First 2020 presidential debate

The first 2020 presidential debate has started. The candidates will not have opening statements, and President Trump will receive the first question from the moderator.

Each segment will last about 15 minutes, and the candidates will have two minutes to respond after the moderator, "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace, opens each segment with a question. Wallace will then use the rest of the time in the segment to facilitate further discussion on the topic, according to the Commission on Presidential Debates.

About the presidential race: Trump heads into the night trailing former Vice President Joe Biden in the polls and on defense about his handling of a pandemic that has killed more than 200,000 Americans and led some 30 million people to file unemployment claims.

Trump must deliver a performance that will dramatically alter the race at a time when voters are looking for him to explain the stunning new reporting from The New York Times that he paid no federal income taxes in 10 out of 15 years starting in 2000.

President Trump loves to watch TV. And he’s been watching old debate footage of Joe Biden, particularly intrigued by his 2008 vice presidential debate with Sarah Palin, a Trump adviser said. 

And Biden has been watching old footage of Trump – from the 2016 primary debates and the general election appearances with Hillary Clinton.

Biden has even spoken to Clinton about the debates, a person familiar with the matter said, in a private conversation between the two Democrats.

But more than watching these old reruns, both men have spent even more time familiarizing themselves with each other’s records. Biden has studied Trump’s record over the last four years and Trump has studied Biden’s Senate and vice presidential record.

Vice President Mike Pence said during remarks at a Make America Great Again event and presidential debate watch party that he spoke with President Trump in the Oval Office this morning and that “he’s ready” for the debate tonight.

“It's gonna be a great night,” Pence said. “I can tell you I left the President earlier today in the Oval Office. And he's ready. We're ready.”

He later said, “Somebody said to me. How long has the President been preparing for the debate? I said all his life.”

Pence slammed former Vice President Joe Biden throughout his speech, including on fracking, law enforcement and taxes. 

He said, as he has many times before, that Biden would be “a Trojan horse for the radical left.” 

Per the pooler, one of the biggest cheers of the night came when Pence brought up Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court. Many in the crowd stood up and cheered, according to the pooler. 

Pence spoke about being at the Senate today with Barrett, adding, “I promise you — Judge Amy Coney Barrett is going to become Justice Amy Coney Barrett.” 

Toward the end of his remarks, Pence joked that after the crowd sees the debate tonight, they’ll “forget” Pence was even in Pennsylvania because Trump is going to “bring it” at the debate. 

Pence also mentioned the vice president debate next week, saying he and second lady Karen Pence would travel to Salt Lake City next week and “do our level best.”  

"Race and Violence in our Cities" is one of the topics selected for tonight's debate by moderator Fox News host Chris Wallace. Each segment will last about 15 minutes, and the candidates will have two minutes to respond after the moderator opens each segment with a question.

The section on race pits each candidate's core arguments against the other's.

Joe Biden has said since he launched his campaign that Trump's failure to condemn white supremacists who marched in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017 is what motivated him to run for president this year. His argument that the "soul of the nation" is at stake is based in part on Trump's racist comments and actions, which Biden has said embolden white supremacists across the country.

Though he has condemned violence, property damage and looting, Biden has broadly supported protests against racial injustice and police brutality, and has met with the families of George Floyd, who was killed by police in Minneapolis, and Jacob Blake, who was shot in the back by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Trump, meanwhile, devoted much of the Republican National Convention to condemning the property damage and looting that have taken place along with largely peaceful protests in some cities, and to promising a crackdown.

He has warned that electing Biden would lead to more chaos. His objective is to frighten suburbanites who have drifted toward Democrats since he took office — and while similar tactics failed for Trump and the GOP in 2017 and 2018, he is on the ballot this year, unlike those elections.

Each topic segment will last about 15 minutes, and the candidates will have two minutes to respond after the moderator opens each segment with a question. Wallace will then use the rest of the time in the segment to facilitate further discussion on the topic, according to the commission.

Read more about key things to watch for in tonight's debate here.

Even before the debate began, President Trump and his campaign were attempting to tarnish Joe Biden by insinuating he was using performance enhancing drugs or wearing an earpiece to receive direction during the event — both suggestions Biden’s team wrote off as ridiculous.

The tactic seemed designed to force the debate back into familiar territory for Trump: personal attacks and baseless accusations. Trump has used them throughout his political career as a way to divert attention from unfavorable topics — in this case, the coronavirus pandemic and new reports about his taxes.

Ahead of the debate, Biden’s team suggested he had been preparing for such attacks, hoping to avoid being baited by a rival who has shown no boundaries when it comes to political assaults.

An open question is whether Trump’s tactics appeal to voters — and in particular women, who polls have shown souring on some of Trump’s behavior while in office. While some of the President’s advisers have encouraged him against calling Biden senile or slow, he has continued to embrace that line of attack.

Joe Biden joked about the Trump campaign’s unfounded accusations that he takes drugs as performance enhancers and that he would wear an earpiece during tonight’s debate:

There is no basis for the claims. President Trump made a similar and equally groundless suggestion about Hillary Clinton using drugs during the 2016 campaign.

President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden have specific sets of voters in mind tonight as they make their cases during the first — and, both sides agree, likely most important debate.

Both men are eyeing the pivotal women’s vote. 

Even though Trump has long given up on the notion of moving toward the middle, aides say women are still a centerpiece of his strategy. He intends to draw particular attention to his Supreme Court nomination — and remind conservative voters of his judicial record, which advisers believe draws many women who oppose abortion rights to his fold.

For his part, Biden intends to focus heavily on Obamacare — and why his election is needed to save the signature health care law. He is also trying to boost enthusiasm among women across the board and “will remind voters again and again of his partnership with President Obama,” one aide says.

Tonight, Trump advisers believe that offers potentially the last-best chance to improve the President’s standing among older women. That erosion is among his biggest worries.

A group of undecided voters in Westerville, Ohio, will be watching tonight's presidential debate live with CNN's Ana Cabrera and reacting in real-time to President Trump and former vice president Joe Biden's answers.

The group is composed of Independents, Republicans and Democrats.

One participant, who is a member of law enforcement, said he's looking for a unifying message:

Another participant said she would like to see both President Trump and Biden focus on the issues. "I'm kind of looking for some, you now, serious information about issues, concrete information, especially on Medicare because I'm about to retire. And I hope that the time is spent constructively and not bantering," the participant told Cabrera.

After the debate the participants will offer their opinions on how each candidate did.

Watch:

Inside the map room of the White House, a small group of advisers sat around a table and peppered the President with accusations and criticisms about everything from lying to incompetence. The team, led by former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, was getting Donald Trump prepared for the onslaught they expect from Joe Biden on the debate stage Tuesday night.

About 100 miles north in Wilmington, Delaware, a similar scene played out with Biden and his team, led by longtime Biden aide and debate expert Ron Klain. Biden's prep has been more traditional — putting on mock debates with veteran Democratic attorney Bob Bauer playing the role of Trump in at least one session.

For two very different men with polar opposite temperaments and divergent governing philosophies, their debate objectives have some fundamental things in common: Put their opponent on the defense and make it as much a referendum on the other as possible. In conversations with multiple sources familiar with both candidates' prep, each is practicing ways to get under the other's skin, while also avoiding blowing up and going off script if the debate turns personal.

Advisers to both candidates are expecting one of the night's biggest flash points to be about each man's children.

CNN is told that Trump is preparing to go after Hunter Biden for getting lucrative jobs overseas when his father was vice president that he will say the younger Biden was not qualified for. Trump and his allies have repeatedly made unfounded and false claims to allege that the former vice president and his son acted corruptly in Ukraine.

Their hope is that it knocks Biden off his game — either causing him to blow up or say something incorrect.

Biden's team has been working with him to be ready for Trump to go after his son in a way he hasn't had to deal with as directly before. Trump advisers have also spent time working with the President to stay calm if Biden retaliates by invoking Trump's daughter and son-in-law, both White House aides with no previous government experience. A source familiar with Biden's prep, however, says his plan is to pivot away from this issue, not engage.

Read the full story here.

Watch: