11:10 p.m. Another lighthearted question for the candidates:
What would your Secret Service code name be?
Christie: "I've been called a lot of names by a lot of different people...I
would just say true heart."
Kasich: "My detail, they called me Unit One."
Fiorina: "Secretariat"
Walker: "Harley"
Bush: "Eveready - it's high energy, Donald" (a nod to Trump's insult that
he's low energy)
Trump: "Humble"
Carson: "One nation"
Cruz: "Cohiba" (a Cuban cigar brand)
Rubio: "Gator"
Huckabee: "Duck hunter"
Paul: "Justice never sleeps"
11:04 p.m. A lighthearted question for the candidates: In
light of the fact that the Treasury Department plans to put
a woman on the $10 bill, who would the candidates put there?
Paul: "I think Susan B. Anthony might be a good choice."
Huckabee: "That's an easy one I'd put my wife on there."
Rubio: "Rosa Parks."
Cruz; "I wouldn't change the $10 bill, I'd change the $20...I'd leave
Alexander Hamilton right where he is...I very much agree with Marco that it
should be Rosa Parks."
Carson: "I'd put my mother on there."
Trump: "I think my daughter Ivanka...other than that we'll go with Rosa
Parks."
Bush: "I would go with Ronald Reagan's partner, Margaret Thatcher."
Walker: "I'd put Clara Barton. I once worked for the American Red Cross."
Fiorina: "I wouldn't change the $10 bill or the $20 bill, I think honestly
it's a gesture, I don't think it helps to change our history. What I would think
is that we ought to recognize that women are not a special interest group, women
are the majority of this nation, we are half the potential of this nation and
this nation will be better off when every woman has the opportunity to live the
life she choses."
Kasich: "It's probably not maybe legal but I would pick Mother Theresa."
Christie: "I think the Adams family has been shorted in the currency
business, our country wouldn't be here without John Adams and he wouldn't be
able to do it without Abigail Adams."
10:50 p.m. Tapper brings up the fact that Trump has linked
vaccines to autism and asks Carson, a pediatric neurosurgeon, to weigh in on
whether he should stop saying that.
"There have been numerous studies and they have not demonstrated that there's
any correlation between vaccinations and autism. This is something that was
spread widely 15 or 20 years ago and it has not been adequately revealed to the
public what's actually going on," he said. But, he said, there are some
vaccinations which don't prevent diseases that would kill people and said there
should probably be some discretion. He blamed the concerns about vaccines on the
fact that they are supported by "big government."
As to whether Trump should stop making the link, he said he can read more and
will make an intelligent decision.
Trump said, "I am totally in favor of vaccines" but said they should be
spaced farther apart and given in smaller doses. He cited the case of an
employee whose child got vaccines and then two weeks later got a fever and then
autism.
Asked to respond, Carson said, "He's an okay doctor," -- a riff on the criticism
that Trump fired his way.
"The fact of thematter is we have extremely well-documented proof that
there's no autism associated with vaccinations but it is true that we are
probably giving way too many in way too short period of time," he said, saying
he would support cutting down on the number and frequency of vaccinations.
Paul, the other doctor on stage, was also asked to respond.
"I'm all for vaccines but I'm also for freedom. I'm also a little concerned
about how they're all bunched up," he said.
2015 Republican debate: GOP candidates on marijuana
Sen. Rand Paul defends marijuana legalization, Jeb Bush admits he
smoked pot when he was younger, and others weigh in
10:35 p.m. The candidates spent several minutes discussing
the issue of marijuana legalization by states, and Paul repeated his position
that enforcement of drug laws has produced uneven outcomes among white and black
Americans.
Christie said that New Jersey has medical marijuana laws, but "I am against
the recreational use of marijuana." He spoke about another policy in New Jersey,
which is that nonviolent, non-dealing drug users go to mandatory treatment
rather than jail for the first offense.
"I'm pro life, and I think you ned to be pro life for more than just the
womb," he said. But he said that victims of recreational marijuana include
employers (who suffer from lost productivity) and people's families.
Fiorina weighed in with an emotional story about her daughter's death from
drug addiction.
"We are misleading young people when we tell them that marijuana is just like
having a beer. Its not," she said. She added, "The marijuana kids are smoking
today is not like the marijuana that Jeb Bush smoked 40 years ago."
She called for criminal justice reform as well.
10:34 p.m. Bush tweets an apology too:
10:30 p.m. A confession from Bush as the discussion turns to
marijuana legalization: "Forty years ago I smoked marijuana and I admit it, I'm
sure other people might have done it and don't want to admit it...my mom's not
happy that I just did."
10:18 p.m. Though Bush has defended his brother through much
of the debate, he sought some daylight on the issue of 43's nomination of John
Roberts to the Supreme Court.
"John Roberts has made some really good decisions for sure but he did not
have a proven extensive record that would have made clarity the important thing.
And that's what we need to do," he said. Later, he added, "I think he is doing a
good job, but the simple fact is going forward what we need to do is to have
someone that has a longstanding set of rulings that consistently makes it clear
that he is focused exclusively on upholding the constitution of the United
States, that they won't try to use the bench as a means by which to legislate."
Cruz said Roberts' nomination was a "mistake" and that he changed the law to
uphold Obamacare. Bush pointed out that he had supported Roberts' nomination.
"That was a mistake and I regret that," he said. He said Bush nominated
Roberts because it was politically expedient.
10:10 p.m. After Jake Tapper brings up Carson's statement
that the U.S. would not have gone to war in Afghanistan if he had been
president, Christie said that's not what he would have done and told the story
of worrying about his wife on 9/11 because she worked two blocks from the World
Trade Center.
"We lost friends htat day, we went to the funerals, and I will tell you that
what those people wanted and what they deserved was for America to answer back
against what had been done to them and I support what President Bush did at the
time."
Carson said that instead of war, Bush could have used the bully pulpit to
"galvanize everybody behind a national goal" the way former President John F.
Kennedy did during the space race.
"While that might have been a fine idea that Dr. Carson had, these people
were about to kill us," he said.
Rubio chimed in as well.
"Radical terrorism cannot be solved by intellect," he said.
10:04 p.m. Defending former President George W. Bush was a
popular position for the audience in the Reagan Library Wednesday night. Trump
went after the 43rd president when arguing with Bush over foreign policy,
saying, "Your brother and your brother's administration gave us Barack Obama. It
was such a disaster those last few months Abraham Lincoln couldn't' have been
elected," he said.
Bush retorted, "When it comes to my brother...he kept us safe," getting
applause.
Walker chimed in with another defense after Trump said he didn't feel safe.
"It's not because of George W. Bush, it's because of Barack Obama," he said,
also to applause.
2015 Republican debate: Jeb Bush pushes against Donald Trump on
political money
The former Florida governor says Trump tried to buy his way into
building casinos in the state of Florida during the second GOP debate.
9:58 p.m. CBS News Political Reporter Stephanie Condon fact
checks Bush and Trump's tiff over whether
Trump sought casino gambling in Florida.
9:51 p.m. Clinton becomes the main target for a few minutes
as the candidates discuss the merits of attacking her:
Kasich usually avoids it. "People still have to get to know me so I want to
spend my time talking about my experience," he said.
Fiorina, who frequently attacks Clinton without being prompted, said, "Mrs.
Clinton is going to have to defend her track record...lying about
Benghazi..lying about her emails...she does not have a track record of
accomplishment.
"If you want to stump a Democrat, ask them to name an accomplishment of Mrs.
Clinton's," she said.
And Christie said he would be best poised to "prosecute" Clinton because of
his role as as former federal prosecutor.
9:35 p.m. Fiorina and Trump get in an extended back and
forth about their business successes after Fiorina is asked to respond to
attacks by Trump about her tenure at Hewlett Packard.
"I led Hewlett-Packard through a very difficult time. The worst technology
recession in 25 years. The NASDAQ stock index fell 80 percent. It took 15 years
for the stock index to recover. We had very strong competitors who literally
went out of business and lost all of their jobs in the process. Despite those
difficult times, we doubled the size of the company, we quadrupled its topline
growth weight, we quadrupled its cash flow, we tripled its rate of innovation,"
she said.
"Some tough calls are going to be required," she said of massive layoffs.
"But as for the firing" -- her firing, which Trump has criticized -- "I have
been very honest with this from the day it happened. when you challenge the
status quo, you make enemies. I made a few. Steve Jobs told me that when he
called me the day I was fired to say 'hey, been there, done that, twice.'"
2015 Republican debate: Jeb Bush pushes against Donald Trump on
political money
The former Florida governor says Trump tried to buy his way into
building casinos in the state of Florida during the second GOP debate.
Then she hit Trump for his multiple bankruptcies in Atlantic City.
"You filed for bankruptcy four times, a record four times, why should we
trust you to manage the finances of this nation any differently than you managed
the finances of your casinos?" she said.
"Atlantic City is a disaster and I did great in Atlantic City. I knew when to
get out, my timing was great and a got a lot of credit for it," he said. He said
he, like other businessman, have just "used the laws of the land" to help his
companies.
Then Christie laid into both of them for arguing about their careers, saying
Americans who are struggling or out of work "could care less about your careers.
They care about theirs."
When Fiorina started to interrupt him, he said, "You interrupt everybody else
on this stage; you're not going to interrupt me."
"Stop this childish back and forth," Christie said.
9:23 p.m. Carson expands a bit on his immigration plan,
which he discussed
on CBS' "Face the Nation" this weekend.
"After we seal the borders, after we turn off the spigot that dispenses all
the goodies...people who had a pristine record we should consider allowing them
to become guest workers primarily in the agricultural sphere."
"If they don't do it within that time period then they become illegal and as
illegals they will be treated as such," he said.
He said his plan is not amnesty because farmers cannot find American workers
to do the labor they need, and he would not allow guest workers to become
American citizens or enjoy the rights of citizens.
9:16 p.m. Trump and Bush spar again over whether Trump went
too far by saying that Bush has a soft spot for Mexicans because his wife,
Columba Bush, was born in Mexico.
Bush said he went too far, the comment was "completely inappropriate" and he
should apologize.
"I hear phenomenal things," Trump said of Bush's wife.
"Why don't you apologize to her?" Bush asked.
"No I won't do that because I've done nothing wrong," Trump said.
9:10 p.m. Will Trump put a number on how much his immigration
plan will cost? No, but he did reiterate his plan to build a wall and deport
immigrants like gang members from all over the country on his first day in
office.
9:08 p.m. Fiorina was given the opportunity to respond to
comments Trump had made insulting
her appearance. He later said he was talking about her persona.
"Mr. Trump said to me that he heard Mr. Bush very clearly and what Mr. Bush
said. I think women all over this country heard very clearly what Mr. Trump
said," she said, getting applause from the crowd.
"I think she's got a beautiful face and I think she's a beautiful woman,"
Trump responded.
9:02 p.m. The candidates get into the issue of whether the
Congress should shut down the federal government in order to defund Planned
Parenthood.
Kasich said, "The president of the United States is not going to sign this
and all we're going to do is shut the government down...the American people are
going to shake their heads and say what's the story with these Republicans?"
2015 Republican debate: GOP candidates on Planned Parenthood and
abortion
Several GOP contenders boast about their victories in defunding
Planned Parenthood at the state level. Plus: Carly Fiorina dares everyone to
watc...
Cruz, on the other hand, said his fellow Republicans were "preemptively
surrendering" to Obama. "You know, Obama's committed to his principles," he
said. "Republicans surrender, we need to stop surrendering and start standing
for our principles."
Christie avoided a direct question about whether he would shut down the
government, urging his fellow Republicans to stop fighting with each other and
put the question to Clinton instead. Finally, after repeated questioning, he
said, "We should be doing these things and forcing the president to take
action," referring to cutting Planned Parenthood funding out of the budget.
Fiorina delivered an impassioned speech and said "I dare" Clinton and Mr.
Obama to watch the videos of officials discussing the transfer of fetal body
parts.
"This is about the character of our nation, and if we will not stand up and
force Barack Obama to veto this bill, shame on us," she said.
8:50 p.m. The candidates debate the merits of whether the
U.S. should have intervened in Syria militarily after dictator Bashar Assad used
chemical weapons.
Rubio said the Congress didn't want to authorize use of force because the
military was not in a position where they could win. Cruz said President Obama
hadn't answered the question of what if chemical weapons had ended up in the
hands of radical Islamic groups.
Paul had a different reason for believing there shouldn't have been any U.S.
intervention.
"Had we bombed Assad at the time...I think ISIS would be in Damascus today, I
think ISIS would be in charge of Syria," he said. "Sometimes intervention makes
us less safe."
8:45 p.m. Walker finds no support for his call
to cancel an upcoming state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping. Paul said
the U.S. should always talk to people it considers enemies, pointing to the Cold
War. Bush also passes on the idea of canceling, but said the U.S. should be
tough on China.
8:43 p.m. Cruz doubles down on his promise to rip up the Iran nuclear deal after
being asked to respond to criticism from Kasich that it shows his inexperience
and that he's just playing to a crowd.
"No president of the United States...has the authority to give away our
sovereignty," he said, referring to President Obama working with the United
Nations to implement the deal.
8:41 p.m. Candidates weigh in on how they'd deal with
Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump said, "I will get along I think with
Putin, and I will get along with others and we will have a much more stable,
stable world." Fiorina said the U.S. shouldn't be talking to Putin at all and
instead should be building up its military presence in the region.
8:33 p.m. Bush and Trump tangle after Bush was asked about
whether special interests controlled his campaign. As an example, Bush said that
he turned down Trump when the businessman sought casino gambling in Florida.
Bush said he turned Trump down.
"I promise if I would have wanted it, I would have gotten it," Trump said.
Later, as Bush continued to press Trump over his past donations to Democrats,
Trump showed some appreciation for his feistiness.
"More energy tonight, I like that," he said, prompting laughter from the
audience.
8:31 p.m. One person who's not that interested in beating up
on their fellow candidates by name: Carson. Asked who he was referring to when
talking about politicians who do things that are politically expedient, he said,
"I don't want to really get into describing who's a politician and who's not a
politician but I think the people have kind of made that decision for themselves
already."
Fiorina jumped into the discussion of outsiders.
"If someone's beein in the system their whole life, they don't know how
broken the system is...its not that politicians are bad people, its that they've
been in that system forever," she said.
8:27 p.m. Kasich scolds his fellow candidates for the
infighting.
"If I were sitting at home watching this back and forth, I'd be inclined to
turn it off. People at home...want to know what we're going to do to fix this
place," he said.
8:24 p.m. Walker joins in the fray hitting Trump.
"Mr. Trump, we don't need an apprentice in the White House, we have one right
now...we don't know who you are or where you're going."
"In Wisconsin you're losing $2.2 billion dollars right now," Trump retorted.
8:21 p.m. As with the lower tier debate, the first question
has to do with Trump. It went to Carly Fiorina, who was asked if she trusted
Trump to be in control of the nuclear launch codes.
"I think Mr. Trump is wonderful entertainer, he's been terrific at that
business," she said. She added that she believed a long campaign process would
be beneficial in revealing character.
Pressed for an answer to the nuclear code question, Fiorina said, "That's not
for me to answer, it's for the voters of this country to answer."
In Trump's response, he took aim at Paul, who hadn't even spoken yet.
"Rand Paul shouldn't even be on this stage," he said referring to Paul's
polling.
After Paul criticized Trump for attacking people's looks in the manner of a
junior high debate, Trump said, "I never attacked him on his look, and believe
me there's plenty of subject matter right there."
8:10 p.m. The 11 Republican candidates doing best in the
polls have begun the main debate at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley,
California. On stage: businessman Donald Trump, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush,
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, neurosurgeon Ben Carson, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz,
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, businesswoman Carly Fiorina, former Arkansas Gov. Mike
Huckabee, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and New Jersey Gov.
Chris Christie.