CLEVELAND DEBATE| Inside the press room

CLEVELAND — Inside the fourth-floor press filing room in the Wolstein Center at Cleveland State University, more than 200 members of every media from Newsweek Magazine to The Wooster Daily Record are waiting in angst for the Democratic debate to begin.

With less than 15 minutes to go, the media is being contained to two separate rooms — one for print and another for broadcast. Many are gathering in the center hallway where free food and beverages are available.

Steve Kroft from "60 Minutes" and Dan Balz from the Washington Post are among those in attendence.

Inside the rooms, some people are clustered in corners deep in discussion, while others are typing away on their laptop computers. The reporters are wearing everything from full business suits to jeans and sweaters.

Starting at 7:30, two small groups were escorted to the debate area by debate volunteers. One was for an early photo-op. The other was for a select group of reporters who were allowed to watch the debate first-hand.

Members of the media with general press passes, yellow in color, are only allowed to roam the fourth floor. Exiting the building results in passing through security, where you are subject to being searched and having dogs smell your belongings. There was, however, a man smoking a cigarette on the balcony.

Outside, with snow still pouring from the sky, protesters of Serbian descent are shouting "Kosovo is Serbia." Ron Paul supporters were in full force for the 6 o'clock news cameras, but quickly cleared out as the temperatures dropped.

Staff members, wearing brown press passes, are spreading the word that members from each candidates' campaign will be addressing both media rooms after the debate is over. That may put a damper on the time to track down spectators for reaction interviews.