Social security the way it is. Leave it asis, no increase the age. The numbers dont add up. Bottom line is we cant continue to tiptoe around this and throw out, get rid of fraud and abuse but still have hundreds of billions of dollars of deficit you have to make up. Reporter and mideast peace. If i go in ill say im proisrael, told that to everybody and anybody that would listen but would like to at least have the other side think im somewhat neutral as to them so that we can maybe get a deal done. But the policy donald outlined, i dont know if he realizes, is an antiisraeli policy. Maybe thats not your intent. Why it is, there is no peace deal possible with palestinians at this moment. There just isnt. Theres no one to negotiate with. Reporter a response whether to close the u. S. Embassy in cuba. I would probably have the Embassy Closed until such time as a really good deal was made and struck by the United States. Reporter as rubio jumped at a chance to weigh in on an issue that might give him a boost here in florida. Heres a good deal. Cuba has free elections, stops putting people in jail for speaking out, cuba has freedom of the press, cuba kicks out the russians and cuba stops helping north korea invade u. N. Sanctions. Reporter the Sunshine State senator looking for any opportunity to go after trump in this do or die debate for his campaign. Last night you told cnn, islam hates us. Did you mean all 1. 6 billion musl muslims . I mean a lot of them. Theres tremendous hatred and i stick with exactly what i said to anderson cooper. The problem is president s cant just say anything they want. It has consequences here and around the world. You can be politically correct if you want. I dont want to be so politically correct. I like to solve problems. We have a serious, serious problem of hate. Im not interested in being politically correct. Im interested in being correct. We are going to have to work with people in the muslim faith even as islam itself faces a serious crisis within it. Now, we also heard donald trump talk last night about wanting to unify the party, bringing in new voters and Campaign Officials say thats what makes ben carson a good fit for the trump campaign, to endorse donald trump, bauer theyre both outsiders bringing new people to the party. Its hard to ignore awkwardness in the past. A time donald trump likened ben carsons personality to that of a child molesters. Pathological a serious disease. Pathological, somebody said he has pathological disease. Others said he said in the book, i havent seen it, i know its in the book, a pathological temper or temperament. Thats a big problem, because you dont cure that. Thats like, you know, i could say, they say you dont cure as an example, a child molester. You dont cure these people. You dont cure a child molester. Theres no cure for it. Now, theres no doubt donald trump will be asked to reconcile those comments with his endorsement as theyre side by side today. Well see how they explains that one. Carol . I was just going to ask you about that. A tough one. The other question is why this News Conference scheduled for 9 00 a. M. Eastern . On a friday morning . Reporter i think this is a strategic move by the trump campaign. Weve seen him do this after other debates. A way to protect donald trump as he goes into these debates knows hes at center stage and never knows how hard his rivals will hit him. A way to wake up the next morning and change the narrative. Also gives him a way to say, look, i am bringing republicans behind me. Its time for the party to rally behind me. I am the frontrunner. Time for you to treat me lie the presumptive nominee. Carol . Set the scene. Where is this taking place exactly . What reporter was aloud into the event, et cetera, et cetera . Reporter wee are here at maralago, one of trumps promise. Prefers to hold them at his own properties. Its bigger than normal for a press conference and donald trump has managed to build his campaign essentially on free media. He spent relatively little on television because he holds big, flashy events like this and it draws dozens of reporters. Were seeing that again today, carol. Well, pandand i ask that quen because the narrative going around, the violence that keeps happening at trumps press events. The coverdeta daily news arrested for sellingedly sucker punching an africanamerican protestors at a trump rally in north carolina. I guess hes hoping this might change the narrative, too, because ben carson is seen as rather i dont know, a peaceful, christian man . Reporter well, i think that donald trump addressed some of these questions last night. I think hell have to continue to address them, because his campaign events, this is a little different, because its a press conference. Its with the media. Its not one of his big rallies, but at his big rallies we have seen runins between protestors and Trump Supporters. I have to be honest, carol, its not protestors we see throwing the punches here. Its donald Trump Supporters weve seen doing this. Trump has said he does not want to see this kind of activity. That he does not condone this kind of behavior but has made past comments saying maybe protestors deserve to be roughed up. At the rallies when you hear protestors hell say, get them out ha here. There is speculation he is trying to walk a fine line and in ways potentially fueling this. He disputes that. His Campaign Says they dont want to see violence and his Campaign Manager was out here saying thinking its unfair protestors would show up and interrupt a trump event. Carol, gives you an idea even though donald trump has riz ton higher numbers in the Republican Party than anyone imagined when he got in a lot of the things he said are divisive to the broader electorate and he has to deal with that if he gets the nomination. Stand by, sara. And the chief Political Correspondent for usa Radio Networks and a trump supporter and a cnn political commentator and trump supporter. Amanda, start with you. Ben cars han a lot of support among evangelicals. Why isnt he backing ted cruz . Listen, its no secret ben carson still has sour grapes from iowa. I think ted cruz absolutely ran a Great Campaign in iowa. Didnt do anything wrong but carson is heartsick about it. He wanted to bin that state and cruz won it. He hasnt gotten over the fact and so is going to donald trump. I dont any it makes a lot of sense given Donald Trumps positions, the fact hes insulted ben carson so brutally, but its a decision that carson made. And ask you that question. So donald trump at one time called ben carson pathological. Now hes embracing him. What changed . Well, i think it speaks very much to the trueness theyre not going along with egos, putting the people above their own egos and whats happening along the campaign trail. Weve seen the conservative movement. People who fought side by side to get good people elected many these candidates having to tear at each other, and so i know that in the future were going to fight together regardless what happens this year. I hope we will. This i think is a good step towards unifying the conservative base, not only for this president ial fights but the fights ta continue on in the futch guaranteed to happen. Dana bash and palm beach awaiting for this conference. Youve seen political enemies come together and support one another. Youve done this a long time. What does it take for that to happen . Reporter its funny. Theres no question that it happens all the sometime. There is particularly when you reach the end of a primary season, you tend to have unity i vents. People who are rhetorically ripping each others eyes out all of a sudden supporting one another saying they can get behind one another. This is a little different, because both of these men have never been politicians before. And, you know, i think for ben carsen in particular, he maybe didnt take Donald Trumps criticisms personally, but my understanding from sources on both sides of this is that he certainly took some of the alleged dirty tricks from ted cruzs campaign in iowa quite personally. His whole family did, and i think that that was likely part of ben carsons decision to go with with donald trump, even though he might have a lot of similar principles and ideals as ted cruz. Okay. Im just watching the door here, dana, and i understand dr. Ben carson just tweeted. What did he tweet out, my executive producer michelle is telling me in my ear. What did ben carson tweet . There it is. Okay. So ben carson tweeting this morning. Many people fight for change in d. C. Donald trump is a leader with an outsiders perspective and the vision, guts and energy to get it done. Okay. So i want to, while we await donald trump to come through those doors i want to go back to scotty hughes. Ben carson would help him with education issues. Lets watch a minute. Okay. Lets watch for a minute. Its happening. Lets watch. Well, thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. Its a great honor, and last nights debate was fun. It was different. It got wonderful there were a lot of good feelings in that room, and i think its something, frankly, that the Republican Party needed, and today is something very, very special, because dr. Ben carson was respected by everybody. Everybody wanted his endorsement, and Everybody Loves him, and truly, truly admires what hes done. His life has been an incredible life. Its been an aweinspiring life, and i just want to tell you that having his support really i think it just adds total credence to what im trying to do and what were all trying to do. So i just want to introduce dr. Ben carson, special, special person. Special man. Thank you very much. Thank you. Well, thank you, donald, and, you know, this whole process getting involved in the political process was something i never particularly intended to do, but, you know, i listened to the people, and it was really all about the people, and it continues to be all about the people. You know, its not about the Republican Party or the democratic party. Its about the people of america, and what i have been seeing recently is political operatives and parties once again trying to assert themselves and trying to thwart of will of the people. I find that that is an extraordinarily dangerous place to be right now, and, you know, i want the voice of the people to be heard. I want the political process to play out in the way that it should play out, and, you know, i think the Republican Party particularly will be very wise not to adopt, a lets stop this guy and promote this guy policy, but, rather, start thinking about, what are the things that are going to be helpful for america . Right now, you know, were in a process of going off the deep end. Were going off the cliff for fiscally irresponsible, hating each other, destroying ourselves, a house divided against itself cannot stand. Were failing to take a leadership position on the world stage. Now, some people have said, well, why would you get behind a man like donald trump . Ill tell you why pmp. First of all, ive come to know donald trump over the last few years. He is actually a very intelligent man who cares deeply about america. There are two different Donald Trumps. Theres the one you see on the stage, and theres the one whos very scerebral, sits there, you can have a very good conversation with him, and thats the donald trump that youre going to start seeing more and more of right now. And some people said, but well, you know, he said terrible things about you. How can you support him . First of all, we buried the hatchet. That was political stuff. And, you know, that happens in american politics. The politics of personal destruction, all that. Its not something that i particularly believe in or anything that i get involved in. But i do recognize it. It is a part of the process. We move on, because its not about me. Its not about mr. Trump. Its about america. And this is what we have to be thinking about. I have found that in talking with him that, you know, theres a lot more alignment, philosophically and spiritually, than i ever thought that there was. He will speak to that, but, you know, that actually surprised me more than anything. Because i do recognize how a persons image can be greatly distorted, having been the victim of that. I probably understand it better than anybody. And i think as the American People who we are focusing on, as they begin to see the real individual there, and those who are helping that individual, i think were going to be comforted as a nation. You know, we have to start working together. We cannot allow the agents of division to continue to separate us. As a nation, our strength is our unity. And we we just have to sort of ignore those people who are always trying to stir up strife, and im appealing to some degree to the media as well. You know, youre part of america, too, and should be interested in strengthening our nation. Not in creating divisions. Not in creating conflicts all the time. If we start having that american attitude that american spirit that made us great that took us to the pinnacle in no time at all, believe me, everybody will benefit from that. Were also talking about how can we make america a place thats successful for everybody. You know, we have 330 million people. Were going to be competing with china, with 1. 4 billion. India, 1. 4 billion. We have to develop all of our people. You know, the people who are the down trodden in our society. Were not going toes people any favor by patting them on the head and saying, there, there. You poor little thing. Im going to take care of all your needs. What we need to be doing is concentrating on things that allow them to climb out of the state of dependency and become part of the strength and fabric of this nation. Thats what america is about. Its not about dependency and it certain isnt about socialism. You know, socialism is seen as the panacea by some who dont really understand it. I think a lot of young people think socialism is just being concerned about other people. Thats not what it is. Its cradle to grave government, and you let them take care of you, but you give them all of your money. You give them control of your life. They all end up looking the same way. A small group of elites at the top controllinging everything. A rapidly diminishing middle class and a vastly expanded dependent class. That is not what made America Great. Donald trump talks a lot about making America Great, but its not just talk. He means it. Im going to be helping him. Others are going to be helping him. You know, one of the things that ive discovered in this country is we have some incredibly smart people. None of us knows everything, but when we begin to use those smart people effectively to accomplish the goals of america, youre going to see us once again begin to ascend to the pinnacle to a much higher pinnacle than weve ever achieved before and thats where america should be. Thank you so much. Thank you very much, ben, and ben and i were talking lengthily yesterday, and it was an amazing conversation. One of the things that i realized is, his great love is education, and he was telling me things about education, and it was so righton, and it was so good, and its such an important element for our country, and i said, ben, congratulations. You just have to get involved with us with education, because our educational system in the United States, as youve heard from my speeches, were ranked at the bottom of the pack worldwide yet we spend the most money per pupil. By far. Not even close. Second doesnt even exist. Ben is going to get very much involved and going to get very much involved in health care where hes an expert and even during the debates id always know, ben when it came to health care and talking about health, ben was in really a class by himself. So its such an honor to have ben. Hes a friend. Hes become a friend, and i really appreciate the endorsement, ben. Thank you. Any questions, folks . Yes . Mr. Trump david . Mr. Trump, two questions. First of all, did you guys, gently or formally apologize to each other for some of the nasty things you said on the trail . Yeah. Its politics. It is politics. Its tough stuff. Its a tough business. I used to think real estate in manhattan was tough. This is like this is a tough business, this politics. A lot of things happen in politics that dont happen anywhere else. So, yes. We understand that. Go ahead . The question always coming up in big endorsements. Any discussion between the two of you men or promises made about a position for dr. Carson in your administration either as a running mate or secretary of no. I thought it was lovely. When ben called, would you do this, do that . He just wants to help and feels strongly about whats happening ands you see the kind of crowds we get. Crowds that are amazing and recordsetting. I dont think theres ever been anything like it. Well, its on the cover of every magazine. Bens seen that and bens going to have a big, big part. Maybe ben doesnt know this yet, but bens going to have a big part. We want to keep that kind of talent. We want to keep. Yes . Mr. Trump, do you see mr. Carson, dr. Carson, playing a policy role princely for your campaign or as a surrogate on the campaign trail going places youre not going . And when he says there are two Donald Trumps, do you agree with that characterization and could you amplify on it . I probably do agree. There are probably two Donald Trumps. The public version and people see that and i dont know what they see exactly but it seems to have worked over my lifetime but probably different i think than the personal donald trump. Ben said it very well today. Perhaps there are two Donald Trumps, but well, you know, im somebody that is a thinker. Im a big thinker. And i have my ideas and theyre strong, and typically theyve worked out. And what i want to do is, you know, the theme and ben alluded to it the theme i have for this entire campaign is make America Great again what i want to do. Very simple. I want to make America Great again, military, borders, terrorism, so many problems. The debt. Look at our debt. 19 trillion going up to 21 trillion in a very short fashion. So were going to straighten things out and straighting then out correctly. Policy or politics for you . Doctor carson is both. Dr. Carson is both but very much on policy. Ben was always very strong on policy and very strong on policy. Thank you, mr. Trump. Youve talked a lot about unity on the campaign trail and in the debate last night. Can you fill us in on outreach efforts making to capitol hill and also ask you an Islamic State question after that. We have been called by the biggest people in politics, not only republican politics, but also the biggest people in republican politics, and over the last couple of weeks, you saw paul ryan reached out, and terrific guy. Always respected him, always liked him, and not necessarily agree on everything. Im very strong or borders and security and i think paul is, you know, i think hes going to have his views and i think probably certain things will change. But paul ryan reached out and we had a great conversation, and many other people at the top, top level. I sort of get a kick. I see you covering one person hoop saying, donald trump must be stopped. I talked to them two days before, donald, we have to come together. Weve been contacted by many of the biggest people in republican politics. Congressional lawmakers as well. Reaching out but really reaching out to us because they see whats happening. Getting millions and millions of additional people. People that the Republican Party has never had before. Its the biggest story. I said it last night at the debate. The biggest story in politics is whats happening. We are having millions and millions of people come out and vote for the republicans. They get out. They register republican. Ive had so many people tell me, ive never voted republican in my life. I left the democrats in order to register as a republican so i could vote for you. Independents, democrats, and you see it. Were up 65 , more than that. Millions of people more, and thats what im saying. The republicans now want to embrace it. I see it. They want to embrace it. Tom . Ask you about Islamic State quickly. Last night in the debate you talk and potentially sending up positive 30,000 american troops to more than president bush sent to afghanistan. Get back real soon. We have to get rid of isis. Up to the generals. We have to get rid generals have to play their own game. I want to find out we have the right general, ben, right . We dont want the wrong general talking to us but were going to find the right general, the right person or guy or woman. And prepared potentially for a long war . No. Its going to be very quick. Were very powerful. Were going to use our power. Yes . On the bur ig the hatchet deal with you and dr. Carson you mentioned politics is rough. Do you personally regret any of the things said about dr. Carson . Funny, i thought about it yesterday. I have such respect for ben. If you notice, the cnn poll came out 4915. How do you like that, ben . He wouldnt have been happy. But if you noticed, during this whole thing, nationally im talking about. Ultimately probably the most important. Cnn comes out 49 a couple days ago. 49 for trump and 15 for the two others i think at 15. The one person that just kept sneaking up on me, i couldnt lose him, was dr. Ben carson. I could not lose that guy, and i was doing well and you know, trump would be at 28 at that time. And i remember when it was 28, and ben was 18. And then he was 19. And then the next week it was like 22. I said, whoa, whoa. Whats this happening here . I dont like this. Right . And then he was 24. And then i had a pretty good poll where i took a little lead in one. And but then what happened is it was, i believe nbc, wall street journal, who always gives me bad polls by wait way. Oh, thank you for the nice things you always say about me. Thank you. Sitting next to david. Okay . Thank you very much. Always so nice. Now shes going to be bashful because shes embarrassed. I just want to thank you. So, ben, ben would always, like, hed be there and then we had one poll where ben went ahead. The biggest story worldwide. I said, this guy is unbelievable. And so i started going after ben. And its politics. I mean, ben understands that. And i was really impressed with the way he fought back, because he fought back with silence and strength. And i even commented on it. Somebody else would have gotten wouldnt have gone well. His great confidence, in himself, i was very, very impressed. It is true. Hes the one person i used the expression, i couldnt lose him. I couldnt shake him, he did so well and just go up, up, up, so steady, so solid, and i fought back and i hit him hard. And he, which is politics, and ben understands that, and he understood that, because i talked to him about it yesterday, but he handled it with such dignity i frankly thought it was amazing and actually gained a lot of respect for him. Okay. On that point, mr. Trump, you talked about the two donald trump, that there may be dr. Ben carson brought that up. When you say things like i want to punch a protestors in a face or said things about dr. Carson, is it politics . Playing character there . Its politics and its fact. Let me just telling, weve had some violent people as protestors. Not just people saying, oh these are people that punch. People that are violent people. I get the biggest crowds, by far. Not even a con test and you people dont like to report it, but actually the one thing good about protestors is you have to go and go into these stadiums, massive stadiums with 25,000, 30,000 people and cameras never turn. The cameras never, ever turn and show the stadium. I always say turn and show the they dont. A protestors up in the corner its great. The cameras all turn because its a negative as opposed to a positive so they turn. Weve had a couple really violent. The particular one when high said, like to bang him. That was a very vicious a guy who was swinging. Very loud and then started swinging at the audience. You know what . The audience swung back. And i thought it was very, very appropriate. He was swinging. He was hitting people. And the audience hit back. And thats what we need. A little bit more of. Now, im not talking about just a protestors. This was a guy who should not have been allowed to do what he did. Frankly, if you want to know the truth, the police were very, very restrained. The police have been amazing, but the police were very, very restrained. Okay. Yes . Mr. Trump, did the rnc ever come to you and i dont know if you know about the other candidates, but did they ever come to you and say this debate needs to be no, they didnt. They did not . Why do you think it was . I just think it was time. It was time. Very substantive last night. I said before, a very elegant debate. Vir substantive. Ben came in, a beautiful debate. Gotten great reviews as a debate. I wont tell people i won, even though i did win, let me just say. I repews to say that, time magazine, 80, slate, 84. Fox, 91 , fox. I dont believe it. New jersey. Com so, we in a debate last night and i think i did what i had to do. I dont know. Weve had enough debates, in my opinion. These debates have been, like like Vince Mcmahon should have put them on because they were wwe, and too much. I think that it really i think last night was something that was very important. That it come off like that, and we didnt speak and the candidates didnt speak about it, but it short of morphed into a very dignified debate. Yes . Mr. Trump go ahead, sir. You said in the debate last night you havent decided whether youll accept for the general election. Accept what . Whether youll raise money for the general election. Yeah. If you go that route doesnt it undermine your pledge to voters i dont think so. I wouldnt be taking money. If anything the party would take money. Im not taking money. I dont want money, but the party might take money. Its up to the party. Thats up to them. Not me. Something i havent given much thought to. I selffunded my campaign. I put in, i guess for 50 million, 60 million. I am somebody thats a business pers person the money is sort of irrelevant but i have a natural instinct to be a little careful with money. Thats the way i am, the way we have to be with our country. I expect to have, you know, tremendous amounts of money in this by the time we finish. I guess right now, into, you would know betser than me, maybe 30 million, maybe more. Others are in for 150 million and nowhere. Theyre out of the race. Im very proud of the race weve woo run. Somebody said, hes only been doing this eight months, but i know the system better than anybody, and the reason i know, because i was on the other side of the system. When they talk about Campaign Finance laws all these Different Things ive been there and know it better and from the real side. Not from the politicians side. Yes . Mr. Trump, i want to go back i want to go back to the, what major asked and tom asked about what dr. Carson said this morning on the radio and here about the two Donald Trumps. So many people know and like you because of your public persona. Is that the real donald trump or something we dont see . Well, its an interesting question. I dont like to over analyze myself. But i will tell you that i try and be, you know, who i am. I want to be honest. Certain questions are asked of me and i give a straight answer as opposed to politically collect answer. I know the politically correct answer better than anybody. Would you answer differently in private . I dont think so. I answer truthfully. Were at a point we have to start being truthful with the country. Like the question on islam. Im answering the question. I know the exact answer. I could have given an answer the other night to anderson cooper, perfect, nobody would have talked about it works have been fine but there is a problem. And weve got to find out what the problem is. We have to solve the problem. Youre not going to solve the problem unless you know there is a problem. So i want to answer questions honestly and forthrightly, and even if im on a big stage with all of these tremendous numbers of cameras around i have to answer honestly. The only way were going to solve the difficulties of our country. Yes, go ahead. Mr. Trump, just along the same lines, so why are there two Donald Trumps . Did you at some point make a conscious decision to behave differently in public for i dont think there are two Donald Trumps. I think theres one donald trump but you have certainly, look, all of this and you have somebody else that sits and reads and thinks, and im a thinker and have been a thinker and perhaps people dont think of me that way because you dont see knee that forum but i am a thinker. Very nice what ben said, actually, because it is another side of me. Im a very deep thinker. I know whats happening. Okay . Start seeing more of that side of you . Elaborate a little on that . Im going to work with ben on so many Different Things, and ill be honest, when i was with ben yesterday the thing that most impressed me, i know all about his views on health care because ive heard them and ive always felt he knew more about it than the other people on the stage, and perhaps he should, because that was what he was doing. But i was most impressed with his views on education. Its a strength. And its a tremendous strength. And so bens going to be involved with us in any aspect he wants to be but in particular on those two subjects. Okay . Yes. More of the, this toned down version what we saw last night with dr. Carnes referring to as your cerebral side. Do you plan to tone down your performances as depends. You cant say. I didnt go there as a toned down person. I went and whatever happens happens. You have to be able, to swing with the punches and to be honest with you, i went there, i didnt know if i was going to be if i was hit i would have hit back. Now, there are those people that said to me, i was telling ben yesterday, those people that said, it doesnt matter. Let them call you names. Let them do whatever they want. Stand there and take it. Youre leading. Youve got a substantial lead. Nobodys going to beat you. Dont do anything. And i said, i cant do that. When somebody hits, i have to hit back. So i thought they were very respectful yesterday. I thought frankly everybody did well. I thought it was, you know, i used the expression. I thought it was a very elegant debate last night. Go ahead. Mr. Trump you said earlier you felt we had enough debates. There is potentially another debate scheduled on march 21st. Is your suggestion to the rnc, guys, weve had enough . I think weve had enough debates. How many times do you have to give the same answer to the same question . Do you agree with that ben . Same question, say people, sail everything. Night to finish off with this one. I thought cnn did a fantastic job that jake was a great moderator. It was just it was just a really nice way to finish off the debate season, but i thought i really think its enough debates. I dont think theres in reason for the debates. I know theyre getting very big ratings. By the way, democrats are not getting ratings at all and our debates are getting very, very big ratings, but, you know, one of those things. I think we had enough. The net look, the Networks Want them. I dont think any of the candidates want them at this point. The networks very much want them. A phrase youve been rusing last several days on the trails and interview, embrace it. You were asked about that earlier. As you move forward now and as the contests start to limit, what are you going to do . Are you going to find yourself surrounding yourselves with more people endorsing you, speaking on your behalf . When i said embrace i was saying the Republican Party should come together and embrace these millions of people going down and voting. Millions. South carolina, new hampshire. No matter where it is, the millions and millions of people. Weve had i was going to bring down a list and i didnt want to bore you. States are up 102 from four years ago. 102 . Something is happening thats beautiful to see. And these are people in many cases, as i said last night, these are people that have never voted. Ben, i have people coming up, they said im talking about 40, 50, 60, 70 years old. So many people. Mr. Trump, ive never voted before and have a trump shirt on. I mean, they never put a political shirt on in their lives. They werent political people. They never had confidence in the people that they were voting for and said i have had literally, when i shake hands with people or when i sign autographs, people are saying, ive never voted before, mr. Trump. But i am so proud to be voting and some go early voting. Its been an amazing thing. What i said to the Republican Party, the establishment, if there is such a thing. I guess i used to be a member of the establishment eight months ago, but if there is such a thing im not sure that there is i said embrace it. Instead of are fighting it, fighting me like these people from club for growth. These are people that came to my office, asked for 1 million. I said, who are they . I dont even know who they are. Asked me for 1 million. I said, well, let me think about it. Then i found out who they are. Im not wasting 1 million. Why give them a million . Soon as i said that, they started doing negative ads. If i would have given them 1 million they wouldnt be doing this. Theyre extortionists. Negative ads, all wrong. They are lies by the way. Thats what you have. We should embrace it, the Republican Party should grab this, and we will have a victory, like the prRepublican Party has never had before. One of the things ben and i were talking about. I will win michigan, not in the playbook for the frRepublican Party. I think ill win new york. Can you match jn six states to win, florida, virginia, you know, go down the line. Pennsylvania. Ohio. You have to win certain states. If you lose one of them its over for the Republican Party. The structure. Structurally its much more difficult for somebody to get elected from the Republican Party. Everybody knows that. With me, i add a lot of states that arent even in play for anybody else. I mean, i add all of the rust belt states. I own states that i will get states that are unbelievable. That are unthinkable for the Republican Party. And we should embrace it. All right. A couple more and well you said dr. Carson would handle education for you. Here in florida worried about common core, came in a few years ago. Its up to states to handle that. How would dr. Cars don something about the issue a lot people have about ben knows the education knows what its going on. I ammo posed to common core i like local education. Ben feels very much the same way, and i think ben is going to do a Tremendous Service for helping the states, because, you know, we want to see it. Theres great love in education. When you circle those schools with the parents and the teachers and everything else, instead of a bureaucrat in washington, youre going to do a lot better. Okay . Any [ inaudible ] majority leader mcconnell . I have not yet. Im sure i will, but i have not yet. What is your reaction to the news that Mitch Mcconnell has been advising Vulnerable Senate republicans on, you know, running away from you, if you were the nominee . Im sure that will change. Yeah . Do you think that the Republican Party leadership, those that are in washington right now, are disconnected from the republican base, the electorate . Is that who you are seeing as maybe potentially dividing, uniting the electorate against Party Leadership . Its true. A big diskkz between the socalled leadership. I dont even know what the leadership is. I cant define it. Nobody knows what it is. A big connect between the socalled leadership and the people, but the people to me are much more important. Thamp the ones doing the voting. Thats why im standing up here and others arent. What dont they understand . The Republican Party lost its way. Lost two elections they should have won. Certainly the last election they absolutely should have won, easily. In my opinion much easier than the one coming up and they lost. So the Republican Party lost its way. The Republican Party now, something has happened, call it a miracle, call it whatever you want to do, but theyre talking about it all over the world. The biggest story in all of politics. One of the big stories of the world. The millions and millions of people that are pouring into the Republican Party. Not to the democrats, to the Republican Party. And these are people that were disenfranchised, people that havent had a pay increase in 20 years. These are people that have seen their jobs go to china. And to mexico. And to japan. And to vietnam. And to every other country in the world but us. Its going to all end. Its going to end. What will will you say believe me, its going to end. Get to the general election, democrats what will you say to them . One of the things let me tell you about the democratic voters, as you said. Democrat voters. I will tell you, one of the things were going to do is, we are going to get so many its already provens so Many Democrats have come and signed registration forms for the primaries where theyre voting for me. They laughed. They said theyve never done this in their lives. They had an expression, democrats, for reagan years ago. Were going to have democrats for trump. Much bigger. Get tremendous numbers of democrats. I have people in hollywood, friends of mine saying everybody out there is voting for you but theyre not going to admit. It why . Arent you proud . No bp becau no. Because i have a tough stance on crime, on borders. They all know im right. Theyre liberal people, dont want to admit it, but theyre going to vote for trump. Recently acknowledged this would come down to the convention . If it comes down to a convention fight whats your campaign doing . I think well do it without a convention. I hope well do it without going into the convention without having a fight but i feel and said it strongly, whoever has the most delegates at the end of this trip should win. Prepare for the possibility well, ill prepare. Im hoping to prepare. Ohio should be great for me, because theyre losing tremendous numbers of jobs. Youve seen whats happened with the coal industry in ohio. [ inaudible ]. I think ill beat john kasich. Yeah. Hes been an absentee governor. Campaigning for the last he lived in new hampshire. In fact, Chris Christie said that absolutely john kasich was there much more than him, which is true. And john kasich then went, as you know, to other states, different states. Very big in south carolina. He was there. He didnt win. Didnt win in new hampshire. Right . Didnt win in michigan. He guaranteed michigan. He said, i will win michigan, and i thought he said, you could correct me if im wrong, but i thought if said if i dont win michigan id drop out because michigan is his neighboring state, and i won michigan in a landslide, and he was living there. So john has been, you know, not really there, and johns got some innate problems. Hes very much in favor of transpacific partnership. P. Tpp. That will be the destruction of ohio. Now that oil is down, ohio got luck you because they struck oil and the budget went up higher than any other budget in the United States. Higher than any other budget. They got lucky because oil was under their ground as opposed to states where they dont have the oil. Now that prices of oil are down, ohios going to have a lot of problems. Maybe one or two more. Go ahead. Just to be clear you wont be in Salt Lake City on march 21st for this next debate . I din know we had a next debate. I thought it was last night. Yet another look, a ratings bow nance bonanza. I would be debates if networks agreed to give all of the money say to the Wounded Warriors or to the veterans. Networks are making a fortunen these debates. Ratings for the debates are through the roof. Can i be honest, its time to end the debates. No. I didnt know about a debate in Salt Lake City. Yeah . Clarify, youve been hearing mostly from republicanants like paul ryan. Have you pernt lypersonally rea to anybody in the Republican Party . Id rather not say but hearing by virtually everybody in the Republican Party and theyre congratulating me saying were going to get together. These are not stupid people. Theyre very smart people. They want to embrace. What are they going to do . Take millions of the voters look at the polls. I went to nevada, we won. All of them. The people that work in the polling areas, theyve been there 20 25shgs years, they love it. They do it. Theyre political people. Every single time i go they say, mr. Trump, weve nerve every seen anything like this. Go to nevada, wed stand here and the place would be empty all morning long and mnow lines fiv blocks long. Yes, maam, absolutely. Go ahead. Last night on the debate stage you said trade is an area you diverge the Republican Party. Very much so. Discussed a lot in the context of ohio. How would you differ on trade from Hillary Clinton . Well, hillarys terrible on trade. No business instincts, doesnt have the energy or strength to get the right deals done. You need strength, stamina, a lot to get these deals come. They come at you in ways. To do these deals where they wrap them up, put 12 countries in one, tpp as an example, i want individual trade deals with individual countries. Some deals well make will be so good. Some countries treat us better than others. Some are worse. China will take advantage of tpp. Its not in it now, but believe me, they will come through the back door. Theyre watching it so closely. I have so many friends in china. I have Great Respect for china. Im not angry at china. Im angry at our people. We have a trade deficit with china this year, 500 become. Its unsustainable. Were going to change our trade deals, make grade deals. Going to become a rich nation again. We cannot become a great nation until we are rich again. We cant afford social security, we cant afford anything. Im going to save social security. There are so many things we can do its going to go quickly, too. Okay yes . A quick question about dr. Carson, your addition to ten doors mr. Trump over senator cruz. You were open to endorsing one of the two. Why not senator cruz . Well, first of all, we had a lot of excellent candidates. I think any of the 17 candidates who were running could have done a fine job. But one of the real factors for me is what will happen if we allow the political operatives to succeed in their endeavor to stop donald trump . I think it would fracture the party irreparably and hand the election to the democrats, and they would get the picks in the Supreme Court and america would be forever changed. Thats the big picture. Its a very big picture. Its not about me. Its not about mr. Trump. Its about america. Why not senator cruz, ultima ultimately . Because i feel that mr. Trump is willing to do what needs to be done to break the strangle hold of special interest groups, and the political class. Are there any remaining hard feelings towards senator cruz over what happened in iowa . Ive completely forgiven him. Thats a duty one has as a christian. Dr. Carson you said throughout your life god has led you to your most important decisions. This truly is an important decision. Did god lead you to donald trump . I prayed about it a lot, and i got a lot of indications, people calling me that i havent talked to for a long time saying, i had this dream about you and donald trump i mine, just amazing things. But i also tend to think that the way god speaks to you is by giving you wisdom, and that wisdom seems to me that if we allow this attempt to disrupt the will of the people to be successful, it will fracture the party in an irreparable way, and that will hand the election to people who, i personally believe, would destroy our country. And the reason i say that is because, you know, Hillary Clinton was a great friend of sol wilensky. On a firstname basis when him as a student. He wrote the book rooms for radicals and if you havent read it, i recommend that you read it, and see the kinds of things that are recommended to change, fundamentally change, this nation from the Great Success we have to a socialist country. And the dedication page of that book says, dedicated to loo ed. I dont want anything to do with anything like that. You talk and burying the hatchet. Did you have any kind of conversation with mr. Trump like that with senator ted cruz . And did he ask you for your endorsement . He did not he did not specifically ask for an endorsement, but he did apologize, he said he wasnt really aware of what was going on. He didnt agree with it. Reporter dr. Carson, you said you were endorsing we the people. It sounds as if that interval of time youvel involved and the central focus, the effort to stop donald trump is what motivated you to endorse him. Is it his qualities or the movement against him that put you where you are . Its about we the people. We need to empower the people. That is not going to be done through politics as usual, be that republican politics as usual or be that democrat politics as usual. It requires somebody whos is bit of an iconoclast, but someone who has the ability to listen and to make wise decisions. Reporter dr. Carson, do you think that going back to what mr. Trump said, you have a lot of evangelicals that come out, and they were there when i was there, do you think that people will be representative of the American People, and do you think you can help bridge the gap with evangelicals and people of color now that youre endorsing mr. Trump . I hope we can bridge the gap with everybody. All the policies i have ever talked about and mr. Trump is going to be on board with this too. We talk about things that are good for everybody, not for this group or that group. The whole concept of picking and choosing winners and losers is something that i think is antithetical to what we believe, dont you . And that is simply not would not happen with a Trump Administration. We would be looking at ways to do things that benefit all americans, that create an equal playing field. Equality of opportunity. Thats what were looking for. And that doesnt mean that were not sensitive to people who are downtrodden. In fact, were very sensitive to people who are downtrodden, and well be putting in place things that will allow those people to ascend. Many people have been placed in a position of dependency for generations. They dont even recognize whats going on. We have to change that. Reporter dr. Carson, what are you doing to reverse the situation . [ question inaudible ] ill let mr. Trump answer that question. Reporter do you see a future for yourself in politics, and even if there was no promise in this endorsement, would you be interested in serving in a potential Trump Administration . Im interested in saving america. My concern is our posterity. All the people coming after us. And we are destroying any possibility of the American Dream to them with the policies that were doing. I would be very interested in helping to achieve the goal of saving america and making it great absolutely. Reporter you talk about mr. Trump, two Donald Trumps, the one in public and the one in private. Does that worry you for the American Voters . Should the voters know that second donald trump, and as that relates to you and mr. Trump have sparred on a number of issues whether its muslim database or religion. Are we seeing a second dr. Carson with this endorsement . I dont think so. But my point being that theres a different persona. Some people have gotten the impression that donald trump is this person who is not malleable, who does not have the ability to listen and to take information in and to make wise decisions, and thats not true. Now, you might get that impression from looking at debates and looking at some of the public appearances, but hes much more cerebral than that and a much more reasonable person than comes across. But as you well know, because youve heard me talk about it a lot, the media, theyre very skillful at painting people certain ways, and it may not be who that person is at all, and that person can spend all their time trying to change the media or they can just move ahead. I think hes decided hes just going to move ahead and focus the attention on the American People, not so much on the media. I think thats the right way to do it. Reporter will you be hitting the campaign trail with him . Well do some campaigning together. And the last question. Reporter you said you would be interested in being a part of a potential Trump Administration. Have you been promised a v. P. Spot in exchange for this endorsement . We have not talked about a role other than being involved and helping formulate policies and trying to make America Great. Thats the real key. And as was said by many, it is great, but the it is nowhere near as great as it can be, and a lot of the things that are in place and that have been in place and growing over the last few decades have led us to a place of incredible stagnation. We dont need to be there. And if we, once again, begin to embrace those policies that will create the atmosphere for entrepreneurial risk taking and capital investment, you will see an explosion like nothing youve ever seen before. We simply havent been doing that. I dont think its going to be that hard, and i dont think mr. Trump thinks its going to be that hard either. So, thank you all very much. Thank you very much. Great honor, and go outside. We have coffee and drinks. Enj enjoy yourselves. Thank you. All right. Were going to wrap this up. You heard donald trump say it, and you heard ben carsons endorsement. Big headlines out of this News Conference. Perhaps the biggest, mr. Trump says no more debates. Perhaps the second biggest headline, its a whole new image for mr. Trump, a much more cerebral one. As ben carson put it, he wants to portray himself as a wig thinker. He says there are two Donald Trumps, and one donald trump were not so familiar with apparently. I want to bring in a trump supporter and a cnn political commentator and ted cruz supporter. Amanda, i will start with you. What do you make of this . Well, i sort of wonder if dr. Ben carson is following the curse of other trump endorsers who are used for a day and september off to pasture. Ben carson standing up and saying there are two Donald Trumps, as if this is a good thing thats going to sell well with voters is a mistake. I know trump can say i am malleable, which i also think is a bad move, but saying i can make deals and be nice. This is the new donald trump. Thats a really hard sell. Ben carson didnt do him any favors with that speech today. Lets talk about the optics of this for a second. I noticed that dr. Ben carson did not stand behind donald trump at all while donald trump was behind the podium, and donald trump didnt even go onto the stage when dr. Carson was announcing his endorsement. Thats in contrast to when sarah palin offered her endorsement and Chris Christie offered his endorsement. I think we have pictures of that. There you see Chris Christie stood behind donald trump as he spoke. Dr. Carson, it appeared to me anyway, that he completely left the stage so that he would not be in camera range so he would not stand beside donald trump. Scottie, that had to be on purpose. I dont know. I think we might be reading too much into it right now. If youre going to sit there and think that theyre staging these press conferences now, youre going to have to admit the strategy among this campaign from the beginning. Honestly, you dont know. These people are not politicians. They dont have these things scripted. They dont have everything going along. Theyre going with the flow. But was it accident . If i just endorsed someone, im going to stand behind them to show america that im with him all the way. That didnt happen, at least optically in this press conference. Well, i think also the idea is that these people are still individuals. Theyre not necessarily hes adding support. That doesnt mean hes going to have to agree 100 or not agree. Thats whats great about this campaign season. Youre seeing folks go together who maybe before enemies before and working together. And thats what this is. Now, when youre talking about dr. Carson today, i think what you cannot sit there after listening to what he said and not know hes 100 behind mr. Trump and happy with that decision, and that both of them are on the same board. Just a few weeks ago they were opponents, and dr. Carson still has the idea of getting evangelicals out to vote and hopefully for mr. Trump with the endorsement. Stick around. Were taking a break. Well take more about dr. Carsons endorsement of donald trump, and donald trump saying there should be no more debates. Ill be right back. Good morning. Im carol costello. Thank you for joining me. Donald trump reels in a big endorsement. Minutes ago here, one time rival, dr. Ben carson, officially throwing his support behind drump. That could give the republican front runner a big boost among the gop base and conservatives. Its kind of a surprising choice given trumps nasty attacks on carson. He called him pathological, and because of his shared evangelical roots with ted cruz. Lets listen to a bit of the announcement. We buried the hatchet. That was political stuff. And that happens in american politics. The politics of personal destruction, all that. Its not something that i particularly believe in or anything that i get involved in. But i do recognize that it is a part of the process. We move on because its not about me. Its not about mr. Trump. Its about america. It is politics. Its tough stuff. Its a tough business. I used to think real estate in manhattan was tough, this is, like, this is a tough business, this politics. A lot of things happen in politics that dont happen anywhere else. We understand that. All right. Both men saying this is just politics. In fact, dr. Ben carson, sara murray said i have to forgive him. Thats what a christian would do. Remind us with donald trump said of dr. Carson not so long ago. Reporter well, thats right. There were some harsher words exchanged between them. At one point donald trump compared his persona to that of a child molester. Donald trump talked today about how important the endorsement was to him, though. When ben called he didnt say, would you do this or that. He just wants to help. And he feels strongly about whats happening, and you see the kind of crowds we get. We get crowds that are amazing, record setting. I dont think theres ever been anything like it. Its on the cover of every magazine. Theres never been anything like it. Ben sees that and is going to have a big, big part. Maybe ben doesnt know this yet, but hes going to have a big part. We want to keep that kind of talent. Reporter the two of them said they buried the hatchet. Ben carson told us he would be interested in a position in a donald Trump Administration, although he said they did not talk specifically about the vp. The other thing is donald trump came on this stage essentially acting as if he was about to become the nominee and saying i am done with debates. We have answered enough questions. The candidates have appeared on stage enough together. As of right now the rnc has a debate scheduled for later in march in Salt Lake City, and based on trumps comments, it does not sound like hes interested in appearing in the debate. Its possible that last night will be the last time we saw the republican candidates on stage together. I only find that interesting because he called last nights debate elegant because the candidates talked about policy, right . And he said he wants to introduce people who a very cerebral, intellectual donald trump. So why doesnt he want to participate in a debate about issues so people can see that side of him . Reporter one of the interesting things donald trump said was the debate was good for the Republican Party. It was something the Republican Party needed. I think thats what a number of officials felt like after we saw the debate in detroit where they were exchanging childish insults. I think everyone in the Republican Party wanted a moment to give these candidates a chance to rehabilitate their images and rise to the challenge and talk about some of the issues voters care about. The debate stage is a place to do that. But i think from Donald Trumps perspective, he feels like hes already shared enough of that air time with other candidates. He feels like he can go out and get his stump speeches and if he wants to talk more about policy on the trail, he can do it there. It was clear today he doesnt have a lot of interest in returning to the debate stage. All right. Sara murray, thanks to you. With me to talk about more, Margaret Hoover and also adrianna cohen, and dana bash will join us in a minute. She was seated in the press conference, so she has to get to a microphone. Ill start with you, margaret. There are two Donald Trumps. One is the, i guess the aggressive guy we see on stage, and the aggressive person we see in debates, and the other is the intellectual behind the scenes. Did you get that . Maybe theres more than two Donald Trumps, carol. At this point, frankly, i dont know. I dont know who donald trump is. Im a republican, a lifelong republican. I stand for principles of the Republican Party, and theres not a lot in donald trump that i recognize. So regardless of i think its fair to say he is somebody on tv, and hes probably somebody else not on tv. He probably is a caricature, and i think he is representing significant gripes and grievances that Republican Voters have. I think they see him as a vehicle for that voice and those grievances. But do i think he actually is that person . No, i dont. I think hes a phony who has gotten in the chair. Weve been asleep at the wheel in the Republican Party and hes driving the train. Look, maybe he is more calculated behind the scenes. I wish in the private moments he would think about what hes saying publicly. There are grave consequences to his words. Words mean something, last i checked, and if youre going to be the leader of the free world, you have to think deeply and carefully about what youre saying and communicating. Everybody is listening, and you cant just walk back everything you say. You cant twist and spin it. But, adrianna, lets talk about words and how they matter. Donald trump says calling ben carson a child molester was politics. Ben carson actually forgave him for that. He said he was impressed after he called ben carson pathological and a child molester, that ben fought back with a silence and strength that he greatly admired and thats why he wanted his endorsement today. That kind of doesnt make much sense. If he admired the silence and strength, why does he go on insulting people . Well, i think donald trump was trying to make the point in that in politics theres a lot of mud slinging that goes on the parties. We see it with republicans and democrats. Politics can get down and dirty. Behind the scenes, i think most republicans, including donald trump, respect and admire dr. Ben carson. Thats why i think his endorsement will be pivotal in this race. By ben carson getting on the trump train, that will unite the party and send a signal to all the evangelicals, take a look at this guy, join us, as well as the undecideds. The timing was critical leading into tuesday with all the big delegates at stake. Dana bash is in place. Mr. Trump wants to introduce the other donald trump, and he doesnt want to do that by partaking in any more debates. But if you listen to his policies last night, dana, when he was talking about them at the debate, he didnt really sound like a republican. I mean, he assailed free trade agreements, pledged not to cut things like social security. He wanted to take a neutral stance in negotiations with srl israel and the palestinian authority. Those arent republican talking points. A lot of them arent. I think its more proof that he is if you look at the republican spectrum, he is definitely more on the populous side of the republican spectrum. His opponents would argue they do argue that he showed some of his colors of kind of his former self, his former political self, that it wasnt that long ago that he had been advocating more traditional, even liberal ideas on health care. And across the board. But i think at the end of the day, the big question is well, let me say this. We know that the people who are his rock solid supporters in the republican electorate, it doesnt seem to matter to them. Its hard to believe that theres anything that any of Donald Trumps opponents can say and beyond to change their minds. Youve had rubio calling him a con man. Youve had jeb bush calling him a fake conservative, and on down. Certainly the donor class of the Republican Party, they are spending money, finally, to try to put more meat on that bone, and explain why hes from their perspective, a fraud. But at this point in time where he is right now which is trying to gobble up as Many Republican delegates as he can, the answers to those questions, carol, it doesnt seem to really matter very much to the people who are going out and voting for him in droves, and thats just the bottom line. Its so frustrating to the traditional republicans who are used to having to be pure on all of those issues, but its just not the same in this year and with donald trump as the candidate. Okay. Just going back for just a second to dr. Ben carson, because margaret, mr. Trump says he wants to involve dr. Ben carson heavily in his education policies, but as far as i know, ben carson isnt an expert in educational policies. Hes a neurosurgeon. Does that make sense to you . No. It would make a lot of sense for ben carson to be a the Surgeon General of a Trump Administration or to advise on obama care or how to revise obama care, make it better, transcend it, repeal it. Education makes no sense. Its a passion interest. He cares about education. We all care about a lot of issues. If youre putting together a team to run the United States of america, you want to best and the brightest in every field to advise you. Now, to be fair, we all know how the campaigns work. As soon as somebody comes in and says theyre endorsing, mr. Trump is grateful for the endorsement. Hes going to say how would you like to help, and if he says education, great, whats donald trump going to say . Nope. Cant have you there. Theyre beginning to work together. Its unclear that ben carson would be the secretary of education in a Trump Administration, although as we get further down the line, well get to know. But what dana said is right. It doesnt matter what we talk about on the policies. It doesnt matter that donald trump probably learns everything he knows about cuba on rubios question last night, and on issue after issue, hes proven hes ill informed. It doesnt matter. Even if he loses florida and ohio ted cruz on the flip side would have to win 70 of the remaining delegates if he loses ohio and florida. This train is going in one direction, and what republicans need to think really seriously about is does donald trump represent the Republican Party that they think theyre part of and that can be a Competitive Party in the future . And if not, what do we do . All right. I have to leave it there. I think they do. I have to leave it there. Thanks to all of you. Still to come in the news room, a democratic blitz ahead of tuesdays primary. Whos making the right moves . Well talk about that next. The roles you play in life are part of what make you, you. And youre not going to let anything keep you sidelined. Thats why you drink ensure with nutritious calories, 9 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. Come on grandma giving you the strength and energy to get back to doing. What you love. From the 1 doctr recommended bran. Ensure. Always stay you. Perfect driving record. Perfect. No tickets. No accidents. That is until one of you clips a food truck, ruining your perfect record. Yup. Now, you would think your Insurance Company would cut you some slack, right . No. Your insurance rates go through the roof. Your perfect record doesnt get you anything. Anything. Perfect for drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise your rates due to your first accident. And if you do have an accident, our claim centers are available to assist you 24 7. For a free quote, call Liberty Mutual at switch to Liberty Mutual and you could save up to 509 call today at see Car Insurance in a whole new light. Liberty mutual insurance. Ohio once again looms large in president ial politics over a legal fight over who should be allowed to vote in the state of ohio. The campaign for democrat, Bernie Sanders, who is wildly popular among young voters has filed a federal lawsuit against the ohio secretary of state. It accuses the republican of changing a law that allows 17yearolds to vote if they turn 18 years of age before the general election in november. Ohio secretary of state, john houston joins me live from columbus. Welcome, sir. Great to be with you, thanks. Thanks for being here. Mr. Secretary, you say youre happy to be sued. Why . Well, because its important that we clear these issues up. 17yearolds can vote in ohio, but theyre just limited on the issues that they can vote on. They can vote in nominating processes, but they cant vote in final elections. Any time youre electing a person. In a president ial primary process, the law says and tradition has been this way in ohio, that you cant vote if youre 17 because youre actually electing a delegate. Youre not nominating a candidate. And because of that, the law has been very clear, democrats and republicans have enforced it the same way, but the Sanders Campaign filed a lawsuit seven days before the election. When you do Something Like that, to me, its just a pure political act, and but im happy to clear this up. Let me ask you this question. If 17yearolds in ohio voted the way Bernie Sanders says they should vote in the past . No, they have not. And we have democrats and republicans who have run elections a lot longer than i have coming out and speaking up and saying, look, whats happening in ohio now is the same way its always happened. This is my sixth year as secretary of state. I ran the last president ial primary process. This is exactly the way we did it then. So this law, in ohio that regulates 17yearolds voting that regulates how 17yearolds its been on the books for 35 years. Why hasnt it clarified before this point . Its never been a controversy. When something has been done in the same manner for that long, its not a controversy. We voted for 21 days before the Sanders Campaign raised an eyebrow about it. This is a lastminute kind of political act to try to draw attention to his campaign, i assume. You think that Bernie Sanders is playing politics with this because they want to win the state of ho sno. Ohio. When youre focussed on ohio elections, these kinds of things happened. 11th hour lawsuits are something weve come to expect, come to its just the way it works, but its a tragedy thats happening, pause what im worried about, i dont want 17yearolds to be confused. They can vote, but they cant vote on every issue. That is confusing, though. Dont you think thats confusing . Because im confused by it. Well, you want to know something . As secretary of state, i was confused by it as well. But we have to follow the law to the letter, because lets see this through. Other issues are very important, so why allow if 17yearolds cant vote for a president ial candidate or for a nominee, then why can they vote for other issues in the state of ohio . Arent they justs