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Issues, Not Insults Fly on CNN Debate; Ben Carson Endorses Donald Trump. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired March 11, 2016 - 09:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[09:00:02] SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Have you seen his hands? They're like this.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And little Marco spews his crap. I call him Lying Ted.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: And toward more civil contrasts as Trump's competitors argue he doesn't have the details to back up his campaign promises. From U.S. trade deals.

TRUMP: Trade deals are absolutely killing our country and the only way we're going to be able to do it is we're going to have to do taxes unless they behave.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald is right, for example. He was just talking about international trade. He's right about the problems, but his solutions don't work. The effect of a 45 percent tariff would be, when you go to the store, when you go to Wal- Mart, when you're shopping for your kids, the prices you pay go up 45 percent.

TRUMP: The 45 percent tax is a threat. It is not a tax. It was a threat. It will be a tax if they don't behave.

MURRAY: To Social Security.

TRUMP: It's my absolute intention to leave Social Security the way it is. Not increase the age and to leave it as is. We're going to get rid of waste, fraud, abuse and bring back business.

RUBIO: The numbers don't add up. The bottom line is we can't just continue to tiptoe around this and throw out things like I'm going to get rid of fraud and abuse but you still have hundreds of billions of dollars of deficit that you're going to have to make up.

MURRAY: And Mideast peace.

TRUMP: If I go in I'll say, I'm pro-Israel, and I've told that to everybody and anybody that would listen but I would like to at least have the other side think I'm somewhat neutral as to them so that we can maybe get a deal done.

RUBIO: But the policy Donald has outlined, I don't know if he realizes, is an anti-Israeli policy. Maybe that's not your intent. But here's why it is an anti-Israeli policy. There is no peace deal possible with the Palestinians at this moment. There just isn't. Because there's no one to negotiate with.

MURRAY: The audience chuckling at a Trump's seemingly simple response about whether he would close the U.S. embassy in Cuba.

TRUMP: I would probably have the embassy closed until such time as a really good deal was made and struck by the United States.

MURRAY: As Rubio jumped at a chance to weigh in on an issue that might give him a boost here in Florida.

RUBIO: Here's a good deal. Cuba has free elections. Cuba stops putting people in jail for speaking out. Cuba has freedom of the press.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

RUBIO: Cuba kicks out the Russians from Lourdes and kicks out this Chinese listening station at Bejucal. Stops helping North Korea evade U.N. sanctions.

MURRAY: The sunshine state senator looking for any opportunity to go after Trump in this do or die debate for his campaign.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN DEBATE MODERATOR: Last night you told CNN, quote, "Islam hates us." Did you mean all 1.6 billion Muslims?

TRUMP: I mean a lot of them. I mean a lot of them. There's tremendous hatred and I will stick with exactly what I said to Anderson Cooper.

RUBIO: The problem is presidents can't just say anything they want. It has consequences here and around the world.

TRUMP: You can be politically correct if you want. I don't want to be so politically correct. I like to solve problems. We have a serious, serious problem of hate.

RUBIO: I'm not interested in being politically correct. I'm interested in being correct. We are going to have to work with people in the Muslim faith even as Islam itself faces a serious crisis within it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MURRAY: Now we also heard Donald Trump talk last night about wanting to unify, broaden the party, about bringing in new voters, and campaign officials are saying that's what makes Ben Carson a good fit for the Trump campaign to endorse Donald Trump because they're both outsiders who have brought new people into the party. But it is hard to ignore that there is some awkwardness in their past. There was a time, for instance, that Donald Trump likened Ben Carson's personality to that of a child molester's.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Pathological is a very serious disease. And he said he's pathological, somebody said he has pathological disease. Other people said he said in the book, and I haven't seen it, I know it's in the book, that he's got a pathological temper or temperament. That's a big problem, because you don't cure that. That's like, you know, I could say, they say you don't -- as an example, a child molester. You don't cure these people. You don't cure a child molester. There's no cure for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: Now there's no doubt that Donald Trump will be asked to reconcile those comments with his endorsement as the two are side by side today. So we'll see how they explains that one -- Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I was just going to ask you about that because that would be a tough one. The other question is, why this news conference scheduled for 9:00 a.m. Eastern? On a Friday morning?

MURRAY: Well, I think that this is a strategic move by the Trump campaign. We've seen them do this after other debates. It's a way to sort of protect Donald Trump as he goes into these debates, he knows he's going to be at the center stage of this stage. He never really knows how hard his rivals are going to hit him. This gives him a way to wake up the next morning and to change the narrative. But it also gives him a way to say, look, I am bringing Republicans behind me. It's time for the party to rally behind me. I am the frontrunner. It's time for you to treat me like the presumptive nominee -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And just set the scene. Where is this taking place exactly? What reporters were allowed into the event, et cetera, et cetera?

MURRAY: Well, we are here at Mar-a-Lago, which is of course one of Trump's properties. He prefers to hold his event, his press conferences, at his own Trump rented properties.

[09:05:06] And it's the usual crop of reporters, it's bigger than normal, of course, for a press conference. And, you know, Donald Trump has managed to build his campaign essentially on free media. He spent relatively little on television because he holds big, flashy events like this and it draws dozens and dozens of reporters. And I think we're seeing that again today -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Well, and I ask you that question because the narrative going around today is the violence that keeps happening at Trump's press events. In fact on the cover of the "Daily News," right after the night of the debate, you know, this great and this is the 78-year- old man who was arrested for sucker punching -- for allegedly sucker punching an African-American protester at one of Trump's rallies in North Carolina.

So I guess he's hoping this might change the narrative, too, because Ben Carson is seen as rather -- I don't know, a peaceful, Christian man?

MURRAY: Well, I think that Donald Trump addressed some of these questions last night. I think he's going to have to continue to address them because his campaign events -- this is a little bit different because it's a press conference. It's with the media. It's not one of his big rallies but at his big rallies we have seen run-ins between protesters and between Trump supporters.

And I have to be honest with you, Carol, it's not protesters that we see who are throwing the punches here. It's Donald Trump supporters that we have seen doing this. Now Trump has said that he does not want to see this kind of activity. That he does not condone this kind of behavior but he has made past comments saying maybe protesters deserved to be roughed up. And at the rallies when you hear protesters he'll say, get them out of here.

And so there is some speculation that he is kind of trying to walk a fine line and in some ways potentially fueling this. Obviously he disputes that. His campaign says they don't want to see violence but his campaign manager was also just out here saying he thinks it's unfair that protesters would show up and interrupt a Trump event.

But, I think it also, Carol, just gives you an idea of even though Donald Trump has, you know, risen to higher numbers in the Republican Party than anyone imagined when he got in a lot of the things he said are still very divisive to the broader electorate and he's going to have to deal with that if he gets the nomination.

COSTELLO: All right. Stand by, Sara. I want to bring in Scottie Nell Hughes. She's a chief political correspondent for USA Radio Networks and a Trump supporter. I'd also like to bring in Amanda Carpenter, CNN political commentator and Ted Cruz supporter.

Welcome to both of you.

Amanda, I'll start with you. Ben Carson has a lot of support among evangelicals. Why isn't he backing Ted Cruz?

AMANDA CARPENTER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, listen, I think it's no secret that Ben Carson still has sour grapes from Iowa. I think Ted Cruz absolutely ran a great campaign in Iowa. Didn't do anything wrong but Carson is heartsick about it. He wanted to win that state and Cruz won it. He hasn't gotten over the fact and so he's going to Donald Trump. I don't think it makes a lot of sense given Donald Trump's positions, given the fact that he's insulted Ben Carson so brutally, but this is a decision that Carson made.

COSTELLO: Yes, Scottie, I'll ask you that question. So Donald Trump at one time called Ben Carson pathological. Now he's embracing him. What changed?

SCOTTIE NELL HUGHES, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, USA RADIO NETWORKS: Well, I think it speaks very much to the trueness that they're not going along with egos. That they're putting the people above their own personal egos and whatever's happened on the campaign trail.

You know, it's amazing. We've seen the conservative movement. People who in the past have fought side by side, shoulder to shoulder, to get good people elected, many of them being these candidates, now having to kind of tear at each other, and so I know that in the future we're going to fight together regardless of what happens this year or I hope we will. And so this I think is a good step towards unifying back that conservative base even not only just for this presidential fights but the fights that continue on in the future. That will be guaranteed to happen.

COSTELLO: OK. So Dana Bash, she's in Palm Beach, awaiting Mr. Trump coming out. I just want to put this question to Dana Bash.

Dana, you have covered politics for a long time. You've seen political enemies come together and support one another. What does it take for that to happen?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, it's funny. There's no question that it happens all the time. There is, you know, particularly when you reach the end of a primary season, you tend to have unity events where people who were, you know, rhetorically ripping each other's eyes out all of a sudden are, you know, supporting one another saying that they can get behind one another.

This is little bit different because both of these men have never been politicians before. And, you know, I think -- for Ben Carson, in particular, he maybe didn't take Donald Trump's criticisms personally, but my understanding from sources on both sides of this is he certainly took some of the alleged dirty tricks from Ted Cruz's campaign in Iowa quite personally. His whole family did, and I think that that was likely part of Ben Carson's decision to go with -- with Donald Trump, even though he might have a lot of similar principles and ideals as Ted Cruz.

COSTELLO: OK. I'm just watching the door here, Dana, and I understand Dr. Ben Carson just tweeted. What did he tweet out this morning, my executive producer Michelle is telling me this in my ear.

[09:10:04] What did Ben Carson tweet? There it is. OK. So Ben Carson tweeting this morning. "Many people fight for change in D.C. Donald Trump is a leader with an outsider's perspective and the vision, guts and energy to get it done.

OK. So I want to -- while we await Donald Trump to come through those doors I want to go back to Scottie Nell Hughes.

During last night's debate, Mr. Trump said Ben Carson was going to help him with education issues. Let's watch for a minute. OK. Let's watch for a minute. It's happening. Let's watch.

TRUMP: Well, thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. It's a great honor, and last night's debate was fun. It was different. It got wonderful -- there were a lot of good feelings in that room, and I think it's something, frankly, that the Republican Party needed, and today is something very, very special because Dr. Ben Carson was respected by everybody. Everybody wanted his endorsement and everybody loves him, and truly, truly admires what he's done.

His life has been an incredible life. It's been an awe-inspiring life, and I just want to tell you that having his support really -- I think it adds just total credence to what I'm trying to do and what we're all trying to do. So I just want to introduce Dr. Ben Carson, a special, special person. Special man. Thank you very much.

(APPLAUSE)

DR. BEN CARSON (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you, Donald. And, you know, this whole process getting involved in the political process was something that I never particularly intended to do, but, you know, I listened to the people, and it was really all about the people, and it continues to be all about the people. You know, it's not about the Republican Party or the Democratic Party. It's about the people of America, and what I have been seeing recently is political operatives and parties once again trying to assert themselves and trying to thwart the will of the people.

I find that that is an extraordinarily dangerous place to be right now, and, you know, I want the voice of the people to be heard. I want the political process to play out in the way that it should play out, and, you know, I think the Republican Party particularly will be very wise not to adopt, a let's stop this guy and let's promote this guy policy, but, rather, start thinking about, what are the things that are going to be helpful for America? Right now, you know, we're in a process of going off the deep end. We're going off the cliff for fiscally irresponsible, we're hating each other, we're destroying ourselves, a house divided against itself cannot stand. We're failing to take a leadership position on the world stage.

Now some people have said, well, why would you get behind a man like Donald Trump? I'll tell you why. First of all, I've come to know Donald Trump over the last few years. He is actually a very intelligent man who cares deeply about America. There are two different Donald Trumps. There's the one you see on the stage and there's the one who's very cerebral, sits there, and considers things very carefully. You can have a very good conversation with him, and that's the Donald Trump that you're going to start seeing more and more of right now.

And some people said, but -- well, you know, he said terrible things about you. How can you support him? Well, first of all, we buried the hatchet. That was political stuff. And, you know, that happens in American politics. The politics of personal destruction, all that. It's not something that I particularly believe in or anything that I get involved in. But I do recognize it. It is a part of the process.

We move on because it's not about me. It's not about Mr. Trump. It's about America. And this is what we have to be thinking about. I have found that in talking with him that, you know, there's a lot more alignment, philosophically and spiritually, than I ever thought that there was. He will speak to that, but, you know, that actually surprised me more than anything because I do recognize how a person's image can be greatly distorted, having been the victim of that.

[09:15:01] I probably understand it better than anybody. And I think as the American people who we are focusing on, as they begin to see the real individual there, and those who are helping that individual, I think we're going to be comforted as a nation. You know, we have to start working together. We cannot allow the

agents of division to continue to separate us. As a nation, our strength is our unity.

And we -- we just have to sort of ignore those people who are always trying to stir up strife, and I'm appealing to some degree to the media as well. You know, you're part of America, too, and should be interested in strengthening our nation. Not in creating divisions. Not in create conflicts all the time.

If we start having that American attitude that American spirit that made us great that took us to the pinnacle in no time at all, believe me, everybody will benefit from that. We're also talking about how can we make America a place that's successful for everybody?

You know, we have 330 million people. We're going to be competing with China, with 1.4 billion. India, 1.1 billion.

We have to develop all of our people. You know, the people who are the downtrodden in our society. We're not going toes people any favor by patting them on the head and saying, "There, there, you poor little thing. I'm going to take care of all your needs."

What we need to be doing is concentrating on things that allow them to climb out of the state of dependency and become part of the strength and fabric of this nation. That's what America is about. It's not about dependency and it certain isn't about socialism.

You know, socialism I seen as the panacea by some who don't really understand it. I think a lot of young people think socialism is just being concerned about other people. That's not what it is. You know, it's cradle to grave government, and you let them take care of you, but you give them all of your money. You give them control of your life.

They all end up looking the same way. A small group of elites at the top controlling everything, a rapidly diminishing middle class and a vastly expanded dependent class. That is not what made America great.

Donald Trump talks a lot about making America great, but it's not just talk. He means it. I'm going to be helping him. Others are going to be helping him.

You know, one of the things that I've discovered in this country is we have some incredibly smart people. None of us knows everything, but when we begin to use those smart people effectively to accomplish the goals of America, you're going to see us once again begin to ascend to the pinnacle to a much higher pinnacle than we've ever achieved before and that's where America should be. Thank you so much.

(APPLAUSE)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you very much, Ben.

And Ben and I were talking lengthily yesterday, and it was an amazing conversation. One of the things that I realized is, his great love is education, and he was telling me things about education, and it was so right-on, and it was so good, and it's such an important element for our country.

And I said, Ben, congratulations. You just have to get involved with us with education, because our educational system in the United States, as you've heard from my speeches, were ranked at the bottom of the pack worldwide and yet we spend the most money per pupil. By far, the most money. It's not even close. Second doesn't even exist.

So, Ben is going to get very much involved in that and he's going to get very much involved in health care where he's an expert. And even during the debates, I'd always know, Ben when it came to health care and talking about health, Ben was in really a class by himself.

So, it's such an honor to have Ben. He's a friend. He's become a friend, and I really appreciate the endorsement, Ben. Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Any questions, folks? Yes?

REPORTER: Mr. Trump --

TRUMP: David?

REPORTER: Mr. Trump, two questions. First of all, did you guys, gently or formally apologize to each other for some of the nasty things you said on the trail?

TRUMP: Yes. It's politics. It is politics. It's tough stuff. It's a tough business.

I used to think real estate in Manhattan was tough. This is like -- this is a tough business, this politics. A lot of things happen in politics that don't happen anywhere else. So, yes. We understand that.

Go ahead?

REPORTER: The question always coming up in big endorsements. Any discussion between the two of you men or promises made about a position for Dr. Carson in your administration either as a running mate or secretary of --

[09:20:05] TRUMP: No. I thought it was lovely. When Ben called, would you do this, would you do that? He just wants to help and he feels strongly about what's happening.

And you see the kind of crowds we get. We get crowds that are amazing and record-setting. I don't think there's ever been anything like it. Well, I mean, it's on the cover of every magazine. There's never been anything like it.

So, Ben sees that and Ben's going to have a big, big part. I can tell you -- Ben -- maybe Ben doesn't know this yet, but Ben's going to have a big part. We want to keep that kind of talent. We want to keep. Yes?

REPORTER: Mr. Trump, do you see Mr. Carson, Dr. Carson, playing a policy role princely for your campaign or as a surrogate on the campaign trail going places you're not going? And when he says there are two Donald Trumps, do you agree with that characterization, and could you amplify on it?

TRUMP: I probably do agree. There are probably two Donald Trumps. The public version and people see that and I don't know what they see exactly, but it seems to have worked over my lifetime, but it's probably different I think than the personal Donald Trump. I think Ben would say that. Ben said it very well today. Perhaps there are two Donald Trumps.

But -- well, you know, I'm somebody that is a thinker. I'm a big thinker. And I have my ideas and they're strong, and typically they've worked out. And what I want to do is, you know, the theme and Ben alluded to it, the theme I have for this entire campaign is "make America great again".

That's what I want to do. Very simple. I want to make America great again. We have so many problems, whether it's military, whether it's borders, whether it's terrorism, we have so many problems, the debt. Look at our debt, $19 trillion going up to $21 trillion in a very short fashion. So we're going to straighten things out and straighten them out correctly.

REPORTER: Policy or politics for you?

TRUMP: Doctor Carson is both. Dr. Carson is both but very much on policy. Ben was always very strong on policy and he's going to be very much on policy.

REPORTER: Thank you, Mr. Trump. You've talked a lot about unity on the campaign trail and in the debate last night. Can you fill us in on outreach efforts making to Capitol Hill? And also, I want to ask you an Islamic State question after that.

TRUMP: Yes, we have been called by the biggest people in politics, not only Republican politics, but also the biggest people in Republican politics, and over the last couple of weeks, you saw Paul Ryan reached out, and terrific guy. I've always respected him, always liked him.

And not necessarily agree on everything, because I'm very strong or borders a security and I think Paul is, you know, I think he's going to have his views and I think probably certain things will change.

But Paul Ryan reached out and we had a great conversation, and many other people at the top, top level. I sort of get a kick. I see you covering one person who's saying, Donald Trump must be stopped. I talked to him two days before, Donald, we have to come together. We've been contacted by many of the biggest people in Republican politics.

REPORTER: -- congressional lawmakers as well.

TRUMP: They're reaching out but really reaching out to us because they see what's happening, we're getting millions and millions of additional people. People that the Republican party has never had before.

It's the biggest story. I said it last night at the debate. The biggest story in politics is what's happening. We are having millions and millions of people come out and vote for the Republicans.

They get out. They register Republican. I've had so many people tell me, I've never voted Republican in my life. I left the Democrats in order to register as a Republican so I could vote for you.

Independents, Democrats, and you see it. We're up 65 percent, more than that. Millions of people more, and that's what I'm saying. The Republicans now want to embrace it. I mean, I see it. They want to embrace it.

Tom?

REPORTER: I want to ask you about Islamic state quickly. Last night in the debate you talk and potentially sending up positive 30,000 American troops to the Middle East to fight Islamic State.

TRUMP: We have to get rid of ISIS.

REPORTER: That's more than President Bush sent to Afghanistan --

TRUMP: We're going to rid and they're going to get back real soon. We have to get rid of ISIS. It's going to be up to the generals. We have to get rid -- generals have to play their own game.

I want to find out I have the right general, I want to find out we have the general, Ben, right? We don't want the wrong general talking to us, but we're going to find the right general. We're going to the right guy or person or woman.

REPORTER: But the Americans people are prepared potentially for a long war?

TRUMP: No. It's going to be very quick, we're very powerful. We don't use our power. Yes?

REPORTER: Mr. Trump, two questions, first, on the burying the hatchet deal with you and Dr. Carson you mentioned politics is rough. Do you personally regret any of the things said about Dr. Carson?

TRUMP: Well, it's a funny. I was thinking about it yesterday, because I have such respect for Ben.

And if you notice, I mean, the CNN poll came out 49-15. How do you like that, Ben? He wouldn't have been happy. But if you noticed, during this whole thing, nationally I'm talking about, because ultimately, you know, they say national is important. Well, ultimately, I guess it's probably the most important. So, CNN comes out 49 -- a couple days ago -- 49 for Trump and 15 for

the two others I think at 15.

[09:25:00] The one person that just kept sneaking up on me, I couldn't lose him, was Dr. Ben Carson. I could not lose that guy, and I was doing well and you know, Trump would be at 28 at that time. And I remember when it was 28, and -- Ben was 18. And then he was 19. And then the next week it was like 22.

I said, whoa, whoa. What's this happening here? I don't like this, right? And then he was 24. And then I had a pretty good poll where I took a little lead in one. And -- but then what happened is it was, I believe NBC/"Wall Street Journal," who always gives me bad polls by the way.

Oh, thank you for the nice things you always say about me. Thank you. Sitting next to David. OK? Thank you very much. Always so nice. Now she's going to be bad because she's embarrassed. I just want to thank you.

So, Ben, Ben would always, like, he'd be there and then we had one poll where Ben went ahead. It was the biggest story worldwide. I said, this guy is unbelievable. And so I started going after Ben. And it's politics.

I mean, Ben understands that. And I was really impressed with the way he fought back, because he fought back with silence and strength. And I even commented on it. Somebody else would have gotten, -- you know, they wouldn't have gone well. His great confidence, in himself, I was very, very impressed.

It is true. He's the one person -- I used the expression, I couldn't lose him. I couldn't shake him, he did so well and just go up, up, up, so steady, so solid, and I fought back and I hit him hard. And he, which is politics, and Ben understands that, and he understood that, because I talked to him about it yesterday, but he handled it with such dignity I frankly thought it was amazing. I actually gained a lot of respect for him. OK.

REPORTER: On that point, Mr. Trump, you talked about the two Donald Trump, that there may be Dr. Ben Carson brought that up. When you say things like I want to punch a protestor in a face or when you said things about Dr. Ben Carson, is it politics? Are you playing a character there or --

TRUMP: It's politics and it's fact. Let me just telling, we've had some violent people as protestors. They're not just people saying, oh -- these are people that punch. These are people that are violent people.

I get the biggest crowds, by far. Not even a contest and you people don't like to report it, but actually the one thing good about protestors is you have to go and go into these stadiums, massive stadiums with 25,000, 30,000 people and at least you see, because the cameras never turn. Hey, Ben, the cameras never, ever turn and show the stadium. I always say turn and show the -- they don't. But when there's a

protestors up in the corner it's great. The cameras all turn because it's a negative as opposed to a positive so they turn.

We've had a couple really violent. The particular one when high said, like to bang him. That was -- a very vicious -- you know, he was a guy who was swinging. Very loud and then started swinging at the audience.

And you know what? The audience swung back. And I thought it was very, very appropriate.

He was swinging. He was hitting people. And the audience hit back. And that's what we need. A little bit more of.

Now, I'm not talking about just a protestors. This was a guy who should not have been allowed to do what he did. Frankly, if you want to know the truth, the police were very, very restrained. The police have been amazing, but the police were very, very restrained. OK.

Yes?

REPORTER: Mr. Trump, did the RNC ever come to you and I don't know if you know about the other candidates, but did they ever come to you and say this debate needs to be --

TRUMP: No, they didn't.

REPORTER: They did not? Why do you think it was?

TRUMP: I just think it was time. It was time. Very substantive last night.

I said before, it was a very elegant debate. It was very substantive. Ben came in, it was really a very beautiful debate last night. It's gotten great reviews as a debate.

I won't tell people I won, even though I did win, let me just say. I refuse to say that, "TIME" magazine, 80, Slate, 84, Fox, 91 percent, that's Fox. I don't believe it. NewJersey.com, 81.

So, I mean, we had a debate last night and I think I did what I had to do actually. But it was -- I don't know. We've had enough debates, in my opinion. These debates have been, like -- like Vince McMahon should have put them on because they were WWE, and too much. I think that it really -- I think last night was something that was very important. That it come off like that.

And we didn't speak -- and the candidates didn't speak about it, but it short of morphed into a very dignified debate.

Yes?

REPORTER: Mr. Trump --

TRUMP: Yes, go ahead, Sara. REPORTER: You said in the debate last night you haven't decided

whether you'll accept for the general election.

TRUMP: Accept what?

REPORTER: Whether you're going to raise money for the general election.

TRUMP: Yes.

REPORTER: But if you go that route, doesn't it undermine your pledge to voters that you won't be --

TRUMP: Well, I don't think so. I wouldn't be taking money. If anything, the party would take money. I'm not going to take any money. I don't want money.

But the party might take money. It's up to the party. That's really up to them. It's not up to me. And it's something I haven't given much thought to.