Welcome to the news hour. It's an historic night that could shape the course of the

presidential election now just 55 days away. Vice President Kamala Harris and

former President Donald Trump are set to face off in Philadelphia in their first and

potentially final debate.

The last presidential debate in June between Trump and President Biden changed the course of

the race. So tonight is highly anticipated. A new PBS

news NPR Maris Poll shows that 70% of Americans say they will be tuning in

tonight while another quarter plan on following at least some coverage.

And while a majority of Americans say they don't believe the debate will impact their

vote, nearly a third say the match-up could influence their pick for the top of the ticket.

We've got a full table here in the studio for analysis of what's at stake.

The gang is all here.

With us all night, Amy Walter of the Cook political report with Amy Walter

Democratic strategist Amisha Cross and Republican strategist Kevin Madden with

a welcome to the three of you so Amy I know you're particularly interested in who is paying attention to this debate tonight.

This poll that nearly a third of voters say that this could be a determinative for them as they

make a decision about who they're going to vote for.

That's right. And normally we think of debates as not having that,

especially a fall debate, that much influence

on the course of the campaign because voters up until this time have seen a lot of these candidates.

They watch them through the primaries. They've seen them go back and forth.

That's not the case now, of course Harris, the Vice President, is pretty new to a lot of people especially to folks who are

...