about how low -- how much low regard people have for corporate media, how they cover issues, how they've lied about the biden family corruption, how they've lied about the state of the economy and go ahead and realize that the media are also a political opponent if that smart and savvy republican candidates -- jesse: absolutely. any chance you get to stick a dagger in the media -- [laughter] in front of a republican audience like that, take that opportunity. ladies, thank you guys so much. >> thank you. >> thanks. jesse: let's bring in bill hemmer and dana perino who are on site. guys, i don't know if you heard pete hegseth, he described the mood there as nervous anxiety based on how monumental things are, is that the vibe? bill: well, we'll see, right? dana: it's also 109 degrees, so things are hot, jeste -- jesse, and they're about to get hotter. bill: thank you, jesse. good evening if from milwaukee,

i'm bill hemmer. dana: and i'm dana perino, less than 30 minutes away from this first debate of the republican presidential campaign season. bill: eight candidates will be on stage behind us, they will be fighting for their political lives. you know, a great performance could jump-start a path to the white house, but a poor showing could be lights out tonight. dana: coming up during the next half hour, we will check in with our debate moderators, bret baier and martha maccallum, and we will talk to brit hume, harold ford and trey gowdy. bill: kellyanne conway iser here, karl rove and laura ingraham. we'll get a prediction from sean hannity, and we'll get live reports from the white house and right here in milwaukee. dana: that is where we begin tonight. bill melugin joins us. good evening to you, bill. >> reporter: dana, good evening to you. look, it goes without saying, there is a lot on the line for these candidates tonight. these first debates always seem to get the most attention during

every campaign cycle, right in so that means this debate tonight is a huge chance for these candidates to really make a first impression with voters who are watching at home. for those voters, it's going to be the first time seeing all these candidateses on stage together face to face, debating ideas in person under the bright lights in front of a national audience. there will be chances for folks to have a breakout moment on that stage likely because, remember e, it's not just going to be republicans watching tonight, there will be ingets, there will likely be -- independents, there will likely be democrats. these candidates are looking to take advantage, and they want to shake this race up. almost there, guys, send it back to you. dana: great report, update for us, thank you, bill. bill: thank you, bill. our debate moderators are in their chairs. bret baer and martha maccallum, they've been working all week. guys, good evening. bret: we're not in the chairs yet, we're backstage. this is where all the candidates are going to be lined up, right here, and we're getting ready to go. martha and i -- [laughter] feels like the first day of

school, we've got our binders. martha: wouldn't everyone like to know what's in the binder? if on our way here, we ran into some of those that are getting ready to come out. they seem pretty pumped up and excited, as are we. so we wanted to show you what it's like back here. bret: the crowd is big, probably 4,000, maybe plus, and they're fired up. they've been in the seats for a while. they're ang shus to get started, and we'll be walking out, giving them a little preamble before everything starts, and then we will get to the debate moderator desk and start the asking questions. martha: yeah. we're looking forward to it. bret: bill, dana, back to you. like the oscars or, behoo hind the scenes. la. [laughter] dana: i love that. bill: it looks fantastic. we'll see you guys in about 28 minutes. thank you. martha: see you later. dana: all right. let's bring in our panel, brit hume, harold ford jr. and trey gowdy. brit, what are you hooking for

tonight in somebody hike a ron desantis? >> is well, i think desantis is needing to give his campaign a boost, and i kind of think that that one of the things we're hearing is that he's going to be under attack. and i wonder if that might not be just the best thing that would happen to him. he's a smart guy, we hear he's prepared fairly well. he's probably anticipated a lot of attacks. and if he was, first of all, when you're attacked, you get to respond no matter what the other time limits are. it'll give him more air time if he's attacked, and it'll give him more opportunity to make a sharp and well-rehearse response that might if end up helping him, and i think that's what he needs. ing something to watch for. thame thame he's taken a lot of incoming. >> and i'm sure he's heard it all, prepared for as much of it as he can. it'll with interesting to see how he responds. bill: trey, a few ideas, what do your notes tell you? >> that this is a celebration of democracy. i think sometimes we overlook, i

mean, there's a lot of excitement here in milwaukee, but everyone doesn't get to pick their own leaders. and9 fact that we get to hear them tonight debate one another is worth celebrating. it's also a time to plus up your weaknesses. my friend tim scott is perceived as being too nice. i'm not sure you can be too nice, but people say too nice. is he enough of a fighter. it's a chance tonight to say, you know what? i do have another side to me. you could plus up a weakness in the debate tonight. dana: you know what they say is, you should always marry the nice guy. and you are a nice guy as well. harold ford jr., you debated not on the presidential stage yet, but when you are getting these moments just before the debate, how important is it to remember who you are rather than who the consultants told you to be? >> it's probably the best thing to think about. when you get in one of these races, and trey and i have been in races before, you're remind that campaigns and politics are about people. i was working out this morning

to the oliver anthony song rich men north of richmond, and it reminds you that that at your best -- and politics at its best responds to people and tries to pond to people's as aspirations. tonight these candidates are going to do two things. one, most people don't know who they are, so they're going to have a real opportunity to present themselves and their ideas. and i hope as they do it, they talk about how they're going to solve problems the way brit talked about earlier today and at the same time how you're going to reach across the aisle. two, that room is electric right now, that auditorium. everybody feels like the first day of school. of i know most of the people there are republicans, but there are old a pal, and i was enjoying that. finally, president trump chose not to come. i think depending how well everyone does tonight when it's desantis, ramaswamy, christie, haley, so, i hope that tim scott and nikki haley find a way the also break through, i wonder if president trump will regret not coming tonight depending on the night these men and women have.

bill: gentlemen, stand by here in milwaukee, okay in when we come back, who will break out, who will back down? dana: sean hannity will give us his predictions about what will happen during tonight's debate. ♪ ♪ businesses need 5g solutions today. that's why they choose t-mobile for business. mlb partners with t-mobile to not only enhance the fan experience, but to advance how the game is played. aaa relies on t-mobile's network to stay connected nationwide, so they can help get their members back on the road. and we're helping pano ai innovate, to stop the spread of wildfires. now's the time to see what america's largest 5g network can do for your business. shingles. the rash can feel like an intense burning sensation and last for weeks. it can make your workday feel impossible. the virus that causes shingles

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♪ ♪ bill: looks like 20 minutes on the clock for the big countdown. president biden, meanwhile, is on vacation out west in california, and earlier today democratic party officials refused to commit the president to debating the eventual republican nominee during the general election. peter to do city joins us tonight -- peter doocy joins us from the white house. >> reporter: today far from the spin room, the president biden took a spin class, and when he merged to continue vacationing, he said he's going

to try to watch as much of tonight's debate as he can. a campaign staffer texted me this afternoon to let me know dark brandon will also be watching, a meme that savvy staffers use to try to make the president come across as a powerful and shad to doe by figure. counterprogramming focusing heavily on abortion, and everybody that you see on stage tonight wants a chance to eventually debate president biden. if he shows. today his team would not commit to a general election debate despite many, many, many promises to restore norms. bill. bill: wow. peter, thank you. peter doocy from the white house. dame tank i was just going to say, what happened to a return to norms? let's wring in laura ingraham. she's not normal, she is unique, and she is here -- [laughter] bill: good evening, laura. dana: what a do you look for in a night like tonight? >> i love that. i'm not normal. news flash the, dana and bill. [laughter] of course not.

dana: you're you ooh anemic. >> people talk about the breakout moments, and i look for moments where people surprise you. so if you think someone's stiff or tattoo aloof, there's maybe a moment of self-depracation or a moment of humor that you're not really expecting or if someone is more of a, known as more of an establishment figure, they sort of, wait a second, i can be as populist as the next guy. now, it all has to be believable and credible, but voters are looking for someone who can both relate and deliver. so relate to them and their problems but deliver results and solutions that we actually know work. so i think that in a nutshell is what people looking at. bill: sounds good. and i think they have a chance to play out this a audience too. i mean, they really want to hear some ideas tonight, laura. >> yeah. i think the fight, you know, people are going to be taking on biden, obviously. people are going to be swiping at each other, but in the end,

americans know what the problems are that are facing the country, and they need to believe that you don't just relate to them, but you can actually solve the problems. and before you of the problems, you have to be able to beat biden which means you have to get to 270 electoral votes. so what states that trump didn't win are you going to be able to win, and you make that case credibly to a very skeptical, sometimes skeptical public. trump obviously has a huge lead, and so candidates are going to have to sell, look, i'm actually going to win this. he didn't win last time the, i'm going to win this this time. and again that's a heavy lift, but i think anything can happen tonight. bill: okay. dana: love having you on, thank you so much, laura ingraham. >> good to see you guys. bill: you too. predictions now, sean hand the city has made his way to milwaukee. good evening, sir. >> great to be -- my two favorite or two of my most favorite people in the world. great to see you guys, and i hope to see you in a few moments in person because we're really not that far apart.

welcome to milwaukee. it's going to be a fun night tonight. bill: yeah. sean, as you look at this, right, eight on stage, what do you hope to see, what do you think we'll see? >> you know, laura used the word that i often use about debates, you're looking for moments. you know, you can think back, reagan i'm not going to let my opponent's youth and inexperience be a factor in this campaign, the whole room erupts. even walter mondale started laughing, it was such a good line. that was a moment. or on the other side of it, lloyd benson, you know, jack kennedy, i thought that was kind of a mean, low blow by benson towards dan quayle. so i would say that, you know, look who comes in there and is comfortable. i would think vivek is probably to going to surprise at lot of people. he seems very comfortable in front of a camera, he seems ready to go. i just saw ron desantis, he seemed ready to go. he seemed in a great mood,

lighthearted. i saw mike pence, and i just think -- for all the talk about donald trump not coming, i think these guys, they should be glad he's not coming, because he sucks out about 98.5% of all the oxygen in the room -- [laughter] and this, hopefully, will give them an opportunity. if i was them, i'd focus less on attacking other people there and explaining to america what are the values you hold dear, what are the principles, your governing principles, how are you going to fix the economy, what are you going to do on the border, what are you going to do with law and order, how can we, how do, does america take back its position as the dominant world leader, the sole superpower in the world which i think joe biden has abdicated? comparing and contrasting, you know, conservative ideas with joe biden's failures, i think, would be a good strategy tonight. belle if bill okay. well, you're in the spin room. we'll see if you're right, okay in afterwards be going right to you, sean. nice to see you tonight. >> expect when you guys are on

tomorrow, i expect you to grade me and see if my predictions are right. bill: we shall did that. dame tank you just said we're your favorite people, so it's going to be a high grade with. thanks so much. >> thanks, guys. dana: the first pup if. s are about to be thrown and the candidates are about to take the state. bill: we will get last minute analysis from karl rove and kellyanne conway. you see the stage inside, bret and martha getting warmed up, and natalie grant two's about to sing our national anthem. do not miss a moment. t ♪ hena) being all over, all at once. (tina) all the time. (christina) but my old network wasn't cutting it. and that's not good for baking. or judging. or writing. so, we switched to verizon, the network businesses rely on. with verizon business unlimited, i get 5g, truly unlimited data, and unlimited hotspot data. so, no matter what, i'm running this kitchen. (vo) make the switch. it's your business. it's your verizon.

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a piece on foxnews.com about the six key things you're to going to look for. has that changed to over the course of the day? >> it has not. and i made the point in that piece, dana and bill, that politically speaking nobody had a better 2022 than ron desantis, and nobody's had a worse 2023 than ron desantis. he's got an opportunity to reset, to regain the traction, the excitement around his campaign. he has debated in the past, adam putnam, charlie crist, the other seasoned debaters, chris christie and mike pence, i don't think they'll have any kind of stage fright. and i believe the task for each of these candidates is to both portray confidence but also to project competence. and if you're hung up on something or somebody's making you angry, it's incredibly important to stay calm and remember your audience is not each other, it's not even the moderators necessarily. the audience is we, the people. so look in that camera and take your case directly to the people. last thing, all these candidates are under pressure and none of them are urn oath.

and i know that our moderators are really going to possess them hard on some of the suppositions and some of the salesmanship they're trying to make tonight. that's important too. bill: all right. in a moment we expect the candidates to walk out, so so stand by for that if we have to interrupt, karl. but in the meantime, karl, set the stage for what's on your mind, ten minutes to go. >> well, look, everybody has, goes into this debate with a plan, and that'll last as long as they get a question that throws 'em off the plan. but having an idea of what it is that you want to share with the audience, the kind of points that you want to make, the kind of values you want to share, the kind of record you want to lay out and, most important of all, what it is that you want to depict you as being the president of the united states, these things are all important. and every candidate should try and return to them as often as they can do so appropriately in the debate. finish but it's a high stakes game and it's hard to keep on

playing, but you have to walk in with a plan and try and stick to it. with. bill: got it. that's the mike tyson theory, by the way. dana: the candidates are walking out now, let's take a look as they line up. it was by order of polling, so that's how you see how this ended up. you have vivek ramaswamy and ron desantis there in the middle, nick key haley in -- nikki haley in light are blue and mike pence on the other side. and as these candidates take the stage, they're going to have a chance to see each other after trading barbs in the press -- bill: yeah. what's interesting is ramaswamy and nikki haley are next to each other, ask they've kind of gone at it based on foreign policy. i would expect to see something from her directed toward him. ron e desantis, brit mentioned this a couple of minutes ago, he's really been under fire for the past four weeks, and we'll see how he rebounds tonight. dana: governor doug burgum, he'll be screen right there, he was in the hospital this morning having tore his achilles tendon,

and asa hutchinson was the last addition to the debate stage. he's on your far left, former governor of arkansas. bill: karl, we interrupted you. go ahead with your final thought before tonight begins. >> well, look, these men and women have prepare for this event tonight. -- prepared for this event with literally every bit of preparation goes out the window when you go onto that stage. of it's a unique environment that they really haven't prepared themselves for, there's no way you can. and how well they to do tonight is going to be a testament of their own native abilities and their ability to adjust to the changing circumstances they find themselves in. bill: good stuff. thank you, karl. thank you, kellyanne. we'll see you in minutes. doug burgum, by the way, is far stage right. playing basketball this morning, tore his achilles ten on the do. showed up in the green room today earlier on crutches. i didn't want see him on crumps. -- i didn't see him on crutches.

dana: he said compared to what the men and women in blue do for us, he said this was nothing. so we're back with our panel now, brit hume, harold ford jr. and trey gowdy. brit, what about trump not being here tonight, how do they teal with that? >> well, i guess he's, did the this pretaped interview with tucker carlson for presentation on twitter. be interesting to see how that goes and whether any real news is made out of that. my thought is it's risky to skip a debate. we saw what happened to ronald reagan when he skipped the iowa debate in 980, he lost the state and propelled george h.w. bush into the lead for the time. reagan eventually won the nomination, but i don't think george h.w. bush would have been president had he not won iowa in 1980 and wouldn't have been able to stay in the race. he had a foothold in the race, stayed in the race, end up being president of the united states. so it can be consequential, skipping debates. it's risky. bill: trey, we haven't spoken about chris christie yet. he's talked publicly about going

after donald trump, and he's talked about perhaps putting ron desantis in his crosshairs tonight. >> yeah. well, you know, bill, all eight have something in common, they're behind. [laughter] they're behind a lot to the guy that's not there. so if they -- they can quarrel among themselves, but they've got to catch secretariat right now. you better make the case same ideas, fewer indictments. somebody's got to make the case i've got the same ideas donald trump as has, but you don't need to worry about me making initial appearances and whether or not i can make bond if i'm the president. and unless you make that case to trump supporters, they're going to stay behind. bill: josh holmes has been making the point is this is no longer survive and advance, it's you've got to knock somebody out r when you're that far behind. >> i hope that trey gave that advice to a candidate out of south carolina that he just gave us here on the set. foreign policy will play, i think, a lot more prominently. brit and i were talking about this earlier, these candidates,

i think, will be able to distinguish and differentiate themselves with that. our mate on "the five, jessie watt tears said he hopes they're not looking to get applaud, they're looking for that silent approval and give a real leadership are, big vision-like thing for the country. if they're able to do that, the country will win because public discourse and debate is the best thing for democracy, ask we'll get a chance to see that tonight. bill: does that work, brit? >> i think it can. foreign policy is way town on the list when you ask people what they're interested in. i think i'd be disappointed though if we didn't have a real discussion particularly about whether, and it's controversial among republicans now, to stick with it in ukraine. bill: interesting. we've had developments in russia today. trey, when you talk to a lot of people here in milwaukee, they bring up immigration. and the past 11 months upwards of 40 people on the no-fly list have been apprehended at the border, and that's an all-time

record. you wonder what the longstanding effect of that could be for our own national security here at home. >> i think you are right and they are the right. what shocked me was during the midterms people who livessed the border as their number -- listed the number one issue, 55-45. you would think republicans would do very well among people who say therd border's the number one issue, but they don't. the same with crime. the fact that they think border the immigration is number one doesn't necessarily mean they're going to break republican. bill: harold. >> number two in that poll to, guns and crime. it'll be interesting -- bill: what about the economy? how do you frame this tonight tonight for these eight republicans? >> i think they have to give us some answers. it's easy to say you don't like what biden's doing, but give us some plans and ideas. bill: good deal. gentlemen, thank you so much. thank you. it is close to 9:00 eastern time, almost time for bret and martha and the first primary debate with of the cycle, and

here we go, america. but before we go, let's make an entrance, what do you say, dana? dana: i would love to do this. check this out. we are going to take you back inside pfizer forum to hear five-time cma dove awards female vocalist of the year natalie grant singing our national anthem. bill: she is outstanding, and so is this. this is a live drone shot working it way through the arena. as we told you this morning on america 's newsroom, grab your popcorn. dana: i was thinking i would love one of those pretzels with some wisconsin cheese. bill: you can get that here. this is natalie grant, and let's go. ♪ through the perilous fight. ♪ o'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming. ♪ finish -- and the rockets' red

glare, the bombs bursting in ai- ♪ gave proof through the night that our flag was till there -- still there. ♪ o, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave -- ♪ o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave with -- brave with ♪ [cheers and applause].

dana: what a stirring way to begin the first primary debate of this 2024 election season. candidates are on the stage. martha and bret will start the questioning and our drone took us right in. bill: almost feels like play ball, harold. let's go inside of fiserv arena. people here in milwaukee have been fantastic. they are giving us their best tonight. 4,000 strong inside. you're about to see the first event of the political season. where we end up in november of 2024 is anyone's guess but tonight is the first step in that direction. enjoy it, america. we'll see you tomorrow morning. bret and martha, take it from here. good flight. ♪. ♪