[inaudible] >> i'm not going to make about that right now. -- six days after? >> thank you. >> "wall street journal" recently took polling on presidential debates asking the question ought if they matter to the voting public. here's some of what they found saying more than 70% of americans say the debates will not matter much to them, including 44% use it will not matter at all to their choice. a record high dating to 2000. most people say they've already made up their mind and even big events like the deficit pringle jessica ruth bader ginsburg have not led many to say whether they will change theirir votes so fa. that's the "wall street journal." from mitchell mckinney, who is an expert on presidential debate and will join us later on this

morning on the program. argument thate the debates present no information, if that is true it makes a compelling case for eliminating that. these are not based on what debate viewers believe, but what political pundits think. viewers want debate and the numbers prove it. two of the three clinton trump matchups set all-time debate viewership records with the first drawing about 84 million viewers. the largest viewing audience in the history of the televised debates that began with jfk and richard nixon in 1960. here is another viewpoint from the new york times. charles saying "i'm not looking forward to the president making forward i'm not looking to the hype. we may learn things. and those things are worth learning. when it need a debate comes to policy and character. what will it tell us that we

don't already know? the debate will show us how the candidates converse and clash and how they attack or recover. but none of this at this late stage should be a determinant. you can add your voice to the mix. the lines, 202-748-8000 for presidentsupport trump. if you support joe biden. 202-748-8002 if you are undecided. on the topic of the debates, vicki from new york joins us. how would you answer the question? >> i need to see the debate to be point-blank. i need to see the debate. i think it is necessary, i think they still matter. opportunity for me as a viewer and a voter to be able to

see exactly where their positions are, right out of their mouths. whatever, i, no need to see the debate. i support biden simply because i can take this dog and pony show anymore. our code you learn more by what a candidate says or what both people bring to the stage? >> a class of ideas. and what their solutions are for the many problems that we have nowadays. problems,as those what is top of that list you'd like to see the candidates address? caller: covid-19. , although thece economy matters. just pick a topic, but there are so many since the gentleman

became president. it's really an embarrassment. but right now, we have a pandemic. washington is simply not taking it seriously. is in california, a supporter of president trump. good morning, go ahead. i'm here. happy to see consistency, always being transparent. i am so disgusted that whenever trump is available, interviewed by anybody, town halls, one station airs it. we all know what that one is. when you hear people say you only watch one channel. i say yeah because that's the only one available to us. they twist everything. debate,excited for this

i think it is going to be a breeze and i think it's going to be so smooth for trump. he is an expert. he is grilled every day, challenged with tough questions all the time, he could not be better prepared and biden can even read a cue card. it's just silly. themselves,bates what would you say as far as the debate itself? caller: it definitely matters. you have to be able to respond solidly your ground so that you can either make the executive decision and stick with it or admit you are not sure you are willing to listen to other people. i think there are flexibilities in their, but i also am very supportive of backbone. i don't want people who are pushovers.

host: the new york times reminds us the commission on presidential debates and chris wallace have released the topic, they will be the pandemic, the economy, the supreme court, the integrity of the election, the trump and biden records and the violence and art -- racial violence in cities. led somer has democrats objections for its framing around violence in cities. you can see it on c-span. we will give you a chance to respond to it. in mississippi, supporter of joe biden next. caller: good morning. me,debates matter to especially this debate.

chaos andd so much misinformation and lies. when they are on stage and you will hear them at their own question thathe this country needs to hear. trump will probably lie as he is want to do, but it is up to the moderators told his feet to the fire. the lady performing said biden could complete a sentence. watch moreyou should than one network. host: when it comes to the debate and you talk about the moderator, how much interaction do you want to see from a moderator? caller: i want him to be a fact checker. , i think one of them

he needs to come back and ask the question again. we are fighting in the life of this democracy. we can go under four years with chaos and lies. he owes even know who money to and whether he's already compromised. host: from our facebook page, several of you posting this comes toaying when it the debates, one viewer says they do it for undecided or unmotivated voters. many watch with their mindset already. it is good for those secondary sources. no, theylins saying aren't really debates either. voting has already started. john from facebook saying not as

much when two of the candidates -- two other candidates are intentionally excluded. that's just some of the facebook post things. from dallas, texas, supporter of president trump. hello. caller: yes. good morning. i like the debates. i think it brings out a lot. the topics it doesn't sound like my questions are going to be answered. for instance, i want to know if trump is going to do away with the payroll tax, which would affect social security and i want to know what he's going to do about health care is another thing. trump, ican vote for won't throw for anybody. i can't vote for biden and harris, i just can't.

so the debates are important to me, but i don't think my questions will be answered. thank you. caller: jamaica, new york, a supporter of joe biden. host: good morning. -- caller: good morning, thank you for taking my call. ison't think the debate going to make a big difference. i've long made up my mind from the beginning because i could never support someone like a coleader like trump because that's what he is. the people who follow him are cults. , i going to watch the debate don't know what i will learn. i just want this whole election to be over because if trump is , a ind another four years america will be gone. host: if you already made up your mind, what do you get from the debates? caller: i will watch it to see.

i'm going to watch it to see because that is a debate. it,s torn between watching but i think i'm going to watch because i know what trump will do, i saw how he treated hillary on the debate stage. itis a bully, so he's can come out with his bullying thatcs and it is just sad america -- the people in this country are so ignorant that they had the nerve to vote for someone like this crazy man. this man is totally out of his mind. host: when it comes to chris wallace, was the previous caller brought up, this is a quote attributed to him saying mr. wallace wants to be as invisible as possible as a moderator. goes on to say one of these two people will be president and my job is to be as invisible as

possible. i'm trying to get them to engage give them a sense of why i want to vote for one instead of the other. jason inr from virginia, a supporter of president trump. caller: thanks for having me. i fully support the president and i think the media's three or four years of gas lighting has not worked against the american people. his bases all -- has only expanded. if you look across the country for the primary, in most states where there was a primary for a republican, donald trump got more votes than all the democrats combined. for me that was a sign he was ahead. i think the democrats will do everything they can to try and fact-check him, but usually that means distorting the truth and it's really rich coming from a party that has been lying to us about russian collusion, ukraine

and many other things they just did not tell us about currently. i would love to know more about hunter biden when you've asked questions about what we like to know more about. i'd like to hear chris wallace ask the tough questions. the biggest detriment has been the media's complicity. i kinda feel bad for any journalist or person who calls himself a journalist working at any of these networks that goes out and covers joe biden and doesn't ask him a tough question or even a neutrally tough question. when you watch the press gaggle, he's never asked a question, there always kind and gentle and they are always for him. i've never heard him ask the tough questions in the past few weeks. host: that's jason from falls church. talking about the president tonight, the new york times reporting the president has undertaken a less formal debate prep.

bringing up the decks the story adding trump is already engaged in months of real on -- offense on biden's mental acuity that have lowered the bar. carrie is next up from wisconsin. a supporter of joe biden, go ahead. caller: i don't know if i'll watch the debates are not, but i have been following those in the campaigns and there's been so many things trump has said that is not true and he's been caught up on it but io a says fake news . it's proven with the facts and he's been lying all the time. don't -- >> if you express those concerns -- why do you debate over whether you been a watch tonight or not? >> i might just watch a little bit. did inlays the way he

2016 against hillary clinton, i won't watch them very much. he makes up too many stories. people are getting to where they don't trust anymore because he's been caught up in these lies. he says he's going to do this and that and he's can it do havehing and you can health insurance better, but he's been saying that the whole time, but the republicans were in control when he was first in office about two years and they didn't do nothing about it. host: how do you think mr. biden will perform tonight? well.: i hope he does good. it's going to be kind of rough against president trump because

trump, you know how he treats people. jennifer is up next in california, a supporter of president trump. caller: good morning. i'm not watching them because it's a commercial tv event. if chris wallace wants to be invisible, we would have someone who is not a tv personality and the first place. vice shouldn't be called president he's not the vice president. host: when you say tv production, why does that discount whether you will watch it or not? caller: its commercial tv and entertainment, that's all it is, everybody already knows what these people have to say. it's not for informative value. host: so you don't learn anything or get any value? caller: no, i've seen them enough times.

and biden before that. >> there's nothing new to learn. we will have heard this stuff before every year they gang up on trump anyway. there is nothing new for us to learn here. host: how do you think he is going to perform? caller: trump has a very strong personality and he's great with people. it depends on how biden's before the event and other questions will go. no there's a bias against trump including chris matthews -- chris wallace. so what's the purpose of watching because is a commercial tv entertainment -- she's not a real journalist. host: that is jennifer in california. the matter of those who have not made a decision yet when it comes to debates and whether they add value.

there was an online event sponsored by brookings institution. -- who it featuring spoke about those who might be influenced by debates. who are more susceptible to influence are those who are not tightly anchored to party. they are not as consistently voting for one party. to the extent they feel ambivalent about both candidates, they are not already anchored, the question is are they going to vote at all. can i mobilize or demobilize and then secondly, how do i increase the likelihood they are focused consistenthat matter with what they want a president to do. if i can communicate those two things among the poor that are susceptible, i will create a

likelihood they will vote in my favor. most people are already decided out-of-the-box. you have those in there that are the solidt don't have history of voting a particular way. is whosentially influence. they are more likely to be influenced by what's downstream of the debate. the means and the clips that circulate in their media spheres. host: you can watch more when you go to our website, that's the site to find information about the debates including tonight and how you can view it and all the information leading up to the debate when it comes to campaign 2020. twitter says debates give us the opportunity to see each nominee's demeanor. if they answer or deflect or become defensive, hopefully will

hear actual plant policy. david says they matter and they should matter. we need a president who can think fast and exhibit good reasoning and argumentation skills. a president with a minute -- our standard is rock-bottom. juanita saying this one matters a bunch too many folks. this is why debates matter, adding a plan to stay with joe biden. want, text usou at 202-748-8000. this is diane in michigan, go ahead. caller: i would be interested in hearing the debates become content of fact. isthe way they could do this have a committee of experts, balanced committee and have a fact-check meter or a line going

across the screen. one debate years back, the audience was being monitored and the wave was going up and down whether they agreed. i would like to hear experts do the same thing. so that the debates are just a them to just put out their sayings and rhetoric. wouldy had questions that suss out information, that is where we get the content we are looking for from the undecided folks. if you just throw softballs at them, they will go back and forth. ishink this line of thinking nine -- not informative and it's getting very old. i think they get a bigger audience and they would get higher marks if they would give

the listeners content. this is nothing but a show. ,hey need to have a fact-check a live fact-check as they go. >> do you think most of the analysis of these types of events take place in the next day in the newspaper. do you think there's call for much insight and how that squares if it's true or not? caller: i think it has to happen in real time as the audience hears that. it doesn't necessarily follow all the -- they don't necessarily follow all the channels to get answers to that. i think the people if they are willing to give up their time in the audience to listen, i think it's a good venue to inform the people and i think the focus putting on these debate and the monitor has an obligation to the audience to bring information forward. not just the rhetoric we hear through the campaign.

host: the commission on issidential debate responsible for formulating the event. you can go to their website for more information including the day's of the debates, including tonight starting just after 9:00. on october the seventh, it will be the vice presidential debate at the university of utah in salt lake city. the second presidential debate, a town hall format hosted by our own steve's goal -- steve scully. the >> we will take you live now to hear from political analysts as a preview tonight first presidential debate and to talk about how policy issues will affect voter showing. >> we're