Style and winning personality. A fan base so strong, they came to be known as arnies army, and tributes are pouring in today, monday september 26th, 2016. Announcer from nbc news, this is today. With matt lauer and savannah guthrie. Live from studio 1a in Rockefeller Plaza. And good morning, everyone, welcome to today on a monday morning. That wasgh to this morning, one of my not only golfing icons and idols but idols in general, Arnold Palmer dying. He did so much for the game and we are going to look back with a lot of affection in just a couple of minutes. We certainly will, but we want to get right to the state of the race, 43 days to go until the election as we said the stage is set for tonights first president ial debate. Hillary clinton and donald trump facing off over at Hofstra University on long island, the moderator nbc nightly news higher. Look at this, brand new Bloomberg Politics poll just out this morning. Here is what it shows, clinton and trump tied at 46 among likely voters nationwide. The audience expected to be massive, up to 100 Million Viewers might tune in. That will rival the super bowl, it would easily surpass the 80 million for the highest rated president ial debate ever, jimmy carter and Ronald Reagans showdown back in we have every angle of the debate covered. We will talk to the Campaign Managers on both sides. Lets begin with Peter Alexander at the debate site. Peter, good morning to you. Reporter hey, matt and savannah. Good morning to you. Finally the first debate. In effect this is the Job Interview for these two candidates. The commission on president ial debates on sunday determining that Hillary Clinton will get the first question tonight. You cant overstate the importance of these debates. A third of voters tell nbc news gets their support. Tonight the showdown, whats likely to be the most watched president ial debate ever. With the candidates neck and neck in the polls both campaigns expressing confidence. When the lights are bright like they are now she brings the a plus game to the table. Shes going to be very, very good tomorrow night. And he is like the babe ruth of debating, he shows up and swings and does a great job. For Hillary Clinton and donald trump differing pre debate strategy, trump conventional, brainstorming with advisors, aides convinced he is best when he doesnt overprepare. He is being himself and thats what we all want. Reporter clintons prep more structured including a realtime mock debate saturday night, 90 minutes without a break even starting at 9 00 p. M. , playing trump felipe reinus a clat testify new yorker. Both contenders studying their opponents past debate performances. They know my record, they what i believe and i will do it. We cant be the stupid country anymore. We are laughed at all over the world. Reporter during the day sunday the candidates taking a break from debate prep meeting separately with benjamin netanyahu, both pledging to defend israels security. For trump his 12th but his first oneonone. Every word under the microscope and for good reason. Candidates prone to stretch the truth. Over five days clinton made eight erroneous statements most of them when addressing her own mistakes, but over the same period trump who gave more speeches and interviews made 87 erroneous statements. Trump in an interview sunday asked whether his controversial Charitable Foundation followed the law. Well, i hope so. I mean, my lawyers do it. Reporter before taking the stage both sides already feuding billionaire mark cuban accepting an invitation from the Clinton Campaign, trump responding warning he might invite Gennifer Flowers who had an affair with governor bill clinton. The clinton camp pouncing. You saw his reaction which is to do his favorite sport, dive into the sewer and go for a swin. Gennifer flowers will not be attending the night. Reporter back live now in setting the scene we want to show you the stage. You can see the two podiums, they are matching. Hillary clinton will be on the right, donald trump on the left. In fact, his is a little bit taller than hers to offset a 10 inch height differential between the two, there are seats for about a thousand audience members in this room. For all the critical things these two candidates have had to say about each other over the course of the last 18 or so months, they havent said any of them facetoface. Night that these two had any real interaction in person was 11 years ago at trumps wedding to melania. Peter alexander, thank you. Trump has never debated oneonone while clinton is a seasoned debater. Robby mook Clintons Campaign manager joined us earlier this morning. We began by asking if he is feeling confident. Well, first of all, even seasoned debaters are not used to debating donald trump. This is a different debate than i dont see this so much as winning and losing, but more about how these candidates have an opportunity to present to the American People whether they are prepared to be president of the United States. All that we are asking from donald trump is that he stick with the facts, that he give clear plans and that he have a command of the issues. Thats how we think that the candidates should be judged. Thats how theyve been judged in the past. What we dont want to have is some sort of double standard where donald trump can get the fine points of policy. Both of these candidates have proven that they can land a punch and the polls are very clear these are the two most unpopular candidates in president ial campaign history. So my question to you is Hillary Clinton thinking about tonight in terms of bringing trump down a notch or two again or do you feel like the work she needs to do is really about building herself up and addressing some of these deficits she has, for example, with trustworthiness. Im glad you asked that question. Because hillaryog trust. I think tonight is a great opportunity for her to do that. We want this to be about the issues, we want both candidates to explain their plans to the American People. We saw at the convention when hillary had the opportunity to talk about not just the things shes going to do but her long history, how this campaign is part of a longer mission to help kids and families, she does really well. We are looking forward to that. Thats why we dont want Donald Trumps lies and distortions to be a distraction. We are hoping that those can get focus her time on what she wants to do. What are her rules of engagement . What have you laid out in the debate prep in terms of getting personal and getting negative . We know that mr. Trump has been willing to go there over the last year or year and a half. What are her rules of engagement . Well, again, it just depends on what donald trump shows up to the debate and we just dont know that. Thats where hillary is going to have to make calls minute by minute. Is she willing to throw the first punch . Her focus said is to prove to the American People she can make a real difference in their life, to talk about the things she wants to do as president. What im concerned about is donald trump has so far not presented real plans. He hasnt taken clear positions and he has run a very negative campaign. So and, look, donald trump is an experienced reality show entertainer so he may decide that this is a chance to show those chops. Thats his choice. But we want hillary to have as much time as possible to talk difference. Robby mook, thank you very much. Thank you. Our conversation a bit earlier. Lets turn to his counterpart with the trump pain Kellyanne Conway with us now. Good morning on a long day for everybody involved. Its a fun day. You heard what robby mook just had to say. They are concerned that trump will be graded on a curve. People talk about how he benefits from low expectations. Do you agree or do you think hes being underestimated tonight . Robbie and i are living in parallel universes. Donald trump has been all weekend long. I think that the Clinton Campaign has clearly been talking to the media for a week now saying its your job to make sure that donald trump is checked fact checked in realtime. Im just surprised the Campaign Manager would try to lower expectations that dramatically for his own candidate. Look, they know that campaign debates are not Hillary Clintons sweet spot. Yes, she is experienced at doing them but the experience hasnt necessarily been beneficial. Name anything from a debate that you have seen from Hillary Clinton that moved you or that you remember and they cant. Shes been in 34 of them. Robbie has talked about their strategy will depend on which donald trump will show up tonight. It is the aggressor the guy who has been willing in the past to hurl insults or is it going to be the more drumpd, the reigned in candidate that we have seen on occasion, not that often, but on occasion. Donald trump is his own person. He has years, matt, and he will answer the question as theyre asked. I mean, he has a right to defend himself. Which do you think will work best in this debate . I dont see there are two versions of donald trump. He is not going to be robotic and scripted which Hillary Clinton is and thats a problem in debates like this. People want to see a future commander and chief and president of the United States who is nimble and resilient and can answer questions that havent been preprogrammed in secretive debate prep and mock debates but somebody who can assess the situation, weigh the consequences and options and make a firm decision. Thats why hes in the lead. Thats why in your own commander in chief forum he got many more questions than secretary clinton got because her answers are so lengthy his are concise. They have plenty of time tonight. Trump has shown and demonstrated a willingness to go there in terms of bill clintons past inn if i had else, even dabbled in it with a tweet Gennifer Flowers why did he do that, savannah . He did it because they invited mark cuban, which is fine, but then they tried to make it some sort of controversial invite. Even okay. Fine. They invited billionaire mark cuban, a political viral. Who very recently supported donald trump. I guess my question is you are a pollster, you are somebody who appears to have his ear and is able to be persuasive to him, have you said, do you know, what dont go there . I wont discuss private conversations but i will tell you that we were just putting the Clinton Campaign on notice that if they want to detract from what this debate is meant to be which is a conversation between the two candidates that would be president , giving their policy prescriptions to the voters who expect and deserve in your own nbc polling they say the economy, terrorism, healthcare, corruption in government, education, all very important to them. And i do disagree with my colleague robby mook who i respect but i disagree when he says that donald trump hasnt t he is at rallies every single day talking about policies and just the last month probably 15 different issues he has been out there talking about the issues. Shes running these negative ads about him right now where she can take that ad money a quarter of a billion dollars being spent by her campaign and super pacs she could say here is my view on obama, here is my view on education, shes not. As hes about to amp up his spending are you going to tell me how that all those ads that ads . They are going to be very positive policy ads where you see him interacting with folks and he puts forth what his policies are. His new child care tax credit policy. They are not going to be negative ads. He will counterpunch if he needs to but not to the extent she has. Basically Hillary Clintons entire campaign is an antitrump screen. Look at her ads and how theyre spending her money. They promised to become more uplifting, aspirational and optimistic, we just havent seen it. The battle is tonight. Ks we will have a lot more on whats ahead in a few moments. Lester holt moderating, chuck todd will be there tonight for our coverage on nbc, starts at 9 00 eastern, 6 00 pa. Lets get a check of the weather. We have had some real flooding to talk about in iowa. Lets show you. This is this is cedar falls, iowa and manchester. Look at the flooding. Just continues. The rivers overrunning their thankfully, but the flooding has not. And so sandbagging operations are in full swing. This is cedar rapids and you can see folks trying to stem the tide, but right now it is a losing battle, but hopefully the weather will cooperate. You can see clear skies right now in much of iowa, however, we do have this cold front pushing through. Thats going to be bringing more heavy rain, stretching from the great lakes all the way down into the midsection of the co northeast. The great lakes are going to stay wet around this upper level low, plus we may see another system develop along the coast in the midweek. We need the rain in the Midatlantic States and the northeast. Upwards of 4 inches possible by friday. Were going to get to your local forecast coming my mother passed 2003, but she always told me i dont care if you turn out to be a great athlete or whatever but, you need to make sure you get your college degree. Sometimes i call the house, just to hear her voice. beep hey mom, this is larry. I just want to let you know that uh, i fulfilled the promise that you held me to. Love you. beep and thats your latest weather. All right, al. Thank you very much. Now to some sad news overnight. Arnold palmer one of the most died. The golf legend credited with revolutionizing the game he loved on his way to becoming an icon. In his electric way charging golf once and for all of american sporting life. A less than classic swing, a charming personality and hollywood good looks, together they helped make Arnold Palmer golfs first superstar. Palmer burst through black and white tv sets in the 1950s, h broke style helped change golf from a game of elites to one for the masses. To fans he was simply arnie and they were arnies army. He made golf cool, he made golf attractive, he made it exciting. They were a perfect marriage. Arnold palmer and television ushering golf into the mainstream. Palmer paved the way for todays golfers like tiger woods who tweeted overnight, its hard anyone more important to the game than the king. Arnold palmer grew up in pennsylvania. In 1999 he told me his dad, a country club greenskeeper turned pro, taught him the game. I can see it right now. I mean, i can really see it and feel his hands, his hands were much the same as mine. And fairly strong. When he put my hands on the club the first time he looked at me just as im looking at you and he said, no way you grip a golf club. Just keep them there. That grip brought palmer 62 pga titles including seven pagers. Arnold palmer an incredible putt. In 1960 his come from behind victory at the u. S. Open over two other legends ben hogan and Jack Nicklaus still considered one of the greatest moments in sports history. Overnight his long time friend nicklaus saying, around was someone who was a pioneer in his himself. His many contributions to sport and america. Palmer also transcended golf, winning the president ial medal of freedom in 2004, comparing golf grips with then president george w. Bush. Later palmer became just as well known for his pursuits off the course. He popular rised a drink known as the Arnold Palmer, half tea, half lemonade, and he created a multimillion dollar Business Empire designing and building his iconic status going far, far beyond the game. Arnold palmer had that it factor and it was combustible. He was a star. Overnight president obama tweeted, here is to the king, who was as extraordinary on the links as he was generous to others. Thanks for the memories, arnold. I thank god for the game of golf and what it has meant to me. Thank god for Arnold Palmer. Nbc sports. Good morning to you. Hey, matt. Hi, savannah. There was jones, there was hogan, snead, there were a lot of other great golfers, but he had impact maybe like none other. Why . No, i think your obit said it all. I was just about to cite those same three guys, jones, hogan and snead who had preceded him, but he is the first golf superstar of the television era. And he had that magnetism that kelly referred to in the that almost burst through the television screen. And to a lot of people golf was kind of an elite Country Club Sport whereas arnie was a man of the people. Arnies army was just regular people. You could still see those mannerisms hitching up the pants and going for broke. There was a little bit of Kevin Costners roy mick a voi character in tin can you please in him. Sometimes he would get himself in trouble by taking a daring whether he won or lost, the army was always with him. He won seven majors as you mentioned, he might have won 10 or 11, he lost the u. S. Open three times in playoffs. He won four masters but he lost another one on the last hole when he double bogied it and lost by a single stroke, but that only endeared him in an odd way to the people who followed him because he was that kind of guy who just went for it. Bob, i mean, you quote the statistics, very might add, but it seems like his legacy is what he did for the game itself in terms of, as you mentioned, broadening the appeal and bringing it to the masses. No question about it. Statistics cannot capture the essence of what some athletes are about. And Arnold Palmer falls into that category. Its the impact that he had and the time where he came along. A period of time in the late on television was becoming popular. He was the nickname was true, he was t