Joe biden. After months of lobbing longdance attacks, aides for both candidates say tonight the gloves and the masks will come off. The two men arrived at the debate hall at Case Western Reserve University in cleveland a short time ago. They were not expected to shake hands because of the coronavirus pandemic. Lets not forget as we come on the air tonight, this virus has killed more than 205,000 americans. This pandemic has led the u. S. Into its worst economic cracks since the great depression. More than 26 million americans are claiming unemployment benefits. And two late developments have thrown a lit match into an alreadyvolatile race. The republicans effort to quickly replace the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg with conservative judge Amy Coney Barrett and the latest revelations about President Trumps taxes. So the stage is set for this first showdown. There will be no opening statements. Chris wallace of fox news will be asking the questions. He was chosen by the president ial debate co
Chris wallace. And the stakes, well, theyre high. The presidency and the future direction of the country on the line tonight, lester. Theres a lot of ground to cover, savannah, over the next 90 minutes. The candidates records, including President Trumps tax returns, the Supreme Court vacancy, the pandemic, the economy, racism, and civil unrest, and the integrity of the election itself. We may need a little longer than an hour and a half. The Debate Commission has set the rules and has determined, by the way, that the moderator is not responsible for factchecking the candidates tonight. But our team is standing by to do just that and to offer expert insight and analysis. And for live Fact Checking during the debate, go to nbcnews. Com. Well go first to correspondent Hallie Jackson inside the debate hall. Hall hallie, what are you hearing from both camps . Two different candidates and two different kinds of debate prep thats been happening. Sources close to President Trump, for example,
Phone lines to be open to see if there is a Public Comment . Chair borden yep and is there you have chair borden how many . You have zero questions remaining. With that, well close Public Comment. Directors, do i have a motion . Secretary boomer, please call roll . Chair borden aye. Director brinkman aye. Vice chair eaken aye. Director heminger aye. Director lai aye. Madame chair, the minutes are approved. Item 5, communications. Madame chair. Chair borden as many of you have learned, our heart was broken this weekend with the untimely passing of one of our own. Antonio, a muni operator with the Transportation Agency for 19 years, was known for being deeply committed to his job and well known by the people on his buses and in many communities. He was born and raised in the Richmond District and leaves behind wife jennifer, three children and grandchildren. Well have this meeting adjourned in his memory, but im devastated. I want to thank his family to loaning him to us. He did die in s
Lets get straight to steve liesman. Jay powell testimony before the House Services committee will note improvement in the economy saying Household Spending has recovered three quarters of the decline and say this is in part response to federal spending and higher Unemployment Benefits which is running down he said housing has rebounded and Business Investment showing signs of improvement but overall employment and Business Activity with well below the prepandemic levels an the out light is uncertain. He makes special mention of the feds main Street Lending program, a 600 billion program with a backstop from the troo z treasury hell be speaking tomorrow before the house financial Services Committee with treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin and this is required testimony about the cares act where they have to quarterly appear before congress and discuss progress with the lending programs. The terminology, highly uncertain, is that different from what the clair has used in the past. This is t
One airline is working to stop the spread with Rapid Testing. And banning gas cars. California announces it will go right there. Officer down . We had two officers shot tonight. And its very serious. Its a very dangerous condition. Two officers shot during protests after a grand jurys decision to not charge officers in the shooting death of Breonna Taylor. Do not sully her memory by engaging in violence. Totally inappropriate for that to happen. President trump praising kentuckys attorney general for his handling of the Breonna Taylor case. Really brilliant Kentucky Attorney general is doing a fantastic job. I think hes a star. Lawmakers heard testimony on the latest Pandemic Response efforts. Preliminary results appear to show that most americans have not been infected with the virus and are still vulnerable to serious illness and death. Ruth Bader Ginsburg arrived at the Supreme Court for a final time. It was said that shed want to be an opera virtuoso but became a rock star instead.