THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT FOR 'THIS WEEK' ON February 28, 2016 and it will be updated.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Cruz. He's in Arkansas this morning.
Good morning, Senator.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Good morning, George.
Good to be with you.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Thank you, Senator.
Thanks for joining us this morning.
New polls out this morning show you're looking pretty good in Texas, but Donald Trump is strong in so many other Super Tuesday states.
If he wins everywhere else, how can you prevent him from getting the the nomination?
CRUZ: Well, I think Super Tuesday is going to be the most important day of this entire primary. And -- and it is, right now we're in -- we're in a strong position in Texas and we're running neck and neck with Donald in states throughout Super Tuesday.
And I think it really depends on turnout. If conservatives come out and vote on Super Tuesday, we're going to have a strong day.
I also depends, George, you know, 65 percent of Republicans believe that -- that Donald Trump is not the best candidate to go head-to-head with Hillary Clinton, that Donald Trump loses to Hillary Clinton.
And -- and the only candidate that has beaten Donald Trump, the only candidate that can beat Donald Trump is me. And so I think more and more Republicans who are recognizing Donald Trump is not the right person for us to nominate. If we come together and stand united on Super Tuesday, we're going to have a good election night.
STEPHANOPOULOS: But, you know, you talk about that support from conservatives, but the fact is that in most of those states, Donald Trump is winning among conservatives, winning among your strong base of Evangelical Christians.
CRUZ: Well, you know, I think the debate last week really started to show some significant differences. And -- and in particular, the difference you saw is -- is you saw Washington deal makers -- listen, it's Washington deal makers that have gotten us in this mess.
And Donald promises yet more deals with Democrats. Remember, Donald is someone who has contributed financially to Jimmy Carter, to John Kerry, to Hillary Clinton, to Chuck Schumer.
He is someone who had funded open border Democrats for 40 years and -- and, indeed, one of the striking things, you know, Donald talks a lot about immigration, but in the 2013 battle over amnesty, when I was leading the fight against the Rubio-Schumer Gang of Eight amnesty bill and we defeated it in Congress, Donald Trump was funding the Gang of Eight. Five of the eight members of the Gang of Eight received, collectively, over $50,000 from Donald Trump.
And you can't be funding open border Democrats, like Donald Trump did, and, at the same time be claiming that you're actually going to secure the border and stop illegal immigration.
STEPHANOPOULOS: You've been making that point about Donald Trump supporting Democrats for -- for several weeks right now. It doesn't seem to be sticking.
Why not?
CRUZ: Well, listen, I know we're seeing real movement in the polls. We won in Iowa and -- and I think on Super Tuesday, we're going to have a good night. You know, I've got to say, George, it was striking at the debate this week when Donald Trump disagreed with me. He disagreed with me, number one, on Israel. He said that America should be neutral between Israel and the Palestinians. I strongly disagree with him on that.
If I am president, America will stand unapologetically with Israel.
But he also disagreed with me on the Supreme Court and religious liberty. He said, Ted, you've got to be willing to cut deals, you've got to be willing to compromise.
I'll tell you right now and I'll tell the people at home, I am not going to compromise on "The Bill of Rights." I'm not going to bargain away your religious liberty. I'm not going to bargain away your Second Amendment rights and sit down with Harry Reid or Chuck Schumer and agree on Supreme Court nominees. we need a president who will invest the political capital to defend your -- your constitutional liberties. And Donald Trump told us at the debate he doesn't intend to do that. There's a reason Harry Reid, when asked about the Republican field, said the Republican he likes the best is Donald Trump, and he said, because I can work with him. He'll cut deals.
We've had too many deals in Washington. It's way we're bankrupting our kids and grandkids.
STEPHANOPOULOS: You've made a big issue of Donald Trump's taxes, now released summaries of your own returns.
If he releases those some kind of summaries, will that be enough?
And -- and what do you think of his -- his statement that he believes he might be targeted by the IRS because he's a Christian.
CRUZ: Well, I -- I think his statement, nobody who heard it had any reaction other than laughter. Listen, I've released now nine years of taxes. Donald Trump has not released any of his tax information. He needs to release his tax information.
And -- and the fact that he's refusing to do so really suggests, as Mitt Romney pointed out, that there may be a bombshell in there, that there's something he's hiding.
Now -- now, it could be an awful lot of media...
STEPHANOPOULOS: What do you think it is?
CRUZ: -- outlets have reported -- well, a lot of media outlets have reported that he doesn't make nearly as much money as he says he does.
You know, who knows, maybe -- maybe the -- the fact is that Mitt Romney is richer than Donald Trump. We don't know. But -- but he's clearly hiding something.
On the other hand, it could be donations to liberal groups like Planned Parenthood. At every debate, it seems, he praises Planned Parenthood. Maybe he's written them a bunch of checks. Or -- or, you know, maybe there are other issues. You know -- you know, for example, there have been multiple media reports about Donald's business dealings with the mob, with the Mafia. Now maybe his tax returns show that those business dealings are a lot more extensive than has been reported...
STEPHANOPOULOS: Business dealings with the Mafia?
CRUZ: We don't know -- indeed. ABC has reported that. You guys have reported that he's -- he's done deals with S&A Concrete, which was owned by two of the big crime families in New York, and that he's had involvement in Atlantic City. Maybe that's what his tax returns show.
We don't know, but the important point is, George, in the general election, Hillary Clinton is going to shine a light on all of this. And Republican primary voters deserve to know. And the media is going to amplify the Democrats' attacks a thousand fold.
The Republican primary voters deserve to know if there's a scandal, if there is, at Mitt Romney put it, a bombshell in Donald Trump's taxes, we deserve to know, the voters deserve to know and to vet the candidates.
STEPHANOPOULOS: You know, elected officials are in -- Republicans are getting increasingly nervous and -- and some are even calling on you -- Representative Franks from Arkansas, from -- from Arizona, excuse me -- to join forces with Senator Rubio in a joint ticket.
Here's what he had to say, "Senator Rubio and Senator criticize can unite and win together or remain apart and each fail separately. For the sake of our country, the conservative cause and future generations, I adjure both Senator Clinton and Senator Rubio to unite.
CRUZ: Well, listen, I agree with the sentiment that -- that to beat Donald Trump, we've got to come together. What Donald wants is -- is all of us who are -- who are convinced Donald is not the right nominee to be divided, to be splintered. And -- and looking at this race, only one candidate has beaten Donald Trump. Historically, in modern times, nobody has ever won the nomination who hasn't won one of the first three states -- Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina.
Only two of us have done that, me and Donald.
And if you look at Super Tuesday, we're the only campaign in a position to beat Donald on Super Tuesday.
So if you're at home and -- and you don't think Donald is the right candidate, you think nominating Donald will end up electing Hillary Clinton, then even if, perhaps, you -- you look another candidate -- listen, there are a lot of good people in this race who I like and respect, but I would encourage you to stand with us, because the only way to beat Donald is for us to stand together on Super Tuesday.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator Cruz, it sounds like you're not ready to unite with Marco Rubio now, but thank you for joining us this morning.
And we're live next with Chris Christie in a THIS WEEK exclusive.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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