Debate stage. We will see how senator harris defends her new Health Care Plan rolling out this week and well also find out whether Vice President bidens message, his message of moderation still resonates. Especially after last night. Elizabeth warren and Bernie Sanders dominated proceedings last night. Biden, after all, is according to polls the overall frontrunner when you look at the polls, both against fellow democrats and when you look at the ones against President Trump. Even after his performance last time. But a second shaky debate appearance could change that. So it is no overstatement to stay stakes tonight are very, very high. As we count down to this crucial debate in what will be another pivotal night tonight. Anderson. Certainly, erin. So much to watch for. Im here with the biden supporter and his guest, mayor, thank you for being with us. David axelrod framed the question. The big question is if hes up to this thing, if hes vigorous and if he is engaged. That was the knock on him in the last debate. Will he do that tonight . I think he will definitely do that tonight. Immediately after the last debate, we saw the joe biden after the debate. It caught him by surprise. Hes a statesman. He didnt expect a friend to attack him. That being. He came back stronger. Hes been strong and it is the joe that we know. The more he speaks about his policies and not focus on the attacks, the more he will continue to resonate with voters. How much do you expect him to try to focus on President Trump which is in his address, in his video coming into the race, announcing his determination to run . It was really focused on President Trump and what he believes President Trump has done to the country and how joe biden wants to change that. Trump is the enemy. It wont be other people standing on the stage. This is about winning in 2020. And weve talked about this circular firing squad. To be very careful we dont kill each other off in the same way that we sent Hillary Clinton into the election in november 2016 limping of she was damaged. So i hope that will not happen tonight. I think we can talk about policies. I think that we can be strong and be forceful without tearing each other down and doing the party and the country harm. As you know, for some of these folks, this is their last night on this debate stage. Some of them wont make it to the next debate and a lot of those people will do whatever they can to get to the debate stage. If that means going after the perceived frontrunner, theyre going to do it. You have to remember, joe biden has a president ial candidate before. For anyone who is hoping to be president , it doesnt end here tonight. If thats your destiny. I think it is important that we consider the future of this country. The future of this world. We need the strongest candidate that we have to go up against donald trump. A candidate who can take wisconsin, pennsylvania, michigan, ohio, even georgia and north carolina. Let me play that moment that you talked about with Kamala Harris. It was hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two United States senators who built their reputations and career on the segregation of race in this country. And it was not only that, but you also worked with them to oppose busing. And there was a little girl in california who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools. And she was bused to school every day. And that little girl was me. Thats a mischaracterization across the board. I did not praise racists. You would have been able to go to school the same exact way because it was a local decision made by your city council. I did not oppose busing in america. What i opposed was busing ordered by the department of education. Thats what i opposed. And it went on from there. You said that he was surprised, that he didnt expect somebody considered a friend to do this. In the world of politics, obviously, theres friendships and then theres politics and running for president is the most intense thing there is. I guess the criticism of, one of the criticisms of Vice President biden, if he was not prepared for what was probably a pretty predictable line of attack from Kamala Harris, how could he be prepared to deal with donald trump on a stage . Even as we watched that clip, thats a moment. A very small moment. A very short period of time. I wouldnt judge someone on a 30second exchange. That was a great debate. Kamala harris is a great debater. Were not looking for a great debater. Were looking for someone who can beat donald trump in november of 2020. And thats joe biden. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you for having me. Always good to talk to you. Well take a lot to look for over the next two hours. Lets get back to erin. 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Now here we are, joe biden. There is a lot on the line for joe biden tonight. Yeah. Its a very big night for him. In the first debate, he had a lack luster debate. I think everyone is waiting to see if hell come back and be a little stronger and the expectation is that the attacks will be coming at him just as hard, if not hard he, than they were coming at him last knight time. We expect Kamala Harris to go after him. Cory booker has made it clear that hes planning to go after him. One of the things last night that was very lack luster was the case being made by the moderate lane. And for biden, he needs to make a better argument tonight to basically say, you know, we can do this in a way that is going to excite the base and, versus last night, we were hearing a lot from the moderates. We cant be too bold because well scare people. A lot is on biden to make that case tonight. Thats a hard case to make. That is a really hard case to make. He will have to be like neo from the matrix, man. Hell have every bullet coming at him from every single person. So listen. Its all on the line for joe biden tonight. Part of the thing i think that he has to wrestle with is that hes fighting off two opponents at the same time. Hes trying to deal with the trump phenomenon. He wants the banner against that but he has a movement to his left that says the way to take that on is to be bold, aggressive. Now hes in the middle. In his day, being and he is arriving as we are speaking now. There he is. Welcome. In his day, being in the middle, you were triangulating. You were being very, very wise. That was because the strength of both parties was in the center. The center now is in the wings. He has a left wing as well as the right wing movement. How he deals with that tonight will be defining not just for him but his party. And his team is being more aggressive. You just heard, Kamala Harris is a good debater, preparing the stage for others to be strong. Joe bidens team is saying, others will not stick to the facts and he is prepared for flat out lies. Those are aggressive words before they even start. Yeah. It sounds like they know whats on the line. They know they need to do this. Joe biden has not had an easy run, period. Aside from his last debate. And i think there are a number of democrats who are genuinely concerned that this idea that he is the frontrunners safe choice. He is a wonderful Vice President for our favorite president , barack obama. Before that, he was a guy who had run for president twice and lost. And cynic he announced this time, he has had to weather a series of gaffes of his own making from his treatment of women to the things he said about segregationists, to the way he talks to 10yearold girls on the trail. One thing after another. So this idea that this is the safe choice makes a lot of us really nervous. I want him to come out today and reassure me that hes okay. So he doesnt have any room for error. I know in the last debate, you were helping prepare him. Does the pressure get to him . First of all, i think he does have some room for error, he is like way ahead in the polls, right . But youre right that this is a fundamental moment for him and i think he gets it. I havent talked to the team. Of course, i work here at cnn and i didnt want there to be any conflicts. I know that he gets it. He saw what happened before. Hes coming in. Jabbing joe. And he is not going to allow anybody to misrepresent. Hes also got this moment where he has to take us to the higher ground. The whole notion of, hes fighting for the soul of america. That is a really important thing in an era where trump is so divisive. Andrew yang is arriving. You have ten on the stage tonight. But obviously, a lot of eyes will be on the specific conversation, right . Between joe biden, Kamala Harris, cory booker. Race will be central tonight. Sure, it will be central as it was in the last debate. He has to deal with this issue, put to it bed and theres a reason why he is leading the Africanamerican Community all over the country. He has to shore that support up. He is covering this debate as the frontrunner. He is leading in the polls. He is the one who can beat trump the easiest. He cant lose that mantle and he knows it. He has to have a strong debate performance tonight. They said if you cant handle these candidates, how will you handle butter beam . Butter beam . Thats a heavyweight man. He has to show he can take old trump on. He can beat him. He has a different Health Care Plan than we heard about last night. So does Kamala Harris. Tonight is the time to come out and say maybe medicare for all isnt the right way to go. He has to show that. He has made it clear. He wants to talk about health care, Kamala Harris, how are you going to pay for it, there will be sparks there. On the issue of race, you have a lot of africanamerican voters that are loyal to him. Does he have something to prove . I think that he does. Its interesting because the Africanamerican Community increasingly is split between older black voters who are very comfortable with joe biden. They understand some of the digs in the 90s. You have a new generation of black voters. All they know is the chaos and destruction of mass incarceration. All they know is that white kids do drugs on College Campuses and dont even get to the Principals Office and black kids go to prison and its wrong. And they lay it at the feet of the bidens and they put him right in the middle of that. When you dig up those old speeches, it is hard for young voters to be forgiving. He has to come forward. Fortunately his criminal justice plan Going Forward is very good. Its actually probably better on paper than kamalas or corys. He has to say, did i some good things, some bad things and then foift what obama did and what he wants to do next. If he gets stuck trying to defend that horrible 1994 criminal justice bill, he will lose support of young black voters. And thats crucial. Anderson . Forget butter bean. Im here with some of my own heavyweights. Former top adviser to barack obama, also cnns chief political analyst, gloria borger. Thanks for not calling me butter bean. After the first debate, you said that you felt like biden was not really prepared for the attacks. Yes. He has to know now, there will be more attacks. Not only with his positioning but his positioning in the race. If he is not prepared tonight, is this it . Well, i think yes, it is. I think he will be around certainly through the early primaries and he is expected to win the iowa caucus. Expected to win the New Hampshire primary. I think there will be a lot of anxiety if he has a second bad performance. He is in part the frontrunner because he is viewed as the least risky choice to take on donald trump. If he has two bad performances, he backs much riskier choice and much more vulnerable. I think thats right. I do think, weve been talking to africanamerican voters over the last few days. Some of it is baked in. I dont necessarily think that they are expecting him to be an a plus debater tonight. In some ways, even if he gets a c, some of that support among africanamerican voters who are moderate see him as the choice. I think theyll be fine with his basis. It is really, really solid. Im surprised by it as i talk to africanamericans. They almost sound like the same person giving the reasons why they are continuing to support joe biden. The difference is when he could show that he was strong. He will get incoming from cory booker, incoming from Kamala Harris. Maybe, and i think the challenge for biden as david is saying, not only to take it but he had to turn it around to donald trump. And say, why are you criticizing me . Theres that guy in the white house. Why are we talking about my policies on busing . What about the guy in the white house . I was told that he was surprised and personally hurt about Kamala Harris attack on busing and that shook him up and maybe for the rest of the debate he didnt do so well. So now he needs to be prepared. When youre Vice President , people dont generally come in and attack you to your face. If youre shook up by Kamala Harris in one attack, are you capable of going toe to toe with donald trump . Not just on a debate stage. I think every democrat that tuned in for that first debate and saw the lackluster performance, they want to see his performance. Does he have the fortitude . The moment that gets pierced, even with base africanamericans. In that notion gets pierced, the rationale for his candidacy begins to crumble. Im sure he has the ability to do it. We just need to see it. One of the things with biden is that he doesnt have a really finely calibrated dial. He can hang around at 1 and 2 and he can do 9 and 10 where hes blasting people back. But sometimes he does land in the middle. And you can overtorque yourself. You dont want to be, he doesnt want to get pumped by any of the ca