the next republican debate is one week from tonight. facebook.com, let me know who you think won tonight's debate. >> welcome to hannity. they were big moments on the debate room. live is carl cameron, wow, gloves did come out. that was brawling. >> it was four states of very little other than brawling. tonight, donald trump was center

stage and to his right and left were senators cruz and rubio and they tag teamed donald trump throughout the evening. this was the largest segment of candidates yelling what about 45 seconds. mr. cruz and rubio went after trump for hiring illegal aliens in some of his properties. went after him for his bankruptcies, for collapse in a lawsuit against trump university and went on and on, attacking donald trump. and when asked about mexico's former president saying no way they'll pay for it, he said i'll make it higher. it was an evening of big upsmanship between them. and a big battle of health

insurance, obamacare and trump argued all one has to do is remove the lines around the states. and suggesting that is the only thing necessary to do in order to he place obamacare. it was notable and john kasich with a larger resume than anyone else on the stage. ben carson didn't get a lot of time. he was talking about how to pick judges and based upon the fruit salad of life. other times saying could someone please attack me? >> that is striking. and we're watching that and almost like there is a

three-person race. and some say it should be. >> looking at what is coming there is a number of do or die situations for these candidates. and in arkansas, alabama, others making up the rest of super tuesday, trump is favored and likely to have a big day. there is a big race on the 8th in michigan. that is a state john kasich will have to do well in in order to get to the 15th. we get the first two winner take all states. and rubio needs to score well on super tuesday, too. >> thank you, carl. just moments ago, i spoke with donald trump from that same spin room in houston.

>> well, donald trump big texas shootout, you're in the middle there. tell us, sir, what you think. how did you do tonight? >> i enjoyed it and i knew it was going to happen. they're very, very far down in the polls. i knew that was going to happen, watching you, eric, and everybody else, you knew that was going to be the strategy. i won every poll, including one behind me, the cnn poll. so i thought it's a great evening and a lot of fun, actually, believe it or not, i enjoyed it. >> it was -- there was a lot going on. and ted cruz got into it with you. what is your strategy tonight? i was trying to figure out if you had a lead.

>> people said sit back and you're up 22 points and you can see the three i won and romney sat back and got killed. okay? and this is why i guess i won polls tonight. i'm happy about it. >> immigration. that is a big topic early. there are a lot of questions directed towards you tonight. >> well, i think it was unfair that ben carson and governor kasich because they were not only, actually it was donald trump said this, donald trump said that. and they were trying to start trouble. almost reminds me of fox if you want to know the truth. i guess i knew that is going to

happen. and they all say i won. so i'm happy about it. >> two were going after you. until this debate they'd been beating each other up and will you shift now? >> no. i have to just coast. you know? just looking for the trump house? i have to coast. i have double digit leads and the tremendous poll just came out. so i'm not, look, if i were them, i would do it exactly. they're running out of time. >> tell us about the crowd. >> it was a more-fair crowd tonight. and it, i mean, i saw i'm still

funding my campaign so i don't have lobbyists. i thought the crowd was on my side tonight. and we had a good response. >> now, do you want to weigh in on former president of mexico saying you pay for the wall? >> well, i thought it was disgusting the word he used and you know, eric. you know if i were to use that word you won't be interviewing me now. i would have been banned from television. this guy used a disgusting word. and mexico has been taking advantage of us for years at the border and trade. if i win for president, i will tell you it's not going to happen anymore. we're seeing being destroyed.

ford is moving to mexico. and it's not going to happen. it doesn't help us. it hurts us. we have a trade deficit with mexico, $58 billion a year. that is foolish. we're going to stop it and we're going to have jobs in our country, not mexico. >> and people are pushing back how are you going to get the illegals here to go back? >> it's called management. it's like dwight eisenhower. good ones can come back but they have to go through a process. >> you know, i was just endorsed by sheriff joe arpaio from arizona. he does a good job and a fair

job. and it's my issue. we either we have a country or don't. and we're going to have a wall and guess what? mexico is going to pay for the wall. we have a $58 billion deficit. the wall is $12 million. that is peanuts compared to what we lose to mexico every year. no politician would say that, eric because they won't know what i'm talking about. they'd come up to me you can't do that, can you? and when i explain it to them, they still won't be able to do it. >> i have an important question. yesterday, mitt romney says he thinks there is something earth shattering about your tax return. >> he knows nothing about me, this guy. he ran a failed campaign. he should have beaten obama, easily. he was a failed president. he disappeared the last two months. those last two debates were a

horror show. mitt romney is a failed candidate and his tax returns he was made to look like a fool by harry reid and put returns in on september 21st. >> i have to go. one question for you. it's a number. 600 delegates going to be handed out. how many is donald trump winning? >> i don't know about that but i'm going to get a lot. we're doing by develop. >> donald trump, thank you very much. >> thank you, eric. >> coming up, john kasich, senator ted cruz and ben carson will join us. that and more as "hannity" continues, stay with us we needed 30 new hires for our call center.

i'm spending too much time hiring and not enough time in my kitchen. (announcer) need to hire fast? go to ziprecruiter.com and post your job to over 100 of the web's leading job boards with a single click. then simply select the best candidates from one easy to review list. you put up one post and the next day you have all these candidates. makes my job a lot easier. (announcer) over 400,000 businesses have already used ziprecruiter. and now you can use ziprecruiter for free. go to ziprecruiter.com/offer800

. what a president needs to do is to have a cabinet and operation that is jobs friendly. we have energy, financial services we have i.t. do you know why? because we're balanced budgets, we're strong, job friendly and we don't raise taxes. if we have a president that does that, we'll get the economic growth. that is what this country needs. jobs, jobs, jobs, period. >> that is ohio governor john

kasich talking about his plan to fix the economy. we spoke with him earlier after he stepped off the debate stage. >> governor kasich, great to see you. quite a debate. your thoughts, how did you do, sir? >> i was very happy with how i did, showing what i can do with growing jobs and being steady, not getting into a back and forth, i'm very, very happy. the reaction has been really good. so i'm pleased. it's just, you know, these are not the things i love the best but i have been enjoying them lately and i think i showed i have what it takes both in the country and with foreign policy, to be able to run this country. >> you said you wanted to stay positive on the campaign. but there is a lot of back and

forth tonight. did that eat into your time? >> i think i got all the time i needed and frankly, i don't want to get in the middle of that. that is a demolition derby i'm not interested in being part of. in up front segment i was able to talk about health care, and creating jobs. those are important things and on national security i was able to layout a lot of things from north korea to syria, to libya to apple phone. and you know, i'm in this to express positive views on how america can move forward. >> governor, i guess the most time was spent on immigration.

you went back to immigration several times. where are you on immigration? what are you going to do? >> i was able -- to stand out on that answer as well. what i want to do is finish the border, and then, we can have a guest worker program and for 11 million people that came here illegally if they've not broken the law, i'd give them a path to legalization and not citizenship. and that is practical. we're not going to yank people out of their homes. that is just a fantasy. >> so donald trump and ted cruz, let them come back in. do you disagree with those? >> how are they going to get

them? what are you going to do? driving around neighborhoods and yanking people off their front doors and leaving kids screaming? what we're going to do is build a border, tell people if you violate it, you're going back. no more questions and there is finally, if they've not broken the law they'll have a path to legalization. >> do they get access to health care? benefits? >> in terms of what you do. if you legalize them and give hat as long as ss a green card, you want. that is something that will be negotiated. it's not practical to send them out, they're going to come back, come on, eric.

you live in the real world and you're not a politician, most of the time. >> governor, you don't like obamacare but there are things about obamacare you've incorporated into ohio. >> i expanded medicaid. and i want to repeal obamacare. ronald reagan was able to expand medicaid. and not have them living in prison, but in terms of obamacare, i think i've answered the way to fix things, to bring transparency and begin to pay doctors and hospitals for performing good, quality care at lower prices and that way, we can use free market to drive down the costs of health care.

>> governor, quickly. your thoughts on common core? >> well, common core in ohio is high standards that we write. i'm going to shift education program to the states. >> that is not common core. it's a state run version. >> what we have is high standards which we're putting in. that is what it is in ohio. >> i see the national level. >> that is not what we're doing and not what i support. i support the state of ohio and our board of education. they write standards and local

school boards write curriculum. >> governor, how are you going to do on super tuesday? >> we're going to go well. at some point it's going to go north. michigan, ohio, pennsylvania watch out. keep your seat belt on. >> governor kasich, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> coming up, senator ted cruz and dr. ben carson will join us for reaction. a quick programming note. tune in tomorrow night at 10:00 p.m. eastern, sean will be in nashville, tennessee, 2016 presidential candidate senator ted cruz will be his guest for the hour. that is tomorrow night at 10:00. more "hannity" right after the break.

>> welcome back to "hannity". senator cruz had tense exchanges tonight and earlier tonight, he joined us from the spin room in

houston. >> senator ted cruz, welcome. what a debate tonight. a lot of fighting going back and forth. how did you come out? >> i think it was a terrific night. you know? there was a lot of clarity tonight. just five days from super tuesday. and i think what became clear is that donald trump is not the right candidate to go head to head with hillary clinton. on policy issue his position is identical to hillary. whether supporting planned parenthood and whether supporting the tarp bail out or on foreign policy or toppling of the government in libya and supporting john kerry and astonishingly saying he would be neutral between israel and

palestini palestinians. i don't think that is the right candidate to go head to head with democrats and i think trump's new york liberal views were exposed to the watchers. >> i want to go into policy issues. a lot of fighting going back and forth. did you expect that? >> there was a lot of fighting. donald recognizes the only candidate that can beat him is me. i'm the only candidate that has beaten donald and can beat donald. looking at super tuesday, we've got a lead in my home state of texas. marco rubio is a good guy. he is 15 points down in his home state of florida. if you can't win your state that is a big problem.

and and he is so taking personal and he gets very rattled. and i believe we need to win because we're fighting for our kids and if we nominate a candidate that loses to hillary clinton that is not what we need to do. >> senator, you turned to donald and it was heated. you said donald, calm down. and he turned around and said you're a basket case. i was like what am i watching here? this is like wwe. >> donald was clearly, he gets rattled. you know, whenever you mention his poll numbers, donald loses it. in last ten national polls i

either tie or beat hillary. he gets very, very upset. and it was stunning tonight. he ran away from the health care plan. for 20 years he's advocated socialized medicine. he said it in the past debate. tonight he ran away from it. and wasn't willing to defend it. let me say to the working men and women, donald trump's socialized medicine would kill more jobs than obamacare and make it worse. that is why, i guess he ran from it. i do think voters are recognizing this is a man whose views are closer to hillary clinton than republican primaries. >> at one point you got to that later and you ask have you said this in in the past?

>> well, it's easy to confirm, he's said he supports socialized medicine. when he asks, who pays? the government. and so i have to admit. it was astonishing. listen, donald trump is an entertainer and seems to live in his own reality that whatever he says in the moment is the only truth that exists and whatever else he may have said in the past doesn't matter. this is a man threatening to sue me for running a tv ad for running a tape describing his views on abortion as pro-choice in every respect it is a remarkable concept for donald to

say it is defamation to show the voters what he has said on national television about his policy position. we saw that tonight. he said a flat out falsehood that he doesn't support government-controlled socialized medicine. that has been the position for decades and can't run away from the cold hard facts. >> governor. we're trying to figure out, you know the similar immigration policy to donald trump. do you not? >> in some respects. when launching his campaign, he discovered the issue of immigration. what is striking is just three years ago, in 2013 it was the battle over the gang of eight and i led the fight against amnesty and we beat the bill.

and during that battle he was nowhere to be found. he was firing dennis rodman on "celebrity apprentice" and tweeting out his support for amnesty. and his personal record on immigration is terrible. he has a judgment for being a part of a conspiracy to hire illegal immigrants to bill trump towers. just today it's reported his hotel in florida brings in hundreds of foreign workers. that is not 10, 20 years ago. that is today. so i understand he thinks immigration is a good political issue. but i have been leading the fight against amnesty and defeated it in congress.

>> senator we have this interview and i hear donald quite a bit. i haven't heard marco once. is the new strategy going for the front runner? by the way, sir, if it is, why so late? what are you waiting for? >> well, mret me be clear, i have been taking on donald for weeks and months. how do you think we won iowa? we took him on directly. every other candidate was afraid to do so. i visited with jeb bush and told him i was sorry he wasn't going to join us on the debate stage because he had courage to take on donald. i was glad to see marco enter. a little bit late but rattled donald. i thought that is a good thing. listen, the reality is that on super tuesday, there is only one candidate to beat donald trump

and that is our campaign. if you think donald trump is the wrong person to go after hillary clinton, i ask for your support. if we're splintered then donald ends up winning. if we stand together we'll beat him for the nomination and then beat hillary clinton. and turn this country around. >> super tuesday, do you feel like you're going to be awarded more delegates this coming tuesday than donald or marco rubio? >> i believe we're going to do very well. i can tell you, sunday, on the stephanopoulos show, george stephanopoulos pointed out he couldn't win south carolina, nevada, he said you've got to win some states. marco pointed to florida on march 15th in another three weeks. 26 states and territories, marco is saying he didn't think he can win a single state on super

tuesday. >> senator, thanks for joining us. >> thank you, eric, god bless. >> coming up, dr. ben carson will be here with his reaction to his performance at tonight's g.o.p. debate and we'll have political analysis of the republican showdown in houston. that and more, straight ahead on "hannity"

. welcome back to "hannity". aftering stepping off the stage, dr. ben carson joined us from the spin room. dr. carson, thanks for joining us. what are your thoughts? how did you do tonight? >> well, i did fine with the few questions i was asked and few opportunities i had to weigh in. but it was clearly a debate that was aimed at you know, world wrestling federation.

there was no interest in hearing about the actual issues and what the solutions are. >> there was a lot of fighting. by the middle three, especially. did the debate monitors lose control a bit? >> i don't think they wanted to gain control. i think they were enjoying the fight. i figured they probably figured it was increasing their ratings. >> well, so, let me call you out a little bit on that. one point you said "can somebody please fight with me?" >> well, that seemed like the only way to get air time is if someone attacked you. it's pretty sad we've gotten to this point in our country. we're talking about a presidential debate. we're talking about electing a president and we're not talking about peoples' real policies. what do they believe?

why do they believe that? don't people deserve to know that? >> i would think people deserve to know that. a lot of time spent on obamacare. what is your plan? what is the best solution for health care going forward under president carson? >> i think the key is to have something controlled by patients and providers, minimize the role of the insurance carriers and the way to do that and the account which is like a health savings account and we used the same money and the shift the money within their family gives them flexibility to cover the vast amount of things that are going to happen to you. like a health savings account but without bureaucrats. then, you have ability to to

have catastrophic health care but it's going to cost you less money. because the only thing coming out of that is your catastrophic health care. how often do you have that? >> and creates competition, keeping prices in line, maybe drive them down a bit. >> it brings the whole thing into the street market model, which is what controls price and quality. >> what about immigration? the other vast amount of time spent on immigration, started there. you're in texas. what do you do? what do you do with 11 million or 12 million, or 16 million illegals now? what do you do with them? if you're president? >> well, the key thing is that i give them six-month period in which to get registered assuming they have an acceptable record, if they're criminals they get out of here. no question about that. and you know, they can register as a guest worker, and they have

to pay back taxes and taxes going forward but no longer have to live underground. they don't get to vote. they don't become american citizens but this way, our farming industry and hospitality industry don't collapse. i talked to farmers in the country who have multi thousand acre farms and they pay people $11 an hour, they say they can't hire a single american, not one. so if get rid of these people you're going to be paying a lot of money. >> my question is if you're here illegally and have been here 10 years illegally will you pay back taxes? if you're not at risk to being deported? >> you have to pay a back tax penalty. it will be something that you'll have to pay.

and then, you'll have to pay regular taxes going forward. >> your closing statement, these hands, hold up the hands again, sir. >> let's see. oh. yes. i said these hands, i said several years ago a movie was made about these hands. by the grace of god they've had ability to heal many ill children and families. and i'm asking american people to join hands with me now to heal and inspire, and revive our nation. if not now, when? >> dr. carson, will you go on to vote depending on super tuesday? will you continue onto the march 15th date? >> i would have to think seriously about it. i have a lot of people please, please, no matter what, don't drop out.

but, you know, if i don't see a path to doing something substantial, you know, i have to take that into consideration, also. you know, we reassess every day. >> dr. carson, thanks for joining us. >> thank you. take care. >> coming up more coverage of tonight's g.o.p. debate right after the break. stay with us.

test need to hire fast?

go to ziprecruiter.com and post your job to over one hundred of the web's leading job boards with a single click. then simply select the best candidates from one easy to review list. and now you can use zip recruiter for free. go to ziprecruiter.com.

"could you double check "scothe envelope?"wins." "best actress, 1984." "and i can't deny the fact that you like me." "life is like a box of chocolates." "you never know what you're gonna get." "we're gonna need a bigger boat." "xfinity x1 lets you access the greatest library of oscar moments, simply by using your voice.

live oscar sunday, february 28th on abc." i've been watching it all my life. you're all talk, no action. >> this guy is a joke artist and this guy is a liar. you have a combination of factors. >> here is the -- >> he doesn't know how to tell the truth. >> every time anyone points at donald record what he said on national television, donald yells liar. falsely accusing someone of lying is its self a lie. >> donald, relax. >> you're a basket case. >> those are some of the tense moments. joining us are panel.

per said yeez? wow. what is that? >> well, i have to say donald trump is very effective at finding one liners for candidates. and jeb bush is low energy, and ted cruz being a liar. with that being said, this debate spells out three categories of are we looking for the constitutionalist in chief? is it is parent what lane. for marco rubio he found his inner chris christie. saying you're repeating yourself, you're doing it five times, donald trump. and showed he had the research needed to go after donald trump and ted cruz came across very

strong. on conservative issues, on the supreme court justice. >> what about marco >> half the time, probably as they did in nevada, go in the direction of rubio. but it's probably not enough. i think we're still looking at a big day at supertuesday for donald truch. >> well, a lot ot outline polls, that he're not scientific, i get that. but a lot of polls still had donald trump winning the debate.

your thoughts? >> looking for donald trump to pull it really big on supertuesday, just like doug said. and this debate really proved one in the same. other than the fact that i still think cruz is going to inch it out in texas. after all, he got the endorsement at the great governor greg abbot. but i really think that even though, you know, trump is pointing out that basically cruz is from charlotte, you've got cruz firing back and dom donald trump basically saying he's running some sort of campaign, you've got really, really engaging. this is why people want to see this debate. it is really down to rubio cruise and trump. i thought you saw a spectacular interchange between them all. i'm talk to a a lot of people in some of the other states. i really think that trump is going to have a grander showing in supertuesday.

>> so both doug and noell think -- or may have, they still think donald trump will do well on supertuesday. >> you know this, marco rubio said this during the debate. we think these candidates could keep winning the debate. but donald truch keeps talking about that outsider. and every dwa americans are not watching candidates. they're listening, tuning in. and i think it's really a strong performance. >> with the lead he had in a lot of the states on supertuesday,

he didn't lay back at all, did he? >> well, as he told you, it's not his personality. but, also, as a point of debate, i've prepared presidential candidates and presidents of the united states. if you don't engage, you're really on the defensive. in is his personality. >> is that a mised opportunity? >> yeah, that's a big missed opportunity. especially it's fox news and that's got a lot of people that are watching. and a lot of people that he might have a shot to say something. that's a very big missed opportunity. and, look, it's coming down to basically, i know we have five, but realistically, it is coming

down to three. he really could have taken that opportunity to get some free air time. i'm really surprised he didn't take advantage of that. >> did he change anything? >> you know, i think he was very effective

well, that's all we have time left this evening. before we go, a quick programming note. be sure to tune in tomorrow night, 10:00 p.m. eastern. shawn will be broadcasting from nashville, tennessee. texas senator ted cruz will begin with a full hour again. that's tomorrow night, 10:00 p.m. thank you for being with us. >> it is friday, february 26th. a fiery night in houston.

things heating up at the intense gop debate. >> donald frufrp with a target on his back as rathey aim for super tuesday. the biggest competition of this campaign so far. >> on the stage there are two from cuban origin and african american. we are the party of diversity not the democratic party. >> that is what this country needs, jobs, jobs, jobs. >> if you hadn't inherited $2 million you know -- >> no, no. >> first of all this guy is a joke artist and this guy is a liar. >> if he builds the wall the way he builds trump towers he would be using illegal immigrants. >> statue of limitations. >> are you going to attack me? >> i am here for the ratings but it is a little bit ridiculous. >> senior national correspondent

is live in houston, texas with a complete rwrap up for us. >> good morning heather and heather. how about that line. fruit salad of someone's life that's what i would look at. ben carson has a way with words. donald trump found out what it means to be a winner. he was attacked at every turn. marco rubio and ted cruz doing whatever they can to stay alive with this race with the big super tuesday contest coming up march the 1st. here in texas immigration a biggish oo you. on that topic marco rubio dropped an entire bucket on trump's head. >> before we do anything on immigration we will secure the border. >> they will go out. some will come back. the best. through a process. >> i find it amazing donald believes he's the one who discovered the issue of illegal immigration. when i ran for the state of texas i ran prom mittsing to fight to build a wall. >> if he builds the wall the