[Music] the debate is happening tonight at the national Constitution Center in Philadelphia and it's airing right here on ABC and now joining us from Philadelphia with more of what we can expect as ABC News senior Congressional correspondent Rachel Scott and ABC News chief White House correspondent Mary Bruce thank you both for being with us Rachel let's start with you Donald Trump famously insists that he does not prepare for these things what are you hearing about his preparation for tonight yeah Donald Trump has never been a fan of any sort of formal debate prep but I am told the former president is preparing more than he's actually letting on he's taking this very seriously the former president knows just how consequential this debate and this moment will be ahead of the November election so the former president has been holding these sort of informal policy sessions with advisers including former congresswoman Tulsi gabard who once challenged Harris back on the debate stage in 2019 also involved in his debate prep is Congressman Matt Gates and I'm told that Gates has been firing questions at Trump on some of the tougher topics including his stance on abortion as well as his legal troubles he's also been briefed on Harris's past debate performances including that debate with his own former vice president Mike Pence I'm told that the former president has been watching that moment where Pence tried to interrupt Harris and Harris shut him down saying I'm speaking and he has privately told allies he is not going to let that happen to him guys well Mary it is no secret that vice president Harris has been prepping for tonight's big event for weeks uh once that prep looking like for her well look we are now in the finishing touches stages of her preparation in fact I just asked a source how she's spending the day and the source responded with just two words and an exclamation point getting ready this is now the stage customarily when the candidates would come through you know get a look at this stage familiarize their selves with the podium and just what the space is going to look like but yes we know the KLA Harris has been preparing and preparing very seriously for this she has spent days hunker down in a hotel in Pittsburgh doing d detailed rehearsal these these mock debates where she built a full stage with TV lighting she had an aid actually assuming the role of Donald Trump even dressing like him in these rehearsals you know she's trying to leave as little to chance as possible um and she is planning you know very much her strategy here and her goal is to try and Define her proposals to put a little bit more meat on the bones of her policies to continue to reintroduce herself herself to voters to make clear what she stands for and what her Administration would look like and then she wants to Pivot pretty quickly to Donald Trump put his policies in the spotlight and yes she does want to get under his skin she's going to try and needle him to throw him off his game the question is how she can do that with making sure that she can also you know keep her cool and rise above it and she's been practicing that too guys Rachel when you look at the recent polls these two are basically virtually tied very much neck and neck how do you think that is going to affect the former president's strategy tonight yeah it is a dead heat and that is the reason why this is such a highly anticipated high pressure moment for both of these candidates but also especially for former president Donald Trump look he wanted President Biden to stay in the race given all those questions about his age and mental Fitness especially after that last debate performance which was disastrous for President Biden and then all of that has sort of changed Trump had the momentum coming out of that debate now there's a new candidate in this race he has a new rival they're going to be meeting for the very first time on that debate stage you're just going to be 6 feet apart so the former president knows that this is is opportunity to not only draw a contrast with the vice president but also try and lay out his vision as well this is a race to also Define vice president kamla Harris and we have seen Trump really try to figure out what exactly his strategy is his line of attack is with Harris and he's been labeling her Progressive and too liberal polls show that some of that is sticking but polls also show that the voters really want to learn more about vice president KLA Harris as well and Mary much like that debate back in June tonight's debate will feature no live audience and the opponent's microphones will be muted so what's Harris's strategy going into tonight as she takes the stage yeah and look we know that that is actually something that the Harris campaign fought back against of course a reminder here those were the ground rules that Joe Biden agreed to that his campaign had agree to when these debates were supposed to be between him and Donald Trump they those will still be the ground Rules tonight that the mics will be muted when the candidate is not speaking but Harris's team is concerned that that may actually be to Trump's benefit that that will make him look you know more controlled you know more tempered uh deny her the opportunity to have those moments like we saw in her debate with Mike Pence last go around where she said you know excuse me I'm I'm speaking here uh look they still will be standing side by side I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunity for there to it's for them to engage each other and to truly have a debate but she is still going to try and find ways to you know to to to poke the bear a little bit to get under Trump's skin to needle him uh while also trying to look very much like the adult in the room it's a balancing act and one that Harris has been practicing but will be certainly interesting to see if she can achieve that while as Rachel said she's also trying to really you know make clear to voters who she is what she stands for and how her Administration would differ from Joe Biden's we'll all be watching ABC's Mary Bruce and Rachel Scott again thank you guys we appreciate it and good to see you and the ABC News presidential debate starts tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern time with our special coverage beginning at 8:00 right here on ABC I was telling you it feels like a a sporting event like a Super Bowl tonight I'm sure that many people will be watching