The economy and crime were among the early touchpoints as Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton faced off in their first presidential debate Monday night at Hofstra University.

The 90-minute event was moderated by NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt.

Crime and Race

On the topic of fighting crime, Trump said it was imperative to bring down the crime rate in big cities like Chicago.

"Almost 4,000 people have been killed in Chicago since Barack Obama became president.  We have to bring back law and order," Trump said.  "Stop-and-frisked worked very well in New York -- Mayor Rudy Giuliani  is here -- it brought the crime rate way down."

"The argument is that it's racial profiling," Holt said of the controversial practice.

"No, the argument is that we have to take the guns away from these bad people who shouldn't have them," Trump responded.

"We've had 25 years of very good cooperation, but too many African American and Latino men have ended up in jail for non-violent offenses," Clinton said in her response.  "It's just a fact that if you're a young African American man, and you do the same thing as a young white man, you are more likely to be incarcerated.  We've got to address the systemic racism in our criminal justice system."

The discussion led to a larger back-and-forth on the topic of race. 

"The African American community has been let down by our politicians," Trump said.  "They talk good around election time, like right now, and after the election they say 'See you later, I'll see you in four years.'"

"I think that Donald just accused me of preparing for this debate -- and yes, I did," Clinton said.  "And you know what else I've prepared for?  I've prepared to be president.  And I think that's a good thing."

Taxes and the economy

Also in dispute during the debate's first segment: Clinton's government-driven approach to growing the economy versus Trump's tax-cut approach.

"You have what is called now the Trump loophole, because it would so advantage you and business you do," Clinton said to the billionaire real estate mogul during an early clash.  "It's Trumped-up trickle down.  Trickle down didn't work -- it got us into the mess we wee in in 2008 and 2009.  Broad-based, inclusive growth is what we need in this country, not more advantages for people at the very top."

"Typical politician.  All talk, no action." Trump replied.  "Our country is suffering because people like Secretary Clinton have made such bad decisions.  We are in a big fat ugly bubble right now, and we better be awfully careful."

The debate got off to a civil start as both candidates addressed questions about how to secure American jobs. 

"Donald, it's good to be with you," Clinton said to Trump at the end of her answer, in which she discussed investing in infrastructure and pursuing equal pay for women.

Trump, in response, called for a tax on companies that move manufacturing overseas.

"If you think you're going to make your air conditioners or your cars, and bring them into the country without a tax, you're wrong," he said.

"Under his tax plan, which would blow up the debt, we would lose three and a half million jobs," Clinton retorted.

Emails and Stamina

In a separate exchange, Clinton pushed Trump to release his tax returns, which the real estate mogul said he would do it if she would produce the more than 30,000 e-mails that her staffers deleted from her personal e-mail server when she was secretary of state.

Clinton, acknowledging that her use of the server was a mistake, said, "If I had to do it over again, I would obviously do it differently."

In another clash, Trump was asked about comments he had made that Clinton doesn't have the look of a president.

"She doesn't have the look, she doesn't have the stamina," Trump said.  "You have so may different things you have to be able to do as president, and I don't think she has the stamina."

"As soon as he travels to 112 countries...or even spends 11 hours testifying in front of a Congressional committee...he can talk to me about stamina," Clinton retorted.

"I agree, Hillary has experience," Trump said, "but it's bad experience."

The debate was divided into six segments of 15 minutes each, the first two of which focused on "America's direction," with the next two dealing with the economy and the final two focusing on national security and foreign policy.

Some experts were predicting the debate could draw more than 100 million viewers overall, which would break the current record of about 80 million viewers, set in 1980 in the debate between Ronald Reagan and President Jimmy Carter.