Bernie Sanders says he'll attend Thursday's debate
Sen. Bernie Sanders said Wednesday that he will attend the Thursday Democratic debate that MSNBC said it will host in New Hampshire.
In an interview Wednesday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," the Vermont independent was asked whether he plans to face Hillary Clinton in the debate Thursday.
"The answer is yes and you know that I have always wanted more debates and Secretary Clinton in the beginning was not so interested in more debates. Now suddenly they're very interested in more debates," Sanders said.
In addition to the New Hampshire debate, which comes just days before Tuesday's New Hampshire primary, Sanders said he wanted three more debates.
"What I wanted to see is on top of New Hampshire three more debates. We were talking about California and Michigan. And I wanted New York City," Sanders said. "Secretary Clinton represented New York seven years in the Senate. I thought it would be a good idea. For some reason, she's not interested in debating in New York."
Sanders said Clinton wants additional debates now because "they're getting a little bit nervous."
Clinton officially won the Iowa caucuses on Monday, with Sanders trailing only 0.3 percentage points behind. Sanders said Tuesday that he won't concede.
CBS News confirmed Wednesday that Bernie Sanders raised $3 million in the 24 hours following his caucus-night speech in Des Moines, Iowa on Monday.
There had been some confusion about whether Thursday's debate was actually happening because the campaigns have been going back and forth about the terms and conditions about the additional debates.
In an interview Tuesday on CNN, Clinton called on Sanders to participate on Thursday.
"I sure hope -- we're in Bernie Sanders' backyard here in New Hampshire," she said. "I sure hope he intends to show up in his neighboring state and let the people of New Hampshire see us both on the debate stage... And they keep trying to add new conditions, which, you know, raises questions about how ready or willing they are to debate here in New Hampshire."
A spokesman at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) confirmed to CBS News Wednesday that the debate has been sanctioned.
"We are in touch with both campaigns, actively working to resolve outstanding questions. Ultimately, as we said in Sunday's statement, if our candidates agree, we will sanction and manage additional debates in our primary schedule, inclusive of the MSNBC debate in New Hampshire this week," DNC Communications Director Luis Miranda said a day earlier.
CBS News' Hannah Fraser-Chanpong contributed to this story.
