what are you doing tonight? i know what we re doing. it s debate night in america. hours from now all eyes will be on the debate stage as the democratic debate number three gets under way. it s in houston. and only ten candidates have qualified, jim. that means only one night of debates. that s true. and a lot of the focus tonight will no doubt be on joe biden and elizabeth warren. the two sharing the debate stage for the first time as new cnn polling shows the former vice president s lead getting thinner. those two candidates there at the top. athena jones joins us from outside the debate hall in houston. good morning. how are the campaigns looking at this debate now as they see those new numbers come out? hi, jim. it s another big night. another big opportunity for these candidates to make their case. as you mentioned for their first time, the top ten candidates electric sharing the same stage. so we ll get to see a match up for the first time between joe
at whatever attacks come his way, but tonight he won t just have harris to worry about. senators cory booker and kirsten gillibrand and others making it very clear they will take on biden, jim? we will be watching for that tonight. in last night s debate the power struggle on full display. the fight an open one between progressive and more moderate democrats. bernie sanders and elizabeth warren defending their big policy ideas, namely medicare for all arguing that pushing for radical change won t just hand donald trump a second term. cnn s athena jones inside the debate hall, and we saw those fault lines within the party on clear display last night, so some spirited exchanges. absolutely, good morning, jim. bernie sanders and elizabeth warren were at center stage last night and they spent a lot of time fending off attacks on their policies from moderate
front-runner joe biden flanked by his two sharpest critics, kamala harris and cory booker. and i m kries cuomo here with the captain wolf blitzer where the excitement may be bigger than last night and we know the fireworks have to be coming because everybody wants what joe biden has which is the lead in the polls. cory booker has already said he plans to go after biden on his role in the 94 crime bill. is that good for booker? that good for the party. harris will look to repeat her break-out moment when she attacked biden on busing. the question is will she take fire as well. there are seven other candidates. for some of them this is likely the last chance to get the traction they need to stay in the race. so let s begin our coverage. we have political experts standing by tonight. but first let s go to cnn congressional correspondent phil mattingly inside of the debate
president said he will stand up for himself, vowing to bel less polite when it comes to defending his record. senator kamala harris will be standing on the same stage for the first time since she criticized him to his face on bussing. he and several other candidates fight to stay in the race in the do or die debate. ana cabrera is live inside the debate hall where some of the candidates are starting to arrive for their walk-throughs. what can we expect, ana? andrew yang just arrived to do his walk-through today. let me step aside. he s behind the podium, getting a real feel for the space ahead of tonight s debate. businessman and entrepreneur, running on the plan to give every american adult a $1,000 a month. that is his sell. he calls it his freedom dividend. his campaign hopes to have a lot more time to talk about that tonight. he was the candidate who the
debate. and kate, as for when we re going to hear from voters about who their favorite might be, do not hold your breath. we re probably going to have to wait until after september s debate when there s simply less candidates to choose from. kate? that is a very good point. we ll ask, nonetheless, as we always do. great to see you, vanessa. thank you. coming up for us, the ten candidates facing off tonight are about to start arriving to the fox theater behind us. you re seeing inside the debate hall right now. they re going to be starting to do their final walk throughs. they had the benefit of watching last night, of course, before they take the stage tonight. so what is tonight going to look like? we re live in detroit. we ll be right back. [ alarm beeping ] wake up! there s a lot that needs to get done today. small things. big things. too hard to do alone things. day after day, you need to get it all done. and here to listen and help you through it all is bank of america.