o'malley was pleading for a chance to speak. our coverage begins with abc's megan hughes in washington. megan, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, kendis and reena, yeah, the timing is critical. the fact this was the last debate before the iowa caucuses, it was very clear that for hillary clinton and for bernie in south carolina, front-runners hillary clinton and bernie sanders come out swinging debating health care. clinton a defender of obama's legacy. >> i'm not sure whether we're talking about the plan you just introduced tonight or we're talking about the plan you introduced nine times in the congress. >> reporter: sanders says clinton is lying about his plans for health care. >> that is nonsense. we're not going to tear up the affordable care act. >> reporter: clinton slams sanders on gun control. >> he voted to let guns go onto amtrak, goes go into national parks. he voted against doing research to figure out how we can save lives. >> reporter: the debate step as way from the charleston church where a white gu