Wednesday February 22, 2012
  Press Releases on the CNN Arizona Republican Presidential Debate
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PRESS RELEASE from CNN

For Release:  Feb. 20, 2012
GOP Candidates to Appear for Final Debate before Super Tuesday
John King to Moderate; Special Coverage Anchored by Blitzer, Cooper, Burnett

                On Wednesday, Feb. 22, Republican presidential hopefuls will face-off for the final debate before a dozen states take to the polls on Super Tuesday. CNN anchor and chief national correspondent John King will moderate the two-hour debate, which will air live from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET from the Mesa Performing Arts Center in Mesa, Arizona.

                King, Wolf Blitzer and Erin Burnett will anchor their respective programs live from Mesa on the days surrounding the CNN debate. Anderson Cooper will anchor special, post-debate coverage.

                National political correspondent Jim Acosta, senior political correspondent Joe Johns and CNN Radio’s Lisa Desjardins will report from Arizona. In addition, chief political analyst Gloria Borger, senior political analyst David Gergen and CNN political contributors John Avlon, Donna Brazile, Erick Erickson, James Carville and Ari Fleischer will be on site in Arizona to provide insight and analysis across all programming. On the campaign trail covering the candidates leading up to the Arizona and Michigan primaries are reporter-at-large Peter Hamby, political reporter Shannon Travis, and political producers Rachel Streitfeld and Shawna Shepherd.

All four of the leading Republican presidential contenders will participate in Wednesday’s debate: former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Texas Rep. Ron Paul, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum. In addition to questions posed to the candidates by King and Arizona Republicans in the audience, the network will solicit questions and comments submitted in real-time from CNN.com, the CNN Politics fan page on Facebook and by using the #CNNDebate hashtag on Twitter.

CNN Digital

                 Online, users can visit the CNN Election Center and CNNPolitics.com for all things political before, during and after the debate. On debate night, CNN.com will live stream the event online and on the CNN apps for iPhone, iPad, Android phone and Android tablet. The Political Ticker will live-blog the debate and incorporate live comments generated from social networks directly on the Ticker. Users may also 'check in' to the CNN debate on GetGlue for exclusive CNN debate stickers.

               CNNPolitics.com will also showcase commentary and analysis from CNN’s political contributors, and feature a post-debate camera live from the Spin Room. CNN iReport, the network’s global participatory news community, will be asking for submissions of reactions to the debate, some of which will be shown across CNN.com and broadcast on CNN.

CNN en Español and CNN International

                CNN en Español will join in the coverage of the Arizona debate with anchor Juan Carlos López reporting from Mesa, Arizona starting on Tuesday, Feb. 21. On Wednesday, Feb. 22, López will lead the live coverage beginning at 7:45pm with pre-debate analysis joined by contributors Maria Cardona and Roberto Izurieta from Washington D.C. and Juan Hernández from Dallas. CNN en Español will simulcast the debate at 8 p.m. with Spanish interpretation, followed by 30 minutes of post-debate analysis with the contributors.

                The debate will also be carried live on CNN International.

CNN Worldwide, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company, is the most trusted source for news and information. Its reach extends to nine cable and satellite television networks; one private place-based network; two radio networks; wireless devices around the world; CNN Digital Network, the No. 1 network of news Web sites in the United States; CNN Newsource, the world’s most extensively syndicated news service; and strategic international partnerships within both television and the digital media.

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For more information, visit www.CNNPressroom.com.

CONTACT:

Megan Grant                        Washington, D.C.                       
Edie Emery                           Washington, D.C.            

PRESS RELEASE from CNN
For Release:  Nov. 8, 2011

CNN, Arizona GOP Presidential Primary Debate Moved to February 2012

The Arizona Republican Presidential Debate, scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011, will move to Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012, CNN announced.

Arizona will hold its primary on Feb. 28, 2012 and CNN decided it would be more appropriate to hold this important debate in the critical state of Arizona closer to the primary election. CNN’s partner in the debate, the Arizona Republican Party, and Gov. Jan. Brewer, a driving force in making this debate happen, agreed to CNN’s request to change the date.

The debate will be held at the Mesa Arts Center in Mesa, Arizona and air in primetime on CNN, CNN en Español and globally on CNN International and CNN Radio.

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Ed. Per Oct. 25, 2011 email from Edie Emery, the date of this debate is changed to Wed. Nov. 30, 2011.

PRESS RELEASE from CNN
For Release:  Sept. 29, 2011

CNN, Arizona Republican Party to Present Presidential Primary Debate

                As the race for the Republican nomination intensifies, CNN and the Arizona Republican Party announced today they will co-host a debate among the 2012 Republican presidential candidates in this key Western state on Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011.

                “Arizona is a key state that will play a pivotal role in helping Republicans choose their presidential nominee,” said Sam Feist, CNN Washington bureau chief and senior vice president. “CNN is honored to provide voters in Arizona and around the country an opportunity to hear the GOP candidates present their vision for the future.

“I’ve been in politics a long time, but I can’t remember a more critical election than this,” said Arizona Governor Jan Brewer. “When it comes to some of the hallmark issues facing our country – whether illegal immigration, the housing crisis or the ongoing power struggle between the states and federal government – Arizona is at the forefront. These are national issues, certainly. But Arizonans live and breathe them. So, I’m thrilled that the Arizona Republican Party and CNN have reached agreement on a debate, and optimistic that when the candidates come to Arizona, they’ll meet our voters and offer meaningful solutions to the problems facing our state and nation.”

As previously announced, CNN and the Western Republican Leadership Conference will present a debate on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada. These presidential debates are in addition to two separate Republican primary debates hosted by CNN earlier this year, with Hearst Television’s WMUR and the New Hampshire Union Leader in June 2011 and the Tea Party Express in September 2011.

CNN Worldwide, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company, is the most trusted source for news and information. Its reach extends to nine cable and satellite television networks; one private place-based network; two radio networks; wireless devices around the world; CNN Digital Network, the No. 1 network of news Web sites in the United States; CNN Newsource, the world’s most extensively syndicated news service; and strategic international partnerships within both television and the digital media.

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For more information, visit CNNPressroom.com and the CNN Political Ticker: CNN and Arizona GOP will host presidential debate.

CONTACT:

Edie Emery                            CNN/Washington         


PRESS RELEASE from Arizona Republican Party

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 2, 2011
CONTACT: Thayer Verschoor

Arizona Republican Party Statement on GOP Presidential Debate in Arizona

Phoenix, AZ – Arizona Republican Party Chairman Tom Morrissey released the following statement today regarding Arizona’s role in a Republican Primary Presidential debate in Arizona:

“The Arizona Republican Party shares and supports Governor Jan Brewer’s goal to ensure that Arizona voters are heard loud and clear during the presidential nomination process. So, I was pleased to learn that the Republican National Committee has preliminarily granted Arizona an RNC-sanctioned debate among GOP candidates, preferably in December 2011.

The Arizona Republican Party will shortly submit to the RNC an official application for this debate and will be coordinating with the Governor regarding other arrangements for this exciting opportunity. Morrissey continued, “I am grateful to Governor Brewer for her leadership in this process. All Arizonans can look forward to this debate, which will give our voters an up-close look at the candidates and make certain that issues critical to Arizona and the Southwest are addressed in a serious and substantive manner.”

For more information regarding The Arizona Republican Party and its role in this important event, please contact Thayer Verschoor at (602) 957-7770.

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