Intro:
The five contenders vying to get the US Democratic party's nomination to run for President in 2016 have been facing off at their first debate in Las Vegas.
The contest lived up to its billing as a fight between the current frontrunner, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and her nearest rival Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders - as our US correspondent Lorna Shaddick reports.
IN: The most memorable...
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http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/1014debate-pkg-ls.mp3
Script:
The most memorable moment of the first Democratic Debate in this 2016 Presidential election season came not in a great clash of wills but in an agreement.
SOT - Sanders - Well I think the Secretary is right and that is that the American people are sick and tired of hearing bout your damned emails! Clinton - thank you, me too! (10 secs)
That moment, which saw Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton shaking hands and smiling, came after the former Secretary of State had been defending herself over her controversial use of a personal email server rather than an official State Department email address.
But she didn't allow Senator Sanders' gesture to stop her taking him on - in particular on gun control.
She said Mr. Sanders, who represents pro-hunting state Vermont, was mistaken in how he handled crucial votes:
SOT - He was going to give immunity to the only industry in America - everybody else has to be accountable, but not the gun manufacturers, and we need to stand up to that and say enough of that, we're not going to let it continue... (14 seconds)
Meanwhile, former Maryland governor Martin O'Malley was the only candidate to attack Donald Trump on immigration -
SOT - A lot of the xenophobes, the immigrant haters we've heard like Donald Trump, that carnival barker in the Republican party… (8 seconds)
But he and the other two less well known candidates, Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee and Virginia Senator Jim Webb, struggled to make headway against a frontrunner at ease on a stage which she, unlike any of the other contenders, has taken before.
And ultimately, Hillary most benefited from her rivals' caution - they all seemed wary to tackle her head on - perhaps because they know she still represents their party's best shot at keeping the White House next year.