the home of the brave ♪ [applause]egin. enjoy yourself. announcer: the road to the white house is long and winding. the twists and turns have captivated america in record numbers. but with a new year comes a new focus. the first contests are within sight. the field of candidates is getting smaller. and with every day the end of the road gets closer. tonight the road leads to south carolina, home of the first in the south republican primary. where history has proven the eventual nominee needs a strong

finish. american industry is thriving, unemployment is on the decline, and people are moving here in record numbers. charleston has also suffered unimaginable tragedy. it has lived the nightmare that has haunted too many american communities. but its citizens have come together and they look toward a brighter future. there are just 18 days until the iowa caucuses. 37 days until the south carolina primary. tonight the election year officially kicks off. with the very first debate of 2016. ♪

[applause] moderator: it is 9:00 p.m. here at the north challenges ton coliseum and performing arts center in charleston, south carolina. welcome to the sixth republican presidential debate of 2016 campaign. here on the fox business network. i'm neil cavuto alongside my friend and comoderator maria bartiromo. moderator: tonight we're working with facebook to ask the candidates the questions voters want answered. and according to facebook the u.s. election has dominated the global conversation with 131 million people talking about the 2016 race. that makes it the number one issue talked about facebook last year worldwide. moderator: now the seven candidates on the stage tonight were selected based on their standing in six national polls as well as polls in the early voting states of iowa and new hampshire.

those standings determining the position on the stage of the candidates tonight. and here they are. businessman, donald trump. [cheers and applause] texas senator ted cruz. [cheers and applause] florida senator marco rubio. [cheers and applause] surgeon ben carson. [cheers and applause] new jersey governor chris christie. [cheers and applause] former florida governor jeb bush. [cheers and applause] and ohio governor john kasich. [cheers and applause] moderator: tonight's rules are mple. up to 90 seconds for each

answer, one minute for each follow-up response. if a candidate goes over the allotted time you will hear this. [bell ringing] so let's get started. candidates, jobs and growth, two of the biggest issues facing the country right now. in his state of the union address earlier this week the president said, quote, we have the strongest, most durable quon economy in the world. according to our facebook research jobs is one of the biggest issues resonating across the country, including here in south carolina. the president is touting 14 million new jobs and unemployment rate cut in half. the president said that anyone who claims america's economy is in decline is pedaling -- peddling fiction. senator cruz, what do you see that he doesn't? >> well, maria, thank you for that question and let me say thank you to the state of south carolina for welcoming us. let me start, i want to get to

the substance of the question on jobs but i want to start with something, today many of us picked up our newspapers and we were who are fried to see the sight of 10 american sailors on their knees with their hands on their head. in that state of the union president obama didn't so much as mention the 10 sailors that had been captured by iran. president obama's preparing to send $100 billion or more to the ayatollah khomeni. i will tell you, it was heart-breaking, but the good news is the next commander-in-chief is standing on this stage. [cheers and applause] and i give you my word if i am elected president no serviceman or servicewoman will be forced to be on their knees in any nation that captures our fighting men and women will feel the full force and fury of the united states of america.

[cheers and applause] now on to your substantive question, the president tried to paint a rosy picture of jobs. you know he's right. if you're a washington lobbiest, if you make your money in and around washington thinks are doing great. the millionaires and billionaires are doing great under obama but we have the lowest percentage of americans working today of any year since 1977. median wages have stagnated and the obama-clinton economy has left behind the working men and women of this country. the reason all of us are here we believe we should be fighting for working men and women of this country, and not washington, d.c. moderator: thank you, sir. [applause] moderator: governor kasich, we are not even two weeks into this stock trading year. think about it investors have already lost $1.6 trillion in market value. that makes it the worst start to

a new year ever. many worry things will get even worse, banks and financial stocks are particularly vulnerable. if this escalates like it did back when barack obama first assumed the presidency, what actions would you take, if the same thing happens all over again just as in this example you are taking over the presidency? >> it takes three things to basically grow jobs. i have done it when i was in washington when we had a balanced budget. had four years of balanced budgets. paid down half a trillion in debt and our economy was growing like crazy. it is same thing like i did in ohio. it is a simple formula. common sense regulations. why i think we should freeze all federal regulations for one year, except for health and safety. it requires tax cuts because that sends a message to the job creators that things are headed right way. if you tax cuts -- cut taxes for corporations and cut taxes for individuals you're going to make things move, particularly the corporate tax which is the

highest of course in the world. but in addition to that we have to have fiscal discipline. we have to show we can march to a balanced budget. when you do that, when you're in position of managing regulations, when you reduce taxes and when you have fiscal discipline, you see the job creators begin to get very comfortable with the fact that they can invest. right now you don't have, you have taxes that are too high. you have regulation, i mean come on, they're affecting everybody here particularly our small businesses. they're in the position where they're smothering people. i mean are you kidding me? we're nowhere close to balanced budget or fiscal discipline of the those three things put together will give confidence to job creators and you will begin to see wages rise. you will begin to see jobs created in a robust economy. and how do i know it? because i've done it. i did it as chairman of the budget committee working with senator domenici and i've done it in the state of ohio as the chief executive. our wages are growing faster than national average. we're running surpluses and we

can take that message and that formula to washington to lift every single american to a better life. [applause] moderator: we know that recent global events have many people worried. iran detaining american sailors, forcing them to apologize. north korea and its nuclear ambitions, aggressive china and middle east that continues to deteriorate. not to mention isis is getting stronger. abovegovernor christie, sometimt seems the world is on fire. where and when should a president use military action to restore order? >> well, maria i'm glad to have heard from you in the summary of that question about what is going on in the world because tuesday night i watched story time with barack obama. i got to tell you, it sounded like everything in the world was going amazing, you know? [applause]

the fact is a number of things the next president will have to do to clean up this mess. first thing we have to strengthen our alliances around the world. and the best way to do that is start talking to our allies again and have them be able to count on our word. lots of people say lots of different things about me in this campaign and others but the one thing they have never said about me i'm misunderstood. and so when we talk to our allies and we give them our word in christie administration we're going to keep it. next we have to talk to our adversaries. we have to make sure they understand the limits of our patience. and this president given what ted said right at beginning he is absolutely right, it is absolutely disgraceful that secretary kerry and others said, in their response to what's going on, in iran, that this was good thing. it showed how relationship was getting better. the president doesn't understand and by the way neither does secretary clinton. here is my warning to everybody out in the audience tonight. if you're worried about world being on fire, worried how we will use our military, worried

about strengthening our military and you're worried most of all keeping your homes and families safe and secure, you can not give hillary clinton a third term of barack obama's leadership. i will not do that if i'm not nominee. she won't get within 10 miles of the white house. [applause] moderator: just to be clear, governor, where and when would you use military action? >> military action, maria would be used when it was absolutely necessary to protect american lives and protect american interests around the world. we are not the world's policeman but we need to stand up an be ready, the problem, maria the military is not ready either. we needrebuild the military. this president let it diminish to point like tin pot dictators like mullahs in iran taking our navy ships. it is disgraceful n a christie administration they would know much, much better than to do that. [cheers and applause] moderator: governor bush, the president told the nation two

nights ago that the our enemies are getting strong other this country is getting weaker it is rhetoric and hot air. now the democrats go even further, sir, saying republicans even suggesting such comments actually embolden our enemies. i guess they would include you. what do you think? >> well, first of all the idea that somehow we're better off today than the day that pupil obama was inaugurated president of the united states is totally alternative universe. the simple fact is the world has been torn asunder. think about it with grandiose language the president talks about red lines, with nothing to follow it up. president talks about being a jv team. they form a caliphate the size of indiana with 35 or 40,000 battle-tested terrorists. he is missing the point. america's leadership in the world is required for peace and stability. in the crowd today is major general james livingston, who is co-chair of my campaign here in

south carolina, a medal of honor recipient. i learned from him is peace through strength. in this administration every weapons system has been gutted. we can't even go down to level where we can't project force. our friend no longer think we have their back and our enemies no longer fear us. we're in much different position than we should be. for the life of me i have no understanding why the president thinks that everything is going well. terrorism is on the run. china, russia is advancing their agenda at warp speed. and we pull back. as president of the united states i will be a commander-in-chief that have the back of the military. we will rebuild the military to make sure it is a solid force. not to be the world's policeman to make sure in peaceful world people know that the united states is there to take care of our own national interests and take care of our allies. [cheers and applause]

moderator: take it from that you do not agree with the president? >> no. worst yet, to be honest with you hillary clinton would be national security disaster. think about it she wants to continue down the path of iran, benghazi, russian reset, dodd-frank, all the things that have gone wrong in this country. she would be a national security mess. and that is wrong. you know what? here's the problem. if she gets elected she sunday investigation with the fbi right now. if she gets elected her first 100 days instead of setting agenda she might be going back and forth between the white house an courthouse. we need to stop that. [cheers and applause] moderator: senator rubio, the president says that isis doesn't threaten our national existence like a germany or japan did back in world war ii. that the terror gripe is nothing more than twisted souls plotting attacks in their garages. but, house homeland security committee recently said over

1000 ongoing investigations of homegrown extremism in 50 states. so how do you define the threat? germany then or dangerous nutcases now? >> i would go first of all one step further in this description of hillary clinton. she wouldn't just be a disaster. hillary clinton is disqualified from being commander-in-chief of the united states. [cheers and applause] someone, someone who can not handle intelligence information appropriately, can not be commander-in-chief and someone who lies to the families of those four victims in benghazi can never be president of the united states. [cheers and applause] on the issue of barack obama, barack obama does not believe that america is a great global power. barack obama believes america is a arrogant global power that needs to be cut down to size. that is how you get a foreign policy where we cut deals with our enemies like iran and we betray our allies like israel and we gut our military and we go around the world like he has done on 10 separate occasions and apologized for america. he doesn't understand the threat

in isis. he consistently underestimates it but i do not. there is a war against isis, not just against isis but against radical jihadists terrorists. that is war they win or we win. when i'm president of the united states we will win the war begins isis. most powerful intelligence agency will tell us where we are, the most powerful military in the world will destroy them. if we capture them alive, they are getting one-way ticket to guantanamo, cuba, and we'll find out everything they know. [cheers and applause] moderator: thank you, senator. moderator: dr. carson the president says he does not want to treat isis as foreign army but isis neither a country nor a government. how do you attack a network that does not respect national borders? >> well, i am very happy to bet a question this early on. i was going to ask you to wake me up when the time came. [laughter]

you know, i find it really quite fascinating some of the president's proclamations. the fact of the matter is, he doesn't realize that we now live in the 21st century, and that war is very different than it used to be before. not armies, massively marching on each other and air forces but now we have dirty bombs and we have cyber attacks and we have people who will be attacking our electrical grid. and you know, we have a whole variety of things that they can do and they can do these things simultaneously. and we have enemies who are obtaining nuclear weapons that they can explode in our xo atmosphere and destroy our electric grid. sympathy about a scenario like that. they, they explode the bomb, we have electromagnetic pulse. they hit us with a cyberattack simultaneously and dirty bombs.

can you imagine the chaos that would ensue at that point? he needs to recognize that those kinds of things are in fact an existential threat to us, but, here's the real key. we have the world's best military, even though he has done everything he can to diminish it. and the fact of the matter is, if we give them a mission and we don't tie their hands behind their back they can get it accomplished. [applause] moderator: mr. trump, at the state of the union the president pointed to a guest who was syrian refugee you might recall whose wife and daughter and other family members were killed in an air attack. now he fled that country seeking asylum here. ultimately ended up in detroit where he is now trying to start a new life. the president says that that doctor is the real face of these refugees and not the one that you and some of your colleagues on this stage are painting.

that you prefer the face of fear and terror. and that you would refuse to let in anyone into this country seeking legitimate asylum. how do you answer that? >> it's not fear and terror. it's reality. you just have to look today at indonesia, bombings all over. you look at california. you look frankly at paris where there's a strictest no-gun policy of any city anywhere in the world and you see what happens. 130 people dead with many to follow. they're very, very badly wounded. some will follow. and you look around, and you see what's happening and this is not the case when he introduced the doctor, very nice, everything perfect but that is not representative of what you have in that line of migration. that could be the great trojan horse. it could be people that are going to do great, great destruction. when i look at the migration, i look at the line, i said actually on your show recently, where are the women? it looked like very few women.

very few children. strong, powerful men, young and people are looking at that and they're saying what's going on? you look at the kind of damage that two people that got married, they were radicalized, they got married, they killed 15 people, 14, going to be probably 16, you look at that, and you take a look, good strong look, and that's what we have. we owe $19 trillion, our country's a mess and we can't let all these people come into our countries and break our borders. we can't do it. [cheers and applause] moderator: senator cruz, "the new york times" is reporting that you failed to properly disclose a million dollars in loans from goldman sachs and citibank during your senate race. your campaign says it was inadvertent. a million dollars is inadvertent? >> well, maria, thank you for passing on that hit piece on the front page of "the new york times." [laughter].

you know the nice thing about the mainstream media, they don't hide their views. "the new york times" a few weeks back had a columnist who wrote a column saying anybody but cruz. had that same columnist wrote a column comparing me to an evil, demonic spirit from the movie, "it follows," that jumps apparently from body to body possessing people. so, you know "the new york times" and i don't exactly have the warmest of relationships. now, in terms of their really stunning hit piece, what they mentioned is when i was running for senate, unlike hillary clinton, i don't have masses of money in the bank, hundreds of millions of dollars. when i was running for senate just about every lobbiest, just about all the establishment opposed me in the senate race in texas. and my opponent in that race was worth over $200 million. he put a $25 million check up from his own pocket to fund that campaign.

and my wife heidi and i, we ended up investing everything we owned. we took a loan against our assets to invest it in that campaign to defend ourselves against those attacks and entire "new york times" attack is that i disclosed that loan on one filing with the united states senate, that was a public filing but it was not on a second filing with the fec. both of those filings were public. and yes, i made a paperwork error disclosing it on one piece of paper instead of the other. but if that is the best hit "new york times" has got, they better go back to the well. [cheers and applause] moderator: thank you, senator. moderator: all right, we're just getting started here in south carolina. there is a a lot to get to, this like gun rights and national debt and sometimes nasty war of words between a couple of these fellows up here. more after this. [applause]

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so your business can get back to business. sounds like my ride's ready. don't get stuck on hold. reach an expert fast. comcast business. built for business. ♪ [applause] moderator: all right. welcome back to the republican presidential debate right here in north charleston, south carolina. let's get right back to the questions. i will start with you, senator cruz. now you are of course a strict constitutionalist, no one would doubt that. and as you know the u.s. constitution says only natural born citizens are elgible for the office of president of the united states. stop me if you heard this before. now you were born, you were born in canada to an american mother. so you were and are considered an american citizen. but that fellow next to you, donald trump and others, have said being born in canada means

you are not natural born and that has raised questions about your eligibility. do you want to try to close this topic once and for all tonight? >> well, neil, i'm glad we're focusing on the important topics of the evening. [laughter] [cheering] [applause] back in september, my friend donald said he had his lawyers look at this from every which way and there was no issue there. there was nothing to this birther issue. now since september, the constitution hasn't changed. [laughter] but the poll numbers have. [cheering] and i recognize, i recognize that donald is dismayed that his poll numbers are falling in iowa.

but the facts and law here are really quite clear. under longstanding u.s. law, the child of a u.s. citizen born abroad is a natural born citizen. if a soldier has a child abroad, that child is a natural born citizen. that is why john mccain, even though he was born in panama was eligible to run for president. if an american missionary has a child abroad, that child is a natural born citizen. that is why george romney, m.i.t.'s dad was eligible to run for president, even though he was born in mexico. at end of the day the legal issue is quite straightforward but i would note that the birth they are theories that relying on, one of the more extremes one you must not only be born on u.s. soil but have two parents born on u.s. soil under that theory, not only would i be disqualified, marco rubio would be disqualified, bobby jindal would be disqualified and interestingly enough, donald j. trump would be disqualified. [cheering]

because, because, donald's mother was born in scotland. she was naturalized. now donald -- >> but i was born here. >> on the issue of citizenship donald -- >> big difference. >> on issue of citizenship i'm not going to use your mother's birth against you. >> because it wouldn't work. >> you're an american. as is everybody else on this stage and i would suggest we focus on who's best prepared to be commander-in-chief because that's the most important question facing the country. [cheers and applause] moderator: mr. trump, you raised it, because of his rising poll numbers. >> you saw the numbers yourself, nbc "wall street journal" came out with a poll headline, trump way up, cruz going down. i mean so don't -- see you can't, you can't, they don't like "the wall street journal." they don't like nbc but i like

the poll. and frankly it just came out and, in iowa now, as you know, ted, in the last three polls i'm beating you. so you shouldn't misrepresent how well you're doing with the polls. [applause] you don't have to say that. in fact i was all for you because you started doing that. that is misrepresentation. number one. number two. this isn't me saying it. i don't care. i think i will win fair and square. i don't have to win this way. thank you. laurence tribe and numerous from harvard, of harvard said there is a serious question to whether or not ted can do this, okay? there are other attorneys that feel, and very, very fine constitutional attorneys, that feel that because he was not born on the land, he can not run for office. here's the problem. we're running, we're running. he does great. i win. i choose him as my vice-presidential candidate and the democrats sue, because we can't take him along for the ride.

i don't like that. okay? the fact is, and if, for some reason he beats the rest of the field, he beats the rest of the field who is -- see they don't like that. they don't like that. [. [booing] they don't like he beats rest of the field because they want me. if for some reason, neil he beats rest of the field i already know the democrats are going to be bringing a suit. you have a big lawsuit over your head while you're running and if you become the nominee, who the hell knows if you can even serve in office. so you should go out and get a declaratory judgment. let the courts decide and -- moderator: why are you saying this now? why are you raising this issue now? >> because now he is doing a little bit better. no, i didn't care if he, no, it is true. he never had a chance. now he is doing better. he got probably 4 or 5% chance. [booing]

moderator: thank you, mr. trump. >> neil -- >> the fact his, there is big overhang. there is a big question mark on your head. and you can't do that to the party. you really can't. you can't do that to the party. you have to have certainty. even if it was 1% chance and far greater than 1% because wasn't born -- you have great constitutional lawyers say you can't run. you know, i'm not bringing a suit, i promise but the democrats are going to bring a lawsuit. and you have to have certainty. you can't have a question. i can agree with you or not. but you can't have a question over your head. [shouting] moderator: senator, want to respond? >> listen, i spent my entire life defending the constitution before the u.s. supreme court and i'll tell you i'm not going to be taking legal advice from donald trump. >> you don't have to. take it from laurence tribe. [cheers and applause] take it from your professor. take it from your own professor.

>> chances of any litigation proceeding and succeeding on this, are zero. now mr. trump -- >> that's wrong. >> he is very focused on larry tribe. let me tell you who larry tribe is. left-wing judicial activist harvard law professor, al gore's lawyer in bush versus gore. he is major hillary clinton supporter. there is reason why hillary supporters are echoing donald's attacks on me. because -- >> he is not only one. not only one. there are many lawyers. >> and i'll tell you what, donald, you very kindly just a moment ago offered me vp slot. i'll tell you what. if this all works out i'm happy to consider naming you as vp and so if you happen to be right, you could get the top job at end of the day. >> no. i think -- [applause] i like it, i would consider it but i think i will go back to building buildings if it doesn't work out. >> actually i i love you to buid

a wall. >> i have a feeling it will work out actually. >> neil, i could tell you this, i was invoked in that question. in that answer. let me, the real question, here i hate to interrupt this episode of "court tv" but the real -- [cheers and applause] but, i think we have to get to what this election has to be about. this is the greatest country in the history of mankind but in 2008 we elected a president that didn't want to fix america. he wants to change america. we elected a president that doesn't believe in the constitution. he undermines it. we elected a president that is weakening america on the global stage. we elected a president that doesn't believe in the free enterprise system. this election has to be about reversing all of that damage. that is why i'm running for office. because when i become president of the united states, on my first day in office, we are going to repeal every single one of his unconstitutional executive orders. when i'm president of the united states -- [cheers and applause]

-- we are getting rid of obamacare and we're rebuilding our military. when i'm president we will not just have a president that gives state of the union that says america is greatest country of the world. when i'm president, we will have a president that acts like it. [bell ringing] moderator: thank you, senator. mr. trump, south carolina governor nikki haley in the response to the state of the union address -- [cheers and applause] appeared to choose sides within the party saying republicans should resist, quote, the siren call of the angriest voices. she confirmed, she was referring to you among others. was she out of line? , and how would a president trump unite the party? >> okay. first of all nicky, this afternoon said i'm a friend of hers. actually a close friend. wherever you are sitting nicky, i'm a friend. we're friend. that's good.

[laughter] she did say there was anger. i'm very angry because our country is being run horribly and i will gladly accept the mantle of anger. our military is a disaster. [applause] our health care is horror show. obamacare, we're going to repeal it and replace it. we have no borders. our vets are being treated horribly. illegal immigration is beyond belief. our country is being run by incompetent people. and yes, i am angry. and i won't be angry when we fix it but until we fix it, i'm very, very angry. i say that to nicky. so when nicky said that, i wasn't offended. she said the truth. one of your colleagues interviewed me. and said, well, she said you were angry. i said to myself, huh, she's right. i'm not fighting that. i didn't find it offensive at all. i'm angry because our country is a mess. [applause] moderator: but what are you

going to do about it? >> time constraint. you and governor christie have been exchanging fairly nasty words of late, i will allow the governor to respond as well. the governor went so far to say you won't be able to slime your way to the white house. referring to a series of ads done by a pac speaking on your behalf say quote, one high tax common core liberal energy-loving obamacare medicaid expanding president is enough. you think you went too far on that and do you want to apologize to the governor? >> you know, as i said already twice in this debate we have very serious problem in this country. we have a president of the united states that is undermining this country's security and expanding the role of -- moderator: that is not my question. >> i will answer your question, neil. this president is undermining the constitutional basis of this government. this president is undermining our military. he is undermining our standing in the world. i like chris christie but we can not afford to have a president of the united states that supports common core. we can not afford to have a president of the united states

that supports gun control. this president, this president is more interested in funding, less interested in funding military than he is in -- more interested in funding planned parenthood than he is in funding the military. chris christie wrote a check to planned parenthood. all i'm saying our next president is someone that undoes the damage barack obama has done to this country. it can not be someone that agrees with his agenda. the damage he has done to america is extraordinary. if we don't get this election right there may be no turning back on america. we're on vern of first generation of americans that leave our children worse off tran ourselves. i truly with all my heart belief, i like everybody on the stage. no one is social it. no one here is under fbi investigation. we have good group of people. moderator: is he a liberal? >> unfortunately governor christie has endorsed many of the ideas that barack obama supports whether it is common core or gun control or pointment of sonia sotomayor or donation he made to planned parenthood. our next president, republican

nominee can not be someone who supports those positions. moderator: governor? [cheers and applause] >> i stood on stage and watched marco in rather indignantly look at governor bush and say, someone told you that because we're running for the same office that criticizing me will get you to that office. it appears the same someone has been whispering in old marco's ear too. so the indignation that you carry on, some of the stuff you have to also own then. so let's set the facts straight. first of ail i didn't support sonia sotomayor. secondly i never wrote a check to planned parenthood. third, if you look at my record as governor of new jersey, i have vetoed 50-caliber rifle ban. i vetoed reduction this clip size. i vetoed statewide i.d. system for gun owners and i pardon, six out-of-state folks who came through our state arrested for owning a gun legally in another

state so they didn't have to face charges. common core has been eliminated in new jersey. this is the difference between governor and a senator. see when you're senator, what you get to do is talk and talk and talk you talk so much that nobody can ever keep up with what you're saying is accurate or not. when you're a governor, you're held accountable for everything you do. and the people of new jersey have seen it. [applause] and last piece is this. i like marco too. and, two years ago he called me a conservative reformer that new jersey needed. that was before he was running against me. now that he is he changed his tune. i'm never going to change my tune. i like marco rubio. he is a good guy, a smart guy and he would be a heck of a lot better president than hillary rodham clinton would ever be. >> neil my name was mentioned here. neil my name was mentioned as will. [applause] here's the deal, chris is totally right. he has been a good governor. and he is a heck of a lot better than his predecessor that would have bankrupted new jersey. everybody on this stage is

better than hillary clinton. and i think the focus ought to be on making sure that we leave this nomination process as wild and wooly as it is going to be, this is not being bad, these attack ads are part of life. everybody needs to get used to it. everybody's record will be scrutinized. at end of the day we need to unite behind the winner so we can defeat hillary clinton because she is a disaster. [cheers and applause] our country rise up again but we need a compelling conservative agenda we present to the american people in a way that doesn't disparage people, that unites us around our common purpose. everybody needs to discount some of the things you hear in the ads and discount the back and forth because every person here is better than hillary clinton. >> neil, i was mentioned to. moderator: you were? >> yay, they said everybody. [laughter] and i want to take this opportunity to say, in the 2012

election, you know we, and when i say we, republicans tore themselves apart. you know, we have to stop this because, you know, if we manage to damage ourselves, and we lose the next election, and progressive gets in there and they get two or three supreme court picks, this nation is over as we know it. we have to look at the big picture here. moderator: governor kasich -- [applause] governor kasich, hillary clinton is getting serious competition from senator bernie sanders. he is now at 41% in the latest "cbs/new york times poll." vice president biden sang his praises saying bernie is speaking to a yearning that is deep and real. he has credibility on it. so what does it say about our country that a candidate who is the self-avowed social it, and who doesn't think a 90% tax rate is too high, could be the democratic nominee? >> well, if that is the case,

we're going to win every state if bernie sanders is the nominee. that is not even an issue. but look -- [applause] and i know bernie and i can promise you he will not be president of the united states. here is the situation, i think, maria. this is -- i have to tell you when wages don't rise, and they haven't for a lot of families for a number of years it is very, very difficult for them. part of the reason why it hasn't risen because sometimes we're not giving people the skills they need. sometimes it's because the federal reserve kept interest rates so low that the wealthy were able to invest in strong assets like the stock market when everybody else was left behind. people are upset about it. tell you what upset they're upset b you're 50, 51 years old and some kid walks in tells you're out of work and you don't know where to go or where to turn. do we have answer to that? we do. there are ways to train 50 and 51-year-olds because they have great value. tell you what else people are

concerned about. the kids come out of college, they have high debt and can't get a good job. we have to do a lot about high cost of education but we have to make sure we're training people for jobs that exist are good jobs that can pay. let me tell you that in this country, in this country, people are concerned about their economic future. they're very concerned about it. and they wonder whether somebody is getting something to keeping them from getting it. that is not the america that i ever know. my father used to say, johnny, we don't hate the rich. we just want to be the rich. we got to make sure that every american has the tools. in k through 12 and vocational education and higher education. we got to fight like crazy so people can think the american dream still exists because it does, with rising wages, with full employment, and with everybody in america. i mean everybody in america. having an opportunity to realize the american dream of having a better life than their mother and their father. i'm president. look, i've done it once.

i've done it once in washington with great jobs and lower taxes. the economy was really booming. and now in ohio, with the same formula, wages higher than the national average. a growth of 385,000 jobs. it is not that hard. just know where you want to go, stick to your guts. get it done because our children and grandchildren are counting on us to get it done. and folks we will. you count on it. [applause] moderator: dr. carson, one of the other candidates on this stage has brought up bill clinton's past indiscretions. is that a legitimate topic in this election? and what do you think of the notion that:is an enabler of sexual misconduct? >> well there is no question that we should be able to look at any past president, whether they're married to somebody who is running for president or not in terms of their past behavior and what it means. but you know, here's the real

issue. is this america anymore? do we still have standards? do we still have values and principles? you look at what is going on. you see all the divisiveness and hatred that goes on in our society. we have a war on virtually. >>. race cars, gender wars, income wars, religious wars, age wars. every war you can imagine we have people at each other's throats. and our strength is actually in our unity. you know, you go to the internet, start reading article, go through the comment section, you can not go five comments down before people are calling each other all manner of names. where did that spirit come from in america? it did not come from our judeo-christian roots, i can tell you that and wherever it came from -- [applause] we need to start once again

recognizing that there is such a thing as right and wrong. and let's not let the secular progressives drive that out of us. the majority of people in america actually have values and principles and believe in very things that made america great. they have been beaten into submission. time for us to stand up for what we believe in. [applause] moderator: all right, we are not done. coming up, one of top issues people are talking about on facebook, guns. and you can join us live on this stage in the conversation. during this commercial break right from home. you can go to facebook.com/fox business. we will be streaming live and talking about how we think the debate is going so far. we're back in a moment from charleston, south carolina. [applause] ♪

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[applause] . moderator: welcome back to the republican presidential debate. right here in north charleston. right back to the questions. governor bush, gun rights, one of the top issues seen on facebook. with close to 3 million people talking about it in the past month. right here in charleston, dylann roof accused of killing nine people in a nearby church reportedly had not passed his background check when he got his gun. what is the harm in tightening standards for not only who buys guns, but those who sell them? >> first of all, i'd like to recognize governor haley for her incredible leadership in

the aftermath of the -- [applause] >> the emanuel ame church killings, and want to recognize the people in that church that showed the grace of god and the grace of forgiveness and the mercy that they showed. [applause] >> i don't know if any of us could have done what they did within 48 hours after that tragedy taking place. here's the deal, in this particular case, the fbi made a mistake. the law itself requires a background check, but they didn't fulfill their part of the bargain within the time that they were supposed to do. we don't need to add new rules, we need to make sure the fbi does its job. that person should not have gotten a gun, would not have passed a background check. the first impulse of barack obama and hillary clinton is to take rights away from law-abiding citizens, that's

what they do, whether it's the san bernardino attack or the terrorist tragedies that take place, we need to focus on what the bigger issue is. it isn't law-abiding gun owners. i have a+ rating in the nra, in florida if you commit a crime with a gun, you're going away, going away for a long, long while. we should focus on the violence in our communities, target the efforts for people committing crimes with guns, if you do that and get it right, you're much better off than creating a political argument where there's a big divide. the other issue is mental health. that's a serious issue that we could work on. republicans and democrats alike believe this. [applause] >> the president's first impulse is do it by executive order, power he doesn't have. begin the process of mental health issues so that people that are spiraling out of control because of mental health challenges don't have access to guns. [applause] >> thank you, sir, mr. trump, are there any circumstances

that you think we should be limiting gun sales of any kind in america? >> no. i am a 2nd amendment person. if we had guns in california on the other side where the bullets went in the different direction, you wouldn't have 14 or 15 people dead right now. if even in paris if they had guns going in the opposite dreck, you wouldn't have 130 people plus dead. the answer is no. what jeb said is absolutely correct. we have a huge mental health problem in this country. we're closing hospitals, we're closing wards, we're closing so many because the states want to save money. we have to get back into looking at what's causing it. the guns don't pull the trigger. it's the people that pull the trigger, and we have to find out what is going on. [applause] >> we have to protect our 2nd amendment and you cannot do this and certainly what barack obama was doing with the executive order. he doesn't want to get people together, the old-fashioned way, where you get congress,

the congress, you get the senate, you get together, you do legislation. he just writes out executive order. not supposed to happen that way. [applause] >> thank you, sir. senator rubio you said president obama wants to take people's guns away, under his presidency gun sales have more than double. that doesn't sound like a white house unfriendly to gun owners. >> sounds like people -- the president is going to take gun away. [applause] >> look, the 2nd amendment is not an option, not a suggestion, it is a constitutional right of every american to be able to protect themselves and their families. i am convinced if this president could confiscate every gun, he would. i am convinced if he could get rid of the 2nd amendment he would. i see how he works with the attorney general, not to defend the 2nd amendment but figure out ways to undermine it. i have seen him appoint people to our courts not to defeat the 2nd amendment but figure out

ways to undermine it. here's my second problem. none of the instances as the reason why he's doing these things would have been prevented. you know why? criminals don't buy guns from a gun show or collector, and don't buy guns from a gun store. they steal them, get them on the black market. and let me tell you, isis and terrorists do not get guns from a gun show. [applause] >> his answer, you name it, if there is an act of violence in america, his immediate answer before he knows the facts is gun control. here's a fact, we are in a war against isis. they are trying to attackis in america, attacked us in philadelphia last week, attacked us in san bernardino two weeks ago, and the last line standing between us and our families might be a gun, we are defending the 2nd amendment, not undermining it the way barack obama does. [cheering and applause] . moderator: what can you point to, senator. >> what fact? moderator: what fact that the president would take away

everyone's guns, you don't think that's extreme? >> every two weeks he holds a press conference about how he can't wait to restrict people's access to guns. let me tell you this, do you remember when he ran for president of the united states and he was a candidate and he went and said these americans are traditional values, they are bitter people, and they cling to their guns and to their religion. that tells you right away where he was headed in all of this. this president ever chance he has ever gotten tried to undermine the 2nd amendment. he doesn't meet -- [applause] >> here's the difference, when he meets with the attorney general in the white house, it's not how can we protect the 2nd amendment rights of americans, give me options how it will make it harder for people to buy guns. that will never happen when i am president of the united states. [applause] >> governor christie, you criticized the president's values on gun control, hasn't your own position on guns

evolved a new jersey letter said you signed several laws to regulate the possession of firearms and argued back in august of 2013, and i quote, the commonsense measures will strengthen new jersey's tough gun laws. isn't that kind of what the president wants to do now? >> no, absolutely not. the president wants to do things without working with his congress, without working with the legislature, without getting the consent of the american people. and the fact is that's not a democracy, that's a dictatorship. and we need to be very, very concerned about that. see here's the thing. i don't think the founders put the 2nd amendment as number 2 by accident. i don't think they dropped all the amendments into a hat and picked them out of a hat. they made the 2nd amendment the 2nd amendment because it is that important. in fact in new jersey, we made it easier to get a conceal and carry permit. we made it easier, not harder. and the way we've done it is properly through regulatory action, not signing unconstitutional executive

orders, this guy is a petulant child. that's what he is. [applause] >> the fact is, neil, let's think about, i hope the president is watching tonight because here's what i'd like to tell him. mr. president, we're not against you, we're against your policies. when you became president, you had a democratic congress and a filibuster-proof democratic senate. you had only 21 republican governors in this country, and now after seven years of your policies, we have the biggest majority since the 1920s in the house, a republican majority in the senate, and 31 out of 50 republican governors. the american people have rejected your agenda and now you're trying to go around it. that's not right. it's not constitutional, and we are going to kick your rear end out of the white house come this fall. [cheering and applause] . moderator: so what is the answer, senator cruz, to stop mass shootings and violence

crime up in 30 cities across the country? >> the answer is simple, you prosecute criminals. you target the bad guys. a minute ago neil asked what has president obama done to illustrate he wants to go after guns? well, he appointed eric holder as attorney general, he viewed his mission as brainwashing the american people against guns. he appointed sonia sotomayor in the supreme court, he launched fast and furious, illegally selling guns to mexican drug lords that were used to shoot law enforcement official. and i'll tell you what hillary clinton said, hillary clinton said she agrees with the dissenters, the supreme court dissenters in the heller case. there were four dissenters and they said they believe the 2nd amendment protects no individual right to protect and bear arms whatsoever. which means if their view prevailed and the next president gets one, two, three, maybe four supreme court justices, the court will rule

that not a single person in the room has any right under the 2nd amendment and the government can confiscate your guns. and i'll note that california democratic senator dianne feinstein said if she could say to mr. america and mrs. america give me your guns, i'm rounding them up, she would. and let me make a final point on this. in any republican primary, everyone is going to say they support the 2nd amendment. unless you are clinically insane -- [laughter] >> that's what you say in a primary. but the voters are saffier than that, they recognize that people's actions don't always match their words. i have a proven record fighting the 2nd amendment, there's a reason the government of america endorsed me in this case. there's a reason the nra gave me freedom card award. and a reason when barack obama and chuck schumer came after right to bear arms i led the opposition along with millions of americans, we defeated that gun control legislation, and i would note the other

individuals on this stage were nowhere to be found in that fight. [cheering and applause] . moderator: senator, let me follow up and switch gears. senator cruz, you suggested mr. trump, quote, embodies new york values. could you explain what you mean by that? >> i think most people know exactly what new york values are. [ laughter ] >> i am from new york. >> you're from new york? you might not. but i promise you in the state of south carolina -- [laughter] >> they do. and listen, there are many, many wonderful, wonderful working men and women in the state of new york. but everyone understands that the values in new york city are socially liberal or pro-abortion or pro-gay marriage. focus around money and the media. and i would note indeed, the reason i said that is i was asked, my friend donald has

taken to it as advance playing bruce springsteen's born in the usa. and i was asked what i thought of that? and i said if he wanted to play a song? maybe he could play new york, new york? and the concept of new york values is not that complicated to figure out. not too many years ago, donald did a long interview with tim russert. and in that interview he explained his views on a whole host of issues that were very, very different from the views he's describing now. and his explanation, he said, look, i'm from new york, that's what we believe in new york. those aren't iowa values but this is what we believe in new york. that was his explanation, and i guess i can frame it another way. not a lot of conservatives come out of manhattan. i'm just saying. [ laughter ] >> are you sure about that? moderator: maria, so conservatives actually do come

out of manhattan. >> including william f. buckley and others, just so you understand. and just so -- if i could, because he insulted a lot of people. i've had more calls on that statement that ted made. new york is a great place, it's got great people, it's got loving people, wonderful people. when the world trade center came down, i saw something that no place on earth could have handled more beautifully, more humanely than new york. you had two -- [applause] >> you had two 110-story buildings come crashing down. thousands of people killed and the cleanup started the next day, and it was the most horrific cleanup probably in the history of doing this, and in construction, i was down there. and i've never seen anything like it. and the people in new york

fought and fought and fought, and we saw more death and even the smell of death nobody understood it. and it was with us for months. the smell. the air. and we rebuilt downtown manhattan, and everybody in the world watched, and everybody in the world loved new york and loved new yorkers, and i have to tell you, that was a very insulting statement that ted made. [applause] . moderator: governor bush, for the third time in as many months, the iranians have provoked us, as we've been discussing the ten navy sailors straight into the waters, the sailors were released only after shown on video apologizing for the incident. this occurring only weeks after iran fired multiple rockets within 1500 yards of a u.s. aircraft carrier and continued to test medium range missiles. now you claim that such actions indicate tehran has little to fear from a president obama.

i wonder, sir, what would change if they continued doing this sort of thing under a president jeb bush? >> first of all, under president jeb bush, we would restore the strength of the military. last week, secretary carter announced that the navy's going to be cut again. it's now half the size of what it was prior to operation desert storm. the deployments are too high for the military personnel. we don't have procurement done for refreshing the equipment. b-52 is still operational as the long range bomber, inaugurated in the age of harry truman. the planes are older than the pilots. we're gutting our military and so the iranians and the chinese and the russians and many other countries look at united states not as serious as we once were. we have to eliminate the sequester, rebuild the military in a way that makes it clear that we're back in the game. secondly, as it relates to iran, we need to confront ambitions across the board.

reimpose sanctions, they violated sanctions after the agreement was signed by testing medium-range missiles. thirdly, we need to move our embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem to send a serious signal we're back in the game with israel -- [applause] >> and sign an agrment to make sure the world knows they will have technological superiority. we need to get back in the game as it relates to our arab nations. rest of the world is moving away from us, towards other alliances because we're weak. this president and john kerry and hillary clinton all have made it harder for the next president to act, but he must act to confront the ambitions of iran. we can get back in the game to restore order and security for our own country. [applause] . moderator: thank you, governor. governor kasich, while everyone is focusing on iran's provocations, wondering what you make of what saudi arabia is doing and recent moves in the region, including execution of a well-known shiite cleric

and move to dramatically increase oil production. some say an effort to drive down oil prices and force a lot of u.s. oil producers out of business. sure enough oil prices tumbled. one brokerage house is predicting a third or more of american oil producers and those heavily invested in fracking will go bankrupt, and soon saudi arabia and opec will be back in the driver's seat. u.s. energy player harold hamrie said with friends like these, who needs enemys? >> i served on the defense committee for 18 years, and by the way, one of the members of the committee was senator strom thurmond from south carolina. after the 9/11 attacks, secretary rumsfeld invited me to the pentagon with a meeting with the four formers secretaries of defense. i suggested we had a problem with technology, and they wanted to involve silicon

valley into the pentagon to solve our most significant problems. i not only had the opportunity to go through the cold war struggles in central america, and even after 9/11 to be involved, with saudi arabia and oil production, first of all, it's so critical for us to be energy dependent and getting there because of fracking and we ought to explore, energy independence gives us leverage and flexibility, and secondly, if you want to bring jobs back to the united states of america and industry, low prices make the difference. we're seeing it in my state and see it in this country. that's why we must make sure we continue to frack. in terms of saudi arabia, look, my biggest problem with them is funding radical clerics through their medroces, that is a bad deal. whether i'm president or not, make it clear to the saudis, we're going to support you, we're in relation with you just like the first gulf war, but you got to knock off the

funding and teaching of radical clerics who are the very people who try to destroy us and will turn around and destroy them. so look, in foreign policy, in foreign policy, it's strength, but you got to be cool, you got to have a clear vision of where you want to go, and i'm going to tell you that i'm going to suggest to you here tonight, that you can't do on-the-job training. i've seen so much of it, soviet union, coming down of the wall. issues we saw around the world in central america, the potential spread of communism and even in and the gulf war. you see with the saudis deliver them a strong message, but at the end of the day, keep our cool because most of the time they're going right with us and they must be part of our coalition to destroy isis, and i believe we can get that done. thank you. [applause] . moderator: thank you, governor. much more ahead including the fight against isis, more from charleston, south carolina when

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we'll credit your account $20. it's our promise to you. we're doing everything we can to give you the best experience possible. because we should fit into your life. not the other way around. . moderator: welcome back to the republican presidential debate. right back to the questions. candidates, the man who made fighting isis the cornerstone of his campaign, south carolina senator lindsey graham is out of the race, but he joins us tonight in the audience. [applause] >> he says, he says the airstrikes now in their 16th month have been ineffective. dr. carson -- >> wait a minute, who in the 16th month.

moderator: the airstrikes. now in the 16th month are ineffective. dr. carson, do you think senator graham is right in wanting to send 20,000 troops, ground troops to iraq and syria to take out isis? >> well, there's no question that isis is a very serious problem, and i don't believe that this administration recognizes how serious it is. i think we need to do a lot more than we're doing. recognize that the caliphate is what gives them legitimacy to go out on a jihadist mission week need to take that away from them, the way is to talk to military officials and ask them what do you need in order to accomplish this goal? our decision is then do we give them what we need. i say yes, not only do we give them what they need, but don't tie their hands behind their backs so they can get the job done. [applause] >> in addition to that, we go ahead and we take the oil from

them, their source of revenue. you know, some of these engagement rules that the administration has were not going to bomb a tanker coming out of there because there might be a person in it. give me a break. just tell them, you put people in there, we're going to bomb them. don't put people in there if you don't want them bombed. we need to shut down the mechanism for funding and attack their command and control centers. why should we let their people smoking their cigars, sitting in comfortable chairs in raqaa. we need to shut off the supply routes and send in special ops at 2:00 a.m. and attack them everywhere they go. they should be running all the time, then they won't have time to plan attacks against us. [applause] >> thank you, sir, senator graham has also said that the u.s. will find arab support for its coalition if it removes

syrian president bashar al-assad and i quote, the now king of saudi arabia told us you can have our army, you just got to deal with assad. amir of qatar said i'll pay for the operation but they are not going to fight isis and let damascus fall into the hands of the iranians. assad has to go. governor christy, how important is it to remove assad from power and how would you do it? >> you look at what the president and secretary clinton has done, this is the president who said along with the secretary of state through a red line in syria, if assad uses chemical weapons against his people, we're going to attack. he used chemical weapons, he's killed a quarter of a million of his own people and this president has done nothing. he's done worse than nothing. this president, and by the way secretary clinton who called assad a reformer, she called assad a reformer. now the fact is with this president has done is invited

russia to bring in vladimir putin to negotiate giving the chemical weapons back from assad, yet what do we have today? we have the russians and iranians working together, not to fight isis but to prop up assad. fact of the matter is we're not going to have peace. we're not going to have peace in syria. we're not going to be able to rebuild unless we put in a no-fly zone, make it safe tr the folks so we don't have to talk about refugees anymore. the syrians should stay in syria. shouldn't be going to europe. you're not going to have peace in syria with assad in charge. senator graham is right about this. if we want to try to rebuild a coalition as governor kasich was saying before, what we better do is to get to the arab countries that believe that isis is a threat not only to them but to us and to world peace and bring them together, and believe me, assad is not worth it. and if you going to leave this to hillary clinton, the person who gave us this foreign policy, the architect of it, and give her another four

years, that's why i'm speaking out as strongly as i am about that. hillary clinton cannot be president. it will lead to greater war in this world, and remember this, after hillary clinton and barack obama had nearly 8 years, we have fewer democracies in the world than when they started. that makes the world less peaceful, less safe. in my administration, we will help to make sure we bring people together in the middle east, and we will fight isis and defeat them. moderator: thank you, sir. mr. trump, your comment about banning muslims from entering the country created a firestorm. according to facebook, it was the most talked about moment online of your entire campaign. with more than 10 million people talking about the issue, is there anything you've heard that makes you want to rethink this position? >> no. [ laughter ] >> no. look, we have to stop with political correctness.

we have to get down to creating a country that's not going to have the kind of problems that we've had with people flying planes into the world trade centers, with the shootings in california. with all the problems all over the world. i just left indonesia, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb. we have to find out what's going on. i said temporarily. i didn't say permanently. i said temporarily, and i have many great muslim friends, and some of them, i will say not all, have called me and said donald, thank you very much. you're exposing an unbelievable problem, and we have to get to the bottom of it. and unlike president obama, where he refuses to use the term of what's going on. he can't use the term for whatever reason, and if you can't use the term, you're never going to solve the problem. my muslim friends, some, said thank you very much. we'll get to the bottom of it, but we have a serious problem,

and we can't be the stupid country anymore. we're laughed at all over the world. >> donald, donald, i hope you reconsider this, because this policy is a policy that makes it impossible to build the coalition necessary to take out isis. the kurds are our strongest allies, they're muslim. you're not going to allow them to come to our country? the other arab countries have a role in this. we can't be the world's policemen, we can't do it unilaterally. we have to do it in unison with the arab world. we have to be serious about taking out isis and restoring democracy in syria. i hope you'll reconsider. i hope you'll reconsider. the better way of dealing with this is recognizing that there are people in the islamic terrorist embedded refugee populations, we ought to tighten up our efforts to beef up the entry visa program so a

citizen from europe, it's hard fer they're traveling to syria or other places where there is islamic terrorism, make the screening take place. we don't have to have refugees come to the country, but all muslims? seriously! what kind of signal does that send to the rest of the world that the united states is a serious player in creating peace. moderator: you said it represented him being unhinged. >> they are unhinged. moderator: well, after he made them. poll numbers went up 8 points in south carolina. >> no, no, 11 points to be exact. [ laughter ] >> are you saying that all those people who agree with mr. trump are unhingeed? >> no, not at all. absolutely not. i can see why people are angry and scared because this president has created a condition where our national security has weakened dramatically, i totally get that. but we're running for presidency of the united states here. this isn't -- this isn't a different kind of job, you have to lead. you cannot make rash statements

and expect the rest of the world to respond as though, well, it's just politics. every time we send signals like, this we send a signal of weakness, not strength. it was an unhinged statement, which is why i'm asking him to consider changing his views. [applause] >> i would security for this country. okay? i want security. i'm tired of seeing what's going on between the border where the people flow over, people come in, they live, they shoot. i want security for this country. we have a serious problem with, as you know, with radical islam. we have a tremendous problem. not only a problem here, it's a problem all over the world. i want to find out why those two young people, those two horrible young people in california when they shot the 14 people, killed them. people they knew. people that held a wedding reception for them. i want to find out, many people saw pipe bombs and all sorts of

things all over their apartment. why weren't they vigilant? why didn't they call? why didn't they call the police? and by the way, the police are the most mistreated people in this country. i will tell you that. [cheering and applause] . >> the most mistreated people. we need -- wait a minute, we need vigilance. we need to find out. many people knew about what was going on. why didn't they turn the two people in so you wouldn't have had all the death? there's something going on and it's bad. and i'm saying we have to get to the bottom of it. that's all i'm saying. we need security. moderator: we want to hear from all of you on this. according to pew research, the u.s. admits more than 100,000 muslim immigrants every single year on a permanent lifetime basis. i want to ask the rest of you to comment on this. do you agree that we should pause muslim immigration until we get a better handle on our homeland security situation, as mr. trump said, beginning with

you, governor kasich? >> i've been for pausing on admitting the syrian refugees. and the reason why i've done is i don't believe we have a good be process of being able to vet them. we don't want to put everybody in the same category. and go back to something mentioned a few minutes ago. if we're going to have a coalition, we're going to have to have a coalition not just of people in the western part of the world, our european allies, but we need the saudis, we need the egyptians, we need the jordanians, we need the gulf states. we need jordan. we need all of them to be part of exactly what the first george bush put together in the first gulf war. it was a coalition made up of arabs and americans and westerners and we're going to need it again, and if we try to put everybody in the same -- call everybody the same thing, we can't do it. and that's just not acceptable. but i think a pause on syrian refugees has been exactly right for all the governors that have called for it, and also, of

course, for mesa the governor of ohio. moderator: thank you, sir, we want to hear from the rest of you, governor christie, your take. >> maria, i said from the beginning we should take no syran refugees of any kind. that's the end of the conversation, i can tell you after spending seven years as a former federal prosecutor, right after 9/11, dealing with this issue, here's the way you need to deal with it. you can't just ban all muslims. you have to ban radical islamic jihadists, ban the people trying to hurt us. the only way to figure that out is to go back to getting the intelligence community the funding and the tools that it needs to be able to keep america safe. and this summer, we took it away from the nsa, it was a bad decision by the president. bad by those in the senate who voted for it. if i'm president we'll make our intelligence community strong, and we're just going to keep

the bad folk out and make sure they don't harm us. moderator: senator rubio, where do you stand. >> let's find out why we are see angered, this issue has consistently underestimated the threat of isis. if you listen to the state of the union the other night, he described them as a bunch of guys with long beards on the back of a pickup truck. they are much more than that. they enslave women and sell them as brides. this is a group of people that burns people in cages, that is conducting genocide against christians and yazidis in the region, this is not a small scale group, they are radicalizing people in the united states, conducting attacks around the world. what needs to happen, it's a very simple equation, and will happen when i'm president. if we do not know who you are, when i am president, you are not getting into the united states of america. [applause] >> senator cruz, where do you stand? senator cruz? >> you know i understand why

donald made the comments he did and i understand why americans are feeling frustrated and scared and angry when we have a president who refuses to acknowledge the threats we face and worse who acts as an apologist for radical islamic terrorism. i think what we need is a commander in chief focused like a laser on keeping this country safe and on defeating radical islamic terrorism. what should we do? first, pass the expatriate terrorist act, legislation i've introduced that says if an american goes and joins isis and wages jihad against america, that you forfeit your citizenship and you not come in on a passport. [applause] >> and secondly, we should pass the legislation that i've introduced that suspends all refugees from nations or al qaeda controls significant territory, just last week, see saw two iraqi refugees vetted using the same process the president says will work that were arrested for being alleged

isis terrorists, if i'm elected president, we will not let in refugees from countries controlled by isis or al qaeda. when it comes to isis, we will not weaken or degrade them, we will utterly and completely destroy isis. >> we need to get a group of experts together. including people from other countries, from israel, who have had experience screening these people, come up with new guidelines for immigration, and visas, that is thing that makes sense, we can do, that as far as this syrians, province, perfect place. they have infrastructure.

all we need is protect them, they will be in own country. i was in jordan in november. moderator: you do not agree? >> are we banning muslims from india? from indonesia? from countries that are strong isis, of course, not, i laid out a plan at cida dell to do that we need a force, a sunni led force in syria, we need to embed with the iraqi military, arm the curs directly, we need lawyers off the back of the war fighters, that is how you solve the problems. moderator: thank you governor. >> mr. trump, sometimes, maybe in heat of campaign, you say

things and have to deal them back, last week you were quoted as saying imposing a tariff on chinese goods. >> they are wrong, they were wrong, it is the "new york times," they are always wrong. moderator: you never said? >> i said they were asking me what to do about north korea, china, they don't like to tell us but they have total control just about of north korea. they can solve the dro problem of north korea if they wanted to, but they taunt us, china is ripping us on trade, they are devaluing their currency and killing our companies, thousands -- you look at number of companies and number in terms of manufacturing of plans, that we lost, 50,000 because of china. -- anywhere between 4 and 7 million jobs, because of

china, i said this. we have very unfair trade with china. we're going to have a trade deficit of $505 billion this year with china. a lot is pause they devalued their currency. what i said to the "new york times" is we have great economic power over china, if we wanted to use that and the amount with 45% comes in, that would be the amount based on their devaluations, that we should get, that we should get, i'm saying, if they don't start treating us fairly and stop devalues and let their currency rise so our companies come pete, and we don't lose millions of jobs we're losing i would tax goods that come in from china, who the hell has to lose $505 billion a year. moderator: you lost me. >> it's not that complicated. moderator: i apologize.

if you don't want a 45 percent tariff. would you be open are you open to slapping a higher tariff on chinese goods of any sort to go back. >> just so you understand, i know so much about trade with china, carl icahn endorsed me. he is somebody -- these are people that we should use to negotiate. not the kind of people we have, who are political hacks who don't know what they are doing, we have problems like this. we should use our best and our finest. moderator: on that tariff. >> here is what i'm saying, china they send their goods we don't tax they do whatever they want. okay. what when we do business with china, they tax us, you don't know it they tax us, i have many friends that deal with china, they can't deal, number one they don't want the product, when they get the product it taxed, you look at boeing could and with so many companies, that deal, we don't

have an equal playing field, i am saying, we coach have to continue to lose $5005 billion as a trade deficit for privelage of dealing with china, i am a free trader, we have to be smart, and use smart people to negotiate, i have the largest bank in the world, i sell tens of millions, i love china, i love the chinese people. but they laugh themselves, they can't believe how stupid the american leadership is. moderator: you are open to a tariff? >> i am totally open to a tariff. if they don't treat us fairly. their whole trade thing is tariff, you can't deal in china out tariff, they do it to us, we don't do it it is not fair trade. >> neil, let's me say, i am a free trader. i supported nafta, it is important those countries in asia or a interface in china,

we do need china. donald is right about north korea, they do need to put pressure on, we need to intercept trips coming out of north korea. but i think what he is talking about has merit. >> i like him tonight. >> for too long, what happen is, somebody dumps their product in our country. takes our people's jobs, we go to a international court, it takes a year or two to figure out they were cheating us. guess what? the worker is out of a job, when it is found against that country selling products in here lower than the cost to produce them, what do we tell the worker, oh,well, it done work out for you. we should be for free trade but fair trade, when countries violate trade agreements or dump productses her here to stand up against those countries that do that,

without making them an enemy. how do i know this? so many people in my family worked in steel mills, they did not work with the white collar they worked in blue collar, those -- jobs are critical they are hard working members of the middle class, they need to be paid attention to, they are americans they carry the load, de l demand open trade but fair trade. >> on this point, if i may add. we're all frustrated with china, we need to be careful with tariff, china did not pay tariffs, the buyer pays the tariff, if you send a tie or shirt on u.s., it gets passed on to price of the consumer, best thing to protect against china economy like is to make our economy stronger that means preversing course from all of the -- reversing course from all of the damage that barack obama doing to this economy.

let's, low companies to immediately -- continues a regulatory reform, regulation is out of control. especially the epa, and all of the rules they impose on our economy and hurting us, obamacare? a certifieded job killer that needed to be repealed and replaced. we need to make our economy stronger. that is the way to deal with china. >> the problem is what marco said, it takes too long, they are sucking us dry, you absolutely have to get involved with china, they are taking so much of what we have in terms of jobs in terps o terps of money. moderator: he is right, the americans pay. >> you looking at me. >> prices go higher. >> can i tell you, it will never happen, they will let their currency go up, japan the same thing, they are devaluing, so impossible for

-- you look at caterpillar tractor. friends of mine are orders kamatzu tractors now, you can't buy a caterpillar tractor, we're letting them get away with it, that is why we have to use carl and our great business people not political hacks to negotiate with these guys. >> apart from the higher prices on consumers, people living paycheck to pa paycheck, there will be retaliation, soybean sales from iowa, to goes to china or boeing here within a mile, you think that chinese if they had a 45 percent tariff on their imports would not buy airbus, they would, this would be devastating for the economy. we need someone with a steady happened to be president of the u.s. >> senator, go ahead, then tax reform. moderator: we don't need a

weak person being president of the united states that is -- i tell you what -- we don't need that that is what we have now. we don't need that. that is why we're in the trouble that we're now -- by the way jeb you mentioned boeing, look. they order planes they make boeing build their plant in china. >> thank you, mr. trump. >> briefly. >> my name was mentioned. the plane that is being build here is sold to china. you flew in with your 767. >> the new plants not now in the future they are building massive plants in china. because china does not want boeing building their planes here they want them built in china, because china is smart the way they do it. >> you head back to airport check. >> i'll check.

>> check it out. >> senator. >> thank you for coming back to me. both donald and jeb have good points there is a middle ground, donald is right, china is run over president obama like he is a child, probe is not protecting american workers, we're getting hammered. a sat down with senior leadership of john deere they discuss how hard it is to sell tractors in china, but jeb also right, if we just impose a tariff they will put resi reciprocal tariffs that will hurt the iowa formers, you pass a tax plan like the tax plan, a simple flat tax, 10% for individuals, 16% flat tax, you abolish the irs. here is critical point, maria, the business flat tax enables

us to abolish corporate income tax, date tax, own be car obamacare tax, and payroll tax, a huge advantage for formers, and manufacturers, every import pays the 16% business flat tax, like a tariff. but if we impose a tariff, china responds the business flat tax they already impose their tax on us. it puts us on a level even playing field that brings jobs here at home, as president i will fight for the working man and women. moderator: we have to get to tax reform. national debt as well, up next, growing national debt, war on crime attack reform. more from north charleston, more from north charleston, south carolina, when we come more from north charleston, south carolina, when we come at ally bank, no branches equals great rates. it's a fact.

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moderator: welcome back to the republican presidential debate here in north charleston, right back to the question, governor christie we've spoken about cutting spending. according to a report, american needs $3.6 trillion in infrastructure spending by 2020, here in south carolina, 11% of bridges are considered structurall deficient. what is your plan to fix the ailing roads and bridges without breaking the bank? >> here is our plan. we have all been talking about tax reform. if you reform corporate tax,

which has mentioned before is highest rate in the world, we double tax, that led to over $2 trillion of american company's moneys that are kept offshore because they don't want to pay that second tax. they pay tax once overseas they don't want to pay 35% tax on the way back. beside reforming that tax to bring it down to 25 percent, and eliminating loopholes, but also, a one-time repatriation of the money, bridge that money back to u.s., we'll tax 88.75%. i would dedicate that money to rebuilding infrastructure here. it would bridge the money back into the united states to help build jobs by american companies get our economy moving and growing as a higher

rate, and rebuild the roads, bridges and tunnels, the last piece. this president, has penalized corporations in america. he does not understand, that hurts hard working taxpayers. you have seen middle class wages go backwards with the obama administration, that is wrong for hard working tax payer, we would rebuild infrastructure to create jobs, and work with the states to do it the right way, remember that. i am credible to this for this reason, americans for tax reform said i vetoes more tax increases than any governor in american history. we don't need to raise taxes to get this done. we need to get smarter, reform the tax system, bridg bring the money back to u.s., all these are important. moderator: dr. carson, it is

true, u.s. companies have $2 trillion in cash sitting overseas right now, that could be used for investment and jobs in america, also. several companies right now, are pursuing mergers to move their corporate headquarters abroad, and take advantage of much lower taxes. what will you do to stop the flow of companies moving cash away from america, and those leaving america? >> i would suggest a fair tax system, that is what we have proposed. a flat tax, for everyone, no exemptions, no deducttions, no shelters, some people have a better capability of taking advantage of those than others, other thing is stop spending so much money. you know, my mother taught me this, she had a third grade education, she knew how to stretch a dollar, she would

drive a car until it would not make a sound, gather her coins and buy a new car. if my mother were secretary of treasury we would not be in a deficit situation. but, you know if we fix the taxation system, make it fair, and get rid of the incredible regulations. every regulation is a tax. on goods and services, it is the most regressive tax there. is you know you go to the store, buy a box of laundry detergent, and the price is up 50 cents because of regulation, a poor person notices that, a poor person did you not, middle class notices it at cash register, everything is costing more money. we're killing our people like this bernie sanders and hillary clinton will say, it is the evil rich people, it is not the evil rich people, it is the evil government that is

putting these regulations on us. >> you were talking about corporate inversion, corporations by the thousands are thinking of leaving the country because of taxes, but they are also leaving because they can't get their money back in everyone agrees it should come back in, but they can't get along. here is the case they agree, they can't make a deal, we have to do something, corporate inversion is one of the biggest problems we have. so many companies, are going to leave our country. moderator: that is why we raised it, thank you, mr. trump. >> one of the biggest fiscal challenges is our entitlement program in particular social security and medicare, what policies will you put forward to make sure these programs are more financially secure. >> let me address the tax issue. i would like to thank you to

have substantive debates. here is one thing i'm not doing, i will not have something that ted described the value added tax, you find that tax in many companies in europe. where businesses pay a tax on money they make and also on money they pay their employees, it is a way to blindfolded the people, ronald reagan opposed it said it was a way to blind foal the people, so true cost of government was there there for them. what is to prevent a future liberal president or congress from coming back not just raising income tax but also the vat tax, that is also bad for seniors, seniors, if they are retired are no longer earning an income from a job, they do not get that income tax break but the prices will bbe higher. when i am president of the

united states, i am sides with ronald reagan on this, not nancy pelosi, we're not having a vat tax. >> maria, marco has been floating this tax for a few weeks now, but problem is that business flat tax in my proposal is not a vat, a vat is a sales tax when you buy a goods, this is a business flat tax, imposed on the businesses, a critical piece that marco is missing this 16% business flat tax enables to us eliminate corporate income tax, it eliminates the death tax if you are a farmer or rancher, the death tax is gone. we eliminate payroll tax, the obamacare tax, and there is a real difference between marco's tax plan and mine, mine gives every american a flat tax of 10%.

marco's tax rate is 35%. my tax plan enables to fill out your taxes on a post card to abolish the irs, we need to break washington cartel, only way to do it is end subsidies and mandates, final observation, invoke ronald reagan, i would note art laug laffer has written my simple flat tax is the best tax plan of any of the individuals on this stage, it helps everyone from the poorest to the richest. >> that not an accurate description of the plan, you may rename the irs but you are not abolishes the irs, know what will collect our vat tax, ronald reagan's treasury, when it looked at vat tax they

found they would have to hire 20,000 new irs agencies to collect it it does not eliminate corporate tax or payroll tax, businesses pay 16% on money they make, and 16% on money they pay their employs, there are people watching in business if you are now on a 60% tax on income and wages you pay your employs, where you are getting that money from? by paying our employs next, charging your customers more, the difference is you don't see if on the bill, you blind foal the american people, 16% is what rate that ted wants, what happens if god forbid the next barack obama takes over, and nancy pelosi, and harry reid, and they say we'll raise it to 30%, now you have europe. moderator: i have to get to a question. >> maria --

>> debate on the floor of senate, to answer the question you ask. a entitlement, do you remember that? there was a question on entitlements, the reason -- you had your chance. here is the thing. reason why that no one wants to answer entitlement because it is hard, a hard problem imf -- i'm only one in april that put forward a detail entitlement reform plan. that would avoid this, avoid what hillary clinton will do to you, because what she will do is come in, she will raise social security taxes, bernie sanders said it, she one or two more poll drops down, from moving further left than she has already moves. we have seniors out there who

are scared to date, because this congress, this one that we have right now, just stole $150 billion from social security retire a retirement fund to give it so social security disability fund, that is wrong, we need to reform social security. mine is only plan that saves over a trillion dollars, that is why i'm answering your questions. >> one thing, i want to say. you know, last week, we release our tax plan, and multiple reputable journals including "wall street journal" say ours is the best, i just want to get that out their. moderator: coming up, how will the candidates protect america. and another terror attack, if we were to see it, you can join us live onstage during the commercial break from

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. moderator: welcome back to the republican presidential debate right here in north charleston, south carolina. let's get right to the question, maria? >> mr. trump, your net worth is in the multibillions of dollars, and have an ongoing thriving hotel and real estate business, are you planning on putting your assets in a blind trust you should become president. with such vast wealth, how difficult will it to be to disentangle yourself from your business and money and prioritize america's interests first?