are getting ready in their own ways for biden, he's holding intensive discussions and preparations with trusted aides at camp david. all weekend. meanwhile, trump is skipping the traditional debate prep for now and spending his saturday on the campaign trail moments ago, he spoke to a gathering of christian conservatives in washington before traveling to a philadelphia rally tonight, which is what we are expecting. now thursday's debate could be a pivotal moment for both campaigns the latest fox news poll shows a neck and neck race too close to call. we have team coverage, even mechan is that the faith and freedom conference where trump just spoke. but i want to start with kevin lip tak, who's got a little bit more on how president biden is preparing i'm going to yeah we are now on day two of debate camp out and camp david presidential retreat in western maryland. and certainly president biden is expecting a tentative couple of days really don't expect to see him before thursday when he heads down to atlanta for that debate. i think that does show you the stakes that the biden team really views a behind this debate. they know that they can afford an underwhelming performance. and certainly president biden is ready to go into these preparations sessions, eager to certainly hold trump accountable for some of the things that he's said over the last several months on the camp campaign trail. >> but i think he also really feels the need to put in a punchy performance to show an aggressive side of himself, to go after some of these attacks that the biden team are expecting certainly on president biden's record, but also on his fitness for office and members of his family. >> and so you do see in the preparations this expectation that this will be sort of a high-stakes moment for the campaign. now the way we understand it is that these preparations will begin somewhat informally. the president has been going through binders that his aides have prepared that sort of contrast his position with trump's positions. some central questions have put some potential answers. and so there'll be discussing those batting around ideas for retorts, for zingers. eventually this will all culminate in mock debates that the president will engage in, uh, before he heads down there to atlanta, i think if you boil it down, the goal for this debate is to really provide a contrast for viewers who may not necessarily have been engaging on this election until thursday night, they really do want to point out this contrast that this is a choice between president trump and president biden to make that contrast very clear, but i do think it's also interesting to look at what president biden plants to do after the debate. he's planning to head directly from atlanta to raleigh, north carolina. he'll hold a campaign event. they're on friday, north carolina is the state that biden lost by the narrowest margin in 2020. and it's certainly a stick let his campaign wants to put in his category this time around, then he'll head to new york for a series of fundraisers. we did get fundraising numbers for may yesterday, the trump team out fundraise to president biden for the second month in a row. but and certainly they do want to pick up that campaign cash advantage and ditch that. they have been enjoying for so long in this race. >> yeah. uh, both campaigns raising tens of millions of dollars and it's not really even close at this point. even mackenzie, i want to bring you in because you're in dc at the gathering of of christian conservatives where it were trumped, just spoke so what are the former president have to say so omar, he still up on stage right now behind me. >> i would say the most significant takeaway thus far for this particular crowd is how he talked about abortion. >> he essentially is removed finding them of his record. >> he noted that it was under his presidency. he called the supreme court justices. he appointed the three said that they had courage when they overturned roe versus wade. we know that that is a critical issue. for this evangelical crowd, some of whom were not so sort of the former president initially, but supported him really is a strategic choice. and they were richly rewarded. let's listen well, thanks to these justices, we have also achieved what they pro-life movement for it to get for 49 years and we've gotten abortion out of the federal government and back to the states the way everybody in all legal scholars always said it should be nobody thought that would happen now we know that the former president is also thinking about the cnn debate next week, he joked with this crowd asking in them how many of them would be watching. >> next week sort of trying to suggest, i think when his team that he is not really engaged in debate prep, they don't use the debate prep phrase. what happened, but he is in fact preparing omar. we know that he has held over a dozen policy discussion with many of the people that he is considering as his vice president. we know that he is expected to emphasize this issue of inflation, the economy and the cost of living as he attacks president biden on the debate stage next week, omar thank you as well. let's talk more about this with allen schroeder. he's a professor emeritus at the northeastern university school of journalism and the author of presidential debates risky business on the campaign trail. so allen, welcome, based, based on the title of your book, presidential bates risky business on the campaign trail, how do you see that? an application to these two candidates that were expecting to see this week well, you know, everything in a presidential campaign is so under the control of the campaigns. >> and when you get to a debate, they don't control it. it's a live television event. >> you have no idea what what's going to happen. you may have a plan, but you don't know what the other guys can do so it really is a moment when they kind of have to frame it a little bit here and get away from their script and you put it perfectly that obviously they're working within a framework of rules and some notable changes to the rules of this debate. no live audience mics turned off if it's not their turn to speak, there will be two commercial breaks. i mean, basically no props or pre-written notes. you're seeing some of the graphics on the screen there. >> how do you see those? rules actually shaping the dynamics of this matchup because you're right, this is not a campaign rally yeah, only in 1960 were presidential debates minus a live audience ever since they've had a live audience, you know, i don't think it's going to make too much difference to people watching. i think the visuals so this debate will look pretty familiar and in comparable to pass debates. but i think it gives biden certainly he's the one that didn't want the live audience that gives him a kind of a comfort factor in knowing that he doesn't have to worry about trump enthusiasts sort of interrupting or being too boisterous for his or his liking but yeah, definitely the mic being off when the person when that person is not speaking, that's something new. and of course that's an outgrowth of the 2022 betwen, when trump really was speaking over the moderators, over, over biden. and so it's an attempt to really control that let's talk about that a little bit because i think one of the one of the things that people are looking for in this moment is that president trump, i think it's no secret has been known to go off script has been known to at times go, go down. >> tanno, gone tangents do you use see the rules that are in place right now affecting him? >> maybe a little bit more significantly than president biden or do you think it will affect both in a similar way? >> i think it affects both of them in a very similar way they both have negative perceptions that they're going to attempt to overcome in the debate. and each one is going to try to bring those negative perceptions about the other two. the forefront during the program. >> but it's really a great great opportunity. it's really a great chance before tens of millions of viewers to kind of give people a chance to look at you freshly and a chance to look at you in a new light. and particularly those voters who don't pay regular daily attention to politics that's who this debate is, really aimed at on the part of the camp yeah. >> and that's been what part of what the biden campaign has talked about to this point that they were hoping that as people pay attention more, they might be able to pick up a little bit more momentum in the polls and all things considered, we know a majority of voters don't typically pay attention until we're in the final stretch. but of course, this is a really big moment. as you mentioned can just draw people in i want to talk about the game before the game, essentially because luck trump has called, is now calling biden a worthy debate opponent, promised not to underestimate him. this, of course, comes after months have really railing against biden's mental fitness for the job do you think trump and his allies have set the bar too low for biden and they're trying to clean this up. like, what are the dangers in doing so? and do you think those dangers are founded? >> yeah they've set a very low bar and of course, if you're a debater, that's what you want. you want to go in with the lowest of expectations so that all you have to do is slightly better than what the negative wrap was. >> so i think it was kind of a weird way to do pre debate span. >> there's kind of a formula that candidates and came paints typically follow the trump people are very unorthodox and every respect including pre debates spent. so they may be trying to walk it back now, but this comes after literally years of creating a stereotype of biden will see if that's the biden that shows up for the debate, but if it isn't, than biden it's going to look pretty good by comparison. >> yeah. >> look, this is on television and as you know, better than anyone that dynamics of a television debate, it can come down to simply how someone appears and how someone answers a question almost just as much as the actual substance of the answer that they're giving. and so i want to get into a little bit of the visual let's hear because after, after a coin flip, president biden's campaign chose for him to be at the right podium position. i'm talking left, right, right podium position what is the strategy there as opposed to wanting to get the final word? >> you know, i'm not sure there's a visual strategy as much as there is a strategy of that's where we're biden is more comfortable, and that's where he was in the 2020 debates. and so i think it's just a question of he's been there before, you know, you just don't want any element of surprise in a debate. and so anything they can in due to protect him or to minimize that surprise, even if it's something as simple as which side of the stage do you stand on that's what they wanna do. and so i think it's just a question of he's there because that's where he feels more comfortable. >> as we talk about those impressions. obviously, the other literal side of the coin is that trump is able to have the last word as part of this debate and we'll see if that has an impact over people's impressions of how the debate goes. allen schroeder really appreciate you being here. thanks for your time and insight. >> thanks, omar. >> of course. >> all right. and for everyone else, if you haven't heard, you're hearing it now, tune in to see the cnn presidential debate right here on cnn june 27 at 9:00 p.m. eastern and streaming on max do ahead today. cnn's exclusive interview with an american who has been wrongfully detained in russia for more than 2000 days. what paul whelan is demanding of the white house to secure his release. plus feeling the heat i'm sure you all are feeling it more than 100 million 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marked another grim milestone in russian custody 2000 days for espionage charges. he denies usa skeleton do something philip guantanamo bay with russia officials, arrest russian spies, do something that makes the kremlin sit up and take notice and say, okay, yeah, right now it's time that we are going to get evan and paul back and then we want back what you've god of hours. and we'll call it a day now, you referred to evan. >> that's evan gershkovich, but that's paul whelan on your screen there? he was arrested in moscow in 2018 and sentenced to 16 years in prison since his arrest, we learned has been declared wrongfully detained by the united states state department as state department issue today's statement on whelan saying 2000 days is far too long for paul to be wrongfully detained in russia. our hearts go out to paul and his family who feel the pain of separation in a way that very few people have experienced, cnn's jenny hansler joins me now. >> so jenny, what else did paul whelan have to say? well, omar, he seemed incredibly disheartened and in disbelief over the amount of time that he has now spent in russian custody. he noted that when you're in high school, that's four years, you're in college. that's four years. and these 5.5 years in russian detention have far surpassed those kind of big life milestones. the other thing he told me about was just the grim grim conditions that he is being forced to live in in this remote prison camp out in more do via, it's about a day's drive from moscow. he works there at a clothing factory that is inside of this prison. this is what else you told me about that camp everything is it's dusty and dirty and nasty. and you do everything you can just stay cool under sustained claims. the food were served as horrible we really do rely on personal purchases to stay healthy medical cares is nil there's no dental care at all. it's it's it's the worst environment you can imagine. i mean, it's unbelievable anyone could even consider this human rights it's nothing that you can get used to so paul is really calling the us to do everything they can to end this plight of his end, to bring him and evan gershkovich home. you heard him suggesting some ideas for these tough things that they could do to make the russians pay attention. here's what we know. the us is doing. we know that they have put sanctions on some russian officials who have i've been involved in the wrongful detention of americans. they have also put forward what they described as a serious and substantial proposal to the russians to bring a paul and evan home to this date with the russians have not accepted that proposal. we don't even know if they've seriously considered it, but the us government says they are working every de to try to bring these americans back home. omar and jenny for you guys, i want to ask because i mean, you spoken to paul whelan before and obviously, we're marking this milestone, 2000 days. >> have you noticed any changes in his demeanor over the