It wouldn't be much of a stretch to describe Bret Baier's rise at Fox News as meteoric. In just about 10 years, the Atlanta native went from starting the network’s Atlanta bureau (which consisted of a cell phone and fax machine in his apartment), to lead news anchor, drawing 2 million viewers each night. What many of those viewers may not know is that Baier credits part of that rapid rise to his two-year gig at WRAL in the 1990s.

Baier, anchor of the one-hour "Special Report with Bret Baier" (6 p.m., Monday-Friday), was hired away from WRAL in 1998 by Fox News to start the Atlanta bureau, and then moved to Washington in 2001 as their Pentagon correspondent. He became the White House Correspondent in 2006 and replaced Brit Hume as the Fox News nightly anchor in January 2009.

Baier will moderate the South Carolina GOP debate in Myrtle Beach on Monday (9 p.m., Fox News Channel).

We spoke to Baier by phone on Friday and asked him about his time at WRAL, his family in D.C., and how he plans to handle the big South Carolina debate. Below are excerpts from that conversation.

RALEIGH – N.C. State senior Bonae Holston has scored 1,286 career points, but it wasn’t until Sunday afternoon that she scored her first game-winning shot. 

With the score tied 53-53 headed into the game’s final six seconds, the 5-foot-11 forward took a pass inside, turned and splashed a short jumper through the nets, handing the Wolfpack a 55-53 victory over South Carolina at Reynolds Coliseum.

This weekend's series at East Carolina's Clark-LeClair stadium
between ECU and South Carolina is a classic matchup of two
tradition-rich baseball programs. Just the kind of series that gets the juices
flowing in the early season.

But this one has an interesting subplot. East Carolina ended the
Gamecocks' 2009 season in Greenville in an NCAA regional. Now, the
Gamecocks are back. It's a new year and a different situation but South
Carolina coach Ray Tanner is still plenty
wary of the stadium and the Pirates despite a 6-2 victory in Friday
night's opener of a three-game series.

Carl Zeiss Optronics USA Inc., which makes periscopes, binoculars and optical electronics, announced today that it will locate its U.S. corporate headquarters in Wake Forest.

The firm is a subsidiary of the German company Carl Zeiss Optronics GmbH. Carl Zeiss plans to sell its products to the U.S. military, the Department of Homeland Security and law enforcement agencies.

The company's Wake Forest office will include executives and engineering staff. The company's announcement did not say how many employees it would have in the Wake Forest office.

The N.C. Department of Commerce said today that Carl Zeiss did not receive any grant money to locate in the state. Five months ago it was the state of South Carolina that was talking up its newfound relationship with Carl Zeiss.

In May, the South Carolina Department of Commerce and Richland County announced that Carl Zeiss would locate its first U.S. office in Richland County.

Carl Zeiss is one of the leading manufacturers of advanced optronic, optical and precision engineered products for military and civilian applications. The products are used for border surveillance, space technology and reconnaissance.

The result of N.C. State's laugher against Murray State wasn't the most important outcome for the Wolfpack on Saturday.

When a 5-year-old plays in the sandbox with a 2-year-old, he ought to be able to bully his way into playing with any toy he wants, and that's what N.C. State did in a 65-7 rout of the Racers. The real issue for the Wolfpack was whether the South Carolina defense that bullied N.C. State in a 7-3, season-opening win was for real.

From N.C. State's 7-3 loss to South Carolina:

• South Carolina's defense is fast, particularly on the edge. Defensive ends Cliff Matthews and Devin Taylor wouldn't let N.C. State quarterback Russell Wilson get outside and if he did, they — or linebacker Eric Norwood — ran him down.

The N.C. State Wolfpack fall to South Carolina 7-3 in their season opener at Carter-Finley Stadium on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2009.

Video highlights from the N.C. State and University of South Carolina game Thursday, September 3, 2009, at Carter Finley Stadium. (Staff video by ... more

Photo gallery: USC 7, N.C. State 3 

First Look: See 293 raw images from the game

RALEIGH — Under Tom O'Brien, N.C. State is unbeaten against East Carolina and North Carolina but winless against South Carolina.

The Gamecocks did it again Thursday, handing the Wolfpack an ugly season-opening loss, 7-3 at Carter-Finley Stadium.

RALEIGH — Under Tom O'Brien, N.C. State is unbeaten against East Carolina and North Carolina but winless against South Carolina.

The Gamecocks did it again Thursday, handing the Wolfpack an ugly season-opening loss, 7-3 at Carter-Finley Stadium.