Donald Trump's Teflon started to wear thin at Wednesday night's Republican presidential primary debate. 
 
 Marco Rubio schooled him on foreign policy, Jeb Bush said the tough-talking real-estate mogul's inexperience would be "really dangerous," and Carly Fiorina took Trump to task for mocking her looks. 
 
 None of them could take down the bully of the presidential primary schoolyard alone, but they ganged up on Trump and got their licks in Wednesday night. It was the moment the Republican field turned on Trump. 
 
 And it happened on a night when Trump, for the first time, faced an onslaught of serious policy questions that revealed his lack of preparation. At the Fox debate in Cleveland last month, it was all about Trump and his persona. And that's his comfort zone. But as CNN pushed him more on policy, Trump tripped. 
 
 While it remains to be seen whether the front-runner's numbers will plummet — or perhaps even rise — the rest of the Republicans emphatically declared that they're not going to tip-toe around Trump anymore. Moreover, it was the first time that Trump looked out of his element in a campaign that has been The Donald show since he entered race. 
 
 Trump likes to say he's a big winner. But, on substance and style, he was the loser of Wednesday night's debate. It wasn't even close. 
 
 Trump's nuclear codes problem 
 
 Historically, there's no threshold question more important in presidential debates than whether a candidate can be trusted with nuclear launch codes. It's a question that voters want to be able to answer affirmatively before they put a candidate in the Oval Office. 
 
 CNN's Jake Tapper opened up the debate by asking Carly Fiorina whether she would "feel comfortable with Donald trump's finger on the nuclear codes." Fiorina dodged, saying that's up to voters. 
 
 Trump, pausing first to insult Sen. Rand Paul, responded that "my temperament is very good, very calm." 
 
 That allowed Tapper to call on Paul. With relish, Paul pointed to Trump's penchant for lobbing "junior high school insults" and asked "Would we not all be worried to have someone like that in charge of the nuclear arsenal?" 
 
 When his turn came, Bush followed Fiorina's lead and declined to say whether he would be OK with Trump in charge of a nuclear arsenal. The trifecta of Fiorina, Bush and Paul delivered an understated but clear rebuke of Trump on the most important bar he would have to clear in voters' minds to win the presidency. It was an inauspicious beginning for Trump and an early indication that most of his rivals would form a phalanx against him. 
 
 Tangling with Rubio on foreign policy 
 
 If there's any candidate Trump wouldn't want to get into a foreign policy debate with, it's Rubio. The first-term Florida senator has served on the Foreign Relations and Intelligence committees, and he's knowledgeable enough about the world to make most lawmakers — much less businessmen — look under-educated on global affairs. 
 
 Rubio tangled with Trump with midway through the debate and suggested Trump isn't ready to be president. 
 
 "These are extraordinarily dangerous times that we live in. And the next president of the United States better be someone that understands these issues and has good judgment about them because the number one issue that a president will ever confront, and the most important obligation that the federal government has, is to keep this nation safe," Rubio said confidently. 
 
 "Are you saying that you have the knowledge to be the president that Mr. Trump does not have?" Tapper asked. 
 
 "Well, you should ask him questions in detail about the foreign policy issues our president will confront, because you had better be able to lead our country on the first day," Rubio said. "Not six months from now, not a year from now, on the first day in office, our president could very well confront a national security crisis. You can't predict it. Sometimes you cannot control it." 
 
 Trump was left to argue that Rubio had an unfair advantage because he's been dealing with foreign policy in the Senate and that Trump could study up by the time of his prospective inauguration. 
 
 "I will know more about the problems of this world by the time I sit, and you look at what's going in this world right now by people that supposedly know, this world is a mess," Trump said. 
 
 Admitting he's not up to snuff now was hardly Trump's best moment in the campaign. 
 
 VIDEO: Trump on Putin and Syria 
 
 Trump got his comeuppance from Fiorina, Bush and Christie 
 
 If Trump had just taken knocks on policy, he might have escaped without the loser title. But his opponents, with an assist from Tapper, used Trump's words against him to make him look like an unsympathetic bully. 
 
 There was no question heading into the debate that Fiorina would be asked about a Rolling Stone story in which Trump made fun of her face. 
 
 When the anchor throws to Carly Fiorina for her reaction to Trump's momentum, Trump's expression sours in schoolboy disgust as the camera bores in on Fiorina. "Look at that face!" he cries. "Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?!" The laughter grows halting and faint behind him. "I mean, she's a woman, and I'm not s'posedta say bad things, but really, folks, come on. Are we serious?" 
 
 "Mr. Trump later said he was talking about your persona, not your appearance. Please feel free to respond what you think about his persona," Tapper said to Fiorina. 
 
 Fiorina lit up, knowing she had Trump where she wanted him. 
 
 "I think women all over this country heard very clearly what Mr. Trump said," she responded, as Trump winced a bit. 
 
 Bush whacked Trump for saying Bush has a soft spot for immigrants because his wife was born in Mexico — and for having poor foreign policy judgment. Bush put Trump on the spot by inviting Trump to apologize to his wife, who was sitting in the audience. 
 
 Trump declined to apologize. "I've said nothing wrong," he said. 
 
 Later, Bush turned to Trump's approach to the Iran nuclear deal to portray Trump as the wrong choice for Republicans. 
 
 Here's the facts: When Donald Trump talks about judgment, what was his position on who would've been the best negotiator to deal with Iran? It wasn't a Republican; it was Hillary Clinton. That's what you believe. I mean, the lack of judgment and the lack of understanding about how the world works is really dangerous in this kind of time. 
 
 Even New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has his own reputation for bullying, tried to get into the Trump-scolding act. He went after Trump and Fiorina for a back and forth over their business careers. 
 
 "Stop playing the games," Christie said. 
 
 Trump tripped over himself repeatedly 
 
 While Trump was able to give bits and pieces of a platform, he failed to answer some pretty basic questions about policy. None of it was "gotcha" stuff. Instead, CNN forced Trump to do something he didn't have to in the Fox debate last month: Get serious about substance. 
 
 Tapper asked Trump what he would do to get Russia out of Syria's civil war. 
 
 "I will get along with Putin, and I will get along with others, and we will have a much more stable world," Trump said. Tapper noted that reaching out to Putin fell short of other Republicans' strategies for dealing with Russia. 
 
 One of the moderators, radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt, asked who Trump would surround himself with as foreign policy advisers. Trump declined to name anyone. 
 
 One person who thought Trump did well, though, was Trump. He said after the debate, the second of the primary season, that he felt he did well for a second time Wednesday night. 
 
 "I'm very happy with both performances, actually," he said on CNN after the debate. 
 
 At this point, it wouldn't be a shock if Trump kept bucking convention and remained the leader in Republican primary polls. But after months of knocking away his rivals like fleas on a lion, Trump looked vulnerable Wednesday night. 
 
 VIDEO: Carly Fiorina responds to Trump's attacks ||||| Getty Is the summer of Trump over? With an underwhelming debate performance, the mogul's dominance of the race may be fading. 
 
 The conversation has moved beyond Donald Trump. 
 
 After a series of opening exchanges that picked up where the first debate had left off — with Trump at the center of the action and lobbing memorable insults — he became just another face on a crowded stage. 
 
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 Enter a new stage of the Republican nominating contest, where if Trump’s lead in the polls doesn’t immediately break down, his vice-grip on the narrative does. The three-hour debate exposed Trump’s weak command of several issues. And it was simply too long, and the format too free-wheeling, for any single personality to dominate the night. 
 
 With former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina’s breakout debut on the main debate stage, the race has become a tale of three outsiders, not just of one bombastic showman. 
 
 “He didn’t meet the moment,” said Purple Strategies President Bruce Haynes, calling it “the disappearing act of Donald Trump.” 
 
 Trump’s rivals, meanwhile, found the resolve to attack him head-on. 
 
 Fiorina, having clawed her way onto the main stage on the strength of her performance in the first undercard debate last month, gained the most at the erstwhile frontrunner’s expense, standing out with a resounding rebuke of his recent remarks about her appearance. “Women all over the country heard very clearly what Mr. Trump said," she said, to applause. 
 
 Sweat glistening on his face, the 69-year-old Trump — who has relentlessly attacked Bush, and more recently, Ben Carson as “low-energy” — faded from a feisty start into a lackluster overall performance. 
 
 Trump struggled on several questions, including one about his position on vaccines. 
 
 "I am totally in favor of vaccines,” he said. “But I want smaller doses over a longer period of time. ... Same exact amount, but you take this little beautiful baby, and you pump -- I mean, it looks just like it's meant for a horse, not for a child, and we've had so many instances, people that work for me just the other day. Two years old, 2 ½ years old, a child, a beautiful child, went to have the vaccine, and came back and a week later got a tremendous fever, got very, very sick, now is autistic.” 
 
 Concluded Republican consultant Dick Wadhams: “His shallowness on the issues is finally starting to be exposed. We’ll see if he shows up so unprepared for debate three.” 
 
 And after suffering from a lack of attention during the all-consuming summer of Trump, other candidates were simply more motivated to break into the conversation, and the format, which encouraged direct engagement, allowed them to do just that. 
 
 While Carson maintained his even keel — a soporific charisma that failed to make a dent for the second debate running but has served a compelling counterpoint to Trump’s bombast for voters seeking an alternative outsider — Bush was determined to belie Trump’s putdown. 
 
 "Excuse me one second," Trump said, as he and Bush jockeyed to speak over each other during an exchange about Trump’s decision to invite Hillary Clinton to his third wedding. 
 
 "No," Bush responded. 
 
 “More energy tonight. I like that,” Trump responded, teasing Bush. 
 
 Bush, clearly irked by Trump’s attacks, referenced his energy levels at the conclusion of the debate, prompting Trump to offer his hand for a high-five, which Bush accepted a little too forcefully. 
 
 Despite the determination, the debate did little to help Bush reassert his now-lost frontrunner status. 
 
 For his part, Marco Rubio continued to push his sunny, biography-heavy message, as he patiently waits for his moment. 
 
 Texas Sen. Ted Cruz also stuck to his message of uncompromising conservatism, but a candidacy complicated by Trump’s rise may be further complicated by the rise of Fiorina, another political outsider who could steal his anti-Washington thunder. 
 
 After a first debate performance that helped catapult John Kasich into third place in New Hampshire and cemented his Bush-alternative status, the Ohio governor’s second debate performance did little to move the needle. 
 
 Chris Christie had his moments — including a denunciation of a Trump and Fiorina back-and-forth about their business track records as distractions that drew raucous applause — but neither he nor Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee did anything to change their marginal status in the race. 
 
 Fading in the polls, Rand Paul proved once again unable to break through and continued his slide. So did Scott Walker, who as a onetime frontrunner who needed to reassert himself but failed to, may be have been the biggest loser of the night. 
 
 “This debate … may have spelled the beginning of the end for Scott Walker,” said Haynes. “His debate was a microcosm of his entire campaign. He started strong early, taking on Trump, and gave us high hopes. But by the end of the debate we were asking the same question we are asking of his campaign: ‘Where did he go?’” 
 
 Authors: ||||| The second debate for top Republican presidential candidates included bashing Donald Trump, a fiery Carly Fiorina and an admission from Jeb Bush that he says his mom won't like. (CNN) 
 
 The second debate for top Republican presidential candidates included bashing Donald Trump, a fiery Carly Fiorina and an admission from Jeb Bush that he says his mom won't like. (CNN) 
 
 Something unusual happened here Wednesday when the Republican presidential candidates met for their second debate: For the first time since he joined the race, Donald Trump wasn’t the commanding presence on the stage. 
 
 Not that Trump wasn’t the Trump whom Americans have seen nonstop on cable television. Among the first words out of his mouth was a personal and unprovoked attack on Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul. He sparred at times angrily with Carly Fiorina over who was the better business executive. He and Jeb Bush, standing next to each other, had repeated exchanges. 
 
 But at other times, particularly when the discussion shifted from what Trump has said about the others to issues of domestic and foreign policy, the candidate who has dominated the summer and leads the polls was far less a force. 
 
 Unlike the debate in Cleveland last month, the other candidates arrived with no illusions about Trump’s candidacy — they take him seriously now — or the need for them to step up and show their own mettle, both in challenging Trump and in displaying their own attributes, records and character. 
 
 Over three hours of lively, entertaining and at times angry debate, Trump was put on the defensive as much as he tried to stay on the offensive. Whether that will change the course of the nomination battle won’t be known for some weeks. After the last debate, despite missteps, Trump rose rather than fell. But Wednesday showed that his rivals are ready to engage him, when necessary, both from long distance and to his face. 
 
 Republican presidential candidate Sen. Rand Paul said he's "very concerned" about having Donald Trump in charge of nuclear weapons. (CNN) 
 
 This was billed in advance as the debate that would highlight the current state of the Republican race, one in which the outsiders — Trump, Ben Carson and Fiorina — enjoy more than 50 percent of support against the insiders — the eight current or former elected politicians. Instead, it became a classic of debates past — poke the front-runner. It was Trump against the field, or rather the field against Trump. 
 
 The ebb and flow of the debate, guided by CNN’s Jake Tapper with the help of CNN’s Dana Bash and conservative radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt, oscillated between personal exchanges, many of them with Trump involved, and discussions of issues. 
 
 When immigration came to the fore, Trump was at the center of the debate, defending his hard-line stance that calls for deporting the millions of undocumented immigrants and challenging the 14th Amendment over the issue of birthright citizenship. 
 
 Bush fired back at him over those proposals. He invoked Ronald Reagan’s optimistic vision in contrast to what he said was Trump’s approach “that everything is coming to an end.” He said Trump’s proposals would cost hundreds of billions of dollars and tear families and communities apart. Trump disputed Bush’s comment that those who have come illegally came out of an act of love. “This is not an act of love. He’s weak on immigration. He doesn’t get my vote.” 
 
 Trump and Fiorina clashed memorably several times. Once was over their business records, and it was as pointed and sharp as any during the evening. He accused her of running Hewlett-Packard into the ground. She accused him of running up “mountains of debt” and filing for bankruptcy four times. 
 
 The other exchange, one everyone was waiting for, came when Fiorina was asked about Trump’s comment, captured in a Rolling Stone profile, denigrating her looks by saying, “Look at that face!” 
 
 Trump had earlier explained that he was talking about her “persona,” not her looks. Asked about that, Fiorina said acidly, “I think women all over this country heard very clearly what Mr. Trump said.” The audience responded with one of the biggest rounds of applause of the night. Trump’s response: “She’s got a beautiful face, and I think she’s a beautiful woman.” 
 
 Fiorina was the new addition to the main debate stage, after her performance in the undercard debate in Cleveland, and she came with the clear intention of making a memorable impression. She got another applause-meter moment with a ringing statement about Planned Parenthood and sought to project strength and confidence surrounded by 10 men in suits and ties. 
 
 At times, others stepped forward. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, in danger after seeing his poll numbers plummet nationally and, critically, in Iowa, leapt into the conversation when the question on the table was whether Trump could be trusted with his hand on the nuclear codes. “We don’t need an apprentice in the White House,” Walker said. “We have one right now. . . . We don’t know who you are or where you’re going.” 
 
 One reason Trump seemed a less commanding presence was that on some issues, he offered little substance beyond reassurances that he would be strong and tough, a negotiator par excellence and someone who would grasp the complexities of national security issues as president — and would find experts to help him. 
 
 Challenged on how he would deal with the Russians putting military resources into Syria, he said he would know how to get along with Russian President Vladimir Putin, an answer that others seemed to find unsatisfying. 
 
 Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who displayed his fluidity with foreign policy, challenged him implicitly on how much he knew about the world, saying he would be happy to have a longer discussion of the issues to see the depth of Trump’s knowledge. 
 
 Rubio wasn’t the only one who had a moment. Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz sparred over what to do with the Iran nuclear deal. Paul expressed his support for diplomacy over war in dealing with Iran. 
 
 New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie upbraided Trump and Fiorina for talking about their business records and said the candidates should instead focus on the lives of middle-class Americans. 
 
 Carson, the retired neurosurgeon, displayed the same low-key, sober demeanor that has found a growing audience over the past six weeks. And near the end, he showed humor, when he tweaked Trump for having called him “an okay doctor.” After Trump had spoken about vaccinations, Tapper asked Carson for his view of Trump’s ideas. “He’s an okay doctor,” Carson said. 
 
 Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee defended his strong support for Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis for her resistance to giving marriage licenses to same-sex couples. 
 
 The prelude to Wednesday’s debate was strikingly different than the buildup before Cleveland. Then, many of the other candidates still were clinging to the belief — or hope — that Trump would quickly burn himself out, that his candidacy would prove a short-lived, if entertaining, sideshow. 
 
 By this month, that belief had disappeared. Trump’s continued strength atop the Republican field has forced all the others to rethink his potential and its impact on their hopes of winning the nomination. Some still believe he will sink under his own weight, and if they were not prepared to abandon their original strategies, they recognized that they had to make adjustments. 
 
 Last month’s debate in Cleveland marked the beginning of the end of a long exhibition season. Wednesday’s forum at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library signaled a turn to the post-Labor Day phase of the campaign that, historically, brings more intensive campaigning, more debates, sharper engagement and heightened stakes for the candidates. 
 
 It was clear throughout the evening that everyone on the stage understood what’s now at stake. Trump may continue to dominate the polls, but if Wednesday’s debate was any indication, he can expect a bumpier ride in the weeks and months ahead.
– As the political analysts assess the winners and losers of last night's CNN debate, one theme seems to be emerging, maybe best summed up in a headline at Politico that asks, "Is the summer of Trump over?" It may not necessarily translate into an immediate drop in the polls, but pundits think the debate proved that Trump's opponents are no longer afraid to expose his weaknesses. Some examples: He lost: "On substance and style, he was the loser of Wednesday night's debate," writes Jonathan Allen at Vox. "It wasn't even close." Marco Rubio, for instance, "schooled him on foreign policy," Jeb Bush went after his "dangerous" inexperience, and Carly Fiorina scored big points of her own. Trump was simply ill-prepared to answer serious policy questions. "After months of knocking away his rivals like fleas on a lion, Trump looked vulnerable." Fading dominance? "Enter a new stage of the Republican nominating contest, where if Trump's lead in the polls doesn't immediately break down, his vice-grip on the narrative does," writes Politico's Ben Schreckinger. The story quotes a GOP consultant who says, "His shallowness on the issues is finally starting to be exposed." Less of a presence: "(W)hen the discussion shifted from what Trump has said about the others to issues of domestic and foreign policy, the candidate who has dominated the summer and leads the polls was far less a force," writes Dan Balz at the Washington Post. The other candidates take him seriously now, and he "was put on the defensive as much as he tried to stay on the offensive." But don't write him off: After his feisty start, Trump "faded to the sidelines as his rivals debated in detail issues like Syria and how to deal with Vladimir V. Putin, the Russian president, subjects that Mr. Trump appeared to struggle with when the questions came to him," agrees Adam Nagourney at the New York Times. But he notes that Republicans have been wrongly predicting Trump's demise for three months now. As the campaign intensifies, "the question is whether those hopes will be realized, or whether Mr. Trump will manage to outsmart his detractors yet again." Click for the best social media reactions to Trump and the rest of the crew last night.