WEBVTT - Wednesday's Debate: Bret Baier Talks To A&G

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<v Speaker 1>What a pleasure this is to chat with Brett Bear.

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<v Speaker 1>Brett is the anchor and executive director of Special Report

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<v Speaker 1>with Brett Baer, the best Damn newscast on the TV,

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<v Speaker 1>cable or broadcast. Brett is also co moderating the first

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<v Speaker 1>Republican debate of the cycle with the fabulous Martha McCallum.

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<v Speaker 2>Brett, how are you, sir, Hey, how are you warning?

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<v Speaker 2>We're pretty good.

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<v Speaker 1>So let's get the big orange elephan in the corner

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<v Speaker 1>of the room out of the way. Trump has announced

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<v Speaker 1>he's skipping the debate in favor of an online interview.

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<v Speaker 1>What do you think that says about his relationship with

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<v Speaker 1>the Republican Party at this point?

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<v Speaker 2>Well, I don't know if I can divine what he

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<v Speaker 2>thinks about the you know, the Republican Party or the relationship.

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<v Speaker 2>I do think that there's probably disappointment at the RANC

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<v Speaker 2>that he's not showing up. We were prepared either way,

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<v Speaker 2>and really this is about, you know, all of these

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<v Speaker 2>candidates getting a moment to introduce themselves and also to

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<v Speaker 2>talk about substance. You know, it's a lot of time

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<v Speaker 2>that now is the time that people start to focus

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<v Speaker 2>in a presidential year, the kids back in school, you're

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<v Speaker 2>done with summer vacation, and this is the first big event.

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<v Speaker 2>And you know, if you look at poles, some sixty

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<v Speaker 2>three percent say that they'll they probably or definitely are

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<v Speaker 2>open to voting for somebody else besides the former president.

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<v Speaker 2>So you know, whether it's his relationship, eventually, he's probably

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<v Speaker 2>gonna have to get on more of these stages.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, I would like to point out that that first

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<v Speaker 3>question was under protest from me. I didn't want to

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<v Speaker 3>mention Trump at all because it's driving me crazy when

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<v Speaker 3>I watched the Sunday talk shows that every candidate, many

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<v Speaker 3>of whom I don't know at all, they don't get

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<v Speaker 3>to talk about anything except for Trump, I mean, on

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<v Speaker 3>face ination meet the presidenty of these shows, not the

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<v Speaker 3>same one Fox Sunday, but the other show. So I

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<v Speaker 3>look forward to some policy discussions other than that, for instance,

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<v Speaker 3>And I know you know this because you interviewed Chris

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<v Speaker 3>Christy a couple of weeks ago, and Chris Christie was

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<v Speaker 3>the most pro Ukraine person maybe of anybody outside of

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<v Speaker 3>President Zelinsky that I've heard, calling it a proxy war

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<v Speaker 3>against China and everything like that. Know where Ramaswami is

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<v Speaker 3>on that, and he's the flavor of the month, So

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<v Speaker 3>I mean there's a great conflict there. Can you can

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<v Speaker 3>you poke them with sticks and get them going with

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<v Speaker 3>that that conversation.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, one hundred percent. And there's a number of those

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<v Speaker 2>issues where the stage is split in these different candidates

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<v Speaker 2>how they look at things. And this is not just

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<v Speaker 2>a Q and A. You know, a debate is a debate,

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<v Speaker 2>and so we're going to try to foster some of

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<v Speaker 2>that back and forth between candidates and we'll let it

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<v Speaker 2>free flow for a little while. We're going to try

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<v Speaker 2>to keep him in the guardrails. But you know, we've

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<v Speaker 2>done this kind of thing before and had some success.

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<v Speaker 2>So we've been structuring questions like that so that viewers

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<v Speaker 2>at home really get a sense of the different sides

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<v Speaker 2>of the Republican Party on the same issue.

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<v Speaker 1>We've observed on the show many times that this is

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<v Speaker 1>kind of a strange time politically in that the party

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<v Speaker 1>doesn't set the platform and then choose a candidate to

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<v Speaker 1>reflect the platform. Often the candidate declares what the platform is.

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<v Speaker 1>So I think these debates have elevated him importance. We

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<v Speaker 1>might hear what the Republican platform is likely to be

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<v Speaker 1>Wednesday night.

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<v Speaker 2>Yes, one hundred percent. And I mean you look at

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<v Speaker 2>controversial issues like Ukraine, as you mentioned, you look about

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<v Speaker 2>you look at abortion, which Republicans have been you know,

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<v Speaker 2>politically on the backside of as far as these referendums

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<v Speaker 2>around the country, and they haven't really talked with one

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<v Speaker 2>voice about how they're going to address that issue. And

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<v Speaker 2>there's a few others and which these individual candidates have thoughts.

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<v Speaker 2>And you're right, if they become the nominee, by the way,

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<v Speaker 2>on the same stage that we'll be doing the debate

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<v Speaker 2>on in July next year, they'll they'll take the party nomination.

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<v Speaker 2>If they become the nominee, they'd essentially become the party platform.

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<v Speaker 3>I know you've done this a bunch of times. How

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<v Speaker 3>do you decide how closely to stick to the rules,

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<v Speaker 3>because I always feel like a lot of candidates are

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<v Speaker 3>rewarded for breaking the rules. You know, you're not supposed

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<v Speaker 3>to jump in or whatever, but you jump in with

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<v Speaker 3>your zinger in the crowd roars and it becomes the

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<v Speaker 3>clip of the night.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, we're going to listen. It's it's you have to

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<v Speaker 2>see the moment and kind of feel the room. You

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<v Speaker 2>are trying to keep them to time. You're trying to

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<v Speaker 2>keep them by the rules. But there'll be certain times

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<v Speaker 2>when you're trying to foster that interaction you've got. You know,

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<v Speaker 2>we'll find out this morning eight or nine people on stage,

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<v Speaker 2>and that's you know, a lot of folks. It's spending

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<v Speaker 2>a lot of plates to make sure it's equitable.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, one thing that's always driven us crazy about debates,

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<v Speaker 1>especially on some of the other networks, is every single

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<v Speaker 1>question is from a progressive point of view. Instead of

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<v Speaker 1>asking why is it important to reinstall fiscal sanity in Washington,

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<v Speaker 1>d C? They'll say, why do you want to starve

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<v Speaker 1>old people? We're looking forward to hearing questions from a

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<v Speaker 1>more conservative point of view. Are you conscious of that

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<v Speaker 1>as you prepare? Does that just kind of come naturally?

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<v Speaker 2>I mean, it's a little bit of osmosis. After being

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<v Speaker 2>at talks for twenty six years, sure, and I get

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<v Speaker 2>the other side. You know, there's always another side to

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<v Speaker 2>the mainstream media's portrayal of some issue, and largely we're

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<v Speaker 2>we're doing that every day. But right you're gonna hear

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<v Speaker 2>questions that come from both angles, and definitely things that

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<v Speaker 2>conservatives you know, want to hear if you ask Republicans

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<v Speaker 2>in a separate poll what's most important to them, you're

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<v Speaker 2>going to see and hear the buckets of questions that

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<v Speaker 2>deal with those topics.

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<v Speaker 3>How are they going to be lined up on the stage?

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<v Speaker 3>I are you gonna have since Trump's not there? Are

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<v Speaker 3>you going to have destantus in the middle and then

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<v Speaker 3>like Ramaswami next to him and poor Asa Hutchinson down

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<v Speaker 3>by the exit? Or how's that going to work?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah? Basically it's the top percentage. She gets closest to

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<v Speaker 2>the middle, and then you go out from there. Uh

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<v Speaker 2>and yeah, I mean the stage is really great. It's

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<v Speaker 2>set up fantastic. It's you know, where the Milwaukee Bucks play.

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<v Speaker 2>It's a great impressive facility. And you know Fox, our

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<v Speaker 2>team does a really good job. So you'll be able

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<v Speaker 2>to see it and hear it. That will look good.

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<v Speaker 2>The question is how the candidates do, and that's up

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<v Speaker 2>to them.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, and we're really looking forward to seeing it. But

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<v Speaker 1>just one more question about debates in general. We're both

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<v Speaker 1>anti audience. Well, we think it's a distraction people yelling

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<v Speaker 1>how about just let the ideas stand up for themselves.

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<v Speaker 1>But we're we're probably going to tiny minority, I guess,

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<v Speaker 1>because there's always an audience. Why is that, do you think?

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<v Speaker 2>Well, I think it's a big event. The RNC is

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<v Speaker 2>in charge of this operation. So they bring in people

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<v Speaker 2>from around the country, all of their big donors, all

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<v Speaker 2>their big rigs, and they want to pack the stands

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<v Speaker 2>and show them a good time, etcetera, etcetera. So it's

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<v Speaker 2>an opportunity for them. We're not running that part of

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<v Speaker 2>the show, but I can tell you this that we're

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<v Speaker 2>not going to let the audience, you know, get out

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<v Speaker 2>of control. You know, I give a little speech before

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<v Speaker 2>we start. The more time that we have to stop

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<v Speaker 2>or audience applause or interaction, the left time you're going

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<v Speaker 2>to hear from these can of it's on the issues

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<v Speaker 2>that you want to hear about. Sometimes that works. Sometimes

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<v Speaker 2>you got to stop and remind them, but we'll keep

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<v Speaker 2>it going.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, that's worth mentioning all the time. You know, as

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<v Speaker 3>a moderator, moderators get beat up bad. I mean, you

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<v Speaker 3>know jankless task Yeah, no kidding, I mean I wouldn't

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<v Speaker 3>want to read Twitter that night if I were you.

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<v Speaker 2>No, that's right. If I can get out of this

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<v Speaker 2>with Martha and I unscathed and not the focus.

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<v Speaker 1>Right, We'll be a good thing, right, that's the goal, Brett.

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<v Speaker 1>We are a big big fans of yours. Keep doing

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<v Speaker 1>a terrific job. You've got a great team there at

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<v Speaker 1>Special Report. And I hope this isn't our last chat.

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<v Speaker 1>Good luck on Wednesday night.

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<v Speaker 2>Well love it, Thanks, I appreciate it.