stabler. >> i don't want to watch any more. >> looks like it is just for a few men's they are doing a marathon. "hannity" is going to start now. live from quicken loans arena in cleveland, ohio. i'm megyn kelly. along with my co-moderators bret baier and chris wallace. tonight -- nice. tonight thousands of people here in the q along with millions of voters at home will get their very first chance to see the sknds face off in the debate. answering the questions you want answered.

>> less than a year from now in this very arena one of these ten candidates or one of the seven on the previous debate tonight will accept the republican party's nomination. tonights candidates were selected on the basis of five national polls. >> fox news is partnering for tonight's debate with facebook. for the past several weeks we've been asking questions of you on facebook. nearly 6 million of you viewed the debate videos on our site and more than 40,000 of you submitted questions.

>> donald trump. former florida governor jeb bush. wisconsin governor scott walker. former arkansas governor mike huckabee. ben carson. texas senator ted cruz. florida senator marco rubio.

we're looking for somewhere between a reaction to a lebron james dunk and the cleveland public library across the street. james dunk and the cleveland public library across the street. gets begin. we know how much you love hand raising questions.

but we promise this is the only one tonight. the only one. there is anyone on stage who is unwilling tonight to pledge your support to the nominee of the republican party and not run an independent campaign against that person? raise your hand now if you won't make that pledge tonight. mr. trump. mr. trump, to be clear, you're standing on a republican -- >> i fully understand. >> the place where the rnc will give the nominee the nod. >> i fully understand. >> and the experts say an independent run would almost certainly hand the race over the democrats and likely another clinton. you can't say tonight that you can make that pledge? >> 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 the pledge if i'm a nominee. i will pledge i will not run as an independent. i am discussing it with everybody. but i'm talking about a lot of leverage. we want to win and we will win. but i want to win as the republican. i want to run as the republican nominee. >> tonight you can't say if another one of these -- >> this is what's wrong. this is what's wrong. he buys and sells politicians of all stripes. he's already -- >> dr. paul. >> he's already hedging his bet on the clintons. okay? if he doesn't run as an republican, maybe he supports clinton or maybe he runs as an independent. but i tell you, he's already hedging his bets because he's used to buying politicians. >> i've given you plenty of money. >> just to be clear, we're going to move on. you're not going to make the pledge tonight? >> i will not make the pledge at this time. >> okay. all right.

>> gentlemen, our first round of questions is on the subject of electability in the general election. and we start tonight with your, dr. carson. you are a successful neurosurgeon. but you admit that you have had to study up when it comes to foreign policy saying there's a lot to learn. your critics say that your inexperience shows. you suggested that the baltic states are not a part of nato and just months ago you were unfamiliar with the major political party's end government in israel and you thought alan greenspan had been federal secretary. aren't these basic mistakes and don't they raise legitimate questions about whether you are ready to be president? >> i could take issue with all of those things but we don't have time. but i will say we have a debate here tonight. and we will have an opportunity to explore those areas and i'm looking very much forward to demonstrating that in fact the

thing that is probably most important is having a brain. and to be able to figure things out and learn things very rapidly. so, you know, experience comes from a large number of different arenas. and america became a great nation early on not because it was flooded with politicians, but because it was flooded with people who understood the value of personal responsibility, hard work, creativity, innovation and that's what will get us on the right track now as well. [ applause ] >> senator rubio, when jeb bush announced his candidacy for presidency he said this. there's no passing off responsibility when you're a governor, no blending into the legislative crowd. could you please address governor bush across the stage here and explain to him why you, someone who has never held

executive office are better prepared to be president than he is, a man who did a great job of running your state of florida for 8 years. >> thank you for the question. it's great to be here tonight. let me begin by saying this. i'm not new to the political process. i was making contribution as the speaker of the third and largest most diverse state in the country before i got into the senate. i would add to this cannot be a résume competition. it's important to be qualified. this is a résume competition, then hillary clinton is going to be the next president. because she's been in office and government longer than anyone else running here tonight. here's what the selection better be about. this election better be about the future, not the past. it better be about the issues and our nation is facing today, not simply the issues we once faced. this country is facing an economy that has been radically transformed. the largest retailer in the country in the world today, amazon, doesn't even own a single store. these changes have been disruptive. the jobs that sustained our middle class, they either don't

pay enough or are gone. we need someone that understand that as our nominee. p i'm our nominee, how is hillary clinton going to lecture me about living paycheck to paycheck. i was raised living paycheck to paycheck. how is she going to lecture me about student loans. i owed over $100,000 just four years ago. if i'm the nominee, i'll be the party of the future. >> governor bush, you've insisted that you're your own man. you have a life experience uniquely your own, not your father's, not your brother's. but there are several opponents on the stage that get big applause lines with this line, quote, the last thing the country needs is another bush in the oval office. do you understand the real concern in this country about politics? >> absolutely i do. i'm going to run hard, run with heart and run to win. i'm going to have to earn this.

maybe the bar's even higher for me. that's fine. i have a record in florida. i'm proud of my dad and my brother. in florida they call me jeb because i earned it. i cut taxes every year totally $19 billion. we balance every budget. we went from $1 billion of reserves to $9 billion of reserves. we are one of two states that went to aaa bond rating. they call me veto coreleane. i vetoed 21 separate line items in the budget. i'm my own man. i govern effectively. and the net effect, 1.8 million jobs were created. i applied conservative principles in a purpose state the right way and the people rose up. [ applause ] >> mr. trump, one of the things people love about you is you speak your mind and you don't use a politician's filter. however that is not without its downsides, in particular when it

comes to women. you've called women you don't like fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals. your twitter account -- >> only rosie o'donnell. >> no, it wasn't. [ applause ] >> your twitter account -- >> thank you. >> for the record, it was well beyond rosie. >> i'm sure it was. >> your twitter account has several disparaging comments about women's looks. you once told a contestant that it would be a pretty picture to see her on her knees. does that sound like the temperament of a man we should elect as president? and hillary clinton is about to be the democratic nominee that you are a part of the war or

women. >> i think the big problem this country has is being politically correct. i've been -- [ applause ] i've been challenged by so many people and i don't frankly have time for total political correctness. and to be honest with you, this country doesn't have time either. this country is in big trouble. we don't win anymore. we lose to china. we lose to mexico both e in trade and at the border. we lose to everybody. frankly what i say and oftentimes it's fun, kidding, we have a good time. what i say is what i say. and honestly, megyn, if you don't like it, i'm sorry. i've been very nice to you although i could probably not be based on the way you have treated me. but i wouldn't do that. but you know what? we, we need strength, we need energy, we need quickness and we need brain in this country to turn it around. that i can tell you right now. [ applause ]

>> senator cruz, your colleague, senator paul right there next to you, said a few months ago he agrees with you on a number of issues but he says you do nothing to grow the party. he says you feed red meat to the base but you don't reach out to minorities. you have a toxic relationship with gop leaders in congress who even called the republican senate leader mitch mcconnell a liar recently. [ applause ] how can you win in 2016 when you're such a divisive figure? >> chris, i believe the american people are looking for someone to speak the truth. 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 interest, then i ain't your guy. there is a reason that we have $18 trillion in debt. because as conservatives, as republicans, we keep winning elections. we got a republican house, we got a republican senate, and we don't have leaders who honor their commitments. i will always tell the truth and do what i said i would do. [ applause ] >> governor christie, you're not exactly the darling of conservatives. you taunt your republican as a republican governor in a blue state. on facebook, the most people talking about you come from your state of new jersey and one of the top issues they're talking about is the economy. this may be why. under your watch new jersey has undergone nine credit rating downgrades, 44th in credit state growth, you face a pension crisis and the garden state has the third highest foreclosure

rate in the country. why should the voters believe that your management of the country's finances would be any different? >> if you think it's bad now, you should have seen it when i got there. the fact is, the fact is in the eight years before i became governor taxes and fees were raised at the state level 115 times. in the eight years before i became governor spending was increased 56%. and in the eight years before i became governor there was zero net private sector job growth in new jersey, zero for eight years. what did we do? we came in, we balanced an $11 billion deficit on a $29 billion budget by cutting over 800 programs in the state budget. we brought the budget into balance with no tax increases. in fact, we vetoed five tax increases during my time as governor. we cut business taxes $2.3 billion. we cut regulation by one third

of what my predecessor put in place. what's happened since? 192,000 new private sector jobs. in the 5 1/2 years i have been governor. we have a lot of work to do in new jersey, but i'm darn proud of how we brought or state back. [ applause ] >> governor walker, you've consistently said that you want to make abortion illegal, even in cases of rape, incest or to save the life of the mother. you recently signed an abortion law in wisconsin that does have exception for a mother's life. but you are objected to it. would you really let a mother die rather than have an abortion? and with 83% of the american public in favor of a life exception, are you too out of the mainstream on this issue to win the general election? >> well i'm pro-life. i've always been pro-life. i've got a position that's consistent with many americans out there in that i believe that that is an unborn child that's in need of protection out there. and i've said many time that that unborn child can be

protected and there are many alternatives that would protect the life of the mother. unlike hillary clinton who has a radical position in terms of support for planned parenthood, i defunded planned parenthood more than four years ago long before any of these videos came out. i've got a position that's in line with everyday americans. governor huckabee, you've staked out strong positions on social issues, favor a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages, you favor a constitutional amendment favoring abortions except for the life of the mother. millions of people in america agree with you, but according to the polls more people don't. so how do you persuade enough independents and democrats to get elected in 2016? >> chris, i disagree with the idea that the real issue is a constitutional amendment. that's a long and difficult process. i've actually taken the position

that's bolder than that. a lot of people are talking about defunding planned parenthood as if that's a huge game changer. i think it's time to do something even more bold. i think the next president ought to invoke the fifth and 14th amendment to the constitution. now that we clearly know that that baby inside the mother's womb is a person at the moment of conception. the reason we know that it is because of the dna schedule that we now have clear scientific evidence on. and this notion that we just continue to ignore the personhood of the individual is a violation of that unborn child's fifth and 14th amendment rights for due process and equal protection under the law. it's time that we recognize the supreme court is not the supreme being and we change the policy to be pro-life and protect children instead of rip up their body parts and sell them like they're parts to a buick. [ applause ] >> senator paul, you recently blamed rise of isis on

republican hawks. you later said that statement you could have said it better. but the statement went on and you said, quote, everything they've talked about in foreign policy they've been wrong for the last 20 years. why are you so quick to blame your own party? >> first of all, only isis is responsible for the terrorism. only isis is responsible for the depravity. but we do have to examine how are we going to defeat isis? i've got a proposal. i'm the leading voice in america for not arming the allies of isis. [ applause ] i've been fighting amidst a lot of opposition from both hillary clinton as well as some republicans who wanted to send arms to the allies of isis. isis rides around in a billion dollar's worth of humvees. it's a disgrace.

we've got to stop it. we shouldn't fund or enemies for goodness's sakes. we didn't create isis. isis created themselves. but we will stop them. one of the ways to stop them is by not funding them and by not arming them. >> governor kasich, you chose to expand medicaid in your state unlike several other governors on this stage tonight and it is already over budget costing taxpayers an additional $1.4 billion in the first 18 months. you defended your medicaid expansion by quoting god saying when they're in heaven st. peter is not going to ask them how small they kept government, but what they have done for the poor. why should the republican voters who generally want to shrink government believe you won't use your st. peter rationale to expand every government program. >> first of all, you should know that president reagan expanded medicaid three or four times. i had an opportunity to bring

resources back to ohio to treat the mentally ill. 10,000 of them sit in our prisons. it costs $22,000 a year to keep them in prison. i would rather get them their medications so they can live a decent life. secondly we're rehabbing the drug addicted. 80% of the people in the prisons have addiction problems. we treat them in the prisons, we release them in the community. and everybody across this country knows that the tsunami of drugs is threatening their very families. we're treating them and getting them on their feet. and finally the working poor instead of having them come into the emergency rooms where it costs more, where they're sicker and we end up paying, we brought a program in to make sure that people can get on their feet. everybody has a right to their god given purpose. finally, our medicaid is growing at one of the lowest rates in the country. finally, we went from 8 billion

in the hole to 5 billion in the black. and we created 550,000 jobs. [ applause ] >> gentlemen, we're turning to a new subject that all of you have been talking about and some of you have been disagreeing about and that is the issue of immigration. governor bush you released a new plan this week on illegal immigration focusing on enforcement which some suggest is your effort to show you're not soft on that issue. i want to ask you about a statement that you made last im. here's what you said. they broke the law but it's not a felony, it's an act of love, it's an act of commitment to your family. do you stand by that statement and do you stand by your support for earned legal status? >> i do. 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. it's our responsibility to speck and choose who comes in. written a book about this and yes this week i did come up with a comprehensive strategy that mirrored what we said in the book. which is we need to deal with e verify, we need to deal with people that come with a legal visa and overstay, we need to be strategic on how we deal with border security, we need to eliminate the sanctuary cities in this country. it is ridiculous and tragic that people are dying because of the fact that local governments are not following this federal law. there's much to do. and i think rather than talking about this as a wedge issue which barack obama has done now for six long years, the next president, and i hope to be that president, will fix this once and for all so that we can turn this into a driver for high sustained legal growth. and that should be a path to earn legal status. not amnesty. earn legal status. which means you pay a fine and do many things over an extended

period of time. >> thank you, sir. mr. trump, it has not escaped anybody's notice that you say that the mexican government, the mexican government is sending criminals, rapists, drug dealers across the border. governor bush called those remarks quote extraordinarily ugly. i'd like you to tell us, talk to him directly and say how you respond to that, and you have repeatedly said that you have evidence that the mexican government is doing this but that you have evidence you have refused or declined to share. why not use this first republican presidential debate to share your proof with the american people. >> so, if it weren't for me, you wouldn't even be talking about illegal immigration, chris. you wouldn't even be talking about it. this was not a subject that was on anybody's mind until i

brought it up at my announcement. and i said mexico is sending. expect the reporters, because they're a very dishonest lot generally speak in the world of politics, they didn't cover my statement the way i said it. the fact is since then many killings, murders, crime, drugs pouring across the border are money going out and the drugs coming in. and i said we need to build a wall, and it has to be built quickly. and i don't mind having a big beautiful door in that wall so that people can come into this country legally. but we need, jeb, to build a wall, we need to keep illegals out. >> mr. trump, i'll give you 30 seconds, i'll give you 30 seconds to answer my question, which was, what evidence do you have, specific evidence that the mexican government is sending criminals across the border? 30 seconds. >> border patrol, i was at the

border last week. border patrol, people that i deal with, that i talk to, they say this is what's happening. because our leaders are stupid. our politicians are stupid. and the mexican government is much smarter, much sharper, much more cunning and they send the bad ones over because they don't want to pay for them. they don't want to take care of them. why should they when the stupid leaders of the united states will do it for them. that's what is happening whether you like it or not. [ applause ] >> all right. obviously there's a lot more to talk about this. we're going to have more questions for the candidates on illegal immigration plus other key topics including your questions on facebook. >> who will be your plan on making immigration easier for those who want to do it legally? >> what specific steps would you take to contain the group of isis? >> i'd like to know what the candidates are going to do so i feel safe in my own country

feel safe in my own country again. yes, we are twins. when i went on to ancestry, i just put in the name of my parents and my grandparents. i was getting all these leaves and i was going back generation after generation. you start to see documents and you see signatures of people that you've never met. i mean, you don't know these people, but you feel like you do. you get connected to them. i wish that i could get into a time machine and go back 100 years, 200 years and just meet these people. being on ancestry just made me feel like i belonged somewhere. discover your story. start searching for free now at ancestry.com. to a mouthwash had to burn.ink then i went pro with crest pro-health mouthwash. go pro with crest pro-health. it's formulated to target and kill 99% of germs without the burn of alcohol. so you move to a

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welcome back to fox news facebook republican debate night. we're going to continue the questions now on illegal immigration. we kind of ended with a cliff hanger there. so let's continue the conversation. governor kasich i know you don't like to talk about donald trump. but i do want to ask you about the merit of what he just said. when you say that the american government is stupid, that the mexican government is sending criminals, that we're being bamboozled, is that an adequate response to the question of illegal immigration. >> i was just saying to chris christie, they say we're outspoken, we need to take lessons from donald trump if we're really going to learn it.

here's the thing about donald trump. donald trump is hitting a nerve in this country. he is. he's hitting a nerve. people are frustrated. they're fed up. they don't think the government is working for them. for people who want to tune him out, they're making a mistake. he's got his solutions. some of us have other solutions. look, i balanced the federal budget when i was in washington. hasn't been done since. i was a military reformer. i took the state of ohio from an $8 billion hole in a $350,000 job loss to a $2 billion surplus and a gain of 350,000 jobs >> respectfully can we talk about -- >> the point is we all have solutions. mr. trump is touching a nerve because people want the wall to be built. they want to see an end to illegal immigration. we all do. but we all have different ways of getting there and you're going to hear from all of us tonight about what our ideas are.

>> all right, well. senator rubio, let me see if i can do better with you. is it as simple as our leaders are stupid, their leaders are smart and all of the illegals coming over are criminals? >> the evidence is clear that the majority of people coming across the border are not from mexico. they're coming from guatemala, el salvador. honduras. 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. that is why you need a verified system, a tracking situation. all things to deal with illegal immigration. but i agree with governor kasich just said. people are frustrated. this is the most generous country in the world when i comes to immigration. there are a million people a year who illegally immigrate to the united states and people feel we're being taken advantage of. despite our generosity we're being taken advantage of. let me tell you who never get talked about in these day bates.

the people who call my office, waiting 15 years to come to the united states, they've paid their fees, hired a lawyer and can't get in. they're wondering if they should come in illegally. these are important issues. it's a serious problem that needs to be addressed otherwise we're going to keep talking about this for the next 30 years like we have for the last 30 years. >> governor walker, from 2002 until as recently as 2013, just two years ago, you supported comprehensive immigration reform, including a path to citizenship. now you say that was a quick reaction to something you hadn't really thought about and that you've changed your mind. other than politics, could you explain why in the last two years you've changed your position on a path to citizenship and are there other past positions we shouldn't hold you to? >> chris, i actually said it on your show earlier this year. i acknowledged that. i listened to the american people. people across america want a leader who's going to listen to them. i talk to border state governors

and other elected officials. i look at how this president particularly through last november messed up the immigration system in this country. most importantly i listened to the american people. i believe we need to secure the border. i've been to the border with governor abbott and others. seeing the problems we've got there. there are criminal organizations penetrating our southern borders, we need to do something about it. secure the border, enforce the law. no amnesty. and go forward with legal amnesty that gives priority to american families and wages. [ applause ] >> senator cruz, some 1400 people submitted questions on this very hot topic of illegal immigration on facebook and a number of them were about the murder of kate steinle in san francisco, allegedly shot down by an illegal. doug betancourt sent this question, will you support kate steinle's law, imposing a mandatory 5-year prison fund for an illegal that is deported and then returns to this country?

and will you defund sanctuary cities for violate s >> absolutely yes. and not only will i support it, the law? i have authored kate's law in the united states senate and filed that legislation. i tried to get the senate to vote to pass kate's law on the floor of the senate just one week ago and the leader of our own party blocked a vote on kate's law. you know, there was reference made to our leaders being stupid. it's not a question of stupidity. it's that they don't want to enforce the immigration laws. that there are far too many in the washington cartel that support amnesty. president obama has talked about fundamentally transforming this country. there's 7 billion people across the face of the globe, many of whom want to come to this country. if they come legally, great. but if they come illegally and they get amnesty, that is how we fundamentally change this country and it really is striking.

a majority of the candidates on this stage supported amnesty. i've never supported amnesty and i led the fight against chuck schumer's fight against amnesty. >> we're going to switch topics and talk a bit about terror and national security. governor christie, you've said that senator paul's opposition to on the nsa's collection of phone records has made the united states weaker and more vulnerable, even going so far to say he should be call before congress to answer for it if we should be hit by another terrorist attack. do you really believe you can assign blame to senator paul for opposing the bulk collection of people's phone records in the event of a terrorist attack? >> yes, i do. i'll tell you why. i'm the only person on this stage who's actually filed applications under the patriot act, who have gone before the foreign intelligence service court, who has prosecuted and

investigated and jailed terrorists in the country after september 11th. was appointed u.s. attorney by president bush on september 10th, 2001. and the world changed enormously the next day and it happened in my state. this is not theoretical to me. i went to the funerals. we lost friends of ours in the trade center that day. my own wife was two blocks from the trade center at her office. having gone through it that morning. when you have to be responsible for doing this, you can do it and we did it for seven years in my office, respecting civil liberties and protecting the homeland. and i will make no apologies ever for protecting the lives and the safety of the american people. we have to give more tools to our folk to do this and then trust those people and oversee them to do it the right way. as president that's exactly what i will do. >> megyn, may i respond? >> go ahead, sir. >> i want to collect more records from terrorists but less

records from innocent americans. the fourth amendment was what we fought the revolution over. john adams said it was a spark that led to our war for independence. and i'm proud of standing for the bill of rights and i will continue to stand for the bill of rights. >> and megyn, that's a completely ridiculous answer. i want to collect more records from terrorists but less records from other people. how are you supposed to know, megyn. >> you support the amendment. how are you supposed -- >> i tell you -- >> get a warrant. get a judge to sign a warrant. >> senator -- >> governor christie make your point. >> when you're sitting in a subcommittee blowing hot air about that you can say things like that. when you're responsible for protecting the lives of the american people, then you need to make sure that you use -- >> here the problem, governor. you fundamentally misunderstood the bill of rights.

every time you do a case, you got a warrant from a judge. i'm talking about searches without warrants. >> there is no -- >> -- all of american's records and that's what i fought to end. i don't trust president obama with our records. i know you gave him a big hug and if you want to give him a big hug again, go right ahead. >> go ahead, governor. >> and you know, senator paul, senator paul, you know the hugs that i remember are the hugs that i gave to the families who lost their people on september 11th. those are the hugs i remember and those had nothing to do -- and those had nothing to do with politics unlike what you're doing by cutting speeches on the floor of the senate and putting them on the internet within half an hour to raise money for your campaign and putting our country at risk. >> we have to cut it off there. we have plenty more we want to get to. that was an interesting exchange. thank you for that. i want to move on because -- we're going to get to you but i really want to get to a facebook questioner. alex has the following question.

>> my question is, how would the candidates stop the actions of isis and strong influence in the u.s. if they were to become president. >> senator cruz, i want to talk to you about this because many of the facebook users and the folks on facebook wanted the candidates to speak to isis tonight. you asked the chairman of the joint chiefs a question. what would it take to destroy isis in 90 days. he told you that isis would truly be destroyed once they're in the populations of where they you accused him of pushing medicaid for the iraqis. how would you destroy isis in 90 days? >> megyn, we need a commander in chief that speaks the truth. we will not defeat radical islamic terrorism so long as we have a president unwilling to utter the words "radical islamic terrorism." [ applause ] when i asked general dempsey,

the chairman of the joint chiefs what would be required militarily to destroy isis, he said there is no military solution. we need to change the conditions on the ground so that young men are not in poverty and susceptible to radicalization. that with all due respect is nonsense. it's the same answer the state department gave that we need to give them jobs. what we need is a commander in chief who makes clear if you join isis, if you wage jihad on america, then you are signing your death warrant. >> you don't see it as an ideological problem. >> of course it is. that's one of the reasons why i introduced the ex-patriot terrorist act in the senate that said if any american travels to the middle east and joins isis, he or she forfeits their citizenship so they don't use a passport to come back and wage jihad on america.

let me contrast president obama who at the prayer breakfast essentially acted as an apologist. he said gosh, the crew said, the acquisitions. we need a president that shows the courage that egypt's president did, a muslim when he called out the radical islamic terrorists who are threatening the world. >> governor bush. [ applause ] for days on end in this campaign you struggled to answer a question about whether knowing what we know now -- >> i remember -- i remember, megyn. >> i remember it too. and isis of course is now thriving there. you finally said no. to the families of those who died in that war who say they liberated a country and deposed a ruthless dictator, how do you look at them now and say your brother's war was a mistake? >> knowing what we know now with faulty intelligence and not having security be the first priority when we invaded, it was

a mistake. i wouldn't have gone in. however, for the people that did lose their lives and the families that suffered because of it, i know this full well. because as governor of the state of florida, i called every one of them, every one of them that i could find the tell them i was praying for them, that i cared about them. it was really hard to do. and every one of them said that their child did not die in vain. or their wife or husband did not die in vain. and while it was difficult for the to do, it was based on that. here's the lesson that we should take from this. which relates to this whole subject. barack obama became president and he abandoned iraq. he left. and when he left al qaeda was done for, isis was created because of the void that we left. and the void now exists as a caliphate the size of indiana. to honor the people that died, we need to stop the iran agreement for sure because the iranians have their blood on their hands and we need to take

out isis with every tool at our disposal. >> governor walker, in february you said that we needed to gain partners in the arab world. which arab country not already in the u.s. led coalition has the potential to be our greatest partner? >> we need to focus on the ones we have. you look at egypt, probably the best relationship we've had in israel at least in my lifetime. you look at the saudi effect earlier this year, i met with saudi leaders and i asked them what's the greatest challenge in the world today. they said the disengagement of america. we're leading from behind under the obama-clinton doctrine. we need to stand up and start leading again and we would have allies in israel and throughout the persian gulf. >> dr. carson, in one of his first acts in office, president

obama signed an executive order banning enhanced interrogation techniques in fighting terror. as president would you bring back water boarding? >> thank you, megyn, i wasn't sure i was going to get to talk again. >> we have a lot for you. don't worry. you may rue that request. >> all right. you know, what we do in order to get the information that we need is our business. and i wouldn't necessarily be broadcasting to everybody what we're going to do. you know, we've gotten into this mind-set of fighting politically correct wars. there is no such thing as a politically correct war. and the left, of course, will say carson doesn't believe in the geneva convention. carson doesn't believe in fighting stupid wars. what we have to remember is we are want to utilize the tremendous intellect that we have in the military to win wars. and i have talked to a lot of the generals, a lot of our

advanced people, and believe me, if we gave them the mission, which is what the commander in chief does, they would be able to carry it out. and if we don't tie their hands behind their back, they will do it extremely effectively. [ applause ] >> gentlemen, the next series of questions deals with obamacare and the role of the federal government. mr. trump, obamacare is one of the things you call a disaster. >> complete disaster, yes. >> saying it needs to be repealed and replaced. >> correct. >> now 15 years ago you called yourself a liberal on health care. you were for a single payer system, a canadian style system. why were you for that then and why aren't you for it now? >> first of all i'd like to go back to one -- in july of 2004 i came out strongly against the war with iraq. because it was going to destabilize the middle east. i'm the only one on the stage that knew that and had the vision to say it and that's

exactly what happened. so i just want to say. as far as single payer, it works in canada, works incredibly well in scotland. could have worked in a different age, which is the age you're talking about here. what i would like to see is a private system without the artificial lines around every state. i have a big company with thousands and thousands of employees and if i'm negotiating in new york or new jersey or california, i have like one bidder. nobody can bid. you know why? the insurance companies are making a fortune because they have control of the politicians. of course with the exception of the politicians on the stage. but they have total control of the politicians. they're making a fortune. get rid of the artificial lines and you will have yourself great plans. then we have to take care of the people that can't take care of themselves and i will do that for a different system. >> news flash, the republican party has been fighting against

a single payer system for a decade. i think you're on the wrong side of this if you're still arguing -- >> i don't think you heard me. you're having a hard time tonight. >> mr. trump, it's not just your past support for single payer health care. you've also supported a host of other liberal policies. you've donated to several democrat candidates. hillary clinton, pelosi. you explained away those donations saying you did that to get business-related favors. and you said recently, quote, when you give they do whatever the hell you want them to do. >> you better believe it. >> what specifically did they do? >> if i ask them, if i need them -- most of the people on this stage i've given to, just to you understand, a lot of money. >> not me. >> not me. >> you're welcome to give me a check, donald if you would like.

>> many of them. >> i have -- >> i hope you will give to me. >> good. sounds good to me, governor. i will tell you that our system is broken. i gave to many people before this -- before two months ago i was a businessman. when they call, i give. and you know what, when i need something from them two years later, three years later, i call them. they are there for me. that's a broken system. >> what did you get from hillary clinton and nancy pelosi. >> for hillary clinton, i said be at me wedding and she came to my wedding. you know why? she had no choice because i gave to a foundation that frankly that foundation is supposed to do good. i didn't know her money would be used on private jets going all over the world. it was. >> mr. trump, we're going to move on. coming back to you governor walker. >> we spend a lot of time talking about hillary clinton. pitting us back and forth. let's be clear. we should be talking about hillary clinton on that last subject because everywhere in the world that hillary clinton touched is more messed up today. >> many questions to come.

many questions to come. governor huckabee, on facebook, john asked this. will you abolish or take away the powers and cut the size of the epa, the irs, the department of education? now broadly, broadly the size of government is a big concern for a facebook users, facebook persons as well as obviously conservatives. but year after year, decade after decade, there are promises from republicans to shrink government. but year after year, decade after decade it doesn't happen. in fact it gets bigger even under republican politicians. so the question is, at this point is the government simply too big for any one person, even a republican to shrink? >> it's not too big to shrink. but the problem is we have a wall street to washington axis

of power that is controlled the political climate. the donor class feeds the political class that does the dance that the donor class wants. and the result is federal government keeps getting bigger. who continually put mandates on the states that we had to suck up and pay for. and the fact is, there are a lot of things happening at the federal level that are absolutely beyond the jurisdiction of the institution this is power that should be shifted back to theti states, whether it's the epa -- there is no role at the federal level for the department of education. and i'm still one who says that we can get rid of the internal revenue service if we c could ps the fair tax, which is a tax consumption rather than on ax people's income and move it back where thehe founders believed i all along. been >> dr. carson, do you agree? >> what i agree with is that we need a significantly changed taxation system.

is based on tithing. o i think god is a pretty fair guy. and he said, you know, if you give me a tithe, it doesn't matter how much you make. if you had a bumper crop, you don't owe me triple. if you have no crops at all, you don't owe me no tithes. there must be something fair about that. you make $10, you pay 1. a everybody gets treated the same way. you get rid of the deductions, all the loopholes. >> right. >> governor bush? >> i have a lot more to say about it. >> we'll come back to you.u. governor bush, you are one of the few people on the stage who advocates for common core education standards, reading and math.ds a lot of people on this stage vigorously oppose federal involvement. they say it should all be handled locally. president obama's secretary of education, arne duncan, has said most of the criticism of on common core is due to a, quote,

fringe group of critics. m do you think that's accurate? >> no.ng i don't. i don't believe the federal government should be involved io the creation of standards directly or indirectly. the creation of curriculum or content. that is clearly a state responsibility. i'm for higher standards, measured in an intellectually honestwa way with abundant scho choice, ending social promotion. and i know how to do this because as governor of the state of florida, i created the first statewide voucher program in the reuntry. the second statewide voucher program in the country and the t third statewide voucher program in the country. we had rising student achievement across the board. because high standards, robust accountability, ending social promotion in third grade, real school choice across the board, challenging the teachers' union and beating them is the way to go.an and florida's low income kids had the greatest gains inside the country. r our graduation rate improved by 50%. b that's what i'm for. >> senator rubio, why is

governor bush wrong on common core? >> i do believe in curriculum reform. we need it. it's critically important.an and it should happen at the state and local level.ur that's where educational policy belongs. because if a parent is unhappy with what their child is being taught in school, they can go to the local school board or the state legislature or their governor and get it changed. here's the problem with common core. ro the department of education like every federal agency will nevero be satisfied.ev they will not stop with it being a suggestion. w they will turn it into a mandate.t in fact, what they will begin to say tolo local communities is, u will not get federal money unless you do things the way we want you to do it, and they will use common core or it any other requirements to force it down the throats of the people in our states. >> do you agree with your old friend?te >> he is definitely my friend. i think the states ought to create the standards. ifa states want to opt out of common core, fine. just make sure your standards are high.

because today in america, a ryp third of our kids, after we spend more per student than any other country in the world other than a couple rounding errors, to be honest, 30% are college or career ready. if we are going to compete in et this world today, there is no possible way we can do it with lowering expectations and dumbing down everything. children will suffer and we families' hearts will be broken get a job in the 21st century. >> we have many more questions coming on a host of topics.ts here from quicken loans arena in cleveland. stay with us.n >> what would make stand out as the best choice? >> how do you intend to go about student loan reform? >> what would be the first thing you would do to stimulate economic growth in our country and bring more jobs to the united states? everyone's raving!

age defy from clairol the secret? superior gray coverage that leaves hair looking 10 years younger age defy from clairol it's 10:00 p.m. on the east coast. welcome back to quicken loans arena in cleveland, ohio, and

the very first republican primary debate of the 2016 presidential campaign. ten candidates selected based on their standing in five national polls. tonight they are facing off, answering the questions you want asked. we hope. >> gentlemen, we're obviously digging into some subjects in depth but we're also going to change it up throughout the next hour and have many rounds where we ask, you won't like it, only a couple candidates questions on those subjects. this is the first of the mini rounds, and it's about somebody whose name probably hasn't been mentioned enough so far tonight. governor kasich, let me start with you. whoever the republican nominee is, it looks at least for now like whoever that nominee is, he or she will be facing off again hillary clinton. you know how she will come after whoever the republican nominee is. she will say that you, whoever it is, support the rich while she supports the middle class. that you want to suppress the

rights of women and minorities. she wants to move the country forward while you the republicans want to take the country back to the past. how will you, if you're the nominee, how will you answer that and take hillary clinton on? >> let's start off with my father being a mailman. i understand the concerns of all the folks across this country. some of whom have trouble making ends meet. i think she will come in the narrow way. the nominee of this party if they're going to win has to come out in a big way, which is pro growth, which is balancing budgets. we were talking about it. people were saying could we do it. i was the chairman of the budget committee and the lead architect the last time it happened in washington. when we did it, we had great economic growth. we cut taxes and we had a big surplus. economic growth is the key. economic growth is the key to everything. but once you have economic growth, it is important that we reach out to people who live in the shadows, the people who don't seem to ever thinkl.

and that includes people in our minority community, that includes people who feel as though they don't have a chance to move up. america is a miracle country. and we have to restore the sense that the miracle will apply to you. each and ever one of the people in this country watching tonight, lift everybody, unite everybody, and build a stronger united states of america again. it will be and can be done. >> i know that all of you would like to answer this question but we're only going on ask one other candidate before we move to a different subject. dr. carson, same question to you. if hillary clinton is the nominee and she comes at you with that kind of line of attack, how will you take her on? >> if hillary is the candidate, which i doubt, that would be a dream come true -- but, you know, the fact of the matter is, she is the epitome of the progressive, the secular progressive movement.

and she counts on the fact that people are uninformed. the elinski model, taking advantage of useful idiots. i just happen to believe that people are not stupid. and the way i will come at i is to educate people. help people to actually understand that it is that progressive movement that is causing them the problems. you look at the national debt and how it is being driven up. if i was trying to destroy this country, what i would do is find a way to drive wedges between all the people. drive the debt to an unsustainable level, and then step off the stage as a world leader and let our enemies increase while we decreased our capacity as a military person. and that's what she's doing. >> gentlemen, we'll turn now to the subject of the economy, jobs and money and the government. and governor bush, i'm going to start with you. you've made a bold promise in your announcement. you have promised 4% economic

growth and 19 million new jobs if you are fortunate enough to serve two terms as president. that many jobs, 19 million, would be triple what your father and your brother accomplished together. and 4% growth. the last president to average that was lyndon johnson during the height of the vietnam war. so question. how on earth specifically would you pull that off? >> we've done it 27 times since world war ii. i think we need to lift our spirits and have high lofty expectations for this great country of ours. the new normal of 2%, that the left is saying, you can't do anything about, is so dangerous for our country. there are 6 million people living in poverty today. more than when barack obama got elected. 6.5 million people are working part time. most of whom want to work full time. we've created rules and taxes on top of every esoperation of people, and the net result is we're not growing fast. income is not growing.

a 4% growth strategy means you fix a convoluted tax code. you get in and change every as aspect of job killers. you get rid of obamacare and replace with it something that doesn't suppress wages and kill jobs. you embrace the energy revolution in our country. this president and hillary clinton, who can't even say she's for the excel pipeline after she left, give me a break. of course we're for it. we should be for these things to sustain high economic growth. and fixing our immigration system and turning it into an economic driver is part of this as well. we can do this. >> governor walker -- governor walker, when you ran for governor of wisconsin, back in 2010, you promised that you would create 250,000 jobs in your first term. first four years. in fact, wisconsin added barely half that and ranked 35th in the country in job growth. now you're running for president and you're promising an economic plan in which everyone will earn a piece of the american dream.

given your record in wisconsin, why should voters believe you? >> well, the voters in wisconsin elected me last year for the third time because they wanted someone who aimed high and not low. before i came in, the unemployment was 8%. it is now 4.6%. we've more than made up for the jobs lost in the recession and the rate in which people are working is almost five points higher than it is nationally. people like hillary clinton think you grow the economy by growing washington. one of the top six counties were in and around washington, d.c. i think most of us understand that people, not the government creates jobs. one of the best things we can do is get the government out of the way, repeal obama care, reign in all of the out of control regulations, put in an all-new energy policy, give people skills they need to succeed, lower the tax rate and reform the tax code. that's what i'll do.

just like i did in wisconsin. >> governor christie, i want to engage and you governor huckabee in say subject that is big in both of your campaigns. entitlement. you say to save the system, you want to raise the retirement age. have to raise the retirement age. and to cut benefits for social security and medicare and you say some of the candidates on the stage are lying. governor huckabee says he can save social security and medicare without doing any of that. is he lying? >> no. he's not lying. he's just wrong. there is a difference. listen, i'm the only guy on this stage who has put out a detailed 12-point plan on entitlement reform and here's why. 71% of federal spending right now is on entitlement and debt service. 71%. and we have spent the last hour and five minutes talking about the other 29%. and no time on the 71%. and that makes no sense. let me tell you exactly what we would do on social security. yes, we would raise the

retirement age in and do it over 25 years. one month a year for 25 years. when we're all living longer and living better lives. secondly, we would means test social security. for those making over $200,000 a year in retirement income and have $4 to $5 million in liquid assets saved, they don't need social security check. social security is meant to be to make sure that no one that's worked hard and played by the rules and paid into the system will grow old in poverty. if we don't deal with this, it will bankrupt our country or lead to massive tax increases. neither one do we want in this country. >> governor huckabee, you say the changing entitlements, the kind of thing governor christie is talking about, would be breaking a promise to the american people. you say you can keep those programs, save social security, save medicare without those kinds of reforms through a fair tax. a broad tax on consumption. please explain to governor christie how that would work and

how you can save these programs without the kind of painful reform he says we need. >> let's all be reminded. 60 million americans are on social security. 60 million. a third of those people depend on 90% of their income from social security. nobody in this country is on social security because they made the decision when they were starting work at 14 that they wanted to trust some of their money with the government. the government took it out of their check whether they want them to or not. if a person goes to 65, they will spend 51 years with a government reaching into their pocket at every paycheck. here's the point. whose fault is that it the system is screwed up? is it the recipients or the government? if congress wants to mess with the retirement program, why don't we let them start by changing their retirement program and not have one instead of talking about getting rid of social security and medicare that was robbed $700 billion to pay for obamacare?

it is always the government figures they can do this off the backs of people, many of whom are pooh poor and depend on that money. i think it is lying to the people and stealing from them and we should not be doing it. >> chris? 30 seconds. >> yes. and i don't disagree with ending congress' retirement program. i'm a governor and i don't have a retirement program. i don't disagree with that. here's the news for the american people. he is complaining about the lying and stealing. the lying and stealing has already occurred. the trust fund is filled with ious. we can't fix the problem with just congress' retirement. that's worth this much. we need to go to the fundamental problem. and the fundamental problem is that this system is broken. it has been stolen from. we video have been lied to. we need a strong leader to fix it. >> 30 seconds finally. >> you ask about how we fund it. one of the reasons social security is in trouble. the only funding stream come from people who get a wage. the people who get wages is declining dramatically.

most of the income is made by people at the top who get dividends and capital gains. the fair tax transforms the process by which we fund social security and medicare because the money paid at consumption is paid by everybody including illegals, prostitutes, pimps, drug dealers, all of the people that are free loading off the system now. that's why it ought to be a transformed system. >> all right. all right. enough. mr. trump -- >> getting a little r-rated. >> mr. trump, you talk a lot about how you are the person on this stage to grow the economy. i want to ask you about your business record. trump corporations, trump corporations, casinos and hotels, have declared bankruptcy four times over the last quarter century. in 2011, you told forbes magazine this. i've used the laws of the country to my advantage. but at the same time, financial experts involved in those bankruptcies say lenders to your companies lost billions of

dollars. question, sir. with that record, why should we trust you to run the nation's business? >> because i have used the laws of this country just like the greatest people that you read about every day in business have used the laws of this country, the chapter laws, to do a great job for my company, for myself, for my employees, for my family, et cetera. i have never gone bankrupt by the way. i have never. >> but, sir -- >> excuse me. >> that's your line. but your companies have gone bankrupt. >> what am i saying? out of hundreds of deals that i've done, hundreds, on four occasions i've taken advantage of the laws of this country like other people. i'm not going to name their names because i won't embarrass them but virtually every person you read about on the front page of the business section, they have used the law. the difference is when somebody else uses the laws, nobody writes about it. when i use it, they say trump, trump, trump. the fact is,

i built a networth of more than $10 billion. i employ thousands of people. i am very proud of the job i did. hundreds and hundreds of deals. four times i've taken advantage of the laws and frankly, so has everybody else in my position. >> well, sir, let's just talk about the latest example which is trump entertainment resorts which went bankrupt in 2009. in that case alone, lenders to your company lost over a billion dollars and more than 1,100 people were laid off. is that the way that you run the country? >> let me tell but the lenders. first of all, these lenders aren't babies. these are total killers. these are not the nice sweet people that you think. you're living in a world of the mike believe, chris, if you want to know the truth. and i had the good sense to leave atlantic city, which by the way, caesar's just went bankrupt. every company. chris can tell you. every company virtually in atlantic city went bankrupt.

every company. and let me tell you, i had the good sense and i've gotten a lot of credit in the financial pages, seven years ago i left atlantic city before it totally cratered and i made a lot of money in atlantic city and i'm very proud of it. i want to tell you. very, very proud of it. by the way, this country right now owes $19 trillion. and they need somebody like me to straighten out that mess. >> senator rubio, senator rubio, more than 3,000 people sent us questions about the economy and jobs on facebook. here is a video question from tanya from philadelphia. here she is. >> please describe one action you would do to make the economic environment more favorable for small businesses and entrepreneurs and anyone

dreaming of opening their own business. >> that's a great question. >> senator, how do you answer tanya? >> first, it begins by having leaders that recognize the economy we live in today was dramatically different than the one we had five years ago. it is an economy that has placed us in global competition with dozens of other countries around the world. the big companies that have connections with washington, they can effect policies to help them. the small companies like the ones she's talking about, they're the ones that are struggling. we need to even out the tax code for small businesses so we lower their tax rate to 25% just as we need to lower for all businesses. we need to have a regulatory budget to regulate budgets in america. we need to repeal obamacare and we need to give people access to the jobs they need. and we need to repeal dodd frank. it is eviscerating small businesses and small banks. over 40% of small and mid-size banks that loan money to smalln

businesses have been wiped out since dodd frank was passed. we need to repeal and replace dodd frank. we need to make america fair again for all businesses but especially those being run by small business owners. >> senator rubio, thank you. >> another question for a few of you. yesterday, just yesterday, president obama criticized republican lawmakers trying to block the iran deal, calling them knee jerk partisans, adding that hardliners in iran who chant death to america were, quote, making common cause with the republican caucus. here's what two of your opponents on the 5:00 p.m. debate stage said about iran. >> i will tell you one thing. i would rather have carly fiorina over there doing our negotiation than john kerry. maybe we would have gotten a deal where we didn't give everything away. but the issue for us is to have a congress that stands up and says, not only no but hell no to this money going to a regime that is going to use it for terror.

>> when america does not lead, the world is a dangerous and a tragic place. this is a bad deal. obama broke every rule of negotiation. yes, our allies are not perfect. but iran is at the heart of most of the evil that is going on in the middle east through their proxy. >> i want to ask a few of you this. first governor walker. you've said that you would tear up the iran deal on day one. if this deal is undone, what then? >> well, first off, let's remember. i remember as a kid tying a yellow ribbon on the tree in front of my house during the 444 days that iran held 52 americans hostage. iraq is not a place we should be doing business with. you terminate the deal on day one. with you reinstate sanctions authorized by congress. you go to congress and put in place even more crippling sanctions in place and then you convince our allies to do the same. this is not just bad with iran. this is bad with isis, it is tied together.

once and for all, we need a leader who will stand up and do something about it. yet another example of the failed foreign policy of the obama-clinton doctrine. >> senator paul, would you repeal it on day one? >> i opposed it and will vote against it. i don't think the president negotiated from a position of strength but i don't immediately discount negotiations. i'm a reagan conservative. reagan did negotiate with the soviets. but you have to negotiate from a position of strength, and i think president obama gave away too much too early. if there's going to be a negotiation, you're going to have to believe somehow that the iranians will comply. and i asked this question to john kerry. i said do you believe they're trustworthy? he said no. and i said, well, how are we going to get them to comply? i would have never released the sanctions before there was consistent evidence of compliance. >> what do you think of what senator paul just said? >> ronald reagan said trust by verify. president obama is trust but vilify.

he trusts our enemies and vilifies everyone that disagrees with him. and the reason we disagree with him has nothing do with party. it has to do with the incredibly dangerous place this world will be as a result of a deal in which we got nothing. we didn't even get four hostages out. we got nothing. and iran gets everything they want. we said we would have anywhere any time negotiations and inspections. we gave that up. we said that we would make sure that they didn't have any nuclear capacity. we gave that up. the president can't tell us what we got. i'll tell what you the world got. the world has a burgeoning nuclear power that didn't, as the soviets say we might defend ourselves in a war. but what the iran yeahian s /* /* -- iranians have said is, we will wipe israel off the face of the map and we will bring death to america. when someone points a gun at your head and loads it, by god

you ought to take them seriously. and we need to take that seriously. >> thank you, gentlemen. >> the first debate night of the 2015 presidential debate continues from cleveland after a short time out. stick around.

we're moving on to discuss social issues. governor bush, let's start with we're moving on to discuss social issues. governor bush, let's start with you. many republicans have been outraged recently by a series of videos on planned parenthood. you now say you would end funding for this organization. however, until lay 2014, right before you started your campaign, you sat on the board of a bloomberg charity that quite publicly gave tens of millions of dollars to planned parenthood while you were a director. how could you not know about these well publicized donations, and if you did know, how could you help a charity so openly committed to abortion rights? >> i joined because of mike bloomberg's shared commitment for meaningful education reform. that's why i was on it. we never had a debate about the budget. it was presented and we approved it. not item by item. here's my record. as governor of the state of florida, i defunded planned parenthood. i created a culture of life in our state. we were the only state to appropriate money for crisis pregnancy centers.

we expanded dramat dramatically the number of adoptions out of our foster care system. we did parental notification laws. we ended partial-birth abortion. we did all of this and we were the first state to do a choose life license plate. now 29 states have done it and there's a culture where more people, more babies are adopted. >> did you know? >> no. i didn't know. it doesn't matter. i was working on the board because of education. my record is clear. my record as a pro-life governor is not in dispute. i am completely pro-life and i believe we should have a culture of life that is informed by my faith from beginning to end. and i did this not just as it related to unborn babies. i did it at the end of life issues as well. this is something that goes way beyond politics. i hope one day we get to the point where we respect life in its fullest form across the board. >> senator rubio, you favor a rape and incest exception to abortion bans.

cardinal dolan yesterday said those exceptions are preposterous. he said they discriminate against an entire class of human beings. if you believe that life begins at conception as you say you do, how do you justify ending a life just because it begins violently through no fault of the baby? >> i'm not sure that's a corrected assessment of my record. i would go on to add -- >> you don't favor -- >> i have never said that. and i have never advocated that. i have advocated that we pass a law that says all human life at every stage of its development is worthy of protection. and in fact, i think that law already exists. it is called the constitution of the united states. and let me go further. i believe that every single human being is in entitled to the protection of our laws, whether they can vote or not. whether they can speak or not. whether they can hire a lawyer or not. whether they have a birth certificate or not. i think future generations will look back at this history of our country and call us barbarians for murdering millions of babies

who we never gave a chance to live. >> mr. trump, in 1999, you said you were, quote, very pro choice, even supporting partial-birth abortion. you favored an assault weapons ban as well. in 2004 you said in most cases you identified as a democrat. even in this campaign your critics say you often sound more like a democrat than a republican, calling several of your opponents on the stage things like clowns and puppets. when did you actually become a republican? >> i don't think they like me very much. i'll tell you what. i've evolved on many issues over the years. do you know who else has? ronald reagan evolved on many issues. and i am pro-life. and if you look at the question, i was in business. they asked me a question as to pro-life or choice. and i said if you let it run, that i hate the concept of abortion. i hate the concept of abortion. and then since then, i've very much evolved.

and what happened was friends of mine years ago were going to have a child and it was going to be aborted. and it wasn't aborted. and that child today is a total superstar. a great, great child. and i saw that. and i saw other instances. and i am very, very proud to say that i am pro-life. as far as being a republican is concerned, i come from a place, new york city, which is virtually -- i mean, it's almost exclusively democrat. and i have really started to see some of the negatives as an example -- and i have a lot of liking for this man. but the last number of months of his brother's administration were a catastrophe. and unfortunately, those few months gave us president obama. and you can't be happy about that. >> governor bush, i want to ask you on the subject of name calling, of your fellow candidates, a story appeared today quoting an anonymous donor who said you called mr. trump, a clown, a buffoon, something else that

cannot repeated on television. >> none of which is true. >> is it true? >> no. it's not true. but i have said that mr. trump's language is divisive. i want to win. i want one of these people here or the ones at 5:00, to be the next president of the united states. we're not going on win by doing the barack obama and hillary clinton do each and every day. dividing the country. saying -- creating a grievance kind of environment. we're going to win when we unite people with a hopeful, optimistic message. i have that message because i was a governor of a state that saw people lifted up. we had high sustained economic growth. our economy grew at double the rate of the nation. we created 1.3 million jobs. we led the nation seven out of the eight years. we were only one of two states that went to aaa bond rating. i cut taxes $1 billion. if you do that and apply conservative principles the right way, you create an environment where everybody rises up. to give people hope that their

life is better because too many people are suffering in america. >> mr. trump, 30 seconds. >> first of all, i am very happy that you denied that and i appreciate that vex. he is a true gentleman. he really is. one thing he did say, and i mean that. the one thing he did say about me was my tone. and i also understand that. but when you have people that are cutting christians' heads off, when you have a world that the border and at so many places, that it is medieval times, we've never -- it almost has to be as bad as it ever was in terms of the violence and the horror. we don't have time for tone. we have to go out and get job done. >> the subject of gay marriage and religious liberty. governor kasich, if you had a son or daughter who was gay or lesbian, how would you explain to them your opposition to same-sex marriage? >> i'm an old-fashioned person here and i happen to believe in traditional marriage. but i've also said that the court has ruled. >> but how would you explain it

to your child? >> the court has ruled, and i have said, we will accept it. and guess what? i just went to a wedding of a friend of mine that happens to be gay. just because somebody that doesn't think like i do doesn't mean i don't care about them or love them. if one of my daughters happened to be gay, of course i would love them and accept then. you know what? that's what we're taught when we have strong faith. so issues like that, issues like that are planted to divide us. i think the simple fact of the matter is, this is where i would agree with jeb and i've been saying it all along. we need to give everybody a chance, treat everybody with respect, and let them share in this great american dream that we have, megyn. i'm going to love my daughters. i'm going to love them no matter what they do. you know what? god gives me unconditional love. i'm going to give to it my family and my friends and the people around me. >> senator paul. in the wake of the supreme court

ruling on same-sex marriage, carol fox on facebook wants to know the following. quote, what will you do to ensure cyst yaps are not prosecuted for speaking out against gay marriage? and will christians be forced to conduct business that conflicts with their religious beliefs? >> look, i don't want my marriage or my guns registered in washington. if people have an opinion, a religious opinion that is heartily felt, they should be allowed to practice that and no government should interfere with them. one of the things that really got to me was the thing in houston where you had the government, the mayor, actually trying to get the sermons of ministers. when the government tries to invade the church to enforce its own opinion on marriage, that's when it is time to resist.

>> governor walker, many in the look lives matter movement and beyond believe that overly aggressive police officers targeting young african-americans is the civil rights issue of our time. do you agree? if so, how do you plan to address it? if not, why not? >> well, i think the most important thing we can do when it comes to policing is something you've had a guest on, a friend of mine, milwaukee county sheriff david clark who has talked to me many times about this in the past. it is about training. making sure that law enforcement professionals, not only on the way in to their positions but all the way through their time, have the proper training particularly when it comes to use of force, and that we protect and stand up and support those men and women who are doing their jobs in law enforcement. for the very few that don't, that there are consequences to show that we treat everyone the same here in america. >> thank you. >> coming up, more of our debate including questions about president obama's foreign policy and these guys and their better ideas. coming up.

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he is blamed for hundreds of deaths in iraq and afghanistan. his trip to russia appears to directly violate u.n. security council resolutions. to confine him to iran. mr. trump, if you were president, how would you respond to this? >> i would be so different from what you have right now. like the polar opposite. we have a president who doesn't have a clue. i would say he is incompetent but i don't want to do that. because that's not nice. if you look at the deals we make, whether the nuclear deal with 24-hour periods -- and by the way, before you get to the 24 hours, you have to go through a system. you look at sergeant bergdahl. we get a traitor and they get five of the big great killers' leaders that they want. we have people in washington that don't know what they're doing. now -- [ cheers and applause ]

>> i agree. with iran, we're making a deal. you would say, we want him. we want him. we want our prisoners. we want all these things. we don't get anything. we're giving $150 billion plus. they are going to be -- i'll tell you what. if iran was the stock, you folks should go out and buy it right now. you'll quadruple. this is what happened in iran is a disgrace. and it is going to lead to destruction in large portions of the world. >> another new development today. senior defense officials tell fox they strongly suspect russia was behind the cyber attack on the chairman of the joint chiefs office email. this comes in the wake of the director of national intelligence blaming the chinese for the largest ever cyber attack stealing personal data of tens of millions of americans. senator cruz, in your view, have russia and china committed acts of cyber war? if you were president, what would you do about it?

>> well, of course they have. and over the last six and a half years, we've seen the consequences of the obama-clinton foreign policy. leading from behind is a disaster. we have abandoned and alienated our friends and allies. and our enemies are stronger. radical islam is on the rise. iran is on the verge of acquiring a nuclear weapon. china is waging cyber warfare ag russia, the general, the iranian general is the head of the quds forces. he is directly responsible for the murder of over 500 american servicemen in iraq. and part of this iranian deal was lifting the international sanctions on this general. the day she flew back from moscow to iran was the day we believe that russia used cyber warfare against the joint chiefs. we need a new commander in chief that will stand up to our enemies and that will have credibility. it is worth emphasizing that

iran released our hostages in 1981 the day ronald reagan was sworn into office. >> dr. carson, in august of 2012, president obama declared syrian president assad used chemical weapons, that's a red line for us. that there would be enormous consequences. one year later with overwhelming evidence that assad had in fact used chemical weapons and crossed that red line, president obama declined to use military force against the assad regime. as president, would you have used military force there? >> well, what we have to stop and think about is that we have weakened ourselves militarily to such an extent that it affects all of our military policies. our navy is at its smallest size since 1917. our air force since 1940. in recent testimony, the commandant of the marine corps

said half of the deployable units are not ready. and the sequester is cutting the heart out of our personnel. our generals are retiring because they don't want to be part of this. and at the same time, our enemies are increasing. our friends can't trust us anymore. ukraine was a nuclear armed state. they gave away their nuclear arms with the understanding we would protect them. we won't even give them offensive weapons. we turned our back on israel, our ally. and in a situation like that, of course obama is not going to be able to do anything. i would shore up our military first. because if you don't get the military right, nothing else is going to work. >> governor walker, as president, what would you do if russian president vladimir putin started a campaign to destabilize nato allies estonia, lithuania, mirroring the actions in ukraine?

>> first, it is sad to think now but probably the russian and chinese government know more about hillary clinton's e-mail server than do the members of the united states congress. and that has put our national security at risk. if i'm president, he won't think about that. putin believed in the old adage, you probe with bayonets. when you find mush, you push. when you find steel you stop. under obama and clinton we found a lot of mush. we need to have a national security that puts steel in front of our enemies. i would send weapons to ukraine. i would work with nato to put forces on the eastern border of poland and the baltic nations. and i would put back in place the missile defense system that we had in poland and the czech republic. he would find steel. >> governor huckabee, the culture of the american military is definitely changing. women are moving into combat roles, don't ask don't tell has been dropped. now defense secretary ashton carter recently directed the military to prepare for a moment

when it is welcoming transgender persons to serve openly. as commander in chief, how would you handle that? >> the military is not a social experiment. the purpose of the military is kill people and break things. it is not to transform the culture by trying out some ideas that some people think would make us a different country and more diverse. the purpose is to protect america. i'm not sure how paying for transgender surgery for soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines makes our country safer. we've reduced the military by 25% under president obama. the disaster is that we have forgotten why we have a military. the purpose of it is to make sure that we protect every american wherever that american is. and if an american is calling out for help, whether it's in benghazi or at the border, then we ought to be able to answer it. we've not done that because we decimated our military. we're flying b-52s, the most

recent put in service was november of 1962. a lot of them flying, we've only got 44 in service, combat ready. the fact is most are older than me. and that's pretty scary. >> senator paul, the first budget you proposed as senator cut all financial aid to israel. you have since changed your view on that issue. what made you change your mind? >> let's be clear, i'm the only one on the stage who has a five-year budget that balances. i've put pencil to paper. and i have said i would cut spending, and i've said exactly where. each of my budgets has taken a meat ax to foreign aid, because i think we ought to quit sending it to countries that hate us. i think we ought to quit sending it to countries that burn our flag. israel is not one of those. but even benjamin netanyahu said that ultimately, they would be stronger when they're

independent. my position is exactly the same. we shouldn't borrow money from china to send to anywhere. why don't we start with eliminating aid to our enemies. >> you still say that israel could be one of the countries that is cut from financial aid. >> i still say exactly what my original opinion is. do you borrow money from china to send to it anyone? out of your surplus, you can help your allies. and israel is a great ally and this is no particular animus of israel. what i will say over and over and over again, we cannot give away money we don't have. we do not project power from bankruptcy court. we're borrowing a million dollars a minute. it's got to stop somewhere. >> governor christie, what do you think of that answer? >> listen, if we want to deal with these issues, we have to deal with them in a way that makes sense. i agree with what dr. carson said earlier. the first thing we need to do is strengthen our military. i put out a specific plan. no less than 500,000 active duty soldiers in the army.

no less than 185,000 active duty marines in the marine corps. bring us to a 350 ship navy again and modernize the ohio class of submarines, and bring our air force back to 2,600 aircraft ready to go. those are the kinds of things that are going to send a clear message around the world. those are the things we need to start working on immediately to make our country stronger and make it better. those are the things we need to be able to be doing. as we move forward dealing with foreign aid, i don't disagree with senator paul's position that we should not be funding our enemies. but i absolutely believe israel is a priority to fund and keep them strong and safe after eight years of this administration. >> governor, thank you. >> bret, can i jump in? >> we'll finish up with more questions. >> after the break, we'll let the candidates make their closing statements. their final thoughts. and god. stay tuned for that. the kids are asleep.

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welcome back. in our final moments here together we're going to allow the candidates to offer their final thoughts. first we want to ask them an interesting closing question from facebook. she wants to know this of the candidates. i want to know if any of them have received a word from god on what they should do and take care of first. senator cruz? let's start with you. any word from god? >> well, i am blessed to receive

a word from god every day and receiving the scriptures and reading the scriptures. and god speaks through the bible. i'm the son of a pastor and an evangelist, and i've described many time how my father when i was a child was an alcoholic. he wasn't a christian. and my father left my mother and left me when i was just 3 years old. and someone invited him to clay road baptist church. and he gave his heart to jesus and it turned him around. he got on a plane and he flew back to my mother and me. i would also note that the scripture tells us, you shall know them by their fruits. we see lots of campaign conservatives. but if we're going to win in 2016, we need a consistent conservative. someone who has been a fiscal conservative, a social conservative, a national security conservative. there are real differences among the candidates on issues like amnesty, obamacare, liberty, life, marriage, and i have been proud to fight and stand for religious liberty, to stand against planned parenthood, to

defend life for my entire career and i will be proud to continue to do so as president of the united states. >> governor kasich, same question. >> well, megyn, my father was a mailman. his father was a coal miner. my mother could barely speak english. and their son today stands on this podium in the great state of ohio not only as the governor but as a candidate for the president of the united states. i do believe in miracles. you know, i've had a lot of elections. my elections are really not about campaigns. i tell my people that these are about a movement. and a movement to do what? to restore common sense. a movement to do things like provide economic growth. and a movement not to let anyone be behind. today the country is divided. you asked a question about the police and the difficulty in

communities. we've got to unite our country again. because we are stronger when we are united, and we are weaker when we are divided. and we've got to listen to other people's voices, respect them, but keep in mind -- and i believe in terms of the things that i have read in my lifetime, the lord is not picking us, but because of how we respect human rights, because that we are a good force in the world, he wants america to be strong. he wants america to succeed. and he wants america to lead. and nothing is more important to me than my family, my faith, and my friends. >> governor walker, same question. >> well, thanks, megyn. i'm certainly an imperfect man. it is only by the blood of jesus christ that i've been redeemed from my sins. so i know that god doesn't call me to do a specific -- god hasn't given me a list, 10 commandments, if you will, of things to enact on the first day. what god tells us to do is

follow his will. ultimately that's what i will try to do. i home people see that in my state. when i have 100,000 protesters in and around my capital, i tried to do what i thought was the right thing. it wasn't just how i took on the political battles. it was ultimately how i acted. not responding in kind. not lashing out but just being decent going forward and living my life in a way that would be a testimony to him and our faith. >> senator rubio, the same question. but i do want to mention, a woman just came here to the stage and asked, what about the veterans? i want to hear more about what these candidates will do for the veterans. i put the question to you about god and the veterans, which you may find to be related. >> well, first let me say i think god has blessed us. he's blessed the republican party with some very good candidates. the democrats can't even find one. [ cheers and applause ] >> and i believe god has blessed our country. this country has been extraordinarily blessed and we have honored that blessing. and that's why god has blessed

us. and he's blessed us with young men and women willing to risk their lives and sometimes die in uniform for the safety of our people. unfortunately today we have a v.a. that does not do enough for them. i am proud that last year we helped change the law. >> about god in his role, but also one of the issues that the public was very interested in, and we touched on it earlier is race relations in this country. and how divided we seem right now. and what if anything you can do, you would do as the next president to help heal that divide. ing

that divide. we have the purveyors of hatred who take every single incident between people of two races and try to make a race war out of it. and drive wedges into people. and this does not need to be done. what we need to think about instead, i was asked by an npr reporter once, why don't i talk about race that often. i said because i'm a neuro surgeon. she thought that was a strange response. i said when i take someone to the operating room, i'm operating on the thing that makes them who they are. the skin doesn't make them who they are. the hair doesn't make them who they are. and it is time for to us move beyond that. because -- [ applause ] our strength as a nation comes in our unity. we are the united states of america. not the divided states. those that want to divide us, we shouldn't let them do it.

>> now each candidate will make a closing statement. you'll all have 30 seconds to make a closing statement for this debate. we'll start with ohio governor john kasich. >> you know, tonight we hear about what people want to do. i want to tell you what i've done. i was a member of the armed services committee for 18 years. i spent a big chunk of my life studying national security issues and our role in the world. number two. i was the chairman of the house budget committee. and one of the chief architects. the last time we balanced a budget, it was the first time we had done it since man walked on the moon. we had a $5 trillion surplus and we cut taxes. i spent ten years in the private sector learning how business works. and now i'm the governor of ohio and i inherited a state on the brink of dying. and we turned it all around with jobs and balanced budgets and rising credit and tax cuts and the state is unified and people

have hope again in ohio. >> governor christie? >> well, thank you, megyn. i was born into a middle class family in new jersey. my dad came home from serving in the army after having lost his father, worked in the ice cream plant in newark, new jersey. was the first person to graduate from college. he put himself through college at night. my mom was a secretary. i was appointed united states attorney on september 10, 2001. and i spent the next seven severe of my career fighting terrorism and putting terrorists in jail. i'm a conservative pro-life governor in a state where it is tough to be both. a tate like new jersey with lots of democrats. still we cut taxes, we balanced budgets with fought the teacher's union. this president has had weak leadership which has led to bad choice. we have to stop worrying about being loved and start worrying

about being. that's how i'll lead our country. >> senator paul, closing statement. >> i'm a different kind of republican. i've introduced a five-year balanced budget. i've introduced the largest tax cut in our history. i stood for ten and a half hours on the senate floor to defend your right to be left alone. but i've also gone to chicago. i've gone to detroit. i've been to ferguson, to baltimore because i want our party to be bigger, better and bolder and i'm the only one that leads hillary clinton in five states that were won by president obama. i'm a different kind of republican. >> senator marco rubio. >> both my parents were born on to poor families on the island of cuba. they came to america because it was the only place for people like them to have a chance. here in this country they never made it big. the very purpose of their life was to give us the chance to do what we could. my father was a bar tender. the journey from the back of that bar to this stage, that is the essence of the american dream. it is what makes our nation

different i'm running for president because i want that to be possible for the people trying to do that now. i run for president. i believe we can't just save the american dream. we can expand to it reach more people and change more lives than ever before. that's why i'm asking for your vote. so we can make america greater than it has ever been. and make this a new american century. >> thank you. >> senator ted cruz. >> if i'm elected president, let me tell but my first day in office. the first thing i intend to do is to rescind every illegal unconstitutional executive action by barack obama. the next thing i intend to do is instruct the department of justice to open an investigation into these videos and prosecute planned parenthood for any criminal violations. the next thing intend to do is instruct the department of justice and the irs to start

persecuting religious liberty and then sfwoenl cancel the iran deal and finally move the u.s. embassy to israel to jerusalem. i will keep my word. my father fled cuba and i will fight to defend liberty because my family knows what it is like to lose it. >> dr. carlson, closing statement. >> well, i haven't said anything about me being the only one to do anything. so let me try that. i'm the only one that separates siamese twins. [ laughter ] the only one to operate on babies while they were still in their mother's womb. the only one to take out half a brain, although you would think if you go to washington, that someone had beat me to it. [ cheers and applause ] but i'm very hopeful that i'm not the only one willing to pick up the baton of freedom. freedom is not free and we must fight for it every day. everyone of us must fight for it. because we're fighting for our

children and the next generation. >> governor mike huckabee. closing statement. >> it seems like this election has been a whole lot about a person who is very high in the polls, but doesn't have a clue about how to govern. a person who has been filled with scandals and who could not lead. and of course, i'm talking about hillary clinton. [ laughter ] >> thank you. >> i think america is in trouble but it is not beyond repair. it will take leadership who sees the greatness of this country and who believes that once again, we can be one nation you said god. i'll be my best to do that and thank you for your support. >> governor scott walker. >> thanks.

i'm a guy with a wife and two kids and a harley. one article called me aggressively normal. i ran for governor because i was worried about my kids' future. then i took on the big government union bosses and we won. they tried to recall me and we won. they targeted us again and we won. we balanced the budget, cut taxes and turned our state around with big, bold reform. wasn't too late for wisconsin and it is not too late for america. that's why i ask for your vote. >> governor bush, closing statement, sir. >> here's what i believe. i believe we're at the verge of the greatest time to be alive in this world. but washington is holding us back. how we tax, how we regulate, we're not embracing the energy revolution in our midst. a broken immigration system that has been politicized rather than turning it into an economic driver. we're not protecting and preserving our entitlement system, reforming for the next generation, all these things

languish while we have these as wedge issues. here's my commitment to you. i did it in florida. we can fix these things. we can grow economically and restore america's leadership in the world so everybody has a chance to rise up. i humbly ask for your vote, whenever you get to vote, whether the primary is. thank you all very much. >> mr. trump. closing statement. >> our country is in serious trouble. we don't win anymore. we don't beat china in trade. we don't beat japan with their millions and millions of cars coming into this country in trade. we can't beat mexico at the border or in trade. we can't do anything right. our military has to be strengthened. our vets have to be taken care of. we have to end obamacare and we have to make our country great again. and i will do that. thank you. >> gentlemen, thank you. >> it's over.

>> that's it. >> it really is. they don't look relieved. they're like get me out of here. thank you all very much. that will do it for the first republican primary debate night of th race. >> it is 9:00 p.m. on the east coast and a moment of truth has arrived. >> okay guys it's a big night for us. let's have a great show. here we go. >> i am bret baier live from quicken loans arena in cleveland ohio. >> you are doing great. megyn i need you to make a sports reference. people like that. >> they are lined up one after the other just like you might do at a sporting event. >> nice, nice. jump in. say you are in the home of the cavaliers. the crowd will like that. >> we are in the arena with the cleveland cavaliers play in. >> we did our pregame warm-up. we were in the locker room like the actual locker room. >> make a