ll as lots of other people who want to work in america, but there's a lot of terrorism to. what is your viewpoint about closing our borders? sen. rubio: first we have to define our borders. our borders are also our airports and seaports. 40% of illegal immigrants entered the country legally and overstayed their visas. it is a matter of national security. one of the most important things we need to do is improve the way we enforce immigration laws. that involves border security, particularly our southern border. that also includes a verify system to verify employees and an entry eggs and system to make sure we know who the people are who overstayed our visas. like the hotel for check you win but never checked you out. [laughter] we have no idea if you overstate

or not. that is a big problem. let me add one other point which we have not confronted until lately. we used to be concerned and still should be about someone from abroad coming to america and caring out a terrorist attack. that threat is still there. then we should be concerned about someone in this country going abroad and being radicalized in coming back. and that threat is still there. now we face the threat of someone who is in this country has never let this country, and yet is radicalized online, and as a result is inspired to carry out a terrorist act. all three of these risks exist and they are real. you can listen to all the hyperbole about how they're listening to your phone calls and everything, got for did that happens to, the first question people will want to know is why did we know about it and why did we stop it. this is not a game. i sit on the intelligence committee of the united states senate for four and a half years , i have no region to exaggerate. the rest of this country faces today are greater than they were

before. they in best increase initially with each disclosure, our enemies find ways to evade our intelligence. we will pay a terrible price one day. there are thousands people around the world who are plotting to kill americans here and abroad. this risky is real. this is not hyperbole. it needs to be confronted. the spread of radical jihad has spread from online in north africa and around the world, and it has only continue to grow under the watch of this president and administration could we need to deal with it. you can't have prosperity if you are under the risk-averse terrorist attack. [applause] thank you very much. thank you for having me. >> ok.

terrific. thank you senator. it is great to have you here. folks, it has been a long great day. how does it feel to be republican right now? [applause] i'm not letting him off the stage. i learned my lesson earlier. you people are animals. i won't get my word and if i let him off before i finish. i want to remind you that facebook and independent journal review is waiting to host you at their party. walk out the front door of the hotel, turn left, go down three buildings, it's on your right. it is less than a five minute walk. it's all on them. they can't wait to see you. several of our speakers today will be there. my understanding is that the senator will put his sneakers on and walk over there as well. senator brown will be there, and another couple of good folks. i will see you there.

i look forward to seeing you bright and early at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow for our focus group. thank you very much. [applause] sen. rubio: thank you for having us. that was a lot of fun. i really enjoyed it.

>> we are taking your phone calls as the gop summit wraps up tonight. we will be back tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. eastern time for more speakers, including rand paul. we will also be hearing from texas senator ted cruz. again, taking your calls, the republican line. immigrants can join us. independencnts.

we will get right to the phone lines. marty, go ahead. marty: i like elizabeth warren. she is looking out for consumers are there is a lot of fine print out there. you have to squint to see the fine print. then they came out with high definition television. then they made the fine print smaller. when you pause the dvr, they block it was something else. the packages and expiration dates on food items are getting smaller two, harder to reed. i think it needs to be transparency. there needs to be some kind of clearinghouse that when you see something on tv, you can go type in that product's name and can see the commercial, and you can take your time on a website and redefine print. >> you want to see elizabeth warren then? marty: that's correct. >> what you think about the

entry into the presidential race? marty: there will be a tremendous redraw in the states and then they will use the same strategy they used in the south, redistricting and gerrymandering that is beneficial to the working and middle class, and we may take the house back. >> debbi, go ahead. debbi: yes. i am a republican. >> that is fine. go ahead. >> i like marco rubio. >> what did you hear that you liked? >> he makes sense because he is proud to be american, and saw my. everything he says, i believe in. that is why feel that he is a strong candidate for the republican party. >> all right, thanks for the call. veronica is on the line.

>> yes, go ahead. >> i like hillary clinton. i think she did a good job as a woman because she does not flip-flop. she is up front, not scared of anyone. i like these people. they are going to change. another person was for immigration, now he no longer is. hillary is my woman. i am proud of her. i don't care what they say about benghazi, this and that, that's how she do it. she is doing a good job us secretary of state. i can't imagine she is known all over the world. choose does -- she does not fear anything.

i leased person should be honest and real. that's what we need. >> thanks, veronica. hillary clinton starting out her campaign. the only democrat starting out so far. she will be in new hampshire. if the issue is who do you want in your living room, hillary is in trouble. that links to a website. one other note, carly fiorina is in new hampshire at the gop summit tomorrow. she will be taking -- we will be with her live as well. carly fiorina in new hampshire. earlier today she said that in a few weeks i will be announcing a bid for the presidency of the united states. we are taking your phone calls. for independents, bill.

who would you like to see on the ballot? >> i would like to see gary johnson. >> why? >> i don't think the democrats or republicans realize that the constitutional hole we have gotten into. maybe the democrats to realize it, but they don't want to change it because they are profiting from the use of identity politics in which women vote for women, black foes for blacks -- blacks vote for blacks , but i think if you poke into don't realize this problem, but they have the problem to make some changes and get back to a constitutional government. >> what do you mean by constitutional government? >> in particular, the dual sovereignty issue is a big one for me.

both marco rubio, rand paul, and ted cruz -- and head crews and marco rubio both said they would continue to enforce the federal drug laws in states where the local states have legalized medical marijuana -- that should be a state issue. it's not just the drug issue the federal government is riding roughshod over the states rights. constitutional's -- individuals have constitutional rights. the ability of the president to legislate what he is doing on the immigration issue with his cell phone and his hand, he even said he is changing the law. that is clearly beyond the legal purview of the executive branch.

>> thank you for the call. we want to get to some more colors. a republican, go ahead. >> i am yolande. >> go ahead. >> i say vote for rubio. i want marco rubio in for president. do not vote for hillary clinton. our country is going down in a handbasket to help. it is already there. i'm going to tell you now that if you get hillary in there, it will be worse. i say get marco rubio. he is honest, good, and knows exactly what he is going to do. >> thanks for the call. >> massachusetts. independent line. >> i am an african american.

what i see right now with marco rubio, and that i've seen so far old, white males. i don't want to vote for hillary , but i also need to feel that my vote is not being taken for granted. whin my vote. where is the diversity. thank you. >> dennis is on the line. republican. >> yes, i would like to see donald trump. he is a good man. rubio is a good man to. i just heard him speak. i agree with him. don't vote for hillary. she was a crook way back when her husband was in office.

remember the land and stuff like that. she had her hands in that. she's a crook. she's a crook. she's a crook. i don't like her one little bit. i'm putting up a sign in my yard for trump. >> thanks. trump is one of the potential candidates we could hear from tomorrow. he might be on the schedule. we are not sure. we are going to take you back to the gop conference live tomorrow at 10:00 p.m. eastern and the rest of the day. take a look at this from boston globe politics, ranking top 10 republican hopefuls in new hampshire. the republican presidential primary features the most unpredictable field in five decades, and it goes to what they consider the top 10. jeb bush, scott walker red -- rand paul, chris christie, you

can find his comments at c-span.org, donald trump, ted cruz. find out more at boston globe.com. >> yes, ma'am. i'm not going to actually say what candidate i know i will vote for yet, because i don't know yet. i can honestly tell you that hillary clinton -- i mean benghazi, the e-mail, she did not show any remorse for those military men. why should we vote for something like that? obviously, we will get the exact same thing that happened with bill clinton and all his little strategies that he had going on. it's going to be the same thing could we will have bill clinton in the office again. it's common sense but you know what will happen. they are married. you don't want that to happen again, do you? anti-gun?

there's millions of americans out there who love guns that have guns every day. they are respectful with them. they follow the rules, and if you think that they're going to take them away, and that's what she wants to do. >> thank you. a couple more calls here before we move on. john is going from east brunswick, new jersey. democrat line. >> i'm 17 years old and i will be casting my vote for hillary clinton this year. i want to see how the democratic primaries play out, but she has already one. i was thinking about running -- bernie sanders, but i don't think hillary clinton would make bad president. i think that if you have someone like clinton in there, she is someone who can play on a world level and can bring this country back to where we need it.

thank you. >> thanks. a call from martyn tennessee on the republican line. dennis, go ahead. >> hello, ma'am. i'm going to pick rubio. if this country is still here because i don't believe it is going to be here. i think were going to be in a major war with iran and all the stuff that's going on over there . we have been lied to. this country has been lied to from the president of the united states to hillary clinton, they lied and lied and lied on tv. we caught them in lies. i have been watching, and you can catch them, you can actually catch them in lies. if you can't trust your own president, who else can you trust? right now, iran is going to have it nuclear bomb. when they do, rush is going to

make sure they get it, because whatever material they need, if they don't have it, russia will make sure they have it. i am praying. i'm doing a lot of praying that we get another president in before it happens. >> thanks. we will leave it there for thank you for all the calls tonight. we will have a phone lines open tomorrow morning. you can join us on washington journal. we will be returning to the gop versus the nation new hampshire summit. we will be hearing from rand paul ted cruz, lindsey graham governor scott walker of wisconsin, john kasich of ohio, and former governor mike huckabee of arkansas, all in the lineup tomorrow starting at 935 eastern -- 9:35 a.m. eastern. we will take a look back. former texas governor rick perry, new jersey governor chris christie, florida governor jeb

bush, and marco rubio, who just heard from. we will start off with brick kerry. we heard from him earlier today. -- we will store all with >> perry. [applause] >> thank you all. we were here last night, so i think you out cheer them -- out cheered them. [laughter] we had a fabulous event in here and got to share was some real heroes of this country last night. you think back about this country. you think about the people who truly were some extraordinary individuals in america. president lincoln obviously

comes to line to he had a quote that he said that while the people retain their virtue and vigilance, no administration by any extreme of wickedness and folly can be seriously injured the government and the short space of four years. obviously, he did not know about the obama administration. [laughter] another one of his illinois natives. in 2014, the american people -- they did exercise a little vigilance, if you will. it was the first time that we had the opportunity for the american people to make an informed judgment on the obama years, and it was then and only then that they begin to understand what ending the war in iraq really meant. the impact and what it was for

our country and the world. they saw the consequences of the empty words toward that dictator in syria, the red line that was drawn. it was then that we witnessed the rush and -- russian president as he annexed crimea. the orchestrator of these policies that we have seen that i just mentioned will most likely be the democrat nominee for president. she is the one who literally brought the reset button to the kremlin to reestablish those new relationships with russia. they did reset it, that's for sure. they reset us back to pre-1989 from my perspective. the american people saw all this, the weakness abroad, lies about obamacare, they saw the

scandal with the v.a., the irs looking into your own records the swap of a military deserter for five terrorists, and we saw a crazy man walked into the front of the white house and nobody seemed to know where he came from. i'm talking about the crazy man who walked through -- that wasn't supposed to be there, ok? somebody will take that wrong. [laughter] the american people saw all of that and in november of last year they said, that is enough. but just because they rejected the obama administration does not mean that they are embracing republicans. basically what they said in november was we are going to give you another chance to govern, to the republican party. i'm here to cite that a congressional majority is a terrible thing to waste. [laughter] [applause]

two things are abundantly clear to me. one, america is at a time of testing and our leaders are failing the test. number two, in response to the many crises we are seeing around the world, expensing in the world today, both at home and abroad, the conservative movement must be the agent of reform. there is something wrong when the dow jones is at record highs, but businesses on main street are struggling to get along. since when did capitalism involved the eliminations of moral hazards for the biggest tanks, while regulations are literally stringing -- strangling our communities. a boy who grew up in a community, a place that until i got to be the governor, it wasn't on the map.

[laughter] i said one of my first axis governor -- acts as governor was to put it on the map. there is something wrong when we are told the economy is growing, yet one that many americans are out of work am underemployed, or have given up. washington's answer to the middle class has all too often been let's been more money. liberals in washington had spent 30 years criticizing reaganomics , while delivering what i refer to as trickle-down liberalism. their view is clear, give more power and money to the federal government, let the liberal elite take care of their pet causes leaving an ever shrinking cai -- high for the

middle class. their answer for jobs is just been close to a trillion dollars on stimulus wash that money through the bureaucracy, and hopefully jostle get created somewhere along the way. it is no wonder that washington is now the richest metropolitan area in america. not because they create wealth but because they redistributed. we have to ask ourselves, wind the accountability and america work from the bottom up instead of from the top down? where large corporations don't pay taxes and single moms work two jobs and have to. we are not going to fix washington by electing a president who is from washington, of washington, for that matter, for washington. change is only going to come from the outside for my perspective, and so should the

next president. there is nothing wrong with america today that cannot be fixed with new leadership. i believe that with all my heart. i think we're only a few good decisions away. [applause] and a leadership change at the top. from reviving this economy, rebuilding our military, restoring our place in the world. i happen to think that we can start with our tax code. we have the highest corporate tax rate in the western world. we need to lower it. corporate tax reform -- we know what happens, the economists tell us. you lower the corporate tax rate 10% and mid-level jobs go up 5-10%. every worker in the country auto be further publicans because they're going to lower the corporate tax rate so that my wages go up.

we need to repeal every one of those perverse incentives to keep people from working. i happen to think that one of the many flaws of obamacare is that it causes employers to move people from full-time jobs two part-time jobs to avoid a massive tax insurance cost. repeal it. it's easy enough to figure this one out. eric, we are going to put it back in your hands, the new hampshire legislators hands. we will figure out how to deliver health care better than a bureaucrat in washington, d.c. [applause] come to think of it, i trust governors and legislatures all across his country than i do bureaucrats. how in the world are we ever going to really make progress in this country when we allow

federal bureaucrats to decide what the curriculum is going to be in the states? i will suggest to you that the whole concept of common core is just like obamacare, of your cat -- a bureaucrat who sits there and decides what is going to do the correct curriculum. that is nonsense. you are either for the 10th amendment or you're not. you are either for governors -- i believe in 2014, bobby jindal who i admire greatly, and ingrid was smart and bright governor he as the president what you think about how we can get flexibility to allow the states to be able to have those dollars and deliver health care. the president looked at him and said, i don't trust governors and legislators to deliver health absolutely the best days in

america. i am not suggesting you tax policy also connecting to energy policy. i was incredibly frustrated, i was upset when the president vetoed the xl pipeline. what he said was that america is not going to be energy secure. he allowed a small sliver of his political base to make a decision that i will suggest to you was terrible for the rest of this country. i happen to believe in a north american energy strategy. a strategy that canada, u.s., and mexico working together. that we can be a secure region of the world. there are more known reserves in that area of the world then there is in russia and saudi arabia. we need to be using it. we need to be opening up all of his energy resources. have this country have this region of the light upon north american energy.

you couple that with corporate tax policy that lowers that corporate rate, and here's the result. you will drive down energy cost. you will see electricity become incredibly viable as that power source. you couple that with corporate tax policy, it will give incentives to bring any fracturing -- bring manufacturing back to us. the greatest days are in front of us, not behind us. that's kind of awful policy -- thoughtful policy that gives incentives, that invigorates the middle class, that gives them opportunities. when i think about what is happening in america, i know and see that pessimism but the best days can be ahead of us. and i see that same pessimism as we go around the world. as we see our allies questioning whether america is going to be there.

you are decision -- you as a citizen, you open up the newspaper, german tv, flip on the radio, graphic or device. [laughter] do you see visuals leading to jordan and being beheaded. you see eight young christian college kids at her murdered -- that are murdered. there is pessimism in the world. we look at libya and look at what happened. we see egypt and think about the weight middle east has been treated. we look at syria and realize we have missed an incredible opportunity to stop isis in its

tracks early by funding the syrian rebels. we have to get rid of assad as well. but our president stood back, and then they left isis and went into northern iraq. at that particular time, i suggested that americans are delivered lethal weapons to those peshmerga fighters that they would have stopped isis. they were fighting for their country and family. but we didn't. and today, isis controls eight figure region of the world that the united kingdom. there was somebody watching. vladimir putin was watching, and he realized that crimea wasn't going to be a problem to an. he realized adventure into the ukraine. there is pessimism in the world. as people look at the united states and wondered, what are we

doing? there is pessimism in the world as we look at iran. and we look at this negotiation that is supposedly going on, this country that is responsible for those killed in beirut, a country responsible for weapons that went into iraq and killed our young men and women. a country that still exports terrorism to hezbollah and hamas. there is pessimism in the world. but it doesn't have to be that way. just as i think the best days are ahead of us in this country with the right policies put into place, very quickly can we see that same type of change in the world. i remind people, look back to 1979. there was pessimism in this country and in the world. think about what you saw in 1979, those of you that are that age.

you saw not only are we to being embargoed and sold to russia -- our wheat being embargoed and sold, but our kids didn't get to compete in one of the greatest events in the world -- the moscow olympics. we thought the debacle in the sands of iraq. -- of iran. the world was really has a mystic at that particular point in time. 20% interest rates. this was a brutal time in america for my perspective. that is what we were facing. but you fast forward 10 years to 1989, and we thought the berlin wall fall, the end of soviet communism, because we had rebuilt our military and the president had the vision to rebuild this country. [applause] we can do that again. this is an incredibly, incredibly resilient country. we've been three civil war, two

world wars, the great depression, we lived through jimmy carter. we will live through barack obama. [laughter] [applause] we will do this. i am optimistic about the future of this country. i am. i know what is possible. i know what is possible, partly because i'd had the great religious over the last 14 years to govern a state that has been able to do some extraordinary things. when you think about what has occurred in this country from december of 2007 2 december of 2014 1.5 million jobs were created in my home state. [applause] the rest of the country lost or hundred thousand jobs. we saw 5.6 million people added to the population. during that same period, we were 27th in the nation in high school graduation rate in 2002-2003. by 2013, we had a second highest

graduation rate in america. [applause] that is what you can do when you put lower taxation overregulation over litigation. americans will respond in a powerful way. that is our opportunity. it is in front of us. we are just a few good decisions and a leadership change at the top from the best days this country has ever seen. ronald reagan understood what he said america is stronger, the world is a safer. that is exactly what we are facing today. leadership that understands that the face that they have any -- the fate that they have in the american people israel. that the sacrifices at the need for us are powerful. -- people is real. when i walk off the stage, i'm going directly to the airport to fly home to celebrate my father's 90th birthday. [applause] i want to share with you.

in 2000, i took him back to his old airbase in east anglia. he was a 19-year-old eric crewman on a b-17. he was a tailgunner. he flew 17 missions over nazi germany. after we visited his old base in the base that i had served at the making 70's, we went across the channel one more time. halfway, my dad looked up and said "71." i said, what you talking about? he said, my 71st trip across the english channel. [laughter] we went to normandy. we visited that cemetery above the english channel. we stood above that extraordinary sight those thousands of graves, those

crosses and stars of david. interestingly, they all look west. every one of them. west to america. west to america that they had left, left to america that they were willing to defend to their death. two and america they would never return to. i happen to think today, they look upon us in silence judgment. today we need to ask ourselves do we remain a nation where the of their sacrifice. -- worthy of their sacrifice? if we learned the lessons of their generation, evil must be confronted, that courage is the greatest weapon in the arsenal of free men and women that america must always lead if we are to always be free.

i know the answer to that. the answer to that is an overwhelming yes. we will deliver this country back to the track and to the people that gave us this opportunity. the best days of this country are ahead of us. the best days in this world are ahead of us because we are going to make the right decisions and we are going to elect the right leader to elect this country moving forward. god bless you all. [applause] now the fun part.

>> holler it out loud. we have two microphones. pass it off to somebody else. rick perry: yes sir. >> give hima a mic. >> as an inventor, a serial entrepreneur, i believe i've come up with a solution to our congressional problem. can i handle this this to you? rick perry: sure.

>> if we eliminate the magnet, the problem resolved itself. it is very simple. it results the problem very easily. rick perry: let us talk about this issue just a second, if you will. not only magnet side, but what i haven't to see -- >> can you go to the podium? rick perry: yeah. that may help a bit right there. [laughter] the point is that this country has to be secure. when you look at the constitution, it tells us a few things that the federal government is supposed to do -- state a strong military and secure our borders are two of the most important things numeral rated in the constitution. -- numeralted in the constitution.

doing what the constitution tells us to do gets right back to the issue of, do we want the federal government telling us how to educate our children, ill are transportation infrastructure, how to deliver health care? the answer is no, the states are able to do that. protecting and defending our border is a federal responsibility. that is the reason that last summer, when the president of the united states was in dallas on a very important mission because he couldn't come look at the border with me. i asked him to, i wanted him to see because i thought it would be incredibly instructive to see the vast challenge that we have in texas on a border. particularly the southern region where over half of the apprehensions were occurring at that point in time. but he was busy, he had important mission raising money for democrats, i get that. [laughter] i said, mr. president, if you do not secure the border, texas will.

and that is exactly what we did. [laughter] we deployed the national guard. i do not buy into those that they you can't just secure the border. yes you can. you must first have the will. that will has to be exhibited from the highest office in this country. if that particular point in time, the president that gives clear and unequivocal direction on how to do it. you do it with personnel, you do it with having the strategic fencing in place, which we basically have. and the third thing which is completely missing today from my understanding, is the aviation assets, flying that eating hundred mile border, looking down and analyzing what is going on. -- flying that 1800 mile border. at that particular point in time, you can secure the border, and that is what must happen before this country is ever going to have a conversation about immigration.

because the american people do not trust washington d.c. to deal with the issues of immigration until the border is secure. [applause] >> yes sir. >> governor, great to see you back. great to see you feeling better again. rick perry: healthy is good. two two things i learned in 2011 you have to spend a lot of time in new hampshire, and you need to spend years here. [laughter] >> now that you are not governor, tells about how your camping will be different -- tell us about how your campaign will be different this time around. a lot of folks are happy to see you. let us know. rick perry: i had major back surgery in a june-july of 2011.

six weeks later, thinking i do this. i broke my arm in high school and was back playing in six weeks. what could be tougher than that? you have to be healthy, on your game. but more importantly is the preparation side. i would suggest that to be prepared and staying on state and talk about these issues, whether it is domestic, foreign or military policy, -- monetary policy. it takes practice. i have been discussing these issues and doing way that is very profound impact. from the hoover institute to the brookings institute and everything in between. all of those individuals sitting with richard fisher. talking monetary policy. all of those in a preparatory time. i would suggest to you that the

next president of the united dates really needs to be somebody who has deep experience as an executive. and i am talking about you cannot just learned with a book, things that you can't learn sitting down. i will give you examples. they did not henry a manual and -- hand me a manual and say how to integrate and interstate. they came into louisiana and there were literally hundreds of thousands of people that were displaced. they didn't henry a manual -- hand me a manual when all those people showed up on the border last year. but both of them ended up on the shores of america in dallas, texas. that exact experience that you get from those years of work are invaluable. if i decide to run the value i

will be able to lay in front of the american people, not only a record -- i have anything from the job creation standpoint, from education, from creating an environment where people are free that is unquestionable, the best that this country has been this particular time. the fact is, if that is what americans would like to see the rest of this country, then that is, i think where we need to have this conversation. and talk about it in a civil and thoughtful way. that that executive experience is incredibly important for the next leader of this country. we spent eight years with a young, inexperienced, united states senator. i would suggest to you economically militarily, and foreign policy wise, we are paying a tremendous price.

how are we on time? 1:30. i will be quicker. >> i will be very quick. marion turner, enfield connecticut. a couple things. common court worries the hell ou t of me. talking about obamacare we need to keep in mind that the insurance companies are pushing against the fence. they can't come back, and we need to talk about that. thank you for being here. rick perry: obamacare, i addressed that earlier when i talked about state solutions. the old supreme court justice. a liberal supreme court justice but he's respected the constitution. he said they should be allowed

to experiment, to come up with different ideas on how best to do things and deliver things back to the constitutional 10th amendment focus. i agree with that. there are decent states that make mistakes. but he said at least they don't destroy the republic. i fear greatly that if obamacare is left in its form, it has the potential to destroy this country. from access to health care, i know how to expand access to health care. we did my home state. we passed the sweeping tort reform in 2003. a decade after that was passed, there are over 35,000 more licensed physicians practicing medicine. axis to health care is not about forcing people to buy insurance. it is about putting thoughtful practices into place, that i will suggest he will happen in the state. it will not happen in washington dc. common core is every bit as

problematic as obamacare. god bless you and thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much. thank you all. appreciate it. chris christie: thank you very much. good to be back here in new hampshire. i was up your this morning, and my son patrick, who is 14 texted me. he is at school, and he said what are you?. -- where are you?

i said new hampshire. and he said, your new home state. [applause] i'm seeing some familiar faces from wednesday. i appreciate so many of you coming. i will take questions from you but i will say a couple things off the top. first, i went to state eight on tuesday and gave a speech on entitlement reform. the speech i gave on entitlement reform is very simple and very direct. 71% - 71% of the federal government is spent on entitlement compared to 51% years ago. if anyone comes on the stage and talks about defense education research and development, tax cuts or anything else involving the federal government, you should ask them what they're going to do on entitlement. because of they are not going to do something to fix that problem, we are not going to be

able to deal with any of the other problems or opportunities that we have in this country. i am used to this because when i got to new jersey, only $29 billion budget, we had a $11 billion deficit. my democratic legislature 78 tax increase. -- sent me a tax increase. one of the five that they 70. i vetoed all five. we cut 800 productions in new jersey. there are ways we can put our fiscal house in order, then we need to. anyone that is considering running for president of the united states should have the answer for you what they're going to do regarding the cost of entitlement programs in our country and how they are going to make it fairer for everybody. not just for one generation, but for all generations. you will notice that the president has not talked about this for eight years. from the day he announced in 2007 to this very day, he doesn't talk about it. the reason is because there is not some short answer you can

read off a teleprinter to tell you what to do. the reason he is talked about is the same reason we have all of the world. iran moving toward a nuclear weapon. syria on fire, libya on fire, egypt under martial law. trouble all across the world. vladimir putin charging into eastern europe. the reason for this is because the people around the world feel the same thing for the people in united states know. that we have a weak president who has weakened our country and they are taking advantage of that in every way they possibly can. we can no longer afford to have weakness in the oval office. we have strength and clarity and hard turruths. that is why started talking about entitlement. it is not easy, but why would i talk about those things if they were not true? there is no political advantage to talking about those issues.

the reason you talk about them is because you want to really make suggestions that will help them solve problems that our country confronts and just as importantly, take advantage of the extraordinary opportunities that we have. we have opportunities as a country. we should be simplifying our tax system and lowering taxes for corporations and individuals to get economic growth. this president takes victory laps of 2% gdp growth. saddled with enormous debt. feeling like we may be the first generation that leads america -- leads america a lesser, weaker place that was what was left to us. the only reason you should consider running for president is if you want to change that. if you want to turn that around. if you want america to be a leader in the world again.

if you want us to get our own house in order to that other nations once again want to emulate us. and we need to work together. as republicans we need to work together and then we had work together when we get to washington to solve these problems. the american people are anxious. they are filled with anxiety not anger. they are worried about their country, and they should be. the reason for that is absolutely feckless leadership by this president. all he cares now is about his legacy and library. the two 'l's. he doesn't care about anything else. i will take your questions. i think it is a national disgrace when the president of united date sits down -- united states sits down and visitors taking to go off the terrorist watchlist when my state, a woman

murdered a state trooper 30 years in jersey, was tried and convicted, broke out of prison, escaped to cuba, and the castro regime for 40 years has paid her, harvard her -- harbored her while this trooper's widow and children having pain in new jersey. she is on the fbi's domestic terrorist watchlist and he wants to take them off the terrorism watchlist. while they harbor this woman. that is why i say the two ls are all he cares about. if you do not care about your legacy, you would do the right thing. they should act like a civilized country. [applause] people say i am jubilant and to

direct. i am too straightforward. i think we could use a bit of that in washington dc. you may not agree with every word that comes out of my mouth, but i 21 thing -- i guarantee one thing. you never have to wonder what i am feeling. [laughter] you never have to wonder what direction i am leaving my state or any other leadership position i ever get an opportunity to pursue. i think the american people are hungry for that after nearly seven years of the type of aimless leadership that we have had for barack obama. i am much were comfortable taking questions. so why do we take questions who's got them? yes sir, you in the back.

there we go. >> hello governor, howard you w are you doing? chris christie: good. >> a couple thoughts about entitlement reform. what you think about work for welfare check, or perhaps means testing social security benefits or what would you do to prevent ssdr from going bankrupt? what are your thoughts on reforming medicare and medicaid? [applause] chris christie: i swear i did not know he was going to ask that. i did a big speech on tuesday about that. yes, means testing for social security, we should do it. if you are making over $200,000 a year in retirement income, you don't need social security. social security should be an insurance policy against poverty for the elderly.

we don't want any of our elderly going into poverty, living out their later years in poverty. if you have $200,000 in annual retirement income, that means at a minimum, you can about $4 million saved. the fact is, we have make choices in this country. on the disability insurance program, which will go bankrupt by 2016, we said to follow a program that they had in the netherlands. which is before you go on disability, you have to develop a rehabilitation plan and engage in a rehabilitation plan to get yourself better and back to work. let us preside-- [applause] let us provide tax incentives for businesses that are willing to hire them back after they do rehabilitation. with us make the system more streamlined and more effective to tighten the rules for getting on disability in the first place. think about this on disability. there have been some months in this administration where more

people have gone onto social security disability then have gotten a job. that is outrageous. that is why the system is near bankruptcy. that is why we should put everyone to work that is able-bodied and can work. all the things that underpin what i talked about on social security. if people are going to work past the age of 62, no more payroll tax. if you want to work past the age of 62, we want to encourage that. because we live longer. if you want to work past 62, you have paid enough in people tax. let us the limited that -- eliminate that past 62. [applause] that is how we get our gdp and economy growing again. we need to encourage people of all ages to be working, working hard, and contributing to our economy. as i said, 12 different points on social security and medicare.

i will go through all of them. -- i won't go through all of them. it is not like saying i do selling on social security, and i will get back to you. people say, what would you want to suggest those things? because we have to. if we start a national conversation, let us start one that matters. yes ma'am, right there. >> this is not my question, but it goes on what you just said. some people that are on social security disability can't work. our son has asperger's syndrome and he is 24. but he can never hold a job. chris christie: then that is what it is for. >> he needs that. chris christie: what this gentleman is talking about and what i am saying is, social

security and disability should be for the people that need it. medicare should be there for everyone that needs to participate. my point is, for those who are gaming the system, it is bankrupting the system. we don't have enough money to pay for all of this. so we agree, someone like her son, it needs to be there. that is what he was set up, or to do with issues like that. -- that is what it was set up for. >> i wanted to make sure that you understood. because a lot of people don't understand that. my real question was on immigration. what do you think we need to do, what would you do about all of the illegal immigrants that we have in this country taking jobs away from americans who need the jobs and also what would you do about securing our borders? chris christie: on securing our borders, i will start there and move backwards. the executive ranges job is to execute -- executive branch's

job is to protect the country. that means protecting the sovereignty and security of the country. i am not somebody he was holding a walk from one end to the other. i don't think that is smart or efficient or effective. there are lots of different ways we can do it. with manpower, with fences, and some surveillance, electronic agreement and others. the other way you do it, is when you set up a fair system in this country that actually works, you go to employers and say, if you employ people that are here illegally, you are going to be geonone after. folks come here to work. we can't have it one way and build a wall after solving problem. walls can be gotten over. the reason people come here, as you pointed out, is to work. if we have employers that are going to clamp down on folks for hiring people in this manner,

once we set up a fair system that everybody is signed on to, i think you are going to really decrease the amount of people who come here. they know that you are not going to get employed. i will tell you this. i'm not someone who believes that for the people that are here that they are going to self deport. that is not something i think is going to happen. the fact is for our society, we don't have enough law enforcement people to roundup 10-12,000,000 people. whatever number you want to use. we need to get together as a party first, and then as a country. and decide how we deal with these problems in a way that makes sense. there has been no consensus because there has been no leadership the white house at all. those executive orders, in my view, are illegal. which is why i joined the lawsuit opposed to the action. [applause] it is an abdication of leadership.

the person in charge can't say i don't want to work with congress. he has to work with congress. let us remember something he tried to fix this problem before when he had a democratic. he did not succeeded then, either. whoever the congress will be in 2017, did not before, we need to get together and come to a consensus and bring a country together. not split our country apart. that is how i would go about doing it. yes sir. >> as someone who just turned 63 on tax day, i love your payroll tax proposal. [laughter] >> in all seriousness, you are saying what all candidates would be saying. everyone wants to grow the economy. but the gdp and our national debt are perilously close. every economist past and now

will tell us that is a very scary place to be. i don't think just entitlement reform is enough. people say gee 1%, let's start in the right direction. we need more production of the government. if so, what would you cut out what would you reduce, where would you make some of the government people unemployed? chris christie: i know you don't think entitlement reform is enough. the numbers are in federal spending, 71% of federal spending is on entitlements. 29% is on everything else. it is a lot of it. the reason we haven't dealt with this, in the reason i believe we have some of the additional trillions and trillions of debt that we have is not only the expansion of the government under barack obama, but also the

refusal to deal with these issues. in the last 25 years medicaid has grown over 800%, while the economy in the last five years has grown 200%. i was a political science major not a math major, but even a political science major can do that math. [applause] even i can do that math, is a work. let me tell you what we do in new jersey. when i came in, we had a $29 billion budget and an $11 million deficit. we went through the budget line by line and cut 800 programs in order to balance the budget. we did not raise taxes on the people of new jersey and haven't for the five and a half years i have been governor. [applause] what you need is the will and the resolve to do it. the only way you will know if somebody does is look at what

they have done before. have a just talked about it, for how they actually done? in new jersey, we have actually done it. we have now had six years in a row a balanced budgets. nonrecurring revenues down to 3%. that means you are limiting the structural deficit as well. coming alone is not going to fix the problem. we have to build the economy at 4% or better. we are not going to cut our way out of in $18 trillion problem. we are not going to grow our way out of that problem. it has to be both. it is politically risky. you're going to currency three you like my table tax idea. -- you are going to turn 63, you

like my payroll tax idea. i did not run for governor new jersey to be elected prom king. i am looking to be the most respected guy, not the most popular one. and that is by putting out real ideas. [applause] >> governor, thank you for taking my question. vice-chairman of the latino coalition. what are your stances on common core? if you are president, what would you do with common core? chris christie: first off common core before the obama administration was a state-by-state proposition done by governors. the federal government had little in it. then of the obama admin decision came in and federalized the

program. my predecessor again to important it, and i finished it. will be county new jersey is the limitation is really open to question. four months ago i put a group of parents and teachers and administrators to come back to me, saying that we have high standards that we developed ourselves, and i want you to know what we think we can do to get higher standards in new jersey not having to do with common core. they will come back to me in the next 2-3 weeks with their recommendations. when i am concerned about is, the further education gets away from the local community, the more difficult it is for parents to affect that education. and, as a parent of four children two in college, two in junior high school and elementary school, the most important people to a child's

education --more important than the teacher, then the principal are the parents. [applause] if we want to have parents buy in to whatever standards we are setting and have them be part of the team to raise our children up to those standards, they better be involved in deciding what those standards should be. that is my view. [applause] yes sir. >> governor, i want to ask a question about you, okay? chris christie: sure. [laughter] >> i like your practice, i like your proposals. it says in the bible, the truth will set you free. do you think by speaking truth to power, not a personality contest, you can get elected? chris christie: i don't know.

but if i run, we are sure as heck going to find out. [applause] chris christie: because i'm not changing. i get this question all the time , not exactly yours, but especially from media coverage. do you have to change? do you have the mellow? do you have to round off a couple of this rough edges? i don't know what they are talking about. [laughter] the fact is this. i am a republican in new jersey. [laughter] coming to try that for a couple of days, okay? [applause] we haven't elected a republican to united states and it in 42 years. it is the longest streak of any state in america not to elect a republican to the u.s. senate. 42 years. this is not a place where republicans go to grow prosper and get elected. [laughter] if people are waiting for me to be the nicest high in the room,

the most subtle guy in the room, if i had waited for that, i wouldn't be in this room. [laughter] [applause] but in the end, i will answer your question. i don't know the answer to your question, i don't know whether you can speak these kinds of, lead with entitlement reform, and take off after folks the way i have and be elected. i don't know. but i will say this. one, i will change. i am going to be why am. -- i own't won't change. so if you elect me to some thing else, you know exactly he was sitting behind that desk. i am not going to pack and move and flip-flop and pander because i'm trying to look in your eyes figuring out what you want to hear, tell it to you, and pray to god that you don't remember what i said. [laughter] that is not who i am or who i ever have been or who i am going

to be. this could wind up being a grand experiment. but, it is one giving the can dish in our country is in that it might be worth taking. thanks for the question. [applause] yes sir. >> glad you are here, and appreciate your frankness and willing to take questions. my name is stephen hill. 50 million americans are struggling with food and security issues, more and more veterans dealing with that. do you think we'll hear more presidential candidate in 2016 talking about the issues of hunger and poverty, and meaningful solutions to these issues? chris christie: we should. part of that is what underpins the entitlement reforms, the proposals i made this week. the underpinning of those proposals are that these

programs we provide through the government should first take care of the folks that need it the most. and we should be trying to make sure that we do not have the elderly living in poverty. that we don't have the elderly trying to decide between going to the doctor and buying food. that we we make sure that people are going to get health care who are indigent, not through the emergency room, which is the most ineffective and expensive way to provide health care. but that they should do it in a managed care situation, where they see a doctor, an officer in a clinic. it is much more efficient for their health, and as a result will be better for the taxpayer. but those are the tough conversations that we needed to have to deal the issues. anything else you might want to do to deal with those issues has to come out of that 29%.

we are underselling our national defense. we are going from a 600 ship navy to a 260 ship navy in a world that is extraordinarily more dangerous than any time in my life. the air force is flying the most antiquated set of planes that they have had in the air force's history. that is the national defense that we are not investing in. the programs that you are talking about, if we want to make tuition more affordable if , we want to make sure that we cut taxes so people have more money in their pockets rather than sending it to washington, we better deal with the other stuff as well. we have to have this honest conversation, because if we don't, nothing else will be possible. i heard someone say, before we take something away from someone we should eliminate all government waste. listen, i don't think there is anybody who would raise their hand and they they are for

government waste. i am opposed to government waste. that is a bold, leadership statement isn't it? anybody that comes up and says that, boo them off the stage. because of course everybody is a post to government waste. answer that, then it's time to get to work. because so is the other stuff that is bankrupting us. government waste absolutely contributes to that. we have 8500 viewers employee in new jersey than the date i walked in as governor. that is making government smaller. [applause] to deal with the issues and deficit, we better deal with these other things first. we're bankrupting our nation and the mortgage of our future in the process. and we will have more people going hungry. >> we have time for one last question. chris christie: all right. let's see.

a goldi'll go over here. >> hello governor. i am with the college republicans at dartmouth. i agree on a positive note with a lot of your social policies were social security. one thing that has concerned me recently is a lot of news articles about new jersey's job growth. i think it was 49th in the nation last year. i just want to give you the opportunity to take a chance and answer that criticism. chris christie: when i became governor of new jersey 2010, unemployment was 10%. we had an entire decade of the 2000 without any job growth. in the eight years before i became governor, the state government increased taxes and fees hundred 15 times in eight years.

-- 115 times in 8 years. there is no doubt in my mind that there is a correlation between the second-highest taxed state and the fact that while he and proud that we've grown 75,000 private sector jobs, that we need to do better. here is part of the problem. i have been able to persuade my democratic legislature to do a lot of things. to cut property taxes, reform teacher tenure. to pass balanced budgets in a row without raising taxes. by vetoing five additional tax increases. the one thing i haven't convince them to do is to cut additional taxes. the ones that are not going over the ones that haven't. as governor of new jersey, i would love, just for a week, to have a republican legislature for be the emperor. one or the other. if i was, we would cut taxes

see jobs in the private sector going even further and faster than they are growing now. just remember one other thing. with the awful situation we have inherited, we had no net private sector job growth rate decade. 2000-2009. in the five years i've been governor, we have hundred 75,000 new private sector jobs. in new jersey we are proud of what we have done. give me a republican it legislature and we will finish the job. thank you for your question. i want to thank all of you for letting me come today. [applause]

jeb bush: you all know how to be a magnet for candidates. there are only 55 people thinking about running for president. [laughter] as best i can tell. i believe we are probably going to the an economic driver for grading highways, jobs for enhancer, which i played my part as well. thank you for letting me come. everybody knows me as george's boy, barbara's boy. dubya's brother. i have other family members, but if i'm considering going for the highest office in the land, i have to share my heart and family experience. i think you can experience this, we are not like our brother or sister. we onhave our own unique dna.

i didn't know at the time, the greatest mom anyone could ever imagine. [applause] i'm not a big gambler, but it turns out i won the lottery. i wish everyone would had the kind of upbringing i had. two decent, beautiful parents that love me with all their heart and soul. my transportation began in many ways -- transformation began when i was in mexico at the age of 17 on a sunday afternoon where i met my wife. literally, she was in a car. i was sitting in the town square. our eyes met, and i fell madly in love with her. for the young guys here, it does happen. it happens. in my life was organized in a

way that i can't describe to you from there on in. it was not love at first sight for my wife, sadly. in fact, it took her a couple of years to get going. some of you may have had that experience. but she finally consented and we have been together 41 years. we got married in austin, texas. [applause] i had just turned 21, she was 20. i got out of the university in texas unit to a half years and started my life's journey with her. it has been a great ride. we lived in venezuela for two years, i worked on my dad's campaign and i started my life in miami as a business person. i forgot to mention three other important people. those are my three kids. my business partner lives in miami, he has two great granddaughters and a wonderful wife. my daughter knew well lives in orlando. and my son george, some of you

may know him, as a state elected official in texas. i'm incredibly proud of him and mandy because they bought a baby into the world, jack four days ago. [applause] as i begin to think about this journey, i think about little georgia, little prescott and jack. what is the world going to look like for them? will be full of abundance and purpose, or will it be full of great insecurity and fear where people feel compelled to not treat the biggest possible dreams where they sit back and wonder what it is like, and uncertainty makes it harder for almost two rise up? my personal belief is that we have a chance to make it the greatest time to be alive as americans. my son, by teh wayhe way, volunteered at the age of 30 to serve in the naval reserves. he served in afghanistan as an

intelligence officer. i am particularly proud of that. i am proud of the men and women are in new hampshire and across the country that have served our country to keep us free. it is an obligation, i think for all of us to pay our respects for them the best care that they deserve in our veterans department. and also honor them by keeping america strong, so that their sacrifice was not in vain. [applause] i did something when i started my life's journey as an adult that is kind of unusual. i learned to sign the front side of a paycheck. i built a business with my friend armando. it started with three people, and rebuild it to the largest real estate company in south florida. a got to about 280 people. it does not work the way the progressive liberals in washington make you want to believe. that we all to have to march

once to forward, back and forth see what you're told. do what you are told. america looks like the life journey of people miss world. it is dynamic. you take risks, you may have a failure, but you just yourself off. the interaction of all of us in the pursuit of art unique dreams in a free society has created the greatness of this society not the top drow driven approach of the liberals. i have learned it by doing it. if i had to pick the one thing i value the most in my life experience that makes me confident that the future of this country is bright, is the exact thing i said, which is signing the front side of a paycheck. growing jobs, having the challenges that exist in the real world. i got to be governor of the state of florida. some of you may know. some of you secretly go down there in january. [laughter]

i see you on the streets of miami and tampa and other places. it is an incredible state. it is big, it is dynamic, kind of wacky, kind of crazy. it is definitely purple. it is a state where i got to apply conservative principles in a way that moved the needle for people to have a chance for a better life. i did it with diligence, i did it with passion, i did it with conviction. the state is better off because we shifted towards a conservative flossie -- conservative philosophy. not just talking about it, we didn't. in florida we never cutr $19 billion of the cumulative tax cuts, back into the pockets of people who wanted to pursue their dreams. we reduced the government workforce by 13,000 people, more than 10%.

[applause] not many states can make that claim, particularly a state that was growing at the pace of florida. rebuilt our reserves. spending money you don't have and what liberals do, saving for a rainy day is what conservatives do. we started with $1 billion of reserves and when i left we had $9.5 billion of cash reserves. [applause] the result was we became the only state that went from aa to aaa bond rating. it used to be that the agencies would look at states and say you have to tax everything. tax the air you breathe, tax the broad-based tax code, that is the one that would generate the most solvent state. we went to the bond rating

agencies and said no, we need a dynamic state, limited government or the economy grows and personal income grows faster than the size and scope of government and in doing so you create more as a solvent state. and they rewarded us. the only state to go up to aaa bond rating. we went to -- and bar. we took a balanced approach to our court system. we did something that was important, i don't know how it is in new hampshire, but we had the second-highest premiums for workers compensation, a huge driver for lessening the opportunities for job growth. we reformed it to that those making money off the system, we create a reduction in premiums. i guarantee you that money went into the pockets of small businesses and help, so that their businesses could expand in

jobs were created. i was called veto corleone actually i was caught a lot of things. the left in my state did not agree with everything we did. i was called that because i vetoed 2000 separate line items in the budget, totaling $2 billion to bring order to the budget process that allowed for personal income to grow at about 4.5% and government income to grow at about 2.5% [applause] . and the result was, we created 1.3 million net new jobs in florida during my eight years. the business folks in florida, 1.3 million, second only to california. and we lead the nation in job growth. we did other things. we eliminated executive order and replaced it with a

leadership model that didn't discriminate based on race, but applied leadership principles to allow for more minority students that were qualified to attend universities. during my eight years, more hispanics and more african-americans attended universities, but we did not use a policy that discriminated from one group against the other. we expanded second commandment -- second amendment rights. if you look at the record, florida is a model for those who believe in the protection of the second amendment. [applause] we defended the sanctity of life from beginning to end in our state. and we reformed the things that were most important, my set of values believes that the most vulnerable in society should be at the front of the line. republicans do better when we show our consciousness to do the same thing, whether it is child welfare, the people that are struggling, we should give them

attention and help and reform the system's to make sure that they have a better chance to rise up. in florida, i do believe that more people had a chance to rise up, because we reformed the education system. we were languishing near the bottom or at the bottom, we were 50th in graduation rate when i started the journey. by expanding school choice, the most dramatic expansion of any state, we became the first date with a statewide voucher program. we expanded the scholarship program has begun here. we have 70,000 students taking advantage of that. we are the first state to have a voucher program for kids that have learning disabilities where their kids can send them to private options. we have the largest number of students attending virtual school in the country. we eliminated social promotion in third grade. that may not sound like a big deal, but it is a policy in our country that is shameful.

we have a policy that says a third grader going to fifth grade, it's ok that they are functionally illiterate. moms and dads know this, if you can't read by the end of third grade, you can't acquire knowledge. and in some places, we don't have the courage to take on teachers. we need to move into a child centered system where their god-given abilities can learn. and the end result, we turn the system upside down, with accurate assessments, with school choice, with -- and florida has been a leader in that. i'm proud of that. it's not that washington, i'm not advocating that the next president should be head of the school board, but it is important rather than just talking about things, it's important to look at people's records. have they moved the needle? have they focused on making sure

that everybody has a chance to rise up? we are moving into a world, we are at an intersection today where we will be in decline, because we refuse to change things that are broken, or we are on the verge of the greatest time to be alive. if you think about it, today we are challenged. we are in recovery, but majority of americans believe we are in recession. we are in recovery, but business start up rates are lower than business failure rates. we are in a recovery and workforce participation rates and business participation rates are lower than they were in 1980. i know we can do better. in fact, it has to be done better and we can do better. but it requires the kind of leadership to create strategy of high sustained economic growth where more people have a chance

at earned success. that is how we will win. we will win if we offer a compelling alternative, grounded in principle, using commonsense leadership to be a book to fix things. we are -- my little boy jack four day old jack will live until he is 130 years old. your children and grandchildren will as well. we are on the verge of finding cures of diseases, using science that defies our imagination. every sector of the economy is being transformed through innovation. the question is that we have in front of us is, are we capable of making disruption our friend or overwhelm us? none of this will be possible unless we restore a sense of security in the lives of

americans. a sense of security that is based on american leadership. this is the first president in the post world war ii era that does not believe that the us's presence in the world is a force for good. i do and i hope you do as well. [applause] we need to re-narration alliances that have kept us safe. we need a president that does not disrespect our friends, like israel, and it tries to cater to enemies like iran. we need a president that does not unilaterally give away things, but negotiates based on principle and strength and is engaged where our friends know we have their backs. not just today, but over the long haul. that is how you create a more secure world. if we do those two things, it would be growing our economy at

a rate where people no longer believe that the end is near that their children will have more opportunities, that they are willing to take risks again. for filling capacity so that everyone has a chance to achieve success. and we abdicate a strong america, a presence in the world that creates greater security than what we have come of this will be the greatest time to be alive. i hope you agree with that and i hope you will support candidates that have this hopeful optimistic vision. that is how we will win. i know we will not win if we just complain about how bad things are. what we have to do is the principle of in our opposition for the status quo, but we also have to offer a compelling alternative so that more people join us in our cause. thank you very much. [applause] thank you. thank you.

thanks for coming. >> we welcome questions, raise your hand. hold on. we need new people who have not asked questions yet. jeb bush: this guy is clearly in charge. >> i have the clipboard. [laughter] governor jeb bush: i think i might move over here just in case. [laughter] jeb bush: yes, sir. >> you have a wonderful family let me say that first of all. you should be very proud. -- of the service of the service your family has a given. [applause] that being said.

what concerns me and a lot of republicans for your candidacy number one, we are obviously talking a lot about stop hillary, because essentially the democratic party is having a coronation and there is no competition. what concerns me is that it seems a little bit like the establishment is backing you as the candidate and we have a lot of viable candidate and i hope that there is more of a fight -- not a fight literally, but a spirited debate among republicans and may the best man or woman win. i don't want a coronation on our side, by any stretch of the imagination. government jeb bush: i don't see any coronation coming my way. just running for president.

>> i think after the last couple of elections, a lot of us are not looking for a republican in name only, somebody that claims to be a conservative, and when i say conservative i mean a free marketer, somebody who believes in capitalism. i'm just hoping that your candidacy and your platform is going to be more, not trying to appeal to everybody and please everybody and in a pleasing no one. can you comment on that? governor jeb bush: first of all, i hope you absorbed the record. it is a conservative record, not a republican in name only record. the funny thing is in florida, those who are on the left are upset that people are calling me something i am not.

it is amusing, the liberals in florida are angry that people do not see me as a conservative outside of florida. my record is a conservative one, it is a i'm not kidding conservative one. i did it, i didn't talk about it. i was in an era where you could do more things, we need to restore that in washington dc, we need to stop arguing about what we want to do and stop -- start doing it. which means we have to win. back to the question, i will have to earn it. if i get into the arena, i will have to earn it. nobody will give it to me. that is more than apparent, i will share my heart, i will share my ideas to help people move up. i will share my record, because that is the leading indicator of what i can do in the future in terms of leadership. i think one of the differences for the presidency that other -- that somebody sitting behind

that desk need to make decisions. he cannot be an empty slate. we have elected a president that was a phenomenal speaker, but he was two years as a senator and had no record of accomplishment, and before that, he was a state senator with a little record of accomplishment and what did we get? we got the most liberal president in modern history. i hope i will be able to share the belief that accomplishment matters, leadership matters. that who sits behind the desk at the presidency, is it different than other jobs. i appreciate what you are saying and i will work hard for your support if i get in the arena. [applause] >> hello governor, i'm a young republican it -- and i feel that most young republicans are supportive of same-sex marriage as opposed to older generations, and i see this as an issue that

will divide the party more and more. i want to hear your thoughts on that, the change and the culture of the country and -- what do you think will happen going forward? jeb bush: i think everyone is waiting for a supreme court decision. i am for traditional marriage, i believe that -- [applause] to be fair, this is a view that transcends politics, this is not a focus group, you poll in, this is informed by my faith. the architecture of my life is not driven by politics, it's just on by my faith. traditional marriage has been part of the glue that has kept our society intact. having said that, i have no animosity, no hatred, no bitterness in my heart for people who have a different

view. as i get involved in this, it will be about, how do we restored high sustained economic growth for our country? that will benefit everybody whether they agree with me or not. how do we create is more secure america for our children and grandchildren, so people can believe again that they are safe and free. while i may disagree with you on that subject, i think we need to be finding ways to unite behind broader issues, where there is broader support. >> the woman in the back. jeb bush: you are good. [laughter] >> thank you. that's good. my name is linda. governor bush, where do you stand on, court -- common core? jeb bush: i am for fixing a

simple fact that will make it harder and harder for us to be successful. we have 80% graduation rate in high school, after spending more on students than any other country in the world, except for maybe luxembourg, maybe half of those students are college or career ready. think about that. think about how dreams are shattered, because we don't -- because we dumb down everything and we have low expectations for children, and then we excuse it away. in florida, that is what happened. in florida, we had what my brother called a soft a country of low expectation, so i am for raising standards, if you assess them and ss them accurately, it means we have college and career readiness. whether it is common core or standards created at the state

level, to me it is not as meaningful as the fact that it should be higher. high standards assess the right way, combined with account ability, that is what we need. here's what we don't need. we don't need the federal government involved in this at all. [applause] lamar alexander and his counterpart, in the cap -- a democrat, the reauthorization has been passed and in that provision, with my support and encouragement, they have provisions of that say the federal government should not be involved in the creation of standards. of the curriculum and content. that is the proper place for the government, to stay out of it. that means that state and local communities have an obligation to raise the bar up, the cost of this for our society is daunting. if we are going to say, some kids will learn, that others

can't, and that is the way it is, we will create social disruption like we have gone through for the last few months. it will be bigger and bigger and bigger. for us as conservatives, we need to challenge the orthodoxy of our times, that is focused on 13,000 government run unionized and politicized school district's, focus on the economic interests of the adult that allows children to languish. we should not tolerate this. every child should learn and we should organize ourselves in better ways to make sure that they do. [applause] >> rene plummer, governor, tell us who you get along with on the other side, whatever -- what democrats do you work well with? if you're are going to be president, i want to know that you work well with everybody. governor jeb bush: i do not have

a lot of experience in washington, but in washington i have governor mansion who is a great guy. we have a solid relationship. tom and bill sacco was a governor and we had a good relationship, in fact mr. daniels and myself and those two governors traveled to iraq to see troops. we had guardsmen in afghanistan training national police, so we developed good working relationships. this is not as hard as it appears. this is what president have done since the beginning of time. if you develop trust first, you don't assume that the person who doesn't agree with you, they may be wrong, you may disagree with them, but it is not that they have bad motives, they might just have a bad ideas.

that is the attitude you start rebuild trust. this is where i think the president has let us down more than any other thing. put aside his rigid ideology. it's putting down people who disagree with him to make himself look better. the next president has to change that. my experience is most people in public life have a view about this that they care about the country. they want to move forward. we just have to assume that is the case and argue out where they are wrong and where we might be able to move and forge consensus. if we just keep arguing with the most complicated tax code in the world, with the most bizarre regulatory system in the world with an entitlement system that will explode into our lives where every young person in this room will not be able to pay for

the sins of the past, and where we do nothing to address the energy revolution in our midst -- m, we are going to be in trouble. in my experience in florida, we strategically thought that way. there were a lot of times where we just won the argument, but i think the first instinct is to try to find support from the other side. it ought to be the first instinct every time. >> governor, what you feel about president obama's plan to normalize relations with cuba? governor bush: i don't agree with the way he is doing it. i don't agree with doing it in secrecy. i don't agree with how he

negotiated a sickly making unilateral concessions for our country with nothing in return. i think the objective ought to be that we do what we should do, which is to say that here are the things that would change our relationship with you. more freedom. release political prisoners. allow elections. allow for the start of businesses. freedom of movement. freedom of religion. things that we know will move you but towards freedom. and until you release the terrorist's you are holding, whether they are the eta bus terrorist or the cop killers that have found refuge there until you do that, we can not open up relationships. had we done that, let me tell you what would have happened. had we shown enough restraint and made it clear what hour of

jack gives work, which was the freedom of the island, cuba would be in is seriously different place right now because the main sponsor outside of our own hard currency that goes into cuba for the people who are traveling, the main benefit cuba gets is from subsidized oil from venezuela. that oil is about to make venezuela a completely different country that won't allow them to provide support for cuba. that would have allowed for better negotiations and just unilaterally doing this. believing that somehow through sheer force of personality there will be a transformation. despots don't go quietly into the night. thank you. as appreciate it.

you did a good job. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] senator rubio: it has been a fascinating week, probably the most historic week of my life. on monday, i declared for president. [applause] sen. rubio: it has been a fun journey. i wrote a note down because i wanted to remember everything that happened. i was asked whether 43 was old enough. i said i am not sure but i am sure 44 is. [laughter] sen. rubio: i have worn more wire then an fbi agent because of microphones. and hillary clinton will raise

$2.5 billion which is a lot of chipotle. i was texting with my youngest daughter and i meant to say, i'm in nashua. the spell check changed it to nassau. she wrote how many delegates to the bahamas have? i'm not sure if we will go for a single one of them. it is an honor to be here. thank you, jennifer for inviting me. it is great to see scott brown. we wish he would come back. [applause] sen. rubio: we miss him in the senate gym. one of the few people who worked out. everybody else is there to watch "morning joe" on the tv.

you have a great senator in kelly ayotte, someone i have worked with and she is phenomenal. you must send her back. [applause] sen. rubio: so -- running for president is a decision that one makes after a lot of thought prayer, and consideration. i spent the time thinking about it. what i conclude is one important thing and i want to share with you tonight. i believe with all of my heart we are on the verge of another american century. i believe america's greatest days are around the corner. and more than anything else this compelled me to run. if we do certain things, our children will be the most prosperous. that is important. it is important to remember where we are. about 200 years ago, the turn of the century, america was still largely undeveloped.

the rest of the world was industrializing. america was still trying to find its bearings. a generation of america leadership decided in that transition they would embrace, they were going to embrace the industrial revolution. it was disrupted. it moved millions of people form rural areas and replacing jobs with the new ones. and emerged the greatest nation in world history. by the turn of the 20th century, america was the largest industrial nation in the world. the most robust economy man had ever known. i want you to think about had they never made a decision, what if that generation had not embraced the opportunities of that time and confronted the challenges? what would the 20th century have looked like?

how would world war ii had ended? not well. the cold war? not well. what would my life had been like? that would not have been a place like america for my parents to go to. i told the story many times because to me it reminds me every single day of how unique this nation is. throughout all of history, almost everyone who has lived has lived in a society that told you, you can only go as far as your parents went before you. whatever they did, that is what is left. here, that has not been the case. my parents understood. my father lost his mother when he was nine-year-old, and he worked for the next 70 years of his life. my mother was one of seven girls raised in cuba in a poor family,

with the disabled father. they had dreams when they were young, but they could not do them, they found themselves in a society that told them that they could not do those things. imagine what that must have felt like. a society that tells you no matter how much you try, there are things you cannot do because of who you are and where you come from. in 1956, they came here. my parents never made it big. they were never rich, famous, but they were successful. just a few decades removed from poverty, they owned a home, had jobs retired. that is our story. it defines us as a nation and people. it's what makes