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Bump the Trump; Deadly Chilean Quake; Second U.S. Republican Presidential Debate; Migrant Protest Erupts at Hungarian Border; Assad Blames the West for Migrant Crisis; Candidates Talk Vladimir Putin; Candidates Point Fingers Over Terrorism; Student Arrest for Making Clock; Trump Remains Brash at Debate; Jimmy Fallon, Hillary Clinton Bash Trump; Federal Reserve Announcement on Interest Rates Expected. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired September 17, 2015 - 01:00   ET

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


[01:0:00]

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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Bump the Trump: Republican rivals pile on the party's front-runner during a marathon-long presidential debate.

A deadly quake off the Chilean coast triggers flooding and tsunami warnings.

Tear gas and water cannon as Hungary cracks down on migrants trying to break through a border fence.

Also ahead, the clock mistaken for a bomb, the boy who made it arrested but now invited to the White House.

Hello, everybody, great to have you with us. I'm John Vause. CNN NEWSROOM begins now.

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VAUSE: The gloves came off in the second Republican presidential debate with front-runner Donald Trump under attack from his 10 rivals on stage at the Ronald Reagan Library in California. The action finished just a few hours ago; two debates and 15 candidates, all up five hours of sledging insults and even some talk about policy -- but mostly sledging.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, ENTREPRENEUR: First of all, Rand Paul shouldn't even be on this stage. He's number 11. He has got 1 percent in the polls and how he got up here, there's far too many people anyway.

SEN. RAND PAUL (R), KY: I kind of have to laugh when I think of, hmm, it sounds like a non-sequitur. He was asked whether or not he would be capable and it would be in good hands to be in charge of the nuclear weapons. And all of a sudden, there is a sideways attack at me.

JEB BUSH, FORMER GOVERNOR OF FLORIDA: The one guy that had some special interests that I know of, that tried to get me to change my views on something, that was generous and gave me money was Donald Trump. He wanted casino gambling in Florida.

TRUMP: I didn't --

BUSH: Yes, you did.

TRUMP: Totally false.

Bush You wanted it and you didn't get it. I was opposed before, during and after and that's not -- I am not going to be bought by anybody.

TRUMP: I promise, if I wanted it, I would have gotten it.

CARLY FIORINA (R), CALIF.: Politicians have run up mountains of debt using other people's money. That is, in fact, precisely the way you ran your casinos. You ran up mountains of debt as well as losses using other people's money.

And you were forced to file for bankruptcy not once, not twice, four times, a record four times.

Why should we trust you to manage the finances of this nation any differently than you manage the finances of your casinos?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: There were also fireworks between Donald Trump and former Florida governor Jeb Bush over immigration and Trump insulting Bush's wife and just who is to blame for the rise of ISIS.

Even without Trump on stage, he was still a target. During the earlier debate, candidate Lindsey Graham said the real estate tycoon was like a cartoon character and former New York governor George Pataki said Trump is unfit to be president.

Let's bring in CNN political correspondent Eric Bradner, live with us now from the scene of the big debate.

So, Eric, big picture here. Winners, the losers, who had a good night and who had a bad one?

ERIC BRADNER, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Donald Trump was a purchasing bag from the first minute tonight. Rand Paul called him a junior high schooler; Scott Walker called him an apprentice and Jeb Bush asked for an apology to his wife.

But Carly Fiorina was the best at dealing with Trump. She had a lot of really good exchanges on personal issues, including her personal appearance, on business, going after Trump's casino management and everything in between. She was really the star. She had to fight to get into this debate by performing well in the

sort of under card version of the first one. And then she really seized the moment. So she was a standout performer tonight.

Now what remains to be seen is whether she can get the kind of bump in the polls off this performance that she got off the first one.

VAUSE: OK, Eric. Thank you for that. Eric Bradner, reporting live from Simi Valley in California.

Let's go to Jonathan Mann. He cracks U.S. politics for us. He's also the host of the aptly named show, "Political Mann."

OK. So we heard from Eric out there, a lot of people say Carly Fiorina had a good night. Donald Trump did not have a particularly good night.

JONATHAN MANN, CNN HOST: He is, nonetheless, the man defining the debate, the man defining this race. So every candidate but Trump went into this wondering how they were going to address Trump.

He was the center of attention, of course. No candidate has really figured out how to counter his very unique off-the-cuff entertaining, insulting approach to campaigning. He has got the big lead. They have to find a way to cut that down -- and they tried.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The best way for us to give this election back would be to nominate a Donald Trump. He will either implode in the general election, or, God forbid, if he were in the White House, we have no idea what he would do. You can't just attack him on policy. He doesn't care about policy. It's not enough to say he was for socialized medicine or --

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JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Thank you, Governor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- he's not serious. I think personal attacks just please one person: Hillary Clinton. Donald Trump has every right to run for president as a Republican as anyone else in this audience and he may have positions I disagree with, but he has the right to do that. And the people should be given the benefit of the doubt to be able to see through those things. I don't think it helps when Republicans attack Republicans personally.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do we want someone with that character, that kind of careless language to be negotiating with Putin?

Do we want someone like that to be negotiating with Iran?

I really think there is a sophomoric quality that is entertaining about Mr. Trump, but I am worried. I'm very concerned about having him in charge of the nuclear weapons because I think his response, his visceral response to attack people on their appearance -- short, tall, fat, ugly -- my goodness. That happened in junior high.

Are we not way above that?

Would we not all be worried to have someone like that in charge of the nuclear arsenal?

TAPPER: Ms. Fiorina, I do want to ask you about this.

in an interview last week in "Rolling Stone" magazine, Donald Trump said the following about you, quote, "Look at that face. Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that the face of our next president?"

Mr. Trump later said he was talking about your persona, not your appearance. Please feel free to respond what you think about his persona.

(LAUGHTER)

FIORINA: It's interesting to me. Mr. Trump said 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.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: I think she's got a beautiful face and I think she's a beautiful woman.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANN: Maybe, but boy, the look on his face, he looked like he had been served. Donald Trump at the center of the debate figuratively and literally, literally because he was positioned right in the middle of the stage. Five candidates on each side, he was literally the center of attention.

And when he was not talking, the moderators were asking questions about things he'd been saying; again, tonight, Donald Trump defining the debate. It's not clear that he lost a lot of ground today.

Carly Fiorina did brilliantly, some other candidates, but Trump was there and, once again, he is the man at the center.

VAUSE: You say he was at the center of the stage. And that was interesting because when you put Trump next to Jeb Bush, who is actually quite tall, Trump seemed to shrink a little. He seemed to be slouching. He even seemed to be a little bit low energy. It was, after all, a three-hour-long debate. He just didn't quite seem to be himself.

MANN: Trump did complain after the debate about the length of the debate. And I can tell you that the first debate, the FOX debate back in August, viewership tends to -- it falls off after a certain point. People were not necessarily going to have as much energy and he certainly didn't have as much energy.

He didn't define the end of the debate as much as he had defined the beginning of it. Things grew less combative. So the character of the debate did change and Donald Trump -- I think you're right, his character changed as well.

Also one point he made, he sais that he is beginning to get to know the other candidates through the debates. So as they get more used to each other, as he begins to like some --

(CROSSTALK)

VAUSE: -- very warm moment between him and Jeb Bush right at the end.

(CROSSTALK)

VAUSE: -- each other --

MANN: -- exactly. Exactly.

VAUSE: One other thing which was interesting about this debate, Trump again promising he doesn't know a lot and saying, but, hey, don't worry, by the time I'm inaugurated, I will be up to speed.

How long will American voters put up with that?

MANN: Trump defies the laws of gravity. Trump seems to makes a virtue of things that any other candidate would find to be a serious, serious handicap. The fact that he is outside of politics, has no experience in international affairs and has even made mistakes on the air, calling the Quds Force, the Iranian force, the Kurds and none of it seems to count with his voters.

So Marco Rubio, senator from Florida, did attack him tonight as a man who was unprepared for high office because of his ignorance of international affairs. It's not clear that anyone who supports Trump cares at all.

VAUSE: Yes, a lot of the debate was, in fact, about foreign policy. It's interesting, just looking at "The Drudge Report," the conservative right-wing website here, snap poll, which, actually if you recall from the last presidential Republican debate, was pretty accurate, 61 percent giving this second debate to Trump, 16 percent to Carly Fiorina. Everybody else is in single digits.

Carson, who we didn't even hear from, is on 5 percent in this vote.

MANN: And even Carson, who is a trained neurosurgeon, was induced to say that Trump's objections to how vaccines are administered to young children was medically appropriate.

VAUSE: Yes.

MANN: It was really interesting because who would expect Donald Trump to say anything medically appropriate about something as arcane as vaccine administration policy?

And Carson said, yes, he's not a bad doctor. He would advise people to follow the diagnosis. VAUSE: Wow.

Finally, Jeb Bush, because he's the guy that, when all this began about a year ago and he thought he would be the guy and he was the front-runner but, again, not a great debate. The first one was not great and this one was a little better.

[01:10:00]

VAUSE: But he is not quick on his feet. He just doesn't seem to be very good at this.

MANN: He doesn't. I agree with you entirely.

He was a fairly successful governor in the state of Florida. And what's interesting is, once again, he shows you just how different this election is. He came in with name recognition. He is heir to a political dynasty. He has millions and millions of dollars in the bank and the endorsement of every major political figure in the Republican Party.

Those are the kinds of assets that used to guarantee, especially for a Republican, the nomination for the presidency. None of those traditional assets matters in this election.

Donald Trump is a 21st century candidate who basically can go on television, talk off the cuff and entertain people with his wit and with his candor and all of that is completely outdistancing, overshadowing --

(CROSSTALK)

VAUSE: And you described Jeb Bush as the last telegraph operator.

MANN: Well, he's the last telegraph operator in America and Donald Trump has invented the iPhone.

VAUSE: Exactly.

(LAUGHTER)

VAUSE: Jon, great to have you with. Thank you very much.

Jonathan Mann, host of "Political Mann." And you will have a lot more as this election season moves forward.

(CROSSTALK)

VAUSE: OK. Some big differences in the Republican debate when it comes to battling ISIS and talking to President Putin. A breakdown of those explosive moments coming up a little later here in the hour. We will move on now.

At least five people are dead following a powerful earthquake just off Chile's coast. These are the images of the moment the 8.3 magnitude quake struck. Tsunami warnings have been lifted to some areas, but the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said 3-plus meter waves were still possible along some of Chile's coast.

Tsunami advisories extend as far away as New Zealand, Hawaii and California. The U.S. Geological Survey says the quake's epicenter was about 54 kilometers west of the city of Illapel.

Pedram Javaheri has been following all of this for us throughout the night and now into the morning.

So, Pedram, we are looking at a death toll of five. It was a shallow quake. It was a powerful quake that seems to so far to be fairly lucky.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is fairly lucky, but it's worth noting, John, that with about 10 million people that felt the most significant shaking, about 5 million of those were moderate shaking out towards Santiago. And the remaining areas remain in the severe to strong shaking.

So now we're talking about potentially an area that has not yet been analyzed as far as the damage or fatalities that may be left in line. But when you are talking about a magnitude 8, this is a once-in-a-year event with 1.5 million quakes on our planet every single year that you would be able to feel. This is the only one you typically would see in this magnitude with most of them being below magnitude 3.

And then you work towards what the number of the people feeling this quake, wasn't them when you were talking about the moderates still again, the nearly 7 million people with several hundred thousand being at the top of the charts when it comes to the intensity of the shaking.

But of course the tsunami threats still in place. We know a wave has been generated that is on the move, moving at somewhere around 800 kilometers per hour. And because we know how then the speed of the tsunami motion across the Pacific Ocean, we can them mathematically calculate when they will arrive in certain locations.

In fact, the strongest tsunami wave displacement would be right on the immediate coast where we had 4.5-meter displacement across the coast of Chile. The waves then propagate outwards, lose some of their intensities and you take a look at that observation site and it shows you the perfect successive waves that come in within an observation site, 4.5 meters or so with the longest and the largest displacement of the water and then things have since improved across portions of Chile.

But across the United States, Santa Monica, 11:57 UTC, so we're talking just before 5:00 in the morning local time, some of those beaches will see water displacement somewhere on the order of less than a foot. While in Auckland, New Zealand, 13:38 UTC, you work your way towards Japan; by 20:28 UTC, you have some water displacement, generally less than a meter to three meters at the very most.

But again, the fatalities, as John telling you, below 10 right now. About five and the highest probability would be between a 10- and a 100-fatality count based on historical data for quakes in this particular region.

Economic impact would exceed $100 million, again based on historical data.

So John, this is a big story developing out there across Chile.

VAUSE: Yes, thanks, Pedram. And we will get more on this story right now.

Joining us on the line from Santiago is Fabrizio Guzman. He's the emergency communications manager in Chile for the Christian aid agency World Vision.

Sir, thank you for being with us. We've been talking about this death toll; it stands at five right now.

Any indication if that is expected to rise in the coming hours?

FABRIZIO GUZMAN, COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER, WORLD VISION: Hello and thanks for calling.

Yes, there are five people already dead and we have no more information that there are more people. (INAUDIBLE). So maybe within the next few hours, we will find out more people dead in the tropic (ph) zones. We're still -- it's not really certain, the information that is coming from the epicenter. So we still don't know a certain figure --

[01:15:00]

GUZMAN: -- of the people that is dead.

VAUSE: So you say that there is still a problem right now, getting information from the epicenter of the earthquake?

Is that correct?

GUZMAN: Yes.

VAUSE: So essentially there is no indication of what the extent of the damage will be by the time the sun comes up in the morning.

What are people doing right now? What has been the reaction there? I know you are in the capital.

So how have people been reacting to this?

Are they heading back home now? Because it has been a couple of hours since the quake.

GUZMAN: In fact, there have been about 40 aftershocks after the earthquake. The strongest one was about 7.6 Richter magnitude, which is really strong.

So after about 20 minutes, we had another aftershock. So I think mainly people here won't sleep that much. Here it's 2:00 am. So that's the situation. People are really scared and is afraid of that maybe something bigger could come.

VAUSE: Which is totally understandable.

Fabrizio, thank you for being with us, Fabrizio Guzman, emergency communications manager for World Vision, on the line there from Santiago. And there have been 40 aftershocks in the hours since that powerful 8.3 magnitude quake.

A short break here on CNN NEWSROOM. When we come back, chaos at the Serbian-Hungarian border.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Tear gas has been fired and people are running. This is one of the problems.

VAUSE: Tear gas filled the air when migrants clashed with police. And CNN was there as it happened.

Also ahead, a teenage boy with a love for science brings a homemade clock to school and then he's placed in handcuffs. That's still ahead.

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VAUSE: Tensions remain high on the Serbian-Hungarian border. Frustration boiled over between migrants and police on Wednesday along Hungary's razor wire fence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE (voice-over): Migrants gave authorities a two-hour deadline to open the border gates or they would try to break through. When authorities refused, the clashes erupted and police responded with tear gas.

CNN's Ben Wedeman was reporting live when the violence erupted.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WEDEMAN: OK. They fired more tear gas so people are sort of panicking at the moment.

[01:20:00]

WEDEMAN: I don't know if we're still connected. Just stick with me.

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN HOST: You're connected, Ben, carry on.

WEDEMAN: You can see the tear gas is being fired.

OK, all right, I'll carry on. I'll carry on. All right. Yes, the tear gas has been fired. People are running.

This is one of the problems. A panic starts and we just try to do a little traffic to keep people from trampling us as well.

Of course -- OK, I can smell that tear gas now.

They're chanting, "Allahu Akbar," "God is great."

They had great hope, when they thought they could go to places like Germany and Austria. And the fact that suddenly the door is shut, the road is closed and they can't move forward accounts for what we're seeing here.

OK, what happened is that rumor went around that the gate has been open and people could move forward. So women, children, everybody came rushing with all their possessions they could carry toward the gate and then just moments ago, the crowd started to run in the opposite direction.

They are firing tear gas again. It's thick, as you can tell. People are being overcome by this gas.

Earlier we had seen the Serbian police trying to calm this situation down, urging people to move back. So it appears -- now these police have now been deployed on the Serbian side of the border, perhaps to defuse the situation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Hungary's foreign affairs minister has defended the way the country has dealt with the migrant influx and he was talking about that to Hala Gorani.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HALA GORANI, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: When you look at the images on your border with Serbia and you see what's going on there, do you say to yourself maybe that your country has some sort of moral obligation to help them?

PETER SZIJJARTO, HUNGARY'S FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER: In Hungary, there are camps for the refugees and for the migrants, where we, of course, ensure the necessary supply for all of them. Of course, if they didn't go to these camps, we were not able to supply them.

Regarding those ones who are out, for example, in Serbia, we are working together with big humanitarian organizations.

GORANI: And you speak of the camps. You of course know about this video that was shot by someone surreptitiously inside a camp, showing police wearing hygiene masks, throwing food at them like, some people said, like they were animals.

Do you think that's an appropriate way of treating asylum seekers inside your country? SZIJJARTO: I think the appropriate way to inform people is to be

correct and fair enough because those scenes that you have shown and you just asked me about are scenes when the migrants were not patient enough to receive the food from the Polish people, rather they ran on the police people. And they tried to solve the situation.

You know, Hungary and Polish people have been doing a great job without any violence, taking care of more than 200,000 migrants already this year.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Serbia's foreign affairs ministry says Hungary is suspending traffic at the border crossing for up to 30 days. So now hundreds of migrants are heading west to Croatia.

In stark contrast, police there are welcoming migrants across the border. But they could face another threat: Land mines. Thousands are still buried, left over from the Balkan Wars. The Croatian government says the mine fields are clearly marked.

Many of these migrants are fleeing wars and terrorism in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. And from there, many go to Tripoli, a port city in Northern Lebanon. Our Nick Paton Walsh is there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT: This, the northern port of Tripoli in Lebanon, is very much ground zero for the migrant trail and refugee trail that then heads on to Europe.

Now these dozens of Syrian refugees to one side of me here, many of whom will, after they hit Turkey, move on towards Europe and some of them have literally only hours ago emerged from Syria, from a border crossing there.

They're then taken directly to this port and when, we're told, they reach about 400 to 500 in number, they are put on to these boats which then travel straight to the Turkish coast.

Now the Lebanese authorities give them about 24 hours here in country and then move them straight on to these boats. They are not allowed really to mingle inside Lebanon.

But it is this large group of refugees that President Bashar al-Assad of Syria has said that Europe is to blame for.

His comments today to a Russian news agency, saying that it was the West's decision to arm what he referred to as terrorists. And that is, in the eyes of the West, the Syrian opposition. But by arming them, they have fomented the refugee and migrant crisis that now comes to Europe's shores.

But this said collection of stories here, which as I say, will, hours from now, beyond --

[01:25:00]

-- these bodes that are crowded -- and we're told that, so far this year, five times as many people according to migration officials have taken this trip to Turkey and did for all of 2014.

These boats will soon be leaving, taking to these Syrians to Turkey and then some of them may begin an onward journey to Europe -- Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, in the Northern Lebanese port of Tripoli.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Concerns are growing in the U.S. over Russia's intentions for moving military equipment into Syria. American officials say new satellite images show four Russian helicopters have now joined tanks, armored vehicles and mobile artillery already there.

Moscow and Washington both say the common enemy in Syria is ISIS, but Russia backs President Bashar al-Assad, a long-time ally. Secretary of State John Kerry is talking to his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: I made clear that Russia's continued support for Assad risks escalating the conflict and undermining our shared goal of fighting extremism if we do not also remain focused on finding the political solution.

I also reaffirmed our commitment to fight ISIL with the coalition now in place and that indeed we would welcome a constructive role by Russia in that effort.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: John Kerry said Russia is proposing talks which are aimed at making sure coalition and Russian forces do not clash in the air or on the ground.

There are fears this hour of military coup in Burkina Faso, where hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the presidential palace. A protest erupted after the presidential guard arrested the interim president, a prime minister and two other ministers during a cabinet meeting on Wednesday. The guard has given no explanation for its actions.

A short break here on CNN. When we come back, the Republican debate was seen around the world. We will have an international perspective on the candidates' foreign policies.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:30:43] VAUSE: Welcome back and thank you for staying with us. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.

Right now, spin rooms are spinning and fact checkers are checking. The 15 U.S. presidential candidates might be relaxing a little after two CNN debates wrapped up a couple of hours ago.

Foreign policy was one of the most contentious topics, especially when it comes to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Donald Trump, who is leading in the polls, said he would get along fine with Mr. Putin. Carly Fiorina says it's simple, don't talk to Mr. Putin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Number one, they have to respect you. He has no respect for President Obama. Zero. Syria is a mess. Look at what's going on with ISIS. Think of this. We are fighting ISIS and ISIS wants to fight Syria. Why are we fighting ISIS in Syria? Let them fight each other and pick up the remnants.

I would talk to him and I would get along with him. I believe -- and I may be wrong, in which case, I'd probably have to take a different path -- but I would get along with a lot of world leaders that this country is not getting along with.

CARLY FIORINA, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Having met Vladimir Putin, I wouldn't talk to him at all. We've talked way too much to him. What I would do is I would begin rebuilding the 5th Fleet, rebuilding the missile defense program in Poland, I would conduct regular, aggressive military exercises in the Baltic States, I would probably send a few thousand more troops into Germany. Vladimir Putin would get the message.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: CNN's Nic Robertson is live in London.

Nic, two different approaches on how to handle President Putin, to talk to him or not to talk to him. So a Putin and Trump friendship, would that be a good thing for the world or would a President Fiorina approach be better, beef up the military and give Putin the cold shoulder?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Beefing up the military was sort of a central approach for her to a lot of issues around the world as well, 50 Army brigades and Marine battalions and the missile defense and the military exercises in the Baltics. The thing about listening to Trump, he asked a question about Russia supporting President Bashar al Assad inside Syria, but you don't get details from Donald Trump. You get, yes, I would talk to him, yes, this is a problem inside Syria and they should deal with themselves, when the general consensus is that allowing ISIS in Syria potentially is a threat to the United States and many other countries further down the line. He obviously doesn't appear to believe that. He doesn't get into details. He goes on very, very quickly. He says, I would get on with world leaders, I would get on with him. Carly Fiorina, as you say, doesn't want to talk to President Putin and would essentially increase the threat to the areas where he is expanding and where he is pushing back on the edges of Eastern Europe. I think that was -- that idea that Putin needs to be stood up to by the next U.S. leader has common ground among those GOP candidates. On that point, she was sort of more in line with everyone else. Donald Trump really just playing on the strength of his character without details.

VAUSE: Nic, you mentioned terrorism and ISIS in Syria, and that was a hot button issue, including who is to blame for the rise of ISIS.

Listen to this as Donald Trump takes on Jeb Bush during this exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Your brother --

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: -- and your brother's administration gave us Barack Obama because it was such a disaster those last three months that Abraham Lincoln could not have been elected.

JEB BUSH, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know what, as it relates to my brother, one thing I know for sure. He kept us safe. I don't know if you remember --

(APPLAUSE)

BUSH: Donald --

(APPLAUSE)

BUSH: Do you remember the rubble? Do you remember the firefighter with his arms around him? He sent a clear signal that the United States would be strong and fight Islamic terrorism, he did keep us safe.

TRUMP: You feel safe right now? I don't feel so safe.

(CROSSTALK)

GOV. SCOTT WALKER, (R-WI) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That's because of Barack Obama, we had a president who called ISIS the J.V. squad and Yemen a success story, Iran a place we can do business with. And I ran a place we can do business with. It's not because of George W. Bush, it's because of Barack Obama. And when

(APPLAUSE)

WALKER: And when it comes to the view on that, on that point, through, whether we are talking about national security or foreign policy or domestic policy --

TRUMP: Or the collapse of the economy.

WALKER: -- the key issue is talking about leadership.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[01:35:28] VAUSE: That was Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker weighing in at the end. But this is an ongoing debate in the United States. Who should be

blamed for the rise of ISIS? Was it the invasion or Iraq, which Donald Trump is alluding to, was ordered by Jeb Bush's brother, George W. Bush, or is it because President Obama dropped the ball and pulled the troops out of Iraq, as Scott Walker and Jeb Bush alluded to a little earlier?

ROBERTSON: That is consensus that this is the fault of previous administrations and you can see in the context here the battle shaping for later when the GOP candidate said we will be one nominee to run for president and the real issue is going to be to displace the Democrats from the White House, so to take on President Obama's legacy and the legacy of the Democratic administration really is the central issue for them.

But on tackling ISIS and how to deal with that, we heard a number of issues raised. One of the central things that seems common to candidates was giving greater strength to the Kurds and taking some of the political restrictions off the troops that are inside Iraq right now. We heard fighting ISIS at the moment. We heard from pulling all the troops out of Iraq to increase him to perhaps 10,000. We heard from Senator Lindsey Graham saying he believed that the way to tackle the problem right there was to build -- we heard this from a number of candidates as well -- that this is a regional problem and the solution needs to be regional army to take on ISIS or take on Assad. That also comes with its own set of dangers, given the sectarian nature of some of the things that underpin the conflict there. So some of what was being suggested, it's hard to see how that would gather momentum, ideas in support, ideas that have already been tried to build to a great Arab coalition to solve the problem there in Syria. I didn't hear anything that stood out there that said this would be a way forward that hasn't been tried or talked about that can be successful -- John?

VAUSE: You and me both. I think a lot of people had that question. There was a lot of back and forth. Still, not a whole lot of details.

Nic, thank you, especially if you are getting up out there in London. We appreciate it. Cheers.

Well, a powerful earthquake jolted Chile on Wednesday, killing at least eight people. The 8.5 magnitude quake triggered flooding in coastal towns. Tsunami advisories were issued for most of the coast, as far away as New Zealand, Hawaii and California. Here's what it looked like in the CNN office in Chile moments after the quake. The U.S. Geological Survey said the epicenter was about 50 kilometers west of the city and had a depth of 25 kilometers.

Quite a scene in Japan when fighting broke out between lawmakers on Thursday, happening right before a vote on a controversial security bill that would let Japanese troops to be deployed overseas. It would be a major shift from Japan's pacifist constitution passed after World War II. The bill needs approval at the committee level before it goes to the upper House for a vote and that would take place on Friday at the earliest. A 14-year-old Texas boy was just trying to show off his engineering

skills when made a clock for his teacher and, hours later, as time ticked by, he ended up in police custody.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AHMED MOHAMED, STUDENT: I built a clock and got in a lot of trouble for it. I built the clock to impress my teacher, but when I showed it to her, she thought it was a threat to her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Ahmed Mohamed made a clock out of a pencil case, but when he showed the teacher, the school called police, who accused Mohamed of making a bomb. He was later released and won't be charged.

But there was outrage on social media. And even President Obama took notice. He tweeted this, "Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. That's what makes America great." Mohamed said he will accept that invitation. He received a tweet from Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, inviting him to the company headquarters. School officials said they were following safety protocols. Ahmed said he wants to transfer away from the school. I don't blame him.

A short break here and a lot more when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:03:09] VAUSE: Donald Trump spent the past few months as a Republican presidential candidate being brash, boisterous and downright insulting. At Wednesday's debate, it was no different.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: But the qualification is that I dealt with people all over the world and been successful all over the world.

Everything I have done virtually has been a tremendous success. When markets changed and things turned, I heard Governor Pataki, who was a failed governor in New York, a seriously failed. He wouldn't be elected dog catcher right now. I heard what he had to say.

BUSH: Yes, you did.

TRUMP: Totally false.

BUSH: You wanted it and you didn't get it because --

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: I gambled --

BUSH: Before, during, and after. And that's not -- and I'm not going to be bought.

TRUMP: I promise, if I wanted it, I would have gotten it.

BUSH: No way.

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: Believe me.

BUSH: No.

TRUMP: I know my people.

BUSH: No even possible.

TRUMP: I know my people.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Excuse me. One second.

BUSH: No.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: More energy tonight. I like that.

SEN. RAND PAUL, (R-KY) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think really there is a sophomoric quality that is entertaining about Mr. Trump. But I am concerned about having him in charge of the weapons because his response, his visceral response to attack people on their appearance, short, tall, fat, ugly. My goodness, that happened in junior high. Are we not above that? Would we be worried to have someone like that in charge?

TRUMP: I never attacked him on his looks and, believe me, there's plenty of subject matter right there. That I can tell you.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Democratic frontrunner, Hillary Clinton, got in on a few of the jokes. She stopped by "The Tonight Show" with Jimmy Fallon, and she played along as the comedian poked fun at Mr. Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY FALLON, HOST, THE TONIGHT SHOW: The GOP debate as usual, I was fantastic. Everyone loved me. I know you are about to do Jimmy Fallon, but he is a total lightweight.

(LAUGHTER)

I'm going to do him a favor and interview you instead.

HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That's great. You know how much I love being interviewed -- (LAUGHTER)

-- as long as you don't start talking over me when I'm trying to make a point.

(LAUGHTER)

[01:45:18] FALLON: Question one.

CLINTON: I'm really curious, Donald. What is your stance on women's issues?

FALLON: I know a lot of women and they all have issues.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Hillary can do a joke, can't she?

A short break. When we come back, the U.S. Federal Reserve has the big decision to make today, whether to raise interest rates for the first time in years and we will look at how important that move is ahead.

Two Russian comedians confess to punking pop singer, Elton John. Coming up, we will look at how they were able to fool the superstar.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON RIDDEL, CNN WORLD SPORTS ANCHOR: I'm Don Riddel with you "CNN World Sports" headlines.

The two London sides for the Champions leagues. They will play each other this weekend and the Blues may feel they have more confidence on their side after a 4-0 win at Stanford Bridge. Chelsea had been struggling and they are short of a flying start to their campaign in Group G. Arsenal meanwhile kicked off in Group F with a disappointing 2-1 defeat after the dismissal and they had to play for more than half the game with just men. Defending in Barcelona had to settle for a point against Roma in Group E. Louie Suarez scored his first European goal of the season, but the extraordinary 64-yard strike is what the game will be remembered for.

Other news, the International Olympic Committee will consider five bid cities for the Summer Games in 2024. A recent change to the regulations means that every bid makes the short list so Budapest, Hamburg, Los Angeles, Paris and Rome will spend the next two years lobbying for approval. The IOC wants the winning bid to focus on sustainability and legacy. The winner will be announced in Peru in September of 2017.

That's a quick look at your sports headlines. I'm Don Riddel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:19:51] VAUSE: The U.S. Justice Department is expected to announce a criminal settlement with General Motors over a faulty part. At least 100 people died as a result of a faulty ignition switch. The settlement would involve G.M. acknowledging it misled the government and the public. A judge still has to decide whether to accept this deal. The car maker has admitted it delayed a recall announcement. G.M. declined to comment.

Later today, the U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to announce if interest rates will rise for the first time in nine years. Economists are split on what the Fed will do.

And as Maggie Lake reports, there is no clear argument one way or the other.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAGGIE LAKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mechanics at 54th Street Auto Center know a thing or two. They want to make sure they are in top shape before they hit the road.

(on camera): What are you doing here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am tying up the terminal.

LAKE: A car is a lot different than crafting Fed policy but they have one thing in common. Both require a lot of care and one wrong move could cause a lot of damage.

(voice-over): For the Fed, job number one is keeping the wheels running in the U.S. without sparking excess inflation. Many say there is a lot more work to do on the monetary motor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We used to raise rates and never used to raise them just because let's get it over with. We had the interest rates and we are in the seventh year of zero percent. We still can't get any real inflation. Doesn't that tell you the engine is broken? If the engine is broken, raising rates is probably the wrong thing to do.

LAKE: Others think the Fed has room to tap ever so slightly on the brakes. Employment is close to Fed target. The jobless rate is at seven-year lows. Key segments of the economy are strengthening.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We do have a tail wind is a much stronger housing market and most people care about the value of their home. They hold less stock than prior to the crisis. In fact, home prices in most markets hit their previous highs, which is a tipping point. There is a tail end and the extra tax cut of falling prices will help consumers.

LAKE (on camera): Another key factor for the Fed, the lack of economic shock absorbers. If they keep the rates, they will have less tools to use in the next downturn. (voice-over): But be careful what you wish for. They could mess up

the transmission and trigger a rise in borrowing costs.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What the Fed officials hope is they can raise it a bit and nothing will happen a long time and they creep up slowly. What's more likely to happen is when interest rates start to rise, they will pop up and cause more turmoil.

LAKE: No one wants drastically higher borrowing costs that could knock the wheels off of recovery. The pressure is on Janet Yellin and the Fed as they begin their look underneath the economic hood.

Maggie Lake, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: The Russian prankster and his sidekick has fessed up to prank calling pop star, Elton John. The pair fooled the singer by posing as Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin spokesman. During a recent phone call, John apparently thought the Russian leader had called him for real to discuss gay rights and posted a message on social media thanking Mr. Putin for the call. When the Kremlin learned of the Instagram post they denied that anything had taken place. The Russian pranksters have a history of making prank calls to celebrities and politicians.

A man in South Korea used a golf club and a baseball bat to smash up his new Mercedes Benz. He bought it six months ago and had a lot of engine trouble and the dealers won't take it back. He parked it in front of the lot and started clubbing away. He did a good job. Mercedes Benz did not return the request for comment.

Let's go back to the top story, the CNN debate featuring the Republican candidates for U.S. president. They took on a lot of issues with insults and fun as well. Here's a look at the lighter moments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: 40 years ago, I smoked marijuana and people may not want to see it in front of 25 million people. My mom is not happy I just did.

(LAUGHTER)

That's true.

TRUMP: I'm in favor of vaccines. Do them over a longer period of time, same amount --

JAKE TAPPER, DEBATE MODERATOR: Thank you.

TRUMP: -- just in little sections.

TAPPER: Dr. Carson, you heard his medical take.

(LAUGHTER) DR. BEN CARSON, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He's an OK doctor.

(LAUGHTER)

TAPPER: What would you want your secret service code name to be?

BUSH: Ever Ready.

It's very high energy, Donald.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

TAPPER: Mr. Trump?

TRUMP: Humble.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[01:55:05] VAUSE: They all really do like each other.

And if you like watching that, you can see it again. We'll replay the whole debate again in a few hours' time, 11:00 in London, 9:00 in Berlin.

That does it for me. I'm John Vause.

CNN NEWSROOM continues with Errol Barnett, 100 percent more, Lynda Kinkade. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ERROL BARNETT, CNN ANCHOR: A powerful earthquake strikes Chile, setting off tsunami warnings from New Zealand to California.

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, police and migrants crash as Hungary refuses to open its borders.

BARNETT: But first, rival candidates target Donald Trump during the latest Republican presidential debate.

KINKADE: Hello, and thanks for joining us. I'm Lynda Kinkade.

BARNETT: And I'm Errol Barnett. We'll be with you for the next two hours. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

Well, we all watched this with enjoyment in the NEWSROOM tonight. It was a political fight night in southern California.

KINKADE: That's right. CNN hosted a pair of Republican presidential debates. Front runner, Donald Trump, was boisterous as ever.