rubio and senator cruz in the last debate. the first is on whether the war in afghanistan was a mistake. watch. >> what about afghanistan, do you believe that american boots should stay on the ground in afghanistan to stabilize the situation? >> we made a terrible mistake getting involved there in the first place. that thing will collapse about two seconds after they leave. just as i said that iraq was going to collapse after we leave. >> about afghanistan, you said we made a terrible mistake getting involved there in the first place. >> we made a mistake going into iraq. i've never said we made a mistake -- >> our question was about afghanistan. >> i never said that. okay. wouldn't matter. i never said it. >> next, on whether we should accept -- >> should i respond to that first? >> two more then you'll have the floor. next on whether we should accept -- >> you'll be here a long time. >> on whether we should accept the syrian refugees. >> do you object to migrants who are getting out of the middle east and north africa? do you object to them coming to the usa? >> i hate the concept of it but

on a humanitarian basis with what's happening, you have to. it's living in hell in syria, no question about it, they're living in hell. >> are you saying absolutely people from syria, the middle east, should we allow any of them into this country? >> look, from a humanitarian standpoint, i'd love to help but we have our own problems. we have so many problems that we have to solve. >> most recently, on whether president george w. bush lied to get us into the iraq war. >> they lied. they said there were weapons of mass destruction, there were none, and they knew there were none. i don't know if he lied or not, he could have lied. maybe he did. maybe he didn't. i guess you'd have to ask him. >> and there are many other examples. how is any of this telling it like it is? >> on afghanistan, i did mean iraq. i think you have to stay in afghanistan for a while because of the fact you're right next to pakistan which has nuclear weapons and we have to protect that. nuclear weapons change the game. and i was always against going into iraq. in fact, believe me, i was always against it.

there was some cases where i sort of -- in one interview with a great friend of mine, and yours, howard stern, said that -- said that -- i said very meekly, long before we went in, i said very meekly, well, maybe, maybe, i don't know. by the time it got to that point, i was always against iraq, but afghanistan, i felt. in that one if you notice, i corrected it the second day. okay? second question? >> there are several examples -- >> no, no. >> -- afghanistan being a mistake. within one day you reversed yourself on syrian refugees. >> let me explain that. you're right. let me explain. first time the question had been put to me, it was very early on. the migration had just started. and i had heard that the number was a very, very small number. by the second day, two or three days later, i heard the number was going to be thousands and thousands of people. you know, when they originally heard about it, they were talking about bringing very, very small numbers in and i said begrudgingly, i guess maybe that's okay. it was not like, let's bring them in.

i think we should build a safe zone. what we should be doing is building safe zones so they can stay in their own country and not go all over and at least this way we're not going to have the problem. that's what we have to do. because i fully understand what you're asking, when i first heard the question, first time the question was asked to me, first time i really had known about the question, the migration had just started. i was very much, like, okay, by the time i went back and studied it and they were talking about bringing thousands and thousands, i changed my tune. and i don't think there's anything wrong with that. >> but the point i'm going for is you change your tune on so many things, and that has some people saying, what is his core? >> megyn, i have a very strong core. i have a very strong core. [ applause ] but i've never seen a successful person who wasn't flexible, who didn't have a certain degree of flexibility. you have to have a certain degree of flexibility. you can't, for instance, let's say on the second question, you

can't say, it's okay, and then you find out it's not okay and you don't want to do anything. you have to be flexible because you learn. before i knew the question was asked by bill, and the next day, or a couple of days later the question was asked by, you know -- i was asked by a number of people, actually. i was asked by sean, but i was asked by a number of people. but by that time, the number had increased significantly. >> sean was the next day after bill. >> the next day. i had learned. nobody ever asked me the question. this was brand new. i really mean it, you have to show a degree of flexibility. if you're going to be one way and it's wrong, the rest of your life you have to go in the wrong direction because you don't want to change? >> megyn, i -- >> go ahead, governor. >> i did 200 meetings in new hampshire. i don't know how many in michigan now. in these town halls, people come in and they're very emotional meetings. you know what they really want

to know? if somebody tells them something, can they believe it? and the reason why people are so upset in this country is because politicians all the time tell them what they want to hear and they go to washington, or they go to the state capital, wherever, and they don't deliver on those promises. you know, when i ran for governor of ohio, i said not only would we balance the budget, but we would cut taxes. people said, it can't be done. i wouldn't have said it if i didn't believe it. we cut taxes in ohio more than any governor in the country, $5 billion worth of tax cuts. we're now running a surplus in ohio. you see, what's getting in the hearts and souls of people is they want change and they keep putting outsiders in to bring about the change then the change doesn't come, then they put more outsiders in because we're putting people in that don't understand compromise, they don't understand policy, and people are getting more and more frustrated with the system which is why we must pick somebody that has a record of achievement. not just talk. >> okay.

>> not just talk. but a record of achievement. that's how we'll restore flexibility. >> go ahead. >> there's a difference between flexibility and telling people whatever you think you need to say to get them to do what you want them to do. >> that's right. >> that's what donald has done throughout his career. that's why trump university is so relevant here. i saw this video last week. he's sitting in front of a camera saying we're going to hire the best people, i'm going to hand pick them and they're going to be hand picked instructors, the best instructors in the world. one of them, by the way, a manager at a buffalo wild wings. that's who they hire to do this. people borrowed money and signed up for this fake university. these people owe all of this money now and got nothing in return for it. you were willing to say whatever you had to say to get them to give you their money. >> we'll find out -- by the way, just so you understand -- this is a case that could have settled very easily but i don't settle cases very easily when i'm right. 98% approval rating, an "a" from the better business bureau, 98% -- >> that's false. >> we have an "a" from the better business bureau. people like it.

we have many, many people that will be witnesses, again, i don't settle cases. i don't do it. that's why i don't get sued very often because i don't settle unlike a lot of other people. we have a situation where we will win in court. many of the people that are witnesses did tremendously well and made a lot of money by taking -- >> go ahead. >> you're going to see. >> it's a "d" minus. >> no, no, before they had the information -- >> hold on. >> marcorubio.com -- >> senator rubio, stand by. let him finish his point. >> it is right now an "a." once they had the information, it got switched. the only reason it was a "d" was because we didn't care, we didn't give them the information. when they got the information, it became an "a." >> with respect -- wait, with respect we went back and looked at this. >> yes. >> the rating from the better business bureau was a "d" minus, the last publicly available rating. in 2010. it was the result of a number of

complaints. >> it was elevated to an "a." >> that's never been publicly released. >> i can give it to you. i will give it to you. >> let's bring the viewers up to speed. >> it was elevated to an "a." >> let me set the record then you guys can have at it. trump university, a business that you started, and it was marketed to many people and now there is a class action of over 5,000 plaintiffs against you, mr. trump. >> right. >> it involves veterans, it involves teachers and it involves so-called middle guy, working class, lower working class, middle class who say they were fleeced, who say it was a scam. the classes are certified and in that case, you countersued the lead plaintiff. alleging you were being defamed. that case was thrown out -- >> the lead plaintiff is now getting out of the case because it's so bad for her. >> but what happened was -- >> excuse me. the lead plaintiff signed a letter saying how great it was and is on tape saying how great it was. >> okay. stand by. what happened in that case was you countersued her.

the court threw out your countersuit, made you pay legal fees of hers. you made the same argument about 98% of the people being happy with trump university and that woman in particular signing a survey saying she liked it while someone was standing over her shoulder. >> she's trying to get out of the case. >> stand by. this is what the court of appeals found. they said that the plaintiffs against you are like the madoff victims. >> give me a break. >> what the court of appeals said. >> give me a break. >> they found victims of con artists sing the praises of their victimizers until they realize they have been fleeced. >> let's see what happens in court. this is a civil case. very easy to settle. could settle it now. very easy to have settled. let's see what happens at the end of a couple years when this case is over, okay? >> it's been going for five years. >> been going for a long time. >> go ahead. >> i spoke to one of the victims yesterday. >> one. >> there's several. obviously there are so many, i can't talk to them every day.

i spoke to one of them. hay told me exactly what happened. they signed up for this course, they believe mr. trump was this fantastic businessman, donald is going to teach them the tricks of the trade. they signed up. asked for additional money for the course. if they wanted the real secrets of success, they had to pay more money so they did. you know what they got in the courses? stuff you can pull off zillow. when they realized what a scam it was, they asked for their money back and refused to give their money back. >> i gave many people their money back. >> why didn't you give the money back to everybody -- >> okay, senator rubio, let him answer. let him answer. go ahead, mr. trump. >> we will see who's right at the end of a few years. almost all of the people, many, many people signed what's called the report at the end, did you like the course, how did you like it? almost all of them said it was terrific, okay? with letters, with this. some of them are on tape saying it was terrific. let's see what happens at the end of three years. >> with respect, mr. trump, 1/3 of the plaintiffs in that case demanded refunds. it's not the case that 98% --

>> i gave refunds to people because if they asked for refunds in a certain period of time, we gave refunds to people. >> okay. >> let's see what happens at the end of three years. >> megyn -- >> let's see who's right. >> still pending litigation. go ahead, senator. >> it's called pending litigation. >> senator rubio then senator cruz. >> he's trying to do to the american voter what he did for the people that signed up for this course. he's making promises he has no intention of keeping and it won't just be $36,000 that they lose, it's our country that's at stake here. the future of the united states and the most important election in a generation and he's trying to con people into giving them their vote just like he conned these people into giving him their money. >> let me tell you the real con artist. excuse me. excuse me. the real con artist is senator marco rubio who was elected in florida and who has the worst voting record in the united states senate. he doesn't go to vote. he's absent. he doesn't go. now, the people of florida can't stand him.

he couldn't get elected dogcatcher. the people of florida -- the people of florida, and by the way, i know he's going to spend $25 million on ads. without that he wouldn't have a chance. he's 20 points south. the people in florida wouldn't elect him dogcatcher. couldn't get any -- he's right now 21 points down to me. and, you know -- >> okay. >> again, there will be a lot of advertising. it's the only thing that might save him. i doubt it. >> i'm coming to you next. go ahead. >> he scammed the people of florida. he doesn't vote. he doesn't -- >> let him respond. >> doesn't vote in the u.s. senate -- >> there's no response -- >> he scammed people. he defrauded the people of florida. >> with respect you made that point. go ahead. >> there's no -- as you can see in his answer, it's always the same thing. >> you defrauded the people -- >> he's defrauding people out of things. not just, by the way, on the issue of trump university. he had another development in mexico that he had nothing to do with except his name on the building. people put money into that. they lost their money. >> licensing. >> yeah, licensing. you told them you owned the

building. gave him their money. time and again -- >> stand by. i'll come back to you. senator cruz wants to weigh in. go ahead. >> megyn, let me ask the voters at home, is this the debate you want playing out in the general election? the stakes in this election are too high. for seven years, millions of american, we've been struggling, wages have been stagnating, people are hurting. our constitutional rights are under assault. and if we nominate donald, we're going to spend the spring, the fall, and the summer with the republican nominee facing a fraud trial. >> oh, stop it. >> with hillary clinton saying why did you give my campaign and my foundation $100,000? >> it's a minor -- >> with hillary clinton pointing out he supported her four times in her presidential race. >> it's a minor civil case. >> donald, learn not to interrupt. it's not complicated. count to ten, donald. count to ten. >> give me a break. >> count to ten. [ applause ] the stakes are too high and if you are one of the 65% to 70% of

republicans who recognize that nominating donald would be a disaster, then i ask you to come join us. if you're supporting other candidates, come join us. we welcome you to our team because we've demonstrated not once, not twice, not three times, but five separate times we have beat donald and if you don't want him to be the nominee, then i ask you to stand with us as a broad coalition of people who believe in the constitution, believe in freedom, and want to turn this country around. [ cheers and applause ] >> go ahead, mr. trump. >> i don't believe these politicians. all talk, no action. i'm standing here listening to -- i'm hearing him say about a percentage. cnn, he gets 15, that means 85% based on what you're saying of the people don't dig you, number one, number one. is that a correct statement? how do you -- are you at 15% in the new cnn poll? do you believe in cnn? i mean, i know we're at fox. but cnn -- >> i'll respond.

>> cnn spent a lot of money on a poll, just came out. i'm at 49%. he's at 15%. tells me about 65% of the people, it's not 65% of the people. if you go by that, 85% of the people. then he goes, we have five. excuse me, i won ten. i won ten states. if you listen to him, it's like, i won ten states. everybody knows that on super tuesday, trump was the winner. there wasn't one person that didn't say that. even the two people on your left and right said we did a great job. so how does he take -- how does he take five and say it's better than ten? i am by far the leader. if you listen to a politician, he'll try to convince you otherwise. >> senator cruz, go. >> donald lives by the polls every day. he tweets -- >> no, i don't. >> he's told us to look to the cnn poll. that's a very good poll to look to because that cnn poll showed that head-to-head donald trump loses to hillary clinton by eight points. he doesn't just lose close, he

loses by eight points. that same poll he told you to look at shows me beating hillary clinton. we cannot mess this up -- >> by the way, the last four polls in a row, when you nominate a candidate who literally has been on every side of every issue and in the course of this debate may be on two other sides before we're done, that's not how you win and the stakes are too high. >> all right. i'm going to let mr. -- let me just -- i'm going to let you respond to that, mr. trump then go to you, governor. you're up next. >> -- me beating hillary clinton and very, very easily. >> all right. do you want to weigh in? >> look, honestly, when i see people at these meetings, these town halls, where we take massive questions and i get to spend time with them. last night there was a woman that came to tell me about the loss of her 15-year-old son who took his own life. see, there's people in this country, ted's right, their wages haven't gone up for so long, they see the rich get

richer, they believe, and they're not moving. they put their money in the bank and they got no interest on their money. they receive none. and their sons or daughters or living in the basement because they can't get a good job after their rang up so much college debt. what people are hungry for is who can fix this? people want to know who -- what can you do to solve the problems in washington? to make sure that we have stronger job growth and better wages? but you know what else they're yearning for? they want to believe that they have the power to fix things where they live, and they want the power back. so they can begin to do things in their community. listen, this has been going on for a long time here. and i appreciate the discussion back and forth. but there are a lot of people out there yearning for somebody who's going to bring america back, both at the leadership level and in the neighborhood where we can begin to reignite the spirit of the united states of america. and let's stop fighting. [ cheers and applause ] >> governor, thank you.

gentlemen, thank you. >> much more to come live from the fox theater including where the candidates stand on the social issues facing the country. the republican presidential debate continues in a moment. when you think about success, what does it look like? is it becoming a better professor by being a more adventurous student? is it one day giving your daughter the opportunity she deserves? is it finally witnessing all the artistic wonders of the natural world? whatever your definition of success is, helping you pursue it, is ours. t-i-a-a.

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you want more. love romance? get lost in every embrace. into sports? follow every pitch, every play and every win. change the way you experience tv with x1 from xfinity. welcome back, everybody, to the fox news republican presidential debate. we want to get right back to the questions. >> we are here in detroit. the top issues in michigan according to facebook are displayed in a word cloud. you're taking a look at. the second biggest issue is clean water. that, of course, is directly tied with the situation in flint. senator rubio, bernie sanders

and hillary clinton have both been to flint. they are both running ads in this state focusing on that. focusing on supporting flint and fixing the problems. showing images of people in flint, thankful that they're there. without getting into the political blame game here, where are the national republicans' plans on infrastructure and solving problems like this? if you talk to people in this state, they are really concerned about flint on both sides of the aisle. so why haven't gop candidates done more or talked more about this? >> well, i know i've talked about it and others in our campaign have talked about it and other candidates have talked about it as well. what happened in flint was a terrible thing. it was systemic breakdown at every level of government, both the federal and partially -- both the state and partially at the federal level as well. and by the way, the politicizing of it i think is unfair because i don't think someone woke up one morning and said let's figure out how to poison the water system to hurt someone. accountability is important. i give the governor credit. he took responsibility for what

happened and he's talked about people being held accountable and the need for change, with governor snyder. the way democrats have tried to turn this into a partisan issue that somehow republicans woke up in the morning and decided, oh, it's a good idea to poison some kids with lead. it's absurd. it's outrageous. all of us are outrage by what happened and we should work together to solve it and there is a proper role for the government to play at the federal level in helping local communities to respond to a catastrophe of this kind not just to deal with the people that have been impacted by it but to ensure something like this never happens again. >> thanks, senator. >> governor kasich, the city of detroit has long suffered with urban blithe, broken street lights, dilapidated and vacant houses and so on. in 2013, detroit actually declared bankruptcy which helped, but the schools here remain a big problem. they're $3.5 billion in debt and are some of the most troubled and poorly testing in the country. the kids too often go to classrooms that are unsafe, falling apart, infested with rodents and insects.

experts say the schools could go bankrupt by next month. question to you. if the federal government bailed out the auto industry here in detroit, should it also bail out the detroit schools? >> well, look, first of all, i think the mayor now is controlling the schools. this is not much different than what happened in cleveland, ohio, where the african-american democrat mayor, the union and business leaders came to see me and said would you help us to pass legislation to really create a ceo environment so we can take control of the schools? we even invested in a buyout plan where we bought out the teachers who had been there a long time because there were so many young teachers who had been laid off who were so enthusiastic to get back in the schools, it worked beautifully. cleveland's coming back. the cleveland schools are coming back because of a major overhaul. it's the same thing that has to happen in all of our urban schools. and, frankly, look, if i were president, i'd take 104 federal programs, bundle them into 4 buckets and send it to the

states because fixing schools rests at the state and the local level and particularly at the school board level. now, i also believe -- [ applause ] i also believe that you need to introduce vocational education in those schools. you need mentoring in those schools. and you need to have a situation where people can have an alternative forum to get a degree and you need school choice. both vouchers and charter schools. all of those things can come together to help, megyn. here's the bottom line. i'll go quickly. we as adults have to fight in our neighborhoods, in our communities, for our children's education. put the politics aside and everyone in this room can play a role in lifting their schools and lifting the students in those schools because too much politics gets in the middle of it and where we focus as adults, put children first, we see tremendous results. and the people of this town are going to rise and they need to be involved.

thank you. [ applause ] >> for half a century, as you all know, detroit was the symbol of america's industrial might. 300,000 manufacturing jobs in this city. at last count, there are now fewer than 30,000 manufacturing jobs here and the unemployment rate in this city is 11%. twice the national average. senator cruz, i know that you have general plans for tax reform, but what specifically would you do to bring manufacturing jobs back to america and train residents of cities like detroit to do those jobs? >> well, chris, thank you for that question. let me start by observing that detroit is a great city with a magnificent legacy that has been utterly decimated by 60 years of failed left-wing policy. [ cheers and applause ] henry ford revolutionized

automobile manufacturing and brought automobiles to the middle class. during world war ii, detroit provided, funded the arsenals of democracy to help us win world war ii. in the 1960s, detroit was the silicon valley of america. it had a population of 2 million people. had the highest per capita income in the country. and then for 50 years, left-wing democrats have pursued destructive tax policies, weak crime policies and have driven the citizens out. this city now has just 700,000 citizens. there are vacant homes, one after the other after the other. crime has been rampant. and it is an outrage. let me say to folks in the media, that is a story that the media ought to be telling over and over again, the destruction of left-wing policy and the millions who have hurt because of it. >> i was going to say, i'll give you 30 seconds to try to answer my question.

what specifically would you do to bring manufacturing jobs back to detroit and to train the residents here to do those jobs? >> the way you bring manufacturing back to america, number one, you lift the regulations. as president, i will repeal obamacare, the biggest job killer in america. i will pull back the federal regulators, the epa and all the regulators that are killing small businesses and manufacturing. and my tax plan, which is a very, very detailed plan on the website, tedcruz.org, is what's called border adjustable. we get rid of all the taxes. we get rid of the corporate income tax and the death task and the obamacare taxes and payroll tax and replace it with a 16% business flat tax that is border adjustable which means all exports are entirely tax free and all imports pay the 16% business flat tax. that's a 32% differential. what that will do, chris, is bring millions of manufacturing jobs back to this country, bring

the steel industry back to this country, create an environment where we compete on a fair and level playing field, american ingenuity can beat anyone, but right now the federal government isn't giving us a level playing field. >> thank you, senator. gentlemen, the next series of questions will be on social issues. governor kasich, the last debate, you were asked a question about religious liberty, a hypothetical situation where a same-sex couple approaches a cupcake maker to do their wedding. here's what you said. >> business of selling things, if you're not going to sell to somebody you don't agree with, today i'm not going to sell to somebody who's gay, tomorrow maybe i won't sell to somebody who's divorced. >> governor, some faith leaders got nervous about that answer. do gay marriage dissenters have rights? >> well, look, first of all, i try to be a man of faith every day as best as i can, and i try to focus in my faith on the dos and i think the don'ts will take care of themselves once i get

the dos right, humility, loving my enemy, caring for my neighbor. secondly, look, you're in the commerce business, you want to sell somebody a cupcake, great. okay? now if they ask you to participate in something you really don't like, that's a whole other issue. okay? another issue. here's what i'd like to see happen. the supreme court ruled, i don't agree with the ruling. i'm of favor of marriage between, traditional marriage, a man and a woman. who i hope is going to happen after the supreme court ruling is things settle down. if you go to a photographer to take pictures at your wedding, say i'd rather not do it, find another photographer, don't sue them in court. you know what, the problem is -- [ applause ] -- in our country, in our country, we need to learn to respect each other and be a little bit more tolerant for one another, and at the end of the day, don't go to court. can't we have common sense in america? that's the way it used to be. and there was a book written called "the death of common sense."

we need to bring it back, but at the end of the day, if somebody is being pressured to participate in something that is against their deeply-held religious beliefs, then we're going to have to think about dealing with the law. you know what, i'd rather people figure this out without having to put another law in the books and have more arguments in this country. why don't we come together as a country, respect one another, love one another and lift this country? i think that's what people want. so -- [ cheers and applause ] thanks for asking. >> senator cruz, the u.s. supreme court obviously declared same-sex marriage legal in all 50 states, a decision you have criticized. given the current status of the law, do you believe a gay couple should be able to adopt? >> well, listen, adoption is decided at the state level and i am a believer in the tenth amendment in the constitution, i would leave the question of marriage to the states, i would leave the question of adoption to the states. that's the way it's been for two centuries of our nation's history until five unelected judges in an illegitimate and

wrong decision decided to seize the authority over marriage and wrongfully tear down the marriage laws of all 50 states. now, connected to this is the question of religious liberty. at the last debate, one of my colleagues on this stage said on the question of religious liberty and supreme court nominees that he'd be willing to compromise and negotiate. i can tell you, for me, there are areas that we should compromise on. marginal tax rates. we can reach a middle ground on. when it comes to core principles and convictions, when it comes to the constitution and bill of right, i can tell the men and women at home i will never compromise away your religious liberty. [ applause ] and for me, bret, religious liberty has been a lifelong passion. i've spent two decades defending religious liberty including defending the ten commandments before the u.s. supreme court and winning. defending the pledge of allegiance before the supreme court and winning. and defending the mojave desert veterans memorial, a lone white latin cross that was erected to

honor the men and women who gave their lives in world war i. i represented 3 million veterans defending that memorial and won 5-4. >> thank you. senator cruz definitely avoided saying your name, mr. trump, but i think he was referring to you and your religious liberty answer. would you like to respond? >> i have nothing to say. i mean, generally speaking i agree with what he said. i would have certainly have rather left it to the states. i was always in -- i was very surprised when they came up with that decision. i would have certainly -- i would have preferred had it been left to the states and i think most people would have preferred that. >> senator rubio, the late supreme court justice antonin scalia, a conservative icon obviously, pointed out in the united states versus heller that like most rights the second amendment right is not unlimited. first amendment doesn't allow you to go into a theater and yell fire. do you agree with justice scalia, what limits would you'd

draw around the second amendment? >> as few as possible. the second amendment as i said before is not a suggestion. it's the constitutional right of every american to protect themselves and their families. it is a right that -- it is the second amendment for a reason. it is right after the defense of the freedom of speech for a reason. clearly the founders of our nation understood and the framers of the constitution understood that you cannot have life and you cannot have liberty and cannot pursue happiness if you are not safe. and the second amendment when people talk about gun laws, what they need to realize is criminals don't follow gun laws. they're criminals. by definition, they ignore the law. but the gun rights of americans, if you are talking to a law-abiding citizen and a gun owner like myself, if you pass a law, i will knoll whatever the law is. a criminal will not do it. they will continue to pursue these guns on the black market where they then go out and commit crimes and steal guns from each other. gun laws are not effective. they simply do not provide for

safety but they do, however, ensure that law-abiding people don't have access to weapons to protect themselves and guns to protect themselves, but criminals always will be well armed. they don't care about the law. they don't follow the law. we will protect the second amendment when i'm president of the united states. >> mr. trump, you were once a supporter of a weapons ban, so do you think there should be any restrictions on the second amendment? >> no, i'm a big defender of the second amendment. if you look at what's happened, whether it's in california where you had the 14 people killed, whether it's in paris, which by the way has the toughest gun laws in the world and 130 people killed. many, many people in the hospital. gravely injured. they will be dying. many people will be dying in addition. if we had guns or if they had guns on the other side of the room with the bullets going in the opposite direction, you would not have had 130 people killed. that i can tell you right now. so i'm a very, very big supporter of the second amendment. >> but in 2000, you wrote in your book, i generally oppose gun control but i support the ban on assault weapons. >> i don't support it anymore. i do not support the ban on

assault. >> senator cruz? any limits to the second amendment? >> well, listen. unlike donald, i would not support banning firearms. in that instance, bill clinton banned many of the most popular firearms in america. by the way, the study showed that ban did nothing to reduce violent crime but took away the second amendment rights of law-abiding citizens. let me point out, it is easy for political candidates to have rhetoric and say i support the second amendment. you cannot say that and at the same time say what donald just said which is that on the question of supreme court nominees he wants to compromise and reach a middle ground with harry reid and chuck schumer. that's what he said in the last debate. >> i did not say that. >> harry reid and chuck schumer sign off on -- >> i did not say that. >> harry reid and chuck schumer are both democrats mr. trump has written checks to repeatedly. any justice that those two sign off on is going to be a left wing judicial activist who will undermine religious liberty and

we're one vote away from the heller decision being overturned which would effectively erase the second of amendment from the bill of rights. if you care about the second amendment, you need to ask who on this stage do you know will appoint principled constitutionalists to the court and not cut a deal with your second amendment rights? >> mr. trump, so we're listening to the all talk, no action politician and he was the primary supporter of john roberts who gave us -- >> flat-out wrong. >> no, it's not. you take a look. he was the primary supporter. he pushed john roberts and pushed him and pushed him and bush ultimately appointed him. he got appointed. and when it came his time to raise his hand and kill obamacare, not once, but twice, he let us down and he did the wrong thing. this is the man that was the primary supporter and you can read law journal, read whatever you want to read, i've read plenty of it. there was no stronger supporter of john roberts than him. and it was a very, very big mistake. >> quickly, senator cruz. >> you know, donald has a

tenuous relationship with the truth. i wrote one op-ped supporting president bush's nomination after he made it. i would not have made that nomination. let me point out -- >> that is not what you said -- >> donald, please, i know it's hard not to interrupt. try. >> it's not what you said in the op-ped. >> breathe, breathe, breathe. >> i am, ted. >> you can do it. you can breathe. i know it's hard. i know it's hard. but just -- >> when they're done with the yoga, can i answer a question? >> you cannot -- [ applause ] >> i really hope we don't see yoga on this stage. >> he's very flexible, so you never know. [ cheers and applause ] >> but you cannot, in fact, care about conservative supreme court justices and support jimmy carter for president. you cannot care about conservative supreme court justices and support john kerry for president as donald did. you cannot care about conservative supreme court justices and support harry reid for senate majority leader and

you cannot care about conservative supreme court justices and write four checks to hillary clinton for her to be president if you care at all about the second amendment or religious liberty or anything else. >> gentlemen, we're going to move on. thank you very much. we're going to talk about more policy questions coming up. >> and coming up, the candidates tackle foreign policy. first, during the commercial break, join us for facebook live on the fox news facebook page and tell us what you think about tonight's debate in the comment section. stay with us. more to come.

welcome back, everybody. we're going it get right back to the questions. >> and gentlemen, we're going to focus for a bit on foreign policy. senator rubio, you like to take a shot at mr. trump on the campaign trail saying

negotiating a hotel deal in a foreign country is not foreign policy. the other day you even compared him to kim jong-un the north korean leader as lunatics trying to get ahold of nuclear weapons. please tell mr. trump why he's unprepared to be commander in chief. >> well, first of all i think as we've seen throughout this campaign, donald has not shown seriousness about the issues of foreign policies. he simply hasn't. whether it was the structure of our military, today he was asked the question about the issue of commanders not following his lead on killing the family of terrorists. and his answer basically was if i tell them to do it, they're going to do it. that's just not true. foreign policy is not only consequential, i think much of our future now depends on it. you know, i see a lot of young people at my events around the country. i feel great when they come. i always tell them that despite the hardships of the moment, i honestly believe that today's millennials have a chance to be the greatest generation we've had in 100 years. i really do. because the world today has hundreds of millions of people

that can afford to be their clients, their customers, their partners, people they collaborate with. that won't happen if the world is dangerous and it's unstable. that will require strong american leadership. the next president of the united states is going to have eight years of a mess of a foreign policy to clean up. that's why it can't be hillary clinton and quite frankly why it can't be someone who simply has not shown the intellectual curiosity or interest in learning about these very complicated issues and donald simply hasn't. >> mr. trump, your response. >> well, let me just say this. i've gotten to know marco over a period of time, believe me, he is not a leader. believe me. >> that doesn't answer the question. >> he didn't interrupt you. >> he's not a leader. and frankly, when i say they'll do as i tell them, they'll do as i tell them. and that's very -- it's very simple. it's very simple. we are in a very dangerous place. we have a depleted military. totally depleted.

we have, by the way, our vets are treated horribly. we're going to take care of our vets. we're going to start taking care of our vets properly like we should. we're going to build up our military and get the equipment we want, not the equipment that's sold to us by somebody that gave him and him and not the governor campaign contributions. okay? we're going to get the equipment that the generals and the soldiers want. i will prove to be a great leader. and, you know, it's very interesting, we talk about the polls, every single poll when it comes to isis and the military and the border say by far trump is the best. >> mr. trump, your time is up. >> yeah, i just want to, a couple points. once again, he was pressed on a policy issue to show his understanding of the foreign policy and his reaction was to attack somebody else with a name. here's the bottom line. i'm going to repeat it again. the world today is as complicated and complex as it's been certainly in the lifetime of anybody here today. you indeed do have a lunatic in north korea with nuclear weapons, indeed have the chinese government taking over the most important shipping lane in the world and vladimir putin who you expressed admiration for. >> wrong, wrong, wrong.

you said it. he said very good things about me and i -- >> i'm going to finish my statement here. and he's also showing instability in the middle east. you have iran is going to get $100 billion of sanctions relief. you have radical jihadists spreading all over the world. this is a time for seriousness on these issues. you have yet to answer a single serious question about any of this. will you give us a detailed answer about foreign policy any time you're asked on it? >> let me just tell you, first of all, i've been hearing this man so long talking about putin. putin said about me, i didn't say about putin, putin said very nice things about me. and i say very nicely, wouldn't it be nice if actually we could get along with russia? we could get along with foreign countries? instead of spending trillions and trillions of dollars. you're talking about flint, michigan. you're talking about places, we need to rebuild the infrastructure of our country. wouldn't it be nice if we got along with the world and maybe russia could help us in our quest to get rid of isis, et

cetera, et cetera? >> gentlemen, you both had a chance to talk a couple of times. i'd like to move on to senator cruz. senator, we have some breaking news tonight. north korea's dictator, kim jong-un has ordered that country's nuclear weapons to be made ready at a moment's notice. >> yes. >> this comes just hours after the u.n. security council announced, approved the toughest sanctions in two decades against that country. assume you're president cruz tonight. what do you do? >> well, you're right. the news is very disturbing. kim jon weapons on ready state. i'm glad we're sending another carrier group to the south china sea. i'm glad congress passed sanctions on north korea. this is all the result of the failures of the clinton administration two decades ago that negotiated a deal with north korea lifting the sanctions, allowing billions of dollars to flow in and they used that money to develop nuclear weapons in the first place. now we're in a much harder

position. when you have a lunatic with nuclear weapons, to some extent it constrains your options. we need to be moving the carrier group to the south china seas, we need to be putting in place missile defense such as the missile defense system in south korea. we need to be pursuing space-based missile defense. one of the advantages of space-based missile defense is if you have a missile launch in north korea, you have a missile launch in iran, a space-based missile defense can take out one, two, or three missiles before it can cross over and do damage and we also need to be putting pressure on china because north korea is effectively a client state of china. all of that will happen with a strong commander in chief devoted to keeping this country safe. >> thank you, senator. governor kasich, i want to move back to the debate we heard earlier about vladimir putin. in december after vladimir putin had nice thing to say about donald trump calling him bright

and talented, your campaign ran a video suggesting that trump might name the russian president as his running mate. here's a clip. >> i'll have to see this. >> if elected, trump promised the dictatorial duo would, quote, make tyranny great again. >> i think i'd get along very well with vladimir putin. i just think so. >> that was your campaign video, sir. >> that was a pretty good one. >> well, okay. if i may, sir, ask my question. >> of course. >> i think you were kidding. >> yeah. >> it was your video. the silliest question is because the suggestion is do you think that donald trump is naive about the threat that vladimir putin represents? >> i'm not biting. let me take you around the world. [ cheers and applause ] look, i'm going to take you very quickly.

>> that was your campaign video, sir. >> that was a pretty good one. >> sir, if i may ask my question, i think you were kidding but it was your video and the suggestion is do you think donald trump is naive about the threat that vladimir putin represents? >> i'm not biting. let me take you around the world, okay? let me -- look. i'm going to take you very quickly. in russia, we need to tell them we're going to arm the ukrainians with weapons and if you attack finland and sweden, consider it an attack on us. and he'll understand that. i'll tell the chinese you don't own the south china sea. stop hacking us and we're going to beef up our cyber command and we're going to be able to take out your systems if you continue to do this. egyptians now they're on their last legs because of the attacks on isis. and the if they have similar aims we need to bring them closer to us. turkey a critical avenue to the middle east. we have to bring them towards the west, not the east. and we have a joint, good human intelligence, that is called a semi trip around the world. if you gave me more time, i'd finish the trip. >> governor, thank you. >> coming up, a final question

and closing statements. and take a look at this. the volume of conversation on facebook surrounding the candidates over the last month. whether good or bad, donald trump clearly dominates the field. we'll be back with more of the presidential debate live from detroit. when you think about success, what does it look like? is it becoming a better professor by being a more adventurous student? is it one day giving your daughter the opportunity she deserves? is it finally witnessing all the artistic wonders of the natural world? whatever your definition of success is, helping you pursue it, is ours. t-i-a-a. type 2 diabetes doesn't care who you are. man. woman. or where you're from. city.

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de definitively say you will support the nominee, even if it is donald trump. >> i will support the republican nominee. because the democrats have two people left in the race. one of them is a socialist. america doesn't want to be a socialist country. if you want to be, then move to a socialist country. the other one is under fbi investigation. and not only under fbi investigation, she lied to the families of the victims of benghazi and anyone who lies to family victims will never be the commander in chief. >> senator cruz. >> yes. because i gave my word that i would. and i do what i said i would do. tuesday we saw an overwhelming victory in the state of texas. i won texas by 17%. i will say it was a powerful

affirmation that the people who know me best and that i campaigned to made promises if you elect me, i'll lead the fight against amnesty and will fight for the bill of rights and obamacare every day. that the people of texas said you have kept your word. >> governor kasich, yes or no, would you support donald trump as republican nominee? >> yes. and i think before it's said and done, i'll be the nominee. let me also. but i'm the little engine that can. we're traveling and working and spending time away from family. when in the arena you enter a special circle. you want to respect the people you're in the arena with. if he ends up the nominee, sometimes, it makes it a little bit hard, but i will support whoever is the republican nominee for president.

>> mr. trump, i'm going to ask you a version of the same question, today, you raised a some people talk about contributing millions of dollars to stop you again you raised possibility you might run as an independent if you feel you're treated unfairly by the republican party. so i'm going to phrase the question the other three people on this stage just got. did you definitely say that you will support the republican nominee for president, even if it's not you. >> even if it's not me? let me just start off by saying that i'm very, very proud of millions and millions people that have come to the republican party over the last little while. they have come to the republican party and by the way, the democrats are losing people. this is a trend taking place, it's the biggest thing happening in politics and i'm very proud to be part of them. i'm going to give them credit,

too. though they don't deserve it, but the answer is, yes, i will. >> yes, you will support the nominee of the party? >> yes. i will. >> candidates, it's now time for your closing statements. governor kasich, we'll start with you. >> probably, ladies and gentlemen, i love being here in michigan and i want to say to all of you here that i have a record of being able to solve some of the biggest problems, not just talk and not theory. i did it in washington by helping people get into a healthier economic situation and i've done it in ohio. we've made progress in ohio we did not leave anyone behind and we have not left behind the working poor the developmentally disabled and we have raised our minority communities. and as president of the united states i will go back to washington and take formulas i have used and i will fix the problems in washington and you'll work with me as i send you power to fix your communities, your neighborhoods, your state and together, we'll

restore the spirit of america. i know you want that. thank you. >> senator rubio, 30 seconds, closing statement. >> i know this has been an unusual election cycle as it continues and there are a lot of problems in america and people are hurting. but this is not just confronting our problems but also embracing our opportunities, i believe the 21 century holds the potential to be the greatest era in the history of the united states if we get this election right and if we act now. if we do, if do what needs to be done, we can leave our children the freest and most prosperous american that's ever lived in the 21st century can be the greatest era in the amazing story of america. i ask everyone to vote for me and join our effort at marcorubio.com. >> senator cruz? >> i want to talk to every soldier, sailor, airmen and marine, every mom, dad, sister, brother, and son and daughter of someone fighting for the country. for seven years, you had a a commander-in-chief that that

thais your arms behind your back. in january 2017 it will end. i want to talk to police officers and firefighters and first responder who's have been left behind with this president. starting in january, 2017, i will have your back. >> mr. trump, your closing statement. >> thank you. i am going to bring jobs back to the united states. like nobody else can. we're going to fix our very depleted military, we're going to take care of our vets. we're going to strengthen our borders and you're going to be very, very proud of this country in just a few years if i am elected president, thank you. >> and that will do it for the 11th republican primary debate of the 2016 presidential race but the night is not over yet. >> not by a long shot. a special edition of "the o'reilly factor" is next. remember and fox news has the election

covered. from the conventions to the general election. >> and thank you to detroit and the crowd here, thank you, again, for joining us. have a great evening. elite and the party cartel. john: donald trump is going toy build a big wall. hillary clinton will guarantee equal pay. bernie sanders offers all kinds of free stuff. young people like that. i'm surrounded by lots of young people. do you want the free stuff? >> no! john: what do you want? >> liberty *. we are at the students for liberty conference in washington, d.c. that's our show for tonight.