them out. [boos] i believe right now we should impose a tax on wall street speculation. [cheers] which brings in more than enough income to make public colleges and universities tuition free and substantially reduce student debt. [cheers] [applause] sen. sanders: this campaign is listening to women. [cheers] what women are telling me all over this country is, why should

i be working in office across the room from some guy doing the same work at that guy, and i am making $.79 on a dollar? [cheers] that gap is even wider for african-american women. [cheers] is why i know that every man in this room will stand with the women in the fight for pay equity. [cheers] this campaign is listening to young couples with little babies. >> babies for bernie! sen. sanders: every psychologist

knows the most important years of human development is 0 t hrough 4. is that right? if that is the case, why should it be that working couples all over this country are finding it extremely difficult to find quality, affordable childcare? [cheers] we can create hundreds of thousands of good paying jobs by making short that our kids have ,ell-educated, well-trained taking care of the littlest and youngest amongst us. [cheers] and this campaign is listening to our latino brothers and sisters. [cheers]

and they are saying they are tired of living in fear. and they want to see, as i do, comprehensive immigration reform and a path towards citizenship. [cheers] sen. sanders: in america today, a whole lot of people who are very very angry. and they have a right to be angry. but what we have to understand is that we take out our anger on those people who are responsible for the problems, not scapegoat minorities. [cheers] people are angry because they

work longer hours for lower wages, and were eternally about their kids. -- and worry terribly about their kids. they are seeing almost all new income treated in america go to those at the top. people are angry because in /10th oftoday, the top 1- 1% owns almost as much wealth as the bottom 90%. [boos] 20ple are angry because the wealthiest people in this country own more wealth than the bottom help america, the bottom 50%. [boos] together,ve got to do as we address this rigged economy, is create an economy that works for all of us, not just the 1%. [cheers]

a few weeks ago, i visited privately some parents of flint, michigan. [cheers] public townwe had a meeting in flint. but i sat behind closed doors talking to people, including a mother who has a nine-year-old daughter, who until several years ago was a vivacious outgoing, bright girl that did well in school. today, that girl is in special education because of the impact of lead poisoning on her mind.ectual [yelling] when you are a senator, you meet

with all kinds of people in here call kinds of -- and hear all kinds of pain. i don't think i have ever left a room as shattered as i was listening to the pain of what was going on in flint. and realy, what i felt, because i could not believe that i was listening to people who were living in the united states of america in the year 2016. this sounded like people in a third world country. what we are going to do -- number one, when you have that kind of dereliction in duty, i think the governor should do the right thing and resign. [cheers]

[applause] [cheers] sen. sanders: i believe that if the local government does not have the resources, if the state government does not have the willingness, then of the federal government has to step in and make flint, michigan right. [cheers] but when we talk about flint, while flint may be the worst example of the collapsing infrastructure, it is not the only example. here's the truth. the truth is that all over this country, we have water systems that are failing. wastewater plants. in my state, many of the bridges are in massive need of repair.

roads falling apart. real systems way behind other countries -- rail systems way behind other countries, airports, levies and stands. that is why we should rebuild our crumbly. infrastructure [cheers] and when we invest $1 trillion in our water systems and our roads and bridges, we can create up to 13 million good paying jobs. [cheers] once again, i am being attacked. "bernie, $1 trillion, how are you going to pay for it?" right now, you have major corporations in this country making billions of dollars in profit, stashing their profits in the cayman islands.

[boos] and other tax havens. in a given year, not paying a nickel in federal income tax. together we are losing is nation about $100 billion every year. we're going to end that outrageous loophole. they are going to pay their taxes, use that money, rebuild our infrastructure. [cheers] now republican candidates for president, governor, senate, house, they go around the country and they tell us much they believe in family values. [laughter] i want everyone to understand what they mean by family values. what they mean is that no woman in this room, in the state, in this country should have the

right to control her own body. [cheers] what they mean by family values is that our gay brothers and sisters should not be able to be married. i disagree. [cheers] my wife and i have been married 27 years. we have four kids and a seven beautiful grandchildren. [cheers] butelieve in family values, they are not republican family values. [cheers] when i talk about family values, i talk about ending the international embarrassment of the u.s. being the only major country on earth without paid family and medical leave. [cheers]

there is legislation in congress that i want to see passed. 3 months paid family and medical leave. [cheers] i am a number of the u.s. senate committee on the environment and the committee on energy. [cheers] talked to scientists all over the country and all over the world. let me simply tell you the truth. climate change is real-- [cheers] change is caused by human activity. climate change is already doing devastating harm in our country today and around the world. here's also what the scientist tell us. if we do not get our act together very quickly, this

planet, our only planet, will be between 5-10 degrees current height warmer by the end of the century. that means more drought, more floods, more extreme weather disturbances, more rising sea levels, flooding coastal regions. more acidification of the ocean and more international conflict as people fight over limited natural resources. moral responsibility to leave this planet in a way that is healthy and habitable for our kids and grandchildren. [cheers] and that is why i believe we have got to work with china, russia, india, countries all over the world and have the

courage to take on the fossil fuel industry and transport our energy system. [cheers] one of the issues that the media does not talk about at all is the fact -- and it really is an embarrassment -- i have conservative friends, i disagree, they believe what they believe. but in this issue of climate change, you do not have, have not had one republican candidate for president prepared to listen to the scientists. [boos] really scary stuff. you can't do public policy unless it is based on science. [cheers]

and this really is, the whole world looks at us and thinks, what is going on here? [laughter] as all of you know, donald trump is the greatest of everything. [boos] great and he does is big and extraordinary. other attributes, he is one of the world's great scientists. [laughter] he's a modest guy. he did not want to share that. and i'll jump has concluded -- donald trump concluded that climate change is a hoax perpetrated by the chinese. [boos] fact-- trump! the sen. sanders: trust me, we will.

i'm not shocked that he thinks it's a hoax, virtually all republicans do. but it was perpetrated by the chinese, because i thought it would be perpetrated by the mexicans or muslims, or anybody else. here, we arene going to transform our energy system away from fossil fuels. [cheers] and when we think big, we also have to address another issue. i'm criticized for this, and that is fine. every major country on earth, the united kingdom, france, germany, holland, italy, canada, scandinavia -- every single country on earth provides health care to all of its citizens.

[cheers] in fact, there is just one major country that does not guarantee health care to all people. you are living in it. [boos] the affordable care act, in my view, has done some very important things. we have done away with this obscenity: pre-existing conditions. [cheers] we have expanded health insurance to more than 17 million people. [cheers] and we have ended discrimination in terms of premium costs for women, who were being charged more than men. [cheers] despite the gains of the aca, 29 million americans still have no health insurance. underinsuredre

with high deductibles and copayments. americanu, and every is paying the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. [boos] because we are being ripped off by an extremely greedy pharmaceutical industry. [cheers] and then to add insult to injury, we end up paying far more per capita for health care than the people of any other country on earth. we spent almost three times more than british, 50% more than the french. that is why i believe, and i have been criticized for saying it, so let me say it again -- i believe that health care is a right for all people. [cheers]

[chanting "bernie"] sen. sanders: that is why i will do my best to move this country to a medicare for all health care program. [cheers] arguments being waged against me, bernie is a nice guy, but he just can't win. [boos] one of the arguments is that bernie can't win. [yelling] sen. sanders: okay, we need a medic. somebody, thank you. let's get a medic out there, take a break for a second. we have medics here?

we have trained personnel here. let's get some help for that person. let's keep it down for a minute, so they can get some help. [applause] you okay? [cheers] we're alright? okay. [applause] the person okay? [cheers] i just wanted to say this about

electability. polls go up and down. buddha most all of the national polls and staples that have put me up against -- most of the state and national polls that have put me up against donald trump has me winning big. [cheers] recent cnn poll had us up by 12 points. [cheers] but more importantly, more important than polls, i will tell you why together we will be trump. we will beat trump because the american people do not want a president who insults mexicans-- [cheers] and all of latin america, who are our closest neighbors. the american people do not want muslims.nt who insults

[cheers] the american people do not want a president who insults women. [cheers] or a president who insults african-americans. [cheers] do not forget that trump was one of the leaders of the so-called birther movement, trying to delegitimize the president of the united states. [boos] i always have found it interesting that they went after president obama because his father was born in kenya. my father was born in poland.

nobody asked to meet for my pacific it. -- asked me for my birth certificate. [cheers] just has some to do with this color of my skin, i don't know. we will defeat donald trump because the american people know that togetherness, standing together trumps divisiveness. [cheers] the american people know that community, helping each other, trumps selfishness. [cheers] importantly, the american people know, and every religion teaches us this -- that love trumps hatred. [cheers]

[chanting] on tuesday, michigan has an enormously important primary. if we will win that primary, if the voter turnout is high, let's make it a high turnout. thank you all. [cheers] [chanting] ♪

♪

>> senator bernie sanders was the winner in two democratic caucuses tonight. in kansas, he received nearly 68% of the vote, compared to

hillary clinton. he also received the majority of votes in the primary in nebraska. hillary clinton had a victory in a louisiana's democratic primary with more than 70% of the vote. you can find all those results online at c-span.org. studentyear's c-span cam come addition was one of our biggest yet. is computed for over $100,000 in prizes. tunes produced documentaries using a road to the white house theme answering the question, what issue that most want the candidates to discuss during the 2015 can page? they told us the economy, equality, education, and immigration were all top issues. tune in wednesday morning at eight eastern for washington journal.we will list of first place winner and the fan favorite selected by the public. watch live on c-span and

c-span.org. >> the american conservative union held its annual conference known as cpac this week in maryland. senator ted cruz was among the president of candidates who spoke at the event. he was also voted as the top choice in a straw poll that was ordered on by -- that was voted on by attendees. this is 40 minutes. ♪ [cheers] sen. cruz: god bless cpac. [cheers] trump is skipping cpac. [boos] megynk somebody told him kelly was going to be here. [laughter] or even worse, he was told there

were conservatives that were going to be here. [cheers] or even worse, he was told there were libertarians that were going to be here. or even worse, they were told there were young people that were going to be here. [cheers] you have a degree from trump university. [laughter] "trump"] [boos] sen. cruz: the men and women here are a grassroots army. [cheers] the men and women here love liberty. dire asme tell you, as things are, people are waking up all over this country. and help is on the way.

[cheers] this election is going to be about three things. security.rty, and [cheers] let's start with jobs. about makingtalk america great again. he even printed that on a baseball cap. but the question is, do you understand the principles that made america great in the first place? [applause] the art of the economy is not washington, d.c.. it's not new york city.the heart of the economy are small businesses all over this country. you want across the economy, hammer small businesses like we have done the last 7 years.

and you want to unchain the economy, lift the boot of the federal government of the backs of the nekcs of small business. sen. cruz: if i am elected president, we will repeal every word of obamacare. [applause] we will pass commonsense health care reform to make health insurance personal, affordable, and keeping government from getting in between us and our doctors. [applause]

sen. cruz: and we will pass a simple flat tax, where every american can fill out our taxes on a postcard. and when we do that, we should abolish the irs. [applause] senator cruz: i understand that a lot of people in this country are angry. i did being a great. i am angry too. get did being angry -- being angry. i am angry too. for far too long politicians in both parties have lied to us. they make promises on the trail and they go to washington and to they do not do what they say. no issue captures that better than immigration. immigration is a law enforcement matter, a national security matter, but at its heart, this is an economic matter. when you allow 12 million people to come to this country illegally, you take away millions of jobs from u.s. citizens from illegal fromrants, and you -- legal immigrants, and you drive

down wages for everybody. [applause] senator cruz: now, in a republican primary, everybody says they oppose illegal immigration. the question to ask, in 2013, when the battle over the gang of eight amnesty bill was being waged, where did you stand? did you stand as far too many establishment republicans did with barack obama and the democrats pushing amnesty on millions of americans? [booing] sen. cruz: or did you stand, as i was proud to stand, with millions of americans saying, no, we will not have amnesty? [applause] and you know, i am told that donald trump talks a fair amount about immigration. there is a natural question to ask, during the gang of eight

battle, where was donald? sadly, worse than nowhere. donald was funding the gang of eight. gave over $50,000 to five of the eight members of the gang of eight. night, donald onstage promised all of us to be flexible. he said that over and over again, how flexible he was. flexible is code word in washington, d.c. for "they are getting ready to stick it to you." [applause] senator cruz: have you noticed every time they are flexible in washington, it benefits giant corporations, it benefits wall street, it benefits the special interests, and the working men and women in this country get left in the cold? [applause] sen. cruz: here is what we are

going to do, if i am elected, we are passing a flat tax, abolishing the irs, stopping amnesty, we are securing the borders, and here is what will happen -- millions and millions of high-paying jobs, wages coming up for everyone, young people getting out of school getting 2, 3, 4, 5 job offers. morning in america. [applause] sen. cruz: the second critical issue in this election, freedom. for all of us, justice scalia's passing two weeks ago underscored the stakes of this election. i was blessed to know justice scalia personally for 20 years. i started my career at the core and litigated in front of the

court arguing cases in front of the court for over a decade. justice scalia was a lion of the law, and he ferociously protected the bill of rights for all of us. [applause] senator cruz: his passing underscores that this election is not about just one branch of government, it is about two branches. we are one liberal justice away from the supreme court ruling that government can take our religious liberty away and force every one of us to violate our faith on penalty of prison or fines. >> no! sen. cruz: we are one liberal justice away from ordering the 10 commandments torn down all over this country. we are one liberal justice away from the supreme court erasing the second amendment from the bill of rights. [booing] sen. cruz: we are one liberal

justice away from the supreme court ordering veterans memorials torn down if they have religious symbols, torn down all over this country. and we are one liberal justice away from the supreme court making us subject to the world court of the united nations, and international law, giving away u.s. sovereignty. [booing] sen. cruz: in the debate last week, there was a moment of clarity on this issue. hugh hewitt asked a question about religious liberty in the supreme court. and donald trump turned to me and said, ted, i have known a lot more politicians than you have. he is surely correct. he has been supporting liberal democratic politicians for four decades. he said, ted, when it comes to the supreme court, you need to be willing to cut a deal with the democrats.

let me be clear to every man and woman here at cpac, i will not compromise away your religious liberty. [applause] senator cruz: and i will not compromise away your second amendment right to keep and bear arms. [applause] senator cruz: because if any president does what donald trump is promising to do, cut a deal with harry reid and chuck schumer to agree on justice scalia's replacement, then we know that replacement will be a left-wing judicial activist that

will strip away our rights. i give you my solemn commitment that every justice i put on the supreme court will be a principal constitutionalist, faithful to the law, who will vigorously protect the bill of rights for everyone. [applause] senator cruz: the third key issue this election is about is security. for seven years, america has abandoned friends and allies and has shown weakness and appeasement to our enemies. the world is much more dangerous because of it. once again, in the debate last week, there is a moment of clarity in this choice. donald trump told us he would be neutral between israel and the palestinians. [booing] sen. cruz: let me be very clear. nopresident, i have

intention of being neutral. america will stand unapologetically with the nation of israel. [applause] sen. cruz: and if you cannot tell the difference between terrorists who walk into shopping malls with dynamite strapped or other tests to blow up women and children and the soldiers protecting innocents, if you buy into the media and the left wing narrative of moral equivalency, then that draws into question the judgment any individual would have as commander-in-chief. [applause] senator cruz: over the last

seven years, we have seen the u.s. military weaken, we have seen our readiness to graded, we have seen our morale plummet. america has seen this happen before. we have seen a left-wing president weaken the military as jimmy carter did, and in 1981 ronald reagan came into the white house. what did reagan do? he cut taxes, he passed regulatory reform, the economy took off, millions of small businesses grew, he used revenue to rebuild the military, and we bankrupted the soviet union and won the cold war. [applause] senator cruz: i intend to do the exact same thing with radical islamic terrorism. [applause] senator cruz: we are going to unleash incredible economic growth and rebuild the military

so it remains the world's mightiest fighting force. [applause] senator cruz: no longer will the military be governed by political correctness. [applause] sen. cruz: no longer will it be a top priority of the pentagon to provide gluten-free mre's. [applause] [laughter] senator cruz: instead, we will have a commander in chief who says to the world, we will defeat radical islamic terrorism. [applause] sen. cruz: we will have a president willing to utter the words, radical islamic terrorism. [applause] senator cruz: and one of the

most disgraceful things we have seen over the last seven years, is sending our fighting men and women into combat with rules of engagement that tied their arms behind their back and make it impossible for them to win or or protectenemy themselves. [applause] sen. cruz: that is wrong, it is in january 2017, it will end. [applause] senator cruz: america has always been reluctant to use military force. we are slow to anger. but if and when military force is required, we should use overwhelming force, kill the enemy, and then get the heck

out. [applause] senator cruz: and it is the men and women gathered here, the men and women of cpac, it is the young people, the lovers of liberty, the lovers of the constitution that will lead that fight. [applause] senator cruz: it took jimmy carter to give us ronald reagan. >> amen! sen. cruz: and i am convinced the most long-lasting legacy of barack obama is going to be a new generation of leaders in the republican party who stand and fight for liberty, who stand and fight for the constitution, and who stand and fight for the judeo-christian values that built this great nation. [applause] sen. cruz: thank you, and god bless you. [applause]

[cheering] senator cruz: wow. by the way, did you all know that on "hannity" they always film us from the waist up? he is always in james? -- he is always in jeans. sean: look at this place. it is packed. how are you doing, cpac? [applause] you all enjoy the debate with senator cruz last night? [applause] to seeenator, it is good

you. i know you got a lot of sleep last night. sen. cruz: not much. sean: i want to talk about process and where we are with the campaign. you are second in the delegate count. it is not that big of a disparity. you have a path to the nomination. [applause] sean: there is now mitt romney, he gave a speech yesterday, what did you think of it? mittcruz: listen, i think is a citizen, he is entitled to express his views. i think he is concerned about what donald trump would mean. i come from a different place than mitt does, but the concern he is expressing is a concern that people have all over the country. [applause] you know, if you look at, if you look at republicans across the country, 65% to 75% of republicans recognize that donald trump is not the best candidate to go head-to-head with hillary clinton. [applause] sen. cruz: that if donald is the

nominee, in all likelihood, hillary clinton will win and we lose the supreme court for a generation, the bill of rights is lost, and we are buried in debt, and jihadists continue to rise across the globe. >> never trump! [applause] sen. cruz: and i will say, if you're one of those 65% of republicans that recognize donald is not the best candidate to win -- [applause] sen. cruz: then what is critical is that we come together. super tuesday was a clarifying moment in this election, because super tuesday made clear that only one campaign has repeatedly beaten donald trump, and only one campaign can and will beat donald trump. [applause] here's what i want to ask you. i want the crowd to answer with me, do you not see that, of the

14 or 15 contests that have happened, and i think this is true, that the establishment has lost 14 of the 15. did you see that? sen. cruz: yep. sean: the only question i have, there seems to be an organized, well-funded effort to push this to the convention in the hopes, maybe i am reading into it, to prevent you or mr. trump from getting the nomination, because the establishment is angry you are winning? is that true? sen. cruz: look, sean, you are exactly right. talkingyou hear someone about a brokered convention, it is the washington establishment in a frenzy. they are really frustrated because all of their chosen candidates, all of the golden children, the voters keep rejecting! [applause] sen. cruz: and so they have seized on this master plan, we go to a brokered convention and the d.c. powerbrokers will drop someone in who is exactly to the

liking of the washington establishment. if that would happen, we would have a manifest revolt on our hands across this country. [applause] sen. cruz: and so, if you want to beat donald trump, here is how you do it. you beat donald trump with the voters. [applause] and the key to that, listen, we started with 17 candidates, which means there are a lot of folks in this room that started off supporting other people. there are a lot of good people in this race. i understand that, i respect that. but the field has narrowed and we now have 15 races. our campaign has beaten donald in five states. we beat him in iowa, texas, oklahoma, alaska, and minnesota. [applause] real.i think that plan is

i think that the establishment is paying all this money to do it, but i want to move on to other topics, because i think the voters have something to say about that. one thing they have not factored buy their votes, they cannot decide for you, and you will have the power to pick the people you want to be the next leader of this country and in god it is going to be you and not them, or else we would have another john mccain. sen. cruz: that is exactly right. let me make a pitch to folks. if you started with another candidate, maybe you were originally with rand paul. [applause] sen. cruz: maybe you are with jeb bush or chris christie, or mike huckabee or rick santorum, or maybe you have been with marco rubio, or with john kasich. [applause] or maybe you were with carly fiorina. all of them are good, honorable people. i respect every one of them.

and maybe you were with dr. ben carson. every one of them are good, honorable people. every one of them is 1000 times better than hillary clinton or bernie sanders. [applause] sean: here is a question. would you put those people in your cabinet if you get elected? sen. cruz: absolutely. every name i listed would be a in a and aserve part of the leadership, if -- in a cabinet and as part of the leadership, if we win this race. [applause] seansen. cruz: let me speak to e supporters of each of those candidates, those good and honorable people, but i do not believe they had a path to beat donald trump. if you do not want donald trump to be the nominee, join us. we welcome you. we are building a broad and welcoming coalition of lovers of liberty who believe in the constitution. [applause]

sean: i want to get your legal background. you were the former attorney general of the great state of texas. he's got his boots on, so he is proving his worth. hillary clinton has now had somebody who pled the fifth, now turning in state evidence, the person who built the server in the mom and pop shop that hillary should not have been using. from your legal expertise, do you think she violated the law , and do you think that she will be the candidate? sen. cruz: listen, i think it is an ominous development for hillary clinton. how many of you have watched things like "goodfellas?" when polly flips and goes to the feds, it ain't good for fat

tony. [laughter] [applause] sen. cruz: and, i will get in so much trouble -- sean: it's just so funny. sen. cruz: sean, you have a bad effect on me. sean: i know. i notice i get blamed for all of this. sen. cruz: the fact that immunity has been granted for that person who has set up the server means now they have to spill the beans, they are asking what did secretary clinton know and when did she know it. i will say this, in the general election, we have never had a general election debate convened at leavenworth. but this year might be the first. [applause] sean: i hope she likes orange pantsuits. [laughter] sean: i can say it. i am a talkshow host. i can get away with anything i want. sen. cruz: well you know, sean,

oranges the new democratic blue. -- orange is the new democratic blue. [applause] sean: isn't this fun at cpac? this is great. here's a question. everybody ingive this room the democratic playbook, and i want you to tell this audience how they are going to deal with this. are racist, sexist, homophobic, they want to poison the water and kill every grandmother in the country with a wheelchair. how do you deal with the predictable lies that are coming? sen. cruz: there is this psychological term freud talked about called "protection -- "projection." let's go through those. racist. the democratic party is unable

to say the words "all lives matter." [applause] when did it become controversial to say every human being is a precious gift from god, and we value everybody? [applause] and by the way, you want to talk about black lives matter? 220090, there were homicides in new york city. last year there were 300. that is roughly 2000 a year, murders that were prevented by the brave men and women of the nypd. talk about thousands of black lives that have been saved because of the bravery of allpolice officers, and

lives matter, but let me tell you, blue lives matter! we stand with the men and women who protect them. [applause] so i take from your answer, you go and fight and you make the case. sen. cruz: you take the case right to them. to stand cannot wait on that general election debate stage with hillary clinton. she will stand up and prattle on about income inequality, and i will be ready to say, secretary clinton, i am very glad you raised that, because it increased dramatically under your policy. [applause] , i will actually say a sentence i suspect has never before been set at cpac. sean: oh, boy.

sen. cruz: i'm not donald trump, so it won't be x-rated. i agree with bernie sanders. listen, bernie sanders talks all the time -- sean: the liberal media is back there, that's going to be the quote of the day. go ahead. sen. cruz: bernie sanders talks all the time about corruption in washington, how politicians in both parties get in bed with the lobbyists and special interests, and how the game is rigged. bernie is right. when he is defining the problem, he is exactly right, that washington is fundamentally corrupt. here's where i disagree with bernie. problem is that government is corrupt, then the answer ain't let's have a bunch more government. [applause]

sean: senator, one of the reasons i love coming back to cpac every year is that there are so many young people here. they are our future. [applause] and i am not trying to be repetitive, but want to go through it because this is how profound and deep the problems are right now. you have kids that graduate school and have to live with mom and dad. 94.5 million of our fellow citizens are out of the labor force, millions more than when barack obama became president. 50 million americans are in poverty, millions more than when obama can president. 46 million americans are on food stamps. we have now doubled the national debt. we have $120 trillion in unfunded liability. median income has gone down. my question is, for all of these young people who want a home, a job, a career, a future, and a letter up, how fast can you help them?

sen. cruz: we can turn things around overnight. young people are told this is as good as it gets. except stagnation, accept misery, accept coming out of school drowning in student loans with no hope of a good job. >> malaise. sen. cruz: malaise, we have heard that before. democrat jimmy carter told us, this is as good as it gets. history teaches that was an utter lie. [applause] let me tell you how, as conservatives, we get young people. there is substance and style. on substance, if you sat down to design an agenda to hammer the living daylights out of young people, it would be hard to come up with a more effective agenda than the obama agenda. people come out of school with stagnation and cannot find jobs. obamacare is a massive wealth transfer from young, healthy people to everybody else.

[applause] sen. cruz: $18 trillion in national debt. who the heck do you think is going to pay for that? we have to go and make the case. for young people, it's like your parents went to vegas, took out a credit card in your name, had -- partied it up, and stuck you with the bill. we have to speak the truth that this economic agenda is hammering young people. but some of it is style. listen, if republicans are a bunch of old fuddy-duddies with stakes -- [laughter] sticks, yeah.h sean: i thought we were going back to last night's debate about body parts. i'm kidding. sen. cruz: would it kill republicans to crack a joke? mr. hannity: [as bill clinton] i make fun of bill clinton all the time. there are a lot of hot chicks over there on that side of you. [laughter] sen. cruz: you've got to have

fun. you've got to laugh. we put out a meme. you start off a business in your they were posters of my head on a shirtless body. it was ripped. covered in tattoos. a giant eagle on my chest. two six shooters on my abs. which were a perfect eight pack. winston churchill on my bicep. which was massive. a cigarette dangling out of my mouth, and above at the legend blacklisted and loving it.

, sean, we had nothing to do with this. this was a local street artist. we decided to have fun with is. we put up a facebook post and said, for whatever reason, these posters are appearing all over hollywood. i have to notice a glaring error. i do not smoke cigarettes. [laughter] people laughed. they had fun. they shared them. one interesting thing the media has not reported, we have had 15 states so far. many did not have exit polls, but the one that did, our campaign won young people in the state of iowa. [applause] we won young people in the state of south carolina. we won young people in the state of oklahoma.

we won young people in the state of arkansas. and we won young people in the great state of texas. [applause] mr. hannity: my last question, and i will playoff your humor bit. there might be something that you and donald trump can put together. sen. cruz: i am terrified. mr. hannity: isis is evil in our time. you agree and everybody in this audience understands. for this generation coming up, we have got to stop this evil in its tracks. you have stated that we should carpet bomb the islamic state. which, by the way, is islamic, president obama. he says that we should bomb the living out of them. i am thinking we should carpet bomb the living out of them and perfect plan.the is that ok? it was funnier when i did it backstage. [laughter] sen. cruz: isis -- every

militant on the face of the planet if they join isis, if they wage jihad against the united states of america, they will understand that they are signing their death warrant. [applause] it is interesting, a lot of people characterize strength against our enemies as being a warmonger. i believe like ronald reagan in peace through strength. i think the weakness of barack obama invites military conflict and encourages our enemies. [applause] let me point out that the nation of iran in 1981 released our hostages the day that ronald reagan was sworn into office. [applause]

that is the difference that a strong commander in chief can make, because the ayatollah khomeini realized that this reagan was not jimmy carter, he was not wringing his hands in fear he was not bluffing. , let me tell you, i do not bluff either. when your enemies understand that, more often than not, you do not need to use military power. the biggest country ronald reagan invaded was granada. that is what happens when your america is strong and your enemies understand it. we can have that again. that is who we are. i want to finally say, i ask you to stand with us. this is a grassroots army. washington dc, the establishment is terrified of everybody , gathered here. [applause] if we come together now and we unite we will win this

, primary. we will defeat hillary clinton in november and we will turn this country around. i have spent my entire life fighting to defend the constitution and the bill of rights and i give you my solemn promise that when i take that oath to preserve, protect and defend the constitution that i will faithfully execute that oath every single day in office. mr. hannity: give it up for senator ted cruz. [applause] ♪

>> more now from cpac with senator marco rubio. he attended the event on saturday where he gave remarks and answered questions from cnn 's dana batch. senatopr cruz: rubio: thank you. thank you. this is the seventh straight year i get to speak at cpac and reminds me the first year i was here. the year was 2010. i was an underdog candidate with united states senate. my opponent with the city governor of florida named charlie crist. [booing] that is what i

said at the time, too. [laughter] no one was listening. we were told we need to become more like the democrats. it was the aftermath of 2008. barack obama had one and the word was we had to moderate our stances, to be less conservatives. i never believed that at the time and i chose to run. it was a difficult race. the only people that thought i had a chance to win all live in my home. four were under the age of 10. [laughter] the entire republican leadership in washington dc was with him and everything i knew about politics said there was no path forward. it did not matter to me at the time because i believe deeply that if america continued on the put the new president had us on, it would lose the thing that made it a special country in the place that change the history of my family. fast-forward seven years to this moment. things have only gotten worse.

we have only gotten further away from the principles that made america the greatest nation in all of human history, and it brings us to this moment in our history now. the election of 2016 is no longer simply a choice of between political parties or even ideologies. the fundamental question before america right now is what type of country is this going to be in the 21st century? [applause] the thing i always enjoy about cpac is the incredible number of young people who come to these. younger americans. [applause] by younger i mean anyone under 44. [laughter] although, i feel 45 this week, because i have had the flu. thank you. what we asked ourselves in this campaign is what is this country going to look like?

what will look like when my 16-year-old daughter graduates from college? what will look like when my 13 your old daughter starts her my 10-year-old son starts his family, or my eight-year-old son buys his first home? i can tell you what it will look like if we stay on the road we are now. they will be the first americans -- you will be the first americans -- that inherent, from a previous generation, a country that was worse off than your parents. that is the road we are headed on now. if we remain on that road, we have to explain why our children and grandchildren did not inherit what we did. to get off this road, we must embrace the principles that made us the greatest nation to begin with. that is why the theme of this gathering -- our time is now -- forces us to ask the question, what does it mean to be a conservative in the 21st century? it can never be simply about an attitude.

being a conservative cannot simply be about how long you are willing to scream, how angry you are willing to be or how many names you are willing to call people. that is not conservatism. [applause] conservatism has never been about fear or anger, not at its best. do people have a right to be fearful of the future right now? yes. for over two decades, leaders in neither party have solved the problems before us. people have the right to be angry about every institution in society, absolutely. neither anger nor fear will solve our problems. it will serve to motivate us, but will not solve our problems. what will solve our problems are a specific set of ideas that made america the greatest nation to begin with, and applying those principles to the unique

challenges of this new century. those principles are not complicated. it begins with the notion that this country was founded on a powerful spiritual principle, that our rights do not come from government, our rights do not come from laws, our rights do not come from leaders, our rights come from god. [applause] our government does not exist to decide these rights, nor to grant them. our government exists to protect them. that is why we have a constitution that limits the power of the government to a few specific things. we have abandoned that. we have abandoned it in both political parties. we have reached a moment in our history where we think every problem in america has to have a federal government solution. every problem in america does not have to have a federal government solution. in fact, most problems in america do not have a federal government solution, as most problems are created by the government to begin with. [applause]

and, so, to move forward in a better direction, it does me be embracing and following the first amendment. it is not just the right to believe anything you want, but the right to live out the teachings of your faith in every single aspect of your life. it means understanding that the second amendment was not a nice suggestion, it is a constitutional right to protect yourself and your families from terrorists. [applause] it means adhering to the 10th amendment, in which power is reserved for the states, not because we don't care about problems, but we know when the government tries to fix the problems, it often makes them worse, not better.

let's return power to the state. [applause] senator rubio: conservatism means re-embracing true free enterprise. i believe in not because my parents are wealthy or i inherited millions of dollars, because i did not, but because i met people and shook the hands of people doing the jobs that my parents once did. [applause] senator rubio: you know why they had a job? you know why my parents had a job? because free enterprise works. somebody created those jobs. with those jobs, they were able to raise their kids, buy a house, and have a future. free enterprise is the only system where you can make poor people richer, and you don't have to make rich people poorer. [applause]

it means conservativism means a strong national defense, not because we love war, but because we love peace. history has taught us that weakness invites violence, weakness invites war. [applause] so, conservatism believes that the u.s. military should always be the most powerful one on earth because the world is a safer and better place when america is the strongest military in the world. [applause] conservatives believe we stand by our allies, especially allies in israel. there are the only pro-american free enterprise democracy in the middle east.

[applause] rubio: conservatives believe we need to defeat radical islam, not because we want more, but because isis and other radical islamists are enemies of peace. that is why we need a president, under whom the best military in the world will destroy terrorists, and if we catch them alive, a president that will grant them a court appointed lawyer. a president that will send these terrorists to where they belong, guantánamo bay, cuba. [applause] [cheering] senator rubio: conservatives believe we take care of our veterans because we have a sacred obligation to take care

of them, after they have taken care of us. it is something that is not happening now. [applause] yes, conservatives believe in traditional values, not because we want to impose their views on anyone, but because to abandon those values would be to ignore our future. -- ignore our history read. americans are not the most generous people on earth because our laws make us generous. people do not contribute to charity in this country and record amounts because we have a tax break from it. we do so because this country has been shaped by judeo-christian principles that teach us we have an obligation to care for one another. [applause] we believe in traditional values because without them, without the belief in an all-powerful government, the very founding of this country was meaningless. it was founded on the principle that our rights come from god. if there is no god, where do our rights come from? other than what the leaders

decide they are. you do not understand america, and not understand our history, if you don't understand the role the faith community has played in making us the greatest nation in history. [applause] i'm preaching to the proverbial choir on this issue. why? i think there is a growing amount of confusion about what conservatism is. it is time for us to understand that conservativism is not built on personalities. conservatism is not something built on how angry you might seem from time to time. conservatism is built on a set of principles and ideas that our nation desperately needs. for over 200 years, this has been an exceptional country. i know this personally, as do many of you.

for me, america is not just the country that i was born in, it is the nation that literally changed the history of my family. we have to remember, what made that possible was not by accident. it did not happen on its own. it happened because for over 200 years, generations before us did what needed to be done. for over two centuries, each generation of americans before us confronted and solved problems. they embraced opportunity. americans have never had it easy. this was a nation founded by declaring independence from the most powerful empire in the world. it is a nation that faced a bloody and divisive civil war, two world wars, and a cold war. the 1960's were difficult to this country, the civil rights movement divided us regionally, the vietnam war divided us generationally. americans have never had it easy. but each generation before us

confronted challenges and solved their problems and that is why they left the country better off than it was before them. my fellow conservatives, the time has come for this generation to do its part. the moment has arrived for us to do our part now. the stakes could not be higher because the future of the greatest nation on earth is at stake. i want to speak specifically to the younger people here today. another is a lot of negativity out there. i know that times are difficult. i want you to know that i believe something with all my heart. i believe that all young americans are on the verge and have the chance to become the next greatest generation in american history. [applause] i believe that the 21st century, the 21st century is tailor-made for america. there are now hundreds of millions of people in this

planet that a decade ago were starving. now they want to trade with you, collaborate with you. these young americans are the greatest collaborators of all time, the most advanced technologically that ever lived. on the camden -- on the campaign trail, unless you are under 25 nobody knows how to use these , cameras phones. we have to give them that chance, but they will not have the chance if hillary clinton or bernie sanders is elected. [applause] they won't have the chance if the conservative movement is hijacked by someone who is not a conservative. [cheering] [applause]

and so -- [cheering] and so, i'm already over time, so let me close with this. i have to answer questions. i get to answer questions in a moment. let me close with this. i know that all the news today sounds bad. by the way, for young americans, know this. the one thing that is always true about history is every generation believes the next generation is really messed up. [laughter] i want you to believe, and know, i want you to know what history will say about you, about us, if we make the right choice now. it will say that this generation lived in the early years of this new century in a very difficult

time. the world was changing and we struggled to keep pace with it. it will say the truth, we almost got it wrong. after eight years of barack obama and one crazy election, we almost got it wrong, we came this close, but then we remembered who we were. we remembered what america was. we confronted our challenges and embraced opportunity. we did what needed to be done. our children became the freest and most prosperous that ever lived. and because we did what we needed to be done, the american dream did not just survive, it reached more people and changed more lives. because we did what needed to be done, it became the greatest era of our history. it became a new american century. this is what we have the chance to do together, and the time to do it is now. thank you. [applause] [cheering] thank you.

thank you. [cheering] thank you very much. now, i'm going to answer some questions from a journalist that we respect very much. cnn's chief clinical correspondent is here. i look forward to answering the questions. [applause] >> rubio! [cheering] i don't want to get you sick. >> thank you for that. [cheering] ms. bash: that never gets old,

does it? senator rubio: my running mate, right here. [laughter] ms. bash: that was the first time i've ever been introduced by a presidential candidate. i have a whole list of questions. one think you were just talking about struck me. i came through the back, through the kitchen. that is how your approach a lot of these events. people don't realize that, but for you it is personal. it was the job my parents did. i tell people my parents were incredibly successful people. the american dream is not about how much money you make, or how many buildings have your name on it. [cheering][applause] the american dream -- i was not talking about anybody in particular, i was just saying -- [laughter] the american dream is about achieving happiness.

when you become a firefighter, police officer, teacher, nurse, you know you will not become a billionaire. what you want is what my parents achieved. what they achieved being a bartender at a hotel, and a maid, after arriving with nothing. the first words my dad learned i'm looking for a job. my parents retired with dignity, and left all four children better off than themselves. that is the american dream. [applause] ms. bash: i know you weren't talking about any particular person. senator rubio: i probably was, but you know -- [laughter] ms. bash: let's go there. donald trump was supposed to be here this morning. he backed out. [booing] ms. bash: i sense that the crowd has an opinion on that, do you? senator rubio: this is the american conservative union, it is usually reserved for conservatives. [cheering]

look, either the ideas behind conservativism matter, or they do not. if they do not, it is fine, but i believe they do. it is not enough for me to say vote for me because i'm angry and more over-the-top -- i get that anger and frustration, i really do. let me tell you something. i have said this before. it is not a coincidence that there is a plethora of young conservative leaders in this country, in their 40's and 50's -- myself, ted cruz, rand paul, scott walker, susana martinez, nikki haley, paul ryan. why? [applause] why are there so many young conservatives serving our country? because we grew up in the era of reagan. reagan looked and acted nothing like donald trump. [applause] and look at the democrats. who is the young up-and-coming democrat? bernie sanders. [laughter] ms. bash: i asked ted cruz about

this as well. you are stepping up your rhetoric big time on donald trump on the question of whether or not he is a conservative. you're calling him a con artist and a fraud. if you believe those things, why did you wait until february 2016 to say so? senator rubio: a couple of reasons. i have been busy fighting off other people attacking me. that takes a little bit of time. i did not get into this to beat up on other candidates. i really didn't. if you had told me a year ago that the front runner in the campaign would be a supporter of planned parenthood, who says he does not stand with israel, who has a long record of supporting government-sponsored health care i would say, on what planet with , that be the republican front runner? it has happened. we have to ask yourself, why have we allow that to happen? [applause] i don't think any of us anticipated it. ms. bash: why is that?

people have voted for him. senator rubio: i don't mean to take you on this, but i want to be clear. i have been sitting here for five minutes, and the questions have all been about donald trump. that is the reason why. [cheering] [applause] ms. bash: that is fair, but he is the front runner. and you have been making your point about donald trump. senator rubio: even before he was the front runner, donald would offend someone personally, would make fun of a disabled reporter, or attack a woman journalist, and would dominate the news coverage. of course he is going to get attention. i'm not complaining about it. the reason we're talking about is -- the other night at the debate, over half the questions i was asked were about my opinion of donald trump -- i'm running for president because i think the country needs to re-embrace the constitution,