REUTERS

At the beginning town-hall style event was hosted by a Washington University in St Louis, the candidates chose not to shake hands, walking in simultaneously from the different parts of stage and greeting the crowd.

The debate kicked off with the host’s question whether both candidates feel they are “modeling appropriate and positive behavior for today’s youth” and moved right into discussing the 11-year-old tape unearthed recently where Mr Trump could be heard bragging about groping and kissing women without consent.

The U.S. businessman said that this was purely a "locker room talk" caught on tape and he was "not proud of it".

Clinton responded that Donald Trump is the first Republican nominee whose fitness to serve the country as president she questioned. The Democratic candidate reminded the audience of Trump’s numerous insults of women.

The Republican nominee responded by claiming Bill Clinton had done things "much worse", shaming his rival’s remarks.

Another sharp topic raised at the debate become Hillary CLintin’s use of e-mail at the time of her being the Secretary of State. Donald Trump said that, if elected, he would appoint a special prosecutor to probe this case.

"It's just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country," said Clinton.

"Because you’d be in jail," Trump responded.

Read alsoReuters: Trump backs off praise of Russia's Putin after debateMany analysts believe the tapes revealed lower Trump’s chances to win the race.

This debate was more interactive than the previous one as half of the questions to the candidates came from the audience present at the event.

Read alsoU.S. accuses Russia of directing cyberattacks to 'interfere' with electionsThe previous debate consisted of six thematic sections, and so will the third and the fourth (last) showdown between the candidates.