Lester Holt to Host Hofstra Presidential Debate

NBC Nightly News anchor Lestor Holt will be the moderator of the first presidential debate, which will be held at Hofstra University.

The Commission on Presidential Debates, the body that organizes the debates, announced all of the moderators on Friday. Holt will moderate the debate at Hofstra on Sept. 26.

Holt, a California native, got his start in news at CBS in the early 80s, where he worked for WCBS in New York City. He bounced around CBS stations in the 80s, reporting in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, as well as traveling overseas to report stories.

In 2000, Holt joined MSNBC, and then became a full-time anchor at NBC News in 2003. He has worked his way up in the NBC hierarchy, first as a substitute anchor on the Nightly News and the Today show, and eventually as a full-time anchor on the Weekend Today show.

Holt is also the anchor for NBC's Dateline. He became the full-time anchor of the Nightly News earlier this year, succeeding Brian Williams, who was moved to MSNBC.

The Hofstra debate will be broken into six segments, each about 15 minutes. Each segment will be about a different topic chosen by the moderator and announced at least one week before the debate.

After the moderator asks a question, each candidate will have two minutes to respond, and then an opportunity to respond to each other. The rest of the time will be used by the moderator to delve deeper into the topic.

Photo: U.S. Army.