joining us from the debate hall where it will all go down. talk to me about how big this really is. it s gigantic and something that we ve been looking forward to see if ted cruz, the conservative texas senator would make his move in iowa and would it be connecting with those voters. in fact, it has. cruz is winning with key constituencies in iowa. these are constituencies that you need to win the caucus. he s winning social conservatives, conservatives themselves, financial conservatives. doing well with libertarians. now, his state party chairman has been telling me that for months they have been quietly building their network across the state and at some point it would pop and today we ve seen it pop, poppy. i ve spent time in iowa covering the last presidential election there and what i love about iowans is it s such an engaged electorate. what you see there is the critical evangelical vote and
pataki, mike huckabee, rick santorum, and lindsey graham. so a big production on tuesday night. 17 cameras. there s going to be an invite-only audience of about 1,400 people filling this theater. as you mentioned, john, a lot is at stake here. this is the last opportunity these candidates have to try and make a strong impression on voters heading into the holiday season when a lot of them tune out. it could be one of the most important debates of the year, so we ll be watching to see who hits whom on national security and who has a breakthrough performance that could give their candidate and their campaign new life. john? absolutely. the timing here is crucial. athena jones inside the debate hall at the venetian theater right behind me. going to talk about all this now, how will the new lineup affect the debate? join me, cnn politics executive editor mark pressman. just to reiterate to viewers who is in and out, all determined by
hello again everyone. thanks for joining me i m fredricka whitfield. let s get back to las vegas for continuing coverage of the cnn republican debate. john berman is there. hey, fred, wither outside the venetian las vegas, inside this building right behind me this is where the debate will be tuesday night, and cnn just announced the line-up for the final republican primary debate of 2015. athena jones is in the debate hall and will tell us who will be on the stage at 9:00 p.m. eastern time and the undercard at 6:00. athena? reporter: hi, john. we know the nine candidates who made the stage for the prime time debate. we have a graphic in order, john
in d.c., outside the u.s. capitol, democratic presidential candidate bernie sanders joined the demonstrators making an appearance at a rain-soaked rally in d.c. this was milwaukee. where the republican presidential candidates are tonight holding their fourth debate. the protesters held another demonstration outside the theater where the debate was taking place. the protesters are banking on the issue of the minimum wage coming up inside the debate hall. even if it doesn t there will be more around the country in rallies large and small. organizers of the protests say today was a kickoff of what they expect to be a year of activism on the issue right up to the run for the presidential elections. we ll be right back.
mcdonald s chanting yes, we can. in many places including minneapolis the marches enned at the local city hall to pressure local an municipal officials. in d.c., outside the u.s. capitol, democratic presidential candidate bernie sanders joined the demonstrators making an appearance at a rain-soaked rally in d.c. this was milwaukee. where the republican presidential candidates are tonight holding their fourth debate. the protesters held another demonstration outside the theater where the debate was taking place. the protesters are banking on the issue of the minimum wage coming up inside the debate hall. even if it doesn t there will be more around the country in rallies large and small. organizers of the protests say today was a kickoff of what they expect to be a year of activism on the issue right up to the run for the presidential elections. we ll be right back.