He also talked about his religious beliefs, saying, "What's at the heart of my faith is a belief that there is a creator, that we're all children of the same God, and that fundamentally, the relationship you have with your spouse is important and eternal."

Romney said marriage "isn't just some temporary convenience here on Earth, but we're people that are designed to live together as male and female, and we're going to have families." He quoted the Bible, saying, "Children are an inheritance of the Lord and happy is he who has or hath his quiver full of them."

Wallace asked at one point if Romney and his wife, Ann, broke what is described as the strict church rule against premarital sex. "No, I'm sorry, we do not get into those things," Romney said. "The answer is no," he added before ending the line of questioning.

On the war in Iraq, Romney said the Bush administration "made a number of errors. I don't think we were adequately prepared for what occurred. I don't think we did enough planning. I don't think we considered the various downsides and risks."

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