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Tonight on CNN, anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash will moderate the first presidential debate of the 2024 election cycle between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump from the crucial battleground state of Georgia.

To help lift the veil on how preparation for this historic debate came together, CNN’s Vice President of Political Coverage and Political Director David Chalian, who oversees CNN’s daily political coverage across all platforms and played a crucial role in producing the debate, takes us behind the scenes.

How do you prepare for an event like this?

Diligently and constantly. We have an incredible team of reporters, producers, and researchers who jumped into action as soon as the two candidates agreed to debate on CNN. We make sure we have a complete sense of what the candidates have said about each of the issues of most importance to voters.  And we also look for the areas of debate that will be most illuminating for voters about their choice.

What do you look forward to the most?

I look forward to hearing from the candidates as they directly present their visions to Americans.  And I am eager to see how they choose to utilize their time and the strategies they employ to target undecided/persuadable voters.

What have you observed in past debates between Biden and Trump that you expect to see the same/different this election year?

This debate will certainly include the same two candidates as the 2020 debates, but that may be where the similarities end.  A lot has happened since their last debate and the current political landscape provides a new context to this one.  The lack of a studio audience will probably be one of the most notable differences from the debates four years ago.

What do you think will be their key focus?

They each have different issue sets that they believe play to their strengths.  But I expect their key focus will be on their presentation – to make sure they are portraying themselves as the one with the better vision – and the ability to execute on that vision for America’s future.

🎙 CNN Anchor John King on the Road with Voters

In this special podcast series within The Assignment with Audie Cornish, John King is crisscrossing the country talking to those who could decide the 2024 election: the crucial swing voters in the states with the narrowest margins. New episodes drop on Monday, July 1 and Monday, July 8.