And mustaffa on the lion king. James earl jones was 93. And that's tonight's read out. Inside with jane psaki starts now. Reporter: well in just over 24 hour, kamala harris and donald trump will face off on the debate stage in philadelphia. The great steve kernaki standing by to tell us where this race really stand and what impact this debate may have. What is impacting the candidate about these recent polls. I'm also going to talk to another former prosecutor from california, congressman adam schiff. The moderator of the last debate has a book out and she's going to join me as well. Let's get you all caught up on what's happening. Late today vice president kamala harris touched down in philadelphia for what is going to be one hell of a high stakes meeting with former president trump. And now as is always on the eve of the debate. There's a lot of expectations setting out there about how this all might go. Including from kamala harris herself. Who had this to say about her opponent on an interview that aired this morning. He plays this old and tired play book. There's no floor for him as low as how low he will go and we should be prepared for that. We should be prepared for the fact that he's not burdened by telling the truth. And we should be prepared for the fact that he is probably going to speak a lot of untruth. Reporter: it's almost like her internal debate prep monologue was going there. But she's right we should be prepared for anything. Her opponent is a want to be dictator talking about locking up his opponents. And we saw this against hillary clinton, he's basically stalking her. Something she said made her feel uncomfortable. I'm not here to call out his lies. Everybody knows he's a liar. I want to make sure. You graduated last in your class not first in your class. Listen, you agreed with bernie sanders. There is no manifesto. Please let him speak. You just lost the left. Vote and let your senators know how you feel. Vote now. Make sure you in fact, let people know. Your senator. I'm not going to answer the question. Why wouldn't you answer the question. The question is, radical left. You shut up, man. Now, that one might explain why the harris campaign didn't exactly want the microphones muted. And just like trump we've also seen kamala harris debate before. We have an idea of how she handles her opponents like with this simple line during the vice presidential debate. Mr. Vice president, i'm speaking. I'm speaking. No i think that moment tells us she is not going to take any you know what. But here's the thing. Mike pence is not donald trump. And hillary clinton is not kamala harris. So we may know the players here. But this game tomorrow night is going to be completely different. We do know a few things that kamala harris has studied her policy positions. She would have gone through that briefing binder with highlighters. She will have her open and closing lines down pact. She would have practiced her new attack lines. She'll be ready, it's who she is. We also know trump prepares a little differently. He likely would not have practiced new attack lines because he's been using the same ones for years. He's probably not reviewing big binders of policies because he isn't exactly a disciplined policy guy. But he'll still will be ready because this debate is important for everyone. There's something that's important. What is the always very prepared kamala harris do when something unexpected happens? how does he handle that moment. For donald trump, can he keep his cool. Can he avoid saying nasty things. I won't be holding my breath for that. And this is kamala's chance to introduce to folk who is say they still need more information on her. That also means she can't attack trump the whole time. 60% of likely voters want a major change. For harris, that also means finding a way to walk the tricky line of embracing the success of the bidenharris administration she was very much a part of while also sending a message she will build on that in a different way. That's tricky. For trump, not sure how that guy presents himself as the candidate representing actual good change but he sure as hell is going to try. Those are just a few of the interesting questions heading into the high stakes debate tomorrow night. What these two candidates meeting for the first time we should be prepared for just about anything. I have a few people to talk with this about who know a lot. Kevin madden was a senior advisor. I waopbt want to go to steve kernaki who's at the big board. Where does the race stand mow and what are the numbers you've seen in recent polls, how will that shape how the candidates approach tomorrow night. This is our average of all the major national polls that are out there right now. 4745 harris with an advantage of two over trump. A couple of things to say about this though. First of all, this average lead for harris is actually ticked down a point in the last couple of days. The most recent polling we've seen nationally, a new york times poll you were just talking about there that had trump slightly ahead. A pew poll today that had the race tied. They've actually gone in trump's favor to bring this average down to two points here. Also for donald trump at this point in the campaign, coming out of labor day, heading into that final stretch for the general election, look this is the third straight time he's been the republican nominee for president. The last two times he was down much worse than this nationally at this point in the campaign. And for democrats, look this is an improvement from where things were for them when joe biden was the candidate. Biden had been trailing trump pretty much through the year. That's obviously been reversed at least where it stands right now. What might be a little concerning for democrats when they look at that is harris had a pretty big head of steam when she first got into the race. Those first few weeks leading into the democratic convention that put her ahead of trump. Since then, no further progress. As i said for her a tightening now in the last couple of days in the national numbers and speaking of tight you take a look here, these are our averages from what we're calling the seven core battlegrounds here. And you can see, you do see harris blue here in four of these trump red in two. But i think the bigger thing you see just how close these larger margins are. 1. 7, 1. 5. An all out tie. Across the board, in these battlegrounds. You did see a bit of an exception here in wisconsin where harris is leading by a little bit more than 4 points. That gets to a cautionary point for all of the polling that comes out heading into the election. The possibility that the polls might be off again as we saw certainly in 2020 and in 2016. And a thing to remember about those polling misses especial l y in 2020 they were not evenly spread out. They were demographically specific. You saw them most dramatically in wisconsin also in michigan. To some extent pennsylvania. You saw them in places with large populations in white voters with four year degrees. That's become more constitutionally since 2023. Weeks before the election ended up being a 20,000 vote margin simply put trump support with white voters without a four year degree was deeper in wisconsin and elsewhere. The turn out level was higher. So just added up to much closer races. And wins for trump in those states in 2016 so certainly worth considering as we get battleground polling in the coming weeks heading into election day. Then you mentioned this jen, just in terms of stakes for that debate tomorrow night. A poll that did put trump slightly ahead nationally, 28% a little better than one in four of respondents say they still would need to learn more about kamala harris. The number for trump there, basically a third of that in single digits. Trump more of a known commodity. The opportunity is there for harris potentially with that number. Here's the real challenge for her. The question of change versus status quo. You know harris is the incumbent vice president in an unpopular administration. And in this poll when they asked voters, does harris represent change? only a quarter of the voters say she represents change. A majority say she's more of the same. Meanwhile donald trump out of office four years a majority say he represents major change. When the harris folks look at those numbers they say they want to know more than. She is trying to position herself, can she tomorrow make herself the candidate of change. There's questioning here. You can't get it all done but a lot on her plate. Thank you so much, thank you for being with us with the big board. Thank you. You've prepped candidates. Lots has changed since your boss mitt romney kicked the butte of my boss barack obama. The harris team is looking at those polls. They know that's an opportunity nearly 30% of voters. They know they need to be the clang candidacy. What's the goal of the night. What's her goal. Looking back at the 2008 debates it's almost like watching silent era film. Back and white. So much has changed and the debate dynamic has changed. The goal for harris has to be that, she got a little bit of a sugar high here in the last 60 days. People were really, we saw this pent up demand for somebody not named trump or biden to come into in race. She has gotten this opportunity to fill in the gaps for what the information flow is with her. The economy over all, inflation, housing, cost of child care. Those are issues where she has to take an opportunity and say here is what we're going to do to chart a better course for the country on those big issues. Ultimately, these debates, these elections come down to sort of fundamental questions. Does this person understand the problems of people like me and do they have a plan for the future. Tonight or tomorrow night's debate is that one big possibly last opportunity to really fill in the blanks for a lot of those voters who you know, for the most part, she's still a little bit of an empty vessel. Yeah, people are looking and they have to know more. It's hard to do in a 90 minute debate. We'll see. Let me ask you, people know you as a supreme court expert of course and one of their favorite legal. And you're a champion debater. People should know and you helped prep gore. Harris is a prosecutor. She has a background as a prosecutor. She's very prepared and thorough in her preparation. But you also have to be agile in these momentless. Moments. What are you watching for and what do you think might help her do and what might be a hindrance tomorrow night? well, jen. Trump's report against prosecutors is 034. I suspect tomorrow is going to make it 035. I mean i think the first, you know thing to note is this debate starts with a comparative advantage for trump. It's going to take place in an empty auditorium. That's obviously a very familiar place for him unlike harry. I think that's going to be a little hard for harris. The reason for that is as a prosecutor, you know you focus on facts. And you know, i remember in high school and college debate the hardest thing to debate is someone who doesn't believe in fact, has no respect for the truth. Every time trump speaks it's like the facts go on vacation. So harris has to fact check him like it's a contact sport. This is where for her the goal is it's not about trump but it's with the moderators. I know you're going to have don on in a moment and i have a lot of respect for anyone who volunteers for that role. But often, moderators let trump go by, they don't ask for the hard questions. Trump called for a mass arrest over the weekend. Does that come up? those kind of things don't typically come up. I want the vice president to turn to the moderator and look at them and ask, why are you asking these question, why are you letting him get away with this. It's not about trump it's about the moderators and how he comes out at the end. It's very tricky because part of this is for people at home who don't know a lot about you to think you're tough but also really likable. Which i hate that word but it is true as a candidate running for president. So, if you're harris, to neil's point, do you fact check, do you skip it over. Are you selective about it. What do you do in those moments? i think, i agree with some of neil's points. I think the most important thing for you to remember is you're talking to the people back home or at home, who have yet to make up their mind. And i don't think they're going to be judging this debate's performance on whether or not you're sort of pairing the moderator responsibility against donald trump. I think if i were to have two points, two attributes that i would have attached to every single answer if i were kamala harris it would be personalized and localized. Tell stories through the lens of people's personal experience of how they're dealing with rising cost. How they're dealing with child care. Talk about that. And localize it. Talk about it through the lens of this is steve kernaki pointed it out. This is coming down to pennsylvania, wisconsin. Six of seven states. Depending. Tell a story of what you're going to do through the experiences of those swing voters that are out there and have yet to make up their mind. Help make up their mind for them. The most important thing, forget about likability and think about relatability. Donald trump is once again threatening to imprison his opponents if he wins in november. Schiff is standing by and he joins me in 60 seconds. En sympd to take control, i got rapid relief with rinvoq. Check. When flares tried to slow me down, i got lasting steroidfree remission with rinvoq. Check. And when my doctor saw damage, rinvoq helped visibly reduce damage of the intestinal lining. Check. Rapid symptom relief. Lasting, steroidfree remission. And visibly reduced damage. Check, check and check. Rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. Serious infections and blood clots, some fatal; cancers, including lymphoma and skin; heart attack, stroke, and gi tears occurred. 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Yes, i read that because that is the republican nominee for president issuing a direct threat not just against his political opponents but against the very people who administer free and fair elections here in this country. Joining me is adam schiff,