2020 Democrats Spar Over Competing Health Care Plans
BLITZER: We're watching as the House debates a resolution condemning President Trump's racist tweets. And as the drama in Washington unfolds, the Democratic presidential candidates are sparring over their newly revealed health care plans. CNN's Ryan Nobles is keeping track of this part of the story for us. Tell us more.</s>RYAN NOBLES, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, there's no doubt that health care remains a priority for these Democratic candidates. And this week, we're seeing many of them roll out policy proposals specifically aimed at that important issue. It is an issue that polls show Democratic primary voters care a lot about.</s>NOBLES (voice-over): Tonight, health care, once again, front and center on the 2020 campaign trail.</s>SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We can't afford right now that the pharmaceutical companies have been jacking up prices over and over and over again. We have got to restructure the health care system of America.</s>NOBLES (voice-over): Kamala Harris unveiling a plan to lower the cost of prescription drugs. Calling for the federal government to set a fair price for prescriptions sold at cheaper prices in economically comparable countries and a tax of 100 percent on profits that drug makers collect from selling prescriptions above that fair price. The Harris plan comes just one day after Joe Biden released his comprehensive health care plan that includes a provision to lower drug costs. Biden is calling for an independent panel to review the cost of drugs that have no competition in the market and a tax on increased prices that exceed the right of inflation. The former Vice President is seeking to draw a contrast with others in the Democratic field by forcefully defending the Affordable Care Act passed during the Obama- Biden administration and warning about what he sees as the flaws with Medicare for all.</s>JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: But the transition of dropping 300 million people on a new plan, I'm telling you, is, I think, kind of a little risky at this point.</s>NOBLES (VOICE-OVER): Bernie Sanders returning fire this morning.</s>SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I like Joe and I hope we will have this debate, you know. But when Joe says something to the effect that Medicare for seniors -- what did you say -- will end? I mean, that's just an obviously absurd situation.</s>NOBLES (voice-over): And as the candidates work to one-up each other on the policy front, the view of the money race is coming into sharper focus as campaigns finish reporting their second-quarter fundraising numbers. South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg led the field in the second quarter raising nearly $25 million. The Midwest mayor also emerging as a Hollywood favorite, cashing checks from stars like Jennifer Aniston, Kevin Bacon, and "Star Trek" star George Takei. As for the most cash on hand, it is Sanders who still refuses to hold fundraisers but currently leads with more than $27 million. While Beto O'Rourke who raised $9.4 million in just three weeks in the first quarter brought in only $3.6 million over the past three months.</s>NOBLES: And an early sign of a campaign's long-term viability is its burn rate. That's how much it spends versus how much it brings in. In the last quarter, 10 of the Democratic campaigns spent more than they raised. That was led by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. Wolf, she ended up spending twice as much as her campaign brought in.</s>BLITZER: Ryan Nobles reporting for us. Ryan, thank you for that. A quick reminder, find out which Democratic candidates will face-off on each night of the next debates in the special live event. Watch "THE DRAW" for the CNN Democratic presidential debates Thursday night, 8:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN. Coming up, an ominous new warning from Kim Jong-un's regime. Is it a veiled threat to resume nuclear testing?