CNN has finalized the rules for the first presidential debate of the 2024 election cycle, which is less than two weeks away.

The campaigns of President Biden and former President Donald Trump have agreed to the rules, CNN said on Saturday, noting that it is not “impossible” for independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to join the pair on stage.

To qualify for the CNN showdown, a candidate must have received 15% support in four separate national polls, and be on the ballot in enough states to reach 270 electoral college votes. Currently, Kennedy is on the ballot in six states, totaling 89 potential Electoral College votes.

The 90-minute debate, scheduled to take place on June 27 in Atlanta, will be hosted by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. It will be the first in-person face off between Biden and Trump since they stood alongside one another on debate stages during the 2020 cycle.

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Ahead of the election, both candidates accepted the network’s invitation to debate last month and agreed to certain rules and formats that were outlined in CNN letters to their respective campaigns.

CNN said there will be two commercial breaks during the debate, and candidates will not be allowed to consult with other members of their campaign during that time.

The network also noted that candidates’ podiums and positions will be determined by a coin flip, their mics will be muted outside of speaking time, and they will only be provided with a pen, a notepad and a bottle of water.

Candidates will not be allowed to bring props or prepared notes.

Former President Donald Trump, left, and President Joe Biden. (Getty Images)

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For the first time in recent history, the debate between presidential contenders won’t have a studio audience.

The network said debate moderators “will use all tools at their disposal to enforce timing and ensure a civilized discussion.”

In order to qualify for the debate, candidates must also meet the requirements outlined in Article II, Section 1 of the US Constitution to serve as president. Biden and Trump both meet those requirements. Other candidates on non-major-party tickets – Kennedy, Cornel West and Jill Stein – also meet those requirements.

All five have also filed a formal statement of candidacy to the Federal Election Commission, another requirement to participate in the debate.

Donald Trump, left, and Joe Biden, right, debate at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, on Oct. 22, 2020. (Kevin Dietsch/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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National polls of registered or likely voters that meet CNN’s standards for reporting include those that are sponsored by CNN, ABC News, CBS News, Fox News, Marquette University Law School, Monmouth University, NBC News, The New York Times/Siena College, NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist College, Quinnipiac University, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.

I set off mid-afternoon into the Linville Gorge Wilderness near Morganton, North Carolina. Right from the trailhead I found dense groves of mountain laurel with bouquets of delicate pink flowers, as if the path were decorated for a wedding.

The sun was hot, the trail dusty and steep in places. Birds cartwheeled around me, flitting from trees to undergrowth, sometimes close enough to touch.

Mountain laurel grows along the trail in the Linville Gorge Wilderness.

Brian Mann

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Brian Mann

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I love escaping like this on a work day. When I travel on assignment, I’m always looking for a bit of wildness that can be reached without a lot of hassle or planning. Sometimes it’s as simple as a city park or a public garden.

One minute I’m at my desk on the job, tense and caffeinated. The next minute I’m breathing a little easier, smelling summer, feeling the touch of spiderwebs on my face as I walk.

In the Linville Gorge, wildness is found in big sweeping vistas and in tiny details, buzzing bees, stands of flowers, and lots of stillness.

Brian Mann

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Brian Mann

At first blush, places like the Linville Gorge can seem a little intimidating. The area is vast and rugged

On this day I hiked one of the easiest routes, with only a few steep stretches. It took me quickly into a high forest perched at the edge of the gorge that felt completely solitary.

From balconies of rock, I couldn’t see any human structures. Horizon to horizon there was only wildness and sky and curtains of cliff that look like old castle walls.

The Linville Gorge is framed by formations of rock that look in places like old castle walls. In season, peregrine falcons next here. The area offers some of the most popular hiking trails in the eastern U.S.

Brian Mann

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Brian Mann

There were little details too, close enough to touch. A trickle of bright cold water in a mountain stream, a black snake coiled in the sun, a Luna moth peeling itself from a cocoon.

When I stopped to catch my breath, I realized there were bees everywhere, foraging eagerly in the mountain laurel.

A Luna moth emerges from its cocoon on an early summer day in North Carolina.

Brian Mann

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It was getting on toward evening when I turned back. The light was golden. As I trekked down, it was silent enough that I could hear the wind in the trees and the cheerful ruckus of Carolina chickadees flocking over the mountain.

Some of the best hikes are the ones that take you to overlooks like this, in Burke County, North Carolina, without lots of effort or time.

Brian Mann

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Brian Mann