dinner with westmoreland when westmoreland wasn't there, the pyramids. >> well, you're looking live. milwaukee, wisconsin, there's the stage. it's set. 24 hours and 21 minutes from now is the first debate. the undercard debate actually will have a lineup of four candidates. this includes chris christie, mike huckabee, bobby jindal and rick santorum. at 9:00 p.m. eastern you see the main stage debate and that will have eight candidates this time. the lineup right there. this comes as some new polls out today in south carolina, monmouth, a well respected there, has ben carson and donald trump essentially tied at the top. there you see rubio making a move, cruz and the rest. and then here is the rcp, the real clear politics average and the national race and where it stands as of this evening. let's begin there. let's bring in our panel. steve hayes, senior writer for the weekly standard. mara lawson and and charles