Good morning, I'm Taylor Wilson, and this is five things you need to know Wednesday,

the 9th of August, 2023.

Today, an early look at the first Republican primary debate, plus whether the Trump legal

team's strategy could hold water, and why Ukraine's counteroffensive is having limited

success.

Former Vice President Mike Pence became the 8th and possibly last candidate to qualify

for the first Republican primary debate on August 23rd.

For more on his qualification and why the debate matters, I spoke with USA Today Washington

Bureau Chief Susan Page.

Thanks for making the time, Susan.

It's always a pleasure to be with you.

So former Vice President Mike Pence has qualified for the first Republican presidential primary

debate.

Susan, why did it take him so long to qualify?

Well, it's really been an illustration of the political problems he has.

He had more trouble than other candidates, other leading major candidates, in getting to

the threshold that you need to reach to get on the debate stage, which is 40,000 unique

donors to your campaign.

He did okay in the polling requirement, but he had some trouble raising the money.

It is a big relief to his supporters that he has finally gotten over that line.

And who else can we expect on the stage?

There are eight candidates who have qualified for the stage, but we don't know if one of them

...