Donald Trump: U.S. should 'strongly consider' closing mosques

Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump suggested that in light of terrorist attacks carried out by the Islamic State in Paris and elsewhere, the U.S. should start thinking about shutting down mosques, which he said are the source of some "absolute hatred."

"Well, I would hate to do it, but it's something you're going to have to strongly consider," Trump said Monday on MSNBC's Morning Joe, adding that he knows some Muslims who are "unbelievably great people."

At the very least, Trump said, the U.S. should monitor mosques more closely for Muslim extremism.

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"You're going to have to watch and study the mosques because a lot of talk is going on at the mosques. And from what I heard, in the old days, meaning a while ago, we had great surveillance going on in and around mosques in New York City," he said. Trump then added that he thought Mayor Bill de Blasio had done away with that, but quickly hedged: "I'm not sure that's a fact."

Check out Trump's full interview below. Julie Kliegman