>> not twice, four times. a record four times. >> but almost everybody in atlantic city is either in trouble or filed for -- maybe i'll blame chris. but atlantic city -- >> mr. trump -- >> is a disaster. wait a minute, carly. wait. i let you speak. >> this personal back and forth about the history of donald and carly's career. they could care less about your career. >> leadership is not a game. it's the issue in this election. >> carly, listen. you interrupt everybody else on this stage. don't interrupt me. >> fight night in simi valley. plenty of haymakers at last night's republican presidential debate with donald trump in the center fielding jabs and landing a few punches himself. it's 5:30 on the east coast. 2:30 a.m. out west. and this is "way too early."

good morning, everybody. it's thursday, september 17th, i'm amy holmes. we begin with the republican presidential debate. candidates gathered at the reagan library last night and donald trump the man at center stage was the early focus of attention. the very first question was about carly fiorina's comfort level with handing trump america's nuclear arsenal. and the trump talk went on from there. >> i think mr. trump is a wonderful entertainer. he's been terrific at that business. i also think that one of the benefits of a presidential campaign is the character and capability, judgment and temperament of every single one of us is revealed. over time, and under pressure. >> i think really there's a sophomoric quality that is entertaining about mr. trump. his response, his visceral response to attack people on their appearance, short, tall, fat, ugly, my goodness. that happened in junior high.

would we not all be worried to have someone like that in charge of the nuclear arsenal? >> mr. trump? >> i never attacked him on his look, and believe me, there's plenty of subject matter right there. that i can tell you. >> mr. trump, we don't need an apprentice in the white house. we don't need an apprentice in the white house, we have one right now. he told us all the things we wanted to hear back in 2008, we don't know who you are or where you're going. we need someone who can actually get the job done. >> just because he says it doesn't make it true. >> and one of the most uncomfortable spaces on stage last night was the 20 inches separating donald trump and jeb bush. >> 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. >> i did -- >> yes, he did. >> totally false. >> you wanted it and you didn't get it. >> i would have gotten it. >> i was opposed to casino gambling, before, during and after. i'm not going to be bought by

anybody. >> i promise if i wanted it i would have gotten it. >> no way. >> believe me. >> nope. >> i know my people. >> not even possible. >> i didn't want -- excuse me. >> the simple fact is, donald. >> more energy tonight. i like that. >> i was asked a question. when he asked florida to have casino gambling, we said no. >> wrong. >> we said no. and that's the simple fact -- >> don't make things up, jeb. >> don't cut me off, sir. >> quote, you're not sure we need a half billion dollars for women's health issues. >> there are 13,000 community-based organizations that provide health services to women. 13,000 in this country. i don't believe that planned parenthood should get a pen 234i from the federal government. women's income grew three times faster than national average when he was governor. >> so why did i say it. i heard it myself. >> we increased child support. >> you said you're going to cut funding -- >> by 90% -- >> for women's health. you said it. >> i have a proven record. >> except you said it. >> did mr. trump go too far in invoking your wife? >> he did. he did.

you're proud of your family. just as i am. >> correct. >> to subject my wife into the middle of a raucous political conversation was completely inappropriate. and i hope you apologize for that donald. >> well very to tell you i hear phenomenal things. i hear your wife is a lovely woman. >> she is. she's fantastic. >> i don't know her. and this is -- >> she's the love of my life. she's right here. why don't you apologize for that. >> i won't do that because i said nothing wrong but i hear she's a lovely woman. >> when donald trump talks about judgment, what was his position on who would have been the best negotiator to deal with iran? it wasn't a republican. it was hillary clinton. is that the judgment that you bring to the table that hillary clinton is a great negotiator that she could bring about a better -- >> your brother and your brother's administration gave us barack obama. because it was such a disaster those last three months that abraham lincoln couldn't have been elected. >> you know what? as it relates to my brother, there's one thing i know for sure, he kept us safe. i don't know if you remember -- [ applause ] >> and jeb bush wasn't the only

one to score points off trump's attacks. carly fiorina was asked about the billionaire's recent remarks to "rolling stone" about her appearance. >> 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. >> ooh. >> you know, 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. >> i think she's got a beautiful face, and i think she's a beautiful woman. >> extended applause for fiorina and it was moments like that

that are the reason why a lot of people are talking about fiorina's performance last night. she also delivered crisp, clear statements on policy, and brought a personal touch to the issues. >> iran, and planned parenthood. one has something to do with the defense of the security of this nation. the other has something to do with the defense of the character of this nation. you have not heard a plan about iran from any politician up here. here's my plan. on day one in the oval office i will make two phone calls. the first to my good friend bibi netanyahu to reassure him we will stand with the state of israel. the second to the supreme leader to tell him unless and until he opens every military and every nuclear facility to real, any time, anywhere inspections by our people, not his, we, the united states of america, will make it as difficult as possible to move money around the global financial system. we can do that. we don't need anyone's cooperation to do it. as regards planned parenthood, anyone who has watched this videotape, i dare hillary clinton, barack obama, to watch

these tapes. watch a fully formed fetus on the table, its heart beating, its legs kicking, while someone says we have to keep it alive to harvest its brain. this is about the character of our nation. and if we will not stand up and force president obama to veto this bill, shame on us. i very much hope that i am the only person on this stage who can say this, but i know there are millions of americans out there who will say the same thing, my husband, frank and i buried a child to drug addiction. so, we must invest more in the treatment of drugs. i agree with senator paul. i agree with state's rights. but we are misleading young people when we tell them that marijuana is just like having a beer. it's not. >> and with the polls showing a rejection of the political establishment, candidates of all stripes were trying to cast

themselves as political outsiders. >> i'm a republican in new jersey. i wake up every morning as an outsider. >> i don't want to really get in describing who is a politician and who is not a politician. but i think that people have kind of made that decision for themselves already. >> people know that we need principle centered leadership, a disruptor to go to washington, d.c. >> i'll tell you why people are supporting outsiders. it's because you know what happens if someone's been in the system their whole life? they don't know how broken the system is. a fish swims in water. it doesn't know it's water. it's not that politicians are bad people. it's that they've been in that system forever. >> and we'll have much more debate coverage coming your way on "morning joe" with an exclusive interview with donald trump, as well as carly fiorina and governor chris christie. now let's turn to some business. it's decision day for the fed on whether to raise interest rates. the decision expected to be announced later today at the

conclusion of the fed's two-day meeting. cnbc's steve sedgwick joins us live from london. so steve, what are investors expecting to hear? >> well, exciting thing about this fed move is we don't know if we're going to get a hike. we don't know if they're going to stand pat and hold off until later in the year, possibly even signal 2016. the sector economists out there are pretty much evenly split. the market itself in terms of fed fund futures is giving it around a 25% to 30% chance of a rate hike this time round. if it were just about the u.s. economy and just about the unemployment rate then we would probably go this time around. but the missing ingredient is wages, and inflation, as well. that is why janet yellen and co may hold off this time round. the last time the u.s. saw a rate hike was june 2006. inflation then was running double what it is now. it was 4% now, circa 2% now. also massive deal, ab inbev the home of budweiser could be

buying out sab miller the home of miller, as well this could be a $300 million mega brew deal as many are talking about. it will fill in the gaps geographically that ab inbev doesn't have as well and it will shore up a tough position in the face of the growth of craft beers, which have taken the mega brewers by surprise. >> steve, major dog investigation is coming to a close with general motors. what can you tell us about that? >> so, it looks like according to various sources that the justice department has reached a settlement with general motors over this issue of faulty ignition switches which has caused over 100 deaths and hundreds of injuries according to people familiar with the situation. there could be some deal in the offing. this, of course, follows this 2.5 million car recall because these switches were suddenly switching engines off. they were disabling air bags, cutting power steering, cutting brakes as well. it was aing about problem as well for gm and the federal lawyers are saying gm knew about this a long, long time before they made it public and had

those recalls. so it looks like we're finally getting close to some form of resolution with potentially gm paying up to $1 billion in order to resolve this case. >> cnbc's steve sedgwick, many thanks. we appreciate it. up next, much more from last night's republican presidential debate. plus a look at the morning's other headlines. including the worsening humanitarian crisis in europe. children caught in the cross fire as riot police unleash tear gas to keep migrants from crossing into hungary. nbc's richard engel is there. we'll have those stories and a check on the weather when "way too early" comes right back.

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syrian fighters the u.s. had hoped to train and equip by now, only four or five individuals are still fighting in syria. that's according to general lloyd austin, the top u.s. commander in the middle east, who revealed the number to frustrated senators on capitol hill yesterday. >> can you tell us what the total number of trained fighters remains? >> it's a small number. and the ones that are in the fight is -- is -- we're talking four, four or five. >> so we're counting on our fingers and toes at this point, when we had envisioned 5,400 by the end of the year? >> we have to acknowledge this is a total failure. it's just a failure. and i wish it weren't so, but that's the fact. >> the commander also publicly affirming that russia is bolstering its military presence in syria. though he confessed that, quote, we really don't know what their

true intentions are. in a bid to clarify its intent, secretary of state john kerry saying yesterday that the u.s. is considering an offer of military to military talks proposed by russian counterpart sergey lavrov. and europe's largest refugee crisis since the second world war took a violent turn yesterday in hungary. where migrants and refugees desperate to break through the now-closed border with serbia were met with tear gas, pepper spray, water cannons, and handcuffs after hungarian officials deployed riot police to stop them. nbc chief foreign correspondent richard engel was on the ground and has this report. >> reporter: the frustration and disappointment that these people feel, because they are not allowed to go further, has now just boiled over. this woman just collapsing in front of me. this woman just collapsed. she is breathing. they're calling to bring her some water. she is breathing.

she's waking up. she's waking up. i try to keep her head up. leaning her against her bag. it's clear she's pregnant. people carry her off to a makeshift infirmary. aid workers try to help. >> get some air around her. >> reporter: but as she comes around, tear gas wafts into the infirmary. volunteers take the woman outside. she can barely walk. >> stretcher, stretcher! >> reporter: she's carried off for care. so are some of the children. hours later, we managed to find the woman again. smiling. reunited with her husband. her name is zaina and she's 19 years old. her baby is due in two weeks. she told me her husband defected from the syrian army. if they go back, she says, he'll be executed. even if we wanted to go back, we don't have any money left, she says. i asked her how she felt before, in the gas? everything was burning, she says. my eyes, my skin, my stomach was

hurting. she doesn't remember falling. she's more worried about what happens next. no way forward, no money left, and a baby on the way. >> with the hungarian border blocked off, thousands of migrants have already entered croatia from serbia in just the last 24 hours. that country's prime minister saying yesterday that authorities were ready to receive migrants, or help them pass through the country. and tsunami advisories have been issued for hawaii and california after an 8.3 magnitude earthquake in chile. at least five people were killed, and one person is missing. the quake also led to flooding from waves, some up to 15 feet high. tsunami warnings have been canceled for all but two regions in that country. now let's bring in nbc meteorologist bill karins. bill, another big one for chile. >> yeah, that was -- they have two big faults that collide with each other and they're known for

some of the strongest ones that we get on this planet down there. sometimes they can send waves all the way from chile to hawaii and all the way to california that even can be destructive. thankfully this time that was not the case. we still have the tsunami advisories up for the areas here from just outside of santa barbara, ventura, even the beaches in l.a. are closed through the morning hours. that's when we expect some of the first waves to get there. they're that going to be big. only about one foot or less. but they can create some strong currents in the water. so that's why they're keeping all swimmers out. and harbors at the marina tend to be the most dangerous where the water funnels in. that's going to happen this morning east coast time anywhere between about 6:00 to 9:00 a. mvgt is when some of those waves will make it to california. hawaii is going to be right around 9:00 eastern time. and again, hawaii is going to be three feet or less. really not expecting a ton of problems. in the east we got a lot more rain to deal with today in florida had a lot overnight. that's going to continue to be the travel trouble spot if you're flying. some of the airports this afternoon. otherwise, severe weather. we haven't had a lot of severe weather lately. just been so hot and so dry.

isolated severe storms. we could see one or two tornadoes today. if you're in the amt, des moines area, madison, minneapolis, through central wisconsin just keep an eye on that forecast and an eye on your media as we go throughout this afternoon in case any of those tornadoes do form. otherwise, a very warm forecast. temperatures mid 90s from texas in the east today, 88 degrees. new york city should be like 74 this time of year. and we continue that warmth right in to friday. so you know, yep, there's a lot going on. but nothing that's too bad in our country. >> so some of those crazy surfers out in california might be a bit disappointed with the waves? >> no, you don't want to be surfing in tsunami. >> no. >> no. >> still ahead from pot smoking to picking a secret service code name, we'll have much more from last night's republican debate. including which candidate won the critically important social media game. "way too early" is back in just a moment. >> senator graham, you're having a good debate. but there is this problem of washington elites, and saying wonderful things about each

other. >> i've been called a lot of things but never elite before. my dad owned a liquor store or bar and a pool room. so only in america can you go from the back of the liquor store to being an elite. strom thurmond had four kids after he's 67. if you're not willing to do that we better come up with a new legal immigration system. >> persuade them about that? >> ronald reagan did a couple of really big things that we should all remember. he sat down with tip o'neill, the most liberal guy in the entire house. they started drinking to the. that's the first thing i'm going to do as president. we're going to drink more.

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hello. who's this? >> congratulations, you're speaking to donald trump. >> oh, hello, donald. >> how are you hillary? hey i just finished the gop debate. as usual i was fantastic. everyone loved me. now look i know you're about to go out for your interview with jimmy fallon but he's a total lightweight. so i'm going to do him a favor and interview you instead. >> that's great. you know how much i love being interviewed. as long as you don't start talking over me when i'm trying to make a point -- >> yeah, yeah, question one -- you recently said, quote, mr. trump, insults and dismisses women. but tell me what would you do to help women in this country? >> you know, donald, i've spent my entire career fighting for

women's rights. you know i'm really curious, donald, what is your stance on women's issues? >> look, i know a lot of women. and they all have issues. >> hillary clinton and her appearance with jimmy fallon last night and it was huge. let's turn back to the debate and one of the night's most memorable moments when senator rand paul called out another candidate for smoking pot way back when. take a look. >> i think one of the great problems, and what the american people don't like about politics, is hypocrisy. people who have one standard for others and not for themselves. there's at least one prominent example on the stage of someone who says they smoked pot in high school. and yet the people who are going to jail for this are poor people, often african-americans and often hispanics, yet the rich kids who use drugs aren't. >> i want to give the person that you called a hypocrite an opportunity to respond. you want to identify that person? >> well, i think if we left it open we could see how many

people smoked pot in high school. >> is there somebody you were specifically thinking of? >> well the thing is -- >> he was talking about me. >> yeah, i was talking about -- >> that's what i thought. let me say it. i wanted to make it easier for him and i just did. >> governor bush please. >> 40 years ago i smoked marijuana and i admit it. i'm sure that other people might have done it and may not want to say it in front of 25 million people. my mom's not happy that i just did. that's true. >> and jeb bush copping to it. there was also a lighter moment between jeb bush and donald trump when the candidates were asked to pick their secret service code names if elected. >> everyready. it's very high energy, donald. >> mr. trump? >> humble. >> that's a good one.

>> by the way, jeb bush did have a code name when his dad was president. we're told it was tripper. not surprisingly, it was bombastic front-runner donald trump who dominated the conversation on twitter during last night's debate. he garnered nearly 23% of the mentions according to data provided by the site. but the top tweeted moment of the night went to carly fiorina when she responded to trump's well publicized criticism of her appearance. and carly fiorina is among the guests coming up next on "morning joe." we'll also talk to front-runner donald trump, and new jersey governor chris christie. the best debate analysis anywhere is just moments away. how much protein does your dog food have? 18%? 20? nutrient-dense purina one true instinct with real salmon and tuna has 30% protein. support your active dog's whole body health with purina one. ♪

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nutrient-dense purina one true instinct with real salmon and tuna has 30% protein. support your active dog's whole body health with purina one. would you feel comfortable with donald trump's finger on the nuclear codes? >> mr. trump, i want to give you a chance to respond to something that your rival next to you, governor bush said. >> governor bush, would you be comfortable with donald