Tapper: Debate ‘Much More Substantive & Civil than We Prepared For’

TAPPER: "I think we’re at a point in the presidential race where the candidates realize after the Fox News debate where they were comparing the sides of their manhoods and such, and interrupting each other quite a bit, that perhaps what they were doing on the stage was not good for the Republican Party or good for themselves as presidential candidates or nominees. I think all of them came ready for a more substantive debate. We brought up areas of disagreement around there were areas where they were criticizing each other but they were generally more civil. As a general note, we came wanting to get into some issues and talk about some of the substantive issues that the American people want to us ask about... I didn’t know what to expect. You know this, when we prepare for these debate, we do mock debates with our amazing CNN political team playing the roles of different candidates and going through all the questions figuring out what works and what doesn’t work. We mocked — every mock debate we had the candidates were much more energetic, let’s say. And they were much more substantive and civil than we prepared for, which was nice, which was a pleasant surprise."