what did you think of last night debate? let me know what you think and thanks to our amazing pamnel. i'm megyn kelly, this is the kelly file. good night. tonight. >> our country is in serious trouble. we don't win anymore. >> reaction to the big gop debate. >> senator, you know when you're sitting in a subcommittee blowing hot air like this you can say things like that. >> who stood out and who could have done more? mark steyn is here with reaction. 2016 will be a fight. i'm a conservative. i can win this job, i can do this job. >> carly fiorina had a strong showing in the early debate. will this push her into the top ten? >> we need to secure the border. >> they don't want to enforce the immigration laws. >> immigration was front and center last night. will it continue to be a big

campaign topic? ann coulter will debate. "hannity" starts here. it was the most watched cable news program ever. last night's first republican presidential debate in cleveland did not disappoint. here are some of the major highlights. >> if it weren't for me you wouldn't be talking about illegal immigration, chris. you wouldn't be talking about it. >> if i'm our nominee how is hillary clinton going to lecture me about living paycheck to paycheck? i was raised paycheck. >> we've gotten into the mindset of fighting politically correct war. >> i'm going to run with heart and run to win. i'll have to win this. maybe the bar is higher for me. that's fine. >> if you're looking for someone to go to washington to go along to get along, to agree with the career politicians in both parties, who get in bed with the

lobbyists and special interests, then i ain't your guy. >> ronald reagan said trust by verify. president obama is trust but vilify. he trusts our enemies and visit vilifies everyone who disagrees with him. >> hillary clinton thinks you grow the economy by growing washington. six of the wealthiest counties are in or around washington, d.c. >> i balanced the budget when i was in washington. hadn't been done since. >> joining us mark steyn is back with us. sir, how are you? >> i'm great, sean. good to be with you. >> my initial observation -- i have two of them. when is hillary clinton going to answer tough questions? when is that day going to occur if ever? i saw a vibrancy i saw passion. i thought it was healthy what are your -- was your initial

reaction to it. >> yeah. i agree with that. and evidently so do 24 million people who watched that debate. a year and a half from whoever wins taking the oath of office. and that's hillary's problem. hillary's candidacy is dying through this insulated overprotected boredom factor which is why on -- according to some rumors bernie sanders is going to need a venue that holds 20,000 people for one of his upcoming events. that's why bernie sanders is neck and neck with hillary in new hampshire. simply because she's too boring to be able to sit on her lead for another year and a quarter. i think that's the difference between the democrat side and what we saw on the republican side last night. >> who would have thunk a 73-year-old socialist would zero you know, name recognition

has giving her a statistical dead heat in new hampshire. nobody would have thought of that. is it because her ideas are old and stale and she's old and stale and at best a mediocre politician and this is basically a third obama term? >> yeah. i don't think she's actually any good at all. i think you could have -- i mean the country is a 50/50 nation. i think you could have a third obama term. if they had somebody with obama's touch or with hillary's husband's touch. but hillary is essentially running as the ava perone of the democratic party and she doesn't have the same charisma or flair. i would be surprised unless -- i would be very surprised if hillary's campaign actually survives until election day next year. >> i share the same sentiment as you do. i think you've got joe biden, elizabeth warren and maybe comrade de blasio thinking they

might be able to come in at the last minute and steal this. let's go to the republicans. who stood out in your mind? who had a good night in your view? >> well, i think they all did well in their own terms. realistically, donald trump, you would have to drive a stake through him. so simply because no one did drive a stake through him, he survived and, therefore, he won. so he's still in the game. and he's still locking down whatever it is 25%, 32% i think it is in south carolina now. so he's the guy to beat. i thought most of the others did well. within their own terms. although they're actually quite narrow terms. and the disappointment i think was with the number two and number three. i think jeb bush and scott walker were sitting on their non-leads. both of them i think, took a conscious decision to kind of do

a low key don't frighten the horses thing and hope when trump implodes that they're still in the number two or number three slot and they're the ones who take over. i don't think that will work frankly. >> maybe this is an example of playing it safe or going for the win. in other words, you're suggesting they want it they're going to have to go in and fight and take it. it's not going to be handed to them. that's what i interruptpret you saying. >> right. people talk about the ceiling in trump's vote. the ceiling keeps going higher. the ceiling was supposed to be 20% then it became 22%, 24%, 26%, maybe 30%. you've got a lot of internal arguments in the guys who were on stage. essentially, rand paul is an isolationist libertarian. whereas lindsay graham is a security state interventionist. mike huckabee is a big government social conservative.

jeb bush is an open borders fetishest. john kasich is hot for medicare. those guys have a ceiling, too. and if people talk about the difficulty donald trump would have in uniting the party, i mean clearly, some of these other guys mike huckabee or rand paul or whoever you talk about, chris christie would have difficulty getting above a certain ceiling, too. so that's what actually made it a great debate. when chris christie and rand paul butted up. i would love to see hillary actually taking that kind of heat from bernie sanders. but they basically don't want to start the debate season until ten days before the november election. >> yeah, i'm sorry. you're highlighting that there right now is an ongoing battle for the heart and soul of the republican party. is this going to be a watered

down version of the democratic paert party ora revitalized second party. ted cruz makes the distinction. are they going to fight, risk shutting down the government, defund obamacare. are they going to defund planned parenthood? there's a big schism. which side of the party is going to win this? >> ted cruz i think, puts it in more basic terms when he talks about the washington cartel. which i think is a great phrase. to a large number of people on the conservative side in this country, washington is a two party conspiracy. there's a big audience for that particularly after the failures of the 2010 election and in2014 election. to deliver anything. you know rand paul used the other day -- used the lame line washington is broken.

if you're a liberal, you're a democrat washington isn't broken. it delivers you big victories on obamacare and same-sex marriage. they're pushing pushing pushing. there's stupid federal transgender bathroom bill wait ing with to be introduced in the house of representatives. they're always pushing to build the land that liberals want to live in. and on the other side of the ledger conservatives want a candidate who wants to build the america they can live in. and simply -- that's why i think tonally the jeb bush scott walker thing of sitting on your non-lead in number two and number three position may not have been enough last night. >> let me ask you about donald trump and the opening question about whether he would run third party and get your take on this. >> raise your hand now if you won't make that pledge tonight. mr. trump. >> i cannot say i have to

respect the person that if it's not me the person that wins. if i do win and i'm leading by quite a bit that's what i want to do. i can totally make that pledge if i'm the nominee. i will pledge i will not run as an independent. i am discussing it with everybody. i'm talking about a lot of leverage. we want to win and we will win. i want to win as the republican. i want to run as the republican nominee. >> i did a follow up with mr. trump right after the debate and asked him a little bit more about this. i have no belief that he'd run independent or third party. but i think what he's saying is this is his business background. i can't give up my leverage, i will insist i be treated fairly. that was my interpretation. your thoughts. >> yeah. i think that's absolutely right. that this is his leverage. basically, the republican establishment has treated him like a piece of dog excrement

stuck to the republican party's shoe since he entered the race. they've been wrong on everything. the mexican rapist line was going to kill him. it put him in the lead. then dising john mccain was going to finish him off. it widen his lead. now expected to believe that dissing rosye dissing rosie o'donnell will cause him to implode. they get the impression that their entire strategy with donald trump is to help him self-detonate as soon as possible. he's a suicide bomber who has problems with his belt. he's entitled given that atmosphere to push back against it. i think that's actually -- you know he is saying as long as you keep shoving this rubbish at me insulting my supporters by damning them as crazies, there is no reason why i should give you guarantees i'm going to be a nice little house trained poodle

until you stop insulting me and my supporters. that's entirely valid. that's what a negotiator -- that's how he'd negotiate with the mullahs and the chinese bureau and all the rest of the gang. >> the rosie line, i burst out laughing and so did the entire room watching with me. thank you. coming up next tonight on the busy news night here on "hannity." >> when you're sitting on a subcommittee blowing hot air like this you can say things like that. >> governor chris christie and rand paul went head to head over the patriot act. when we come back our panel will weigh in. later tonight. >> the potential of this nation and too many americans is being crushed by the weight the power, the cost the complexity the ineptitude the corruption of the federal government. >> almost universal belief that 2016 republican presidential candidate carly fiorina shined at yesterday's 5:00 p.m. debate. we'll have the highlights quick

programming note. there will be an encore presentation of the first 2016 republican primary debate airing tomorrow night on the fox business network at 8:00 p.m. eastern. we'll continue. ♪ have you ever thought, "i could never do that"? have you ever thought... you just didn't have anything left in the tank? well - you do. because the courage is already inside. ♪ i built my business with passion. but i keep it growing by making every dollar count. that's why i have the spark cash card from capital one. i earn unlimited 2% cash back on everything i buy for my studio. ♪ and that unlimited 2% cash back from

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live from america's news headquarters i'm patricia stark. convicted colorado shooter james holmes sentenced to life in prison without parole. the jury reaching the decision after deliberating for about six and a half hours over the past two days. the verdict is a disappointment to prosecutors who had been seeking the death penalty. the same jury convicted holmes of killing 12 people and wounding 70 others in the july 2012 attack on a movie heater in aurora.

a record-breaking number of people tuning in to the first gop presidential debate on fox news. an estimated 24 million people watched the primetime debate with the top ten candidates. the debate becoming the highest nonsports cable program of all time. the highest rated cable news program of all time and fox news channel's most watched program ever. i'm patricia stark. now back to "hannity." "hannity." ♪ welcome back to "hannity." one of the more heated moments from last night's gop debate came after a question about the patriot act. here is governor chris christie and senator rand paul going over each other over the issue. >> i want to collect more records from terrorists and less records from other people. how are you supposed to know? >> use the fourth amendment. get a warrant. >> listen you know when you're sitting in a subcommittee blowing hot air about this you

can say things like that. when you're responsible for protecting the lives of the american people -- >> here's the problem, governor. you fundamentally misunderstand the bill of rights. every time you did a case you got a warrant. from a judge. i'm talking about without warrants. in discriminately of all americans' records that's what i fought to end. i don't trust president obama with our records. i know you gave him a big hug. if you want to give him a hug again go right ahead. >> joining us is our panel. i love that part of the debate. because it's an important debate. we have data mining collection. cell phone calls, computer records, e-mails, i read the patriot act. talked to jim senson brenner. he says we were never supposed to do that.

what did you think of the exchange? >> i thought it was a fantastic exchange because it's a fundamental principled disagreement by two people. they start from different premises. they draw different conclusions. i think rand paul you know for the people who are big fans of rand paul he helped himself. for the people who were big fans of chris christie he helped himself. i'm not sure either of them persuaded anybody on the fence to join one side or the other side. i'd like to see this kind of argument a lot more in the gop field. everyone talks about how the republicans are close minded and don't have debates and disagreements. we have fantastic disagreements. >> i think there's a battle for the heart and soul and future of the republican party ongoing now. what did you think about that exchange? >> i think jonah is exactly right. those kind of debates and exchanges are extremely good and important. i'm, obviously, with chris christie. and i am deeply concerned about terror. i think for those who are concerned about privacy, so much

the better that rand paul was there there. i'll say the big surprise was how chris christie acquitted himself on that question and others as well. >> by the way, when is your friend hillary, going to start answering tough questions? will we see that moment arise? >> she's got to do it sean. you can't go through what she's gone through and just hope that it will all go away. it's not. you're right. >> charles, you've been one of the more staunch supporters of mr. trump. how did you feel it went last night for him? >> i thought that last night was, you know he remained himself. which was very important. i think he got knicked up a little bit, particularly in the exchange with megyn kelly about -- talking about the women that he has made disparaging remarks about in the past. i do think that is something that could become a liability in a general election. and it's something he's going to have to deal with. the argument that he made look i'm not here to be pc.

obviously, that's what so many people love about donald trump. and, you know is there a price you pay to be that person? yes, there is. that's why most politicians aren't politically incorrect. and it's why we have such a problem that we do have r. but it opens up a wide alley for a guy like donald trump to walk into and do just tremendously well in the polls like none of us could have predicted. >> i know you've been a fairly harsh critic against mr. trump. but -- >> i have. >> would we have had 26 million or 24 million people watching last night if he wasn't on the debate stage? has he added a certain level of intensity and energy to the debate that could help republicans? is there not something to learn from the donald trump model for everybody, which is speak your mind don't be so politically correct. don't be so guarded and so coached? >> yeah, i agree with all of that. he provides an entertaining

factor. i agree with charlie entirely that i'm not politically correct line plays well. it should play well because political correctness is wildly out of hand. at the same time i'm not sure that anyone from nascar would defend crashes has being good for nascar because people tune in to watch them. the thing that hurt donald trump last night was his refusal to say that he wouldn't endorse the nominee if it wouldn't him. his promise was if he's the nominee he won't run as an independent. that hurts him a lot. it makes him seem like a politician like he's in it for himself. it's outrageous. >> i've talked to him about it. interviewed him a number of times, asked him that question a number of times. my take away is i think i'm interpreting this right, he's saying to the republican party i want to be treated fairly. i'm holding this as leverage. that's his business instinct.

>> i think that's entirely accurate. that's his strategy. that in no way means that the question is illegitimate. you were right to ask the question. bret baier was absolutely right to ask the question. now we're hearing this is an unfair question to ask. he answered it, answered it honestly. he said i'm blackmailing the republican party. >> what do you think, doug? >> the other thing -- i think that frankly, there's a better answer. donald should give. if there's candidate who takes his positions on the mexican border and immigration, on national security and making america great i have no doubt he will support him. if rand paul is the nominee, trump and many others wouldn't support him. there's a better answer that donald can give. candidly i thought donald did

pretty well. reports of his demise are grossly exaggerated. >> last word charles. >> the scene at the beginning of the debate with donald trump the only man standing there with his hand up in the air, yeah, i will not take this pledge. it was another example where he -- it may have sounded rude. it may have been impolite and all that. he was standing alone on his own and being what could only be honest. you know, taken as hauntonest. >> more on this busy night on "hannity." here's what's up next. i think to be commander in chief in the 21est it takes someone who understand how the world worths. i know more world leaders than anyone running. 2016 presidential candidate carly fiorina was abuzz after last night's debate.

>> we need to eliminate the sanctuary cities in this country. it's ridiculous and tragic. the candidates sounded off over immigration. donald trump said no one would be talking about the topic if it wasn't for him. we'll check

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crushed by the weight the power, the cost the complexity the ineptitude, the corruption of the federal government. hillary clinton lies about benghazi. she lies about e-mails. she is still defending planned parenthood and she is still her party's front-runner. we need a nominee that is going to throw every punch. not pull punches. i'm not a member of the political class. i'm a conservative. i can win this job. i can with and do this job. i need your help. i need your support. i will with your help and support lead the resurgence of this great nation. >> here with reaction fox news contributors katie pavlich and tammy bruce. i thought the 5:00 p.m. debate was really good. and i thought she did well. i thought rick perry did well, rick santorum. i thought it was a powerful debate. she did stand out and there was a lot of buzz about her. why? >> everybody needed to not just hold their own. they needed to eclipse everyone. they needed to make news on

their own without it being bad news and she did it. it was actually the best case scenario. i wanted her -- i like her very much. i wanted her in the main debate. this is maybe even better in that she's made news because of the nature of what she was able to accomplish there was not distracted by trump. she was able to watch that second debate. get a sense of her new competition. i think that it was just fabulous. clearly, the people -- you know, making the biggest google searches. >> sure. >> she did everything right. i think people now understand why she's very good. as a feminist i like her. as a conservative i like her. i think she hit a home run. >> katie, you know what i like? i like that she actually used the word lie. because i do believe hillary lied to us about benghazi. i believe she lied about the e-mails. she's still supporting planned parenthood. she seems to have no fear, especially when it comes to taking on hillary. >> well, absolutely. that's been carly fiorina's

attitude since the beginning of announcing her presidential campaign. she's been fearless in going after hillary clinton. not only just going after her with the facts saying she's lied about very specific issues but also offering alternatives to the status quo. she has an outside of washington attitude. i'm here at the red state gathering as you can see where there's hundreds of activists here wanting to know more about carly fiorina. she spoke earlier today about dismantling the dea, holding people accountable. it's something people are looking more of >> maybe this is not the right question, does she have more flexibility because she's a woman to hit harder? is that a fair question? >> well you know i think that everybody because of where they come from and who they are, everybody's got a special style or some kind of perk that they have. >> but does that matter that factor? >> you know, i think it does. there are things women can say about other women that men can't. there are things we understand about other women that men don't

understand. >> you're saying i don't understand -- come on. >> no, i think that in general with life experience we know what women go through and what sisters are doing. i think that's what -- when it comes to politics what has been missing a little bit. i think that what hillary does not want is for a woman to be her opposition. separate from what hillary wants or not, someone like carly fiorina is actually the best candidate regardless of gender. she needs to prove that. i think she's doing so. >> if you watch, katie, i find at best hillary clinton is a mediocre politician. if you watch her, she's old and tired. her ideas are old and tired and boring and stale. and if there was a comparing and contrasting moment with carly and hillary, i think it would be dramatic. i don't even -- it would not be nuanced. it would be very obvious to people the distinction here. >> well, wouldn't that be a great debate? that's something that carly has pointed out. she pointed that out today.

she said look i know more world leaders in the gop primary process than any other person here with maybe the exception of hillary clinton. and guess what? i did actual negotiations in meetings with these leaders, not just photo ops as hillary clinton has done. she's not afraid to go after her. she's not afraid to get rid of that woman card that hillary clinton is attempting to play. earlier we saw we saw hillary clinton attacking jeb bush and scott walker for wanting to defund planned parenthood and take away women's health. what she didn't mention is that carly fiorina wants to defund planned parenthood. it's obvious the clinton campaign doesn't want to mention carly fiorina because it's another option that women have when it comes to voting for someone who is a female in race. when you look at the polling, hillary clinton is not doing well with female voters. carly can fill that void. >> if i may add, when you introduce a conservative woman into the argument it smashes the liberal meme that all women think the same.

that there is only one way to approach all the issues. this smashes that. it smashes the conformity that the left wants. and it's invigorating. it's inspiring. not just for conservatives, not just for republicans but americans. >> the war on women, 56 million american women are out of the labor force. >> that's right. >> that is -- >> that's the war. >> that is a war. that is a shame, too. all right. thank you both. good to see you. katie, have fun. my best to the red state folks out there. coming up next tonight on "hannity." if it weren't for me, you wouldn't even be talking about illegal immigration, chris. you wouldn't even be talking about it. >> immigration a hot topic, at last night's debate. coming up next ann coulter will weigh in on the candidates' responses to the big issue of border security. plus -- >> i think people want someone who listens to them. i made it clear. secure the border. enforce the laws, no amnesty. we should have a policy about legal immigration gives priority to american working families and their wages. >> i spoke with most of the candidates after last night's

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♪ ♪ welcome back to "hannity." so at last night's debate immigration was a hot button topic. donald trump took credit for making a big campaign issue. watch this. >> if it weren't for me, you wouldn't even be talking about illegal immigration, chris. you wouldn't even be talking about it. >> i believe that the great majority of people coming here illegally have no other option. they want to provide for their family. but we need to control our border. >> i also believe we need a fence. the problem is if el chapo builds a tunnel under the fence, we have to be able to deal with that too. >> there's seven billion people across the globe many of whom want to come here. if they come legally, great. but if they come illegally and they get amnesty, that is how we fundamentally change this

country. >> there's international criminal organizations penetrating our southern based borders. we need to do something about it. secure the border, enforce the law. no amnesty and go forward with a legal immigration system. that gives priority to american working families and wages. >> here with action author of "adios america" ann coulter and the chairman of gopac. david avela is with us who i ran into at the debate last night and had our own separate debate. good to see you both. >> good to see you, sean. >> you actually said to me that you need to have me on because i'm establishment. >> i said i was a good conservative. >> okay. that's what you said to me last night. here's my point to you. the anger that conservatives have towards the republican party is they promise they'd would repeal obamacare. they had symbolic votes but they wouldn't use the power of the purse because they were afraid they would be blamed for a shutdown. they said in 2014 oh elect us.

we'll stop executive amnesty, unconstitutional executive amnesty. and they ended up funding it because, again, they were timid and afraid they would get blamed. that to me is almost unforgivable. if you give your word, your promise, you've got to keep your word. that's why conservatives are angry. your response. >> conservatives have a right to be fired up to want a president who will actually do things to secure the border and defund sanctuary cities and get better at cyber security. >> but they didn't do it, david. >> we have legislation in congress right now that would do that. we have a president that no matter how much funding we give to congress, now how many times we shut down the government he's not going to build this fence. come on. >> ted cruz stood out there by himself and ever one of them had made the same promise, and they abandoned him. that's why we're mad. >> sean, i understand that. we have had in place legislation and funding to build the fence. we haven't had a president willing to do that. that's why this election in 2016

is so important. the only way we get a secure border is to have a republican president -- >> ann coulter, let me bring you in here. why don't they fight? >> well, amnesty is the big issue. david is right. congress has voted for a fence. three or four times. it never gets built. and it's not just obama. it's not just obama. it's republican presidents as well. thus the emergence of donald trump. and that's why when he raised his hand at the beginning, i slightly disagree with your point and his point that the reason he says he won't support the nominee unless it's him, and it's looking like it might be, is just to maintain leverage. that is when he should have said no. if any of these candidates will not address the most important issue of our time, this invasion of our borders and invasion by illegals, no, i'm sorry party does not take precedence over that. did cruz not do that?

because i heard him do that. >> no when they were raising their hands, or they, one of them raised his hands saying he wouldn't support the eventual nominee. that is something i would like to see a lot more in the debate. what i would like to see -- i noticed this -- i would like to see when the republicans disagree. this is why we're talking about christie and rand paul. look you can have one general question where they all distinguish themselves from the democrats. but let's hear -- let's hear what their positions are on the fence. yeah they all say, including rubio, for pete's sake and kasich managed to start talking about the ohio budget rather than answer whether he put a fence up. most of them won't put a fence up. most of them have bs excuses for why they wouldn't. rubio says because el chapo built a tunnel. yeah, it's a corrupt country. which is what our country is becoming. somehow el chapo didn't build a tunnel under israel's fence. that fence managed to work. >> let me give david a few seconds here. >> this is a false argument. there is not a person on either one of those two stages that isn't for securing the border. >> that's not what i said.

it's not a fence, it's a lie. >> ann, how does the math get us to electing a republican president when conservatives have to make a choice? are they going to support a nominee that is for single payer healthcare, for higher taxes, that's pro choice. that's for gun control. what conservatives get fired up about going out and voting in that election? how do we elect a republican president that way. >> i assume you're talking about donald trump. i thought he had a great response last night. ronald reagan used to be for abortion. he signed there most liberal abortion law in the country when he was governor of california. you are going back to positions 20 years ago of a businessman. none of those issues you are going to lose every single one of those issues and no one is ever going to watch a republican debate again if you don't stop this invasion. the entire country becomes california and republican debates will be as interesting as republican debates are in california. nobody cares because no republican didn't get elected.

fox can enjoy its 24, 30 million viewers last night. any future republican debates and all the issues you talk about are irrelevant if we continue this surge of foreign voters. americans are going republican. we're being outvoted by non-americans the democrats are bringing in to vote for them. >> i got to end it there. thank you for being with us. coming up next. coming up next here on "hannity" -- >> we don't have time for it anymore. sean, the country is in trouble. we owe $19 trillion. it's going to be 21, 22 pretty soon. when you get up to the $24 trillion mark we become greece. we become greece on steroids i guess you could say. >> i sat down with donald trump and other 2016 republican presidential candidates right after the debate was over. in case you missed it, we have some of the highlights. that's next.

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♪ ♪ welcome back to "hannity." after last night's first republican debate, i spoke with several of the candidates after it was over. in case you didn't stay up late, some of you had to go to bed and get up for work in the morning. here are some highlights. >> governor how are you? >> i'm great. >> did you have fun out there? >> yeah, i did. >> it was pretty entertaining. i was next to donald trump, it was entertaining. >> let's talk about this. one of the things that came up in the debate for you was the issue of abortion and the

exemption for whether or not the mother's life is in jeopardy. >> it's a false choice there is always a better option out there. i've said for years medically there is always a better choice than choosing between the life of an unborn baby and the life of the mother. that's a false choice out there. that's my point. there's other choices out there. >> you defunded planned parenthood. >> i did. almost four and a half years ago. right at the beginning of my time. i was a leader on that long before the videotapes long before the talk out there. >> in my view speaking the truth is the essence of what political debate is supposed to be about. you know when you think about it it's conservatives. we were told in 2010 if only we get the house of representatives, then things will be better. we won the house. and not a thing changed. we were told in 2014 if only we get the senate and retire harry reid. millions of us rose up and did that. and it's worth asking what have the republican majorities done? we came back right after that election. >> by the way, they predicted when you did your filibuster that it wasn't going to be a god

year in 2014. >> that's exactly right. all the gray beards said when i stood 21 hours on the senate floor filibustering to stop obamacare, they said we're going to get destroyed. this is going to reelect harry reid as majority leader that didn't happen. >> the one question that got a lot of boos and this came right off the top, running as a third candidate, you wouldn't make the pledge. why? >> i'll make the pledge if i win. you know what? why should i give up that leverage? if they don't treat me well you know we're talking about the establishment republicans. if they don't treat me well why should i make the pledge? i may at some point do it. i'm starting to like the establishment people. the group has been really nice lately. but, you know at this moment, it's great leverage and i might as well use it. this country should use leverage in their trade deals. they don't believe in it because thaw don't know what they're doing. >> you want to help people, you help in the local government. small cities 5,000 people, west miami. then i joined the legislature. the last two years i was the speaker of the florida house,

the third largest state in the country and the most diverse state. and then i left politics. i was out when i decided to run for the senate against charlie crist. and i'm proud of my service the last four and a half years. but in my time i have become convinced we can't turn this country to the full potential unless we have a president that understands what that means. that's why i chose to run. >> i want to ask you about something that really interests me, and that's the fair tax. and you brought it up. i like the fair tax. is that politically possible? >> it is absolutely politically possible there is 75 house sponsors for the fair tax bill. the reason it's not in law is because nobody has taken the leadership and explained to it the american people to how everybody is bettered by a fair tax. the current tax code punishes people's work, savings, investments and inheritances. in other words, it punishes everything that makes an economy strong. people don't know that every time they buy something that is made in america, 22% of the cost in that is embedded in the cost of the product in hidden taxes because we tax capital and

labor. >> do you support full data mining? >> what i support, sean is to allow us to collect that data and then match it up against whether or not folks are receiving calls from known terrorists. right now what the law senator paul put into effect now the phone companies maintain that. if they don't maintain it we can't get it. if they maintain it we say we need it now and they say we'll get back to you in 15 days. it makes america less safe. >> you've got to be excited you got in this debate. >> well you know they said i wouldn't get in to begin with. >> right. >> i did. then they said he can't raise the money and then i did. >> yeah. >> and then they said he is announcing too late which we did. then they say how did he get in and then they're saying he did realtonight. it's all good. >> you had a great answer i thought on immigration. we all agree we've got to build the fence. that's why donald trump is popular. you just dealt with it straight-up. i like that. what is the answer to the 11 million people though? >> well, are we going to find out who they are.

look the most important thing, sean, once we fix the border and build the fence and put all the things in the new technology we have to make one clear word which is if you come in again, you're going home. that's the end of it. you're going home. >> coming up we need your help. tonight's question of the day is straight ahead. night's question of the day is straight head. if you're suffering from constipation or irregularity powders may take days to work. for gentle overnight relief, try dulcolax laxative tablets. ducolax provides gentle overnight relief, unlike miralax that can take up to 3 days. dulcolax, designed for dependable relief. ♪ ♪ when you're living with diabetes steady is exciting. only glucerna has carbsteady clinically proven to help minimize blood sugar spikes. so you stay steady ahead. ♪ i built my business with passion. but i keep it growing by making every dollar count. that's why i have the spark cash card from capital one. i earn unlimited 2% cash back on everything i buy for my studio.

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♪ all right. welcome back. time for tonight's question of the day. who do you think won last night's republican debate? real simple. go to facebook.com/hannity hannity.com or on twitter @sean hannity. before we go the 70th anniversary of vj day and the end of world war ii is fast approaching. if you happen to be in the sunshine state, tomorrow the collier county honor flight is now hosting an event. it's in naples florida, and they will be inviting 400

veterans to recreate the iconic kiss between the sailor and the nurse in times square. remember that? way, hope you can make it. just go there. you'll have a great time. thanks for being with us this evening. hope you have a great weekend. we'll see you back here on monday. this is a fox news alert. is he going to get executed? that's the courtroom, and any minute jurors in the colorado movie massacre case will face james holmes. and they will read their verdict. tell him whether he must die for killing 12 innocent movie goers or not. now, the murder happened just after midnight in a movie theater in the suburban denver town. we're going to bring you the jury's decision as soon as it's out. obviously the judge has entered the room but there's probably a lot of bookkeeping work to do. that's why the people are standing. first we'll talk about last night. what a blow out. the ratings 24 million people tuning into fox news to watch that huge fox news debate. and in just minutes, the star of one of the debates, former