We're in the elevator heading down to the studio level.

The very first televised general election presidential debate was in 1960, John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon. It was held in a TV studio. No audience, just cameras, the candidates, and moderators. Of course, that changed over the years. They became much larger affairs put on by the Nonpartisan Commission on Residential Debates, usually held at a university auditorium or an arena with a full audience looking on. Lobby, going down. That's why it was so striking when President Joe Biden came out earlier this year and said, The only way I'll debate former President Donald Trump is if we go back to the old way, just us in a room with the moderators.

All right, here we go. Here we go.

And that is how I found myself in Atlanta, Georgia, last night, about to head into the very studio where this debate is going to play out on Thursday night, live on CNN, moderated by Jake Tapper and Dana Basch. These two men have debated before, but we've never seen a debate quite like this, and never this early in the calendar. So what exactly are we in for here?

So when they say behind the scenes, this is literally behind the scenes.

Today, CNN political director David Chalian is going to go backstage with us to explain how this is all going to work and crucial swing state voters in Georgia will tell us if they'll even be paying attention. From CNN, this is one thing. I'm David Ryan.

All right, so we're walking up a ramp that says Stage Left. So this is our first view of the stage in the room where this is going to happen. And I can see the two podiums right in the middle of the stage, the big CNN presidential debate banner behind it, and the moderator's desk, which is directly in front of these podiums. A few cameras floating above. And otherwise, just a dark TV studio. Well, so now that we have that view, let's go talk to David Challian, our political director, and he can tell us exactly how this thing is going to go. David, can you describe where we're standing right now?

Well, we're actually standing in a pretty unique spot because it's a part of backstage of the debate where this particular side of the stage is where President Biden is going to be preparing to walk out on stage. The other thing that's unique about the spot that you and I are standing in right now is that there will be no campaign staff with him or with President Trump on the other side of the stage. Just the candidates. Just the candidate at this point. Their staff stay back in their green rooms. When they are in this moment, it is a solo event for them, and they will walk out on stage and begin this 90-minute debate.

The debate will begin. Walk me through the ground rules. How's this going to work?

Well, the ground rules that both candidates agreed to and accepted as part of accepting the invitation to debate are that, like I said, it's a 90-minute debate. The way it works is there will be a topic that is introduced. The first candidate to get that question will have two minutes to respond to that question. His opponent will have a minute to respond to that. Then the original person answering the question gets a minute for rebuttal. In addition, at moderator's discretion, Jake or Dana could come in with a follow-up for an additional minute. Then it switches. The candidate who didn't get the starter question last time gets the starter question now. Two minutes, one minute response, one minute rebuttal. That's the nature of the debate. Hopefully, what that does is allow for the issues that are of most important to American voters to get a full airing of these two different visions that these men are presenting to the country.

Tell me about the microphones, because the first time these two debated last cycle was a bit of a shouting match. We think that's going to be different this time around?

Well, certainly it'll be different in a couple of respects. One, there's no studio audience. So this is just former President Trump, President Biden, and the two moderators in the room, basically. And to your point about the microphones, part of the rules are that the designated speaker's microphone is on during their designated speaking time, and is The opponent's microphone is off.

This is live podcasting.

Yeah, they're wrapping rehearsal, if you just heard that. That's right. What happens with the microphones is that the designated speaker's microphone is on, the opponent's microphone is off. Now, the reality is, they're pretty close to each other on the stage. There is the possibility that even though their microphone is off, if they're shouting or interrupting at the person who's speaking, that may get picked up on the other microphone, probably not intelligibly so. I think it would be very difficult for the viewer at home to actually hear what that person is saying. That is a different dynamic because the goal there is, is that the dominant audio, what the viewer will be hearing at home, is the designated speaker making their point at their designated time to do so.

So beyond all those technical details, can you put this in perspective, how this debate stacks up against all the other ones we've seen, presidential elections past?

Well, let's start with a couple of things because it's unprecedented on many levels. But let's start with the historic nature of a sitting President of the United States debating a former President of the United United States. That has never happened before. They're in this rematch of Biden versus Trump, and so that is what brings us to this moment. It is also the earliest general election debate ever in the campaign here. It's June. We usually see debates in the of all. That's by design. I think in terms of the Biden campaign was certainly interested in an earlier debate, in part because I think they see a target universe of voters that they're trying to reach who aren't engaged in this election. They keep saying they don't think a lot of the voters that they need to communicate with are tuned into this election or understand the contract.

This might wake them up. This is happening. Yeah.

It's like grabbing them by the lapels and saying, this is your choice, America, and it's time to tune in to this election. I will say, the Biden folks believe that getting the President on stage with the former President is a contrast, literally, visually, to put on display to voters will benefit them. But the Trump campaign believes being on stage with Biden benefits them. They think that contrast serves them really well in the way that they complain about Biden having a lack of energy or his age or the like. They think Trump looks sharper side by side, and they like that contrast as well.

So beyond the images, you're the political director here at CNN. So what topics do you think are going to loom large here?

Well, listen, I would never talk about the content of the debate before the debate, but This is going to be a debate about the issues that are most important to the American people. We see time and again in every survey what those issues are. And what we want to make sure that we do here, our role here, is to facilitate, to moderate a debate between these two candidates. Not for Jake and Dana to become participants in that debate, but to make sure that President Biden and former President Trump have the ability, have the time and space to get their visions out to the American people on these issues that are top of mind for them.

And to that point, this is a matchup we've seen before, and a lot of people have opinions about both of these guys at this point. Is it debate? Can it change people's minds, get them from one candidate to the other at this point?

That's a good question. We'll find out is the real answer. I don't know if it will, but I know this. This race has been remarkably stable for almost its entirety. I mean, you go back to polling from last fall or last summer, it looks pretty similar to the polling that we see today in terms of the closeness between these two candidates. Yes, it's a rematch between two candidates, David, but it is a totally different context. Think about everything that's happened in the four years since these two men last debated. A lot has happened. A lot. They meet each other in an entirely new context this time around. While it's a rematch of these specific candidates, this is a different issue terrain and a different context for American voters that they're bringing to this election.

Well, David Chou, you'll be covering it all on CNN Political Briefing later this week. We'll catch you there. Thanks so much. Thank you.

We'll be right back. Before the break, I asked David Challian the question, Will this debate actually change anyone's minds? I realized, though, this is a question probably best answered by the people actually doing the voting. So on Monday afternoon, my producer and Atlanta resident, Grace and I headed out to talk to some of them.

Let's try by under the shade.

We found ourselves right outside Mercedes Benz Stadium, the big football stadium in downtown Atlanta.

It is like a spaceship, but even more so, I guess, is how I would describe the look of this odd stadium. And next to it, there are a series of grass athletic fields and volleyball nets, and soccer goals. And we're going to see if anybody wants to talk to us.

People were playing pickup volleyball and soccer in the blazing sun. It was 95 degrees with a nice hot gusty wind blowing. Really pleasant stuff.

We're just asking some questions about the presidential debate in town this week. Do you guys have any thoughts about that?

Some of the people we talked to weren't even aware that a debate was happening on Thursday. Remember, the Copa America tournament is underway, and there's a big game at Mercedes Benz Stadium the very same night of the debate.

You guys are more interested in the soccer than the politics, I guess. Okay. Will you be watching? Probably not, no.

Bradley is a political science PhD student at Emory University, but even he didn't seem interested.

I don't think anything new is going to come up, right? Are they going to announce a brand new policy position in the debate or is it a chance for their speechwriters to really practice their one-liners? If you're a speechwriter, it's a good exercise to listen to, but maybe not for- I think it's more theatrics than anything substantive.

Bradley says he did vote for President Biden in 2020. But like so many other Democrats, he isn't exactly rushing back to the ballot box to vote for him again.

Have you been satisfied with the last four years with him in office? It depends on what policy positions you're concerned about.

I wish we had somebody who was a little bit on the younger side who could relate a little bit more to my age group.

But I feel like- Emma feels similarly. She's a nurse who says having another Biden-Trump matchup makes her nervous. But she also still plans to vote for Biden despite her reservations.

I just think Trump just... I think Trump is going for, I think, a different demographic.

I think he's already- Meanwhile, as the former President looks to make inroads among Black voters, one man told us that he feels like Trump is in the best position to win, and he pointed to specific ways that Trump is trying to boost support within the Black community. He's definitely been with a lot of rappers.

I know you've seen, he's been in Philly with some rapper.

He's been in New York with Shefky.

He's trying to get the Black different rap, I think, to go for him.

Of course, the Black community, or any community for that matter, is not a monolith, and not everyone takes their political cues from celebrities. But regardless of the reason, recent polls do show that some black men are more open to supporting the Republican nominee than in the past. And remember, President Biden won Georgia in 2020 by just 11,779 votes. He can't afford to lose many of his coalition in this crucial swing state this time around, either to apathy or to anger over perceived economic struggles or US support for Israel's war in Gaza. But at the same time, the campaign is actually hoping to capitalize on anger to mobilize their base, anger over abortion access. So we went to a place that is on the front lines of that issue, one of just 13 abortion clinics clinics left in the state of Georgia.

Welcome to our training here today.

Feminist Women's Health Center is about 25 minutes north of downtown Atlanta, tucked away in an average-looking brown brick building off of I-85. They offer all kinds of services: wellness exams, birth control, gender-affirming care, and abortions, which are currently banned after six weeks of pregnancy under Georgia law. In a small downstairs room, six women were being trained on how to be clinic escorts and how to deal with the inevitable anti-abortion activists.

Never, never, never play security with them. Our safety comes first.

We hear- Tiffany Robinson, the clinic's leadership development manager, walked them through the ins and outs of the job.

The role is to assist our patients and guide them to check in in security. Escorts should make each patient feel safe and as they care.

This clinic has hired security guards. Not all clinics do. So the only thing the escorts have to do is meet the patient at their car and walk them to the check-in counter.

We're going to close this. Sometimes we have little Snakes and rodents out here. Yeah, we just found a cute orange snake out here. Yeah, it wasn't that cute, but it was scary.

The entrance to the clinic is on top of a pretty steep hill. At the bottom of this hill, at the entrance to the parking lot, there was an orange cone marking a line on the concrete.

Never cross that. It's the orange line that's drawn. That's where they stand. They're not supposed to come across, and you don't go across. Okay? Everyone come in. That hill is no joke. Yeah.

Inside the clinic, Tiffany took the group to see every part of the process a patient would go through when they come in for an abortion.

This is our main OR. We have two, but we only utilize one right now.

In the operating room, Tiffany pointed to the ceiling. She says she had painted colorful butterflies right above the operating table, so patients wouldn't be staring up at a blank wall before they're about to undergo the procedure. She said model Chrissy Tegan had noticed them during a recent tour of the clinic and had mentioned it at a White House event with Vice President Kamala Harris just last week. She talked these butterflies just at the White House, and I put these up.

So I was proud when they talked about it. And I was like, Oh, I'll put those butterflies up. The timing of our visit was notable.

We were there two years to the day since the Supreme Court issued what's become known as the Dobbs Ruling, which overturned Roe versus Wade. Feminist Women's Health says they currently see about 78 abortion patients a week, which is about half of what they used to see before Georgia's six-week ban was allowed by courts to go into effect. Act. And in the two years since Dobbs, we've heard so much about how this issue of abortion rights has energized Democrats above all other issues, how people have turned out to make sure those rights are protected in their state when it's been on the ballot. The question is, though, will they do the same thing this year with a historically unpopular Democrat at the top of the ticket?

Kay is ready.

I'm ready. Well, one of the volunteers who came out to Feminist Women's Health was willing to talk to about that.

I'm Kay Morgan, and I live in Gwinnett County.

When it comes to elections, is there one political party you associate with?

I am actually a recent Democrat within the last few years.

What brought you over?

Tobs. I got really sick after I had to get my IED switched out two years early. I survived a rape when I was 19 years old, and a stalker a year later. Duchenne's muscular dystrophy runs in my family. If I were to get pregnant, I would likely be permanently disabled and would rather I take my own life.

So reproductive rights.

Reproductive rights, LGBT rights. I'm openly by. I mean, yeah, the economy sucks, but I think it just is what it is.

The economy stinks in your view. Do you blame Isn't Biden for that?

I mean, I think there's a little bit of blame, but I mostly blame the corporations. I think corporate greed. I think some of these employers out here are just wild. I'm looking for a new job right now, and I'm telling you right now, some of the jobs I've applied for or looked at, they're like, even with the degree, it's like, once you to have a degree, you do all this stuff, but their pay is like, nothing. It's not enough to survive off of.

The presidential matchup in general, Biden and Trump again, same one four years later. How do you feel about having the same choices?

I just can't believe Trump's allowed to run. I mean, I'm not thrilled, but I'll vote for Biden. I mean, I voted third party for years, and I regret it because it was no good.

And you said since DOB, since 2022, you've been aligned with the Democrats because of the reproductive rights issue.

Yeah. I mean, there are other things, too, but that's basically what got me over in the LGBT stuff. Whenever I see anyone trying to ban things, it's just really a red flag, and it's the fact that people aren't more concerned and aren't more vocal is horrifying to me.

Do you know a lot of people that are motivated solely by this issue that that are planning to vote for Biden?

I know quite a few people who are. I've had some people tell me that they're not, and that they're still not voting for Biden for other reasons.

That it's not enough of a drama.

I'll be honest, these are people I talked to months ago. That could have changed. I hope it changed. I give the platonic, vote your conscience, but in reality, I want to tell them, get your head out of your butt. But I think it's going to play a part, but I think people are just not mad enough. People are not taking this seriously.

Why do you think that is?

Well, I mean, we've been spoiled in this country. We haven't had to fight for... I mean, we've had to fight for certain things, I mean, in LGBT rights. But I mean, for my generation, I'm a millennial. We haven't really had to see the suffering caused by abortion vans in a lot of the other laws that they want to repeal.

There's a debate on Thursday night between Biden and Trump. Were you aware?

Oh, I got sucked into going to a watch party.

So you're going to watching? Yes, sadly. Okay. Well, I'm wondering because you mentioned that there's some people that in your view are not angry enough. Do you think something like a debate would get them to that point?

I just think some people are just I don't want to say stupid, but just ignorant. I mean, I'll be honest, I kept up with politics some, but not as much as I probably should have. And it's hard when you have things like work, school. I don't have kids, but I like people with kids. You're tired. The last thing you do is see two old white guys yelling at each other and being ridiculous. But hopefully they will. I think a lot of people, I don't know that many people are going to tune in to the election, or not to the election, excuse me, the debate, but I'm cautiously optimistic, but it does worry me that Biden isn't leading by a bigger margin.

Well, thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it.

Before we go, I know November feels really far off, but if you're wondering about things like voter registration deadlines, voting by mail, early voting, CNN has compiled all that information for you in one place, state by state. Just check out cnen. Com/vote. Again, that's cnen. Com/vote. And remember, you can watch the CNN presidential debate Thursday night at 9:00 PM on CNN, of course. And we'll be back here on Friday morning with a special episode to break down everything that happened. So make sure you're following the show wherever you listen.

One Thing is a production of CNN audio.

This episode was I'm producing a video for you. This video is produced by Grace Walker, Paula Ortiz, and me, David Reind. Our Senior Producer is Fez Jamil. Our Supervising Producer is Greg Peppers. Matt Dempsey is our Production Manager. Dan Dizula is our Technical Director, and Steve Ligtai is the Executive Producer of CNN We get support from Haley Thomas, Alex Manisari, Robert Mathers, John Dianora, Lanie Steinhart, Jamis Andres, Nicole Pessereau, and Lisa Namarau. Special thanks to Alexa Benowitz, Emily Coon, Dylan Rose-Gearlings, Anna Jäger, Mark Preston, Matt Abshire, Lacy Russell, Nadir Nikupur, Claudia Morales, Karma Hassan, and Katie Hinman. Like I said, we'll be back on Friday. I'll talk to you then.