This moment is, consider this, the last debate literally ended President Bidens 50 year political career. So this one is inherently a big deal. Especially since nearly 30 of likely voters say they need to know more about Kamala Harris according to brand new New York Times sienna polling. That same poll also suggests that Harriss Honeymoon is over. With the race now a dead heat in every single swing state. The top issues are the same with the Economy Front of mind for most american voters. Read between the lines and what youll see is that more than anything else, americans want fundamental change, which is what both candidates will be trying to drive out tomorrow. Trump arguing for a nuanced kind of change, you can call it that. One that brings the country back to what he did during his term four years ago, while harris is arguing for an extension and then some of the current administration. Which today some columnists argue isnt enough. Jonathan chap of new York Magazine said harris needs to cut Joe Biden loose, saying, Quote F Joe Biden has an unpopular stance, harris should oppose it, unburden herself from what has been. We have a Block Buster Slate of reporters to help explain the pros and cons of all of this, along with Senator John Fetterman ahead to tell us what the vibes are in pennsylvania, specifically his part of the woods in western pa. Joining us now in pittsburgh is Nbc News White House continue, nbc News Correspondent covering the trump can pain, vaughn hillyard, and business correspondent, christine romans. Aaron, why are you in pittsburgh with Harris Today . Reporter well, we have been here with her throughout the weekend. She has been here since thursday preparing for the debate thats coming Tomorrow Night in philadelphia. We expect that the Vice President will be leaving in the next hour or so to head over to philadelphia. This weekend really for her has been going about mock Debate Sessions we understand from sources that have included intense qa, and workshoping responses to Policy Questions she may receive on the Debate Stage in philadelphia Tomorrow Night, and also thinking about how she would handle any unscripted or potentially unexpected moment with the former president on stage as well. We know part of the preparation has been for the possibility that he might say something to her that is insulting or derogatory. We know he has lobbed insults at her on the campaign trail. Part of the preparation is getting ready to deal with that if it happens on the Debate Stage, as far as how that might play out, our understanding from sources is that the Vice President is working on presenting calm, and presenting in a president ial way in the face of any insults that may come from the former president. At the same time, standing around, standing up to him. Calling him out on lies, and Vice President said she does expect Donald Trump to lie on the stage, and so part of the preparation is being able to call out those lies as they happen in realtime as best you can, katy. Vaughn, youre here in new york. Where is Donald Trump . Hes at maralago in florida, and we are told that yesterday he had extensive Debate Preparations ahead of Tomorrows Trip to philadelphia. We are told that he is also planning to have more Debate Prep today. I was talking to a Top Adviser to trump here over the weekend. She told me there are really two focus points. One to ensure the american electorate walks away with an understanding that Kamala Harris in this advisers words was complicit in the biden administrations efforts, that she was not just a side show figure, she was there on the front lines with Joe Biden making the decisions over the course of the last three and a half years. The second part was to be adequately prepared for what they anticipate to be some quips or quick comebacks from Kamala Harris, and anticipate those and know how to best appropriately respond to them, and that is where this Debate Prep is really focused in for Donald Trump. Im told Donald Trump has been told repeatedly by advisers that Kamala Harris is a good debater. And if you go back to 2019, he has referenced the first debate, the democratic debate she had with Joe Biden over the bussing issue, and he oftentimes recalls it because it was a very jarring moment for the democratic electorate that was watching that in realtime, watching her aggressively and eagerly take on the standard bearer of the democratic party, the former Vice President to barack obama. And so he is wholly acknowledging of that. And one thing i would say is that for five years she has been preparing for this moment against Donald Trump that would one day come, and for Donald Trump, what is different here is this is a quick two month transition. Has she been preparing for five years . Did she know that she would go out against Donald Trump. In 2019, she said, give me the case to prosecute the case against Donald Trump on the Debate Stage. Are the expectations too low for Donald Trump . Donald trump, i would, is that he is a good talker. He goes on podcasts, he talks for hours, if you watch one of his campaign rallies, he can go for 90 minutes at a time. If you give him a general topic, he can go off on several different tangents. Theyre not going to make sense. If you ask him about a specific policy, Child Care Tax credits and expect him to deliver a succinct policydriven response, you may not get that, but Donald Trump can talk and go off on tangents. I wouldnt say underestimate him, like the debate against Joe Biden. What im asking, Donald Trump, the expectation is hes going to fly off the handle, im not so sure. I think Donald Trump when the expectations are low is generally able to clear them, especially when theyre of the nation of hes not going to be able to stop talking. Well see. Mark murray, lets talk about the polling. There was a new times sienna poll, and the word on the street is that the honeymoon is off. Is that what youre seeing on these numbers as well . Not really. The way i see the new New York Times Sienna College Poll as well as all the polls we have seen, this remains a very close race, and yes, some of the polling in national polls and Battleground State polls might have been harris plus 2, Plus 3 nationally in the Battleground States, all within the margin of error. Thats exactly what the Sienna Times poll shows. We are in the juncture, heading into tomorrows pivotal debate, this is a close race that could be decided by a whole host of factors, whether it is undecided voters breaking one way. A certain demographic not showing up on Election Day. I think we just need to buckle up like we did in 2016 and 2020. This is a very close race. When youre talking about change, mark, what are voters saying on the subject of change . What sort of change are they looking for . This was the most interesting thing in the entire New York Times Sienna College Poll, at least to me. That is they asked about harris and trump, on who ends up representing major change. For harris, it was just 25 of likely voters say she represented major change versus another 15 who said she represented a minor change. And basically half ended up saying, more than half, saying she represented no change at you will at all. Compare that to Donald Trump, he represents major change. In a race between a sitting Vice President and former expresident , you have this Battle On whos the incouple incumbent, whos the challenger. According to this poll, it is Donald Trump who seems to be the Change Agent heading into Tomorrows Debate. Lets talk about the economy. That was the other big issue. We can put the economic polling numbers on the screen. Interestingly Kamala Harris has an Issue Page on her campaign web site. She spends a lot of time talking about ways in which she wants to make the Economy Work for average americans, for working americans, again, talking about taxes and talking about making rent more affordable, growing small businesses, talking about Grocery Store prices, health care, pharmaceuticals, going after big pharma, not just for seniors but all americans. When you look at the focus shes putting on paper on the economy, do you see her translating that well enough so far to the voters need to hear it . Thats what the big chance is Tomorrow Night, to put her vision of what Economy Looks like next to Donald Trumps. Her economy would be Tax Cuts for reach people and companies. Somehow that would spur Investment And Money in the united states, and that would help the regular people at the kitchen table. Shes going to say, heres what im doing for you sitting at the kitchen table, and Tax Cuts for you, and Tax Cuts for having a baby, and Tax Cuts for buying a home, and also other incentives for business and small business. Shes going to try to show she is working for the kitchen table, hes working for the companies. Also, i think youll probably hear her talk about tariffs. Ive heard her mention it several times. He loves tariffs, he wants to go big on tariffs. That was a big success in his first administration, he wants to do that again. Im sure youre going to hear her talk about how thats a tax on the middle class. But tariffs poll well among americans. Americans like the idea of being tough on china. If she can find other ways to prosecute the case against china and competitors on a foreign policy front. Do you think Theres Movement possible in the polling on the economy . I would like to see her talk more about Child Care. There have been two big missed moments on Child Care, the last debate, that was really disappointing for the people who work in the field. Away, all of the american families who struggle right now, millennials who cant afford to go to their job because Child Care is so expensive, its more expensive than a public College Tuition in most Zip Codes in america, Child Care is. If you can drill down on things that matter to people, that will be an important moment. The talk about her and biden is that she needs to uncouple herself from him. Its tricky, she cant totally do so. There are people arguing that, no, just get rid of them. The guy is not running any longer, not popular. Voters arent going to be offended by it. Is there an issue on the economy that she can untie herself from him effectively . I mean, she can celebrate what people, what regular people care about, which is Insulin Caps and seniors dont have to pay more than 2,000 out of pocket. If she can celebrate the things that people feel and will be feeling every day. Bidenomics and inflation, those are two things, i mean, her team for sure wants to move forward and talk about what a Harris Agenda would look like, different from a biden agenda. Christine romans, mark murray, aaron gilchrist, thank you for starting us off. A big day. Who Donald Trump says hell put in jail after the election. And how will voters in pennsylvania take that threat, along with Tomorrows Debate and what comes out of it, when they cast their ballots in november. It is a neckinnec race. John fetterman joins us to interpret the vibes. And what went wrong, inside the u. S. s chaotic withdrawal from afghanistan, what the biden administration is saying about the report. We are back in 90 seconds. In 90. S d i thought id get a Wax Figure of myself. Oh right in the Temporal Lobe beat it, punks only pay for what you need. Liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty the Trump Election Play list is on repeat and the tune that keeps on playing is fraud. Democrats are cheating by investigating him or convicting him for crimes he committed and democrats will cheat President Help of the media Tomorrow Night at the debate. None of this is true, but Donald Trump is still saying it over and over and over again. Joining us now, former democratic senator, barbara boxer, and former republican congressman, charlie dent. He says this stuff so much, fraud, fraud, fraud, everyones cheating, im the victim, and some of it can seem like white noise. I wonder, as you listen to this, and you compare it to what We Saw in 2020 in the aftermath, are you worried that this is the kind of person that if he were to win again would leave office . Would he be the kind of person that would leave after a fouryear term or stay for longer claiming that, you know, the four years that were denied to him in 2020 made the first term not count . Well, of course you have to worry about Donald Trump not leaving office. We saw what happened in 2020, where, you know, he incited January 6th. I would expect the same should he win again. I think hes making a major mistake by focusing on being the victim that hes been ripped off, that hes been cheated, unfairly prosecuted. I think that message plays to his hard core maga base. They get excited by that. If hes trying to swing the tens of thousands of voters in Swing States that are going to make a difference, i dont think that message helps him at all. If he rants about that tomorrow, thats probably good for team harris. If i were advising trump, i would tell him to stay away from that, focus on border, crime, energy, development, but hes not a disciplined candidate, and you know, The Big Question will be will Donald Trump will able to control himself Tomorrow Night. If hes being advised that, hes not listening. Heres his Trump Truth social post, the 2024 election where votes have just started being cast will be under the closest professional scrutiny, and when i win, the people that cheated will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, which will include longterm prison sentences. This legal exposure extends to lawyers, political operatives, donors, illegal voters and corrupt election officials. Whos he talking about, barbara . Its all projection, thats what he does. He wants to have crooked people in these positions. Look, i so agree with what was said, if he goes on those rants about me, me, me, being the victim, that is not what the people who are undecided want to hear about. They want to know whos going to fight for me. Whos going to care about my job, my family, my rights or is government going to take over my personal decisions. You know, the biggest Thing Trump is trying to get away from now is the overturning of roe v. Wade, yet he consistently says, hes responsible and hes proud of it. Well, women are bleeding out because of him. And he has done nothing in terms of the economy. Thats what people want to listen to, not his rants about himself. Its a narcissist who needs to go away, and the only way to do that is for us to win this race, for kamala to win this race. How does she win a debate against Donald Trump, barbara . Shes a prosecutor. Do you think she ever faced issue you know, a criminal who always told the truth . They never told the truth. Shes got to prosecute the case against him while making the case for her. I just want to put out one point. I think the economy is still the biggest issue. And what i want to see her do is tell the truth about the economy. People think trumps better. He has the worst Job Record in history, the only president , the only one to lose more jobs than he created when he left. Covid, covid, thats why Biden Harris had two horrible years of covid. He had nine months of terrible covid, and look what they did, record breaking, 16 million. The infrastructure bill, all the things theyre doing. Im hopeful if he starts ranting and raving about election denial, shell put it aside and focus on what do the american families want, and that is a good economy, personal choices, they want to feel safe. Charlie, what do you think of that . I mean, debating Donald Trump, even when its clear who wins the debate, whos, you know, homed in on the facts, whos presented the most policy, Donald Trump is seen as the winner among quite a few voters because its about a one liner or demeanor. Hillary clinton clearly was the victor in the debates in 2016. He still won the election. Well, theres no question that, you know, Kamala Harris will probably come off as more substantiative. You know, Donald Trump, you know, he doesnt really do policy well. He just doesnt. I dont think he understands it. Hes all about the show. Again, if i were Kamala Harris, i would be trying to prosecute the case against trump, you know, you have to be prepared for anything from him. You dont know whats going to come out of his mouth. I keep pounding him on the fact that hes a convicted felon, hes unfit. He tried to deny the Election Results and go after him on Substantiative Policy on issues like tariffs and other things. His policy is inflationary. Hes very vulnerable on inflation as the incumbent in this case. Whos going to be the incumbent . Vice president harris or is it Donald Trump . Whos the Change Agent . You know, the polls are suggesting people see trump as more of a Change Agent than harris at this point. Harris is going to explain why shes the Change Agent and go firing away at trump on things like tariffs that are clearly inflationary, and shes got to make that Argument Persuasively to move people on the economy. Shes not going to have a problem prosecuting Donald Trump on womens rights