THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT FOR 'THIS WEEK' ON February 14, 2016 and it will be updated.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, HOST: Let's get to the candidates right now, starting with Senator Ted Cruz.
He joins us from South Carolina this morning.
Senator Cruz, thank you for joining us this morning.
Let's begin with that news about Justice Scalia.
You've said that President Obama should wait to name a successor, but Ronald Reagan nominated Anthony Kennedy with 13 months left in his term, was confirmed in February, 1988.
President Obama has more than 10 months left in his term.
Why isn't his right to nominate a justice and the Senate's responsibility to give that nominee an up or down vote?
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: George, the Senate has not confirmed a nominee that was named in the final year, an election year, in 80 years. This is a lame duck president. And, by the way, the only reason Anthony Kennedy was nominated that late is that Democrats in the Senate had gone after and defeated two previous nominees, Robert Bork, which set a new standard for partisan attacks on a nominee, and Doug Ginsburg.
So it was the Democrats that had dragged it out for many months to make it that late.
And -- and right now, the court is exquisitely balanced. Justice Scalia, someone I've known for over 20 years, who was an extraordinary man, a principled jurist, faithful to "The Constitution," his impact on the court was incomparable. As Ronald Reagan was to the presidency, so Justice Scalia was to the court.
And this is a 5-4 court. This next selection needs to be a referendum on the court. The people need to decide and -- and I'm very glad that the Senate is agreeing with what I called for, that we should not allow a lame duck president to essentially capture the Supreme Court in the waning months of his presidency...
STEPHANOPOULOS: But does...
(CROSSTALK)
STEPHANOPOULOS: -- does that mean -- does that mean that you're going to filibuster anyone -- anyone that President Obama nominates?
CRUZ: Absolutely. This should be a decision for the people, George. We've got an election. And, you know, Democrats -- I cannot wait to stand on that stage with Hillary Clinton or with Bernie Sanders and take the case to the people, what vision of the Supreme Court do you want?
Let the election decide it. If the Democrats want to replace this nominee, they need to win the election.
But you know what, I don't think the American people want a court that will strip our religious liberties. I don't think the American people want a court that will mandate unlimited abortion on demand, partial birth abortion with taxpayer funding and no parental notification. And I don't think the American people want a court that will write the Second Amendment out of "The Constitution."
All of those are 5-4 issues that are hanging in the balance.
STEPHANOPOULOS: But -- but the people elected...
CRUZ: And I'll tell you, you know, the consequence of...
STEPHANOPOULOS: -- President Obama, didn't they?
CRUZ: They did, but -- but that -- that was three years ago and elections have consequences. The people also gave us a Republican Senate this last election because they were fed up with Barack Obama's lawlessness.
But Justice Scalia's passing also has a profound impact on this primary. It underscores the stakes for the people of South Carolina. They're looking at the individuals on that stage.
They're asking, who can I trust?
Who do I know will defend "The Constitution" and will defend "The Bill of Rights," because the pattern we've seen, George -- and you're a veteran of these battles for many years -- Democrats understand the stakes and they fight tooth and nail for left-wing judicial activists.
Far too many Republicans don't care about the court, don't invest political capital in it. And it's way so many Republican nominees have turned out to be disasters.
And let me say something...
STEPHANOPOULOS: One of them that...
CRUZ: -- in particular to the veterans of the state of South Carolina.
To the veterans in South Carolina, your Second Amendment rights are hanging in the balance. Justice Scalia, one of his biggest opinions was the "Heller" decision. It was 5-4 upholding the individual right to keep and bear arms. If an additional liberal justice goes to the court, we're one justice away from the Second Amendment being written out.
And if Donald Trump becomes president, the Second Amendment will be written out of "The Constitution," because it is abundantly clear that Donald Trump is not a conservative. He will not invest the capital to confirm a conservative.
And so the result would be the same...
STEPHANOPOULOS: He says he will.
CRUZ: -- whether it's Hillary, Bernie or Donald Trump. The Second Amendment will go away.
STEPHANOPOULOS: He says you're wrong. He says he will and he says your judgment should be questioned because you supported John Roberts.
CRUZ: Listen, number one, I did not appoint John Roberts. George W. Bush did.
Now, once the president made the appointment, I supported that nomination. That was a mistake, but I would have -- I would have appointed Mike Luttig, my former boss. Scalia's very first law clerk. And -- and more broadly, you've got to look at Donald Trump's history. This is a man who, for four decades, has supported liberal Democrats. Donald Trump supported Jimmy Carter over Ronald Reagan. Donald Trump gave money to Chuck Schumer, to Harry Reid, to Hillary Clinton. Donald Trump supported John Kerry over George W. Bush.
Now, let me tell you, George, anyone that writes checks to Chuck Schumer and Harry Reid and Jimmy Carter and Hillary Clinton does not care about conservative justices on the court.
Donald Trump himself -- you know, the one person he has suggested that -- that would make a good justice is his sister, who is a court of appeals judge appointed by Bill Clinton. She is a hard core pro-abortion liberal judge. And he said she would make a terrific justice. So the people of...
STEPHANOPOULOS: He has also (INAUDIBLE)...
CRUZ: -- South Carolina need to know...
STEPHANOPOULOS: -- conflict of interest there...
CRUZ: -- if you -- if you vote...
STEPHANOPOULOS: -- and he would not appoint her.
CRUZ: -- it -- but it gives you an example of the type of people he -- he would be looking to, the type of people he would be looking to. Donald Trump is not a conservative. For his entire life, he has been self-described very, very pro-choice. He supported partial birth abortion.
You know, yesterday, he defended Planned Parenthood and federal taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood on the debate stage.
George, have you ever seen a Republican on a Republican debate stage defending taking federal taxpayer money and giving it to Planned Parenthood?
He said he thinks they do terrific things.
STEPHANOPOULOS: It certainly has...
CRUZ: I don't think Planned Parenthood does terrific things. And I don't think the conservatives of South Carolina do, either.
STEPHANOPOULOS: It -- it certainly has been a long time. I have -- I have never seen you unload on Donald Trump like you just have in the last couple of minutes.
Is that because you're concerned that if he wins South Carolina, he can't be stopped?
CRUZ: What I'm concerned about, George, is our country is in balance. I've devoted my entire life to fighting to defend "The Constitution" and "The Bill of Rights." The "Heller" decision, I represented 31 states in "Heller" defending the Second Amendment. We won that case.
You know, we've talked about abortion restrictions. I represented a coalition of states defending the federal ban on partial birth abortion. We won that case 5-4.
I don't want to see our liberties taken away. You know, my daughters, Caroline and Catherine, are seven and five. I don't want to have to look at my daughters and say the freedoms that America has had for two centuries, you don't get because we didn't step up and pull it back and -- and Justice Scalia's passing, I think, really changes the entire contours of this race. The time for the circus and the reality show is over. This is a serious choice and we are talking about losing our basic liberty if we get this wrong.
And it's way I have so much faith in the people of South Carolina that -- that they value liberty, they value "The Constitution."
And I'll tell you one final point, which is we're also choosing a commander-in-chief. This is a dangerous world and it doesn't make any sense to appoint someone -- to -- to elect someone as commander-in-chief who doesn't understand the nature of our enemy.
You know, last night, Donald Trump de -- defended his calling for George W. Bush to be impeached. That is not consistent with "The Constitution" and it -- and those are the views of the fever swamps of the left. That's where Donald comes from is the fever...
STEPHANOPOULOS: That is...
CRUZ: -- swamps of the left. He's supporting John Kerry and saying let's impeach George W. Bush. That is not a commander-in-chief fit to keep this country safe.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator Cruz, you put a lot on the table there.
Thanks for joining us this morning.
CRUZ: Thank you for having me.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Let’s take that right to Donald Trump. He joins us now by phone. And, Mr. Trump, you just heard Senator Cruz right there. He says you’re part of the fevered swamps of the left.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (on the phone): Well, that’s absolutely false and this country’s made a lot of mistakes and the war in Iraq was one of them. And a guy like Cruz wouldn’t even understand what a mistake is. He stands on the Senate floor, he’s got no support from one senator. You look at his colleagues, he has absolutely no endorsements. He has no support. He’s a lone wolf and he’s going to get nothing done. He’s not a leader.
Never employed anybody, never created a job. This is the wrong guy, I will tell you. And he’s a nasty guy, no matter how you figure it. He’s a nasty guy. So. And what he did to Ben Carson was disgraceful in Iowa when he made the fraudulent voter violation manuscript where he sent it out to voters was a fraud. You know, he holds up the Bible and, believe me, he might hold up the Bible but this is not a man that in my opinion should be president. I think he’s really done a great -- I think he’s done a great disservice to himself and to the Republican Party.
STEPHANOPOULOS: On that last point he raised, you did say back in October 2008 that impeaching President Bush would be a wonderful thing. Do you still believe that?
TRUMP: I didn’t endorse anything. I think he did a terrible thing when he went into Iraq and we can all be nice and we can be politically correct and we can say how wonderful -- and Jeb Bush, his brother, took him five days before he even understood how to answer the question. And then his pollsters ultimately gave an answer five days later. He was mumbling back and forth, you remember that fiasco. He was gone by the time he started. When he announced, he was practically done. He couldn’t even understand whether Iraq was a good thing or a bad thing.
Ultimately, he determined that the Iraq War was a bad thing. Well, his brother’s the one that got us into that war. There were no weapons of mass destruction. There were no anything. We got into a war, we’ve destabilized the entire Middle East, and by the way, Obama got us out of the war the wrong way. Because the way he did it, by announcing a specific date and by not leaving people in, was frankly disgusting and very, very foolish.
And I will tell you, you go back to 2003, 2004, I’m the only one on the stage who said don’t go into Iraq, you’re going to destabilize the Middle East. I was against the war even though I’m the most militaristic person there is. I said don’t go on this stage, don’t go on the -- don’t do this war. If you do this war, you’re going to destabilize the entire Middle East. That’s exactly what happened. That’s why we have the migration and all of the other problems that we have right now in the Middle East.
STEPHANOPOULOS: But in 2008, you did say that impeachment would be a wonderful thing on tape to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Just seemed like you’re going to really look to impeach Bush and get him out of office, which I personally I think would’ve been a wonderful thing.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOSTRUMP: Impeaching him?
TRUMP: Absolutely, for the war. For the war.
BLITZER: Because of the conduct (INAUDIBLE).
TRUMP: Well, he lied. He got us into the war with lies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHANOPOULOS: What evidence do you have that President Bush knowingly lied? And I’ll ask the question again: do you still believe that impeachment would be a wonderful thing?
TRUMP: I don’t even think about it. It’s past time. He was -- he made a horrible mistake, we all make mistakes. His was a beauty. His was about as big a mistake as you can think of. I see all the soldiers that died, I see the wounded warriors all over who I love, who I work with, and I’ll tell you what, it was a horrible mistake. We spent $2 trillion on that war and we have nothing.
And you know what’s happening now? Iran’s taking over Iraq with the second largest oil reserves in the war. And when we got out, I said, on your show, George, and on many other shows, I said keep the oil. Don’t leave, keep the oil. Well, guess what? ISIS has the oil and Iran will have the oil and that oil, the value and the tremendous wealth, fueled ISIS.
Then I said recently, bomb the oil -- not recently, over the last three years. Bomb the oil. Don’t let them have the oil. But nobody wants to listen.
We have politicians, all talk, no action, and a guy like Ted Cruz would be an absolute disaster. And he’s not a leader.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Let’s turn to the Supreme Court right now. You also heard Senator Cruz right there say that you can’t be trusted to make a Supreme Court pick, that you would pick liberals on the court. He cited your praise of your sister, saying she would be a phenomenal Supreme Court justice.
Your response?
TRUMP: Well, look, just so you understand, I said it jokingly. My sister’s a brilliant person, known as a brilliant person, but it’s obviously a conflict. And I said, oh, how about my sister? Kiddingly. My sister, also she -- she also happens to have a little bit different views than me, but I said in that in a very joking matter, and it was all lots of fun and everything else. I would say total conflict of interest as far as my sister.
Somebody like a Diane Sikes from Wisconsin I think would be very good. There’s some great people out there. But my sister obviously would not be the right person; it’s a conflict of interest for me.
STEPHANOPOULOS: How will you convince conservatives that your appointees will be conservative?
TRUMP: Well, let me just tell you about appointees. Justice John Roberts gave us Obamacare twice. He could’ve -- he could’ve foiled, he could’ve ended Obamacare twice. He had two votes, he went up shockingly, he voted in favor of Obamacare. He got there because Ted Cruz pushed him like wild. And by the way, Jeb Bush pushed him through the brother. They were close. And Jeb Bush and -- and Cruz pushed Justice John Roberts, that now we have Justice John Roberts. What we happened is he, twice, could have Obamacare and he didn’t do it. So Cruz shouldn’t be talking, because that was among the worst appointments I’ve ever seen.
We have Obamacare because of Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush, and George Bush.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Let me ask you a final question, the same question I asked Ted Cruz. They really seem to be piling on you last night. You heard those boos from the crowd as well. You think this is all happening because the other Republicans have figured out that if you win South Carolina, you may not be stopped?
TRUMP: Well, the reason it happens is because I’m self-funding. I’m putting up my own money. I’ve built a tremendous business, I don’t need anybody’s money, and I’m going to do what’s right for the people of the country.
In that room were many people that I know very well. They’re all lobbyists and they’re special interests and they gave a lot of money to Jeb Bush. This guy’s wasted $140 million running a failed campaign. I mean, the guy spent $43 million in New Hampshire and he came in fourth or fifth. I spent $3 million and I came in first by a lot. I mean, this is the kind of a guy you want a president?
So between him and Cruz, I’ll tell you what, the Republicans are in trouble and they will never beat Hillary Clinton. I’m the only one that’s going to beat Hillary Clinton. Believe me, they will never beat Hillary Clinton.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Mr. Trump, thanks very much for your time this morning.
TRUMP: OK, thank you very much.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And we have much more ahead. Senator Marco Rubio, Governor John Kasich going to join us. The powerhouse roundtable as a well, and a look back at the legacy of Justice Saclia.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, HOST: And we're back now with Senator Marco Rubio, coming off that debate last night in South Carolina.
Thanks for joining us this morning, Senator Rubio.
And let's begin...
SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thanks, George.
STEPHANOPOULOS: -- with that debate. Getting pretty nasty out there.
You think, as Governor Kasich suggest -- suggested, that you all might be hurting each other and helping the Democrats?
RUBIO: Well, sure. I said that before. I mean I -- I always try to avoid that sort of engagement. It got me into trouble a week ago, unfortunately. I had a bad moment because I chose not to go after Governor Christie and instead kind of respond by pivoting back to the central issues in this campaign.
So it's kind of a catch-22.
But in the end, I'm not running against any of these other Republicans, I'm running because I want to be president of the United States. And -- but if you're attacked, I think it's important to respond. And, uh, so if I'm attacked at a debate, I'm going to respond. And last night, as you saw, an exchange with Ted Cruz, you know, there is a situation happening now where Ted is literally saying things that aren't true habitually now in this campaign on issue after issue.
You know, he's -- just in the last week, he hasn't told the truth about my position on Planned Parenthood, on marriage. He didn't tell the truth about his previous stance on immigration.
So these things have to be clarified and -- and they need to be addressed.
STEPHANOPOULOS: He said earlier this morning that he would filibuster any choice that President Obama made.
Are you taking the same position?
RUBIO: Yes, but he won't have to because, uh, Mitch McConnell has already made it very clear that we're not going to move forward until there is an election. And I think that's the right decision. The court can function with eight justices. In the last year, within the last few months of the president's term, we should not be appointing Supreme Court justices.
Now, the president can go ahead and nominate whoever he wants, the Senate shouldn't move forward on it until after the election.
We're going to have an election...
STEPHANOPOULOS: But so if you're...
RUBIO: -- in November. One of the key -- go ahead.
I'm sorry.
STEPHANOPOULOS: So if you're elected president, will you promise not to make an appointment in your final year?
RUBIO: Yes, well, I'm not saying the president can't make an appointment. I'm saying we're not going to move forward on it in the Senate. And that has been the practice now...
STEPHANOPOULOS: So you're saying he should?
RUBIO: -- for over 80 years.
He -- well, he's done. I'm not -- he has the legal right to do it, but -- and -- and as president, I would recognize that precedent and the precedent that's been set over the last 80 years has been that in the last year of a president's term, and in a second term especially, there should not be Supreme Court nominees put into lifetime positions for a president that you're not going to be able to hold accountable at the ballot box. There's going to be an election in November. This is going to be an issue in the election. The voters are going to choose a new president.
And that new president, who I believe will be me, should then fill that vacancy for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court.
STEPHANOPOULOS: We also just heard Donald Trump say he doesn't think about impeachment of George W. Bush anymore, but he's not backing off those comments he made last night that President Bush lied about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
Given those statements, is -- is Donald Trump still a -- a nominee you could support if Republicans choose him for the nomination?
RUBIO: Well, I would have hoped that Donald, last night, would have repudiated those comments and just said that's what he said then, he doesn't believe it anymore. I mean his unwillingness to walk away from that is disturbing.
He's not going to be the nominee. I'm going to be the nominee, so we're not going to have to worry about that.
But it is a disturbing comment. I don't -- of course, I don't believe George W. Bush lied. I think George W. Bush acted based on the information provided to him, that, by the way, was also shown to Congressional leaders like Nancy Pelosi and others, and they, too, agreed with that assessment.
Now, it turned out not to be accurate, and that's unfortunate. That being the case, he didn't lie. A lie is when you know what's true and yet you say something different.
STEPHANOPOULOS: I know you hope that you're going to defeat Donald Trump, but my question is very simple, will you support him if he's the nominee?
RUBIO: I'm going to support the Republican nominee. And I think the Repub -- and I know the Republican nominee is going to be someone that holds views like mine. I -- I don't share all the views that Donald Trump has, and I think, ultimately, he won't be the nominee. But I'll support the Republican nominee, because the Republican nominee, no matter who it is on that stage, is still going to be a better choice than Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator Marco Rubio, thanks for joining us this morning.
RUBIO: Thanks, George.
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