When is the CNN Democratic Debate?

The CNN Democratic Debate, the first debate among the Democratic presidential candidates for the 2016 presidential nomination, will air Tuesday, Oct. 13, beginning at 8:30pm ET on CNN. The debate is taking place in Las Vegas, with Anderson Cooper serving as moderator.

Cooper told Reliable Sources recently that he plans to ask “pointed questions” of each contender. “Going into the Republican debates,” Cooper said, “you pretty much knew there were a number of candidates who were willing to [attack each other]. Some lower-level candidates wanted to punch up and try to make a name for themselves. That’s not the case, so far as we’ve seen, on the Democratic side.”

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CNN has released the podium order of the candidates for the debate, with their positions based on polls since Aug. 1. As the highest-polling candidate, Hillary Clinton will be center stage for the debate. On either side of her will be Bernie Sanders (to Clinton’s right) and Martin O’Malley (to her left). Jim Webb and Lincoln Chafee, the fourth- and fifth-placing candidates, will bookend the stage.

(CNN has said that if Vice President Joe Biden should decide to enter the presidential race and take part in this debate, a podium for him would also be placed onstage.)

The CNN Democratic Debate will also be live-streamed, and this will be the first-ever live stream of a news event in virtual reality. CNN is partnering with NextVR to stream the debate live, in full 3D immersive virtual reality. Of course, you need to have a Samsung GearVR virtual reality headset to experience this. Apparently, it would make you feel as if you are an audience member at the debate (hopefully, your experience will go better than Stephen Colbert’s).

The CNN Democratic Debate airs live Oct. 13 beginning at 8:30pm ET on CNN.