we all have the ability to live better lives, and to make the world a better place. the fact that we don't is sorta baffling to me. so that's success.

>> welcome to "inside story." i'm ray suarez. last night, donald trump tore up the play book again. very close to show time this week, he announced he wouldn't participate in the last debate before the iowa caucuses next week. another chance to make his argument to a wider group of americans. he decided he could do without it and instead ran his own event not far from the debate venue. an interesting gambit for him, and unquestionable opportunity for his opponents. how did it all work out? it's not clear if they made the most much their chanc of theirs. they didn't use the opportunity to go after trump very much but whacked each other and democrats pretty hard.

how was the mastery of the debates? david schuster has more. >> florida senator marco rubio stated that america's military and intelligence are been weakened. >> only with a strong military, we'll defeat i.s.i.s. that's why when i'm president we'll redevelop our intelligence capabilities. >> but the military budget is nearly as large as it's ever been, spending more on intelligence than any other nation in the world. rubio also lashed outer at the american military size. >> the smallest military, smallest air force, you cannot destroy i.s.i.s. with a military that's being diminished. >> reporter: aircraft are more lethal, navy ships are more

pervasive. >> i.s.i.l. held territory with carpet bombing. >> you want to know what carpet bombing is? it's what we did in the first persian gulf war. 1100 air attacks a day. saturation bombing that utterly destroyed the enemy. >> those were targeted attacks. carpet-bombing is when you destroy an area without regard to civilians. a policy that military analysts say would cause more harm than good. new jersey governor chris christie. >> hillary clinton has made law enforcement the enemy. not supporting our officers. >> the enemy? some police believe the administration has placed too much emphasis on civil liberties but no police department has accused the administration of

not supporting law enforcement. >> the 45-year-old construction worker out there, he's lost $4,000 in the last seven years in his income because of this administration. david schuster actually, the recession began in the last bush administration. and according to center research which is nonpartisan, wages of the obama administration in the last five years have been rising. while trump was not at the debate he did portray a false image of megan kelly. this purports to show kelly with a saudi prince and his sister. this image was faked, photo-shopped from this, part of another wild night. >> stop the washington bull and let's get things done. >> david schuster. al jazeera. >> republican primary voters don't like obamacare, we know that.

but with each passing month pulling down the complex institutional dea edifice, the d pleasing applause lines and not much more than that in the way of follow-up. at one point senator marco rubio walked right up to the edge of assuring the crowd that he'd refill the prison at the guantanamo bay naval station and maybe torture prisoners to, quote, find out what they know. it might have been a good moment, even in a crowd that approves of harsh interrogation tactics to ask what the florida senator meant by that. instead we just moved on to the next question. joining me now for a look back at last night, a look ahead at where it leaves the republican race as it enters the critical phase, hadley heath-morris, and

the author of a spoken thoughts from an amalgamated. >> you were with us hadley manning. did you see anything last night that the other debates hadn't offered? >> well, it was certainly a different environment without donald trump's preps. i think the candidate that suffered the most with the absence of donald trump was ted cruz, he became the de facto front runner and suffered attacks from the other candidates. he also didn't have the opportunity as he's tried to take advantage to position himself as the middle ground between outer and establishment candidates. he became a punching bag from other candidates last night. last night's debate overall was substantive. there were more viewers, the ratings for last debate was higher than the one in which

donald trump did participate. and so the theory may not run the way he thought. >> what do you think? >> he doesn't feel comfortable being the front runner. when you are the front runner you are going to be attacked. it got very odd that he complained about you are asking other candidates questions while they're attacking me and i thought that was very unnerving. this is the guy that wants to be leader of the free world. if you are upset, complaining about donald trump having thin skin and you turn around and you have paper-thin skin yourself that is not exactly being presidential either. i think it's interesting that kasich shows his moxie oie on issues. he may be a good number 2, vice presidential nominee but not the first man on the ticket.

everyone refers the marco rubio as that guy who will be president one day but not maybe today. as long as he can keep that mantle he can at least show the moxie and show that he has grasp of the issues and that maybe he can win even at 44 years old. >> you know donald trump is way ahead professor in some of these final polls before caucus night. and it's a great opportunity to talk about him, and what he says, without having to give him a chance to answer. yet donald trump himself was a couple of blocks away with his own event, and making his own hay. let's take a listen to what he has to say? >> this is an honor. this is a really honor. and i didn't want to be here, i have to be honest. i wanted to be about five minutes away and i've enjoyed that. i've enjoyed that. all the online polls said i've done very well with that, with the debates and i've had a kick with it. but you have to stick up with

your rights. when you are treated badly you have to stick up for your rights. [cheering and applause] glu >> professor did the gampl bl ge work? >> i think it was a stroke of genius. i have questions about the polling quite honestly. if it turns out to winning iowa i think in future presidential elections the final debate just before the caucuses begin will be the one the front runner sits out. >> it's interesting you bring up some questions about the polling. it's a good time to remember and remind everybody at home that this is very different from having a bunch of polling stations where people just show up and pull a lever. caucus night is complicated and a time commitment. >> not only is it a time commitment, in the case of donald trump, he's relying on people who have never caucused

before. this is a notoriously unreliable group of voters in which he has built his lead in the polls. and so i think because it's unreliable the numbers for caucus-polling can't be trusted in the same way that they can be for primary-polling. one last point. what we saw yesterday and to this point is also a byproduct of what you have when a particular kind of state is first in the nation. if we have the first caucus in virginia, or the first caucus in california it would be a very different kind of republican conversation. it wouldn't be a strident in terms of its conservatism. it would be nuanced the same as north carolina for example. as the country goes forward and both parties go forward talking about future elections they need to decide which state they really want to lead it off. because that's the one that is going to be most reflective of the kind of candidate they will get. >> on the stage last night at

the donald trump event to illustrate your point were the winners of the previous two republican caucuses in iowa, senator rick santorum and governor mike huckabee. we don't call either of them president as an honorristic. honorific. stay with us. it's the "inside story." iml written everyday. it's not always pretty, but it's real... and we show you like no-one else can. this is our american story. this is america tonight.

>> you're watching "inside story." i'm ray suarez. we're watching at the other guys debate today on the program courtesy of donald trump's absence rand paul was back on the main main debate stage and e seven candidates have decisions to make. do we train our rhetorical fire at our opponents on the stage on the absent trump or on the woman they don't have to beat to become republican nominee for president. here is new jersey governor chris christie, checking all the boxes, not answering the question he was asked, taking a moment to flatter iowans and taking a hit at the former secretary of state. >> i hear hillary clinton asked a direct question by wynnn, they like to ask direct questions. they asked about the e-mail situation. she said it she did it for convenience. her convenience. she put america's secrets at

risk for her convenience. she put american intelligence officers at risk for her convenience. she put american strategy at risk for her convenience. let me tell you who is not qualified to be president of the united states, hilary rodham clinton is not qualified to be president of the united states. she did that to the safety of the united states. hadley if part of your assignment is to make yourself plausible with all these other people on the stage, is it a little premature to go after hillary clinton? we all know you don't like hillary clinton and we all know you don't think she's going to be a did president! >> she's a popular person to go after for republicans at the moment because although she may not seal the deal in iowa or new hampshire and she's facing tough competition right now from senator sanders she still seems to be the most likely person to take on the democratic

nomination. so not only is this a debate for the candidates to come together to discuss the issues, they discuss their record and how electable they are, how much a chance they have to defeat hillary clinton or whoever the democratic nominee is and the person at the top of the ticket will affect those down races as well. so these candidates aren't only competing to be the mantle bearer but that position who best is attack and engage whomever the candidate is and that seems likely to be former secretary clinton. >> isn't that the job to land heavy blows on some of the other guys on the stage or you're all going to stay in and all have 9% going forward. >> the answer is yes. i think it's a waste of time going after hillary clinton in a republican primary. i understand the red meat for

hungry lions but nobody is going to vote in an iowa caucus is going in there thinking wow, this is going to be tough for me, i like hillary clinton. they already decided they don't want hillary clinton. they need to establish their own bona fides, sometimes you have to do that by going after your opponents. but going after somebody that is not going to be on the ballot in november is really the political quiive tequivalent to to a cheap applause line. >> if they all stay in they divide up the i'm not donald trump line don't they? >> they do, but they are competing for i'm the best person to beat hillary clinton vote as well. if you go back to 2011-2012 it was part of the reason newt gingrich had momentum into the beginning of 2012. because the argument was, who can go on a debate stage and when it's time to articulate our

values our opinions and give a referendum over the last four years who can best articulate that argument against president obama? and for a period of time, it was newt gingrich. so now what you're looking at, who can throw red meat out there, and who can make the best argument for their policies, while at the same exact time holding the secretary, former secretary of state accountable for her record in a way that will flip pennsylvania, for example, get the independent voter to lean republican, make sure ohio goes back to being red, make sure florida and virginia go back to being red. that's balance there but as professor fauntleroy said, if you are not doing the former aspect of that, inspiring people, all you're doing is being an attack dog that somebody will use on a campaign trail when you're not the nominee later this summer. >> side by side for hillary

clinton, taking the current incoming is the current president of the united states. here is senator marco rubio. >> someone said, hillary clinton will make a great supreme court justice. i don't think so. if i'm our nominee i will reunite our party and turn the country around after seven years that is the disaster that is barack obama. >> again nobody in that room was a pro-obama voter, or a pro-obama sympathizer and we're talking about a country where his approval and disapproval are roughly evenly matched at about 48%. why burn up the clock hadley doing that? >> well, it's kind of statement that energizes the republican base. because there's a lot of disapproval among republicans especially and with those highly motivated primary voters on the republican side to vote against what has been the bow obama agea

and what it meant. the statement from rubio represents a world view and in terms of their political philosophies when it comes to the two parties. it's not astatement that's necessarily going to win more voters for any particular candidate but it is an applause line and certainly energized the audience. >> one area of contentious debate was immigration, who supported what and when. with the bombastic promise to move 11.5 million people out of the mix for night did the candidates especially bush rubio and cruz handle what is still a hot issue among iowa caucus-goers, the others debate, stay with us, it's "inside story."

>> welcome back to "inside story." i'm ray suarez. the other guy's debate this time on the program, may be the man who wants to send all 11.5 million illegally resident people in the u.s. back to where they come from, took that angle off the table last night. there was a tough exchange, tough for these events anyway,

between moderator megan kelly and marco rubio. >> within two years of getting elected, you were co-sponsoring a path to citizenship, in your words amnesty. can you not be specific on this issue? >> i do not support blanket amnesty. i do not support blanket legalization. >> you supported earned path to citizenship. >> it has been in the context of that 2009 and 2010 were the last effort for legalization, an effort in the senate led by several people that provided almost an instant path with many obstacles. >> professor does this demonstrate that this is still a potent issue? >> well, yes, and again that also speaks to where we are in the country geographically, for deciding which issues get brought to the table.

in this debate we were in new york and new york had been first in the nation there would have been much less talk about immigration in this discussion and much more talk about finance. it is a burning issue in republican party circles and republican voters around the country but i don't think i dok anybody is having a serious conversation about that issue being made, either you giver people a clear path to citizenship or they live in the shadows. none of the republican candidates most likely to win a nomination are seriously finding a nuanced position between the two. it's all let's get them out of here and be done with that when it's not practical politics. >> lennie mcallister, help me understand, when you go to iowa, a lot of the work that gets done day to day in the fields in the stores in the restaurants working on trucks and grain

elevators, is being done by people born in other places of the world. >> well there's a difference between being here legally and illegally. number one, the difference between having somebody work for you and everybody benefits from it versus some of the rhetoric that's out there which includes they're taking up our resources or schools or health care system, when you get to candidate rhetoric, you move away from presidential rhetoric, you move away from the next commander in chief and guiding thing issue economically. they're talking to people in florida, they're talking to people in virginia it will, they're talking to people in north carolina. these are scwin swing states whe this is being hotly is contested.

maybe if i'm marco rubio i'll come in third or fourth place in iowa. but i'm going to need sec states, i need momentum now, i need to put things as they say on football on tape in order to go back to it by the time i get to those states. >> hadley, ted cruz has treated this issue like kryptonite. saying different things at different times over the last several years and interestingly, george w. busjeb bush has been r his flexible attitude against visiting people in this country. what is the temper now? >> it is a divisive issue, several candidates have said things about integration and things that crick their prior positions.

interestingly, google is one of the co-sponsors of last year's debate, and the most googled word is amnesty, one of his best moments last night was senator rand paul's accusation of senator cruz that senator cruz was using the issue of amnesty. none of them are truly pure, there's a lot of division within the republican party because it is the party of free markets and some republicans believe there alt to be a free market in labor via immigration reform. other republicans are concerned about national security, in the context of this year there's been concerns about migration crises across the world and how that might affect our national security at home. these two values, two issues are in conflict and it shows up a lot in the divisions between these candidates. >> ted cruz is traveling iowa with steve king who is not mealy

mouthed on this issue. he is one of the harshest critics to any road to legalization, certainly not citizenship. does that show just how seerld seriously cruz wants to put this issue aside? >> yes but i think it speaks to how seriously out of touch is he with the reality of public policy. the road that steve king wants to take america on is not one that will ever be enacted into law. but yet cruz has decided to hang his hat at least in iowa on steve kick and that -- king and that policy idea. the quick thing is this allows for xenophobia which is all too prevalent in republican politics today. >> i'd like to thank my guests. great to have you with us. monday we'll bring you the look at the role of evangelical christians in voting.

have a great weekend, i'm ray suarez and that's the "inside story." ♪ ♪ hi, everyone, this is al jazeera america live from new york city. i'm jonathan betz. what they new about the flint water crisis, and how long they knew? when allegations against governor snyder and his administration. and why a majority of police videos in chicago are missing audio. a group of fired mexican workers were only asking