breaking all of the rules. comes to a state that wrote the book on election cliffhangers. here in florida. >> that's how important florida is. >> only one thing is certain in this contest. expect the unexpected. >> three candidates who have won three primaries. >> you're going to have to make a decision. which of the three should become the nominee. i think you know the answer. >> tonight, the candidates together in jacksonville, florida. newt gingrich, the south carolina winner. hoping to capitalize on his recent victory and his strong record in debates. >> not that i am a good debater. it's that i articulate the deepest held values of the american people. >> mitt romney, the new hampshire winner. trying to broaden his appeal and reclaim the title of front-runner. >> we're not choosing a talk show host. we're choosing the person who should be the leader of the free world. >> rick santorum, the iowa winner. looking for a new burst of momentum after his upset in the heartland. >> there was one race that was in nobody's backyard, and we won that race. >> ron paul, still in search of a win. a fierce competitor with a die-hard following. >> we have the determination, and we will win this with prosperity. >> now, the 2012 republican in florida. it's the biggest battleground so far, and this could be the most important debate yet. from the university of north florida in jacksonville, this is the florida republican presidential debate. tonight, the four republican candidates are here to tell us white they're the most qualified to take on president barack obama. i'm wolf blitzer. we want to welcome our viewers around the united states and around the world. we also want to thank the republican party of florida and the hispanic leadership network. members are here in the audience with us, and some of them will have a chance to question the candidates. in addition, our sister network, cnn in espanol, is standing by in miami with members of the hispanic leadership network who will also have a chance to question the candidates. viewers can send us questions online, on twitter, make sure to include the hash tag cnn debate. on facebook at facebook.com/cnnp facebook.com/cnnpolitics, and ov on cnnpolitics.com. it's now time to welcome the 2012 republican presidential contenders. joining us on stage, texas congressman ron paul. former massachusetts governor, mitt romney. the former speaker of the house, newt gingrich. and the former u.s. senator from pennsylvania, rick santorum. ladies and gentlemen, the republican candidates for president of the united states. >> ladies and gentlemen, please rise for our national anthem, performed by the university of north florida chamber singers. ♪ o say, can you see by the dawn's early light ♪ ♪ what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming ♪ ♪ whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight ♪ ♪ o'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming ♪ ♪ and the rockets' red glare the bombs bursting in air ♪ ♪ gave proof through the night that our flag was still there ♪ ♪ oh, say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave ♪ ♪ o'er the land of the free ♪ ♪ and the home of the brave ♪ candidates, please take your podiums while i tell you more about how the debate will work tonight. i'll be the moderator, and as i mentioned, our partners from the republican party of florida and the hispanic leadership network will ask questions. i'll follow up and try to guide the discussion. i'll try to make each of you gets your fair share of questions. i'll have one minute to answer, 30 seconds for follow-ups and rebuttals. now let's have the candidates introduce themselves to florida voters. keep it short, here is an example. i'm wolf blitzer and i'm thrilled to be here on the campus of the university of north florida in jacksonville. senator santorum, let's begin with you. >> i'm rick santorum and i'm thrilled to be here on the campus of north florida. and i'm especially thrilled because i'm here with a north florida resident who lives right down the beach from jacksonville, my mom, who is 93 years old, is with me here tonight. i better just stop right there. >> i'm newt gingrich from the neighboring state of georgia. i'm delighted to be in jacksonville, which will be the site of the next nuclear aircraft carrier battle group. >> i'm mitt romney, and i'm pleased to be here with my wife and my oldest son tag romney. we're the parents of five sons, and it's great to be back in jacksonville. thank you. >> i'm ron paul. i'm a congressman from texas, 12 terms. i am the champion of a sound monetary system, a gold standard as it is under the constitution. and a foreign policy based on strength, which rejection the notion that we should be the policemen of the world and be a nation builder. >> all right, let's start with the question from the audience. >> hello. can you tell me what specific actions you'll take to address the possible conflicts of immigration while preserving the right of those who plan to immigrate legally. >> let's take that question, and in the course of that question, express your opinion on what we heard from governor romney that self deportation or immigrants leaving the country voluntarily is a possible solution? >> the possible solution is, i agree with governor romney. the bottom line is we need to enforce the laws in this country. we're a country of law. people come to this country, my grandfather came to this country because he wanted to come to a country that respected him. and a country that respects you is a country that lives by the laws that they have. and the first act when you come to this country is to disabow a law. it's not a particularly welcome way to enter the country. what i have said from the very beginning, we have to have a country that not only do you respect the law when you come here, you respect the law when you stay here. and people who come to the country illegally have broken the law repeatedly. unless you're here on a trust fund, you have been working illeg illegally. you have probably stolen someone's social security number illegal. it's not one thing you have done wrong, you have done a lot of things wrong. as a result of that, i believe people should not be able to stay here. i think we need to enforce the law at the border, secure the border. secondly, we have to have employer enforcement, and not only employer sanctions but people who are found to be working here illegally, they need to be deported. that's, again, the principle of having a rule of law and living by it. i am very much in favor of immigration. my dad came to this country, and i'mtion who believes that we need immigration. we're not replacing ourselves. we need not only immigration to keep our population going, but we need immigration because immigrants bring a spvitality a a love of the country that infuses the country with great energy. i support legal immigration, but we need to enforce the law, and if you don't create an opportunity for people to work, they will leave because they can't afford to stay here. >> speaker gingrich, you have suggested that self-deportation is an obama level fantasy. why? >> first of all, we should control the border, which i have pledged to do. you should fex legal immigration so people can come and go easily, more easily than doing it illegally. you should make deportation easier, so the ms-16 gang members, it should be quick. we should have a guest worker program, run by american express or visa card, and stronger penalties at that point because you can val dade it. i believe the self-deportation will occur if you're single, have only been here a short time. there are 348 millions of people who file for a guest worker program and might or might not come back. the people i have singled out are people who have bing here a long time, who are married, who may have children and grandchildren, and i would suggest that grandmothers or grand fathers aren't likely to self-deport. thaen you have a question. i offer a citizen panel to review whether or not someone who has been here a long time, who had family, sxoo who had an american family willing to sponsor them, should be allowed to get residency but not citizenship so they could stay within the law but wouldn't have a chance of becoming a citizen unless they come back home. i don't think grandmothers and grandfathers will self deport. >> governor romney, the one time they experimented with self-deportation, only a handful left. what makes you think it would work? >> you heard the last two speakers say they support the concept. it's simply this, for those who come into the country legally, they would be given an identification card that point out they're able to work here, and you have the e-verify system so employers can determine who is legally here. and if employers hire someone without a card, they would be severely sanctioned. if you do that, people who come here illegally won't be able to find work and over time, those people would tend to leave the country or self-deport. i don't think anyone is interested in rounding up people or 11 million americans in america. isn't that unfair to the 11 million who are here and have raised children here? i think it's important to remember that there are three groups of people that are of concern to us. one are those who have come here illegally. 11 million. the second group is people who have been brought over by coyotes and who are in many cases abused by virtue of coming into the country illegally. and the third are the 4 million to 5 million people waiting at home in their own nations trying to get here lyegally. they have family members here asking them to come here, grandparents and uncles and auntsuric those are the people we have a responsibility for. and the second group who are being abused, we have a responsibility to them. let's stop illegal immigration. >> congressman paul, you're from texas. the state with the longest border with mexico. is this a viable option, what we just heard? >> to talk about it, i don't see it as being very practical. i think it's a much bigger problem. you can't deal with immigration without dealing with the economy. the weakened economy, the more resentment there is when illee immigrants come in. we're usually looking for wor r workers. a lot of businesses are looking for workers and they don't have them. they're not as well trained here. also, the way we're handling the borders is hurting our economy because the business people, you know, visitors have a hard time coming in. we don't have a well managed border, so i think we need more resources, and i think most of the other candidates would agree we need more resources, but where are the resources going to come from? i have a suggestion. i think we spend way too much time worrying uchbt the border between afghanistan and pakistan. use some of those resources on our own border. >> speicher gingrich, you had an ad that you pulled in which you described romney as the most anti-immigrant candidate. why did you do that? >> why would i describe him that way? in the original conversations about deportation, the position i took that he attacked ferociously, is that grand moerlths and grand fathers aren't going to be successfully deported. we as a nation are not going to walk into some family. by the way, they're going to walk into a church. we're not going to grab the grandmother in and kick them out. i think you have to be realistic in your indignation. i want to control the border. i want english to be the official language of government. i want us to have a lot of things. i am prepared to be very tough and very bold, but i'm also prepared to be realistic because i had to pass legislation in waulg, and i don't believe an unrealistic promise is going to get through, but i believe if there's some level of humanity for people who have been here a long time, we can pass legislation that will decisively reduce elegality and mean the people here in america are here legally. >> is he still the most anti-immigrant candidate? >> of the four of us, yes. >> go ahead, governor. >> that's simply inexcusive. and marco rubio came to my defense and said it was inproement. i'm not anti-immigrant. my father was born in mexico. my wife's father was born in wales. they came to this country. the term i'm anti-immigrant is repulsive. don't use a term like that. to say force into u.s. law, to protect or borders, to expand immigration, that that is somehow anti-immigrant is the over the top rhetoric that has characterized american politics too long. i'm glad marco rubio called you out on it, i'm glad you withdrew it, and i think you should apologize. it doesn't justify labeling people with highly charged epithets. >> i'll give you an opportunity to self-describe. you tell me what language you would use to describe somebody who thinks that deporting a grandmother or grandfather from their family, tell me your language. i'm happy for you to explain what language you would use. >> i think i described following the law as it exists in this country, which is to say i'm not going around and rounding people up and deporting them. people who come here legally get a work perment. people who don't, don't get a work permit. those who don't get work will tend to self-deport. nam not going to find grandmothers and take them out of their homes. those are your words, not my words. that suggests to people that if you're not willing to chemopeople here who violated the law, you're anti-immigrant. i'm pro immigrant. i want people to come to america with skill and vitality and vibrance. i want them to come legally. there are grandmother on the other side of the border who are waiting to come here legally. i want them to come here, too, not just those who are already here. >> so we have gone from your washington attack when i first proposed it. you said it was outrageous to you're accepting the fact that a family is going to take care of their grandmother or grandfather. the idea you're going to push them out by saying they can't get a job, i think the grandmother is still going to be here. all i want to do is allow the grandmother to be here illegally with some rights to have residency but not citizenship so that he or she can finish their life with dignity within the law. >> there are not 11 million -- there are not -- our problem is not 11 million grandmothers. our problem is -- [ applause ] our problem is 11 million people getting jobs, many americans, legal immigrants would like to have. school kids in schools, districts having a hard time paying for. people getting free health care because we're required to get the health care and the concern is, people who want to come here legally, let's stop illegal immigration. >> the rhetoric on immigration, governor, has been intense, as you know. as all four of you know, and anyone who watches television knows. you had an ad running saying that gingrich called spanish, quote, the language of the ghetto. what did you mean by that? >> i didn't see the ad. i don't get to see all of the ads. did he say that? >> what i said is we want everyone to learn english. i didn't use the word spanish. we don't juan anyone trapped in a situation where they can't get a commercial drive, they can't rise, and every parent of every ethnic group, and there are 94 languages spoken. 94 languages, and that's why i think english should be the official language of government, and every young american should learn english, and no one should be trapped in a situation where they can't go out and get a job and can't go out and work. i would say as much as governor romney doesn't like my use of language, i found his use of language equally offensive. >> i'd like -- i doubt that's my ad, but we'll take a look and find out. there are a bunch of ads out there organized by the people, but i think our position on english in our schools and our nation is the same, which i believe english should be the official language of the united states, as it is. i also believe in our schools, we should teach kids in english. when i was governor, i fought for, actually, before i was governor, i fought for during my election, to have english emersion in the schools. kids in this country should learn english to have all of the jobs and opportunities. >> i want to bring congressman paul and senator santorum into this. let's take this to juan carlos lopez. he has a guest there. >> we're at the viewing party for the hispanic leadership network. it really is a party. they're holding their yearly conference, and i'm joined by riquell rodriguez. she has a question for the candidates. >> yes, good evening. the u.s. has been largely away in its foreign and trade policy with latin america. in the meantime, iran and china have been increasing their influence over and involvement in latin america to the leftist and left-leaning government. what would each of you do as president to more deeply engage in latin america and more importantly too, support the government and political parties to support democracy and free markets? >> congressman paul? >> i think free trade is the answer. it's an answer to a lot of conflicts around the world, so i'm always promoting free trade. you might add cuba, too. we would be a lot better off trading with cuba. >> as far as us having an obication, a military or financial obligation that goes down and dockates to them what government they should have, i don't like that idea. i would work with the people, encourage free trade, and try to set a standard here where countries in central america or south america or anyplace in the world would want to emulate us and set the standard that we have. unfortunately, sometimes we slip up on our standards and we go around the world and we try to force ourselves on others. i don't think the nations in south america and central america necessarily want us to come down there and dictate which government they should have. and yet i believe with friendship and trade, you can have a lot of influence, and i strongly believe that with time, we have friendship and trade with cuba. >> senator santorum, are you with congressman paul? >> no, i'm not with congressman paul, and i'm not with barack obama on this issue. our policy in central and south america has been abysmal. the way we have treated in particular countries like honduras, honduras was stood up to the rule of law, which threw out a would-be dictator who was using the chavez rule book to run for election, and the united states government, instead of standing behind the pro democracy, the people in the parliament, in the supreme court who tried to enforce the constitution of honduras, instead of siding with them, the democrats, president obama sided with two other people in central america. chavez and castro and obama sided against the people of honduras. this is a consistent policy of siding with the leftists. siding with the marxists, siding with those who don't support democracy. not standing up for our friends in colombia. those who want to engage and support america, want to be great trading partners and great allies for our country. to be able to form that kind of bond that is so essential in our own hemisphere. the european union understood how important it was for diverse people to come together in an economic unit. we not only have to come together as an economic unit, but the threat of terrorism, the threat of iran in venezuela and other places and cuba and nicaragua, the threat of radical islam growing in that region is as important -- it's absolutely important for us to have a president that understands the threat and understands the solution is closer tied, i will visit that area of the world repeatedly to solidify the ties. >> let me let congressman paul quickly respond. >> the senator mentioned standing up for some of these nations, but he