Talking about the date in French is a little bit tricky. There are two things to keep in mind: the definit article must be used and (attn: American English speakers) the number always precedes the month.

To ask What's the date? say Quelle est la date ?

Use the following construction to respond:

C'est le 8 avril 2000.
Il est le 30 octobre.
Nous sommes le 2 janvier 2000.

On the first day of the month, you have to use the ordinal number premier (first) or 1^e (1st) rather than the cardinal number.

It's April 1st - C'est le premier avril, C'est le 1^e avril.

but

It's July 4th - C'est le 4 juillet.

To write the short form of the date, it is essential to remember that the date goes first, and then the month. This can be very confusing for American English speakers!

If you want to answer with the day of the week, use the following construction:

C'est samedi, le 8 avril 2000.
Nous sommes mardi, le premier décembre 2000.

To ask What day (of the week) is it? say Quel jour sommes-nous ? or Quel jour est-il ?

To answer, simply use one of the three beginnings listed above + the day of the week.

Nous sommes samedi.
Il est jeudi.
C'est mardi.