According to the latest poll from NPR, PBS News and Marist, nearly three-quarters of American voters say they will watch the debate tonight.

The Trump-Biden debate earlier in June drew 51.3 million viewers, down from the record 73.1 million viewers who watched the first debate between them in September 2020. That was the third most-watched debate ever, according to Statista.

–Ece Yildirim

Police in Springfield, Ohio deny Vance’s claim in an X-post that people in the city have had their “pets kidnapped and eaten by people who don’t belong in this country.”

“There are no credible reports or specific allegations that pets have been abused, injured or mistreated by individuals in the immigrant community,” the Springfield Police Department said in a statement. Police also denied that immigrants squatted in the city, littered or disrupted traffic.

Vance’s campaign responded with its own statement, saying the Ohio senator has received “numerous calls and emails” about an influx of Haitian immigrants into the city.

The campaign makes no mention of stealing and eating pets.

– Josephine Rozzelle

As in the June presidential debate between Trump and Biden, the candidates’ microphones will be muted when they are not speaking tonight, according to rules released by ABC News.

The debate will last 90 minutes with two commercial breaks, during which time Trump and Harris will not be able to interact with members of their staff. There will be no live audience.

The nominees will have two minutes to answer each question, two minutes to rebut, and an additional minute to answer, clarify, or respond to questions.

Trump won the coin toss and has chosen to speak last. Harris has chosen to stand on the right side of the viewer’s screen tonight. Neither will make an opening statement.

– Josephine Rozzelle

Jessica Leeds, who previously testified that Trump sexually assaulted her on a plane in the late 1970s, called him a “sexual predator” who fails to understand the “psychological damage” done to women who are victimized in this way.

“We cannot let this person back into the White House,” Leeds, 82, said at a news conference outside Trump Tower in Manhattan on Monday afternoon.

Leeds spoke days after Trump attacked her over her testimony during his trial last year in a sexual assault and defamation lawsuit by writer E. Jean Carroll, who accused him of raping her in a New York department store in the 1990s.

Trump called Leeds’ claim that he groped her during a flight a “complete fabrication” and said she “would not have been the chosen one.”

Leeds said on Monday: “He attacked me 50 years ago and he is still attacking me.”

When asked if she would sue Trump for his comments about her, while denying the allegations, Leeds said: “We are considering a number of options given his latest comments, but no decision has been made at this time.”

Carroll has sued Trump twice and has been awarded more than $88 million in damages for defamation and sexual assault.

– Dan Mangan

Harris’ ally, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, said the debate could degenerate into a fight over Trump’s proposed tariff policies.

“If I were a businessman and I heard a 20% tariff on every import, and I saw (Trump) being so erratic and unpredictable — that would be scary to me,” Raimondo said on CNBC. Squawk box.

“Every businessman deserves predictability,” she added. Trump has proposed tariffs of 10% to 20% on imports from U.S. trading partners.

Harris’ team has said she will implement “targeted and strategic tariffs to support American workers, strengthen our economy, and hold our adversaries accountable.”

-Brian Schwartz

The debate is presented by ABC News in conjunction with local station WPVI-TV/6ABC.

It will air live beginning at 9 p.m. ET on ABC, and the announcer will stream the debate live on ABC News Live, Disney+ and Hulu. It will also be available on the ABC app and website, abc.com.

Other major broadcasters will simulcast the debate, including NBC, CNN, CBS and Fox News.

— Ece Yildirim