CBS News/NJ debate transcript, part 1

Scott Pelley: That's time, Governor. But I would like to ask you a follow-up on that point. You-- you talked about all the things that China should be doing. How do you affect that as commander in chief? How do you make China do these things?

Mitt Romney: Well number one, on day one, it's acknowledging something which everyone knows, they're a currency manipulator. And on that basis, we also go before the W.T.-- the W.T.O. and bring an action against them as a currency manipulator. And that allows us to apply, selectively, tariffs where we believe they are stealing our intellectual property, hacking into our computers, or artificially lowering their prices and killing American jobs. We can't just sit back and let China run all over us. People say, "Well, you'll start a trade war." There's one goin' on right now, folks. They're stealing our jobs. And we're gonna stand up to China.

Major Garrett: Governor Huntsman, Governor Romney just said we're in the middle of a war that's-- we're not even declared or we're not even aware of. And Governor Perry said China will end up on the ash heap of history. You've been in China. You were the ambassador for our nation there under President Obama. What's your reaction?

Jon Huntsman: Well, the re-- reality's a little different as it usually is when you're on the ground. And I've tried to figure this out for 30 years of my career. First of all, I don't think, Mitt, you can take-- China to the W.T.O. on currency-related issues. Second, I-- I don't know that this country needs a trade war with China. Who does it hurt? Our small businesses in South Carolina, our exporters-- our agriculture producers.

We don't need that at a time when China is about to embark on a generational position. So what should we be doing? We should be reaching out to our allies and constituencies within China. They're called the young people. They're called the internet generation. There are 500 million internet users in China.

Scott Pelley: And Governor, we're going to have to--

Jon Huntsman: And 80 million bloggers. And they are bringing about change, the likes of which is gonna take China down.

Scott Pelley: We're gonna have to leave it there, Governor.

Jon Huntsman: While we have an opportunity to go up and win back our economic--

Scott Pelley: Governor--

Jon Huntsman: --manufacturing muscles. That's all I wanna do as president.

Scott Pelley: That's time. I thank you very much. We will be back with the Republican commander in chief debate from Wofford College in just a moment.

(PAUSE)

Scott Pelley: Welcome back to South Carolina and the Republican commander in chief debate. Governor Perry, we just got a-- question via Twitter from Barbara McMann (PH). And Barbara asked this question of you. "Does Governor Perry's Foreign Aid Starts at Zero include Israel?"

Rick Perry: Well, as Governor Perry-- would tweet back to her that-- absolutely. Every country would start at zero. Obviously, Israel is a special ally. And my bet is that we would be funding them-- at some substantial level. But it makes sense for everyone to come in at zero and make your case. As a matter of fact, we oughta try that-- doin' that with some of those agencies that I was tryin' to think the name of the other night.

Starting at zero, zero-based budgeting, and Newt will share with you, is we've gotta go there. And everyone has to come in and make your case. It's what the American people are doin'. There's somebody at home sittin' watchin' T.V. tonight, lookin' for a job. And they're havin' to budget. Why in the world would our federal government get a pass on sending our tax dollars to any country--

Scott Pelley: And, Governor, I have to s--

Rick Perry: --without havin' an answer? Why?

Scott Pelley: We're gonna have to leave it right there. I thank you very much. That brings us to the end of the first hour of the debate. Some CBS stations will be leaving us. But you can continue to follow the debate online on CBSNews.com and NationalJournal.com. And you can submit questions for the candidates at either of those sites. Most of our stations in South Carolina and on the west coast will continue to broadcast the debate. When we return, we will take questions from South Carolina's two senators, s-- United States Senator Lindsey Graham and Senator Jim DeMint. With thanks to the candidates, thanks to Wofford College, thanks to the G.O.P. and South Carolina, I'm Scott Pelley with Major Garrett.

CBS News/NJ debate transcript, part 2

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11/11

[dclogang]

Why didn't you give all candidates EQUAL TIME?? Ron Paul was giving a total of what 90 seconds???? UNFAIR AND UNBALANCED NEWS! Come on CBS!

[gdpreston1]

dreadful CBS you should be ashamed of yourselves! Ron Paul IS the People's choice!!

[kaycris1128]

This debate was a disappointment for me, I feel I got way to much Perry, Romney, and Cain, while all I really wanted was to know where the other candidates stood on the issues. I wish these debates were set up so that everyone was given the same amount of time to speak, the media bias for certain candidates is painfully obvious by now and it makes me wonder if I should even continue to follow the GOP debates at all. I certainly have lost all respect for CBS, and will no longer be tuning into their programming. Oh and water boarding is defiantly torture. I think if Cain and Bachmann were to fall victim to these "interrogation techniques" their stance would be quite different. Ron Paul was the only one up there making any since and he was given the least amount of time even though he has been constantly polling in the double digits, I wanted to hear more from that guy!

[JavaMcPhearson]

CBS Nov 12 poll results -
Olivepolitics(com) created the realtime one-person, one-vote system used by CBS Nov 12 which received over 100,000 votes before crashing due to legitimate server overload. ?
The results as of 97,529 votes were Paul 28%, Perry 19%, Huntsman 13%, Gingrich 13%, Cain 13%, Romney 8%, Bachmann 3%, and Santorum 2%.
While previous network polls have relied on as little as 54 votes, the CBS Nov 12 poll results may be the first to represent truly significant voter participation.

[Johnstone39]

Oh. so now CBS is finally putting up the entire, unedited transcripts? Where were they last evening? I searched all over this website and National Journal and the full, unedited debate was not available. And we know the entire debate wasn't available for recording on TV.

CBS should be ashamed of not having the entire debate on TV, and when cutting that off, not having the entire debate on the CBS and National Journal websites for replay immediately. It is sickening that most people ended up reading the headlines from CBS spinmeisters to get their information on the debate rather than listening themselves.

[cmart6]

"An email from a CBS producer who predicted that Bachmann would not receive many questions from moderators Scott Pelley and Major Garrett."
The email is not a "supposed smoking gun" It proves that CBS intended their anti-Bachmann bias to do what they in fact did: ask Bachmann fewer (60%) questions than asked of Romney and Gingrich.
When you predict what in fact you do, then it shows intent, in this case intent of bias.
A recent SmartPolitics analysis found that former Massachusetts governor and front-runner for the nomination Mitt Romney has spoken for over 73 minutes in the last 5 debates, more than any other candidate. Texas Governor Rick Perry came in second in terms of speaking time at 54 minutes, followed by Bachmann at 41.

[cottagestreetgirl]

I love the way Newt handles the msm when they try to corner him with their 'gotcha' questions. He puts them in their place, not with personal attacks, but with his well thought out ideas which are supported by facts. Scott Pelley should not feel too bad about the verbal ***** slapping Newt delivered...he wasn't the first to be pounded by The Speaker, and he won't be the last.

Intellectually, Mr Gingrich is a giant among the pipsqueaks of the press.

[Docfreeman]

The debate would have been really good had Scott Pelly allowed everyone to finish their sentence. Also had all the candidates been allowed to speak it would have made for a more informative debate. As it was Bachmann was not given much of a chance to answer or comment on anything. It was not really a good debate, since you had lousy moderators.