Latest / Real Donald Trump Wisdom / DJT Audio Archive: Republican Debate #12 - Miami, Florida (March 10, 2016)

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DJT Audio Archive: Republican Debate #12 - Miami, Florida (March 10, 2016) · Real Donald Trump Wisdom

0:00
for president could change dramatically Florida
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and Ohio each have a large number of delegates
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at stake and they award all of them to the candidate
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who wins their winner take all states that's
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the first time that will happen in this primary
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season and this is the last debate before that
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critical round of voting we hope tonight the
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candidates will give the voters specifics on
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their visions for America so now Let's welcome
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the candidates. Ohio Governor John Kasich. Senator
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Ted Cruz of Texas. Real estate developer and
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businessman Donald Trump. Senator Marco Rubio
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of Florida. Ladies and gentlemen, the Republican
1:10
candidates for President of the United States.
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Before we begin this evening, we want to remember
1:22
former First Lady Nancy Reagan, who passed away
1:25
this week. Her funeral... will be held tomorrow
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and we would like to take a moment of silence
1:30
to remember Nancy Reagan. Now please rise for
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our national anthem performed by the Frost Singers
1:54
from the University of Miami. Whose broad stripes
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and bright stars through the perilous fight and
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parts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
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And the rocket's red bombs bursting in air gave
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proof that our flag was still there. The rules.
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As moderator, I will attempt to guide the discussion,
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asking questions and follow -ups. Joining me
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in the questioning this evening will be Washington
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Times reporter Stephen Dynan, CNN chief political
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correspondent Dana Bash, and Salem Radio's Hugh
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Hewitt. Candidates, you will have one minute
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and 15 seconds to answer each question and 45
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seconds to respond to follow -ups or for rebuttals
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if your name is invoked. That's longer than you've
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had in previous debates. Timing lights will be
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visible. Those lights will warn you when time
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is up, and as you requested, a bell will also
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sound, like this. We know that each of you wants
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to debate these important issues, but please
4:20
wait until you are called upon, and please do
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not talk over one another. These are the rules
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to which all of you agreed. Our goal this evening
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is a serious debate on the issues. It's time
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now for opening statements. You'll each have
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30 seconds. Governor Kasich, we will start with
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you. Well, thank you. You know, I look in the
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faces of people all across this country, and
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I know they want to be hopeful, and many are
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hopeful. Look, I can take conservative policies
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to the White House, to Washington, to restore
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the strength of our economy, but I also want
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to transfer power, money, and influence to where
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you live, because I believe the strength in this
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country rests in the neighborhoods, the families,
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the communities, and our states. And I believe
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it's a new partnership, a partnership that can
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allow us to restore the spirit of If we make
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the right choice in this election, our children
5:15
are going to be the freest and most prosperous
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Americans that have ever lived. And the 21st
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century is going to be a new American century.
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Senator Cruz. 59 years ago, Florida welcomed
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my father to America. Thank you. Senator Rubio.
5:44
Every election is important. I believe this is
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the most important election in a generation.
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Because what's at stake in this election is not
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simply what party is going to be in charge or
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which candidate wins. What's at stake is our
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identity as a nation and as a people. For over
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two centuries, America has been an exceptional
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nation. And now the time has come for this generation
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to do what it must do to keep it that way. If
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we make the right choice in this election, our
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children are going to be the freest and most
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prosperous Americans that have ever lived. And
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the 21st century is going to be a new American
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century. Senator Cruz. whatever you want to call
6:27
it should embrace what's happening we're having
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millions of extra people join we are going to
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beat the democrats we are going to beat hillary
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or whoever it may be and we're going to beat
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them soundly thank you thank you let's begin
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with jobs in the economy which republican voters
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say is the most important issue to them in this
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election there have been some real differences
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expressed in on this stage on whether trade deals
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have been good for the American worker. One of
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Mr. Trump, the frontrunner's signature issues,
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is ending what he calls disastrous trade deals
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in order to bring jobs back to America. Governor
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Kasich, I'd like to start with you. You've been
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a strong advocate for these trade deals over
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the years. Critics say these deals are great
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for corporate America's bottom line, but have
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cost the U .S. at least one million jobs. How
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do you respond to the criticism that you've been
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catering to boardrooms at the expense of the
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American middle class? I grew up in a blue -collar
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family, and the simple fact of the matter is
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that, of course, we're sensitive about trade.
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One out of five Americans work in a job connected
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to trade. 38 million Americans are connected
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to it. But my position has always been we want
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to have free trade, but fair trade. And I've
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been arguing all along that it is absolutely
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critical that when other countries break those
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agreements, we don't turn the process. over to
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some international bureaucrat who comes back
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a couple couple years later and says oh america
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was right and people were out of work the fact
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of the matter is we have to have an expedited
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process when people cheat when countries cheat
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and they take advantage of us we need to blow
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the whistle and as president united states i
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absolutely will blow the whistle and begin to
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stand up for the american worker but we don't
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want to lock the doors and pull down the blinds
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and leave the world because frankly if we do
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that Prices will go up, people will buy less,
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other people will be out of work, and we don't
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want to see that happen. Trade, though, has to
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be balanced, and we have to make sure that when
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we see a violation, like some country dumping
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their products into this country, believe me,
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as president, I will stand up and I will shut
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down those imports because they are a violation
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of the agreement we have, and the American worker
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expects us to stand up. My family worked in the
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steel industry, not with a white collar. I understand
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their plight. Mr. Trump, your critics say your
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campaign platform is inconsistent with how you
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run your businesses, noting that you've brought
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in foreign workers instead of hiring Americans,
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and your companies manufacture clothing in China
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and Mexico. Why should voters trust that you
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will run the country differently from how you
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run your businesses? Because nobody knows the
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system better than me. I know the H -1B. I know
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the H -2B. Nobody knows it better than me. I'm
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a businessman. These are laws. These are regulations.
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These are rules. We're allowed to do it. And
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frankly, because of the devaluations that other
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countries, their monetary devaluations that other
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countries are constantly doing and brilliantly
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doing against us, it's very, very hard for our
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companies in this country, in our country, to
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compete. So I will take advantage of it. They're
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the laws. But I'm the one that knows how to change
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it. Nobody else on this day knows how to change
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it like I do. Believe me. Senator Rubio, last
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October you said that you're, quote, generally
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very much in favor of free trade. More recently,
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you've backed away from your support of some
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trade deals. If elected, will you support free
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trade deals even if it means the inevitable loss
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of U .S. jobs? No, I support free trade deals
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that are good for America. We're 5 % of the world's
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population. If all we do is sell things to each
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other, we can only sell to 5 % of the people
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on Earth. We have to have access to the hundreds
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of millions of people in the world today who
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can afford to buy things. The problem is we're
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a low -tariff country. To import something into
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the United States is not very expensive. But
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many of these countries we can't export to because
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their tariffs are too high. And so I'm in favor
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of deals that allow us to bring down those tariffs
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so that America can sell things to all these
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people around the world. There are good trade
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deals and there are bad ones. So for example,
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here in Florida, we have benefited greatly from
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the free trade deal with Columbia. It's allowed
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flower exporters to come into the United States,
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but it's created jobs for hundreds of people
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who are now delivering those flowers and working
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in that industry. We have a surplus with Columbia.
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On the other hand, you've seen trade deals like
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in Mexico that have been less than promising
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in some aspects, better in others. Bottom line
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is, I believe that America, if given access to
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foreign markets, our workers are the most productive
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in the world, our people are the most innovative
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on this planet. If it is a free and fair trade
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deal, we can compete against anyone in the world,
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and we need to in the 21st century. Senator Cruz,
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you were a supporter of the Pacific trade deal.
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But after taking some heat from conservatives,
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you changed your position. Why should these voters
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who don't like these trade deals trust that you
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will fight for them all the time and not just
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in election years? Actually, that's incorrect.
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There are two different agreements. There's TPA
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and TPP. I oppose TPP and have always opposed
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TPP, which is what you asked about. And when
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it comes to trade, look, free trade, when we
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open up foreign markets, helps Americans, but
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we're getting killed. international trade right
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now and we're getting killed because we have
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an administration that doesn't look out for American
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workers and jobs are going overseas we're driving
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jobs overseas and and the people who are losing
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out are manufacturing jobs or the steel industry
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or the auto industry but I'll tell you who else
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is going to be losing out which is the service
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industry this Obama administration is negotiating
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the trade and services agreement which is another
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treaty to allow Services to come in and take
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jobs from Americans as well and you got to understand
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trade and immigration are Interwoven and they're
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hurting the working men and women of this country.
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So the question is what's the solution? It's
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easy to talk about the problems, but do you have
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a solution to fix it? I think the solution is
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several things. Number one, we need to negotiate
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trade deals protecting American workers first,
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not the corporate boardroom. Number two, we need
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to lift the regulations on American businesses
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here so we see jobs coming back. And number three,
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we need a tax plan like the tax plan I've introduced
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that will not tax exports and that will tax imports,
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and that will bring millions of high -paying
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jobs. back to America. Let's talk more about
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how American jobs are impacted by foreign workers.
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Let's go to Stephen Dinan of the Washington Times.
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Stephen. Senator Rubio, in late 2014, Disney
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laid off 250 tech workers in Orlando, replacing
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many of them with foreign workers. Some of the
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Americans even had to train their own replacements.
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You support increasing the H -1 visa program
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that made it possible to bring in these foreign
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workers. Doesn't this program tape jobs away
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from Americans? If it's being abused the way
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Disney did, understand that program, it is illegal
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now under that program to use it to replace American
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workers. Under that program, you have to prove
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not only that you're not replacing Americans,
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but that you've tried to hire Americans. And
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if a company is caught abusing that process,
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they should never be allowed to use it again.
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The second problem with the current structure
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of the program that people perhaps don't understand
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is a lot of these companies are not directly
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hiring employees from abroad. they are hiring
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a consulting company like tata for example out
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of india in that company then hoards up all of
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these visas they hire workers you hire the disney
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or some other company hires this company what
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they're basically doing is they are out in sourcing
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and outsourcing They are bringing in workers
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from abroad that are not direct employees of
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a Disney or someone else. They're employees of
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this consulting business. And what I argue is
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that no consulting business such as that should
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be allowed to hoard up all of these visas, that
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the visa should only be available for companies
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to use directly to hire workers, and that we
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should be stricter in how we enforce it. It is
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illegal now. It is a violation of the law now
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to use that program to replace Americans. And
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if a company is caught doing that, whether it
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be Disney or anyone else, they should be barred
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from using the program in the future. Senator
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Rubio, real quick follow -up on this. In the
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context of illegal immigration, you've called
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for basically putting off. any legalization process
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until we get the border secured why not call
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for a pause on h1bs until those abuses you're
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talking you've talked about are solved well i
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i first i think i'd be open to it if it takes
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a pause but i don't think it takes a pause to
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enforce the actual law what they're doing is
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if they are in fact using that program to replace
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an american if there's an american working at
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disney and they bring someone from another country
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using h1b to replace their direct job that is
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in violation of the law and what i'm explaining
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to you is what they're doing now is they're not
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what they're doing is they're eliminating the
15:13
job they're outsourcing the entire tech division
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to a consulting company they're making the argument
15:18
that we didn't replace you we just replaced the
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whole unit by hiring a company to do it instead
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and that company that they're hiring is breaking
15:25
bringing their workers from abroad it is a loophole
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they have figured out that we need to close so
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they can no longer continue to do it that way
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Governor Kasich, I want to come to you next.
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Mr. Trump says that legal immigration is producing,
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quote, lower wages and higher unemployment for
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U .S. workers. He's calling for a pause on green
15:43
cards issued to foreign workers. Wouldn't that
15:46
help workers in the U .S.? Well, look, I believe
15:48
in immigration, but it has to be controlled.
15:51
The simple fact of the matter is I wouldn't be
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standing here. I'd be maybe running for president
15:56
of Croatia if we didn't have immigration. Immigration
15:58
is something that brings youth and vibrance and
16:02
energy to our country. But we clearly have to
16:04
control our borders. We can't have people just
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walking in. Look, we lock our doors at night
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in our homes, and the country has to be able
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to lock its doors as well. So I have a comprehensive
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plan to deal with this problem. of immigration
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i would say we have to absolutely finish the
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wall and and guard the border and if anybody
16:23
were to come in after that they're going to have
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to go back no excuses because we can't continue
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this problem i think we ought to have a guest
16:29
worker program where people come in work and
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go home and i think at the same time for the
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11 and a half million who are here then in my
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view if they have not committed a crime since
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they since they've been here they get a path
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to legalization not the citizenship I believe
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that that program can pass the Congress in the
16:46
first hundred days. But let's not lose sight
16:49
of the fact that the whole key to the future
16:51
of America is strong economic growth with common
16:54
sense regulation, lower taxes, and a balanced
16:57
budget. We can have a rising tide that lifts
16:59
all the workers in America, all the people who
17:02
are citizens of America, if we'll just follow
17:05
the formula that works that I used in Washington,
17:08
and guess what? i've used in ohio to grow over
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400 private sector jobs since i've been governor
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mr trump i do want to come to you will you also
17:17
in your answer address how long you think that
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pause would be and what that pause would look
17:21
like well first of all i think and i know the
17:24
h -1b very well and it's something that i frankly
17:27
use and i shouldn't be allowed to use we shouldn't
17:29
have it very very bad for workers and second
17:32
of all i think it's very important to say Well,
17:35
I'm a businessman and I have to do what I have
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to do. And it's sitting there waiting for you.
17:38
But it's very bad. It's very bad for business
17:41
in terms of it's very bad for our workers. And
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it's unfair for our workers. And we should end
17:46
it. Very importantly, the Disney workers endorsed
17:50
me, as you probably read. And I got a full endorsement
17:53
because they're the ones that said and they had
17:55
a news conference and they said he's the only
17:57
one that's going to be able to fix it. Because
17:59
it is a mess. I think for a period of a year
18:01
to two years, we have to look back and we have
18:03
to see, just to answer the second part of your
18:05
question, where we are, where we stand, what's
18:08
going on. We have to sort of take a strong, good,
18:11
hard look and come up with plans that work. And
18:14
we're rushing into things and we're leading with
18:17
the chin. We're leading with people that don't
18:20
know what they're doing in terms of our leadership.
18:22
I would say a minimum of one year, maybe two
18:24
years. Thank you, Mr. Trump. Senator Cruz, I
18:26
want to bring you in very quickly on this. The
18:28
United States averages about a million new permanent
18:30
legal immigrants a year and hundreds of thousands
18:33
more guest workers. What should the right level
18:35
be? Well, we need to redefine our legal immigration
18:39
system so that it meets the needs of the American
18:41
economy. Right now, we're bringing in far too
18:44
many low -skilled workers. What that is doing
18:46
is driving down the wages of hardworking Americans.
18:50
Our system isn't working. And then on top of
18:52
that... We've got a system that is allowing in
18:55
millions of people to be here illegally. And
18:57
the answer to that, I've laid out a very, very
18:59
detailed immigration plan on my website. We're
19:02
going to build a wall, triple the border patrol.
19:06
We're going to end sanctuary cities. And let
19:08
me tell you how we're going to do that. We're
19:10
going to cut off federal taxpayer funds to any
19:12
city that defies federal immigration law. We're
19:16
going to end welfare benefits for anyone who
19:19
is here illegally. And the thing to understand,
19:23
Stephen, we can solve these problems. It's not
19:25
that we don't know how to do it. It's that we're
19:27
lacking the political will. Neither of the parties
19:29
in Washington wants to do this. The Democrats.
19:33
support illegal immigration because they view
19:35
those illegal immigrants as potential voters
19:37
and far too many of the Republicans are doing
19:40
the bidding of Wall Street and the special interest
19:42
and they view it as cheap labor. We need instead
19:45
leadership that works for the working men and
19:48
women of this country. We need an immigration
19:49
system that takes care of the jobs of the working
19:52
men and women of this country. Senator Rubio,
19:54
did you want to weigh in? Well, I would just,
19:56
I would add when you talk about the millions
19:58
of green cards that are coming in, those are
20:00
actually workers at all. They're just coming
20:02
in primarily based on family connection. And
20:04
let me tell you, that's how my parents came in
20:06
1956. I acknowledge that my parents came to the
20:08
U .S. on a family -based system. The problem
20:11
is nothing looks like it did 60 years ago. The
20:14
21st century economy simply is not creating enough
20:16
jobs for people that don't have skills. When
20:19
my parents came, they had a very limited education.
20:21
My father stopped going to school when he was
20:23
9 years old because his mother died. And he had
20:25
to work, and he would work the next 70 years
20:27
of his life. and never go back to school. And
20:29
I'm grateful every day that America welcomed
20:31
them. But today, in the 21st century, 60 years
20:33
later, finding jobs when you don't have skills
20:35
is very difficult. We need to move to a merit
20:38
-based system of immigration, not just on H -1B,
20:40
particularly on green cards. The primary criteria
20:43
for bringing someone from abroad in the 21st
20:45
century should be, what skills do you have? What
20:48
business are you going to open? What investment
20:50
are you going to make? What job are you going
20:52
to be able to do when you arrive in the United
20:54
States? a large role when it comes to jobs and
20:59
the economy. The United States has long been
21:01
falling behind others in the industrialized world.
21:04
American students currently rank 27th out of
21:07
34 countries in math and 17th in reading. Mr.
21:11
Trump, you've called the education standards
21:12
known as Common Core a disaster. what are your
21:16
specific objections to common core education
21:19
through washington dc i don't want that i want
21:22
local education i want the parents and i want
21:25
all of the teachers and i want everybody to get
21:28
together around the school and to make education
21:31
great and it was very interesting i was with
21:34
dr ben carson today who's endorsing me by the
21:37
way tomorrow morning and he is We were talking,
21:41
we spoke for over an hour on education, and he
21:44
has such a great handle on it. He wants competitive
21:46
schools, he wants a lot of different things that
21:48
are terrific, including charter schools, by the
21:51
way, that the unions are fighting like crazy,
21:53
but charter schools work and they work very well.
21:56
So there are a lot of things, but I'm going to
21:58
have Ben very much involved with education, something
22:00
that really is an expertise of his. Okay, but
22:03
just to clarify, the Common Core standards were
22:05
developed by the states. States and localities
22:08
voluntarily adopt them. And they come up with
22:11
their own curricula to meet those standards.
22:13
So when you say education by Washington, D .C.,
22:15
what do you mean? You're right, Jake. But it's
22:17
been taken over by the federal government. It
22:19
was originally supposed to be that way. And it
22:21
certainly sounds better that way. But it's all
22:23
been taken over now by the bureaucrats in Washington.
22:26
And they are not interested in what's happening
22:28
in Miami or in Florida in many cases. Now, in
22:31
some cases, they would be. But in many cases,
22:33
they're more interested in their paycheck and
22:35
the big bureaucracy than they are taking care
22:37
of the children. You have called opposition to
22:42
Common Core hysteria. What is your response to
22:45
grassroots conservatives who do not agree with
22:47
you? Well, look, all I'm in favor of in Ohio
22:49
is high standards. First of all, let me tell
22:51
you, I would take 125 federal education programs,
22:55
put them in four buckets and send them back to
22:57
the states. OK, I've been working on this for
22:59
many, many years. Secondly, Jake, in our in our
23:02
state, the state school board sets the standards
23:05
and we want high standards because we've not
23:07
always had high standards, unfortunately. They
23:10
set the standards, and the local school boards
23:12
developed the curriculum. Not only did we have
23:15
that in the law, we reasserted it in the law,
23:18
and we also want parental advisors in the local
23:21
school districts so that, in fact, you know,
23:23
frankly, education has to be run at the school
23:26
board level with a little guidance from the state.
23:29
now on top of that you want to talk about the
23:31
21st century and what we need to do with our
23:33
kids we need to start connecting them to the
23:35
real world we need to be training them for the
23:37
jobs of the 21st century not the jobs of 20 years
23:40
ago we need vocational education starting in
23:43
the seventh grade where kids can get that kind
23:45
of education that can take them to college but
23:48
all the way through their k -12 they ought to
23:50
be connected with the real with real world jobs
23:54
Frankly, what ought to happen is we ought to
23:56
get them to pursue their God -given talents and
23:58
connect them with the things that give them passion,
24:01
and that's exactly what we're doing in Ohio combined
24:03
with mentoring programs to talk to kids about
24:06
what their future can be. So let me be clear.
24:09
Local control, obviously, high state standards,
24:12
that's what it is in the state of Ohio. So Senator
24:15
Cruz, let me bring you in. You object to Common
24:17
Core. Governor Kasich says it's local school
24:19
boards developing local curriculum to meet higher
24:21
standards. What's wrong with that? Common Core
24:24
is a disaster. And if I am elected president
24:27
in the first days as president, I will direct
24:29
the Department of Education that Common Core
24:32
ends that day. Now, let me tell you why you can
24:37
do that, because it's easy to talk about the
24:38
problem, but you have to understand the solutions.
24:41
The Obama administration has abused executive
24:43
power in forcing Common Core on the states. It
24:46
has used race to the top funds to effectively
24:49
blackmail and force the states to adopt. common
24:53
core now now the one silver lining of obama abusing
24:57
executive power is that everything done with
24:59
executive power can be undone with executive
25:01
power and i intend to do that beyond that though
25:05
jake i intend to work to abolish the federal
25:08
department of education and send education back
25:11
to the states and back to the local governments
25:14
and let me say finally the most important reform
25:16
we can do in education after getting the federal
25:18
government out of it is expand school choice
25:21
expand charter schools and home schools and private
25:24
schools and vouchers and scholarships and give
25:27
every child african -american hispanic every
25:30
child in need an opportunity to access to a quality
25:33
education let's move on to another topic of particular
25:36
interest here in florida florida has the highest
25:39
percentage of seniors in the country There are
25:42
3 .1 million senior citizens here who receive
25:45
Social Security benefits and they're very interested
25:47
in hearing what you candidates intend to do to
25:49
keep Social Security going for future generations.
25:52
Let me turn now to my colleague, Dana Bash. Senator
25:54
Rubio. You argue Americans your age must have
25:58
an honest conversation about making Social Security
26:00
sustainable. For people under 55, you want to
26:04
raise the retirement age and also reduce benefits
26:06
for wealthy Americans. So what should the new
26:09
retirement age be, and how much will those benefits
26:12
be cut? Well, first of all, let me say that you're
26:14
right. There are about 3 million seniors in Florida
26:16
with Social Security and Medicare. One of them
26:19
is my mother, who happens to be here today. I'm
26:22
against any changes to Social Security that are
26:23
bad for my mother. And we don't have to make
26:26
any changes for them. But anyone who tells you
26:28
that Social Security can stay the way it is,
26:30
is lying. Any politician that goes around saying,
26:33
we don't have to do anything, all we have to
26:35
do is raise a few taxes or just leave it the
26:36
way it is, they're not being honest with you.
26:38
Social Security will go bankrupt, and it will
26:40
bankrupt country with it. So what it will require
26:43
is people younger, like myself, people that are
26:45
30 years away from retirement, to accept that
26:48
our Social Security is going to work differently
26:50
than it did for my parents. For example, Instead
26:53
of retiring at 67 the way I'm supposed to retire,
26:55
I'd have to retire at 68. If I were still in
26:58
the Senate, I'd be one of the youngest people
27:00
there. If I've made a lot of money, my Social
27:03
Security benefit will not grow as fast as someone
27:06
who made less money. And by the way, Medicare
27:08
could very well become the option of using my
27:10
Medicare benefit. to buy a private plan that
27:12
I like better. Medicare Advantage does that now.
27:15
These are not unreasonable changes to ask of
27:17
someone like myself who is 25 or 30 years away
27:20
from retirement in exchange for leaving the program
27:23
undisturbed for the people that are on it now
27:25
or about to retire and ensuring that we do not
27:27
bankrupt our country and that this program still
27:29
exists when my children retire, when my grandchildren
27:32
retire, when I retire. how high would the retirement
27:42
age go and how much would you cut those benefits?
27:44
Right, I'm sorry I didn't answer that part. So
27:45
the thing is that under my generation, someone
27:48
my age would retire at 68. We would continue
27:50
to allow it to increase the retirement age for
27:53
future generations until it hits 70. And so my
27:56
children would retire at 70. I would retire at
27:58
68. It would be a graduating skill over a period
28:00
of time. But again, I'm talking about people
28:02
like myself and Ted who are 45 years old or years
28:05
away from retirement. For people that are on
28:07
it now, we don't have to change it at all. If
28:09
we don't do anything, we will have a debt crisis
28:12
it's not a question of if it is a question of
28:14
when in less than five years only 17 of our budget
28:19
will remain discretionary 83 of the federal budget
28:22
in less than five years will all be spent on
28:24
medicare medicaid the interest on the debt that's
28:28
it all of it will be eaten up by that that's
28:30
a debt crisis and and it will be debilitating
28:33
to our economy and our children deserve better
28:35
than to inherit a debt crisis want to raise the
28:40
retirement and you also don't want to cut benefits
28:42
even for wealthier Americans. But according to
28:45
the Social Security Administration, unless adjustments
28:47
are made, Social Security is projected to run
28:50
out of money within 20 years. So specifically,
28:53
what would you do to stop that from happening?
28:55
Well, first of all, I want you to understand
28:56
that the Democrats, and I've watched them very
28:59
intensely, even though it's a very, very boring
29:01
thing to watch, that... the democrats are doing
29:04
nothing with social security they're leaving
29:06
it the way it is in fact they want to increase
29:08
it they want to actually give more and that's
29:11
what we're up against and whether we like it
29:13
or not that is what we're up against i will do
29:15
everything within my power not to touch social
29:17
security to leave it the way it is to make this
29:19
country rich again to bring back our jobs to
29:21
get rid of deficits to get rid of waste fraud
29:24
and abuse which is rampant in this country rampant
29:27
totally rampant and it's my absolute intention
29:31
to leave social security the way it is not increase
29:35
the age and to leave it as is you have 22 years
29:38
you have a long time to go it's not long in terms
29:41
of what we're talking about but it's still a
29:43
long time to go and i want to leave social security
29:47
as is i want to make our country rich again so
29:49
we can afford it i want to bring back our jobs
29:51
i want to do things that will make us that will
29:54
bring back gdp i mean as an example GDP was zero,
29:58
essentially, for the last two quarters. If that
30:01
ever happened in China, you would have had a
30:03
depression like nobody's ever seen before. They
30:05
go down to 7%, 8%, and it's a national tragedy.
30:09
We're at zero. We're not doing anything. We've
30:12
lost our jobs. We've lost everything. We're losing
30:14
everything. Our jobs are gone. Our businesses
30:17
are being taken out of the country. I want to
30:19
make America great again, and I want to leave
30:21
Social Security as is. We're going to get rid
30:23
of waste, fraud, abuse, and bring back business.
30:28
Hang on one second. I just want to follow up
30:29
with Mr. Trump. You're talking about waste, fraud,
30:32
and abuse, but an independent bipartisan organization,
30:35
the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget,
30:38
says improper payments, like you're talking about,
30:40
that would only save about $3 billion, but it
30:43
would take $150 billion to make Social Security
30:47
solvent. So how would you find that under $147
30:50
billion? Because they don't cover most of the
30:51
subjects. We're the policemen of the world. We
30:53
take care of the entire world. We're going to
30:55
have a stronger military, much stronger. Our
30:57
military is depleted. But we take care of Germany.
31:00
We take care of Saudi Arabia. We take care of
31:02
Japan. We take care of South Korea. Every time
31:06
this maniac from North Korea does anything, we
31:09
immediately send our ships. We get virtually
31:11
nothing. We have 28 ,000 soldiers on the line,
31:14
on the border between North and South Korea.
31:16
We have so many places. Saudi Arabia was making
31:20
a billion dollars a day, and we were getting
31:23
virtually nothing. to protect them. We are going
31:27
to be in a different world. We're going to negotiate
31:29
real deals now, and we're going to bring the
31:31
wealth back to our country. We owe $19 trillion.
31:34
We're going to bring wealth back to our country.
31:37
Senator Rubio, will that be enough to save Social
31:39
Security? And I think you've outlined why. The
31:41
numbers don't add up. You know, when I ran for
31:43
the Senate in 2010, I came out one day and said,
31:45
we're going to have to make changes to Social
31:46
Security. And everyone said, that's the end of
31:48
your campaign. In Florida, you can't talk about
31:50
that. But people know that it's the truth here
31:52
in Florida. fraud is not enough certainly let's
31:56
wipe out the fraud but as you said it won't add
31:58
up you already gave those numbers the second
32:00
point is on foreign aid i hear that all the time
32:02
as well i'm against any sort of wasting of money
32:04
on foreign aid but it's less than one percent
32:06
of our federal budget the numbers don't add up
32:09
The bottom line is we can't just continue to
32:11
tiptoe around this and throw out things like
32:12
I'm going to get a fraud and abuse. Let's get
32:15
rid of fraud. Let's get rid of abuse. Let's be
32:17
more careful about how we spend foreign aid.
32:19
But you still have hundreds of billions of dollars
32:21
of deficit that you're going to have to make
32:23
up. And here's the thing. If we do not do it,
32:25
we will have a debt crisis, not to mention a
32:28
crisis in Social Security and Medicare. Both
32:30
parties have taken far too long to deal with
32:32
it. It is one of the major issues confronting
32:34
America. It's barely been asked in any of these
32:36
debates. And we better deal with it. We're going
32:38
to have to explain to our children why they inherited
32:40
this disaster. Senator Rubio says that your numbers
32:49
don't add up. What's your response, Mr. Trump?
32:51
Well, I don't know if you're saying that. Look,
32:52
I'm just saying very simply, we have a country
32:55
that I have never seen anything like it. I've
32:57
been going over budgets and looking at budgets.
33:00
We don't bid things out. We don't bid out, as
33:02
an example, the drug industry, pharmaceutical
33:05
industry. They don't go out to bid. they just
33:08
pay almost as if you walk into a drugstore that's
33:11
what they're paying and the reason is they have
33:13
a fantastic lobby they take care of all of the
33:15
senators the congressmen they have great power
33:18
and they don't bid out the military is never
33:20
properly bid when we go out to military bids
33:22
it's not properly bids bid and the people that
33:25
really sell us the product are oftentimes the
33:28
product we don't want only because that particular
33:30
company has political juice okay I'm self -funding
33:34
my campaign. Nobody's going to be taking care
33:37
of me. I don't want anybody's money. I will tell
33:39
you something. We're going to go out to bid in
33:41
virtually every different facet of our government.
33:44
We're going to save a fortune. Thank you, Mr.
33:46
Trump. Senator Cruz, you advocate allowing younger
33:50
workers to put some of their Social Security
33:52
taxes into personal accounts. What do you say
33:54
to critics who say that market volatility means
33:57
that this is a disastrous proposal? well number
34:01
one we need to see responsibility social security
34:03
right now is careening towards insolvency and
34:07
it's irresponsible and any politician that doesn't
34:09
step forward and address it is not being a real
34:12
leader we need to see political courage to take
34:15
this on and save and strengthen social security
34:18
and as president what i will do for seniors for
34:22
anyone at or near retirement there will be no
34:25
changes whatsoever every benefit will be protected
34:28
to the letter but for younger workers We need
34:30
to gradually raise the retirement age. For younger
34:33
workers, we need to change the rate of growth
34:35
of benefits so it matches inflation instead of
34:38
exceeding inflation. And as you noted, Dana,
34:40
we need to have for younger workers that a portion
34:43
of your tax payments are in personal accounts
34:45
like a 401k that you own, that you control, that
34:49
you can pass on to your kids and grandkids. And
34:53
one of the things that is critically important,
34:55
listen, we've got lots of challenges in the world.
34:57
But the answer can't just be wave a magic wand
35:00
and say, problem go away. You have to understand
35:03
the problems. You have to have real solutions.
35:06
It's like government spending. It is very easy.
35:09
Hillary Clinton says she'll cut waste, fraud,
35:11
and abuse. If only we had smarter people in Washington,
35:15
that would fix the problem. You know what? That
35:17
is the statement of a liberal who doesn't understand
35:19
government is the problem. Here's my philosophy.
35:25
The less government, the more freedom. The fewer
35:28
bureaucrats, the more prosperity. And there are
35:32
bureaucrats in Washington right now who are killing
35:34
jobs. And I'll tell you, I know who they are.
35:37
I will find them and I will fire them. Did you
35:40
just compare Donald Trump to Hillary Clinton
35:42
on this issue? I will let Donald speak for himself,
35:46
but I will say there is a reason in my campaign
35:49
I've laid out a very, very specific spending
35:51
cut plan. five major agencies that I would eliminate,
35:57
25 programs. And Dana, you know why political
36:00
candidates don't do that? Because when you do
36:03
that, the lobbyists attack you. When you specify
36:06
the programs you would eliminate, then you get
36:08
attacked. Let's take, for example, back in Iowa,
36:11
the first primary. When I went to Iowa and campaigned
36:15
against ethanol mandates, everyone said that
36:17
was political suicide. You can't take on ethanol
36:20
in Iowa. And my opponents on this stage not only
36:23
didn't do the same, They attacked me and even
36:26
promised to expand corporate welfare. If we're
36:30
going to stop bankrupting our kids and grandkids,
36:32
you've got to be willing to take on the lobbyists,
36:34
which means not just some fanciful waste, fraud,
36:38
and abuse, but specifying these are the programs
36:40
I will eliminate so that we can take care of
36:43
the hardworking taxpayers. Thank you, Senator
36:43
Bruce. Mr. Trump, would you like to respond?
36:45
Yeah. If you look back to Iowa, Ted did change
36:51
his view and his stance on ethanol quite a bit.
36:54
He did at the end. Not full -on, but he did change
36:58
his view in the hopes of maybe doing well. And,
37:01
you know, I think everybody knows that. It was
37:04
a front -page story all over the place. And he
37:07
did make a change. Senator Cruz? Listen, if you're
37:15
fed up with Washington, the question you ought
37:18
to be asking is who's willing to take on Washington.
37:21
It's easy to have language, I'm fed up with the
37:25
corruption in Washington. But if you have a candidate
37:28
who has been funding liberal Democrats and funding
37:32
the Washington establishment, it's very hard
37:35
to imagine how suddenly this candidate is going
37:38
to take on Washington. When I stood up and led
37:41
the fight against Obamacare, Washington was furious
37:43
and attacked me, but I did it because I was honoring
37:46
my commitment to the hardworking men and women
37:48
of this country who are losing their jobs. because
37:51
of obamacare when i led the fight against amnesty
37:54
it's because i was standing with the people against
37:57
washington and if you want to tell people you're
37:59
going to stand against washington the question
38:01
we should ask is when have you ever stood up
38:04
to the lobbyists in washington okay mr trump
38:06
i'll let you respond because he mentioned you
38:08
but then i'm going to move on to governor kasich
38:09
go ahead well that's fine first of all ted was
38:11
in favor of amnesty so there's no question about
38:13
that and sheriff sheriff joe arpaio And Sheriff
38:18
Joe Arpaio recently endorsed me. And there's
38:20
nobody tougher on the borders than Sheriff Joe.
38:22
And Jeff Sessions, one of the most respected
38:24
senators in Washington, an incredible man, also
38:28
endorsed me. And there's nobody that knows more
38:30
about the borders than Senator Jeff Sessions.
38:33
I would say this. We're all in this together.
38:37
We're going to come up with solutions. We're
38:39
going to find the answers to things. And so far,
38:41
I cannot believe how civil it's been up here.
38:47
Let's get back to Social Security. You told a
38:49
voter in New Hampshire to, quote, get over cuts
38:51
to Social Security benefits because you have
38:55
a reform plan and that is just the reality, you
38:57
say, that is out there. Why is cutting Social
39:00
Security payments the solution? Well, first of
39:03
all, we hear about taking on Washington. I took
39:06
on Washington and I won. I actually got the budget
39:09
balance when I was a member of the Congress,
39:11
the chairman of the Budget Committee. We paid
39:13
down a half a trillion dollars of the national
39:15
debt. We also balanced the budget four years
39:19
in a row and we were just growing jobs like crazy
39:22
and the wage issue was not even an issue then.
39:26
I also had a plan in 1999 to save Social Security
39:29
and take the $5 trillion projected surplus and
39:32
not only have Social Security for our young people
39:35
but also to give them private accounts. Now there
39:37
are more 18 -year -olds who believe they have
39:39
a better chance of seeing... a UFO than a Social
39:42
Security check. And we have a lot of seniors
39:44
who are very nervous. I have a plan to fix it
39:46
that doesn't even require raising the retirement
39:49
age. If you've had wealth throughout your lifetime,
39:51
when the time comes for you to be on Social Security,
39:54
you'll still get it. It will just simply be less.
39:56
And for those people who depend on that Social
39:59
Security, they'll get their full benefit. That's
40:01
the way it will work. And we don't have to monkey
40:03
around with the retirement age. And how do I
40:05
know that? I've done all this before. This is
40:07
not a theory. Do you have to take on entitlement
40:10
programs to balance a budget? Yes, but it doesn't
40:13
mean you have to cut them. It means you need
40:14
to innovate them the way we do things in the
40:16
21st century. So not only did we have a balanced
40:19
budget in Washington, but when I went to Ohio,
40:22
we were $8 billion in the hole, and now we're
40:24
$2 billion in the black. Our credit is strong.
40:26
We're up 400 ,000 jobs, and I want to go back
40:28
with the same formula. to beat the Washington
40:31
insiders again. And I will get it done, and this
40:34
country will be much stronger economically as
40:37
a result. Thank you, Governor. Let's take a broader
40:41
look at the Republican Party now. Mr. Trump,
40:43
one of the concerns your opponents have expressed
40:45
throughout the course of this campaign is the
40:47
notion that, in their estimation, you hold views
40:50
that are at direct odds with Republican Party
40:53
tradition. How are you looking to fundamentally
40:55
change the Republican Party as its potential
40:58
leader? What should the Republican Party stand
41:00
for in 2016? Well, first of all, I don't really
41:04
think that. I think that I hold views that are
41:07
very similar to many of the people. We are more
41:10
inclusive. And if you look at the polls and if
41:12
you look at the millions of people that have
41:13
been pouring into the polls, it's, again, the
41:15
biggest story. You look at all of these people
41:17
that are coming in, something's happening. I
41:20
am different in one primary respect, and that's
41:23
trade. I feel that we have had horrible negotiators,
41:27
horrible trade deals. The jobs in this country
41:30
are disappearing, and especially the good jobs.
41:33
You look at the recent jobs reports, which are
41:36
really done so that presidents and politicians
41:38
look good. Because all of these people looking
41:40
for jobs, when they give up, they go home, they
41:43
give up, and they're considered statistically
41:44
employed. So that's that. But I will say, trade
41:48
deals are absolutely killing our country. the
41:51
devaluations of their currencies by china and
41:54
japan and many many other countries and we don't
41:57
do it because we don't play the game and the
41:59
only way we're going to be able to do it is we're
42:01
going to have to do taxes unless they behave
42:04
if you don't tax certain products coming into
42:07
this country from certain countries that are
42:09
taking advantage of the united states and laughing
42:11
at our stupidity we're going to continue to lose
42:14
businesses and we're going to continue to lose
42:16
jobs and if you look at the average worker over
42:19
the last 12 years their salary and their pay
42:21
have gone down not up it's gone down and i think
42:25
that's why there's been such an outpouring of
42:28
love to what i'm saying mr trump senator cruz
42:30
donald trump has so far won 35 of the vote those
42:35
people are signing up to his vision of the republican
42:38
party what do you think is wrong with that vision
42:40
well donald is right for example he was just
42:44
talking about international trade he's right
42:45
about the problems but his solutions don't work
42:48
so for example his solution on international
42:51
trade he proposed earlier a 45 tariff on foreign
42:56
goods now he backed away from that immediately
42:57
and he may come back with a different number
42:59
tonight i don't know where he'll be tonight But
43:01
I'll tell you what happens. You know, we've seen
43:04
prior presidential candidates who propose massive
43:06
tariffs. You know, Smoot -Hawley led to the Great
43:09
Depression. And the effect of a 45 % tariff would
43:13
be when you go to the store, when you go to Walmart,
43:15
when you're shopping for your kids, the prices
43:18
you pay go up 45%. But not only that, when you
43:21
put those in place, because a tariff is a tax
43:23
on you, the American people, but the response
43:26
of that... is that the countries we trade with
43:28
put in their own tariffs. A much better solution
43:31
that works is the tax plan I've laid out, which
43:35
would enable our exports to be tax -free, would
43:38
tax our imports, would not raise prices for Americans,
43:41
and would not result in reciprocal tariffs. Fix
43:44
the problem. And that's what's missing from what
43:47
Donald says. Mr. Trapp, I'll give you a chance
43:49
to respond. The 45 % tax is a threat. It was
43:54
not a tax, it was a threat. it will be a tax
43:57
if they don't behave take china as an example
44:00
i have many friends great manufacturers they
44:03
want to go into china they can't china won't
44:05
let them we talk about free trade it's not free
44:07
trade it's stupid trade china dumps everything
44:09
that they have over here no tax no nothing no
44:12
problems no no curfews no anything we can't get
44:16
into china i have the best people manufacturers
44:19
they can't get in when they get in they have
44:21
to pay a tremendous tax the 45 is a threat that
44:26
if they don't behave if they don't follow the
44:28
rules and the regulations so that we can have
44:30
it equal on both sides we will tax you it doesn't
44:32
have to be 45 it could be less but it has to
44:35
be something because our country and our trade
44:37
and our deals and our most importantly our jobs
44:40
are going to hell senator chris Jake, let me
44:44
be clear what Donald just said. He said that
44:46
that 45 % tax is a threat, and mind you, you
44:50
are paying the tax. It's not China that pays
44:52
the tax. It's you, the working men and women.
44:54
So ask yourself at home, how is this helping
44:57
you? If your wages have been stagnant for 20
45:01
years, if you can't pay the bills, how does it
45:04
help you to have a president come and say, I'm
45:06
going to put a 45 % tax... on diapers when you
45:10
buy diapers on automobiles when you buy automobiles
45:13
on clothing when you buy clothing that hurts
45:15
you it's why we've got to get beyond rhetoric
45:19
of china bad and actually get to how do you solve
45:23
the problem because this solution would hurt
45:27
jobs and hurt hard -working taxpayers in america
45:30
okay honestly it's just the opposite what will
45:35
happen if they don't behave We will put on a
45:38
tax of some amount, and it could be a large amount,
45:41
and we will start building those factories and
45:44
those plants. Instead of in China, we'll build
45:46
them here. And people will buy product from here
45:49
rather than buying it through China, where we're
45:51
being ripped off and we have a $505 billion trade
45:56
deficit right now. So we'll build our factories
45:59
here and we'll make our own products. And that's
46:02
the way it should be done. And the way we've
46:03
been doing it for the last long period of time,
46:06
Our country is in serious, serious trouble. It's
46:11
a bubble and it's going to explode. All right,
46:13
we're going to take a very quick break. When
46:14
we come back, we'll have much more of this Republican
46:17
presidential debate from the University of Miami
46:19
right after this. Stay with us. Welcome back
46:53
to the CNN Republican presidential debate in
46:55
Miami, Florida. Mr. Trump, let me start with
46:58
you. Last night you told CNN, quote, Islam hates
47:02
us. Did you mean all 1 .6 billion Muslims? I
47:06
mean a lot of them. I mean a lot of them. Do
47:13
you want to clarify the comment at all? Well,
47:15
you know, I've been watching the debate today,
47:17
and they're talking about radical Islamic terrorism
47:20
or radical Islam, but I will tell you, there's
47:22
something going on that maybe you don't know
47:25
about, and maybe a lot of other people don't
47:27
know about, but there's tremendous hatred, and
47:29
I will stick with exactly what I said to Anderson
47:32
Cooper. Senator Rubio, your supporter, Republican
47:36
Senator Jeff Sessions, said in response to Mr.
47:38
Trump's comment last night. I'm sorry, Senator
47:41
Jeff Flake, I apologize. Your supporters, Republican
47:44
Senator Jeff Flake, said in response to that
47:46
comment, Republicans are better than this. Do
47:49
you agree? Well, let me say, I know that a lot
47:51
of people find appeal in the things Donald says
47:53
because he says what people wish they could say.
47:55
The problem is presidents can't just say anything
47:57
they want. It has consequences here and around
48:00
the world. So let me give you one. Two days ago,
48:06
I met this extraordinary couple who are on furlough
48:09
because they're missionaries in Bangladesh. It's
48:11
a very tough place to be a missionary. It's Muslim.
48:13
And their safety and security very much relies
48:16
upon friendly Muslims that live alongside them
48:19
that may not convert but protect them and certainly
48:21
look out for them. And their mission field really
48:23
are Muslims that are looking to convert to Christianity
48:26
as well. And they tell me that today they have
48:28
a very hostile environment in which to operate
48:30
in because the news is coming out that in America,
48:32
leading political figures are saying that America
48:35
doesn't like Muslims. So this has a real impact.
48:37
There is no doubt that radical Islam is a danger
48:41
in the world. I can also tell you that if you
48:43
go to any national cemetery, especially Arlington,
48:45
you're going to see crescent moons there. If
48:47
you go anywhere in the world, you're going to
48:49
see American men and women serving us in uniform
48:51
that are Muslims. And they love America. And
48:54
as far as I know, no one on this stage has served
48:56
in uniform in the United States military. Anyone
48:59
out there that has the uniform of the United
49:01
States on and is willing to die for this country
49:03
is someone that loves America, no matter what
49:05
their religious background may be. Mr. Trump.
49:14
Marco talks about consequences. Well, we've had
49:17
a lot of consequences, including airplanes flying
49:20
into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and
49:23
could have been the White House. There have been
49:26
a lot of problems. Now, you can say what you
49:28
want, and you can be politically correct if you
49:31
want. I don't want to be so politically correct.
49:33
I like to solve problems. We have a serious,
49:36
serious problem of hate. There is tremendous
49:38
hate. There is tremendous hate. We're large portions
49:42
of a group of people. Islam. Large portions want
49:46
to use very, very harsh means. Let me go a step
49:50
further. Women are treated horribly. You know
49:55
that. You do know that. Women are treated horribly
49:57
and other things are happening that are very,
50:00
very bad. Now, I will say this. There is tremendous
50:03
hatred. The question was asked, what do you think?
50:06
And I said, there is hatred. Now, it would be
50:08
very easy for me to say something differently
50:10
and everybody would say, oh, isn't that wonderful?
50:12
We better solve the problem before it's too late.
50:17
Here we go. See, I'm not interested in being
50:20
politically correct. For example, ISIS. It will
50:35
take a Sunni Arab movement to defeat them. And
50:37
so I think you can be correct, without needing
50:39
to be politically correct, we are going to have
50:41
to work with people in the Muslim faith, even
50:43
as Islam itself faces a serious crisis within
50:45
it. Thank you, Senator. Governor Kasich, do you
50:52
think Islam hates us? No, I don't. I think there
50:55
is a sect of this radical Islam that is really,
51:00
really serious and poses the greatest threat
51:03
to us today. There isn't any question. And that's
51:06
why the whole world has to work together to make
51:07
sure that we don't have proliferation of these
51:09
weapons of mass destruction. But look, I was
51:12
there and saw it when the Egyptian ambassador
51:15
to the United States was in the Rose Garden bringing
51:19
the Arab Muslim world to work with us to repel
51:22
Saddam Hussein from Kuwait. The fact is that
51:25
if we're going to defeat ISIS, we're going to
51:28
have to have these countries. And they are Egypt,
51:31
and they are Saudi Arabia, and they are Jordan.
51:33
and there are the gulf states and we're going
51:35
to have to have in some way or another a reapprochement
51:37
with turkey and i frankly think the europeans
51:41
went in the wrong direction when they rejected
51:43
turkey from joining into the economic sphere
51:46
of europe the simple fact of the matter is a
51:49
lot of these muslim countries are they are just
51:52
they can't believe the stuff they see out of
51:55
people who have distorted their faith Look, the
51:58
people who represent radical Islam, they want
52:00
to destroy everything that we're about and other
52:03
Muslims who don't share their view. But at the
52:05
end of the day, we've got to bring the world
52:07
together, the civilized world, and we all speak
52:09
with one voice to make sure that people who sit
52:12
on the fence understand what civilization is
52:15
and we represent it and equality and hope for
52:18
everybody. Thank you, Governor Kasich. Mr. Trump,
52:21
I want to ask you about something else you've
52:22
said during the course of this campaign. You
52:24
said that the U .S. has to, quote, take out the
52:26
families of terrorists. When it was pointed out
52:29
that targeting civilians is against the Geneva
52:30
Conventions, you said, quote, so they can kill
52:33
us, but we can't kill them? It is against federal,
52:36
military, and international law to target civilians.
52:38
So how will you order the military to target
52:41
the families of suspected terrorists while also
52:43
abiding by the law? First of all, let me go back
52:45
to the other just for a second. Enlarge mosques.
52:49
In all over the Middle East you have people chanting
52:52
death to the USA now That does not sound like
52:56
a friendly act to me as far as the families are
52:59
concerned and as far as the law is concerned
53:00
We have a law this all started with your question
53:03
on waterboarding. We have a law that doesn't
53:06
allow, right now, waterboarding. They have no
53:09
laws, they have no rules, they have no regulations.
53:12
They chop off heads, they drown 40, 50, 60 people
53:16
at a time in big steel cages, pull them up an
53:18
hour later, everyone dead, and we're working
53:21
on a different set of parameters. Now, we have
53:26
to obey the laws, okay? Have to obey the laws,
53:29
but we have to expand those laws because we have
53:32
to be able to fight. on at least somewhat of
53:35
an equal footing or we will never ever knock
53:39
out isis and all of the others that are so bad
53:41
we better expand our laws or we're being a bunch
53:44
of suckers and they are laughing at us they are
53:47
laughing at us senator rubio would you as president
53:51
pursue a policy of targeting the families of
53:53
suspected terrorists no of course not and we
53:55
don't have to in order to defeat terrorists the
53:57
way you defeat terrorists is pretty straightforward
54:00
it's difficult to do but it has to be done When
54:02
I'm president of the United States, the best
54:04
intelligence agencies in the world that right
54:06
now have been hamstrung, they're going to be
54:08
expanded, and the best intelligence agencies
54:10
in the world are going to find terrorists. And
54:12
then the best military in the world, which needs
54:14
to be rebuilt because Barack Obama is gutting
54:17
our military, he's going to leave us with the
54:19
smallest army since the end of World War II,
54:21
and the smallest navy in a century, and the smallest
54:23
air force we've ever had. We are going to rebuild
54:25
that military, and that military is going to
54:28
find the terrorists and destroy them. And if
54:29
we capture any of these terrorists alive, They're
54:32
not going to have the right to remain silent,
54:33
and they're not going to go to a courtroom in
54:35
Manhattan. They're going to go to Guantanamo
54:37
Bay, Cuba, and we will find out everything they
54:38
know, and we'll do so legally. Senator Cruz,
54:42
you've talked about changing the rules of engagement
54:45
in battle against ISIS. Would that include targeting
54:48
the families of suspected terrorists? No, of
54:50
course not. We've never targeted innocent civilians,
54:53
and we're not going to start now. But listen,
54:55
Jake, I understand. People are scared, and for
54:58
seven years we've faced terrorist attacks, and
55:01
President Obama lectures Americans on Islamophobia.
55:05
That is maddening. But the answer is not simply
55:08
to yell, China bad, Muslims bad. You've got to
55:12
understand the nature of the threats we're facing
55:15
and how you deal with them. And yes, it is true,
55:19
there are millions of radical Islamic terrorists
55:21
who seek to kill us. We need a president, commander
55:24
-in -chief focused on fighting them. And I'll
55:26
tell you frankly, one concern I have with Donald
55:29
is that although his language is quite incendiary,
55:32
when you look at his substantive policies on
55:34
Iran... He has said that he would not rip up
55:38
this Iranian nuclear deal. I think that's a mistake.
55:40
The Ayatollah Khomeini wants nuclear weapons
55:43
to murder us. I'll give you another example.
55:45
Dealing with radical Islamic terrorism. On Israel,
55:49
Donald has said he wants to be neutral between
55:52
Israel and the Palestinians. As president, I
55:56
will not be neutral. And let me say this week,
55:58
a Texan, Taylor Force. He was an Eagle Scout.
56:02
He was a West Point graduate. He was an Army
56:03
veteran. He was murdered by a Palestinian terrorist
56:06
this week in Israel. And I don't think we need
56:10
a commander -in -chief who is neutral between
56:12
the Palestinian terrorist and one of our strongest
56:15
allies in the world, the nation. Thank you, Senator
56:18
Cruz. Mr. Trump, we're going to come to you in
56:22
a second, but I want to go to Hugh Hewitt, who
56:24
has questions on this exact line of subject.
56:26
Mr. Trump, I want to follow up on the quote that
56:30
Senator Cruz used. you said you would want to
56:33
be quote sort of a neutral guy he did mention
56:36
taylor force he was a west point graduate he
56:38
was a war hero he was a vanderbilt graduate student
56:41
he was killed in a palestinian terror attack
56:43
near tel aviv many others were killed spoken
56:52
to the toughest and the sharpest they all want
56:54
peace i think it would be much more helpful is
56:58
i'm a negotiator if i go in i'll say i'm and
57:01
i've told that to everybody and anybody that
57:03
would little and i've told that to everybody
57:05
and anybody that would little and i've told that
57:07
to everybody and anybody that would little and
57:09
i've told that to everybody and anybody that
57:11
would little and i've told that who is targeting
57:18
radical Islamic terrorists. He's hunting them
57:20
down and stopping them. Our focus needs to be
57:23
on keeping this country safe. I want to go back
57:24
to the Israeli government's assertion that the
57:26
Palestinian Authority is inciting the convulsion
57:28
of violence. Do you agree? That's undeniable.
57:30
First of all, they've encouraged people to do
57:33
so. And you've seen the speeches of the Palestinian
57:35
Authority president talking about how glorious
57:37
this is that they're doing these sorts of things.
57:39
But let me go back for a moment. The policy Donald
57:41
has outlined... I don't know if he realizes,
57:43
is an anti -Israeli policy. Maybe that's not
57:45
your intent, but here's why it is an anti -Israeli
57:47
policy. There is no peace deal possible with
57:50
the Palestinians at this moment. There just isn't,
57:52
because there's no one to negotiate with. The
57:55
Palestinian Authority is not interested in a
57:57
serious deal, and they are now in union with
57:59
Hamas, an organization whose specific purpose
58:01
is the destruction of the Jewish state. Every
58:04
time that Israel has turned over territory of
58:06
any kind, be it Gaza or now in Judea and Samaria,
58:09
it is used as a launching pad to attack Israel.
58:12
And that's what will happen again. These groups
58:14
are not interested in a deal with Israel. What
58:16
they are interested in is ultimately removing
58:18
the Jewish state and occupying its entire territory.
58:21
So maybe in 30 years the conditions will exist,
58:24
but they do not exist now. And to have a president
58:26
forcing the Israelis to the table is harmful
58:29
to Israel and emboldens Israel's enemies. If
58:31
I become president of the United States, One
58:40
of the things that will be an absolute priority
58:43
is, number one, protection of Israel, but also
58:45
seeing if a deal can be made. The toughest deal,
58:49
the toughest negotiation that probably is of
58:51
any kind, no matter where you look, no matter
58:53
how hard you look, but I would like to give it
58:56
a shot. Very, very pro -Israel, nobody more pro
58:59
-Israel, but I would love to give it a shot.
59:01
And I have to tell you this, Hugh, I have friends,
59:04
Israelis. non -Israelis, people from New York
59:07
City that happen to be Jewish and love Israel.
59:10
And some are very tough people. Every single
59:14
one of them, they know it's tough, but every
59:16
single one of them wants to see if we could ever
59:19
have peace. in Israel. And some believe it's
59:22
possible. It may not be, in which case we'll
59:24
find out. But it would be a priority if I become
59:27
president. Do you agree with the Israeli government
59:30
that the Palestinian Authority is inciting this
59:32
violence? Well, there's no question. They were
59:33
saying that the Israelis intended to go to the
59:36
Dome of the Rock. I mean, when you think about
59:39
this, thank goodness we worked with the Israelis
59:41
to give them the Iron Dome. And, you know, where
59:44
they could protect themselves against all the
59:46
missiles that were flying in. Could you imagine
59:48
living in it like in Miami here and have people
59:50
shooting missiles in? Secondly, there was just
59:53
an article the other day, Hugh, that I know you're
59:55
familiar with, where the Israelis are learning
59:57
to train underground in combat because the Palestinians
1:00:01
now, Hamas in particular, is digging these tunnels
1:00:04
trying to get under Israel. They're coming at
1:00:06
them from above. They're trying to come at them
1:00:08
from under the ground. And I just have to tell
1:00:10
you this. I don't believe there is any long -term
1:00:13
permanent peace solution, and I think pursuing
1:00:15
that's the wrong thing to do. I believe that
1:00:18
every day that we can have stability in that
1:00:20
region by supporting the Israelis and making
1:00:23
sure they have the weapons and the security that
1:00:25
they need with our 100 % backing is the way to
1:00:28
proceed in the Middle East in regard to Israel.
1:00:31
Senator Cruz, I want to stay in the region. Just
1:00:35
this week, the head of U .S. Central Command,
1:00:37
General Lloyd Austin, essentially said it's going
1:00:39
to take a lot more troops. on the ground to fix,
1:00:43
to end the ISIS threat in Syria and Iraq. From
1:00:47
the beginning of this campaign, you have said
1:00:49
you will follow the judgment of military commanders
1:00:51
in the Pentagon. So here's a commander saying
1:00:53
we need a lot more troops on the ground. Will
1:00:55
you follow that advice and inject Americans again
1:00:59
into what is, in essence, a metastasizing Sunni
1:01:02
-Shia civil war? We need to do whatever is necessary
1:01:05
to utterly defeat ISIS. And that needs to be
1:01:08
driven... Not by politicians, but by military
1:01:12
expertise and judgment. Right now, we're not
1:01:14
using a fraction of the tools that we have. We're
1:01:18
not using our overwhelming air power. We're not
1:01:20
arming the Kurds. Those need to be the first
1:01:22
steps, and then we need to put whatever ground
1:01:25
power is needed to carry it out. But, you know,
1:01:27
a question that actually Jake asked, and I'm
1:01:29
glad to come back to it now, is rules of engagement.
1:01:31
We have right now our troops engaged in combat,
1:01:34
but President Obama has rules of engagement that
1:01:36
are so strict. That their arms are tied behind
1:01:39
their back. They're not able to fight. They're
1:01:41
not able to defend themselves. They're not able
1:01:43
to kill the enemy. And I got to tell you, Hugh,
1:01:45
I think that is wrong. It is immoral. And I give
1:01:48
my word to every soldier, sailor, and airman,
1:01:51
and marine, and every wife, and husband, every
1:01:53
son, and daughter, every mother, and father,
1:01:56
that will end in January 2017. If it takes $20
1:02:03
,000 or $30 ,000, if the Pentagon says that's
1:02:05
what needs to be done, will you follow their
1:02:07
advice? I've said all along and laid out my foreign
1:02:11
policy, I want to remind everybody that 55 %
1:02:13
of the foreign policy experts in this country
1:02:16
said I was the best to be commander -in -chief.
1:02:18
I spent 18 years on the Defense Committee, Armed
1:02:21
Services, and then I was in the Pentagon with
1:02:23
Donald Rumsfeld after 9 -11, in and out for a
1:02:26
couple of years. We absolutely have to win this
1:02:29
with a coalition. The Arabs have to be with us.
1:02:32
The Europeans have to understand that this threat
1:02:35
is closer to them than even is as close as it
1:02:38
is to us. And in addition to that, you have to
1:02:41
be in the air and you have to be on the ground.
1:02:43
And you bring all the force you need. It's got
1:02:46
to be shock and awe in the military speak. Then
1:02:49
once it gets done, and we will wipe them out,
1:02:52
once it gets done, it settles down, we come home
1:02:55
and let the regional powers redraw the map if
1:02:58
that's what it takes. Mr. Trump, more troops?
1:03:01
We really have no choice. We have to knock out
1:03:03
ISIS. We have to knock the hell out of them.
1:03:06
We have to get rid of it, and then we have to
1:03:07
come back here and rebuild our country, which
1:03:09
is falling apart. How many are we speaking about?
1:03:11
I would listen to the generals, but I'm hearing
1:03:14
numbers of 20 ,000 to 30 ,000. We have to knock
1:03:16
them out fast. Look, we're not allowed to fight.
1:03:19
We can't fight. We're not knocking out the oil
1:03:22
because they don't want to create environmental
1:03:24
pollution up in the air. I mean, these are things
1:03:26
that nobody even believes. They think we're kidding.
1:03:29
They didn't want to knock out the oil because
1:03:30
of what it's going to do to the carbon footprint.
1:03:33
We don't fight like we used to fight. We used
1:03:36
to fight to win. Now we fight for no reason whatsoever.
1:03:38
We don't even know what we're doing. So the answer
1:03:42
is we have to knock them out. We have to knock
1:03:45
them out fast and we have to get back home and
1:03:47
we have to rebuild our country, which is falling
1:03:49
apart. Thank you, Mr. Trump. Let's turn from
1:03:51
current conflicts to those who have served in
1:03:54
conflicts. Senator Rubio, according to a VA study
1:03:57
of the 22 veterans who commit suicide every day,
1:04:01
17 of them have no connection to the VA. The
1:04:04
VA believes that this lack of connection is one
1:04:07
of the reasons for this tragically high suicide
1:04:09
rate. What specifically would you do as president
1:04:12
to make sure that veterans in crisis are able
1:04:15
to get the help they need? Well, first let me
1:04:17
say that one out of four calls to our office
1:04:19
these days is about a veteran here in Florida
1:04:20
that's struggling with a VA. My brother's a veteran.
1:04:23
He's struggling with a VA. The other day we heard
1:04:25
this horrible story. There was a headline in
1:04:27
the USA Today and it said, calls to the VA suicide
1:04:30
hotline went to voicemail. Well, about a few
1:04:33
days ago, we now found out that one of the gentlemen,
1:04:35
one of the veterans who left a voicemail, committed
1:04:38
suicide. And they happened to call him back the
1:04:40
day after he died. People need to be held accountable
1:04:43
for this. One of the things I'm proudest of is
1:04:45
that in my time in the U .S. Senate, working
1:04:47
with Jeff Miller here from Florida in a bipartisan
1:04:49
way, and I'll give him credit, Bernie Sanders
1:04:50
was a part of this, we passed the VA accountability
1:04:53
bill. And what it did is it created now a law
1:04:56
that gives the VA secretary, because of the law
1:04:58
I passed, it gives the VA secretary the power
1:05:01
to fire people that aren't doing a good job.
1:05:03
Senior executives should be held accountable
1:05:05
if the VA outreach isn't working. The problem
1:05:07
is no one's being held accountable. Even after
1:05:10
we passed that law. No one's been fired for no
1:05:12
outreach. No one's been fired for calls going
1:05:15
to the voicemail. No one's been disciplined.
1:05:17
No one's been demoted. When I'm president of
1:05:19
the United States, if you work at the VA and
1:05:21
you are not doing a good job, you will be fired
1:05:23
from your job at the VA. Governor Kasich, the
1:05:28
Veterans Affairs Department is one of the biggest
1:05:31
line items in the domestic budget. As part of
1:05:34
its attempt to cut costs, the Republican -controlled
1:05:36
House of Representatives just voted. to try to
1:05:39
reduce spending in the post -9 -11 GI Bill. Should
1:05:43
veterans' benefits be part of attempts to reduce
1:05:46
the deficit? I haven't seen the provisions of
1:05:51
that bill, Jake. My initial instincts are no.
1:05:54
And let me just say about the VA, when a veteran
1:05:56
comes home, they ought to have access to health
1:05:58
care wherever they want to go at any time, number
1:06:00
one. Number two, the Veterans Administration
1:06:03
needs to be restructured. It needs to be downsized
1:06:06
and spread out. It needs to be so responsive
1:06:10
to the needs of the veterans. And secondly, the
1:06:12
Pentagon needs to share the information of returning
1:06:14
veterans with the veteran service operations
1:06:17
in the states and with the job people in the
1:06:20
states so that when a veteran comes home, they
1:06:22
can be linked with a job. And when that happens,
1:06:25
that means that every veteran will get work because
1:06:28
they're our golden employees. No veteran ought
1:06:30
to be without health care, no veteran ought to
1:06:32
be homeless, and no veteran ought to be unemployed
1:06:35
in the United States of America. Thank you, Governor
1:06:37
Kasich. Let's turn to another issue of real importance
1:06:40
here in Florida. Just over a week from now, President
1:06:42
Obama will visit Cuba. The first time in 88 years
1:06:46
that a sitting U .S. president will set foot
1:06:48
in Cuba. Two of you on this stage have parents
1:06:51
who were born in Cuba and moved to the United
1:06:53
States. Let's go back to my colleague Dana Bash.
1:06:55
Senator Rubio, Donald Trump agrees with President
1:06:59
Obama in his decision to re -engage diplomatically
1:07:03
in Cuba. The majority of Americans seem to agree
1:07:07
with that as well. So why are President Obama,
1:07:09
Donald Trump, and the majority of Americans wrong?
1:07:11
Well, I would love the relationship between Cuba
1:07:13
and the United States to change. But it will
1:07:15
require Cuba to change, at least its government.
1:07:17
Today it has not. The fact of the matter is that
1:07:20
after these changes were made... After these
1:07:23
changes were made, there are now millions and
1:07:25
hundreds of millions of dollars that will flow
1:07:26
to the Castro regime. It will now allow them
1:07:28
to become set permanent and in stone. They will
1:07:30
now be able to carry out a transition where the
1:07:32
military continues to run the country there.
1:07:34
They'll put a puppet figure forward as their
1:07:36
new president, and nothing will change for the
1:07:38
Cuban people. There has not been a single democratic
1:07:41
opening, not a single change on the island in
1:07:43
human rights. In fact, things are worse than
1:07:45
they were before this opening. The only thing
1:07:47
that's changed as a result of this opening is
1:07:49
that now the Cuban government has more sources
1:07:51
of money. from which to build out their repressive
1:07:54
apparatus and maintain themselves there permanently.
1:07:57
And we ask nothing in return. Compare that...
1:07:59
to the changes that were required in Burma. And
1:08:01
by no means is Burma a perfect country. But at
1:08:04
least when there was a democratic opening to
1:08:06
Burma, they were required to make some democratic
1:08:08
openings. When there was a diplomatic opening,
1:08:10
it required democratic opening. And today, the
1:08:12
former minority party is now the majority party
1:08:15
in their legislative body. He has nothing in
1:08:17
return, and we are getting nothing in return.
1:08:19
And Cuba and its regime remains an anti -American
1:08:21
communist dictatorship, helped North Korea evade
1:08:24
UN sanctions, is harboring fugitives of American
1:08:27
justice, including people stealing our Medicare
1:08:29
money and moving back to Cuba, all in exchange
1:08:32
for nothing. Cuba is fine. You said the concept
1:08:45
of opening Cuba is fine. Why do you agree with
1:08:47
President Obama and disagree with what Senator
1:08:49
Rubio just said? I don't really agree with President
1:08:50
Obama. I think I'm somewhere in the middle. What
1:08:52
I want is I want a much better deal to be made
1:08:55
because right now Cuba is making, as usual with
1:08:58
our country, we don't make good deals. We don't
1:09:00
have our right people negotiating. We have people
1:09:02
that don't have a clue. As an example, I heard
1:09:04
recently where... The threat was made that they
1:09:07
want reparations for years of abuse by the United
1:09:10
States, and nobody's talking about it, and they'll
1:09:13
end up signing a deal, and then we'll get sued
1:09:14
for $400 billion or a trillion dollars. All that
1:09:18
stuff has to be agreed to now. We don't want
1:09:21
to get sued after the deal is made. So I don't
1:09:23
agree with President Obama. I do agree that something
1:09:26
should take place. After 50 years, it's enough
1:09:28
time, folks. we have to make a good deal and
1:09:31
we have to get rid of all the litigation that's
1:09:33
going to happen this was just a little story
1:09:36
but it was a big story to me because they said
1:09:38
oh here we go we make a deal then we get sued
1:09:40
for a tremendous amount of money for reparations
1:09:43
so i want to do something but it's got to be
1:09:45
done intelligently we have to make a good deal
1:09:47
senator ruby i know you want to get in but just
1:09:49
to be clear mr trump are you saying that if you
1:09:57
were president You would continue the diplomatic
1:09:59
relations or would you reverse them? I would
1:10:01
want to make a good deal. I would want to make
1:10:04
a strong, solid, good deal. Because right now,
1:10:06
everything is in Cuba's favor. Right now, everything,
1:10:10
every single aspect of this deal is in Cuba's
1:10:13
favor. It's the same way as the Iran deal. We
1:10:15
never walked. All we do is keep giving. We give
1:10:18
and give and give. Mr. Trump, just to be clear,
1:10:20
there is an embassy that you would have to decide
1:10:22
whether it would be open or whether you would
1:10:24
close it. Which would it be? I would probably
1:10:27
have the embassy closed until such time as a
1:10:31
really good deal was made and struck by the United
1:10:34
States. First of all, the embassy is the former
1:10:37
consulate. It's the same building, so it could
1:10:39
just go back to being called a consulate. We
1:10:41
don't have to close it that way. Second of all,
1:10:43
I don't know where Cuba is going to sue us, but
1:10:44
if they sue us in a court in Miami, they're going
1:10:45
to lose. Third, on the issue of a good deal,
1:10:53
I know what the good deal is. I'll tell you what
1:10:55
the good deal now is already codified. Here's
1:10:57
a good deal. Cuba has free elections. Cuba stops
1:10:59
putting people in jail for speaking out. Cuba
1:11:02
has freedom of the press. Cuba kicks out the
1:11:05
Russians from Lourdes and kicks out this Chinese
1:11:07
listening station in Bejucal. Cuba stops helping
1:11:10
North Korea invade UN sanctions. Cuba takes all
1:11:13
of those fugitives of American justice, including
1:11:15
that cop killer from New Jersey, and send her
1:11:18
back to... Can you reverse course and once again
1:11:33
break diplomatic relations with Cuba? Yes, I
1:11:36
would. And, you know, I think this exchange actually
1:11:39
highlights a real... Yolando told me, quote,
1:12:26
climate change means rising ocean levels, which
1:12:29
in South Florida means flooding downtown and
1:12:31
in our neighborhoods. It's an everyday reality
1:12:34
in our city. Will you, as president, acknowledge
1:12:37
the reality of the scientific consensus about
1:12:39
climate change? And as president, will you pledge
1:12:42
to do something about it? Unquote. Senator Rubio,
1:12:45
the Miami mayor, has endorsed you. Will you honor
1:12:48
his request for a pledge and acknowledge the
1:12:51
reality of the scientific consensus of climate
1:12:53
change and pledge to do something about it? Sure,
1:12:55
the climate is changing. And one of the reasons
1:12:56
why the climate is changing is because the climate
1:12:59
has always been changing. There has never been
1:13:01
a time when the climate has not changed. I think
1:13:03
the fundamental question for... I'll see you
1:13:16
at the same time that you have strong economic
1:13:18
growth. They are not inconsistent with one another.
1:13:21
Thank you, Governor. Senator Cruz, I want to
1:13:23
talk a little bit right now about how you gentlemen
1:13:26
see the world. Senator Cruz, Colin Powell this
1:13:30
week said that the nasty tone of this presidential
1:13:32
election is hurting the image of the U .S. abroad.
1:13:35
He said, quote, foreigners of the world looking
1:13:37
at this are distressed. Does it matter to you
1:13:40
what the rest of the world thinks of the United
1:13:42
States? Of course it does. And we've seen for
1:13:46
seven years a president that has made the presidency
1:13:51
and has made, sadly, his administration a laughingstock
1:13:55
in the world. This administration started with
1:13:59
President Obama sending back the bust of Winston
1:14:02
Churchill to the United Kingdom within the opening
1:14:04
weeks. Then he proceeded to go on a worldwide
1:14:07
apology tour, apologizing for the United States
1:14:10
of America. Our friends and allies quickly learned
1:14:13
America could not be counted on. I'll tell you,
1:14:15
when I travel abroad, when I meet with heads
1:14:17
of states and defense ministers and foreign ministers,
1:14:19
they say over and over again, it is hard to be
1:14:22
friends with America. We can't count on America.
1:14:24
America doesn't stand with us. And that is a
1:14:27
disgrace. But the good news is, Jake, we've seen
1:14:30
this before. We have seen a weak Democratic president
1:14:34
undermine the military, weaken our readiness,
1:14:36
weaken our respect in the world with Jimmy Carter.
1:14:39
And in January 1981, Ronald Reagan came into
1:14:42
office, and that can change overnight. It's worth
1:14:46
remembering, Iran released our hostages the day
1:14:51
Ronald Reagan was sworn into office. And America
1:14:55
needs a president who stands with our friends
1:14:58
and allies. as I will do and who stands up and
1:15:01
demonstrates strength to our enemies. That's
1:15:04
why on day one I will rip to shreds this catastrophic
1:15:07
Iranian nuclear deal because the Ayatollah Khomeini
1:15:11
must never be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons.
1:15:14
Thank you, Senator. Mr. Trump, some of your Republican
1:15:18
critics have expressed concern about comments
1:15:21
you have made praising authoritarian dictators.
1:15:24
You have said positive things about Putin as
1:15:26
a leader. and about China's massacre of pro -democracy
1:15:29
protesters at Tiananmen Square. You said, quote,
1:15:32
when the students poured into Tiananmen Square,
1:15:34
the Chinese government almost blew it. Then they
1:15:37
were vicious. They were horrible. But they put
1:15:38
it down with strength. That shows you the power
1:15:41
of strength. How do you respond? That doesn't
1:15:43
mean I was endorsing that. I was not endorsing
1:15:45
it. I said that is a strong, powerful government
1:15:48
that put it down with strength. And they kept
1:15:50
down. the riot. It was a horrible thing. It doesn't
1:15:53
mean at all I was endorsing it. As far as Putin
1:15:55
is concerned, I think Putin's been a very strong
1:15:57
leader for Russia. He's been a lot stronger than
1:15:59
our leader, that I can tell you. I mean, for
1:16:01
Russia. That doesn't mean I'm endorsing Putin.
1:16:05
But the word strong, obviously, is a compliment.
1:16:08
And many people would look at what the Chinese
1:16:10
leaders have done and what Putin is doing as
1:16:13
atrocities. I used to think Merkel was a great
1:16:15
leader until she did what she did to Germany.
1:16:17
Germany is a disaster right now. So I used to
1:16:20
think that. And strong doesn't mean good. Putin
1:16:25
is a strong leader. Absolutely. I could name
1:16:27
many strong leaders. I could name very many very
1:16:30
weak leaders. But he is a strong leader. Now,
1:16:33
I don't say that in a good way or a bad way.
1:16:35
I say it as a fact. Governor Kasich, when you
1:16:38
were a member of Congress, you were outspoken
1:16:41
about the Tiananmen Square massacre. What do
1:16:44
you think? I think that the Chinese government
1:16:47
butchered those kids. And when that guy stood
1:16:50
in front, that young man stood in front of that
1:16:52
tank, we ought to build a statue of him over
1:16:54
here when he faced down the Chinese government.
1:16:56
Now, I will tell you, I don't believe that we
1:17:01
need to make China an enemy. They're a competitor.
1:17:04
But I want to go back to three things they should
1:17:07
do. We should have the heat on them to work in
1:17:09
North Korea to get rid of that guy and the things
1:17:12
that he's doing, number one. Number two, they
1:17:14
need to realize they don't own the South China
1:17:17
Sea. And I will compliment the administration
1:17:19
for sending some carrier battle group into the
1:17:23
South China Sea. And thirdly, when it comes to
1:17:26
the issue of cyber attacks, we're going to have
1:17:29
to beef up the cyber command. And they need to
1:17:32
understand that if you attack us, we will defend
1:17:34
ourselves, everything, including our grid. But
1:17:37
if you do it, we have the capability to take
1:17:40
out your systems. The president has not given
1:17:42
the cyber command that authority. I will. And
1:17:45
when it comes to trade, I will tell you this.
1:17:48
They can't manipulate their currency. That will
1:17:50
not be anything that I would allow them to get
1:17:53
away with. And if I saw them doing it, I would
1:17:55
take immediate action to make sure that the American
1:17:57
worker is protected. Thank you, Governor Kasich.
1:18:00
We're going to take another quick break. When
1:18:01
we come back. we'll have more of the republican
1:18:04
presidential debate from miami florida right
1:18:06
after this stay with us people come with keep
1:18:14
an eye on your general election opponent clearly
1:18:17
indicated she sees this as an issue for the campaign
1:18:19
she said quote this kind of behavior is repugnant
1:18:22
we set the tone for our campaigns we should encourage
1:18:25
respect not violence do you believe that you've
1:18:28
done anything to create a tone where this kind
1:18:30
of violence would be encouraged i hope not i
1:18:33
truly hope not i will say this We have 25, 30
1:18:37
,000 people. You've seen it yourself. People
1:18:40
come with tremendous passion and love for the
1:18:42
country. And when they see protest in some cases,
1:18:45
you know, you're mentioning one case, which I
1:18:46
haven't seen. I heard about it, which I don't
1:18:48
like. But when they see what's going on in this
1:18:52
country, they have anger that's unbelievable.
1:18:55
They have anger. They love this country. They
1:18:57
don't like seeing bad trade deals. They don't
1:19:00
like seeing higher taxes. They don't like seeing
1:19:02
a loss of their jobs where. Our jobs have just
1:19:05
been devastated. And I know, I mean, I see it.
1:19:08
There is some anger. There's also great love
1:19:11
for the country. It's a beautiful thing in many
1:19:13
respects, but I certainly do not condone that
1:19:15
at all, Jake. Some of your critics point to quotes
1:19:18
that you've made at these rallies, including
1:19:20
February 23rd, I'd like to punch him in the face,
1:19:24
referring to a protester. February 27th, in the
1:19:28
good old days, they'd have ripped him out of
1:19:29
that seat so fast. February 1st, knock the crap
1:19:32
out of them, would you? Seriously, okay, just
1:19:33
knock the hell. I promise you, I will pay for
1:19:37
the legal fees, I promise, I promise. We have
1:19:40
some protesters who are bad dudes. They have
1:19:44
done bad things. They are swinging, they are
1:19:46
really dangerous, and they get in there and they
1:19:49
start hitting people, and we had a couple big,
1:19:52
strong, powerful guys doing damage to people,
1:19:56
not only the loudness, the loudness I don't mind,
1:19:58
but doing serious damage. And if they're going
1:20:01
to be taken out, I'll be honest, I mean, we have
1:20:04
to run something. And it's not me. It's usually
1:20:06
the municipal government, the police, because
1:20:08
I don't have guards all over these stadiums.
1:20:10
I mean, we fill up stadiums. It's usually the
1:20:13
police. And by the way, speaking of the police,
1:20:15
we should pay our respects to the police because
1:20:18
they are taking tremendous abuse of this country.
1:20:21
And they do a phenomenal job. So we should pay.
1:20:26
We should truly give our police, they're incredible
1:20:28
people, we should give them a great deal more
1:20:31
respect than they receive. Senator Cruz, are
1:20:34
you concerned at all that these kinds of scenes
1:20:36
potentially hurt the Republican Party for the
1:20:38
general election? Listen, I think for every one
1:20:40
of us, we need to show respect to the people.
1:20:43
We need to remember who it is we're working for.
1:20:48
You know, we've seen for seven years a president...
1:20:56
who believes he's above the law, who behaves
1:20:59
like an emperor, who it is all about him, and
1:21:03
he forgot that he's working for the American
1:21:06
people. Let me ask, turn the camera out here.
1:21:09
How many of y 'all feel disrespected by Washington?
1:21:16
Washington isn't listening to the people, and
1:21:20
that's the frustration that is boiling over.
1:21:24
And we need to nominate and elect a president
1:21:27
who remembers he works for the people. You know,
1:21:29
at Donald's rallies recently, he's taken to asking
1:21:33
people in the crowd to raise their hand and pledge
1:21:36
their support to him. Now, I've got to say, to
1:21:40
me, I think that's exactly backwards. This is
1:21:43
a job interview. We are here pledging our support
1:21:46
to you, not the other way around. And the only
1:21:52
hand -raising that I'm interested in doing...
1:21:56
is on January 20th, 2017, raising my hand with
1:22:00
my left hand on the Bible and pledging to the
1:22:02
American people to preserve, protect, and defend
1:22:05
the Constitution of the United States. Mr. Trapp,
1:22:07
if you'd like to respond. It shows the total
1:22:12
dishonesty of the press. We were having, on a
1:22:15
few occasions, again, massive crowds, and we're
1:22:17
talking, and I'm saying, who's going to vote
1:22:20
on Tuesday? Who's going to vote? The place goes
1:22:21
crazy. Then I say, hey, do me a favor. Raise
1:22:25
your right hand. Do you swear you're going to
1:22:27
vote for Donald Trump? Everyone's laughing. We're
1:22:29
all having a good time. And, you know, that's
1:22:31
why I have much bigger crowds than Ted, because
1:22:33
we have a good time at my club. But we're all
1:22:38
having a good time. And the next day on the Today
1:22:41
Show, and a couple of other places, not too many,
1:22:45
because when you look at it, everyone's smiling,
1:22:47
laughing, their arms are raised like this. They
1:22:49
had pictures, still pictures, of people. And
1:22:52
they tried to equate it to Nazi Germany. It is
1:22:55
a disgrace. It was a total disgrace. And I've
1:22:58
had reporters, people that you know, come up
1:23:00
to me and said that what they did on the Today
1:23:04
Show was a disgrace. Governor Kasich, do you
1:23:10
worry about the scenes of violence at some of
1:23:12
these rallies affecting the Republican Party's
1:23:14
chances in November? Well, I worry about the
1:23:16
violence at a rally, period. I mean, elections
1:23:19
are important, but the unity of this country
1:23:22
really matters. Jake, here is what I think is
1:23:25
happening. There are people out there who are
1:23:27
worried about their jobs. They're worried that
1:23:30
somebody's going to come in and tell them they're
1:23:31
out of work and they're 54 years old and they
1:23:33
don't know where they're going to get another
1:23:34
job, a man and a woman. Maybe they're worried
1:23:37
about a trade deal. They're worried about the
1:23:39
fact that their wages haven't gone up. They're
1:23:41
worried that their kids went to college and the
1:23:43
promise was you go to college, you get a job,
1:23:45
things are going to be great. They went to college,
1:23:47
they rang up debt, and they're still living in
1:23:49
their parents' basement. People are uptight.
1:23:51
Our seniors are worried they're going to lose
1:23:53
their Social Security. There's two ways to treat
1:23:55
it. You can either prey on that and be negative
1:23:58
about it, or you can tell people that these things
1:24:01
can be fixed. If we're Americans rather than
1:24:04
Republicans and Democrats, we get together, we
1:24:06
can solve all of these problems. We can provide
1:24:08
financial security. We can drive the wages up.
1:24:11
We can get kids jobs with a more robust economy.
1:24:14
And you know what? They want to help solve these
1:24:17
problems right where they live, and I'll give
1:24:18
them the power to do it. Senator Rubio, I know
1:24:20
you want to say something. I do. A couple points.
1:24:22
The first is, I'm concerned about violence in
1:24:24
general in this society. And by the way, the
1:24:25
first people that are facing that violence are
1:24:27
our law enforcement officers. And they deserve
1:24:29
our respect, and they deserve our thanks for
1:24:31
everything they do for us. On the issue of anger,
1:24:35
yes, people are angry. Of course they're angry.
1:24:37
Every institution in America has been failing
1:24:39
us for the better part of 20 or 30 years. But
1:24:42
leadership is not about using the anger. Leadership
1:24:44
is about using the anger to motivate us, not
1:24:47
to define us, but to motivate us to take action.
1:24:50
Being here in Miami special, my grandfather lived
1:24:52
with us most of our life, most of his life while
1:24:55
I was growing up, and he would sit in the porch
1:24:57
of our home and tell me all kinds of stories
1:24:59
and things I learned about history. My grandfather
1:25:01
was born in 1899 before there were airplanes
1:25:03
in the sky. One night in the summer of 1969,
1:25:07
he watched a man set foot on the moon. You know
1:25:09
what he said when he saw that? He said, Americans
1:25:11
can do anything. Americans can do anything. There
1:25:14
is no problem before us we cannot solve, and
1:25:16
we can solve it if we come together in a serious
1:25:18
way in this generation and embrace all of the
1:25:21
principles that made us great to begin with.
1:25:22
Thank you, Senator. The math suggests that it's
1:25:28
possible. that not one of you will reach the
1:25:31
magic number of 1 ,237 delegates before the Republican
1:25:34
Convention, which would mean a contested convention.
1:25:37
Let's go back to Salem Radio's Hugh Hewitt. Thank
1:25:40
you, Jake. Governor Kasich, the math and the
1:25:42
maps say that you can only become the nominee
1:25:44
if, in fact, there is a contested convention.
1:25:46
If we arrive on the shores of Lake Erie... Donald
1:25:49
Trump has the most delegates. Why shouldn't the
1:25:52
person with the most delegates, even if it's
1:25:54
not a majority of delegates, be the nominee?
1:25:56
Well, first of all, let's not, you know, math
1:25:58
doesn't tell the whole story in politics. You
1:26:00
know, the great thing about politics, you know,
1:26:01
the reason why we watch it is because what's
1:26:03
true today is not necessarily true tomorrow.
1:26:05
So let's not get ahead of ourselves. Secondly,
1:26:08
look, when you went to school up there in Salem,
1:26:12
Ohio, okay, if you got an 86, you got a B. Because
1:26:16
everybody else had an 84, it didn't mean you
1:26:18
got an A. So you just have to win enough delegates
1:26:21
to be the nominee. And frankly, I don't know
1:26:23
if we're going to get a convention like that,
1:26:25
but if we do, I was at one in 1976 as a wee lad
1:26:29
and supported Ronald Reagan and actually worked
1:26:31
directly with him. He tried valiantly. He lost.
1:26:34
Gerald Ford won. The party was united. Gerald
1:26:37
Ford served the country great by pardoning Richard
1:26:40
Nixon. He lost the election probably because
1:26:42
of that, but he put America first. And we were
1:26:45
healed as a party. So, look, you have to earn
1:26:48
the delegates in order to be picked. But let's
1:26:51
not get ahead of ourselves. We don't know what's
1:26:53
going to happen because we still have about half
1:26:54
the delegates to be selected. And that's what's
1:26:57
going to be a very interesting thing to see how
1:26:59
it all turns out as we move forward over the
1:27:02
next couple weeks. Thank you, Governor. Mr. Trump,
1:27:04
if you arrive in Cleveland with a plurality,
1:27:08
and the most, but not a majority, is it legitimate
1:27:11
for someone else to emerge from that? convention,
1:27:14
the nominee, and if so, would you support that
1:27:17
person? I think that what should happen, getting
1:27:19
back maybe a little bit to your first question,
1:27:21
I think that whoever... First of all, I think
1:27:23
I'm going to have the delegates, okay? I think.
1:27:26
Let's see what happens. Let's see what happens.
1:27:30
But if somebody doesn't have the delegates, and
1:27:33
I guess there's two of us up here that can, and
1:27:35
there are two of us that cannot at this moment.
1:27:37
But if some... No, that's just... By the way,
1:27:40
that is not meant to be a criticism. That's just
1:27:42
a mathematical fact, okay? if two of us uh get
1:27:46
up there i i would say this if if marco if the
1:27:51
governor if ted had more votes than me in the
1:27:55
form of delegates i think whoever gets to that
1:27:57
top position as opposed to solving that artificial
1:28:00
number that was set by somebody which is a very
1:28:02
random number i think that whoever gets the most
1:28:05
delegates should win that's what i think senator
1:28:08
cruz if you if you If you overtake Donald Trump
1:28:12
at the convention, what will you do to take his
1:28:14
very passionate supporters and keep them from
1:28:16
bolting the convention and sabotaging the fall
1:28:19
election? Well, look, there's some folks in Washington...
1:28:22
Make me president. Donald, you are welcome to
1:28:26
be president of the Smithsonian. You know, there's
1:28:33
some in Washington who are having fevered dreams
1:28:37
of a brokered convention. They're unhappy with
1:28:40
how the people are voting, and they want to parachute
1:28:42
in their favored Washington candidate to be the
1:28:45
nominee. I think that would be an absolute disaster,
1:28:48
and we need to respect the will of the voters.
1:28:51
It's one of the reasons why in the course of
1:28:54
this election, listen, everyone up here has worked
1:28:56
very, very hard, but Donald is right. There are
1:28:58
only two of us that have a path to winning the
1:29:01
nomination, Donald and myself. At this point...
1:29:05
I have roughly 360 delegates. He has about 100
1:29:08
more than I have. We have at this point beaten
1:29:12
Donald in eight separate states all over the
1:29:14
country. Geographically, from Maine to Alaska,
1:29:18
from Kansas to Texas, all over this country,
1:29:20
we have beaten him. And so for the people at
1:29:23
home, if you're one of the 65, 70 percent of
1:29:26
Republicans who recognizes that if we nominate
1:29:29
Donald Trump, Hillary wins. That's why the media
1:29:32
wants him to be the nominee so much. If you recognize
1:29:35
that, then I want to invite you, if you've supported
1:29:38
other candidates, come and join us. We are seeing
1:29:41
candidates coming together and uniting. It's
1:29:44
why Carly Fiorina endorsed me yesterday. It's
1:29:47
why Mike Lee endorsed me today. I ask everyone
1:29:50
to come together. Let's stand together and let's
1:29:53
beat Hillary Clinton in November. Mr. Trump,
1:29:56
then to Senator Rubio. You know, I listen and
1:29:59
I watch Ted on television and when he speaks
1:30:02
and he's always saying, I'm the only one that
1:30:04
beat Donald in six contests and I beat him, but
1:30:08
I beat him in 13 contests. He never mentions
1:30:11
that. And let me just tell you another little
1:30:14
fact, little minor fact. I have about a million
1:30:18
six hundred thousand votes during this primary
1:30:21
season, more votes than Ted. The other thing
1:30:24
is. I beat Hillary, and I will give you the list.
1:30:27
I beat Hillary in many of the polls that have
1:30:30
been taken. And each week, I get better and better.
1:30:33
And believe me, I haven't even started on her
1:30:36
yet. Senator Rubio, let me tell you what this
1:30:40
election is about for me. And I get all the delegate
1:30:43
math and all that debate. Let me tell you what
1:30:44
it's about for me. On Tuesday night, I didn't
1:30:46
do as well, obviously, as I wanted to. And I
1:30:48
was a little bit disappointed when I got home.
1:30:50
And my wife told me a story that night, which
1:30:52
is the reason why I can get up the next day and
1:30:54
keep fighting. There's a gentleman here in South
1:30:57
Florida who just got out of surgery and his doctors
1:31:00
told him he needs to be home resting. But every
1:31:02
afternoon he takes his little aluminum chair
1:31:04
and he sits outside of an early polling center
1:31:06
and holds a sign that says Marco Rubio. Because
1:31:09
for him, I symbolize all the sacrifices that
1:31:12
his generation made so their children could have
1:31:14
a better life than themselves. That gentleman
1:31:17
has not given up on me and I am not going to
1:31:19
give up on him. I am going to work tirelessly
1:31:21
every single day because this election is too
1:31:23
important. What's at stake is the future of this
1:31:26
country. And I believe, I believe that at the
1:31:29
end of this process, this nation will make the
1:31:31
right choice. Because I've always believed that
1:31:33
God has blessed America, that God's hand is upon
1:31:35
this country, and that its greatest days are
1:31:37
yet to come. Thank you, Senator. Let's turn back
1:31:40
to Stephen Dynan of The Washington Times. Stephen.
1:31:43
Mr. Trump, one of your biggest selling points
1:31:46
is that you are largely self -funding your campaign.
1:31:49
Yes, sir. And you argue your opponents are controlled
1:31:50
by their special interest donors. Will you maintain
1:31:53
your pledge not to take outside contributions
1:31:56
throughout the general election? I have not made
1:31:58
that decision yet. I will make a decision on
1:32:01
that, but I have not made that decision yet.
1:32:02
My decision was that I would go through the entire
1:32:05
primary season, and I have turned down probably
1:32:07
$275 million worth. I have many, many friends
1:32:11
that come up all day long. $5 million, $10 million,
1:32:14
I'm turning down money. I feel sort of foolish,
1:32:16
to be honest with you. I don't know if I get
1:32:17
any credit for it, but I'm self -funding my campaign.
1:32:20
And by the way, other than very small donations
1:32:23
where people are sending in $200, $15, $20, and
1:32:27
we have some of that, but it's not a large amount.
1:32:30
No, I'm self -funding my campaign. And the reason
1:32:32
is that I've been in this business a long time,
1:32:36
and I was on the other side until eight months
1:32:38
ago. I was on the other side. I made massive
1:32:40
contributions, large contributions to politicians,
1:32:43
both Democrats and Republicans. I was liked by
1:32:46
everybody, which is an important thing. I will
1:32:48
say this. People control special interests, lobbyists,
1:32:53
donors. They make large contributions to politicians,
1:32:57
and they have total control over those politicians.
1:33:00
I don't want anybody to control me but the people
1:33:04
right out there. And I'm going to do the right
1:33:06
thing. Senator Cruz, I want to come to you. The
1:33:10
vast majority of Republicans and voters overall
1:33:12
agree with Mr. Trump. the candidates are beholden
1:33:15
to people and groups who donate to their campaigns
1:33:17
do you deny that those big donors do have influence
1:33:20
look absolutely and one of the things we're so
1:33:23
frustrated about is the corruption what i've
1:33:25
called the washington cartel it's career politicians
1:33:28
in both parties that get in bed with the lobbyists
1:33:32
and special interests and and listen donald told
1:33:34
you for 40 years he's been sitting at that table
1:33:37
using his money to buy influence supporting liberal
1:33:40
Democrats like Hillary Clinton and John Kerry,
1:33:43
but also supporting the Republican establishment
1:33:45
and funding their effort to crush the Tea Party.
1:33:48
And now his argument is, after four decades of
1:33:51
being part of that influence buying, after Hillary
1:33:54
Clinton spending decades being part of that influence
1:33:56
selling, that suddenly he will change. But the
1:33:59
interesting point is, tonight he hasn't pointed
1:34:02
to a single special interest he's willing to
1:34:04
take on. He didn't take on Wall Street when he
1:34:07
supported the TARP. bailout in Wall Street. He
1:34:09
won't take on ethanol. And my campaign, by contrast,
1:34:13
was funded by 1 .1 million contributions all
1:34:17
over this country. Thank you, Senator. I want
1:34:18
to go to Mr. Trump for a response. $62 at TedCruz
1:34:20
.org. Thank you, Senator. That's who you've got
1:34:22
to be accountable to, the people. Ted was given
1:34:25
to PACs. I mean, PACs, you know, these super
1:34:27
PACs are a disaster, by the way, folks. Very
1:34:29
corrupt. It's going to lead to lots of disasters.
1:34:32
But TED has super PACs, and you have to look
1:34:35
at the people that are giving to those super
1:34:37
PACs, number one. It's very important to do that.
1:34:39
There is total control of the candidates. I know
1:34:43
it better than anybody that probably ever lived.
1:34:46
And I will tell you this. I know the system far
1:34:50
better than anybody else, and I know the system
1:34:53
is broken, and I'm the one, because I know it
1:34:55
so well, because I was on both sides of it, I
1:34:58
was on the other side all my life. And I've always
1:35:01
made large contributions. And frankly, I know
1:35:04
the system better than anybody else. And I'm
1:35:05
the only one up here that's going to be able
1:35:07
to fix that system because that system is wrong.
1:35:10
Thank you, Mr. Trump. Senator Rubio, I want to
1:35:12
come to you with a question. At the last debate,
1:35:15
you mocked Mr. Trump for being flexible. With
1:35:18
so much gridlock in Washington, how can you expect
1:35:21
to leave the country and get things done if you
1:35:23
aren't willing to show flexibility? Well, I think
1:35:26
you can be flexible about ideas. You shouldn't
1:35:28
be flexible about your principles. about when
1:35:30
it comes to ideas and working with people. I
1:35:32
have a record of having done that. Listen, on
1:35:34
the issue of higher education, I'm the only one
1:35:36
that continually talks about student loan debt,
1:35:38
because I owed over $100 ,000 of student loan
1:35:40
debt. So I know this is a major issue, and all
1:35:42
my ideas that deal with higher education are
1:35:44
bipartisan. The VA Accountability Act that I
1:35:47
passed, I did it on a bipartisan basis. The sanctions
1:35:50
that I imposed on Hezbollah, I did it on a bipartisan
1:35:53
basis. The Girls Count Act that deals with human
1:35:56
trafficking, we did that on a bipartisan basis.
1:35:59
But I also want to be frank. There are issues
1:36:01
we're going to have to have an election over.
1:36:03
When it comes to repealing and replacing Obamacare,
1:36:05
that's not going to be bipartisan. When it comes
1:36:07
to reducing the tax burdens on Americans, that's
1:36:10
not going to be bipartisan. When it comes to
1:36:12
shrinking the size of the federal bureaucracy,
1:36:14
that's probably not going to be bipartisan. There
1:36:17
are issues we can work together on, and we should,
1:36:19
but there are fundamental issues about the proper
1:36:21
role of government, and on those issues, I will
1:36:24
fight anyone who wants to expand government,
1:36:26
raise taxes, or weaken our military. But specifically,
1:36:32
you talked about flexibility and one of the examples
1:36:35
you gave was the height of the border fence.
1:36:37
What are some of the other issues on which you're
1:36:39
willing to show flexibility? It depends on what
1:36:41
comes up. You never know. It depends on what
1:36:43
comes up. Look, look, we had a great president,
1:36:46
Ronald Reagan. We had Tip O 'Neill, Speaker.
1:36:49
and what what what do we do we take these two
1:36:52
men that are very very different men they got
1:36:54
along they had relationships and they got things
1:36:58
done and very beautifully nobody's complaining
1:36:59
about the deals that ronald reagan made and he
1:37:02
made it with tip o 'neill we need to have people
1:37:05
get together and work good deals out good deals
1:37:09
out from our standpoint and i'll tell you this
1:37:12
It can be done. We don't want to continue to
1:37:14
watch people signing executive orders because
1:37:16
that was not what the Constitution and the brilliant
1:37:19
designers of this incredible document had in
1:37:23
mind. We need people that can make deals and
1:37:27
can work. Because right now, in Washington, there's
1:37:29
total, absolute gridlock. Thank you, sir. I want
1:37:32
to go to Governor Kasich on this issue of flexibility,
1:37:34
sir. Well, look, my record speaks for itself.
1:37:39
What I talk about tonight is not theory. These
1:37:42
are things that I've done. I was there when we
1:37:45
reformed the Pentagon on a bipartisan basis to
1:37:48
give control to the commanders in the field and
1:37:50
force the services to work together. I was the
1:37:53
chief architect, along with Senator Domenici,
1:37:55
of the last time we balanced the budget and the
1:37:56
first time since we walked on the moon. I was
1:37:59
there when I worked on the welfare reform in
1:38:01
Washington, and we got it done, and we eliminated
1:38:03
the entitlement on welfare. I then went to Ohio
1:38:06
and took Ohio from a basket case, working on
1:38:09
a bipartisan basis to reform many things, including
1:38:12
the Cleveland public schools, working with the
1:38:14
Democratic mayor. My problem isn't that people
1:38:17
don't know this. They say, well, what does that
1:38:20
mean? Does that mean you're too easy? Well, let
1:38:22
me tell you, when we did the balanced budget,
1:38:24
we cut the capital gains tax. We provided a family
1:38:27
tax credit. We shrunk the government. In my state,
1:38:30
the state of Ohio has the smallest government
1:38:32
in the state of Ohio in 30 years. Conservative
1:38:35
principles will work, but show respect to the
1:38:38
other side. One final thing, in regard to Social
1:38:41
Security, we will not get that done alone. We
1:38:44
will have to have some responsible Democrats
1:38:46
who will come in to fix the problem of Social
1:38:49
Security. I know how to do it because I've done
1:38:51
it, and I'll do it again. Thank you, Governor.
1:38:52
We have time for one last break. We'll be right
1:38:54
back after this. Think tonight's debate is tough?
1:39:04
It's David and Goliath if David didn't even have
1:39:06
a slingshot. For an underdog named Lincoln, it
1:39:09
was a much bigger fight. The debates drew enormous
1:39:11
crowds. Stephen A. Douglas was a ruthless politician.
1:39:15
Abraham Lincoln, he's an unknown. The only thing
1:39:18
Lincoln has is his ability to orate. By the time
1:39:21
he finishes, he has them in the palm of his hand.
1:39:25
For the White House, narrated by Kevin Spacey,
1:39:29
Sundays on CNN. Let's take a break from politics
1:39:36
this month. Let's have a few Bud Lights and focus
1:39:38
on what unites us all. Three weeks of nonstop
1:39:41
basketball. Enough attack ads and name calling.
1:39:45
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American Institute of Architects. The commission
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We have to accept the risk. The choices we make
1:42:42
now will define the world that we leave to our
1:42:46
children. Rated R. State of the Union with Jake
1:42:52
Tapper, Sunday at 9 and noon on CNN. The Republican
1:43:03
presidential debate, just five days. Positive
1:43:19
campaign for President of the United States.
1:43:21
I've tried to be positive in such a way as to
1:43:23
show my record, my accomplishments, my vision.
1:43:26
And I wanted to raise the bar in presidential
1:43:29
politics so our kids can take a look at the way
1:43:31
you can run for president and you will someday
1:43:34
maybe be President of the United States. You
1:43:37
know, sometimes being positive isn't all that
1:43:39
interesting. but it's very interesting to my
1:43:41
family my children and so many supporters that
1:43:43
i meet all across the country and i will continue
1:43:46
to run a positive campaign i can fix the problems
1:43:49
in washington i've done it before and in fact
1:43:52
i want to turn power money and influence back
1:43:54
to you the american people so that you can be
1:43:57
in the schools and on the streets fighting drugs
1:44:00
and dealing with the issues of poverty we can
1:44:03
do this together allow me to take care of the
1:44:06
federal issues when i send the power back and
1:44:08
the money and the influence to you then you can
1:44:11
strengthen our neighborhoods and our families
1:44:13
that's where the spirit and strength of america
1:44:15
is but ask the people my friends in illinois
1:44:18
and of course my beloved buckeyes to consider
1:44:22
me on tuesday and please let me have your vote
1:44:25
god bless senator rubio it is great to be here
1:44:30
back at home in miami it's hard to believe that
1:44:32
just two decades ago my father was just a bartender
1:44:34
working in the city And now his son stands on
1:44:37
the stage here as a candidate for the highest
1:44:40
office in the land. My parents never wanted me
1:44:42
to go into politics in particular or anything
1:44:44
else. They just wanted me to have the opportunity
1:44:47
to live out all the dreams they once had for
1:44:49
themselves. And that was possible because America
1:44:51
is a special country. But that was not an accident.
1:44:55
America is great because each generation before
1:44:57
us did what needed to be done. They solved their
1:45:00
problems. They confronted their challenges. They
1:45:02
embraced their opportunities. And for over two
1:45:04
centuries, each generation has left the next
1:45:06
better off. Now the moment has arrived for our
1:45:09
generation to do our part. And I'm telling you
1:45:11
tonight, if you vote for me here in Florida and
1:45:13
everywhere across this country on Tuesday, when
1:45:16
I'm elected president, this generation will do
1:45:18
its part. We will do whatever it takes to ensure
1:45:21
that our children inherit from us what we inherited
1:45:24
from our parents. The single greatest nation
1:45:26
in the history of all of mankind. Senator Cruz.
1:45:36
Senator Cruz. What an incredible nation we have
1:45:40
that the son of a bartender and the son of a
1:45:42
mailman and the son of a dishwasher and a successful
1:45:44
businessman can all stand on this stage competing
1:45:48
and asking for your support. In just a few months,
1:45:53
one of us is going to stand on the debate stage
1:45:56
with Hillary Clinton. And the choice we are making
1:46:00
today is who will best defend our values, who
1:46:03
will best defend your values and fight for you.
1:46:07
I have to tell you, I cannot wait to stand on
1:46:10
that stage with Hillary Clinton and say, Madam
1:46:13
Secretary, you are asking for a third term of
1:46:15
a failed administration. You are asking for millions
1:46:18
more to remain in stagnant jobs, for millions
1:46:22
more steel workers to be out of work, for wages
1:46:24
to remain low, for young people not to have a
1:46:27
future. We can do better. We can instead. repeal
1:46:32
Obamacare, abolish the IRS, unleash millions
1:46:35
of jobs, defend the Bill of Rights, defend the
1:46:38
Second Amendment, religious liberty, stand with
1:46:40
our cops and our firefighters and our soldiers,
1:46:43
and we can keep America safe. That's the choice
1:46:46
I will put to her this fall. Mr. Trump. Thank
1:46:57
you very much. The Republican Party has a great
1:47:01
chance to embrace millions of people that it's
1:47:05
never known before. They're coming by the millions.
1:47:08
We should seize that opportunity. These are great
1:47:11
people. These are fantastic people. These are
1:47:14
people that love our country. These are people
1:47:17
that want to see America be great again. These
1:47:20
are people that will win us the election and
1:47:23
win it easily. These are people that once the
1:47:26
election is won, we'll be able to put Supreme
1:47:29
Court justices up that will do a fabulous job.
1:47:33
Because let me tell you, if we lose this election,
1:47:36
you're going to have three, four or maybe even
1:47:38
five justices. And this country will never, ever
1:47:42
recover. It will take it will take centuries
1:47:45
to recover. So I just say embrace these millions
1:47:49
of people that now for the first time ever love.
1:47:54
the Republican Party and unify. Be smart and
1:47:58
unify. And that concludes this 12th Republican
1:48:04
presidential debate. We want to thank the candidates,
1:48:06
the Republican National Committee, the University
1:48:09
of Miami, and of course, each of you for watching.
1:48:11
I'm Jake Tapper. Our coverage continues right
1:48:13
now with Anderson Cooper. Anderson. Jake, thanks
1:48:19
very much. Good evening again from the University
1:48:21
of Miami, where the final Republican debate before
1:48:23
a very big Super Tuesday. just wrapped up. The
1:48:27
candidates, two of whom may have to make some
1:48:29
very tough choices next week, have faced off
1:48:31
11 times before tonight. Never quite this way.
1:48:34
This was a very different debate than we've seen
1:48:36
so far. We're expecting to speak shortly with
1:48:39
the two frontrunners in this race, Donald Trump
1:48:41
and Ted Cruz. Joining us tonight, CNN Inside
1:48:43
Politics anchor John King, Chief Political Analyst
1:48:46
Gloria Borgia. Let's go to Chris Cuomo on stage.
1:48:48
Chris. All right. Thank you very much right now.
1:48:53
Mr. Trump. Thank you. We're hearing from everybody,
1:48:56
including party officials, that it was a very
1:48:58
different debate tonight. Again, from officials
1:49:01
saying they think it was probably the most substantive,
1:49:04
the least sniping. What was your take? I thought
1:49:07
it was a very elegant debate. I thought it was
1:49:09
very substantive. And I thought it was a really
1:49:12
I think your folks did a great job. I thought
1:49:14
it was very fair. And we needed this kind of
1:49:17
a debate. We need this kind of a tone. and i'm
1:49:20
glad it took place tonight do you think it played
1:49:22
to your advantage i think so i mean look the
1:49:26
other is the other if somebody hits you hit back
1:49:28
and i think that's true in life that's true in
1:49:30
running countries it's true in running businesses
1:49:33
but i just found this to be a very elegant evening
1:49:36
and everybody did a very good job one of the
1:49:39
questions is what would happen if it were you
1:49:41
versus ted cruz one -on -one when you're up there
1:49:44
on the debate stage listening to him make the
1:49:46
case you making your own how is your confidence
1:49:48
level in terms of how that would go you versus
1:49:50
him well i think it would go very well i mean
1:49:52
we're doing very well against ted right now as
1:49:54
you know we're leading and we're have a lot more
1:49:56
people voting for trump than voting for ted uh
1:49:59
but i like ted and we i think we all did a very
1:50:02
good job tonight i thought it was i thought it
1:50:04
was actually terrific and very different because
1:50:06
it has really been harsh and i like that also
1:50:10
but i think there was something that we were
1:50:12
ready for this kind of an evening There were
1:50:15
a couple of points of contrast up there on the
1:50:17
stage tonight. One was what was, I guess you
1:50:19
could basically call it the all versus some argument
1:50:22
about Islam. You, as you remember, spoke to Anderson
1:50:26
and you said there's a hatred coming from Islam
1:50:30
towards the United States. No doubt about it.
1:50:32
The criticism is, but not from all Muslims, but
1:50:35
from some. And you understand the sensitivity
1:50:37
to it. You call it political correctness. oh
1:50:40
but look the counter is that it's just correctness
1:50:42
what do you want to say now it's there i don't
1:50:44
want to say anything i mean i've answered the
1:50:45
question i've answered it many times there is
1:50:47
a great hatred and we have to get to the bottom
1:50:50
of it the concern is that you wind up painting
1:50:53
with too broad a brush you've said in the past
1:50:55
you hire muslims you have muslim friends you're
1:50:58
not saying they're part of the hatred right I
1:50:59
do. But there's a lot of you look at the mosques
1:51:02
and you go to various places and you look at
1:51:04
what's going on there. And it's virtually 100
1:51:06
percent. And certainly you could say radical
1:51:09
Islam is a disaster right now. It's causing tremendous
1:51:13
problems worldwide, not just here. but the question
1:51:16
was asked about islam and there is a great hatred
1:51:18
there's no question about it one of the people
1:51:20
up on the stage with you tonight said it makes
1:51:22
uh an environment around the world where muslims
1:51:25
feel that the united states uh has antipathy
1:51:28
towards them has negativity we're just going
1:51:29
to have to run our own place we have a country
1:51:31
we have a country with a lot of problems a lot
1:51:33
of debt a lot of you know weak into military
1:51:36
we we have so many different problems right now
1:51:39
we're just going to have to do our thing but
1:51:41
the question was asked to me and i'll tell you
1:51:43
what you probably heard the audience the audience
1:51:45
was and i don't do it for the audience i don't
1:51:47
care in terms of doing it for the audience and
1:51:49
i'm not doing it to be incorrect politically
1:51:51
but there is animosity like i've never seen before
1:51:56
and hopefully we can straighten it out You weren't
1:51:59
allowed to tweet while you were up there because
1:52:00
you were busy. So I want to let you know that
1:52:02
Hillary Clinton, during the debate, put out a
1:52:04
tweet saying that condoning any kind of violence
1:52:07
in any way that happens is wrong, essentially.
1:52:10
You can read it for yourself. But what's your
1:52:12
response to that? Basically, she's referring
1:52:13
to what was mentioned during the debate, that
1:52:15
you have a lot of violence. Sure, sure. She's
1:52:17
a political person and she's doing the best she
1:52:20
can, but she will be defeated. This is not what
1:52:23
our country needs. We have four years of Hillary
1:52:25
Clinton. Our country is going to go so low that
1:52:28
it never will recover. What do you think should
1:52:31
happen next? Well, I don't know. I mean, somebody
1:52:33
said they want to do more debates. I think we've
1:52:35
had enough with the debates, wouldn't you say?
1:52:37
I've had enough with the debates. We love them.
1:52:38
Well, you love them. More, more, more. No, the
1:52:40
ratings are very good. It's great for the people.
1:52:42
I will tell you, Anderson last night got very,
1:52:44
very good ratings. We're very happy for Anderson.
1:52:46
I don't know if it helps me, but he certainly
1:52:48
got very good ratings. No, I think they want
1:52:50
to do two more debates, and I guess I'm pretty
1:52:52
much okay with it. What happens in Florida? It's
1:52:56
going to be a race. I have a very great stake
1:52:59
in Florida. I have thousands of employees in
1:53:01
Florida. I love the state. It's my second home.
1:53:04
I think we're going to do very well in Florida.
1:53:06
There's a bunch of people behind you right now.
1:53:07
They like Florida, too. They want your attention.
1:53:10
Mr. Trump, thank you for tonight. Appreciate
1:53:12
it. Thank you. All right. Anderson, back to you.
1:53:16
All right, Chris. Donald Trump, thanks very much.
1:53:18
Again, we're waiting to hear shortly.