President Biden and former President Donald J. Trump will be alone in the CNN studio, standing eight feet and an ideological world apart in the bright lights on Thursday.
But a host of advisers will be camped nearby inside green rooms that have been prepared for their teams, where the first lady, Jill Biden, is also expected to watch the high-stakes debate. Dr. Biden is expected to be the only Biden family member in attendance, according to people familiar with the plans who were not authorized to detail them.
It is not clear who, if anyone, from Mr. Trump’s immediate family will attend in support of him. Mr. Trump’s most politically active son, Donald Trump Jr., could not be there because of a previous family commitment with his oldest daughter, according to a person familiar with his plans.
But there will be at least one Trump family member there — spinning for Mr. Biden.
Mary Trump, Mr. Trump’s estranged niece, is among the half-dozen representatives that the Biden campaign is deploying to the spin room on Thursday.
“We cannot afford to allow Donald Trump anywhere near the levers of power again,” Ms. Trump said in a statement before the debate. Other Biden surrogates include Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia and Representative Jasmine Crockett of Texas.
The debate will have two three-and-a-half minute commercial breaks, but neither Mr. Trump nor Mr. Biden will be permitted to huddle with their nearby campaign teams during those interludes.
Mr. Biden flew to Atlanta on Thursday afternoon after a week sequestered at Camp David to rehearse, joined by political and government advisers. Mr. Trump was flying in from Florida with his team.
The Trump campaign did not respond to questions about who will be in the spin room on his behalf. But a number of high-profile campaign surrogates are set to attend a fund-raiser and watch party hosted by Kelly Loeffler, a former senator from Georgia. Among them are three people thought to be the top contenders for a running mate pick: Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio, Gov. Doug Burgum of North Dakota and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida.
Other Republicans who traveled to Atlanta and will attend the watch party are Representatives Byron Donalds of Florida and Wesley Hunt of Texas, who held an event on Wednesday night geared toward Black outreach in support of the Trump campaign; Ben Carson, another potential running mate contender who served as Mr. Trump’s secretary of housing and urban development; and Representative Elise Stefanik of New York, the No. 4 House Republican who has also been mentioned as a potential running mate.