JUDY WOODRUFF: When President
Trump won Michigan by fewer than
11,000 votes in 2016, it marked

the first win in three
decades by a Republican
presidential candidate.

The state is among Democrats'
top targets in 2020 and the
Democratic National Committee's

choice for this next round
of candidate debates.

They have come to Detroit this
week on a mission, 10 candidates
tonight, and 10 more tomorrow

night, all wanting a boost
out of this second set of
Democratic presidential debates.

Two progressive stalwarts are
standing center stage tonight,
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders

and Massachusetts
Senator Elizabeth Warren.

On either side of them are
two of the field's youngest
candidates, Mayor Pete Buttigieg

of South Bend, Indiana,
and former Texas
Congressman Beto O'Rourke.

Farther out on the wings
are many of the field's
more moderate candidates,
Minnesota Senator

Amy Klobuchar and Ohio
Congressman Tim Ryan,
plus former Colorado
Governor John Hickenlooper

and former Maryland Congressman
John Delaney, and at each end,
author Marianne Williamson

and Montana Governor
Steve Bullock, another
moderate who missed out
on the previous debates.

While those 10 hopefuls are
on stage, some of the other
candidates are looking to catch

attention on other fronts.

A super PAC backing Washington
Governor Jay Inslee, who is
debating Wednesday, bought

airtime for a TV ad criticizing
the five candidates topping
national opinion polls.

NARRATOR: Democrats aren't
making climate change
the number one issue.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Meanwhile, a
political group founded by
billionaire philanthropist Tom

Steyer, who didn't qualify for
the debate stage, is out with
an ad whose focus is special

counsel Robert Mueller,
President Trump and impeachment.

REP.

KEN BUCK (R-CO): You believe
that you could charge the
president of the United States

with obstruction of justice
after he left office?

ROBERT MUELLER, Russia
Probe Special Counsel: Yes.

JUDY WOODRUFF: That ad is part
of a push by candidates to
highlight specific issues ahead

of this week's debates.

California Senator Kamala
Harris was in Detroit
yesterday defending the
health care plan she

rolled out ahead of
her Wednesday debate.

SEN.

KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA),
Presidential Candidate:
My Medicare for all
plan will allow private

insurers to be a part of our
plan if they play by the rules.

But let's be clear
about the rules.

The rules are that
they're not going to get
to do business as usual.

JUDY WOODRUFF: But some of her
rivals pounced immediately.

Senator Bernie Sanders, who's
in tonight's debate, told CNN
this in a phone interview:

SEN.

BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT),
Presidential Candidate:
I like Kamala.

She's a friend of mine.

But her plan is not
Medicare for all.

JUDY WOODRUFF: A campaign
spokeswoman for former
Vice President Joe
Biden also criticized

the Harris approach, saying it
pushes the extremely challenging
implementation of this

plan 10 years into the future.

Biden and Harris will meet
again at Wednesday's debate.

He has made his own contribution
to the current rush of policy
rollouts, a criminal justice

plan he announced last week.

JOSEPH BIDEN (D), Presidential
Candidate: I think we need
to shift the whole focus from

what we're doing in terms of
incarceration to rehabilitation.

JUDY WOODRUFF: But Biden's
announcement drew criticism from
another rival he will debate

on Wednesday, New Jersey Senator
Cory Booker, who's targeted
Biden's history on these issues.

SEN.

CORY BOOKER (D-NJ), Presidential
Candidate: I'm disappointed
that it's taken Joe Biden

years and years, until he
was running for president, to
actually say that he made a

mistake.

JUDY WOODRUFF: The new trade
proposals from Massachusetts
Senator Elizabeth Warren are

among the other policy ideas
unveiled by the 2020 candidates
over the past week-and-a-half.

Of the other debaters tonight,
Klobuchar and O'Rourke rolled
out plans on housing and K-12

education, respectively.

Delaney wants to build a program
around a mandatory year of
service for young Americans.

And Williamson proposes a
Cabinet-level agency to focus
on policies affecting children.

New York Senator Kirsten
Gillibrand, who debates
tomorrow, has released
her own sweeping plan

to combat climate change.

For many of these Democrats,
this week's debates may
truly be make-or-break.

They have to reach a
higher threshold in public
polling and donations to
qualify for the debates

this fall.