0:00

Head to netsweet.com/briefing now for

0:02

their one-of-a-kind flexible financing program.

0:07

We're in the elevator, heading down

0:09

to the studio level. The

0:12

very first televised general election presidential

0:14

debate was in 1960, John

0:17

F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. It

0:19

was held in the TV studio,

0:21

no audience, just cameras, the candidates

0:23

and moderators. Of

0:25

course, that changed over the years. They

0:28

became much larger affairs put on by

0:30

the Nonpartisan Commission on Presidential Debates, usually

0:33

held at a university auditorium or an arena

0:35

with a full audience looking on. That's

0:40

why it was so striking when President Joe

0:42

Biden came out earlier this year and said

0:44

the only way I'll debate former President Donald

0:46

Trump is if we go back to

0:49

the old way, just us in a room with

0:51

the moderators. All right,

0:53

here we go. And

0:56

that is how I found myself in

0:58

Atlanta, Georgia last night about to head

1:00

into the very studio where this debate

1:02

is going to play out on Thursday

1:04

night live on CNN moderated by Jake

1:06

Tapper and Dana Bash. These

1:08

two men have debated before, but we've never

1:10

seen a debate quite like this and

1:13

never this early in the calendar. So

1:15

what exactly are we in for here? So

1:18

when they say behind the

1:20

scenes, this is literally behind

1:24

the scenes.

1:26

Today, CNN political

1:28

director David Chalian is going to go backstage

1:30

with us to explain how this is all

1:32

going to work. And crucial

1:34

swing state voters in Georgia will tell

1:36

us if they'll even be paying attention.

1:39

From CNN, this is one thing. I'm

1:41

David Rine. All

1:48

right, so we're walking up a ramp

1:51

that says stage left. So this is our

1:55

first view of the stage in the room where

1:57

this is going to happen. I

2:01

can see the two podiums right

2:03

in the middle of the stage, the big

2:05

CNN presidential debate banner behind

2:08

it, and the moderator's desk, which

2:10

is directly in front

2:12

of these podiums. Few

2:15

cameras floating above, and

2:17

otherwise just a dark

2:20

TV studio. Well,

2:27

so now that we have that view, let's

2:29

go talk to David Chally in our political director, and

2:31

he can tell us exactly how this thing is gonna

2:33

go. David,

2:42

can you describe where we're standing right now?

2:45

Well, we're actually standing in a pretty

2:48

unique spot because it's a part

2:51

of backstage of the debate where

2:53

this particular side of the stage is where

2:55

President Biden is gonna be preparing to walk

2:57

out on stage. And the other thing that's

2:59

unique about the spot that you and I

3:01

are standing in right now is

3:04

that there will be no campaign staff

3:06

with him or with President Trump on the other

3:09

side of the stage, just the

3:11

candidate at this point. Their staff stay back

3:13

in their green rooms. When they are in

3:15

this moment, it is a solo

3:17

event for them, and they will walk out on

3:19

stage and begin this 90-minute debate. And the debate

3:21

will begin. So walk me through the ground rules.

3:24

How's this going to work? Well,

3:26

the ground rules that both candidates agreed

3:28

to and accepted as part of accepting

3:30

the invitation to debate are

3:32

that, like I said, it's a 90-minute debate. And

3:35

the way it works is there

3:38

will be a topic that is introduced.

3:41

The first candidate to get that question will have two

3:44

minutes to respond to that question. His

3:46

opponent will have a minute to respond to that.

3:48

And then the original person answering the

3:50

question gets a minute for rebuttal. In

3:53

addition, at moderator's discretion, Jake or Dana could

3:55

come in with a follow-up for an additional

3:57

minute. And then it switches.

4:00

candidate who didn't get the starter question

4:02

last time gets the starter question now

4:04

two minutes, one minute response, one minute

4:06

rebuttal. So that's sort of the nature

4:08

of the debate. And hopefully what that

4:10

does is allow for the issues that

4:12

are of most important to American voters

4:14

to get a full airing of these

4:17

two different visions that these men are

4:19

presenting to the country. Tell

4:21

me about the microphones because the first time

4:23

these two debated last cycle was a bit

4:25

of a shouting match. How's we think that's

4:27

going to be different this time around? Well,

4:30

certainly it'll be different in a couple

4:32

of respects. One, there's no studio

4:34

audience. So this is just former President

4:36

Trump, President Biden and the two moderators

4:39

in the room, basically. And

4:41

to your point about the microphones, part of the rules are

4:43

that the designated speaker's

4:46

microphone is on during their

4:48

designated speaking time. And his opponent's

4:50

microphone is off. This

4:55

is live podcasting. The rapping

4:57

rehearsal if you just heard that. So

5:01

what happens with the microphones is that

5:03

the designated speaker's

5:05

microphone is on. The

5:07

opponent's microphone is off. Now

5:10

the reality is they're

5:13

pretty close to each other on the stage. There

5:15

is the possibility that even though their microphone is

5:17

off and they're

5:20

shouting or interrupting at the person

5:22

who's speaking, it's going to be picked up

5:24

on the other microphone, probably not

5:26

intelligibly so. I think it would be very difficult

5:28

for the viewer at home to actually hear what

5:31

that person is saying. So that

5:34

is a different dynamic because the goal there is is

5:36

that the dominant audio, what the viewer will be hearing

5:38

at home, is the designated speaker

5:40

making their point at their designated time to do

5:42

so. So beyond all

5:44

those technical details, just can you put

5:46

this in perspective how this debate stacks

5:50

up against all the other ones we've

5:52

seen? Well presidential elections passed. Well let's

5:54

start with a couple of things because

5:56

it's unprecedented on many levels. But let's

5:59

start with the historic nature of a

6:01

sitting president of the United States debating

6:03

a former president of the United States.

6:05

That has never happened before. They're

6:08

in this rematch of Biden versus Trump. And so

6:10

that is what brings us to this moment. It

6:12

is also the earliest general

6:15

election debate ever. It's June.

6:18

In the campaign year, it's June. We usually see debates in

6:20

the fall. That's

6:22

by design. I think in terms

6:24

of the Biden campaign was certainly

6:26

interested in an earlier debate, in

6:30

part because I think they see a target

6:33

universe of voters that they're trying to reach

6:35

who aren't engaged in this election. They keep

6:37

saying they don't think a lot of the

6:39

voters that they need to communicate with are

6:41

tuned into this election. Yeah, I do understand

6:43

this might wake them up like this is

6:45

happening. Yeah, it's sort of like grabbing them

6:47

by the lapels and saying, this is your

6:49

choice, America, and it's time to tune in

6:51

to this election. I will say, you know,

6:55

the Biden folks believe that getting the

6:57

president on stage with the former president

6:59

is a contrast literally, visually to put

7:01

on display to voters will benefit them.

7:04

But the Trump campaign believes being on stage

7:06

with Biden benefits them. They think

7:09

that contrast serves them really well in

7:11

the way that they complain about Biden

7:13

having a lack of energy or his age or the

7:16

like. They think Trump looks

7:18

sharper side by side and they like that contrast

7:20

as well. So beyond the images

7:22

like you're the political director here at

7:24

CNN. So what topics do

7:26

you think are going to loom large

7:28

here? Well, listen, I would never

7:31

talk about the content of the debate

7:33

or the debate, but this is

7:36

going to be a debate about the issues that are

7:38

most important to the American people. We see time

7:40

and again in every survey what those issues are.

7:43

And what we want to make sure that we do

7:46

here, our role here is to

7:48

facilitate, to moderate a debate between

7:50

these two candidates, not for Jake

7:52

and Dana to become participants in

7:54

that debate, but to make sure

7:56

that president Biden and former

7:58

president Trump have the the

8:00

time and space to get their visions

8:02

out to the American people on these issues that

8:04

are top of mind for them. And

8:07

to that point, you know, this is

8:09

a matchup we've seen before. And

8:12

a lot of people have opinions about both of these

8:14

guys at this point. Is

8:17

it debate? Can it change people's

8:19

minds, get them from one candidate to the

8:21

other at this point? That's

8:23

a good question. We'll find out is the real answer.

8:25

I don't know if it will, but I know this.

8:28

This race has been remarkably

8:30

stable for almost its entirety. I

8:32

mean, you go back to polling from last

8:34

fall or last summer, it looks pretty similar

8:36

to the polling that we see today in

8:38

terms of the closeness between these two candidates.

8:41

Yes, it's a rematch between two candidates, David, but

8:43

it is a totally different context.

8:45

Think about everything that's happened in

8:48

the four years since these two

8:50

men last debated. A lot has

8:52

happened. And so they meet each

8:54

other in an entirely new context this

8:56

time around. So while it's a rematch

8:58

of these specific candidates, they're different.

9:00

This is a different issue terrain and a

9:02

different context for American voters that they're bringing

9:04

to this election. Well, David

9:07

Chung, you'll be covering it all on CNN political

9:09

briefing later this week. We'll catch you there. Thanks

9:11

so much. Thank you. We'll

9:16

be right back. Angie

9:27

has made it easier than ever to

9:29

hire high quality pros to get all

9:32

your home service jobs done well. Whether

9:34

it's routine maintenance and emergency repair or

9:36

a dream project, Angie lets you compare

9:38

quotes from multiple local pros, browse homeowner

9:41

reviews, and even book a service instantly.

9:43

Angie's been connecting people with skilled pros for

9:45

nearly 30 years. So

9:47

the next time you have a home project,

9:49

bring it to Angie to get your job

9:52

done well. Download the free Angie mobile app

9:54

today or visit angie.com. That's

9:56

A-N-G-I dot com. I'm

10:00

John King, Chief National Correspondent for CNN. I've

10:02

been covering presidential elections for nearly four

10:05

decades, and this one feels really different.

10:07

It's the rematch nobody wants, and it's the

10:10

voters who are the most frustrated, the least

10:12

happy with their choices, who are going to

10:14

decide this thing. That's why

10:16

I've been traveling the country talking to them. Join

10:18

me for All Over the Map, where we visit the

10:20

biggest battlegrounds of the 2024 race, and

10:23

we hear from voters who are working through their

10:25

choices in real time. Join

10:27

the All Over the Map, part of the assignment

10:29

with Audie Cornish, wherever you get your

10:31

podcasts. Before

10:38

the break, I asked David Chaly

10:40

in the question, will this debate

10:43

actually change anyone's minds? I

10:45

realized, though, this is a question probably

10:47

best answered by the people actually doing

10:50

the voting. So on Monday

10:52

afternoon, my producer and Atlanta resident,

10:54

Grace, and I headed out to

10:56

talk to some of them. We

11:04

found ourselves right outside Mercedes-Benz Stadium,

11:06

the big football stadium in downtown

11:09

Atlanta. It is like

11:11

a spaceship, but

11:16

even more so, I guess is how I would

11:18

describe the look of this odd

11:20

stadium. And next to it, there

11:22

are a series of grass

11:25

athletic fields and

11:27

volleyball nets and soccer

11:30

goals. And we're going to see

11:32

if anybody wants to talk to us. People

11:38

were playing pickup volleyball and soccer in the

11:40

blazing sun. It was 95 degrees

11:43

with a nice, hot, gusty wind

11:45

blowing. Really pleasant stuff. We're

11:48

just asking some questions about the presidential debate

11:50

in town this week. Do you guys have

11:52

any thoughts about that? And

11:54

some of the people we talked to weren't

11:56

even aware that a debate was happening on

11:58

Thursday. Remember, the call The Copa America tournament

12:01

is underway, and there's a big game

12:03

at Mercedes-Benz Stadium the very same night

12:05

at the debate. Oh, you

12:07

guys are more interested in the soccer

12:09

than the politics, I guess. Okay,

12:12

will you be watching? Probably

12:15

not, no. Bradley is

12:17

a political science PhD student at

12:19

Emory University, but even he didn't

12:21

seem interested. I don't think

12:23

anything new is going to come up, right?

12:25

Like are they going to announce a brand

12:28

new policy position in the debate or a

12:30

chance for their speechwriters to really practice their

12:32

one-liners? If you're a speechwriter, it's a good

12:34

exercise to listen to, but maybe

12:36

not sure. I think it's more theatrics

12:39

than anything substantive. Yeah. Bradley

12:41

says he did vote for President Biden in 2020,

12:44

but like so many other Democrats, he isn't

12:46

exactly rushing back to the ballot box to

12:48

vote for him again. Have you

12:50

been satisfied with the last four years of

12:53

him in office? Just

12:56

depends on what policy positions you're concerned about. I

12:59

wish we had somebody who was a little bit on the

13:01

younger side, who relate a little bit more to my age

13:04

group, but I feel like he's done it.

13:06

Emma feels similarly. She's a nurse who

13:08

says having another Biden-Trump matchup makes her

13:10

nervous, but she also still plans

13:12

to vote for Biden despite her reservations.

13:15

I just think

13:18

Trump is going for, I think, a

13:20

different demographic. I think he's already- As

13:22

well as the former president looks to make

13:24

inroads among black voters, one

13:27

man told us that he feels like Trump

13:29

is in the best position to win, and

13:31

he pointed to specific ways that Trump is

13:33

trying to boost support within the black community.

13:35

He's definitely been with a lot of rappers.

13:38

I know you've seen he's been in Philly

13:40

with some rapper. He's been in New York with

13:43

Chef Keith. He's trying to get the black different

13:45

rapper I think to go for him. Of

13:48

course, the black community, or any community

13:50

for that matter, is not a monolith.

13:52

Not everyone takes their political cues from

13:54

celebrities, but regardless of the reason, recent

13:57

polls do show that some black men are

14:00

more open to supporting the Republican nominee

14:02

than in the past. And

14:04

remember, President Biden won Georgia in 2020 by just

14:06

11,779 votes. He

14:11

can't afford to lose many of his

14:13

coalition in this crucial swing state this

14:15

time around, either to apathy or

14:18

to anger over perceived economic struggles

14:20

or U.S. support for Israel's war

14:22

in Gaza. But at the same

14:25

time, the campaign is actually hoping

14:27

to capitalize on anger to mobilize their

14:29

base — anger over

14:31

abortion access. So

14:36

we went to a place that is on the

14:38

front lines of that issue — one of just

14:40

13 abortion clinics left in

14:42

the state of Georgia. Welcome

14:44

to our training here today. Feminist

14:47

Women's Health Center is about 25 minutes

14:49

north of downtown Atlanta, tucked away in

14:52

an average-looking brown brick building off of

14:54

I-85. They offer

14:56

all kinds of services — wellness

14:58

exams, birth control, gender-affirming care, and

15:01

abortions, which are currently banned after six

15:04

weeks of pregnancy under Georgia law. And

15:07

in a small downstairs room, six women

15:09

were being trained on how to be

15:11

clinic escorts and how to

15:13

deal with the inevitable anti-abortion activists.

15:16

Never, never, never play security

15:18

with them. Our safety comes

15:20

first. We here. Drew Robinson,

15:22

the clinic's leadership development manager, walked them

15:24

through the ins and outs of the

15:27

job. The role is to assist

15:29

our patients and guide them to check-in and

15:31

security. Escorts should make

15:33

each patient feel safe and as

15:35

they care. This clinic has hired security

15:37

guards — not all clinics do. So

15:40

the only thing the escorts have to do is

15:42

meet the patient at their car and walk them

15:44

to the check-in counter. They

15:51

really oppose this. Sometimes

15:54

we have little snakes and

15:57

rodents out here. Yeah, we

15:59

just found a cure. cute orange snake out here.

16:02

Yeah, it wasn't that cute, but it

16:04

was scary. The

16:08

entrance to the clinic is on top of a

16:10

pretty steep hill. At the bottom of this hill,

16:12

at the entrance to the parking lot, there

16:14

was an orange cone marking a line on

16:17

the concrete. Never cross that. It's the orange

16:19

line that's drawn. That's

16:21

where they stand. They're not supposed to come

16:23

across, and you don't go across,

16:25

okay? So

16:29

everyone come in. That

16:33

hill is no joke. Yeah. Inside

16:36

the clinic, Tiffany took the group to see every

16:38

part of the process a patient would go through

16:40

when they come in for an abortion. So

16:43

this is our main OR. We

16:45

have two, but we only utilize one right now. In

16:48

the operating room, Tiffany pointed to the

16:51

ceiling. She says she had painted colorful

16:53

butterflies right above the operating table. So

16:55

patients wouldn't be staring up at a

16:57

blank wall before they're about to undergo

17:00

the procedure. She said model

17:02

Chrissy Teigen had noticed them during a recent tour

17:04

of the clinic and had mentioned

17:06

it at a White House event with Vice

17:08

President Kamala Harris just last week. She talked

17:11

about these butterflies just at the White House, and

17:13

I put these up. So I was

17:15

proud when they talked about it. I was like, oh, I'll

17:17

get those butterflies up. They just

17:19

didn't interview. The timing

17:21

of our visit was notable. We were there

17:23

two years to the day since the Supreme

17:26

Court issued what's become known as the Dobbs

17:28

ruling, which overturned Roe versus Wade. Feminist

17:31

Women's Health says they currently see about 78 abortion

17:34

patients a week, which is about half of

17:36

what they used to see before Georgia's six-week

17:38

ban was allowed by courts to go into

17:40

effect. And in the two years

17:43

since Dobbs, we've heard so much

17:45

about how this issue of abortion

17:47

rights has energized Democrats above all

17:49

other issues. How people have turned

17:51

out to make sure those rights are protected in

17:53

their state when it's been on the ballot. The

17:56

question is, though, will they do the same

17:58

thing this year historically unpopular

18:00

Democrat at the top of the

18:02

ticket. Kate is ready.

18:05

I'm ready. Well, one of the

18:07

volunteers who came out to Feminist Women's Health was

18:10

willing to talk to me about that. I'm

18:14

Kate Morgan and I

18:17

live in Gwinnett County. You know, when it comes to,

18:19

you know, elections, is there one

18:21

political party you associate with? I

18:23

am actually a recent Democrat within the last few years. What

18:26

brought you over? Tops. I

18:29

got really sick after I had to get my IED

18:31

switched out two years early. I survived a rape when

18:33

I was 19 years old and a stalker year later. Duchenne's

18:36

muscular dystrophy runs in my family. If

18:38

I were to get pregnant, I would likely be permanently disabled

18:40

and would rather take my own life. So

18:42

reproductive rights? Reproductive rights, LGBT

18:45

rights, I'm openly bi. I

18:49

mean, yeah, the economy sucks, but I think it just is what

18:51

it is. The economy stinks

18:54

in your view. Do you blame President

18:56

Biden for that? I mean, I think

18:58

there's a little bit of blame, but I've mostly blamed the

19:00

corporations. I think corporate greed. I think some of these employers

19:02

out here are just wild. I'm

19:04

looking for a new job right now. And I'm telling you right

19:06

now, some of the jobs I've applied for or looked at,

19:08

they're like, even with the degree,

19:10

it's like, once you have a degree, you do

19:12

all this stuff, but their pay is like nothing.

19:15

It's not enough to survive off of. The

19:17

presidential matchup in general, Biden and

19:19

Trump again, same one

19:21

four years later. How do you feel about

19:24

having the same choices? I just can't believe Trump's allowed

19:26

to run. I mean, I'm

19:31

not thrilled, but I'll vote for Biden. I

19:35

mean, I voted third party for years and I regret it

19:37

because it was no

19:39

good. And

19:42

you said since Dobbs, since 2022,

19:44

you've been aligned with

19:46

Democrats because of the reproductive rights issue.

19:48

Yeah. I mean, there are other things too,

19:50

but that's basically what got me over and then the LGBT whenever

19:54

I see anyone trying to ban things,

19:56

it's just really, it's a red flag

19:58

and it's the. The fact

20:00

that people aren't more concerned and aren't more

20:02

vocal is horrifying to me. Do

20:05

you know a lot

20:07

of people that are motivated solely by

20:09

this issue that are planning to

20:12

vote for Biden? I

20:14

know quite a few people who are. I've heard, I've had

20:16

some people tell me that they're not and

20:19

that they're still not voting for Biden for other reasons. That it's not

20:21

enough of a drone. I'll

20:24

be honest, these are people I talked to months ago that could have

20:26

changed. I hope it changed. I

20:28

give the platonic vote your conscience, but in reality

20:30

I want to tell them, get your head

20:33

out of your butt. I

20:38

think it's going to play a part, but I

20:40

think people are just not mad enough. People are

20:42

not taking this seriously. Why

20:44

do you think that is? Well, I mean, we've been spoiled

20:46

in this country. We haven't had to fight for certain things.

20:51

In LGBT rights, but for

20:53

my generation, I'm a millennial, we

20:56

haven't really had to see the

20:58

suffering caused by abortion bans. And

21:00

a lot of the other laws said they want to repeal. There's

21:04

a debate on Thursday night between Biden and Trump?

21:06

Where are you where? Oh, I

21:08

got sucked into going to a watch party. So you're

21:10

going to be watching? Yes, sadly. Okay.

21:15

I'm wondering because you mentioned that there's some

21:17

people that in your view are not angry

21:19

enough. Do you think something like

21:21

a debate would get them to that

21:23

point? I just think some people are just, I don't

21:27

want to say stupid, but just ignorant.

21:30

I mean, I'll be honest, I kept up with

21:32

politics some, but not as much as I probably should have.

21:35

And it's hard when you have things like work,

21:37

school. I don't have kids, but I like

21:39

people with kids. You're tired. The

21:41

last thing you do is see two old white

21:44

guys yelling at each other and being ridiculous.

21:47

But hopefully they will. I

21:49

think a lot of people, I don't

21:51

know that many people are going to tune into the election or

21:54

not to the election, excuse me, the debate, but

21:56

I'm cautiously optimistic, but

21:59

it does worry me. that Biden isn't leading by a

22:01

bigger margin. Well, thank you so

22:03

much for your time. I really appreciate it. Before

22:08

we go, I know November feels

22:10

really far off, but if you're

22:13

wondering about things like voter registration

22:15

deadlines, voting by mail, early voting,

22:18

CNN has compiled all that information

22:20

for you in one place, state

22:22

by state. Just check out cnn.com/vote.

22:25

Again, that's cnn.com/vote. And

22:27

remember, you can watch the CNN Presidential

22:29

Debate Thursday night at 9 p.m. on

22:31

CNN, of course. And we'll be back

22:33

here on Friday morning with a special

22:35

episode to break down everything that happened.

22:38

So make sure you're following the show wherever you listen.

22:42

["The CNN

22:54

Audio." This episode was produced by

22:56

Grace Walker, Paola Ortiz, and me,

22:59

David Rind. Our senior producer is

23:01

Fez Jamil. Our supervising producer is

23:03

Greg Peppers. Matt Dempsey is our

23:05

production manager. Dan D'Zula is our

23:08

technical director. And Steve Lichtai is

23:10

the executive producer of CNN Audio.

23:12

We get support from Haley Thomas,

23:14

Alex Manisari, Robert Mathers, John Deonora,

23:17

Laini Steinhardt, James Andres, Nicole Pesseroo,

23:19

and Lisa Namarau. Special

23:21

thanks to Alexa Benowitz, Emily

23:23

Kuhn, Dylan Rose Geerlings,

23:25

Anna Jaeger, Mark Preston,

23:27

Matt Abshire, Lacey Russell,

23:29

Nadir Nikopour, Claudia Morales,

23:31

Karma Hassan, and Katie

23:33

Hinman. Like I said, we'll be back

23:35

on Friday. I'll talk to you then. ["The

23:38

CNN Audio." This episode is produced by

23:40

Grace Walker. It's

23:44

a production of the CNN Audio. If

23:46

you miss an episode of Fareed Zakaria

23:48

GPS on CNN, you can still stay

23:50

informed by listening to our podcast. Join

23:53

me, Fareed Zakaria, as I take a

23:55

comprehensive look at world affairs and the

23:57

pressing issues of the day. Every

23:59

week, I... I bring you my take,

24:01

plus in-depth interviews and roundtable

24:03

discussions. Listen and

24:05

follow for Read Zaccaria GPS on

24:08

your favorite podcast app.