The stage is set for the first president ial debate of 2024. Both candidates ready for tonights showdown in atlanta. Its june the 27th, this is today. Kickoff the 2024 president ial Campaign Officially gets underway, as joe biden and donald trump face off on the issues dominating the race, the economy, immigration, and the Supreme Court. But the public hoping to avoid scenes like this from four years ago. You agreed with Bernie Sanders on a plan folks folks, do you have any idea what this clown is doing . Tens of millions expected to tune into the firstever debate between a sitting president and a former president. What to look for from both candidates with just five months until election day. Were there live supreme mixup. A document accidentally uploaded by the Supreme Court potentially revealed its ruling on a highstakes Abortion Case. What the court says happened, how the decision could impact abortion rights, and what it could mean for the president ial race. Severe storms. Were tracking the Severe Weather being felt from coasttocoast. We could only grab what we could carry out, so it wasnt much. Thunderstorms grounding flights, catastrophic floods overflowing across the midwest, and unrelenting heat still impacting millions. Well have the latest, plus your full forecast. Under fire. Breaking overnight, new trouble for boeing. The government sanctioning the embattled Aerospace Giant for revealing internal details around its safety program, as nbc news gets an inside look at what the company is doing after those troubling incidents. Why has it taken you so long to develop a toptobottom approach to safety and Quality Management that one would think that this company should have already had in place decades ago. Weve got a live report. Those stories plus, at fault . This morning, new details on the investigation into Matthew Perrys death. Law enforcement now saying several people could face federal charges. Well have the very latest. One of a kind Yellowstone National park celebrating the birth of a rare White Buffalo. I never thought this would happen in our generation. An exciting look at the hope its bringing to thousands of tourists and locals. And slam dunk with the first pick in the 2024 nba draft, the Atlanta Hawks select zachaririesacher. Two players from france snagging the top spots in the nba draft, as pro basketballs french revolution rolls on. Today, thursday, june 27th, 2024. Announcer from nbc news, this is today with Savannah Guthrie and hoda kotb from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Good morning, guys. Good to see you, welcome in. Its a thursday morning. Were very happy that youre with us. Busy one today. Im writing down my lastminute notes. Got right to tonights president ial debate between President Biden and former President Trump. Tonights faceoff is their first in four years and marks the first time that a current and former president have ever debated each other. All of this comes after a major mishap at the Supreme Court after a document was accidentally released revealing how it may rule on a highstakes Abortion Case. This is the second time in two years that this has happened with a major Supreme Court decision. Both times on Abortion Cases. So we have much to break down this morning. Weve got it all covered. Well start with nbc senior white house correspondent, Gabe Gutierrez, in position, in atlanta where the debate happens tonight. Hi, gabe. Hey, there, savannah. Good morning. This is expected to be a Pivotal Moment in this race. Theres a real sense of urgency here from both campaigns to seize the narrative and adding to the drama, the top contenders from mr. Trumps highly anticipated vp pick are expected to be here in atlanta tonight, doug bergum, as well as jd vance and marco rubio. Today in atlanta, a president ial rematch with the stage now set between President Biden and former President Trump, their first faceoff in our years since the two rivals clashed in a pair of tense debates. The radical left would you shut up, man. Ahead of the earliest general Election Debate on record, President Biden at camp david, out of the public eye for nearly a week, huddling with advisers and holding mock debates. President trump at his maralago estate, doing more informal prep. In the debate, President Trump is expected to focus on the economy and the border while President Biden will likely zero in on abortion rights, threats to the democracy, some allies pointing to his state of the Union Address as an example to repeat. You cant love your country only when you win reporter it comes as President Biden is facing increasing attacks on the issue from mr. Trump, who recently accused the president , without evidence, of planning to use performanceenhancing drugs before the debate. Hes sleeping now. Because they want to get him good and strong, so a little before debate time, he gets a shot in the [ bleep ]. Reporter the Biden Campaign says the former president is desperate and resorting to obviously false lies. To minimize interruptions, the 90minute debate will feature muted mics when the other candidate is talking. Cnn offering a preview of how it will work. My volume remains constant while phils interruption can be difficult to understand. There will be no live studio audience, something both campaigns agreed to, but the former president is now complaining that its a sterile, dead room and that you have no audience to read. Still unknown, according to multiple sources in both campaigns whether the bitter political rivals will shake hands before or after the debate, a tradition they skipped in 2020 at the height of the pandemic. Four years earlier, mr. Trump and his rival, hillary clinton, also declined a handshake. For both candidates, tonight is a crucial test to appeal to skeptical voters who dislike both options. So where does this race stand going into the debate . A new poll shows mr. Trump slightly leading President Biden among both registered and likely voters, but its within the polls margin of error. Underscoring other recent polls, signaling a very competitive race, hoda. All right, Gabe Gutierrez for us there in atlanta. Gabe, thank you. Now for what to watch in tonights debate, lets bring in kristen well tur, moderator of meet the press. Theyve blown off the commission on president ial debates, which is how debates have always been done. Why so early . This is something that both campaigns agreed on . It was. And part of why the Biden Campaign wanted this is because they want to shake up the race, they want to change some of those numbers that you just saw gabe talking about. But it comes with risks and peril. Look, donald trump has been saying for a full year, i want to debate joe biden, ill debate him every week. Guess what hes doing now, hes trying to lower expectations, saying, hey, this guy does know how to debate. Both of them, i think, will be judged on their performance as much as the policy they discuss. Remember, that first debate back in 2020, when donald trump delivered that bombastic performance, interrupting joe biden more than 147 times, he delivered a much more measured performance in the second debate and hes being advised to do the same. For joe biden, the pressure is on him, savannah, to show that he can be strong, that he can serve another four years in office, because polls show that is voters biggest concern about him. It seems like the biden team is really crossing its fingers that trump version number 1 that came in so hot and over torqued in the first debate will be there tonight. Trump advisers are saying, play it cool for 90 minutes. The biden team feels like a lot of americans have forgotten about the four years of the trump presidency. Its such a great point. Heres the question, what ill be looking for, savannah. Does President Biden find ways to bait President Trump, to become that more bombastic version of himself, by, for example, really leaning in on things like january 6th, the criminal convictions that he is facing, among other issues that get under his skin. One thing thats notable about the debate tonight, the mics will be muted when the other candidate is speaking. When i moderated the debate back in 2020, the mics were muted after those twominute opening statements, but then open during the general discussion. Tonights going to be different. Theyre going to be muted throughout the entire discussion. So how does that exact the debate . But i think that final debate in 2020 could give us a little road map of what we might we talked about the trump the bidens team hopes and dreams. The trumps teams hopes and dreams is that biden, 81 years old, has some kind of senior moment or gaffe that gives people pause. Absolutely. 28 of polls think that they dont think that biden is tough, is strong, is capable of serving another four years, compare that to 60 for donald trump. Expect trump to lean into that with issues from the economy to abortion are going to be at the forefront forefront tonight, savannah. We will be watching kristen welker, back from maternity leave, welcome back thank you. And of course, nbc news will bring you special coverage and analysis of the first president ial debate. It will be tonight right here on nbc meantime, as kristen mentioned, one hotbutton issue set to be a major topic tonight is abortion rights. This comes after the Supreme Court mistakenly posted a document relating to the idaho Abortion Case for a brief moment yesterday. What happened . Good morning. It was a decision day like no other, as the justices took the bench, hundreds of reporters across the country sat at their computers, frantically hitting the refresh button for opinions to post online, but someone made a discovery. A document in one of the blockbuster cases this turn. Only problem was, it wasnt supposed to be there. Reporter this morning, a supreme mistake rocking the must Supreme Court. A major decision on abortion prematurely released on the courts website, suggesting the high court is likely on the verge of allowing emergency abortions in idaho. The document obtained by Bloomberg Law online as other opinions were being released thursday quickly taken down, but bloomberg later republished it in full, showing an unsigned opinion from the court, punting on the merits of the case for now, sending it back to the lower court, while the lawsuit continues to play out. The courts spokesperson explaining the courts publications unit inadvertently and briefly uploaded a document to the courts website, but the medias rare advanced access in this case harkening back to an unprecedented leak in another Abortion Case just two years ago in dobbs, when politico published the draft decision overturning roe v. Wade. The current battle over idahos law, which criminalizes nearly all abortions, except to save a mothers life. The Biden Administration sued the state, arguing that the abortion ban conflicts with federal law, which requires hospitals receive federal funding provide abortions to women facing health emergencies, a conflict doctors say puts them in a dangerous bind. Its a really heavy burden to carry, to have the five years of potential incarceration to take care of your patients. Reporter the document posted online showing deep divisions on the high court remain on abortion, some accusing their colleagues of ducking the real dispute. Justice jackson saying, quote, todays decision is not a alito courts decision baffling, saying the court has simply lost the will to decide easily and emotionally and highly politicized question this case presents. So the court hands down a decision today, and well see if this is among them. This happened before. Theres victory for pregnant patients in idaho, while this court dawdles and the country waits, pregnant women remain in a precarious position. While Justice Alito calls the decision baffling. Saying, the court has lost the will to decide the easy, but highly politicized question that this case presents. So the court hands down decisions today, and well see if this is among them. This has happened before, theres a precedent, unfortunately of a major case on abortion coming out before it was planned to come out. This was a leak. This seems to be some kind of clerical snafu. The last one was clearly different, an intentional leak, and it was months before the decision could come out. This is in the last days of the term. It could come out any day. And if its in the publication unit, its for formatting issues. Its like the last stop. We dont know if this is the final version or a draft, nbc hasnt verified that, but if its there, its in the final stages. And its extraordinarily embarrassing to now have this happen twice. Embarrassing, and you saw the backbiting among the justices, interestingly, some saying, you guys have the majority here is kicking the can down the road. Youre just stalling. Both the most conservative and the most progressive on the court, jackson and alito, saying, youre ducking this issue because you dont want to discuss the merits. Lets move to some breaking news, tied to boeings push to change its culture and double down on safety. This comes after a string of incidents for the Company Including that max 9 door plug blowout. Nbcs tom Costello Just spent a day seeing that Assembly Line firsthand. Tom, you ask some tough questions. Good morning. Good morning. We have breaking news. Boeing held a highly choreographed media tour and briefing in seattle, explaining what its doing to regain the confidence of the faa, the airlines, the traveling public. But this morning, the ntsb says that boeing divulged nonpublic information and analysis about how that nonsecured door plug ever made its way on to a passenger plane. Reporter this morning, boeings problems stemming from that max 9 door plug blowout has grown more serious. In a rare move, the ntsb is sanctioning boeing after its executives provided reporters with an update on how the fuselage for that Alaska Airlines plane made its way through the Assembly Line with the door plug not properly bolted in. We believe that plug was opened without the correct paperwork. Reporter the ntsb does not allow parties to an investigation to go public with information until that investigation is complete. Boeing remains under ntsb, faa, and fbi investigation. The focus very much the 737 max Assembly Line near seattle, where boeings reputation is on the line. The two max planes that crashed more than five years ago came off this line. So did the max 9 that suffered that door plug blowout in january. Ever since, faa inspectors have been on the floor. Americas aviation giant has admitted to a breakdown to quality and safety control. Now an allout blitz to turn things around, starting here. Tracking every job, every tool, every procedure. Why has it taken you so long to develop a toptobottom approach to quality and safety management, that one would think this company should have already had in place decades ago. We have a Strong Foundation of caring deeply about safety. What i also know is, though, is we have to continually improve. And this is a chance for us to do it. Reporter but boeing is trying to reassure both airlines and the flying public that its changing for the better. It generally takes ten days to move a max through the Assembly Line, but if they identify a problem, they could stop the line. Right now, one of three Assembly Lines has a gap in it, right there. Thats because they identified a problem with the plane, they decided to stop it, and check it. Reporter thats a big change, drilling down on engineering basics, rather than increasing the production rate. You want to start slow and finish with a nice top. Rate is not my priority right now. Implementing safety and quality changes and listening to every member of this team is my priority. I am extremely confident that the actions that we took have ensured that every airplane leaving this factory is safe. All right, back now to that ntsb sanction this morning. The ntsb sanctioning boeing. It says boeing will no longer have access to information that investigators develop and will not be allowed to ask questions about their parties to this investigation, because the ntsb says boeing violated the rules. Nbc reached out to boeing for comment this morning, this breaking in the Early Morning hours. We have not yet heard back. Hoda . Tom costello, i know youll be on this story for a while. Thank you, tom. Another major story this morning, more extreme weather hitting the country coasttocoast. Floodwaters are still devastating communities with more rain expected this week. Weve got als full forecast in just a moment, but first, nbcs jesse kirsch joins us from north sioux city, south dakota. Jesse, good morning. Reporter good morning. Were getting a new closer look at some of the devastation in this community. Take a look behind me of what remains of this section of a neighborhood. You can see that these roofs, these buildings have collapsed and even