Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris face off in their first presidential debateand challenge each other on their plans for the nation and the economy. The 90-minute debate is hosted by ABC News at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia and begins at 9 p.m. ET.

CBS News’ Confirmed team fact-checks comments Harris and Trump make about each other and their own accomplishments and plans.

False: Trump claims “millions and millions of people” are “flowing into our country” every month

Trump: “(W)hen you look at what they’ve done to our country, and when you look at these millions (and) millions of people that are pouring into our country every month, where I believe it’s 21 million people, not the 15 that people say. And I think it’s much higher than the 21. That’s bigger than the state of New York. Pouring in. And look what they’re doing to our country.”

Details: Encounters of migrants by Customs and Border Protection at the U.S.-Mexico border have reached record highs over the past four years under the Biden administration. But the numbers are nowhere near the numbers Trump cited, and not everyone who crossed under Biden was allowed to stay.

CBP has recorded more than 8 million encounters with migrants at the southern border since Biden took office in 2021, federal figures show. Encounters include migrants who enter the country illegally between legal points of entry and those who are processed at these official border crossings, known as ports of entry. Encounters do not represent unique individuals, as some migrants cross the border illegally multiple times.

CBP has never recorded “millions” of migrant encounters in a month. The highest monthly number of migrant encounters was recorded in December 2023, when CBP processed more than 300,000 migrants.

In addition to migrants processed by CBP, there are migrants who cross the southern border illegally without being apprehended. Border Patrol estimates that 1.7 million migrants have evaded capture since the start of fiscal year 2021.

Just because migrants were processed by CBP doesn’t mean they were allowed to stay. Many have been released to the U.S. with a notice to appear in immigration court. But the U.S. has also turned away or deported more than 4 million migrants since the start of fiscal year 2021, according to data from the Department of Homeland Security.

By Camilo Montoya Galvez

Partly true, context needed: Harris claims Trump would impose a $4,000 ‘sales tax’

Haris: “Economists have said that Trump’s sales tax would actually result in about $4,000 more a year for middle-class families because of his policies and his ideas about what should be — (on) the backs of middle-class people paying for tax cuts for billionaires.”

Details: Harris cites an estimate of the potential costs if Trump were to impose tariffs on imported goods. Trump has advocated for at least a 10% tariff on most imports and at least a 60% tariff on Chinese imports.

However, estimates of the potential costs and likely size of the tariffs vary. An analysis by the Center for American Progress Action, a progressive policy institute, estimated that a 20 percent tariff on most imports, combined with a 60 percent tax on Chinese goods, would amount to a tax increase of about $3,900 a year for middle-income families.

The Tax Policy Center, an independent think tank, estimates that a 10% global tariff and a 60% tariff on Chinese goods would reduce average net income by about $1,800 in 2025.

Economists told CBS News that ordinary consumers would bear the burden of higher tariffs through higher prices for goods, effectively acting as a tax. In an interview with The New York Times, Robert Lighthizer, who was Trump’s chief negotiator and still advises his campaign on trade issues, said the burden on American households could be offset by tax cuts.

By Emma Li

Incorrect: Trump claims “they may have had the highest inflation in the history of our country”

Details: Under President Biden, annual inflation peaked at 9.1% in June 2022. That was the highest monthly rate in about 40 years, but not the highest ever. In the 1970s and early 1980s, inflation was between 12% and 14%, according to Federal Reserve data. Inflation has cooled significantly since then. The July 2024 figures show annual inflation running at about 2.9%.

By Laura Doan

False: Trump claims Haitian immigrants are “eating the dogs” and pets in Springfield, Ohio

Trump: “In Springfield they eat the dogs — the people that came here — they eat the cats. They eat — they eat the pets of the people that live there. And this is what’s happening in our country, and it’s a disgrace.”

Details: Officials in Springfield, Ohio, consultation They have received no credible reports of Haitian immigrants kidnapping and eating pets, despite viral claims on social media amplified this week by Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance and others.

A city spokesperson told CBS News there are “no credible reports or specific claims” of pets being mistreated by immigrants. Clark County Park District officials told CBS News there are “no evidence or reports” of people eating pets or wild animals.

By Layla Ferris, Rhona Tarrant

Inconclusive: Harris claims Trump ‘will sign a national abortion ban’

Haris: “If Donald Trump is re-elected, he will sign a national ban on abortion.”

Details:Trump has not explicitly come out in favor of a nationwide ban on abortion, but he did float the idea of ​​a nationwide 15- or 16-week ban in March, when he was still facing competition in the Republican primaries, suggesting that it was something that was being discussed and something he would support.

However, Trump has also repeatedly said the issue belongs in the states, and when asked directly about a ban in an Aug. 22 interview with “Fox and Friends,” he replied, “I would never do that. There will be no federal ban. This is back in the states now where it belongs.”

During his first term, Trump sponsored a bill in the House of Representatives that would ban abortions nationwide after 20 weeks.

Trump also said of Governor Tim Walz, the Democratic VP candidate, “her vice presidential candidate says abortion in the ninth month is absolutely fine. He also says execution after birth — execution — no longer abortion because it’s after birth — is absolutely fine.”

But infanticide, the killing of a baby, is illegal in every state. As for late-stage abortions, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, less than 1 percent of all abortions occur at or after 21 weeks of pregnancy. In those rare cases, it’s overwhelmingly because the mother’s life is at risk or fetal abnormalities are not life-sustaining.

By Libby Cathey

Misleading: Trump claims Harris would end fracking in Pennsylvania ‘on day one’

Trump: “If she wins the election, fracking in Pennsylvania will be over on day one.”

Details: As California’s attorney general, Harris filed a lawsuit challenging a federal review and approval for fracking off California’s coast. She also said “there’s no question I support a ban on fracking” when asked during a 2019 town hall meeting whether she would commit to implementing a federal ban.

As a 2024 presidential candidate, however, Harris has said her administration will not ban fracking. “As vice president, I did not ban fracking. As president, I will not ban fracking,” Harris said in a recent interview with CNN.

When asked why she changed her mind on the issue, Harris said, “What I’ve seen is that we can grow and create a thriving clean energy economy without banning fracking.”

By Emma Li and Laura Doan

False: Trump claims Harris buses her rallies and pays people to attend

Trump: “People don’t go to her meetings, there’s no reason to go. And the people who do go, she busses them and pays them to be there and then shows them in a different light.”

Details: An August 2024 Facebook post was circulated on the social media websites Truth Social by Trump and X by Kevin Sorbo. The post shows an alleged Craigslist ad asking for paid actors to carry signs with “Anti-Trump” messages.

The post is a manipulated image of another fabricated 2019 Craigslist ad post seeking paid actors to hold signs reading “Pro Trump” at a rally in Phoenix.

By Jui Sarwate