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Erin Burnett Outfront

Donald Trump Takes Questions From Reporters; Dueling Events: Trump And Bush Speak Nine Miles Apart in New Hampshire; Awaiting Trump's First Campaign Town Hall. Aired 7-8:00p ET

Aired August 19, 2015 - 19:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[19:00:01] DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Oh, sanctuary cities. It is a disgrace. What happened in San Francisco and other places, sanctuary cities should be defunded and should be just gotten rid of. Sanctuary cities are a disgrace. Go ahead.

(INAUDIBLE QUESTION)

We will talk about that. Go ahead.

(INAUDIBLE QUESTION)

Well, somebody wrote an article that I was a whiner, that I complained. And I said, you know, he's actually right. I do complain. Because our country is in trouble. We are run by people that either are not smart, perhaps they're incompetent, perhaps they have bad agenda, which I actually don't believe, I just think they're not good at what they do, I think they're incompetent. And he said I am whiner, I'm a complainer and I am. I am a complainer. And I said, I complain and complain and I whine and I whine until I win and then I win. And I will win for the American people.

We're going to have great trade deals, we're going to have a strong military, we're going to take care of our vets. We're going to take care of this country, we're going to get rid of ObamaCare and come up with something that will be spectacular, that will be better for people. Look what's happening with the premiums on ObamaCare. They're going through -- I mean, take a look at what's going on with the premiums. They're going through the roof, up 40 percent, 45, 50 percent. We will make our country great again. All right, maybe one more question. Say it again.

(INAUDIBLE QUESTION)

Say it again.

(INAUDIBLE QUESTION)

Jeb Bush is a low energy person. For him to get things done is hard. He is very low energy. Go ahead.

(INAUDIBLE QUESTION)

Yes. You know what we spend on illegal immigration right now? We're spending $130 billion a year. So, if we can spend a similar amount and not have the problem, it will be phenomenal. It is a good deal. It is a one year payback, you know, not that I'm looking at that. But we do need it. Hey, we are losing as a country on a yearly basis billions and billions beyond anybody -- they can't even believe it. You look at our trade deals, you look at what we are talking with illegal immigration. We have to straighten things out and we will.

But, you know, a lot of people are saying that the plan, building the wall is something that has to happen. It is not expensive. Won't be expensive. The reason it looks expensive is you have people working on it that don't know what they're doing. It is not expensive. And that wall will save us. But you know, the one thing I have to get before we leave, I want people to come into the country. I want them to come in legally. And I want really talented people also to come into -- great workers, great talent. I want a lot of people to come into the country, but they have to come in legally.

(INAUDIBLE QUESTION)

I love that question. What a good guy. Who are you? I love you. This is a great guy. Why can't you ask me a question like that? Look, we are crossing -- you know, it is very interesting. North Carolina just came out, a poll just came out, public policy polling. And I am leading in North Carolina by a lot. And I'm leading against Hillary Clinton by a lot. Very important place and very important state and a great state, and a lot of things. And they went over the numbers. And so did many of the other polling companies. And I draw from Democrats and I draw from conservatives and Tea Party. I draw from everybody. And people are a little surprised, straight across the board. But we draw more than anybody else from the Democrats and that's good. You know, ultimately we're going to have to do that if we're going to win. Go ahead, one question, you look so nice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some voters say they love you but they never vote for you.

TRUMP: I don't have to worry them. You know, all I have to do is take look at the poll. You know, what? That's changing. Excuse me. Say it legitimately. How much has that changed in the last three, four weeks? In New Hampshire it is so positive, and by the way Iowa, it is so positive. Because they've gotten to know me. I have been here a lot, and I've been to Iowa a lot. And South Carolina a lot, well, we have incredible numbers. And in the places where I go, my favorability is through the roof, including New Hampshire.

Okay. I'm going to have to go. I would do one from you, but it is always a negative question. Go ahead. Can you ask a positive question? Let's see if it is possible. What?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think that Americans (INAUDIBLE) --

TRUMP: If necessary I would do that. Yes. We have to stop ISIS. I didn't want to do Iraq, it was a big mistake, it should never have happened. The way we got out was also a big mistake. We cannot let ISIS continue to do what they're doing. So, if necessary, the answer is yes. Okay? Thank you, everybody. [19:05:13] JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening. I am Jim

Sciutto in tonight for Erin Burnett. Welcome to our viewers in the U.S. and around the world.

OUTFRONT tonight, breaking news, dueling town halls, Donald Trump and Jeb Bush, the two top republican presidential contenders speaking to voters tonight in a crucial primary state of New Hampshire. Town hall meetings in fact just a few miles apart. Trump just finished speaking to reporters just moments ago and I'll tell you it was the Donald at his most combative. He called Jeb Bush, he said I don't see how he is electable. On the Iran nuclear deal, he called it one of the dumbest deals of all time. He took aim at Mitt Romney, republican candidate of 2012, saying that he choked in that election. A lot more. He is a line a minute. There's going to be more later tonight.

In just a few minutes when he is expected before a crowd, his campaign estimates at more than 1500 people. Jeb Bush just down the road, about nine miles away, speaking to a crowd of only about 200 people. When asked why he scheduled a town hall at the exact time as Bush, Trump told a reporter, quote, "Because Bush draws so poorly, I figured it would be a good time for me to draw a crowd." It is Trump's first town hall as a candidate. We will take you to that event in just a few minutes. He is also going to talk to reporters shortly which we heard just a few moments ago actually.

Plus, more good news for Trump earlier today. That and the latest CNN poll out today. Trump still riding high, not just leading the republican field but closing in on democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton. He is just six points behind Clinton in a head to head matchup. Just two months ago, Clinton led Trump by a full 20 points. Meanwhile Jeb Bush, he trails Clinton in that same matchup by nine points.

Our Sara Murray is OUTFRONT tonight at the Trump town hall meeting in Dairy, New Hampshire. Sara, we saw Trump very combative as I was saying in those questions from reporters. What are voters there, though, wanting to ask him when they get their chance to throw some questions his way?

SARA MURRAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, like you said, you saw him very combative with reporters, talking about Jeb Bush, mostly slamming Jeb Bush on common core, immigration, on women's issues. Really going after him there. When you talk to voters, they have their own set of issues that they're concerned about. They also want to hear from him about immigration. That become a cornerstone of Donald Trump's campaign, that's what got him a lot of -- brought a lot of these folks in here. Now, beyond that, they want to hear him talk about his economic plan about what he is going to do for small business.

A number of them also told me they want to hear what he's going to do about Social Security. They're about to turn 65, and they say, they want to hear more about his plans on that. If I've said it once, I've said it a million times, Jim. At town halls like this, you cannot predict the kind of questions you'll going to get. New Hampshire is used to feel presidential candidates up close and personal. And the voters here think really hard about what they want to ask presidential candidates. So, one question that start to came out of left field when we were talking to voters tonight, they want to ask Donald Trump what is his favorite scripture.

SCIUTTO: Well, it is a state as we know that takes this responsibility very seriously of how they ask questions of the candidates, how they challenge them.

So, OUTFRONT tonight to talk more about this, we have Jeb Bush supporter Ana Navarro. Also with us, Jeffrey Lord, he's a former political director for President Ronald Reagan. Anna, if I could begin with you, let's have a quick listen here to the sharp words that Donald Trump had earlier tonight, talking about Jeb Bush who is of course having that town hall just eight miles down the road from him. Listen to what he said about the electability of Jeb Bush.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Have I gotten under Jeb Bush's skin? I don't know. I will tell you this, you mention the word skin. He said the other day one of the dumber things I've heard ever in politics when talking about Iraq that we, the United States, he said have to show them that we have skin in the game in order to go into Iraq. And I would say between common core, his act of love on immigration and skin in the game with Iraq, that's the third one that we've now added, I don't see how he's electable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: So, he is calling him out on a rock, on active love there just to clarify for our viewers. He is talking about a Jeb Bush comment, talking about birth right citizenship, immigrants who come in and have a baby here, referred to that as an act of love. But Ana, how do you respond to Donald Trump's in a fact dismissing one of his leading competitors for the republican nomination?

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, what you just stated I think is inaccurate. I don't think he was referring to undocumented immigrants coming here and having a baby as an act of love. I think he was referring to something else. But you know, on the larger point, Jim, I just -- I haven't -- I didn't hear one new thing from Donald Trump in this question and answer. Perhaps the one new thing I heard from him was an admission that changing the 14th Amendment, if that is what is required on the birth right citizenship may not be feasible and is a long and drawn out process, it's not as easy as he initially tried to paint it.

But you know, Jeb Bush on women's issues, Jeb Bush on common core, Jeb Bush on act of love. Blah blah blah blah blah. He's been saying this now for two months. So I mean, now he's in New Hampshire. I am very happy he's there because the questioners there, the people show up with very well craft, well researched questions and I'm not sure this broken record and entertainment routine, this spectacle, is going to sell when it comes down to town halls.

[19:10:56] SCIUTTO: Jeffrey, I want to ask you. Because you look at the poll that came out today from CNN, it does show Trump very competitive against Hillary Clinton, but when we look back to 2011 or 2007, at this time in the race the leading candidates, they fade. Rick Perry in 2011, you look further back, when you look, Michele Bachmann, for instance, is it possible that Bush is going to turn Donald Trump into the Bachmann or the Perry of the 2016 race?

JEFFREY LORD, FORMER REAGAN WHITE HOUSE POLITICAL DIRECTOR: I think the answer is to found in the description I just heard from CNN just a few minutes ago that there are 1500 people at Donald Trump's town hall and there's 200 at Jeb Bush's. Right there I think is the essence of the answer that's being seen in these polls.

SCIUTTO: Well, Jeffrey, we are going to be watching those two dueling town halls as they take place. And you're right. You're going to see a very different turnout in both of them. Please stay with us. Because OUTFRONT next, you are looking now at a live picture of Donald Trump's town hall where the candidate is expected to take the stage at any minute. We're going to take you there.

Plus, Donald Trump now fully competitive in the race, just six points behind Hillary Clinton according to the latest CNN poll. Is he becoming the candidate to beat?

Plus, immigration and birth right citizenship. Signature issues for Trump but does he risk losing the Hispanic vote for himself and for the Republican Party?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:15:26] SCIUTTO: Breaking news right now. Dueling political events underway in New Hampshire. Donald Trump about to speak to voters, Jeb Bush doing just that as we speak just a few miles away. Trump holding his first town hall as a presidential candidate in New Hampshire. Right now it is standing room only there. Campaign claims more than 1500 potential voters packing a high school auditorium as well as an overflow room. And tonight, it is not only voters who are paying close attention to Trump but also Hillary Clinton. A new CNN poll finds that Trump is closing in on the democratic frontrunner in a head to head matchup.

Tom Foreman is OUTFRONT for us tonight. And Tom, how competitive is Trump proving himself to be against Hillary Clinton?

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Competitive enough to have all those people in that room very excited. These numbers suggest that Trump may be able to overcome the one major stumbling block ahead of his mediocre rise here, the idea that he could not beat Hillary Clinton in a general election. And he has been steadily chipping away at her lead on that front. Take a look at this. Back in June he trailed by 24 points among registered voters. In July, it was just 16 points closer, but still not so close people thought he could take her on head to head. But look at him now. Right up here, 45 to 51 percent. That's why people are so worked up about this. And if you want a comparison, and it is important, take a look at Jeb Bush, Jeb Bush who is second behind him, he is way back down here at 43 percent. Still 12 points behind Clinton -- Jim. SCIUTTO: Tom, the only competition is not only on the republican

side of the ledger, how did she hold up against democratic challengers?

FOREMAN: Well, her support is steadily declining, frankly. She's at 48 percent. This is still a really commanding lead or everyone else. Bernie Sanders here at 27 percent. He is second Joe Biden at 13 percent. We should note different times, different candidates. But this is roughly the difference that she had at this point over Barack Obama in the race that would culminate in 2008. And of course, Joe Biden as we know is not already in yet, if he gets in, that could change the equation. And all of this is despite the fact her still commanding lead on the democratic side is despite the fact that her unfavorable rating has been steadily rising and is now way up here at 55 percent among all registered voters. This is a difficult thing for anyone to overcome, and certainly has to be a worry for the campaign. Even though, Jim, they say, over and over again, no, no, no, we don't believe those numbers. She's going to be just fine on that front.

SCIUTTO: It is her first time I believe under 50 percent of support since she declared. Tom Foreman, thanks for very much for joining us tonight from D.C.

OUTFRONT tonight, President Obama's former senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer. Dan, thank you for joining us tonight. You're aware as well as we are, Clinton was riding very high in the polls just two months ago. Now we see that approval rating coming down. Trump just six points behind her, getting an enormous amount of ground just over the past two months. You look at those figures, how concerning is this to her campaign?

DAN PFEIFFER, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA: I don't think it should be concerning at all frankly. If I was the Clinton campaign, I would be ecstatic about these numbers. To give you some perspective --

SCIUTTO: Dan, he's had a very -- I mean, I could see some --

(CROSSTALK)

PFEIFFER: Yes. Let me tell you -- no, absolutely, here's why. Because if Hillary Clinton were to beat Donald Trump by six points, she would beat him by more than Barack Obama beat Mitt Romney. That would be a massive electoral victory. If at the end of a very difficult summer, you are beating the leading republican by six points, you should feel very good about that. They have a lot of work to do.

SCIUTTO: It is about the trend here though, isn't it? The trend on favorability ratings is down, the trend on her, you know, how far ahead she is from Trump, 20 points, now at six points. And she has got, you know, Bernie Sanders putting up some very strong numbers there.

PFEIFFER: Right. Bernie Sanders' numbers are good. I think what we'll have to see, the race can change a number of ways. If Joe Biden gets in the race, that could affect the numbers. If he doesn't, the poll shows that most of his support in that poll goes to her. And so, they're in a very strong position. Donald Trump gained almost all his ground by solidifying Republicans. He is going to have to get independents in order to or persuade some Democrats to do better than Mitt Romney did in 2012. So, like, I think for all of the bemoaning and worrying about the Hillary Clinton campaign, they should feel very good about this. You know, if when this race moves from referendum on her to a comparative exercise between her and a specific republican, her numbers, approval rating does not improve, that would be a challenge. Right now, they should feel good.

[19:20:06] SCIUTTO: Dan Pfeiffer, thank you for joining us tonight. We can be sure tonight to hear more from Donald Trump about Hillary Clinton as well. What you're watching there are live pictures from there in New Hampshire. We are waiting for Donald Trump to begin what will be his first town hall meeting with voters since he declared himself a presidential candidate for 2016.

Please stay with us. We are going to be right back to that auditorium there, the high school auditorium there in New Hampshire after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:24:30] SCIUTTO: And breaking news. Donald Trump about to hold his first town hall as a presidential candidate any moment now. It is a packed house there as potential voters get their chance to directly engage Trump. And a lot of questions tonight will no doubt be about Trump's controversial immigration plan which he defended during an interview today with our Chris Cuomo.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Look, at some point we have to be honest with ourselves. It's called, you know, like you use the word undocumented because it is more political. I don't use that word. They're illegal immigrants. They came over illegally. Some are wonderful people and they have been here for a while. They've got to go out.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: But how do you do it in a practical way? Do you really think you round up 11 million people?

TRUMP: You know, what? At some point we're going to try getting them back the good ones, we have a lot of good ones.

CUOMO: Sending a mixed message though, Mr. Trump. Say you'll going to get rid of whole families, then you say you want them back.

TRUMP: They have to go back. They're illegal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Tonight, one critical part of Trump's immigration plan is under attack by his top GOP rival Jeb Bush.

Athena Jones, she is OUTFRONT with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump and Jeb Bush. Facing off over immigration.

TRUMP: You are going to love me in terms of immigration.

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Mr. Trump now has a plan, if that's what it's called.

JONES: Trump is now arguing the United States should revoke the citizenship of people born here to undocumented immigrants. Going a step further than his earlier proposal to end birth right citizenship for such children. That right is enshrined in the 14th Amendment to the constitution which says, all persons born in the U.S. are U.S. citizens, but the GOP frontrunner isn't so sure about that.

TRUMP: If you speak to some very, very good lawyers, and I know some would disagree, but many of them agree with me, you're going to find they do not have American citizenship. We have to start a process where we take back our country. Our country is going to hell.

JONES: And while Trump isn't the only candidate who's expressed support for the idea of ending birth right citizenship, Bush says the real estate mogul's attack on citizenship doesn't make sense.

BUSH: I just don't think it is legitimate to say that we're going to change our constitution and that's going to solve our problem. I don't think that's the proper thing to do.

JONES: He says the way to prevent abuse of citizenship rules is better enforcement of the law.

BUSH: Better enforcement so that you don't have these, you know, anchor babies as they are described coming into the country.

JONES: Trump's tough talk on immigration is helping win him support for now, but it could spell trouble for the Republican Party down the road. Mitt Romney won just 27 percent of the Latino vote in 2012, and the party has to do better than that to win in 2016.

ALFONSO AGUILAR, AMERICAN PRINCIPLES PROJECT LATINO PARTNERSHIP: It is insulting for Latinos. If you endorse ending birth right citizenship, you're not going to get more support from Latino voters and you're not going to win the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES: Now, this week the conservative leaning editorial board of "The Wall Street Journal" wrote, quote, "Mr. Trump is bidding to make the GOP the deportation party," end quote. The board also said, "If Republicans want to lose in 2016, they'll follow Trump's anti- immigrant siren" -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Athena Jones in Washington. And back with me now, Ana Navarro and Jeffrey Lord. Jeffrey, I want to begin with you. Because just a short time ago, Jeb Bush taking his own shot back at Donald Trump. Listen to what he had to say about Trump's electability.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: Mr. Trump has clearly got talent. I mean, there's no denying that. He has won over a lot of people. People are very angry about how Washington is not working, he has tapped into that. But when people look at his record, it is not a conservative record. Even on immigration where it's, you know, look, the language is pretty vitriolic for sure, but hundreds of billions of cost to implement his plans is not a conservative plan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Jeffrey, Donald Trump, he has donated to democratic campaigns before, he opposed the Iraq war. Is he a true conservative?

LORD: Sure, I think he is a -- he says he is a conservative. I have no reason to doubt it. You know --

SCIUTTO: Well, look at his position. You know, that's the question. Are they conservative positions?

LORD: Sure. Because I mean, I know plenty of conservatives who end of the day believe that President Bush was wrong to invade Iraq. I was not one of them, but there were plenty of conservatives that I spoke to at the time who did feel very strongly that way, so Donald Trump was, you know, well there with a lot of other conservatives who believed the same thing.

[19:29:10] SCIUTTO: Ana, let me ask you because you talk about the conservative view of Donald Trump, "The Wall Street Journal" editorial page as we know very conservative, calling Trump's plan a recipe, his immigration plan, that is a recipe for failure for the GOP in 2016. You know, I am holding right here that famous 100 page report that the Republican Party put out after the 2012 election, a strategy for in part getting more Latinos to vote for the Republican Party. When you look at this immigration position -- hold on, Ana, please hold that thought. In a few moments, we're going to see Donald Trump come out here to begin this town hall meeting, we have been waiting for. Ana, Jeffrey, I will come back to you.

And here he is walking out right now. This is in a high school auditorium in Derry, New Hampshire. Donald Trump's first town hall meeting with voters since he declared himself a presidential candidate. Let's have a listen.

TRUMP: That is so nice. Thank you, thank you. Wow!

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

You know, and I say it, the silent majority is back.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE) We really are in a position that we haven't been in in a long

time. The people are speaking, it is an amazing thing, it is like a movement. This is happening, so many other things. Friday I am going to be in Alabama. And it was going to be 500 people, and the room held about a thousand.

They heard we were there and within about two minutes that room wasn't big enough, so they went to a room that held 2,000 people, they heard that wasn't big enough, and now they went to the convention center and heard that wasn't big enough. They're going to end up being 30,000 to 40,000 people in Alabama, so --

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

And New Hampshire has been so amazing, I mean, the relationship I developed with so many people even in the room has been -- they're incredible people. Somebody said, I left New York, they said, what are they like in New Hampshire? I said, you know what they're like? They're hard working people that love the country. That's what they're like.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

And you know, right down the road -- thank you. Right down the road, we have Jeb. Very small crowd. We have 2,500.

You have the best real estate, by the way. You have the best real estate. There are other rooms, the overflow rooms all over this building, they have closed-circuit television that people outside with speakers, so I give you credit and to the other folks, I have to say we love you equally as much.

But next time you have to get here a little earlier, all right? Something like that.

(APPLAUSE)

But you know, I look at what's wrong with even our party and the other day, and I say it very strongly, I heard that Jeb Bush, that Marco Rubio, that Governor Walker, who? Who? That's what they're saying, who? They're going to spend a huge amount of money on fighting Trump. And I say I think that's OK, does it matter? Haven't you sort of heard everything already? It is sort of getting boring.

But, you know, Jeb has $114 million, the others have a lot. Hillary has $60 million.

I think Hillary is in big trouble, by the way, folks.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

So I heard the other day that the three of them are going to - spend a lot of money on negative ads about me. So I think, you know, you can listen, you're fired, but I just heard it. They said they're going to spend -- I love these rowdy crowds, isn't it great, the spirit! The spirit! (CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

You know what, I tell you what, you know what's happening to Jeb's crowd as you know right down the street? They're sleeping, they're sleeping now.

But, you know, I saw that Jeb made a statement and I wrote it down because I couldn't even believe it. We're talking about Iraq, OK? Now, we are in for $2 trillion, thousands of lives, thousands, great people. Great people. Wounded warriors who are the best.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

And we love our wounded warriors. They're great warriors. And they're all over. And Jeb made the statement about the possibility of going back into Iraq, he said, I give you the exact quote. The Iraqis want our help. Every time a bullet is fired, they run. They leave our Humvees, they drop their equipment. You know, the enemies have the best equipment, we have the old stuff.

So, he said the Iraqis want our help. Listen to this. They want to know that we have skin in the game. Can you believe it? After years of fighting unsuccessfully because of the way we fight, I mean, we should -- can you believe, skin in the game. And I thought that was incredibly dumb, as dumb as on immigration an act of love, it is an act of love when they come in. It is an act of love. Or a belief in common core.

[19:35:00] And the reason I talk about Jeb is he was supposed to do well in New Hampshire, he is going down like a rock. How the hell does he do well between Common Core which he desperately wants, that means your children are going to be educated by the bureaucrats in Washington, I think New Hampshire wants to educate their children locally. Do we agree with that? Do we agree?

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

So our problem is -- what's that?

(INAUDIBLE)

Oh, my group. These are my people. These are my people. I don't mind if you shout out. Be careful of your language, you're on about seven live broadcasts tonight.

But you know, the problem we have is we don't as a country, we don't have victories any more. We don't have victories. When is the last time we had a victory?

We make this horrible deal with Iran which is a disgrace, and by the way, could be one of the worst deals -- you know, depending what ultimately happens, it could be -- could go down as one of the worst deals in history because it is going to in my opinion, you'll have nuclear proliferation all over the Middle East and maybe beyond. You're going to see things that you've never seen before. You know, the deal, not only the 24-day deal, the 24 days, how

about this, you have 24 days, but, you know, before the clock starts ticking, it is a long process before you get to day one. Nobody knows that.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Bring them home, Donald.

TRUMP: Well, bring home is right. In many ways, bring them home.

But in one way, and I'm the first one. If you look at July of 2004, Reuters, Reuters is here, they're all here, they're all over the place, look at these people. They're all over the place.

But if you look at Reuters July of 2004, you're going to see Trump saying, and by the way, before I say it, I believe more strongly in the military and military strength than anybody running by a factor of a billion.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

SCIUTTO: You're listening to Donald Trump live at an event with voters in New Hampshire.

OUTFRONT next, a rare event. Three presidential candidates, Chris Christie, Jeb Bush, Donald Trump all speaking to voters now in those town hall meetings. When we come back, we're live again in New Hampshire.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:41:27] SCIUTTO: Welcome back.

Breaking news: you are looking at live pictures of rare events, three presidential candidates all speaking right now, all facing off with voters at town hall meetings in New Hampshire. You have Christie, Bush and Trump, all of them perceived front runners for the Republican nomination at one time or another. Of course, the front runner right now very much Donald Trump.

Let's listen to him in Derry, New Hampshire.

TRUMP: Totally.

And those people, I mean, actually they do like me. Those people, they're friends of mine in many cases. Some cases, enemies. Some of them are terrible people. But I know them. I know them all.

You know, I see the Hamptons and on Fifth Avenue and Park Avenue and all these great locations, they're having parties. Well, when a guy gives a million dollars and much more than that, some give much more, but do you think they're talking about like nothing. They're talking Turkey. They're talking lots of different things.

And with me, I don't need anybody's money. I don't want anybody's money. So -- (CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

Now with that being said, I have to say, people are sending in money. One woman sent in $7.24. And you know what, she wrote me a two-page letter and I actually read it. You know, the guys that want to give me a million, I said, oh, forget it, who cares? And I know these guys, they're not good people. Eh, some of them are OK.

But the woman writes me a beautiful letter, how she wants to she our country, she's 84 years old. How she wants to see our country -- another one sent me $17 and $22. And it's really an amazing thing.

And I love that in a way because it's like they're invest -- it's not going to mean much in terms of dollars, but they're investing in the campaign. They're investing it with their heart. They're not saying you have to give me an ambassadorship. You have to do something bad for the country. You have to let Ford go into Mexico.

(APPLAUSE)

You have to approve the Nabisco deal. All of this stuff, it's all deals. It's all deals. And it's not good.

Thank you.

And it's not good. And we got to stop it. We got to stop it.

So, we're going to take some questions. You know?

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Bring it home!

TRUMP: Thank you.

We're going to take some questions. So this was a town hall. They call it a town hall. I never saw a town hall with 2,500 people sitting in a theater. But we'll call it a town hall, right?

(APPLAUSE)

But we are going to work really hard. You know, everybody said, he's not going to run. You remember that, right? Never going to run.

Then they said, eh, but he's never going to file his papers. Not the financial papers. I had to sign my life away with one page. It says your signing your life away. They said, he'll never sign that. Then I signed that.

He announced he's running, we had the event, now he signed the paper. Then they're going to say -- then they did say, he's never going to file his financial documents, because he's probably not as rich as people think, right?

So, then I filed 90 -- I think it's 98 or 102 pages of financials. And it was much, much bigger than anybody anticipated. Actually, I wanted to file the financials, because, you know, I'm sort of a bragger, you know? (CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: No, I actually wanted people -- yes, I'm a private company, these people are analyzing. One of them analyzed he's only worth $3 billion.

[19:45:03] But we haven't been able to look at about 200 of his corporations.

I said, how do you figure what worth that? I mean, it's amazing. So I filed the papers and they were spectacular. And I did a great job. And the reason I tell you that is not to say, I did a great job. It's to say that we need somebody with that mentality to straighten out our country. We can't have --

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: We can't have, we just can't have these people that don't know what they're doing on all of these issues. As an example, I called Carl Icahn, who's a great guy.

SCIUTTO: We just lost a signal there. That from the live town hall with Donald Trump in Derry, New Hampshire. He has been speaking.

Here he is back again, Donald Trump.

TRUMP: made a fortune. I said, Carl, I'd love for you to do me a favor. If I pulled this off and if get in, I want to make the country so strong financially.

You know, some people say, it sounds crass. I had one person, I said we're going to make the country rich again, and then we're going to make the country great again. The person said, "Mr. Trump, that sounds so crass." I said what's crass? Rich. I said we got to be rich to make it great.

We're right now a debtor nation. We owe $18 trillion. It's going to go up $20 trillion, $21 trillion, $22 trillion, $24 trillion is like the magic number that's a disaster. And we're going there, you know that.

And we need -- we need -- it won't be long -- we need this kind of mentality to make great deals. You know, an example, not financial, but it's the same thinking. The Iran deal we all know about it, everybody thinks it's bad. So bad.

But take Sergeant Bergdahl. Does anybody remember that name?

(BOOS)

TRUMP: So, this is the way we think. So we get a traitor named Bergdahl, a dirty, rotten traitor --

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

Who, by the way, when he deserted, six young beautiful people were killed trying to find him, right? And you don't even hear about it anymore.

Somebody said the other day, well, he had some psychological problems. You know when the old days -- bing, bong.

(LAUGHTER)

When he were strong, when we were strong. So we get Bergdahl, a traitor, and they get five of the people that they most wanted anywhere in the world --

SCIUTTO: Mr. Trump live in Derry, New Hampshire, doing a bit of call and response with voters there in that high school auditorium.

OUTFRONT next: we're going to take you back to New Hampshire where Donald Trump will continue to speak to an overflow crowd of voters. His first town hall as a candidate for president, that's right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:52:24] SCIUTTO: Breaking news: welcome back live from Derry, New Hampshire. Donald Trump his first town hall meeting as a presidential candidate. He has just started taking questions from voters. Let's have a listen.

TRUMP: -- why do you think he shouldn't run?

I saw it with some of the people when I was on the debate, which by the way the polls all that I won the debate. Can you believe it? If you listen --

(APPLAUSE)

And my questions were slightly harder than everybody else's. Do we agree, OK? A little bit harder.

But you know, I've seen some of the things I've seen in the political circuit. It really does take a certain amount of courage. And when I made that decision, that final decision, I'll tell you. It went right up to the wire. I just took a deep breath and said, "Here we go. Ladies and gentlemen, we'll make our country great. I'm running for president". And I said, I've done it, because I want to make it, I want to do something so special.

And you know, as well as I've done in business and all of that, it's so much, this is so much more important, what I'm doing now, just so much more. I'm building buildings and they're wonderful and great.

I'm building one on -- think of this one. I'm building one on Pennsylvania avenue right next to the White House, between the White House and Congress. The old post office. OK? It's great.

By the way, under-budget and ahead of schedule. Is that nice? Wouldn't that be? Right?

It will open far ahead of schedule, under-budget. It will be one of the great hotels of the world. I love doing that. Doral in Miami, Turnberry in Scotland. I mean, I do great stuff, the most I can (ph), but that's all -- this is -- this is so important. That won't even matter if our country falls apart. And our country is falling apart.

And I just wanted to do this. And you mentioned wall. I mean, I will build the greatest wall that you've ever seen.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

And I would never do this myself. But I hope it's going to be so -- actually, it will even look great. I already know what it should look like.

You know, the other day -- the other day, they were saying, I was watching these characters, politicians that are running against me. You can't get Mexico to pay for the wall! Of course you can. They can't because they never would even think of it.

Do you know how much Mexico is making from the United States? That's peanuts, the wall. And then they say, you can't build a wall! It's too big, it doesn't work.

[19:55:03] Well, 3,000 years ago -- right? The Great Wall of China was built. We would like to have that wall. That wall, nobody gets through, that I can tell you. And that's 13,000 miles, right?

And that was done between -- did it take them 500 years in all fairness. A pretty long time. They don't stop. They don't stop. That's why we need tough people to negotiate with the Chinese because they don't --

SCIUTTO: A confident, a combative and energetic Donald Trump live in New Hampshire. We'll have more of his town hall meeting right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: Breaking news: Donald Trump holding court at his town hall in New Hampshire, crucial first primary state. He has already taken aim at Jeb Bush, Hillary Clinton, the country of Mexico. There will be more.

Thank you for joining us. I'm Jim Sciutto.

"AC360" starts right now.