Joe Biden and Donald Trump lock horns in the first US presidential debate

Happening today, an unprecedented U.S. presidential debate rematch with Joe Biden and Donald Trump facing off in just a few hours. Let's cross now to nine US correspondent Lauren Tamazi in Atlanta, where that debate is being held. Lauren, this is their first debate of the 2024 election. It is, Jane, good morning to you. And it was a debate that is being so widely anticipated here in America and right around the world. It is a rematch 4 years in the making. The last time we saw Joe Biden and Donald Trump in the same room was during the 2020 debates. They've traded so many barbs since then, but to be sharing a stage at current president and a former president really is unprecedented. And there is a lot on the line for both candidates. Both are really going to have to overcome some negative narratives about them. Joe Biden touching down in the past few minutes on Air Force One. We can expect Donald Trump to land here in Atlanta in the next couple of hours or so. For Joe Biden, his age really is at the top of issues he's going to have to confront. He's 81 years old now. Voters know that if they elect him in for a second term, he'll be 86 years old by the end of that term. And when Joe Biden confronts this issue, he says, watch me. And well, tonight there will be millions upon millions of Americans doing just that for Donald Trump, He is such a wild card. At what Donald Trump will we see tonight in this debate, will he be combative? Will he be a little bit more reserved? And how is he going to respond to those questions about those 34 felony accounts he has now been convicted of? How is he going to respond about questions about January 6th? Both sides having a lot on the line. And we've had a little bit of insight from Joe Biden's campaign as to what he will bring to the table. He's going to talk about the work that he wants to continue to do, that he wants to do to protect Americans, fundamental rights and freedoms and fundamentally protect our democracy. And he's going to contrast that against his opponent. Donald Trump. The rules of this debate are so different. It is just for people inside that studio. The two presidential candidates and the two moderators of this debate, they will only be allowed to take in three items, a pen, paper and a glass of water. There will be microphones cut off when it is the end of their turn. And it's hoped that that will really stop that issue. We saw in the 2020 debate where both candidates were shouting over one another. It was absolute chaos. So as to whether or not that's going to work this time around, we'll have to wait and see while the audience can't hear. If a microphone is cut off, certainly it would be distracting for the other candidates. So we'll see how that all plays out. Both of them know there is so much on the line and they just can't afford to blunder this. Jane, all eyes on Atlanta. Lauren, thank you. And Nine News, We'll have special coverage of the first US presidential debate beginning at 10:55 this morning, Eastern Standard Time.