BURNETT:
Donald, thank you very much for meeting with me.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE:
Thank you.
BURNETT:
All right. You are at the top of the national polls right now. You have held that place for months and months now. In the debates on the campaign
trail, though, there's been a little bit different of a Donald Trump. Dare I say more conciliatory, nicer.
TRUMP:
Isn't that a good thing?
BURNETT:
Are we going to see more of this?
TRUMP:
Well, I don't know. I mean, I'm the conciliatory person. I'm a nice person. I think I'm a nice person. I would say, they say, when I make a speech,
it's different than when I debate. I think when I debate, I've gotten very good marks for the debates. As you know, I won every single online poll.
There were seven of them and I won all seven by substantial margins. But I think I have to be a little respectful when I debate. I don't think I
should be cutting in like some of the people cut in and they constantly cut in. I actually helped Jeb Bush. I was saying let him speak when I looked
at Kasich. I said, let him speak. The man couldn't speak. But I think I'm, yes, I think it's just been working out well. I've enjoyed doing the
debates. I've had a lot of fun with it and I think we've done it very well in the debate itself.
BURNETT:
And what about Dr. Carson? All right? You're on top nationally and in some polls though he's within spitting distance --
TRUMP:
Yes.
BURNETT:
A margin of error. Some of them he's been ahead. How are you going to separate yourself from him? Does he worry you?
TRUMP:
Well, look, you always think about everybody. Somebody said who is your closest competitor? I mean, they are all -- I have to think about, I
mean, other than the ones in the absolute bottom tier and then you wonder why certain people hanging around, it sort of hard to believe that they
do this. It can't be helpful to them or their families or their brand, frankly. But somebody said, who is your number one? I said, I think you have
many of them. You never know what is going to happen with a political campaign. I haven't done it on this side. I've been a politician now for four
or five months but I haven't done it from the standpoint of running for office. I've never done this before. I've been a businessman. I've created
tremendous numbers of tens and thousands of jobs and built a great company but I've never done this. I would say you have three or four or five
people I guess that would have a shot.
BURNETT:
And in terms of Dr. Carson, you've said some of the questions about his past are fair. There have been a lot of questions about what really
happened, what his childhood was like. You know, he's pushed back in the media. He said at the debate the other night, I have a problem with
being lied about. Do you believe he's being truthful now that you've heard his answers?
TRUMP:
Well, I don't know, I mean, first of all, I like him. I get along with him very well. I just don't know. I don't forget, this is in his book. I'm not
bringing up anything that's not in his book.
BURNETT:
Uh-hm.
TRUMP:
And you know, when he says he went after his mother and wanted to hit her in the head with a hammer, that bothers me. I mean, that's pretty bad.
When he says he's pathological and he says that in the book, I don't say that. And again, I'm not saying anything. I'm not saying anything other
than pathological is a very serious disease and he said he's pathological. Somebody said he has a pathological disease. Other people said he said
in the book and I haven't seen it. I know it's in the book -- that he has got a pathological temper or temperament. That's a big problem because
you don't cure that. That's like, you know, I could say, they've saying you don't cure -- as an example, a child molester, you don't cure these
people.
[19:05:35] You don't cure a child molester. There's no cure for it. Pathological, there's no cure for that. Now, I didn't say it. He said it in his book.
So when I hear somebody's pathological, when somebody says, I went after my mother with -- and he's saying it about himself with a hammer and
hit her in the head, I say, whoa. I never did. You never did. I don't know anybody that ever did personally. But that's a big statement. When he
says he hit a friend of his in the face with a lock -- with a padlock right in the face, I say, whoa, that's pretty bad. And when he said he stabbed
somebody with a knife but it hit a belt buckle, I know a lot about knives and belt buckles. Belt buckles are not going to stop it because they are
going to turn. They're going to, you know, they are not solid, especially if somebody has got a couple of extra pounds on. You know, they move.
There's a lot of movement. So the chances of somebody going like that hitting a belt buckle where it doesn't slide of and go into the --
