CNN: Biden Has 'Near Insurmountable' Lead

Joe Biden has a "near insurmountable' lead over Bernie Sanders in the race for the Democratic nomination for president, CNN analysts predicted shortly after calling Florida for Biden Tuesday night.

"We've never seen anyone come from a delegate deficit of 200 and actually overtake the leader. That hasn't happened," CNN Political Director David Chalian said during the network's election night coverage.

CNN already had awarded an estimated 912 delegates to Biden, 712 to Sanders immediately after the Florida polls had closed. But with more than 100 delegates left to go, Chalian noted that by the end of the night, Biden could nearly double his delegate lead with Florida alone as he was leading with 60% of the vote. Sanders was in the low 20s.

CNN's John King said Chalian was being conservative in that estimate.

"Can you overcome a 200 delegate lead? It's never been done," King said. "Mathematically possible. Politically improbable given the Democratic Party rules."

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