Biden, Warren To Face Off On Debate State For The First Time As Warren Narrows Gap In New CNN Poll; Dem Candidate Tom Steyer is Interviewed About Preparing for Debate Debut in October.
BURNETT: Tonight, the biggest showdown so far in the fight for 2020, Joe Biden versus Elizabeth Warren. The Democratic frontrunners face- to-face on the debate stage for the first time tomorrow night. This as our new CNN poll tonight shows Biden's lead over Warren shrinking dramatically. OK. They're now six points apart. That was 15 points just one month ago, OK. That's dramatic. And so we are learning new details about Biden's plan of attack to change that narrative. According to one advisor, he's going straight for Warren and her plans. Jeff Zeleny is out front.</s>JOE BIDEN, FORMER UNITED STATES VICE PRESIDENT, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hi, guys. How are you today?</s>JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORREPONDENT(voice-over): Joe Biden is nothing if not resilient. Tonight, a new CNN poll shows Biden leading the field at 24% with Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders locked in a tight race for second. Biden's advantage comes from his strength among black voters. A group he leads with 42%. This sets the stage for tomorrow's debate where Biden and Warren will be side by side for the first time. As the fall campaign begins, Warren's candidacy is rising. Her signature plans facing a new test.</s>WARREN: Well, I think that we start with the plan and then we get out there and fight for it. To me, that's what being president is all about.</s>ZELENY(voice-over): Above all, Biden is still banking on his electability argument and selling himself as the strongest candidate to take on President Trump.</s>BIDEN: Everyone underestimated it the last time about President Trump. The place he's most comfortable is in the gutter arguing.</s>ZELENY(voice-over): A new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows Biden is leading Trump by 15 points, while Sanders has a nine point edge and Warren holds a seven point advantage in a hypothetical match with the President. Biden staying power stands as a warning sign to his democratic rivals who have done their own campaigns little good in their attempts to dislodge him as the front runner.</s>SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Do you agree today that you were wrong to oppose busing in America?</s>SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You invoke President Obama more than anybody in this campaign. You can't do it when it's convenient and then dodge it when it's not.</s>ZELENY(voice-over): But as voters like Maggie Willems begin paying closer attention to the race, they are weighing one question above all, what exactly makes a candidate the most electable?</s>MAGGIE WILLEMS, IOWA VOTER: I think that it would be fair to say that Biden is my head and Warren is my heart. But I also have to be fair and say I love Joe, so it's not - but it would be - Biden would be my pragmatic choice and Warren would be a bit of a leap of faith in my heart.</s>ZELENY: Now, that is a sentiment we hear from voters all the time, Erin, what exactly are they looking for in terms of electability? Are they going toward a progressive route or pragmatic route? Now, all of that debate will be going on onstage as Biden and Warren will be side by side for the first time. And you're right, Biden advisors are telling us tonight they plan to raise some questions about some of Senator Warren's plans. Of course, there are some seven other candidates also on the stage in addition to Bernie Sanders there and so a lot of high stakes debating tomorrow night here in Houston, Erin.</s>BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Jeff Zeleny. And out front now former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, he supports Joe Biden. Joe Walsh, National Affairs Correspondent for The Nation. Joan, you're with me, Biden is obviously going from 15-point lead to a six point lead. It's something that ...</s>JOAN WALSH, NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT, THE NATION: Right.</s>BURNETT: ... that hits you in the gut. You got to figure out what you're going to do about it. They have not been on stage together in a debate ...</s>WALSH: Right.</s>BURNETT: ... which is why it's nice to have them all on one stage. You're going to see Warren and Biden together, so going after her plans, right move?</s>WALSH: I think it's a terrible move. I think he should be concentrating on getting things straight on taking up all of his time, on talking himself up. I think if he goes after Elizabeth Warren, first of all, people love her plans. That's what they love about her. That's why she's rising. Second of all, she is not that aggressive. She hasn't been aggressive at all, actually, on the debate stage. If he goes after her, that opens the door for her to go after him which she would love to do on bankruptcy and on his closeness with credit card companies and banks. I think it's just a terrible idea for the Vice President.</s>BURNETT: I mean, Governor, like let's just say in case anyone has forgotten how much Warren talks about her plans, how central this is to her identity as a candidate. Just listen to her for a second.</s>WARREN: I got a plan for that. I got a plan for that. I got a lot of plans. You may have heard I do plans.</s>BURNETT: We have all heard that she does plans and Biden, Governor, has previewed this line of attack on her plans to us. Here he is on CNN last week.</s>BIDEN: Plans are great but executing on those plans is very different thing.</s>BURNETT: So Governor, look, so far Joe Biden has tried to focus on Trump. He's tried to do that as the frontrunner. But when the gap is narrowing so quickly, is he smart to turn his sights on Warren?</s>FORMER GOVERNOR ED RENDELL (D-PA): No, I agree with Joan. I think it would be a mistake to go after. I mean, look, you can disagree with her, you can point out if there's a policy discussion, why do you think her plans is not workable. Like, for example, on health care, Elizabeth wants to do away with private insurance. Well, there are 160 million Americans who are in private insurance and at least a hundred million don't want to lose their plan and don't want to be forced into a government run plan. So he's going to point out that that is not only the wrong choice, but it's a choice which would make her electability in the fall very difficult. But he has to do it in a tenor in which he says, "Look, I admire the senator, she's been a good senator. She has goals that I agree with, but we disagree on how to get there and here's why."</s>BURNETT: Right, so be specific on that.</s>RENDELL: And also Democratic voters have said to me they don't want Democrats to attack Democrats personally. They want to focus on Donald Trump. So I think there's a big risk if you go out as an aggressor and start attacking.</s>BURNETT: So Joan, there are going to be two-tiers, OK? So as we talk about, you're going to see Warren and Biden together for the first time, that's a big deal.</s>WALSH: Right.</s>BURNETT: But you're going to have two-tiers, right? You're going to have the top three and then you're going to have the rest, among the manager, Yang. His team promising something big. The Daily Beast, Sam Stein, says Andrew Yang's campaign manager said Yang will be doing something no presidential candidate has ever done before in history. It sounds - it could be a stunt, but how do you break through if you are not in the top three; the Warren, Sanders, Biden (inaudible) ...</s>WALSH: Well, I create the top tier a little bit differently. I would say that there's a top six. The people who are above 5 percent, that's pathetic. But the people who are above 5 percent, so that adds in Harris at 8 percent, Buttigieg at six, and I think Beto is now back at five. Beto is climbing a tiny bit.</s>BURNETT: OK. But not Booker, not Castro ...</s>WALSH: But not Booker.</s>BURNETT: ... not Yang, not Klobuchar.</s>WALSH: I'm going to put Yang in a category by himself. He's got the YangGang. He's got a really ...</s>BURNETT: A lot of buzz.</s>WALSH: ... a lot of buzz, so let's see what he does. But I'm very worried about Amy Klobuchar. She has dropped in this last CNN poll. Anybody who dropped in that poll and we're talking about people dropping from 2 percent to 1 percent, so it's bad. I don't know how you continue. I don't know how you raise money. I don't know how you attract top flight staff, if you're not moving.</s>BURNETT: All right. Governor, a quick final question to you. Does everyone stay in after this then? I mean, they've all made the cut for the next debate but if you know you're not going anywhere in terms of getting to the finish line, do you stay in anyway?</s>RENDELL: This time, I think, everyone will stay in and they'll be joined by Tom Steyer who will qualify for the next round.</s>BURNETT: All right. Thank you both very much. And Tom Steyer will be out front in just a few minutes. Next, President Trump about to target a new and dangerous epidemic.</s>TRUMP: People are dying with vaping, so we're looking at it very closely.</s>BURNETT: So they got a plan tonight, does it go far enough? Plus, he spent millions of his own money on his campaign, Tom Steyer. What does he say to critics who say that he has bought his way onto the debate stage? He'll answer them out front.