five stars or a big bust. hey, everyone, good wednesday morning. i'm reena ninan. >> i'm richard bacon and the aftermath from last night's candidates debate. >> the nine top candidates on the stage in las vegas. most of the action was right there at center stage involving donald trump, senator ted cruz and jeb bush. >> bush and trump squaring off several times but shaking hands after the debate was finished. abc's stephanie ramos has the details live from washington. stephanie, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, richard and reena. well, this final debate of the year focused on national security and terrorism. and the verbal punches came out swinging almost immediately. post-gop presidential debate, donald trump sympathizing with his competition. >> i like jeb. i think jeb is a nice man. i really do but i think i'd do the same thing if i was him, i'd be attacking me. >> reporter: on stage the gloves coming off. >> we need to have a leader -- >> you're real tough. >> reporter: wasting no time to spar over foreign policy. >> he gets his foreign policy experience from the shows. >> come on. >> that is not a serious kind of candidate. >> i know you're trying to build up your energy but it's not working very well. >> reporter: in their face-off almost every question focusing on national security for the nine leading candidates with trump's proposal to ban muslims from entering the u.s. at the forefront. >> we're not talking about religion. we're talking about security. our country is out of control. >> reporter: marco rubio and ted cruz also clashing, first over the nsa's bulk surveillance program then imnation and rubio suggesting the two have similar positions on the issue. >> for marco to suggest our record is the same, it is like suggesting the firemen and the arsonist have the same record because they're both at the scene of the fire. >> i personally am open to a green wall. >> we'll build a wall that works and i'll get donald trump to pay for it. >> trump and cruz neck and neck in the polls but staying friendly. governor chris christie boasting about his executive experience while jabbing at the senators. >> if your eyes are glazed over like in this is what it's like to be on the floor of the united states senate. >> reporter: chris christie hammering them but they got more air time than he did. ted cruz, he spoke the most, more than 17 minutes followed by trump and rubio. richard and reena, back to you. >> trump's comment to bush i'm at 42%, you're at 3%. that's got to hurt. what did trump say about running as an independent, stephanie? >> reporter: a pledge we heard before but last night trump said once again he will not run as a independent and added he's committed to the republican party and is honored to be the front-runner. >> okay, we'll see what happens. stephanie ramos live in washington. thank you for that report. in the spin room after the debate, donald trump characteristically called last night his best debate performance in the history of the world. no, he said so far. >> one candidate who had a hard time breaking through was one time front-runner dr. ben carson. analysts seem to say he was a victim of circumstance in the race. >> the thing that came out is the continual slide of ben carson who led at one point in time then after the tragic events in france when people started focusing on these issues related to security he started falling. the course of the debate that fall continues and my expectation is ben carson will be in seventh or eighth place by the next couple of weeks. but donald trump out of this debate is still the dominant player in the gop. >> dowd saying two winners, marco rubio and chris christie. donald trump dominated the chatter on social media as you can imagine during the debate. >> yeah, believe it or not he according to google trends and also gained the most twitter followers and when he called jeb bush a tough guy was the top moment. >> it was fun to watch. later -- often i think that debate is better watched through highlights, as well. i think you saw the best moments there. so later, in the "pulse," the comment that had chris christie trending all night plus live team coverage later on "good morning america." be sure to watch the democratic debate hosted by abc's david muir, martha raddatz, coverage begins at:00 eastern. >> it'll be great. ahead of that debate front-runner hillary clinton is providing new details about her plan to battle isis. speaking to an audience in minneapolis, clinton said the u.s. needs a 360-degree strategy to prevent domestic terrorism. she positioned herself as the more serious and experienced candidate compared to her republican rivals. isis, we must defeat isis, break its momentum and then its back. >> democratic rival bernie sanders says he intends to question clinton about foreign policy during the debate including her votes in favor of the iraq war when she was a u.s. senator from new york. about 650,000 students in los angeles will be back in class today after an unscheduled day off because of a terror threat. that threat was e-mailed to a school board member promising an attack with guns and bombs. administrators admitted that following fears from the san bernardino attack, influenced the decision to close the school. schools in new york were open yesterday despite the school superintendent receiving almost the same exact e-mail that was sent to l.a. the e-mail was declared a hoax. new york's police commissioner said the type of threat it contained was similar to recent episodes of the showtime drama "homeland." breaking overnight, a search rescue mission launched in the chopper went down in the superstition mountains about 60 miles east of phoenix. the crash site is located in rugged terrain. no word about the condition of the three on board or the cause of the crash. severe weather in denver, a snowstorm dumping nearly a foot of snow over some areas, also forced flight delays and cancellations. the shutdown and shut down highways as well, 6 1/2 inches was recorded the adenver international airport. mounting snow totals were in the 1 to 2-foot range. the latest weather radar shows that same storm system moving eastward bringing snow to the plains and upper midwest. the heaviest hit areas are likely to be from the northeast colorado into west central minnesota dumping at least 6 to 12 inches of snow through the night. and on the back side of that storm, winds could gust as high dakota, nebraska and iowa. still ahead, "star wars: the force awakens," we have seen it overnight. >> she fell asleep. >> no, the first official reviews from the critics. >> yeah, they are. their out. new this morning a plane slides off the runway injuring passengers. details just in. plus, caught on camera. a wall collapses crashing onto a debris spilled from a cargo ship off san francisco is still washing up on beaches. dozens of containers fell off a weekend. some are still floating offshore waiting to make landfall. there's an agreement in bill meaning no government shutdown at the end of the year. it reportedly extends a series of tax breaks for both businesses and individuals. passage is expected by the end of the week, but the government spending authority runs out tonight. so they'll try to pass another stopgap bill right away. if you haven't filed for obamacare you have a little more time. the government says there was, quote, unprecedented demand yesterday, unprecedented demand on the health karthcare.gov website and the deadline is the end of the day thursday. the penalty for not being insured jumps to nearly $700 next year. all eyes on the federal reserve today which wraps up its last meeting of the year. the central bank is expected to raise short-term interest rates, the first increase in nearly a decade. it's unlikely, though, to have much impact on consumer loans. it's not beginning to look a lot like christmas in the eastern half of the country. that's bad news for some businesses. chief among them clothing and stocked up on warm gear and we're still wearing our fall clothing. some retailers planning big discounts but even that might not help some of the shakier stores. when we come back state of emergency concerns in an american town because of the amount of lead in its water. a reporter turns crime fighter on live tv spotting a >> what. the holidays bring many challenges to the feet. by day they must stay warm. but by night, beautiful, smoother and ready to impress the other party animals. dr. scholl's dreamwalk express pedi. i have asthma... ...one of many pieces in my life. so when my asthma symptoms kept coming back on my long-term control medicine, i talked to my doctor and found a missing piece in my asthma treatment. once-daily breo prevents asthma symptoms. breo is for adults with asthma not well controlled like an inhaled corticosteroid. breo won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. breo opens up airways to help improve breathing for a full 24 hours. breo contains a type of medicine that increases the risk of death from asthma problems and may increase the risk of hospitalization in children and adolescents. breo is not for people whose asthma is well controlled on a long-term asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. once your asthma is well controlled, your doctor will decide if you can stop breo and prescribe a different asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. do not take breo more than prescribed. see your doctor if your asthma does not improve or gets worse. ask your doctor if 24-hour breo could be a missing piece for you. see if you're eligible for this was the scene yesterday just north of denver in broomfield, colorado. a preholiday wintery storm dumping a foot of snow and up to 15 inches in the colorado rockies making getting around treacherous. >> for a look at morning road condition, roads will be wet in the pacific northwest and across the southeast and up into the ohio valley. snow will make things flipry across the northern rockies and upper midwest into the great lakes area. if you're flying airport delays possible in minneapolis and new orleans. well, new overnight a very tense end to a flight in nashville. >> take a look at the incredible images. a southwest airlines jet running off the runway ending up in a ditch. the plane resting in the dirt. emergency slides deployed and passengers described the moments of panic. >> going down the tarmac or the felt like it hit a pothole or a speed bump and i was like, well, that's kind of rough then all of a sudden you realize you're going down into something. you don't know what. >> the fun part at least i got down to slide down the little slide. we're all pretty safe so fortunate. a little holiday surprise, if you will. i guess that's my christmas gift from southwest is sliding down the slide. >> i enjoy his understated talk. the plane from houston javy was completely full. eight passengers were taken to the hospital and later released. there is an emergency in michigan. the lead levels are too high. lead can cause mental retardation. it began after the city began taking its water from the flint river. the mayor wants federal disaster relief. well, north of boston five people including a mother and her baby were suddenly trapped dozens rushed to their aid. the baby was in a stroller at the time which may have just saved his life. luckily the victims suffered only minor injuries. a suspected bank robber in rochester, a remarkable story in minnesota, who returns to the scene of the crime first mistake was probably not expecting live tv cameras. it happened yesterday as a local reporter just started his live shot right outside the bank when he was interrupted by a bank employee. >> tyler just 24 hours ago this bank in -- >> that guy right there. >> what? >> that's the robber. >> oh, that's the robber. this is live tv, folks. that's the robber just went by according to the bank employee, so i got to go here and call 911. i'll talk to you later. >> bank robbers have said it before, you've got to check your local news feed before returning to the scene of the crime. >> the guy running was the robber but what robber shows up >> that is adam sadler and called 911 and the 36-year-old suspect was obviously arrested. >> oh, my god. anyway -- how about we talk about sports. >> yeah, we'll talk to our friends at espn. >> yeah, we'll start with a surprise from college basketball. bo ryan has stepped down as coach at the university of wisconsin effective immediately. >> ryan coached the badgers for 14 full seasons. and led them to the ncaa tournament of the year during his tenure. the surprise was the timing. ryan had said he would coach one more season then retire as for last night's sports highlights we go to those guys, great guy, our favorites at espn. >> good morning, welcome to our "sportscenter" set in los angeles along with neil everett, i'm stan verrett. the warrior streak is over but patrick kane's streak still going as of tuesday night. >> it was, it was. would it end or would it continue? patrick kane looking to extend he has the american born record. he's got the blackhawk record. the record is 51 by a guy named gretzky. against colorado, colorado was up to the task, man. they had some dudes who had some speed and all good things must come to an end and so does his streak and for the avalanche, they win the game. 3-0. cavaliers and celtics, they played in the playoffs last year. another cool thing off the court. special olympics athlete before tip-off and once the game started, james. >> he gave his shoes to the kid afterwards. >> oh, yeah. >> yeah. >> those shoes himmed help do that. all right, you remember kevin love and kelly olynyk made that play that hurt love and took him out for the rest of the playoffs last year. love, 20 points, five assists, spending a lot of time guarding thomas jerebko can't do much. james did plenty, 24 points and 7 rebounds. >> warriors are playing wednesday. >> yep. >> back to you. >> thank you, guys, at espn. >> you like them. >> a lot. up next in "the pulse," last night's big debate. why chris christie was trending all night and the persistent cough coming from a candidate who wasn't. and we have seen it and so have the critics. the first reviews, the embargo ended one hour ago, the first reviews are in for the "star wars: the force awakens." stay with us.ore, abreva can heal it in as few as two and a half days when used at the first sign. without it the virus spreads from cell to cell. only abreva penetrates deep and starts to work immediately to block the virus and protect healthy cells. you could heal your cold sore, fast, as fast as two and a half days when used at the first sign. learn how abreva starts to work immediately at abreva.com don't tough it out, knock it out, fast. i sure had a lot on my mind when i got out of the 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bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. eliquis treats dvt & pe blood clots. plus had less major bleeding. both made switching to eliquis right for me. ask your doctor if it's right for you. all right, it's time for "the pulse" and starting with a bit more from the republican debate. >> new jersey governor chris christie taking some heat for one of his comments which christie said he'd be trusted by strategy to defeat isis, only problem is the king of jordan, king hussein died in 1999. abdullah ii is jordan's current living king, ouch. >> plenty of commenting online about which candidate was coughing. ben carson's campaign says he's been struggling to get over a cold and all the coughing was from him. he is a physician. >> wayne newton hanging out with donald trump. remember, it was in las vegas, of course. and the official u.s. opening for "star wars: the force awakens" is this friday but the reviews already out. >> they are. the embargo ended an hour ago, we've seen it ourselves u. "the new york times" says it delivers the thrills with a touch of humanity and the big news is that the movie is good. >> the film opens today in britain and the times of london and britain's "daily telegraph" both gave it five stars. >> the "los angeles times" says "the force awakens" is, quote, starts. says it's good but not great, still it says that's much better than not bad. "star wars" like abc is part of disney. >> i think it does deliver. >> i think it does but the last scene that got me and then i thought, oh, why did j.j. abrams do that to us. >> oh, why did i fall asleep during the film which you did. >> just for a second. i was a little tired. early shift can be tough on a gal. >> and missed the dramatic twist because you were looking at the back of your eyelids. but you know what it does well, although there are funny lines in it, it takes the story seriously which i think you have to do for a film like that to really work. >> compelling story. >> yeah, it was. and i think that they play again on the father/son relationship. lots of nods to the old films but also they press the same emotional buttons and do it well. >> well side. >> i'm giving it five stars. >> yes. and that is where soup comes from. campbell's fresh-brewed soups. oh, i thought we were talking about babies. made for real, real life. mom! eucerin intensive repair doesn't just moisturize dry skin, it intensively repairs it. that exfoliates hydrates and fortifies skin. leaving it looking healthy and radiant. with intensive repair, from eucerin. my trainer didn't believe me that trop50 could taste so good and still have 50% less calories. can i stop, jane? no. trop50. checking our top stories, donald trump and jeb bush clashing several times during last night's republican debate. nearly every question, the top nine candidates faced, dealt with foreign policy. ted cruz spoke the most, john kasich. the least. jury deliberations resume in the first freddie gray trial. both the jurors -- but the jurors say they are deadlocked. gray died last spring from injuries suffered in a police van. six cops have been charged in his death. secretary of defense ash carter has arrived in baghdad where he'll meet with u.s. troops and top iraqi leaders and speak with u.s. military commanders about ways to step up the battle against isis. and today's weather, heavy rain for the northwest, snow over the upper midwest, rain blanketing the southeast up into the ohio valley. and perhaps you've noticed everyone is talking about "star wars: the force awakens." >> and not just those of us who work for abc, another part of talked to the creators of this long awaited sequel. she fell asleep. >> reporter: monday night in hollywood, the world premiere of "star wars: the force awakens." >> give it everything you got. >> reporter: it's action and humor. it's new characters and lightsabers. >> it ends up being a story of adventure and loyalty and shock and surprise and uses this amazing and precious thing called the force that tells us that we're all somehow connected. >> action. >> reporter: so much of it the work of producer kathleen kennedy and director co-writer j.j. abrams, a veteran of alias, lost, mission impossible 3 and the "star trek" series. >> fire everything. >> reporter: and now 49-year-old abrams was brought onto the "star wars" franchise by kennedy, for decades a top producer on steven spielberg's acclaimed films. >> i did pose this provocative idea who is luke skywalker that said by one of our characters. >> reporter: why was who is luke skywalker such a fascinating question. >> i guess because it spoke to a new generation. it was that idea that there would be young people for whom luke skywalker was essentially a myth. >> reporter: abrams hoping this film will have the same emotional punch that the 1977 one had on him as a child. >> the thing i felt when i was a kid when i left that theater was the world was huge and to have people, especially kids, go to see the movie and see themselves in it and feel like, i'm capable of something extraordinary. that would be the greatest gift of all. >> we're home. >> reporter: i'm chris connelly in los angeles. >> that j.j. abrams, he's got a bright future ahead of him. >> it's wonderful and thrilling and exciting and it probably is