The world is watching

Supporters gather outside the site of tonight's GOP debate.

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (CNN) - Tonight’s debate will be seen around the world on CNN International. And here at the filing center, journalists from around the globe will be listening to and in many cases translating every word.

The filing center at the debate site at Saint Anselm College in Manchester is housed in a large gymnasium. There are seats for more than 600 journalists and many of those seats will be filled by reporters from around the world.

I just took a walk around the filing center and counted writers, reporters, and producers from Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, Russia, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, Japan, and South Korea. There are also journalists here from Middle Eastern-based networks like Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera.

As this debate may help decide who becomes America’s next president, it’s perhaps no surprise that the world will be watching the event.

Tonight’s Republican Presidential debate is being sponsored by CNN, WMUR, and the Manchester Union Leader. The debate kicks off at 7 p.m. ET...or early morning in South Korea.

–CNN Deputy Political Director and Managing Editor Paul Steinhauser