And good evening from CNN headquarters in Atlanta, where just two hours from now, history will be made.

Joe Biden and Donald Trump, squaring off on the stage we are showing you in the earliest ever presidential debate,

the first ever between the president and ex-president, the first in which one of the candidates is also convicted felon awaiting three other criminal trials.

And so much sets this debate apart from others, including rules tailored just for this occasion

and agreed to by both candidates.

But there are so many unknowns about what will happen tonight, Anderson.

Can President Biden overcome the kind of difficulties that so many incumbent presidents have faced in their first debates?

Can Donald Trump do what his advisors have been urging him to do and stick to what they see

as winning issues, or will he repeat the nastiness of his first debate with Biden in 2020?

Well, one thing is clear, Anderson, is that we're going to be getting answers to that, and very soon.

What's also clear is just how high

the stakes are tonight how much it matters for the candidates themselves for their chances and for

many millions of voters to get a better sense of what the choices really are in november in this

election and for what the united states of america will look like a year from now it is a crucial

night and i want to get straight to it with our MJ Lee, who has new reporting

on how the Biden campaign is gearing up for tonight.

So, MJ, what are you learning?

Well, Aaron, it is not lost on the Biden campaign.

What a unique opportunity they have tonight for President Biden to make a lasting

impression to American voters and to cast himself as the better alternative to Donald Trump.

Last week of preparations at Camp David were obviously really all about the 90 minutes that he is

going to be spending on the debate stage, but we are learning tonight of another way in which the Biden campaign is trying to capitalize on the fact that many

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