Lights up. The curtains rise on CNN's presidential debate stage, which is as yet empty as production assistance scuttle around checking lights and microphones.

Enter Dana Besh, stage left. She is wearing a white alabaster pantsuit and is trying to balance the giddiness of hosting

a presidential debate against the gravity of the forthcoming deliberations.

Enter Jake Tapper, stage right. His hair deliberations. square, belying a combination of formality and grandeur, reflecting his mood.

As the evening's two moderators approach their stations, they reflect upon the magnificence

of presidential debates and how intellectual

sparring affords the American people not just insights into the policies and

ideologies of the two principal candidates but glimpses of their underlying personalities as well.

See the stage is set to know.

For leaders with their vision to rise

every stance.

Every stance and every fight

set free

A spotlight's fair

A spotlight's flare the crowd's delight

cheering he's There the crowds delight. Cheering.

Each word they speak a guiding light.

Promises to rule with might.

We'll see. The two presidential candidates, Democrat Joe Biden and Donald Trump, make their way to the stage,

nodding at the moderators and smiling at the camera.

Dana Bash addresses former President Donald Trump.

Mr. Trump, she asks, many women across the United States are concerned about shrinking reproductive rights following the repeal of Roe v. Wade.

...