On Wednesday night, eight Republican presidential candidates gathered in
Milwaukee for the first GOP primary debate.

There was a lot on the line for each of them. But there was also an
enormous amount at stake for the news organization that hosted the
debate: Fox News.

Consider the cross currents that the two Fox moderators, Martha McCallum
and Bret Baier, had to deal with: 

First there was Trump, who refused to participate and lashed out at Fox
and its talent, including Baier, on social media.

Then there was Tucker Carlson, McCallum and Baier’s former star
colleague who is in messy litigation with the network, and who nabbed
Trump for himself and counter-programmed the evening with an interview
that aired simultaneously with the Fox debate. 

Then there was Rupert Murdoch hovering in the background. In the days
before the debate there were new reports that the man who runs Fox,
MacCallum and Baier’s boss, has his own strong feelings about who the
GOP nominee should be. 

If that isn’t enough, on the eve of the debate, several candidates who
didn’t qualify to be on stage threatened to sue.  

Add to that the challenges of being the ones asking the uncomfortable
questions in that arena on Wednesday. The candidates are primed to
pounce on you if it serves their political interests. The boisterous
crowd of partisans could turn on you at any moment. 

So what was it like behind the scenes at the Fox News debate? How did
the hosts prepare, including for a possible last-minute appearance by
Trump? What did they think of the highly caffeinated Mike Pence
interrupting them at every turn? What was the deal with DeSantis and
Christie during that one hand-raising moment? And whose idea was that
UFO question, anyway? 

On this episode of Playbook Deep Dive, host and Playbook co-author Ryan
Lizza asks Martha and Bret those questions and a lot more as they bring
us inside what is perhaps the most important event of the GOP primary so
far.

Ryan Lizza is a Playbook co-author for POLITICO.
Martha MacCallum is the anchor and executive editor of "The Story with
Martha MacCallum" on Fox News Channel.
Bret Baier is the Fox News Channel's anchor and executive editor of
"Special Report with Bret Baier" and chief political anchor of the
network.
Kara Tabor is a producer for POLITICO audio. 
Alex Keeney is a senior producer for POLITICO audio.