BUSH: It's both. And I think Governor O`Malley probably agrees with me that we need to lead. We cannot lead from behind. We have to take a leadership role to inspire our Arab partners and the European countries, NATO allies, all of them together, create a strategy, act on it, unleash a strategy on ISIS and we'll be successful.
CARSON: Their true desire is to be resettled in Syria. But, you know, they are satisfied to be in the refugee camps if the refugee camps are adequately funded.˙Recognize that, in these camps, they have schools. They have recreational facilities that are really quite nice. And they are putting in all kinds of things that make life more tolerable.˙Would it be better integrate them into the society?˙ Yes, I certainly talked to some people about that. But you have to make progress as you go.
CARSON: I think that may be a little bit extreme, to be honest with you. But rather than have to face situations like that, let's go ahead and support the efforts that already exist that really will take care of millions of people. And why would we continue to increase the complexity of the situation in this country without solving the problem by bringing people over here who are not adequately screened?˙That doesn't make a lot of sense.
BUSH: No, I think we need to do both. We should declare war and harness all of the power that the United States can bring to bear both diplomatic and military, of course, to be able to take out ISIS. We need to declare a no-fly zone over Syria. Directly arm the Peshmerga forces in Iraq. Build up the Syrian Free Army. Re-engage with the Sunni tribal leaders. Embed with the Iraqi military. Be able to create safe zones in Syria. Garner the support of our European allies and the traditional Arab states. This a threat to Western civilization and we should consider it that way.
BUSH: You take it to them in Syria & Iraq. You destroy ISIS. And then you build a coalition to replace this radical Islamic terrorist threat to our country & to Europe & to the region with something that is more peace loving. We have to be engaged. This is not something you can contain. Each day that ISIS exists, it gains new energy and more recruits around the world.
BUSH: I tell the American public that a caliphate the size of Indiana garners strength each and every day if it's not taken out. 30,000 to 40,000 battle-tested soldiers that are organized to destroy our way of life. We have to be in this fight. There is no other option. And this threat can be contained, but more importantly, it'll never die unless it's destroyed. The policy of containment isn't going to work.
BUSH: I don't believe in litmus tests, but I'm going to make sure that my appointments to the Supreme Court would have a consistent proven record of judicial restraint.
Q: So you're not going to ask a potential Supreme Court justice if they would overturn Roe v. Wade?
BUSH: No.
BUSH: My views haven't changed. I believe in the exceptions of rape and incest and the life of the mother, of course.
Q: Is there a line on health? What is that line on life and health of the mother?
BUSH: Well, the life of the mother, not health of the mother.
BUSH: I'm conflicted. I am. It was the law of the land when I was governor, and I faithfully dealt with it. To be honest with you, it is not a deterrent anymore because it's seldom used. It clogs up the courts, it costs a ton of money. And it's hard for me, as a human being, to sign the death warrant, to be honest with you. I'm informed by my faith in many things, and this is one of them. So I have to admit that I'm conflicted about this. But we should reform it. If it's to be used as a deterrent, it has to be reformed. It can't take 25 years. That does no one any good. Neither the victims nor the state is solving this problem with that kind of tangled judicial process.
BUSH: How are we going to solve these problems? There's no way. I mean, all the big issues in American history have been solved by a strong president working across the aisle unifying the country. We now have a divider-in-chief who pushes people down that disagree with him.
Q: You don't think your party's been divisive too?
BUSH: It has. I admit that.
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The above quotations are from Meet the Press interviews during 2015 (David Gregory interviewing candidates for 2015 and 2016 races). Click here for other excerpts from Meet the Press interviews during 2015 (David Gregory interviewing candidates for 2015 and 2016 races). Click here for other excerpts by Jeb Bush. Click here for a profile of Jeb Bush.
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