The third Republican debate's biggest highlights: 5 GOP candidates face off in Miami

A narrower field of GOP candidates is facing off Wednesday in the third Republican presidential debate of 2023 in Miami, with former President Donald Trump, who leads the field by a wide margin in the polls, holding a rally nearby instead.

NBC News is hosting this debate at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County. It began at 8 p.m. ET and runs two hours. NBC's Lester Holt and Kristen Welker are moderating, along with radio host Hugh Hewitt. It's being streamed live on NBCNews.com, and CBS Miami will have special coverage of both the debate and Trump's rally in Hialeah, Florida, throughout the evening.

Five candidates are appearing on stage:

• Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie 
• Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
• Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley
• Businessman Vivek Ramaswamy 
• Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina

The early portion of the debate focused on the crisis in Israel and Gaza, with candidates criticizing the Biden administration's response and policies in the Middle East. They also fielded questions about why voters should choose them over Trump.

The debate comes one day after Democrats had a strong showing in elections across the country, providing a snapshot of voters' attitudes one year from the presidential election. Ohio voters chose overwhelmingly to enshrine the right to an abortion in the state constitution, becoming the first GOP-led state to do so since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Virginia Democrats won control of both chambers in the state's legislature, and Kentucky's Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear won reelection in his deep-red state.

The first two debates did little to change the dynamics of the race among Republican primary voters. The latest CBS News poll showed Trump winning 61% of likely GOP primary voters nationwide, more than all the other candidates combined. DeSantis polled at 18%, Haley at 9%, Ramaswamy at 5%, Scott at 4% and Christie at 2%. 

The Republican Jewish Coalition is partnering with the RNC to sponsor the debate, and Scott invited more than 20 Jewish students in Florida to watch the event in person.

We'll be adding highlights from the debate below throughout the night.

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Candidates react to Tuesday's GOP election losses: "Party of losers" 

The candidates, one by one, were asked a variation of the same question: Why should voters support them, and not Trump? Several pointed to the Republicans' lackluster performance in elections in Ohio, Virginia and Kentucky on Tuesday.

DeSantis, given a chance to differentiate himself from Trump, said Donald Trump is a "lot different guy than he was in 2016."

The Florida governor said Trump needs to explain why he racked up the national debt, failed to drain the D.C. swamp and didn't make Mexico pay for a border wall. And DeSantis pointed to Tuesday night's disappointing election results for Republicans. 

"[Trump] said Republicans were going to get tired of winning. Well, we saw last night, I'm sick of Republicans losing," DeSantis said. 

"He owes it to you to be on this stage and explain why he should get another chance," Ron DeSantis says on former President Trump.

"We saw last night — I'm sick of Republicans losing. In Florida, I showed how it's done." pic.twitter.com/lK6SXRVCiu

— NBC News (@NBCNews) November 9, 2023

Ramaswamy, without attacking Trump, said there's something "deeper going on in the Republican Party here." He took aim at Ronna McDaniel, the chair of the RNC, and DeSantis himself.

"We've become a part of losers," Ramaswamy said. "We got trounced last night in 2023 and I think we have to have accountability in our party."

Ramaswamy goes after Haley on Israel support: "Do you want Dick Cheney in 3-inch heels?" 

"What I would tell Bibi [Netanyahu] is that Israel has the right and the responsibility to defend itself," Vivek Ramaswamy says. pic.twitter.com/rnz6xQxLtd

— NBC News (@NBCNews) November 9, 2023

Ramaswamy, who is in favor of limited U.S. support for Israel, took a shot at his rivals, specifically targeting Haley, over U.S. intervention in conflicts abroad. 

"Do you want a leader from a different generation who is going to put this country first, or do you want Dick Cheney in three-inch heels?" Ramaswamy said while answering a question about how he would advise Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his nation's war against Hamas. (He added, "In which case, we've got two of them on stage tonight," an apparent dig at DeSantis, whose footwear has been the subject of recent speculation.)

Ramaswamy said that it's Israel's responsibility to defend itself, while other candidates said they would offer Israel support. Haley said she would tell Netanyahu to "finish them," referring to Hamas, and that the U.S. "needs Israel." 

"Israel has the right and the responsibility to defend itself. I would tell him to smoke those terrorists on his southern border, and then I'll tell him as president of the United States, I'll be smoking the terrorists on our southern border," Ramaswamy said. 

Haley later responded to the shoe remark, saying, "They are five-inch heels, and I don't wear them unless you can run in them."

Candidates discuss beefing up U.S. Navy to deter China 

Only a few of the candidates had a specific answer when moderator Hugh Hewitt asked whether the U.S. Navy is big enough to deter China from attacking Taiwan, or defeat China in the event of a conflict. 

DeSantis vowed to deter China from invading Taiwan by building up the U.S. Navy to 355 ships by the end of his first term and 385 ships at the end of his second term, with a goal of 600 ships in the next two decades.

Haley said the military needs to be modernized, but gave few specifics. 

Ramaswamy said he would "increase our naval capacity by at least 20% over the course of several years." 

"My first observation is that nobody answers your question," Christie told Hewitt, before saying that nuclear submarines are "the greatest deterrent to Chinese aggression" and that it would be his first priority to increase the program. "That is the first place I would go to increase American naval power. Our nuclear submarines are able to move stealthily, quietly and effectively." 

Kathryn Watson

Kathryn Watson is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital based in Washington, D.C.