Republican sharks circle Trump for first debate of 2016

Republicans square off in their latest US presidential debate today, just 18 days before all-important first votes are cast in the nominations race, after a rising party star delivered an extraordinary rebuke to frontrunner Donald Trump.
Seven candidates will take the main stage in South Carolina, with six focused on how to knock the real-estate tycoon off his perch and finally bring the 2016 campaign to a debate about issues rather than obsession over Trump's celebrity bombast.
South Carolina's young, charismatic governor Nikki Haley, considered by some a potential vice presidential pick, essentially cleared the way for Trump's rivals by attacking the rhetoric of the celebrity billionaire.

Her remarks -- "During anxious times, it can be tempting to follow the siren call of the angriest voices. We must resist that temptation" -- were all the more potent as they came in the official Republican response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday.
"Some people think that you have to be the loudest voice in the room to make a difference. That is just not true," she said pointedly.
The message marked political shots fired in the civil war roiling the Republican Party, specifically Trump's outsider populism versus his rivals in the conservative establishment.

By picking Haley, the daughter of Indian immigrants, GOP leaders -- who reportedly cleared the speech before she addressed the nation -- were effectively announcing they had had it with Trump's toxic brand of ethno-nationalism.

But Trump, who has relentlessly proven his savvy in the campaign, sought to deflect the criticism and turn Haley's hammering into a positive.
"As far as I'm concerned, anger is OK. Anger and energy is what this country needs," Trump told CNN in reacting to Haley's remarks.
"I like her, she's a very nice woman, but she's very weak on the subject of illegal immigration."
The main debate kicks off around 9:00 pm (0200 GMT Friday), while three low-polling White House hopefuls compete in an undercard event three hours earlier.
On the same day, Republicans in the House of Representatives gather in Baltimore, near the capital Washington, for their annual winter retreat.

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"The male shooter in San Bernardino - again, whose name I won't mention -- was the child of immigrants from Pakistan, and he brought his wife - the other terrorist - from Saudi Arabia, through another one of our easily exploited visa programmes," Trump said.
He also demanded that Muslims in the country start turning in those who they suspect could engage in terrorist activities.
"The Muslims have to turn people. The Muslims, you will find out, now all sorts of things will be said about this guy and people will say oh gee, why didn't we get him? They have to turn people in," Trump told Fox News in an interview.

However, he hoped that Muslims would not be afraid of him because of his rhetoric.
"I hope not," he said in response to a question.
"I want to straighten things out. But it's so important that they -- and they're tremendous people. It's so important that when they see trouble going on, like they did in San Bernardino," he said.
"I mean, there were numerous people who saw bombs all over this apartment floor, they knew something was going on. They never reported him or her. They never reported and that 14 people killed and many, many people injured," he added.

"Same thing here, you will going to find out with this savage that did this horrible thing over the weekend that many people said oh, I knew that was going to happen. Hey have got to report him," he said.
"Because the Muslims are the ones that see what's going on. The Muslims are the ones that have to report him. And if they don't report him, then there have to be consequences to them," Trump said.
During the interview Trump slammed both US President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, for what he alleged their softer approach on radical Islamic terrorism.

"Why he (Obama) doesn't fight it and why he doesn't fight it with strength and with vigor, nobody knows. That's certainly a topic of conversation for plenty of people. But he is not doing a good job. That is for sure," Trump said in response to a question.
"Nobody knows why he doesn't have more anger. Why he doesn't have more competitive zeal. He is a competitive person. Why doesn't he have more competitive zeal to knock them out. I mean, look at what's going on. Look at what's happening? This Orlando attack was just absolutely horrendous and, yet, he still doesn't even use the word of radical Islamic terror," Trump alleged.

Trump alleged that Clinton is in total denial.
"She is in total denial, and her continuing reluctance to ever name the enemy broadcasts weakness across the world," he said.
The Clinton Campaign, quickly slammed Trump on its policies.
In a tweet, Clinton said inflammatory anti-Muslim rhetoric hurts the vast majority of Muslims who love freedom and hate terror.
"It's wrong, and it's dangerous," she said.