Debate itself, that stage is now set for history. The firstever matchup between a sitting president and a former one. Joe biden and donald trump to address the big issues that matter most to voters including the economy, abortion and the future of democracy. Plus, the art of the attack. Whether its rehearsed or on the fly, a look at the challenges of delivering that one unforgettable and has gone viral line. And will biden use the f word, felon. Well ask one of president Trumps Campaign aide. Lets start by setting the scene. Consider tonight the starting gun for a marathon summer of political attacks. Right now President Joe Biden is en route to georgia to kick things off with donald trump in the ultimate clash of rivals. Two men with two very different visions for the country pushing to change the trajectory of a race that has been stubbornly tight for months. To give you a sense of the stakes we have a new poll from quinnipiac. 16 of voters are open to change their choice for president based on what happens tonight and that could come down to the issues that we hear about on stage. Poll after poll showing the economy, abortion and the future of democracy top of the list on voters minds. Joining us now, jen palmieri, remember toer Communications Director for hillary for m, former Communications Director and msnbc political analyst. Msnbc Business Correspondent Christine Romans is at the big board and with me in atlanta, former senator Claire Mccaskill and political analyst and cohost and from the win 2024 podcast and msnbc correspondent Vaughn Hilliard. Okay, christine. Lets start with the economy because that is going to be key tonight. Poll after poll shows its the number one issue for voters. What are some of the big things youll be watching for tonight . You have this unique experience here where you have two men who each have a record that they can try to celebrate here tonight and youll be hearing from president trump, im sure, that inflation was lower when he was president. When he ended office it was 1. 4 , but the Unemployment Rate jumped to 6. 7 at the end of his term and overall jobs added were jobs lost because of the covid crisis. The stock market jumped 69 . How he thinks things are better in his administration, but compare that with joe biden. After you saw a spike up to 9 and inflations back down to 3. 3 . The jobless rate has remained very low for an historic amount of time. Jobs added, 15 million out of the covid crash into the booming economy that were in now and under him the stock market is up 14 . I want to zero in on him because youll remember in a previous debate donald trump said if america elected joe biden you would see a stock market crash. Here is the stock market under trump. Here is the stock market under biden. Right here, this is covid, right here, this is that spike in inflation which has since begun to ease. So when you talk about their records, tariffs, big, corporate individual tax cuts and lots of deregulation for trump and under biden hes focused on Kitchen Table issues, chris, like junk fees and antitrust keeping companies from getting too big and taking advantage of consumers. Big legislative achievements here on infrastructure and bipartisan here and the c. H. I. P. S act and the Big Investments in the environment and student loan forgiveness. I think another issue well be zeroing in on tonight is taxes and the coming tax fight. Here is what donald trump wants to do. Cut the Corporate Tax further and wants to extend 2017 tax cuts that can cost up to 5 trillion added to the deficit depending on who you ask and that helps lowwage workers. Joe biden zeroing in on what he calls tax fairness and keeping tax cuts for people that make less than 400,000 a year and trying to plug away on what theyre trying to do on the administration to help people with the cost of housing. I think you will have a lot of fodder here for voters, really assuming things are theres good decorum tonight. Voters can get a lot of information tonight, chris. Good decorum. Okay. Well come back to you tomorrow on that, Christine Romans, and see if that turned out to be. John palmieri, let me turn to you. You are plugged into biden and we just saw him getting off of marine one and heading to air force one to make his way here. Hows team biden feeling about tonight . Whats their number one goal, do you think, tonight . I think its to have donald trump own the record he has. There is trump amnesia. People have forgotten how bad the economy, and what biden inherited and also theres confusion about who owns the trump abortion bans that because that, a lot of those bans passed while biden was in office, people arent sure if hes responsible or if trump is responsible and then, of course, to have him own his inability to accept basic democratic outcomes like the result of the 2020 election and the outcome of a very fair trial in which he was convicted of a felony, and so i think that you also want to you want to get in what you have accomplished because there are questions from the Democratic Base about what he has done. The thing that i think is most important is nailing the trump record. And on the trump side, look what i just got, almost two full pages of notes from Vaughn Hilliard about what hes hearing from trump world. Give us the headlines because what we keep hearing is he was born to debate. He doesnt have to prepare to debate. He lives his life and thats his preparation. I think that we will all be going back to the quote of the week that hes been preparing for this his whole life. He doesnt have to go away into a room for two days or a whole week. That is the line that well be coming back tonight. Donald trump has now a record that joe biden is going to be able to use not only from the four years to 2017 to 2021, but also what came after and that includes the overturning of roe v. Wade, and it was in that september 2020 debate when joe biden said that abortion rights, reproductive rights were on the ballot, and it was just four days before that debate that Amy Coney Barrett was nominated by donald trump, and i think we have a bite about that debate about abortion rights. Lets take a listen. The president also is opposed to roe v. Wade. Thats on the ballot, as well, and the court in the court. So thats also at stake right now, and so the election is all you dont know its on the ballot. Why is it on the ballot . Why is it on the ballot . Its not on the ballot. Its on the ballot in the court. I dont think so. Donald trump went on to say that he didnt know how Amy Coney Barrett was going to rule on a roe v. Wade. Ultimately she did help overturn dobbs and this is for donald trump, he said i support having exceptions in states, but ultimately thats where you see democrats say at this point in time you dont get to control this. Every ban in every state regardless of how far it goes, you, donald trump own it. When youre talking about donald trump hes struggled to answer other questions like his position on abortion medication and us in the press, we dont get many opportunities to actually get questions to donald trump. Back in april pretty close to zero. Pretty close to zero. Back in april he told us he would be releasing in one week a position on abortion medication. That was in april. He hasnt answered that. He hasnt said that his department of justice would potentially allow them to prosecute individuals for having abortion medication mailed to them. So those are questions that joe biden could potentially bring that donald trump has not had to answer over the course of these four years. What the voters bring, claire, is a sense of unease, and i have to say i think that number is really telling, 16 of those obviously saw supporters and thats not the donald trump base and thats not the die hard democrat, but there are 16 of voters who say they could watch tonight and change their minds. What does that tell us about the stakes . Well, the stakes are huge because its so close. So you know what happens when elections are close . Little stuff matters. Every little thing matters. We know that, frankly, the fact that 82 say they wont change their mind, thats a function of having two incumbents running. Trump is not an incumbent although he would tell you he is. We have two people who would be president. Everyone in the country knows who these people are and now its a matter of joe biden reminding people what donald trump failed to do. I mean, frankly, one of the most effective things he could do is go through the list of things where trump says im going to have that plan in two weeks. As you, vaughn, this is a classic tactic of his. Hes done it on health care. Hes done it on abortion policy. He said ill have something really good and wonderful in two weeks and it never shows up, and thats the kind of thing that trump is good at. Not getting things done. So you know, biden has a lot territory where he can Say Something positive after hes attacked, but immediately pivot and put donald trump on the defense. Thats the secret to this debate. Get donald trump on defense and he will behave badly. The issues are incredibly important and vaughn knows this better than anybody. You go out and talk to voters. They will tell you whats most important to them, but they will also talk about their discomfort with donald trump that has been there, frankly, from the beginning and thats the nicest thing and the age thing, jen, with the president you cant change how old you are, and you cant affect how you present that. What can joe biden do tonight to suggest to people who are worried about it, i am not too old for this job. I am the person for this job . So, this is every couple of months, he needs to reaffirm to the American Public that hes more than up for the job and the state of the union was a good moment back in march and tonight will be another good moment to see that. Every candidate has a vulnerability that never quite goes away, right . You are constantly pushing against it. You are constantly addressing it, and i think thats the age issue for biden. It could be worse, you know . People dont say donald trump doesnt run around saying necessarily saying that joe bidens doing a bad job, right . The big concern people have about him is his age, and if youre able to demonstrate tonight that hes more than up for the job and lean into his experience and wisdom, and i really think that every moment of his life has been preparing him to be the right president at this time. All of the Foreign Policy experience he has all of the experience he has in congress, a great record of accomplishment in congress including bipartisan wins. His age gives them the experience and wisdom to be the right president now and just show that he has the energy to do it, and tonight will probably be a good night for doing that and then there will be other moments along the campaign trail where he continues to show that. So i want to play a clip for the state of the union because there was an opportunity that joe biden took to say im up for the job. This is about the defense of democracy. My predecessor and some of you here seek to bury the truth about january 6th. I will not do that. This is a moment to speak the truth and not bury lies. Heres the simple truth. You cant love your country only when you win. [ cheers and applause ] its one thing to do it with a teleprompter. Its another thing to do it in the moment. We only have 30 seconds left, but i know thats the joe biden democrats told me they hope will show up tonight. What do you think joe biden ultimately has to do . He has to do that. He has to listen, if he gets too much in his head about proving all hes accomplished. Can you over prepare . Yes. Absolutely. You can over prepare to the point that you have all of the stuff in your head that you want to make sure people know what youve done and make sure you understand what the record is and you forget that this is really about people taking a view from a distance, who showed strength and who looked out of control and if i were preparing joe biden i would say think about the theme of darkness and light because donald Trumps Campaign is all darkness. We stink. Were terrible. Everything is rigged and america is going to hell. Joe biden is, like, we can unite with our allies and fight bad guys in the world and we can be the country we all want to be. Thats a great contrast and if he can get that through to everybody tonight hell get reelected. Vaughn hilliard, so lucky we have you on the campaign trail. In 90 seconds how to deliver the Campaign Moment and when it works and when it doesnt, consider James Stockdale trying to introduce himself to voters. 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People with graves could also get thyroid eye disease, or ted, which may need a different doctor. Find a ted eye specialist at isitted. Com. When donald trump and joe biden take the stage tonight beyond what they say we are looking and we just were talking about this a little bit, how they say it and how they look saying it. Will joe biden as team trump hopes, come off as too old for the job . Will trump look unhinged, a word joe biden has used. New polling by u. S. News ugov say 68 of dems want joe biden to be more forceful. 70 of republicans want trump to be more polite. The memories of the 2020 debate still pack a punch. The fact is that everything hes saying so far is simply a lie. Im not here to call out his lies. Everybody knows hes a liar. I just want to make sure youre the liar. I want to make sure. Last in your class. Hunter got thrown out of the military. He was thrown out, dishonorably discharge. Thats not true. And he didnt have a job until you became Vice President. None of of that is true. Were senators. Im not going to answer the question because the question is radical left will you shut up, man . But, of course, the best plans can always go astray as one senior Biden Campaign official put it to my colleague mike memoli, you can come back with the best plan and then a fly lands on mike pences face. Joining me now someone who knows what its like to moderate a debate between donald trump and joe biden is kristen welker, moderator of meet the press. Kristen, you were one of the last people to be in a room with these two men. It hasnt happened for almost four years, so i have to know what youll be watching for tonight. Well, chris, it is so great to be with you and with all of you. Look, a couple of things. You played that clip there, those series of clips and one of the big things that i will be looking for, do we see that same bombastic donald trump . Ive been talking to allies who are close to him and vaughn has been as well and they tell me that first debate from 2020 where he interrupted joe biden more than 140 times still weighs on him. Its still in his mind. He knows that it backfired. He has been advised to be the more measured donald trump which is the trump who showed up to the second debate which i moderated. The question is will he do it . Will topics like january 6th, like the fact that he lost the 2020 election, like his criminal convictions, will that throw him off of his game . Will he then become more bombastic as we saw there . Thats the question. Will joe biden bait him . I think thats one of the big x factors tonight and then i go to where you started this conversation, chris, do we see a joe biden who is strong, who is confident, who is able to make the case that hes ready for another four more years in a way that puts voters concerns to rest. So i think those are two of the big questions. The other big one is the format tonight. The fact that mikes are going to be muted throughout this 90minute program. Look, during the second debate mikes were muted for a portion when they were basically delivering their Opening Statements of each segment. That was actually an effective tool, chris to keep the conversation on track and then the open discussion portion of each section. So it really, i think, will be interesting to see how that impacts tonight. Do we lose some of the passion, the grit, some of those unforgettable moments that can go viral during president ial debates . Yeah. We know viral is so important because there are a huge number of people who only watch the clips. Theyre not going to sit and watch the entire debate. They might watch part of it. So, jen, talking about baiting donald trump, and we know thats a plan from team biden. The question is will he take the bait and what do you think the topic would be if he does . I think it would be the felon charge is the most obvious one. You can do that a lot of different ways. The president was just in representing the United States at the dday celebration to talk about how, you know, president fdr coming in and being part of a really proud american effort with a lot of sacrifice to save democracy while now america is considering putting a convicted felon in the oval office, imagining him trying to beat back authoritarian leaders the way fdr did. You can elevate it to what the american president is called to do and how he is not up to the to that task, but i dont think you can get it is a mistake to make your candidate focus too much on baiting their opponent because that is out of your control, and the candidate needs to focus on what is in his control and the message that he knows he wants to deliver no matter what because its not just for tonight, its not just who is watching tonight. Yeah. Its also the viral moments, but even if a moment doesnt go viral, this debate will give the Biden Campaign a lot of content that they can continue to use throughout the summer to frame the fights that they want to have with trump going forward. This is not just about what happens on the debate stage tonight. You want to youre always looking to say, okay, what arguments can we start on stage that we can then push for the next few weeks . This is kind of like the equivalent of the democratic convention. Normally thats the starting gun for the real part of the general election, but that starts tonight and this is about getting as many arguments as you can in the bloodstream now and fight over it all summer. Kristen, claire was saying you can over prepare and weve been in situations where over preparation can get in your head and one is when a planned attack can go wrong and it just goes wrong and its cringy or it doesnt land, but i think theres also the possibility that it really makes people think about you in a different way. I wonder as somebody who moderated a debate, if those moments are the ones that can define 90 minutes. What do you think . Well, i think youre absolutely right. Look, we remember some of those memorable moments throughout history. Those unforgettable moments when Ronald Reagan said im not going to use my age to exploit my wisdom. Im basically paraphrasing so apologies im not giving a direct quote. Kristen, i think we actually have that. Ill ask them to play it and ill get you on the other side. Heres Ronald Reagan. I will not make an age an issue of this campaign. Im not going to exploit for political purposes my opponents youth and inexperience. [ laughter ] obviously, kristen, he was running against a much younger walter mondale. It landed. It was powerful and it was one more data point that enabled reagan to mobilize and energize his base and thats the type of line that well all be watching for tonight. The type of line that feels organic, but that undoubtedly came from a lot of preparation. Look, we know that President Biden has been preparing at camp david with his top advisers, and we know that former president trump, yes, he has engaged in traditional debate prep like mock debates in the same way that President Biden has been, but i do think its worth noting he has been engaged in more debate prep than we typically see him. Yes, hes saying im using my rallies for debate prep. He is also preparing. Hes been holding policy sessions and hes been running the traps with a lot of his internal and outside advisers and both ever taking this very seriously and its part of why donald trump is trying to lower the stakes and he went on saying that joe biden was the worst debater in history to saying hes a worthy debater. The question, which is it . Clearly there are expectation games being played into these final hours and those lines can undoubtedly, chris, pack a punch. To the point of the second part for preparing something, sometimes you can cross the line. Sometimes it can get cringy. Do you think well see President Biden address Hunter Bidens conviction with the same tone he used when donald trump said something about it in 2020, and i just want to remind people of that. My son and he didnt have a job. My son, like a lot of people, like a lot of people we know at home had a drug problem. Hes overtaken it. Hes fixed it. Hes worked on it, and im proud of him. Why was he that attack by donald trump not only provided an opening for joe biden to be forceful, but to be relatable and to, in many ways make people remember what makes them uncomfortable about donald trump. Is that the biggest risk for him tonight . I think, heres the thing. You can tell it came from a deep place with him and whenever he talks about hunter or any of his family you get that sense. Thats what really creates viral moments is authenticity. Every once in a while youll have a trained actor like Ronald Reagan who can prep a line and deliver it flawlessly and land a big laugh and go down in history, but most of the viral history comes from anyone being authentic. So i just remember doing debates and you have that pad of paper and you can write things on it. I remember thinking the three things i had to write down was be yourself, have fun, be likable and by the way, have fun. If you go into it that way and youre authentic then you might have those moments. If youre trying to over prepare and land a perfect line its probably going to be cringe worthy and i would not recommend joe biden try it. Jen palmieri and Claire Mccaskill will stick around. Kristen welker, thank you. I have not seen you since you had another baby who i assume is with john. Yes. Kudos to john. Thank you, chris, i appreciate that. With a toddler and a baby. Bidens digital war room, how the president is trying to shake the conversation about tonights debate among millions of followers online and well talk to the president s Deputy Deputy Campaign Manager next. Esy Deputy Campaign manager next dk on your trash talk. Id rather work on saving for retirement. Or college, since you like to get schooled. Thats a pretty good burn, right . Deep down, i knew something was wrong. Since my fatigue and lightheadedness would come and go, i figured it wasnt a big deal. Then i saw my doctor and found out i have afib, and that means theres about a 5 times greater risk of stroke. 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You recognize theyre incredibly high in this race where the nation is divided. Theyre angry. Yeah. I think the latest polls ive seen, the Approval Rating for the president is 38 to 40 . How do you break through . Well, i mean, thats what tonight is for. The president has to deliver a vision. There are two very different visions for america at play here tonight, and they deserve to hear from the two men who are likely going to be the next president of the United States what those visions are. One under President Biden. Were excited for more freedoms and not less and fighting for Economic Opportunity for everyone and one for donald trump who is doubling down on political extremism and selling out the middle class and continuing to lower reproductive freedoms in the country and thats on display tonight and the president is excited to have that conversation with former president president trump. I want to get into the war room and lets talk about how that may play out in terms of having that content. Will the president call donald trump a convicted felon . He has before. He may or may not tonight, but even if he doesnt whats important is why trump is a convicted felon. He is only in this for himself. He will do everything including break the law if it means he can get ahead and you can expect the president to make that case whether he uses the felon or not, but if it looks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, donald trump is a convicted felon, that is a fact and no amount of moderating will change that. Whats firing him up . Where do you think his strongest lines of attack are . For President Biden . For joe biden. Look, i think he is eager to have a conversation. Trump is continuing an assault on womens reproductive freedoms and donald trump is at the helm of it and hes directly responsible for the fact that women dont have reproductive freedoms. Trump continues to double down and forecast his plans project 2025 about what he wants to do. He wants to get rid of Government Agencies and he wants to centralize power to the oval office. Lets talk about the economy because there is an economic story to tell. Joe biden has tried to tell that story. Your campaign, including Kamala Harris has tried to tell that story. The problem seems to be when people buy their groceries theyre not feeling it. When our reporters go out and they talk to Everyday Americans and they like joe biden, but they are very concerned about the cost of feeding their families and the costs of their recent College Graduates being able to afford an apartment, let alone ever buy a home. How does he make people vote for him if you can put all of the statistics out there, they dont feel it. Look, part of that vision is making sure that people understand that you understand what they are going through, and at the end of the day trump had four years to prove who he cared about and he showed his hand. He did nothing to address or the ease that cost that many americans. The polls show, they felt they were better off and the majority of americans felt they were better off under donald trump whatever the statistic are. Im a campaign operative and thats what campaigns are for and thats whats happening since the president ran for reelection and they believe and know that donald trump is not on their side and that President Biden wakes up every day thinking about them. We have to communicate and they have to know that the president is bringing Grocery Stores to the table to get them to lower costs and hes lowering Prescription Medications and donald trump didnt do that and theyre contrasting visions and well continue to make the case. Take us inside the war room because various campaigns, and ive been lucky to watch those things in real time and the technology has changed to a point with what you guys can get out, the speed at which and the targeting that you can do to a very specific audience. Whats the goal tonight . How many people do you have working on this and what are they going to accomplish if everything goes according to plan. Look, we have dozens of people working. Tonight in atlanta . In atlanta. People are getting their news from a number of different places and one of the things we have to make sure is yes, there will be a lot of people tuned in watching the debate live itself and this happens live on tiktok, on facebook, instagram and snapchat and we have to make sure were putting that information in front of people and theyre getting it. We have to rebuild the coalation that sent the president and the Vice President to the white house and thats young voters and more diverse voterers than whats on the other side of the ledger and we have to put this information forward tonight about the two visions as President Biden lays his out and Donald Trumps will be extreme, unhefrjed and all over the place. We have to make sure that they see that and thats what the team is working on behind the scenes. How many hours of sleep have you gotten every night. Not enough, but im excited and i wouldnt do anything else but this. We do want to let you know that we asked the Trump Campaign if any of the three people reportedly at the top of the list of v. P. , j. D. Vance, and governor marco rubio and we invited senior trump advisers, all declined. Coming up, theyre the double haters who could decide the election. How the candidates are trying to appeal to the disaffected voters who wanted anybody but them. Ters who wanted abonydy but them. Nexium 24hr prevents heartburn acid before it begins. Get allday and allnight heartburn acid prevention with just one pill a day. Choose acid prevention. Choose nexium. start your day with nature made. The 1 pharmacist recommended vitamin and supplement brand. So we have some pictures that just came in to us. This is jill biden at a Campaign Stop in virginia. Very soon shell be headed here for atlanta and later tonight she is expected to watch in a hold room. Remember, this is unlike any other debate. Nobodys going to be in the audience and that includes family members, but then after the debate she is expected to come out on to the stage and be with her husband. Still no word from team trump about whether Melania Trump will be here. Theres another critically important question that wont be asked tonight. How many truly undecided voters are out there . Many experts have tried to quantify it. Their findings, very widely from a handful to maybe 7 . This year theres also another variable, the large number of double haters who dont really like either candidate, and that brings us to one important subgroup. Nikki haley voters who are still looking for a home. Right now my vote would probably be biden and a protest vote. Honesty with no notes will tell whether biden will be able to run for another four years. Very close, yeah. I finally decided im not really a democrat. Back with us again, jennifer palmieri, Claire Mccaskill, and i want to bring into the conversation a Political Correspondent Meredith Mcgraw here on the set. So good to have you here because weve been talking to the nikki haley folks. What did they tell you . I was talking to a former nikki haley aide today about this very question. They say the speech at the Hudson Institute was prescriptive. On policy, trumps not perfect, but she thinks hes better than biden and she held her nose at the Hudson Institute event and said shed be voting for him. The Trump Campaign has continued to say that theyre confident about the voters because of the issue of immigration and inflation, but heres the thing. It is a small, but Influential Group of voters that could really determine this and how trump behaves on stage if he comes across as aggressive and combative as he did in 2020 and how he answers the question on things like abortion or if he can paint a forwardlooking vision could really impact those women voters, those independents, those suburbans and those double haters like you said that can really determine things in november. Claire, we were talking earlier about how donald trump apparently knows how all those interruptions virtually every time joe biden opened his mouth in 2020, he knows that hurt him, but will he be able to contain himself tonight . It depends on how good a job joe biden does in anning it nicing him. Listen, jen palmieri and i hardly disagree on anything, but i would say just as important as biden trying to nail him with a felony conviction is nailing him with the title loser. Loser on a golf cart. You know, this is a guy who really is a loser, and that really bugs donald trump, and i think if so should he say, for example, say right now whats the truth . You lost the elections. You are a loser. I won. Acknowledge that and then we can move forward. You lost. And what do we teach our children . You dont win every time and when you dont you behave with manners and dignity. Instead, what does he do . He sits in the oval office watching his supporters attack Police Officers and does nothing, clearly enjoying it that they were physically violent against Police Officers. Thats where he should go about the way he let those people attack Police Officers and never said a word and is now calling those very people patriots. Jen, i can hear you, youre enjoying claire mccaskel. Claire is so much better at trolling than i am. Loser in a golf cart is so good. I dont think people take a moment to say loser and its loser in a golf cart and now she wants to add fat and with orange hair, too. Shes really good at this. We dont expect joe biden to do that tonight. He might call him a loser. He might . Yeah. He might. Its not a bad idea. That would bug you know, bidens good at the will you shut up, man, aside. He does not respect trump. Hes not intimidated by trump. He grew up not respecting rich kids that have everything handed to them and dont work hard for a living like he saw donald trump do, so i think he can pull that kind of you dont want to overplan because thats cringy as we all discussed, but biden is good at the cutting aside at trump, and it seems to not be planned, but come naturally to him and if it does, great. Loser in a golf cart. Great. Let me ask you about this because of your experience with president ial campaigns. What do you think is the number, given the percentage of people who are truly undecided who are truly up for grabs in this race, jen . I think it can be from 10 to 16 . I saw something today that high . Yeah. The thing particularly when you see there are a whole other layer of questions about yet polling is all over itself and the times in their poll, they themselves pointed out, hey, republicans are responding more when we ask for their opinion on these polls and answering fen calls more than democrats, so everyone should know that because that may mean it may mean that the that there is an over that the trump numbers are inflated. The same thing happened in 16 in reverse. Democrat depps were more motivated to respond to polls and they answered phone calls more, and they said yes, i will take your phone call and that resulted in Hillary Clintons vote and im not saying the same thing is happening here. The thing is the polling is a little messy. You see a population that doesnt normally support republicans say theyre backing trump. Some black men and hispanic men, you see some numbers there switching and it just suggests to me that there is some fluidity here particularly when the news environment is so diffuse and people are getting their information from a lot of different sources and not just from one source. We only have less than a minute left, so i want to have a chance to bring meredith back in and bring this full circle, if i can, to that nikki haley voter. One democrat, its funny, said exactly what your person said to you. Come on, she was holding her nose when she endorsed donald trump. Adam kinzinger did not have to hold his nose, and that was a democrat saying this. What do you know about the flip side of this and that fight for those truly undecided voters . Well, weve seen how the Biden Campaign is making a play for them. Theyve had ads and outreach to donors. They think that this is a group that they can actual he break through with, and we are seeing these primary polls or primary results, rather that there continues to be these haley protest votes so that is a group that is up for grabs and what they do will be a big question. Meredith mcgraw, jen palmieri, thank you. Senator Claire Mccaskill, youre going to stick around with us. Get insights on jen and claire on their podcast, how to win 2024. Just open your camera app, look at that, right on your screen. Scan the qr code and listen whenever youd like. Still ahead, our final predictions for tonights debate. Keep it right here. S for tonigh debate keep it right here what are the three ps . The three ps of Life Insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. A price you can afford, a price that cant increase, and a price that fits your budget. Im 54. Whats my price . You can get coverage for 9. 95 a month. Im 65 and take medications. Whats my price . Also 9. 95 a month. I just turned 80. Whats my price . 9. 95 a month for you too. If youre age 50 to 85, call now about the 1 most popular whole Life Insurance plan available through the Colonial Penn program. Options start at 9. 95 a month. No medical exam, no health questions. Your acceptance is guaranteed. And this plan has a guaranteed lifetime ratelock, so your rate can never go up for any reason. So call now for free information, and youll also get this free beneficiary planner. And its yours free just for calling, so call now for free information. Tonight, the candidates hope the odds will be if their favor, but in vegas the odds have to do with the quirkier aspects of tonight. For instance, the over under on how many times joe biden will use the word folks or donald trump says fake news. Theres also bets being placed on what color tie they will wear or whether either one will curse on the stage. This is important stuff. Back with me, Claire Mccaskill and tim miller. Rapid fire round, how many times does joe biden say folks and come on, man. Come on, man. Come on, man. Joe biden, fake news, any of those phrases . I dont know if trump says that, i see 425, on whether he drops the d word. Im sad there wasnt a color band of Donald Trumps face make up. Is it peach or bright tangerine . Lets go. Burnt sienna. His beautiful hair and how much he likes to lather it. The handshake, yes or no . Look, 2020 was covid and well let that go. We talked a lot in the couple of hours and how much they like each other. Joe biden will try, i predict. The question is will donald trump take it . If he doesnt, thats good for joe biden. Between 2016, i guess theyll bump. Maybe a fist bump. Okay. Does Melania Trump come . No. We just mentioned and we learned that the first lady will come on stage and join the president. No . Im a no. If you dont show up when your husband is on trial and can go to prison for a federal for a state felony im not sure you show up at a debate. On a scale of one to ten, how important is tonight for both of these men . It might be the only debate we have. Its a ten for joe biden and a five for donald trump. I was going to say the same. Were aligned. Look at that. Two different parties. Ish. A couple of years ago. Claire mckaveng iland tim miller on the super bowl for those of us that love politics and i cant imagine two people who would be better. Tonight, Rachel Maddow leads special coverage and analysis of the president ial debate hosted by cnn. Watch tonight beginning at 7 00 p. M. Eastern and at 9 00 p. M. Eastern on msnbc. You can watch the debate right here and stay tuned for analysis and coverage all night long. Ill be back with you tomorrow from 1 00 to 3 00 p. M. Eastern on msnbc. Our coverage continues with katy tur reports next. H katy tur reports next u. For the acute treatment of migraine with or without aura and the preventive treatment of episodic migraine in adults. Dont take if allergic to nurtec odt. Allergic reactions can occur, even days after using. Most common side effects were nausea, indigestion, and stomach pain. Its time we all shine. Talk to a Healthcare Provider about nurtec odt from pfizer. You know whats brilliant . Boring. Think about it. Boring is the unsung catalyst for bold. What straps bold to a rocket and hurtles it into space . Boring does. Boring makes vacations happen, early retirements possible, and startups start up. Because its smart, dependable, and steady. All words you want from your bank. For nearly 160 years, pnc bank has been brilliantly boring so you can be happily fulfilled. Which is pretty unboring if you think about it. Music unnecessary action hero unnecessary. Was that necessary . No. Neither is missing your daughters competition to do payroll. With paycom, employees do their own payroll so you dont have to miss your daughters big day. Time to shine. Get paycom and make the unnecessary unnecessary. Good to be with you. Im katy tur. Tonight really could be a game changer. No joke, 70 of American Voters plan on tuning in to the debate. 70 according to a new poll from quinnipiac, and according to that same poll, 16 of voters say what happens tonight could change their mind about one of the candidates. That is a giant number of voters that say both biden and trump should be
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