CNN to Unveil Democratic Debate Lineup in Live Lottery Draw

Don Lemon, Jake Tapper and Dana Bash will be taking the reins on July 30 and 31.

CNN said on Monday that news anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash and primetime host Don Lemon will moderate the network's two-night Democratic primary debate starting July 30.

The network also announced that it will conduct a live draw on July 18 to determine which of the Democratic candidates will debate on which of the two nights.

In contrast, NBC used a team of five moderators at the network's two-part debate late last month and determined the lineup with only representatives of the campaigns present. Both networks elected to include one prominent personality who is most known for their political commentary in their team.

"The 20 candidates invited to participate in one of the July debates will be notified by the DNC and CNN on the evening of July 17," CNN said on Monday.

CNN's debate, which will be held in Detroit, is expected to be the last free-for-all event including a much larger slate of candidates. The ABC News primary debate in September will have much stricter qualification standards.

To be eligible for CNN's debate, "candidates must either register 1% support in three qualified polls or have 65,000 unique donors to their campaign, with a minimum of 200 different donors per state in at least 20 states to qualify."

The New York Times reported on July 3 that 14 candidates have already met both qualifications for the July debates and are guaranteed participation, while seven additional candidates have met one of the two standards.