CBS: Paris attacks ‘refocus’ debate questions

DES MOINES - The line of questioning in tonight's Democratic presidential debate will have a decidedly different tone in light of the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, a CBS News official said this morning.

The attacks that killed more than 100 people in Paris have led debate moderators to 'refocus” their questions, Christopher Isham, Washington Bureau Chief for CBS News, told reporters Saturday morning.

'It caused us to refocus some of the questions on what happened in Paris, and the threat in Paris, and how the candidates would respond to that threat if they were president,” Isham said. 'It's definitely refocused our questioning.”

Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley will participate in the second Democratic debate tonight on CBS television.

At least 127 people died Friday night in Paris when attackers launched gun attacks at Paris cafes, detonated suicide bombs near France's national stadium, and killed hostages inside a concert hall during a rock show, the Associated Press reported. More than 200 people were injured, dozens critically.

Isham said the CBS debate team was rehearsing for the debate on Friday when initial reports of the attacks started coming in.

'I think it was pretty obvious very quickly when we saw that there were multiple locations, that was obviously a red flag that this was more than just an isolated shooting. This was something that was coordinated and quite probably a terrorist attack,” Isham said. 'So we realized pretty quickly it was very serious.”

Isham said he had no discussion of postponing tonight's debate in light of the Paris attacks.

'We felt quite the contrary. We felt it made the debate even more important because (the attacks) gave it some immediacy that we felt was an opportunity to discuss this challenge and this threat,” Isham said.

Isham said the debate will not focus entirely on the Paris attacks.

'We will continue to ask about other topics. It's not going to become a foreign policy debate,” Isham said. 'We also will ask about other issues, such as health care and the cost.”