President Biden meets with Atlanta leaders ahead of Trump debate

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump meet tonight in Atlanta for the first general election presidential debate in U.S. history.

The debate hosted by CNN will be broadcast live at 9 p.m. on Atlanta News First and the Atlanta News First Website and the application. Stay with Atlanta News First for the latest news and live updates.

LIVE UPDATES:

3:21 p.m. | Governor Brian Kemp is spotted on CNN’s debate site.

3:16 p.m. | Biden steps off Air Force One and is greeted on the tarmac by Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens; outgoing DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond and DeKalb County CEO-elect Lorainne Cochran-Johnson; former Atlanta Mayor and U.S. Ambassador Andrew Young; former Atlanta Mayor (and now Biden-Harris campaign adviser) Keisha Lance Bottoms; and two-time Democratic candidate for Georgia governor Stacey Abrams.

3:00 p.m. | President Joe Biden arrives at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta. Trump is expected to land at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport around 5:30 p.m., according to his team.

1:00 p.m. | Traffic is starting to get heavy in the city, especially in Midtown where roads are already closed near CNN’s studios on 10th Street. Don’t forget, there’s also the Copa America game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Here’s Rodney Harris with everything you need to know:

How can I watch the presidential debate in Atlanta?

The debate will be broadcast live on CNN, CNN International, CNN en Español, CNN Max and CNN.com. The debate will also be broadcast on Atlanta News First and the Atlanta News First website and app.

Trump and Biden face off in the first televised presidential debate in American political history.

Thursday night will also feature the first-ever televised debate between a sitting president and his predecessor; the first-ever presidential debate in which one of the candidates is a convicted felon; the first-ever presidential debate in which one of the candidates’ immediate family members is a convicted felon; and the first general election presidential debate to be held in Atlanta (in 2020, Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta hosted a Democratic presidential primary debate between several candidates, including Biden and his eventual running mate, Kamala Harris).

Here are the other historic firsts of the debate:

• First general election debate owned and controlled by a for-profit corporation.
• This is the first time since the inaugural presidential debate in 1960 between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon that no voters were present.
• First presidential debate for the general election before the Democratic and Republican national nominating conventions.
• First presidential debate since 1988 not sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates.
• A clash between the two oldest candidates in American history.

Biden and Trump also agreed to an entirely new debate format, presented by CNN. The rules were apparently designed to avoid a repeat of their 2020 debacle, during which they relentlessly interrupted and booed each other and ignored Fox News moderator Chris Wallace’s calls for decorum.

First, the debate will feature two commercial breaks during the 90-minute broadcast; previous televised debates did not allow television commercials.

Here are CNN’s rules for the Biden-Trump debate.

Neither man is allowed to make opening statements. The candidates will stand in front of identical desks; both will make a two-minute closing statement, and via a coin toss, Trump got the final argument.

The debate will begin with a question, with Trump and Biden having two minutes to respond. This will be followed by one-minute rebuttals and responses to the rebuttals. Their microphones will be muted except when it is their turn to speak. Both candidates will be provided with a pen, notepad and water bottle on stage; no pre-written notes are allowed.

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