Thread: Transcript: The Republican Debate

November 28, 2007
Transcript
The Republican Debate
Following is a transcript of the Republican Presidential debate in St. Petersburg, Fla., as provided by the Federal News Service.

PARTICIPANTS:
FORMER NEW YORK MAYOR RUDY GIULIANI
REPRESENTATIVE DUNCAN HUNTER (R-CA)
FORMER ARKANSAS GOVERNOR MIKE HUCKABEE
SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ)
REPRESENTATIVE RON PAUL (R-TX); FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR MITT ROMNEY
REPRESENTATIVE TOM TANCREDO (R-CO)
FORMER TENNESSEE SENATOR FRED THOMPSON


MODERATOR: ANDERSON COOPER


MR. COOPER: All right. Let's begin.

The governor introduced the candidates. He did a very good job of it. But one Republican YouTube user wanted to do that also, and he does it in a way that reminds us this is definitely a new kind of debate.

Here's Chris Nandor from Snohomish, Washington.

CHRIS NANDOR: (Singing.) The Grand Old Party's looking for somebody who can lead, someone who is electable and adheres to our creed. Some say the group is not diverse; they're white, they're men. But wait! The Dems have just one candidate. Republicans have eight!

Rudy's leading all the polls, but can he win the base? Mitt changed on abortion. History he can't erase. Ron Paul would end the FDA, and that is just a start. Fred has just begun to run but sure does look the part.

Hunter tells us what to do in foreign policy debates. Huckabee's compassionate and lost a lot of weight. Tancredo says let's build a fence across the whole Southwest. McCain is loved by many, and hated by the rest. (Laughter.)

We don't know who we're voting for. We don't know who will win. That's why use YouTube to ask our questions of these men. Time is short. We're voting soon, and I just thought I'd mention: If we don't reach consensus, then we'll decide at convention. (Applause.)

MR. COOPER: All right.

You've got a guitar, right? Yeah.

All right. Enough of the singing, enough of the snowmen,. Let's begin the debate. From one tough-talking New Yorker, a question to another tough-talking New Yorker.

Q This is Ernie Nardy (sp) from Dyker Heights in Brooklyn, New York, with a question for the Ex-Mayor Giuliani. Under your administration as well as others, New York City was operated as a sanctuary city, aiding and abetting illegal aliens. I would like to know, if you become president of the United States, will you continue to aid and abet the flight of illegal aliens into this country?

MR. COOPER: Mayor Giuliani?

MR. GUILIANI: Ernie, that was a very good question. And the reality is that New York City was not a sanctuary city. (Audio break) -- single illegal immigrant that New York City could find that either committed a crime or was suspected of a crime. That was in the executive order originally done by Ed Koch, continued by David Dinkins and then done by me.

And the reason for the confusion is, there were three areas in which New York City made an exception. New York City allowed the children of illegal immigrants to go to school. If we didn't allow the children of illegal immigrants to go to school, we would have had 70,000 children on the streets at a time in which New York City was going through a massive crime wave, averaging 2,000 murders a year, 10,000 felonies a week.

The only two exceptions related to care -- emergency care in the hospital and being able to report crimes. If we didn't allow illegals to report crimes, a lot of criminals would have gone free because they're the ones who had the information.

But the most important point is, we reported thousands and thousands and thousands of names of illegal immigrants who committed crimes to the immigration service.

They did not deport them. And what we did, the policies that we had were necessary because the federal policies weren't working. The federal policies weren't working, stopping people coming in to the United States.

If I were president of the United States, I could do something about that by deploying a fence, by deploying a virtual fence, by having a BorderStat system like my COMSTAT system that brought down crime in New York and just stopping people from coming in, and then having a tamper-proof ID card.

MR. COOPER: Governor Romney, was New York a sanctuary city?

MR. ROMNEY: Absolutely. Called itself a sanctuary city, and as a matter of fact, when the Welfare Reform Act that President Clinton brought forward said that they were going to end the sanctuary policy of New York City, the mayor brought a suit to maintain its sanctuary city status. And the idea that they reported any illegal alien that committed a crime, how about the fact that people who are here illegally are violating the law. They didn't report everybody they found that was here illegally, and -- (interrupted by cheers, applause) -- this -- this just happens to be a difference between Mayor Giuliani and myself and probably others on the stage as well, which is we're going to have to recognize in this country that we welcome people here legally. But the mayor said, and I quote almost verbatim, which is, if you happen to be in this country in an undocumented status -- and that means you're here illegally -- then we welcome you here. We want you here. We'll protect you here. That's the wrong attitude. Instead we should say, if you're illegally, you should not be here; we're not going to give you benefits other than those required by the law, like health care and education. And that's the course we're going to have to pursue.

MR. COOPER: Mayor Giuliani?

MR. GIULIANI: It's unfortunate, but Mitt generally criticizes people in a situation in which he's had far the worst record. For example, in his case, there were six sanctuary cities; he did nothing about them. There was even a sanctuary mansion. At his own home illegal immigrants were being employed -- (laughter, cheers, applause) -- not -- not -- not being turned in to anybody or by anyone.

And then, when he deputized the police, he did it two weeks before he was going to leave office, and they never seemed to even catch the illegal immigrants who were working at his mansion. So I would say he had sanctuary mansion, not just sanctuary city. (Cheers, applause.)

MR. COOPER: All right. I got to allow Governor Romney just to respond, then we'll move on.

MR. ROMNEY: Mayor, you know better than that.

MR. GIULIANI: No, I --

MR. ROMNEY: Yeah? Okay, then let -- then listen, all right? Then listen. First of all --

MR. GIULIANI: You did -- you did -- you did have illegal immigrants working at your mansion, didn't you?

MR. ROMNEY: No, I did not. So let's just talk about that.

Are you suggesting, Mr. Mayor -- because I -- I think it's really kind of offensive, actually, to suggest -- to say look, you know what, if -- if you're a homeowner and you hire a company to come provide a service at your home -- paint the home, put on the roof -- if you hear someone that's working out there -- not that you've employed, but that the company has -- if you hear someone with a funny accent, you as a homeowner are supposed to go out there and say, I want to see your papers? Is that what you're suggesting?

MR. GIULIANI: What I -- what I'm suggesting is if you --

MR. ROMNEY: No, no, let's -- that's -- that's what -- (inaudible).

MR. GIULIANI: -- if you -- if you -- if -- if you are -- if you are going to -- (cheers, applause) --

MR. ROMNEY: Let me -- let me just --

MR. GIULIANI: If you -- if you are going to take --

MR. ROMNEY: Let me finish the rest of my story.

MR. GIULIANI: If you're going to take --

MR. ROMNEY: Let me finish the rest of --

MR. COOPER: No, you asked him a question, let him respond, and we got to move on.

MR. GIULIANI: If you're going to take this holier-than-thou attitude that your whole approach to immigration was so -- was so --

MR. ROMNEY: I'm sorry, immigration is not holier-than-thou, Mayor; it's the law.

MR. GIULIANI: You're going to take a holier-than-thou attitude that you are perfect on immigration --

MR. ROMNEY: I'm not perfect.

MR. GIULIANI: It just so happens that you have a special immigration problem that nobody else here has. (Laughter.) You were employing illegal immigrants.

MR. ROMNEY: You know, one -- one --

MR. GIULIANI: That is a pretty serious thing. (Applause.) They were under your nose. (Applause.) And --

MR. COOPER: All right, we need to --

MR. GIULIANI: -- and -- and --

MR. ROMNEY: I ask the mayor again: Are you suggesting, Mayor, that if you have a company that you hired to provide a service --

REP. HUNTER (?): Cooper, let us jump in here.

MR. ROMNEY: -- that you now are responsible for going out and checking the employees of that company, particularly those that -- that might look different or don't -- doesn't have an accent like yours, and ask for their papers? I don't think that's America, number one.

Number two, let me --

MR. COOPER: We got to move on.

MR. ROMNEY: -- let me tell you what I did as governor. I said no to drivers' licenses for illegals. I said, number two, we're going to make sure that those that come here don't get a tuition break in our schools, which -- I disagree with other folks on that one. (Applause.)

Number three, number three, I applied to have our state police enforce the immigration laws in May, seven months before I was out of office. It took the federal government a long time to get the approvals.

MR. COOPER: Okay --

MR. ROMNEY: And we enforced the law, and Massachusetts is not a sanctuary state. And the -- the policies of the mayor of pursuing a sanctuary nation or pursuing a sanctuary city are frankly wrong.

MR. COOPER: We've got a number --

MR. GIULIANI: It's --

MR. COOPER: -- we've got a number of questions from our viewers on this topic. So where -- we have a lot more to talk about on this. (Applause.) You will have another chance to respond.

MR. GIULIANI: And it is really hard -- it's really hard to have employer sanctions. (Booing.)

MR. COOPER: All right.

MR. GIULIANI: It's really hard to have employer sanctions. (Booing.)

MR. COOPER: Okay. Let's play next video from the same topic.

MICHAEL WEITZ (Franklin, New Jersey): Good evening. There are thousands of people in Canada and Mexico waiting to come to America legally. They want to become American citizens. They want to be part of the American dream. Yet there are those in the Senate that want to grant amnesty for those that come here illegally. Will you pledge tonight, if elected president, to veto any immigration bill that involves amnesty for those that have come here illegally? Thank you. (Applause.)

MR. COOPER: Senator Thompson?

MR. THOMPSON: Yes, I'd pledge that. A nation that cannot and will not defend its own borders will not forever remain a sovereign nation. And it's unfair -- (applause) -- we have -- we have thousands of people standing in line at embassies around the world to become United States American citizens, to come here, to get a green card, to come here and to assimilate and be a part of our culture.

They are part of what has made our country great, some of our better citizens. We all know them and love them. Now it's our country together, theirs and ours now together. It's our home. And we now get to decide who comes into our home. And to place somebody above them or in front of them in line is the wrong thing to do. We've got to strengthen the border, we've got to enforce the border, we've got to punish employers -- the employers who will not obey the law, and we've got to eliminate sanctuary cities and say to sanctuary cities, if you continue this we're going to cut off federal funding for you; you're not going to do it with federal money. (Applause.)

Now, there are parts of what both of these gentlemen have just said that I would like to associate myself with. First of all, of course, Governor Romney supported the Bush immigration plan until a short time ago. Now he's taken another position, surprisingly. (Laughter.)

MR. : (Inaudible.)

MR. THOMPSON: As far as Mayor Giuliani is concerned, I am a little surprised the mayor says, you know, everybody's responsible for everybody that they hire, but we'll have to address that a little bit further later. I think we've all had people, probably, that we have hired that in retrospect probably it was a bad decision.

(Inaudible cross talk.)

He did have -- he did have a sanctuary city. In 1996 I helped pass the bill outlawing sanctuary cities. The mayor went to court to overturn it. So if it wasn't a sanctuary city, I'd call that a frivolous lawsuit. (Laughter.)

(Audio break.)

MR. COOPER: (Inaudible) -- allow you to respond. Thirty seconds, please.

MR. GIULIANI: New York City was not a sanctuary city. New York City did three exceptions. The three exceptions were to allow children to go to school; to allow those illegal immigrants who were the victims of crimes to report the person who assaulted them, beat them up, mugged them; and third, to allow emergency care in the hospitals, which we were required to do by federal law.

We had a policy of reporting every single illegal immigrant, other than those three, who committed any kind of crime --

MR. COOPER: Time.

MR. GIULIANI: -- or were suspected of crime, and we reported thousands of them to the immigration service and few of them were deported.

MR. COOPER: Senator McCain, let me bring you back to the question that was asked by the YouTube user. Would you be willing to veto any immigration bill that involves amnesty for those who have come here illegally?

SEN. MCCAIN: Yes, of course, and we never proposed amnesty. But you know --

HECKLER: (Off mike.)

SEN. MCCAIN: -- this whole debate --

MR. COOPER: Come on. Please, let him answer.

SEN. MCCAIN: You know, this whole debate saddens me a little bit because we do have a serious situation in America. In 1986, we passed a law that said we would enforce our borders and gave amnesty to a couple million people. We gave the amnesty, now we have 12 million people and still borders that are not enforced.

I came to the Senate not to do the easy things, but to do the hard things. Mel Martinez and I knew that this was going to be a tough issue, but we thought the status quo was unacceptable -- broken borders, 12 million people here illegally, a need for a temporary worker program certainly in my state in the agricultural sector, certainly in the state of Florida. And we tried to get something done. We said we'd enforce the borders. The American people didn't believe us. They don't believe us because of our failure in Katrina, our failure in Iraq, our failures in -- reining in corruption and out- of-control spending. So we tried and we failed.

And I appreciate the president's efforts. He comes from a border state, too. And what we've learned is that the American people --

MR. COOPER: Time.

SEN. MCCAIN: -- want the borders enforced. We must enforce the -- secure the borders first.

But then you've still got two other aspects of this issue that have to be resolved as well. And we sit -- we need to sit down --

MR. COOPER: Okay, time.

SEN. MCCAIN: -- as Americans and recognize these are God's children as well and they need some protections under the law and they need -- (applause) -- and they -- they need some of our love and compassion.

MR. COOPER: Thank you, sir.

SEN. MCCAIN: And I want to ensure you that I'll enforce the borders first, but as president of the United States, we'll solve this immigration problem and we won't demagogue it and we won't --

MR. COOPER: Thank you.

SEN. MCCAIN: -- have sanctuary cities and we won't have all this other rhetoric that unfortunately --

MR. COOPER: Thank you.

SEN. MCCAIN: -- contributes nothing to the national dialogue. (Applause.)

MR. COOPER: Thank you, Senator.

Michael Weitz, who actually asked that question, is here in the audience. Michael, do you feel you got an answer?

MICHAEL WEITZ: Am I happy with the answer?

MR. COOPER: Yeah.

MR. WEITZ: One yes, one no and one sort of. (Laughter.)

MR. COOPER: All right. Appreciate you --

MR. WEITZ: (Inaudible.)

MR. COOPER: (Laughs.) I -- well, Congressman Tancredo?

REP. TANCREDO: Yeah, well, I tell you, this has been wonderful. I -- and Senator McCain may not be happy with this -- the spirit of this debate. As -- for a guy who usually stands on the bookend -- here -- side and just listens all the time, that's kind of frustrating, you know, in other debates. I have to tell you, so far it's been wonderful -- (laughter) -- because -- because all I've heard is -- is -- is people trying to out-Tancredo Tancredo. (Laughter.) It is great. I am so happy to hear it. (Applause.) It is a wonderful thing, and it's a good message. Yes, we want to secure the borders. And --

MR. COOPER: Our next question is actually directly to you, so let's bring it up. (Laughter.)

REP. TANCREDO: Let me go ahead and answer it. Next question.

MR. COOPER: All right.

JACK BROOKS (CAMBRIDGE, MARYLAND): Hammered by competition with imports, our family owned business struggles each year to find seasonal groceries.

Q We've been working with a seasonal guest-worker program, the H2-B program, bringing in and sending home workers every year. With Congress failing to enact a comprehensive immigration and guest- worker bill --

Q I want to know --

Q (In Spanish.)

Q I want to know whether I'll have a job next year.

Q And what are you going to do to keep these guest workers coming to the U.S. to save our business?

MR. COOPER: Congressman Tancredo?

REP. TANCREDO: Okay. The gist of the question, as I understand it, is what I'm going to do to stop guest workers from coming in here?

MR. COOPER: No, no, to help.

REP. TANCREDO: To aid it?

MR. COOPER: This small business needs guest workers.

REP. TANCREDO: I'm sorry. I could not hear that. I'm sorry.

Well, I'll tell you, I'm not going to aid any more immigration into this country, because in fact immigration -- (applause) -- massive immigration into the country -- massive immigration, both legal and illegal, does a couple of things. One of it is makes it difficult for us to assimilate. The other thing is that it does take jobs -- I reject the idea -- I reject the idea categorically that there are jobs that, quote, "no American will take." I reject it. (Applause.)

Now what they will do -- what you can say -- what you absolutely can say that is truthful is that there are no -- there are no -- there are some jobs Americans won't take for what I can get an illegal immigrant to do that job. Yeah, that's true. (Applause.) But -- but am I going to feel sorry if a business has to increase its wages in order for somebody in this country to make a good living? No, I don't feel sorry about that, and I won't apologize for it for a moment. And there are plenty of Americans who will do those jobs. (Applause.)

MR. COOPER: Congressman Hunter?

REP. HUNTER: Yeah. Super -- super -- a great debate. It's nice to listen to -- to lots of statements about what the other candidates will do with respect to the borders.

I built that border fence in San Diego, and it does work. (Cheers, applause.) It's a -- (off mike).

Well, you know, we built a double fence. We had the number-one smugglers' corridor in America, with most of the illegal aliens and most of the drugs that came into the entire country coming in through that number-one corridor between Tijuana, Mexico, and San Diego, California.

We built the double border fence with a road in between, and we reduced the smuggling of people and drugs by more than 90 percent. And as a result of that, the crime rate -- (applause) -- the crime rate in the city of San Diego went down by 53 percent by FBI statistic.

And a result of that, I wrote the law that the president signed last October 26, incidentally, passed the Senate 80 to 19, that mandates 854 miles of double border fence across Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. Now the administration has $800 million --

MR. COOPER: Time.

REP. HUNTER: -- on hand right now, cash on hand; they haven't built a linear inch of that fence in Texas. And as president of the United States, I would build the double border fence, all 854 miles, in six months.

MR. COOPER: Next question is --

REP. HUNTER: That's my commitment. (Cheers, applause.)

MR. COOPER: -- on immigration as well, and it's going go for Governor Huckabee. Let's watch.

Q Governor Huckabee, as governor in Arkansas, you gave illegal aliens a discount for college in Arkansas by allowing them to pay lower in-state tuition rates. However, we have thousands of military members currently serving our country in Iraq with children at home. If these children chose to move to Arkansas to attend college, they would have to pay three times the tuition rate that illegal aliens pay. Would you support a federal law which would require any state to give these tuition rates to illegal aliens to give the same rate to the children of our military members?

MR. COOPER: Governor Huckabee, you have 90 seconds.

MR. HUCKABEE: Thank you very much.

Ashley, first of all, let me just express that you're a little misinformed. We never passed a bill that gave special privileges to the children of illegals to go to college.

Now, let me tell you what I did do. I supported a bill that would have allowed those children who had been in our schools their entire school life the opportunity to have the same scholarship that their peers had who had also gone to high school with them and sat in the same classrooms. They couldn't just move in in their senior year and go to college. It wasn't about out-of-state tuition; it was an academic meritorious scholarship called the Academic Challenge Scholarship.

Now, let me tell you a couple of provisions of it.

And by the way, it didn't pass. It passed the House, but got in the Senate and got caught up in the same kind of controversy that this country's caught up in.

Here's what happened. This bill would have said that if you came here not because you made the choice but because your parents did, that we're not going to punish a child because the parent committed a crime. That's not what we typically do in this country. It said that if you'd sat in our schools from the time you're 5 or 6 years old and you had become an A-plus student, you completed the core curriculum, you were an exceptional student, and you also had to be drug and alcohol free, and the other provision, you had to be applying for citizenship.

It accomplished two thing that we knew we wanted to do, and that is, number one, bring people from illegal status to legal status; and the second thing, we wanted people to be taxpayers, not tax takers, and that's what that provision did.

And finally, would we give that provision to the children of veterans personally? What we've done with not just the children of veterans but, most importantly, veterans, is disgraceful in this country. And that's why I've proposed a Veterans Bill of Rights that, if anything, would give our veterans the most --

MR. COOPER: Time.

MR. HUCKABEE: -- exceptional privileges of all, because they are the ones who have earned all of our freedom, every single one of them. (Cheers, applause.)

MR. COOPER: Governor Romney, you called -- you called Governor Huckabee a liberal on immigration.

(Applause for Mr. Huckabee continues.)

MR. ROMNEY: Well, you know, I like Mike, and I heard what he just said. But he basically said that he fought for giving scholarships to illegal aliens. And he had a great reason for doing so. It reminds me of what it's like talking to liberals in Massachusetts. All right? They have great reasons for taking taxpayer money and using it for things they think are the right thing to do.

Mike, that's not your money. That's the taxpayers' money. (Cheers, applause.) And the right thing here is to say to people that are here legally as citizens or legal aliens, we're going to help you.

But if you're here illegally, you ought to be able to return home or get in line with everybody else, but illegals are -- are not going to get taxpayer-funded breaks that are better than our own citizens', those that come from other states or those that come here -- (inaudible).

MR. COOPER: You have 30 seconds to respond.

MR. HUCKABEE: Well, but they didn't get something better; they had to earn it.

And you know something, I worked my way through college. I started work when I was 14 and I had to pay my own way through, and I know how hard it was to get that degree. I'm standing here tonight on this stage because I got an education. If I hadn't had the education, I wouldn't be standing on this stage. I might be picking lettuce. I might be a person who needed government support rather than who was giving so much money in taxes I want to get rid of the tax code that we've got and make it really different.

MR. ROMNEY: I --

MR. HUCKABEE: Mitt, let me finish. No, let me finish, Mitt.

MR. COOPER: Time.

MR. HUCKABEE: In all due respect, we're a better country than to punish children for what their parents did. We're a better country than that. (Cheers, applause.)

MR. COOPER: We've got another question -- we've got one more question for --

MR. ROMNEY: I get -- I get a chance to just respond to that.

We're not punishing children for what their parents did. And I respect the fact that you worked your way through college and it got you to where you are. That's wonderful. A lot of people in this country do tremendous things to get their education.

But the question is, are we going to give taxpayer-funded benefits to kids that are here illegally and put them ahead of kids that are here legally? There's only so much money to go around --

MR. HUCKABEE: No -- (inaudible) -- (number of scholarships ?), Mitt.

MR. ROMNEY: -- and we decide -- there's only so much money to go around -- let me finish too.

MR. HUCKABEE: Well, let's just be factual.

MR. COOPER: You've got 30 seconds. Your time's up.

MR. ROMNEY: There's only so much money. Are we going to say that kids that are here illegally are going to get a special deal? Are they going to get a deal better than other kids? Do they get benefits by virtue of coming here illegally? And the answer is no.

MR. HUCKABEE: No, they've got to earn it. That was the difference. They had to earn it by their record.

MR. ROMNEY: They had to be here illegally.

MR. COOPER: We've got another question from a YouTube watcher. Let's watch.

Q Good evening, candidates. This is Seepser (ph) from Arlington, Texas, and this question's for Ron Paul.

Now, I've met a lot of your supporters online, but I've noticed that a good number of them seem to buy into this conspiracy theory regarding the Council on Foreign Relations and some plan to make a North American Union by merging the United States with Canada and Mexico. These supporters of yours seem to think that you also believe in this theory.

So my question to you is, do you really believe in all this, or are people just putting words in your mouth?

MR. COOPER: (Off mike) -- Paul, 90 seconds.

REP. PAUL: Well, that all depends on what you mean by "all of this." The CFR exists. The Trilateral Commission exists. And it's a, quote, "conspiracy of ideas." This is an ideological battle. Some people believe in globalism. Others of us believe in national sovereignty.

And there is a move on toward a North American Union, just like early on there was am move on for a European Union, and it eventually ended up -- so we had NAFTA and moving toward a NAFTA highway. These are real things. It's not somebody made these up. It's not a conspiracy. They don't talk about it, and they might not admit about it, but there's been money spent on it. There was legislation passed in the Texas legislature unanimously to put a hold on it. They're planning on millions of acres taken by eminent domain for an international highway from Mexico to Canada, which is going to make the immigration problem that much worse.

So it's not so much a secretive conspiracy. It's a contest between ideologies, whether we believe in our institutions here, our national sovereignty, our Constitution, or are we going to further move in the direction of international government, more U.N.?

You know, this country goes to war under U.N. resolutions. I don't like big government in Washington, so I don't like this trend toward international government. We have a WTO that wants to control our drug industry, our nutritional products. So I'm against all that, but it's not so much it's a sinister conspiracy; it's just knowledge is out there. If we look for it, you'll realize that our national sovereignty is under threat.

MR. COOPER: Congressman Paul, thank you. (Cheers, applause.)

We've got a question moving onto another topic -- the economy, money.

Next question.

Q My name is Sarah Loderock (sp). I'm 18 years old, and I'm from Scottdale, Pennsylvania, and I'm a student at Penn State University. Often I've heard both politicians and voters express their concern with providing a better future for their children. A concern of my generation is the trillions of dollars in national debt and what kind of responsibility we will have for that in the future. My question for you all is: If elected, what measures will you take to tackle the national debt and control spending?

MR. COOPER: Senator McCain, have the Republicans forgotten how to control spending?

SEN. MCCAIN: Absolutely. Absolutely. When we came to power in 1994 -- (applause) -- the government -- changed government and government changed us. We let spending lurch completely out of control. We spent $3 million to study the DNA of bears in Montana. I don't know if that was a paternity issue or a criminal issue. (Laughter.) We've presided over great expansion of government; the latest being in the SCHIP, which was going to be paid for supposedly with a dollar a pack increase in the tax on a pack of cigarettes. So we're going to help children with their health insurance and hope that they continue to smoke.

So I have a record of fighting against wasteful spending. I have a clear record of winning. I saved the taxpayers $2 billion on a bogus Air Force Boeing tanker deal where people went to jail.

I led in the Abramoff hearings in the obscure Indian Affairs Committee, for which people are still testifying and going to jail.

As president of the United States, I'd take an old veto pen that Ronald Reagan gave me and I'd veto every single pork-barrel bill that comes across my desk. I'd make the authors famous. And we've got to stop it, and stop it now. And I can do it, and I've done it, and I've got the record. (Applause.) And I know how Washington works, and I look forward to it.

MR. COOPER: Governor Romney, what would you do to control spending?

MR. ROMNEY: Well, the senator is absolutely right. Every bill that comes forward that's got pork in it and earmarks that are unnecessary, we've got to veto them and send them back. And that's a lesson that's going to have to be done.

But, you know, it's got to be broader than that. We're going to have to see fundamental change in the way Washington works. We're just not going to get out-of-the-box thinking with inside-the-Beltway politics. And we're going to have to fundamentally go at something like our entitlements and say, "We've got to reform those."

I took on a major issue, which was health care, found a way to get people health insurance without having to expand government, without having to raise taxes. We're going to have to go after entitlements. We're going to have to set a cap, as I have proposed, on all non-military discretionary spending at inflation less 1 percent. Anything above that, we veto it.

MR. COOPER: Mayor Giuliani?

MR. GIULIANI: I think you have to do across-the-board spending cuts the way Ronald Reagan did, at 5, 10 percent per civilian agency. It should be done right now, actually. President Bush should do it to strengthen the dollar.

We should commit not to rehire half of the civilian employees that will retire in the next 10 years. That's 42 percent of the federal workforce will retire in the next 10 years. Don't rehire half of them. Use technology, one person doing the job of two or three. Every business has done it. The government has to do it.

And we should look at those programs. There are -- about 3 percent of programs that OMB finds every year are failing. They should be zeroed out. Twenty-two percent are found to be not able to be evaluated. They should be looked at.

MR. COOPER: Time.

MR. GIULIANI: We need that kind of approach.

MR. COOPER: The next question is going to go to Senator Thompson as well as Ron Paul. Let's watch it.

Q Hi. I'm Emily and I'm from Los Angeles. The Republican Party once stood for limited government, which meant reduced federal spending because we taxed less and we spent less. However, over the past decade, real discretionary federal spending has, in fact, increased 40 percent, more than half of which has been non-defense- related.

So my question is, what are the names of the top three federal programs you would reduce in size in order to decrease --

MR. COOPER: Senator Thompson.

MR. THOMPSON: Well, it's a target-rich environment; there's no question about it. What most of these gentlemen have said are absolutely correct. The difficulty is, most of the programs that we talk about, most of the ones that get the headlines, would not begin to solve the problem.

Mitt's right when he mentions entitlements. That's why I have laid out a program to not attack entitlements but to save Social Security. Everybody talks about wanting to do something about it. Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid are the ones that we're really going to have to reform if we're going to make any headway in the spending.

MR. COOPER: So the top three, you would say Social Security --

MR. THOMPSON: No, I didn't say that. There is -- the OMB has come out with a list of over 100 programs. I would take all 100 of them, the ones that are full of waste, fraud and duplication. I filed a report in 2001, when I was chairman of the Governmental Affairs Committee, and identified billions of dollars that we should be saving.

But my point is that we're going to have to reform Social Security. We're going to have to reform Medicare. I've laid out a detailed plan that will give individual retirement accounts for people, matched by the government, and also reindex the way benefits are calculated initially when a person retires.

And together, that program has been said by the experts already to say that -- have said that it would, after 75 years, make Social Security actuarially sound. I've got the only program out there that really addresses specifically one of the programs that's going to have to be reformed.

MR. COOPER: Congressman Paul, the question was three programs. Can you name three?

REP. PAUL: Yes. And I would like to state that the statement earlier made that we all went to Washington to change Washington and Washington changed us, I don't think that applies to me. Washington did not change me. (Cheers, applause.)

I would have liked to have changed Washington, and we could by cutting three programs such as the Department of Education -- Ronald Reagan used to talk about that; Department of Energy. Department of Homeland Security is the biggest bureaucracy we ever had. (Applause.)

MR. COOPER: Time.

REP. PAUL: And besides, what we can do is we can have a stronger national defense by changing our foreign policy.

MR. COOPER: Time.

REP. PAUL: Our foreign policy is costing us a trillion dollars. And we can spend most of that or a lot of that money home if we would bring our troops home. (Cheers, applause.)

MR. COOPER: Governor Huckabee, 30 seconds -- three programs.

MR. HUCKABEE: Anderson, the first thing that I would get rid of would be the Internal Revenue Service. (Cheers, applause.) We'd have a complete getting rid of a $10-billion-a-year industry. (Sustained applause.) I'm not being facetious. If we enacted the Fair Tax, one of the most researched ways to revive our economic future. (Cheers, applause.) We will get rid of the IRS.

econdly, I agree we need to revamp Homeland Security. It's a mess, and we have a real problem with the way that it's currently structured. And the third --

MR. COOPER: Thirty seconds is up.

MR. HUCKABEE: What's that?

MR. COOPER: Thirty seconds is up.

MR. HUCKABEE: Oh, okay. (Laughter.) I'd get rid of the IRS, and that would count for most of the problems. Most people in this country are more afraid of an audit than they are a mugging, and there's a reason why. (Applause.)

MR. COOPER: We got more questions on the (sales tax ?). This next question is for Senator McCain.

Q My name is Ronald Lanham from Mobile, Alabama. And I want you to tell me, do you support the elimination of the federal income tax in favor of a national retail sales tax, also known as the FairTax? Thank you.

MR. COOPER: Governor Huckabee supports it. Do you?

SEN. MCCAIN: I do not. And I think we should look very carefully at it and I think we should look very carefully at some of the provisions, which, according to the Wall Street Journal, would increase an individual's tax rate up into the 30s.

Obviously, we need a simpler, fairer tax code. Everybody knows that. We need to have a commission that reports out a credible proposal. And then we do what we do with the base-closing commissions. Congress can't full around; they either vote yes or no. If Congress can't fix the tax code, give me the job and I'll fix it.

I just want to also say that Congressman Paul, I've heard him now in many debates talking about bringing our troops home and about the war in Iraq and how it's failed.

And I want to tell you that that kind of isolationism, sir, is what caused World War II. We allowed -- we allowed -- (cheers, applause, boos) --

MR. COOPER: Allow him his answer. Allow him his answer, please. (Cheers, applause, boos.)

SEN. MCCAIN: We have -- we allowed -- we allowed Hitler to come to power with that kind of attitude of isolationism and appeasement. (Boos, cheers, applause.)

MR. COOPER: Okay.

SEN. MCCAIN: I want to -- and I want to tell you something, sir. I just finished having Thanksgiving with the troops, and their message to you is -- the message of these brave men and women who are serving over there is: Let us win. Let us win. (Cheers, applause.)

MR. COOPER: All right. We will -- please. (Cheers, applause.) We will get to Iraq -- (cheers, applause) --- all right. Let me just remind -- let me just remind everyone that these people did take a lot of time to ask these questions, and so we do want direct questions to the answers (sic). We will get to Iraq later, but I do have to allow Congressman Paul 30 seconds to respond.

REP. PAUL: Absolutely.

The real question you have to ask is, why do I get the most money from active-duty officers -- military personnel? (Cheers, applause.)

So what John is saying is just totally distorted. He doesn't even understand the difference between non-intervention and isolationism. (Scattered boos.)

I'm not an isolationism -- an isolationist. I want to trade with people, talk with people, travel, but I don't want --

MR. COOPER: Time is up, but we're going to talk about this later.

REP. PAUL: -- to send our troops overseas using force to tell them how to live. We would object to it here, and they're going to object to us over there. (Cheers, applause.)

MR. COOPER: All right. We will have a lot more on Iraq coming up. It's obviously a very heated topic.

Sticking on the economy, though, a familiar face asking a very simple question.

Q President Bush made a commitment when he ran for president in 2000 and 2004 that he would oppose and veto any tax increase that Congress sent him. My question to each of the candidates is: Would you promise to the people watching this right now that you will oppose and veto any effort to raise taxes as long as you're president?

MR. COOPER: I doubt you can do it, but very short answers.

Congressman Tancredo.

REP. TANCREDO: Yes, I can. I have the highest rating, by the way, from the American Conservative Union of anybody on this stage --

MR. COOPER: Oh yeah?

REP. TANCREDO: -- and yes, to Grover because he knows I have the highest rating from the Americans For Tax Reform. (Scattered cheers.) Thank you very much, Grover. Appreciate it.

MR. COOPER: Governor Huckabee.

MR. HUCKABEE: I would. Anderson, in fact, I've signed a pledge to that effect and would keep that pledge.

MR. COOPER: Governor Romney?

MR. ROMNEY: I've signed Grover's pledge as well. I believe I was the first person on this stage to do so.

MR. COOPER: Mayor Giuliani?

MR. GIULIANI: Yes, I would. I did it as mayor. I would do it as president. I had one of the best records in the country for lowering taxes while I was mayor. I expect to have a great record as president.

MR. COOPER: Senator Thompson.

MR. THOMPSON: Cut tax cuts for eight years when I was in the United States Senate. Never met a tax I like. I've got a tax cut bill on the table, but I don't do pledges to anybody but the American people. (Cheers, applause.)

MR. COOPER: Senator McCain?

SEN. MCCAIN: I have a 24-year record of opposing tax increases and supporting of tax reductions, and no, I -- like Fred, my pledge and my record is up to the American people, not up to any other organization.

MR. COOPER: Congressman Paul?

REP. PAUL: I have never voted for a tax increase, never will. But the tax issue is only one half of it. You can easily pledge not to raise taxes, but you have to cut spending. (Cheers, applause.)

MR. COOPER: Congressman Hunter?

REP. HUNTER: You know, I came in with Ronald Reagan in 1980 to -- to cut taxes, and I probably voted for more tax cuts than anybody here.

But you could have an emergency, a time of war, and I think it would be wrong to say absolutely I would pledge to Grover Norquist that I would never raise taxes. Could have a national emergency.

MR. COOPER: All right.

Next question.

Q Hi. I'm Ted Fatirous (sp) from Manhattan Beach, California. Mm. Nothing says delicious like cheap corn subsidized by the American taxpayer. For a lot of Americans, however, a bitter taste is left in their mouth when they learn about how the U.S. taxpayer bankrolls billions of dollars in farm subsidies that mostly go to large agribusiness interests. I'm curious which candidates who label themselves fiscally responsible will endorse the elimination of farm subsidies if they are elected president in 2008.

MR. COOPER: Governor Romney, a lot of folks in Iowa interested in this answer. (Laughter.)

MR. ROMNEY: (Chuckles.)

MR. COOPER: So I hear.

MR. ROMNEY: Not to mention Kansas, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, and so forth.

We don't want to find ourselves with regards to our food supply in the same kind of position we're in with regards to our energy supply. And so it's important for us to make sure that our farmers are able to stay on the -- on the farm and raise the crops that we need to have a secure source of food. And so I believe in supports that will allow us to do that.

At the same time, I recognize that we're also investing in new technologies to get ourselves energy-independent, and I happen to believe that some of the best sources for having renewable energy come from the farm. And so we're investing with subsidies in those areas to create new -- new technology that otherwise wouldn't be ready for the market yet.

So I support these programs.

And finally, I'd say this. We have in our nation about one out of three acres that are planted are for sale overseas. We send products around the world. We're competing with European and Brazilian and other farmers, and we're competing in a marketplace where they are heavily subsidized, at great disadvantage for our farmers. And so if we're going to change our support structure, we want to make sure that they change their support structure and we do this together, as opposed to unilaterally saying we're going to put our farmers in a tough position and have the farmers of the rest of the world continue to be subsidized.

So, open markets, let our goods go around the world, and secure our source of food.

MR. COOPER: Mayor Giuliani, 30 seconds.

MR. GIULIANI: The governor is right, it isn't a level playing field. The subsidies in Europe are far higher than they are in the United States. We could reduce subsidies here if they would do it there, but we shouldn't do it on our own. And also, we have to be very aware of the fact that we have to have our own supply of food. We can't be dependent on foreign countries for our food.

So, both of those reasons would say that although simplistically it might seem like you'd want to get rid of all the subsidies, we've got to do this very carefully and you have to do it in concert with these free-trade agreements and other agreements you're making so that European countries reduce their much heavier subsidies.

MR. COOPER: Since we're on fiscal matters, I would be remiss if I didn't ask this question, since it did just break a couple hours ago. This is to Mayor Giuliani.

Politico broke a story a few hours ago questioning your accounting of taxpayer dollars as mayor. They say that as mayor -- the report says you took trips to the Hamptons and expensed the cost of your police detail to obscure city offices.

One, is that true? And if so, was it appropriate?

MR. GIULIANI: First of all, it's not true. I had 24-hour security for the eight years that I was mayor. They followed me every place I went. It was because there were, you know, threats, threats that I don't generally talk about. Some have become public recently; most of them haven't. And they took care of me, and they put it in their records, and they handled them in the way they handled them. I had nothing to do with the handling of their records. And they were handled, as far as I know, perfectly appropriately.

MR. COOPER: Great.

We have asked all the campaigns, we should point out, to submit 30-second or so campaign-style videos, YouTube-style videos. It was open to them to do it in any format they wanted. Our first video -- and we're going to be playing them throughout the night, some of them out of commercials, some of them during the program -- is from Congressman Tancredo.

(Begin videotaped segment.)

(Music.)

REP. TANCREDO: Because this issue of immigration is one of the most serious public policy issues we face.

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY): What do we do now?

REP. TANCREDO: We have got to actually begin the process of assimilating people.

SEN. CLINTON: They may not talk to you if they think you're also going to be enforcing the immigration laws.

REP. TANCREDO: No more obfuscating, with using words like, well, I am not for amnesty, but I'm for letting them stay.

SEN. CLINTON: Well, I don't have enough time to tell you all the mistakes I've made. (Chuckles.)

REP. TANCREDO: The Republicans can stop this.

(End videotaped segment.) (Applause.)

MR. : That's great.

MR. COOPER: That's the first of many that we will see tonight.

All right, let's have our next question from a YouTube viewer.

Q Hi, my name is Leeann Anderson, and I'm from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. And these are my kids, Evan and Mya (sp). Mya (sp) is from China, and we adopted her to give her a better life. We never dreamed that she'd be exposed to lead after leaving China, and now we find trains like this that are covered with lead in our home.

My question for the candidates are: What are you going to do to make sure that these kind of toys don't make their way into our homes and that we have safe toys that are made in America again and we keep jobs in America?

MR. COOPER: (Off mike) -- Tancredo, you have 90 seconds.

REP. TANCREDO: It is illegal to import that kind of thing. The problem is, of course, no one really pays a lot of attention to a lot of our laws with regard to immigration of both people and in this case, of course, items, goods and services. I voted against permanent normalized trade relations with China. This is one reason why. It wasn't -- it was never devised simply to be a place for us to sell our products. It was devised to be a place where we could get cheap labor to then import products to the United States.

So one of the things you would have to do and I certainly would intend to do was to change our trade arrangement entirely with China, by the way, in particular, but with other countries as well that violate those agreements. (Applause.)

MR. COOPER: Congressman Hunter, you have 30 seconds.

REP. HUNTER: China is cheating on trade, and they're using that $200 billion trade deficit over the United States to buy ships, planes and missiles. They are clearly arming, and it's in the interests of the United States -- (applause) -- to stop China's cheating. My bill, incidentally, that's up right now would do that.

But what we all ought to do in this Christmas season with about a month to go before Christmas is buy American. (Cheers, applause.) That might hire the young person. That'll result in -- (interrupted by applause). You know, that just might keep your neighbor from losing his job, and it might help that young person coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan in uniform to have a job when they get back.

Let's buy American this Christmas season. (applause.)

MR. COOPER: All right. We're going to have three commercial breaks throughout this entire debate. This is the first one, and as we go to it, we go to another campaign-style video, this one from Senator Fred Thompson.

(Begin video.)

MR. ROMNEY: I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country. I believe that since Roe v. Wade has been the law for 20 years., that we should sustain and support it.

MR. HUCKABEE: Others have suggested a surcharge on the income tax. That's acceptable. I'm fine with that. Others have suggested perhaps a sales tax. That's fine.

(End video.) (Applause.)

MR. COOPER: Actually, given the nature of that video, we're not going to go to break right now. (Laughter, applause.)

MR. : (Off mike.)

MR. COOPER: I think it's something we should talk about.

Senator Thompson, what's up with that? (Laughter, applause.)

MR. THOMPSON: Just want to give my buddies here a little extra air time. (Laughter, applause.)

I mean -- I mean, what's -- what do you mean, what's up with it? These are their words.

MR. COOPER: Okay. I should allow time to respond. (Applause.)

Governor Romney?

MR. ROMNEY: I'm not sure who that young guy was at the beginning of that film, but I can tell you this, which is -- I don't know how many times I could tell it -- I was wrong. All right? (Applause.) I was effectively pro-choice when I ran for office. If -- if people in this country are looking for someone who's never made a mistake on a policy issue and is not willing to admit they're ever wrong, why, then they're going to have to find somebody else, because on abortion, I was wrong and I changed my mind.

As the governor -- this didn't just happen the last couple of weeks or the last year, this happened when I was governor -- the first time a bill came to my desk that related to life, I could not sign a bill that would take away human life. I came down on the side of life every single instance as governor of Massachusetts. I was awarded by the Massachusetts Citizens for Life with their leadership award for my record. I'm proud to be pro-life, and I'm not going to be apologizing to people for becoming pro-life. (Applause.)

MR. COOPER: Governor Huckabee, a 30-seconds response.

MR. HUCKABEE: Well, I was governor nearly 11 years, and in that time I cut 90 taxes. Over that period of time, the income tax remained exactly what it was. The sales tax was one penny higher. But I did do a number of tax cuts that helped a lot of people all over the place, like eliminating the marriage penalty, doubling the child care tax credit, getting rid of capital gains on the sale of a home, cutting capital gains on other things. I have a great record on fiscal conservatism.

But one thing I've learned. You know, when you get attacked, it's not always bad. It's like my old pastor used to tell me: When they're kicking you in the rear, it's just proving you're still out front. (Applause.)

MR. COOPER: I'm sure there are some -- (inaudible) -- who might want to change their videos that they've given us after seeing Senator Thompson's, but it's too late to do that.

We're going to go take a short break. We'll be right back. (Applause.)

(Announcements.)

Q Hi, I'm Jay Fox, a lifetime member of the NRA. Now I'm from a small town, and as in any small town we like our big guns. So my question to you is: What is your opinion of gun control? And don't worry, you can answer however you like. (Laughter, cheers, applause.)

MR. COOPER: Congressman Hunter, I'll give that to you. Ninety seconds.

REP. HUNTER: Well, first, I've got to inform Jay that as a guy who got his first hunting license at the age of 10 and really believes in the right to keep and bear arms and used them in the military, as my son did in Fallujah, you should never throw a gun to a person. He should have taken that gun hand it off from his fellow hunter. So you got to be safe with guns, Jay.

But the right to keep and bear arms is an important element of community security, home security and national security, and I think it's a tradition -- (cheers, applause) -- the tradition of the American soldier from Bunker Hill to New Orleans to the rooftops of Fallujah the right to keep and bear arms and use them effectively is an important part of America's security. And I will strongly enforce the Second Amendment as president of the United States. (Cheers, applause.)

MR. COOPER: All right. On the same topic another question. Let's watch.

Q Hello. My name is Andrew Fink, and I have a question for Rudy Giuliani.

Mr. Giuliani, at a recent NRA convention you stated that it's every American's right to be secure. Yet on March 21st of the year 2000, the Boston Globe quoted you as saying, "Anyone wanting to own a gun should have to pass a written exam."

Considering the Constitution grants us the right to bear arms as a means of protection, why do you believe that citizens should be required to pass an exam in order to exercise their right to protect themselves and their families? Thank you.

MR. COOPER: Mayor Giuliani, 90 seconds.

MR. GIULIANI: Andrew, what I believe is that we have to be very aggressive about enforcing the gun laws that exist. I had a city in which, when I took over, there were 2,000 murders a year, 10,000 felonies a week, and I enforced the gun laws very aggressively. I enforced all laws very aggressively, and that's the reason we reduced shootings by 74 percent, we reduced homicide by 67 percent, and we went from being one of the most dangerous cities in the country to being one of the safest.

As far as that's concerned, what I believe is the Second Amendment gives people an individual right to keep and to bear arms. Government can impose reasonable regulations. Generally, those reasonable regulations would be about -- (boos) --

MR. COOPER: Let him answer.

MR. GIULIANI: Let me finish. Generally, those reasonable regulations would be about criminal background, a background of mental instability, basically the ones that are outlined in the opinion of -- of the judge who wrote the Parker decision, Judge Silberman. And if those -- if those regulations go beyond that, then those are unconstitutional.

I think states can have a little bit of leeway. New York can have a -- somewhat stricter rules than, let's say, Kentucky. Texas might have different rules than Ohio. But generally, you've got to comply with this rule.

Now the Supreme Court's going to decide this. The Supreme Court's going to decide this probably within the next six months. The Parker case has been taken to the Supreme Court. They're going to decide whether it's a right that pertains to the militias, which I don't believe it is, or is it a right that is a personal right. I believe that it is, and I will live by that. And people will be allowed to have guns. I'm not going to interfere with that. Generally, decisions are going to be made on a state basis, and they're going to have to comply with the Constitution.

MR. COOPER: Senator Thompson, last week you said that you don't think Mayor Giuliani's ever been a supporter of the Second Amendment. Why do you say that? Thirty seconds.

MR. THOMPSON: No, well, the mayor has supported a wide array of gun control laws. I'm not sure there's ever one that didn't come up for consideration in terms of legislation that he didn't support; signing ceremonies with people in President Clinton's Cabinet and that sort of thing when they came up.

The Second Amendment is not a choice thing. I mean it's in the Constitution of the United States. That's a protection that the people have against -- (interrupted cheers, applause) -- (off mike).

The case that the mayor refers to is the Washington, D.C. case, and they were taking the same position basically the mayor took as far as the city of New York is concerned. They said, you know, it'll make a safer city if we have -- if we outlaw law-abiding citizens having the right to possess a firearm. It didn't make them a safer city. The D.C. Court of Appeals held that it was a violation of their Second Amendment rights, and hopefully, the Supreme Court will uphold the D.C. court.

MR. COOPER: Mayor? Thirty seconds.

MR. GIULIANI: I agree with the senator that it didn't make it a safer city, and some of these gun laws do not make a city a safer city. The things we did in New York indisputably made New York City a much safer city.

And the law in the District of Columbia and the law in New York are different. The law in the District of Columbia made it impossible for you to have a firearm. And if New York City went that far, it should also be declared unconstitutional. The Second Amendment clearly gives you the right to carry and to bear arms. In my reading of it, it's an individual right. And I believe the Supreme Court will declare that. And that protection comes from the Constitution, not just the president.

MR. COOPER: Staying on the topic, another question from the viewer.

ERIC BERNTSEN (PHOENIX, ARIZONA): Hi there. I'm Eric Berntsen from Phoenix, Arizona. Got a quick question for all you candidates.

Any of you want to tell us about your gun collection -- roughly how many you own; what your favorite make, model and caliber is; if any of them require a tax stamp?

MR. COOPER: A stamp is needed if you have a machine gun or a silencer.

Senator Thompson.

MR. THOMPSON: I own a couple of guns, but I'm not going to tell you what they are or where they are. (Laughter, applause, cheers.)

MR. COOPER: Senator McCain.

SEN. MCCAIN: For a long time I used a lot of guns, including carrying a .45 as a pilot flying in combat over Vietnam. I know how to use guns. I don't -- I don't own one now.

MR. COOPER: Congressman Hunter.

REP. HUNTER: I've got an old 20-gauge L.C. Smith. It's just like the gun that my dad used to carry when I would walk behind him as a nine-year-old kid and pick up the shells when he was hunting quail. And I finally got a chance to buy one of those a few years ago, same gun that he'd had and given to me when I was nine or 10 years old, when I bought my first hunting license.

The right to keep and bear arms in the 2nd Amendment is -- is a large part protection.

MR. COOPER: Okay.

REP. HUNTER: It's also a large part family tradition.

MR. COOPER: Is there anyone here besides Senator McCain who does not own a gun? Mayor Giuliani, you don't?

MR. ROMNEY: Let --

MR. COOPER: Governor Romney?

MR. ROMNEY: I have two guns in my home. They're owned by my son Josh.

MR. COOPER: All right. So yes.

We have another question on a similar topic.

MR. ROMNEY: He buys expensive things for me.

(Begin YouTube video.)

Q Hi. This is me and my son, Prentice (sp). We're from Atlanta.

Q I want to ask you guys a question. I notice you spend billions of dollars on the war in Iraq every year, but what about the war going on in your own country, black on black crime? Two hundred to 400 black men die yearly in one city alone. What are you going to do about that war? It feels like the Taliban's right outside.

MR. COOPER: Talking about black-on-black crime, crime in the inner cities. Governor Romney?

MR. ROMNEY: Well, first of all, Prentice (sp) is pretty fortunate, because he's got a dad standing next to him that apparently loves him, by all appearances there, and that's probably the best thing you can do for a kid, is to have a mom and a dad. (Applause.)

And it's time in this -- in this country that we go back to the kind of values that allow kids to have moms and dads. In the African- American community today, 68 percent of kids born are born out of wedlock. And so we're going to try and once again re-inculcate in this country the kind of values that have made us so strong -- family values.

Secondly --

MR. COOPER: The question's what are you going to do about the war in the inner city?

MR. ROMNEY: Well, one -- about the war in the inner city? Number one is to get more moms and dads. That's number one. And thank heavens Bill Cosby said it like it was. That's where the root of crime starts.

Number two, we've got to have better education in our schools. I think that the civil rights issue of our time is the failure of inner city schools to prepare kids in the inner city for the jobs of tomorrow.

And number three, of course, you have to do a better job with our policing. And I was very proud that I added one state police class after another. We had the largest state police in the history of our state during my term. We put in place tough laws related to drunk driving. Sex offenders. They have their pictures now posted on the Internet. We took actions to be tough on crime, and I was pleased that violent crime in my state during my term reduced by 7 percent.

MR. COOPER: Mayor Giuliani, your campaign manager last week called Governor Romney a mediocre, one-term governor. On the issue of fighting crime, is he a crime fighter?

MR. GIULIANI: The governor has a mixed record in fighting crime. For example, murder went up by 7.5 percent. Burglary went up. One other category of violent crime went up. Some categories of violent crime went down. So it would be fair to say it's a mixed record. The reality is, I had a very strong record in doing precisely what the young man was asking about, and that is, reducing crime, and specifically in neighborhoods that would be regarded as poor neighborhoods, the neighborhoods that had the most crime.

For example, in Harlem we reduced crime by about 80 percent. We reduced shootings overall in the city by 74 percent. The City of New York was one of the most dangerous cities in America. And particularly in the neighborhoods this young man is worried about -- they were really dangerous -- they are not that way anymore.

And we made the changes with the COMPSTAT program, the broken windows theory and with very, very good leadership.

MR. COOPER: Governor Romney, I have to allow you 30 seconds to respond.

MR. ROMNEY: Oh, I think we all recognize that the mayor did a wonderful reducing crime in the city of New York. I'm not a mayor; I'm not running for a mayor's job. I didn't have a police commissioner. But I did take the actions that I could as a state -- as a state governor to improve our state police, to strengthen our state police, to be able to put in place the DNA laboratory. We more than tripled the size of our DNA laboratory and did the things we could to improve our crime -- our crime enforcement, and I'm proud of the fact that we were able to reduce crime during my tenure.

MR. COOPER: The next topic is abortion.

Next question.

Q Hi. My name is Journey. I'm from Texas, and this question is for all politically pro-life candidates. In the event that abortion becomes illegal and a woman obtains an abortion anyway, what should she be charged with, and what should her punishment be? What about the doctor who performs the abortion?

MR. COOPER: Congressman Paul? Ninety seconds.

REP. PAUL: You know, it's not a federal function to determine the penalties for a crime of abortion if it's illegal in a state. It's up to the state, it's up to th

thanks for the post... I missed some of it

You're welcome Airborne.

It is a lot to read and yet good to have in our news archives.

Jean,

Where's the rest of it? I know there was more. Is there a link to the transcript?

Thanks!

TexasGal

Originally Posted by TexasGal

Jean,

Where's the rest of it? I know there was more. Is there a link to the transcript?

Thanks!

TexasGal

Here's a link although not the exact as above.
That's what I get for working here late I guess.
Sorry.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/11/28/ ... ranscript/