MARCO RUBIO DISCUSSES IRAQ, IMMIGRATION, AND PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
MARCO RUBIO DISCUSSES IRAQ, IMMIGRATION, AND PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
Marco Rubio discusses immigration, iraq, 2016 presidential election.
Transcript
English (Automatic Captions)
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be out we sat down with the senator yesterday
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and we began with that special forces raid on ice
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senator will be a welcome back to Fox News Sunday
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back from me back as a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and
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Senate Intel
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what do you know about the Serie A rated and what do you think about well for
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knowledge to say this a successful raid
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and it's good news obviously that anytime you can to greater takeaway top
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leadership and organization it's a positive step forward
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it doesn't take away from the fact that ice is remains a group or just
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in the last 48 hours captured yet another critical city within
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iraqi continues to be a dangerous group that now find
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for example very active no to operation in Libya that will have to confront here
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fairly soon
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I and a group that I think has designs on moving into lebanon perhaps sooner
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than some others have anticipated so
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there remains a risk but obviously we want to congratulate the men and women
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in uniform and carried out and
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and the president for for undertaken a mission you're running for president on
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a platform of generational change
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and in your announcement statement you said this
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too many of our leaders and their ideas are stuck in the 20th century
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senator what are your 21st century ideas
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well couple for so we have to recognize that the balance of power in the world
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has shifted
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now you have a number of different challenges to our foreign policy you
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have autocratic governments in russia and China
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that are beginning to use their power to try to make their neighbor subservient
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you have the riser
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rogue states like North Korea and Iran two countries and either have or had
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designs on weapons of mass destruction nuclear weapons that make him immune
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from international pressure
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but also increase in Bekasi Iran their global
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other their control Middle East and then you have non-state actors
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both transnational criminal groups and then groups like ice is an al Qaeda now
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news for and others who pose a threat
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not just in the middle east but to the homeland and these are all very
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different threatened the required American foreign policy that that I can
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reflect our that can address all of them
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within the context that the belief that America needs to be the strongest
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country in the world but
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just generally on foreign policy you favor the same approach
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as ronald reagan peace through strength on domestic policy
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you favor spending cuts and tax reform in fewer regulations
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not to say that any of that is wrong but it's not know you asked about foreign
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policy in particular on
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on for policy threats are different and we don't have the Soviet Union like
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ronald reagan had we have multiple different threats all of them on their
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own for example create the need for more cyber times your heart it's gaps
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on the economic for your ideas now well first of all the ideas are new on the
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global competitiveness from
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we need to be and when ronald reagan cut taxes he did so because the top rate was
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in the eighties nineties
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today we need to cut rates to keep pace with global competition
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on the on the other thing we talk a lot about is 21st century skills we haven't
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outdated higher education system
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that is not equipping that is leaving many americans behind it is not
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equipping them with the 21st century they didn't
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skills they need for 21st century jobs so we don't have enough vocational
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training
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we don't have enough flexibility in higher education for people that have to
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work for time
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to go back to school on acquired degree we graduate too many young people with
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degrees
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that do not lead to jobs and a mountain of student loan debt
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so that's why I propose solutions to each one of these challenges perhaps the
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biggest
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issue that you're going to have to face in this campaign he is
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immigration back in 2013 you were one of the authors of the comprehensive
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immigration plan which included at tough water enforcement crack down on
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employers but also a path
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to citizenship here's what you said back then about the 11
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million people in this country illegally those who once had no hoe
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will give their kids the chance at a light they always wanted for themselves
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here in america generations of unfulfilled dreams will finally come to
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pass
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but after it passed the Senate and ran into trouble
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in the house you bailed on comprehensive immigration reform how come
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well I didn't it's not that we bailed is that we don't have the votes to pass in
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fact we have less votes for comprehensive immigration reform today
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than we did two years ago when I passed because in the last election
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because a unilateral actions the president took the executive order
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because I'm a border crisis because matters so I still believe we need to do
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immigration form
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I still talk about on the campaign trail outlined in my book American Dreams
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and the problem is we can do in one big piece of legislation the votes aren't
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there
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and the more time we did we follow that path the more time we're wasting
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to address it but aren't leaders supposed to shape
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public opinion rather than just follow it media
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could shouldn't you have campaigned for this I remember when you came in to Fox
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back in 2013 and you made a very articulate and compelling case for
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comprehensive reform
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right by not stand by and fight for them but the problem is the votes are there
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in Houston fan as you know for example the majority leader in the house
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partially lost his election on perception that he was in favor
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immigration reform not
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impacted the way others voted as well so clearly leader stand for the idea that
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you need to do something but you also have to deal with the reality
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that in the political process people are gonna vote based on what they're hearing
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from their constituents and others
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and that's what I'm basically saying is the votes are not there for
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comprehensive immigration reform and at this stage
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after two illegal executive orders after migratory crisis on the border with
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minors last summer
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the context in which we're having this debate is much different if we want to
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move forward on immigration
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the first thing we're gonna have to do is prove to the american people
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that future illegal immigration is under control there is a narrative
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about you that I want to give you the opportunity to address
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going in a pro love 2013 back before
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comprehensive immigration reform you were leading the republican field at
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nineteen percent
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but by October after comprehensive immigration reform passed the senate you
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were in third place
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at 12 percent critics say dead
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you move to the right that you pushed a tough
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new abortion law that you became much more of a hawk on foreign policy
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to try to get
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back in with the right well for small going and immigration I knew the history
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of the issue
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and certainly didn't go into it thinking it would help me politically in some
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circles I knew that its controversy on
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I know that controversy on now and terms are the other things you point to on
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foreign policy
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I don't know what those labels mean other than I've always advocated for a
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strong american presence in the world on foreign policy I mean with act very
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active before immigration in talking about the need not to engage in Libya
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but to do so in a way that prevented what is happening now
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from happening I consistently advocated before immigration that we needed to get
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involved in fine
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group on the ground in Syria that we can work with where would create a vacuum
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that would be filled
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by foreign fighters as happened with my sis to time and again I'm defendant for
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Nate
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on a tax that it somehow to waste the money it's less than
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1 percent of our budget and it's an important on our soft power that's
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always been true
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the difference is that from 2013 to today
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we've had an invasion ukraine and the annexation crimea
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we had China building artificial islands in the middle of the South China Sea
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and we've had the emergence of my sis and ices and the beheading and
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Christians
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and Americans these and and and we've had this nuclear negotiations with Iran
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so the rhetoric it stronger a bit stronger it's because
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the challenge is a brown more more urgent over the last couple years well
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I want to talk about the rhetoric because you have gotten much
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tougher at least in roderick are on foreign policy over the last few years
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back in 2012
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you supported President Obama's negotiation
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other a nuclear deal with iran now
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you say that if you're elected president that you might revoke
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any delay make state take a look at this you very cautious when you say this
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because I don't want to come across as some sorta
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saber-rattling person cuz I'm not have you seen the movie taken
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Liam Neeson he has a line and this is what our strategy should be
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we will look for you we will find you
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and we will kill you the
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senator that's a pretty dramatic shift from no saber rattling to Liam Neeson
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allow the saber-rattling thing was in response to a specific question I don't
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recall what it was maybe we can play the whole video we will see
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you have to say that I was in favor the Iranian negotiation who would not be in
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favor of a deal that would be the deal
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Iran would allow themselves to walk away from any sort of enrichment or
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reprocessing
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but that's not what the deal is we now know what the outlines of the deal are
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and they're much worse than anybody anticipated and in fact every time
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there's a new revelation about the only gets worse and worse and worse
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and terms of our approach to terrorism absolutely because when you give these
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radical group safe havens
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whether it's in Syria and Iran are now iraq or libya the use those safe havens
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the plan and carry out attacks against Americans and our allies
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an increasingly here in the homeland as well this brings us back to our %ah
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chemical
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question of the week which is given what we know now would you have
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invaded Iraq back and 2003 as we all know Jeb Bush had a tough time
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answering that this week here's what you had to say was it a mistake to go to war
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in Iraq
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no I don't believe about the world is a better place because saddam hussein
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doesn't run iraq
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after finding out there were no weapons of mass destruction would you
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if you knew that have been in favor all the iraqi invasion
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well not only would I don't have been in favor of President Bush would not have
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been in favor of it
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and he said so senator isn't bad a flip
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six weeks ago it made sense to invade Iraq in 2003 now you say it was a
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mistake no two different questions
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it was not a mistake the president based on this is the way the real world work
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the president based on the information that was provided she was saying but I
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based on the information Nunavut look that she wasn't based on the end what we
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know now
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well have based on what we know now I think based on what we know now I
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wouldn't be no
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thought Manny PAC allies gonna beat in that a land and that fighting I know
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what you're going down the same question and you said
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you know what I think now is not the same question the question was whether
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as a mistake and my answer is it's not a mistake I still say was not a mistake
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because the president was presented with intelligence is that Iraq had weapons of
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mass destruction
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it was governed by a man who had committed atrocities in the past two
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weapons minutes the secretary after was
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was it a mistake to go to war with Iraq it was not a mistake given the fact that
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the president knew at the time she didn't say that she does well as items
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that are not
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same question the question I was asked is what you know now while based on what
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we know now I think everyone agree was at least a
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was it a mistake to go to war with Iraq a good student was now I'm asking you to
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yeah I understand but that's not the same question but I'm asked that
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question I'm asking you
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posit a mistake that was not a mistake for the president to decide to go into
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Iraq because at the time he wants to ask you that
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I'm asking you in hindsight yeah the world is a better place because saddam
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hussein is not there so I went back rather
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but I don't understand the question you ask I'm asking you president knowing
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every day as we secure in 20
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but that night when president stop it a president cannot make a decision I had
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something right now in the much that's what I'm asking you
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was it on the stack it was not a mistake for the president to go into Iraq based
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on the information he was provided as president
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today we know there we had the president had known that there were no weapons of
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mass destruction at the time
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you still had to deal with saddam hussein but the process would have been
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different
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I doubt very seriously the president would have gotten for example
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congressional approval
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to move forward with an invasion had they known there were no weapons of mass
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destruction
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that does not mean he made the wrong decision because at the time he was
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presented with my time China stand out said there are weapons of mass
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destruction
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he was in dealing with the Nobel Peace Prize winner he was done with saddam
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hussein
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and he made the right decision based on the information he had at that time
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we learn subsequently that that information's wrong
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and Mike my answer was well about the time it would have been
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apparent that the intelligence was wrong I don't think george bush would move
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forward on the invasion he certainly wouldn't have congressional approval
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but presidents don't have the benefit of hindsight you have to make difficult
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decisions
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based on the information that's report before you at that moment when we come
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back more of our exclusive interview
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what 2016 senator you said recently that hillary clinton shouldn't be elected
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president because we can't afford
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another eight years of soap opera Williams
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well again unfortunately both under her husband's presidency her time in the
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Department of State
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her campaign for the president the last time and even now
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now there seems to be this cloud of constant scandal and things that
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distract us from the core issues at the moment
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and I just think at this hinge moment in our history
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where we are asked to make a transition from the past into this new future
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with all the challenges and the opportunities a part-time we really
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the American people are not at a point now where I think they're going to be
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supportive more drama
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surrounding the political process you call clinton
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a candidate from yesterday is that another way of saying she's too old
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not another way of saying she's a defender of the status quo at a time
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when we're in desperate need of transformational policies
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I mean at the end of the day which is promising to do to the extent we know
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because she's not talking to the media is to continue much of the president's
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policies now we don't know where she stands on train
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we don't know how she justifies for example not supporting the surge
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in Iraq and the sorts of other things but we know that she supports much for
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the president's agenda
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and this is not a time for status quo we need reforms that will make us more
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globally competitive
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that will equip our people the 21st century skills and that will strengthen
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America's role in the world and assume the mantle global leadership in
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one up the knocks on you she's the candidate from yesterday
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is that your to ya people still talk about you taking that's where the water
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during the State of the Union response 43-year-old first term senators may not
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be quite as appealing as president as they were before 2000 8
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how do you answer those who say we need somebody with work experience maybe
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governor whose run things cloth certainly mean governors an important
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job to and
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their quality governors that could serve our country present have done so in the
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past we've had bad governors to jimmy carter was a governor
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but let me just say that ultimately for free but understand what I've done
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before I even came to the senate I mean I was the
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member the Florida Legislature for nine years speaker the house majority leader
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majority web I've been in the senate now for four and a half years and played a
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pretty vibrant role in both
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foreign policy on Foreign Relations Committee and also on the intelligence
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committee
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and have a record making judgments on public policy
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and in particular on foreign policy that people could look at ultimately
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what's most important the presidency is the judgment that you have in terms of
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the future of our country
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and on foreign policy in particular and I would add one more point
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the selection will be about the future not about the past and it is important
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that we have a president that
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understand both the challenges and the opportunities that our country faces not
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just today
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but will face tomorrow's long in the exit polls on election night 2012 1
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numbers stood I'll to me 21 percent of voters said that cares about people like
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me
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was the most important Canada quality eighty-one percent voted for Obama
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18 percent voted for Romney senator how do you persuade poorer and middle-income
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people that your plans
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will be better for them than hillary Clinton what a great question
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first of all we have to talk about the plight folks are facing and I do that's
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why I wrote American dream
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that's what my policies have been built on I talk about the single mother was a
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receptionist at eleven dollars an hour
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and why we need to make higher education flexible so she can go to school at
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night or on weekends
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and become a paralegal and triple her pay I talk about people trapped in
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poverty
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because I anti-poverty programs deal with sometimes the poverty
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but do not help to cure it I talk about the plight about
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young couple trying to start a business out the spare bedroom at their home but
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they can't
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because the regulations because I've access to capital due to dodd-frank
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it's important to talk about people that are going through this and then connect
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at
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and their plight to our specific public policies and it's gonna be
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it's gonna take some work because I think it goes unfortunately
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against the years and years and years that narrative that the republican party
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is the party above wealthy in which people at the expense of everybody and
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they're going to have social programs and they want to keep Obamacare
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and
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in what ultimately I think nest most people rather have a good paying job
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that allows them to
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own home you send their kids to college and retire with dignity
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and we need to prove consistently over a period of time why our policies lead to
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that
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faster and better more consistently than the big government policies and left
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I think it's fair to say that Jeb Bush
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was your political mentor in Florida politics
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here he is on your election night in 2010
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my wife has told me don't don't cry don't cry
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but Marco Rubio makes me cry for joy when you see that
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any mixed feelings about now running against jeb Bush for president
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I'm not running against jeb bush nor is jeb bush running against Marco Rubio
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I remain his friend and admire I think usery
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did a great job as governor for i think is gonna be a very good candidate
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ultimately I just honestly believe that the nation is that hinge moment
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in its history where needs to decide what kind of country is going to be in
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the 21st century
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it faces unique challenges but also an extraordinary opportunity to have
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another American Century
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and I believe I'm contributing to this debate ideas
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and %uh view that no one else in the race is at least at this time
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and that's what we're going to write I'm enid obviously people you may not be
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running against each other people gonna have to compare you
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why are you the person for the 21st century and not your political or
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I would love it if the entire party adopted our view the future but that's
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what we're gonna have a debate over and I think we're capable as republicans
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with a very talented field amend quality individuals
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to have a debate about the best way forward with our country without
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necessarily disliking each other
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I think we're blessed as a Republican Party to have eight nine ten quality
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camera with the democrats are struggling to come up with one
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you talked earlier about the clinton soap opera last sunday in the new york
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times they have an investigation
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a fun page investigation a view it said that Florida billionaire Norman Braman
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has financed do both
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personally and politically and
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as a Florida legislator you scared five million dollars to a Cancer Center
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name for the Bremen family over the objections love
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then Governor Jeb Bush were you
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paying back a friend a supporter your first thought was an investigation
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virtually everything in that article was the
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things that we wrote about years ago or provided to them a mister Bremen
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provided to them
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second I'm problem I sociation mister Bremen in fact the things you outline or
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charities A Breast Cancer Center
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and genomics research project at the University Miami supported not just by
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mister Bremen bud on a shillelagh
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who is the president at the University Miami Adam and Innovation Fund
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created specifically for purposes but rhyme attracting by technical resent the
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fact that he had given a lot of money to you politically out a lot like you re my
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wife had a given a lot of money too
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those programs as far as a lotta money to us personally I was a lawyer
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and mister bremen was one of my clients at some point and my wife does a
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fantastic job helping his family decide
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who donate in some instances millions of dollars to charities in our community
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he has never asked for a political favor he's never asked for any
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issue that involves as business mister Bremen's interest is a pillar the South
19:03
Florida community and whatever leading philanthropists and I'm problem I
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sociation with bringing family you had to file a financial disclosure form on
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Friday and
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in that you noted disclose the fact that you have cashed out all
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love your retirement accounts that's not accurate now I have other retirement
19:21
account that just one retirement account from an ABA that I had years ago the
19:25
American Bar Association why work with an old law firm
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years ago it's not its I still have my the TSP account that I
19:32
contribute to every week in my paycheck here at the federal level I have a
19:35
back every time an account from my years the service in the florida legislature
19:39
was just one specific count
19:40
that we wanted to have access to cash a in the coming year
19:44
both cuz I'm running for president but also you know my refrigerator broke down
19:47
I was three thousand dollars I had to replace the air conditioning unit in our
19:50
home
19:51
my kids are go to school or getting closer to college in school getting more
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expensive
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and then when you're running for president we just wanted access to some
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other cash but we have other retirement savings in
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and we've been blessed with out with a book that's done fairly well to button
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i'm not i'm not i'm not poor but I'm not rich either finally
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and its I wanna go back to the block you say in the book
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American Dreams that you know the American dream because you have lived
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the American dream your mom and dad
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came from cuba in the fifties your dad was a bartender your mom worked
20:21
as as a cashier clerk Anna and as a
20:25
as a made what was life like growing up
20:28
in that family and what were the values
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that you got there that that would serve as a guide to you as president
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my parents were workers me my mom especially my high school years was a
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stock clerk at Kmart
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time to mount a point when she worked the night shift overnight my dad was a
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bartender at work banquets laminne holidays weekends nights
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and they were never richer famous me know
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but but they were successful with a work because the purpose in their life was to
20:53
give us the chance to do all the things they never could
20:56
and so growing up I think they instilled in us disbelief I know they instilled in
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us this belief that it didn't matter that he was a bartender and that she was
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a maid
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I can be anything I wanted because I was an American and I'll and I hope that
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that's really what's propelled me in the public service
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I want us to continue to be that kind of country for ever
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but certainly in the 21st century not the kinda country I want my kids to
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inherit
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you in the book talk about when you were 13 years old
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your grandfather fell and you were
21:24
in the ambulance with him and that you made him a promise
21:28
yet why choose when he was passing away already at the hospital
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all my life the atomic study been partially because I think you always
21:36
wished you had a college degree or the equivalent thereof something I really
21:39
value
21:40
because coming from where they didn't having an education was something that
21:43
was reserved for the wealthy
21:45
but what he really meant was not just study we met was
21:48
be you do that maximize the opportunities you're going to have
21:52
you're going to have a chance to do things I never had a chance to do don't
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blow it
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and I wanted him to know that I want to what you say i said i wud nice and I'm
21:59
gonna study a promising
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them and I what I meant by that was is I'm gonna make sure that
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the chances that I have that you didn't have whatever it is in life I try to do
22:08
I'm gonna maximize it because I have I want to make sure that you know that
22:11
your sacrifices
22:13
and your hard work was not in vain center will be always back to talk with
22:17
you
22:17
thank yousee travels on the campaign trail thank you
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