Hello from CNN, I'm Ifeoma Dike with the five things you need to know for Tuesday, September 10th. Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are preparing to square off in tonight's high stakes debate. CNN's David Rind is in Philadelphia.

Hey, Ifeoma. So, of course, there's going to be so much to unpack from the 90 minutes of debate. But immediately afterwards, we're going to see a show of force from both campaigns right here in the spin room at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. In fact, the Harris team isn't even waiting for the end of the debate. They just sent out former Trump officials, Anthony Scaramucci and Olivia Troye to underline why they are breaking with the Republican Party to vote for Harris in November.

I'm hearing from Republicans across the country. I'm traveling to the swing states. I'm talking to them directly. And they're saying like, I don't identify with this. And that is that is where I am today.

The Trump team, meanwhile, is dispatching Trump's own running mate, J.D. Vance. He'll be joined by a score of prominent Trump allies like Senator Marco Rubio, VIvek Ramaswamy and former independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr., among many, many others.

Tropical storm Francine continues to hold steady with 65mph sustained winds, but is expected to become a hurricane tonight, according to the National Hurricane Center. The forecast track has shifted slightly eastward, prompting a hurricane watch for New Orleans. Some coastal communities in Louisiana are evacuating and closing their flood gates in anticipation of the storm's likely landfall there tomorrow. CNN's Elisa Raffa has the latest.

Ifeoma, Francine continues to gain strength, we're expecting a hurricane landfall on Wednesday on the Louisiana coastline where we have hurricane warnings in effect. We could find that storm surge, that push the ocean water inland, get up to ten feet in parts of the Louisiana coastline. Plus, the footprint of heavy rain stretches well far inland. 4 to 8 inches of rain look pretty widespread, but we could have some totals approaching a foot that could create some considerable flash flooding conditions. Really have to watch out for that as we go through the day on Wednesday.

His lies and denials delayed our response, let the virus spread, and this country never caught up.

That's former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo lashing out at former President Donald Trump's handling of the Covid 19 pandemic. Cuomo testified before a GOP led House panel earlier today and defended his own administration's response to the crisis while expressing sympathy for the victims. He was in the national spotlight early in the outbreak for his daily Covid briefings, but later became the focus of controversy over deaths in nursing homes. Back in March 2020, the New York State Health Department issued a controversial advisory relating to hospital discharges and nursing home admissions. It mandated that people who tested positive for Covid 19 couldn't be denied admission to nursing homes. Two months later, Cuomo issued an executive order requiring that hospital patients test negative for Covid before they were discharged to a nursing home. The former governor has said the advisory was consistent with CDC guidance.

Two Delta Airlines planes collided while taxiing for takeoff from Atlanta's airport this morning. No one was injured. CNN's Pete Muntean has more.

According to Delta spokesperson Anthony Black. Delta flight that was taxiing out for takeoff as well. An Airbus A350 bound for Tokyo. Its wingtip clipped the tail of that other flight and apparently not the tail, the vertical tail off of the rest of the airplane. Still really unclear exactly how this transpired. This is just sort of emblematic of the things that are happening in the U.S. airspace system right now.

The FAA is investigating and Delta says it's cooperating with authorities. The airline said passengers from the planes were being placed on alternate flights. Coming up, another round of good news, bad news on the economy.

'Americans incomes have finally returned to their pre-pandemic peak. Median household income rose to $80,610 last year, according to the Census Bureau. That's essentially the same as it was in 2019. Income inequality didn't change much between 2023 and 2022. Men who work full time saw a big boost. Their inflation-adjusted median earnings increased 3% year round, twice the rate for women. Americans' finances are a key talking point in this year's presidential election, so you may want to put the topic on your bingo card for tonight's debate. That's a wrap. Our next episode drops at 6 a.m. Eastern.