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Would Joe Biden be invited to participate in first Democratic debate?

Vice President Joe Biden will be able to participate in the first Democratic presidential debate, even if he waits until the very day of the debate to announce he's running for president, CNN said in a release Monday.

The top candidates in the field have been invited - Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders - as well as Martin O'Malley, Jim Webb, and Lincoln Chafee, who are in low single digits.

The five have all met CNN's criteria, which required that candidates achieve an average of one percent in three polls published between Aug. 1 and Oct. 10.

The first Democratic debate, hosted by CNN and Facebook and sanctioned by the DNC, will be held Oct. 13, at 9pm ET, at the Wynn Las Vegas and Anderson Cooper will moderate.

CNN is also going to live-stream the debate in 3-D virtual reality, so that viewers who have the appropriate Samsung virtual reality headset and smartphone can watch as if they are in the live audience. What this means, according to a release, is that users "are able to hold a gaze on a particular candidate" and "catch off-screen interactions."

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