Rules on debates to change after Trump-Biden spat
The commission that oversees US presidential debates says it'll change the format to ensure the remaining two encounters between Donald Trump and Joe Biden are more orderly.
One new measure could be to slice the microphones if the candidates try to interrupt one another, US media report.
The statement followed Tuesday's ill-tempered debate that descended into squabbling, bickering and insults.
President Trump's team has recently criticised the commission's plans.
The tone and tactics of the first presidential debate were criticised across the US and all over the world.
The fallout, however, has also been dominated by remarks Mr Trump made about a far-right group called the Proud Boys.
On Wednesday he sought to clarify his comments, but his critics maintain he has refused to condemn white supremacists.
What exactly are the plans for the next debates?
The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) said in a statement that the debate "clarified that additional structure ought to be put into the format of the rest of the debates to ensure a far more orderly discussion of the problems".
"The CPD will be carefully considering the changes that it'll adopt and can announce those measures shortly," it said.
"The commission is grateful to [moderator] Chris Wallace for the professionalism and skill he brought to last night's debate and intends to ensure that additional tools to keep order are in place for the rest of the debates."
President Trump constantly interrupted Mr Biden leading to a number of chaotic exchanges where both men talked over each other.
Mr Trump questioning Mr Biden's intelligence and Mr Biden called President Trump a clown, telling him to be quiet and saying: "Do you want to shut up, man?"
CBS News, citing the best source, said the commission would spend another 48 hours drawing up new guidelines and rules for the second debate.
Controlling the candidates' microphones reaches the most notable of the list, CBS said, so as to prevent them interrupting the moderator or one another.
Both campaign teams will be informed of the guidelines but they will never be subject to negotiation, the foundation added.
Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh, who had described Tuesday's night's chaotic scenes as a "free exchange of ideas", criticised the plans.
"They are just doing this because their guy got pummelled yesterday evening," he said in a statement.
"President Trump was the dominant force and today Joe Biden is trying to work the refs. They shouldn't be moving the goalposts and changing the guidelines in the center of the game."
Kate Bedingfield, deputy manager for Mr Biden's campaign, said the former vice-president would participate "under whatever group of rules the commission develops to attempt to contain Donald Trump's behaviour".
"The president must choose between giving an answer to voters about questions that he has offered no answers in this campaign - or repeating last night's unhinged meltdown," she said.
Another contest is scheduled to take place on 15 October in Miami, Florida.
What did Mr Trump say about Proud Boys?
Through the debate, moderator Chris Wallace asked if the president would condemn white supremacists and inform them to stand down during protests.
When Mr Trump asked who it had been he had been told to condemn, Mr Biden twice said "Proud Boys" .
The president said: "Proud Boys - stand back and the stand by position. But I'll let you know what... somebody's surely got to do something positive about antifa [anti-fascist activists] and the left because this isn't a right-wing problem."
Proud Boys members called his "the stand by position" remark "historic" and an endorsement.
Mr Biden said Mr Trump had "refused to disavow white supremacists".
On Wednesday Mr Trump seemed to make an effort to walk back on his comments.
At a news conference on the White House lawn a reporter asked him about Proud Boys and he said: "I have no idea who they are. I can only say they must stand down and let police do their work."
He did not clarify his usage of "the stand by position" in the debate. When asked whether he welcomed white supremacist support he said only that he wanted "law and order to be a very important part of our campaign".
Joe Biden returned to the problem in a tweet on Wednesday, saying: "There is no other way to place it: the President of the United States refused to disavow white supremacists on the debate stage last night."
In his tweet he quoted a comment, addressed to the president, from a Proud Boys online forum that read: "This makes me so happy. We're ready! Standing by sir."
