President Trump plans to try to rattle Joe Biden — hoping for a temper flare — by going after his family members during tonight's first presidential debate.

• "Expect the president to prosecute the case against Joe Biden partly by using his son Hunter and brother James as his cudgels," a campaign source tells Axios' Jonathan Swan. "Nothing will be off the table, and the president has dove into all of their activities.”
• Trump's guests include UFC fighter Colby Covington.

At the 90-minute debate at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland (9 p.m. ET), Biden plans to stick to the economy, coronavirus and new revelations about how Trump avoided paying taxes.

• Democrats want Biden to be the adult in the room, focus on the issues and show viewers the sense of leadership that Democrats say the country is craving right now, Axios' Alexi McCammond reports.

Between the lines: That may be easier said than done, given Biden's history of getting defensive and flustered when his family is attacked.

• Biden's senior advisers want him to do everything he can to ignore Trump's anticipated jabs.

Biden's campaign released 2019 tax returns for him and Sen. Kamala Harris hours before the debate, poking Trump for the N.Y. Times report.

• Biden and Jill Biden paid $288,000 to the federal government. Harris and her husband, attorney Douglas Emhoff, paid $1.1 million in combined federal and state taxes, on earnings of $3 million.
• Biden deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield told reporters on a call that this marks 22 years of publicly available tax returns for Biden and 16 years for Harris.

Go deeper: See the Biden, Harris returns.

Above: Judge Amy Coney Barrett and Vice President Pence arrive at the Capitol today for meetings with senators.

Below: Belarusian protesters demonstrating against President Alexander Lukashenko, who declared victory and cracked down on dissenters after a disputed election in August.

Ahead of tonight's debate, health care matters much more to swing voters than a Supreme Court appointment, Axios' Shane Savitsky reports.

• 30% of swing voters see health care and the pandemic as the top issue facing the country, according to the first U.S. poll (783 swing voters, 3.5% margin of error) by J.L. Partners, founded by alums of Theresa May's Downing Street.

Why it matters: With the poll showing Joe Biden ahead by 10 points with likely voters, it highlights the necessity for President Trump to stay on message, especially after he played into Democrats' hands by floating the potential termination of the Affordable Care Act over the weekend.

• The full deck.

1. In a rare statement, former special counsel Robert Mueller defended his team's handling of the Russia investigation. Go deeper.
2. Three players and five staffers from the Tennessee Titans tested positive for the coronavirus, forcing the temporary closure of the team's facility. Go deeper.
3. New York City's coronavirus positivity rate reached its highest rate since June. Go deeper.
4. TikTok is debuting a new in-app elections guide. Go deeper.
5. 🎧 Axios Re:Cap features the CEO of Cameo, a marketplace in which users pay for personalized video messages from celebrities. Listen here.

Tell your kids and grandkids: More "Lion King" is on the way.

• A prequel of the 2019 movie remake that earned $1.65 billion is underway, reports The Hollywood Reporter.

Barry Jenkins, who won a screenwriting Oscar for "Moonlight," will direct.

• "Having the opportunity to work with Disney on expanding this magnificent tale of friendship, love and legacy while furthering my work chronicling the lives and souls of folk within the African diaspora is a dream come true," he said in a statement.