Debate takeaways: Under attack, Trump strikes back at rivals

US likely to report another month of solid hiring for Feb.

Debate night: Insults flying once more despite pledges DETROIT (AP) — Relentless in their attacks, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz leveled withering criticism at Donald Trump's "flexible" policy positions and personal ethics in a Republican presidential debate Thursday that also featured a crude sexual reference from Trump. The two senators, who earlier had devoted considerable debate time to throwing sharp elbows at one another, pressed Trump aggressively on his conservative credentials, his business practices and changing policies. But on a day when the Republican establishment was in chaos over the prospect of Trump landing the GOP nomination, Cruz, Rubio and Ohio Gov. John Kasich all said they would support Trump if he won primary election battle. And Trump, in turn, said he would support whoever wins — though he seemed to find it inconceivable that it might not be him. Pressed on policy matters, Trump, in short order, signaled a willingness to deal on any number of issues. He said it was fine that Florida Sen. Rubio had negotiated with other lawmakers on immigration policy. ___ AP FACT CHECK: Claims from the GOP debate WASHINGTON (AP) — On taxes, trade and drug prices, viewers of the latest Republican debate didn't get a straight story. And Donald Trump spun fiction about 9/11. A look at some of the claims Thursday night and how they compare with the facts: ___ DONALD TRUMP: Families of the 9/11 hijackers were allowed to leave the U.S. around the time of the attacks, even though "they knew what was happening. The wife knew exactly what was happening. They left two days early ... and they watched their husband on television flying into the World Trade Center, flying into the Pentagon." THE FACTS: No relatives of the hijackers were known to be in the U.S. before or after the attacks. ___ Debate takeaways: Under attack, Trump strikes back at rivals DETROIT (AP) — Donald Trump was under fire even before taking the debate stage Thursday night. The Republican front-runner walked into the Fox Theater after being targeted for much of the day by the GOP's last two presidential nominees, who warned voters across the nation that Trump must be stopped. His three rivals — Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and John Kasich — set out to keep Trump on his heels on what they hope will be remembered as a pivotal day in the 2016 contest. Knowing he would be attacked, Trump warned voters ahead of time that his tone might have to be less-than-presidential. Here are some takeaways from the 11th Republican presidential debate of the 2016 campaign: ___ ___ 10 Things to Know for Friday Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Friday: 1. WHAT GOP DEBATE REVEALED ABOUT PARTY LOYALTY Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and John Kasich all say they would support Donald Trump if he is the Republican nominee. He, too, said he would support whoever wins. 2. ROMNEY, MCCAIN SAY TRUMP ENDANGERS AMERICA'S FUTURE The party's most recent presidential nominees lambast the billionaire businessman, calling him unfit for office and a danger for the nation and the GOP. ___ Romney, McCain: Trump a danger for America's future SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — In an extraordinary display of Republican chaos, the party's most recent presidential nominees, Mitt Romney and John McCain, lambasted current front-runner Donald Trump on Thursday, calling him unfit for office and a danger for the nation and the GOP. "His is not the temperament of a stable, thoughtful leader," Romney declared. He called Trump "a phony" who is "playing the American public for suckers," a man whose "imagination must not be married to real power." The vicious feud marked a near-unprecedented scenario pitting the Republican Party's most prominent leaders, past and present, against each other as Democrats begin to unite around Hillary Clinton. The criticism set the tone for a primetime debate in which Trump lashed back, calling Romney "a failed candidate" who lost to Barack Obama four years ago because he was such a poor candidate. The loss, Trump charged, was "an embarrassment." And yet, in reply to the last question of Thursday night's debate, each of the remaining candidates — Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and John Kasich — said they would support Trump if he was the presidential nominee of their party. ___ N. Korea, on defense after sanctions, makes nuclear threat SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered his military on standby for nuclear strikes at any time, state media reported Friday, an escalation in rhetoric targeting rivals Seoul and Washington that may not yet reflect the country's actual nuclear capacity. The threats are part of the authoritarian government's ramped-up propaganda push to signal strength at home and abroad in the face of what it portrays as an effort by South Korea and the United States to overthrow its leadership. In a show of anger over the recent adoption of harsh U.N. sanctions over its recent nuclear test and long-range rocket launch, the North fired off short-range projectiles into the sea Thursday. Friday's report also comes ahead of huge U.S.-South Korean war games set to start next week that the North claims are invasion preparations, and amid a much harder line from rival Seoul meant to squeeze Pyongyang. "The only way for defending the sovereignty of our nation and its right to existence under the present extreme situation is to bolster up nuclear force both in quality and quantity," a dispatch from the North's official Korean Central News Agency said, paraphrasing Kim. It said Kim stressed "the need to get the nuclear warheads deployed for national defense always on standby so as to be fired any moment." North Korea has threatened nuclear war in the past, but it is unclear just how advanced the country's nuclear program really is. Pyongyang is thought to have a handful of likely crude atomic bombs, but there is considerable outside debate about the state of its arsenal. ___ In field on edge of Greece, refugees' desperation grows IDOMENI, Greece (AP) — By the hundreds they come, trudging along the sides of highways and across fields, dragging tired toddlers and pushing the elderly and injured in wheelchairs — a seemingly endless stream of humanity heading north for a better life. Only their path has been blocked by border restrictions set up by European leaders balking at the sheer magnitude of the problem they face: How to care for and integrate hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants knocking at their door. The fields on the outskirts of this Greek border town have become the flashpoint in Europe's massive refugee crisis, the size of which the continent has not seen since World War II. More than a million people, mostly Syrians fleeing a vicious five-year civil war, fled to the European Union in 2015. The first two months of this year have seen no letup despite the winter and its rough seas, and governments across the continent are bracing for even more with improving weather in the spring. At the border, Macedonian authorities have set up coils of razor wire, leaving a narrow passage through which they control the migration flow. Over the past few weeks, the controls have grown increasingly stringent, and now only a trickle are allowed through. ___ AP interview: Man finds possible Malaysian plane debris MAPUTO, Mozambique (AP) — An American adventurer said Thursday that he discovered part of an aircraft on a sandbar off the coast of Mozambique and initially thought it was from a small plane, and not from the Malaysia Airlines flight that disappeared two years ago with 239 people aboard. If confirmed that the piece of tail section came from Flight 370, a small piece of the puzzle will have been found, but it might not be enough to help solve one of aviation's greatest mysteries. In an interview with The Associated Press, Blaine Gibson described how a boat operator took him to a sandbar named Paluma and then called him over after seeing a piece of debris with "NO STEP" written on it. "It was so light," said Gibson, who has told reporters that he has spent a long time searching for evidence of missing Flight 370. Photos of the debris appear to show the fixed leading edge of the right-hand tail section of a Boeing 777, said a U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly. Flight 370 is the only known missing 777. ___ Military beginning to recruit women for combat jobs WASHINGTON (AP) — The military services are already beginning to recruit women for combat jobs, including as Navy SEALs, and could see them serving in previously male-only Army and Marine Corps infantry units by this fall, according to new plans endorsed by Defense Secretary Ash Carter and obtained by The Associated Press. Some of the services predict that only small numbers of women will volunteer or get through training courses, details of the plans show. The Marine Corps estimates 200 women a year will move into ground combat jobs. And U.S. Special Operations Command said it anticipates a "small number" of volunteers for its commando jobs. The Navy said it is already collecting submission packages from prospective SEAL candidates and could see women in entry-level enlisted and officer training in September and October. The Navy started collecting the packages last month. All of the services say they have made required changes to base bathrooms and other facilities to accommodate women, and they will monitor training, injury assessments, and possible sexual harassment or assault problems. The plans have been under review by senior Pentagon leaders and have not been made public. ___ Critics: Video shows need to reform Baltimore school police Child advocacy groups demanded reform of Baltimore public school police policies as city police conducted a criminal investigation Thursday into a cellphone video showing an officer slapping and kicking a young man inside a school. The male officer, identified by his lawyer as 44-year-old Anthony C. Spence, as well as a female officer shown standing by in the eight-second clip and Baltimore School Police Chief Marshall Goodwin have all been placed on paid administrative leave pending internal and external investigations into the Tuesday incident at REACH Partnership School. Baltimore is the only Maryland city whose school district has its own police force, separate from municipal police. The school system asked city police to conduct a criminal investigation, which city police Lt. Jarron Jackson said was in the early stages Thursday. Attorney Mike Davey told The Baltimore Sun that client Spence thought the boy was trespassing on school grounds and questioned him. Davey said he could not go into specifics because of the ongoing investigation. According to the Sun, Spence was fired by the Baltimore City Sheriff's Office in 2003 after he and another deputy Tasered a man they mistook for a bank robber. Maryland court records also show that a protective order was filed against Spence in a 2011 domestic violence case.

AP News in Brief at 12:04 a.m. EST