maternity care deserts, they're less likely to receive prenatal care and they experience higher rates of preterm birth. kate, so this is the current state of the maternal health crisis in the u.s. right now what factors are there in creating these maternity care deserts we know that we're seeing more hospitals that are shutting down their obstetric units actually, between 2021 and 2022 in every 25 obstetric units were closed in that timeframe, kate and we are seeing a physician it shouldn't workforce shortage right now. >> in this country, but the non-profit march of dimes is calling for action to address this. they say, for instance, we should expand training opportunities for midwives. they call for investments in telehealth to really reach those patients in maternity care desert. so those are just some of the solutions that they're putting forward to really address yes, this kate? >> yeah problem very clear and obvious when you put up that map solution, that's where the focus really needs to be. thank you so much, jacqueline howard

new hour of cnn, new central starts now it's happening. it's here. one of the most consequential days in this election so far, vice president kamala harris and donald trump set to face each other for the first time in a debate showdown in one of the tightest races in history and tropical storm francine expected to officially become a hurricane today, bringing heavy rain, gusty winds and a dangerous storm surge. we're tracking that storm as it strengthens. in the gulf coast. >> plus a trucks suddenly disappearing out of sight. oh, my my gosh. >> as the bridge beneath it collapses into rushing water. >> we'll tell you where it happened. >> and who survived that. i'm sara sidner with kate bolduan and john berman. this is cnn new central it is debate day,

aka a day that could end with a dramatically different 2024 race then it, which it began right now, the race between kamala harris and donald trump still historically deadlocked the newest national polls showing a 49 to 49% thai, which means the stakes are extremely high as both candidates for the first time meet face-to-face inside philadelphia's national conference it's so tension center. cnn's jeff zeleny has the very latest on the strategies that both campaigns are employing donald trump and kamala harris have spent months talking about one another. if comrade kamala harris gets four more years, you will be living a full-blown banana republic. >> if you got something to say on tuesday night, they will talk to one another in a duel

seen around the world. >> but what's one of the most important audiences here in pennsylvania? >> and i don't know if i've really know until it's it's time to actually vote. >> this will be trump's seventh debate more than any nominee in history harris and her team have studied all of the previous six with hillary clinton and pop the day. >> no it's pretty clear. in three with joe biden, would you which offer lessons for both sides for harris? >> it's a marquee moment to show americans she is ready to assume the presidency. a question very much on the minds of voters and pivotal bucks county just outside philadelphia, where signs of support for all sides are inescapable by nature sorry, i'm a republican, always voted republican not sure the share. >> i'm gonna go with trump regardless, i don't know enough about kamala and big deals with the border and inflation. >> this is my main thing.

>> my hope is that they're going to tell us what they're going to do, not what the other person has done wrong pennsylvania is at this center of the presidential race with harris trump in their allies spending more than any other battleground, 82 million from democrats, 74 million from republicans as a fight to define the vice president dominates the airwaves. it's a very different vision than donald trump's dangerously liberal. >> kamala harris no harris has spent the last five days in pittsburgh preparing for the debate. look, it's time to turn the page on the divisiveness it's time to bring our country together chart a new way forward. >> in a weekend rally in wisconsin, trump argued, he is the true candidate of change. >> kamala harris and the communist left have unleashed a brutal plague of bloodshed crime, chaos, misery, and death upon our land. and it's only going to get worse that rhetoric raises the question of

what tone trump been tends to strike and whether it will be sexist, as he often was against clinton in 2016 she doesn't have the luck. >> she doesn't have the stamina or seize upon policies of the biden/harris administration as he did in june, we had the safest border in history. now we have the worst border in history. >> trump has been familiarizing himself with old harris bates to mr. vice president. >> i'm speaking i'm speaking. if you don't mind letting me finish we can then have a conversation. okay. please. okay. >> those stinging moments from a former prosecutor now trying to make the case that she can turn the page to the presidency now for many voters, that is certainly the biggest opportunity to see harris on this stage. and showed how she would turn the page to the future sara, that is probably one of the biggest questions hanging over this entire debate who appears to be the candidate of change? of course, donald trump wasn't and the white house for four years, but he is

going to try and tie the vice president to the policies of the biden administration i'm told that she will be preparing here in philadelphia throughout the day. the former president has also been preparing far more than he is letting on. but there is no doubt for all the there certainly a global audience. it is the voters, right here. in the commonwealth of pennsylvania, whose certainly are at the center of all of this because this is the biggest and most expensive battleground on the mound sara that was a great report, really laid things out and we should just not forget that we've never seen anything like this. >> a vice president going against a former president. it is historic jeff zeleny. thank you so much for that report. it's always great. thank you, kate joining us right now to talk more about this as a senior adviser to the trump campaign, danielle alvarez. >> thanks so much for coming in. how is donald trump's spending today ahead of taking the stage tonight? >> well, the president is currently in mar-a-lago. he is in good spirits. this will be his second debate of the election cycle. of course, the

first against joe biden and to get today against kamala harris. and his task is very clear. he has to focus on the issues most important to voters. he has to focus on what he has focused on primarily throughout the whole campaign trail, talking about bringing down inflation, talking about securing that southern border, and making sure that he holds kamala's feet to the fire for 50 days. other than of course, her sit down with cnn cnn, which she spoke for about 16.5 minutes. she has not answered. voters questions. tonight will be critically important to hold her feet to the fire and to talk about the plans that he has to restore america who's a better debater, donald trump are kamala harris well, i think they both have their strengths. >> i think it's clear that president trump has been in this position before delivered that knockout punch i would certainly put my money on him, but i don't think we can lower

the bar too much for kamala harris she is a former prosecutor that's something that the president will focus on heavily tonight. her record as a former prosecutor, she has taken the debate stage before, but really the onus is on her and i think that the bar is incredibly high for her. again, because she has not had very many unscripted moments, if any at all. during the last 50 days since ascending to the top of the democrat ticket and she is going to have to answer questions that the media has not been able to press her on that voters have not been able to press her on. i think the bar is incredibly high for her, but i think president trump will deliver this evening. >> nikki haley does not like the demeaning comments that trump has made about kamala harris. and she said, as much yesterday in an interview, let me play this i think it's because donald trump and j.d. vance need to change the way they speak about women. you don't need to call kamala dm. she didn't get this far you

know just by accident. she's here. that's what it is. she's a prosecutor. you don't need to go and talk about intelligence or looks or anything else, just focus on the policies when you call even a democrat woman, dm, republican women get their backs up to do you agree. with nikki haley well, i think the issues should be the focus tonight, but the reality is is that kamala harris is failures on the issues is the reason why she isn't incompetent, whether she's a man or a woman, right. and that's what nikki haley is saying. you agree that it doesn't help donald trump when she calls him, when she when he calls her daughter i think it's important to call a spade a spade. i think kamala harris is absolutely in competent for the failures of the last 3.5 you think or do you think she is telling lies? >> and i believe that she is peddling lies when she talks about turning the page, she is currently the vice president in the white house. >> we need to turn the page telling you daniela is not

equivalent to being dumb. you would then be making a statement about donald trump as well. i think that was the case. do you agree with donald trump doing the job that she is auditioning for? >> i absolutely think that she is incapable of doing the job that she is auditioning for. i believe that americans know that she isn't capable of doing the job that she's auditioning for because she is currently in the white house and failing inflation is higher than it has been since before she took office. housing is unaffordable. the southern border is open. we are in wars abroad. she is an absolute failure and she is dangerously liberal and that is what we will prove tonight. >> if the position campaign is that she is incompetent and dm that is setting a bar somewhat for where things, what you think, where do you think the bar is not competent for common? absolutely incompetent on the issues danielle alvarez. >> thank you very much for coming on. and you can watch cnn will have complete coverage and analysis before and after the debate that abc news president so debate simulcast

tonight at nine eastern on cnn. john. >> all right, breaking overnight a deadly israeli airstrike inside gaza, who israel says it was targeting thousands evacuated in new warnings of excessive heat, issued is powerful wildfires rage across the united states and new video shows the terrifying moment of thai pheu triggered a devastating landslide kamala harris, donald trump, the debate. >> everyone once been waiting for follows cnn for complete coverage and exclusive pre and post-debate analysis. a cnn special event, the abc news presidential defeat tonight at nine eastern on cnn and streaming on max experience, a complete two-week wellness transformation with gold foods, nutrient pack meals made of pure wholesome ingredients, heat up your goal though meal in a pan or microwave if you'll experienceif you'll experience delicious super fuel in under two minutes each meal is mixed with our phytonutrient

bland, choose from beef chicken plant-based, or egg experience how delicious fueling your body can be kickstart your journey to a healthier you visit, go low foods.com today to start fueling your health. one meal at a time it's time to grow your business create a website. how go dead, coding. >> math, but all that writing. >> nope a.i. done, built. >> let's get to work to create a beautiful website in minutes with godaddy my little miracle is beckett i day way. >> we wouldn't be where we are without st. jude. and in turn, we wouldn't be where we are without though those people that have donated only thing. >> i don't like about painting is waiting for can they should get up to $500 of your pay whenever you meet, there's no interests, no credit checks, no mandatory fees. i'm not waiting for beta anymore. and you shouldn't join me. i can.com and give paid when you say

kamala harris was given one important job as vice president, monitor and control our southern border how did she do did she take the job seriously? did she do all she could to protect american citizens from an invasion? did she do anything at all you haven't been to the border and i haven't been to europe and i know i don't understand the point that you're making. >> here's her grim scorecard. murders, rapes, attacks on children a twelve-year-old girl in texas, a mother of five in maryland, a nursing student in georgia. all savagely murdered by those biden and harris let into our country unlawfully. >> we have a secure border. >> kamala harris was an is a complete failure at her job. >> now it's asking us for a promotion. who in their right mind would give it to her. restoration pac is responsible for the content of this

advertising. new projects means new project managers, you need to hire indeed, you do. >> when you sponsor a job on indeed, it's easier for talented candidates to find it, which makes it easier for you to hire them. visit indeed.com slash higher. >> i won't let my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis symptoms to find emerge. as you with trump via most people saw 90% clear of skin eye for months. and the majority stayed clear sure. i'd five years cbs allergic reactions may occur. chin file may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight that. >> tell you, doctor, if you have an infection symptoms or if you had a vaccine, you plan to emerge as you emerged trim phbecause

see, his belief mlb tuesday on tv is gearing up for the post season seen anything like this? tonight, system channel tbs and max in live on tv, bubble mlb

race to depend right? >> breaking overnight report that dozens of people were killed in an israeli airstrike on a humanitarian zone in southern gaza israel claims hamas terrorists were operating inside side of command and control center embedded inside that area. cnn chief global affairs correspondent matthew chance is in tel aviv this morning. matt, what are you learning about this strike yeah, hi john. >> look, we are watching these horrific images that are coming through of the aftermath of that israeli strike on my area in the center of the southern part of the gaza strip what's so striking about it is that this is meant to be a humanitarian zone, a safe area where palestinian civilians are ordered to gathering and to avoid sort of combat operations which are given, carried out by israeli military across the area. but nevertheless late last night, there were strikes on that sort of tent city makeshift shelters destroyed lots of people killed and injured the latest figures coming to us from the

palestinian health ministry you're saying they've had 19 bodies come to the morgue in gaza a result of this, but rescue efforts are still underway. people are buried in the sand. there's lots of injured people as well, but yet again it underlines just how unsafe it is for ordinary palestinian civilians even getting struck the caught up in combat operations when they're supposedly safe areas, the israelis, for their part say for their part, say that this was a very focused operation. it was very highly targeted. they say, in order to attack hamas militants, who they say were operating inside, inside the safe safe area a commander in control center, and they condemned hamas and other militant groups for effectively using these locations and using palestinians as human shields. but again, it's civilians on the ground who are bearing the brunt and paying the price of that ongoing conflict there, john matthew, of course, there

is this huge debate in the united states tonight between vice president harris and former president trump i know you've been speaking with the families of the american hostages. there about what they want to see tonight. what do they tell you? >> yeah. well, some of them at least i mean, 33 of the factory family members of three of the people that are being held in gaza who are american citizens? yeah. i mean, look that they're deeply frustrated. they are increasingly desperate given how hostages are being executed by hamas so on a regular basis now we're being killed in the military action and they're calling on the candidates in the debate tonight to come up with some fresh thinking, some fresh ideas about how to get u.s. citizens. and the other hostages, of course back home, put pressure perhaps on hamas, on iran, on cata, on egypt, even on israel. in order to force the various parties to come to the negotiating table and agree a hostage deal. look

at incentives as well. i mean, look some of the family members are saying that the u.s. government was very creative when it came to getting the american citizens held in russian jails. evan gershkovich, paul whelan. the other is like i covered that as well for for this for this network as well at very creative in finding a solution to that problem. at their calling on the u.s authorities the candidates, the biden administration, to do the same redouble our efforts and get those americans back home job understandable. >> matthew chance. thank you so much for sharing your reporting there. all right. ahead. donald trump faces a different opponent in tonight's presidential debate. can we expect some different lines of attacks from him? and how will kamala harris respond? explosions in moscow overnight, hundreds of drones swarmed moscow and other russian cities in ukraine's largest drone attack. yet the fallout from there saturday's syscall, cnn

is taking a break from breaking news to air. have i got news for you? >> breaking news. i'm getting a sandwich. >> we need to talk about what constitutes breaking news. >> provide guards news for you. ramir saturday at nine on cnn and streaming next day on mac have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. thanks, the sky resy i'm playing with clear skin. >> three out of four people achieved 90% clear skin at for months and scaries. >> he's just for dose it was a year after two starter doses, serious allergic reactions and increased risk of infections or a lower ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms had a vaccine a plan to with scott resy? >> nothing on my skin means every ask your dermatologist about sky resy, learn how advocate help you save. >> i had no idea. i was still paying for it. play wi-fi until i finally check my credit card statement. 14 months $600 later. that's why i created rocket money, an app that shows you all your subscriptions in one place, see something you no longer want. you can cancel it straight from the app, download rocket money today home the

place where you create those special moments we celebrate the home and the way you live in it. at three-day blinds, we help you create that special place. and because we know you're busy, we bring the showroom to you at your convenience and provided design expert to help you find the perfect solution that fits your style and budget. >> three-day blinds, you love the treatment. >> call or go online right now? >> scheduled your free in-home design consultation. >> when it comes to amgen life changing medical breakthroughs, every second counts. but without investment, those breakthroughs are often paused cities seamlessly connected banking, markets and services businesses deliver global

financial solutions so our client can keep investing in innovations for patients around the world without pause. >> for the love of moving our clients forward. for the love of progress my name is sophie sasha robert ryan, and i'm alive thanks to my nurse practitioner my nurse practitioners saved me from a lifelong heart condition. >> she prescribed the right medication my and be diagnosed my multi-organ failure, my np listen. >> she saved my life twice and i always great to learn why millions of people choose nps visit us at, we choose nps.org jobs going after the presidential debate and hate be comedy central's the daily show new this week lulu max bund

right, we're just hours away from the biggest night and the 2024 race, kamala harris, donald trump, will face off on the debate stage and few places have political bates as heated as new york here now is one of the because new yorkers, former new york city mayor, bill the blasio thank you so much. the fact that you're not in new york. i will talk to you about it later and you're there in ann arbor, michigan instead, we will have a discussion, but you do have a unique view of donald trump because he's a fixture or at least was in new york what do you think the biggest pitfalls? our for harris that she needs to be aware of and deal with when debating donald trump well, i got to tell you, sara, i'm totally confident that com let's seize this pitch

coming. >> the donald trump approach is to try and disrupt his opponents. we remember what he did for jeb bush low-energy all that. his whole shtick to use a good new york term is to be disrupted, to be aggressive, to try and dominate the whole proceeding and kamala harris isn't going to let him do that because she is a highly trained prosecutor who i am absolutely certain is going to take it right to them. and here's his problem. if kamala harris turns to him and says, you took away the rights of american women to control their own bodies what do you say to them? if she does anything like that? i guarantee you he won't have an answer to that satisfactory. he will not know what to do if she says, by the way, you were convicted by a jury of your peers, 34 counts you're a felon he's dead in the water so i think the whole debate comes down to her keeping to a simple, sharp prosecutorial message, hit them hard. >> hill, try and disrupt her

but guess what? hilo's overreach. they'll say something demeaning or insulting and women voters all across this country, regardless of their partisan identity, are not going to take kindly to that i am curious because it sounds like you think that it is important for her to go on the attack as a prosecutor would to begin their case. >> is that what you're saying? >> absolutely. she she needs to grab that space in my opinion, but keep it simple. i want to be clear she has so many wonderful things she could say about her own work and so many things that she could say you were wrong wrong about donald trump? but one of the keys in debates is to keep it simple. unfortunately, we saw many times, including the very difficult experience president biden had when a debate or tries to remember all the facts and figures and policies they get gummed up. but a very clear, sharp message or what she's going to do to turn the page. and also saying you took away the rights of women, something as simple as that

that's what the public remembers. that's what people feel and care about. >> i'm, curious from your perspective, just how high the stakes are in this debate. you have polling that shows 28% of the public feels like they don't really know kamala harris and particularly don't know exactly what her policies are, where that's only 9% for donald trump. what are the stakes for her and for him? and are they different? do you think? >> absolutely. for him the challenges he is not reaching all those undecided moderate voters, independent voters folks who are unconvinced about him and worried he's too extreme. he's not reaching them because he continues to speak in the language of grievance and anger hatred. he could in theory tonight, do something about it. and it may be his last chance, but i would predict because we've seen it over and over. he doesn't have that gear. he doesn't know how to moderate and reach out across the aisle and show an open door for her. i agree. a lot of people still don't know

her, but i'll tell you something. the strength that she has shown already on this campaign, and that's the most important thing come in strong and decisive. both in pointing out his problems, his errors particularly on issues related to women, but also listened to her platform. she's putting out ideas that are powerful about how to lower health care costs, how to fight inflation and price gouging. these are the things people want to hear. even a few minutes of getting that across to tens of millions of people that's going to move a lot of votes i want to ask you about some of the things that have been happening because there donald trump campaign has been saying, look finally, the kamala harris is the enthusiasm around her, the sugar high as people were calling it, is waning. >> there have been all these events like cat ladies for kamala and white dudes for kamala you took part in another event like this from your italian heritage, is it pythons are pi zanona's for kamala tell me what it was all about?

>> we called it pythons pisa did you go to python's for comma.com and you can learn more. this is going to be an ongoing effort to reach italian american voters, particularly in the blue wall states pennsylvania, michigan, wisconsin, big italian communities. but what it's about, i think that enthusiasm is actually being built sara, by people representing who we are all the different things that people care about. we care about are italian heritage, for example, so many people have something that really is core to who they are. and then using that as a way to reach other people become a harris. i think the excitement is building. i don't think i don't think it was a sugar high actually, was about authentic, real people being relieved that our candidate was ready to go and be very hopeful because her performance or ideas, her vision is really resonate. yeah, it's a very tight race. but i think you're going to see a lot of these amazing

organizing efforts to move people. we had robert de niro nancy pelosi leon panetta, steve bushemi, mark reflow. we had incredible group of people that's still up there on youtube. i urge people to watch it and get involved. but sara, you're going to see a lot more of that, a lot more of this kind of people doing their own thing to build support for kamala all right. >> as you know, like any other group, italian americans are not a monolith. everyone i think we'll be watching this debate to see what happens build a blasio. thank you so much for coming on. i appreciate it, even though you're not here in new york, former new york mayor, i will give you a hard time about it later battleground michigan adult ground. mr. i know why you're there right now. millions along the gulf coast are preparing preparing for a potential hurricane. now, we've got the very latest for you on the track of what is currently tropical storm francine. and also have dash cam footage capturing a deadly bridge collapse the tv. moments that

took culture over the edge. >> people who are watching and then are world change he had an explosive reverberation tv on the edge from airs sunday, september 22, did nine on cnn. >> this is not a drill sharp drop the price on hold this point, it was set off any saw, any sign subway did what? >> any sub well, limited time you get 20% off when you order. now, very good to see up before gold. when you purchase a pair of bombus sox are underway you also don't want to someone facing one purchased equals one donated 100 million donations and counting visit bombus.com and get 20% off your first first-order. >> this is it going after the presidential debate and they said comedy central's the daily show, knew this week on comedy central and judge it next day on paramount plus hi, my name is damian clark and if

he have both medicare and medicaid, i have some really encouraging news that you'll definitely want to hear. depending on the plans available in your area, you may be eligible to get extra benefits with the humana medicare advantage dual eligible special needs plan all these plans include a healthy options allowance, a monthly allowance to help pay for eligible groceries utilities, rent, and over-the-counter items like vitamins, pain relievers first aid supplies, and more healthy options. allowance is loaded onto a prepaid card each month. and whatever you don't spend carries over from each month other, benefits, on his plans include free rides to and from your medical appointments? he paid nothing for cover prescriptions. >> all your law all plans have dental coverage which includes two free cleanings a year, feelings, and a yearly exam they also have vision coverage, including visual exams and a

yearly allowance towards iowa, such as lenses or contacts and hearing coverage, which includes routine hearing tests and coverage for hearing aids they'll also have a $0 copay for the shingles and other routine vaccines at in network retail pharmacies plus your doctor hospital and pharmacy may already be part of our large amount of networks so call the number on your screen. >> now, speak with a licensee amount of sales agent. would you love benefits like a monthly allowance to help pay for eligible groceries, utilities, rent, an over-the-counter items so if you had medicare and medicaid, call the number on your screen now and speak with a licensed humana sales agent. if you're eligible, they can even help enroll you over the phone. and humana medicare advantage dual eligible special needs plan so-called now humana, a more human way to health care from

meet free monday to sunday so many ways to save life ready, wallet, happy. >> but 365 by whole foods market. >> one second. she can't walk she can one second. your single and then you don't want to be one second. >> it's a pipe dream and the next it's a. >> dream come true one second. you feel safe and then we saw them. well we still do you founded your kayak company because he loved the ocean, not spreadsheets you need to hire. i need indeed. >> indeed you do our matching platform. let's you spend less time searching and more time connecting with candidates visit indeed.com slash higher

new glasses what works i'm just telling everyone by one pair, get one free for back-to-school. vision works. see the difference this is your team you have the right set of individuals. they're going to take us to the next level hard knocks training camp with the chicago go bears, streaming exclusively on max this morning, millions of people in texas and louisiana are facing hurricane and tropical storm warnings. louisiana's governor has already declared a statewide emergency, a state of emergency in preparation of france, ian's arrival, let's get straight to meteorologist elisa rafah. she's got much more on this story firm is already close to becoming a hurricane. last i saw what's what are you watching here we are expecting it to strengthen significantly before landfall right now, it's still a tropical storm, would 65

mile-per-hour winds sending about 400 miles southwest of louisiana. >> but you can see the outer bands already bringing some rain from new orleans brownsville, texas already getting some heavy rain and look at all of that lightning offshore coming in on those outer bands. we've had some dry air kind of limiting francine a little bit overnight, but these ocean temperatures are incredibly warm. so that's why we are expecting it to get its act together and strengthen just before landfall, hurricane warnings in effect for a lot of louisiana here looking at a category two hurricane just before landfall, can that can be significant when it comes to damaging winds, life-threatenin g storm surge. all of these impacts starting pretty much wednesday morning, could see the winds really starting to pick up on wednesday. any preparations need to be done today, things start to get nasty going into tomorrow morning. look at these winds could pump 90 to 95 mile-per-hour. winds for parts of louisiana, 45 mile per hour gusts in new orleans. and these winds continue to travel through louisiana and into mississippi as we go into thursday. now, these winds will bring that onshore ocean push.

so we're looking at five to ten feet of storm surge along parts of louisiana here two to four feet it of storm surge in new orleans. also, this comes at a footprint of heavy rain, considerable life-threatening flash flooding possible because look at the footprint of this heavy rain here, four to six inches would be pretty widespread where we could find some totals approaching a foot also, notice how far inland this gets. we could be looking at some flooding concerns for parts of northern mississippi even even going into tennessee as well. something we'll be watching for days. kate yeah. i mean, today seems to be the last day to prepare as things are going to really start ramping up as we had in tomorrow's you really at least elisa. thank you so much, sir. >> thank you, kate, i'm not sure you know this, but there's a debate happening tonight with us is senior data reporter port-au harry enten, who i like to call chief data reporter. thank you. you're welcome so debate how much the peanut gallery is really cracking up this morning. >> i hear you, randy, i'm going to talk with her mother later how much do debates really

matter in the end when it comes to november and actually voting? >> yeah, i mean, look, normally when you're heading into the first debate, to debate really won't make that much of a difference because one of the candidates is so far ahead. so if you go back since 1,976 the average candidate, the average leader at this point, leads his opponent or her opponent by six percentage points. but look how close we are right now. we're just a two point race while debates often time is really won't matter because the fact is one candidate is so far ahead. this is one of those rare debates that actually could matter because the race has been consistently, consistently close, not just nationally where we see right now harris up by just two points well, within any margin of error. but in those key battleground states as well, you know, i was talking with our dear colleague john yesterday in the key battlegrounds they are key commonwealth of pennsylvania it was a tie, right? it was zero points that separated the two contenders. so the bottom line is, while debates oftentimes won't matter this is a year in which this potentially sold

debate between harris and trump really could matter. >> yeah. i mean, this is this is within the margin of error. yes. so it can't be tighter. i think. no, i think before you talked about this being historically tight so who sort of might get a bump harris or trump who stands to benefit the most if they do well, yeah. >> i mean, look, i think most voters have made up their minds about donald trump specifically, undecided voters. so how undecided voters feel, just need to learn more about donald trump, just 18% of undecided voters say they need to learn more about donald trump, but look at this a near majority of undecided voters say they want or need to learn more about kamala harris look undecided voters don't really like either one of these folks, donald trump, just an 8% favorable kamala harris, which is to 13% favorable. but the bottom line is there's a lot more room for movement for kamala harris than there is for donald trump's. so the real question tonight is, can kamala harris sees this opportunity, seize the spotlight, put to rest fears that they may have

about her because the bottom line is under decided, voters have already made up their mind about donald trump. they're waiting to make up their mind about kamala harris and how they do so can make all the difference in the world at the end of the day come november, how about the expectations? >> i mean, people literally put money on who's gonna, you can bet on anything what is the expectation? yeah. >> if the expectation going into the first debate of this, you remember this? because the second first debate as my cover slide, kind of indicated, right? they thought that donald trump was going to win that first debate by an eight-point margin now the expectation game is on the other shoe, right? on the other foot. look at this when it comes to kamala harris versus donald trump harris, the expectation is that she is going to beat down trump. now it's not buy that wide of a margin, but i think tonight the region fuel question is how does kamala harris get viewed and judged by the american public? because as i said, just a little bit ago, the american electorate has made up their mind about donald trump. they haven't made up their mind about kamala harris. and this may be her less last best chance to get them on her side of the equation and not go with the republican nominee for president.

>> and this may be the most number for americans that she will, and he will ever get until the election it's huge. it's a huge audience across all the networks, including this one, which is where you should watch of course, 9:00 p.m. there we understand that. yes, that's why night that's what's happened. all right to our beloved colleague and friend john berman. >> and as harry said, the foot is on the other shoe in this debate, here with us now cnn political commentator and former biden white house communications director kate bedingfield and marc lotter, former strategic communications director for the trump 2020 campaign. i am going to ask you both the same questions we're going to take this in stages. i'm going to ask you to what each candidate needs to accomplish and what each candidate needs to avoid. and i want to think about this as strategy, not necessarily as an advocate for each of you. so kate, first to you, what do you think vice president harris needs to accomplish tonight? >> sure. well, i think she needs to define herself for the american people. >> we've just heard, obviously this is a huge opportunity. a

lot of eyeballs, a lot of people who don't know as much about her are likely to tune in tonight. so priority one for her should be to explain to people who she is, what she's motivated by, why she does what she does she has a really great opportunity to do that. then i would say priority to for her is to define donald trump as more of the same, to really paint him as not a change agent, not a disrupter, but the guy who was president for four years who has been on the national scene for ten years contributing to the curb rosanne of civility in our politics. i mean, she really has an opportunity tonight to do that. so those are the two big things she needs to do. she needs to show the country who she is, talk about, what motivates are and also paint him as more of the same yesterday's news. more of what people have rejected in 2020 all right, marc, so what does donald trump need to accomplish tonight well, first and foremost, he needs to put

kamala harris on notice that she is the reason why that we have higher gas and grocery prices. >> why the border is not secure, why the world is at war. and so as kate says, more of the same, she literally is more of the same, more of the same failed biden policies that two-thirds of the american people disagree with. so that's mission number one for him, mission number two is remind people things were cheaper border was secure, world was not at war when he was in the white house. >> so mark, what does donald trump need to avoid debt tonight well i think he needs to avoid getting into kind of the personal stuff with kamala harris. >> he doesn't need to do it. he's basically got a built-in well of fond memories about the economy and his record. so all he has to do is remind people on a policy standpoint that it's her tie-breaking vote that caused the inflation. it was her who was the borders are

and let people make their own decisions about everything else on their own so kate, what does kamala harris need to avoid tonight? she needs to avoid having this debate play out on donald trump's terms mean she needs to avoid not letting the entire debate be sort of her on the defensive. her responding to him, her explaining she really needs to think about tonight as an opportunity to tell her story, to talk about what she's going to do for the country lay out her vision chart, her path, and not let this debate become a constant response to donald trump. now that's easier said than done. that's easier said than done in any debate, frankly, but certainly easier said than done when debating donald trump, who we know is going to be very aggressive whether or not he chooses to go into the personal, which we know he likes to do as him himself. that's we know that's where donald trump wants to go. clearly not where his team wants him to go. >> but either way, her aim needs to be to not allow the

terms of this debate to be set by donald trump, and to not be constantly baited into responding to him, but to think about this this is an opportunity to be on the on her front foot and talking about things in the way that she wants to frame things. kate of the tens of millions of people who will be watching what's the most important sliver of the audience that she needs to reach. >> well, the undecided voters in the key swing states in this country, there are give or take six, maybe seven, battleground states where this is going through. this election is going to be decided. and there are voters in those states who have not yet decided who they're going to vote for. so for her, she really needs to be taught in to people who have not made a decision who are open to her. they are open to her candidacy. that's one of the things that we have seen in the polling since she went to the top of the ticket people have people have less concrete views of her than they did of joe biden. but that's an opportunity for her. so she needs to speak to those

voters in the sun states in rust belt states, who are going to ultimately determine the outcome of this election. >> so that's kind of where those voters are, but who are those voters are those voters haley republican voters who didn't vote for donald trump in the republican primaries. >> well, i think there are probably a lot of folks that voted for joe biden in 2020, maybe in some of those suburban collar areas of our major cities who maybe didn't like the way donald trump tweeted or the tone that he used 2020. but now they have buyer's remorse because they've seen the results of joe biden and kamala harris in office and it shows up at the gas station, the grocery store. they see it happening with the southern border and they don't like it and so reminding people that look, things were better off when he was in the white house. and she's the reason why you don't like where we are right now that's the key that it's okay to be like, well, i tried

it this way in 20 can't do it again in 24 is okay. >> you hear mark trying in this discussion to tie harris to president biden how important is it for him in 20 seconds or less to separate herself from president biden i think she shouldn't she needs to be her own candidate, and i think we've seen her do that. i think we you saw at the convention what you heard was not a separation on policy and actually, if you if you dig in, a lot of the biden economic policies themselves are actually quite popular. and so what she has an opportunity to do is to build on that found station, but do it in her voice. and i think again, you started do that at the convention and i expect that that's what we'll see from her on the stage tonight kate bedingfield, marc lotter. >> thank you. both so much. very, very informative discussion. >> kate ahead of the mate of the debate, the trump campaign is touting an endorsement of a group of former prosecutors. and also ahead of the debate, kamala harris is getting some backup from a group of retired military official saying harris is the only candidate in the

race fit to serve as commander in chief. one of those generals is our guest. and breaking news this hour for secretary state, tony blinken out now saying russia is preparing to use iranian missiles and ukraine kamala harris, donald trump, the debate. everyone's been waiting for follow cnn for complete coverage and exclusive pre and post-debate analysis of cnn special event abc news presidential debate. tonight at nine eastern on cnn and streaming on max. >> you ever noticed the more you try not. the other half or your foot long the more you end up in the other half for your foot-long no one can resist juiced chicken smoky bacon and creamy rent it the elite chicken and bigger rent. now it's subway mafia effects of viagra, but faster meet roe sparks. they contain. so dana, phil, and to dallas hill with sparks dissolve under the time

dissolvable work faster than old-school pills. cia sparks are right for you at row dot coast last sparks 10,000. >> my next month hey we won't know unless we try right how long have we waited for something like this will have to alert suppliers, coordinate shipments already alerted, already coordinated, every supplier sees changes as they happen since when can we just scale up mid cycle? >> since we brought in vdo people who know, know vdo my mental health was better, but uncontrollable movements called teeny target dyskinesia started disrupting life chidi felt embarrassing i felt like disconnecting i asked my doctor about treating my td and learned about in grandson the greta is clinically proven for reducing td. most people saw results in just two weeks, people taking aggressive can

stay on most mental health men's. number one prescribed in gaza has simple dosing for tv, always one pilled once-daily in gaza can cause depression. suicidal thoughts or actions, and patients with huntington's disease pay close attention to and call your doctor if you become depressed, have sudden changes in mood, behaviors, feelings, or have thoughts of suicide, don't take ingressive if you're allergic to its ingredients in gaza may cause serious side effects, including ngo edema, potential heart rhythm problems, and abnormal movements. report fever's stiff muscles are problems thinking as these may be life threatening sleepiness is the most common side effect. >> take control by asking your doctor about in grants from need the dot to need it. now so many ways to save life ready, wallet, happy that's 365 by whole foods market you're getting ready to dive into crypto for the first time but you're a little worried about

the fine print and feeling intimidated about how to start we get that investing in crypto is no small decision, which is why, as the world's largest crypto i said manager will do more to keep you covered on your crypto journey so you don't end up like this guyyou k

superpower is selling unsellable housing we got 20,000 over our list price. wow, whether you're buying we've got your back on syllable houses, all new wednesday at eight on hgtv i'm katie bo lillis in washington and this is cnn so new this morning dashcam video captured the moment a bridge collapsed into the red river falling a typhoon in northern vietnam, several vehicles it's fell into the water claiming at least eight lives. there's also a landslide sweeping away a passenger bus that was full of people, at least 50 people have

died so far. >> or in the storms, more than 40 people are missing. >> when the 60 active wildfires have burned more than 2 million acres across the western united states, fueled by heating gusty winds one fire and ours county exploded from seven acres to 1,900 acres in just four hours, prompting mandatory evacuation orders for about 1,400 homes in the city of rancho santa a. margarita and we are all mourning the death of one of the world's most recognizable voices. james earl jones passed away at the age of 93 disney ceo bob iger summed it up from the gentle wisdom of mufasa to the medicine threat of darth vader, james earl jones gave voice to some of the greatest characters in cinema history. on television. of course, he was the voice of cnn with his famous words, this is cnn his introduction of our shows. we're also such a delight this

is new day with allison camerata and john berman we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. >> it is a new day here. it is tuesday, may 29, 6:00 here in new york. how did that sound awesome? >> that was darth vader, that was james, that old show, but this just sitting my name which is really all ever wanted in life it is true. >> don't have the show anymore, but i do have that wonderful, wonderful memory. >> sara the hi, stick, john. i don't i didn't remember that. what a nice memory. all right breaking overnight, russia says its air defense destroyed more than 140 ukrainian drones launched on nine regions of the country, including the capital city, moscow. listen at least one person has been killed and three others injured in the attack that was captured on

video. also breaking this morning, secretary of state anthony blinken says, russia has received ballistic missiles from iran. cnn's kylie atwood, joining us now from the state department, with more on this story, kylie, russia is expected to use these weapons against ukraine. how soon could we see some of this? and what are you hearing about them getting these ballistic missiles from iran? >> yes so. the secretary of state said that russia could use these new missiles, these new ballistic missiles that they have now received from iran on the battlefield in ukraine, within weeks, sara, that is a significant development we have seen iran support russia throughout the course of the ukraine war. they had provided them with drones. they have a trained russian personnel on how to use those drones. but the secretary of state called this specific shipment, this additional support that they're providing to russia with these ballistic missiles, a dramatic escalation. he announced this in a press conference earlier this morning with his

counterpart from the uk, listened to what he said is they both had into ukraine this week for some time, the united states has warned of an additional threat the provision by iran of ballistic missiles to russia for use in ukraine we've warned tehran publicly. we've warned charan privately that taking this step would constitute a dramatic escalation. russia has now received shipments of these ballistic missiles and will likely use them within weeks. in ukraine against ukrainians now he also notably said that this is a two-way street that russia is providing iran with technology when it comes to the nuclear space, when it comes to the space arena, he said those are also significant developments. >> he also said that we're going to see sanctions it's from the united states and its partners against iran. due to this action, this support that they have provided russia, those could come as soon as

today, he said there will be additional action taken specifically against iran air. so we'll watch for that. sara all right. kylie atwood. thank you. important reporting for us this morning. >> house republicans released their report this week on the u.s. drawl withdrawal from afghanistan, the scathing report placed blame not only on joe biden, but also tried to blame vice president kamala harris for the chaotic withdrawal. and now a group of military leaders is coming to harris's defense. the retired military officials riding in an open letter in part, this vice president kamala harris is the best and only presidential candidate in this race who is fit to serve as our commander in chief. she has demonstrated her ability to take on the most difficult national security challenges in this situation room and on the international stage, joining us right now is one of the military leaders who signed that letter, retired u.s. army major general randy manner, general. thank you very much for coming in. why did you decide to speak out publicly in

signing onto this letter supporting kamala harris now bluntly stated, there were so much misinformation and lies growing from trump about what exactly happened leading up to the situation in afghanistan. >> we all felt it was our duty and responsibility to speak to truth and that is why we signed that letter last week j.d. >> vance went after kamala harris in a different way for a different aspect of being commander in chief, saying that he thinks military recruitment will suffer if she is elected, let me play this for you we really are on the brink of serious readiness issues because nobody wants to put on a uniform and serve in kamala harris's military. >> this is a person who wants the united states army to be about gender inclusion, ridiculous diversity politics instead of about serving your country and uniting together as

americans to serve on the same team and defend your nation what do you think of that general coming from? >> a veteran himself? >> so first of all those are all absolutely lies. you take a look at the data. >> there are more women and minorities in senior positions in the military than ever before it is absolutely true that recruiting is struggling now, that is not related to the president and he met manner of speaking. >> it's very, very important for me to have that message to all military and all veterans right now about saying and also by the way, this is a message really to all parents of veteran spouses, brothers, sisters, uncles, and so on trump continues to literally demean all of us playing a suckers and losers. and basically saying that why would anybody possibly join the military? i would advocate and believe this strongly that it's the absolute reverse,

that it's something where with trump, he is exclusive. he doesn't want women or minorities and positions. he wants white men. only. his message is one of hatred and anger. whereas with harris, it is actually the opposite. it's of hope. so i completely, totally disagree with that hypothesis. i believe that we should be asking ourselves and the parents of our veterans and our veterans and military, do we want a commander in chief that does not value our service to our country and quite frankly calls us again suckers and losers really quickly. >> why do you think i was looking back? pass in the past elections, donald trump had has had strong support from veterans in 2020 he and 54% of veterans support nationally according to a cnn poll, more than joe biden. why do you think that is then given the message that you're trying to send there's a couple of things. >> number one is that i believe trump himself is actually alienating the military. >> whe