Mike Huckabee in Meet the Press interviews during 2015

On Environment: Climate change is questionable; address other issues instead

HUCKABEE: Whether it's man-made or not, I know that when I was in college I was being taught that if we didn't act very quickly, that we were going to entering a global freezing. Go back and look at the covers of Time and Newsweek from the early '70s. We were told that if we didn't do something by 1980, we'd be popsicles. Now we're told that we're all burning up. Science is not as settled on that as it is on some things. I find it interesting. The Left has completely embraced the Pope's message on climate change.

Q: So what should be done?

HUCKABEE: Climate change is the wrong question. We should instead focus on good, stable energy prices and making America an exporter of energy not just for economic reasons but quite frankly to disrupt the balance of power with Russia, Iran, and the Saudis. This is a game changer. And America needs to be using the resources that it has to empower Americans, help poverty, and also change the global balance.

On Government Reform: Banning confederate flag is an issue for the states

HUCKABEE: Well, it depends on which level of government. If the state government of South Carolina wishes to address an issue in their state, that's fine. But if you can point me to an article and section of the Constitution in which a United States president ought to weigh in on what states use as symbols, then please refresh my memory on that. But for those of us running for president, everyone's being baited with this question as if somehow that has anything to do whatsoever with running for president. And my position is: It most certainly does not.

On Education: I'm against Common Core; it differs from its original intent

HUCKABEE: No, I'm absolutely against what Common Core has come to stand for. But it's totally different than what it was intended to be. The original intent, which was conceived out of the Achieve Movement from the mid-'90s that a number of governors, most of them Republicans, put forth to keep state standards, not letting the federal government get in control. And the whole idea was let the states decide the standards, but have high standards. So that was the genesis of it. Common Core originally only dealt with two things: language arts and math. That was it. And nothing, nothing in curriculum.

On Immigration: Let illegal immigrant kids in college despite parents' crime

HUCKABEE: Absolutely. Look, we force people to go to school in our states. So as a governor, we had a kid in one of the largest high schools in the state who was the valedictorian. He came here when he was 5 years old. He had gone through the entire public school system. And then the big question was: Should he qualify, having been an Arkansas student, for the same scholarships that anyone else did? And I said yes, he should. Because you don't punish a child for something his parents did.