[Chris Cuomo, Cnn:] And I'm Chris Cuomo, here with the captain, Wolf Blitzer, outside the Fox Theater where the excitement for tonight's showdown may be even 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? Is that good for the party? We'll see. Harris will look to repeat her break-out moment from the last debate 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 par excellence. But first let's go to CNN Congressional Correspondent, Phil Mattingly inside of the debate hall. How do you see it?
[Phil Mattingly, Cnn Congressional Correspondent:] Well, Chris, the doors are about to swing open for the audience and the candidates have finished walk-throughs and retiring back for the last-minute session with advisers. And everybody is aware of the dynamic. If last night was the progressives versus the moderates, tonight is Joe Biden versus everyone else. And sitting to his right and left will be Senators Kamala Harris and Cory Booker, two senators who have made clear they have sharp attacks, they're willing to wield those attacks and they will likely be coming fast and furious tonight. But Biden and his advisers have made clear after that unsettling debate performance in Miami, he is going to take a different tack and tone tonight, including punching back. And when you talk about punching back, keep a close eye on the issue of health care. It was repeatedly talked about last night, a significant difference of opinion on things. That will carry over to tonight. Joe Biden's position on health care differs from Kamala Harris' , kind of a Medicare for All lite on Harris. And she released the details of the plans this week. Biden with more of a public option. And both sides, both camps have been going back and forth about the details of the plans and who they think has the better issue. That is something we're going to see play out again tonight and, Chris, you mentioned an important point here, half of the field is into the September debates with the higher thresholds for qualifications. That means five are not and are in danger of missing out and this being the last major moment on stage. Those individuals, think people like Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, this is their last shot to make a moment, to create a moment and to have the attacks of their own. Everybody is searching for that tonight. Plenty of fights at the upper tier but all across the stage as well, something to pay close attention to as the night moves on, guys.
[Blitzer:] Thanks very much, Phil Mattingly. We'll get back to you. Let's bring in our political correspondents and analysts. Arlette Saenz, you've been covering Joe Biden on the campaign trial for quite a while. What should we expect from the Democratic front-runner?
[Arlette Saenz, Cnn Correspondent:] I think Joe Biden wants to come out with a forceful and commanding performance reflective of his status of a front-runner. His campaign has spent days preparing with sessions with a smaller group of advisers who could focus and drill in on certain areas. But you see the former vice president telegraphing that he is taking a more aggressive stance and one thing that his advisers have said is they feel in the last debate and since then there have been mischaracterizations of his record. And he is going to be ready to push back. That could also include some areas where he wants to highlight other people's records. They say that the only person he's proactively going against or bringing up is President Trump. But he's going to be ready to defend his own record. The question is, is he going to be able to deliver on the promises of a more aggressive forceful tactic going forward tonight?
[Blitzer:] What do you think, Jeff?
[Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] Well, the campaign has been trying to have it both ways in some respects. Today they say it is not a make-or-break moment for the former vice president. But for the last week, as Arlette knows, the campaign advisers have been saying the attacks he's going to bring. So if the former vice president does not come on stage and really deliver those attacks and if he has the same performance as Miami, he'll have a very different moment in this race. He is the leader in the race. But the question is, is he a placeholder or is he a true front-runner? He can determine that tonight. He can show that he's a front-runner if he comes out and takes command of the stage, which he didn't do in Miami. A friend of his told me that the Miami debate performance was the best thing that could have happened for him because he is focusing on this. If that is true and he has a strong performance, that will be good for him. But I think it will be a different dynamic. I do not believe that the attacks will be the same. Senator Harris is likely to allow other people to go after Joe Biden, like Bill de Blasio and Michael Bennet and others. And she'll focus on trying to elevate herself. So totally different dynamic but the burden for him is very high.
[Blitzer:] Because he's standing on that stage, Kyung, right between Cory Booker and Kamala Harris. They leveled they went after him big time on race-related issues. Do you think they'll continue to do that?
[Kyung Lah, Cnn Senior U.s. Correspondent:] Well, if you listen to Cory Booker, absolutely. And the visuals are going to be right there. What you'll see is Joe Biden, an older white man, sandwiched between two people of color. If last night was the battle between the moderates and the liberals, tonight is the battle between what is the Democratic Party and the base of the Democratic Party, more diverse, women. We'll see a much more diverse stage. We'll see people of color on the stage. Half of that field, people of color tonight. And so there is going to be that argument that is Joe Biden able to speak to that? Kamala Harris has throughout her campaign, since she launched, leaned into women, black women, people of color, her path to the nomination. But Joe Biden still maintains a strong hold on black voters. It is something that he has been able to speak persuasively to.
[Blitzer:] He certainly, Michael Smerconish, feels so much more comfortable attacking President Trump than the other Democrats.
[Michael Smerconish, Cnn Anchor:] For a reason. By the way, I'm surprised President Trump's name was not invoked more last night by the candidates. I think that changes tonight and I think it will be Joe Biden who does it. And what I anticipate he will constantly be on the defensive against these other candidates but that he'll quickly pivot and reference President Trump. Why? Because he wants to transcend this, he wants to be seen not as the opponent of Cory Booker or Kamala Harris or anybody else on that stage, he wants to reinforce the idea that he's the one. He's the front-runner. He will be the opponent of Donald Trump. That is what has worked well for him thus far. The reason he's leading in the polls is because of the perception of him as a winner and he wants to perpetuate that.
[Blitzer:] And not just he's a winner, he was the vice President of the United States for eight years under President Obama.
[Smerconish:] No doubt, I think he'll continue to make that reference. There is a little sensitivity in how to deal with some of these race questions if, in fact, the incoming is coming from two people of color, meaning Kamala Harris and Cory Booker. So I think he needs to be very careful in terms of how he defends his record in that regard.
[Blitzer:] It is such a sensitive issue going after him and his retaliating because the fear is that it helps Trump. Zelensky Sure. One person who is watching this among perhaps more than others is the 21st candidate in this race and that is Donald J. Trump. He's running against one of these people and no doubt talking to Republicans today, they were thrilled by a lot of what they saw last evening, about Democrats taking on Democrats. It will be tenfold tonight, watching all of it play out. But Michael is absolutely right. Joe Biden is making this race about the long view. Look at November 2020 and beyond all this. But for Joe Biden that was maybe a bit of a mistake for a few months because he has to win this and show he's a candidate of the moment. And, yes, he can talk about Barack Obama, which he will ad nauseam but he also has to show that he is a candidate who has the energy and the ideas here to push through. But Kyung also makes a very good point, black voters are still with Joe Biden. And attacking Joe Biden is a very sensitive subject. The blowback for Cory Booker could be severe if people view him attacking Joe Biden just to attack him. Kyung, some of the candidates, for them it is make or break. They need to do something to get on track, like former HUD Secretary Julian Castro.
[Lah:] Yes. What I am fully expecting from him is to make a persuasive argument because who could speak authentically to the idea of racism when it comes to the Latino vote and immigration? He made that argument persuasively in the first round of debates. But Beto O'Rourke isn't on the stage. So how now will he step into the next argument to stand out?
[Blitzer:] Will that work, the decriminalization of people illegally crossing into the United States?
[Smerconish:] Not in a general election, no. This is the recurring theme of this entire process. That which plays best perhaps in a hall like this tonight is not necessarily that which is going to help elect a candidate in a general election. We've seen that time and again. And I think that is the underlying conflict. Last night was all about this ideological struggle within the Democratic Party and tonight is about leadership role, who is the front-runner when we leave Detroit?
[Blitzer:] How tough will the former vice president be on Medicare for All?
[Saenz:] I think that is going to be the key policy to see him make a point on. You've seen him sharpen his attacks on Kamala Harris and her positions on health care and his advisers say that health care is the one issue that he is really going to drill into. He has experience as the former vice president. He was there when the Affordable Care Act became law and went through that entire fight to get it signed into law. And he also talks about health care in a very personal way. Mentioning both the car accident that killed his wife and daughter and injured his sons as well as Beau Biden's battle with cancer. So this is something he sees a very stark policy contrast between himself and the other candidates but also it is a very personal tone as well.
[Blitzer:] Everybody, stick around. There is more we're following. Up next, who among the 10 candidates on stage tonight will stand out in the debate? We'll be right back.