A BuzzFeed News review could only find two quotes from Trump on the Iraq War in 2003, both within the week after the invasion began.

View Video ›

buzzfeed-video1.s3.amazonaws.com

During the Republican debate Wednesday night, Donald Trump said he was on the record as being actively against the Iraq War before the invasion in 2003.

"I am the on this dais -- the only person that fought very, very hard against us -- and I wasn't a sitting politician going into Iraq," Trump said. "Because I said going into Iraq -- that was in 2003."

Trump said it would be easier to find "25 different stories" of him being against the war before the invasion.

"You can check it out, check out -- I'll give you 25 different stories," said Trump. "In fact, a delegation was sent to my office to see me because I was so vocal about it. I'm a very militaristic person, but you have to know when to use the military. I'm the only person up here that fought against going into Iraq."

"I think it is very important," he continued. "I think it is important because it is about judgment. I didn't want to go into Iraq, it is about judgment. Because what I said, you're going to destabilize the Middle East and that's what happened."

An extensive BuzzFeed News review was unable to find any Trump statements on the Iraq War before the invasion in March 2003, but did find two statements he made the week the war started, one calling it "a mess" and one saying it would have a positive impact on the stock market.

Trump was quoted by the Washington Post as saying, "The war's a mess."

He said on Fox News the weekend the war started, "I think the market's going to go up like a rocket."

Trump did turn against the war in 2004, calling it a disaster.

Trump was slightly more aggressive about Iraq in his 2000 book, The America We Deserve, saying he had wished then-President George H.W. Bush had finished the job during the Gulf War.

"We can learn something here from George Bush and see how good a president he was," wrote Trump.

"He wasn't afraid to use American power when he figured out that Saddam Hussein posed a direct threat to American interests in the East. I only wish, however, that he had spent three more days and properly finished the job. It is this kind of will and determination to use our strength strategically that America needs again in dealing with the North Koreans."

Trump also wrote in his book that if we attack Iraq we should "carry the mission to its conclusion," and that "Iraq remains a threat."

Consider Iraq. After each pounding from U.S . warplanes, Iraq has dusted itself off and gone right back to work developing a nuclear arsenal. Six years of tough talk and U.S. fireworks in Baghdad have done little to slow Iraq's crash program to become a nuclear power. They've got missiles capable of flying nine hundred kilometers—more than enough to reach Tel Aviv. They've got enriched uranium. All they need is the material for nuclear fission to complete the job, and, according to the Rumsfeld report, we don't even know for sure if they've laid their hands on that yet. That's what our last aerial assault on Iraq in 1999 was about. Saddam Hussein wouldn't let UN weapons inspectors examine certain sites where that material might be stored. The result when our bombing was over? We still don't know what Iraq is up to or whether it has the material to build nuclear weapons. I'm no warmonger. But the fact is, if we decide a strike against Iraq is necessary, it is madness not to carry the mission to its conclusion. When we don't, we have the worst of all worlds: Iraq remains a threat, and now has more incentive than ever to attack us.

That's it. That's the whole record of Trump on Iraq until he came out against the war in 2004.

“I think it is a well-established fact that Donald Trump has made incredibly demeaning comments about women,” Robby Mook told reporters.

Scott Olson / Getty Images

During a commercial break on Wednesday night, in between segments of the CNN Republican debate, Hillary Clinton's campaign manager told reporters gathered in her Brooklyn headquarters that the Republican Party frontrunner, Donald Trump, had been demonstrating more of the "sexism" he's shown "the whole time he's been in the race."

On the campaign trail, Clinton has characterized Trump's comments about women as "outrageous" and "offensive." But the remark from her manager, Robby Mook, amounted to a more explicit characterization of Trump as sexist.

Mook, standing near the front of a conference room in the campaign's 11th floor offices, took questions for about three minutes from political reporters invited to watch the second GOP debate with Clinton aides on Wednesday night.

Responding to a question about Trump's effect on Clinton, Mook said, "The bigger issue is how damaging he has become to the Republican Party. He has completely driven them to the right," he said. "I think you saw more insult, more bluster, more sexism tonight."

One reporter asked Mook to be specific about what he found sexist. He replied, "I think it is a well-established fact that Donald Trump has made incredibly demeaning comments about women, and I think they speak for themselves."

The reporter asked again: Was it something that happened tonight?

"I think tonight," Mook said, "and I think for the whole time he's been in the race."

The gaggle followed a segment of the debate in which moderator Jake Tapper asked another candidate, Carly Fiorina, to weigh in on Trump's recent interview with Rolling Stone: "Look at that face," Trump was quoted as saying. "Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that? The face of our next president?"

Trump later said he was talking about Fiorina's "persona."

Given the chance to respond on Wednesday, Fiorina said, "I think women all over this country heard very clearly what Mr. Trump said."

Trump leaned into his mic. "I think she's got a beautiful face," he said, "and I think she's a beautiful woman."

The business magnate also took criticism last month for a heated exchange with Megyn Kelly, the Fox News anchor who moderated the first Republican debate — and for his comments about her afterward: specifically, that she had "blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her… wherever."

At the time, Clinton called the comment "outrageous," but said that Kelly is a "strong woman, and more than capable of defending herself against Donald Trump."

"I'm worried about what Republican policies would do to the rest of America's women, and I will continue to speak out and speak up about that today and through the rest of this campaign — and in the White House," Clinton told reporters.

On Wednesday night, asked for his estimation of the GOP debate winner, Mook named one of the 2016 candidates not on stage.

"I do think Hillary Clinton is," he said.

The issue of whether parents should be required to vaccinate their children (and whether vaccinations can cause autism) has been a national political issue all year.

"There have been numerous studies," Carson responded, "and they have not demonstrated that there is any correlation between vaccinations and autism."

View Video ›

buzzfeed-video1.s3.amazonaws.com

Trump was challenged on his plan to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, questioned on ending birthright citizenship and teamed up on by Bush and Rubio for his criticism of speaking Spanish.

Mark J. Terrill / AP

Unlike the first GOP debate where presidential candidates raced to see who could go further to the right on immigration, the candidates at Wednesday's primary debate were forced to grapple with where the frontrunner Donald Trump has taken the divisive issue.

Trump found himself on the defensive because of his immigration plan that calls for deporting 11 to 12 million undocumented immigrants, which has been criticized as short on details and impossible.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has flagged in the polls, said that deporting 15,000 immigrants a day would be impossible calling it "an undertaking that almost none of us could accomplish given the current levels of funding and the current number of law enforcement officers."

Christie advocated using drones and biometric fingerprints that would identify people who have overstayed their visas so they can leave the country.

As in the first debate, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush was attacked by Trump for calling illegal immigration an "act of love" but this time responded forcefully, saying that he was on the side of Ronald Reagan, who believed in America's inclusive values. Bush contrasted that outlook with Trump, who he said believes everything happening in America is negative, including immigration.

Bush said the border must be secured, noting that he wrote a book on the subject, but chastised Trump for his plan.

"To build a wall and to deport people — half a million a month — would cost hundreds of billions of dollars, Donald. Hundreds of billions of dollars," Bush said. "It would destroy community life, it would tear families apart. And it would send a signal to the rest of the world that the United States values that are so important for our long-term success no longer matter in this country.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, asked if his plan was amnesty, said he supports building a border wall and instituting an entry/exit visa tracking system, at which point Americans "will be very reasonable and responsible about what you do with someone who's been here and isn't a criminal."

Neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who has risen to second in the polls, defended his plan calling for more guest workers as not being amnesty, repeatedly citing recent trips to the border. He said he spoke to farmers who said Americans won't take certain jobs in agriculture.

Trump once again invoked a San Francisco woman killed by an undocumented immigrant. He said immigration has become a major campaign issue because he brought it up, but this time former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, who was not in the first debate, pushed back.

"Immigration did not come up in 2016 because Mr. Trump brought it up," she said. "We talked about it in 2012. We talked about it in 2008. We talked about it in 2004. We have been talking about it for 25 years."

Trump, who has said he would end birthright citizenship, said that "great" legal scholars believe the Constitution is being misinterpreted on the issue. He said Mexicans and Chinese immigrants come to the U.S. to have American citizen children.

"A woman gets pregnant. She's nine months, she walks across the border, she has the baby in the United States, and we take care of the baby for 85 years. I don't think so," Trump said.

Only Fiorina said Trump was off-base, "you can't just wave your hands and say 'the 14th Amendment is gonna go away,'" she said.

Bush and Rubio also double-teamed Trump for his criticism of candidates who speak Spanish on the trail.

Bush said that, if asked a question in Spanish by a high school student, "I'm going to show respect and answer that question in Spanish."

Rubio invoked his Cuban grandfather who taught him to love America, speaking to him in Spanish, and framed the choice to speak in another language as a way of sharing the message with Hispanics that "I believe that free enterprise and limited government is the best way to help people who are trying to achieve upward mobility."

He said doing so would be better than the alternative.

"And if they get their news in Spanish, I want them to hear that directly from me," Rubio said. "Not from a translator at Univision."

Bush also asked Trump to apologize for bringing up his Mexican-American wife on the trail and saying his immigration views are influenced by her. Trump and Bush interrupted each other, with Trump speaking positively of Bush's wife ("I hear phenomenal things. I hear your wife is a lovely woman.") but as usual refusing to apologize.

But while Trump was attacked throughout, he was defended by Ted Cruz who credited his candidacy with forcing the mainstream media to discuss illegal immigration.

For his part, Trump continued his approach of discussing complex issues in broad terms and few details.

"The great ones will come back, the good ones will come back," Trump said of the millions of undocumented immigrants he will send back to their countries through mass deportation. "They'll be expedited, they'll be back, they'll come back legally. We'll have a country -- they'll come back, legally."

Getty Images

WASHINGTON — Black Lives Matter activists, including select members of Campaign Zero, met with top White House officials on Wednesday, a senior administration official confirmed to BuzzFeed News.

Activists met with senior adviser Valerie Jarrett, as well as Roy Austin, the deputy assistant to the president for urban affairs, and a collection of White House officials. The meeting focused on law enforcement and community policing with an emphasis on how to increase public safety locally.

A White House official said the administration emphasized the implementation of its recommendations from the 21st Century Task Force on Policing as a priority for reducing violence.

In addition to Jarrett and Austin, participants included Phil Agnew of the Dream Defenders; DeRay Mckesson, Brittany Packnett, and Johnetta Elzie of Campaign Zero; and Jamye Wooten, an organizer for Baltimore United for Change.

Campaign Zero activists also met with Bernie Sanders, Democratic candidate for president earlier Wednesday.

"I look forward to a continuing dialogue with Campaign Zero and other voices from communities of color to address deeply entrenched racial and economic problems in our country," Sanders said.

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

SIMI VALLEY, California — The second Republican presidential debate may have been one of the first times in this campaign that Donald Trump did not appear fully in control.

Trump’s performance didn’t exactly bolster the devil-may-care, brash persona that has attracted so many voters. Instead, Trump was a bit less loud than usual, peevish instead of commanding at times, and even — maybe? — a bit low-energy, his favorite attack against Jeb Bush.

Trump seemed even a bit sheepish when Carly Fiorina caused him to backtrack on his comment to Rolling Stone magazine about her face, saying “I think she's got a beautiful face, and I think she's a beautiful woman.” Fiorina did not smile.

There have been many times that Trump has said or done something outrageous enough to seem disqualifying and yet continued his vault to the top of the polls anyway. And it’s unlikely that a few tense moments on the debate stage could slow him down when nothing else could.

But on Wednesday, Trump even seemed to fade a bit during the last portion of the debate. Moderators allowed the other candidates to talk for a long period (more than half an hour) — Trump didn’t speak. The effect was much different from last month’s Fox News debate, in which Trump was undeniably dominant in a shorter and tighter format.

The question of what to do about Trump has proved a tricky puzzle for his adversaries in the Republican party, who have watched in horror as he climbs higher and higher in the polls despite doing things that would be a kiss of death for someone else, like disparaging John McCain’s military record and making sexist comments about Fox News host Megyn Kelly.

Bush, one of the biggest targets of Trump’s mockery, has struggled to find an effective recourse for Trump’s attacks in recent weeks and was unable to force Trump to apologize to his wife onstage. Trump’s “low energy” line on Bush has proved remarkably effective, and he used a variation of it as a pointed put-down during the debate, mock-praising Bush for having “more energy tonight, I like that” at one point. But Bush made a couple spirited attempts to counter Trump during the debate, including an impassioned defense of his brother’s legacy and a knowing remark that drew laughs and even resulted in a Trump/Bush low-five — “it’s very high energy, Donald,” about the Secret Service codename he would choose for himself.

“All I can say is I think once his exchange happened with Donald Trump tonight, Donald Trump largely left the stage,” Danny Diaz, Bush’s campaign manager, told reporters after the debate.

On Twitter, some observers seemed to agree that it was Trump, and not just Jeb, who was suffering from a bit of low-energy syndrome. “Low energy Donald Trump,” tweeted former Mitt Romney aide Kevin Madden.

“Several of the candidates are making Trump look small,” tweeted conservative writer and radio host Erick Erickson. “Won’t hurt Trump’s base, but will keep him from growing it.”

“I think that at this point only Trump can hurt Trump with his existing base,” Erickson said in an email to BuzzFeed News. “But there are still a lot of undecided voters and there are candidates who are clearly on shaky ground right now. Several outside consultants I’ve talked to have said that nothing they have field tested works to shake Trump’s voters from Trump, but that it is more and more clear that Trump’s ceiling can be reinforced so the vast number of undecideds do not go his way and the voters supporting other candidates are not tempted to go his way. Right now that’s becoming a real strategy for a number of the candidates and also several outside groups that are about to go after Trump. They all think Trump will eventually do himself in with his base and, in the meantime, these candidates and groups can keep others from going to Trump.”

In the spin room after the debate, staffers from rival campaigns said they had expected a bit more Trump on Wednesday.

“I think we were prepared for what it was like the first half of the debate, but then he stopped and started behaving,” said Ben Carson’s campaign manager Barry Bennett. “So the second half of the debate he was pretty tame. The first part there was a lot of the same old name calling and all that kind of stuff. But at the end he had tamed down. That was surprising.”

Rand Paul’s chief strategist Doug Stafford said he largely thought Trump’s performance was more of the same, but “there was, I guess, a small period where we got a brief and happy respite from his blowing smoke at people.”

“One of the things I think you saw tonight was that it was a bad night for Trump,” said Ed Goeas, a senior adviser to Walker. “His story, his act is wearing a little thin with the voters and I think that came across very very strongly tonight as the night went on. Quite frankly, he went through some times that I think for the good of all of us he was somewhat quiet.”

Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, was ready to exploit a vulnerability that Trump revealed on Wednesday night: He doesn’t really know how to respond when women challenge him.

Mark J. Terrill / AP Images

SIMI VALLEY, California — She savaged his business record. She dismissed him as an entertainer. She undermined him with the most withering one-liner of the night.

But perhaps the most notable achievement in Carly Fiorina's dispatching of Donald Trump during Wednesday's Republican presidential debate was that her barbs often seemed to leave the loudmouth billionaire speechless — and seething.

For a candidate known to ridicule his rivals with reckless abandon, Trump struggled all night to respond to Fiorina's criticism — sometimes countering with cringe-inducing condescension, other times shriveling into an uncharacteristically quiet display of head-shaking and tongue-biting. He appeared to reveal a weakness that could be especially damaging to any Republican presidential nominee next year: Trump doesn't know what to do when women challenge him.

And Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, who prides herself on a career of busting up boys clubs, came prepared to exploit Trump's vulnerability.

The onstage showdown between the two candidates was highly anticipated in the days leading up to the debate, after Rolling Stone published an article that quoted Trump ridiculing Fiorina's appearance.

"Look at that face!" the billionaire reportedly joked while watching her on TV. "Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?! ... I mean, she's a woman, and I'm not s'posedta say bad things, but really, folks, come on. Are we serious?"

Amid the ensuing outrage, Trump claimed — in a rare walk-back — that he was referring to Fiorina's "persona," not her looks. When she was asked to respond at Wednesday's debate, the candidate said simply, "I think women all over this country heard very clearly what Mr. Trump said." The audience greeted the line with loud and sustained applause, while Trump stood largely motionless waiting for it to subside.

Finally, he leaned into the microphone and delivered a retort that seemed intended as friendly and playful. "I think she's got a beautiful face," he pronounced, "and I think she's a beautiful woman." The crowd in the debate hall fell awkwardly silent, while audible groans rippled across the room where reporters were covering the debate.

At other moments on Wednesday night, Trump resisted the temptation to take Fiorina's bait, by redirecting his hostility toward others on the stage. When, for example, she dismissively referred to Trump as "entertaining" and questioned his seriousness, he responded by arbitrarily picking on Rand Paul — and effectively letting her attack stand.

Asked about Fiorina's pre-debate preparations for Trump, deputy campaign manager Sarah Isgur Flores told BuzzFeed News, "It's really just Carly being Carly. ... She's fearless. This is all her. Carly won't be intimidated."

Fiorina has spoken in the past about confronting sexism in the corporate world. In her memoir, Tough Choices, she wrote:

From the first stories of my hiring until the last of my firing, both the language and the intensity of the coverage were different for me than for any other CEO. It was more personal, with much commentary about my personality and my physical appearance, my dress, my hair or my shoes. That first week, the editor of BusinessWeek came to see me with the beat reporter because they'd been working on a story for several months. Hewlett-Packard was going to be the cover story whether we liked it or not, and everyone recommended that I talk with them. Before we'd even sat down, the very first question from the editor was "Is that an Armani suit you're wearing?"

Vanity Fair, despite being warned numerous times that they were writing fiction about me, continued to report that I traveled constantly with a hairdresser and a makeup artist. There was a persistent rumor, bolstered by commentary in the local press, that I'd built a pink marble bathroom in my office...

I was alternatively described as "flashy" or "glamorous" or "diamond studded," which frequently was translated to mean a superficial "marketing" type.

Trump, meanwhile, has already struggled this campaign cycle with being challenged by a woman. After Fox News host Megyn Kelly aggressively grilled him at last month's Republican debate, he launched a high-profile, days-long feud that ultimately culminated in his suggesting that Kelly had been menstruating during the event.

He also has a well-documented penchant for defining and categorizing women according to their attractiveness, as noted recently in the Washington Post. In a 2006 book, for example, Trump compared women to pricey objects: "Beauty and elegance, whether in a woman, a building, or a work of art is not just superficial or something pretty to see."

In 2012, he tweeted that Arianna Huffington was "unattractive both inside and out," and added, "I fully understand why her former husband left her for a man — he made a good decision." And once, when New York Times columnist Gail Collins wrote something about him that he didn't like, he reportedly sent her a copy of the article with the words, "The face of a dog!" scrawled over her photo.

In the spin room after the debate Wednesday, Russ Schriefer, a senior adviser to Chris Christie, stressed that it was crucial for Republicans to nominate someone capable of debating Hillary Clinton without alienating women voters.

"Whoever wins the Republican nomination will have to do much better with women than in 2012," said Schriefer, noting that Christie — a candidate known, like Trump, for his aggressive political style — managed to win re-election against Barbara Buono in 2013 with a majority of women voters in New Jersey.

Christie didn't pull his punches during that race, Schriefer said, but nor did he come off as patronizing or sexist. The key: "You have to attack in the right way. ... You can't be condescending. You have to respect your opponent, as your opponent. That's all that women expect."

Rubio said in Wednesday’s debate that proposals put forth by liberals to address climate change would “destroy the economy.”

View Video ›

buzzfeed-video1.s3.amazonaws.com

When asked about addressing climate change during Wednesday night's debate, Marco Rubio said the policies put forward by liberals would have a detrimental effect on the U.S. economy.

However, while serving as the speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, Rubio repeatedly espoused the potential benefits of cap and trade programs and presided over the passage of a bill allowing the state to set rules for such a system and encouraging a transition away from electricity produced by burning fossil fuels.

Rubio believed at the time that a federal cap-and-trade program was "inevitable" and that, if Florida adopted one early, it would be in a position to "influence what that cap and trade looks like at the federal level."

"Florida should position itself for what I believe is inevitable, and that is a federal cap and trade program," he said in 2008, according to the Miami Herald. "Florida should do everything it can to be an early complier so that it can access early compliance funds and so that it can help influence what that cap and trade looks like at the federal level."

Rubio even said he was "in favor of giving the Department of Environmental Protection a mandate that they go out and design a cap and trade or a carbon tax program and bring it back to the Legislature for ratification sometime in the next two years."

At the debate, however, Rubio said he would not pursue that kind of legislation as President.

"We're not gonna destroy our economy the way the left-wing government that we're under now wants to do," he said.

Echoing comments he made earlier this year and in 2013, he added, "We are not gonna make America a harder place to create jobs in order to pursue policies that will do absolutely nothing, nothing to change our climate, to change our weather. Because America's a lot of things, the greatest country in the world, but America is not a planet. And we are not even the largest carbon producer anymore, China is, and they are drilling a hole anywhere in the world that they can get ahold of."

The case that new environmental regulations would cripple the American economy is also a reversal for the Florida senator, who previously contended that Florida should pursue "bold energy policies," both because it would be good for the environment and because "people will actually make money at doing it."

"Today, Florida has the opportunity to pursue bold energy polciies, not just because they're good for our environment, but because people will actually make money at doing it," he said in a 2007 speech. "This nation, and ultimately the world, is headed towards emission caps and energy diversification. Those changes will require technological advances that make those measures cost effective. The demand toward such advances will create an industry to meet it—Florida should become the Silicon Valley of that industry."

youtube.com

Furthermore, in his 2006 book 100 Innovative Ideas For Florida's Future, Rubio argued that Florida should "offer additional incentives for clean alternative-fueled vehicles and hybrid passenger vehicles. A shift to driving hybrids, he said, was "guaranteed to save Floridians money on gasoline while reducing emissions and helping to curb global warming."

View Entire List ›

The FDA warned Nebraska that importing the drugs would be illegal. The state attempted to have the drugs shipped anyway.

Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts.

Nati Harnik / AP

A shipment of illegal execution drugs was on its way to Nebraska from India late last month, BuzzFeed News has learned, but improper paperwork led FedEx to return the drugs to the sender before they left the country.

Nebraska ordered more than $50,000 of sodium thiopental and other execution drugs from a distributor in India named Chris Harris in May. The Food and Drug Administration has consistently maintained that importing the drug would be illegal, but the state has shown every intention of moving forward regardless. The FDA says it will not allow the drug into the U.S.

The drugs were shipped via FedEx on August 24, but never made it to the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services. The shipment was returned to the sender in India due to "improper or missing paperwork," according to the tracking page.

According to the company handling the shipping from India, it was because the drug lacked FDA approval. "Our shipment has to clear the U.S. office," Rohit Sharma said. "But they told us that it does not have FDA clearance."

Sharma added that he sent the drugs back to the drug distributor, Harris. "He will FedEx it from Kolkata," Sharma said.

In a statement, FedEx said it's standard procedure to notify the FDA and Customs before importing drugs.

"This shipment was never brought to the United States," a spokesperson said. "The paperwork was incorrect in India and it was returned to the shipper. As with any international importation of a drug, data about that shipment is transmitted to federal agencies in advance, including U.S. Customs and the Food and Drug Administration. If the shipment is authorized, we will deliver it to the recipient; if it is not, we will return it to the foreign shipper."

The FDA declined to comment on if it instructed FedEx and Sharma's company that the drug had to be returned to India. Customs did not respond to a request for comment.

According to the FedEx form, the shipment was of roughly 50 lbs of sodium thiopental — an anesthetic that had previously been used in lethal injections throughout the nation until its sole U.S. manufacturer stopped making the drug in 2011.

FedEx International Waybill

Harris, who runs a small company called Harris Pharma, approached Department of Correctional Services Director Scott Frakes earlier this year about selling sodium thiopental for executions. Frakes was immediately interested, and ultimately purchased $54,400 worth of drugs — enough for more than 300 executions. The state has only 10 men on death row, and there is currently a battle over whether, under the recent legislative death penalty repeal there, those men can even be executed.

Harris has apparently sold drugs to at least one other state as well this year. Ohio had also intended to illegally import the drug, but it's unclear if it was from Harris or another supplier.

Since Nebraska announced the drug purchase in May, the FDA has repeatedly stated that it will not allow the drugs into the U.S, since they aren't made by an FDA-approved manufacturer. Gov. Pete Ricketts had been publicly confident that he would be able to import the drugs. His office directed questions to the Department of Correctional Services.

"We do not have any of the [sodium thiopental]," Correctional Services spokesperson James Foster said. "We don't know why it was sent back. I think that's FedEx and Harris Pharma working things out."

View Entire List ›

A long time Churchill admirer.

Suggested soundtrack for this article:

w.soundcloud.com

youtube.com

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush surprised the nation on Wednesday evening when at the Republican debate he declared he would put former British leader Margaret Thatcher on the $10 bill.

"I would go with Ronald Reagan's partner Margaret Thatcher," Bush said.

"Probably illegal, but what the heck?" he joked. "Since it's not going to happen: A strong leader is what we need in the White House, and she certainly was a strong leader that restored the United Kingdom into greatness."

Bush's history of anglophilia in fact goes back decades.

In 1994, asked to name his heroes, Bush responded, "Winston Churchill, my father, and my mother."

In a 1998 newspaper survey, Bush listed The Last Lion (a Churchill biography) as his favorite book.

In 2002 interview with the St. Petersburg Times, Bush again picked the book as one that had a lasting impact on his life.

"When I got a little older, I read the book The Last Lion," said Bush. "It was about Sir Winston Churchill . . . a man I admire greatly."

Interestingly, today, Bush lists "our founding documents" as his favorite book.

Getty / BuzzFeed

View Entire List ›

“To say, I’m just like Ronald Reagan. I mean, half the population out there is gonna vote, have no idea who Ronald Reagan was or is.”

Paul J. Richards / AFP / Getty Images

w.soundcloud.com

Ronald Reagan's son Michael Reagan says Republican candidates should stop trying fill his father's boots, adding that many in today's party would label his father a RINO (Republican in name only) if he were running today.

At last night's debate at the Reagan Presidential Library, the 11 candidates each attempted to show they were the true intellectual heir to the Reagan revolution.

"There really is none," said Michael Reagan Wednesday on AM640 radio's Bill Carroll Show when asked which candidate was most like his father. "I mean, everybody touches on something. Rick Perry was a good friend. You know, Rick Perry was a cowboy and so on and so forth. But there's nobody."

The younger Reagan then noted that the candidates trying to fill his father's boots were making a misstep and not showing how they could lead today.

"I think they make a giant mistake by trying be in the boots of Ronald Reagan," he continued. "Ronald Reagan didn't try to fill the boots of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln. We weren't looking for those people when we elected Ronald Reagan. I think they make a mistake, because when you put any of them up against Ronald Reagan, they all fail miserably.

"I think the nation's looking for someone who wants to in fact lead and how are you going to lead us now that we're in the 21st century," he added. "That's what they're looking for. And the other side of the coin is."

Michael Reagan added his father was "relatable and likable" and said the Republican Party hadn't put up people lately who are either. He also noted his thirty-something daughter often points out many in her generation don't know who Ronald Reagan is.

"I know who my grandpa is, but nobody else my age knows who Ronald Reagan is," he said. "To say, I'm just like Ronald Reagan. I mean, half the population out there is gonna vote, have no idea who Ronald Reagan was or is. Now, their parents or grandparents might, but they don't.

"This Republican Party today, and maybe it's because there's so much talk radio out there today but many in talk radio would probably refer to my father today as a RINO, Republican in name only."

"You really look, when he was governor of California he signed an abortion bill. He raised taxes. No fault divorce. God, he was a union-leader of the Screen Actor's Guild. How would that person fair today if he was on that stage tonight at somebody else's library?"

"They would say he's no Ronald Reagan. He's a RINO."

Michael Reagan said Republicans were attacking immigration because "they don't have a leader," noting his father reached across the aisle to work with Democrats.

Unintimidated.

Frederic J Brown / AFP / Getty Images

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who once topped Republican polls but is now beginning to languish at the bottom of many, criticized the media and CNN following the Republican debate Wednesday night.

Walker said the media no matter what was determined to stick to "the narrative" that former HP CEO Carly Fiorina had a good debate and that CNN ultimately just want to turn he candidates against each other for ratings.

"I think going in, we knew the narrative no matter what was gonna happen was they were gonna say that Carly had a big night, no matter what, and obviously, they said that," Walker told radio host Glenn Beck on Thursday. "I think the other impression — the feedback I got from folks, not just in the press but from across the country we talked to was a frustration that there wasn't more talk."

"I mean, I mentioned that's what's wrong with this campaign, we're not actually talking about issues we're talking about personalities," he added. "It seemed pretty clear that CNN was trying to pit people against each other for ratings, instead of talking about the issues."

Still, Walker thought he got his message out.

"We scored some real points, if that's what you call it, I guess, in terms the message out," he said. "If you want someone who's been tested, if you want an apprentice, someone who's never been tested before then you're likely to get some of what we had in the White House right now."

"We used the limited time CNN gave us, even though we tried to get in there many a time, we used to the best of our effect to get that message out," Walker said.

Take a listen to the audio:

w.soundcloud.com

“I don’t want to be threatening shutting down the government.”

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson said Thursday morning that he is not in favor of shutting down the government in order to defund Planned Parenthood and added that investigating the organization was a better way to proceed.

"I don't want to be threatening shutting down the government," Johnson said, in an interview with radio host Scott Thompson. "Harry Reid wants to play shutdown politics, which I think is just a real shame. I want nothing to do with shutdown politics."

"I think the federal government does enough harm to our economy, much less increase the uncertainty by playing shutdown politics," the senator continued.

Some Republicans in Congress, including Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, are pushing a measure that would tie defunding Planned Parenthood to the larger spending bill that would fund the government.

Johnson said that he doesn't believe "we should be funding Planned Parenthood" -- and that he is already using his perch in the Senate to press for an investigation of the organization.

"I'm pressing Sylvia Burwell — she's the secretary of Health and Human Services — to make sure that she's dong an investigation on the grant money, and the money we pay into Planned Parenthood — that it's not being misused, that Planned Parenthood is not violating regulation, or law," the senator explained. "So, I think that's the better way of addressing that, rather than threatening to shut down the government."

Here's the audio:

w.soundcloud.com / Via youtube.com

From Russia with love.

w.soundcloud.com

Frederic J Brown / AFP / Getty Images

Donald Trump's counsel, advisor, and executive vice president Michael Cohen claims there's " a better than likely chance" The Donald will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin when he comes to New York City for the United Nations.

"Of course it was, because for the last 154 straight polls, Donald Trump is leading," Cohen told radio host Sean Hannity on Thursday, when asked if candidates were targeting Trump. "I'm not even sure that's ever happened in the history of this country. So when you talk about who the country thinks is the right man — or I said the right person — to lead this country for the next four or eight years, it's gotta be Donald Trump."

"Because there's nobody else that's on that stage that's a doer," he continued. "He's a dealmaker and everything today is about a deal. Our dealings with foreign countries, Mexico, China, Japan, all right, um, Africa. It makes no difference."

Cohen, who controversially claimed, then apologized, for saying spousal rape wasn't illegal, then said Trump would likely be meeting Putin in New York City during the United Nations.

The 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly started earlier this week.

"Russia, there's a better than likely chance Trump may even meet with Putin when he comes here for the United Nations," he said. "People want to meet Donald Trump. They want to know Donald Trump."

Trump said at the Republican debate Wednesday night he "would get along with Putin."

"I would talk to him, I would get along with him. I believe — and I may be wrong, in which case I'd probably have to take a different path — but I would get along with a lot of the world leaders that this country is not getting along with," Trump stated at the debate.

A Pope Francis visit, however, is not currently in the mix.

"That I don't know, it's not on my calendar," Cohen said when asked if he would meet with Pope Francis during his visit.

“Look, you have some people in the Republican Party who are in the pundit class, who are there to be controversial, and to try to make money, and sell their books. And that’s just fine — they can go sell their books.”

The Steve Malzberg Show/Newsmax TV / Via youtube.com

Republican presidential candidate and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum blasted conservative commentator Ann Coulter on Thursday, saying that a controversial Coulter tweet proves that she "is someone who clearly doesn't understand the significance" of America's relationship with Israel.

"Look, you have some people in the Republican Party who are in the pundit class, who are there to be controversial, and to try to make money, and sell their books," Santorum said in an interview with Steve Malzberg of Newsmax TV. "And that's just fine — they can go sell their books."

Santorum was responding to a tweet sent by Coulter toward the end of last night's debate, which read: "How many f---ing Jews do these people think there are in the United States?" Coulter explained in another tweet that her comment was a reference to what she saw as the Republican candidates' "pandering on Israel."

"How many Bible-believing Christians does she think are in this country, who understand the significance of the heritage of the Jewish people in the Holy Land?" Santorum retorted. "I mean, again — I scratch my head and sometimes wonder what these pundits, who make money at being controversial, what they think they're doing to be helpful to the cause they say they believe in."

"I think everybody, every conservative has a right to look at that and say this is someone who clearly doesn't understand the significance of that relationship," the Pennsylvania Republican concluded.

Santorum told Malzberg that it is necessary for Republicans "to go out there and question the attack that has been made by Barack Obama on the state of Israel, on the relationship between our countries," and to support Israel "in its defense against what soon — if Barack Obama has his way — will be a nuclear Iran."

Santorum went on to add that said the issue is "probably less important in the Jewish community today, these days, than it is in the evangelical Christian community, which is another tragedy of itself."

Here's Coulter's tweet:

Via twitter.com

The Republican presidential candidate on Thursday also declined to correct a man at a town hall meeting who said President Obama was a Muslim and not a U.S. citizen.

At a town hall meeting in New Hampshire on Thursday, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said he would consider one man's request that America "get rid of" Muslims.

youtube.com

The White Plains, New Hampshire, man was the first to ask a question at the event.

"We have a problem in this country," he began. "It's called Muslims. We know our current president is one."

"Right," Trump responded.

"You know he's not even American," the man continued.

"We need this question, this is the first question," Trump said with a laugh.

President Obama is a Christian and was born in Hawaii. Trump, however, has for years fed conspiracy theories that Obama was born in Kenya and is not eligible to be president.

At Thursday's town hall, the question continued to more broadly include other Muslims in the U.S.

"We have training camps growing where they want to kill us," the man said. "That's my question, when can we get rid of them?"

"We're going to be looking at a lot of different things," Trumps said. "A lot of people are saying that, and a lot of people are saying that bad things are happening out there. We're going to be looking at that and plenty of other things."

Later, in a statement to the Washington Post, Trump said his answers were more about defending Christians in the U.S.

View Entire List ›

Darren Mccollester / Getty Images

CONCORD, N.H. — At the end of a town hall on Thursday here in New Hampshire, Hillary Clinton initiated a “rapid-fire” round of questions, fielding one after the other in quick succession on a variety of topics: veterans, money in politics, nuclear weapons.

Then came a question about the Keystone XL pipeline.

“Ok, Keystone pipeline. One of my favorite issues,” Clinton said to laughter from a crowd of several hundred at the Concord Boys and Girls Club, her second stop of the day.

She began with her usual answer, one that has frustrated environmentalists bitterly opposed to Keystone: that, because she launched the review of the project as secretary of state, she will not detail her personal position on the pipeline until that process concludes, and until President Obama has made his final decision on whether to approve Keystone.

But in Concord, Clinton promised a voter she wouldn’t wait “too much longer" — and that, if the review process took much longer, she would issue her position anyway. She did not provide a specific time-frame, nor did she hint at what her stance might be.

“I can’t wait too much longer, and I am putting the White House on notice,” Clinton said at the town hall. “I’m gonna tell you what I think soon, because I can’t wait.”

Clinton suggested that Obama should have reached a decision on Keystone by now, or at least, so she expected. “I thought they would have decided way, you know, way by now,” she said. “And they haven’t.”

Clinton’s last addressed the pipeline in detail in late July, at another town hall in New Hampshire — this one in Nashua. There, a voter asked Clinton for a “yes or no” answer on Keystone. She explained her rationale for holding off, saying she didn’t want to “second-guess” Obama. “I want to wait and see what he and Secretary Kerry decide,” she told her questioner, Bruce Blodgett, a software developer from Amherst, N.H.

“If it is undecided when I become president, I will answer your question,” she said at the time.

In Concord, about a month and a half after the exchange with Blodgett, Clinton expressed new concern with the hold-up.

“I think we have to move toward clean renewable energy. So of course, I don’t want to see us exploiting unnecessarily new fossil-fuel deposits,” she said. “But I will tell you about Keystone Pipeline one way or the other if they don’t decide, you know, very soon.”

That was all Clinton offered before swiftly moving on to the next question.

“Ok, Putin…!”

From Russia with love.

Frederic J Brown / AFP / Getty Images

Donald Trump's counsel, advisor, and executive vice president Michael Cohen said on Thursday there is " a better than likely chance" Trump will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will be in New York City later this month for the United Nations General Assembly.

It remains to be seen if Trump and Putin will in fact meet, but if it doesn't occur, it won't be the first time Trump has teased a meeting with a Russian leader that never materialized.

In 1988, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev was set to meet with President Ronald Reagan and President-elect Bush in his first (and historic) trip to New York City.

Also rumored to be on the agenda: a stop by Trump Tower. The rumor was planted by Trump.

"His office called and said it was one of the places he wanted to see. Most likely I'll show him the atrium, maybe my office, and a few apartments," the Daily News quoted Trump saying, noting the two had met in Washington during Gorbachev's 1987 trip to the United States.

"We got along well," Trump said, "even though our philosophies are very different. He's a pretty aggressive guy. And he has really created a tremendous impression as far as the outside world is concerned."

The tabloids buzzed with the news. But then the trip came and the visit didn't happen.

According to one prominent Trump documentary, the story was a classic story plant by Trump.

"The week before he arrived, all the television stations in New York said that Gorbachev was planning a visit to Trump Tower," said then-Newsweek reporter Jonathan Alter in the documentary Trump: What's the Deal."Some of them even printed in the paper that this as going to happen. At no point was Trump Tower even tentatively-scheduled as a place for Gorbachev to visit. It's almost a textbook example of a publicity stunt, which worked, and has worked on many other occasions for him."

According to Trump biographer Henry Hurt III, Trump's penchant for planting stories was part of what he labeled "the art of the spiel."

"Here's how I work," Trump is quoted as informing an associate. "I call the society editor [of one of the New York tabloids] and tell them that Princess Di and Prince Charles are going to purchase an apartment in Trump tower. And they, in turn, investigate the source, call Buckingham Palace. And the comment is, 'no comment.' Which means that it appears to the public that Princess Di and Prince Charles are going to purchase an apartment in the Trump Tower."

Even more embarrassing for Trump though was that he was tricked into meeting a Gorbachev impersonator, something that was caught on camera.

"Great great honor," Trump is filmed saying to a Gorbachev impersonator outside the Trump Tower.

"I like your tie," replies impersonator, played by Ron Knapp.

"It was beautiful," says The Donald. "I couldn't have been happier. Good luck with everything. Have a great time. Thank you. Thank you."

Trump, never one to let the media known he'd been fooled, told the Associated Press he knew it was fake.

"He looked fabulous and he sounded fabulous, but I knew it couldn't be right," Trump declared. "For one thing, I looked into the back of his limo and saw four very attractive women."

youtube.com

Frederic J Brown / AFP / Getty Images

As Scott Walker's presidential bid founders, some in the candidate's orbit are participating in a whisper campaign against his top strategist and campaign manager, Rick Wiley.

A number of Walker's donors and supporters have been circulating a rumor about Wiley in recent days, apparently aimed at discrediting him and bringing about a shakeup in the organization, according to two Republican sources. The sources, neither of whom is affiliated with a presidential campaign, said they heard the rumor from people in Walker's camp. They also said an anonymous letter about Wiley is circulating in political and donor circles, though it is unclear where it originated.

BuzzFeed News could not confirm the details of the rumor, and will not publish it.

Asked about the whisper campaign, Walker spokesperson Kirsten Kukowski acknowledged the rumors but said they were false, and that the candidate wouldn't be distracted by "the sideshow."

"Governor Walker routinely says we need to talk about the issues instead of the sideshow because our country deserves it," Kukowski said in a statement to BuzzFeed News. "We have a plan to share Governor Walker's WI record of reform and results and his vision with the American people, and will continue to execute on it. This isn't a reality show, the whisper campaign isn't based in reality and has no place in the process to elect the next president of the United States."

The influential conservative talk radio host and blogger Erick Erickson appeared to allude to the whisper campaign Thursday on Twitter: "Lots of different people all sending me the same rumor about a particular campaign manager caught indecently at the Ohio debate."

As the Washington Post reported Thursday, Walker's financial backers are pressuring him to replace Wiley, who they believe has mismanaged the campaign's funds and failed to adequately respond to the candidate's sharp drop in national polls over the summer.

"There is a substantial amount of chatter that he needs to go," a Walker fundraiser told the Post. "People are worried." Walker told the newspaper he had just finished a conference call with 80 top donors and none of them brought it up.

Rubio says Republicans may have already backed themselves into a corner because they didn’t begin pinning a potential shutdown on Democrats weeks ago.

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio says a government shutdown over funding Planned Parenthood would be the fault of President Obama and Senate Democrats, an argument he says his fellow Republicans in Congress should have been making weeks ago.

"On the issue of Planned Parenthood, the work should have begun weeks ago, laying the groundwork for this debate," said Rubio. "Obviously, the House, the Senate should have laid the groundwork for this debate, so people understand that we're not just debating an organization here, that some people might think is a nice organization or whatever — we're debating their practices.

"The point is this, on the Planned Parenthood issue: The people who are threatening a shutdown is Barack Obama, and his allies in the Senate," said Rubio. "What they're arguing is: 'If the federal budget does not fully fund Planned Parenthood, I will veto the budget, and hence shut down the government.' That should be the message. Instead, it's always the reverse, 'the Republicans are going to shut down the government.'

"No we're not," Rubio said. "We are in support of funding the government fully — just not giving any more money to this one organization that was just caught on video dismembering unborn children! Or, in one case, a child that had already been born alive, as Carly did very well last night, outlining and describing the video."

Rubio said would be "absurd" for Senate Democrats to hold up government funding over Planned Parenthood.

"So I don't understand why we accept this argument that we're the one's shutting it down," he said. "They're the ones shutting it down! It would be a Democratic filibuster and a presidential veto that would shut down the government, and it would be for the purpose of supporting one organization. And no one can tell me that Planned Parenthood, funding Planned Parenthood as an organization, is such a high priority that we have to do it, otherwise we won't fund government. That's absurd. And that's the position we should have put them in."

Rubio reiterated that Republicans should have laid out the case for funding the government but not Planned Parenthood sooner to avoid taking blame for a shutdown.

"Again, my point is, this should have been reversed from the beginning," Rubio said. "And it always should have been: 'We're going to fund the government, we're not going to fund Planned Parenthood, and if you want to shut down the government over that decision, that's your call — and people will hold you accountable for it.' Instead, we've allowed constantly for, you know, the mainstream media and others to basically say: 'No, this is about Republicans.'

"We always allow ourselves get caught on the other side of the issue. And I get it — you know, there is bias in the media and how they report these things. I understand all that. But that's why we need to be more aggressive about we pursue these things, and start it early in the process. Don't wait until, you know, there's an eight-day deadline to do it — because at that point, you've already boxed yourself into a corner."

w.soundcloud.com