We are not out of this yet. I hope not, but we very well might start seeing increases in deaths. Announcer this is new day, with Alisyn Camerota and john berman. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is new day. Its tuesday, september 29th, 6 00 here in new york. And we are now just hours away from what could be a defining moment in the president ial campaign. And honestly, a defining moment for the nation. This is not hyperbole. The first president ial debate comes at a time when 205,072 americans have died from coronavirus. What could be more important than that . What could be more defining as a country than how we choose to address that . There are other matters also rising to the forefront. Again, youre looking at live pictures of the debate hall in ohio. These questions at the forefront now involve the president s taxes in these giant revelations from the New York Times that he paid just, yes, 750, in federal income taxes. Have you updated that graphic from yesterday . The point is no, because its the same. Its the same 750 he paid in income taxes at a time the average filer pays 12,000. Concerns around National Security risks around the 421 million that he owes coming due in the next few years. Were also in for several hours of expectation manipulation now. This is the bizarre quadrennial charade, when each campaign assures that the other is such a terrific debater in order to set expectations. So be warned. Also breaking overnight, Vice President pences former top aide confirming to cnn that white house officials pressured the cdc to play down the risks to children and their families in reopening schools. This was an effort, you know, at times, where i would get blindsided, where there would be junior staffers being tasked to find different data for charts that would show that the virus wasnt as bad for certain populations, ages or demographics. Well talk to olivia troy more about that later in the program. This morning, 23 states are seeing new cases rise. And overnight, the global death toll from coronavirus surpassed 1 Million People. So how will President Trump explain his handling of the pandemic . And his shockingly low tax payments on the debate stage tonight . Cnns jessica dean is live at the debate hall in cleveland with our top story. Good morning, jessica. Reporter good morning to you, alisyn. Yes, inside this debate hall just a few hours, both men will be on the stage behind me meeting for the first time on stage for their or meeting for the first time during this election, this general election campaign. Its a very different kind of debate. Let me walk you through some of the steps. Typically, wed have 900 people in here. Were expected to have just 60 to 70, because of covid19 precautions. Everyone in here will have been tested for covid before coming inside. There will be no handshake between President Trump and Vice President biden. Typically, the candidates would shake hands before a debate. All of this because of the coronavirus and the precautions that are being taken to make sure everyone stays safe at this debate. Now, in terms of preparation, we know that President Trump has really drifted away from any sort of formal preparation, hes not one for formally preparing for debates, he sees his press conferences as kind of training and he says that hes had Chris Christie and Rudy Giuliani even stepping in as joe biden, but not really in a full mock debate. But he has telegraphed that there will likely be personal attacks towards joe biden tonight. As for joe biden, we know he started his debate preps in the last few weeks with briefing books, with gatherings with small aides, kind of talking over policy that expanded over last weekend to really full debate preparation, where they did do mock debates, though im told he really prefers to have aides pepper him with rapidfire questions. But they are also preparing for personal attacks from President Trump. As one of his senior Staff Members said on our air over the weekend, hes not running for fact checker in chief, is what Kate Bedingfield said on cnn. They are going to try instead for joe biden to continue to bring the conversation back to issues that weve heard him talk about time and time again on the campaign trail, alisyn, and that is the coronavirus pandemic and the ensuing economic crisis. And really lay that at Donald Trumps feet. Well see how it all goes. And john mentioned expectation setting. President trump has been putting the bar pretty low for joe biden for a while now. His campaign right to up the bar. Bidens people for their part saying that really they dont know how much of a difference this debate is going to make in terms of changing public opinion. We will see. Alisyn . Jessica, thank you for setting the table for all of that. So the New York Times published its second installment of the reporting on President Trumps taxes. This one details how the reality show, the apprentice, rescued mr. Trump financially and created the false image of a successful businessman. As concerns grow this morning about President Trumps massive debt, hundreds of millions of dollars could pose a National Security threat. Cnns joe johns is live for us at the white house with more. What have you learned, joe . Yeah, alisyn. This debate is just hours away and theres really a cloud hanging over it due to this New York Times reporting. The president and his team have taken to calling this a hit job, a hit piece. But theyre probably going to have to come up with ways to address the issues more substantively at the debate tonight. The fallout over President Trumps finances intensifying this morning, after a New York Times investigation said trump paid no federal income taxes in 10 of the 15 years before he became president because he reported losing more money than he made. And that he only paid 750 in federal income taxes in both 2016 and 2017. Its fake news. Its totally fake news. Made up. I paid a lot and i paid a lot of state income taxes, too. Reporter the president took no questions about his taxes monday, but his team stepped in throughout the day, providing his defense. The president s attorney stated it was millions of dollars in taxes, but he didnt even have a chance to review he didnt even have a chance to review the documents. Weve seen this play out before, where there was a hit piece about the president s taxes, just before a debate, an inaccurate one, at that. Reporter democrats like Vice President ial nominee Kamala Harris taking aim at the amount, or lack thereof, of trumps tax payments. Youve got people were doing gods work to protect and lift us up paying more in taxes than the selfprofessed billionaire . Its inexcusable. And its just completely, pay te patently unfair. Reporter and on the more than 350 million of loans the president is personally responsible for that will become due over the next few years for me, this is a National Security question. This president is the commander in chief. He has exposure to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. To whom . The public has a right to know. Reporter on the eve of the first debate, trump attempted to turn the focus to his Coronavirus Response with this announcement from the rose garden. Today, im pleased to report that we are announcing our plan to distribute 150 million abbott rapid point of care tests in the coming weeks. Very, very soon. Reporter and continued his downplaying of the pandemic. Tremendous progress is being made and i say and ill say it all the time, were rounding the corner. Reporter trumps words, despite the fact that over 205,000 people have died from the coronavirus in the United States. Health experts warn the u. S. Is far from rounding the corner with the pandemic. There are states that are starting to show uptick in cases and even some increase in hospitalizations in some states. And i hope not, but we very well might start seeing increases in deaths. Reporter so far, the president s response has been contradictory. At first, he said the report was false. Then he says it was information that it was illegally obtained. So which is it . The president could clear this up pretty quickly and set the record straight by releasing his tax returns on his own, but the past practice is any indication, dont hold your breath. John, back to you. Joe, hes done everything on earth to keep the public from seeing those taxes, including appealing cases all the way up to the Supreme Court. So dont hold your breath is an understatement of understatements. Great to have you here and safe with us this morning, joe. Thank you very much. Joining us now, two preeminent political commentators. Scott jennings, a former special assistant at george w. Bush and paul begala, a democratic strategist. Gentlemen, thank you both for being with us on this momentous day. On this defining day. This is the first president ial debate. Theres one thing we know, which is that the first debates tend to be the most important, paul. So as he takes this debate stage tonight, what does joe biden need to do . Beating an incumbent is not easy. You did it when you were on the Clinton Campaign in 92, but what does joe biden need to do tonight . He needs an economic case. I think the country is ready to fire trump. And joes going take his shots, im sure, at trump, and thats fine, thats good. But more importantly, hes got to make a case at why hes going to do a better job, especially on the economy. And this tax story allows him to do this. As biden likes to say, this is scranton versus park avenue. Thats a good, simple, populist case. He can make that argument that the system is stacked against working people in places like scranton and in favor of billionaires on park avenue or fifth avenue or wherever his stupid condo is. Its fifth avenue, and i dont know the intelligence level of the condo at all. But as a matter of fact, it is on fifth avenue. Ill take bermans bait and go with this line of. So, scott, what does President Trump need to do tonight . Well, i think a couple of things. Like paul, i think a discussion on the economy is where thats the most Fertile Ground from which trump can fight. In order to do that, you have to be laser focused on pivoting to that every time. You cant get baited into going down every rabbit hole, where you wind up relitigating all of the things that wouldnt speak to the future of the country, right . Litigating your taxes, litigating coronavirus in the past, which i suspect biden will try to do. So if youre trump, all of those topics, you have to turn it to a conversation to the future. I noticed in one of the National Polls this weekend, that trump had popped up to a 46 41 . That suggests to me theres a cohort of voters that say, i like what trump is doing, but im not going to reelect him. If i were trump, even though there will be tens of millions of people watching, maybe 100 Million People watching tonight, i would be thinking about that group. People who have some affinity for my policies, but are nervous about my reelection. Though would be the easiest people to recapture with messaging and debate. Paul, you know, right next to you or right next to us on the screen are the numbers from the pandemic, which are oppressive, to see. To see 205,000 americans dead is a stunning sight. So what impact will that have on the events tonight . How much should joe biden lean into that . Its a catastrophe. And it has ended the era of trump succeeding at making politics showbiz for ugly people. Its not spectacle anymore. This is your life. And usually in a campaign, the closing days, politicians say that. Its very important, its very important. We know that now. This is a lifeanddeath matter. And to remind voters that as people were dying, trump was lying he was telling his fellow ivy league elite, bob woodward, oh, be careful, this stuff is really deadly. He was telling his supporters and the rest of us, its a hoax, its not deadly. Joe needs to put mr. Trump on trial for that 205,072 americans dead. And thats catastrophic. It also comes at a time when plp trump is in court, forcing through this new appointee to the Supreme Court in order to take away your rights to health care and take away your rights to preexisting conditions. One week he is suing to take away our rights to preexisting conditions in the middle of a pandemic, take our health care in the middle of a pandemic. Biden needs to drive that home and im quite sure he will. Scott, in the past, as youll remember President Trump said in that axios interview, it is what it is. So tonight, does he change his tone about all of that . I think two things are important on this for trump. Number one, the cohort of voters that i think hes suffering inside the most is actually seniors. The polling all shows that hes softer with seniors this time around than he was against hillary clinton. They dont hate joe biden the way they hated hillary clinton. And they are softer on trump. And i think it might be because they perceive he doesnt take their health as seriously on the pandemic as he ought to, because seniors have obviously come to understand, you know, theyre disproportionately likely to die from this. What they havent heard trump say is, look, i get it, i am looking out for you, i understand that youre at risk. So on that front, he needs to talk to the senior citizens, and say he understands theyre at risk and is fighting for them. Thats number one. Number two, he has to shift the conversation forward and say, look, whats done is done, we are where we are, it is tragic, and what americans should be asking is, how are we going to look for the next four years on an economic recovery. And i have proven that i can recover an economy, because i did it, and i recovered from joe biden and barack obama who had slow growth, and slow recovery from their during their eight years. Thats where he would want to pivot and move. What you cant do is get trapped in the rabbit hole, where a lot of incumbent president s do this, as paul knows, they get trapped, relitigating their stuff in the past and they forget about to move the conversation to the future. And joe biden has that risk, too. He often likes to relitigate things that happened while he was Vice President or senator, from any number of decades. Paul, talk about the theatrics here. How much should each candidate get into that . Does joe biden get personal . Does joe biden responsible, if he is attacked from President Trump . I think the best debate coach for joe biden tonight is going to be mohammad ali. Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. Stick and move, joe, stick and move. Dont get wrapped up in mud wrestling with this guy. But he does need to take his shots. And god knows theres plenty of shots to take. But the key move for biden and that im going to be looking for is the pivot. The president will attack joe personally and will attack joes family, because hathats the ki of animal he is. Joe needs to not to defend his own family, he needs to defend your family. He needs to say, look, my family will be fine, donald, your family will be fine, the question is, will the American Family be fine . There are 205,072 American Families tonight that have an empty place at the dinner table because of what you didnt failed to do. What about the families of the fallen who you called losers and suckers and insulted . What about the families of the troops who have bounties put on their head by your buddy Vladimir Putin and you have done nothing to protect them . What about the American Families, every one of which pays more taxes than you do . Thats the turn hes got to do. It writes itself, if you get it in your head that youve got to be to change my metaphor, like a torador. Let him come and stick him as he comes. Those metaphors ate up some time. We only have ten seconds left. In times of Donald Trumps taxes, you say that if you were advising joe biden, you would have him do something sort of performtive, like, oh, i hear youre in some financial trouble, heres a check for 750. First of all, i speak from the home of mohammad ali this morning. Number two, yes, i think theres way to stunt this, walk up with a check and say, i heard you were having money troubles, friend, because i think it would define the debate, but it would also cause Donald Trumps head to explode, of course. Thats the kind of moment no one would forget. Well see if either candidate has the nimbleness to pull Something Like that off. Really interesting, thank you very much, guys. Weve been talking about it. And i have a chart here right now. This is the huge amount of money that President Trump owes according to the New York Times. 421 million, 300 million of it due in just the next few years. There are those saying this is a National Security risk. 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