-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com hi, there. i'm brianna keilar and i'm in for wolf blitzer. it is 1:00 p.m. in washington and 7:00 p.m. in berlin and wherever you are watching from around the world, thank you so much for watching us. >> this is cnn breaking news. >> we are e bebin can -- we are beginning this hour with breaking news of an active shooter on the campus of delta university in cleveland, mississippi. this is according to the coroner there in delta county who said that there is one fatality, and the campus is remaining under lockdown and stay inside and away from the windows and tweeted out from the university. and now we go to elina machado

who is following the details. >> well, briana, this is a active scene, and developing situation, and we learned about the situation a little bit over an hour ago of a lockdown situation at delta state university in cleveland, mississippi, and as a result of the active shooter situation, and just a little, and a few moments ago we heard from the coroner's office in this area, and they told us that a male professor was shot and killed at delta state. the victim was in his office at the time of the shooting, and no gun was found in the office, no gun was found at the scene, but the deputy coroner says that two empty shell casings were found which suggests that it was not a suicide, but in fact, that somebody killed this professor, and authorities do believe that the shooter is still at large, briana. >> all right. elina machado following the

details. and on the phone, we have former police detective harry hawk, and harry, early in the process, but we know that the victim was a male professor, and give us the law enforcement perspective here of where the authorities there are going as they try to search for this active shooter. >> yeah, well, first thing that comes to mind is the fact that one person was shot, and so it is a probably personal vendetta against that professor, and no weapons found, so we know it is not a suicide, and two shots fired and we don't know if the police still smelled gun powder in the air, and so we don't know when the shooting occurred maybe an hour ago or two hour ago, and we don't know. they are conduct ing ting the s and looking and going over the video that might be in the school there. trying to find out the identity

of is shooter, and there is video all over the schools, and so they will find out who the shooter s and identify him soon, and in instances like that, a lot of times, the shooters do kill themselves after they have done something like that, and so we might find that might occur in the future when we finally find this the guy. >> harry, thank you for the ip sight and i want to bring in the update, because delta university there in cleveland, mississippi has tweeted out more information that the emergency management is involve and the governor's office is offering assistance, and the campus is on lockdown, and remaining in lockdown and the students are sheltering in place, and away from the windows. this is continuing story, and we will monitor the details and continue to bring them to you. and now, to breaking news in the race for the white house. new poll numbers show that

donald trump is maintaining the lead in new hampshire with ben carson surging to the solid second place. the new numbers are coming two days ahead of the next republican primary debate hosted by cnn. trump is center stage, literally in the center of the stage flanked by carson and jeb bush when 11 candidates square off in the main debate wednesday, and correspondent athena jones joining us from the debait site in simi, california, and walk us through this new monmouth university poll coming out, and where does the race stand in new hampshire? >> hi, briana, well thing the race in new hampshire is where it is nationally, and in states like iowa. as you mentioned, donald trump is in the lead, and now ben carson is in a solid second plac place, and we have seen it in recent national polls and monmouth poll in new hampshire

and now, we have seen ben carson jump up to 17% support, and that is very different from july poll, and now the third place finisher now is ohio governor john kasich who is the only other candidate at double-digits, but he is not an outside er, and trump and carson have been riding the wave of the interest of votership as o outside outsiders, and kasich has held political office. >> and so, now, athena, when it comes to the pack of favorable candidates how does jeb bush fare. >> well, the gop voters seem to like the retired brain surgeon ben carson in this poll standing at 73%, and behind him is carly

fiorina who is pretty far behind there and also then you can see trump is tied with governor kasich, and that is 54%. >> and you are there, athena, and give us a look at the debate? >> well, this is remarkable, behind me, there are 13 cameras on the site, and it is a fairly intimate setting, and talking about at the most 500 people, and these are going to be -- >> oh, no. unfortunately, we have lost our sign signal, but athena is there, and we will hopefully go back to her if not this hour, but next hour to give you a little preview of the scene there in simi valley, but on more of what we can expect on wednesday night's debate, i want to bring in donna

brazile and katy packer, former campaign manager of romney for the president. and katy, two days ahead of the second debate, and what are you looking for? >> well, i think that you are going to be seeing a lot more sparks flying at this debate than in the past. i like to say that campaigns matter, and in the early stage, it is all about the candidates, and what do they know about them, and what they see of them on the news. they know a lot about donald trump, but not much of the candidates, but it is to the point where the campaigns kick n and you will be seeing the candidates really testing donald tr trump on the record, and trying to find that sort of the achilles' heel to force him to react in a way that he does not want to react, and with will see more of that wednesday night. >> and i imagine, donna, some of it has to do with the personality politics, and is so what are you looking for and

expecting? sflel w first of all, i'm excited about the debate, because it is an opportunity for the seven candidates not getting a lot of oxygen to take some of the media pull, personality pull away from donald trump, and he is the candidate of the center of the stage, but he is pulling from the fringes, and so it is interesting to see if some of the candidates can be polling, and shocked in single digits, jeb bush, and where is the exclamation point, and rand paul is about to slip off of the stage, and governor christie, and so i want to know if they can make it more than about a personality. >> and it is interesting because of specifically where donald trump stands. and he said that he was not prepared for the first debate, and he asked about the preparing, and if he expects to be attacked and this is what he said. >> my whole life is preparation for the debate. and if you think about it, preparing for the debate, it is

a million thing, and my whole life is going to be a debate. and i will bet tacked and some people say i will, and some people say no, and somebody like a rand paul down at 2%, he is going to be at a tacking, and he has been very, very nice and very, very nice, and then nasty recently, because the poll numbers are down. >> and the republicans are frustrated, katie, because no place where they can get a toe-hold in this, and if they do attack him, as we expect and you are saying they will, and will it pay off for them or hurt donald trump? >> well, they have to find something where he is vulnerable, and cause him to react. i don't think that, you know, small petty thing, and i don't think that challenginging him on not being a conservative is going to affect him much, because he has this 25% that don't seem to care what he stands for in the fact that he is not a conservative, and they like his personality, and there are things that he is sensitive,

and the trump university story that came out that talks about how he is a scam artist that, you know, scammed, you know, middle class people, and elderly people, and took money from them, and that is something that he is going to be sensitive about, and so look g fing for ts that he might respond in a way that sort of is against the type for donald trump is something to expose the vulnerabilities. >> yes. >> and ben carson is so fascinating where he is in the polls, and he has been this surprise, and he is firmly in second place in the polls, and even donald trump as started to attack carson and this is how carson responded on abc's this week. >> i have plenty of energy. operating on the people for 10 or 12 or greater than 20 hours at a time, and making critical decisions after many hours of intense work. >> but dr. carson -- >> and a unexpected situations coming up. you don't have to be loud to be energetic. >> but this is it.

and can we get down to what this means. >> you have heard donald trump attacking ben carson who he says is an okay surgeon, and low energy, and jeb bush is low energy, and this is sort of like the -- he is really insulting like their manliness, and that is what it is, the strength. >> and if we picked the presidents on looksk we would have passed up a lot of people, trust me. and besides whenever they did the movies on lincoln, you notice it is not brad pitt or george clooney, and this debate is held in the library, and in the library, you have to keep it quiet, and this is a good for um for ben carson to show he is slow and steady and substantive, and the campaign is about word of mouth, and people like him, because they have met him, and read the books, and they understand what he is standing for, and carson has a unique advantage in the setting versus some of the other candidates.

>> and we will see if they are quiet in the library, but i am not sure about that. katie pack e, and donna brazile, thank you both so much. and coming up, all of the candidates are trading jabs, and are we seeing the warmup before the debate? we will be discussing that, and plus the kentucky clerk kim davis is back at work, and her h case is a hot topic for the presidential candidates, and we will look at a closer look at what can be gained on both sides of the debate. did you know that good nutrition is critical for brain health? brain food, hmmm. ensure has b vitamins that help support brain health - now that's smart nutrition. ensure's complete balanced nutrition has 26 vitamins and minerals and 9 grams of protein. ensure. take life in.

the gloves are off when it comes to the republican presidential candidates, and and it seems that all roads and insults and putdowns go through

donald trum. the front-runner is continuing to keep the barbs going as we get closer to the debate wednesday. reince priebus spoke to our jake tapper about what to expect. >> well, you know, every candidate in all of the campaigns are going to do what they need to do in order to benefit their own campaigns, and they will probably be elbows thrown at the debate, and you will have your hands full. >> and he will. and here with me, we will have the c nshnn political commentat anna navarro and kevin madden, and i want to start with the top two, donald trump and ben c carson, and you can see that since ben carson jumped up in the polls, donald trump is taking jabs at him. >> i'm a dealmaker, and i will make great deals for the country, and ben can't do that. he is not a dealmaker at all, and that is not his natural

ability at all. >> it is ridiculous to think that the only thing that i can do is neurosurgery, and i find it quite humorous when people think that he is an idiot savant that i only know neurosurgery, and they don't know what it takes to be a neurosurgeon. >> and carson's rise is the expense of other established candidates and not just donald trump, but do the attacks show that he is getting nervous about ben carson? >> oh, trump's attacks show that he is being donald trump. that is what he does. he attacks anybody who attacks him sh him, and he attacks anybody who is close to him at the polls. what he doesn't do which is a smart thing to do is that he does not attack those who are barely registering in the polls. so we saw for xexample earlier n the week that george pataki and bobby jindal tried to take shots at him, and he shrugged his shoulders and he didn't acknowledge it, but this is the

problem, that it is hard to criticize ben carson. we all know the saying, it is not brain surgery. well, it turns out the guy is a brain surgeon, and so good luck to say he is not talented or smart enough or has the energy. >> and it is not just that, kevin, but trump called him an okay surgeon, and he is beyond that, i think that everyone can agree on that. what do you think about donald trump really attacking ben carson. why is he doing that? is there any really strategy behind it, i think? >> well, i don't try to equate anything to the strategy with donald trump, and ana made the best point, he does one thing well, punch. anything bet ter than that, he counter punches. he plays with a reckless abandon, and when it comes to the politics, and i think that is his main m.o. here which is to talk about donald trump, and if anybody in any way gives a

semblance of criticism to donald trump, it is to attack them back. and what has happened though is that this campaign has broken off into the two camps, the establishment lane and the anti-establi anti-establishment lane, and clearly the carson camp and the trump camp see each other as the biggest rivals in the anti-establishment camp, and so you will see much more of this as the campaign progresses. >> another outsider carly fiorina and she has come in the crosshairs, and there was a rolling stone report that trump derided her look, and specifically the face, and now she has come out with this new campaign ad. here it is. >> ladies, look at this face. [ cheers and applause ] and look at all of your faces. the face of leadership. the face of leadership in our party, the party of women's suffrage. the face of leadership --

>> this is intriguing, ana, because it is not an ad against trump even though he said those things about her, but it is an ad that slams democrats, and what is the strategy here? >> well, carly has also proven to be an effective counter punch person, and she does it with great class. of course, you know, brianna, you and i, we all understand that since donald trump is the standard of male beauty, he can of course give himself the luxury of criticizing car cannily's looks, and really, he went beyond what is acceptable there, and even for those who like him, because carly fiorina is a woman who did not inherit her daddy's real estate fortune, and a woman who has gone through ups and downs in life, like most of us, and 61-year-old woman who shows it. and she is a woman who survived cancer, and lost a stepdaughter to the ravages of addiction, and

so i think that going after her looks is a smart tactic for the very, very wealthy and very, very smart donald trump. >> and she is on the main stage, kev kevin, for this debate, and this is a huge development for her, and she was really able to shine in the secondary stage of the last debate, and what does she need to do on wednesday? >> well, this is a fantastic opportunity for carly fiorina to build on the momentum that she has in the campaign right now, and one of the very interesting things is that if you look at the numbers, inside all of the nu numbers here, and while she is polling ahead of scott walker, and marco rubio and jeb bush, the name identification is far below them, and is so in a debate like this with tens of millions of people watching, this is a great opportunity for carly fiorina to build on the momentum, and people learning

about her, to learn more and register some support for her. and the other thing about her that is interesting is that she is not lower iing the expectati, and many in many wa ways she is going out there to meet the expectation expectations, and that is different for other campaigns to manage the expectations, and my candidate is not the best debater, but she is seizing this to introduce herself to a lot of voters. >> we will be looking to see if she does. ana and kevin, thank you, and we appreciate it. and with all of us -- >> thank you. >> thank you. >> yes, thank you both. and you can catch this second republican face-off right here on cnn wednesday night, two back-to-back debates, 6f:00 and 8:00 p.m. eastern. we are getting some new pictures in from cnn from the active shooter situation from delta university in cleveland, mississippi, and it is is a professor there who has been shot and killed. we will have details for you right after this.

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this is cnn breaking news. we are following breaking news now out of cleveland, mississippi, delta state university on lockdown after a male professor was shot and killed inside of his office. that is according to the deputy coroner there in boulevard county. the coroner also says that the shooter is still at large. the university at this point in time is urmging the students to remain inside. they are sending out tweets and telling them to stay inside and away from the windows. we are also learning that the schools in the cleveland school district are in lockdown because of the shooting. i want to bring in a breaking news reporter with the clarion ledger and joining me with now

on the phone, and terresz, you r are the eyes and ears for us on the ground, and what can you tell us about the aerial pictures there of the officers on the scene there at the university? >> what we do know is that some time after 10:00 a.m. that the officer was shot, and the entire campus is on lockdown, and they do continue to put out the notifications that the cam pause is on lockdown. students have reported seeing a s.w.a.t. team on campus, and i have a message from the student who say s ts that they were movo another building because of the search for the shooter. so there is a search for the sho shooter on campus. >> and do they have any idea on campus where the shooter may be or going building to building without really any clue and the location of the shooter? >> it is my understanding that they have an idea of where the shooter is, but there is a building that they are

particularly e keyed in on at this point. at this point, i can't get anybody to confirm the actual building, but i do believe that there is a place where they have really concentrated their efforts. >> okay. that is really interesting that they have an area on campus that they suspect the shooter may be hiding out. do you know at this point, do you know anything about this professor or perhaps about the motivation? we have heard one law enforcement expert who said went looking at something like this, maybe someone had a sort of vendetta against this person. have you heard anything about a motive for this professor? >> i have not. at this point, we are still kind of working on there has been a couple of names that have been put out for the name of the professor, and when i talked to the coroner, himself, he said that he had heard two different names, and he was not going to release anything at this point. so, the possibility is that there is one name that is out there that he is a dad, and has

two kids, and the other name, i'm not very familiar with him at this point, but everything is still pretty much in limbo until they have the shooter in custody, and from what i understand they have not no notified the next of kin of the professor, is it is pretty new at this point. >> and did the coroner tell you why there may be confusion of the identity of the professor who was killed? >> no. and that is kind of confused me as well, because it was seeming to me that the coroner who has the body would have him with identification. so, i don't know if they are sitting on it and keeping it quiet at this point, because there are two names out there, but i nknow that there are, thee are a lot of rumors going on around here and add ing ing to hysteria on the campus, but i do know that as i said, the officials are, you know, are keyed in on this one thing -- and sorry, as this is going on,

i am getting the messages from the sources, and so it is very fluid at this point. >> and very fluid at this point, and therese, go ahead and do your work and find out more in this rapidly developing situation. and thank you, therese april from the "clarion-ledger" for talking to us. and now, i want to remind you that the campus is still under lockdown. they don't want the students to leaf the building, and they want them to stay away from the window, and update the students a as the the information is becoming available. this is active information there as we have heard there from a reporter on the ground that the authorities believe that the person who killed the professor there may be there on the campus, and hold up. we will bring you the details as

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the county clerk in kentucky who refused to grant marriage license s licenses to same sex couples refused to issue the lie sepss, but she could not stand in the way of this happy couple that was issued by kim davis' deputies. this morning she said that she would not take any action

against the deputies who issue the licenses as long as it does not contain her name on the documents or the licenses. she fought back tears as she spoke to the media. >> i don't want to have this conflict and be in the spotlight. i certainly don't want to be a whipping post. i am not a hero, i am just a person who has been transformed by the grace of god, and who wants to work, be with my family, and i just want to serve my neighbors quietly without viola violating my conscious. and so this morning, i am forced to fashion a remedy that reconciles my conscience with judge benning's order, and that is to have any marriage license issued by my office will not be issued or authorized by me. i want the whole world to know and make no mistake about it, if

my deputy clerks who do not have my authorization or authority, and they don't have my authority to issue any license whatsoever. >> and martin savidge is joining me from moorhead, kentucky, and davis' attorneys spoket the top of the hour sh, and what did th say? >> they wanted to stay, brianna, they are moving forward with the appeals they are have filed and leelly more steps they plan to take including the additional action against the apparently governor of kentucky to force him to make as they put it some sort of accommodation to take into account the faith that kim davis has and the faith of hers with the job she has to do, and then the day belonged to two women shannon and carmen wamp ler collins who have waited over 20 years for the opportunity to get married. in june of course the supreme court ruled that it was legal for them to do so.

initially when they came here, they were turned away by kim davis a couple of weeks ago, but today, they came back, and they were rewarded with a marriage license, a i spoke to them just after. >> yeah, it is phenomenal in that it is happening here in a small town in kentucky. i just never, never, when we first got together when we had our wedding did we expect this to be a possible, it is phenomenal. >> reporter: and they have been together for over 20 year, and they have two teenaged children, and really what was to be a remarkable day was overshadowed of course because of the controversy that has come about. they hope that it will slowly subside for them. it was a joyful day for them despite the protests in the background. >> it looks like a joyous day there in the background. and now, this is a political football for the political

candidates, and you can count jeb bush, and ben carson in that group, and including donald t m trump who said this is not the right job for him, and john kasich said this is not a church, and mike huckabee who was there for a celebration when he she got out of jail and senator ted cruz said "praise god, kim has been released." and this is what was said by rick santorum. >> and i believe that the state of kentucky and the federal government should be pass iing e first amendment defense act for people inside and outside of government who have religious convictions that differ with the court ruling. >> and back with me now is the political commentator donna brazile and katie packer who is

the former campaign manager for mitt romney. and when you look at this, katie, it is such an issue to divide the party, and donald trump said she should not be in this job, and carla fee your e tee -- fiorina said the same thing. >> yes, and it is very divided, and i have seen the debates over my twitter feed and among the republicans, and some in the fiorina/trump camp and some in the huckabee camp, a nd some waiting to see how it plays out, and how the actual effect starts to play out as the court ruling, you know, comes into play. and so it remains to be seen. >> it seems it is a bigger issue for the republicans, donna, but it is interesting that kim davis is a democrat. >> she is a registered democrat. >> and she appeared at the celebration with mike huckabee, and so this is --

>> strange bedfellows. >> and very interesting ark and this is the new front when you are talking about the new sort of the front in the fight when you are talking about the same-sex marriage, and what has come out of the supreme court ruling. how does this all play out in the election, do you think? >> it is going to play out the way that donald trump is call canning it is that the freedom of religion does not trump any other law. she had a right in her own judgment to step aside, and she decided not to. and she decided to make herself the centerpiece of it, and today, she said that she wanted to remove herself and she is doing the right thing to allow the other clerks to sign the license, and congratulations to the couple today and the other couples across the country that we no longer have discrimination in the constitution based on who you marry and who you love. >> thank you, donna and katie, and good to have you on twice in this hour. and now, it is the countdown to the next republican primary, and

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trump. breaking news on the shooting of a professor at delta state university, and that professor has been identityfied just in to cnn ethan schmidt who is a history professor who we are learning from authorities there who was shot and killed at delta university, and this is according to the deputy coroner of boulevard county, and that deputy coroner saying that schmidt was actually shot in the head at least once.

so, this is an active shooter situation there at delta state university in cleveland, mississippi. you can see there that this is a delay, and we don't want to give a away the operations there on the ground, but the you can see the authorities there, and we have learned from a local reporter on the ground, but they have zeroed in on the building where the shooter on campus may be held up. and so we will continue to bring you details of the identity of that from fes sor-- of that professor ethan schmidt just released. and now, on cnn wednesday night, we will provide the next pivotal moment in the campaign, and it is who is best positioned to bring in the best gains. i want to bring in jeff zeleny, and molique henderson, and jeff, is this a question who has the

most to gain or a question of who has the most to the lose? >> well, brianna, the answer is both. but, start with to lose, and those lock ed ed in the polls, this debate is the i think you have to look at rub rooub a. he had a strong performance in the first debate. he has an optimistic message that he's someone who could break out of this debate. others have a lot more to lose. scott walker has been plummeting in the polls since the very beginning here. he was top of the field in iowa, as you know. he has gone down, down, down. he says he's going to be more aggressive. he says he's going to mix it up more. we'll find out if he does. >> and carly fiorina saying the same thing. she was in sort of the under card debate. she'll be on main stage this time. she's had a back and forth with donald trump.

i think jeb bush, donors have been look ing ing to see if he' the real stuff and also sort of casting it out for others who might be more e equipped to carry the party to the nomination and win the white house. so i think people will be interested to see if he's going to come out tough as well because he's also been engaged with the back and forth with donald trump. >> it seems that republicans in this debate they are really going to hit donald trump in perhaps a way we didn't see during the first debate. that's the expectation. you never know until debate night. that's why it's important to watch. but if they are hitting him, does he really have a vulnerability that they are zeroing in on, do you think? >> well, what you have seen so far from jeb bush at least is this this idea he's not a real conservative. he's donated to hillary clinton and other democrats. that doesn't seem to be working so far in the polls, but that could be a line of attack against him. then carly fiorina has been going after him saying that he's

a bit of a sexist so she has the new ad out so maybe that will be something. so i think they will just have to see. we didn't see many people attack him in the first debate except for rand paul and chris christie. >> that didn't work out so well. >> exactly. ben carson, what does he do? >> once they get face to face, are they really going to mix it up as much as they have been doing long distance. carly fiorina issued a statement on the stage and say what's wrong with this it face? what a moment that would be. but there are some substantiative u differences. ben carson has been talking about his faith and questioning donald trump's faith. there's so much that's happened since the last debate. when they are next to each other, the dynamic is so different. >> does he have a big vulnerability, jeff? >> does donald trump have a big vulnerability? the expectations continue o to rise for donald trump. he's continuing to dominate the

republican polls. he and ben carson together have more than half the republican vote in this abc poll. i think the stakes get higher and higher for donald trump. we're still waiting to see the evolution of his candidacy. is he going to put more policies out. this is a new phase of the campaign. i don't think it's enough to act like he was at the last debate. donald trump is taking this much more seriously and i expect him to bring it. >> if he doesn't put out those specifics, i'm not talking about national polls but specifically caucus goers in iowa, primary voters in new hampshire, how will they respond or is this all turned on its head and maybe they won't if he doesn't get into the nitty-gritty? >> that's the thing we don't e know. we have been saying he has to put more meat on the bones, focus more on policy. he was in an interview with hew hewitt and was asked tough questions about foreign policy.

he said by the time i'm asked those questions in a real way, i will know the answer. but a lot of what's been fueling him is this populism and it's more about attitude and rhetoric and not so much about policy. i think the vulnerability here certainly the other candidates on the stage are going to hope so is if they can be more specific and got their facts and are in command of policy issues more is so than donald trump. so far we have been wrong about his ability to stay in this it thing and stay at the top of the polls. >> jeff, we know rick perry is out o now. that was sort of the news going into the weekend. this debate is a chance for demands to prove themselves. if they do a good job, they can get much-needed money and resources behind them in the crowded field. who is in danger here of being the next casualty? >> the fundraisers are watching this. we're nearing the end of the fiscal quarter here.

this is so important for people to keep the fuel in the tank really. but i think that you have to keep an eye on rick santorum. you have to keep an eye on rand paul. even lindsey graham, some of the candidates will keep going and going and going because it doesn't cost so much to keep operations alive. lindsey graham is on a shoe string. but i think some of these other candidates who are bigger operations, it's tougher for them. i think rand paul is the most high profile candidate who has to make a move here. e we don't know anyone will drop out here. it's still five months nuntil te iowa caucuses. we'll have to wait and see how the debate on wednesday goes. >> it will be exciting. thank you so much. you can catch all of the dramatic moments of the second republican faceoff here on cnn wednesday night. there will be two back to back debates at 6:00 and then at 8:00

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here we go. i'm brook baldwin live in simi valley, california. live pictures of the reagan library. we are thrilled to be here. we are geeking out, if i may, to be here for this upcoming super bowl of politics. folks, we are 48 hours away from the biggest moment. it's been a surprising race, it's been a conventional, it's been personal really the last several days here. all of these 11 people who we'll see on the stage wednesday night, all fighting for the