--- description: Here are the highlights. title: Watch the Republican Debate in 4 Minutes image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd70a9aa9cdc1ff7b/6988758ebc6cfc28893dadcf/gettyimages-501505692.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Debates](/tag/debates/) ## Debates Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch the Republican Debate in 4 Minutes by [TIME Video](/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 16, 2015 5:59 AM CUT  CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer looks on as Republican presidential candidates Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Carly Fiorina, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Ben Carson, Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Jeb Bush, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) are introduced during the CNN presidential debate at The Venetian Las Vegas on December 15, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer looks on as Republican presidential candidates Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Carly Fiorina, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Ben Carson, Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Jeb Bush, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) are introduced during the CNN presidential debate at The Venetian Las Vegas on December 15, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada.Justin Sullivan—Getty Images by [TIME Video](/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 16, 2015 5:59 AM CUT Terrorism and national security were the main focus at the fifth Republican debate in Las Vegas. On stage were real estate mogul Donald Trump, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, former HP executive Carly Fiorina, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Ohio Gov. John Kasich. They debated how to handle the Syrian refugee crisis, how to wage the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and how to protect the U.S. from terrorist attacks, but they also touched on such topics as nuclear readiness and North Korea. Watch the video above to catch the highlights. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4151013/republican-debate-las-vegas-video-recap/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4151013/republican-debate-las-vegas-video-recap/"},"headline":"Watch the Republican Debate in 4 Minutes","datePublished":"2015-12-16T05:59:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:25:03.510Z","description":"CNN hosted the debate","url":"https://time.com/4151013/republican-debate-las-vegas-video-recap/","keywords":["Debates","2016 Election topic","Chris Christie","Sen. Marco Rubio","Rand Paul","ted cruz","jeb bush","Donald Trump","john kasich","Dr. Benjamin S. Carson","Carly Fiorina"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd70a9aa9cdc1ff7b/6988758ebc6cfc28893dadcf/gettyimages-501505692.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Video","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-video/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd70a9aa9cdc1ff7b/6988758ebc6cfc28893dadcf/gettyimages-501505692.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer looks on as Republican presidential candidates Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Carly Fiorina, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Ben Carson, Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Jeb Bush, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) are i","caption":"CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer looks on as Republican presidential candidates Ohio Gov. John Kasich, Carly Fiorina, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Ben Carson, Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Jeb Bush, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) are i","creditText":"Justin Sullivan—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/debates/","name":"Debates"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4151013/republican-debate-las-vegas-video-recap/","name":"Watch the Republican Debate in 4 Minutes"}}]}] ```