He is apprised of the questions that will be asked and provided answers he should give that were created by others. Doesn't he know what he thinks independent of what they tell him to say? Why?

Trump's such an idiot he can't be trusted to speak to any minority group without coaching.  

 Apparently. So how is it gonna work for him IF he is actually elected to the presidency? Will he need handlers with him 24/7 to speak for him or give him a safely vetted script so he doesn't inadvertently say something that starts WW3? How embarrassing that would be. I wonder how large a team it would take to monitor him 24/7?  Frightening! Thank you for your reply CSV! :)

At the risk of sounding stupid, I thought that both sides went into some sort of intense preparation for these things. Although there is no reason for it this year, I'm sure that the Clinton camp will spend a few minutes the night before. I wouldn't invest much time and effort in these so called "debates". As a matter of fact, with the election in the bag, why would  HRC show up? 

Preparing for debates by being coached is one thing. Speaking before a group who will ask questions of you and being given a list of the questions IN ADVANCE and having someone else prepare a script of answers to those questions for you IN ADVANCE is quite something else again. What makes you think the election is in the bag? Have you seen her poll numbers? Notnilc is now disliked as much as Pmurt. There are daily releases of more emails . When/if they will stop is highly unlikely. There are two months of this to get through. I wish it were a slamdunk as you seem to think it is . Thank you for your reply PP! :)