people are throwing questions at him left and right. think about the number of hours he's gone just for these 90 minutes. i have dealt with this man when he was a senator, when he was a vice president, and when he was president. and i will tell you he's not the same person he was before, so let's not lower expectations. he's going to be prepared. the best he's ever going to be prepared, so what america needs to judge is this is joe biden at his very top. >> after previously attacking president biden for his mental acuity former house speaker kevin mccarthy is now warning against lowering expectations ahead of tonight's debate. we'll dig into those comments as both candidates gear up for their highly anticipated matchup. plus, donald trump continues to tease who he will pick for his running mate, telling his supporters the possibilities will show up at tonight's debate. but when will he finally make his choice? and also ahead, another significant abortion opinion was mistakenly leaked by the supreme court. we'll go over whether it could be welcome news for abortion rights advocates and how the justices are seemingly poised to rule in the case. good morning and welcome to "way too early" on this thursday, june 27th. i'm jonathan lemire. i am live in atlanta ahead of tonight's first presidential debate. we're coming to you live from the campus of georgia tech university, and it is officially debate day. for the first time in four years president joe biden and former president donald trump will come face-to-face tonight here in atlanta in the battleground state of georgia. sources familiar with president biden's plans tell nbc news the president will travel directly from camp david to georgia later today after a week of intense preparations at the maryland presidential retreat match that prep has reportedly included both dress rehearsal-style mock debates and in formal huddles with advisers to workshop answers and review policy. contrary to claims from trump's team, biden campaign sources say the president has maintained his executive schedule while at camp david and that only part of the days have been spent on the debate prep. as for the former president, the biden campaign believes that trump is preparing more for tonight's debate than he has been letting on publicly. they are bracing for trump to arrive here later this evening, quote, more disciplined than an past occasions, and they have been strategizing ways to get under the former president's skin to remind americans of his more uncontrolled side. and the biden campaign has said that the president will likely bring up trump's felony convictions during the debate tonight. the campaign put out a statement yesterday that read in part this way. donald trump is a twice impeached, 34-time convicted felon whose record of attempting to overthrow democracy, promising to enact revenge against his enemies, and inciting political violence at every opportunity makes it clear he belongs nowhere near the white house. he'll have to answer for his priors in front of tens of millions of american voters. we'll be watching. joining us now here with me in atlanta, national political correspondent for politico, meredith mcgraw, and back in washington deputy managing editor for politics at politico, sam stein. sam, let's begin with you. you and i have been reporting for days and weeks about how the biden campaign is approaching this debate. they certainly recognize the stakes are high. they're not trying to diminish it. that's why they wanted an early debate to shake-up what has been a static race to this point. tell us a little more about their thinking and hopes for this evening. >> well, first of all, jealous i can't be with you guys in person. it looks great down there. secondly, as for the stakes, yeah, incredibly high. as you rightfully note and reported they did this, they called this debate and got trump to agree with it precisely because they want trump to shake-up the race. this is a historically early debate. they've not been able to move the polls through a variety of different messaging tactics. i think they're disheartened to see the polls have moved a little bit in the little bit in the post-conviction period. but as of now it's a 50/50 race at best for them. really tonight is a chance to bring trump back into the living rooms of american voters, remind those voters what happened during his presidency. keep in mind a lot of voters now look back fondly on those four years, seemed to have dismissed the significance of january 6th. biden's job tonight is two fold. one is to remind people of those moments. the second is to clear the bar to a degree he's self-set and trump has set for him, which is to show voters he's someone more sprite than the caricature of him, that he has the energy and stamina to handle another four years, that he's not this caricature of a bumbling president who can't really find his way or handle the job for another rigorous four more years. so those are the two tasks at hand for the president. >> to this point republicans have set the bar so low for president biden, it probably wouldn't take much for him to clear it, but aides tell me they recognize there's potential down sides as well if he were to have a bad side or two this evening. you've covered the trump campaign. we know his bluster. how is trump getting ready for tonight? >> donald trump has been preparing for this debate for weeks. they just don't call it debate prep. they say he's having these policy discussions with some of his top advisers and members of his cabinet. kellyanne conway, steven miller, rick grenell, and others and have come and talked to him about specific policy points at mar-a-lago and in between some of his fund raisers and campaign events, and trump i'm told is listening carefully. he's asking a lot of questions. they're taking this very seriously. even if they want to avoid saying they're doing any kind of mock debates or debate prep at all. and i think one of the big things that keeps coming up for some of trump's advisers and allies is that they don't want him to have a redo of 2020, when he came off really aggressive and combative. some of his allies say he needs to stay calm and cool and present a more forward looking vision for the future. it's donald trump. we'll see what happens. >> that's a tall order for him. so what is the thinking there? because we know that president biden is going to be aggressive tonight. he's going to use the phrase "convicted felon." he's going to talk about january 6thch he's likely i am told very early in the night try to pose the question or have the moderators pose the question who won the 2020 election? how is donald trump with an audience watching including a sliver of swing voters both men need in november, how's he going to respond? >> that's a great question, but they are talking to such a small sliver of the electorate and for so many of their supporters the cake seems baked, and i'm going to be looking to see how much this ends the polls. >> let's talk about those polls. we go into tonight trump with consistent but narrow leads in the battlegrounds though biden has certainly had some momentum, some of the national polls particularly of late. aides in both campaigns think even if one man clearly wins tonight, that probably only moves the polls a couple points. these men are so well-defined. these voters are so polarized, but in a race this close that might be enough. talk about what each can do tonight and the down sides for each. >> again, i mean the race is so static, right? so a one or two point swing in either direction could be incredibly consequential. for both men it's basically can you -- can you clear these bars that have been set remarkably low? we talked about biden's bar. i guess in trump's case the bar is will he, you know, not come off as a rabid lunatic, right? or will he not do what he did in the first debate in 2020 where he was just talking over the moderator, talking over biden. i think for trump that, you know, you need to come across as being more stenseative than your caricature is and go after biden and get the spotlight for his record. for biden it's the inverse. you have to not only clear that caricature set for you but turn this race into the referendum but into a choice. the reason to ask whether or not the election in 2020 was stolen is not just to goad trump into saying something, it's to create a contrast so the voters can see. do you want someone who peddles in election lies or do you want someone who doesn't? get this election away from a referendum into a choice for competing visions and competing characters. >> national political correspondent for politico, meredith mcgraw, thank you for joining us this morning. sam stein, stay with us. we'll talk to you again a little later. as mentioned donald trump is giving his supporters a chance to weigh in on who should be his running mate. the trump campaign sent this e-mail to voters yesterday saying his vp pick will be at tonight's debate. the e-mail does not list any names but asks supporters to choose whether they'd prefer to have a senator representative, governor, former trump administration official, or a political outsider as president. not mentioned, mike pence. it's believed north dakota governor doug burgum and senators marco rubio and j.d. vance are at the top of trump's list. all three are expected to be here in atlanta for the debate. yesterday "the wall street journal"'s editorial board through its support behind burgum writing that the governor would be loyal to mr. trump while also unafraid to offer hard advice or speak an unhappy truth when the moment demands it. i don't think we should expect donald trump to take "the wall street journal" advice. coming up we'll have much more, much here from atlanta ahead of tonight's first presidential debate. plus what we're learning about the closed door espionage trial for wall street journal reporter evan gerschkovich, and what the biden administration is saying about trump's claim that he can get him released. those stories, other headlines, and a check on sports and weather when we come right back. weather when we come right back. for your own safety, you'll all be assuming new identities. hello! i'm your new neighbor. chet cunningham. ah, hah. gru, you have to blend in. perry needs a fourth for tennis tomorrow. i'm mr. tennis. it's my favorite of all the sports games. 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"the wall street journal" notes espionage trials in russia are opaque and that it's not clear how long the trial might last. the court said gerschkovich's next hearing was set for august 13th. with the agenda of what happened behind closed doors yesterday still very unclear. >> meanwhile, former president trump suggested again yesterday that the reporter would be released from russian custody if he, trump, wins the presidential election this fall. in a post on his social media website trump declared that russian president vladimir putin has no respect for biden and that gerschkovich would be released prior to trump taking office should he win the election. state department spokesman matthew miller was asked about trump's latest claim yesterday. >> i would note that i hope that every american who cares about the safety and security of their fellow american citizens would demand the release of evan and paul now, not november, not december, not january but now. that ought to be the position of every american because i would hope that every american citizen wants to see these two wrongfully detained americans return home immediately. >> miller was also referring to wrongfully detained american paul whelan who's been held in russian custody since 2018. elsewhere overseas israel's defense minister says significant progress was made during his meeting with white house officials. gallant was in washington this week holding discussions with secretary of state antony blinken, defense secretary austin, and white house national security advisor jake sullivan. according to white house the cease-fire deal and efforts to reduce hostilities with hezbollah and lebanon were among the main topics of discussion. in a video statement released yesterday gallant explained that the obstacles surrounding america's supply of weapons to israel have been addressed. this as israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has accused the white house of withholding arms and slowing down israel's operation, a claim the biden administration has repeatedly refuted. still ahead we'll take a break and turn to sports and the nba draft with the atlanta hawks looking overseas for their number one pick. plus, was this bomb from baseball's home run leader aaron judge enough to keep the slumping yankees from being swept by the mets? i'll be delighted to bring you that answer. those highlights and a check on the forecast when we come right back. check on the forecast when we come right back new centrum menopause supplements help unpause life when symptoms pause it. with a multivitamin plus hot flash support. 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