see if it comes out the same way. run to the radio. steve doocy is my guest and congressman steve scalise and maria bartiromo. with that i'll give you three seconds to say goodbye. >> goodbye, all the highlights tomorrow. >> sandra: 12 hours and counting until the first presidential debate at the cleveland clinic and case western university as we head into the final stretch of this 2020 race. president trump and joe biden taking very different approaches in preparing to make their pitches to millions of americans expected to tune in tonight. good morning, everyone. i'm sandra smith and look who is back joining us live from cleveland this morning, bill, welcome back. >> bill: nice to see you. game day, right? it feels like it. we've been waiting so long. 9:00 eastern moderated by chris wallace. i'm bill hemmer live in cleveland. there is a ton of ground to cover. five weeks to the day before

election day. you've got six topics on the agenda, the pandemic, supreme court, protest for racial justice taking place in parts of the country. the stakes could not be higher and both camps say they're ready to go in ohio. >> i'm looking forward to the debate. >> tell the truth. >> the president has done enough preparation. you can't have better preparation than taking the most hostile of questions from the white house press corps every day, multiple cases and oftentimes on the way to the plane, deplaning and press briefing room. >> he has been on that debate stage so many times. what joe always does, he will speak directly to the american people. understanding what their needs are. he will talk about facts and

solutions. >> sandra: fox team coverage this morning. we'll have analysis from the "wall street journal" bill mcgurn and kevin corke is standing by. we begin with john roberts live in cleveland for us this morning. john, what is the president's line of attack tonight? good morning. >> first of all, sandra. it is almost like game day in cleveland. there is an organization got a couple of smokers out on the streets they plan firing up later today. the sweet smell of barbecue will be in the air along with the anticipation of the debate tonight. the president not saying a lot about joe biden yesterday saving it up for this evening. he will let it all fly. the president really has one opportunity here as we begin these debates to draw a very sharp contrast between himself and joe biden and try to sway undecided voters to come to his side. it sounds like the president will try to find an opportunity to hit biden with something the president talks about at almost every rally. that is hunter biden. listen here.

>> hunter bidden who has no qualifications to receive this massive loan from the mayor of moscow's wife, $3 million? there are real questions that need to be answered about corruption and pay to play and we're going to be asking those questions. >> for his part, joe biden is going to try to exploit a potential new liability for the president. "the new york times" story that reported the president didn't pay any federal income tax for 10 out of the past 15 years and only paid $750 in both 2016 and 2017. the president insisting it is a false story. he has paid millions of dollars in taxes. the trump campaign saying the report was a political hit piece. here is eric trump from this morning. >> the fact that joe biden had a commercial ready to go on that story talking about $750 one hour after the article came out. that tells you everything you need to know. these guys are carrying joe biden's water.

>> not all the time but the debates often turn on moments. we'll see if either one of these candidates can create one of those memorable moments tonight. >> sandra: how will he handle the coronavirus? any word on how the president is planning to mount his defense on his handling of covid-19 tonight? >> well, i think we saw some of that yesterday. this is going to be a huge issue at the debate and a real point of attack from the joe biden campaign. so the president yesterday using the bully pulpit of the presidency to try to get a leg up on his opponent by out in the rose garden yesterday announcing the federal government will pay for and send to the states $150 million rapid coronavirus tests. here is the president. >> president trump: 50 million tests will go to protect the most vulnerable communities, which we've always promised to do. 100 million rapid point of care tests will be given to states and territories to support efforts to reopen their

economies and schools immediately and fast as they can. for example, the support my administration is providing would allow every state to on a very regular basis test every teacher who needs it. >> this is something that the states have been clamoring for for months. the biggest federal initiative on testing yet. probably tonight joe biden could simply ask the question why didn't you do this back in march? sandra. >> sandra: we'll have to wait and see. john roberts, thank you. >> bill: we shall. meanwhile in cleveland, sandra, several businesses in town closed for the day with windows boarded up before what could be potential protests around the debate venue. kevin corke is live in cleveland as well. good morning to you. the ohio governor mike dewine is activating the state's national guard to help out. is that necessary? >> well, i think it would certainly be necessary if you consider, bill, what happened

this summer with respect to protests in the nation's capital. we're just outside the debate venue and already seeing heavy duty presence of law enforcement. a spoke to an officer not long ago saying we've been here for weeks. you know the security apparatus really gets rolled out months in advance. i'll step out of the camera for a second so c.j. can show you what we're seeing. the heavy-duty fencing similar to what we saw near lafayette park in washington, d.c., secondary fencing to funnel everyone through safe and security portals. i want to show you some pictures of the boarded up businesses. when you keep in mind what happened not just in washington, d.c. but also in new york and portland and other venues around the country there is a real concern among business owners here in cleveland that if the protests get out of hand they don't want to take on even more damage. this has been devastating economically as you know for not just this city but others around the country. they are here. they are positioned, and they

are prepared. as you mentioned, the governor is activating the national guard trying to keep everyone safe and secure. from where we are here we're in a fairly safe location with residential, commercial and multi-family residential. we'll be around the city throughout the day as well as mike tobin for all the coverage. now back to you. >> bill: nice to see you this morning here in northern ohio. kevin corke, thank you. back to sandra. >> sandra: more on what to expect from the big debate tonight let's bring in bill mcgurn from the "wall street journal" and former chief speech writer for george w. bush and fox news contributor. good morning to you, bill. you feel like expectations are so high going into tonight. you just wonder as americans across the country sit down to watch these two face off for the first time on that debate stage, will any minds be changed? >> well, that is the question. look, i watched every debate in

the primaries on the democratic side and i watched to see if joe biden would -- i watched as if he were a tight rope walker waiting to see whether he will fall in the net or not. he didn't really. he made a few mistakes and they weren't fatal. what's interesting is if you look at the history of these presidential debates, the last four presidents running for reelection stumbled in their debates. reagan stumbled against mondale but recovered in the next one. my former boss george w. bush had a very bad first debate against john kerry. ford stumbled by saying there was no soviet domination of eastern europe and barack obama stumbled against mitt romney. they aren't necessarily fatal. some of these people who stumble and don't do well in the debates i think go on to win. my boss, george w. bush, he recovered in the next two debates but because of his performance in the first i think people generally thought

that the debates went to kerry yet he still won reelection. >> sandra: the six things to watch in the debate tonight. the five things you must watch in the debate or two things it might boil down to or the one moment that may be. you are so inside baseball. you reference your former bush george w. bush, what will you be watching when you watch the debate tonight? >> well, it's not polite to say but i'm watching to see if joe biden is all there. he is showing signs that his mental facilities are declining. and so -- and they talk about him hiding in the basement. the point is, he is not going out. prefers to do things by cutting ads. i want to see if he can handle himself in a debate. if he can't, it's hard to see the american people thinking that he is up to the job of standing up to some very hostile foreign leaders. we'll see how he does on his

feet. we know he has stumbled before. it could be nothing. the problem is the expectations are so low for joe biden that if he comes out with a simple declarative sentence people will say he won the debate. on the other hand by keeping him under wraps so long, they are really playing a dangerous game because they don't have much time to recover if he really blows it. >> sandra: what about on the part of the president? joe biden has called a lid on his campaigning or appearances many days before 10:00 a.m. now because he is at home prepping for this. he will fact check the president in realtime. the president seems to not be preparing in the traditional sense. so what are you watching on the part of president trump? >> well, we'll see how he handles himself. whether he gets angry or whether he dominates. he is an alpha male.

i think joe biden's mistake sometimes in dealing with donald trump is that he tries the angry joe. i don't think that's a good look for him. i think he did better against paul ryan when he is more the reasonable joe. he was slightly condescending and he laughed at things. i'm not sure he wants to fight on trump's turf. the real bloody war. trump, what we know about president trump is he will give as good as he gets, probably give more than he gets and the question is whether people will be sympathetic to it. >> sandra: self-described counter puncher and you hear his campaign talk about it all the time and certainly back in 2016. on your piece in the "wall street journal" this morning supreme court will be a huge topic that chris wallace will bring up in the debate tonight. amy coney barrett and joe biden two catholics, one double standard. will he be asked to repudiate the faith of amy coney barrett and how should the candidates

be tested on this? >> the president has tested by who he picked. an excellent jurist amy coney barrett to fill the seat on the supreme court. we've had the usual ugliness that attends the nomination of republican nominees to the court. brett kavanaugh accused of gang rape without a shred of evidence. i think it is time to say if joe biden is campaigning on civility, call off the dogs and say it's disgusting and no home for it in my party. it could be a sister soldier moment for him but i don't see him being bold enough to take it. >> sandra: bill mcgurn, appreciate your time this morning. thank you. our special live coverage begins tonight 6:00 p.m. eastern time of the big debate anchored by bret baier and martha maccallum followed by the debate itself with chris wallace. it begins at 9:00 p.m. eastern

time in cleveland, ohio. bill hemmer is sitting in cleveland right now. >> bill: you know, smitty, mcgurn made some great points there. there are two more debates after this between trump and biden. i think tonight is the most critical of all. i remember speaking with the campaign several weeks ago about their strategy and agenda here. one of the points they made to me is that they believe that writers start creating their story based on the first 30 minutes of tonight's debate. based on history it's probably very true. we go for 90 minutes but i think the first impressions that are made during this debate tonight are absolutely critical and i believe what mcgurn said there about millions of people are watching to see how joe biden does. >> sandra: yeah. >> bill: we have had not frankly the opportunity to hear from him. we have not seen him with the give and take with reporters as we have donald trump. sometimes several times a day.

i think therein lies the big question tonight. one more point. based on the agenda that we think is laid out for tonight's debate, these men will have a chance to go at each other. how often does that happen? what do they talk about? how do they engage together? how do they dodge and parry with each other and how does chris wallace take the attention back to the next item or the next question? how those two men interact with each other i think is why 80 million plus will be watching. >> sandra: i think you go back to some of the debates we watched on "fox & friends" this morning. you look at joe biden lieberman and dick cheney in 2000 looking at each other. very targeted focused attacks but it was respectful. and they did address each other. and look at each other. so you wonder what that looks like on the stage tonight. to your point it will look and feel different. the candidates won't be shaking hands when they get on stage. you won't have the big audience that you normally do.

you won't hear the reaction. you and i have been talking about that and it will look and feel a lot different once they take that space tonight. >> bill: yes, no question. we'll talk about this in the next two hours 40 minutes, too, sandra. first impressions make a big deal in these races that are razor tight in some of these states. as we mentioned there is a good portion of folks voting already. that's an aside now. we mention the six topics on the agenda including the economy. president trump's strongest suit in the polls. we've seen that for some time. is it enough to put him over the top for undecided voters? mercedes schlapp is here in cleveland and i'll talk to her about that. plus there is this. we have a hostage situation at a home in oregon leaving multiple people dead. what we learn about the stand-off as we continue live in cleveland and new york city right after this. a smile has the power to get you feelin' alright.

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>> sandra: more than a million people have now died as a result of covid just nine months since the pandemic began. president trump is promising to deliver a vaccine and have it widely available soon. >> president trump: the day that the vaccine is approved by the fda we'll begin distributing within 24 hours with hundreds of millions of doses to follow very quickly. over 100 million doses will be available before the end of the year. we will defeat the virus and we'll end the pandemic. and next year will be one of the greatest years in our

history. >> sandra: the death toll here in the united states now stands at more than 200,000 americans according to johns hopkins university data. >> bill: back here in cleveland now just hours away from the big debate number one here in cleveland, ohio president trump facing off with joe biden 90 minutes, chris wallace is the moderator in the arena behind me here at the cleveland clinic. several topics on the agenda. one of them the economy. the president consistently polling ahead of biden on that topic. is that enough to persuade the undecided? want to bring in trump 2020 senior advisor mercedes schlapp. good morning to you here in cleveland. >> it's great to be here. >> bill: trump and biden record, supreme court, covid-19, violence in american cities and race and integrity of the election. what's the game plan tonight for the president? >> to show the contrast. to unravel, unveil joe biden's attachment to the far left. how he has committed to bernie

sanders unity agenda which we know would lead to increase of taxes. you are talking about $4 trillion dollars of tax burden on american families. also expose how he has koez eid up with china where we have seen the trade deals he has supported, the fact that he supported china going into the world trade organization as a favored nation. that has been problematic and off shoreing jobs to china. >> bill: talk about style for a moment. sometimes you expect the president to go all in and he holds back. what would you expect tonight? is he going to go after joe biden or does he hold back and wait? >> let's remember joe biden is an experienced debater. he has been debating in the halls of the senate for a long time. while the president has been a very successful businessman and understands what we need to do

to build a strong economy. you'll see the president being ready and strong to take on joe biden. i don't think he will hold back. i think you will see a president who has a strong record to run on. where he has produced significant results in 47 months compared to 47 years of failure of joe biden. >> bill: does that answer me he will be the aggressor on stage tonight? >> i think he will be transparent, direct and expose joe biden's attachment to the far left. i think that's what you will see coming from president trump and also talking directly to the american people of how he has had their backs. how he has focused on achievements for the forgotten men and women of our country while joe biden has left americans behind when you look at his record. >> bill: we'll see if healthcare comes up tonight. kamala harris is talking about that this week and said the following. >> what's at stake is the affordable care act. we're in the middle of a pandemic and we have a president of the united states

who is in the court right now trying to get rid of the affordable care act. we're in court. it will be the united states supreme court that makes that decision. the issues before the court and before the american people and the american people have it within their power to do something about it. >> bill: what is the position the campaign to respond to that? >> the supreme court is there to interpret the law. let's remind kamala that congress is the one that makes the law. so if they need to make changes, they make changes in congress. it is why you've seen the president take aggressive actions when it comes to healthcare. when you are looking at lowering drug prices, when we look at lowering the cost of premiums. insuring we have more options for americans as opposed to joe biden and kamala, they support socialized medicine that would eliminate 180 million private health insurance policies. >> bill: monmouth poll has a

stunning number. 19 point spread biden at 57 trump at 38 among women. >> i've been traveling across the country on the women for trump bus tour. i talk to women on a daily basis. and what they are concerned about is they want to make sure there are safe communities, economic opportunities and they support president trump because they know he is the president of law and order. we will keep courting these women voters. it is a priority for our campaign. the reality is we need to insure that we keep talking about the joe biden record where we know that his economic policies will be detrimental and destroy jobs here in america. as we know, the president stands for school choice. that's a big issue for women. for suburban women and especially for minorities, latinos and african-americans who benefit from school choice. you know what joe biden does? aligns himself with teacher's unions. we'll talk about that contract and keep working on the women

vote. >> bill: a big deal in the florida governor race. a lot of people didn't see inside the numbers but the difference for governor desantis on that. we'll see you throughout the day and go through it together. back to new york now and sandra with more there. >> sandra: tonight's debate offering former vice president joe biden a chance to refute president trump's attack on his mental fitness. how else will the former v.p. try to win over undecided voters? plus wildfires spreading in california wine country. the latest on the ground there are thousands are forced to evacuate their homes to save lives. >> right now we're waiting and hoping the firefighters can win. it's terrible. i'm sick to my stomach and just praying for the best.

>> bill: 9:31 east coast time. bottom of the hour. time for some top stories. all eyes on the first debate later tonight. joe biden leading president trump by about 6 poipts in the latest real clear average of polls. more on that coming up. sandra. >> sandra: worldwide deaths from covid-19 reaching a milestone as more than a million people have died from the virus. president trump announced a plan to distribute 150 million rapid detection tests nationwide in the coming weeks. >> bill: also mentioned this a moment ago. deadly scene in oregon. multiple fatalities were

reported in a hostage situation in salem. the accused hostage taker was among those who were killed. more details on that as well as they come in throughout the morning. >> sandra: president trump has taken shot after shot at joe biden's mental fitness in the months leading up to tonight's big debate. this could be the moment that provides biden the best chance to prove him wrong. however, biden is known for his gaffes. what does the former vice president need to focus on tonight? juan williams probably has an answer for that. he is co-host "the five" and live in cleveland for us. everybody talking about expectations and everybody has an expectation for what's about to happen tonight. on that note with the president really down playing joe biden's ability to debate tonight, doesn't that set expectations pretty low for him? >> yeah, i think even the trump campaign acknowledges that maybe they took the wrong course there because basically,

sandra, if biden were to show up and say steady yes, i'm joe biden and in cleveland he would do away with the notion that has trump has said biden has lost his marbles, sleepy joe, all that kind of stuff. >> sandra: the president is making those points after a series of gaffes that are seen on camera by joe biden. watch some of them here. >> play the radio, make sure the television -- excuse me, make sure you have the record player on at night. the -- make sure the kids hear words. go to joe 3030 and help me in this fight. no man has a right to raise a hand to a woman in anger. keep punching at it and punching at it and punching at it. >> sandra: is it reasonable to say there have been enough of those the american people will tune in tonight to see if there are any more on the debate stage with such a big audience?

>> oh for sure. i think, look, this is a tv show. i think tonight they're estimating 00 million people may be watching, sandra. yeah, i mean part of it is that if biden somehow confirms the eye -- idea that he is slipping hurts him badly. jill biden said the other day the issue of the gaffes by her husband was raised to her she said don't go there. donald trump has not only gaffes but lies and the whole issue of fact checking donald trump when he goes on stage is going to be a big issue tonight. you remember trump is the guy that confused 7/11 with 9/11s and said the continental army was taking over airports. the key for biden. i was going to say the key for biden is to be steady. >> sandra: okay. so be steady. he has also said and his campaign has said part of his debate prep he plans to be the

fact checker. live fact checking the president on that debate stage tonight. juan, is that a good strategy? >> up to a point. if you get into the weeds and make it all about fact checking trump i think it becomes self-defeating. but on big issues you say that's not true, mr. president, i think that's effective. so it's a matter of, you know, proportion, sandra. and again this is a live performance. somebody said to me yesterday it's like two boxers meeting in the middle of the ring and everybody is watching. so you can use the jab occasionally to back that guy up. if you use it too much, not only does the audience get bored but the other guy knows the jab is coming and counters effectively. he has to do it on the right moment on the big lies. i wouldn't get into the weeds about it. >> sandra: you talk about it a tv show of performance but an essential tool for voters to hear the views on the issues from these two candidates.

this is the first of the three general election presidential debates, juan. we're talking about first appearances are everything. i just wonder broadly speaking what your concerns are as the two candidates take to the stage tonight. what are you worried about and what are you watching for? >> you've outlined it pretty effectively. given the way the president has spoken about the former vice president, people are -- just want to make sure that joe biden is able and capable and someone they can trust if they are going to vote for him for president. on the other hand, i think what president trump needs to do is say here is my answer. i know a lot of you are critical of my handling of covid. here is what i've done and my vision for a second term. something he has yet to articulate effectively. with what you're saying it's an introduction that would be the agenda. "wall street journal" yesterday said 70% of the people who will

be watching said this is not going to affect their vote one way or the other. >> sandra: that's an important point. the live shot on capitol hill amy coney barrett is expected to arrive on capitol hill at any moment and escorted by vice president pence. we know the supreme court will be a huge topic on that debate stage tonight. we're out of time, juan. great to have you. bill. >> bill: back to washington in a moment as we track amy coney barrett there. in the meantime this is what residents were hearing last night in napa valley, california, watch this. [sirens] >> warning, fire evacuation in progress. >> look at that. thousands told to get out fast as wildfires spread in california within ton tree. it was burning an acre every

minute. matt finn is live out there. what is the scene with just about sunrise? good morning in california. >> we're in the part of wine country now north of napa. in is a popular resort town. you can see the flames and fire here just beyond this vineyard. there is a fire crew next to us that are monitoring these flames right here. we've driven through the wine region already and seen a lot of destroyed properties, gutted cars. people trying to assess the damage with flashlights and such. a lot of downed power lines. some that are still in the street. this is a portion of the glass fire. it is 0% contained right now. 36,000 acres at least 113 structures destroyed. and then to the north near redding, california is the zog fire where three people have died. that fire at 31,000 acres also 0% containment. local residents describe what it was like to escape the

flames and how they are hopeful for some type of good outcome. >> bill: matt finn thanks, live in napa valley. really tough stuff to watch. any time there are flames, sandra, they cross that road. the firefighters are trying to control that blaze and prevent that. in moments like that it was just -- they were unable to do it. we'll see what we get today. hopefully we'll get calmer winds at some point soon. >> sandra: tense situation there. tonight's big event in cleveland. president trump and joe biden facing off for the first time on the debate stage. so what strategy should each candidate use to try to sway voters or swing votes? plus supreme court nominee judge amy coney barrett is on capitol hill today to meet with

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call now and get your free infokit >> sandra: a live look on capitol hill on tuesday morning. right now amy coney barrett, the president's supreme court nominee, is expected to arrive escorted by vice president mike pence. she will be meeting with gop senators on capitol hill today. obviously all this leading up

to her confirmation battle as the first of her hearings will take place monday, october 12th. we're watching for her arrival there and bring it to you when we see it. >> bill: in the meantime not many of them left out. some voters are still undecided and it is your right. a lot of them can make up their minds tonight. want to bring in a polster kristin solstice anderson. we might get interrupted depending on amy coney barrett's movements. stand by for that. initially i made the point to sandra 30 minutes ago i think there is so much on the line tonight in the first 30 minutes of this debate. what is your impression of making a first impression here? >> i think this matters a lot. while there are very few undecided voters, these are two candidates who have been well-known to americans for decades. this is still the moment where joe biden hasn't been seen on the campaign trail nearly as much as you would expect from

someone a major party nominee in the closing days of a presidential election. i think this is a moment for americans who may be wondering where is joe biden and what does he stand for? he needs to make a good impression but do no harm. a comfortable lead in the race. it doesn't mean it's over. he will be playing a do no harm strategy. try to get out alive. >> bill: we queued up two moments from debates past. the first with hillary clinton and president trump. then joe biden. roll the trump clip and you can react to this. watch here. >> look, she has been proven to be a liar. this is just another lie. we'll get a special prosecutor and look into it. people's lives have been destroyed for doing 1/5 of what you've done and it is a disgrace and you ought to be

ashamed of yourself. >> it is awfully good with someone with the temperament of donald trump is not in charge of the law in our country. >> president trump: because you would be in jail. >> bill: a moment ago mercedes schlapp says donald trump will the a aggressor. >> i expect he will be. in 2016 donald trump benefited from voters who didn't like him but didn't like hillary clinton. being the aggressor he was able to win over some of those folks. i think if he is the aggressor it will show he has more energy, a note he has hit on repeatedly during this campaign and doesn't want it to be a referendum on him. job approval hasn't gotten close to 50%. he needs people to vote for him who may not love the way he has been executing his job as president. he needs them to like joe biden

less. coming out swinging, trying to poke holes in biden's argument and making him appear like he is not ready to be president. >> bill: back to the time machine. a clip of joe biden 2012 with paul ryan. a clip from earlier in 2020 pre-covid times during the democratic primary. watch and listen. >> it makes us more weak. >> that's a bunch of malarkey. because not a single thing you said in accurate. >> $30 trillion, don't know what matthew do in new york or what matthew do in california. i tell you that's a lot of money. >> my memories of the paul ryan debate. ray an was taken back a little bit by that strategy and he was the aggressor eight years ago. your expectation now? >> i think biden is going to want to demonstrate that trump is wrong when he says low energy joe, he has been sleepy joe. so i think he will try to bring

a lot of vim and vigor to this debate. what's interesting about this clip he used words like malarkey. the no malarkey tour. i don't know what kind of math you do in new york. the folksy image. he has cut into donald trump's advantage with senior citizens in part by embracing this image that's very different from what you might expect from a conventional democrat and i think he will lean into that tonight. >> bill: we'll see if you are right later tonight, okay? you're on. thanks for coming on today. nice to see you. back to sandra now. >> sandra: thank you, bill. early voting is underway. new concerns this morning on what is being described as ballot harvesting. we'll have brand-new details on that. plus this. as covid-19 infections spike in new york city, could the big apple be going back under lockdown?

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because it strengthens prop 13 for seniors, disabled veterans, wildfire victims, and family farmers. prop 19 also protects the right of parents to pass on the family home to their children at the current property tax rate. you worked hard for your house and you should be able to give it to your children without a tax penalty. that's why taxpayer advocates, firefighters, veterans, and small business owners are voting 'yes' on prop 19.

>> sandra: minneapolis police are investigating claims by a right wing activist group that individuals tied to democratic congresswoman omar engaged in ballot harvesting. president trump has criticized the practice where a voter fills out an absentee ballot and gives it to someone else to mail and drop off at an election board. what are you hearing on this? >> sandra, apparently the cases before west virginia politician went around to houses and allegedly filled out the absentee ballots, in new york politicians were accused of collecting absentee ballots and voting for themselves.

it is the ballot harvesting where you give someone else your vote. the famous case happening in patterson, new jersey that is where in a local election officials found hundreds of ballots that were in several mailboxes. in new jersey you can only handle three absentee ballots of others. 2018 in north carolina it was the republicans, operatives there accused of illegally collecting absentee ballots. right now in more than two dozen states ballot harvesting is allowed. someone else can return your ballot. it may be legal but the president has repeatedly said he thinks it's wrong. >> it is called harvesting. they'll harvest ballots even in most cases it is illegal. it is illegal as hell. it should be illegal. so this is a disaster waiting to happen. >> supporters say it does help more people vote. there is a bill in congress

banning itment back to you. >> sandra: thank you. >> bill: 11 hours until the big event. sounds like it. president trump and joe biden head-to-head in prime time tonight. everything you need to watch the big debate. more team coverage live in cleveland coming up right here live on "america's newsroom."

frjs fox news alert. a live look on capitol hill now. you'll see live vice president mike pence, mark meadows the president's chief of staff gathering on the steps as we await the arrival of president trump's supreme court pick judge amy coney barrett. she is expected to arrive and will be meeting with g.o.p. senators. first mitch mcconnell. a pool spray of that moment coming up moments from now. she will be meeting with a long list of senators including john thune, lindsey graham and others. this is the big moment where she will sit down with those

senators. as you can see vice president mike pence as expected will be escorting her at the capitol this morning as she engages in those meetings. a big moment on capitol hill days away from the beginning of her confirmation hearing and what is likely to be a supreme showdown over that confirmation battle. just days before election day. vice president mike pence there as we see the motorcade arriving. when we see judge amy coney barrett arrive we'll bring that to you. we'll have a lot more on that this hour. first back to our top story debate night in america. president trump and former vice president joe biden set to meet for the first presidential debate of the 2020 election. welcome back to a brand-new hour of "america's newsroom," i'm sandra smith. bill is back if cleveland today and we'll keep our eye on steps of capitol as we await the

arrival of the judge. >> bill: good morning to you. i'm bill hemmer live in cleveland. the calendar is packed if you look at it. you are talking about hearings that might begin in 13 days. you are talking about a national election five weeks away from tonight. we'll track who barrett is meeting with and who has chosen not to meet with her today and in the coming weeks in washington, d.c. meanwhile that's the scene and you are looking live in cleveland, ohio. smitty, we had a rainfall last night that would blow noah away in the arc. it has all blown out of her now, a beautiful sight. back to blue skies in northern ohio here at the cleveland clinic. as i mentioned yesterday one of the finest medical facilities in the world. they do god's work here. president trump and joe biden face off in cleveland. chris wallace moderates later tonight. tonight will look very

different from any other debate we've seen because of coronavirus restrictions. no handshakes, there won't be masks, however. plenty of social distancing. it begins right there less than 11 hours from now. election as i mentioned five weeks from today. >> sandra: hard to believe. peter doocy is live in cleveland for us. peter, what are you learning about the last-minute negotiations between the campaigns ahead of the big debate tonight. good morning. >> good morning, we're learning that so far the trump campaign has been left hanging to have a third party come in and inspect the ears of each candidate for an electronic device or some sort of transmitter that is something that the president has apparently consented to. the biden campaign was denied two breaks during the program. one every 30 minutes. the trump campaign has been asking and been denied a

performance enhancing drug test. the biden campaign said they won't provide a sample. both candidates are still home in d.c. and delaware and head here for separate walk-throughs on location here and head to offsite before the opening statement from chris wallace at 9:03 and 30 seconds to kick things off. >> sandra: what are the candidates' strengths and weaknesses on the big topics we know will be hit tonight? >> the biden campaign is arguing for weeks that a big weakness for president trump is one of the topics tonight covid-19. then the trump campaign has been arguing for several weeks that one of the biden team's big weaknesses is another one of the topics, violence in cities. the two are on opposite sides of some of the other issues that chris wallace says he wants to ask about, which would be the supreme court and economy. we know other listed topics are

the integrity of the election and the trump/biden record. the campaigns are allowed to invite guests. the trump campaign senior advisor jason miller is teasing on twitter it will be a very intriguing guest list on their side. >> sandra: all right, peter doocy. thank you. coming up bret baier will join us with an exclusive look inside the presidential debate hall in cleveland. stay tuned for that. >> bill: she is 48 years old. she has got a track record that many are familiar with and so, too, are many not but they will be very soon. her name is judge amy coney barrett and today she starts to make the rounds on capitol hill meeting with republican senators about her nomination to the supreme court. she is expected to receive wide support from senate republicans but six democrats already are

on record saying they will not take a meeting with her. mark meredith watching it on the hill. what kind of welcome will she get when she arrives there in a matter of moments in washington >> a fairly warm welcome. senator mitch mcconnell will welcome her to the capitol toll and mike pence making the trip. a busy week for the judge. she will have several meetings face-to-face with the senators who decide whether or not to confirm her to the nation's highest court next month. among the meetings today senator mcconnell as well as chuck grassley, the current chair of the senate judiciary committee lindsey graham and high-profile republican senators. ted cruz, rick scott and one senator who doesn't plan to meet with judge barrett. chuck schumer. >> because i believe first that the whole process has been

illegitimate and second, she has already stated that she is for overturning the aca. i will not meet with her. >> the chairman of the senate judiciary committee says he expects the committee hearing beginning october 12 and a few days of questioning. democrats appear eager to question her on her views on healthcare, abortion and gay rights. judiciary committee vote will come a week later and the full senate voting near the end of october. two gop senators said they won't vote for any nominee before the election. the white house is convinced it can get this done. a very tight timetable to have this happen before the election. the white house also expecting to play a heavy hand in all of this and it gets started today here on capitol hill. >> bill: we'll wait for her arrival. nice to see you mark meredith on the hill. back to you shortly. >> sandra: mail-in voting extension in pennsylvania

facing a new challenge. top republicans in the key battleground state asking the supreme court to pause the state court ruling so they can file a formal appeal. the ruling allowed mail-in ballots in pennsylvania received three days after election day to be counted if they are postmarked by november 3. this is the first election case filed in the supreme court since the death of justice ruth bader ginsburg. and negotiations are expected to resume today between nancy pelosi and steve mnuchin. all this coming a day after house democrats put out a pared down relief package. the plan includes $436 billion for state and local governments. a new round of $1200 checks that go out to americans. and restoring the $600 federal weekly supplement to unemployment benefits. more on that coming up.

>> bill: in the meantime getting exclusive look inside the debate arena in cleveland, ohio where president trump and his democratic challenger the former vice president joe biden will meet tonight. it is their first of three one-on-one match-ups of the 2020 election. special report anchor bret baier joins me now from the inside of the debate hall. you are one of the view to look inside. it is a hospital. you hear an ambulance. they got me. just give us a sense about what you see inside there. the confines from your perspective. >> they are doing the check now. the audio checks and the lighting here. this is a scene that is very familiar if you've watched debates in years past. the set essentially looks the same as you look at the wide shot behind me. the two lecterns where chris wallace will sit to moderate.

only one teleprompter here, chris's. they just did the opening where he welcomes everyone in, welcomes the two candidates and did a run-through of that. then starts the questions. and everything shuts off and it is just the three men on that stage. and those moments, what happens tonight really does have the potential to change the trajectory of the race. you can go poll to poll about how people will think it will affect their vote but until i hatens -- happens you don't know. biden campaign wants to make it a referendum on president trump. tonight is about joe biden and can he convince people that he is the man to take the helm at the white house. >> joe biden has been on the campaign 9 or 10 days in september. by and large to get ready for tonight.

with regard to president trump, rudy giuliani earlier today was telling us that heck, they were having some of these mash-up sessions at the white house but they weren't mock-up debates they were informal q and as. i will let you answer that in a moment. breaking news on the hill. amy coney barrett i'm told now is -- she has arrived. she will be with the senate majority leader. let's listen in. >> as you know she will be visiting with members that are interested in talking to her during the course of the next few days. and we are glad to have her here and glad to get the process started. >> on behalf of president trump i want to thank the senate majority leader and your colleagues in the senate who have committed to meet with an extraordinary american. judge amy coney barrett. we have someone of great character, great intellect who has a judicial philosophy that will uphold the constitution of

the united states. president trump discharged his duty under article 2 to nominate judge barrett to the vacancy on the supreme court of the united states and now we look forward, our entire teamworking with you, republicans in the senate and we hope democrats in the senate as well as you discharge your duty to advise and consent. we truly do believe that judge barrett represents the best of america personally in terms of her great intellect and her great background and we have every confidence that as the american people learn more about judge amy coney barrett they will be as inspired as president trump was when he made her nomination. we believe the senate has an opportunity for a fair and respectful consideration hearing. we urge our democrat colleagues in the senate to take the

opportunity to meet with judge barrett and that the hearing goes forward to provide the kind of respectful hearing that the american people expect. we look forward to a vote in the senate in the near future to fill the seat on the supreme court in the united states. the american people deserve a justice like judge amy coney barrett. the american people deserve nine justices on the supreme court of the united states. so thank you, leader, for the warm welcome today and we look forward to working with you. >> [inaudible question] >> thank you. >> bill: there you have it. amy coney barrett's first introduction with the vice president mike pence and

majority leader mitch mcconnell. seven interviews -- seven meetings planned for today on the hill. they were all with republican lawmakers on the senate side. there are already six democrats who said they will not take a meeting with her. chuck schumer, richard blumenthal. kristin gillibrand. bob casey from pennsylvania. keep an eye on that whether it has an impact on the 20 electoral votes in pennsylvania how voters back in his home state react to that. do we have bret with us? get a sense, bret, the confluence of all these events are coming together. it is truly remarkable. i guess when i was setting you up for is to get a sense of trump's preparation versus biden's preparation. the president will say you can over prepare and it makes you less flexible. that was the point that giuliani was making earlier today. >> yeah. i heard rudy on the air earlier saying that the president essentially deals with a debate

every day as he takes what they call hostile questions from the press. he has taken more questions from reporters than any president in recent history as far as day-to-day. whether it is in the briefing room or on the way to marine one. that does mean that you have reps and able to answer tough questions. it doesn't set up debate moments. that takes practice because you have two minutes and then you have conversation that goes back and forth. the biggest viral moments that you remember from debates of old, they were planned likely and they had been boarded out. he says this, i say this and you get to the moment that each campaign wants. >> bill: peter doocy is reporting some interesting things. i don't know if you have the nuggets or not. the trump team asked to inspect the ears of each debater for electronic devices or transmitters. the biden team hasn't consented to that. the biden team said they wanted

to break every 30 minutes. the trump team said we won't have that. >> those are significant. first of all. the breaks are set by the debate commission. so the trump campaign may not have agreed to it but also the debate commission has always said it is 90 minutes straight through and that's how they plan for it and what they told the networks and that's what we're planning for as far as our coverage. as far as the listening devices and the biden campaign's response to that, i think that's interesting. we will have to follow that through the day to see what comes out of that. >> bill: we'll look for an answer on that. check in later live in cleveland. thank you, sir. well done prime time coverage begins on the fox news channel with bret and martha later tonight at 6:00 eastern we begin followed by "the story" with martha at 7:00 and the big debate at 9:00 eastern time with chris wallace. 90 minutes on the clock and

plenty of analysis to follow. >> sandra: 90 minutes with no break. can a candidate raise their hand and take a break should they choose to? the co-chairman of the commission said well, we urge them to use the bathroom before we begin. so -- >> bill: so once you are on the clock you are on the clock. >> sandra: yes. expectations are certainly high, bill. we are all going to be watching as a country and around the world, by the way, as well. thank you, bill. as ohio goes, so goes the nation. the state has decided with the white house winner for more than a century. where is the state leaning now and what is behind the sudden change? attention veterans,

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>> sandra: tonight's presidential debate taking place in ohio putting a sharp focus on a key swing state where 18 electoral votes are at stake. if you take a look now, i guess we could jump into the ohio real clear politics average on

what we're seeing ahead of the big debate there tonight. joe biden is leading the president as you can see by just under 4 percentage points. but broadly speaking, want to dial into state can we bring in our guest next first, by the way? if you look back at 2016 the results in ohio democrats believe they can get back some of those key eastern counties that donald trump won in 2016, barack obama won them in 2008 and some in 2012. the politics editor for the national journal. josh, thank you for joining us. as we look at some of the eastern counties here you see them red in 2016 as the president took the state. i flip it to 2012 to show some of those counties that went to barack obama back in 2012 and in 2008. why do democrats feel like them flip some of these blue again? >> these are some of the most persuadeable voters in the

entire country. your pointing to youngstown and other parts of the state in toledo, cincinnati, where you have voters that voted democratic in 2008 and 2012 and not satisfied with the economic direction of the country. the gm plant in lords town, ohio shutting down. a lot of jobs were at stake and that's the top issue in ohio, the economy. trump leads in the fox poll on the economy. that is going to have to be the president's ace in the hole in ohio. it's a state he needs to win to win the presidency, to win another term and a state where voters in youngstown and across the state are concerned about the jobs and blue collar jobs more plentiful before throughout the state. >> sandra: the results narrowing in on another county that we're watching as the president's son will be rallying there tomorrow night. the president just made a stop to rally just outside of dayton.

talk about montgomery, county, a county the president squeezed out a very narrow margin of victory in 2016. >> big battleground. mike turner, prominent congressman represents that neck of the woods. it is a county in an area that republicans need to win. it leans republican but the trend lines across the country and in ohio the end to favor joe biden in an area like that. so when you look at the fox poll, you had joe biden leading by 4 points. president trump won the state by 8 points in 2016. so that's the bellwethers in ohio and an area that donald trump definitely needs to win to win statewide. >> sandra: a look at the rcp average heading into tonight's big debate. the lead joe biden carries heading into the debate. top issues for ohio voters. talk about this and what this means for the debate on the

stage tonight. when their biggest issue, ohio voters, is the economy. 27% of quinnipiac respondents said that. law and order 17%. coronavirus, all big topics that chris wallace will bring up to the candidates to. >> the economy is the dominant issue in ohio with working class voters that were dissatisfied with the democratic governance between 2008 and 2016. took it out on hillary clinton and gave donald trump a resounding majority especially in the eastern slice of the state that you pointed out earlier, sandra. these are voters that really supported trump on the economy. now they haven't seen the type of gains they expected economically and are much more evenly divided than they were in 2016. for joe biden the ace in the hole for him is the pandemic. you look at the fox poll, joe biden leads trump in ohio by 14 points on the candidate that is seen as best equipped to handle the pandemic or handle the

recovery from the coronavirus. trump needs to narrow those margins as well. public health is a big concern among ohio voters. >> sandra: lot of talk about ohio's handling of the coronavirus pandemic. a 3% positivity rate as of last friday in the state. and when asked who they trust to do a better job on coronavirus they trust joe biden by a wide margin over the president. joe biden over 43%. that coronavirus one really stands out because it is expected that president trump is going to have to defend his response to this pandemic to joe biden on that stage tonight. final thoughts, josh. >> big challenge for donald trump. he started out with an advantage in ohio and it was because a lot of voters admired his steady leadership and admired the fact he was a

tough, decisive leaders. the numbers dipped as the pandemic worsened across the country and had its own spikes in ohio. president trump is going to need to cut that deficit. he can't lose by 14 points on one of the biggest issues that voters care about in ohio. >> sandra: very interesting stuff. josh, appreciate that as we take a little spin on the touch screen this morning heading to the debate tonight. appreciate it. thank you. bill. >> bill: nicely done, smitty. fox news alert. major hospital and healthcare network hit with a massive cyberattack disrupting hundreds of medical facilities across the country. the consequences for patients there and a live look inside the debate hall at the cleveland clinic here in northern ohio. both candidates getting ready for the head-to-head first-time match-up tonight. they plan to persuade voters. white house press secretary kayleigh mcenany is live on that coming up next. >> you can't have better

preparation than taking the most hostile of questions from the white house press corps.

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oh, i will rescue you >> bill: back in cleveland, 10:32. time for our top stories. millions in rapid coronavirus test to states -- shipping them to states this week in an effort to help reopen some of the schools that are still closed. the move comes as health experts warn of a possible surge of infections during the colder months. sandra. >> sandra: former louisville police officer has pled not guilty to three counts of wanton endangerment for firing into the home of breonna taylor's neighbors. the grand jury decided not to charge him or the other two officers involved in the raid in taylor's death. >> bill: house democrats unveiling a 2.2 trillion dollar

covid relief package. that is an updated version of the hero's act which the house passed back in may. nancy pelosi and steve mnuchin resume negotiations today. >> sandra: five weeks until election day. president trump and democratic challenger joe biden are about to enter the detate arena for the first time. it's one of the last chances the candidates have to sway undecided voters. white house press secretary kayleigh mcenany joins us now. good morning and great to see you. i know it has been incredibly busy two days for you and the white house and the president. how is the president preparing this morning for the big night? >> the president has had a few press sessions with mayor rudy giuliani and governor chris christie. this morning he makes his way to ohio here in the afternoon getting ready those last-minute preparations. what the president does is

prepare each and every day when he takes grueling questions from the white house press corps, the most transparent president in history. has had more preparation than anyone on day-to-day basis of doing many forms of questioning. >> sandra: rudy giuliani was asked by one of our hosts. here is how the president answered. >> there is a difference between debating a man and a woman. biden is a nasty enough guy that you don't have to worry about, you know, not being -- being too careful with him. he said terrible things about the president. so the president has every right to take his head off if he wants. >> sandra: what should that tell us about what we may see as far as strategy on the part of the president tonight? >> i think those are some very good stylistic points but i think you will see a lot of

contrast. we've had eight years of obama/biden. when you look back a very definitive contrast between healthcare premiums going up, dr*ug prices going up. choice going down. president trump brought drug prices down for the first time in 50 years. the slowest economic recovery since world war ii under obama-biden followed by historic lows in unemployment. every issue there is a clear definitive choice the american people have to make. they'll recognize the president's accomplishments this evening. >> sandra: everybody has their own expectations for what we might see tonight. is it the president's intention to have a cordial, respectful debate with joe biden or is it going to be the food fight that many have predicted? >> the president wants a substantive back and forth. he has the truth and facts on his side. i'm sure the former vice president doesn't want to be talking about his record with the v.a., which was in shambles

that the president reversed giving good healthcare to our veterans. i'm sure he doesn't want to talk about the dwindling down of the military. president trump historic investment in our military. the world stage and president trump bringing in two peace deals. the president wants talking back and forth with substantive condition -- >> sandra: we've heard from the president cognitive decline of biden. giuliani -- why is the president continuing down that path? does he believe it will help him? >> that's a very fair question the president brings up. american voters deserve to know whether they have a president who is equipped to lead, who has the ability to go long days.

i've been with the president he is up and at it early in the morning making phone calls with world leaders going until after midnight. this president works around the clock. hard for his staff to keep up with him. an important quality in a president. this president has that. >> sandra: there is the reporting by "the new york times" on the president's tax returns. and there is a reminder of this moment when president trump debated hillary clinton in the 2016 election and president trump then talked about paying zero taxes. listen. >> the only years that anybody has ever seen were a couple of years when he had to turn them over to state authorities when he was trying to get a casino listens and they show he didn't pay any federal income tax. >> president trump: that makes me smart. >> sandra: now with "the new york times" reporting it could come up on the debate things. does it change things for the trump campaign days, now weeks

now from election today? >> no, we've seen these smears from "the new york times" before. they dropped a similar piece days before the debate in 2016. the president has paid tens of millions in taxes in the decade leading up. the only president to have donated his salary, $1.4 million to the american people, back to the american treasury. he works for free. his money goes to the u.s. treasury. the real questions are for hunter biden, who got $3.5 million from the moscow mayor's wife. president trump pays the u.s. treasury. russia pays hunter biden. >> sandra: there is news that kevin brady, the republican from texas, ranking member on the house committee is launching into a criminal investigation of the leaking by that to "the new york times." calling for an investigation of

the source and prosecute if the law was broken. is the president involved in pressing for a criminal investigation now of the leaking of those taxes? >> no. the president hasn't pressed for that but it is a fair investigation to have. we've seen the poll ittyization of taxes before. we've seen the irs targeting tea party group and unacceptable proposition for that to happen and unacceptable for the documents to president to leak illegally to the "new york times" and to public the information. >> sandra: is the president focused on any one big topic, what is he preparing the most on for the debate tonight would you say? >> he is prepared on all the topics. the economy is big. v-shaped recovery exceeding expectations and job reports. only a businessman like president trump could make that possible. >> sandra: appreciate your time this morning, thank you. bill.

>> bill: so sandra, thanks. at this hour judge amy coney barrett is on capitol hill meeting with senators. several meetings today ahead of the supreme court hearings in less than two weeks. some democrats aren't rolling out the welcome mat. ari fleischer has his take on the process is expected to play out. he is coming up next. >> the voters would simply like to have an opportunity to vote for their president before the senate votes on a nominee. i try to put my arm around any vet that i can, absolutely. at newdayusa that's what we're doing. we put our arm around the veterans. when i think of the veteran out there that needs to refi his home, he may want to purchase, we can help them and provide that financial solution for they and their families. it's a great rewarding feeling. everybody in the company, they have that deference and that respect and that love for the veteran that makes this company so unique.

>> bill: supreme court nominee judge amy coney barrett starting to meet today with senators ahead of her confirmation hearing. we saw her arrive earlier in the hour. already six democrats including minority leader chuck schumer said they will not meet with her. i want to bring in ari

fleischer, former press secretary for george w. bush. richard blum en thal tweeted i will refuse to treat this process as legitimate and will not meet with judge amy coney barrett. there are others who probably will follow suit with that. what do you think? >> they can't complain about donald trump violating the norms if you violate them yourself, bill. this reminds me of the 60 democratic congressmen who boycotted president trump's inaugural. the democrats complain the president won't except the results of the election. they're the ones not accepting the results of the election. of course they should meet with a properly duly nominated supreme court nominee. this is a violation of all the traditions, the normalcy of washington and the democrats are the ones leading the charge to violate the normalcy of washington >> bill: trey gowdy said this yesterday on the daily briefing. >> i think it's incredibly

disrespectful not to meet with someone. i didn't like it when my colleagues boycotted the state of the union or boycotted the inauguration. so at least they are saving her the time and effort to tried to appeal to their fair mindedness because there is none. >> bill: ted cruz was on last night and said the following which i think goes to the heart of what i'm about to ask you. here the cruz on this. >> it was despicable what they did to justice thomas. sam alito they smeared him. justice kavanaugh, and now they are starting with judge barrett. and it is -- i fully expect the confirmation hearing to be a political circus. >> bill: that political circus comment is what i was leaning on. do you expect it to be that way? >> i do. i think the democrats in the room will find the line about not being overly aggressive

about the judge's faith to turn off a lot of voters but their greatest vulnerability will be the public. can you imagine if the streets of washington are turned into the streets of seattle during this hearing? we saw a lot of that during the brett kavanaugh hearing. the scenes in the streets, people taking over the office buildings, protesting in the lobbies. if that happens during this hearing in october, it is going to send a signal to the american people that the same things we're seeing in the streets now the democrats are bringing to washington that's the greatest risk the democrats face is their base pouring out into the streets to oppose this. >> bill: let's talk about tonight's debate. a minute left and want to spend 30 seconds on each man. what is the one thing with regard to joe biden, the challenger tonight, what are you looking for in him, ari? >> one, he surprised me. i heard the news report saying he wanted a break every 30

minutes? why? i always presumed joe biden had the ability to stay on the stage for 90 minutes successively. asking for a break every 30 minutes is really troubling. >> bill: interesting. what about the president? what do you expect from him tonight? what is the one or two things that you will be looking for from him? >> three words, smoke, biden, out. he needs to smoke joe biden out and make biden take policy issues. president trump i will veto legislation to pack the supreme court. will you do that, joe? i oppose defunding the police. where are you? the other issues, driver's licenses -- where are you, joe? sanctuary cities, i oppose them, joe, do you? you proposed higher taxes twice

as high as hillary clinton. i oppose that. why are you for higher taxes and fracking. i oppose efforts to end fracking, where are you, joe? smoke him out. make him state his policies on those six issues. >> bill: well prepared. nice to talk to you today. we'll see whether or not you get your wish tonight. ari fleischer, we'll talk real soon. >> thanks, bill. >> sandra: months after the coronavirus first came to this city there is now word new york could soon face more shut downs. we'll have that story for you next. i'm voting for proposition 19

because it strengthens prop 13 for seniors, disabled veterans, wildfire victims,

and family farmers. prop 19 also protects the right of parents to pass on the family home to their children at the current property tax rate. you worked hard for your house and you should be able to give it to your children without a tax penalty. that's why taxpayer advocates, firefighters, veterans, and small business owners are voting 'yes' on prop 19. >> sandra: the "new york post" reporting new york city is threatening new lockdowns in several areas. the quarter of new cases in the state were found in 10 zip codes around the city. the new lockdowns wosh the first time the city has rolled back reopening efforts. >> bill: say it ain't so. back in cleveland a look at some of the sights and sounds as we get ready for a night like none other in cleveland.

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>> sandra: man, game time. that's great. >> bill: let's play some football. put on your chin straps we're on the field. >> sandra: i was just going to say, such a good job showing the technology we're using to show the awesome shot and awesome team that puts together that setup there. >> bill: greg hart, well done, >> sandra: look like a rock star there, bill. we're less than 12 hours away from the start of the first presidential debate. martha maccallum will join us with her take as the final stretch of the 2020 race begins. all in one disposable pad. just vacuum, spray mop, and toss. the shark vacmop, a complete clean all in one disposable pad.

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and not a single dollar out of pocket. one call can save you $3000 a year. >> sandra: 10 hours to go and counting down until the first presidential debate kicks off tonight in cleveland. millions of americans will be tuning in to watch as president trump and former vice president joe biden come face-to-face in the fight of their political careers. bill hemmer is on the ground in cleveland. welcome to a new hour of "america's newsroom." remember three hours ago? >> the telethon. great to be back with you. i'm bill hemmer. this is the biggest stage in the country happening tonight. all is quiet on the campaign trail ahead of tonight's fireworks. president trump and joe biden

gearing up for the big night. chris wallace moderates. it will cover a range of topics. you have covid, supreme court, the u.s. economy. both sides say their men are ready to go. >> i think you will see the president being ready and strong to take on joe biden. i don't think he will hold back. i think you will see a president who has a strong record to run on. i think that's what you will see coming from president trump and also talking directly to the american people of how he has had their back. >> he has been on that debate stage so many times and he is so good. i think what joe will always do, he will speak directly to the american people. understanding what their needs are and talk about facts and talk about solutions. >> bill: here we go. team fox coverage this hour. martha maccallum standing by with analysis. kevin corke with preparations around cleveland. griff jenkins. what is the sense you are

getting on the ground? good morning? >> good morning. you get a real sense of both the magnitude of the changes because of the coronavirus as well as just how high the stakes are and what could be a pivotal moment in this race and change the trajectory. the fact that this will be so historic looking different from start to finish from no handshake to no spin room at the end and limited reduced audience all tested before attending. we know those topics as you mentioned ranging from the economy to the supreme court. front and center will be the president's response to the coronavirus and he is talking in the rose garden yesterday with a big announcement. >> president trump: we're announcing our plan to distribute 100 million point of care tests and in weeks 50 million tests will go to protect the most vulnerable communities. >> likely to come up, the president's taxes. the biden campaign running ads

over "the new york times" piece that he only paid $750 in 2016-2017. the president disputes that. the outcome should -- trump won this battleground state in 2016. in the latest poll he trails biden by five. ohio democratic senator brown weighed in on tonight's debate. >> i know trump will be a bully and biden, i like how biden talks about when he was bullied as a kid and seen bullies his whole life and knows how to respond to them. >> ultimately with hours to go it will depend on which version of both candidates shows up tonight to that stage behind me as we are about ready to get started. bill and sandra. >> bill: that's why we watch. griff jenkins in cleveland, ohio. >> sandra: thanks. a twist on the conventional wisdom. "politico" now claiming it's the president, not joe biden who is being underestimated

heading into tonight's big debate. let's bring in martha maccallum, anchor of "the story". great to see you on the ground in cleveland. a bit of the "politico" piece says it is trump being underestimated not biden. what comes across in hindsight he had an underappreciated style, strategy and message back in the 2015 and 2016 debates. not the donald trump of twitter where he launches the crudeest attack or maga rallies where he feeds off the crowd making an entertainer. could it be the president being underestimated heading into the big night? >> an interesting piece. good morning, sandra, thanks for having me on. great to be in cleveland. we're excited about tonight obviously. it's a very big moment. very big data point as they say on the way to the white house for 2020. but it's very interesting when you do look back at the history of donald trump's emergence on the presidential scene.

he has known how at different junk tours to calibrate what was needed for the moment. how brash and bold with 17 candidates across two stages. we remember those. he was just plowing people down right and left. not encumbered by the mechanisms and norms of the way that debates work and what presidential candidates should look like or act like or talk like. and what happened was he ended up connecting with a lot of people across america. and they came out to vote. many of them for the first time ever. one of the big questions i think for this presidential election is to get out that vote on both sides. because as we know, it's a very, very tight race. there are a lot of people going into tonight have pretty much made up their mind, sandra. >> sandra: interesting. furthermore in the piece they write last time around trump learned to master and dominate the debates in the republican

primary and very effective against someone as skilled as hillary clinton in the three general election debates. he shouldn't be underestimated. why we're talking about this, martha, in large part the president has been suggesting and down played joe biden too much by suggesting he is facing cognitive decline. that he won't be able to answer questions. he will suffer gaffes or stumbles and that perhaps that bar has been set so low that he might clearly hurdle it. >> you can tell on the trump team there has been a concerted effort to pivot from that. i think that was what they thought was useful during the primary period. i think that they did want to knock joe biden out. he has been vice president for eight years and there was reason to fear him as a presidential opponent and now we're seeing in the polls there was good reason to fear that. they may wish at this point they had started to pivot sooner on the notion that he is really experienced and debated on the floor of the united states senate for years and

years and to sort of raise expectations a bit for him so he has to go further than just sort of exist and breathe and speak and walk and walk off the stage. >> sandra: david vosy suggested the big debate will be about. >> whether it's higher taxes, open borders, more job killing regulations. bad trade deals, whether it's no more peace that this president has brought forward. whether it's anarchy in the streets or defunding the police. this is an election about big issues not small petty grievances that joe biden is on. >> sandra: i'll put on the screen the pew poll from late july/early august that shows revealing numbers about the chance of changing their minds. biden sporters 5%. trump supporters 4%. does the debate tonight sway any voters?

>> that's the big question. when we were at this point in 2016 there were 8% hillary clinton voters who said they could be persuadeable to change their mind and we did see exit polls in 2016 that was the deciding factor, the people who at the very end spf ended up going for president trump. undecided and moved toward trump. maybe they knew all along who they would vote for but marked undecided. what david just said, how much do people want to sort of say in this covid moment? it's been a difficult year losing 200,000 americans. there are some indications that we're starting to pull out of that. we hope that's true. we hope there is a vaccine around the corner that will end up making a big difference. but you will see joe biden, i think tonight try to really continue to live in that moment and reflect on the president's -- the job that he did on

covid-19. is it is a strong point for the biden campaign. if the president can turn that narrative to what is coming forward and what's next for the next four years and focus on the economy and getting out of that hole, that could potentially be a positive strategy. we'll be watching and up close and watching and looking forward to it, sandra. >> sandra: the countdown clock is on, 9 hours, 50 minutes and counting. we look forward to your and bret's coverage tonight on the fox news channel. thanks for joining us this morning. >> bill: good deal. all right, ladies. for the first time in our nation's history a presidential debate stores in the host city are boarding up windows in the event of possible riots. as the ohio governor activates the state's national guard before protests around the debate venue. what are the numbers? kevin corke, what are you

hearing? let's start there. >> well, the calm before the stormy imagine, bill. we have heard there is a large protest group resist fascism that announced they'll be here in some force. we don't know how large or small. stimulate this afternoon and into the evening. that's a real concern. we are in a very secure location right now given the overwhelming law enforcement presence. when you think about business owners around the city, there is a great deal of concern about what could be a very volatile night. we mentioned before boarding up businesses, shutting down businesses. not just early but some of them are closed for the entire day. we've talked to law enforcement officials as well and they said it is all about coordination between the local and federal law enforcement officials here on the ground. here now is the f.b.i.'s saic. >> we want to make sure that

people have a safe and secure event. we want to make sure that people's civil rights are protected. >> making sure people's rights are protected, not just those who wish to peacefully protest but obviously those who hope to get in and out of the venue safely. you can probably hear we have helicopters overhead and security presence is building throughout the morning. now back to you. >> bill: all right, kevin, nice to see you kevin corke. keep it peaceful tonight fingers crossed on all that. here we go, sandra. watching that clock i heard you mention less than nine hours, 10 hours right now? we're in the ninth hour. so ran into chris wallace in cleveland. he is ready to go. onward we march to the biggest stage in the country for one night during the campaign. >> sandra: what's it like on

the ground? we talk about the security of the event. the president will be on the ground soon as well as the former vice president. but all the media is there. this is a huge task to secure the area especially after what you just heard as far as the reporting there. what's the sense you are getting on the ground? >> i think the biggest factor is covid, frankly. normally we would have reporters crawling this place. they're not here, sandra. you will have your reporters from different networks. i think fox has the biggest presence by far of any other network. i think the other thing with the protocols for covid, the mask wearing, the testing we've all gone through on somewhat of a daily basis that makes a difference also. you get a different feel. i don't think the numbers are nearly as high as what they would be in what is considered a normal year. having said that ohio, i mean, dewine jumped on this thing very early and a lot of people are saying why are you doing

that? they've kept their numbers low. sunday reported 800 new cases but only 1 coronavirus related death in the state. 11.7 million people who live here. that's a pretty good result based on the efforts they've put forward. >> sandra: 3% positivity rate in ohio. they've done a good job. we'll see how it goes as we head into the winter. that's the big question. all right, bill, thank you. meanwhile tens of thousands ordered to evacuate their homes as a massive fire burns out of control in california wine country. what progress have firefighters been able to make. plus judge amy coney barrett making the rounds on capitol hill this morning arriving there with the vice president despite some democrats refusing to meet with her. marc thiessen is here to weigh in live next. >> if they met with judge barrett for an hour, they would be -- they would find it very difficult to go after her the

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>> sandra: now to some other top stories this morning starting with a wildfire alert and the fire that has been rapidly spreading through

california's wine country. it has tripled in size now. fire crews say they do not have any of it contained at this time. more than 70,000 people have been ordered out of their homes in sonoma and napa counties. more than 100 buildings reported destroyed and thousands more in the line of fire. meanwhile trying to find out what caused 911 lines to go down in many places across the country. people started reporting that calls to the emergency number wouldn't go through last night. the outages varied in length lasting a few minutes to in some places the second 911 failure in two years. that outage lasted a full day with nearly 1,000 emergency calls going unanswered. >> someone of great character and intellect who has a judicial philosophy that will uphold the constitution of the united states.

we look forward, our entire team later working with you, republicans in the senate and we hope the democrats in the senate as well. >> bill: mike pence, the vice president last hour talking about the supreme court nominee judge amy coney barrett. she is meeting right now at this hour making the rounds on capitol hill with several republican senators. today is essentially day one for her ahead of what is shaping up to be a fierce confirmation fight. marc thiessen, former speech writer to president george bush. let's start with the fact that you believe some senators have already made up their minds and already decided. you believe it is sad. okay, what happens over the next four or five weeks if that's the case? >> one thing that's not going to happen that happened in the kavanaugh nomination because of the pandemic the capitol is closed to the public and no protestors chasing her down the hallway or in the hearing room.

it will be a very orderly process without interruptions and people chasing down elevators like kavanaugh. the democrats have already made up their mind. perhaps manchin, maybe somebody like that may vote for her but they've already made up their mind. what republicans need to do. the democratic stage gee is to make the nomination illegitimate. go and behave as normal. hold the hearing, don't give into the polls saying if the democrats won't vote for her why should we have a hearing. have a hearing, let the democrats remain terribly. it's a winning issue for donald trump in the 2020 election. >> bill: with kavanaugh they went after him in a personal way. how would you expect them to go after judge barrett? >> it's going to be very hard

for them. they can't use the same strategy as with kavanaugh. they'll argue that she is going to -- this is the negative for them in the polls and why joe biden doesn't talk about the supreme court at all because in 2016 donald trump won voters for whom the supreme court was the number one issue by 15 points. it was the number one issue for 26% of his voters, 16.4 million people. a huge number of people who care about the supreme court. they lose when it comes to the supreme court. they want to turn it into a healthcare issue. they want to turn it into amy coney barrett will overthrow obamacare and throw the election. you start with the desired outcome and find legal reasoning to go back. that's not how conservatives operate. we don't know how amy coney barrett will vote on these things. the conservative's frustration

because judges don't always go with the preferred outcome. she will vote on the law, not on her desired outcome. we don't appoint judicial activists. that's a false answer that exposed their terrible judicial philosophy. >> bill: we'll see how it comes up tonight. supreme court is on the topic for chris wallace that he put out a week ago. speaking of the debate tonight. how do you rate the level of stakes? how high are they do you believe? >> enormous. if you think about the first debate in 2016, 84 million people tuned in. that was a record. i suspect we'll break that record tonight. and we've heard a number of people say on the show today 70% of the voters have made up their minds. 30% might be persuadeable and willing to listen and might change their minds if they're undecided. a huge number of viewers, a huge number of people open to

being persuaded. what donald trump really needs to do is needs to not try to feed his base. to go after the persuadeable voters by making the case if joe biden gets elected he will raise taxes, imposed socialized healthcare and do things that are structural. stack the courts, pack the senate. add two states. and joe biden, who hasn't been answering those kinds of question unlike donald trump he hasn't done an interview with chris wallace will have to answer questions he has been avoiding on the campaign trail for a long time. >> bill: interesting. did you hear ari fleischer last hour? he summed up the debate in three words. smoke biden out. what did you think when you heard that? >> he is right. the democrats have not been serving biden well by hiding him in the basement and by not letting him have tough questions. he has the short press conferences where the questions

are pre-picked. donald trump spent an hour going toe-to-toe with chris wallace on "fox news sunday". joe biden isn't getting asked tough questions. will you sign a bill to add two states and four democratic senators. how are you going to pay for $11 trillion in spending with a $3.7 trillion tax increase? he hasn't had to answer those tough questions. he will tonight. >> bill: we shall see if and when. thank you, marc thiessen. nice to get your reflections and we'll see together. back to sandra now in new york. >> sandra: the suicide rate for members of our military is on the rise. why pentagon brass say the coronavirus pandemic is behind this troubling surge. plus the stage is set for the first presidential debate in cleveland tonight. but there is some concern that one of the candidates could lose his cool on the stage.

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>> bill: top headlines bottom of the hour. covid-19 has killed a million people around the world as it continues to spread daily. that's according to researchers at johns hopkins university. the united states for our part has the most deaths in any country by far. >> sandra: students are back in class in the largest school district in the nation today. new york city schools reopened for first time since the pandemic began. most students will be doing a combination of at-home and in-class learning. >> bill: the top headline we're hours away from the most-watched match-up with president trump and former joe biden share the same stage for debate number one. rivals are opposites in every way even getting ready for tonight as our chief white

house correspondent john roberts here in cleveland is about to tell us. >> good to see you. president trump will be arriving here at 4:00 this afternoon. this will be a big moment for him tonight in terms of the campaign and the direction that it heads in from here. the president needs to debate joe biden on policy but he is also looking to do more tonight. not necessarily a knock-out blow. certainly he wants to hurt biden a little bit. he has been questioning biden's capability of doing the job. questioning his mental acuity and stamina. rudy giuliani, who has been helping the president prepare for the debate, suggesting this morning that president trump is going to go after biden hard on that front. listen here. >> i think biden is a nasty enough guy that you don't have to worry about, you know, not being -- being too careful with him. he said terrible things about the president. so the president has every right to take his head off if he wants.

i think this is a great opportunity for the president to really just be himself. he doesn't have to hold back very much. doesn't have to hold back at all, really. >> there is the aspect of the debate, the president wants to try to make biden looks weak but also needs to make points on policy. mercedes schlapp a little while ago on what the president plans to do tonight on that front. listen here. >> the game plan is to show the contrast. to unravel and unveil joe biden's attachment to the far left. how he has committed to bernie sanders' unity agenda which we know would lead to increase of taxes, $4 trillion of a tax burden on american families. >> president expected to go after joe biden hard on china policy. watch for the president to try to go down the hunter biden road as well. the president will be getting the first question tonight.

joe biden elected to go second and what peter doocy was reporting earlier today about joe biden requesting breaks every 30 minutes. trump campaign source telling me a short guy our guy doesn't need breaks. he gives 90 minute speeches all the time. lately that's been a short speech. >> bill: true that. thank you, john. nice to see you here in cleveland. thank you. >> sandra: people concerned about whether joe biden can keep his cool after some of these moments on the campaign trail. >> you are a damn liar, man. that's not true. if you want to check my shape let's do push-ups. >> let's bring in former spokesperson for the obama campaign.

it's no wonder "washington examiner" has the headline this morning democrats hope the first debate will be biden's to lose but can he keep his cool? i'll put that question to you. >> yeah, i think, sandra, if the president goes after the vice president's family a little bit of emotion is actually warranted. overall i really think that it really shows a lack of policy specifics on the president's side and things he has done to make the world a better place over the last four years. elections are based on whether or not you are better off than four years ago. people would struggle to say yes to that. the vice president's job tonight when he or his family gets attacked is speak to the american people how his administration will make them better off than four years ago. >> sandra: republicans response to that while he can easily be challenged joe biden on his record and his decades of service in washington is that fair game? >> i think all policy should be fair game.

i think attacks on family should be off. i think everybody watching would agree the vice president shouldn't be attacking the president's family either, right? if this is about hunter biden or family members as opposed to a policy decision those are different things. at the end of the day the race has been remarkably stable. a lot of people have made up their minds. even though the stakes are high, the first presidential debate i don't think it moves the numbers very much tomorrow and moving forward. >> sandra: perhaps that's why the stakes are so high with this debate. voters haven't had the chance to really hear and see joe biden much. when he does hit the campaign trail he takes very few if any questions from reporters. liz cheney brought that up this morning. >> in all seriousness the american people want to know what he will do for the country. he has avoided answering

questions. he won't tell us if he will stack the supreme court or give people a list of his supreme court nominees. the campaign has kept joe biden in hiding. he won't be able to hide tonight. >> sandra: isn't there an opportunity for president trump to press him on those specific issues? >> i think that it's an opportunity if joe biden who people don't know who he is. it's -- he has a long record and then say he has never been if public. if people don't know who joe biden is it is reasonable for him to say what he will do. we have 30 million people receiving some form of unemployment. 200,000 people dead from covid. it is self-evident. i think we'll learn whether the shape of the race changes. i don't think it will. >> sandra: we have had our brain room, that's fact. from march 1 to september 26 we pulled up the total number of

press events held by president trump at least 171 press events or media interactions. for joe biden at least 12 press events and media interactions. some of those he didn't even take questions from reporters. we'll have an opportunity to see him on the stage tonight. zach, final thought? >> you aren't counting all the local media interviews. there is a lot more than the national media interviews. those numbers need to be looked at. at the end of the day it's safe to say the race won't ultimately change. >> sandra: before i let you go are you suggesting it has helped joe biden to not be out there in the capacity that we see donald trump? >> i think that it has helped joe biden to speak to local papers and people in the states that matter as opposed to going on national television unable to answer what he will do to same lives or bring jobs back as the president has. it is a strategy difference. i would rather speak to local voters where they are than go

on national networks and be unable to answer the questions as the president has with chris wallace and others. >> sandra: appreciate it. thank you. >> bill: we have brand-new information for the u.s. military suggesting suicides have increased as much as 20% this year compared to the same period about a year ago. national security respondent jennifer griffin. >> eight members of the u.s. military have died from covid since the start of the pandemic, new statistics from the pentagon show an unusual spike in suicides that began this spring and coincided with the pandemic. new data from the u.s. military services suggest military suicides are up 20% this year compared to last. the army spikes 30% from 88 suicides last year to 114 this year. the active duty air force and reserves had 98 suicides as of september. the same as a year ago.

army secretary ryan mccarthy said that behavioral health issues have spiked since spring. the vice chairman of the joint chiefs who sits on the coronavirus task force was so alarmed by the spike he decided to make a video message to the troops explaining how he sought help from a psychiatrist while overseeing u.s. strategic command in the country's nukes from 2016 to 2019 an effort to destig may advertise the notion of getting help. >> i felt like i needed to get some help and talk to somebody. >> there was one who died by suicide after three combat tours. he had a flashback. he killed two neighbors before turning his weapon on himself. his wife works to prevent suicides. they've seen the spike since covid. >> we are isolated in our homes. i think it's taking a toll on

our veterans greatly because they don't feel like they can go out and they don't feel like they can reach out and they just are essentially in their four walls. i think it's coming from their isolation. >> the va stopped reporting when -- the army plans to shorten the 10 month tours overseas that have become 11 month tours due to covid quarantine. >> bill: wow. jennifer, thank you for that. related matter now out of new york. just breaking. you either mask up or pay up just now from the mayor of new york city, bill deblasio. announced in the last hour there could be fines for people caught in some neighborhoods without a mask. that applies only to places that are seeing a surge in the virus, primarily in parts of brooklyn and in queens. no word yet on how high the fine could be for people refusing to wear a mask if

caught. that is just crossing the wire today. >> sandra: thank you, bill. joe biden widening his lead in pennsylvania a key swing state that flipped to president trump in 2016. what's driving his advantage there? dana perino joins us next. with one call to newday usa. our team is standing by right now to take your call. and from start to finish, you can do it all without ever leaving the house. with our va streamline refi, there's no income verification. no appraisal. and no out of pocket costs. nobody works harder for veterans than my team at newday usa.

>> bill: after tonight's debate joe biden heads for a train tour of eastern ohio and western pennsylvania. pennsylvania 20 electoral votes at stake there. latest fox news polling shows biden ahead in the state among likely voters. 51-44. seven point advantage among college educated white voters and up 18 with suburban women. dana perino, you can see her 24/7 on this channel. do you believe those polls or any reason not to? >> look, i think if you think back to 2016 people think all the polls are wrong. that's not polls. the national polls were right

and nailed hillary clinton's popular vote. some of the state polling was wrong. state polling is not as easy as some of the others. i think it is possible it may be tighter than that. i would believe biden has a slight edge partly also because hillary clinton was super unpopular. joe biden is not as unpopular as hillary clinton was. >> bill: my feeling is if the states that were razor tight four years ago are still pretty close to that right now i think new hampshire decided by 2700 votes. which is nothing. you can take absentee ballots and find that number in local races and toss them out. minnesota, wisconsin, michigan. that's what i think about. i think tonight is critical. if those states are aligned the way they were in 2016, tonight makes an impression. >> these states are for all the marbles. you think that joe biden says i'm from pennsylvania, from scranton. remember a couple of weeks ago he talked about scranton versus wall street and bet he will use that tonight and use "the new

york times" article about president trump paying $750 in income taxes and probably try to draw upon them. he is for the wealthy. i'm for the little guy. what's interesting is that in 2016, you can correct me if i'm wrong, one of the county where scranton is went for trump. where did new york go? wall street? park avenue went for hillary clinton. and so i don't know if that bears out. >> bill: do debates matter? here is what we found. all right. ronald reagan 1984 up 17, he stayed up 17 points. 8 bush was up 8, went up 9. basically a wash for the first two. clinton was up 18, lost 6. w. bush in 2000 was down 8 and finished up 4 after the last debate in the polling. so i ask you do they matter? do they make things swing? >> i feel like people continue to say we ask about the polls and people say they're locked

into the votes and not that many persuadeable voters. voting has started. there are still some persuadeable voters. states where there is a razor thin margin. i think it matters a lot. you'll know within the first 30 minutes tonight how people feel about this debate. >> bill: i would also argue in 2000 i don't think america knew george w. bush that well when he took the stage for the first time. i think in this case, dana, we know joe biden. and we know donald trump. >> except you have not seen biden have to answer pointed questions about his record or about what he would do because he hasn't really been out there much. he has been like a ghost candidacy. tonight will be the first time he has to do that. president trump will press him on it. are you counting the hours? >> bill: did you hear ari fleischer last hour?

smoke biden out. six questions and then you'll force joe biden to answer them like you just referred to. >> ari and i thick as thieves. >> bill: i'll see you at 2:00 and 3:00 today. >> and 5:00. >> bill: i'll be here. thank you. smitty, back to new york now. >> sandra: hi to dana. officials threatening more lockdowns amid a surge of coronavirus cases here and abroad. a look at the pandemic around the world next. verizon knows how to build unlimited right. start with america's most awarded network. offer the best in entertainment and plans to mix and match starting at $35. with the stunning iphone 11. now get two for just $5 per month. one for you and another to share. only at verizon.

>> sandra: developing this morning. a milestone in the coronavirus pandemic 9 months after it began. the worldwide death toll tops more than 1 million and 33 million cases worldwide.

benjamin is live in londorn. how many countries have been affected by this? >> that figure of a million deaths is across 188 countries. half of those cases are in the u.s., brazil and india alone. and 33 million cases total. that is expected to be significantly higher. many countries in europe are fearing a second wave. across europe we are seeing lockdowns and stifling opens of an economic recovery. in the u.k. there is a 10 p.m. curfew in bars and no more than 6 people can meet in a group and they are urging people to work from home. students are told to stay indoors and study online but they say the death toll in that age group is less than 1%.

outbreaks are rare among students and teachers. 650,000 died from flu and 400,000 from malaria. cases are rising across the world but the death rates are lowering. scientists know how to prevent it to a certain degree. what can not recover as easily is the economy. >> sandra: thank you. >> bill: no doubt about it. millions of americans will be watching tonight. 84 million tuned-in 4 years ago. will we get higher than that. first face off kicks off the final stretch of the 2020 race.

we will size it up live in cleveland in a moment. >> ♪ >> ♪ attention veteran homeowners: record low mortgage rates have dropped even lower. at newday, veterans can shortcut the refinance process and save $250 a month. $3000 dollars a year. with the va streamline refi at newday, there's no appraisal, no income verification, and no out of pocket costs. one call can save you $3000 a year.

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will be. -- a moment it will be. the weather is beautiful in cleveland. bill, great to be with you. >> bill: and to you. see you in new york. >> sandra: "outnumbered" starts right now. >> ♪ >> ♪ >> melissa: we are just hours away from a pivotal moment in the 2020 campaign. i can feel the excitement. as president trump and former president jimmy carter will take the stage tonight in cleveland for their very first debate. there appears to be a stark contrast in how the two candidates are gearing up for the showdown. the president said he didn't want to overdo it with debate prep. biden stayed off the campaign trail for the past few days to hold mock debate sessions. biden's running mate kamala harris on what to expect tonight. >> he's