Foreign. To MEET THE PRESS now, I'm Kristen Welker. The stage is set in Atlanta for the first 2024 presidential debate between President Biden and former President Trump. It is the earliest general election debate in modern history and it's arguably the most critical moment in the campaign to date.
President Biden landed outside Atlanta just a short time ago for the big night. President Trump is on his way there right now heading into tonight. Both sides have been unloading on their opponent. The Biden campaign targeting former President Trump with what it says is a seven figure multimedia campaign, including this video which highlights comments from Mr.
Trump's own advisors describing him as unfit for office. Cannot in good conscience endorse Donald Trump. Don't take it oath to a king or queen or a tyrant or dict Dictator. We don't think I was going to want to be dictator.
We work with him. We knew him. This man is unfit to be president. A second term would be more dangerous than the first.
Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong Un. They're fully prepared to take advantage of him. Yes, I do. Regarding this democracy.
Now, they've also told reporters to expect Mr. Biden tonight to call his opponent a convicted felon. Well, he has before. Looks like a duck, walks like a duck.
It's a duck. He's a convicted felon and that's just who he is. And by the way, he's a twice impeached, convicted fellow. And so it wasn't Joe Biden that did that.
It was 12American patriots who served as jurors that found him guilty unanimously on 34 counts. Now, the Trump camp says they're prepared for those attacks. They've also been launching their own attacks ahead of tonight, including the baseless claim that President Biden will be on drugs for the debate. That's something the Biden campaign has called outright lies.
And today the campaign released a video suggesting President Biden might not survive a second term. Now think about the Joe Biden. You saw the debate. Ask yourself a question.
Do you think the guy who was defeated by the stairs, got taken down by his bike, lost a fight with his jacket and regularly gets lost, makes it four more years in the White House and you know, he's waiting on right now. Notably, former President Trump's advisors are largely pushing for a more measured performance from their candidate on the debate stage. The format could help them with that goal. Here's why I 90 minutes, 2 commercial breaks a studio in Atlanta with no audience, which is a major change from previous presidential debates.
Another big change the microphones will be muted unless it is a candidate's turn to speak. Now, that likely means less chaotic moments like we saw in the first debate in 2020, including this one question is radical left? Will you shut up? Who's on your list, Joe?
Who's on your list? Gentlemen, I think we have ended the segment. We're moving on to the second segment. That was really a productive segment.
Keep yapping, man. People understand you. 47 years, you've done nothing. They understand.
Now, despite the format change, President Biden is expected to try to elicit that less disciplined version of Trump tonight. Then, of course, there's the issues that matter most to voters. The Biden campaign sees a weak point for Trump on abortion, punctuated by today's Supreme Court decision temporarily allowing emergency abortions to continue in Idaho. Donald Trump, meanwhile, has been focusing on immigration, crime and inflation.
But above all, for both campaigns, tonight is about changing minds. And according to a new poll From Quinn Piak, 16% of voters say they are open to switching candidates if they like what they see on stage. Now, that includes similar numbers of Democrats and Republicans and a whopping 30% of independent candidate, independent candidate RFK junior supporters whose candidate didn't qualify for the debate. That's the backdrop.
Joining me now from Atlanta, me Cs Von Hill, you're covering the Trump campaign and Gabe, but has a point of view from Team Biden. Vaughn, I want to start with you. I know you have been working your sources throughout the day and night. The conventional wisdom heading into tonight seems to be that Trump will do well if he's more measured than he was during that first debate in 2020, if he delivers a performance that's more like the one he delivered during the second debate, I force moderated that debate.
What are you hearing about the strategy heading into tonight, Kristen? I'm told I just talked to a Trump senior advisor who is here on the ground already in line. And he told me that Donald Trump was relaxed and confident and that he was looking forward to this FL along with multiple other senior advisors as they made their way here. The plane just took off a few moments ago to Atlanta.
He is joined by not only others on his campaign, but also some family members. He intends to come here and kick butt was the words of that one advisor. And it's a part of the question that you asked there, Chris, about what Donald Trump is going to show up here today. You know, over the last four years, Donald Trump, outside of your interview on Meet the Press and the CNN town hall, they also took Part in last year, he has hardly engaged in any sort of tough pushback or tough interviews with any mainstream outlets or even not agreeing to the Republican primary debates that took place last year and earlier this year with likes of Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis and others.
So for Donald Trump, it's been a while since he's, you could say, go toe to toe in facing scrutiny or tough questions. And that is where tonight is gonna be interesting over those 90 minutes. Well, Donald Trump has made the case that he did very little to actually prepare for this moment because in his own words on Monday night, that he' preparing for this moment his whole life and that going away into a room for two days or one week or two weeks does little to actually get one ready for what needs to be stated on the debate stage tonight will be quite a tell because Joe Biden's preparation has been so much different. And I just want to add, you know, when you're looking at Donald Trump's social media post has been the one form of communication that he has used so far today.
And there's been multiple posts, they've been gone out with all caps calling Joe Biden a threat to democracy and as well as calling out Fox News for having on communications director of Joe Biden. So clearly he was tuned into some television and clearly Joe Biden is on his mind coming here to Atlanta. Yeah, a little bit of a preview of what we might see tonight, Vaughn. There's no doubt about that.
It is worth noting the campaign still hasn't said he's traveling with him on his plane. Haven't said if former first lady Melania Trump will be attending with him tonight. Vaughn, you know, it's so interesting. There's expectation setting and there's expectation setting.
I mean, former President Trump has been saying he wants to debate President Biden for several months now. He's saying I will debate him every week. He's called him a terrible debater and now he's calling him a worthy debater. So what's obviously going into any type of event like this, you try to lower expectations.
But what is going on here with this dramatic shift, Right. The part about this person is, is that Donald Trump is saying almost the exact same things about Joe Biden four years ago, calling him sleepy joke that hiding in his basement he was not going to be prepared for the day. But then Joe Biden for both of those debates, including when he moderated, came out with an energy and a fervor that did not match the type of description that Donald Trump had assigned him. And that was sort of messaging that Donald Trump went with a month ago when he first agreed to this debate.
But over the last week especially, he's changed his tenor and lowered expectations and made this suggestion that Joe Biden is going to be ready for this. And he's already preparing, you could say, when following his social media posts for some of the attack that he is expecting. Right. Four years ago, he had yet to be criminally indicted four times, he had yet to have been found liable for sexual abuse.
He had yet to been found liable for repeated financial fraud or find $350 million. And so there is one of the social media posts this morning. Donald Trump almost foreshadowing how he would respond potentially to criticisms overturning a Roe v. Wade and attacks on women potentially.
Eugene Carroll and this post I want to read for you. Biden's policies are a nightmare for women, all caps when it comes to the border and immigration. So Donald Trump clearly beginning to think about how he can turn some of these difficult storylines in ones that do not cast a positive light on him and his candidacy, in ones that Joe Biden is undoubtedly prepared to bring on the attack of these ideas against the former President Donald Trump. All right.
Well, we will see how it unfolds. Of course, we're waiting to see who he picks as his vice presidential nominee with JD Vance, Doug Burgum and Marco Rubio on the shortlist, if you will, as we wait for him to make an announcement at some point. Let's head over to Gabe Gutierrez. Gabe, you have been tracking the view from the Biden campaign.
We know that President Biden has been preparing intensively at Camp David. Talk to us about the mood and the strategy that President Biden is planning ahead tonight hasn't wrapped over the last couple of days. They keep saying that he has been activated, but President Trump hasn't really been campaigning. Gabe, let me interrupt you with apologies.
Gabe, I'm going to interrupt you because we're having a little trouble hearing you with your microphone. We're going to get that fixed. We'll come right back to you. Vaughn, I'm going to go back to you again and just get your take on the muted mic situation, how you think that's going to play out, how former President Trump is preparing for this.
It's significant, the fact that the mics are going to be muted throughout the course of the debate when it is not a candidate's turn to speak. During that second debate in 2020 that I moderated, the mics were muted but only for small portions of debate. So you still had a chance for that open debate, those clashes that so often become some of the biggest takeaways from debate night. How are they preparing for that?
Right. I know that wasn't you that muted Gabe Buteris because I don't know whoever do such a thing. But look, this is going to be part of the reality as part of this is that you know, you're, if you're Joe Biden and Donald Trump are going to be eight feet apart from one another. And so when one of their shot clock expires and one of them from speaking the American public, the audience through the production room, through the TV production room, they're no longer going to hear the candidate whose time has expired, but say if Donald Trump, because he was the one who incessantly interjected in the debates four years ago, continues to talk, undoubtedly Joe Biden will be able to continue to hear him speak.
And so these are some of the interesting complications of this year and ultimately an attempt to try to make this more orderly and allow each individual to have their due time during these 10, 90 minutes. Let's be fascinating. Let's get back over to Gabe. Gabe, I promise I did not mute your mic.
Apologies. Pick up on where you left off. It was a show and tell person. We were just trying to show how this would end up working out in the debate.
Look, the Biden campaign, as I was saying, is skeptical that Donald Trump hasn't been preparing over the last few days. But just in the past few hours, President Biden just landed here in Atlanta. If you know, we can roll some of that video, he just went to a local restaurant and one of the retail stops that President Biden really thrives at, that's how his campaign is trying to get him ready for this debate tonight, trying to meet people here on the ground. And he really expect him to come out tonight and make the case forcefully that Donald Trump is a threat to democracy.
It's a theme that he has been repeating over and over again on the campaign trail. But they feel that with a huge audience of debate tonight, really the first time that many undecided voters may not have tuned in before this moment, they feel they can really make their case tonight. And Kristen, we alluded to this a little earlier, the Supreme Court decision that just came down today, the Biden campaign feels that that really plays to their strengths because they feel that this issue of reproductive rights will be critical for them. They see it as a winning issue and they find the hit Donald Trump over and over again on Christmas.
Yeah, there's no doubt about that. Former President Trump previewing what he is going to say about that through his campaign, reiterating the Trump stance that it's a state's issue and he believes that's where it should belong. But of course, President Biden poised to make the case that if he gets another term, Trump will try to impose a federal ban. But how are they dealing with this Mike issue?
Because so many of those really powerful moments that President Biden had back in 2020 were those moments where he was able to clash, to respond in real time to jump in on President Trump, former President Trump when he was talking. Well, you know, Chris should be interested to see how that's playing because in the recent interview last couple days, it was for President Trump actually, who seemed to be complaining about, about not about having to be the mess, even though that was a condition that his campaign agreed to. And he said, you know, there's no audience to read and that will be a sterile room. Well, for President Biden, you're right.
In the first debate that President Biden, you know, was widely seen as winning because former President Trump was, you know, so bombastic and really interrupting him at times. This could be a situation where he doesn't have the ability to kind of play off Donald Trump's energy and D.C. as the adult in the room if you know, the mics are muted. So it really should be interesting to see how this plays out and whether it's the Donald Trump that shows up as he's been saying, that second today from that previous cycle we will have to see.
All right, thanks to both of you for your fantastic reporting, Font and Gabe, really appreciate it. And we've got a full night of special programming on the first presidential debate hosted by cnn. And you can watch it all right here. Streaming on NBC News.
Now from pre debate analysis to live coverage and post debate takeaways, we've got it all. Starting at 7pm Eastern, we want to turn out the Supreme Court where we officially have a ruling and a major abortion case after it was accidentally briefly posted online by the court yesterday. The ruling will temporarily allow emergency abortions to continue in Idaho, but it sidesteps the specifics of the case on whether Idaho's strict abortion ban conflicts with the federal law requiring stabilizing care for emergency room patients. Now, it's a timely ruling for the Biden administration as we expect the president to attack Donald Trump on the issue of abortion during tonight's debate.
In a statement reacting to the ruling the Biden campaign said in part, quote, women's health, lives and freedoms remain in peril across the country because of Donald Trump. The former president has argued abortion should be left to the states, which his campaign repeated in a statement today reacting to the Idaho ruling. It's a position Mr. Trump has used to avoid specific policy questions around the issue.
We are so happy because joining me now as NBCB senior legal correspondent Laura Derrick Lorett, you and I have been covering this. Yes. It first came out of the court today. So talk about the significance of this, really what the potential implications are for other states.
This is a dodge, a punt, picking the can down the road. And you might say, well, if the upshot is that women can get abortions if they want emergency situations, what does it matter? The issue is that the way that the court structure this really leaves a question mark about whether Idaho law prevails or federal law prevails. If federal law prevails, it means women should get abortions in emergency situations when their health is on the line.
Say they came in and they were turning septic. A federal law said you get an abortion in that situation. Idaho and a bunch of other states saying, no, you have to be on the verge of death. And so with the court not reconciling that conflict, it leaves doctors and their patients with a lot on the line.
Well, you have done a lot of reporting. You have a lot of conversations with patients with doctors who have been personally impacted by these restrictive abortion laws. What are your key takeaways as we cover what the Supreme Court will today? Right after TOPS, there was so much focus on obviously overturning 50 years of precedent and what would it mean and the right to choose right.
It was so much focus on abortion. It was not as much focus on what would happen for people who want to be pregnant desperately but are told that the baby that they're carrying will not survive or that they have some medical complication that makes it just impossible to carry to term safely. That's why the rubber is now meeting the road in red states where there are still strict abortion laws on the books, but people are facing all these complications that make it really tricky. And I think that is a politically tricky, perilous situation for people because when you're facing a situation where you're going to be septic and you're going to lose your reproductive organs and you can't get abortion, I think that's very different than what a lot of people hide in their mind when dogs came down.
So if you're watching this closely. What happens next? Will this go back to the Supreme Court? Eventually there'll be yet another moment when the court has to do whatever we do.
And I think it'll probably be Texas before Idaho because Texas has the exact same type of law on the books. It's a little bit different on the edges, but it actually went through the regular appeals process, unlike this Idaho case. And so it's now ripe for the Supreme Court to look at it. And already the Biden DOJ saying, hey, Supreme Court, please weigh in on Texas in the same way they did on Idaho.
And so pretty soon they're going to have to do this one way or another and more. It's interesting because the court also ultimately made a ruling that allowed people to continue to have access to them. For Kristen, the abortion pill, talk about that and the implications and what that says about this conservative court, I think it shows that obviously they were prepared to get rid of Roe. They were prepared to take that big step.
But it also shows that they at least this conservative majority thinks that there are limits. And so while they're having to kick it back to the states in terms of Dobbs, and you're now the former president sort of repeating that type of language when you kick it back to the states, this is the conflict that you see arising where states have laws that then run head straight into a federal law. And so I think that again is going to be one of the things that keeps playing out until it gets resolved one way or another. Well, you always help us understand these complicated legal decisions.
Thank you. It's great to be with you. Really appreciate it. Still ahead, the other major one from the Supreme Court today and its far reaching impact on victims of the nation's devastating opioid epidemic.
We'll have that next. And also coming up, we'll get the view from both sides of the debate stage in the final hours before the candidates step into the spotlight. My interviews with top officials from the Biden and Trump campaign straight ahead. Do stay with us.
You're watching the press now. But first, all this hour, we'll take a look back at some of the most memorable, pivotal and sometimes comical moments in presidential debate history. First up is a moment from the 1984 campaign reminding us that President Biden and former President Trump aren't the first candidates to face questions about their age. I will not make age an issue of this campaign.
I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponents youth and inexperience. Welcome back. For the Biden campaign, tonight's Debate could hinge on the president's ability to project strength on stage. Recent polls show more voters view Donald Trump as a strong leader than the sitting president.
And just 28% of registered voters describe the president as being tough. In a recent CBS News poll, 66% of voters say the same thing about Mr. Trump. I'm joined now by Quinn Folke, principal deputy campaign manager for the Biden campaign.
Quentin, thank you so much for joining us. Really appreciate it. Thank you for having me. So let's start right there.
What is President Biden's plan to project strength? What's a win look like tonight? Well, President Biden is going to go on stage tonight to be presidential. He's the president of the United States.
And he's going to paint the picture of two different visions for America. One under Donald Trump, where he wants to be a dictator, continue to put the middle class under the bus and rip away women's reproductive freedoms, and one under President Biden where he's fighting every single day for the middle class, continuing to lower calls for the working people in this country. And that's the two visions. And so that is, I think, what's going to be on display tonight.
And President Biden looks forward to having this conversation with Mr. Trump. Well, if what we are seeing in former President Trump's social media threat is any indication of what he plans to say tonight, he is accusing President Biden being a threat to the democracy, which I anticipate will be his answer. When President Biden raises the type of arguments that you just brought up, how is President Biden going to respond to that tonight?
It's debate day. And so what we can expect for Donald Trump are semantics. We know he's going to play games. This is what he does.
He has no real policy agenda, platform to stand on. So he just got play games instead of actually having substantive conversations. President Biden's going to continue to lay out his agenda, the vision that he has for America, what he's done for America already, inheriting an economy that was on the brink of destruction under Trump and brought it down, creating 15 and a half million jobs, continuing to lower inflation, versus Trump, who again continuously tells us what he wants to do if he gets another four years in the White House, gunning Social Security and Medicare, overturning the aca, signing a national abortion ban, the list goes on and on. As a President Biden is going to make sure that contrast is dropped.
We have reporting that the president's allies are encouraging him to try to bait former President Trump into being less disciplined. And obviously, Trump's advisors are saying, hey, we want to see what we saw from you during that second debate in 2020. As our own Chuck Todd wrote yesterday, Biden could look more desperate or come off as more concerned about Trump than he is. Why risk it?
Look, I don't think anybody has to beat Donald Trump into being undisciplined on him. That's exactly who he is. We've seen that from him since the moment that he entered our lives on the political scene. He is chaotic, he has no plan.
He is extreme. He has double down on political violence in this country. And so I think Donald Trump's going to do that no matter what. So I don't think we're risking anything.
I think American voters are going to see that at full display tonight when they see someone who has no interest at all in being president, United States and cares very little about the American people. And Donald Trump, just to follow up with you, are you confirming he is in fact planning happening to bait him or at least to try to have some of those moments? And if so, could he look more focused on Donald Trump than on voters, than on the issues they care about? Look, I think that both of them are in the same vein.
I don't think that it is a strategy to try to out. I think one thing that voters can expect from President Biden is to be authentic. And what Joe Biden authentically cares about is the American people. And so they're going to see that contrast.
But I think what you're getting at is doubling down and calling out what Donald Trump did when he was President of the United States, which was very little for the American people. And honestly, what he's pledging to do now has very little to do with American people. He's only in this campaign for himself. Revenge, retribution, to be a dictator.
He's pushing things like Project 2025 that will decimate the middle class and make the economic situation in this country worse. So I think if that is what the definition of baiting is, that it's going to be tonight, then I think that yes, the can expect to see that on the basis, well, of course, this all comes after Donald Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts. Does President Biden plan to wait for the moderators to bring up those convictions? Will he bring it up in his own accord?
What's the strategy there? Look, President Biden has called Donald Trump before. He may or may not tonight. But what I believe is more important is why Donald Trump is a felon.
It's just because he's willing to do anything, including break the law to get what he wants. And I think that that is going to come up in this conversation between President Biden and Mr. Trump tonight on the base stage. And so whether the announcements bring up first whether Trump himself brings up persons.
But again, President Biden's conversation, you say he may or may not use the term convicted felon. There are no clues to induce a term convicted felon because by all accounts, we're getting signals that he is going to use the term convicted felon. The president may or may not use the term convicted felon, but it is true if he does use it on 34 felony counts by a jury of his peers, that is a factual statement. So whether President Biden says or not, again, it's the fact of why Donald Trump is convicted felons because he's willing to do anything.
If you look at the polls, one of the biggest policy weaknesses is one of the issues that you brought up, the economy, the perception that people are not feeling like they have enough money in their pockets to match the increase that they're seeing in prices. Of course, prices have started to inflation has started to come down. But again, people all across this country say they just aren't feeling it. What does President Biden need to do tonight to convince voters who right now may not be planning to vote for him or maybe planning to sit at home?
Look, we have to make the case that we understand what people in this country are going through. And I think President Biden understands that people in America, some people in America are struggling, that there's more work to do. And also make the case very clear to them that if Donald Trump gets anywhere near the White House again, their economic situation will be much worse. Present Biden is continuing to identification, he is continuing to create jobs, 15 million and a half good paying jobs across this country.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump is promising tax breaks of the wealthy corporations. He's promising to roll back provisions on prescription drugs and things like insulin. He's promising to gut things like Social Security and Medicare. So President Biden has the one lay out what he has done for the American people.
On the economic front, paint what Donald Trump did while he was president and then three, paint a picture of what the vision for both of these candidates are with a second term, what it would look like. And that's going to be president folks, tonight on the basis very quickly, as you know, the border is going to be another big issue that will likely be discussed tonight. Obviously, President Biden recently took a series of executive actions. We have seen legal border crossings drop by about 40% since he took those actions.
The question what took so long? Why not take those actions earlier? Understanding that, yes, the bipartisan border talks to fall apart. Look, I think the President Biden, you know, took office and immediately got to work on his board.
He brought people from both sides of the aisle together to try to pass a bipartisan deal, one that would have stopped the flow of Johnson to this country, one that would stop the flow of illegal immigrants into this country. I Donald Trump told M. Johnson to kill it because he didn't want to get political. When Donald Trump is not about securing the border or doing any work with American people, it's about playing political gains.
And I think the president is gonna make that point tonight. But the president has taken decisive action on the border to lower the amount of folks coming this country and doing it in a main way. We've seen Donald Trump's approach to the border, putting kids in cases, separating families, things families that we're still putting back together to this day. So that's the two different visions I think President Biden is going to address that should question arisen island debate stage all right, Quinn, folks, thank you so much for your time tonight.
We will be talking to you throughout this evening and we really appreciate it. So there we have heard the view from the Biden campaign ahead of tonight's versus historic presidential debate. Now let's hear from the Trump campaign. Joining now is Caroline Levitt, national press secretary for the Trump campaign.
Caroline, thanks so much for joining me. Really appreciate it. Thank you for having me. Kristen, great to see you.
You too. I was moderator of the last debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. And the big question that loomed over that debate is which Donald Trump would show up? Would he be the Donald Trump that we saw during the first presidential debate?
He was obviously in fighting mode in that debate. He interrupted then Vice President Biden more than 140 times. How will he approach tonight? Will he be that ambassador Donald Trump, or is he planning to be more disciplined?
Americans are going to see the President Trump that they've seen on the campaign trail for the last year and a half. Since he announced his re election for this 2024 race, President Trump has remained focused on the issues that matter to voters and on solving the problems that Joe Biden's disastrous policies have created. So President Trump on that debate stage tonight is going to focus on his vision to secure our southern border. He's going to focus on his plan to bring down the cost of living in this country.
We know everywhere we go, the campaign trail has the number one concern of voters who cannot afford their mortgage, they can't afford rent, groceries and gas. President Trump has a real plan to bring down costs, to put back more hard earned money in the pockets of hard working Americans. You're going to hear him talk about that tonight, Caroline. You're saying we're going to hear from the Donald Trump that we've been hearing from on the campaign trail.
As you know, out on the trail, he continues to put forward this unsubstantiated claim that President Biden will somehow be on something on the debate stage tonight. An allegation that the Biden campaign is called an outright lie. I guess the question is how is that being disciplined? Well, there were many people that questioned whether or not Joe Biden used artificial stimulants at the State of the Union address.
And if the Biden campaign wants to refute that claim, then they could have accepted President Trump's challenge to participate in drug testing ahead of the debate tonight. He said the Biden team accepted that proposal. He too would. Of course, they denied it.
And I guess the burden of proof is on them if they want to prove otherwise. Well, but of course, there's absolutely no proof that he was taking anything. And of course, again, just to reiterate, the Biden campaign has said that there's absolutely no truth to that. Well, the Biden campaign is signaling that they are going to come out swinging tonight as well.
They want to have viewers see your candidates. It as a. You just heard this quite frankly from Quinn, folks. He made the point that he's a twice impeached convicted felon with a record of inciting political violence.
How is Mr. Trump planning to respond to those attacks? And this goes back to my initial question a little bit. If this gets under his skin, could we see him take it up a notch?
Joe Biden's campaign has been running the same message now for the past year. They have spent more than $100 million in advertising to date calling President Trump an alleged threat to democracy, which is just utterly false. And it doesn't resonate with American voters because they've already experienced four years of Donald Trump in the White House. And what they experienced was more money in their pockets.
We had a secure border. President Trump was the first president in the modern era not to enter the United States into any new wars. And what do we see now on the global stage? We see war in Ukraine.
We see war in the Middle East. And that's largely because of Joe Biden's weak foreign policies and many of the policies that he reversed for President Trump's administration. Voters just don't buy that. They remember a few years ago when they had more money in their pocketbooks, and that's exactly what is driving them to support President Trump in this election, is why he continues to lead Joe Biden in the polls.
He's winning independent voters. He's winning a large margin of the black vote that no Republican candidate in his country has seen before. And our campaign is going on offense in traditionally blue Democrat territories such as the Commonwealth of Virginia, Minnesota, the Bronx, Philly, Detroit. President Trump has been campaigning in all these cases.
Caroline, couple things important to point out. Of course, United States is not involved in foreign wars and the wars in Ukraine and troops there that are fighting. So just to make that point and also worth noting on the borders, I just noted the Quintenfels President Biden did pass his executive orders and of course, legal border partners to these foreign countries on behalf of the American taxpayer. I would argue taxpayers do feel as though we're involved in these foreign engagements, considering they are funding both of these conflicts.
Unfortunately, I'm just making the distinction that of course, that's not the same thing, is actually having troops there fighting. But I just want to ask you about some of what we've actually heard, some of the expectations that we've heard from former President Trump. He had initially in May called Biden the worst debater he's ever faced. And then this month, he's calling him a worthy debater.
He said he's actually been quite a strong debater, effective debater against Paul Ryan, for example. So which is it? Well, Joe Biden is a career politician. That is a fact.
He has been in politics for 51 years. That's longer than many of the viewers watching tonight have actually been alive. He's engaged in more than 40 debates since he entered the political scene in 1972. So there will be some muscle memory for Joe Biden tonight.
No doubt about it. He's been doing this for so many years. He is a career politician and he should be well prepared, especially considering his team has been at Camp David for the last week. Joe Biden has not been seen in public until today over the last seven days because he's been so focused on preparing for this debate.
So he should show up tonight. Well, and just very quickly. Of course, he hasn't came, David, but White has been very clear, as is the case with all presidency Office of the Presidency does of course travel with the president. But let me just ask you, because of course this debate comes as we are awaiting an announcement on former President Trump's vice presidential nominee.
Based on our reporting, There are essentially three finalists. You have Marco Rubio, Doug Burgum and J.D. vance. We know that they're all going to be there in Atlanta with former President Trump.
When will he make this decision? Could he make an announcement at some point this week? I understand your reporting is based on anonymous sources. I will just say that anyone who pretends to know who President Trump is going to pick as his running mate is lying unless that person is named Donald J.
Trump themselves. This is an announcement for President Trump to make. I will not get ahead of him on it. However, it will happen in due time.
It could happen happen any day. It can happen at the convention in Milwaukee. It's up to him and the American people, as they always do for President Trump will hear directly from him when he's ready to make that house quick, rapid fire. Who travel is traveling with him on the plane, if you will, to Atlanta?
Sure, my colleagues, some of our top senior advisors will be there. Force Chris via Susie Wiles, a whole host of folks and we have a lot of great surrogates in the spin room, great supporters of President Trump who will be talking on his behalf tonight. You have to tune in to see who those are. Any surrogates on the plane?
Is the former first lady on the plane? No specific names to read out to you on who's on that flight, but you'll find out very soon when they land. Will the former first lady be there tonight? Again, I have no specific names, but you will find out when he lands in Atlanta.
You can't be serious. You can't. The former first lady attended the debates in 2020. Will she attend tonight?
I just told you I don't have a specific list of names I've got that played with the president. But you'll find out soon. I had to try. I had to try.
Caroline, thank you so much for your time. Really appreciate it. Coming up after the break, a key Supreme Court case on abortion. Historic primary election and soon a high stakes presidential debate.
We'll dig into it all. The panel is next. But first, a look back at a critical moment in 1976 presidential debate when then President Gerald Ford was asked about the Helsinki Accords and America's relationship with Russia. It's when Ford made a now infamous gaff that appeared to deny the Soviet Union's Iron Curtain over much of Eastern Europe at the time.
It was a mistake that is widely seen as costing for the White House and helping Jimmy Carter secure a win. Take a look back. We have an agreement where they notify us and we notify by them of any military maneuvers that are to be undertaken. They have done it in both cases where they've done so.
There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe and there never will be under four administration. Welcome back. We've just heard from both campaigns about their candidates strategies ahead of tonight's debate. And we cannot emphasize enough.
It is going to be a high stakes night for both President Biden and former President Trump as they look to shake up this race. I'm joined now by my super sized panel. Jen Psaki, former White House press secretary for President Biden, host Inside with Jen Psaki on msnbc, Cornell Bel, strategist and an NBC News political air panelists. We are anticipating Hogan Gidley will be here momentarily.
He's the former deputy assistant to President Trump and Daniel Plecka, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and an NBC News contributor. Thanks to all of you for being here today. Busy one, I know. Big day.
Good. So the big question I think is which version of Donald Trump is going to show up? We know as I was just discussing Caroline Levitt, he's being advised to be more measured. This is Trump from the first debate.
Let's just remind everyone, well, if you do anything, I want to see it. Do it, say it. You want to call him? What do you want to call him?
Give me your name. Give me a name. Stand back and stand by. Don't ever use the word smart with me.
Don't ever use that word, oh, give me. Because you know what? There's nothing smart about you, Jeff. 47 years, you've done nothing.
Well, we all remember those as your token. Hello, Hogan. Thank you. The magic of television you have up here.
Let me I don't want to put you on the spot because I know you just sat down. But anyway, your take on what we just saw, that was debate number one from 2020. And obviously tonight all signs are Donald Trump is gearing up to be more measured, but he's still playing to take the gloves off. What do you think we're going to see?
I think you're going to see a mix of both. I would imagine Donald Trump to go on the offense on several different areas, whether it be the border, whether it be the economy. But I also expect some temperate conversation about abortion, for example, maybe even January 6th. Threats to democracy, however they Phrase that question.
He is who he is. And what you see publicly in those rallies is exactly what I see privately. That's how he talks. His consciousness is that way.
He does understand the policy really well, but he's good also packaging it in little nuggets for people to take things away. So I would imagine tonight you're going to see a pretty arrested, ready to go Donald Trump. Danny, pick up on that point because we are getting indications that President Biden might try to bait him. There might be a topic that really gets under his skin if they start talking about it.
When they start talking about, undoubtedly January 6th, the results of the 2020 election, among other things, do you think that would be damaging if he reverts back to that first debate stature? So, I mean, Donald Trump has a challenge, right? He has a challenge which is to speak to America, but also a challenge to speak to his base. And his base loves stream of conscience Donald, his base loves the man who takes it to his adversaries.
But with the rest of the country, the people who are the swing voters, the independents, maybe Democrats who might go for the vote for him, they want to see somebody who's going to be a grown up, who's going to run his record, who's going to show he can control himself. And so walking that line is going to be very hard. Jen, do you think and are you hearing that President Biden is going to try to get that out of Donald? Well, I mean, let's first of all, Donald Trump talk about democracy.
I mean, he says he's gonna pardon January 6th insurrectionist. So that will be interesting conversation, no doubt, at the debate. We'll see how that goes. I think for Joe Biden, it is about provoking him, but not in a way that seems nasty.
And there is a fine line, right, because you look at the 2020 clubs, you've been trained. These two men do not like each other. They hate each other. I think it's clear to say, and if Joe Biden goes out and is just attacking Trump on a personal level, that is not as good as him attacking Trump on not caring about the people who are watching and not caring about not fighting for the American people.
So there is a very fine line. Joe Biden wants to show he is strong. It's performative. I know Cornell will say it's performative in a lot of ways.
He makes people think he's strong up to the job. But he also needs people to understand that it's about a particular fight, whether it's abortion, whether it's about the economy or democracy, not just attacking Trump on a personal level. Yeah, it's a really great point. Cornell up, picking up on Jen's point about showing strengths.
I mean, how does he do that and what are the potential perils? Tonight, I think he does that. Most of us watched it because we're political nerds, but most Americans probably not watch the State of the Union. He did the State of the Union to Bide where he was sharp, he was witty, he was in command of the room.
Look, we know the story. He's too old and nothing's getting done. And it's revolving. Well, nothing's getting done because he's too old.
Right. And all our Republican friends will say that you need this in, you know, big time is to show strength. Right. Almost no attribute matters more for an executive than being a strong leader.
Right. He's got to show strength, and he's got to project that. He's still fighting, get the job done. It doesn't matter what policy, how popular his policy proposals are, if voters don't think he's capable of fighting for and getting it done.
Danny, is this a debate where. Where performance actually reigns supreme over policy? Tonight, if you're sitting at home watching, if you're one of those undecided voters, I think you're 100% right. You're 1,000% right.
This is what people are looking for. People keep analogizing it to the Nixon Kennedy debates because what were people doing? They were just looking at the picture in front of them. They weren't listening to the man they saw sweaty, you know, Tricky Dicky Nixon and Hunky jfk.
God forbid that we should have such a choice. Now, I want you all to take that image into this evening. But look, that's what people are going to be asking themselves, who looks better? And it's going to be hard for both of them.
I want to play a little bit more of what we saw in 2020 and get everyone's reaction on the other side. Vote now. Make sure you, in fact, let people know we're senators. I'm not going to answer the question back to the left.
Will you shut up, man? It's hard to get any word in with this clown. Excuse me. When you hear him say shut up, man.
You are reminded that tonight the mics are going to be muted for the candidate who is not talking. Jen, is that a potential liability for Joe Biden when you see a moment like that where he jumps in, he fires back at Donald Trump? Well, yes, in a couple ways. One is some of Joe Biden's best moment, best moments for anyone during the base are the moments that are unexpected that you may prep for.
The prep is so that you can be in the moment. And those are the moments we all remember from any debate over the last couple decades. The other thing is Donald Trump ranting and raving if that's what he does. And maybe that's not the Donald Trump that comes tonight.
We don't know. That's something joke. The Biden team would love for the American public to see him being kind of mean and nasty and irrational. And if the mics are cut off, which they will be, you won't hear that.
You won't. The public won't hear it. Yeah. And look, I think we all are concerned or wonder what Donald Trump is going to show up.
I also wonder what Joe Biden's going to show up. Is it going to be the ASMR whispering Joe Biden? Is it going to be the loud, fiery Jo Biden, the one that falls asleep, the one that stirs or stumbles through, then send it, someone who stops and just stares off in the distance? We don't know.
I doubt he's going to do any of the latter, only because, like you said, they're going to give him some of that State of the Union juice. No question. He's going to be fired up. He's been doing this now for half of a century.
He'll be ready to go tonight. I'm just going to be interested to see how the two characters play out. You said the performance is going to matter. Absolutely.
But if there really is no performative piece that is jarring anybody, then it comes back down to the powers. It's like a hilarious talking point because for a long time, for months, and Hogan didn't quite go there, but almost came to the brink of it, of the Joe Biden is drugged. I mean, Ryan Jackson sent a letter to the White House congressman that Joe Biden should be drug tested before and after the debate. That is the new talking point post State of the Union, which is kind of hilarious that that's where we are at this point in time, because there's a couple months ago, it was the weekend at Bernie C's dead talking point.
So here we are. And we should say, I, of course, did talk to Quinn folks about that. The Biden campaigns just called that an outright lie. They say that's absolutely ridiculous.
But also they're playing expectations, right? And they're playing expectations, you know, before they wanted, sort of lower expectations. Now they want to raise expectations right now. That was a great debater.
Right? So they're trying to raise the level of expectations for Biden. That's fair play. But I also wonder if we're going to have Donald Trump, who's worried about sharks are being electrocuted in water, showing up at night as well, because that is also a really problematic Trump.
And here's look for both these voters and new polling show that Biden's now leading with suburban voters. Right. If you look at that moderate swath of American voters right there in the middle where Biden dominated in 2020, those are the voters that both of these gentlemen have to talk to. That mom who's sitting in the suburbs of Philadelphia or the suburbs of Atlanta, worried about her daughters, you know, reproductive rights and about how it was paid for college.
If they're not talking to that, to that mom, they're losing. Yeah, Danny, we're talking about the format, but what about the timing of this? The fact that this is the earliest debate, quite frankly, in modern history, Right. This is an injustice to the American people and frankly to the people sitting at this table.
You think so longer and longer and longer and more and more money and more commercials and more discussion. You know, other countries limit it to six weeks to eight weeks. They limit the amount of time it can be on tv. And I look at them yearningly wishing that this was us because it really has gotten out of control.
I want to say something about the mic thing, too. We've been talking about, we've been talking about the individuals, right? Joe Biden, will he sleepily talk? Will he talk too much?
Trump will be babbab and be interrupted. You know, actually this is for us, the voters, not for them. And the one sensation I keep having at debates over recent years is, oh, my God, why do I have to listen to this? What about the.
Listen to them bicker. It's like being at Thanksgiving, except you like them less. And it's true. And so they're actually doing us a favor here, and I appreciate that.
And also the Biden team asked for this, so it is, which is interesting. I know the strategy, Jen. I mean, you think it's a wise strategy, the debate, but the timing, I think they did it strategically because they need to mix something up and maybe it will be successful and maybe it won't. We won't know until after debate.
The dates don't historically massively change the poll numbers. But they needed to shake something up in the race and maybe they shared a fight to maybe it's about somebody, maybe it's out abortion, maybe something else. But that's what they need out of debate. Okay, well, we could.
This has been a fantastic panel. Thank you. Unfortunately, we are out of time. But thank you all so much for being here.
Gentlemen, Hogan and Danielle, really appreciate it. Still a common woman that scrambled the Supreme Court's ideological while threatening billions of dollars for victims of the nation's opioid epidemic. Don't go anywhere. You're watching the press now.
Welcome back. Turning now to another major bully from the Supreme Court today as it blocked Purdue Pharma's bankruptcy settlement tied to its role in the opioid epidemic. The decision threatens to keep billions of dollars out of the pockets of thousands of victims of the crisis. As part of the original deal, the Sackler family, which controls Purdue Pharma, manufacturer of OxyContin, agreed to pay $6 billion to sell opioid related claims as part of the bankruptcy proceedings.
In exchange, however, the families were shielded from liability in future cases. In a 5, 4 decision, the Supreme Court that the bankruptcy court did not have the authority to give the family that kind of blanket protection. NBC News loyal analyst Danny Savalos joins me now. Thank you so much, Danny, for being here.
Really appreciate it. Big day for the Supreme Court. Break this down. This is a complicated one.
What's the explanation behind this decision? What are the implications? So the parties arrived at an agreement, so to speak, that would give a lot of money to a lot of victims. And the Sacklers liked it to some degree because they didn't have to actually be in bankruptcy.
They wanted to contribute to the pot of the bankruptcy estate and then that money would be distributed to victims. And in return, the Sacklers got a discharge. In other words, they got immunity, the same immunity that the bankruptcy estate gets. So they got the benefits of bankruptcy without actually being in bankruptcy.
And the court concluded that even though everybody was on board and even though there were so many victims who would benefit from the settlement, it was in violation of the bankruptcy code. And despite those benefits, because it broke the law, it could not stand. And now this settlement, this agreement that was arrived at over a considerable period of time and would put money in the pockets of victims sooner rather than later is now very much in doubt. What were the implications for the Sackler family specifically?
Could it have implications for them in the short term or in the long term? Well, it doesn't immunize them. In fact, it would have been better for them to enter into this arrangement because it's what they wanted. They were comfortable with it and they would have gotten the protections that they wanted out of it without having to declare bankruptcy.
So they probably are not liking this decision. Now they are exposed in a way that in theory, they could be subjected to a number of more lawsuits, independent lawsuits and sort of scattershot litigation. So not a good outcome for them, too. This is what Justice Kavanaugh wrote in part in his dissenting opinion.
He wrote, quote, today's decision is wrong on the law and devastating for more than 100,000 opioid victims and their families. Opioid victims are now deprived of the substantial monetary recovery that they long fought for and finally secured after years of litigation. What does this mean for the victims? Justice Kavanaugh's decision was rooted in part in looking at the justice of it all, because sometimes the just result isn't the legal result.
And that very much animated Justice Kavanaugh's dissenting opinion. And it was also rooted in the idea generally that, look, if the parties are agreeing to it, it doesn't necessarily mean it's outside of the law. Ultimately, however, this is a decision that's really narrowly applied to the facts of this case. It doesn't really have far reaching implications for bankruptcy law and these similar class actions as a whole outside of the context of the Sacklers.
All right, thanks. The ball is complicated case, but thank you so much for being here breaking it down for us. Great to see you as always. We're back tomorrow with warm me the Press now.
But don't go anywhere. We have special coverage of tonight's presidential debate hosted by CNN and streaming live right here on NBC News now starting at 7:00pm you don't want to miss it. The news continues with Hallie Jackson live from the site in Atlanta right now. Everyone, I'm Dylan Dryer, co host of the third hour of say and mom to three Wild Boys.
I've learned a lot my years as a parent, mostly that I don't have it all figured out yet. And I'm not the only one. This is my new podcast, the Parent Chat. Each week I sit down with someone new for honest conversation and real world advice about parenting.
I am over here just like winging it. Hey, I'm trying not to be my own kid. If I'm giving you, there's parent chat on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.