[Harlow:] All right, it might be the worst kept secret in politics. Sources tell CNN this morning the former vice president, Joe Biden, is running. That he will finally launch his race officially this week, starting with a campaign video and then a round of kickoff events. Can he win out over a crowded Democratic field which grew to 19 candidates this morning when Congressman Seth Moulton joined the race? A new poll shows there's interest the interest is there. Voters are about as excited now for the 2020 election as they were in the closing days of the 2016 election. Our senior political analyst David Gergen is with me, former adviser to Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and Clinton. Good morning to you, sir. I'm so interested in these numbers, David. You have this Fox News poll, 52 percent of voters said they were extremely interested in the 2020 race. That's compared to 54 percent who said the same thing in the closing days of the 2016 election. What do you make of that?
[David Gergen, Cnn Senior Political Analyst:] Well, I think that the level of excitement are high for both races. And it's become particularly important because the younger generation now, represented by millennials and generation z, as they're called
[Harlow:] Right.
[Gergen:] Will represent over a third of all voters in 2020. They're going to be a new, powerful force in American politics. They tend to lean left. They tend to vote Democratic. But there is a new survey out now in preparation for the CNN town hall tonight in New Hampshire
[Harlow:] Yes.
[Gergen:] Which brings together five leading candidates. There's a poll that's been done by the Institute of Politics here at Harvard, which is a co-partner with CNN for tonight, and it finds that the millennials and generation z are expressing a high degree of anxiety about life. And for the first time our politics seem to be disturbing their mental health.
[Harlow:] Wow.
[Gergen:] They also, as you might imagine, put environment way up there at the top. They're very concerned about the moral direction of the country. They don't trust people running our politics today, especially baby boomers. But this whole notion that our politics are beginning to disturb you know, becoming a problem for mental health for the young, that's new and it's something we ought to be thinking about hard.
[Harlow:] That is.
[Gergen:] Yes.
[Harlow:] It's really significant, David. I'm glad you brought it to my attention. Let me ask you about this polling, the latest Harvard poll. It shows Bernie Sanders is the most popular with young folks, 18 to 29 years old, 31 percent for him, while former Vice President Joe Biden comes in second there at 20 percent support. But also look at guys, if we can throw that back up. What's really interesting to me about Sanders is he's got that 31 percent now. Look at back in early 2015, David. OK, he you know, he's been a senator, he's been in Congress for a long time, but he was polling at 2 percent. Wow.
[Gergen:] Yes.
[Harlow:] I mean what gives him an edge so early on?
[Gergen:] Well, he is you know, he's the contrarian in this race. He's run, you know, well to the left, a proclaimed socialist. And that attracts the many in the young who would like to see more dramatic change. You know, people when you're young, you're very impatient. You think the world ought to move quickly. It's a mess. And that's especially felt by millennials today. And Bernie carries that torch for them. It's really consequential, Poppy, because if Joe Biden falters at all, Bernie is really strong and would become the frontrunner. That would have seemed unlikely, you know, just a few years ago. Very unlikely.
[Harlow:] Yes.
[Gergen:] But he's put himself in a position where he carries that torch for the younger generation.
[Harlow:] So you've advised four presidents. If you were advising former Vice President Joe Biden, who's going to get in this week, he's going to have this video and then he's going to do a series of events, what would your long game advice be for Joe Biden, to get in this thing, to lead the pack, and to win?
[Gergen:] I think it very much ought to be that he wants to run to heal the nation. He wants to he's got the age, the experience, the relationships. He knows how politics was once played, how it was once respected, and he wants to restore the politics of that pleases that sets a good moral tone for the country, something we just heard youth disagree with.
[Harlow:] Yes.
[Gergen:] But I would do one more thing, Poppy.
[Harlow:] Yes, sure.
[Gergen:] I know this is controversial. I know it seems outlandish. But I think he would be well advised to say, you know, I'm in my mid-70s now. I think it's appropriate that I run for one term. I want to run and try to bring the country together. I want to run on a more bipartisan basis. A more bipartisan government. I you know, I want to take time out from all the partisan bickering and see if we can pull ourselves together
[Harlow:] Right.
[Gergen:] And I'm going to do that in one term and then I'm going to step aside and let the fights will continue then.
[Harlow:] Yes. I've wondered that about him for a long time, right, because then he could say, I am elect me, I will govern to govern, and not to win again.
[Gergen:] Yes.
[Harlow:] But I don't know if he'll do it.
[Gergen:] Yes, exactly, not spend my whole time running for re-election.
[Harlow:] Yes. All right, we've got to go. David Gergen, appreciate the time, as always. Thank you so much.
[Gergen:] Thanks, Poppy.
[Harlow:] So join us live from New Hampshire tonight for our CNN town hall event. Senators Amy Klobuchar, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg on the same stage tonight, starting at 7:00 p.m. Eastern, only right here. We're following breaking news. Of course that horrific attack across Sri Lanka and we're learning that ISIS may have inspired the group thought to be behind the deadly coordinated bombings on Easter Sunday. We'll be right back.