Christie returns to main GOP presidential debate stage

CNN said Paul “was saved at the eleventh hour by showing viability in Iowa in a Fox News poll released Sunday morning”.

CNN will host the final Republican presidential debate of the year on Tuesday, with nine candidates appearing in the prime time showdown.

Trump, who has seen Cruz surge ahead of him in polls in the early voting state of Iowa, has begun an onslaught against the USA senator from Texas and could ratchet up his attacks at the nationally televised forum in Las Vegas. Ted Cruz, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Kentucky Sen.

There will be two different debates, with the first starting at 3 p.m. PT, 6 p.m. ET and the second beginning 5:30 p.m. PT, 8:30 p.m. ET.

The poll, released late Thursday, shows that Christie’s overall job approval now stands at just 33 percent among New Jersey voters. that’s a drop of six points since October.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, South Carolina Sen. Fiorina protested, and CNN buckled, inviting any candidate who hit the top 10 in any national poll.

Trump, Cruz and Rubio have established themselves as the Big Three in the GOP race with about seven weeks to go until the first votes are cast in the Iowa caucuses. Rand Paul will also be on the debate stage – it was originally unclear whether he would make the cut or not.

Live stream: CNN will live stream the debate on CNN.com’s homepage and across mobile platforms from 5 p.m.to 11 p.m. ET.

Here are the candidates participating in the primetime debate, their poll number percentage (from CNN’s Poll of Polls) and their websites.

“We think if they give us the same treatment that Carly Fiorina was given last time, that you measure from debate to debate, that we do meet the criteria”.

CNN has partnered with Facebook to host the Republican debate on Tuesday, December 15. Lindsey Graham and former New York Gov. George Pataki now qualify for that stage. On Fox News Sunday, Trump said Cruz has conducted himself “like a bit of a maniac.”“You cant walk into the Senate and scream and call people liars and not be able to cajole and get along with people, ” Trump said, referring to Cruzs accusation that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had not been truthful in negotiations.

But Rubio has to play a complex game, simultaneously reassuring conservatives that he is tough enough for them while also not allowing establishment candidates such as Bush or Christie to winnow away at support from the center-right.