Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Republican Presidential Hopefuls Meet Face to Face; MH370 Search Continues on Nearby Islands; Trump Question on Women Comments. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired August 06, 2015 - 01:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, AC 360: Our coverage continues live all night from CNN in Atlanta.

[01:00:34] GEORGE, CNN HOST: The first presidential debate in America and the 2016 Republican candidates came out with 'roar.

NATALIE ALLEN, CNN HOST: There were governor, a reality star, I think you know who that is, even a neurosurgeon and we saw some knockdown political fights on the stage.

HOWELL: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm George Howell.

ALLEN: And I'm Natalie Allen. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

HOWELL: And good day to you. We begin this hour in Cleveland, Ohio. The first U.S. Republican presidential debate where candidates met face to face for the first time. Front-runner Donald Trump and his closest rival Jeb Bush were at center stage. Hometown favorite John Kasich, the governor of Ohio, got a huge ovation.

ALLEN: The candidates' top target, Democrat Hillary Clinton, President Barack Obama as expected but they also went after each other at times arguing over government surveillance and their ideas about immigration reform.

The debate got off to a rousing start when FOX News anchor Bret Baier asked a question clearly aimed at Donald Trump. Would every candidate pledge to support the Republican nominee and rule out a third-party bid for president?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: We're looking for you to raise your hand now. Raise your hand now if you won't make that pledge tonight. Mr. Trump. So Mr. Trump, to be clear, you're standing on a Republican primary debate --

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I fully understand.

BAIER: The place where the RNC will give the nominee the nod.

TRUMP: I fully understand.

BAIER: And that experts say an independent run would almost certainly hand the race over to Democrats and likely another Clinton. You can't say tonight that you can make that pledge?

TRUMP: I cannot say I have to respect the person that if it's not me the person that wins. If I do win and I'm leading by quite a bit, that's what I want to do. I can totally make that pledge. If I'm the nominee. I will pledge I would not run as an independent. But - and I am discussing it with everybody. But I'm talking about a lot of leverage. We want to win. And we will win. But I want to win as the Republican. I want to run as the Republican nominee.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: And Florida governor Jeb Bush, the former governor there, admitted that the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq under his brother's presidency was a mistake. But he said that the bigger problem is the way the Obama administration has handled the situation in the region since then. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Knowing what we know now, with faulty intelligence and not having security be the first priority when we invaded, it was a mistake. I wouldn't have gone in.

Here's the lesson that we should take from this, which relates to this whole subject. Barack Obama became president and he abandoned Iraq. He left. And when he left, Al-Qaeda was done for, ISIS was created because of the void that we left. And that void now exists as a caliphate the size of Indiana. To honor the people that died we need to stop the Iran agreement for sure because the Iranian mullahs have their blood on their hands and we need to take out ISIS with every tool at our disposal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Next issue, the Iran nuclear deal. Wisconsin governor Scott Walker came down hard on that agreement meant to keep Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. SCOTT WALKER (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Iran is not a place we should be doing business with. To me you terminate the deal on day one. You reinstate the sanctions authorized by Congress. You go to Congress and put in place even more crippling sanctions in place. And then you convince our allies to do the same.

This is not just bad with Iran. This is bad with ISIS. It is tied together. Once and for all you need leaders to stand up and do something about it. It's yet another example of the failed foreign policy of the Obama-Clinton doctrine.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HOWELL: Our political reporter Eric Bradner is live in Cleveland following the aftermath in this debate. Good to have you with us.

So, the debate's over. What are the reactions you're hearing from people about what happened today?

ERIC BRADNER, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, forget minutes. It took seconds for this night to become about Donald Trump. And now the question is how conservatives will react to his bombastic style, being on full display on stage with nine other candidates. Here in Cleveland that, you know, both in the hall and at some parties around town the reaction was, well, this is Trump being Trump, this isn't going to hurt him, this is the sort of style that has catapulted him to the front of polls.

So the question really is whether that mood sort of plays out across Iowa and New Hampshire in these early states where Donald Trump has roared to the front of the polls and is now sort of being himself on a big stage with more people tuning in. So the chatter tonight is about him. A lost it is also about Carly Fiorina, who participated in the much earlier debate for the people who didn't even make the cut for the main stage tonight. And she did really well. She was the breakout star of the night including the primetime debate. So look for her to possibly get a bump in both fund-raising and in the polls as a result of a really strong performance here.

[01:05:54] HOWELL: Eric, so you mentioned Carly Fiorina. That's important to bring up that happy hour debate as it was called. And then I remember hearing John King make the point whether the general rules, the general political rules, whether they apply to Donald Trump. We have yet to see. We'll have to see what the reaction is in the coming days. But from what you saw in this primetime debate, from what you're hearing from those who were there, who watched it, who were the other winners and who were the other losers from what you're hearing from people there?

BRANDER: One of the big winners tonight was Marco Rubio. He showed he's got a lot of natural political talent. The moderators tried to put him in a box with Donald Trump. They tried to provoke a confrontation over the issue of immigration. And Rubio showed some real skill sort of defusing it by relying on some statistics that he was able to pull and then sort of pivoting into defusing the confrontation and pivoting into his talking points that he really wanted to hit.

Somebody who struggled tonight was Scott Walker, who was kind of nowhere. He didn't have any standout moments. Nothing that really is going to prove very memorable. But for Scott Walker that might be just fine. He he's leading in the polls in Iowa. And he wasn't being attacked. He really didn't need to put up much armor.

HOWELL: Hillary Clinton's campaign has in many ways been focusing on Jeb Bush. What was the reaction to Jeb Bush's performance in this debate?

BRANDER: Right. Jeb Bush showed that he's a policy wonk. He showed that he's really able to handle questions on immigration and common core and sort of the way he wants to. He wasn't on the steadiest footing all night. He didn't have any particularly strong moments. Jeb Bush was outshone a bit by Marco Rubio, his fellow Florida Republican. So it didn't hurt him. This wasn't a bad night for Jeb Bush. But it wasn't a particularly strong one either. He showed them it takes a little while to warm up to the stage. Whether it's getting comfortable delivering speeches. It took him a little while to sort of get into practice on that or the debate format. I suspect you'll see a better Jeb Bush in the second debate and future debates after that.

HOWELL: And it will be interesting to see what the reaction is in the coming days to what we saw this evening.

Eric Bradner, thank you so much for your report there in Cleveland.

ALLEN: Well, beyond Jeb Bush there was some fireworks. One of the most heated exchanges of the night was between New Jersey governor Chris Christie and Senator Rand Paul over Americans' privacy rights.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That's a completely ridiculous answer. I want to collect more records from terrorists but less records from other people. How are you supposed to know, Megyn?

SEN. RAND PAUL (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Use the fourth amendment.

CHRISTIE: How are you supposed to --?

PAUL: Use the fourth amendment. Get a warrant.

CHRISTIE: Let me tell you something --

PAUL: Get a judge to sign the warrant.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wait. Wait. Governor Christie, make your point.

CHRISTIE: Senator, you know, when you're sitting in a subcommittee just blowing hot air about this you can say things like that. When you're responsible for protecting the lives of the American people, then what you need to do is to make sure that you use the system the way it's supposed to work.

PAUL: Here's the problem, governor. You fundamentally misunderstand the bill of rights. Every time you did a case you got a warrant from a judge. I'm talking about searches without warrants indiscriminately of all Americans' records. And that's what I fought to end. I don't trust President Obama with our records. I know you gave him a big hug. And if you want to give him a big hug again, go right ahead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Candidates Paul and Christie going after each other there. And you knew that Obama hug would come up. Well, joining us is the director of the University of Virginia center

for politics Larry Sabato.

Larry, you've been watching this debate. Thank you for joining us first of all. We saw some fireworks there but not a whole lot in this debate. How would you characters the gibs, the jabs and the Jebs in this first Republican debate?

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: I think the most memorable moment, what will be remembered for at least a month until the CNN debate, is the very first question and answer delivered to Donald Trump and delivered from Donald Trump about whether or not he would run as an independent.

[01:10:14] ALLEN: And he answered he would.

SABATO: He refused to rule it out. Yes. And he lost the crowd right there. He lost the crowd. He never got the crowd back. Maybe he never had the crowd to begin with. But from that moment on this was a hostile environment for Donald Trump.

ALLEN: Right. And he was booed by the crowd when he reiterated that stance. And then later was asked and questioned because he has some views that aren't hardline conservative views, when did he become a Republican? So he was challenged a little bit about whether or not he is solidly the candidate that could represent the conservative base.

SABATO: Natalie, we thought that there would be a lot of fisticuffs between Trump and the other candidates. There really wasn't. What we didn't anticipate is that the main bout would be between Donald Trump and the FOX moderators.

ALLEN: That's true.

SABATO: That's what defined this debate. They went after him hard.

ALLEN: Right. He was questioned about derogatory comments he's made about women in the past, and he used that to answer the way he answers other things. He made no excuses that he's not politically correct. And interesting, the only time really that Hillary Clinton was mentioned in this debate is when he said that he invited her to his wedding and she came. So yes, it wasn't Donald Trump's night to shine. It wasn't the Donald Trump show at all for this debate.

What about Jeb Bush or any other candidates? We saw the exchange between Governor Christie and Rand Paul there. Did anyone else do anything to set themselves apart from the pack?

SABATO: I think the three strongest performances were by first of all governor John Kasich, who had a tremendous advantage. He had home field advantage. And clearly he had a lot of supporters packed in that hall because it's Cleveland. It's Ohio. It's his state. So he came across looking good. And he needed that because he squeaked into the debate in the tenth position.

Second, I would say Marco Rubio did well. Most of his answers were crisp and articulate. And I think he connected with the viewers.

And the third would be Scott Walker. He gave some predictable answers, but they're answers that have sold with the Republican base.

As far as Jeb Bush is concerned, I would give him a gentleman's C, which is enough to pass. And I think that's all he wanted. He wanted to survive. He's going to let his $119 million speak for him. And that's far more money than any other candidate has. He'll outspend everybody by a mile.

ALLEN: And so when the newspapers hit tomorrow and have headlines about this debate, what would you say it would be? Is it going to be about Trump?

SABATO: Well, the real headline that matters for the election is Trump refuses to rule out independent bid. Because if he actually follows through, and who knows, but if he actually follows through and runs as an independent Hillary Clinton will have to really try to lose the election. It reminds you of 1992. It could be a Clinton versus a Bush versus a Trump instead of a Perot, and the Clinton could win with 43 percent again.

ALLEN: Could be interesting. Well, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.

The director of the university of Virginia senator for politics, Larry Sabato. Nice to see you.

SABATO: Thanks, Natalie.

HOWELL: So many people thought Donald Trump would dominate the conversation, and he did. Just look at how much speaking time each candidate got during the debate. Mr. Trump came out with the most air time, twice as much as senator rand Paul. Jeb Bush came in second with almost nine minutes, but that's still two minutes less than Donald Trump.

ALLEN: Rand Paul just five minutes.

HOWELL: Yes.

ALLEN: Well, you can see the first debate featuring the democratic presidential candidates including Hillary Clinton and senator Bernie Sanders right here on CNN.

HOWELL: That will be on Thursday October 13th in Nevada. CNN's first Republican debate will be Wednesday September 16th at the Ronald Reagan presidential library in the state of California.

ALLEN: Folks, it is debate season.

HOWELL: It is. I think we're in the season now.

ALLEN: What else do you do in August? You know, stay inside in the air-conditioning and watch the debates. September will be hot as well. Well, anyway, we're going to move on in just a minute. Everyone

expected immigration to be a key issue in Thursday's debate.

HOWELL: Donald Trump and Jeb Bush did not disappoint. We'll hear what they had to say on the issue as CNN NEWSROOM continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:18:55] HOWELL: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. This is CNN NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell.

ALLEN: And I'm Natalie Allen. We're bringing you all the best moments from the first debate, featuring the U.S. Republican presidential candidates. No surprise that illegal immigration was one of the hot topics. Here's former Florida governor Jeb Bush.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: We need to deal with people that come with a legal visa and overstay. We need to be much more strategic on how we deal with border enforcement, border security. We need to eliminate the sanctuary cities in this country. It is ridiculous and tragic that people are dying because of the fact that local governments are not following the federal law. There's much to do. And I think rather than talking about this as a wedge issue, which Barack Obama's done now for six long years, the next president, and I hope to be that president, will fix this once and for all so we can turn this into a driver for high sustained economic growth. And there should be a path to earned legal status for those who are here. Not amnesty. Earned legal status which means you pay a fine and do many things over an extended period of time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[01:20:02] HOWELL: Donald Trump on the other hand took credit for bringing the issue of illegal immigration to the forefront.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: This was not a subject that was on anybody's mind until I brought it up at my announcement, and I said Mexico is sending. Except the reporters, because they're a very dishonest lot generally speaking in the world of politics, they didn't cover my statement the way I said it. The fact is since then many killings, murders, crime, drugs pouring across the border, are money going out and the drugs coming in. And I said we need to build a wall. And it has to be built quickly. And I don't mind having a big beautiful door in that wall so that people can come into this country legally. But we need Jeb to build a wall. We need to keep illegals out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: Well, the CNN fact-checking team, we have one of those, has been working to verify some of the most notable claims made by all 17 Republican presidential candidates. Tom Foreman does that for us.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rick Perry went after Donald Trump saying that Trump likes the idea of a government-sponsored and paid for insurance plan, the so-called single payer plan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PERRY: How can you run for the Republican nomination and be for single payer health care?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: The thing is Perry is wrong about that. But Carly Fiorina did her homework and she hit Trump on that and two other topics as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FIORINA: Since he has changed his mind on amnesty, on health care, and on abortion, I would just ask, what are the principles by which he would govern?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: So let's consider her basic claim here. She's saying Trump changed his mind or flip-flopped on amnesty, health care and abortion. Trump has for years suggested that when people come into this country illegally, the question of amnesty, that they should all be deported. He still says that but now he recently told us that maybe you should let some of them then come back into the country. So he's sort of straddling the border fence there.

On the question of health care, yes, in his 2000 book he said the United States government should consider the single payer plan. Since then he has soured on Obamacare and now doesn't seem to think it's a good idea anymore.

And lastly, on this question of abortion, back in 1999 Donald Trump said he was strongly pro-choice, meaning he supported the idea that women should be able to get an abortion. But now he says he is strongly pro-life.

In the end all it adds up to is that Carly Fiorina is right. Her claim that he has flip-flopped is true.

ALLEN: There you have it from our fact-checking team.

So what does the rest of the world make of Donald Trump's run for president? CNN sent out some microphones prior to the debate and gave many of you a chance to tell us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I know about him, he's the guy from the American apprentice. Same thing of -- like prime minister. Would be hilarious but not good for the country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think Donald Trump is a perfect example of where American culture is heading and being more conservative.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's ambitious particularly when he can't even look over his own hair.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm actually quite excited about it because I think it adds a lot of flavor to the campaign and everything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. Donald Trump. I don't know. I think many people don't know. Who is him? I don't know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think from America's point of view he's not the right choice. I think he's doing it more for his benefit than America's.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I watched "the Apprentice" but I don't know much about him. As far as I know he's been very successful. That's what I know about him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[01:25:02] HOWELL: It's interesting because a lot of people know the pop culture aspect of Donald Trump from "the Apprentice" and they know his business dealings but now they're hearing some of his thoughts on policy.

ALLEN: And some of them still don't know him and some of them still won't want to know him.

HOWELL: It's interesting to see the reaction.

ALLEN: He's definitely a character. They're going what? What is that?

HOWELL: People will hear more.

ALLEN: Yes, we will.

HOWELL: CNN's coverage of the Republican presidential debate continues.

HOWELL: ALLEN: Yes, coming up, we'll take a look at some of the lesser-known candidates who may be getting more attention after Thursday's event.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [01:29:01] HOWELL: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell.

ALLEN: And I'm Natalie Allen. Thanks for being with us. We are devoting much of this hour to the first debate featuring the Republican candidates for the U.S. presidency. The top ten hopefuls met on stage in Cleveland Thursday night.

HOWELL: Many people were looking for sparks to fly between billionaire Donald Trump and former Florida governor Jeb Bush. That didn't really happen. But there was some sparring between other candidates. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BAIER: Is there anyone on stage, and can I see hands, who is unwilling tonight to pledge your support to the eventual nominee of the Republican Party and pledge to not run an independent campaign against that person? Again, we're looking for you to raise your hand now. Raise your hand now if you won't make that pledge tonight. Mr. Trump.

TRUMP: I cannot say I have to respect the person that if it's not me, the person that wins. If I do win and I'm leading by quite a bit, that's what I want to do. I can totally make that pledge if I'm the nominee.

SEN. RAND PAUL, (R), KENTUCKY & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I mean, this is what's wrong. He buys and sells politicians of all stripes. He's already --

(SHOUTING)

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Dr. Paul --

PAUL: Look, look, he's already hedging his bet on the Clintons. OK? So if he doesn't run as a Republican, maybe he supports Clinton or maybe he runs as an Independent. But I'd say he's already hedging his bets because he's used to buying politicians.

(APPLAUSE)

CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R), NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And, Megyn, Megyn, that's a completely ridiculous answer, I want to collect more records from terrorists but less records from other people. How are you supposed to know, Megyn?

PAUL: Use the Fourth Amendment.

CHRISTIE: How are you supposed to --

(CROSSTALK)

PAUL: Use the Fourth Amendment.

CHRISTIE: I'll tell you how you --

(CROSSTALK)

PAUL: Get a warrant. Get a judge to sign the warrant.

(CROSSTALK)

MEGYN KELLY, DEBATE MODERATOR: Wait, wait. Governor Christie, make your point.

CHRISTIE: Listen, Senator, when you're sitting in a subcommittee just blowing hot air about this, you can say things like that.

(SHOUTING)

CHRISTIE: When you're responsible for protecting the lives of the American people, then what you need to do is to make sure --

(CROSSTALK)

CHRISTIE: -- is to make sure that you use the system the way it's supposed to work.

PAUL: I don't trust President Obama with our records. I know you gave him a big hug, and if you want to give him a big hug, again, go right ahead.

(BOOING)

(CHEERING)

CHRISTIE: And you know, Senator Paul, the hugs that I remember are the hugs that I gave to the families who lost their people on September 11th. Those are the hugs I remember. And those had nothing to do -- and those had nothing to do with politics. Unlike what you're doing by cutting speeches on the floor of the Senate, then putting them on the Internet within half an hour to raise money for your campaign. And while still putting our country at risk with Iran.

TRUMP: We're making a deal. You would say we want him, we want him. We want our prisoners. We want all these things. We don't get anything. We're giving them $150 billion-plus. They are going to be -- I tell you what. If Iran was a stock, you folks should go out and buy it right now, because you'll quadruple. This, what's happened in Iran is a disgrace.

KELLY: Dr. Carson, in one of his first acts as commander-in-chief, President Obama signed an executive order banning enhanced interrogation techniques in fighting terror. As president, would you bring back waterboarding?

DR. BEN CARSON, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & NEUROSURGEON: Well, thank you, Megyn. I wasn't sure I was going to get to talk again.

(LAUGHTER)

KELLY: We have a lot for you. Don't worry.

CHRIS WALLACE, DEBATE MODERATOR: Mr. Trump, I'll give you 30 seconds. I'll give you 30 seconds to answer my question, which was what evidence do you have, specific evidence, that the Mexican government is sending criminals across the border? 30 seconds.

TRUMP: Border Patrol -- I was at the border last week. Border Patrol. People that I deal with, that I talk to, they say this is what's happening, because our leaders are stupid, our politicians are stupid, and the Mexican government is much smarter, much sharper, much more cunning. And they send the bad ones over because they don't want to pay for them, they don't want to take care of them. Why should they when the stupid leaders of the United States will do it for them. And that's what's happening, whether you like it or not.

JEB BUSH, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER FLORIDA GOVERNOR: I want to win. I want one of these people here, or the ones at 5:00, to be the next president of the United States.

(APPLAUSE)

BUSH: We're not going to win by doing what Barack Obama and Hillary do each and every day, by dividing the country, saying -- creating a grievance kind of environment. We're going to win when we unite people with a hopeful optimistic message.

PAUL: News flash. The Republican Party's been fighting against a single-payer system for a decade. So I think you're on the wrong side of this if you're still arguing for a single-payer system.

TRUMP: I'm not -- I don't think you heard me. You're having a hard time tonight.

(LAUGHTER)

Most of the people on stage, I've given to, just so you understand, a lot of money.

PAUL: Not me. Not me.

(LAUGHTER)

RICK SCOTT, (R), WISCONSIN GOVERNOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: But you're welcome to give me a check, Donald --

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: That's right.

SCOTT: Actually, to be clear, he supported Charlie Crist.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: But I have -- (CROSSTALK)

SCOTT: Donald, if you end this campaign, I hope you will give to me.

TRUMP: Good. Sounds good. Sounds good to me, Governor.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: With us now to talk about the debate is Ron Brownstein, CNN senior political analyst.

Ron, good to have you with us.

So you got an opportunity to watch that debate. Who won and who do you think lost?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYSIS: Well, I think the debate was most interesting, less for what it said about any individual candidate, and more about what it revealed about the state of the race. Really, the entire top tier of the race, if you think of what the top tier was going into this debate, was Donald Trump, Jeb Bush and Scott Walker. And each of them in their own way showed their limitations. Donald Trump played to his audience but probably reinforced the doubts with his temperament among those voters who are skeptical of him. Jeb Bush really did nothing to combat the impression that he doesn't have enough energy and vision at this point in the race. And Scott Walker kind of faded into the curtains. You've really got to look at why no one has been able to seize control of this race. It's remarkably fluid and ill defined. And probably the strongest performances of the night were from candidates who are now in the second tier. Senator Marco Rubio and Governor John Kasich of Ohio probably had the best night. But I think the overall takeaway from this debate, George, is a reminder of why this Republican race has been more unsettled than probably any we have seen in many years.

[01:35:24] HOWELL: There was certainly talk about immigration. There was also that dust-up over the NSA and surveillance between Rand Paul and Chris Christie. What did you think about what you heard there?

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah, I thought Chris Christie was pretty energetic all night. But you know, that was sort of a dust-up between the candidates who are eight and nine in the polls. Rand Paul is in a position, again, speaking to his constituency, but I think having that issue highlighted shows why it's so difficult for him to grow. And I thought Christie was pretty good tonight as well. But he has fallen into a pretty deep hole with Republican voters over the last year, and it's hard to see him fully climbing out. I think this race after tonight, even though it was an enormously entertaining and well-done debate and strong credit to the moderators who ask very tough questions.

I think the race is more muddled after this debate than it was going in and I think it's just a reminder as I said of why this is so fluid. Marco Rubio kind of played the Gary Hart 1984 card in American politics, I'm the future, these other candidates are the past. That may have been the single best sound bite of the night. But John Kasich showed why Jeb Bush has to be looking over his shoulder. Kasich could be a very formidable competitor for the same kind of establishment center-right voters Bush needs. I thought Kasich was empathetic, he was relatable, he was energetic. He had many of the qualities that Bush simply did not show tonight, except in a few answers toward the end. I think Kasich sort of served notice he could be a factor at competing in the center-right constituencies but it was really kind of the Bush, Kasich, to some extent, Rubio lane. The other lane you have, you Trump dominating the more populist blue- collar side of the party. And I thought he spoke to those people already who like him but nothing. He kind of showed he does not have a second act that is broader and more presidential. If anything he was kind of petulant and angry tonight in a way that, again, while some of his supporters may like I think kind of puts -- reinforces the limits he may face in broadening his appeal broadly enough to contest the nomination.

HOWELL: So, Ron, all eyes this evening were on this primetime debate, but before that, there was the undercard debate, the happy hour debate, as some called it.

BROWNSTEIN: Yeah.

HOWELL: And there was a lot of interest on Carly Fiorina. Can we listen to a sound bite here from her performance and let's talk about it here on the other side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARLY FIORINA, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & FORMER CEO, HEWLETT- PACKARD: Hillary Clinton lies about Benghazi. She lies about e- mails. She is still defending Planned Parenthood. And she is still her party's front-runner. 2016 is going to be a fight between conservatism and a Democrat party that is undermining the very character of this nation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: A lot of people looked at that debate and they believe she was poised and she was direct. What were your thoughts?

BROWNSTEIN: I thought she was probably the best performer on that stage as well. The problem is you're talking about a debate that might help her go from 2 percent to 3 percent. You know, this is an enormously big field, the biggest field in either party since the 1976 Democratic race that gave us Jimmy Carter. There are so many cars in front of you, it's hard to truly move up. But I do think even if Carly Fiorina can't get into the inner circle of people truly contesting the nomination, she is performing her way into the vice presidential conversation and more realistically into the cabinet conversation if Republicans win. She has been doing well on the stadium. And that continued tonight in the debate.

HOWELL: CNN's senior political analyst, Ron Brownstein.

Ron, thank you so much for your insights -- BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

HOWELL: -- on this debate.

NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: Earlier, Anderson Cooper spoke with Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz to get her opinion on tonight's debate, and she really took issue with the candidates' comments regarding women.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, (D), FLORIDA: The misogyny that was on full display, that not a single one of the other Republican candidates for president criticized or called Donald Trump out on or any one of the other comments they made that may be troubling to women. The fact they want to roll back women's access to health care, the fact they aren't for equal pay for equal work, they are not for focusing on making sure that everybody has an opportunity to reach the middle class, those are issues that are important to women and layer on top of that the misogyny that none of them criticized -- for me the winner of tonight's debate was the eventual Democratic nominee because I think they will ultimately go on to be president of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEN: We will see.

Personally, the most astute comment I've seen came from my friend Karen on Facebook: "I'd pick Trump hair over Rand Paul's hair any day."

(LAUGHTER)

There will be a lot of that, too, on social media.

You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. We have more coverage on the first Republican debate later in the program.

[01:40:09]HOWELL: But next, Malaysia says more items resembling plane parts have surfaced on Reunion Island. Could they be from missing flight MH370? Not everyone agrees.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALLEN: Our other top story, possible new clues in the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight 370. Malaysia's transport minister says items resembling plane parts have washed up on Reunion Island.

HOWELL: But none of the other countries involved in the search or investigation have confirmed that. The items will be tested by the same international team that is examining a wing part. As you'll remember it was found last week on the island. Meanwhile, the search is expanding with France. It now saying it will send aircraft and ships off the coast of Reunion Island in the coming days.

ALLEN: Crews on nearby islands are also on the lookout. CNN's Erin McLaughlin is covering the search from Mauritius.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These Coast Guardsmen knows the odds are against them. After all, they don't even quite know what they're looking for. Their mission, find anything that resembles plane debris.

UNIDENTIFIED PILOT: It is very difficult to undertake a search for a small object from the air.

MCLAUGHLIN: Up here, you get the idea there's a lot to search. The water is vast and the coast expansive.

(on camera): We're really hugging the coastline, flying very slowly to help with that visual search.

(voice-over): The team scans the crystal blue waters off Mauritius, just over 100 miles from where they found the MH370 flaperon.

UNIDENTIFIED PILOT: We are hopeful because the reports from Reunion has been very promising.

MCLAUGHLIN: They're on the lookout for anything white or shiny, anything roughly the flaperon size that the radar might miss.

(on camera): Did you spot anything?

UNIDENTIFIED PILOT: Yes.

[01:45:12] MCLAUGHLIN (on camera): The captain just told me they see a white object waters but they can't find it again. So they called it into the operations room to send out a boat to investigate.

(voice-over): Another look around and still no signs of the object. The captain veers the plane back to base. But a glimmer of hope there's something out there, more clues to solving this mystery.

Erin McLaughlin, CNN, Mauritius.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ALLEN: Well, many of the passengers on MH370, as you know, were from China.

CNN's Will Ripley joins us from Beijing with reaction from their families regarding the investigation's latest developments.

You've been talking with these families, Will, from the very start working on this story. And during this long horrible saga they have continued to get mixed messages and they're still not happy about that.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No. It was another emotional angry morning here in Beijing, Natalie. We were with the families this morning bright and early when they went to the Malaysia Airlines office. And there were about 30 of them, I would say. There were more than 150 Chinese passengers on MH370 but a lot of the families are outside Beijing. But those who were here in the capital city showed up. And they were so angry, one, because they wanted news cameras to be allowed inside the meeting. They thought the Malaysia government would go to the Malaysia Airlines office and meet with the families in front of the cameras. They're demanding transparency. At one point, they tried to tie themselves up in front of the offices. And then when it came clear that the Malaysian government officials were not going to be at the Malaysia Airlines office, they were forced to leave without getting any new information. They went over to the Malaysian embassy, they protested a bit more there, and still have not gotten any information. This is after yesterday. They also stormed the Malaysia Airlines office. They're furious, Natalie. They're saying they're getting mixed signals. The French investigators saying one thing, the Malaysian government saying something else. They have no trust, many of them, no trust for the Malaysian government. They feel Malaysia is trying to force closure to this case by talking about evidence that they are not convinced actually exists. They are not convinced that there is proof that MH370 crashed in the Indian Ocean, and they want the investigation to continue.

ALLEN: Right. And they're not buying yet that pieces of window seat cushions, aluminum that the Malaysian transport ministry says has come ashore on Reunion Island. They want clear-cut answers and they want their loved ones back. Until the plane is found, until remains are found, they cannot have peace. Is that right?

RIPLEY: That's right. If you try to put yourself in these people's positions, for more than 515 days now, they have had no substantive proof, no evidence of what has happened to the plane. There have been a lot of educated guesses. Just two weeks after the plane disappeared, the Malaysian prime minister month pronounced it had gone down in the Southern Indian Ocean and there were no survivors, and they weren't even close to finding any evidence at that point yet. So families have built up this wall of mistrust that really is only growing higher because of the differences between the message from the Malaysian government and the investigative team in France. And so they -- yes, they want to find the fuselage of the plane. They want to find human remains and, until that happens, there are some who will continue to believe that there is some sort of a conspiracy perhaps or that perhaps somehow people survived and that they're not being told the whole truth. Imagine that pain and just the anguish of uncertainty that they've been living through now for a year and a half.

ALLEN: Those pictures we just saw, as you were speaking, you certainly, certainly can see that anguish. We feel so sorry for them.

Will Ripley for us in Beijing. Will, thank you.

HOWELL: Donald Trump gets called out for some of his controversial comments towards women. We'll show you how he reacted as the news continues here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [01:53:04] HOWELL: Donald Trump, he has made a name for himself by speaking his mind. And his straight talk has been cited as a reason for his recent surge in popularity.

ALLEN: That's one part of the Donald Trump story. The other part is not everyone likes his comments because he's very proud of not being politically correct, as you know. In the debate, he was confronted by Moderator Megyn Kelly about one group he has consistently offended. That would be women. And during his response, he managed to get in a quick jab at an old female nemesis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLY: One of the things people love about you is you speak your mind and you don't use a politician's filter. However, that is not without its down sides, in particular, when it comes to women. You've called women you don't like fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals. Your Twitter account --

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Only Rosie O'Donnell.

(LAUGHTER)

KELLY: No, it wasn't.

(CHEERING)

(BOOS)

KELLY: Your Twitter account --

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Thank you.

KELLY: For the record, it was well beyond Rosie O'Donnell.

TRUMP: Yes, I'm sure it was.

KELLY: Your Twitter account has several disparaging comments about women's looks. You once told a contestant on "Celebrity Apprentice" it would be a pretty picture to see her on her knees. Does that sound to you like the temperament of a man we should elect as president? And how will you answer the charge when Hillary Clinton, who is likely to be the Democratic nominee, that you are part of the war on women?

TRUMP: I think the big problem this country has is being politically correct. I've been --

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: I've been challenged by so many people, and I don't frankly have time for total political correctness. And to be honest with you, this country doesn't have time either. This country is in big trouble. We don't win anymore. We lose to China. We lose to Mexico. Both in trade and at the border. We lose to everybody. And frankly, what I say -- and oftentimes, it's fun, it's kidding, we have a good time. What I say is what I say. And honestly, Megyn, if you don't like it, I'm sorry. I've been very nice to you, although I could probably maybe not be, based on the way you have treated me. But I wouldn't do that.

(BOOING)

(CHEERING)

TRUMP: But you know what? We need strength. We need energy. We need quickness. And we need brain in this country to turn it around. That I can tell you right now.

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[01:55:43] HOWELL: He calls it fun and kidding, but there are a lot of people who took issue with it.

ALLEN: Yeah. The comments, that's not fun to women. And he certainly wasn't very kind to Megyn Kelly.

HOWELL: He did make comments, yeah.

ALLEN: Like a bully towards her. And when she asked him about his thoughts toward women he started talking about China.

(LAUGHTER)

That's what a lot of them do, change the subject.

HOWELL: We will hear more, I'm sure, ahead as these debates continue.

You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Thanks for being with us. I'm George Howell.

ALLEN: I'm Natalie Allen. We will be with you for the next two hours. We're not going anywhere.

Much more on the GOP debate and the latest on the MH370 investigation and other news here. Please stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)