This week's televised debate is crucial for Biden and Trump and for CNN as well

This is a huge moment for CNN, said former CNN Washington bureau chief Frank Sesno, now a media and public affairs professor at George Washington University. CNN has to reassert itself. It has to show that it led a revolution in news before and can do it again.

CNN's chairman and CEO, Mark Thompson, has been with the company for less than a year and has spoken more about the internet than television as an opportunity for growth. Yet it means something that both campaigns chose CNN for the first debate.

If it goes off the rails, that's a stain that could take years to wash away. This is a hugely consequential moment in this campaign, said David Chalian, CNN's vice president and political director. It's the earliest presidential debate ever.

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