been out and a lot of communication went out and the traffic looks fine. we communicated immensely about the traffic delays. so far so good. >> c-span your unfiltered view of government. funded by these television companies and more. including wow. >> the world has changed. today the fast reliable internet connection is something no one can live without. wow is there for our customers with speed, reality and choice. now more than ever, it all starts with great internet. >> wow, support c-span as a public serce along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> a very good thursday morning to you. you can start calling in now. some headlines on tonight's presidential debate. from the front page of "usa

today," presidential debate, opportunity and risk. they write, biden is aiming to change the narrative regarding his age, while donald trump will be playing offense and defense. l street journal," daniel henan injure has the byline on it, and he writes, it is not even going to be two guys on barstools at your local watering hole. debate on policy issues is what most voters would like to see, but they are unlikely to get any viewers and they will probably be disappointed if they don't get a cage match, no matter how much microphone muting cnn moderators impose, referencing the debate rules tonight. here they are, relead cnn earlier. it is a 90-minut debate th

two commercial breaks throughout. therarno prompts or prewritt nes aloud. caidates will be given a pen, pad of paper, and a bottle of ter. positions will be determined by a coin flip and microphones will be muted unless it is the candidates turn to speak. there is no live studio audience and moderators will "use all the tools at their disposal to enforce timing and ensure a civilized discussion and cnn is hosting that debate tonight. it begins this evening at 9:00 p.m. eastern time and you will also be able to silcast it on c-span2 and the free c-span mobile app. reminder, we will have a preview of the debate on c-span two, 8:00 p.m. eastern, and also reaction and your phone calls to tonight's presidential debate,

10:40 p.m. eastern, that is happening tonight and this morning on "washington journal," do presidential debate still matter? asking you 64 years after the first presidential debate took place, back in 1960. it was richard nixon and john kennedy. here is one minutes of that debate. [video clip] >> the vice president has said you were naive and at times immature. on this issue, why do you think people should vote for you rather than the vice president? >> the vice president and i came to the congress together, 1946, i have been there now for 14 years, so that our experience in government is comparable. secondly, i think the question is, what are the programs we advocate? i come out of the democratic

party, which in this century, has produced woodrow wilson and harry truman, and which has sustained these programs, which i have discussed tonight. mr. nixon comes out of the republican party, nominated, and it is a fact that most of the 25 years, republican leadership has opposed federal aid for education, medical care for the agents, development of the tennessee valley, natural resources. i think mr. nixon is an effective leader of this party and i hope you would grant me the same. the question is, which point of view and which party do we want to lead the united states? >> mr. nixon, would you like to comment? >> i have no comment. [end video clip] host: john kennedy and richard nixon in a debate that many people in that era and aris looking back on that debate said mattered very much. do presidential debates still matter today in 2024? (202)-748-8001 for republicans.

democrats, (202)-748-8000. independents, (202)-748-8002. having this conversation in the first 90 minutes, a reminder that the house comes in at 9:00 a.m. eastern, so it is a two hour show. a shorter program because we will take you to the house, gavel to gavel at 9:00 a.m. eastern. we start in pennsylvania, do debates still matter? caller: in my opinion, absolutely, presidential debates do matter. i'm excited to watch tonight's debate. that being said, i do have concerns. anyone paying attention to politics the past nine years, regardless of their political stance, have to admit the mainstream media [indiscernible] especially cnn, but not to see some of the criticism over the years hasn't been deserved, but

a lot of it was. i have no problem with media and their perspective, but i wish they would not insult viewer intelligence by claiming not to be objective when they clearly are. i truly wish it was c-span hosting the debate tonight. you are by far the only ones these days capable of moderating a truly unbiased debate between these two. host: what do you think about the changes of microphone muting and the no live audience? is that a good thing? caller: i have mixed feelings, the microphone muting, i think in my opinion will benefit president trump, not to say that some of those times in past debates were cut off of the opponent were not merited, but i feel like a lot of people, especially if they are not decided that they will vote for president trump, i feel like that turns a lot of independents off, the constant bickering and back and forth. host: you think it will help president trump. what do you think it means for

president biden? caller: i think the thing that would help president trump would be negative for president biden, but i wish there was a live audience because i love hearing real-time reaction. overall, as locker -- as long as they do their best to be unbiased, i think it will be a good debate all around. host: the debate is on cnn at 9:00 p.m. eastern, simulcasting it on c-span2. you can stay on c-span2 for the postdebate show, as all. taking your phone calls this morning, do presidential debates still matter? steve, azeri, independent. caller: as far as the debate goes, [indiscernible] people have already made up their minds. trump is a felon. i think he ought to be disqualified just for that.

we need more parties, we need a good independent party in this country, and i just think it will be a waste of time. thank you, c-span. host: a waste of time that you will spend time watching or no? i think we lost steve. this is jack, virginia. good morning. caller: good morning. i would say i'm moderate bentley more to the republican side. [indiscernible] host: i think we lost jack, so, laura, brooklyn, go ahead. caller: yes. i think the debates are necessary. i hope that joe biden talks about the conspiracy theory,

especially with all of the criminal charges against donald trump, and, republicans, remember, the charges are not against you, they are against donald trump, financial fraud, insurance flood, tax fraud -- insurance fraud, and tax fraud in new york state, and withholding of documents that were illegal. host: laura, when you talk about the conspiracy theories, you would like them to be talked about in the debate? caller: caller: -- caller: i think the democrats and joe biden have allowed too many conspiracy theories to be out here for trump people to believe. they have not done enough to, you know, let the troops be out there. it is obvious that the maga

republicans do not do academic research. they don't even believe in academic research, but those conspiracy theories cannot even be submitted in the college essay or any kind of academic research report because they are lies and not true. i just wish that biden, the democrats had done more to direct people to the truth and where to look for the truth. host: that is laura in brooklyn. asking you this morning of presidential debates still matter, it is a good bet that tens of millions of americans will be watching tonight's debate. exactly how many is up in the air, but here's a list of the most-watched presidential debate in history. at 84 million viewe, it was the first debate between hillary clinton and donald trump back in 16, the most-watched presidential debate, following

up in 1980, president jimmy carter and ronald reagan with 81 million viewers that year and 2020, the last time joe biden and donald trump facebook in their firs debate, they received 70 million eyeballs and it fell off steeply after that, with 63 million, the fourth most-watched of all time, president bush, will clinton, and ross perot, their second debate back in 1992, 70 million viewers and 70 million viewers in 1976, president gerald ford and jimmy carter in their first residential debate, the most-watched in u.s. history. we will see how many eyeballs to get tonight and asking you, do the debate still matter? alice, chicago, independent. good morning. caller: i'm wondering, it seems unfair that both of the debates

by liberal media shouldn't there be one liberal and one conservative? host: it is cnn and fox. do you think fox's liberal? caller: i thought it was cnn and abc -- yeah, cnn and abc, are you saying 1 -- host: yes, i apologize, and abc. who would you trust to host the debate? caller: well, one liberal and one conservative, somebody from fox or have the people doing the interviews on the debates, have two of them, have one be liberal and one conservative. host: do the hosts matter to you? caller: oh, yes. i read not long ago when

somebody was interviewing joe biden that he had been given the questions prior to the interview, and the interviewer could not go anywhere away from those questions, they had to be the exact same questions. host: where did you read that? caller: actually, i read that on the internet. i don't know if it is true, but it sounds like it would be true, given that he seems to have a little bit of dementia, and this is the kind of thing that he would like. i'm wondering if that is going to happen with the debates. it definitely should be one liberal and one conservative. host: cnn tonight and abc on september 10 is the second presidential debate.

the national conventions for republicans and democrats, this debate actually coming before the candidates are officially named as the nominees at those conventions. it is the earliest presidential televised debate in history. good morning. caller: yes, they are very important, i think. before you came on this morning, i turned it cnn, and i can tell, it is going to be a joke tonight because they are already lying. they created videos that had been debunked in the video said,

had trump on january 6 that he told the people to go to the capital and fight like help -- capitol and fight like hell, and that is not what trump said. i'm surprised that they play that video. host: how much do you think january 6 will factor in tonight's presidential debate? caller: i'm sure that they will bring it up, but i don't think it is going to matter to the people. if they had followed january 6 and how all of the happened and there is more yet to come on that.

so i'm just waiting. i'm excited about watching it tonight and i don't even believe that it will be the real joe biden. i think the technology is so great now that they could make a mess and a good look exactly like the person. host: susan, former president trump would be on stage with joe biden tonight. you are saying if they used ai, wouldn't he notice? caller: would he notice? yeah, i believe everybody is going to notice that something is not right. i mean, look at the state of the union address. you could clearly tell that biden was hopped up on something

because i have watched joe biden when he has had fundraisers, and joe biden is not the kind of person. no. host: that is season in south carolina. on the issues that will be talked about tonight, the questions and subject matter, it is former speaker of the house newt gingrich washing in today's "washington times" calling for the american people presidential debate. "a portion will clearly be the most contentious issue -- "abortion clearly be the most contentious issue in tonight's debate, only 16.7 ranked abortion as their top issue. that top choice was inflation and rising costs, and then 21.8% were worried about border security and 21% were worried

about jobs and economic growth. "abortion," he writes "get a lot of issue from the media. economic issues on the border crisis matter more to most americans. it will be interesting to see if the moderators and candidates talk about establishment washington political topics or discuss what matters most to americans." that is new to gringo writing into -- that is newt gingrich writing in today's "washington post the supreme court ruling on that idaho -- "washington post." the supreme court ruling on that idaho case, and they had a brief post yesterday but it was taken down about the idaho abortion case. "the new york times" writes that the supreme court seems poised to temporarily allow emergency abortions in idaho when a woman's health is at risk,

according to a copy of what appeared to be the opinion that showed up recently on their website on wednesday. unsigned opinion is on procedural grounds, stating that the court would now not address the merits of the issue, and his spokeswoman for the court said it is a decision in the joint cases, including the idaho case, that would eventually be released by the courts. today is another decision day, 10:00 a.m. eastern is when we will see those opinions handed down. we will find out very quickly what opinions come today. this is mike in huntington, indiana, good morning. independent. caller: good morning. i will tell you, i don't think it will make any difference because this country has lost its way. there is no way that we can make it better because there's no

common sense. i mean, the border, for instance, how many people can they vent in a month. they should not let anybody over until they have caught up. host: thou smite in indiana. harold and ohio, good morning. you are next. caller: yes. i got two questions for donald trump. one is, how do you plan to reduce inflation? two, name me three things he would do in his health care plan. host: do you think you will get answers to those questions tonight? caller: no, i don't because he doesn't have one, and to reduce inflation, you have got to

reduce need, so whenever supply is less than demand, you will have inflation. donald trump does not know how to reduce inflation. he does not know how to reduce it because he is all for the big man. that is my statement. host: florida, phil is next. caller: good morning. can you hear me ok? host: yes sir. caller: thank you. i was hoping that you could give us a little history on the change from when the league of union voters, who used to hook the debate, they were giving way to the republican party and the democratic party, joining

together to form a private corporation, which takes control of the presidential debates. i believe that happened after the debates in 1992, when an independent was joining the republican and the democrat ross perot, and he was getting 20% of the vote were truly concerned which helps the democrat and democrat -- host: the presidential debate is what you are referring to? that started in 1988 was the first one. caller: oh, because i thought the league of women voters -- traditionally, there were like the independent nonpartisan, and this has been brought up by a number of callers this morning that as far as he was during the

debates -- host: they are not doing it this time. they're working directly with cnn and abc in the september 10 debate on abc, to coordinate these and come up with the rules. caller: i misspoke then, but i think the issue would like to get at is there was a time when the league of women voters were doing these debates, and there was a time when going outside of the traditional mccright republican party actually had an independent on the stage, and we are only drinking pepsi and coke, as they say, and you hear the term unity party -- uni party more and more these days, tweedledee, tweedledum, and i

think more americans are feeling that way, and i was hoping that we could talk more about what it used to be. remember, they used to be exit polls, you know, before all these questions, the vote counting and all of that, they stopped doing exit polls because that was a more realistic measure of who is actually getting the most votes. i remember one more thing, in 2000, when they had the questioning of paper ballots, you had private corporations, dominion and all of them, that was introduced, like a problem and reaction solution almost. it would nice to have somebody spend some time on when things changed. host: pew research service has

the history of presidential debates, that's what you originally asked about. the first debates in 1960 through 1988, that matchup between george w. bush and michael dukakis, the candidates answered questions from a panel of journalists during the moderators job was mostly to explain and enforce ground rules and keep proceedings moving. in the 1980's, the panel format was in trouble, saying that it resembled a joint press conference more than a debate and that the journalist panel to too much attention away from the candidates. the league of women voters, which organized several debates through in the towel, leaving the job to the newly created commission on presidential debates and in 1992, they tried a variety of approaches, along with introducing the town hall format, and the commission decided to use only the single moderator and town hall formats going forward, and, today, this

is the first presidential debate since the late 1980's that was not organized by the commission on presidential debates, and we are with cnn and abc with these two. catherine, tennessee, good morning, you are next. caller: hi, can you hear me? host: yes ma'am. caller: i apologize, sir, i'm flipping through channels this morning, killing time in the hospital, and i came across this survey, can you remind me of your name? host: i'm john. caller: yes, thank you for having me. yes and no, so, no, short story, no from my point of view, i just wanted to chime in as i could as a 38-year-old white female living in tennessee, my whole

family, five of us, mom, dad, brothers, sisters, knee, out of the five, i'm the blue sheep -- sorry, black sheep. host: you are calling on our line for democrats. caller: right, yes, i don't vote. i don't vote, i don't vote. calmly independent if you would like, i'm of the opinion that i guess like a lot of young people that my vote does not matter. does that make sense? host: there are a lot of young people who feel that way and people of all ages who feel that way. caller: yeah, so i saw this, and i'm killing time, waiting for people to wake up, so i thought, well, i'm going to call that show, maybe babble, so thank you. host: you can call in once a month on this program and make your opinion known. caller: no kidding. host: hope you are doing well at

the hospital and give us a call back. caller: wonderful. that is all i wanted to say, but i will leave you with all four of my people are hard-core trumps and i'm a passionate liberal. i just do not vote. no, the debate does not matter. host: patty is in connecticut, independent, good morning. caller: good morning. can you give me time to speak? i hear people calling in and saying trump is known as a felon, well, i have a label. how about a murder biden? these young girls being raped, murdered by illegals that he let into this country, and, now, this is what he stands for. he is a murderer, and another thing, if you have ever watched cnn, especially during the trial that new york, i mean, he could not get enough.

when he hates someone, there is no stopping him. he is like a savage. i think this is a big mistake with him and what is her name? host: you think it is a mistake by the trump campaign to accept? caller: they have no choice. host: why don't they? caller: who runs this country? the democrats. host: why don't you think donald trump had a choice on participating in this debate? caller: because they would not give him the debate if you got a choice, this was the only way he would get it, so he went along with it, and i could understand that. if you watch cnn and msnbc, they are obsessed. it is almost sickening. i just cannot believe that we are living in today, but about these murders with these young girls, it is making me sick.

i have a daughter. i feel for these people, and this man is going to be our president again? and it was the same thing when they had the documents. they are not going to do nothing about him having all these documents, biden, because he's not in his right mind. host: do you think you will be president again? caller: pardon me? host: do you think joe biden will be president again? donald trump is ahead -- caller: i hope not. that is all i will say. host: this is frank, florida, good morning, you are next. caller: good morning. yes, i do think presidential debates still matter. host: why is that? caller: because if you are educated, you are listening to what the promises are, what the policies are, their platforms. unfortunately, when we had the primaries, mr. trump did not

show up for the primary debate, so i'm shocked about that and that you can still be president when you don't even show up to debates for primary people. it is a conundrum. we would like to listen to all the promises the candidates present and see if they follow through when they become president. that is my opinion. host: that is frank in florida, a few of your comment lrence rose writing in on facebook that the candas, if they were more ith middle, it would matter, but they are either fa left or far right. yoalready know where they are and every subject they will cover tonight. michael watson same, "not really, everyone eieroves or hates trump. no one in between, very few undecided voters, it will not make much of a difference, both sides feel like their candidat won."

and jonathan saying, "they matt me than anything." cody saying, "most of the times their opinions are so stale that it seems like a jerry springer show that was aired on the lifetime channel." some of the debate rules have been changed in 2024 from the debate in 2020, including dr. for muting. we will see how that works out, along with the lack of an audience. i would like to take you respect to 2020 and so you a moment from that 2020 debate, one of the youtube romans and internet moments that came from that debate. [video clip] >> are you willing to tell the american people tonight whether or not you will support ending the filibuster -- >> whatever position i take, that will be the issue, the issue is the american people should speak. you should go out and vote. vote and let your senators know how you feel.

vote now. make sure that you are fact let people know. i'm not going to answer the question-- >> why won't you answer the question? >> will you shut up, man? >> who was on your list, joe? >> gentlemen -- [overlapping talking] >> we have ended this segment. we will move onto to the next. >> that was really a productive segment, right? >> keep yapping, the people understand, joe, 47 years, you've done nothing. >> the second subject, covid-19. [end video clip] host: that was from the first debate of 2020. we will see how the debate goes tonight when those two meet again on stage, the debate hosted by cnn starts at 9:00 p.m. eastern, you can watch it on cnn or c-span2. it is being simulcast here, and if you do that, you can watch our preshow and post-show.

carrie, illinois, republican. what do you think about these debates? caller: i think president trump did not have any choice, either you accept -- he is a coward. he is not going to show up. well, he accepted. now, let me speak, cnn, msnbc, and all those local channels all reported about [indiscernible] they knew it was false. fox news, foxbusiness, they did not report it like they did. they knew it was phony, so they told the truth. and we see how fake news is, so i think trump gets to pick, one person asked the question, biden

picks the other person to ask the question, and the other place picks whatever place they would like. now, debbie welshman, or whatever you would like to call her -- and probably pronouncing her name wrong, and the other black woman, and even c-span has been caught giving questions to other people about the debates. now, you are looking funny at me, and you know your guy did that with michael coden. so i hope to god president trump gets back in there, and biden is a squatter in the white house. that is all i have got to say. host: that is terry in illinois, peter, florida, democrat, good morning. caller: yes sir. good morning.

i am with progressive alliance, and we had speakers from the county, and also the woman's equal rights, and the one thing that we got out of this is that what they would say is that it was important for us. host: for you to what and how does this relate to the presidential debate? caller: no, it was important for us and for other people to go out and encourage people to vote. just like the lady spoke earlier as she was complaining about things, but if you don't exercise your vote, then you are not exercising your voice, and you have got to have a voice, sir. that is all i can say. host: do you think presidential debates are going to help get more people to vote this year? caller: i hope so.

i hope so, but, you know, sometimes it is an accident. different people see it and they take away different things from what happened. host: peter in florida, this is keith, north carolina, morning. you are next. caller: good morning john, america. how is everybody doing today? of course they do because this is an opportunity for the american people to hear what each of the candidates have to say. but a very different take on it but before he talk about that, i have to give you kudos for not jumping out the window behind you for some of these callers like biden is wearing a mask? seriously customer i think what should happen is this is a great opportunity because you have the two candidates in the same room together, head-to-head, so i would eliminate the moderators

in the sense that it is not going to be biased. what i would do is have each candidate come up with a list of 10 questions, one for biden, 10 for trump, and they go back and forth. biden asks trump a question, trump answers, trump asks biden a question, he answers, and then go back and forth. it just turns into a rally, and i like the fact that there are no questions coming from the press so there is no so-called bias. host: do you think they would actually answer each other's questions? caller: so, that is to be seen. and if they don't, that says something, also. host: would you put time limits on that? the idea of a moderator is to keep the debate moving along, whatever format it has been in

over the years, the moderator is there to try to keep the debates moving. do you think it reverts to arguing if it is just a two on stage talking to each other for 90 minutes? caller: no, well, there has to be some kind of control. i don't know, five minutes each, ever the case, but the moderator would be there. that is the question on behalf of the candidate, but there have to be some kind of time limit, like five minutes for each, and the question takes like two seconds to ask, and give the other candidate five minutes to answer, and then that's it, just straight answer, question, answer, question, like the "snl" having the counterpoints -- if anybody remembers those from the 1970's. host: thank you. lloyd, west virginia, republican line. do presidential debate still

matter? caller: good morning. i think the debates are a bunch of crap. we all know what biden has done in what he hasn't done, we all know what trump tried to do during his term and covid kept them from accomplishing much of anything, and i'm not sure the democrats did not have something to do with bringing in covid. look what cuomo did in new york to the old people when he put them with covid and killed them. biden will get trump to run his mouth so much that he looks and sounds bad, and that is what these debates are about. host: do you think donald trump is going to run his mouth too much tonight? caller: well, he usually does. he usually gets out of hand with that.

other than that, he is a good man. host: lloyd in west virginia. dan, nasa 26, good morning. caller: -- host: dan, massachusetts, good morning. caller: thank you for having me on. a shout out to phil from florida earlier, who talked about the league of women voters, and that seems like -- there has to be some kind of neutral group in charge of the debates or i guess -- or it gets crazy, and he made a lot of good points. host: do cnn and abc count has neutral groups in your mind? caller: no, obviously not. there is the league of women voters, they were responsible for presidential debates for a while, and what we have seen over time is the independence of debates, the independence of our

elections are handled, the independence of media, the independence of corporate america. we have watched everything take a really bad turn against the american people, and what phil brought up was so important, john. what he said about the elections in the past -- host: what was the last presidential debate that you remember that you think really matter? caller: you know, increasingly, over time, it has turned into a show, you know? the substance is less, and it has turned into a production in the show, and i think what we are going to see with cnn is the most production type of debate

that is ever done, and just the other part was filled with the voting, so we have completely lost accountability to our entire voting system, and i think a lot of people realize this. our big government america, big corporate america, big media america, they are using a strong arm, and it is going against the will of the american people. we see it every single day, and our elections have become so corrupt and not independent, and unverifiable. most of the people realize this. host: dan in massachusetts. coming up on 7:45. another 45 minutes of the segment of "washington journal,"

asking you if debates still matter. full lines as usual. here's the headline on tonight's debate from "the new york times" this morning, in a televised debate, one quick kind of find race, and the first clip that they noted in many over the years is ronald reagan in 1984 when it came to concerns of his age and that race. here that is from october of 1984. [video clip] >> mr. president, i would like to raise an issue that has been lurking for two or three weeks. you already are the oldest president in history, and some of your staff said you were tired after most recent encounter with mr. mondale. i recalled that president kennedy had to go for days on end with little sleep during the cuban missile crisis. is there any doubt in your mind

that you would be able to function in such circumstances? >> not at all, and i would like you to know that, also, i will not make age an issue in the campaign. i will not exploit for political purposes my opponent's youth and inexperience. [laughter] [applause] if i still have time, i might add that it was seneca or cicero, i don't know which, said, if it was not for the elders, correcting the mistakes of the young, there would be no state." -- state. [end video clip] host: that was president reagan, he was 73 years old. in this debate, president biden

is 81 and president trump is 78. to virginia, good morning. caller: good morning. i'm on-air, right? host: yes sir, do presidential debates still matter? caller: of course they matter. i mean, the thing is, the two candidates are so opposite, you know? i cannot understand how anybody could vote for donald trump. he's gone into the capitol, more or less ordering a bloodbath. it is just unbelievable what trump people think.

even with the supreme court, listing the bans on the bum stocks. it is almost incoherent to do something that -- host: philip, independent, good morning, you are next. caller: good morning. i don't think this debate will matter much because, as we heard from the last caller and others before, republicans are set in their ways and democrats are pretty much set in their ways. they have their frame of reference, they see things the way they do. i'm an independent voter. i voted for both parties, but i can see that these debates are just framed by ineffective a unity party -- uni-party system, both candidates of both parties

frame the issues around the fringes of really controversial things that do not matter and do not affect the quality of our lives. there is really one independent candidate who is being excluded, and he is a legitimate, qualified, intelligent candidate who presents a real threat to both parties and is a true populist in the sense that he takes some of the best ideas and positions, i think, from the republican side and democratic side of the aisle, and he synthesizes -- sympathizes in rational, really thoughtful positions, and i think it is a shame that rfk junior has been excluded from the debate stage by cnn, and, in effect, by both

parties. they do not want his ideas presented. they do not want the real issues presented to the american people because those thoughtful, thinking americans who realize there is a lot of control going on here, -- and this is why so many voters are disillusioned. it is really just the decoration of voting here. host: do you think he will be excluded from the second debate, the abc? caller: i certainly hope not because he really is, and i have listened to him, and i have read, also, some of the pieces about him, and it is just a sham. it is outrageous how he is portrayed when you listen to his

words. he is thoughtful, intelligent, and, you know, i believe a truly sincere and honest person, so you can see where i stand. i did vote for donald trump in 2020, i did not vote for him in 2016 because i thought it was embarrassing the way he behaved on the republican debate stage. i do believe the man has matured. his demeanor has changed. i think he has been through a lot. look at what they have put him through, but i still don't trust him. he locked us down, after all. look. this is the president who allowed public health officials to run roughshod over all president and -- precedent and recent leading public mines in

the health communities who rewrote the declaration and stood up to for alex saatchi and those policies pretty allowed your clients to run russia unlocked on the country. host: to the cornhusker state, jerry, republican. good morning. caller: good morning. i'm listening, and i think the best debate i ever heard was kennedy versus nixon. i thought it was fabulous, and a vote for whoever i think is the better candidate. i'm a little upset we did not have more candidates come out because we had a repeat going on here. i think biden has done a better job ever than trump did, and i'm a republican. i don't think trump is there upstairs. host: the nixon-kennedy debate,

did you listen on the radio or watch it on tv? caller: i believe i watched on tv. host: who do you think won that debate? caller: kennedy. [laughter] host: what do you recall about that debate? caller: he was very well spoken, seemed educated, and he was like obama, he had good qualities, he knew what he was talking about. host: and you say that as a republican? caller: yes. host: is there another debate that you recall between 1960 and today that you think sticks out in your mind? caller: i like the reagan debate, what he said about not putting it against other men being too young. host: what do think about ross perot?

caller: i liked ross perot and bernie sanders, too. host: what did you like about perot? caller: he was a businessman and intelligent. i liked ralph nader, too. host: going back to that 1992 debate, ross perot against president george w. bush at the time, and arkansas governor bill clinton. here is a little bit of ross perot from that debate. [video clip] >> an incredible number of young people are active in supporting my efforts because they are deeply concerned that we had taken the american dream from them. i think it is fitting that we are on the campus of the university tonight. these young people, when they get out of this wonderful university will have difficulty finding a job. we have to clean the mess up, leave the country in good shape and pass on the american dream to them. we have to collect the taxes to

do it. if there is another way, i'm all ears. [end video clip] host: ross perot back in 1992. "usa today" on the opted pages today, imploring the candidates today to not ignore the gen z voters. they write that biden is 81, trump is 78, and the oldest of the zoomers generation, the gen z's, are 27, but they both need that generation to out a win in november. well guarantee that gen z will tune in, the majority of us prefer streaming services. candidates should be thinking about how the platform can be truncated, she said, as of june, both candidates are on tiktok, where one third of 18 to

nine-year-olds get their news, according to the pew research center. to get quick remarks that will perform best on tiktok or instagram, candidates will need to stay on topic. they need to aim for soundbites to use on tiktok and instagram and other social media websites. a concern of today's candidates that perhaps certainly passed candidates that bill clinton and george w. bush were not worried about tiktok. niles, kentucky. you are next. caller: morning, john. yes, i do think presidential debate still mattered for two reasons, it is the last chance for candidates to make their sales pitch for platform, and the other reason is the economic impact of presidential debates. i can assure you, there are more and more watch parties, and a lot of them are happening at restaurants. i will be at one tonight, emily and i, my wife.

i assure you, there will be many chicken wings, adult beverages, and food being sold tonight, and this is helpful -- it is not the super bowl -- but it will be helpful for restaurants around town. the thing that is really missing from presidential debates, watching the clips with reagan, ross perot, is the pure joy of presidential debates. it has gotten so mean now, back then, candidates could joke around with each other and it seemed like there was more joy in politics. host: why do you say a last chance to make their pitch to voters? i ask because this is the earliest televised debate, 130 days or so until election day, and the candidates have not even officially been nominated at their party conventions, and there is that september debate on abc. caller: i think the die is cast,

we know who the candidates are going to be. it is very early, and i think a lot of people have already made up their minds. we made up our minds four years ago. we knew who we were not going to vote for. hopefully, this will stay in people's and hopefully there will be another debate down the road, but i think the economic impact on this debate should not be overlooked. host: what restaurant are you going to? who has the best chicken wings in louisville? caller: i don't know about chicken wings but i know about burgers, that would be the tavern. see you there. also, are you all going to have a post -- you know, doing one of your post game -- host: yes, if you can get the tavern to tune into c-span2, you can watch the preshow which begins at 8:00 p.m. eastern and then we will simulcast the cnn debate, so you can watch that on c-span2, and then stick around a

10:40 p.m., eastern time, for the reaction show for the debate. and i know who i will be listening to on my phone. host: appreciate the call. have fun at the tavern tonight. caller: i do think these debates are very important to get these viewpoints in front of the people. so they can actually hear the candidates, but i find it very curious, -- this is luke in columbia, maryland, go ahead, luke.

caller: the debates are really important. i really hope there is some hope that the debate will be framed in a way where the moderators will not be questioning the candidates by what the other said but by what they said and they have done. that would be much more constructive and less volatile. i believe there is just two debates. i am for more debates so we could see how they react.

i'm just happy the noise of the audience is not going to be there. that is the original one. i believe there was no audience, am i correct? host: i don't know if the audience was there in 1960. i was not around. caller: regardless, i do think -- host: my producer tells me there was no audience. caller: everybody mentions it, i think it is a good thing. especially they have control of their microphones. hopefully it will be a positive. host: let me come back to that. usa today preview story for the debate, joe biden has spent much

of the past week at camp david outside washington, d.c. he has been practicing for thursday's face-off. former white house chief of staff is leaving the prep. the biden campaign has declined to say who is playing donald trump in debate prep. it is likely to be biden attorney bob bauer. donald trump is receiving policy briefings and keeping up with the news. he has not done specific practice rounds against a stand-in. his campaign says he will deliver a discipline debate performance rooted in policy. this is thomas in florida on the democratic line. caller: good morning. host: what do you think about these debates? do they matter? caller: they matter greatly.

the politics years ago -- the president is an entertainer. that is why ronald reagan worked out so well. they talk and entertain the people. tommy leaf for president, 2024. host: you are running? caller: yes. host: what would you want to bring up if you are on that the bait stage? caller: taking care of the homeless people and the old people, they are the people that brought us here. host: that is tom in florida, you talk about the entertainment factor.

they created presidential debate bingo cards you could play along with when issues or phrases are brought up. you could mark your bingo card. phrases like make america great again, backbone, soul of the nation. january 6, one of the topics immigration is one of the topics. the crime issue, and veterans are some of the topics. two different cards you could choose from. this is david in georgia, republican, good morning. caller: i was wondering, is there a reason you are not identifying the lines people are calling in? host: not at all, david is on

the republican line. caller: you are talking about abc or cnn. they have been very negative two president trump in the past. i would wonder why that was not a point of interest for the media. shouldn't someone be on the other side, maybe? host: who would you want to be the moderator? caller: i could think of quite a few people. they will be on the right because that is my spot. when you have an individual describing the individual as adolf hitler and a racist and

everything, do you think that is going to be a just debate with that guy asking the questions? host: are you going to watch? caller: sure i am, you bet. there appears to be no fairness it appears. everybody i could set -- everybody could say i am biased, sure. i could say i don't see any right-wingers on that. host: when was last time you thought we had fairness in the debate process? caller: i don't know about fairness, i have enjoyed them. ronald reagan, his debate i thought were very good. he is entertaining, knowledgeable. the one guy i really didn't like

was al gore. he was sitting back and making all the noises when george w was set to talk. i watched him go entertainment value that is all. host: david in georgia. the 2000 election, one of the elections that the smallest number of people watch the debate. the research survey numbers on it, they have the estimated number of people over the years from 1960 in the years debates had happened. the first al gore and george bush debate drew just 46 million viewers and fell off after that. the only election year where

fewer people watch the debates was 1996. the highest numbers coming in the clinton-trumpet first of eight, 84 million viewers. this is rob in new york, good morning. caller: i hope this counts, two of the finest debates ever conducted was the vice presidential debate between larry benson and dan quayle when dan quayle attempted to pass himself off as the next jfk. the last vice presidential debate when kamala harris had to keep interrupting mike pence

when she kept saying excuse me mr. vice president but it's my turn to speak. i hope that counts. host: do you remember what lloyd benson said to dan quayle? caller: i do, he said senator, john kennedy was a good friend of mine. you are no john kennedy. i remember it verbatim. host: he responded that was really uncalled for. caller: he responded senator, that was really unfair. i do remember kamala harris having to say to vice president pence, it is my turn to speak. i do believe the presidential debates count because it shows the ability of a candidate to maintain composure.

if you can't control it domestically on stage in the united states, how do we expect him to contort himself when he's meeting with a guy like putin? i'm ordering up my favorite chinese food tonight. thank you for taking my call. host: will the two candidates be able to control it? caller: i believe joe biden will be able to contort himself. i thought he did an outstanding job for the united states on the d-day celebrations throughout europe, came back to the united states. was back in italy at the g7. what trump is going to do, i really don't care. thank you for my call. host: the republican line, florida, good morning.

caller: i just wanted to say i think tonight's presidential debate will matter. the one thing that makes me want to believe that this is going to be true is -- host: is what? caller: they are going to silence the microphone after two minutes. i think that last debate, biden won because trump would always interrupt him. he wouldn't even allow him to mess up when he had the opportunity to speak. the microphone will play into his hands. host: you say that as a

republican? caller: yes. i think trump will be frustrated . especially if his microphone gets muted. he's going to lose composure. he's not going to have the opportunity to speak and he's going to get frustrated. if trump is not careful you will get under his skin too much. host: do you think it was a bad idea to accept these debates? caller: i think donald trump wants to debate because he has so much pride. i have heard it said that biden is trump's kryptonite because he wants to prove so much that he could out debate him but he just doesn't have the composure to

warrant a debate. host: preston in florida. this is dolores in tennessee, good morning. caller: good morning, how are you doing? host: doing well, do you think presidential debates matter? caller: yes sir. i hope they ask trump why did he lied to the american people about covid and so many people died? you are going to tell people to drink bleach, people did that and died. the republicans are not saying anything about that. he wants to cut out social security again. they are making these billionaires rich.

they have enough money already, they don't want to pay the workers. another thing about crime, they are thinking about selling those guns and making money. so many children being killed by those guns. they do not care. people want to go to school to be something to help our country . the republicans don't care. they want to take away a woman's right to choose with our body. drove to the hospital to the emergency room.

the doctor gave her the wrong medication. i had to have surgery, i lived through the jim crow era, i know how they treated them back then. people of all races to get us where we are today. please get out there and vote for joe biden. trump doesn't care about anybody but himself. host: andrew is in new jersey, independent line, good morning. caller: thank you for taking my call. people get a chance to see if somebody will lose their cool. i want to take it back to 1971 nixon debated kennedy.

he said this is the big threat to america. it played out that there really was no missile. instead of looking as an entertainment issue, we really have to hold our candidates accountable for what they do. this is a slap in america's face to what they have done. thank you. host: cnn hosting tonight's presidential debate, it starts at 9:00 p.m. eastern, we are

simulcasting it on c-span2. we will be preprogram anpost program. hope you stick with us, watch the debate and we will talk about it tomorrow here on "washington journal." another preview in today's newspaper, this is the "new york times" with two pieces on how each candidate could win. it is the author of the fight of his life who wrote the column addressing joe biden saying he could win by being energetic and engaged. donald outlining his agenda. the threat to reproductive rights and picking the right spots to go toe to toe. he's almost certain to try to rattle the president. he cannot and should not respond

to every jab but he should be prepared if he comes after his son, hunter. he could offer a crisp retort. the last time i checked you were guilty of 34 felonies and i'm guilty of loving my son. donald trump and how he could win tonight's debate, the author of the book where millennials are leading america to encourage donald trump to talk about the economy whenever possible. offering simple answers when asked about reproductive health issues. makes the case it represents strength at home and abroad. stay energetic and on top of it. a figure that is declining, they

have both had questions raised about their fitness for office. raising questions about his own stamina and focus. he must display the quality he claims mr. biden does not possess. caller: good morning. host: do you think debate still matter? caller: it does, i'm looking forward to seeing it tonight. the moderators is not an issue. it should be the two candidates facing each other, expressing themselves and how they will make this country a better country. ever since trump got in, they

have been focusing on the moderators. i feel they have been treated unfairly. host: there's a long tradition of complaining about the moderators. it is something that happens almost every cycle it seems like. caller: trump, when he attacked the moderators for no reason and he doesn't comment on the issue, you just throw it out like fireballs with the moderator. they will do a good job of moderating and keeping the playing field fair for both candidates.

host: all but two moderators have been prominent broadcast journalists. including 12 i the late jim laird. the only person who has moderated more than two presidential debates is cbs news, 2004, 2008, 2012. this is cindy, good morning. >> i think the debates are important for one reason really. a lot of our youth, they don't read the newspapers, they get their news from tiktok and instagram. to see something more than just

soundbites, they said made the sign people on both comment -- sides,. president biden said he ran on that. that's what got him into the race. seven years, all they needed to do was look up the comments and anybody in their right mind would have known that was taken out of context. host: do you think young people who watch tiktok and instagram for news will watch a 90 minute debate? caller: i hope so, how will you find out what is what? the mainstream media, i'm a republican, i love the

debate. i just want to mention one thing about the moderators, it's not because of trump, tim crowley interjected when romney and obama debated. i hope they give them their full two minutes but don't start fact checking and interrupt themselves to try to get trump riled up. there's going to be a ton of fact checkers. we know who they are going to be fact checking. one more point i would like to make. i'm not going to do a watch party, i think people need to be

sober and watch this debate. host: this is damien in maryland, republican. caller: good morning. i think you would be a good moderator. this is an important debate because of a lot of people will see it and it will get chopped up and put on tiktok, instagram, things like that. if you watch trump, his style is to absolutely destroy his opponent. he's into mma, that is a bloodsport. politics is a bloodsport. he will hide -- try to totally destroy biden, which he could do. the abortion thing will be

important. what trump says about abortion, he has to watch what he says. host: abortion might be more topical with supreme court decisions coming at 10:00 a.m. eastern today. it appears the idaho abortion case decision has been reached if what happened yesterday on the supreme court website is the actual decision. it might put it more in the news or more in the spotlight. caller: he should say for the health of the mother, rape, incest >> c spend out as a free mobile

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anywhere, you should have access to fast and reliable internet which is why we are leading the way. >> mediacom supports c-span as a public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. >> cing up, president biden andonald trump meet in their first debate hosted by cnn. c-span will simulcast the event at 9:00 but first, a preview of what to expect in the first presidential debate. >> good e