Eliza Collins

USA TODAY

We are so close to watching Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump battle it out on stage in their first debate. This could be the most the two of them have talked since Clinton attended Trump’s wedding to Melania more than a decade ago.

USA TODAY will have a whole squad of journalists at Hofstra University in New York on Monday, so get ready for up-to-the minute coverage. Also, make sure you follow @usatoday2016 and @usatoday for live-tweeting during the main event and for all the madness in the spin-room after the debate.

Clinton: Can we please get a fact check on Trump? Somebody? Anybody?

As Clinton preps for the debate by reading books and debating a mock Trump, her campaign has added another item to their playbook: Remind everyone that Trump does not always tell the truth. (Politifact couldn’t select just one of Trump’s false statements for their 2015 “lie of the year” , so they combined all of them.)

The unknowns of what Trump will say on stage is clearly worrying the Clinton campaign. On Friday, Clinton’s communications director, Jennifer Palmieri, held a call with reporters to express “our concern about Donald Trump’s record of lying.” Also, the email sent to reporters with call-in information included a list of “Trump’s seven deadly lies” and a link to a massive file of more falsehoods.

“We do believe that it is the role of the moderator, particularly in this case, to call out those lies and do so in real time,” Palmieri said. “Given the historic nature of how much Donald Trump lies, it just cannot be only on her … to not do that is to give Donald Trump a very unfair advantage.”

The call for moderators to do live-fact checking differs from the way Trump feels. In fact, Trump has said it would actually be best if there were no moderators and he and Clinton just fact-checked each other. When that suggestion was rejected, Trump started knocking the moderators. According to the debate director at the University of Michigan, that technique is similar to basketball coaches “working the referees” to pressure them into going easier on their team. Meanwhile, the RNC sent out a memo that tried to ramp up expectations for Clinton and lower them for Trump.

Trump does not think Clinton is the epitome of truthfulness herself. His favorite nickname for her is “crooked Hillary” and he has called her the “most corrupt person to ever run for president” and a “world class liar.” Some of his favorite examples to bring up about Clinton are the continuing controversy over her private email server — which he has called a worse scandal than Watergate — and allegations of a possible conflict between the Clinton Foundation and her role as secretary of state.

When asked about Palmieri's call specifically Trump's team responded: “Crooked Hillary Clinton is the only candidate in this race who has been called a liar by the Director of the FBI and employed five people who took immunity deals to escape prosecution. She and her campaign have no credibility and have desperately resorted to peddling propaganda by the biased media.”

Racial issues dominate the campaign trail

Last week, an unarmed black man was shot and killed by a police officer in Tulsa, Okla. and another black man was shot and killed in Charlotte, N.C. on Tuesday. Violent protests erupted in Charlotte in response to the shootings, resulting in one death.

Clinton has called for better police-community relations. Meanwhile, Trump focused on law and order, condemning the violent protests and calling for stronger police tactics, including “stop-and-frisk” policing in Chicago.

On Thursday night, Trump went a step further and said the violence was due, in part, to Clinton: “Those peddling the narrative of cops as a racist force in our society are now — and this is a narrative that is supported with a nod by my opponent, you see what she’s saying and it’s not good — share directly in the responsibility for the unrest that is afflicting our country and hurting those who have, really, the very least — people that are having a hard time."

Earlier in the day, Clinton spoke with Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts and Rep. Alma Adams, D-N.C. According to Clinton's campaign, Clinton "emphasized the need to come together to stop the violence and restore the bonds of trust between police officers and the communities they serve."

The campaign said "too many black Americans have lost their lives and too many feel that their lives are disposable." But the campaign also added, "There are good, honorable police officers serving their communities across our country, and we must all work together to mend the wounds that exist."

On Friday, Clinton called on the Charlotte police department to release video of the shooting of Keith Lamont Scott and announced she will travel there on Sunday.

What's up with control of the Senate?

The chances of Republicans holding onto the Senate after Election Day appear to be growing. That’s because incumbent GOP senators are acting like they’re running for sheriff by focusing on local issues and basically pretending they don’t know Donald Trump.

Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, who is chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, talked to USA TODAY’s Susan Page this week and gave her his secrets for successful campaigning.

"It is a sheriff's race in many respects, so our senators, our incumbents, are running on local, state issues and they're running on their record," he said. His advice: "Let the top of the ticket take care of itself."

News from the trail

Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson’s last shot (USA TODAY)

After bitter battles, Ted Cruz says he will vote for Donald Trump (USA TODAY)

Obama's debate advice to Clinton: "Be yourself" (USA TODAY)

Clintons buy adjacent Chappaqua home for $1.16 million (The Journal News)

Trump adds new names to list of possible Supreme Court nominees, including Sen. Mike Lee (USA TODAY)

Ahead of the debate, here’s a look at Clinton pulling out the sass in her “Between Two Ferns” interview.