Trump Says He Should Get $5M to Show Up at Next Debate

Donald Trump on Monday proposed that CNN pony up if it wants him to participate in its Dec. 15 Republican debate. Asking price? $5 million. He views the money as restitution (NBC News calls it a "ransom"): CNN "doesn't treat me properly," Trump said at a rally in Macon, Ga., noting his star power helped attract 23 million viewers to CNN's last debate. "How about I tell CNN that I'm not gonna do the next debate?" he said, per USA Today, to what NBC News describes as "tepid applause."

Then he got more specific: "I won't do the debate unless they pay me $5 million, all of which money goes to the Wounded Warriors or to vets." He said pundits will likely call him "chicken" but added he doesn't care about the opinions of "talking heads, who are not smart people at all." (CNN has allegedly been caught "selectively editing" Trump comments.)