[Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] You know, we have a big night tomorrow night. It's going to be good. This will not be like an evening in paradise for me.
[Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] Debate day in America. And this is where it is all about to go down. Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. The stage is set and the stakes are very high. The Republican presidential candidates face off tonight in their final debate of 2015. You are looking live at the Venetian Casino in Las Vegas. This is where the CNN debate will begin to unfold. Less than nine hours from now. And swaggering to the middle of the main stage, none other than Donald Trump. The longtime frontrunner now holds his biggest lead yet in the Republican race. According to a new "Washington Post"-ABC News poll, Trump now commands support from 38 percent of the GOP leaning voters. But he faces a new challenge. Ted Cruz has surged to second nearly doubling his numbers from last month. Trump says make no mistake, everybody is gunning for him.
[Trump:] They are all coming after me. I heard today, I'm watching, I'm saying, man, this is like crazy. Who's going to attack Trump first? Will it be this one? You know, he's taken down seven so far. You know if you look, so far everyone who's attacked me has gone right down the tubes so that's good.
[Costello:] All right, let's take you center stage and show you around the venue for tonight's debate. CNN's Athena Jones is in Vegas.
[Athena Jones, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Carol. Just a few hours from now nine candidates will take the stage for the last GOP showdown of the year. You can see Donald Trump will be here at center stage. He'll be flanked by Ben Carson and Ted Cruz. And if you look over here, CNN's Wolf Blitzer will be standing here as the moderator. Just on the other side of the stage, CNN's Dana Bash and Salem Radio host Hugh Hewitt will be seated also asking questions. And this grand theater, the Venetian Theater, will be filled by an invite only crowd of about 1400 guests for the big night. All this comes as Trump's national poll numbers are reaching heights many political pundits thought they'd never reach, making him a top target tonight. He was also a target of protesters last night.
[Jones:] Outrage overnight during Donald Trump's rally in Las Vegas. Tensions high just hours before tonight's final GOP debate of 2015. Multiple protesters forcibly removed while trying to interrupt the frontrunner's speech.
[Trump:] Get them out.
[Jones:] Trump taking shots at his Republican competition.
[Trump:] The other candidates should be thankful. Because I'm giving them a chance to make total fools of themselves.
[Jones:] And bashing the media.
[Trump:] I've learned two things, more than anything else. How smart the people are and how bad and dishonest the press is. Because it is really dishonest.
[Jones:] Trump's GOP rivals going after the billionaire businessman who for the first time has topped 40 percent in a Monmouth University poll of likely GOP voters. That's more than the next three competitors combined. And Trump towering 23 points above his closest rival in this new "Washington Post"-ABC poll.
[Jeb Bush , Presidential Candidate:] I cannot imagine Donald Trump becoming president because he would never win. He would never win. Hillary Clinton would clean him.
[Jones:] This as Texas Senator Ted Cruz surges into second place in national polling and tops Trump in several polls in Iowa.
[Sen. Ted Cruz , Presidential Candidate:] God bless the great state of Iowa.
[Jones:] Which means all eyes will be on center stage to see if the two former allies will go after each other.
[Sarah Palin , Former Alaska Governor:] They are both strong and very decisive and someone who would take the initiative. That is what we need today. And both those candidates fit that bill.
[Jones:] Tonight's debate is the first for the GOP contenders since the Paris and San Bernardino terror attacks, and comes about a week after Trump called for a ban on Muslims entering the U.S. The debate will keep national security at the forefront.
[Sen. Marco Rubio , Presidential Candidate:] The vast majority of people that are trying to come are people that we just don't have information on. This is an issue that you have to be right 100 percent.
[Jones:] And Marco Rubio is another candidate to keep an eye on tonight. He's performed well in past debates and his team is hoping for another strong night tonight. Their view going into tonight is why try to fix what isn't broken. When it comes to Trump and Cruz, the question isn't so much whether Trump will try to hit Cruz but whether and how Cruz will hit back. And I should mention, Carol, the security sweeps are just now beginning in and around this theater. So it's just one more sign we're getting closer to the main event. Back to you.
[Costello:] We certainly are. Athena Jones, thanks so much. So the stage is set, the anticipation is building. Donald Trump ready to rumble. And maybe he ought to be. Ted Cruz has questioned his judgment. Marco Rubio says Trump is not qualified to be president. And Jeb Bush, remember him? He says Trump is not serious enough to be president. So let's talk about all of this. Mercedes Schlapp is a former Spanish language media spokesperson for President George W. Bush. She joins me. And in Las Vegas, Kayleigh McEneny, who's a Republican strategist. Welcome to both of you.
[Mercedes Schlapp, Former Spanish Media Spokesperson For George W. Bush:] Thank you.
[Kayleigh Mceneny, Republican Strategist:] Hey, Carol.
[Costello:] Thanks for being here. So Trump launched a preemptive strike against Cruz by citing his poll numbers. But I don't see Ted Cruz eager for a fight with Trump. Do you, Kayleigh?
[Mceneny:] No, I don't. You know, Ted Cruz has played this so wisely. You look at all of the candidates who have been, you know, on Trump's heels and he smacked them all down very successfully. Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina, Ben Carson, and they all to some degree fought back. Ted Cruz had not fought back, and Donald Trump is going to have a very hard time attacking Ted Cruz because Ted Cruz's record is stellar. As a conservative candidate, his votes are on par. He's one of the most conservative candidates in the race so Trump may have a hard time attacking him and Ted Cruz is brilliant by not striking back.
[Costello:] So, Mercedes, will Ted Cruz just stand there and and will bit a big love fest between the two men?
[Schlapp:] Well, I don't think it will be a love fest. But what I think you're going to see from Ted Cruz is the fact that he understands that he is the one to gain the most if Trump were to fall. What we're seeing right now is a divide in the conservative party. Where you have a portion of the voters going to Trump. And the other portion going to Cruz. And so I think for Cruz he's going to say we're going to be focusing on policy, he's going to focus on his character. He doesn't want to go into, as he tweeted out, the cage match with Donald Trump. And I think that's a very smart strategy because all the other candidates that went after Trump, obviously they failed.
[Costello:] OK. So let's talk about one candidate that many analysts say is on the rise. And that would be Chris Christie. So, Kayleigh, might Chris Christie take on Donald Trump? Because he's just as combative.
[Mceneny:] You know, I think he could. And it's interesting because you're right to point out that they have very similar personalities. They're both very strong. They're both dynamite personalities on the stage. But Chris Christie is going to have a hard time because if you look at the tempo of this race it is a conservative race. It's one like we've never seen before. A John McCain couldn't win in this climate. A Mitt Romney couldn't win in this climate. A Jeb Bush couldn't win in this climate but a Ted Cruz can. And if Chris Christie, although he's very strong when it comes to foreign policy, is going to have a hard time catering to that conservative base that is eager for a true conservative candidate.
[Costello:] OK, so, Mercedes, we have to talk about the Muslim question. Mosques across the country are being vandalized. Muslim Americans are scared. Who might criticize Donald Trump for his rhetoric on Muslims?
[Schlapp:] Well, I think you're going to see a number of candidates basically say we don't support what Donald Trump is mentioning. I mean, they have already gone on the record basically like Bush said Trump has been unhinged on this policy. And the fact that in many cases they are viewing it as unconstitutional. So I believe you could see a bit of these other candidates maybe piling on Trump. The problem is, is when you're looking at these poll numbers, Republicans, as close to 59 percent support this man. So this is going to be an interesting and important conversation to have this evening because obviously it's a very divisive policy nationally, although for the most part you're talking that over majority of Republicans support it.
[Costello:] So, Kayleigh, Mercedes mentioned that Well, let me just run this by you because Mercedes mentioned that "Washington Post"-ABC News poll. Six in 10 Republicans agree with Trump's ban on Muslims. So, Kayleigh, wouldn't it be dicey for the other candidates to come out strongly against that ban even though they may even though they may not support the ban?
[Mceneny:] Carol, no doubt about it. You know, most Republican voters are scared. We saw someone get here on a fiancee visa that was screened with a background check three times. And the folks who were doing that did not catch the fact that she had radical extremist views publicly out in the open. So Republican voters want this problem to be fixed. And we know who's going to have to explain himself tonight is Marco Rubio because Rand Paul last week put a bill on the floor that ban immigration from 30 countries that are hotbeds for terrorism. Ted Cruz voted for that bill, Rand Paul voted for that bill, Marco Rubio did not. So Marco Rubio may be the one to attack Trump on this but I think it would be very unwise to do so.
[Costello:] All right. I have to leave it there. Mercedes Schlapp, Kayleigh McEneny, thanks to both of you. You can only see the fifth GOP presidential debate right here on CNN. Moderated by Wolf Blitzer, the first debate starts 6:00 p.m. Eastern tonight. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the polls show Trump surging but that's not all they're saying. Is the picture as rosy as you think for Trump?