The details may not be there, but i think hillarys been around long enough that they more or less trust hillary. Shes got that whole shes been sort of marinated in that for decades. They know who she is. They know her moves. They know her friends. They know who she talks to. I think they know they can deal with hillary and trust hillary. With donald trump, theres a sort of kind of almost fated al attraction thing. Hes up there saying all of these things they sort of love to hear in this crowd, in the aipac crowd. But i think theyre aware as they think about it, that number one, hes not exactly a perfect messenger given his own record of controversial speech in the United States. And number two, when he says something like, were going to get the palestinians to stop behaving that way one way or another, what does that mean . And im sure they are very aware of the fact that they were being pandered to. I think they were impressed that donald trump took the time to
learn his brief for what you said was the graduate. I think you said the graduate exam. They were impressed by that. But i dont think it necessarily means when push comes to shove, theyre going to support donald trump. I think given the history and the knowledge that such people have, theyre still going to be cautious about trump. I think everybody who watched that speech should have seen a movie called groundhogs day. And understand when you memorize what exactly a persons reaction was last time so you can perfect it this time, that comment, it was so telling, when he talked about how his father was very proisraeli and all, that was a very inside job kind of a thing. Because the jewish thing has been concerned about generations that likes to know youve had a Family History of support. Not just a oneday wonder. I think thats a fascinating thing. This has a ground hog day aspect to it. Chris matthews, thanks. Were keeping an eye on this arena. We are it could be that ted
cruz is on his way out. Robert costa has been watching along with us, National Political reporter from the washington post. And i do believe just before hearing robert out, were going to have to wait to hear robert out concerning his reaction to ted cruz. Robert, we have a second before senator cruz comes out. Your impressions of donald trump . Brian, this was the culmination of a day in washington for trump where hes tried to engage the republican establishment, outlined a noninterventionist policy. But he has ground to make up. A prepared text, he made some ground, made some inroads i would argue based on my reporting to do that. I was texting with people throughout the speech, and people were very interested what trump had to say. Came away impressed that he said what they thought was the right line he should be taking, but still want to know more as the campaign unfolds. Robert costa, dont move, well talk to you on the other side of this. Heres senator ted cruz. God bless aipac. [ cheers and applause ] im thrilled to be here with you today. And let me say at the outset, perhaps to the surprise of a previous speaker, palestine has not existed since 1948. [ cheers and applause ] on wednesday night of this week, in synagogues across the world, jewish people will read the magila, which tells the story of
puream, the miraculous rescue. [ cheers and applause ] the miraculous rescue of the jewish people from the hands of a wicked persian king. When the evil doer haman plots to kill the jews, he describes them as a nation that is scattered and spread out. The town that teaches that the jewish people at the time were divided amongst themselves, and that the lesson that when the forces of good are divided, evil can prevail. But when we come together in unity together, we can defeat tie rants. Today we are reliving history. Facing a similar time of challenge for america, and for israel. But today i give you a word of hope. In the next few months, we will
bring this country together, first by unifying the republican party, and then by reaching out and building a coalition of young people and hispanics and africanamericans and women and Blue Collar Workers and Jewish Voters and reagan democrats. [ cheers and applause ] which will lead to a commanding victory in november that unifies this country and brings us together. [ applause ] and standing together, america will stand with israel and defeat radical islamic terrorism. [ cheers and applause ] i want to thank the delegates, the over 18,000 people here, the 4,000 young people, the leaders of the proisrael movement who are gathered here today. [ applause ] you will play a critical
leadership role in making this happen, and bringing us together. Just today, my colleague Lindsay Graham kindly hosted an event for me here, which should allay any doubts anyone might have that the god of abraham, isaac and jacob can still do miracles. [ laughter ] i want to begin by asking all of us to remember taylor force, a texan who hailed from lubbock, an eagle scout, a west point graduate, an army veteran. On march 8th he was stabbed by a Palestinian Terrorist in israel. The terrorist didnt ask for his passport. Influenced by the Relentless Campaign of incitement that has fostered genocidal hatred toward
jews, all he cared about was injuring or killing as many civilians as possible. At least ten people were wounded by the time the terrorist was neutralized. The brutal murder of taylor force is yet another reminder that america and israel are in the fight together against radical islamic terrorism. [ cheers and applause ] we need a president who will be a champion for america. And we need a president who will be a champion for israel. [ cheers and applause ] in my time in the senate, i have endeavored to do both. And the four years ive been serving in the senate, ive been privileged to travel three times to the state of israel. I had the great privilege of seeing the hospital in northern israel where they have treated over 1,000 refugees from syria,
wounded in that horrible syrian civil war, have done so free of charge, showing the heart and character of the people of israel. [ cheers and applause ] when the nation of iran named as their ambassador to the United Nations, hamid, a known terrorist who participated in Holding Americans hostage in the late 1970s, people in washington said there was nothing we could do. Well, i was proud to introduce legislation barring him from coming to america. That legislation passed the senate 1000. It passed the house 4350. And it was signed into law by president obama. [ cheers and applause ] when israel was facing relentless rocket attacks from
hamas, and the prayers of all of us, and people across the world were with israel, Prime Minister netanyahu powerfully observed, we are using Missile Defense to protect our civilians. And they are using their civilians to protect their missiles. I entirely agree with Prime Minister netanyahu, as hamas would place rockets in elementary schools. They placed their headquarters in the basement of a hospital. And i would note, that Hillary Clinton, in 2014, explained this as follows. Quote, hamas puts its missiles, its rockets in civilian areas. Part of it is because gazas pretty small. And its densely populated. Well, madam secretary, with all
respect, the reason the missiles are in schools is not because gaza is small. The reason the missiles are in schools is because hamas are terrorist monsters using children as human shields. [ cheers and applause ] and in response to this atrocity, i was proud to join with new york democrat kir sten jill ebrand in authoring a resolution condemning hamas use as human shields as a war crime, and that resolution passed both houses of congress unanimously. [ cheers and applause ] in the midst of these rocket attacks, we saw the Obama Administration cancel civilian Airline Flights into the nation of israel. When that happened, i publicly asked the question, did this
administration just launch an economic boycott on the nation of israel. [ cheers and applause ] the administration does not ban flights into pakistan, does not ban flights into yemen shall, does not ban flights into afghanistan. Indeed, did not ban flights into ukraine. And ukraine had just seen a passenger airliner shot down by a russian buk missile. So why exactly was a sanction put on israel, because one rocket fell harmlessly a mile away from one of the safest airports in the world. [ cheers and applause ] and why was that time to coincide with john kerry arriving in the middle east with 47 million for gaza that would inevitably end up with hamas terrorists. [ applause ] when i asked that question, within hours the state department was being asked, is this an economic boycott of
israel. The state department said, that question is ridiculous. We refuse to answer. So i responded, fine, i will place a hold on every nominee to the state department. [ cheers and applause ] shortly thereafter, former new york mayor Michael Bloomberg rode a civilian airliner from london to tel aviv demonstrating it was safe to fly to israel. [ cheers and applause ] and as a result of mayor bloombergs efforts and my efforts and that of millions of others, the heat and light and attention became too much on this administration, and within 36 hours, the administration lifted its ban on civilian air flights to israel. [ cheers and applause ] looking forward, as president , i
will lead very, very differently from the current administration. [ cheers and applause ] imagine just a few years ago, if i had come to an aipac conference and suggested that the Prime Minister of israel was going to come to america, address a joint session of congress, and he would be boycotted by the president of the United States, the Vice President of the United States, and every member of the cabinet. That would have been dismissed as crazy, fanciful. That could never happen. And sadly, that is exactly what did happen when Prime Minister netanyahu came to address congress. [ cheers and applause ] in a similar vein, my leading republican opponent has promised that he as president would be neutral between israel and the palestinians. Let me be very, very clear, as
president , i will not be neutral. [ cheers and applause ] america will stand unapologetically with the nation of israel. [ cheers and applause ] so what does that mean specifically . Lets start with todays persian king, the nation of iran. Both Hillary Clinton and donald trump have said they would maintain this iranian deal, although donald as promised, hes going to negotiate and get a better deal. Well, my view is very different. On the first day in office, i will rip this catastrophic Iranian Nuclear deal to shreds. [ cheers and applause ]
this agreement gives over 100 billion to the ayatollah khomeini, the worlds state sponsor of terrorism. That dwarfs the 3 billion in military aid that we give each year to the nation of israel. That difference is not just unconscionable, it is fundamentally immoral. And if i am president , on the first day, we will reimpose sanctions on iran. [ cheers and applause ] in a mockery of this Iranian Nuclear deal, iran has continued with missile tests, including launching a missile with the words printed on it in both hebrew and farsi, israel should be wiped from the earth. Hear my words, ayatollah khomeini, if i am president , and iran launches a missile test, we
will shoot that missile down. [ cheers and applause ] and in january 2017, we will have a commander in chief who says, under no circumstances will iran be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons, either you will shut down your Nuclear Program or we will shut it down for you. [ cheers and applause ] a year ago, when Prime Minister netanyahu addressed congress, i was honored to join the great ali wizel in the senate about this disastrous iranian deal. Not a single democrat was willing to join ali wezel. To sit alongside someone who witnessed firsthand the horrors
of the holocaust. Who brings a moral weight and gravity second to none. It was both powerful and humbling. And i am convinced after this election, the American People will stand and say together, never again means never again. [ cheers and applause ] on my very first day in office, i will begin the process of moving the American Embassy in israel to jerusalem, the eternal capital of israel. [ cheers and applause ] now, i recognize for years a whole lot of president ial candidates, both republicans and democrats, have said that indeed i recognize some candidates have
said that standing here today. Heres the difference. I will do it. [ cheers and applause ] and as president , i will do everything in my power to ensure that anyone who provides Financial Support to the bds movement, including schools and universities, will lose any access to federal funding. [ cheers and applause ] and to the extent that they have engaged in illegal behavior, they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. [ cheers and applause ] all of us here understand that israel is not the barrier to peace. It is the palestinian authority,
and a socalled unity government with hamas that celebrates the murder of women and children, and incites and even compensates the terrorist attacks. If the palestinians try to push through a United Nations resolution to union latd rally declare palestinian statehood, america will veto that resolution. [ cheers and applause ] indeed, i tell you today, i will fly to new york to personally veto it myself. [ cheers and applause ] now, some have asked, why on earth did a cubanamerican texan become one of the leading
defenders of israel in the United States congress. Well, i would say there are several reasons. First of all, i understand that standing with israel benefits america. [ applause ] israel is a liberal democracy that shares our values. Israel is a steadfast and loyal ally. And our military aid to israel is not charity. It is rather furthering the Vital National security interests of the United States of america, whether it is Missile Defense, from iron dome to david sling, or whether it is intelligence and military cooperation, israel provides an enormous benefit to keeping america safe and protecting us from radical islamic terrorists. [ cheers and applause ] but on a very personal level, for me, much of my view of israel is framed in my family
story. My father was born and raised in cuba. As a kid, he fought in the cuban revolution. He was imprisoned, he was tortured. My father fled cuba in 1957. When he came to america, he had nothing. He had 100 sewn into his underwear. And he washed dishes, making 50 cents an hour. He paid his way through school, he went on to start a small business. When i was a kid, my dad used to say to me over and over again, when i faced oppression in cuba, i had a place to flee to. If we lose our freedom here, where do we go. And i will tell you, it is an incredible blessing to be the child of an imgranted who fled oppression and came to america seeking freedom. And there is one other nation on earth like the United States of
america that was created as an oasis, as a beacon of hope to people who had faced oppression, had faced horrible murder and persecution, the nation of israel, like america, is a beacon of light unto the world. [ cheers and applause ] and all of us here understand, as Ronald Reagan did, that peace is achievable only through strength. This is what israel understands, when you surrounded by neighbors who would drive you into the sea, somehow you dont have time for political correctness. [ applause ] weakness is provocative. Appeasement increases the chance of military conflict. Indeed, i believe this Iranian Nuclear deal is munich in 1938, and we risk once again catastrophic consequences to allowing a hom oh sidal maniac to acquire tools to murder millions. [ cheers and applause ] the way to avoid conflict is to stand up to bullies. And it is worth remembering that this same nation, iran, in 1981, released our hostages the day Ronald Reagan was sworn into office. [ cheers and applause ] that is the difference a strong commander in chief can make, and together standing as one, we can and will. Do it again. Thank you. God bless america. A ending with hebrew, he threw down early in the speech on both palestine and perum, to establish some cred. Robert costa walking watching with us, National Political reporter for the washington post. Robert, theres a phrase, and that is red meat. That was a red meat speech to this group. And the line that cruz used when he entered the u. S. Senate. He cast himself tonight as an ideological conservative, someone who has been in the trenches battling for israel. And its position in the world ever since he entered the national stage. Thats what the Cruz Campaign is about right now. Had esees trump just before him pivoting, trying to make an overture to the israeli supporters. But cruz saying to them, ive been with you month after month, year after year. And of the three, i guess the
tone was set very early on as Chris Matthews pointed out, robert, by john kasich, who did not use a teleprompter. He gave a straight up reading from paper in front of him. A very sober, very earnest speech, which took full advantage of kind of timing, drama, and silence, all three of them very different methods of speaking. Kasich was introducing himself to this audience, who may not have been paying attention to his campaign in any great detail. He was making sure that he checked all the boxes, but also saying, showcasing h