by jeb bush, once by scott walker. will he face the peril, will he face the wrath of donald trump just inches away from him? chris christie, as you mentioned, he s pack on tback on stage after a ter a briof after in the undercard debate. could it be he needs to try to figure out how to get more support in the establishment lane. finally the format. 75 seconds to answer questions from wolf blitzer and the panel. you get 30 seconds if someone names your name, calls you out. 30 seconds to respond to that. one other thing, there will be opening statements and closing statements. i always think the opening statements are very interesting. you get a sense of where these candidates are go, a chance to set the tone, which will be a long and exciting night. john, thank you very much. wolf blitzer said to be maintaining one hour of complete silence before he takes the
tonight. i want to check in with john bettrman who is back stage. and i just saw wolf blitzer walk by, the moderator. they have now walked through the door right there and they re now on the debate stage itself. over there is the door where the candidates are will be emerging any minute now. this undercard debate will get started, we ve seen the campaign staffs scurrying about.minute n. this undercard debate will get started, we ve seen the campaign staffs scurrying about. fire electr five lecterns will be aided after the first debate. begins at 8:30. all ready to go right there. this the last debate of 2015, there are some changes. some new features in the debate tonight that could have a big impact in what we will see. number one, ted cruz, by function of where he stands in the polls, he will be center stage right next to donald trump. that is a position occupied once
are. and whatever you think of him poli policy-wise, he s a master of branding. voters think they re getting screwed by the economy, by the politicians. and trump is feeding them. he knows exactly what he s doing. so it s his own version of lowering expectations? no, i think that s what happens for the debate stage where he may take some fire tonight. but john is right, we ve seen it from the beginning. he is saying anything, you know one thing for sure, there is a purpose behind it. he s not just flailing. that s what we learned the hard way. what is the purpose of going after fox news again though today? that has less of a calculus. i do think that they in certain ways are part of the republican establishment. he is running outside of the traditional republican lanes. sdl but anderson is also right, that s who he is. he does not back down from a
gardener harris don t we all want that? i know. thank you for pulling back the ku curtain for us. speaking of the white house, republican s top choice to fill the seat should maybe wear a cap along with that cap. because donald trump is apparently batman. yes. that s what he told a 9-year-old boy from iowa who rode on his helicopter this weekend at the iowa state fair. mr. trump? yes. are you batman? i am batman. that s pretty cute, actually. my colleague, john bettrman, asd someone about that claim today. donald trump told the child this weekend that he is batman. chuck, can you confirm to us that donald trump is batman? well, i don t think i can confirm it but it certainly connects a few dots.