Right now. Good evening. It was passionate, at times permanent and certainly colorful. Boy, it was a physical endurance contest. Last nights threehour long debate among the republican front runners had the candidates sweating it out. That was before some of the nights most heated exchanges. The early view among the pundits is that more than a few solid punches landed firmly on frontrunner donald trump. And that Carly Fiorina had a strong night. But the larger question of how they did is a subject that itself is up for debate thechk. We begin with nbcs halle jackson. Reporter in a debate defined by the split screen, Donald Trumps face said it all as Carly Fiorina responded to comments about hers. Last week in Rolling Stone magazine, donald trump says the following but, look at that face. Would anyone vote for that . I think women all over this country heard clearly what mr. Trump said. Shes got a beautiful face and i think shes a beautiful woman. Reporter one of the most talked about moments of the threehour marathon as fiorina rocketed nearly to the top of the social media standings along with donald trump, jeb bush and bene carson. The divide on stage ran deeper than what we saw on the tv screen, exposing disconnects within the republican party. Still litigating the iraq war . The critics lowfiving. I didnt want to go into iraq and fought it. Reporter as bush defends his brothers policy. He did keep us safe. Reporter whether to legalize marijuana prompted a very personal moment. My husband frank and i buried a child to drug addiction so we must invest more in the treatment of drugs. Reporter the candidates also divided sharply on immigration and foreign affairs. Policyheavy moments that seemed to sideline the frontrunners, prompting pundits to declare trump the loser. He is not someone who will pass the test do you want him sitting in the oval office as the most important person in the world . Reporter in this unpredictable race, that is another divide, the one between analysts and everybody else. Including trumps supporters like carl zahn in New Hampshire. The lack of specifics doesnt bother me so much. Whats driving trump is the attitude. Reporter trump got plenty of attitude from the other candidates. We dont need an apprentice in the white house, we have one right now. Reporter trying to claw their way into the spotlight. While trump hit back, it was fiorina who was the biggest hit. So confident, she skipped the usual ritual of spinning reporters afterwards. Her micdropped moment with momentum on her side. Nearly 23 Million People watched the debate. Cnns highest rated show ever, about as many viewers as american idols first seasons finale. The person taking credit is donald trump. Halle jackson, thanks. Lets drill down on two of the key exchanges from last nights debate that are generating a lot of talk today. One concerning a major fight brewing over funding for planned parenthood. The other about childhood vaccinations. Tonight Andrea Mitchell taking a closer look how the candidates address those issues and how their answers stand up to the facts. Reporter Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire today, down in the polls, reaching out to women voters. After a fierce attack from Carly Fiorina targeting planned parenthood. Mrs. Clinton, can you respond to Carly Fiorina calling you a liar last night . Reporter it was one two of hot button issues in the debate. I dare Hillary Clinton, barack obama to watch these tapes. Watch a fullyformed fetus on the table. Its heart beating, its legs kicking. Reporter today the Womens Health group said fiorina was a liar saying your claims are completely false. The group says the videos were heavily edited and one fetus came from a pennsylvania woman who miscarried and they charge only to cover cost to provide fetal tissue to medical researchers. Clinton responded late today on cnn. I think we ought to be very clear that planned parenthood has served to provide health care, Necessary Health care, for millions of women. Reporter the other hot button debate issue, a wildly discredited charge that vaccines cause autism. A beautiful child went to have the vaccine and came back and a week later got a tremendous fever, got very, very sick, now is autistic. Reporter dr. Bene carson a pediatric surgeon rebutted that. We have documented proof there is no autism associated with vaccinations. Reporter consider republicans in congressing threatening to shut down the government this month over planned parenthood funding. This issue is not going away. Andrea mitchell, thanks. Going into the debate there was an expectation it would be make or break for some of these candidates. Lets bring in the moderator of meet the press chuck todd in detroit tonight. Is there a clear separation of the field based on what happened last night . Look, i think we are starting to see a separation. Its more at the bottom than the top. You are going to see more jumbling at the top. Carly fiorina, a clear winner. I wont be surprised if she spikes in the polls and fundraising. Donald trump will probably hold his position. Ultimately this debate is going to be known as the debate where the rest of the field said we are tired of being in Donald Trumps shadows. They were comfortable going after him. We could see the slow leak in the trump balloon. It may not be today or tomorrow, but in a few months. Bene carson did not help himself. He had a Good Exchange with trump there as andrea mentioned. He had a bigger opportunity and missed. The rubio and cruz, they stayed forward. They kept going. I think they are neigh good shape. There were four candidates i was watching closely, christy, walker, huckabee and rand paul. Of those four who desperately needed a good night, only Chris Christie got the night he needed to get the fundraising dollars to stay in this race. Chuck todd, thank you. A very closelywatched decision today by the federal reserve. One that affects millions of american homeowners and people considering other big purchases. The fed said today the cost of borrowing is going to stay exactly the same for now, near zero. That could all change very soon. Tom costello has details. Reporter its good news if you have an adjustable rate mortgage, Credit Card Debt or thinking about buying a car. No rate hike at least not for now. The fed has kept Interest Rates low to pull the economy out of the great recession. Commit has since rebounded. Unemployment rate down to 5. 1 . Economic growth, a very robust 3. 7 . Fed chairman janet yellen said today there is too much Global Economic volatility, especially in china for the u. S. To raise rates now. The Dow Jones Industrial average lost 65 points today but is down more than 1,000 points from its high this year, largely because of china. Since u. S. Inflation is in check right now, the fed doesnt seem to see a need to raise rates now, but it could in the coming months. Tom costello, thank you. Now to the disaster in chile. A deadly 8. 3 magnitude earthquake rocking the south American Country last night. So strong it raised tsunami fears here in the u. S. , a hemisphere away. Gave gut r reporter hundreds in emergency shelters. Maria is trying to salvagias left of her dream home. Nothing prepared you for this . Nothing. Reporter this is the Community Near the quakes epicenter. S about a Million People evacuated the coast fearing a tsunami. The small town saw a 15foot wave leaving cars and homes mangled. Translator the quake didnt do that much damage, this man said, it was the water that destroyed part of our lives. The tsunami fanned out over much the pacific which sparked advisories along the coast of california and hawaii. The powerful tremor during the evening commute also rocked high rises in chiles capital santiago. This is an quake. Reporter on social media, panic moments. As the quake rattled doors and nerves. Have you felt anything like that before . Not even in california. Reporter could the u. S. Handle the big one . Its a weakup call, says dr. Lucy jones of cal tech. We know the buildings that are going to kill people. Theyre still there. We know the infrastructure thats going to come apart. Nothing is being done to strengthen it. Reporter chile is prone to earthquakes. In 1960, the most powerful one ever recorded on earth, 9. 5, killed thousands of people. Five years ago, another one 8. 8 killed more than 500. But the country has updated its building codes and warning systems, which may have saved lives. To show how powerful this water was, it ripped off homes off its foundations and tossed them into neighbors yards. Tonight there are more concerns about aftershocks and the waters prompted evacuations as far away as japan. About 10,000 miles away. Gabe gutierrez in chile, thank you. Big headaches today for a lot of travelers flying American Airlines. The company hit with a Computer System outage that grounded flights out of big hubs. Its the latest in a series of such outages affecting u. S. Airlines. Kevin tibbles tells us more. Reporter travelers on American Airlines today hit with a different type of turbulence. Flights in chicago, miami and dallas grounded for several hours. The culprit, a flich in the airlines computerized reservation system. Its all crazy and hectic. I dont know whats going on. Its frustrating. Getting aggravated. Reporter by the time it was corrected, 291 flights had been delayed and six had been canceled. Many disgruntled passengers took to social media trying to find out if and when they were going to get off the ground. Technical hiccups seem to be on the rise when it comes to flying. In july, 3,500 united flights worldwide were disrupted with the airline blaming a Network Connectivity issue. The key thing is trying to solve and communicate it quickly. What they have to do is ensure the passengers are well informed when Something Like this happens. Reporter todays computer problems could not have come at a more inopportune time for american. Just next month the Company Plans to merge all of its online reservations with us airways. Lester . Kevin tibbles in chicago, thank you. Judge. In california tonight, the death toll now is five from wildfires burning in the northern part of the state. Authorities said today they found two more bodies in burnedout homes. Fire Officials Say cooler weather and rain is helping crews gain ground on two major fires that destroyed more than 700 homes. The forecast is for more dangerous conditions ahead. In utah, Officials Say they recovered the last body of seven hikers killed when flash floods swept through Zion National park. The group of hikers set out on monday before park officials closed the canyons. There was no way to warn them once the water quickly began to rise. In europe today, thousands of desperate refugees broke through police barricades, not in hungary which closed its borders but croatia. They crowded on to trains and buses heading north. Many were injured and crushed. Officials said more than 9,000 people entered the country in recent days and warned that the country was, quote, absolutely full. There is a lot more to tell you about here tonight. The multibillion gamble in the arctic where temperatures are rising and tempers. The changing climate makes it easier to strike oil. One retired marine rescued a comrade who [ horn honks melody ] well, well. If it isnt the belle of the ball. Gentlemen. You look well. 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Series on the melting american arctic where Royal Dutch Shell is placing a bet that no other oil companys making right now. So far shell has spent 7 billion looking for oil without a barrel to show for it. Tonight the companys president tells Cynthia Mcfadden why he believes the big gamble is worth it, as many claim it cannot be done safely. Reporter anger, outrage and claims of hypocrisy over the obama administrations decision to let shell explore for oil in the arctic. Inside shells command center in anchorage, they are focused on the race to see if their 7 billion gamble on oil here is going to pay off. This is realtime . This is realtime. Reporter the president of shell invited us to see their alaska operations. Theres got to be a big payoff to justify a 7 billion investment. The potential scale of these resources is enormous. Reporter some say up to 13 of the worlds undiscovered oil is in the arctic and with Climate Change and more and more melting ice, that oil is now more accessible than ever. Locals here are divided about drilling. This man was the mayor of alaskas north slope for years. What was your Campaign Slogan . No drilling offshore. Now not only no, but hell no. Reporter other leaders say they need the tax revenue and other money new Oil Discoveries would bring to their struggling community. Barrow is up here. We are quite a ways offshore. Reporter in the vast remote arctic, the closest coast guard station is a week away. The government is requiring shell to bring its own emergency fleet. 28 vessels including the rigs. We have the ability to respond to a spill within an hour, which is unmatched anywhere in the world. Reporter youre willing to stake your reputation and that of your company on. My reputation is staked on that. The reputation of the company is staked on that. Its always been a spin is that we have enough safety controls to make sure it doesnt happen. Didnt they use that before . Exxon valdez . Reporter imagine one of those disasters under ice . There is no oil Spill Technology in the world that can take care of a spill up here in the arctic, period. Reporter period. Period. Reporter shell believes it does have such technology and has convinced this man drilling is safe and will bring muchneeded cash. We see people wanting to save the world at the expense of the people of the arctic. Somethings wrong. Reporter at the end of the day, is this really about money for shell in. This venture has to be a commercial venture for us or it wouldnt make sense to pursue it. Its not only about that. Its only a commercially viable operation if we have that collaboration with the local communities. Reporter securing that support may be even harder than finding oil. If shell does find oil and decides it would like to go forward and extract it, there is another whole round of government approvals needed. If they are allowed to proceed, marin odem says 2030 is probably the first year theyll see a barrel of oil. Thank you very much. We are back in a moment with a heros our parents worked hard so that we could enjoy lifes simple pleasures. Now its our turn. Im doing the same for my family. Retirement and Life Insurance solutions from pacific life can help you protect what you love and grow your future with confidence. Pacific life. Helping generations of families achieve longterm Financial Security for over 145 years. Every time you take advil youre taking the medicine doctors recommend most for joint pain. More than the medicine in aleve or tylenol. The medicine in advil is the number one doctor recommendation for joint pain. Relief doesnt get any better than this. Advil you. And itchy eyes. More than sneezing. 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This is probably the only way Hillary Clinton would take advice from donald trump. Take a look. Heres what you got to do. First, yell. I yell all the time. In fact, this phone isnt even plugged in. I just yell. Jimmy fallon offering pearls of wisdom as trump during clintons appearance on the tonight show. Clinton played along saying she was grabbing a pen and a glass of wine instead. When we come back, no man left behind. A retired marine on a every insurance policy has a number. But not every Insurance Company understands the life behind it. For those whove served and the families whove supported them, we offer our best service in return. Usaa. We know what it means to serve. Get an insurance quote and see why 92 of our members plan to stay for life. Brand sleep deprived. Bring us those who want to feel well rested and ready to enjoy the morning ahead aleve pm. The first to combine a sleep aid. Plus the 12 hour pain relieving strength of aleve. 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The story of a wartime bond that knows no limits. A family caught up in the flood of refugees moving through europe, but they have a very good friend here in the u. S. Helping them and fighting to bring them here. A friend who doesnt know the meaning of retreat. Here is nbcs rehema ellis. The immigration liaison. Reporter aaron is a retire eed marine on a personal mission. He is determined to get his afghan interpreter here to america. We develop a brotherhood you find yourself in combat with. Reporter when aaron returned home to missouri, sami stayed in accountable but the taliban found out he worked with the americans and put a price on his head. Income afghanistan is being in a big prison. Reporter with his wife he fled to turkey, but they wouldnt let him stay. And sami, his wife and 10monthold daughter were forced to move on to greece where they were swept up in europes refugee crisis. Over the last several weeks, they made an arduous 1,500 mile journey from turkey to greece, macedonia, serbia, hungary, austria and finally germany. They had little food and slept on train tracks. When aaron recently learned about samis polite, he immediately set out to help. He served the United States and u. S. Marine corps just as much as any other marine has. Reporter the mission is now urgent. If they send me back to afghanistan, my life will be finished. Reporter aaron and his fellow marines are raising money to help sami and trying to get his family a special visa to bring them to the u. S. And to his home. Starting off in my house, my family is the absolute way to ensure his safety. Reporter honoring a brotherhood formed on the battlefield, determined to leave no man behind. Rehema ellis, nbc news, new york. And that will do it for us on this thursday night. Im lester holt. For all of us here at nbc news, thank you for watching and good night. Carly fiorinas epic face off with donald trump. Everything you didnt know about the woman who stole the show now on extra. Donald, duck. Carly takes aim. I think women all over this country country heard very clearly what mr. Trump said. Everyone is talking about the break out star. Her rise to power, family tragedy and her take today on the gop debate. Plus jimmys new Hillary Donald farce. And then the agt judges talk trump. I guess orange is the new black. I guess they havent got howard for long. Is there anything that can be done . Did Sandra Bullock really ask him to bless her new boyfriend. And rehabbing off the wagon and out of control after dark. Hot couples news. Christie brinkly on another date with john mellencamp. Tracys got the world according to wendy. Who shes blasting. I think