real time with no commentary. i think the day of the voice of god, you know, for an hour night telling you what your watching and what it means and what you did she think about it is over, and i think that is good. generation why is the most sophisticated media : of all time, very smart and savvy. they can tune into something and watch it. that is why we call what we do emerge as some. more on the documentary filmmaking philosophy because you go and press record because the story evolves. so, you know, that whole era -- and it is funny. will you have the same standards to make you have to understand that generation y growth with weapons of mass destruction, saddam hussein harboring al qaeda demint even though anyone with half a brain

knew there were a secular regime and natural enemies. the irony is that uc what is happening. we go in and focus of so bad that we create something that makes al qaeda look like a tea party. people see that the beach so when you say, well, would you have the same standards and practices, you know, if that is the gold standard of, you know, everyone was marred by that. everyone knew what was happening. that is the gold standard of integrity, you can have it. >> i think that's a great point. [applause] club. [applause] i want to -- [applause] when you talk about your core audience and the disillusionment that that generation hence developed in the wake of the failure

to change everything that is wrong with washington and the last five and a half, six years, does that translate into a withdrawal from political activism in your mind? people were already saber in 2012, and i think republicans are banking on it. they said, there is no way because he is disillusioned and disappointed so many people that he will ever have that same electoral model including the record setting levels of youth vote. in fact, young people voted even more. so have we really screw them up now? are they done? >> what i would be worried about -- and we're out of time, but i will finish with this. we spend a lot of time indebted with groups in the middle east. arabs bring effectively was a youth revolution with the

socialists and anarchists. here we embedded with occupy wall street building what i will say is, you have an entire generation that is just getting back on its feet. they have been disenfranchised economically , politically, dissatisfied with the media, yonne colleges dangers, and they are passed off. god help us when the next economic downturn comes because you will see europe explode, southeast asia explode, the police explode, and if america has not forgotten his revolutionary past, america is going to explode as well. >> you heard it here first. [laughter] [applause] >> thank you all very much. >> thank you. >> thank you. thanks a lot.

>> thank you. your reward for going through this marathon -- don't leave yet. this is the last call session, and we are giving you drinks after. we have today in a post 9/11 world the experience of being in an immigrant in the united states got tangling in untangling the threat of multiple national identities is every bit as complicated as it was in the days of ellis island. we're lucky to have to extraordinary writers on this subject with us today, joseph o'neill in gary stand guard. please welcome them both to the stage with editor of the atlantic, scott stossel. this is a great session. when you are done we will have our great form dust of a reception afterwards. >> excellent. thank you all for coming. it is a huge honor for me to be up a year because these

two men are truly some of the best novelist working in an english and may be other -- any other language today. i am a huge fan of your work. i was at the southern festival of the book a couple of weeks ago when national and cellule walking through the hotel lobby and contemplated going up and talking to you, but i was a little bit starstruck. as of may you would run away. >> i would run towards you. >> no i realize you are a captive audience. i have this whole group of people who could tackle you. we have a lot of ground to cover. of want to begin with a couple of letter notes. i have been reading in the new yorker a piece you did about air butler for the paperback of little to other then he packed 46 adam and tablets freer to wear to come message places.

how many of those did you end up taking? him many heavy taken before today? >> today i took half a milligram. i feel comfortable in washington. i think people are nice. most of you are so breslau. [laughter] >> en another note of none seriousness before we get down to serious business, a laundry for all of cuba. of what to make sure the keep you fully awake, but you have written many times, both in your memoir and on some of your novels and of the excesses scariness of unicolor furnace. this is kind of a self-conscious of allegis said for the record in many afterwards we could have a chivas competition, i am

terrier they knew i shaved. this kind of arbitrary where i stop. if we didn't, they would turn about. >> a can't believe it's the end of this we will have a hair-off. the national zoo will collect us and take us back to where we belong. anyway, getting down to serious business, i would say that with regard to your respective ridings styles and sensibilities, and some ways you are extremely disappointed. and if you're looking for analogs, i will put a chill in the tradition of someone who has been compared to, scott fitzgerald which is heavily company to be in gary, i would put you in the

tradition of saul miller and early for a profit and not just because of your preoccupation with jewish themes, but because of the exuberance of your voice pitbull in the russian tradition, i would say come back gary, you are more in the tradition of "off. whereas with your restraint is more and checkoff. one place where you do overlap despite these differences is writing about immigrants and expatriates and what you might call the emirate identity crisis. and in your debut novel you have the main character who is working in new york opinion of the emigrants have immigrants compatriots' patriot. and had to offer an unlikely

joke and the characters in your book and are also explants, american, dubai, your latest book. i saw you quoted in an interview summer, you do that have on home turf but you have no choice to float around on these currents. you have not spent your entire careers in some sense talking abut this to my but very briefly. data is being an immigrant or displaced expatriate inform their writing? >> when i came to america, it was 1980. i cry did not commit to alice said to hebrew school. it was so bad being an economy that i had to pretend i was born in east

berlin, not leningrad. tinias later. being an immigrant was the coolest thing you could imagine it's productive palmitic hands. >> you have not mx any other colleges diphthong with. >> i am not a permanent

migrant. i grew up in africa and holland mainly. i speak french with my mother. so in a lot of ways new york was a very good fit for me a sort of homeland. >> we are in washington. the perfect place to ask this question. the relationship of the nobbled to politics. you have both doubled and satire. this pcr and political >> is the bias? >> you said -- and this is just a couple of months ago. howdy you feel about that?

i felt uncomfortable. i am sure that it sold books, but not been in office for six years and we are still forced feeding people in guantanamo bay it is an uncomfortable. for both of you, what bearing or relevance. [laughter] >> i think novels are inevitably physical. content or whatever, it depends upon the leader. the political, ethical questions, practically a text becomes loaded with physical meaning. i feel, like my most recent book on this boat in dubai.

more physical. >> being from the former soviet whatever, political. catch a the feeling of what it is like to be in these two giant countries. privileged to be born in one superpower that collapse and then move to another that is doing great. >> wherever i landed in beijing. okay. going back. >> it is a 20th century kind of experience. a part of the wishes that i was working at a burger king in denmark and having a decent life. >> that is a good segue. the prospect of the above

working in mcdonald's and denmark, the future. a few years ago the novel was called, a dying animal. a small group of people will be reading it. maybe more people than currently read latin poetry, but probably in about that range and he elaborated in says because of screen time and distraction. i was too going around. a thought it was a great quote. then i found an interview that you did. your nose. maybe literature will come back someday. it sucks to be in the bustle of it all of a sudden. so what is the future of the novel? >> you have to take everything that i say with a grain of salt and in the industry they call me asap. nothing to me was going to look up, but i think we are in the end of this. this is coming to an end. [laughter] writing novels, i mean.

and i know professors of english to tell me i have not read a book in a while because i don't have time. i read parts or reviews, but it is hard to read an entire book. that is why i think the tv series has caught on so much because it provides a narrative that we all need. we are wired for narratives that we watch instead of trying to absorb. reading a book, after into the consciousness of this guy, and he has to do the same with me, and that takes effort. it is almost over. >> do you agree? >> come on. actually, i'm just going to stay. i think -- i do agree. i think that to -- i actually think it is a question of money.

it is just not for anyone to read or to get people to read. the technology is overtaking that. everything, all human activity is still connected to profitability in a way that just was not the case in my childhood, for example predigest seems to be kind of strange and invalid about reading a novel or a lengthy text area is as if everything has to be reduced to below points. >> so was the novel just a contingent, time-permitted think for early victorian era to 15 years ago? what is next. >> the novel is contingent with the election. and i think that now the end of the enlightenment

misinformation does not depend upon the accuracy of the great thing to offer is contract with reality and truth. that is not particularly as a commodity and more. that is where we track in relation to enlightenment. >> the place where people major inhumanities everyone's in a while. that used to be a major part of this country. millions flocked to the university's we just have to set that reality. what could you do next?

>> i like air-conditioning. a year-old. developers love of refrigeration. hechinger and that company. what laws exist. >> reporter: pretty easy as it relates to the political question? famously end of reportedly at this point said that poetry makes nothing happened. the same could be said of the novel. writings entertain, to enlighten, the function of a novel and what function is to conserve that breaking

that can serve? >> the way that these things are structured as a chapter. it corresponds the-of characters. you buy a book from one of us, your entry for while we're all teaching and the paper. specific technology.

even the smartest televisions, there always comes a moment when you can say is a stupid. they have to go. the novel's fifth, a literary novels, there is no real payoff for being stupid or pressure for being stupid if you are penalized for it. it does not rewarded. you have all these moments where you just think. and then you come and pick it up. >> holding it. does it make you feel better? >> it does demand thank you for allowing me to do that. >> we want to make you feel -- [laughter] >> this is a good year, 2014.

[laughter] >> people are always interested. so figure out how to of premises as succinctly as possibly. out you get your ideas or novels, developer characters to my your writing process and there is kind of -- there are people who, many friends to work with the atlantic who write seven words a day but they are all perfect. and then there are those two just spewed out thousands of words and most of it is crap that has to be edited back. i am like a constipated border, which is the worst of all. how do you guys were? >> just whole thing is not my forte. you know, i actually think that idealism is what i do best in fact, my life as a

novelist, he spent a lot of time lying around, not even incidentally this stuff. so i just sit they're thinking. get most of it done like that i was in the cabin. much easier immigration policy, canada. i can only live in that super power. there is the book. >> thanks to both of you. thanks to all of you. [applause] that you all for coming.

>> thank you. thank you all. we now know that when the novel dies weaken call gary for tech support. i am the president of atlantic live here to say thank you for being a wonderful audience. i hope he will come back tomorrow. we have another incredible day. the secretary of state, the ceo of wholefoods, novelists and brain scientists who remember ben bradlee and will talk about character. right now you get to go have cocktails on the second and third floor. still not forget any personal items and have a lovely, lovely evening. half-day tomorrow starting at age 45. sold out. [inaudible conversations]

legs the orders we signed today talk about the significance. >> the recommendation i

received from the chairman and the chiefs yesterday to go forward with a policy of essentially 21 date incubations for our men and women who would be returning from west african. that policy was put in place by the chief staff of the army a couple of days ago in for general williams and tenor of this associates who are now back at their base. what they said in response was, give me -- within 15 days the operational specifics of how that would work, and then i believe that we should review that days.y to within 45 days. the fact is the military will have moe amcans the fact is, the military will have more americans in liberia than any other department. that is number one. number two, our people are

younger. a cohorts are different.re diff. they are not volunteers. and this is also a policy that was discussed in great detail by the communities, by the families of our military men and women. and they very much wanted a safety valve on this. >> campaign 2014 coverage starts live tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern with the louisiana senate debate.

>> the massachusetts governor debate. .. and

[applause] ♪ [applause] >> good evening and welcome to tonight's debate. it's about the voters looking at the differences between charlie martha coakley. candidates will be engaging with

each other directly. there was one rule we will follow. at the end of their sentence -- that's the only rule. now we will start the debate. please join me in giving a huge round of applause to martha coakley and charlie baker. [applause] [applause] >> moderator: charlie you won the coin toss to once again we will start with you. i note your lawyers have said you have done nothing wrong and you say you have done nothing wrong. you made a 10,000-dollar donation to the republican state committee of new jersey in 2011. seven months later the state of new jersey invested $50 million

in a company where you were an executive and president. how does this not violate new jersey's pay-to-play rule? baker: i've been completely transparent about this issue from the beginning and when the issue was raised i got an attorney and attorney happened to be the former general counsel of the federal election commission. i gave him my employment contract with every other document associated with this issue and i said if there's a problem here please tell me what it is and i will be happy to correct it. he wrote a very lengthy report, 15 pages in all outlining everything and spelling out everything based on his interpretation of the law in new jersey and the documents that i gave him and at the end of that report said i didn't need to take corrective action. to go one step further i also made the document available to the public in its on line and available for anybody wants to read it. i also submitted all my tax returns associated with years i worked so those would be available too. i believe i've done what i can do to make public all the information associated with this

issue in new jersey and at this point in time i don't believe i've done anything wrong. the lawyer for review the documents made them all public and basically agreed with me and said the same thing. >> moderator: martha you have a different take on this. coakley: the one thing you haven't done charlie is turn over the copy of your employment contract. he gave it to the attorney paid by you to do the investigation so that's great but two things remain. you are still under investigation so they apparently it's us why wouldn't you clarify a question for voters in massachusetts and second why wouldn't your friend in new jersey the governor there released the results of this report that was supposed to determine whether or not there was a violation by you. that started last may and they said it would be a few weeks. we just heard recently it won't be out until november 16. i just don't think it looks good. baker: the first is the investigation will be done whenever it will be done and i believe the documentation made

available to the public based on the review done by the attorney, i made, i mean the guy is a former general counsel of the federal election commission. he has a reputation to uphold and i gave him all the documentation and declared it. i must say the only person on the state who has been fined for campaign finance violations is the attorney general to pay is the attorney general who paid a 24,000-dollar fine for violations associated with laws she was supposed to pull. >> moderator: martha you are smiling. you have an answer for back? coakley: as soon as any errors were made known to me i moved to make it transparent and clear this up. those were not fined. it is clear those weren't fines and on top of that why wouldn't you release your employment contract because when scott brown was running against elizabeth warren and there was the issue about her. she called upon her to say really sure contract with harvard. why is it good enough for her then and not you now? you can resolve this question by giving out your employment

contract and he won't do it. baker: i hired an attorney who knows what he's talking about. i gave him all the documentation associated with the issue and he wrote the major review which by the way goes into great detail associated with what's in my employment agreement. i wish people would read the agreement and i would tell them a lot about what this in the agreement and how it works. at this point in time for all intensive purposes of the issue will be decided at some point when they issue their final report and i must say i imagine the attorney general of all people would know investigations finished when they finish and when it's available i'm sure the folks of new jersey will release it. >> moderator: charlie one follow-up for me. he regrets given this hoopla do you regret giving back? baker: well yeah. >> moderator: you never would have done that? baker: at the time and made a donation i wanted to support the governor who had been supportive of me when i ran for governor in 2010. i was completely transparent with the general catalyst about the fact that i made that donation as well and i've been

completely transparent about the fact that i was working there at the time. >> moderator: one quick follow-up. the $50 million that the general catalyst for new or executive director do think that would have happened? baker: the state of new jersey stalled that investment and made a 50% profit on it in less than two years. clearly it was a good investment for the pensioners in the state of new jersey. coakley: that's not the point. i'm not sure what their reasons are but it did look good. did they do vested because they should not have made that investment? this is insider information and that is what the pay-to-play schemas and that we have a situation where there appears to be a pay, a play and a delay on the report. so i went calling you an easy way to release your employment contract. >> moderator: one final word on that charlie. baker: someone can make a 50% return on their investment and they can sell out of its a good

deal for pensioners and a good deal for teachers and state retirees and i think most pension systems including the one in massachusetts would love to be able to get a 50% return on investment in less than two years. >> moderator: let's. >> moderator: lets move on,, martha year term. some recent polls have been in charlie's favor. the "boston globe" has endorsed charlie baker for governor. headlines like martha joke we have been chasing you. and as they were democrats dominate congressional and state delegations why are you leading and leading big right now? coakley: thanks for that question because i appreciate what matters of course is not newspapers endorsements or whatever polls say. their up-and-down. i believe this race is close right now. i think those who follow this also believe that. what i've been focused on since i got into this race a year ago in september was on traveling around the state and listening to people about what they needed and where we could go as the economy started to turn around

and because i believe we have the best ideas about turning the economy around for everybody, for earning sick time and giving people early education and they don't have vouchers to do that, making sure that we invest in our workforce and our kids so they can have the jobs of the future. that is what's going to win this race and it's about ideas and organizing. i'm confident we will win november 4. >> moderator: charlie you have 45 seconds. you have the globe endorsement. republicans have not had that in a long time. is this a close race are not? baker: i have been gratified by the response we have gotten from the voters across the commonwealth and i've been grateful to receive endorsement from the "boston globe" and every newspaper in massachusetts has made an endorsement so far in this race has endorsed my campaign. i believe that's because they believe as i do state government is broken and the next governor of massachusetts needs to be a proven leader and manager with tremendous success in the public

sector and the private sector and has served in local government. clearly the voters of massachusetts say this race has gone from being 20 points behind for even or a little bit ahead for us. they made statements about who they think is most suited to lead the commonwealth. >> moderator: we are going to move on. we want to include our panels. first up is allison. allison your question. c this is for charlie baker. charlie don't say much about welfare reform on the campaign trail but your tv ad suggests he will be very aggressive on welfare reform. given the legislature just passed a welfare reform bill, it's farther do you want to go with welfare reform and is it one of your top priorities as your tv out suggest? baker: you know martha, excuse excuse me in no allison we have spent a fair amount of time over the course the campaign talking about reforms of many kinds including reform to our welfare system. many of the reforms that were part of the package we put

together last spring ultimately became part of legislative reform package passed at the end of the legislative session. that would be an enthusiastic supporter supporter and an supporter and i would look forward to implementing them. i've also spent time in the city city of worchester with ray morey on a former mayor of worcester who won runs the public housing authority who has come up with initiatives to help people basically find their way out of public housing and into self-sufficiency. i think the more we can do to build on those kinds of programs across the commonwealth the better off we will be. the vast majority of folks on publics assistance would like to find a way out and i would like to help them do that. c if you could wave to could wave to watch it -- magic wand and do one thing with welfare reform what would you do? baker: i would like to do other things that are part of that legislative package. the big thing in that package is coming up with a strategy to help people find their way to work because in the end everybody wants to work come

everybody wants to find their way to a job and i think there should be a fundamental objective of our welfare system. >> moderator: martha coakley you don't talk much about welfare reform. as a part of your agenda? coakley: let me respond to this lamp -- what charlie has proposed which puts's how long someone can stay in housing. i would hope that people who can get out sooner well and i i believe there are ways to do that by giving people the work skills they need to help to get on an economic -- not looking at the other and then i also believe and i know i have been persecuting and going after convenience stores for instance been involved in ebt fraud. i believe that any business that violates the law should be held accountable and should have lottery or cigarettes or ability to sell alcohol for instant license license in this day. i don't want any kid to go hungry and i want people to have

their tax dollars for assistance to help them get back on that letter. >> we are going to move on to a question for martha coakley. the boston globe reports as in 2008 call former inspector general gregory casey into your office were according to sullivan you told him to stop his investigation into then speaker of the house and others involved in the software controversy. saying according to sullivan that there was no evidence that anyone across the bright line into criminality. dimasi is serving an eight-year prison term on corruption charges in that case. also there were others who were convicted. were you trying to give sell dimasi of past? coakley: i'm really glad you asked that question because i have said, since that report occurred i have said and i will say tonight is absolutely untrue what sullivan has said. that never happened. i never said that and what the

voter should know and the people in the audience should know tonight is that we brought state cases against richard attali ann dunham under state law that was applicable to something involved in the laws. i worked cooperatively with the federal government to bring the church is the investigative resources they have and the statutes to get that conviction against cell dimasi. the statement is untrue in the globe. for the record oliver documents support it and we did the investigation we got convictions of three people involved in those ticket scandals and the scandals around the procurement. >> said greg sullivan is flat out lie and? coakley: he's either flat out lying or flat out wrong and i have documentation. baker: greg sullivan has a distinguished career as a leading democrats on beacon hill first in the legislature and then as an investigator working for the inspector general's office and ultimately serving

several terms as the inspector general before he retired from state service. he has a number of major convictions that were part of the investigation of the lead during his time as both an investigator and the inspector general. he was was actually appointed to serve his last term by the attorney general, the auditor in the governor. he is a person of extraordinarily high integrity and his response to the character assassination that was issued by your campaign yesterday as compelling. specific dates, times. it tells quite a story and i think the attorney general owes the public an explanation for that. >> the inspector general doesn't bring charges or config. we worked cooperatively with him on that. secondly i am the one who brought the charges and got convictions against richard attali and mcdonough so i would ask you charlie weis that you took money in this campaign from richard attali? i prosecuted them and you are

taking funds for their campaign. this. baker: you're going to change the subject and you're still not going to repot -- respond. i have more daughters than anyone else running for governor this year. you want to clear the air on this one a need to response directly to the issues raised by greg sullivan. coakley: we have and we will. baker: this is not some two bit guy. this is somebody has a towering reputation on beacon hill for forthrightness honesty and commitment and for him to be attacked the way you folks attacked him yesterday simply beyond the pale. i think you owe him an explanation across-the-board for the issues he raised today. coakley: charlie the issue is whether he was correct or not so let's stick with the merits of a question here. he was wrong about that. we can document that he was wrong and why he set it to the globe i don't know and i don't really care what his motivation is.

besides that i know because i cooperated with u.s. attorney michael sullivan and investigation and prosecution of sal dimasi. we have three people in jail and you have gotten checks from one of them. >> moderator: we will leave it right there. chris why don't you cash and checks for us right now and give out some questions. >> no checks that we will move onto everyone's favorite topic, taxes. martha, you recently to approach the idea of a graduated income tax for massachusetts something that voters in the past have rejected. you believe it's a better and fairer means of raising the revenue of the current flat income tax? coakley: that was a discussion we had on what i said and that's about what would you do if you had to look at income and what i said was the primary response from me in any of this as they

look at moving forward how way i hope would see them come tax come down. they have come down to 5.2% i believe our economy by the weight is moving twice the pace of city state in late country. and come taxes go to 5% and we talk about something the legislature was looking at them by the way i know it takes a constitutional change to do it. i'm believing that taxes will come down and i hope like charlie charlie we do not raise them. >> moderator: christie want to follow-up? >> i just want to you were charlie has to say. baker: the first thing i would say is do you think our economy is -- you need to get out of the office more. the people people i talked who are extraordinarily anxious about the state of this economy. if they have a job they are worried about keeping it and if they aren't worried about it they are trying to get onto the working people of massachusetts have been on the receiving end

with dozens of tax increases over the course of this past seven or eight years. the first thing they say to me is i feel like i've been nickeled and dimed to death than he needs to stop. if there's one big difference between the attorney general and i say this directly to the voters of the commonwealth i'm not going to raise your taxes. the attorney general has made clear that she will. coakley: can i respond to back? in 2010 charlie was happy to take a no new tax pledge, easy for me to say that you haven't done that and you haven't signed it. he talked about a lot of things you wanted to to do but you won't talk about where the money is coming from and let me just say this. the difference between charlie and me is that the economy turns around i'm going to rollout a red carpet for businesses and cut red tape. the difference is we need to make sure people are prepared for those jobs. we need to make sure our kids get early education and stem education make colleges affordable and available to

people. that's where we totally different. he is a typical republican playbook of cut taxes for businesses and hope it goes down. baker: let me talk about my typical republican playbook because i think that's a lie. tax incentives for businesses to hire people coming off of public assistance. tax incentives for businesses to hire veterans. an earned income tax credit would go primarily to low-income single moms with children which would help make work pay. a series of initiatives to help build mainstream and gateway cities and support small businesses as they go through the process of trying to deal with permitting and licensing in rule-making associated with that. our proposals virtually most of our proposals are all about helping small businesses here in massachusetts and people who deserve a chance to work and bring bring himself and his self-sufficiency and that's the

focus of our initiative. >> moderator: chris you have another tax question for charlie. >> speaking of getting taxes lowered back in 1989 to legislature put in a so-called temporary tax increase for order and come tax to 5.75%. that was supposed to last for a year and a half. it still with us that some form and its come down to 5.2 recently recently. there are triggers in place when the economy goes well. which cost $145 billion in total. in 2000 voters said in a citizens petition put it back at five and annual one-time worried 5% sales for incoming businesses. why not go back to five? would u.s. governor do that? baker: think we should work a to going back to 5% and over the course of my first term the goal would be to get back to 5% but that's obviously something has to be done through a series of initiatives propose to grow the

economy and generate economic activity that would trigger those reductions. the one thing i will say is i'm not going to raise taxes. i talk a lot about wanting to pursue tax simplification but i think the tax code is way too complicated i think it's especially complicated for small businesses to me to do everything we can to simplify it. my goal is to get it back to 5% on income taxed. coakley: i agree charlie charlie that happens under current statute as the economy turns around. that will happen as we went from 5.2525.2 so that does happen so i just want to comment on what charlie said. part of his plan includes removing corporate filing taxes, inventory taxes, the kinds of things that some papers have estimated will be $600 million off the table. things that businesses haven't even asked for. i have a future plan charlie charlie and i hope the voters look at giving breaks to corporations. what i look at is investing in

people and the education they will need to get jobs. we have jobs going begging and people who don't have jobs. we need to close that gap. i come from a totally different point than you do charlie. i want to invest in what people are going to be able to do as the economy turns are in for everybody. not just boston and cambridge. want to do worst are north adams for a corrupt and we can do that as we turn the economy around. >> moderator: are ripe to take a -- question from telegram and gazette readers. he takes us back to 1980. this question is this. on the south akers daycare scandal after the investigating the case of massachusetts governor voted to commute the sentence of gerald emerald. coakley rallied upon defined -- pressuring the governor not to commute his sentence.

he says she's too much of a frenetic to serve ably as governor. what you have to say that question? coakley: a couple of things. i didn't become district attorney until 1998 in those cases were tried in 1983 and 84. i had just been in office and was a involved in the trial and the most important thing to understand is that someone who served for seven years and understood the difficulty of bringing children in an investigating those cases. most of the cases we didn't bring to trial. we have 900 cases a year and we would bring one third of those for all the reasons that people are concerned about. our children confident and will be the best interest of the child? in the cases we reboot that an important case for arthur's three governors including republican governors swift and others looked at it and refused to issue the computation. the case was tried fairly and it was tried well and if it was not

the right result i would have been the first one to say we should change this. >> moderator: charlie your rebuttal for this question? baker: at the question associated with this is the issue of whether or not in fact the parole board made the correct recommendation of the time. as somebody who is familiar with the news reports but has not read the case law itself i'm a little uncomfortable to make conclusions about this. i do think generally speaking the parole board does a pretty decent job on the sorts of cases and i think in this particular case i'm glad at this point gerald is a free man. >> moderator: let's move onto twitter question from cap music 2012. the rights arth and charlie do you support -- and how do make a were? baker: planning activity associated with you in big games is a good idea by the way some of the tools that have been developed by 2024 to do analyses

of how the city would change in how the region would change to use certain kinds of assumptions around traffic and real estate in all the rest are going to be incredibly powerful tool to help the region plan as we go forward. i certainly think the opportunity to host the games is one that massachusetts in greater boston should take seriously but until i see the details i'm sticking to my notion that i think it's a great planning exercise. coakley: i say go for the gold. >> moderator: there's a lot of pushback about and the state of massachusetts really support this? there is a group that says they will come at this really really hard in the post really hard and oppose this and fight it tooth and nail. do you understand their side? coakley: sure and we will have that process but massachusetts has the opportunity to make that investment and i do believe and i don't disagree with some of what charlie said that as we move forward and plan for if you have to look at the numbers obviously. but if we look at it

optimistically and say here's an opportunity for us to invest in infrastructure that not only will be great for massachusetts to post this but they will be serviceable and useful for us afterward. i think we should do that. baker: can i say one thing? the attorney general is exactly the way she thinks about business. she has three people to serve on the bar. the health connector a year ago a web site that was working and a waiver we had from the government that made 98% of our people in massachusetts covered and they said go for the goal. what we ended up with is the health connector that's completely broken hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer money spent on trying to fix the broken system and to provide tempore coverage for the one hundreds of thousands of people who lost their health insurance and as we sit here today we still don't know how much money the commonwealth has spent and how much the commonwealth is going to spend and when this thing will get fixed. on big issues like this people

need to dig in to the details and make sure they understand the consequences of their decisions. the health connector from my point of view was that go for the gold moment with the folks on that board made the wrong call. >> moderator: martha. coakley: that's an interesting tidbit from the olympics in 2024 to what's happened on the web site. i've been critical of that decision but as you know the appointees are independent. they work independently by the people who appointed them. you now that's totally apples and oranges. i totally disagree with you on that. baker: in the first debate you said you were proud of the job your point he did at the time. coakley: and i am. many of the issues they have handled the way they have addressed cost-containment we know we were the first state to bring health care reform to work on it and we are continuing to do it. the web site has been a disaster i agree but those are appointees

of several people and i don't dictate what decisions they make. we disagree at the form we are at the other day. baker: big complicated issue about which we don't know much i think we should take a deep breath. >> moderator: let's take a deep breath. coming up next in the necn massachusetts gubernatorial debate the candidates will ask each other some questions. we will have a lot to talk about. we will be right back. [applause] [applause] >> live at the hanover center for performing arts in worchester massachusetts. >> moderator: welcome back everyone to our necn gubernatorial debate here at the

beautiful hanover theater. [applause] time now to get away from the moderator and panelists questions. it's time for the candidates to speak directly to each other and ask each other some questions. martha coakley you are up first. coakley: thank you. in this race i think it's important for voters to see how we do make decisions and what values go into them so my question to you charlie is you have talked a lot about the turnaround of harvard phil gramm and you are proud of that and you cite that as a reason why people should vote for you and yet i have asked you this, why is it that in that turnaround 2000 people lost their jobs, 3500 seniors in worchester massachusetts were without insurance and while you raise premiums 150% and euros salary went up to 1.5 -- $1.7 million would you say to those people who lost their jobs and lost

their care about why your salary got $1.7 million? baker: talk to many the people we went through that transition and that the problem at harvard pilgrim was that it was broken. it had been broken for a long period of time and when i showed up to fi fix it i was forced to make some profoundly difficult and painful decisions. people have done a better job of managing the company up until that point in time. as i said in the debate with john keller that was the most difficult professional decision i've ever made and we worked hard to make sure we created transition plans for all of those people. i have to tell you attorney general you bring this issue up all the time and even people like tom riley your mentor one of your biggest supporters and someone who intimately knows the details of the harvard voting turnaround has called many of your accusations nonsense. this is one of the reasons why people don't go into public

service because of this sort of nonsense. i think the harvard pilgrim story saved thousands of jobs in the commonwealth and i'm proud of the work people did do take in a company that was virtually bankrupt and turning it into the number one player in health care in the united states. coakley: i think what you said was cutting off the decision if i were calling the debate but he made choices that would have made in terms of the decision she made and the people that were impacted. i just think people need to understand what the differences between what i would do in making decisions on how you look at the bottom line. baker: me ask you a question. you have a company company with a two and hundred and 25 million-dollar loss in receivership. how do you get out quick. coakley: one y. wouldn't have looked at other options and not taking a $1.7 million increase in your salary for one thing? baker: i did not take a

$1.7 million increase in my salary in 1999 and 2000. coakley: it increased from 600,000 when he went in to 1.7 million. my only point is you saw an increase in your own personal benefits dealing with the not-for-profit while a lot of people lost jobs in the government. you can respond however you want charlie. those are the facts and those are decisions he made that impacted people. baker: so you don't have any suggestions on how you would have dealt with the problem of harvard pilgrim? [applause] >> moderator: martha will give you the final word on that. coakley: charlie that's not the point. i could ask you every day when i challenged the defense of marriage act and i felt the problems at work for me to get good solution to the people that were impacted. i started with people first. i didn't start with cutting. there are other options than you are the expert on this

obviously. my point is you are always looking at the bottom line and so that's one example. >> moderator: charlie. we will switch gears now. a question for you. baker. >> over the course of past years we have seen several scandals with the appropriation department being probably the most prominent but in addition to that the problems of the crime lab that led to literally hundreds of convicted felons going back onto the streets. the problem with dcf which led to a number of tragedies the aforementioned disaster rolling out the health connector the fiasco associated with a medical marijuana rollout the compounding pharmacy crisis which led to the deaths of over 40 people and yet yesterday in south boston at a forum you told the audience in that room that state government is fine and doesn't need to be fixed. i would like you to explain to the voters given this track record over the past two years

way don't think state government needs to be fixed quick. coakley: i didn't say it did need to be fixed. said throughout the debate and over the last eight years i think there things we can do better. i spoke of consistently before he became attorney general about the need to change the mission for the department of children and families. it's an impossible mission to keep families together and keep kids safe. i propose a plan for that in this race. i'm the one who prosecuted and sent her to jail because of that mismanagement. i understand we need to do better and i appreciate that i have plans to do that. i understand the missions of keeping kids safe and how they can do that. i understand the missions of what our department of public health under the auspices of a civilian organization and state police can do a better job. i worked worked in this field so i'm confident that i can fix and do better on those things. that's different from saying state government government is broke and charlie and you also

served in an administration where when you came and you've laid off the department of mental health workers. you have 11 fatalities. >> moderator: we will have to hold it here. do you want to do a 30-second follow-up? baker: so in 2010 children's rights which is a children's rights advocacy group in washington filed a lawsuit against the department of children and families are getting bad it wasn't living up to its commitment to kids here in the commonwealth. a pretty compelling document their raises a number of issues about the performance of the department i don't think you and i would disagree with that. yet what that document in your possession you sat silently by while the governor and the legislature cut the department of children and families budget by $40 million in a particular year. can you explain and rationalize with that case sitting before you why you sat silently when they cut the budget by $40 million quick. coakley: charlie what you are suggesting now and what your independent expenditure ad

spending millions of dollars disingenuous dishonest coming up and called for to condemn. i will stand on iraq are protecting kids and standing up for kids and making sure as we did in that case instead of settling for millions of dollars without lawyers who have a one-size-fits-all solution it was not the right one for massachusetts and the judge dismissed the state -- the case. i've always operated in the best interest of children. i will do that as governor. i will stand on my record and i do remain calling on you to take down that ad. those suggestions that you would have outsourced lawyers to get a federal consent decree for a bill that isn't good for kids is an equally compelling argument against your decision-making and whose side you are on. >> moderator: will keep it right there. we have to move on. [applause] allison you're up next. we'll put our panelists.

>> this is a question for charlie. charlie you are both fighting for the women's vote. martha coakley who holds a double-digit lead in most polls among women said she will that affect women like you earned sick time and equal pay for equal work a priority. for those who vote based on women's issues why are you the better candidate? baker: when i got into this race i said i would chase 100% of vote and demented and when i campaigned across the commonwealth in all neighborhoods across the state i talk to people about what we can do to improve our economy, while you can do to make sure every school is a great school and what we can do to strengthen our communities. i put significant policy proposals with tons of detail in them on how to do those things. those are issues that matter to everybody. they matter to women and they matter to men. as a business executive and a former public official and proud of the fact that seven of the 12

members of my board of directors of where women and half of my management team were women and i spent five years serving as the corporate advisory board chair to the "boston globe" which is the largest professional women's organizations in new england that i can promise you this, my administration will be populated at the highest level i women with experience. >> moderator: charlie you are out of time. follow-up? [applause] coakley: i never asked for anybody's vote because i'm a woman. as i ran for district attorney and ran for district attorney and attorney general and now governor. when i graduated from law school this with a plaque that says sometimes the best job is for women to want to talk about diversity at every level. that means bringing in people with shared experiences and that includes women and it includes people of color. it includes people who haven't had a chance to be at the table

around issues that disproportionately impact them. that is true and our poor neighborhoods. it's true for schools. it's true for women who are worried about whether kids are going to get a good education and because who ends up taking care of the kids? i'm not running because i'm a woman and i'm not asking women to vote for me because i'm a woman. i'm asking voters who -- to decide who will stand up for them. >> moderator: a quick follow-up. >> i'm wondering why perhaps you have trouble with the male vote. coakley: i think the different ways in which we get our message across and you can do the polls. i don't pay attention to that frankly. i will give the people who haven't had a seat at the table, who haven't had a voice and that's what i've done my whole life which is why i am confident

running for governor that on november 4 people will say who will stand up for me? who will be my voice? who will not just listened to special interests. >> moderator: chris you have a question. >> i want to talk about gateway cities such as worcester. the legislative set an aggressive agenda recently born in $75 million over five years. 88.6 million over three years in their recent recent economic developments appear what we do as governor to ensure that places like worcester get what they need in terms of economic development and social programs and transportation like real? baker: huge part of my economic development plan is built around building on initiatives in gateway cities. here in worcester i can speak to several. we need to deal with the auditorium which is a big project and we need to deal with the old courthouse. those are both going to happen in the baker alito administration. the likelihood that i'm not

going to be able to spend most of my time in worcester is pretty small. any of you have ever met karen know that worcester will be a major party for our demonstration. [applause] we also talked at great length about a plan in taking the 25 different federal and state programs to build economic opportunity and turning it into a holistic package with the tools and toolkits we can use community by community to build on what they have them and increase the strategic initiative they will bring jobs and opportunity to those communities. i got into this race seeing the gap and opportunity in massachusetts is built on geography education and resources was going to be a major party. >> moderator: let's hold it right there. chris one more question from you. >> on the gas tax a question for mark to first. as i understand it you would not vote to cut the inflation in the gas tax in charlie i believe that you would.

the issue here is that we need the money for infrastructure and what i'm trying to say, what is made made them vote on it every time is the truth is difficult to get the legislature to take take a clean vote on anything? it was 20 years before they raised it so is a really good idea? are we asking the impossible? coakley: you are talking to me? i think that not even a question. the question is a simple commonsense way that the taxpayers association most businesspeople looking at the fact that we have been able to support our roads and bridges nevermind invest in public transit over the last several years agree this is a good way to do this. i was going to respond to a charlie just said. we have three projects in worcester that are not going to get done if we don't do that and are not going to get done soon enough if you look at what you have to do en route 122, if you look at what you have to do on lincoln street and if you look

at fixing the bridge over the eye to 90. besides what you have 640 kids in worcester who are in a waiting list for early education. i will do that. i want us to map. my republican opponent will not. >> moderator: alice and i know you have a universal pre-k question. baker: can i just saw for 30 seconds the legislature wants to raise taxes they can be held accountable at the ballot box. that's the way democracy works. this idea that the gas tax will just go up every year because it's easy is not what government all about and certainly not what representative government is all about. [applause] >> moderator: allison. >> i have a question for martha coakley and this is about the balance of power and beacon hill. all but a small handful of elected officials are democrats. governor mitt romney called mitt

romney called that the gang of three. charlie baker caused everyone playing for the same team. for undecideds and independent voters doesn't this argument for more checks and balances and state government have some merit? coakley: i think when you look at the facts historically out what has and hasn't happened i think the real issue is about transparency and accountability. it's not what you have a d after your name or an r opinion. when the biggest biggest scandals under treasury was under treasurer malone and chief of staff was beth lindstrom. i see on my record i'm happy to stand up to anybody who breaks the law whether it's democrat or republican. i brought over 70 cases of public corruption and i started in the integrity division. people who should be held accountable, people from my own party. i think it's about your accountability to what your record is. i will be a governor who will make sure we will have the right

balance which is for the people of massachusetts not the democrats or republicans. [applause] >> moderator: charlie do believe -- baker: wanted greg sullivan thinks he would stand up for policy and breaking the law including the speaker of the house. the follow-up question with respect to this was just talk about the health connector again. here you have probably the worst rollout in the united states of america associated with implementing the affordable care act. every other state that had a rollout there were public hearings, public inquiry, public investigations, public debate, lessons learned and consequences associated with what happened. except in massachusetts which has the worst rollout of all. it's been so one transparent and so unaccountable that even the "boston globe" which is a big part of the affordable care act in a big fan of the massachusetts health care reform reform law vote wrote an editorial three weeks ago that said what happened here is outrageous.

>> moderator: charlie are out of time. coakley: why to stay with me yesterday and say he would be reported to that port. that doesn't make any sense. these are appointees that are independent and they do have a responsibility. i have said that was a disaster. i know that needs to be fixed unless you were going to change the policy commission get rid of stewart allman and everyone on it you are not going to solve the problem. baker: health connector and health policy division had nothing to do with each other. the health connector is a board to appoint three people to and the fundamental responsibilities to worry about the web site and the connection between the medicaid program in the affordable care act. the health policy commission is supposed to do analytics around things like mergers. for example they came out and oppose the merger of partnered health care with the hospital which is supported and they came out against the merger of partnered health care with the

hospital which also supported. coakley: charlie understand that and i know that. that is what makes the appointments important for that bet that they are independent as we did with the gaming commission. this is not about democrat or republican so those are bad examples if you want to talk about balance. >> moderator: we are going to stop and switch gears for a moment and before we go back to our panelists i have one quick question. both of you are from worcester, st. mark's parish. what we are talking about is urban communities during the election that can be used for the office that canada's role through and make promises but they don't deliver. we have seen both of you in the community this election season. charlie i was there with you. much has been been made about but you campaigning in communities of color and compared to the state average

what promises they made to bring jobs to those communities and how can i hold you accountable if you are elected governor? baker: one of the things they said when i got into this race that i was going to chase 100% of the vote and i meant it. i spent a significant amount of time in communities of color around the commonwealth of the peoples living germs -- living room sitting in community centers talking to them about what their concerns are in working on developing an urban agenda to respond to those issues and those concerns. my urban agenda which we propose three weeks ago is going to be the way those folks will be able to hold me accountable. i was proud to stand in our office in roxbury with 50 people who are leaders in those communities supporting our initiative in and saying this is the sort of thing state government should be doing and has been doing and therefore we support it and we want to implement it. i made clear to those folks as governor will implement it. >> moderator: gluckin may see

in the first 180 days that they will see you do where they will say we are looking at this program right right here? i by their several on education. i'm an enthusiastic supporter and appreciate the fact that the attorney general has finally come around on that one. it was ashamed in the legislative debate earlier this year that the house passed the expansion to serve communities that don't have schools that they deserve in the senate blocked it at the end of the legislative session. i was a huge setback for people in those communities. >> moderator: we will give you rebuttal time. coakley: i too have certainly spent time notches as a candidate that attorney general and district attorney before that understanding what impacts people who don't have a voice and don't have a chance to sit on the corporate board or get their answers. i have supported in this race particularly as he talked about early education and that's true whether it's in boston, whether it's in lawrence, whether it's in worcester. those are ways you start to level the playing field by

giving people a fair shot and getting an education in being able to go to a vote tax cool. as we now president obama visit to the one in worcester because it does such a good job of getting kids prepared for the future, the best in the country and i know the opportunity for women particularly to make 77% of the dollar that women in communities to make in a month this is about fairness and equality and not just an urban agenda. this is about all people giving them a fair shot to get a good education and participate in this wonderful economy is turning around. baker: go to our web site you can find urban agenda. it's there for everybody to read. we have one. we have worked hard to develop it because we believe in it. >> moderator: we will hold there. time for rapidfire questions. i will ask several questions than they answer a simple yes or no. yes or no.

martha we will start. martha had ever smoked marijuana? >> no. >> moderator: charlie? baker: yes. [applause] >> moderator: martha getting the sale of marijuana should be legal nationwide? coakley: i think we are dealing with. >> moderator: yes or no. yes or no? should the sale of marijuana be legal? coakley: no. baker: no. do you support gambling in massachusetts, yes or no? coakley: this is the problem with these. it should not be repealed. baker: and want to vote against it. >> moderator: do you at -- yes or no? should illegal immigrants get legal drivers licenses?

yes or no? coakley: i don't know yet. >> moderator: yes or no. >> moderator: charlie baker? baker: no. man said martha choubey raise in-state tuition? coakley: yes. >> moderator: charlie. baker: i support the governor's executive order. >> moderator: is their place for martha coakley in a bickered administration, yes or no? coakley: no. >> moderator: martha coakley is there a place for charlie baker and a coke administration? coakley: sure. >> moderator: one more final question. martha if you loose the race are you done running for political

office? coakley: yes. baker: my wife would never let me run for anything else. >> moderator: let's get ready for closing right now and i believe charlie baker gets the closing. baker: first of all let me thank the viewers are tuning in tonight and let me thank this great audience for your wonderful participation. i want to thank necn in the panelists and martha let me thank you as well. i just want to start tonight by asking everybody take keep former mayor of boston and his wife angela and her family in your prayers. [applause] after all the years he has been serving i would hope you would have the retirement you deserve. let me say a couple of things. the first as i got into this race because i want to make government work better.

i want to make it work better for the people who pay the bills and i wanted to work better for the people who depend on it for services they expected to perform and i'm proud to say so far i've gotten the endorsement of every newspaper in massachusetts primarily because they believe that i have the right agenda, the right skill set and the right focus to get stuff done and to bring the kind of excellence in performance to beacon hill that's been missing. i hope you'll consider voting for me on november 4. >> moderator: martha. [applause] coakley: thank you allison and chris and thank you for the terrific audience here tonight. i'm asking for your vote on november 4. i know that you have heard about my brother and what my family went through with mental illness and his inability to get help for the program. there are too many people in massachusetts just don't get that help. we don't provide good mental health or behavioral health

hell. they're too many people that are addicted to need the help and i will do that as governor. i also know that when we invest in our kids and when we see kids in early education and a good vocational technical school when the computer science. i need you to hear about these kids in high school when they were learning coding and i went to visit for an hour they taught me how to get the angry birds to eat each other by the way after an hour. these kids are so excited about what they were learning. they said to me about their teacher, mr. mark teaches us how to walk and we learn how to fly. i thought that's what we want for all of our kids in massachusetts. we may do that when we invest in our people and kids we will be prosperous. thank you very much. [applause] >> moderator: all right. we would like to thank necn and her partners this beautiful

theater. let's give them a round of applause. the worcester regional chamber of commerce and the cassette. we would also like to thank allison caine of necn and of course it would like to thank our candidates martha coakley and charlie baker. we appreciate your time this evening. thank you so much. [applause] thank you to our audience. i am latoya edwards. have a great night. ♪ ♪ ♪

but the 2014 midterm election next week our campaign debate coverage continues. tonight at eight eastern on c-span live coverage of the louisiana senate debate between three candidates.

as i mentioned tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span allied senate debate between incumbent democrat mary landrieu republican congressman bill cassidy and gop challenger retired colonel rob maness. we spoke this week with a reporter who's been covering the race. >> host: joining us from louisiana this morning is elizabeth crisp and she is the capital news bureau reported there for the advocate to talk about the senate race between democrat incumbent mary landrieu and bill cassidy the republican and also the independent

candidate rob maness who is running as well and then you have got several other candidates on the ballot. elizabeth crisp, louisiana senate race according to the latest suffolk "usa today" poll is headed for a runoff. do you agree? >> guest: that is what it looks like right now and that is the game plan i think the campaign is taking even though he is nothing comment that very much running in an incumbents raise. the next debate is tomorrow night, one of two debates he is participating and leading up to this break is going to be very interesting. >> host: rob maness being a republican as well, there are nine candidates total on this ballot. what's going on? what's happening with the incumbent senator they are? .. on if

nobody gets 50%. mary landrieu will get the most next week. that's what the polls are showing. nobody is going to have enough to crack into the 50%. it looks like it is headed for a runoff. had tons of -- you can't watch tv without getting bombarded with campaign ads. it is really interesting, a lot of it is and it is really interesting. a lot of it is on president barack obama. we are seeing a lot of is campaigns tying her directly to obama's record. >> host: and has that been impacting her ability to get over that 50 percent, or is it her record as a senator?

>> it certainly is obama. >> host: whenever campaign commercial speech to you would think obama would be on the ballot the way it is being campaigned of from the cassidy campaign and the rob maness campaign. it was a debate that cassidy did that contribute. time and time again it came up as mentioning barack obama. >> host: of the former president, bill clinton, was in louisiana yesterday for senator mary landrieu, asking voters to get out and vote. will that work in the closing weeks? >> guest: that was actually last monday. >> host: sorry, i misspoke >> guest: no, it's all right. it is interesting.

it is the second event he has been at here. the first one was kind of a more private fund-raiser in people -- in new orleans that people had to pay to go see. had to go and rsvp on her sight open to the media, like the last one. i mean, it was packed. it was about 1,000 people there. probably a little more than that. and, you know, they have been pulling out all of the stops. a week before that john mccain was in town. it is definitely driving in a lot of attention. we will see how much attention that it gets right now early voting, today is the last day for early voting. not as much as the presidential election, but about 200,000 people and early voted at this point. i guess we will see how much the big names are drying out, but a nationally, dry a

lot more attention to. >> host: how much money has been spent on this race? also, what are the key demographic voters to watch for? >> gosh, i have not even looked at how much has been spent. over the last i looked, it was, i think the most expensive -- i mean, millions of dollars being poured in. there are different groups running ads on tv in trying to figure out to these groups are. i mean, really, the last poll that came up you mentioned earlier, 14 percent undecided. you know, so, i mean, is how much these ads streaming in and the rhetoric against the

president actually going to matter to them. >> host: okay. appreciate your time speech you think you so much for having me on. >> louisiana has an open primary system in which all candidates for office run against each other them -- with the majority winning the election. they can't it fails to get 50 percent of the vote a runoff takes place. tonight's debate live at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span2 . >> be part of c-span campaign 2014 coverage. follow us on twitter and like us on facebook ticket debate schedules, video clips of key moments, debate previews from our politics team. c-span, bringing you over 100 senate and house command government debates. you can instantly share your reactions. the battle for control of congress. stay in touch and engaged by following us on twitter and letting us on facebook.

>> tomorrow on washington journal the wrote -- the roll president obama has played in campaign 2014. after that, the state of manufacturing in the u.s. would stop all of the american alliance for manufacturing. plus your phone calls, facebook comments, and weeds by thursday at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> campaign 2014 coverage continues now with the hawaii governors' debate between three candidates. the current boeing has listed this race as a tossup courtesy of kgmb and khnl in honolulu, this is an hour-and-a-half. >> from hawaii news now and honolulu star advertising, this is campaign 2014, race

for governor live from the sullivan center at the university of kakaako. >> welcome. early voting is less than a week away. i am keahi tucker. >> and i'm tannya joaquin. twenty days to go until the election, and this is the final gubernatorial debate. now, you will notice many bodies here in the audience. we have invited 32 students who have been chosen to ask questions that will drive tonight. >> our goal is to keep the conversation going in the right direction. we are hoping answers will be concise and on. the candidates do not know the questions they will be asked. >> and we have students fill in the audience. they have agreed to be polite, respective, and attentive. we will throw those rules aside as we welcome the

candid it's for debate. first off, but mufi hannemann. [applause] duke aiona. [applause] en david ige. [applause] gentlemen, thank you all for joining you tonight. we know you have seen each other in many foreign. we are going to cover a lot of ground. feel free to be seated. mr. duke aiona, you won the draw and get the first question of the night. all candidates will have one minute to address. please identify to programs or policies of the administration you would reverse or repeal in your first six months in office, if elected. aiona: first of all, let me thank you for being here tonight and our sponsors. the first program will look at seriously is the hawaii

health care connector. that is something i have heard loud and clear from many across the state. many in this building have questions not only the validity of it but also the expense of it and the cost of it. the other program that i would look at, although i supported, is the early education child a program that we have right now. as you know, the legislature approved funding and approved -- approved up pilot program, but it is in limbo in regard to whether or not that will be the program of the future. you have an amendment on the ballot, a constitutional amendment for, which you will all vote for, program itself is something that has not been approved and agreed upon by everyone in the education field. thank you hannemann first in a thank-you for the sponsorship of this town hall. and i want to say to the residence, prepare for the

worst would hope for the best. thoughts and best wishes to the president of our country as he gathers leaders around the world -- around the united states to my should say, to deal with the ebola crisis. a number one, i feel strongly that the system is not something that would follow through on. the case has been made, but the fact that we spend $125 million from ten dozen people to sign up for this to my would like to see how we can afford to cut our losses but make sure those people are taking care of. education is something i feel strongly about. cuts that have been made by the legislature, the governor had no choice but to approve. are we cutting funding for the medical school? it makes no sense to me. we have a shortage of doctors in the community. we need to restore that funding. cats in the education program and the like, they will work hard to restore. >> moderator: last but not

least. ige: thank-you very much for the question, and thank you to hawaii news now for posting this town hall meeting. it is a very interesting format. i look forward to this nice evening. i would say a couple of things. clearly for me it is about education. it is not so much about repealing. it is really reemphasize in. have seen remarkable transformations when we get the right leader in to their rights situation at the rights cool. i do not believe it is a cookie cutter where every school across the state should be following the same. it is about working with each community, be willing to make the investment that they need to move their community forward. the other item that i would like to talk about is the constitutional amendment. am opposing it because i do not believe that we have the funds.

we need a better plan. private schools are not in the communities that need to be. >> moderator: thank you, a gentleman. this is about the economy. you age student patrick funtanilla. >> as the cost of living continues to score, as it gets more difficult for my generation and future generations to purchase a home and find well paying jobs hello you comprehensively diversify hawaii's economy and attract high-growth industries with it paying jobs right here in ally? hannemann: thank-you, patrick, for the question. i want check take advantage of the shift. we have a wonderful opportunity, i believe, given what we bring to the table in terms of knowledge, the people who live here, our relationships. in any to export our professional consulting expertise, export our knowledge base industries. sega advantage of all of you that are graduating and say to the rest of the world

will be are capable of providing that expertise, be it in tourism, science, agriculture, astronomy, of. i also believe that we have to strengthen our number one industry and tourism because it has a trickle-down effect . cultural tourism, heritage tourism, educational tourism , hawaii is a great place to invest and visit a also a great place to learn. come home, stay home, we will make this a great place to live, work, and play. >> moderator: how would you diversify the hawaiian economy? ige: thank you very much for that question. you know, i think it is fitting that we are sitting here in the cancer center. this building has been at the center of our efforts to really diversify our economy i have been proud to have been able to go talk the

talk. i have been an advocate for my career creating venture capital programs, making investment. i retired from gte to take up position in the start of so that i could walk the talk. it really is about empower. making it and giving our young people the belief that they can. investing in the schools to investing in the university, creating the innovation and entrepreneurial spirit and all people and most importantly as i talk with on japan norris, and people and have done it over and over again, it is about instilling in the spirit of the young people the belief that it can and will be done in hawaii. thank you. >> moderator: one minute to. aiona: thank you for that question because i want you to stay home. it boils down to this, and the only candidate who is committed to the business

friendly environment. it is this simple, getting government out of the way of businesses. many to attract from expand our economy. out to be able to do that with our national competitive industries. to this would be the perfect way for any technology industry because we of the location, people, culture, everything that we need. two things. and many for you to help me to do that. we need to cut the cost of living and make sure our educational system is that much better. if we take care of those two factors i guarantee any technological company will come to hawaii, in debate and will be that much better . >> and other education related question about tuition. >> i am a junior at the university of hawaii, and i can barely afford tuition, housing, and food.

if conditions -- to issue continues to rise and would have to probably get a second job to keep attending and if you're my gpa would suffer as a result. can something be done so college remain affordable? ige: thank you for the question. this has been something that alleges suggest taken up in the last 12 months. it really has been, i had a hearing in and they university appeared before us because it is something that is of concern across the state about the rising tuition. we did ask them in their region did vote to have a moratorium on the tuition. and our point was, what is the reason for you raising tuition? that told us it was simply a case of, we wanted the tuition to be in the median. we told them that is not its

approval. it ought to be about what your finding, why you need to raise tuition, why it is the belief and how you would invest those dollars. i would have to say they heard the legislature cloud and care and are putting a moratorium. we will see on a going forward basis appropriate tuition. >> moderator: rising tuition. aiona: first and foremost, i came with you. i have children of my own. first and foremost, we have an innovative program that we want to adopt, and i am excited about that. it is called early college but he would give a high-school student and of the chevy to go from a grade nine to 14 and earned a degree as well as a diploma without any cost which can cut down the cost significantly. a master's degree or a ph.d.

i would joe is out to the university because i have said this and other forums. the problem we have is the politicians' insert themselves. and as such, throw this one out. why don't we have this as part of the program. if you enroll for this year, 2014-store teefifteen, tuition is frozen until you graduate four years from now . >> college education, i supported because it is existing in public schools. that is a great incentive. here is a thing. i am the only person amongst you tonight that has done a budget from the executive branch. you can rest assured when i send that budget to the legislature i will prioritize funding so that we do not have to raise tuition. i said as mayor the number one responsibility is public health and safety. the number one responsibility of the

governor is education. you are paying me a lot to see our local students who want to come to the university and cannot afford it because they cannot pay tuition. so it will have the ultimate priority when i send it down to the legislature. i will do what i did. if it is a priority you get out and collaborate. you go downstairs and make sure that that is not boring to be cut because it is a priority. that is the plaza you have from me, students can afford to go to university or community college system. >> moderator: mr. duke aiona, your answer first. this next question comes from kayla custino about poverty. >> five volunteer at catholic charities and there are so many families on the waiting list. we just did not have the resources. i am interested in what your long-term plans are about the issue of poverty in hawaii. aiona: thank you very much for that question. it is exactly what i stated

earlier in regard to the cost of living, opening a polite, making a business business-friendly environment because for you and everyone else it boils down to being able to live, work, and play. so if you can get a great education and with that a job that is within this 21st century knowledge- based economy will not only deal to live and work and play here but to thrive in the future pin really have to programs command that will expand on this little later. affordable rentals and houses come and i am so excited about this. 25 percent of corporate taxes will be shifted to be right there within six years we have 2,000 more units for all of you. we are calling is our hope program. by simply paying rent you will be able to save enough to buy your own home and really spend on that later, but it is so exciting. >> moderator: your plan on poverty. hannemann: it is all about making sure we make improvements in housing and

jobs. and i am preaching a collaborative approach working with all mayors so that together we can identify ways in which we can create more affordable rentals and dousing. i think that would take as a long way as opposed to the past. in terms of jobs, yes, we want to provide good quality jobs. that is why the emphasis has to be on the governor's ability to grow the economy to create more jobs, and that being said to go with what i said earlier about being will to enable young people, people still want to be in the workforce, jobs, have to be able to achieve and aspire to the fact that the economy is growing across the board which takes someone who has the ability to attract outside investment, companies that want to do business, to stimulate the economy. we have wonderful assets that we can put on the table being in a strategic location in the mid pacific area and make sure people can go to work.

obviously job training and educational skills will help them stay employed. kakaako thank you for that question. it is above growing the economy. i believe as governor job one is really working to grow our economy. that comes in three specific areas. it is about investing in the the visitor industry. it does create the lion's share of jobs in our economy. more than one vendor 70,000 jobs are created by the visitors come in here, and so it is about being smart, opening a second international portal so that we can attract more international visitors. we do know that at trash of visitors spend more money in our economy and create more jobs. it is about the governor being proactive about federal investment. the congress is in gridlock on the budget. the federal budget will be shrinking each and every year. we need a gabba that is active and proactive in

pursuing a convincing the federal government that hawaii is a strategic location for investment. and the third really -- care for your time is up, sir. >> this next question is for you. it comes from alyssa-marie kau. >> spending that justification to have the address the legal status being that you will be the executive officer of this illegal american extension of power? ige: i believe we are part of the united states of america. i appreciate everyone's right for freedom of speech or desires and aspirations of all we should be, but at the end of the day i will stand firmly on the fact we are part of the united states of america, have a constitution that we need to continue to defend. for those who feel unhappy, let me reach out and try to collaborate so that we can feel we are part of one. anyone who lives here should always feel that there are welcome.

anyone who comes here should feel that they're welcome. it is important from an indigenous homeland standpoint understand and appreciate. you need to slow down the road commission effort to create what they want to my nation within a nation because i believe as we saw within the department of interior there's a lot of unrest, no unanimity on what that models of the plaque. let's take two steps back. for those who are pressing for that question that you talked about from the try to bring them into the circle of discussion as opposed to ignoring them and making them feel isolated. we need to respect all peoples views hawaiians your time is up kakaako thank you. it is very clear that in 1893 a grave injustice was done to the white people. we have learned a lot. our communities have learned a lot about what occurred in 1893, but we cannot go back.

it is really about how we move forward. the one thing that became evident in the recent hearings by the u.s. department of interior is that there needs to be significantly more conversation within the airline community itself. their needs to be a broader dialogue which includes all of the white community about options and moving forward on self-determination. so i definitely would be looking at helping to define the process, to facilitate the conversation among its clients, but most importantly, this is a significant conversation that is to include the entire community. because at the end of the day, we need to move forward as hoey together. >> moderator: one more minute. hannemann: thanks you very much. this only shows, as a native hawaiian, i understand for many in their mind to muscles, and hearts there is still a hawaiian kingdom,

and i acknowledge that and respect that. this is why i said in my platform in regards to the native hawaiian sovereignty in government filings say i take an easy perspective, a native perspective in regards to try to bring the community together. i think like my colleagues here that there was not a consensus and as such not ready for the community to come together, but self governance in the native hawaiian community has to be driven by the community. i want to take responsibility for that, be at the forefront, be the facilitator of that and bring our community together so that we can have consensus, but true consensus is not what we have right now. tell that can happen, that is the only time we can defend and developer consensus in regard to self governance in the name of the white community. >> moderator: let's talk about shechem zero. ige, you are first.

>> attracted some national attention for laws that would limit the growth and distribution of genetically modified organisms at the county level. on the state level in what ways do you think gm of products should be regulated ? >> thank you very much for that question. the state level i believe a couple things. first and foremost, i believe that the state has an obligation to ensure the health and well-being of our communities. we have an obligation to regulate use and make sure our public and people know where they're being applied. most importantly, the state has an obligation to ensure that they are being applied safely and within the guidelines of what they were intended to do. in terms of gm of labeling, i believe that it is a federal requirement. the federal government controls on the part syllabled. in terms of growing things, i truly support the farmers. i believe that farmers should be engaged and

allowed to grow whatever crops they believe this state needs to be smart about how to organize that. we have a lot of land that we can use as buffers between organic farmers and gm of former -- teach farmers to insure no cross contamination. aiona: i am of the position that the gmo should be just local. i understand what has been going with regard to the lawsuit that has subsequently been heard. al i believe it is with the island of hawaii. i understand that. eventually it will make its way back to the state. when it gets to the level, as mentioned earlier, what it boils down to is really what we want in regards to agriculture and food security. are we going to balance it sucks that we protect food security, protect our farmers, and make it available for everyone, our

work or we going to limit it . the science has been clear as far as what i have seen demand up to this point in time i would not be in favor of a total ban on 88 products. hannemann: i have a strong history of support for agriculture dating back to my days. in through the years and as mayor i was supportive of agriculture and support all forms of agriculture. i think it is important to put my opinion the science does not support the fact that it gmo be banned. but i am concerned. i think there are controls and measures that can be enacted by the department of agriculture. the department of agriculture is the roger day -- rodney dangerfield. less than 2 percent of the budget goes to agriculture. how can you expect them to do these type of enforcement programs and the like or promote agriculture. i want to bring in up from

where rate is on the back seat, put it up front, supported. if we're going to label, it should come from the federal government. >> thank you all. let's talk about taxes. >> every government has faced a fiscal crisis which required either layoffs of state workers, furloughs, or tax increases. if you run into a fiscal crisis, which of these would you put into place first? >> you know, and the only one here who has had the opportunity and experience to be do something that has been difficult. in my second term we saw the bottom fallout of the economy, and i can tell you some difficult decisions had to be made. in response to that specific question obviously is what i stated earlier, we need to grow the economy. i am not an advocate of growing revenue by way of

taxes puc that in the last four years. my colleague to left has increased taxes by over $800 million. he has increased the government's spending by over $1 billion to and that is just not the way to go. we find ourselves in this fiscal cliff coming up next year which will have to look and see how will make it work the government. when you take it to that level, how do you expect to do anything? >> thank you. >> moderator: mr. mufi hannemann. hannemann: and once again, you can make promises, but have you done it while in office? as the mayor of the 13th largest city in the united states i had to make those decisions, where to cut, increase revenues, and grow the economy. every year i was mayor with the talented team we had a budget surplus carry over every year from a low of 1,304,000,000 to a high of four under $23 million.

i know how to balance the budget, set priorities. that is what is important. the last thing you want to hear his government will raise the taxes. you have to identify inefficiencies' to reduce duplication, collaborative leadership's. seeing how we could collectively do things better to help all of the counties and states but most importantly at the end of the day make the tough decisions, clabber with the council to make sure you have a budget surplus instead of a budget deficit and threaten folks with the tax cut. >> thank you for that question. and the only candidate here had to face the tough decisions. and for four years i have had to balance the budget looking at whether we do increase taxes, lay off people, or cut the budget. and i want to say that i was facing