Syria. He says he supported the Kosovo military action, and he supported going into Afghanistan. He says he believes in coalitions, and does not believe in unilateral action.

O'Malley says no president should take military action off the table. Calls Iraq one of the worst debacles in modern history. O'Malley says he believes a no-fly zone in Syria is a mistake.

9:15 p.m.

Question for Sanders on his weapons voting record in the wake of the Oregon shooting. He says he has a D- record from the NRA. He believes we should move aggressively on straw man gun purchases. He also believes this country does not offer enough mental health help for people who need it. He also says he does not want to shield gun companies in all situations, he says it was a far more complicated bill than it's made out to be.

Clinton says Sanders is not tough enough on guns, and says it's time for this country to stand up to the NRA. She says she voted against the immunity bill.

Sanders says all the shouting in the world is not going to keep guns out of the hands of people who should not have them. He thinks the country needs to reach a concensus.

O'Malley is asked how he would pass gun control in this country. O'Malley said he passed comprehensive gun safety legislation in Maryland. O'Malley says the parents of one of the victims of the Aurora Colorado movie theater massacre is in the audience.

Sanders says there needs to be a concensus, and there is a difference between rural and urban populations.

O'Malley says he was able to pass gun safety legislation, uniting rural and urban lawmakers.

Webb has a more moderate record on gun laws. He does believe in background checks, but says we should respect the tradition of this country of being able to protect their families.

Chafee has an F rating from the NRA. He says the problem is when lawmakers try to pass common sense gun measures, the NRA says "they're trying to take away your guns." He says we need to bring the NRA in and find common ground.

 

9:01 p.m.

The first question goes to Hillary Clinton: Will you say anything to get elected?

She denies changing her political identity depending on who she talks to. She says she's a progressive who likes to get things done, and will try to find common ground, even with Republicans who "never had a good thing to say about me, honestly."

Bernie Sanders: How can a Democratic-Socialist win the White House?

Sanders says he's going to win by explaining "what a Democratic-Socialist is." He says we should look to countries like Denmark, Sweden, Norway and see what they've accomplished.

Do Sanders' views give Republicans fuel for attack ads? Sanders says he is creating excitement across the country.

Clinton says sometimes our country needs to rein in Capitalism, save Capitalism from itself.

Sanders says we can have all the growth we want, but it means nothing if it only gets to the top 1 percent.

Lincoln Chafee says Democrats can trust him because even though he has only been in the party for two years, his policies and beliefs have never changed.

Martin O'Malley is asked how Americans can trust him to run the country, considering he was blamed for problems in Baltimore, including his zero-tolerance policy, following the riots this summer.

O'Malley says his policies turned crime around in the 15 years since he took office as mayor of Baltimore. Arrests peaked in 2003, but declined in every year after that. He said his policies saved a lot of lives.

Jim Webb is asked about his previous statements on Affirmative Action. Webb says he's always supported Affirmative Action for African-Americans. What he has a problem with is diversity programs that don't address everyone.

8:50 p.m.

Anderson Cooper is moderating.

Lincoln Chafee makes the first opening statement. He's a former mayor, U.S. senator and governor of Rhode Island. He's a former Republican who became a Democrat.

Jim Webb is a former U.S. senator from Virginia. He was considered a moderate Democrat. He also served in the Defense Dept. under President Reagan.

Martin O'Malley is a former governor of Maryland. "I have learned to get things done because I am clear about my principles."

Sen. Bernie Sanders is from Vermont. He is one of the longest-serving senators in the U.S. Senate. He describes himself as a Democratic-Socialist. He was elected to the Senate as an Independent.

Hillary Clinton is a former U.S. senator from New York and former U.S. Secretary of State.

8:40 p.m.

The candidates have taken the stage. Sheryl Crow is singing the National Anthem.

8:30 p.m.

Democratic Presidential Debate to begin in moments. Audience watched a recorded address from President Barack Obama.

The president spoke to the party faithful via a video aired before the faceoff. He cited progress, like the legalization of gay marriage, that has occurred since his election.

The president asked Democrats to "work even harder" in this election cycle to ensure he is replaced by a Democrat next year.

Live Tweets from the Democratic Debate

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Previous Story

Hillary Rodham Clinton says she always expected tough competition in the Democratic presidential primary. It's likely she didn't expect it would come from Bernie Sanders, the rumpled independent senator from Vermont and a self-described democratic socialist calling for "political revolution."

The surprise rivalry between Clinton and Sanders will be at the forefront as Democrats take the stage Tuesday in Las Vegas for the party's first debate of the 2016 campaign. The senator and the former secretary of state will be joined by a trio of candidates who occupy the basement of early polls, each looking to change their fortunes with a breakout moment in prime time.

For months, Clinton and Sanders have circled each other cautiously and avoided personal attacks. But in recent days, both have shown that their preference to focus on policy doesn't mean they won't find ways to jab at each other.

Sanders, who has filled arenas with crowds in the thousands and matched Clinton's fundraising take in the past three months, has cast the former secretary of state as a late-comer to the liberal positions he's held for decades on education, the environment and the economy.

After Clinton announced her opposition to a sweeping Pacific Rim trade deal, a pact she had previously called the "gold standard," Sanders said he was glad she'd come to that conclusion. Then he added: "This is a conclusion I reached on day one."

Indeed, Clinton has increasingly moved to the left on domestic policy since announcing her campaign this spring, including voicing opposition to the Keystone XL oil pipeline and support for expansive gun control legislation. While she rarely mentions Sanders by name, she's suggested her proposals are more realistic and well-formed than those espoused by the Vermont senator.

In an interview with NBC's "Today Show" last week, Clinton took aim at Sanders call for free college tuition, a popular initiative among progressives.

"I'm a little different from those who say 'free college for everybody,'" Clinton said. "I am not in favor of making college free for Donald Trump's kids."

For Clinton, a policy-heavy debate would be a welcome reprieve from the months of focus on her use of personal email and a private server during her four years as secretary of state. The controversy has overshadowed virtually every other aspect of her campaign and contributed to a decline in her standing with voters.

Maria Cardona, a Democratic strategist who worked for Clinton's failed 2008 White House campaign, said that as long as the email issue doesn't dominate the debate, "this will be a win for her no matter how you look at it."

Hanging over Tuesday's contest will be the shadow of Vice President Joe Biden, who is flirting with a late entry into the Democratic field and is expected to announce his decision within days.

While Biden's political advisers have been talking to potential staff and donors, he is not expected to upend the debate by revealing his political plans in the hours before the candidates take the stage.

Despite the Biden speculation, the Democratic primary has lacked the drama of the Republican contest and the unexpected rise of Donald Trump. Debate host CNN has already said it expects significantly lower ratings for Tuesday's debate than the Republican contest the cable channel hosted in late September, which drew an audience of 23 million.

Still, the debate will be the largest audience for Democratic candidates since the primary race began. It's one of six debates the Democratic National Committee has sanctioned, a point of contention among some candidates seeking more nationally televised events to generate much needed attention.

Leading the push for more debates is Martin O'Malley, the former Maryland governor who sought to be Clinton's chief rival. O'Malley has been sharply critical of what he sees as Clinton's flip-flopping on policy and has also said questions about her email use are legitimate.

Democratic strategist Jim Manley said he expected O'Malley to be aggressive in going after Clinton in the debate, mostly because it's his only chance to draw attention to his own campaign.

"This is a chance for him to establish a rationale for his candidacy, which so far has been missing," Manley said.

Also on stage will be former Virginia Sen. Jim Webb, a decorated Vietnam veteran who criticized Clinton for her early support of the Iraq war and could push her on her hawkish foreign policy positions Tuesday. Rounding out the five-person field is Lincoln Chafee, the Republican-turned independent-turned Democrat from Rhode Island whose most notable campaign moment thus far was his call for the U.S. to adopt the metric system.

Biden to watch debate from home

Vice President Joe Biden won't be on stage for the first Democratic presidential debate, but he'll be watching from his official residence in Washington.

Biden's office says he'll watch from the Naval Observatory after hosting a high school reunion. In the run-up to the debate, Biden's lack of a decision about entering the race spurred speculation he'd fly to Las Vegas last-minute to debate. Debate host CNN is keeping a podium ready for him just in case.

If Biden tunes in early, he may catch an ad airing nationally urging him to run. Draft Biden says it's spending $250,000 to air the jobs-focused ad ahead of the debate and on Wednesday. The super PAC pulled its first ad about the death of Biden's wife and daughter at his request.