Trump V Harris - Join Sky News ahead of debate as candidates meet for first time│ 11 September

tonight the two candidates fighting to make it into the White House will go head-to-head for the first time what could be the crucial moment of the US election campaign the former president Donald Trump and the current vice president K Harris that's the choice confronting the American people when they go to the polls on the 5th of November and in just under 2 hours time the pair will debate live on American TV from Philadelphia who will come out on top we can't predict but what we do know is that it could be pivotal in the campaign and therefore could have Ripple effects around the world tonight on this Sky News special program we'll bring you the debate live from Philadelphia and we'll have expert analysis and reaction from our studio guests the vice chair of the Democrats abroad UK John Scardino and the chair of the Republicans overseas UK Greg Swenson as well as reaction from the Trump and Harris camps in the US and of course it's these swing states that matter in this election and the polls are telling us it's neck and neck will get analysis from our man with the numbers Lis good at our Sky News election [Music] screen good evening and welcome welcome to this special Sky News program for the US presidential debate it's been a campaign like no other but could tonight be the moment when one candidate makes a decisive break I'm calling on crooked Joe to debate any time any place we'll do it anywhere you want Joe I'm not going anywhere all [Applause] right Donald J Trump breaking news coming into us from the United States and President Joe Biden says he is stepping down from the US presidential election campaign for 50 years like many of you I've given my heart and soul to our nation she is as you know the most radical left [Applause] person people don't know the real Kamala in many ways Donald Trump is an unserious man did you see her on television last night this is going to be the president this is going to be the president of our country I don't think so America we are not going back we are not going back in a week from now week and a half I look forward to that debate very much [Applause] well there we go it's going to be a big night it's going to be an exciting night the battle lines have been drawn the candidates are about to arrive at that uh debate Hall in Philadelphia in Pennsyvania uh Mark stone is there on the floor of that debate Hall Mark you're good at this set the scene for us well I tell you what I'm really excited it's going to be of Jeopardy uh without any doubt the mother of all presidential debates uh to tea up the mother of all presidential uh elections no doubt about that we're in the spin room let's show you round this is the size of two football pitches absolutely vast and through the course of the day uh it it has been filling up uh with journalists from all around the world uh and you could see as we move around some of the uh the the studios that have been set up in the corner here as organizations from right around the world world are preparing to broadcast here it is called a spin room uh because of the people who will be in here spinning people from both sides of the aisle here in politics in the United States who will be here as surrogates to the candidates telling us telling the world why they think that their candidate won and what's really interesting is that we're seeing not just Democrats uh coming here to tell us uh that they think uh CA Harris is going to do well but Republicans coming here as well uh Republican an who are so-called never trumpers Republicans who believe that Donald Trump is a threat to to America and a threat Beyond America U not many of them but there are quite there are a few who have been here and who will be here uh later on today 50 million people uh Mark watched the last debate that disastrous debate uh if you are uh Joe Biden a debate in which Donald Trump turned up and was somewhat out of character in that he did was not the combative Donald Trump uh that we have uh grown to know instead he let Joe Biden effectively destroy himself it was a debate as you just uh said which precipitated the end of Biden's campaign uh out of that came camela Harris um unopposed on the left of politics among the Democratic party she is now the candidate and tonight she will go head-to-head with Donald Trump right and it's worth reemphasizing that these two have never met and it is a night of real Jeopardy actually for both candidates it is you know I I wasn't aware until a week or so ago that they had never met the reason is that the one occasion where they could they would definitely have met is is the uh the inauguration uh of Joe Biden just under four years ago but remember Donald Trump did not turn up uh to that inauguration and circumstances meant that the two of them have never met face to face but tonight they will tonight they will be in that um debate Hall uh they will there will be no audience they're on their own two podiums one slightly higher than the other Donald Trump is well over 6 foot a giant of a man kamla Harris is much much shorter and so a decision has been made that there will be two the podiums will be of different heights to allow them both uh to feel comfortable a at their own Podium uh Donald Trump said a few days ago on his own social media site truth social uh that he didn't want um kamla Harris to have any sort of um block to stand on she doesn't have a block but she has a a shorter podium one of so many little details that are fascinating uh around uh around this debate but look I think tonight it's all about the undecided it's about those people in the middle uh Mark who yes they know exactly what Donald Trump stands for because they've seen him for many years now they are not totally sure what Kamala Harris stands for what her policies are she's really not been all that clear about her policies it is true Mark that she has over the course of many years in politics at some stages of that of that period She has been really very far Le left of center she's tacked to the center over the course of her vice presidency even more so over the course of the past few weeks of her candidate as candidate um but Donald Trump is still casting her as a farre left liberal Mark and I can assure you I I don't have a block that I'm sitting on um as I sit here next to Mark Austin uh who is about six foot tall no exactly I I'd say that's probably the the height difference that you're comparing between Donald Trump and KLA Harris with Mark and I um but Mark I just want to pick up on the point that you have made it is a consequential debate given what we saw and how crucial the last debate was um and as you say this is a chance for kamla Harris to really introduce herself to the American people and do so before Donald Trump defines her and and I think that's been a problem actually over the course of the past few weeks um since she has been the candidate there has been there have been a lot of calls for her to to to make clear what her policies are what does she stand for how can she cast some light between um President Biden and her remember that 60% of the countries of the country if the polls are right want change well she as the continuity candidate she is continuity because she's literally the sitting vice president how can she present herself as as offering that change uh when she is so closely attached uh to President Biden I think that will be a wedge that Donald Trump tries uh to push uh tonight he will also as I say um Again cast her as some sort of a dangerous uh liberal I think what she uh will need to do uh is yes frame him as as the the dangerous right-wing candidate that she sees that he is uh but also present some sort of a positive future a future that yes picks up on President Biden's achievements as she would see them as president but also casts herself as something new something fresh something different different she will need Poise tonight to counter the street fighter that we know Donald Trump is but she will also need policy okay mark thank you very much indeed and of course we will be speaking to Mark throughout the evening but let's get straight uh to it tonight Republican Congressman Mike Waltz for Florida's six District joins us live now from the spin room it's really good to see you again uh Congressman um we've spoken a lot over the years about Donald Trump and uh you know your your views and and and that sort of thing on him but just give us a sense of of how you think he's going to approach this particular debate tonight well I think he's going to draw a very clear contrast of what worked under his administration and what was working uh for the economy for our uh Southern border uh in terms of reducing crime and certainly on foreign policy and then what a disaster the last three years uh have been on all of those issues the question I think is going to be which KLA Harris shows up is it vice president Harris that wants to selectively take credit for what she sees worked under Joe Biden or will it be someone who's trying to cast her own policies but since she hasn't had a press conference or any type of lengthy solo interview in the two months since she was a presumptive nominee I think those will be kind of a surprise for everyone I think uh it'll sound a lot like California comma because that is what the future of progressive governance looks like uh and I think president Trump's going to remind the world that when she was in the Senate she was the number one most left-wing Progressive senator in the Senate she was to the left of Bernie Sanders she was to the left of kamla Harris according to nonpartisan organizations uh who rate Senators votes so I think that will be laid out the contrast will be very clear uh and the American people will will make those decisions yeah Congressman I mean a lot has happened for for Donald Trump in the last four years as well and one of the things that kamla Harris is is really doing is trying to sell herself as this prosecutor I mean no doubt she's going to raise the felony convictions for example she's going to raise uh January 6th she's going to uh raise you know the the claims and accusations of of sexual assault the the business fraud how do you think Donald Trump is going to handle all of this well if she you know if she raises those issues I think president Trump is just going to stand by the facts that we've now had uh Supreme Court rulings uh that are going to throw a lot of those uh cases out a number of them have already been lost on appeal whether it's the documents case that was thrown out in uh South Florida whether it's a Supreme Court case on immunity uh that you can't tie a president's hand that have now affected the New York case but he's also going to point out that Joe Biden's number three official in the Department of Justice resigned from a very senior post to go sit down in a municipal courtroom with a local district attorney uh to go after a political opponent look I've served all over the world in Africa and the Middle East that's the type of thing you see in third world country the mainstream media in the United States didn't really want to talk about it but I think president Trump will uh and a lot of people can identify you can't talk about a unfair justice system but then say suddenly it was completely Fair uh for for president Trump I think a lot of people are going to identify with a with a justice system that's tilted against them yeah Congressman you you were saying which Kamala Harris will turn up questioning which Kamala Harris will turn up I suppose there's also a question about which Donald Trump will turn up will it be the one who's going to behave himself do as a as his advisers want and stick to policy or will it be the Donald Trump who can't help himself and gets riled gets upset and gets personal well we saw what happened with the bait with the bite with uh with Joe Biden uh and and president Trump let Joe Biden sink himself and I think uh he will let kamla Harris try to explain her flip-flops whether that's on fracking for gas that she's flip-flopped on everything from that uh to Crime on illegal uh immigrants to now even plastic straws uh I think that's the side you're going to see uh you're also going to see someone who talks about putting in record trade deals like the new NAFTA deal that he got done she voted against that talked about veterans reform that lets veterans choose their own health care rather than relying on a scloric government system that her vice president picked Tim Walls voted against uh so you're going to see him talk about that you're going to see him talk about unleashing American uh energy we currently have a ban on LNG I just met with the lithuanians they're saying we were buying your gas now we're going to have to buy Russian gas uh you're going to talk see the Middle East where uh Isis was largely defeated Iran was broke their field General sulamani was taken off the battlefield and we had Peace Accords literally being signed on the White House law between Israel and its Arab neighbors that were worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize under Donald Trump and then the chaos that we're seeing now he's going to draw that contrast the facts are on his side and you're going to see that crystal clear and if he does it in the Donald Trump way uh well that's president Trump but I got to tell you the American people love his authenticity they know he's not feeding them you know a bunch of political nonsense what you see is what you get right you talked about CA Harris CA Harris flip flopping I mean Donald Trump's done a few flip flops himself not least on abortion um you know he's got questions to answer as well well I mean look I mean you've seen an evolution since the 90s you saw Bill Clinton evolve on gay marriage of course people evolve their positions but I could lay out you I could lay out for you a dozen she's literally flipped flopped on just in the last year uh that is uh that is distinctly different than someone that changes over decades as Bill Clinton did as president Trump has and someone who is just speaking to the audience that they have in front of them and telling them what they want to hear I think there's a distinct difference there that again uh the viewers are going to see Congressman um you know for years you and I spoke about the Biden policy uh and its withdrawal from Afghanistan you talked about your dis May at the time your disappointment and anger are you concerned that Donald Trump is going to turn his back on Ukraine well first I I just want to just State the facts that Russia invaded a neighbor under President Bush under President Obama and under President Biden he did not uh under President Trump and oh by the way when Obama refused to give lethal Aid to Ukraine president Trump did he the one that provided the javelin missiles that they used in those early days but I think you will see a difference that President Trump wants the war to end he will drive uh both parties to the bargaining table in a way that only he can uh rather than what is the policy now what does success look like uh are we uh collectively going to kick every single Russian off of every inch of Ukrainian soil including Crimea for as long as it takes so just saying a blank check isn't a policy and I do think you'll see him actually lay out a policy to end the war Congressman um always good to talk to you thank you very much for joining us all right thank you well it goes without saying that tonight is a marathon of sorts uh we've still got about an hour and 45 minutes to go before the first debate between Donald Trump and carela Harris possibly the only debate uh we'll be bringing you all the buildup of course with expert guests two of whom are here in the studio that's John Scardino Vice chair of Democrats abroad UK and also Greg Swenson chair of Republicans overseas UK um welcome both and thank you for being with us um Greg first of all uh what do you think we can expect tonight very difficult to predict because as you know president Trump is unpredictable he's unfiltered I hope he's as representative Walt said I hope he's disciplined I hope he focuses on defining Cala Harris because the Press surely hasn't done that and that you know the press in America's been very supportive of her and I think that it's up to him to Define her because you know and and if she wants to Define herself all the better I think she has a chance to appeal to moderates and independent voters are undecided she hasn't done that so far she's energized her base for sure so I think it's up to president Trump to Define her and talk about her record and her policies two things that we don't hear much about in The Press but if she wants to Define herself yeah she could Define herself as younger fresher newer different and a change candidate she might win on some of those things she's definitely younger and and she's got a a great appeal I mean she's got the great smile she's done really well with the hope and joy campaign but I think on in terms of being new you know she's the sitting Vice president so it's funny to talk about let's not go back but she is the past three and a half years she ran for president in two 2019 and 20 and failed she never got over 2% she didn't make it to Iowa and then as vice president she was kind of an underachiever and I think even many Democrats would admit that and in terms of the change candidate yes um Mark was right earlier 61% of Americans want major change but Trump is up 12 points on that issue he you know Trump is too far right right is polling at 32% Kamal is too far left is at 44 in terms of the the change candidate 53% say Trump is the change cand the change candidate though well compared to the last three and a half years yeah compared to the last three and a half years ABS but you know but Cala is at 25 on that metric so you know Mark Mark from from Sky brought up a good point you know that yes 61% want major change not just change 90% want change but on that metric Trump is leading pretty significantly so if that ends up being a voting issue I think he he does well there well it's it's very interesting to hear from that the point of view because I I think Cala Harris has done a remarkable job and I think the Biden Administration has done a remarkable job and I I think what you'll see with with Cala Harris is is a bit of an evolution and not anything uh revolutionary but I think she'll build on the successes of the the Biden Administration things like the incredible job creation Biden brought the country back back on its feet after a a crisis with covid that was terribly mishandled so I I think that there's an awful lot that that she has to be proud of and and a lot that she will have that hasn't really landed has it with voters when you look at the polls in terms of the economy I mean Trump will no doubt look at inflation rates as well it hasn't landed in the way that the Biden Administration has wanted for example job Creations to be something that American people are focused on they're looking at the now and a lot of Voters are saying actually our lives and livelihoods were better under um the Trump presidency I'm not sure I agree with that um I do think that people um associate themselves or or or find more appealing something visceral U and I think that that Donald Trump is is particularly good at finding what it is that's visceral about the performance in the economy or whatever issue it is that you'll see um one of the things that I I expect to see from him tonight is you know he's been at this now for over eight years he's debated Hillary three times he debated Joe Biden three times he knows this Arena he is a trained uh TV personality he had his own show he is he is a bit of a showman uh and that's where I find real fault with Donald Trump he's fantastic entertainment but he's lousy at governing I mean you the the administration that he had had numerous opportunities to complete things for the for the American people one of the biggest that that um your Republican guests will often hear me say is that he missed an opportunity to pass a a bipartisan infrastructure bill and when Biden got that done it was an enormous stimulus on the economy brought an enormous number of jobs but it also addressed a lot of the long-standing problems that the country had with crumbling Bridges and Roads that were interfering with getting products to to markets and things like that so that's the kind of uh as again Greg mentioned the erratic behavior of of Donald Trump that's the problem with him as a as a president as a as somebody in government he's he's fine on an entertainment stage and he comes across very strong but as a as somebody that needs to be thoughtful and forward-looking I don't think this is the guy I I I guess you know what we will probably have to wait and see is will people watch the full 90 minutes or are people going to look out for those moments which is what Donald Trump as you say is really good those sort of viral moments and you remember during the Joe Biden um debate where Joe Biden said something and Donald Trump re acted and said I don't know if he knows what he's talking about I don't think you know I don't know and I don't think he knows it was that moment I think that became almost decisive in that uh sort of debate um but we will be continuing to discuss uh all of this and more um of course this is currently one of the closest general elections ever in the US the polls show the candidates are neck and neck and the unique political system means the winner is decided by just a few States on Election night we will have our man with the numbers l good with a magic screen which will bring us every Twist and Turn every single result here he is with his take on how the US electoral college system works there are over 200 million voters in the United States but 200 million as impressive as it sounds is not the number that matters the number that matters is 270 270 Electoral College votes and you win the presidency that is why you can see this map of the United States every state in the Union has an electoral college vote number from 54 in California because it's got the biggest population right through to the smaller states with relatively few people there and they only have three or four and so on every single state of the union votes and if you win that state then you get its Electoral College votes and then hopefully you get past the winning line to 270 you might be thinking why have we colored them in already has the election already happened yet no we just know that most presidential elections most of the states are already a bit of a foregone conclusion they are safe American presidential elections particularly one as tightly as contested as this pivot on the swing Stakes they're the ones you can see in Gray here we haven't colored in surrounded in yellow there are seven of them and they are all absolutely crucial for camela Harris or Donald Trump basically they need to win at least three of them in order to be guaranteed the presidency what might that arithmetic look like well let's imagine for the sake of argument that Donald Trump is able to win the states back that on paper should be easiest for him to win back the states that uh Joe Biden won in 2020 by the narrowest of margins so that's places like Georgia which no Democrat had won for many years or Arizona and so on let's imagine he can win back say Nevada which the Democrats have had for uh longer and he had North Carolina back in 2020 and therefore you can see that this election will likely pivot possibly anyway to these Russ Belt states these three crucial States that had voted Democratic basically for every election for a generation until Donald Trump won them in 2016 and Biden wins them back in 2020 so let's if we just color those in and let's say Harris who's polling well in Wisconsin and in Michigan you can see there both would be on 268 for Trump 251 for Harris so you can see that the pivotal state in this election what people are calling and describing as the Tipping Point state is Pennsylvania that likely neither candidate either Trump or Harris can win without it so we've given it to Trump there you can see he wins quite handily we give it to Harris there and she wins by a whisker Pennsylvania is likely to be the key State the Keystone State as it is called uh in this C we can even if we focus in a little bit closer we can see how narrow that could be in terms of we see there are lots of uh swing there may be swing States and it comes down to that but it is even narrower than that in the sense that we can focus on the particular places that both campaigns will be fighting over places like Erie County in Northwestern Pennsylvania you can see Biden won that by a margin of only 1,400 back in 2020 Trump won it by a margin of about 2,000 in 2016 it's not just about the states it's about the counties the Aller places within those States you rack up enough winning margins in these places that frankly many people outside of the United States even in the United States may never have heard of this is how you win a presidential election in the United States of America there are good all there with how it all works and how close it could be let's get some analysis now on what could happen tonight and how Trump and Harris could uh try to attack each other joining me now is Amanda macki a Republican strategist who joins us from Tampa in Florida good to talk to you again I just wonder how key in this quite extraordinary campaign you think the debate could be I think it's a job interview for kamla Harris she hasn't done really any interviews I mean she's done one with CNN but she had her uh vice presidential candidate next to her so a lot of people thought that was a little bit strange uh whereas you compare that to former president Trump and JD Vance who have done about 50 interviews so I think this is really a job interview for her this is a an opportunity for her to clarify a lot of her positions which require a lot of clarification uh certainly I think people know Trump whether they like him they hate him don't have a feeling towards him they don't have that same position towards kamla Harris they don't know her they don't know her positions and so I think this is really an opportunity for her to prove who she is right let's talk about Trump as well how do you think he will play this I think he should tie her obviously to all the policies of this Administration she is part of this Administration she's second in line I think he needs to do that without being um you know a bully without coming off and it's hard to do because he's a man she's a woman and sometimes the Optics of that are hard to see when someone can be um you know aggressive a lot of times that turns people off especially if the male is doing that towards the female and I think she has the opportunity to be aggressive and you know kind of watch and see what he does but he should be in the moment the way he was with Joe Biden let her do the talking let her be the one to show herself who she is and don't take the bait don't get aggressive with her right and just finally um it's interesting isn't it that here we have a man who has has a history of we can say misogyny and here he is debating his second female nominee um Hillary Clinton of first of course in 2016 um it's be very interesting to see how he deals with kamla Harris I think a lot has changed uh since 2016 when he debated Hillary Clinton and you know certainly he was president and so even when you think back to what happened this summer with the assassination attempt and those things I mean these are life-altering events and they do change people so anyway it's interesting to see what it will be like tonight but I think the most important thing is that Trump people know who he is kamla Harris people don't know who she is he's leading her by one point in the latest poll by the New York Times I think that means that he actually leads by much more so he needs to be very um he needs to be very organized and very disciplined tonight all right Amanda I appreciate your time thanks very much thank you well the vice president and presidential hopeful kamla Harris is from California a safe Democrat state which holds 54 Electoral College votes so a big chunk of the prize Well let's go straight to our Martha Kelner who's there for us and Martha I mean as we said a safe State interestingly we thought at this time uh we'd probably be in Delaware but it has shifted hasn't it um you're now in California you're at a watch party yeah I'm at a place called The Chapel it's an ex Chapel converted into a live music and event space they're just getting uh ready here for a watch party um for this debate but this is Kamala Harris's you know home town she's from the San Francisco Bay Area these are not the people that she has to worry about convincing these are committed Democratic party voters it's voters in those seven key swing states that you've been talking about uh that she needs to convince tonight many of those uh still undecided still yet to make their minds up which way uh they're going to vote in November or even when uh the early voting begins in just a few days time those are the people that she has to uh convince about who she is what sort of a president she will be and that's why I think it's important this evening that she injects uh personality as well as uh policy into this debate interesting too that she's been having conver ation over the past few days with Hillary Clinton Hillary Clinton of course debated Donald Trump three times uh in the 2016 election campaign ultimately she was beaten by Donald Trump but Hillary Clinton claims that she won all three of those debates and so she thinks she has some advice uh to offer Harris on how to tackle uh Donald Trump listen to to what Hillary Clinton uh told the New York Times about her discussions about the strategy that that Harris should employ uh to face Trump she said she should not be baited she should bait him he can be rattled he doesn't know how to respond to substantive direct attacks and that tallies with what Harris's own team have been telling her about trying to go Donald Trump into some of these long rambling incoherent rants that we sometimes uh see him engaging in so that's what they want to see uh her do they want her to try and uh draw Donald Trump into some of those uh traps that he's um perhaps uh likely to fall into yeah and CA Harris has been locked away hasn't she really prepping and planning and strategizing on how to deal with this um Martha I you know I wonder we we were together in in the US um when um Joe Biden stepped down and U you know endorsed kamla Harris and we saw this mobilization of female volunteers moving towards kamla Harris and that sort of support base um are you know some of the issues around women Reproductive Rights for example coming to the Forefront and is it likely to be a big talking point uh in this debate this evening yeah I'd be amazed yeler if there's not a question on abortion I think it certainly will come up the issue of Reproductive Rights and it's somewhere where camela Harris can really score points on Donald Trump it's one of his biggest political vulnerabilities and Reproductive Rights is the most important issue to women under the age of 40 5 and even when you take the elector as a whole it's among the most important issues uh perhaps beaten only by the economy Rising prices and inflation so abortion will come up and it's something that camela Harris can really pin Donald Trump to the wall on okay Martha um well we look forward to talking to you a little later thanks so much for now right time for a quick break now next on this Sky News special program we'll hear from a lovely shot that is is that light it is Philadelphia as the sun goes down uh we'll hear from democratic strategist Hillary Rosen as we countown to the first live debate between Donald Trump and Carmela Harris [Music] [Music] welcome back and tonight is one of the most anticipated debates in US election history how will Donald Trump perform tonight when his opponent is again a woman uh but we also don't know what to expect of course from carela Harris who is relatively new to this uh campaigning well let's get the opinion from democratic strategist Hillary Rosen now Hillary I'm really good to see you I'm actually going to ask uh our team uh to show those live images coming out of uh Philadelphia at the moment Philadelphia obviously um you know Pennsylvania um really quite a significant State it's a swing state um and that's also where the Declaration of Independence was adopted wasn't it in in 1776 so on so many levels so significant um but let's talk about the the polls um Hillary it does appear at this stage that things are neck and neck neck and neck well first High um debate day for me is always like what for any pundit I think 10 hours ourselves boring blather and then 90 minutes of sheer Panic um and so you know we're we're bordering on the the sheer Panic time coming soon um look the stakes tonight are really high the and I think they wouldn't have been as high if we didn't have such a dramatic result from the last debate 50 million people watched that debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump and I I heard you say earlier within the first 10 minutes Joe Biden's presidency was over and that that's a that's a dramatic outcome for a debate one you don't usually see we saw as Amanda said Hillary Clinton won debates in 2016 and yet Donald Trump won the presidency so normally a debate wouldn't have such high stakes but given the compressed time that kamla Harris has to to get the country comfortable with her as commander-in-chief as president this is a really big moment for her yeah I mean Hillary you know the fact is a high percentage of Americans are saying they're not quite sure who Kamala Harris is they are and it's interesting my personal view is Donald Trump is not going to lose a single uh vote between now and election day his voters are secure they're steadfast there's about you know 3% undecided right now maybe 5% if you add in some of the voters for third party candidates who sometimes shift and go to one of the major candidates so that 3% or 4% of the electorate is really the target for kamla Harris and those are the people who are saying I need to know more the polls are really tight what is it that this person stands for Beyond um the Biden presidency right and Hillary kamla Harris is largely untested certainly at the top I mean I saw her described earlier today as an emergency nominee well I don't think she's untested you know I give her a lot of credit look she was a Statewide attorney general under a lot of pressure with major cases in California she was the United States senator for years she's been a vice president for several years so we she has a a record and a history she has much more qualifications than Donald Trump did when he first ran for president so I'm I don't think that's a a fair charge I think what she is is um people aren't sure what's different about her from Joe Biden and so that gets to kind of the the things that she needs to do tonight and the things that she doesn't need to do tonight so how does she do that then because um Donald Trump is certain to you know tie her very closely to uh Joe Biden how does she break away from that while at the same time owning the kind of good stuff she wants to talk about I I think she needs to do two things she needs to be very aggressive about putting her own agenda out there sounding reasonable on the economy understanding that the economy is still not perfect for many people but she is on the side of middle class voters she needs to hang abortion around his neck Amanda just said that in the last segment this is a really important issue and he has been trying to get away from it for the last three weeks she needs to put his back on him and make it clear where he's responsible for for millions of American women losing their rights and the two things she doesn't need to do are defend Joe Biden she can't do that she can't spend her time defending the Biden presidency defending his decisions defending you know the mess ups in Afghanistan she has to let go of that and not worry about the president's feelings and she the second thing is I think what Hillary Clinton's advice was she can't take the bait every time she has to pick her battles with him so that means not responding to every little nasty aside he gives but picking the big one that will end up rattling him yeah because that is what he's going to try and do while she's going to try and reintroduce herself to the American people he's going to try and shape the perception around her so that she is left defending the Biden Administration rather than introducing her own policies and strategy right and that's a that's a trap she just can't fall into and I'm you know hoping and praying that that she doesn't I you know I've talked to some of her team I think that she understands that she is very personally respectful of Joe Biden and so it will not be easy but she is uh committed to making sure that people know who she is and look Joe Biden's got his big boy pants on today he knows that he's going to take some shots and he's not going to worry about that Hillary thank you so much for joining us all right take care right let's come back to the panel now John Scardino uh Vice chair of Democrats abroad UK and Greg Swenson chair of Republicans overseas UK John I'm just interested in picking up on this whole issue of the economy and how Cala Harris is going to deal with the attack that is inevitably coming I think she's been out um unveiling some of her proposals I think some of the specific things that she said that I've caught my attention she wants to be helpful to uh small businesses right now if you're starting a new business you can deduct $5,000 um off of your startup expenses she wants to raise that to $50,000 so that's a good example of of what she wants to do to help create what she's called the the opportunity economy not not everybody had the kind of opportunity that Trump had when he came into business and he was handed several million 400 million or more dollars by his father to start into business that's quite a nice uh stepping stone to get a business started so she wants to be helpful to uh small businesses because they are in many ways the backbone of the US economy so creating jobs through that and and encouraging um entrepreneurship I think is one way to do that but I what I don't understand is I mean on growth and jobs creation they've had a pretty good run the problem is the cost of living and inflation and interest rates are the things that really do impact on ordinary people in the United States yes and I and I think she described some of her proposals again uh to address some of those specific issues one of which is um looking at where there's been uh price gouging uh there are some some tools in in her Arsenal uh to address some things to get that that many states are already doing there are 37 states that have rules about um preventing um uh Grocers and and and other retailers from jacking up prices in times of of disaster if a a hurricane hits you can't just go out there and start raising the price of of uh your your basic uh needs so she's looking at ways like that to try to um control price put some put some guard rails on them uh in a legitimate way but also to try and inject more competition in in those Industries so that uh one of the things that happened over the last couple of years obviously we're all familiar with was the the interruption in the supply chain so the idea of creating more businesses as we were talking about earlier in providing more opportunity for competition in those Industries will also be helpful in driving prices down yeah because the economy frankly is on the top of the agenda for the American voters and you know when we look at at um the Biden administration's record when it comes to the economy they have done well when it comes to job Creations but Donald Trump is going to want to focus on things like inflation yeah and and this is why Trump is polling 12 and a half points ahead of of Cala in most most polls at least 12 and a half points on the economy and inflation because he can tie Camala to inflation now on one hand she can say that wasn't me as Hillary was Hillary was saying you know that wasn't me I was just the vice president but she signed the the two bills that caused the inflation right the two Reckless spending bills I would argue the American Rescue plan and the so-called inflationary inflation reduction act which is an amusing name Biden finally came clean last week and said it wasn't an inflation reduction act it was it was basically a green New Deal or a mini green new new deal but these are important metrics for Trump to highlight I'm not sure how uh vice president Harris can defend herself on it but what you had was yes there was job creation there was a lot of backfill from from the covid lockdowns but remember this argument about you know they took over this horrible economy no third quarter of 2020 35% growth fourth quarter 4.2 growth first quarter of 21 5.2% growth those are huge numbers and granted they were they were rebound numbers but all of the GDP that was lost during the covid lockdown in 2020 was recovered by the first quarter of of 21 to to drop 4 trillion in Reckless spending to create inflation while also having the hostility to the supply side bad formula that's why we had 9 and a half% inflation what we're looking at is the spin room I mean things are so enormous in America I mean there's a lot of spinning hell of a spin there's a lot of room for a lot of spinning in that in that room but I just I just want to make the point actually because it's almost John that Trump can bring out this you know were you better off you know four years ago you know and the what was it the Reagan line wasn't it yeah I mean that he could almost give that a run again well he may do but um I would say when people look at the the things that the Biden economy has created yes we've talked a lot about the job creation inflation has come way back down to below what it was before Trump came into office when when Trump came in in 2016 he took over an economy that was on the way up and was doing well so you know to to make it sound like he created this out of uh out of whole cloth I think is is very but it is a a a difficult Balancing Act isn't it for kamla Harris to kind of distance herself from certain perceptions around the Biden Administration and come across as someone who is you know the the change maker the new fresh blood in all of this when Trump is going to try and drag her into how the Biden Administration has been perceived on this um I I I do think that that she's got quite a lot to to offer here so um I know that Greg is is dying to get in I think we have a disagreement about about no price controls have worked really well in the past in Venezuela Soviet Union I mean I don't think that's something that she can run with she's got to be careful about that and I I would you know when she announced that a few weeks ago it was the first time she'd announced the she really been even the Washington Post sense that we talked a little bit about that that the the things that she's proposing are things that states are already using more than 37 states are using these kind of controls that say you can't abuse the the consumer in a time of crisis when the supply chain has been upset or that kind of thing so so they're very modest proposals yeah I mean there grocery stores have 2% margins right now so I don't know where she's going to find you know this uh price controls or you know executing those practically but but I think that the point is you know granted Trump was pulling you know up significantly more over Biden than his is on vice president Harris but he's still leading by 10 plus points on the economy 10 plus points on the border those are the things that he should highlight tonight and I think on the economy it's a tough argument for vice president Harris if I were her I would avoid it and S kind of sidestep it it's going to be hard to avoid it I think it's a number one issue for Americans so it will be I I do think that this idea that Trump has of a sort of his cartoon version of the economy by slapping 10% uh controls on on tariffs onake on income I don't think that's the way to go and I think it would have exactly the opposite effect it would hurt consumers and job creation agreement we don't want no we get a long night yeah we'll find another one well our us correspondent James Matthews uh is in the spin room for us where many Republicans and Democrats will be watching the debate um James thanks so much for joining us you know it's all gearing up there isn't it and we're we're having a conversation here about the kind of strategy that both parties are likely uh to adopt um in this particular debate and and really how difficult it is going to be for kamla Harris to on the one hand not find herself defending the Biden administration's record um because frankly she was part of that and then on the other hand you know trying to sell herself as this new fresh blood in all of this yeah that's right yeah presenting herself as the change candidate when Trump will say to her tonight they've certainly been trailing this attack line long enough that she owns everything that's come out of the White House for the past four years and all the unpopular stuff on the economy immigration how much prices how much higher prices are and how much worse off Americans feel Trump will be pointing the finger at Harris for that tonight so she needs to needs to sees the strength of the incumbency yes but also put daylight between her and Joe Biden she's been doing that over recent weeks and I suppose tonight we'll see her build on that she certainly needs to present herself as the woman who could be president needs to emerge from underneath Joe Biden's Shadow effectively on these key important issues all the while Donald Trump highlighting the failings of things like you know immigration in which she had a key role I'm struck yala tonight standing here in the spin room where the Spinners are will be coming and going quite you know serious names I'm serious players Jerry Van is expected here possibly RFK Jr for the Democrats they've wheeled in the likes of Anthony scaramucci the mooch you know used to be Trump's former director of communications he's telling everyone who will listen that Donald Trump failed in the white house once he will fail again um so that's all going to happen here prior to the debate spinning what's going to happen and then afterwards obviously spinning their view of what has happened the key will be in the eyes of the viewer to emerge as presidential to carry Authority on stage and grabit as I mean I think in here there is an expectation that contrasts with Atlanta where Biden and Trump debated I remember in the buildup to that uh just talking to the media there was kind of limited expectations about how that night would go I think every body saw the power of the presidential debate that night and to that extent there is I think a raised anticipation expectation of impact on the election campaign tonight James we can't uh talk to you tonight without mentioning that it is a significant birthday for you shall I say what it is 60th still much younger than me and we thought that uh a little birthday gift we should celebrate by showing you in action over the last two [Laughter] years Mr Trump James Matthews from Sky News Vladimir Putin calls you outstanding Mr musk what would you call Vladimir Putin you have form in terms of breaking the law on Co have you broken it again no you just you said you've been you said does your government owe an apology to the British home children great to see you does your government owe them an apology do you fear a fourth and Diamond a is New Hampshire maker break for you is this maker break for you does that indicate a a military weakness on the part of Iran no no no I really don't care what David Cameron has to say and frankly he can kiss my ass good to see why should the public believe anything you say thank you okay he's from Sky News he's from Sky News he's entitled to to ask me questions so happy birthday to our door stepper in Chief you make people's lives a misery James but happy birthday and there we are yeah yeah stay tune that's not going to change that's not going to change no actually James um when I was at the uh Republican National Convention gave me some tips on how best to doorstep use their first names you know go in there look them straight in the eye like you know them uh so the king of of doorsteps but as a serious Point James I mean you um you'll be doing some serious doorstepping after the debate and it the you know you saying earlier the the level of people who are going to turn out that gives an idea of how seriously they're taking this debate uh yeah I mean this this is pivotal uh Mark isn't it in terms of what could happen uh you know big Stakes for both individuals particularly for camela Harris I would suggest polls indicate Americans don't know enough about her Trump is entering his seventh presidential debate he he can work the TV stage extremely well the challenge for Harris is to present herself to the American public and to present her politics all right James happy birthday and we'll talk to you uh a little later cheers well Mark we're we're expecting uh this debate to begin uh in about an hour's time um let's just show you the the spin room right now uh a lot of the conversation debate will be coming out of this uh particular SP uh space I mean you know I often describe it as The Greatest Show on Earth and we will be uh continuing all of our coverage in the next few months [Music] welcome back then to tonight's special Sky News program tonight the two candidates fighting to make it into the White House will go head-to-head for the first time in what could be uh The crucial moment of the US election campaign the former president Donald Trump and the current vice president kamla Harris that's a choice confronting the American people when they go to the polls on the 5th of November and in just under one hour's time now the pair will debate live on American TV from Philadelphia who will come out on top we cannot predict but what we do know is that it could be pivotal in the campaign and therefore could have Ripple effects around the world tonight on this Sky News special program we'll bring you the debate live from Philadelphia and we'll have expert analysis and re action from our studio guests the vice chair of the Democrats abroad UK John Scardino and the chair of the Republicans overseas UK Greg Swenson as we'll uh and we'll uh get reaction of course from the Trump and Harris camps in the US of course it's the Swig states that matter in this election and the polls are telling us it's neck and neck we'll get analysis from our man with the numbers Louis good at our Sky News sele election [Music] scri welcome back uh to this special Sky News program for the US presidential debate with me uh yalda hakeim and Mark Austin well it's been a campaign like no other but this could tonight be the moment when one candidate makes a decisive break I'm calling on crooked Joe to debate any time any place we'll do it anywhere you want Joe I'm not going anywhere all right Donald J Trump breaking news coming into to us from the United States and President Joe Biden says he is stepping down from the US presidential election campaign for 50 years like many of you I've given my heart and soul our nation she is as you know the most radical left [Applause] person people don't know the real Cala in many ways Donald Trump is an unserious man did you see her on television last night this is going to be the president this is going to be the president of our country I don't think so America we are not going back we are not going back in a week from now week and a half I look forward to that debate very much there we are well the battle lines have been properly drawn uh it's less than an hour to go now until that debate in Philadelphia in Pennsylvania and uh our us correspond Mark stone is right there now and Mark not long to go then until a big moment in this campaign yeah a pivotal moment uh a a gauntlet will be run uh tonight in the road uh to the White House let me uh paint a picture well show you the picture of where we are this is what they call the spin room um it's the size of two football fields and it's absolutely packed uh tonight with journalists from all around the world not just journalists uh but surrogates too allies of both candidates who will come here who are here now who will be here after debate debate you can tell when they're here uh because there are huddles as people gather around those surogat that listen to them as they try to tell us who they think is going to win or who has won I think that's Senator Chris Murphy there a Democratic senator uh from the northeast of the country um who will no doubt be telling people why he thinks this will be Kamala Harris's night uh and telling people what he thinks she needs uh to do we're not actually in the at the spot where the debate is taking place this is the the Philadelphia Convention Center incidentally uh this is the location where the votes get counted in the presidential election the votes from this part of Pennsylvania and it is also the place where four years ago uh Donald Trump surrogates turned up to allege a mass fraud they alleged back then that this was that the election had been stolen there was no evidence for that courts proved that wasn't the case but it was a hive of activity back then of these these these claims of a stone election it is a hive of activity again uh with the same character at least one of the same characters front and center Donald Trump still here wanting to return to the White House the venue itself where the debate is taking place as we look at this massive Hall here is a couple of blocks away uh at the spot uh in fact where the US Constitution was first signed 237 uh years ago uh so a a spot of History uh will be made tonight perhaps on the same point where history was made where this nation was founded 237 uh years ago it's one heck of a night as both sides try both candidates try to present to the people across America and Beyond why they should lead the country for the next four years yeah and Mark um it wasn't long ago we were in Chicago and the Democratic Convention and that was pretty easy for Kela Harris she was cheered to the rafters um huge support for her and she left with you know a boost in the poles and so forth that seems to have disappeared is it fair to say that this is the first real test for kamla Harris yes I mean I think it's the case that people expected that that convention speech uh would be a speech that was the first test because they they had expected that perhaps she would give more away in terms of her policies she really didn't and although I think that some seemed quite giddy about uh her performance there I think the reality is that she passed the test she did what those who were already relatively convinced by her performance she did what they what they needed to hear but there are still many people across the country who feel despite the fact that she is the sitting vice president they don't really know what she stands for they don't really understand how she can present change when is the continuity candidate when she is aligned to everything that President Biden stands for so I think that will be a challenge for her tonight to present herself not as the continuity but as the change but also to continue the the positives that she she would see uh in the legacy of the Biden Administration so policy is going to be absolutely key tonight the other question though Mark is is what which Donald Trump shows up tonight is it um the combative character that we have all got so uh used to over the course of what many years now or is it a more reserved Donald Trump maybe the sort of guy that we saw in that debate a few weeks ago which was so disastrous for Joe Biden remember Donald Trump really didn't have to go Donal uh Joe Biden at all Joe Biden destroyed himself in that disastrous performance if he comes to this debate tonight in an hour's time with that same Persona not the combative Donald Trump that we're used to then maybe that will be a struggle uh for kamla Harris what I think he will need to do uh is is build on what he's already been doing to portray her as far left it is true that over her her um her journey as a politician uh she has certainly come more become more Centrist from a really very far-left agenda not all that long ago so I think he will he will seize on that okay Mark we'll talk to you a little later thanks very much indeed let's go to another part of the spin room now where we can speak to our James Matthews and James you were just talking there to to Mark um who's obviously under the same roof as you but it's so massive you're just on the other side um about the fact that the Democratic National Convention um really was an easy ride for kamla Harris she alongside uh presenting herself as the change candidate she's also going to want to try and uh you portray herself as some kind of Underdog just to capture um and continue to capture America's attention yeah and that's very much the Democrat strategy to portray her as the underdog to gain traction uh in the key areas geographically where they need it this is one of them Pennsylvania uh and when you look at the polls yes camela Harris has done consistently well since her election the difficulty she has right now is that the polls are sticking uh Donald Trump uh is has this Maga base on which he can rely and the polls are they're neck and neck within the margin of error Pennsylvania is an issue 19 electoral votes will be delivered by the state and According to which po you look at uh it's either Trump or Harris ahead so it it's tight Harris yes has done well uh in front of a home crowd um she's not really been tested at all there is this astonishing situation where the woman who wants to be president of the United States has been interviewed once in 6 weeks by an independent interviewer CNN it was a joint interview with her running mate Tim wals he was there as a kind of stage prompt and yeah she was asked the important questions but I would say without the follow-ups that were necessary to drill down to interrogate who she is and what are her politics I think she's going to uh be confronted with that big Style on stage tonight as far as will be possible I mean it is this artificial environment where they get 2 minutes then the mic gets cut off 2 minutes rebuttle and then a limited followup after that so you know it's not really a forum over the 90 minutes in which either candidate can develop policy flesh out a program for government it is more of an Interrupted monologue on the part of both you know largely or certainly heavy on political pantomim they will both come with political standup routines playing it for moments the kind of moments that will'll live on in social media for the millions who consume their news on a vertical screen and won't necessarily be sitting through the 90 minutes of debate yeah and that's the point as well uh isn't it James that it was those moments um that Donald Trump captured last time where he was able to portray Joe Biden as frankly a a a mess um and and you know he captured and he's very good at capturing those moments so it will be about whether kamla Harris Can you know have her own moments that live on beyond the 90-minute debate yeah exactly and I think to that extent team Harris are keen on getting under Donald Trump's skin that's what they have made known in the runup to this debate they see him as an individual who shown consistently that he becomes visibly agitated can lose the rag can be ill-tempered we saw it in his first debate with Joe Biden in 2020 where he was clearly frustrated and angry interrupted Biden consistently and gave Biden that golden moment that moment where he said to him well you shut up man that was the viral moment that night and Trump admits that he lost on the night certainly the polls dip for him after that he learned his lesson he has been more statesmanlike and square Jord we've seen that in the debate since tonight he goes into his seventh presidential debate compared to camela Harris's first so we'll see we'll see how he behaves and where the subject matter and the theater of it all takes him he's certainly been advised by his aids to focus on policy not to get personal don't forget we're looking at a you know candidates male female candidate remember the Hillary Clinton debate in6 seen the spectacle of Donald Trump standing over her stalking her on stage Clinton's been speaking to camel Harris about being on the same stage with Donald Trump and I do wonder about the the stage Dynamics and the gender element in all of this will Donald Trump a man who's insulted women consistently har us among them you know will he try to or will he uh will he introduce an element of gender politics that the viewers at large will find offensive insulting how will female viewers regard tonight's spectacle regard his behavior not forgetting that female voters is the demographic that he badly needs to retain or indeed to regain because they have deserted him in large numbers and Harris will be looking to Coral them behind her in particular James um thank you so much uh for now well kamla Harris is from California and it may be all but a done deal there but the Battleground states are where the election is won or lost using Sky special us election touchcreen Lewis Goodall takes us through the key swing states which could decide this election there are seven key states where this election is going to be decided what does the latest data tell us about how each candidate is doing in each of these seven states well you can see here full seven States here Arizona Georgia Michigan Nevada North Carolina Pennsylvania and Wisconsin all in very different parts um of the United States and in each of them if you're in the Harris campaign you're looking at that this is their polling lead average in each of these states you're looking at that and thinking well that ain't bad we are in front Wisconsin we're in front quite a lot but look at the margins in all of these other states arizona. 3% Georgia .5% both states that Biden won back in 2020 North Carolina Trump won it in in 2020 but ahead only by 3% and even in Michigan Nevada and the key key State we'll talk about it more in a minute of Pennsylvania all states won by Joe Biden back in 2020 we are talking about a really small poll lead and bear in mind as well all of these polls come with a caveat the margin of error I.E they may be out by between two and 3% so when you put that in mind and all of the other frailties we know about State polling then we can see what this race really is is a dead heat if you're in a Harris campaign you're not looking at that and thinking we are home and dve by any stretch of the imagination at all so how does that translate into the actual electoral map we know 270 Electoral College votes you need to win uh let's have a look at these gray States here those are exactly the states that we were just talking about the key swing States and basically we need to fill in that map in order to see who might get to 270 so let's for the sake of argument say that some of those states that Biden won in 2020 for the first time like Georgia um and Arizona that Trump might be able to win those back and let's say for the of argument as well he wins Nevada and he wins North Carolina as well which he won back in 2020 and that Harris wins Wisconsin where she's uh far ahead and she manages to hang on in Michigan as well those two states tend to vote together we can see where we end up and basically this presidential election ends up in the northeastern state of Pennsylvania with its 19 Electoral College votes because both candidates need it to win if we give it to Kamala Harris then she's on 270 if we give it to Donald Trump he's on 287 for CA Harris in particular it is really hard to make the electoral map add up without Pennsylvania if we give that to Donald Trump and see what what would Harris have to do then well she'd have to really sweep the board in the other states so she'd have to win in Nevada and she'd have to win in Arizona and then she would have to win in either Georgia which Biden only won by an absolute hairs breath back in 2020 which Democrats don't normally win in these days or in North Carolina so she would have to sweep the board in the other swing States if she loses in Pennsylvania that is why both Democratic and Republican strategist all think that the road to this election it's not just a 270 but it is through the state Northeastern State of Pennsylvania well that's how close it is and that's why this uh debate is so important not long to go now until the first presidential debate between KLA Harris and Donald Trump it's the candidates chance to get their plans across to voters and uh one man who will know a thing or two about Mr Trump's policies uh certainly is Joe Grogan the former head of the White House domestic policy Council thank you very much for being with us and not long to go now uh how do you think Donald Trump is gonna go about things well thanks for having me I appreciate being on he's done as one of your previous uh reporters said he's done a lot of these debates remember he came uh through the 2016 primary uh uh election with all these Republican candidates that he demolished in repeatedly in debates he's done uh he he did a great job against Hillary Clinton and he debated uh Joe Biden as well and then unprecedented American history he just blew Biden out of the uh campaign uh and they've the Democrats have come in replace him with Harris so so Trump is very uh accomplished and had a good record he hasn't always been perfect but he's learned and he's been on TV a lot he's a showman so I think he's gonna be pretty disciplined he's got a good team around him that has prepared him well so I think it's set up for him to do a solid performance tonight granted there are plenty of risks for him but he's much more experienced in this uh venue than Camala Harris you say's is going to be pretty disciplined he does tend to find that difficult I mean do you think I mean his advisers if uh you believe what you read in the American um media his advisers want him to stick to policy do you think he's really able to do that uh sure yeah I think so I I think that's kamala's big weakness is policy she's been she's flip-flopped on so many different issues she hasn't been exposed to the voters she hasn't done many interviews as one of your reporters mentioned she's she's been sheltered uh sort of bizarrely by her team from the public from reporters so it's very difficult to respond to these questions in an authentic way uh in a venue with the white lights on you so I think she's got a big challenge it's more high stakes for her she it looks like she's plateaued in the polls and if she if she has a bad night she's going she potentially could collapse if she has a good night you know Trump I I think because the voters have have been so exposed to him over time he he's he's not g to collapse and he can still uh he can still make up ground in the in the weeks before election day but it's very high stakes for her and I would imagine she's a little n nervous Joe do you think it's it's high stakes for him because his sort of Chief political skill is attacking and while you say that he has become more disciplined do you think he'll be tempted in in this debate well you know I don't know that I said he was more disciplined he he certainly has had a couple debates where he hasn't done great in in 20 uh in the 2020 election he he definitely had a subpar performance but he overall I don't know that you've seen a lot of better Debaters I mean had he not done well in 2016 in the Republican primary and demolish the field he he wouldn't have risen to the top had he been a mediocre debater I mean he rose to the top on his debate performances and nobody in American history has blown somebody out of a campaign from a debate performance like he just did to Joe Biden so I think if he doesn't lose it uh if he sticks to policy he's going to do great and that's her big weakness are the policies of high inflation out of control border and National security disasters and she's going to have a tough time explaining that not to mention she's been all over the map a whole host of issues from tax policy to criminal justice it it's a difficult position for her to be in because she doesn't have a record here of uh you know as consistent record and she hasn't been exposed to the American people the way uh Donald Trump has been yeah certainly her advisers are telling her not to chase every attack if he does go on the attack which we are expecting him uh to do so but but Joe I just want to show our viewers these live images that are coming in from um just a few blocks away from the convention center where we're expecting um the debate uh to take place this evening we're seeing a group of pro Palestinian protesters they've gathered outside of uh Philadelphia's City Hall um and they um at present were being told there's uh police there at the moment and everything does appear uh to be peaceful we're also told that these demonstrators are holding signs reading abandon Harris for example I mean this is a contentious issue the War uh in the Middle East I spoke to the US Secretary of State Anthony blinkin today um this has become part of the Biden administration's Legacy but you know do you expect these foreign policy issues to be discussed and debated this evening as well well I think I I hope so I think the American people deserve a discussion of foreign policy uh you know the world was in a much better place when Donald Trump was in office uh Russia invaded uh Ukraine under Biden's watch Biden Harris watch and of course the Middle East erupted and uh we are not in a safe stable environment we've you know the a number of of um Americans are uh from all walks of life are concerned about intern AAL Affairs and some of these um some of these foreign policies crises spiraling completely out of control I mean we're witnessing some real tragedies in the Middle East and in Europe and a colossal loss of lives and how Cala Harris explains to the American people how she's going to get the world out of this predicament and navigate it I think the American people deserve to hear that well maybe we can pick up some of those thoughts with our um guests in the studio here in just a moment but Joe GR I appreciate your time thank you very much indeed thank you time for a quick break next on this Sky News special program we'll uh hear from our expert panel here in the studio as we count down to the first live debate between Donald Trump and [Music] CIS I'm Martha Kellner and I'm Sky's us correspondent based here in Los Angeles it's turning everybody into you know a crazy violent drug addict how are you feeling you I am angry legal abortion it is an anti-woman agenda two women say that you paid for their abortions are you a hypocrite sir will your candidates win I hope so I think they will I think they're great candidates I got to be real bistic my sister's dead more than 4 weeks on there's no murder weapon and no suspect are you going to catch this killer we are doing everything we can gilen Maxwell has pleaded not guilty to all six charges against her mom how are you feeling today Jeffrey said you answer to gilain you just don't cross her you're so excited severe nightmares of these people coming in and just taking me in the middle of the night I've watched as whole towns were torn apart by natural disaster I'm alive and I'm thankful for that but there are a lot of people who aren't it's not the winds people fear most here it's the water we take you to the heart of the stories which shape our world do you truly believe what you're saying a lot of cases that I know are reported from Ukrainian missiles themselves Ambassador with respect I think that's preposterous play Sky News from the Sky News Center at 7 now that you're up to dat we can go into a bit more detail things can change incredibly quickly taken by surprise have you ever known A Moment Like This in British politics before yes cheers we'll start with breaking news let's get the latest on the ground so by the end we'll hopefully all understand what's going on in the world just that looking [Music] better welcome back just over 30 minutes to go let's return to our guests in the studio that's John Scardino Vice chair of the Democrats abroad UK and also Greg Swenson chair of Republicans overseas UK and Greg we were just talking to Joe Grogan yeah uh and we were starting to talk to him about foreign policy and how that might feature uh tonight if it does feature are we going to see um Donald Trump being challenged on Ukraine and how he is apparently going to um do much less for Ukraine yeah well he's definitely not he hasn't been as vocal as vice president Harris or Joe Biden about unquestioned support for Ukraine or you know as Biden says as you know as much as they need although Biden and kamala's Pi policy has been pretty incoherent there's no endgame they haven't been consistent they didn't give f-16s at the beginning and they changed on later they restricted the ukrainians on what they could do with the weapons so what's important is to look back at what Trump has done I think um Congressman Walt said this earlier you know during the Biden and Obama years they gave blankets and non-lethal weapons to Ukraine they were afraid to offend Putin so they shipped those blankets and helmets to a Airbase a US Airbase in Poland and then trucked them in commercial trucks not American flag trucks to ke now that was possibly helpful and then when Trump came in it was Javelin missiles and that was you know lethal weapons obviously so you know this is a difference between being you know having deterrence or supporting and you know ahead of the game and so instead of waiting till there's a crisis so Trump has done that very deliberately I think he will so will he continue to to I he will he doesn't give that I mean I mean he's basically said he can end this war in in 24 hours we've heard the sort of things that JD Vance has said the focus needs to shft towards Asia and that's that's I think a policy that many Americans believe in including Democrats that you know that has to you know Obama called it the pivot you know the pivot Asia so and that was a mistake in retrospect it was because he did it prematurely he took his eye off the Middle East he took his eye off Europe Trump did not take his eye off the Middle East you know Abraham Accords peace and prosperity he didn't take his eye off Ukraine he was sending Javelin missiles and other lethal weapons there so you know what Trump says sometimes is different what he does and that's confusing and I I I surely admit that but I think what he's saying here is respect the American voter who seen an open border and 10 million illegal migrants come in at the same time we're sending 60 billion to Ukraine so I think there has to be some some a little bit of balance there John what do you think um Donald Trump if he wins um will do on Ukraine I mean he as yeler says he says you know I can sort it out in 24 hours I mean that is well exceedingly unlikely like he did with North Korea he sorted that out four hours do that worked really well what do you think he will do well I I'm not a foreign policy expert and I should have said at the start that that there's some restrictions on me because I'm a representative of the democratic party about what I can talk about about foreign policy what I do know is that the people who are experts in foreign policy who have served with Donald Trump have been running away from him very publicly in the last few days as fast as they possi can his former Chief of Staff Mark esper the generals that have served under him have said not only is he not competent but he is a danger to US military interest into into the security of America so um even his former vice president Mike Pence has said I'm not supporting this guy I'm not voting for this guy so people that have a very close knowledge of Donald Trump uh have said he is he's unsuitable for the role of commanderin-chief and I tend to believe them I I I guess when you think about the last few years I mean the Biden Administration has presided over two Wars the Ukrainian War and the war that's fled up in the Middle East when I spoke to Tony blinkin today I mean he couldn't quite give us any real clarity as to what the Biden administration's Iran policy is for example I mean just imposing sanctions for example cannot be an overall strategy we're dealing with Iran who is sending ballistic missiles uh to the Russians and also sending missiles to the likes of Hamas and Hezbollah Trump's policy as I recall was just to say no and to bail out of anything that the previous president had done and and I think that was a big mistake so um he he is has got to come up with some more coherent policies I hope that we'll see some of that tonight maybe we won't he as your previous guest said he's he is very much of a showman so it could be that the Trump that shows up tonight is going to be the one who glosses over some of these things that are very substantive and people want to hear about yeah well we'll have to see um how these policies uh evolve uh under both of these uh administrations but also tonight in the debate right time for a quick break now next on this Sky News uh special program we will be live at a watch party in California carela Harris's home state as we get closer to that debate tonight the pictures you're seeing there is uh the spin room in Philadelphia a city that is set for a very big moment in this campaign [Music] [Music] oh [Music] welcome back the vice presidential president and presidential hopeful kamla Harris is from California a safe Democrat state which holds 56 Electoral College votes so a big chunk of the price well let's go straight to our Martha Kellner who is there for us and Martha you're at what we describe as a watch party um in San Francisco yeah I'm at a place called The Chapel yaler it's an ex Chapel converted into a live music and event space and in around 25 minutes time on the big screen behind me uh the debate will uh begin between camela Harris and Donald Trump these are not the people that cameela Harris has to worry about winning over this is a heavily Democrat voting area she will easily carry her home state of California it's people watching in those crucial swing States those seven states uh that are so key to this election that she has to be concerned about she needs to tell her story inject a bit of her personality and of course uh remind them of her policies what sort of a president uh she will be uh I'm just going to uh bring in here uh two ladies from uh San Francisco Diane and Laura um Laura how key is this debate tonight to camela Harris's chances of beating Donald Trump I think this is going to be an incredibly important night for her um I think there's a lot of expectations on her and I think sometimes unreasonable expectations um I mean we saw the consequences for President Biden for what happened and I think you know there there's a lot that people are expecting out of her and um yeah I think it's very important tonight yeah we saw with that uh Donald Trump Joe Biden debate just how crucial these moments can be to presidential campaigns do you get the sense that this is make or break for Kamala Harris we've not seen a on a debate stage of this magnitude yet that's a good question make a break I hope it's not a Break um I think I think I think a lot of folks are going to get to know her that don't know her very well so I I'm I'm hopeful that it'll be a positive impression um but again us folks in California we know her but a lot of a lot of folks around the country really don't know much about her other than her name so um yeah I think it's a very very important night for her I'll just bring in Diane now you're obviously a big fan of the vice president I Can See Fire your hat how key do you think this is for kamla Harris and Donald Trump is known for being very combative on these sort of stages how can she how can she take the fight to him well I think this is yeah kind of what my friend had said here that this is a very critical moment for her her to really introduce herself to America because there's 28% of people that said they still want to know who she is so this is her opportunity to show her I'm from Oakland and where she's from and we we're very proud of her and she's a very strong strong amazing woman in her right and so I think this is her opportunity to show the America who it is and I think she's going to do well in giving some zingers to him because we all know all of us here know him all so well he's got the same Playbook when it comes to these things he's going to Rattle and rattle on and on and say a bunch of lies and she's G to she'll she'll she's going to do it in her very strong way and she's going to hold her own and she's going to tell him you know this is ridiculous and she's going to look everybody in the eye and say this you want this is this really what you want are you concerned Diane about how she might handle the unscripted moments we've seen her fumble on occasion when things happen when she's not quite ready for a certain question yeah and that's I will say I you know I I'm nervous or I said there's going to be a moment and it's not even going to be even that big of a moment but it will probably be just some pause or something that she's going to you know have to think and you know try to because it is live but I think she's going to still hold her own I think she's she's been a prosecutor in the courtroom for her whole career she's dealt with all kinds of maniacs and things so I don't I don't have any doubt that she'll still do well thank you so much thanks Dian and thanks Laura so everyone here getting ready to watch what is undoubtedly going to be the toughest night of camela Harris's uh political career lots of potential stumbling B blocks but lots of potential opportunities to to sell herself and her vision for this country to those people who don't quite have uh the understanding of who she is like the people in this room do Mara thanks very much indeed I'm joined now by the former White House senior advisor for president Trump Omarosa Mano Newman uh thank you for being with us and you'll be with us uh on the night itself I mean the election night itself uh and uh we look forward to that now you know a few things about Donald Trump so what would carela Harris's best strategy be do you think well Mark I've been with Donald Trump on a couple of these debates and helped to prep him and advise him ahead of these debates and tonight is a high stakes night for both candidates now a lot of attention will be focused on KLA Harris's performance and this is a crucial night for her but as someone who used to live in California for 15 years and had a chance to actually vote for kamla Harris I can tell you that she is equipped for this moment now there have been moments in the last 51 days of her candidacy it's still in its infancy where we have wanted more from Harris well tonight is the night for her to deliver for voters to get to know her it's crucial that she explains her position she clarifies those pivots and some would say where she flip-flopped on certain key issues but I've seen her in action and I think that she'll surprise a lot of people who have underestimated the vice president of course the risk is that Donald Trump gets to Define Kamala Harris rather than Kamala Harris defining herself yeah he's not that disciplined I mean it'll be very surprising that if he's able to show any type constraint he's angry that she is so close to him in the poe he's upset and he lashes out as you see on his platform on Truth social and so on this stage asking him to remain measured calmed and disciplined is a very difficult task for the president yeah of course because because you know KLA Harris wouldn't be standing on this stage had it not been for the for the last debate that we saw the high Stakes debate that we saw that effectively pushed um Joe Biden out of this race um I guess the question is will uh kamla Harris respond to the kinds of attacks that we're used to seeing uh from from Donald Trump and and he will have um you know a certain set of words phrases he will find ways to go her to to bait her to your point Dela I mean first of all let's put it in context that debate was one of the earliest presidential debate we've ever seen it was prior to even the conventions and so the fact that it caused Biden to be have to fall out of the campaign I think that's important to put in context she knows what's on the line she knows that it's critical for her to deliver and you're absolutely right KLA Harris is going to have to rise to the occasion and show Americans that she has what it takes to lead this country and it's going to be a heavy task for her but I believe that she'll deliver is it possible to lay a glove on Donald Trump I mean he survives pretty much everything two impeachments uh court cases the capital riots um numerous complaints of misogyny I mean he he survives all this and Carries On and the difference could be that carala Harris may not be able to survive a big blow to her should it happen tonight yeah that's a very important point there was a nickname that they used to call Donald Trump in New York they called him Teflon Dawn Trump because nothing would stick and so we will see if in fact she can find his little trigger points now Donald Trump does have some vulnerable points you've seen him lash out anytime you question his ability to perform if you question his wealth for instance it's a very sore spot for him if you question his ability to perform uh at the presidency at his job in real estate or business if you question his level of success these are trigger points that he just can't help himself he will lash out at her if she touches on any one of those issues particularly questions about his wealth yeah I mean HOSA when we think about the last couple of months I mean they have been extraordinary an assassination attempt you know the Republican National um convention where Donald Trump looked like he was marching towards some kind of Victory and then this twist where you know Joe Biden steps aside kamla Harris steps in and so here we are I mean this really could go any which way it certainly could go anyway and you know what one of the things Elda that I think that he squandered was the aftermath of that assassination attempt he had the hearts of America praying for him and hoping that he recovered and with in 48 hours he squandered that empathy that America had for him if there is some way that he can remind Americans that he did survive that hering account um then certainly maybe he can tap into some of their sympathies but I don't think that that's where Donald is going to go Donald is GNA nail her on being the borders are Donald is gonna nail her on their withdrawal right Donald is going to try to find these weaknesses that his advisors have Tred to get him to remain and focus on but in true Donald Trump's style I have seen that in these situations he just isn't able to stay on track we'll just have to see if he's able to do so tonight yeah absolutely all right well look we may talk to you later uh possibly if not certainly on Election night itself omosa thanks very much indeed thank you well tonight's debate could be make or break for both candidates who are fighting for the votes of the undecided but where do the pair stand in the polls right now Sky us election data andless leis good takes us through the numbers have a look this has been a very unusual presidential election for lots of reasons one of the really weird things about it is that one of the candidates Kamala Harris has barely been in it for any length of time at all normally they might have a year or so to bed in and as a result let's have a look at our poll tracker here as a result we have perhaps less data than we normally would but we do have some particularly on this question around Net favorability I.E do American voters like either kamla Harris or Donald Trump you basically get all of the people uh that do like them and you take away that number from the number of people who dislike them and then you get net favorability and you can see we've got this particular bit of data longtime Horizon all the way back back to January and before that as well and one thing you will perhaps notice is that neither Kamala Harris nor Donald Trump trump have been terribly popular with the American electorate they're both sort of bumping bumping along the bottom here in terms of net unfavorability really and you can see that CA Harris has been even more unpopular than Donald Trump who is himself a very unpopular presidential candidate you can see Kamala Harris perhaps Associated here here with all sorts of different problems including the immigration problem that Biden tested her to to dealing with generally not a popular political figure and yet then something rather miraculous happens and we've seen it unfold in the last month or so around this time here in Late July early August when Joe Biden steps down it's almost like there is a kind of collective sigh of relief from the American public who have been Yearning For Crying Out for a different Choice other than Biden Trump all over again and are intrigued by CA Harris so she has this golden Democratic National Convention she enjoys some fantastic media coverage and her net favorability guess what goes up more American voters decide that actually we quite like the look of kamla Harris after all and so you can see she's been enjoying for last month or so a significant margin a significant Gap here between Donald Trump's favorability number and CA Harris and yet just in the last couple of weeks or so the latest data there is just the sort of first glimmers that perhaps this might not sustain that after that sort of post-convention glow that she's enjoyed that some of that Sheen is starting to come off and camela Harris's unpopularity or popularity is starting to decline and Donald Trump's is starting to go up perhaps Donald Trump's attack on her as being too liberal too leftwing and so on is starting to cut through with the American public one real source of optimism for Harris though in what and and one of the reasons this debate is so important is that most Americans still feel that they don't know that much about her whereas they know loads and loads about Donald Trump everyone's got an opinion on Donald Trump CA Harris Still Remains a relatively unknown quantity so if she can introduce herself to the country in this debate then she still has a good chance it's one of the many reasons this debate is going to be unusually pivotal and crucial for the Harris campaign leis good there let's return uh for a final time before the debate to John Scardino Vice chair of Democrats abroad UK and also Greg Swenson chair of Republicans overseas UK and Greg we heard Lewis speak there about immigration yeah and it's clear that Trump will go for kamla Harris on that yeah and he probably should because it's the second highest issue for American voters right and as I said earlier he's leading on both the first and second issue inflation and the border and it's something that he had handled quite well in his term so he can look to that he can compare his record if this becomes a referendum on his administration versus the Biden Harris Administration On the Border he wins that argument so why he's pulling you know 10 to 20 on that issue I mean the Democrats say that Trump voted or persuaded the Republicans to vote down the border security Bill there was a handful of Republicans that voted for that because there there is an argument and I I talked to Dan Kena about this you know that I just wanted something I wanted something to pass to change the momentum however there are such flaws in that argument five thou their their argument was if the Border if the crossings are five reach 5,000 then we'll shut the border how about just shut the border right so and Barack Obama's uh Homeland Security Chief argued and did a decent job at least convince trying to convince Obama that if it if the daily count hit 1,000 that's a crisis and then Biden proposes 5,000 a day coming across the border that's not closing the Border that's crazy John I would just bring you into this because may have a different opinion because you know KLA Harris has been labeled and and Donald Trump is great at labels you know he's described her as the bordar and almost as though this whole crisis Falls at her sort of feet how would you respond to I think it's an issue that is very revealing about Donald Trump because this bill that Greg was just outlining really gave an awful lot to the most conservative republicans in Congress and it delivered a lot of the things that they had been act U Been been pushing for it was led by one of the most conservative Evangelical Republicans from the state of Oklahoma very conservative state and and the Democrats went an awful long way to try to get a bill done Donald Trump did come in and he said no no no I want this issue to run on you got to kill this bill and and all of a sudden the Republicans were running away from it so it's a real pity that it happened that bill gave the the funding to to finish building Trump's wall it create it would have provided more enforcement uh staff at the border and it would have provided more uh immigration officials to find IM immigrants in the country and Deport those who were there illegally so those are just some of the things this bill would have done and and in a very cynical way Trump came in and said uh let's not do this because I I need this it's a it's a one of these visceral issues that we were talking about ear a weapon I wonder why they waited so long to do it it's kind of cynical you know so let 10 million illegal migrants in let fent andol in that's killing people 100,000 people a year dying from fentanyl poisoning I know mothers who's who' buried their children and and then they decide at the beginning of the election cycle in in early 24 what's proposed us bill that's still going to let 5,000 a day in it's just cynical and it's it's it's a horrible tragedy what they've done I I would just say it had been four decades 40 years since any substantial Immigration Reform Bill has passed there have been several attempts so I don't think there was any weight I think that that that that trying to get the support and initiative going to to get it through took an awful lot of effort and and it was led by Republicans but but the count was down to the 40-year low in in Trump's term by the end of his term and so you know it's again it's cynical that they opened the border on purpose by the way this this wasn't a mistake this is wasn't some new policy he he flipped a switch on every one of Trump's policies like remain in Mexico that was working so I wonder why they did it maybe they wanted more future Democrat voters maybe they wanted to elevate the the um Census count in states that are blue I don't know but it was cynical and horrible look there only humanarian crisis only three so minutes left on this so let's bring it back to the actual debate itself and I was I mean what are they going through now these these cat Hillary Rosen said something very interesting she says debates basically are a lot of boring blather followed by 90 minutes of sheer panic and and and that's probably true but you know you think about um the Biden um Trump debate and that attracted 50 million viewers Across America in 2020 that debate between Biden and and uh Trump attracted roughly 73 million uh viewers we're likely to see a very different sort of approach to this debate that most Americans probably won't see it and it will be cut down to memes viral moments and although we keep hearing this whole idea around talk about policy focus on policy don't attack a presidential at the end of the day absolutely all one moment will be out on social media before the end of the debate well exactly it is so you know whe whether it becomes about that and James Matthews said you know that this is more a manufactured space no matter how much we think that they've got 90 minutes it's broken down into 2 minutes slots and mics are turned off and they're asked a series of questions they're asked to respond so whether that allows them the space to be able to talk about policy it's not an Oxford style debate right it's it is very manufactured i' agree with that and I think that we all might be disappointed because we're coming off the June 27th debate which was a you know a complete shock and it ended Biden's presidency ultimately so it's going to be hard to top that I I would you know this might there might be some theatrics there might be some drama couple of really great clips one one quick point to get into in terms of the format uh we were talking earlier about um the technical aspect of this and about the microphones not a lot of people may realize this but but the microphones are going to be left off when the other person is is speaking but the candidates can still hear it so we at home can't hear what the candidate who's not speaking might be saying does that does that make sense so so Harris can hear Trump the entire time whether his microphone is off or not and vice versa yeah well it's getting busy uh in the spin room yeah the Trump folks I I understand have got got there quite early and are basically talking to the media and saying this is all about uh Harris the pressure is they're spinning already there but I guess that's true I mean the the the real pressure I guess is on kamla Harris we know um I guess what Donald Trump is he's done seven of these debates and it's kamla Harris who has to present herself to the American people and U tell us who she is it's it's a a a tall order I think all right well it's the countdown it's on the Big Show is next [Music]