CBS News briefly muted the debate microphones of the two vice presidential candidates after Republican JD Vance objected to a fact-check made by Margaret Brennan, one of the network's moderators.

CBS News has moved fast to reconfigure the “CBS Evening News” after announcing the exit of Norah O'Donnell as anchor of the third-rated newscast earlier this week.

Turkey’s president has said he would consider buying a second Russian missile system in defiance of strong objections by the United States.

FILE - The ViacomCBS headquarters is shown in New York's Times Square on Aug. 5, 2020. CBS News is rebuilding MTV's old "Total Request Live" studio as its headquarters for election night. The network is installing giant touchscreens and "augmented reality" displays for the big political night and says the studio provides extra roominess to put on a television show in the COVID-19 era. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

CBS News is rebuilding MTV's old "Total Request Live" studio as its headquarters for election night. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)NEW YORK – Watch out for Britney Spears and the Jonas Bros.: CBS News is building a new high-tech election night set in the Times Square studio where MTV's “Total Request Live” ruled the music world two decades ago. Norah O'Donnell will anchor her first presidential election night, joined on the set by Gayle King, Margaret Brennan, John Dickerson and Ed O'Keefe. Shades will be drawn on the windows for the serious business of election night. On television, CBS will have Major Garrett reporting on voter integrity, Jeff Pegues on misinformation and Nancy Cordes on congressional races.

(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)NEW YORK, N.Y. – CBS News faced an ill-timed blow to its reputation on Wednesday following a bruising Democratic presidential debate that its moderators struggled to keep from spiraling out of control, although it could take some comfort in the numbers. The Nielsen company reported that 15.3 million people watched Tuesday night's debate in South Carolina on CBS and BET. CBS, which was televising its first debate of this campaign, also had backstage leadership that had not done a presidential debate. “The Democratic debate last night reflected the intensity of the battle for president,” Zirinksky wrote. It was confusing because CBS did not give the entire screen over to the commercial, wrapping around debate graphics and a picture of the venue.