Process for everything you need to know about november 3rd. And trumps strategy of disinformation. Journalist maria ressa will join me live from the philippines to tell us what it looks like outside the United States. And a legal case involving Tucker Carlson. An exclusive look behind the scenes of the first 2020 president ial debate. It will be moderated by Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace. Hes off the air today, deep in rehearsal for the tuesday faceoff and sporting debate gear from his home getting ready. These debates are not likely to change many peoples minds, all the polls show most americans minds are made up and have been for a very long time. And already early voting is under way. But these debates matter because of the ratings, because of the audience, because of the audience that tunes in. Look at this from 2016. A record 84 Million People tuned in for the first debate between donald trump and Hillary Clinton. You can see the Vice President ial debate never as highly rated but the second and third debate with massive audiences. In an environment thats incredibly fragmented, in a country thats incredibly polarized, the debates are the only moments when a lot of us, many of us, stop and watch the same thing. We all see the same thing. Then we argue about what we saw and who was right and who was wrong and who won and who lost. Almost everyone, at least people stop and Pay Attention when the debates begin. Do you remember this summer when there was that nonsense whether trump would go to the debate or whether biden would go to the debate . There were trump surrogates predicting biden wouldnt show up. That was a waste of time. Remember, there is always going to be a debate and multiple debates. Remember that next time when we go through those ridiculous news cycles about whether theres going to be a debate. The debates are one of the only traditions we have in american politics. Lets get to it with the cochair of the president ial debates commission. Let me bring him in now. There he is. The cochair, Frank Fahrenkopf is with me. Frank, thanks for coming on. Its a pleasure, bud. Everything changes in politics but debates stay the same. Is that something youre proud of, the consistency in four years . Yes. This is something weve been at since 1988. This is the first debate we did in the general election cycle and we have done 30 of them. Next tuesday will be the 31st president ial debate or Vice President ial debate weve done over 30plus years. Yeah, were very excited with how much weve been successful. Did you ever think that trump or biden might skip the debate or were you always sure they were going to show up . Well, you know, a year ago maybe i had some questions, but weve been in touch with both campaigns now for a number of months. Right from the start, they indicated theyre going to participate. There werent really some of the concerns. I would say i had more concerns in 2016 than i have had in this cycle. Wish we could take back those wasted days about the debate. Heres the big question. I asked for viewers for questions for you. There was one dominant theme in the questions. Im sure you know what it was. Yes. It was about factchecking. Will Chris Wallace be empowered to factcheck the candidates in real time . We when when we choose moderators we make very clear to them theres a vast difference between being a moderator in a debate and being a reporter who is interviewing someone. When youre interviewing someone, if they Say Something that is in direct option to something they said a week ago, your duty is to follow up and say, wait a minute, you didnt say that a week ago. But thats not the case in the debate. If one of these candidates says something on the stage tuesday, its the role of the other person in a debate to be the one to raise that and say, wait a minute, youre changing the position and so forth rather than the moderator. So, the moderator is a facilitator. One of the things weve been successful at doing, if you review what we did in 2016 and 2012, is get the candidates to debate, talk to each other about their positions. So, we dont expect chris or our other moderators to be factcheckers. The minute the tv is off, there are going to be plenty of factcheckers in every newspaper and television station in the world that is not the main role of our moderators. I think what a lot of liberals would say to that, is what you said broken in an age when one of the candidates, President Trump, lies every day. How do you explain to them that its okay to do the same old way its always been in an environment thats entirely different . Again, thats not the function of the commission. The commissions function is to put on television before the people of the United States the two candidates. They will act as theyre going to act. We have no control over that. And its for them to make judgment based upon what theyve seen. The president tweeted this morning about your debate. Heres what he said. He said, i will strongly be demanding a drug test of Sleepy Joe Biden and he will also agree to a drug test. Weve been through this for months. Hes been trying to set expectations and claim his rival has dementia . Whats your response from the Debate Commission about a drug test idea . One of my daughters is a doctor and im sure she doesnt want me taking anybodys drug test. Thats not within our bailiwick that the commission is going to do. This is the kind of craziness and nonsense thats going to be thrown against the wall during the debate. Doesnt Chris Wallace need have to the ability to call bs when he hears it . Chris is chris. I think hes one of the most outstanding interviewers and also debate moderators ive come across in years. He has his own journalistic integrity, which i trust. Some of the topics have raised eyebrows. These are pitched solely by Chris Wallace. The integrity of the election, the supreme court, of course, an obvious topic. At the bottom, race and violence in our cities. Some looked at that and said that sounds very trumpy. What do you think about the choice of the topics . He does that, and kristen welker, who will moderate the final debate, the one that takes place in nashville, she has the same makeup where she can come up with six subjects focused on during the 15minute sections we divide the 90 minutes into. Again, its up to the moderators to make the decision of what theyre going to cover and how theyre going to proceed. Its not our its not within our decisionmaking. Right. When people say Climate Change is not on the list, it sounds like youre saying, hey, there are three more debates, two more for president ial candidates so lets see what happens in october. Theres no question in my mind that the debates coming up, that will be a subject well versed and reviewed. There will be no drug test, obviously, but what about the covid19 crisis, what will happen with the participants of the debate . I know, for example, instead of having hundreds in the audience, there will only be dozens. As you know, brian, we have the Great Fortune of having the Cleveland Clinic assisting us. Not only are they cohosting the first debate in cleveland, but theyre advising us for all the debates on such things as medical protocol, social distancing, wearing masks, all of those things. So, were very fortunate to have them. Youre right, the candidates will be socially distanced on stage. The normal audience, which has averaged over the last 30 years of about 900 people, well be lucky to have 60 or 80 people that will be actually ticketholders that will be there and they will be socially distanced. And so, they will be tested. No one is going to get in that hall without a mask on and theyll be tested prior. I arrived in cleveland tomorrow morning and the first thing theyre doing to me at the Cleveland Clinic is sticking one of those things up my nose to give me the test. And i will be passing that. And politico says no handshakes, is that right . No handshakes among the candidates . We dont announce what they do among themselves or dictate whether they shake hands or not. Four years ago they shook hands a couple of times but they didnt a couple of times. Politico says theres a coin flip and its been determined the first question will go to trump. Can you confirm that . That is my understanding. And so we will be off for 90 minutes. Franks, thank you very much for being here. Pleasure, brian. Any time. Up next, former nbc news exec mark lukasiewicz, the factchecking dilemma and molly jongfast and brian karem on his question to the president. My 9 12 nodaysoff migraine medicine. Its ubrelvy. The migraine medicine i can take anytime, anywhere migraine strikes without worrying if its too late, or where i am. One dose of ubrelvy works fast. It can quickly stop my migraine in its tracks within two hoursrelieving pain and debilitating symptoms. Unlike older medicines, ubrelvy is a pill that directly blocks cgrp protein, believed to be a cause of migraine. Do not take with strong cyp3a4 inhibitors. Few people had side effects. Most common were nausea and tiredness. Migraine hits hard. Hit back with ubrelvy. The anytime, anywhere migraine medicine. The anytime, anwant conservative judges on ithe court. Vative, this may make you feel better, but i really dont care. If an opening comes in the last year of President Trumps term and the primary process has started well wait to the next election. I want you to use my words against me. Youre on the record. Yeah, hold the tape. Lindsey must go and the Lincoln Project are responsible for the content of this ad. Want a hamburger, some fries, a drink, nuggets . Got a taste for a deal . Boom, rewarded with the wendys 4 for 4 perk on grubhub. doorbell chimes grubhub. upbeat music and mines unlisted. Try boost® high protein. With 20 grams of protein for Muscle Health versus only 16 grams in ensure® high protein. And now enjoy boost® high protein in new cafe mocha flavor. Its not just a sandwich, far from it. Its a reason to come together. Its a taste of something good. A taste we all could use right now. So lets make the most of it. And make every sandwich count. With oscar mayer deli fresh here it is. Here is the trump dichotomy. Earlier today the president said, once again, that america is rounding the turn on the pandemic. Now, his own experts disagree, but he keeps implying that the coronavirus threat is receding when, in fact, there it is, cases are rising again. Now, he made this comment today on fox friends in a chat with his friend, pete, and this is the trump dichotomy in action. The vast majority of americans will not watch this chitchat but those who do watch will take it seriously. For all the attack of trumps ratings, media power, his ratings magnatism, some of his interviews are remarkably low rated. His sitdown with the new wgn america newscast barely averaged 100,000 viewers this week. So, most people are not listening to every word trump says but theres this online ecosystem where his comments and claims and lies circulate really widely among his fans. In my view, this contributes to further alienation and even radicalizati radicalization. Because most americans are not hearing trump lie about voter fraud every day but his biggest supporters are. On saturday trump told these rally goers that the only way democrats can win pennsylvania is if they cheat. Think about that. The only way democrats can win the state is if they cheat. Hes saying that all the time. Its a lie wrapped up in an even worse lie. And hes been saying this stuff all year long. I feel like every so often it becomes a frontpage story, like on wednesday when trump refused to admit to a peaceful transfer of power. There it is on the front page. I want to be super clear. Hes been doing this all year long. He did do it in 2016 as well. We all remember during the campaign he was refusing to say he would accept losing. Its much more dangerous now because he is the. The. And hes been telling ghost stories about voter fraud all year long. He has used the word rigged dozens of times. The word ballots hundreds of times. He did it again just one hour ago. Most americans dont describe to his tweets. Thats the trump dichotomy. Most americans dont care what he tweets about, but his fans do care and they are hearing this with repetition over and over again. Trump is emboldened and misinformed by protrump Media Outlets that make balloting out of molehills. Theyve been doing that for months and months. Taking little stories and making them act like theyre the biggest story in the country. This is the kind of stuff that trumps base is hearing all the time. I want you to watch this. Their plan is to add millions of fraudulent ballots that can ov cancel your vote and overturn the elections. We need every abled body, man, and women. This is incredibly reckless, irresponsible stuff. That most americans are not hearing. But trumps fans are. Trump jr. Subscribers are hearing that stuff all the time. It contributes to the sense of an alternate reality where, in trumplandia, the election will be rigged, stolen by evil democrats, and if we dont Pay Attention to that every day, then were ms. Ing the size of the threat in front of us. With me is former nbc news executive, mark lukasiewicz, molly jongfast and brian karem. Brian, you asked the president about a peaceful transfer of power. It was his refusal to answer you, just to say the basic words, that caused the multiday news cycle this week. Tell me what it was like for you. You were in the Briefing Room, asking the question. What was it like . Brian, you made an excellent point earlier. Very few people actually see hes talked about this often over the last four years. I mean, since hes got in office. What it was like for me in the Briefing Room was finally having a chance to put that before a larger audience and a chance for everyone to hear it for themselves what he thought and what he thinks and what he plans to do. It was very sobering. Ive never heard him since 1792, as even Mitch Mcconnell said in a tweet, weve had a peaceful transfer of power, so win, lose or draw, if he wont commit to that, thats a rather sobering thought for the United States. I thought it would be a is he simple question to answer. I thought he would say, are you kidding me . Of course its going to be peaceful . And that would have been dismissed and i would have been called all kinds of nasty names but it was his answer to the question that prompted the multiday media frency over cfr because he scared people. Its a sobering thought for the president of the United States to tell people he will not commit. He took whats happening in protrump media to what his base hears every day, the entire country heard it. The next day Kayleigh Mcenany criticized you and called you that playboy reporter. What do you think is going on there, kind of mocking your outlet . Well, she mocked everybody. Come o they mock cnn, they mock cbs, why not playboy . I put it in my twitter bio immediately, that playboy reporter. As helen thomas told me when i first walked into that Briefing Room many years ago f youre looking to make friends, find a different, you know, way of making a living. This is president ial politics. Its not high school debate. This shows us that the president and his administration are nothing more than High School Debaters and not worthy of the field in which they are having this endeavor. You know, youre going to get hit with that kind of comment all the time. You brush it off, you do your job. Thats right. We have to. Thats what we have to do. Lets talk about the debates and conversations with the cochair of the Debate Commission. The factchecking and Chris Wallace. I think Chris Wallace is an exemplary journalist but he works for a news outlet thats more propaganda that news. Do you view chris as having a fox taint or is he affected in some way by working at fax . Does it matter that a fox moderator has the first debate or doesnt matter at all . I think for a fox moderator, hes far hes the real journalist at fox. And you cant do better than him at fox. He comes from real he comes from nbc and abc and hes quite smart and accomplished. He worked at the boston globe. The problem i think hes going to have is hes from another world where politicians arent serial well, theyre hes from a different world where people arent so trump is completely unbound by the truth. He has no interest in it. Hes an autocrat. So, i dont know how you fact check someone who said more than 20,000 lies. And hes going to push back a little bit but i think hes going to feel uncomfortable pushing back as much is going to be needed to push back. As needed. Mark, what do you make of this factchecking dilemma . Well, i think Frank Fahrenkopf is going to be disappointed. Anybody who thinks Chris Wallace isnt going to follow up on his questions is living in another world. I think all of these journalists are good journalists. Theyre going to follow up. The trick for them is to not become the debater. Donald trump likes to make the media the enemy, likes to debate with the moderator but there are some differences here. When it comes to the factchecking, first of all, i think were all used to this the idea that broadcasters like you and others have people in their ear, a team in their control room helping them. That has not been the case as these commissioned debates. Typically the commission produces it. Once that moderator is on the stage, theyre not talking to anybody. Its the moderator and two candidates for 90 minutes with whatever they brought with them. So, thats a different dynamic than exists in the primary debates. A