CNN’s Dana Bash and Jake Tapper will host the network’s Republican primary debate in Iowa with former UN Ambassador and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
The debate will take place at 9pm ET on Wednesday 10 January, just a few days before the caucuses on Monday 15 January.
The Des Moines debate is the first of two set to be hosted by the network. Former President Donald Trump has also qualified for the debate, but he’s not expected to take part.
The other CNN debate is set to take place on 21 January at the New England College in New Hampshire. ABC News and WMUR will also host a debate at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire on 18 January.
The showdown on Wednesday night will take place at Drake University and will be streamed on CNN, CNN International, CNN en Espanol and CNN Max. Subscribers will also be able to watch the debate on CNN.com.
Jake Tapper
Mr Tapper is the lead Washington correspondent for the network, hosting The Lead on weekdays and co-hosting the Sunday programme State of the Union along with Ms Bash.
Before being hired by CNN, Mr Tapper worked at ABC News, where he served as the senior White House correspondent.
Born in New York City and raised in Philadelphia, the 54-year-old moderated the Republican primary debate in September 2015 featuring Mr Trump which drew more than 23 million viewers. On 10 March of the following year, he moderated the GOP debate in Miami, Florida, which garnered 12 million viewers.
Mr Tapper’s early career featured stints as the press secretary for Democratic Rep Marjorie Margolies, who was in the House between 1993 and 1995.
CNN’s Dana Bash and Jake Tapper in the studio before the start of the 11th Democratic Party 2020 presidential debate with former Vice-President Joe Biden and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders in a CNN Washington Bureau studio in Washington, DC on March 15, 2020— (AFP via Getty Images)
Dana Bash
Ms Bash, 52, is the host of CNN’s Inside Politics and the co-anchor of State of the Union. Her father Stuart Schwarts was a producer for ABC News, the Jewish Standard noted in 2015.
After graduating from George Washington University, Ms Bash interned at NBC, CBS, and CNN, which she joined as a producer for weekend programmes including, Late Edition, Evans & Novak, and the show she now hosts – Inside Politics.
She was previously the chief congressional correspondent for CNN.
In 2019, she moderated the Democratic GOP debate where then-Senator Kamala Harris confronted then-ex-Vice President Joe Biden over segregation and bussing. Ms Harris would later join Mr Biden as his running mate and subsequently vice president.
Democratic presidential hopeful former US vice president Joe Biden talks with moderators (L-R) Univision's journalist Ilia Calderon, CNN chief Washington correspondent Jake Tapper and CNN political correspondent Dana Bash at the end of the 11th Democratic Party 2020 presidential debate in a CNN Washington Bureau studio in Washington, DC on March 15, 2020— (AFP via Getty Images)
Ms Bash and Mr Tapper hosted the 15 March 2020 debate with Mr Biden and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders – the first debate affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, which was then just beginning.
