CNN Democratic debate night 1

By Veronica Rocha, Meg Wagner and Amanda Wills, CNN

Updated 9:42 p.m. ET, July 31, 2019
62 Posts
Sort byDropdown arrow
9:41 p.m. ET, July 31, 2019

How to watch night two of the Democratic presidential debate on CNN

CNN is hosting a second night of debate on Wednesday in Detroit. It will start at 8 p.m. ET and end around 10:30 p.m. ET.

Here's more info on how to watch tonight's debate. You can follow live updates here.

12:48 a.m. ET, July 31, 2019

Who won — and lost — tonight's debate

Analysis from CNN's Chris Cillizza

Ten Democrats took the stage tonight in Detroit for the first night of CNN's debate.

Here's a look at some of the candidates who performed the best:

  • Bernie Sanders: The Vermont senator clearly got the message that he wasn't lively or active enough in the first debate of the cycle. He came out feisty — and stayed that way.
  • Steve Bullock: The Montana governor, to his immense credit, understood that this debate was his one big chance to make an impression with voters. Bullock went for it — from his opening statement on.
  • Pete Buttigieg: As in the first debate, the South Bend, Indiana mayor played it (relatively) safe. But unlike the first debate, there was a clear message: I am young, yes, but the older people on stage with me haven't fixed any of these problems, so it's time for something different.
  • John Delaney: Before this debate, no one knew who Delaney was or what he believed. If you watched this debate, both of those questions were answered. 
  • Elizabeth Warren: Her retort to Delaney was the line of the night — and encapsulates for a lot of Democrats why it's so important to nominate someone who is willing to take on big fights, unapologetically. 

And here are a few of the Democrats who didn't fare as well:

  • Beto O'Rourke: While he was mildly more energetic than in the first debate, there were large swaths of the debate where he simply disappeared from the conversation.
  • Amy Klobuchar: She seems to be treading water in search of a moment or a surge. She didn't get one tonight. And candidly, she didn't really come close.
12:48 a.m. ET, July 31, 2019

Tim Ryan did a lot of breathing before tonight's debate

Rep. Tim Ryan talks to a young reporter in the spin room.
Rep. Tim Ryan talks to a young reporter in the spin room. CNN

Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan, a self-proclaimed yogi, said he did "a lot of breathing today" before the debate.

The congressman needed it tonight for the more than two-hour debate.

The Democratic presidential candidate, speaking from the spin room in Detroit, said he wished he had talked more about K-12 education.

"This is the second debate ... and we have not talked about K-12 education when we have a crisis going on with our kids," he said.

Ryan said he tried to touch on the issue in his closing remarks but "we gotta be talking about K-12."

12:35 a.m. ET, July 31, 2019

Marianne Williamson on her performance: "I don't know. I am inside my head."

CNN
CNN

Spiritual author Marianne Williamson said she doesn't really have a feeling about her performance this time around.

Asked how she thought she performed tonight, the presidential hopeful said, "I don't know. I am inside my head. I haven't watched the tape."

Williamson said she plans on watching her performance tomorrow.

12:40 a.m. ET, July 31, 2019

Beto O'Rourke says Flint will make a comeback if we "invest in them"

Beto O'Rourke, speaking to reporters after the debate, said the state's city of Flint will one day be the center of "innovation and enguiniety" again.

Flint's economy has been suffering for decades. The city's problems were put on the map with Michael Moore's 1989 documentary "Roger & Me." The Flint water crisis began in 2014 — and trash bags still cover the water fountains in parts of the city.

"I see a lot of pride in Flint, a lot of entrepreneurs who want to make Flint the center of manufacturing and innovation and enguiniety again," O'Rourke said. "And they will — but we've gotta invest in them."

He continued: "We gotta invest in their ability to have a world-class public school, their ability to attend higher education, and their ability to have access to capital for those entrepreneurs to come up with the next great ideas, especially in communities of color."

11:56 p.m. ET, July 30, 2019

Marianne Williamson's most quotable lines from tonight

Mark Peterson/Redux for CNN
Mark Peterson/Redux for CNN

She only spoke for a little under nine minutes tonight, but Marianne Williamson was at her most quotable.

Here are a few of her lines:

On stimulating the economy:

"I wonder why you're Democrats. You think there's something wrong about using the instruments of government to help people. That is what government should do."

On crafting a message:

"If you think any of this wonkiness is going to deal with this dark psychic force of the collectivized hatred that this president is bringing up in this country, then I'm afraid that the Democrats are going to see some very dark days."

On reparations:

"We need to recognize when it comes to the economic gap between black and whites in America, it does come from a great injustice that has never been dealt with."

On inequality:

"We need to say it like it is, it's bigger than Flint. It's all over this country. It's particularly people ... who do not have the money to fight back, and if the Democrats don't start saying it, why would those people feel they're there for us, and if those people don't feel it, they won't vote for us and Donald Trump will win."

On why you should vote for her:

"You can't fight dog whistles. You have to override them. With new voices. Voices of energy that only come from the fact that America has been willing to live up to our own mistakes. Atone for our mistakes. Make amends. Love each other. Love our democracy and future generations."

Watch more:

11:14 p.m. ET, July 30, 2019

This is where the candidates go after the debate stage

It's called the "spin room," and it's set up in a tent near the Fox Theater here in Detroit tonight.

The candidates file into this area, walk down a red carpet and speak with reporters about their debate performance.

Here's what it looks like to be there right now:

10:57 p.m. ET, July 30, 2019

Here's our final tally of who talked the most in tonight's debate

Elizabeth Warren took the top spot when it came to talk time tonight, speaking for more than 18 minutes.

But Bernie Sanders wasn't far behind, at just over 17 minutes.

Here's how the rest of it breaks down:

10:49 p.m. ET, July 30, 2019

Why are you running for president? Here's what these 10 candidates said

Gabriella Demczuk for CNN
Gabriella Demczuk for CNN

The first night of the Democratic debates in Detroit have just wrapped.

Ten Democratic presidential hopefuls ended the night by making their final pitches to voters.

Steve Bullock:

"This isn't a choice just between center and left, or about — we don't have to chose between what we don't want and what we can't afford. Folks want a different way, they want to believe the economy and our democracy can work for us. And that is why I'm running for president."

Pete Buttigieg:

"We can do this. If and only if we're ready to walk away from what hasn't worked with bold action. And win. Not only defeat this President. But defeat his congressional allies with the defeat so big it reunites the Republican party with the conscious. As well as bringing Democrats to office. Join me and let's make it happen."

John Delaney:

"Donald Trump is the symptom of the disease. And the disease is divisiveness. I'm the only one on stage talking about cures that disease."

John Hickenlooper:

"I'd like to ask every American to imagine that you are facing life-threatening surgery tomorrow. Would you choose a doctor who had a track record of proven success who'd actually done the work, or someone who just talked about it. That is the question or facing in this primary. I've actually got a track record as a small business owner, as a mayor and as a governor."

Amy Klobuchar:

"We have a President where people turn off the TV when they see him. Not me. I will make you proud as your president."

Beto O'Rourke:

"We are as divided and polarized as a country as we have ever been. Right now we have a President who uses fear to try to drive us further apart. To meet this challenge, we have to have hope in one another and faith in the future of this country that includes everyone."

Tim Ryan:

"I hope tonight it's some level I captured your imagination. Your imagination about what this country could be like if we united, if we put together real policy that weren't left or right, but new and better."

Marianne Williamson:

"There's corruption that is so deep, ladies and gentlemen. And until the Democratic party is ready to speak to the deeper corruption knowing we ourselves sometimes because of corporate donation participated than I'm afraid those who vote for Trump will continue to vote for Trump and those who don't like him will continue to stay home."

Bernie Sanders:

"I'm running for president not just to defeat the most dangerous president in the history of the country. A racist and a sexist. And a homophobe. I'm running to transform this country."

Elizabeth Warren:

"For me, what this election is all about, is opportunity. Every budget, every policy that we talk about is about who is going to get the opportunity. Is is going to go to the billionaires? Or is it going to go to our kids."

Watch the moment: