Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/gop-candidates-talk-immigration-iraq-religion Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript Republican presidential candidates went toe-to-toe with one another in Wednesday night's CNN-YouTube debate with field front-runners Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani trading sharp words on immigration policy. Kwame Holman looks at the Florida debate's highlights. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. JIM LEHRER: And next, the Republicans' debate in Florida. NewsHour correspondent Kwame Holman reports. KWAME HOLMAN: The questions for last night's debate came not from CNN host Anderson Cooper, but from tech-savvy Internet users who submitted their queries through the popular online video-sharing site YouTube.CNN screened the nearly 5,000 submissions, and about three dozen made the cut. Some were straightforward and personal. LEEANN ANDERSON, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: These are my kids, Evan and Maya. Maya is from China, and we adopted her to give her a better life. We never dreamed that she'd be exposed to lead after leaving China, and now we find trains like this that are covered with lead in our home. KWAME HOLMAN: Others were clever and whimsical. TED FATUROS, Manhattan Beach, California: Mmm, nothing says delicious like a cheap corn subsidized by the American taxpayer. KWAME HOLMAN: However, it was the first question on immigration that set the tone for the night. Rudy Giuliani was asked whether New York City gave sanctuary to illegal immigrants while he was mayor, which led to a sharp exchange with former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.RUDY GIULIANI (R), Former Mayor of New York: It's unfortunate, but Mitt generally criticizes people in a situation in which he's had far the worst record. For example, in his case, there were six sanctuary cities. He did nothing about them.There was even a sanctuary mansion. At his own home, illegal immigrants were being employed, not being turned in to anybody or by anyone. And then when he deputized the police, he did it two weeks before he was going to leave office, and they never seemed to even catch the illegal immigrants who were working at his mansion.So I would say he had sanctuary mansion, not just sanctuary city. ANDERSON COOPER, CNN Anchor: All right, I've got to allow Governor Romney to respond, and then we'll move on.FORMER GOV. MITT ROMNEY (R), Massachusetts: Mayor, you know better than that. RUDY GIULIANI: No… MITT ROMNEY: Yeah? OK, then listen, all right? Then listen. First of all… RUDY GIULIANI: You did have illegal immigrants working at your mansion, didn't you? MITT ROMNEY: No, I did not, so let's just talk about that. Are you suggesting, Mayor, that if you have a company that you hired to provide a service…REP. DUNCAN HUNTER (R), California: Let us jump in here. MITT ROMNEY: … that you now are responsible for going out and checking the employees of that company, particularly those that might look different or don't have an accent like yours, and ask for their papers? I don't think that's American.