amanpour in london. thank you for watching and i'll see you again next week hello everyone thank you so much for joining me this saturday on a greek a whitfield. >> and with just five days until the historic presidential debate between president joe biden and former president donald trump, both candidates are spending today preparing in their own unique ways for the upcoming showed him that will air right here on cnn this morning. biden is at camp david, where he and his team are spending the weekend poring over we're briefing binders and holding mock debates sessions as he prepares for this high-stakes moment. meantime, trump is shunning traditional debate prep and spending his saturday on the campaign trail in an our trump will speak to a gathering of christian conservatives in washington before traveling to philadelphia fia for rally tonight, we've got team coverage. kevin lipped is covering president biden's debate preps. but let's begin with even mckinnon in washington at the faith and freedom coalition, where trump will soon be speaking eva, what can you tell us about trump's decision to hit the campaign trail instead of holding mock debates will fred? >> it is a way for him to project confidence ahead of this consequential matchup, we note that he also the thrives off of the energy of his most passionate and loyal supporters, which no doubt will be here at the faith and freedom conference but also he can ill afford to lose time on the campaign trail. you have to remember it's just weeks ago when he was in a new york courtroom day after day before he was ultimately convicted, and he lost a lot of ground there we also know that the former president is really basing his prep on rhetoric over policy. and so those rhetorical jabs will he'll have the opportunity to test those out in front of his supporters today he has been engaged in some policy discussions, though, with some of his top vp contenders they have been focused on how to talk about inflation. they're expected to really former president expected to really try to hammer president biden on that issue. but overall, this is a confidence play. him being out on the trail today in dc and philadelphia is really aimed to downplay his need for they prep for it all right. >> thank you so much. i eva let's go to kevin lived tack now. so kevin, what more can you tell us about how president biden is preparing for this upcoming debate by being in camp david. >> yeah, we are now on day two of debate camp out there in the mountains of western maryland. and i think that this long stretch of intensive prep really does tell you that the biden team really views this debate as a critical moment. they really are aware that they can't afford an underwhelming performance and we aren't expecting to see president biden again until he is down there in atlanta for the debate. they are reserving the possibility that he could go but directly from camp david to the debate site. and it does really give you a sense of how important their viewing this. now, what we understand he's doing in these first days of the debate prep are going through binders of potential questions, potential answers, batting around ideas with his team for response france's were torts, zingers, kickers really trying to hone his language and his rhetoric when it comes to president trump at the bottom line, they are expecting an aggressive president trump in this debate, they're expecting attacks on president biden's policy, on his fitness for office, even on his family, and they want to be prepared and they want to be ready for some of that when it comes. now, this will eventually, we expect culminate and mock debates that president biden will engage in. and it's been interesting because we've had a chance to hear from the person who played trump during president biden's mock debates back in 2020. his name is bob bauer. he's president biden's personal attorney. he talked yesterday about what it took to get in the character of trump for these mock sessions, listened to what he said do you do trumpet pressure? >> do you sound like donalds rob, are you talking to your normal whenever whenever whenever you do this? you want to strike a balance between trying to approximate the experience but it's not an opportunity for theatrical that's a distraction. so you want to find some balance between recreating the experience and not attempting to, if you will, audition for saturday night so not an impersonation, more of a character study. no, it's presumed to that bower will play trump again in these mock debates and certainly president biden want to be very prepared before he hits the debate stage down there in atlanta all right. >> we're all looking forward to that. thank you so much. kevin lived dag even mechan, the debate rather happening here in atlanta let's talk more about the debate. debate preps, joining me right now about these very different styles that we're going to see onstage. alex eisenstadt, he has a national political correspondent for politico. also joining me as margaret taleb, a senior contributor for axios. great to see both of you have talked about the style differences of the two candidates that we'll see on the debate stage. >> all right, so alex, we begin with you bypassing mock debates instead speaking at a conservative conference in washington, dc and then later at a rally since there will be no audience at this debate, perhaps this is how trump gauges his possible debate material. >> what do you think is happening here in terms of why he is choosing not to do any kind of mock debates, but instead, staying on the campaign trail yeah. >> yeah, i know it's interesting. one thing to note though, is that trump has been doing for the last three weeks or so. he's been doing a fair amount of prep, maybe not in the traditional use, a mock debate. styles strategy doesn't have anyone playing joe biden for example, but what he is doing is he's. meeting with his vp candidate. he's meeting with other people and his orbit to talk about, to go over different policy issues that are likely to come up and he's done a fair amount of preparation in that regard. >> and so it's going to be interesting to see how he addresses certain issues that come up. >> one of the things that's come up in these debate prep sessions january 6. that's definitely something that's going to come up in the debate. immigration is another one. so he'd been doing prep, but not necessarily in the traditional way. you'd like. you'd see other candidates do, including biden a margaret, let's talk about the differences here. biden's debate prep is going the more traditional route for presidents, right? having mock debates at camp david would the rehearsal be heavy on policy preps? or anticipating the behavior in the style of his opponent in trump it's a little bit of both. i mean, biden and his team have made clear they want to be able to talk about policies, both what the president is doing and to hold the ex-president accountable or to be able to press on policy issues. >> there are two outside of the policy landscape areas that i'll certainly be looking for. and one is memes what is a cuttable moment with the clickable moment? because both teams are not simply thinking about their performance in the moment, but how aspects of that can be captured and used in ads are putting but on social media to shape people's views anything that goes to a gaffe, something extreme, a catch prey, it's something that's positive for the candidate, something that goes to either candidates age or mental acuity, or the vibes they give off. and the other is this emerging theme of giveaways. this court shift the campaign with president biden. it's been very much about student loans or prescription drug prices, or infrastructure money with former president trump, you're starting to see these sort of unlikely tests and floats. things like making commitments toward green cards for foreign students who study at us colleges, or telling waiters if he's elected, they're going to get a break on taxes on their tips. tiktok and yes. >> as you said, january 6, the criminal justice system and present trump's own issues with the justice system. president biden's sons, issues with the justice system all of that is in play, in addition to inflation america's posture in the world, all the standard policy issues then alex, i mean, since neither candidate will be allowed to have pre-prepared notes, but they will have a pad and a pen to take notes and with that said, do you see that these candidates will try to avoid answering questions directly and instead kinda doing what margaret said they've got to have issues that they really want to zero in on trying to pivot whether it is about maybe it's avoiding january 6 for one candidate, whereas it for the it might be going straight to january 6 immigration, et cetera. >> is that what you see happening here yeah. >> definitely. mean you're going to keep prompt when he pressed on certain issues. you're going to definitely see him prior to turn the tables on biden tried to take attention away from some of his own issues on for example, january 6 are some of those legal cases and tried to turn around, turn it around in focus on biden's record, whether it's something like immigration or inflation, that's probably what you're going to see trump do a lot of trump is also certainly going to get pressed on his his his legal problems, right? >> what you've seen him do in the past is he's tried to turn things around and say that biden is the one who engages in election interference and so you're possibly going to see trump do that again in this debate certainly trump's efforts to interfere in the 2020 election vote okay. >> he's going to come up and you could definitely see trump term that try to turn that around and make the argument that somehow biden is interfering with these legal cases that trump is face even though there's no evidence, of course that biden is doing anything to do with those indictments, but you bring up an interesting point, alex, because i wonder too, with among the regulations in this debate. but mics will be off for the opposing candidate while the other is speaking. and so there won't be that instinct of jumping in and even correcting or following up so that means there is going to be i guess, a greater dependency two on the moderators. we haven't talked about moderators in their ability to follow up on moments like that because the mic is off for the other candidate unable to do so. do you think that's going to be a challenge? is that going to help make four? in a rather spicy debate alex is gonna be interesting to see how that plays out, because i'm sure it's all your viewers remember back in 2021 of the first time that trump and biden debated, there were plenty of interruptions and so now you have this new rule in this coming debate this week, and it's gonna be interesting to see how that plays out and just because it candidates mics off, does that necessarily mean there actually going to stop talking, right? >> so it's going to be interesting to see how that plays out. it's both it's ultimately be interesting to see how much how assertive the moderators are in stopping the candidates from talking, even though their mics are off. >> yeah. >> the audience aspect as well, of course, because you're not going to be able to have an audience that cheering or booing, or jeering or kind of influencing the way viewers would perceive it. the president biden and his team have been hopeful that this will take chaos out of the situation and create a level playing field for their own performances to play out. i think we won't know until we see this is a different kind of debate and don't forget, it's a debate before either candidate, either actually becomes the official how so we are looking at something different here. >> yeah. right? right. it is going to be spicy in some way, shape, or form. we know that and of course, jake and dana hands down the best in the business they handle whatever is going to unfold on that debate stage. margaret talib, alex eisenstadt, great to see both of you. thanks so much. >> you hey, fred, and of course two and, and to see the cnn presidential debate right here on cnn coming up june 27, right around the corner next thursday, 9:00 p.m. eastern and streaming on max it's still to come more than 2000 days in russian custody, detained american paul whelan, marking another grim milestone. >> he spoke exclusively with cnn. >> here are what he's demanding from the white house. next the most anticipated moment of this election and the stakes couldn't be higher. >> the president and the former president one stage moderated by jake tapper and dana bash to cnn presidential debate thursday night at nine live on cnn and streaming on max. i brought in a juror max protein with 30 grams of protein. those who tried me felt more energy and just two weeks here, i'll take that ensure not to protein 30 grams, protein one prim sugar, 25 vitamins and minerals, and a new fiber blend with a prebiotic have heart failure with unresolved symptoms it may be time to see the bigger picture heart failure and seemingly unrelated symptoms look carpal tunnel syndrome shortness of breath and your regular heartbeat could be something more serious called attr rcn, a rare under-diagnosed disease that worsens over time sound like you call your cardiologist and ask about attr san was that trouble losing weight and keeping same, discover the power of week-old into my janan what we go, i lost 35 pounds as some luck 46 pounds we go. >> and i'm keeping the weight off we go be helps you lose weight and keep it off i'm reducing my grace. >> we go v is the only fda approved weight management medicine that's proven to reduce risk of major cardiovascular events and adults with known heart disease and with either obesity or overweight, we go v should be used for semaglutide or glp-1 medicines. don't take we go he if you or your family had medullary thyroid cancer multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome, type two for allergic to it stopped. we go we and get medical help right away. if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or an allergic reaction, serious side effects may happen, including pancreatitis and gallbladder problems. we go we may cause low blood sugar and people with diabetes, especially if you take medicines to treat diabetes, tell your provider about vision problems or changes, or if you feel your heart racing while at rest depression or thoughts of suicide may occur. call your provider right away if you have any mental changes, common side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may lead to dehydration, which may >> you trains sense what isn't on the schedule? 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even people go into the military and they serve four years so when you think of five-and-a-half years is just an incredible amount of time that is incredible whelan was arrested in moscow in 2018 on espionage charges and sentenced to 16 years in prison. since his arrest, whelan has been declared wrongfully detained by the us state department cnn's jenny hansler is joining me right now with more on this, jenny. good to see you. what else did paul whelan? glenn have to say and what would in his words, more pressure on russia from the biden administration look like, what would that mean well, fred clearly a sense of disbelief, exasperate, and some sadness at the fact that he has been detained there in russia for over 2000 days now, and he wants the us government to put more pressure to take decisive action, to bring both himself and fellow wrongfully detained american evan gershkovich home. >> he said he does think the us government is taking his case seriously, but he wants them to take it more seriously. and he described to me some of the steps that he thinks would damage constraint that they are taking it seriously, that they are putting this increased pressure on the russian government. take a listen to how he described it usb stick, walton jewish thing. >> i'll fill up going down a little bay with russian officials, rushed russian spies do something that makes the kremlin sit up and take notice and say, okay, yeah all right now it's time that we're going to get evan and paul back and then we want back what you've got a bowers and we'll call it a day and fred, he argued that until the us government takes these kinds of decisive actions, the russians are going to continue to detain americans. >> now of course, those are wilson's ideas. here's what we know. the us government is doing. they have put sanctions on some russian officials who have been involved in the wrongful detention of americans. and we know that they put forward what they describe as a substantial proposal to free both paul and evan to this point, the russians have not accepted that proposal. we don't even know if they have engaged with they in any sort of serious way. now the us government has also acknowledged that five-and-a-half years is too long for paul to have been sitting in russian detention a state department official told me yesterday, quote, 2000 days is far too long for paul to be wrongfully detained in russia, are hearts go out to paul and his family lee, who feel the pain of separation in a way that very few people have experienced. and now the state department continues to insist that they are doing all that they can working to their utmost to bring home both paul and evan, fred in jenny, i mean, the list of those detained is significant, but in short, here are just a few. we'll then detained in 2018, as i mentioned, accused of espionage last year, wall street journal journalist evan gershkovich was arrested and charged with espionage, a dual us russian citizen and dancer was more recently arrested and accused of this is the charge, in quote, financially assisting a foreign in state in activities directed against russian security. marc fogel arrested at an airport in 2021 accused of trying to smuggle in marijuana and gordon black arrested for allegedly stealing from and threatening his russian girlfriend so these are just four of many it is there more targeting of americans in russia right now? >> well, it certainly seems like we're seeing more and more public cases of americans being detained by the russian on these alleged charges. now the state department has been tracking all of these cases, not all of them are wrongfully detained, but one thing we co