respect so i've extended an invitation to go out there and have a conversation with mister trump because i want to know what his is in his heart. camping and about the positions he supports, that's why i'm dedicated to doing that and when he finishes and we have that conversation i will be able to address that question. >> in fairness mister glenn, mister trump apologize before you said he was disqualified for being president. what happened after that moment as he performed fairly well in the debate. >> i guess i would say that his apology was not scripted. when you're apologizing to somebody, one of the toughest things you have to do is address the family members area mister trump is part of the family. some of the toughest conversations you have with people, people with substance abuse, your family is there to actually call you on the carpet and show you a pathway out. and he wants to actually be able to deliver that message, when i'm going into underserved communities, the number one question that asked to me is, he's made these statements, how do you know he doesn't actually feel that way? my team and i have personal

credibility for being able to talk to him and that's why i think it's important. >> i understand the invitation. you're obviously not going to tell us if you support donald trump or not and i don't want to waste the entire hour on that but if i could ask a broader issue that speaks about leadership, you built the core of your campaign on the fact that you are a principled christian conservative so i have to ask you, what is principled, christian or conservative about supporting, abandoning and then inching back toward aman who degrades women and boast about assault ? >> this is a teachable moment about faith because if an individual actually says that they need help and they want to repent, then your faith teaches you to give them that opportunity. what i'm trying to show him his grace as a member of the family to be able to say i want to learn from you, what's in your heart? i want to share with you what i've learned on this campaign trip because the true

policies that are suffering, that people are suffering from and i want to be able to go out there and show him how your words actually mean things. >> if he declines your invitation, are you done with him? >> the invitation is still out there so i think we have plenty of time. >> we talked about nine news now.com, boat now. folks on screen will be weighing in on what they think might be happening with the iran nuclear deal and i'll start by talking to senator bennet about it. you said chances are very high iran will cheat on the nuclear deal you supported. that struck me as an unusual answer because usually when you do a deal you do it in good faith. no one gets married expecting her partner to cheat on them or hire a contractor expecting they won't do the work. if you expected it ran would act in bad faith, what does it say that you worked on a deal with them at all? >> with all respect, thank you for having me tonight, thanks for doing this and history colorado, the audience at home, thank you for sitting in and commissioner glenn, thank you

for being here as well. with all due respect there's no equivalency between signing a contract with somebody to do work on your house and doing a deal with iran or the soviet union. that doesn't enter into it. i don't trust it ran, i never did, i didn't trust them when we get the deal and i don't now. before we did the deal, iran and 10 bonds of enriched uranium, enough to make 10 bombs. they were within 2 to 3 months of breaking out the nuclear weapon, that's what the intelligence agency has told us. today iran has less than one bomb with enriched uranium.

they depleted the reactors they have with silver cement and it's inoperable. they have inspectors from the iea all over the place looking at their nuclear program so i don't trust it around and i think we should be pushing back every single day on the conventional threat but with respect to the nuclear threat itself, that was the right vote. it was a difficult vote politically but it was the right book to do and i'm glad i casted. >> i wanted to follow up on one of the aspects opponent raisedbecause to them it sends a dangerous single bit of our enemies are religions and and eventually come to the table, we give them something they want. >> we didn't give them something they want. the money they got was money they would have gotten anyway because the sanctions , multilateral sanctions and the chinese and russians were walking away so the consequence of not doing a deal would have been allowing karen to build a bomb in secret with the money from the release sanctions and put united states of america in the position of deciding when we wanted to attack iran to prevent them from having nuclear weapons. i'm glad we've done this without firing a shot. we have to be extremely vigilant which is why i have legislation that would provide oversight to track the use of funds by iraq to make sure we are sanctioning their ballistic missile tests. they are doing horrible things in yemen and in iraq and in lebanon and in syria. and it's hard for me to see

as we push back against those things why we would be better off if they had a secret nuclear program that they were pursuing. >> thank you. senator bennett, another question for you. hillary clinton's recently linked speeches to financial institutions have given us new insight on her unvarnished beliefs including what she calls her dream of open trade and open borders and i'm curious, do you share a clinton's dream of open trade and open borders? >> i haven't read the speeches but i will say i believe strongly in free-trade. i think as a country, we benefited mightily as a whole from free-trade. there are groups of people in this country whose jobs have been displaced. we got a good job answering for that and we need to do a much better job answering for that. >> what about this dream of openborders . >> i don't know what that means in define it for me,

i'd be happy to answer for it. >> her dream is in the hemisphere, open borders and open trade. >> i don't know what that means but as part of the gang of eight pushing the immigration bill that put 21,000 additional border security folks on the southern border and gave people a pathway to citizenship, i feel it's very important for us to have a secure border and the only legislation that passed either house of congress since i've been there that has secured our border or attempted to was that piece of legislation but going back to trade for a second, one of the things that worries me about the debate where having at this presidential level is it's not just about now, if you listen, it's not about trade agreements being bad, it's about trade being bad. that's not good for our country and we have a lot to benefit from trade and i don't what i don't want to do is allow the chinese to write the rules of the road. i want the united states to be at that table, helping write those rules. she may have fallen short but we shouldn't turn our back on the rest of the world. >> will open up that up for discussion now.

>> wife mister bennet is a vote on the tbb but these deals always have winners and losers, that's why they tend to be done behind closed doors and it's one thing to criticize that but what concrete ideas youhave to actually get deals done ? >> thanks for the question but mister bennett is an ivy league educated and was an attorney and he knows what open borders are, he just does not want to address that issue. i would like him to at least admit to saying he would oppose the open border concept. >> i'd be happy to answer it. >> open borders, means clear access to this country without going through legal immigration process. that's exactly what ms. clinton is wanting us to do, open borders. we all know what common languages, ladies and gentlemen and this is what frustrates people about politics. common sense does prevail. if somebody tells you open borders, that means open doors.

if you leave your door open in your house, what does that mean? the door is open and that's exactly what you want to promote. what i would like senator bennett to do is to commit to making sure he will oppose his party's nominee and her stance to open borders. >> should the trade deal be open borders and how would you do it? >> free-trade is extremely important and i am opposed to tbb. one of the things we need to make sure we understand as we cannot give up our sovereignty. there's a provision in article 27 that creates a commission of unelected burke bureaucrats that are basically going to be able to adopt rules and regulations without the united states of america being able to intervene. >> really quick, any change you want to make? >> what we want to be as open and make sure we are standing up for the will of the

voters. make sure we are representing america. >> thank you mister glenn. a quick note, what folks are hearing at home that sounds like a spirited drum circle are protesters who are beating on the outside of the building. we assume they are probably in support of one of the half-dozen minor party or unaffiliated or writing candidates who are also in this race that are not on the debate stage tonight. this is a 10 percent threshold for entering the debate, the candidates choosing so the campaign were invited to submit polls showing that they had support of one in 10 coloradans over the state. some folks are exercising free speech outside by using the building as a bass drum. we will know about go to a lightning round of questions if it and any point your unable to hear our questions ask us to repeatand we will do so. i'm going to start with one as yes, sir no. should local governments be allowed to abandon fracking ? >> no you need to restate

that question. >> should local governments in colorado be allowed to ban fracking with voter approval? >> no. >> in your opinion who is the single best and worst us presidents of all time mister glenn? >> i am a big fan ofabraham lincoln. >> and the other question? >> the worst president? that's still to be determined . >> i could agree with what darryl glenn says, i think abraham lincoln was the best and i will weigh in on the worst. i'm very fond of what he said earlier about open trade borders . >>. [inaudible conversation] anything you guys want to revisit you can in your own time later on. senator bennet, is there any republican you can recall voting for? >> yes. >> would you name it republican? >> i will not. >> why is that? >> i think who i vote for is my business but yes, i voted for a republican. >> mister glenn, you're

completely off the stove now but if you would like to name a democrat you have voted for you are welcome to. >> i believe our votes are private even though i believe there's been infringement upon our rights and liberties, i've going to protect the second right ear. >> mister glenn, what is the second-biggest leadership characteristic that you do not have? >> that i do not have? >> thatyou do not have, that you wish you had . >>. [inaudible] >> senator bennett, the single biggest leadership characteristic you wish you had? >> what are you asking?>> the single biggest leadership characteristic you wish you had. >> i think i'm developing good taste. my kids disagree with that answer. >> thank you senator. next question. this is a question to both of you in turn. senator it, we will begin

with you. the issue of refugees from the middle east, syrian refugees has been discussed at length in the presidential campaign. christine on facebook is curious about your stand about bringing more syrian refugees into the us and how to make the vetting process more effective. does the us have a duty to relate in syrian refugees and should we change the vetting? >> i don't think we have a duty but as part of the family of nations working together to try to deal with the horrendous refugee crisis in syria, it would be better if we were willing to take some and as you know we've just taken 10,000. the burden of proof should never be on america, it should always be on the refugees. the vetting process is thorough, we should continue to review it and make sure it's as thorough as it can be because people are reasonably concerned about people coming from that region of the world

in the united states because of what is happening here. what i have not supported and will not support because i think it does violence to who we are as americans is to vote to ban an entire religion of people from the united states of america or to ban all syrian refugees from the united states of america. that is not who we are and it's in times of difficulty when our values are the most tested. i was proud to take that vote on the senate and i take it again. >> thank you senator.mister glenn, similar question. does the us have a duty to let them syrian refugees and if you would apply a standard, what would be the standard you would apply and please be as specific as possible. >> the us has a duty to provide both safety and security of our citizens . what i'm concerned about is the fact that we have not secured our border and i think it's an extremely important to make sure we acknowledge that there are threats to the united states of america and we have to have a way of being able to screen those specific threats

but here's an issue i think is extremely important. i spent a lot of time in our underserved communities. our labor employment participation rate is a.d. the other side is particularly advocating adding more people into the market to be able to compete with them. people that are not citizens of this country.when you start thinking about black and brown populations, one in five are unemployed or underemployed area that's very troubling. i think it's something we need to make sure we understand clearly before we add more people into the greater denver metro area because it's going to hurt the very people we are trying to help. when you start thinking about their ability to have access to employment, that's a reality.>> do you support a religious tax for barring immigrants? >> that is overly broad. what you need to do when you are trying to find a threat, you need to be able to identify what your threats

are and come up with a way of screening someone. i do not support blanket bands. as a person who has been in the military and retired air force colonel, you have to be able to use specific intelligence on how you are able to screen potential threats and that's what we should be able to work on on a bipartisan basis. >> i want to explore the other aspect of syria which is the ongoing conflict there. trump insists that russia is a partner against syria, his running mate things we need to go after asad, who do you side with and why? >> what's missing is leadership and that's why i'm in this race. you have a commander-in-chief with all due respect that has not clearly defined our role. we need to be working and have a better working relationship with our allies. working together. the reason why russia has so much leverage out there is because america is not leading. when america does not lead, our enemies fill that void. the first thing we need to do and as a senator, i want to make sure i'm working with the president that has clear lines of objective to make

sure we are clearly identifying what our role is as far as national security. instead of working with our allies. >> is assad our partner? >> what we need to do is clearly identify our threat to the united states of america. >> i will give you one more chance to answer, is assad our partner or not? >> what we need to do as a country is be able to work with military intelligence that out there, work with our allies and clearly identify what are the threats that are there? and then come up with a strategy to deal with it. >> we did not get an answer to that question and i think you mr. glenn. >> i answer that question? let me answer the question because first of all, i'm so happy to hear mr. glenn at first abandon the ledge religious test because we shouldn't have a religious test. he has supported it in the past with donald trump and i'm gladhe's not anymore. on immigration, me make here

i was part of the gang of eight in the senate , four democrats and four republicans. >> you're talking about assad in theory. >> he's an enemy not just of our country but humanity itself. >> in another one of hillary clinton's leaked speeches last week she said terrorism is not a threat to america as it does endanger our economy or our society and that's not an uncommon theme you will hear on the left, the idea that the threat of terrorism is exaggerated because it trays upon people's fears. you agree with what secretary clinton said that terrorism does not endanger our economy? >> i don't think it's on the left or right, i don't agree that it doesn't endanger our economy or society. it is important for leaders to keep in perspective what we face and make sure we are working together on constructing solutions but no, i would not say it's not a threat. >> where would you rank terrorism as a threat? that's a question that's been asked of candidates for a while. >> it ranks high in the public consciousness.

it's the job of people that are responsible leaders to understand that fear, that reasonable fear and explain to people what we are trying to do to try to address it so i hope later in the conversation we will have a chance to talk about what's going on with isis, what's going on in syria because people have the right to hear all that and to make their own judgments about how safe we are. i believe that there's a lot of work has been left undone in making sure that our country is safe from this terrorist threat. >> now an opportunity for you to engage with one another once again, i appreciate the respectable engagement so far. the people at home can hear, at least the best they can with the drum thing going on. mister glenn, a question for senator bennet. >> i'm trying to check if my mike is on with all the yelling. >> it is their first amendment rights. >> it is their right to do that but senator bennet, what i would like to find out is

there's going to be an iran nuclear debate. the republicans brought ford a platform to oppose that. why would you filibuster that? >> probably because i supported the ran deal and i was voting yes on the deal that i think has made the united states more secure for the reasons i said earlier, has made israel more secure. as meant that we are trying to face down the iranian conventional threat in the region which is extremely dangerous without the immediate threat of their acquiring a nuclear weapon. >> but you stand for people being able to vote and you talk about the obstructions of how inefficient government is. why would you allow that hope to occur even though he said he was going to veto, did you think that should have been able to go up for a vote? >> i need to remember the timing of it but probably the reason was i thought it was incredibly important for us

to get to that boat because the entire rest of the world, as you may remember, darrell has endorsed video. they were waiting for the united states congress to finish the deal and the deal couldn't go into effect without it, in which case the iranians would have gotten the sanctions relief read that is to say, the money that was signed in india and other places andthey would have been able tobuild a bomb in secret. i didn't think that was in the interest of the united states. >> the $400 million, did you consider that a ransom payment and now that a ram has access to billions of dollars they are using to bebop their military , to potentially put our what men and women in harm's way . would you still stand by that? >> let's be clear. the iranian military was very much against this dealbecause they were benefiting from the black markets that existed in iran when their work sanctions to their relief , from the corrupt market that was there. second, there is nothing that i have heard that suggests

this payment that you described was ransom. the policy of the united states of america is we will not ransom hostages, we must not ransom hostages, i agree with that and in fairness, the amount of money in defense is actually far less then was believed to be said when we voted on the deal. >> in congress we've written the legislation with people who have supported the deal and oppose the deal to make sure we are tracking this money. we don't need it. >> one last question. >> to cover that question. if we have time we will do another round of questions. senator bennet, your question for mr. glenn. >> i thought it was one question. >> here's the good news, every journalist for friend, you are going to get a couple of foul follow-ups. >> i actually want to go back to the trunk discussion because i think you the suspect, you talk a lot about leadership in the senate.

when the vote is in front of you and people areasking you about voting on syrian refugees and that's the topic , shifting into competition on jobs is not the answer. similarly with donald trump, he's clearly apologized before you said he would be unqualified to be the commander-in-chief which i agree with and i think your position was a strong on that night. thenyou changed it because you said on fox television that you were persuaded by his attacks on hillary clinton among other things saying he would put her in jail if he were president of the united states. i wonder what really changed because as a father of three girls , as a father of three daughters, i didn't hear an apology. what i heard was somebody justifying what he did by calling it locker room language or relock a room behavior. i don't believe it is like a room language or locker room behavior. >> let him respond. >> this is an area where we actually agree because we are both fathers.

what's different here and where i see where leadership is, is where donald trump is a member of the republican family and what i'm showing is i will actually call out a member of the republican family but hillary clinton has done so many things, has lied to, as a whole list of things that arecoming out and where are you at? you have yet to stand up and say anything. people are saying where's michael? when are you going to hold her accountable ? >> this is my question and my answer is i will do it for hillary clinton and i will answer that question. >> i would endorse donald trump but he did something wrong and i called him out on it. hillary clinton has been caught lying, a clinton as giving away ... [inaudible conversation] >> my question is, on your terms, respectful, don't you know it to these questioners

to answer whether or not you endorse donald trump because your answer has been to invite him to colorado to have a town meeting. >> i'm happy to answer that. i have absolutely suspended my endorsement of donald trump and here's why. because my faith teaches me. [inaudible question] i'm answering a question. i'm answering the question. he asked me why. you know, and again it's about family. it's about talking to a family member that's done something wrong and looking them in the eye and saying i want to help you with this and if you can convince me you've done that, then i can invite you back at it doesn't sound like you're willing to extend that. you won't even call out hillary clinton who has given away classified information. >> thank you.

>> don't i have an additional question? >> that was nearly as exciting as the drumming on the building. we hope to return to questions of the candidates by one another later in the debate, thank you. were going to keep things moving now. our viewers weighing on about the future of obamacare. you want to take part in that it's 9news.com/votenow, type that into any device as and as they answer the question, senator bennet, governor looper recently told me, obviously this is not working the way it is. in colorado, people who buy plans on the state exchange are looking at a 20 to 40 percent price hike next year. your vote for obama care led to it. are you sorry for how it's played out to those people and how can you assure them you will get the cost of those individual plans under control? >> i'm sorry when anybody's plans go up. we have huge problems with ourhealthcare system before we passed the affordable care act. we have huge problems today especially in rural colorado where there is not a monopoly

market , for seven years i've said there's not enough transparency in our healthcare system, not just to insurance but what hospitals and doctors cost. we need to do a better job of driving down costs so what i believe is we should be able to working in a bipartisan way to not just deal with the health care bill but dealing with healthcare generally in this country and that's what i've been trying to do and that's what i intend to do. what i'm not doing is repealing the affordable care act where half 1 million more people in colorado have insurance now than when we passed the bill. it was pre-existing conditions, people who were denied insurance can no longer can be. it's a thing of the past and you can't be discriminated against just because you are a woman. there are important steps and what we've got to do is improve on it. >> what's the fix for the individual plan? you got insurers leaving the marketplace x i almost get no complaints in my office about medicare. people that are on medicare do okay and the doctors do

okay by medicare seem to be all right. the complaints i get every single day are people who have paid their premiums month after month after month to a private insurer, then they seek to get a claim fulfilled and the insurer just keeps them on the phone until they relent or give up. it's clearly a broken system. i believe that when we passed this the first time we should have a public option for people to be able to choose from as they want and i my opponent doesn't believe that. >> you think the competition from a public option might ... >> we need more competition for nonprofit and public. my opponent says that federal government has no rule to play in healthcare. >> mr. glenn, you will get a bite to this too because we are talking about obamacare. at the same time as we learned those plans for getting more expensive we also learn employer plans

which is what most people have are staying the same price. how can you change the system without disrupting what is working about our healthcare system? >> i want to respond to something that senator bennet said. he talked about complaints in his office. the key point because it's complaints in his office. if he would actually leave his office and come home and talk to people, talk to people in rock county, talk to people on the western slopes about the true pain they are suffering when they are looking at potentially a 20 to 40 percent premium increase, he took keeps talking about healthcare. this is about health insurance. we need to go back and use a little common sense because when you are out there trying to purchase a good or service, does it make sense to grade a system that decreases competition?

if you want to be able to have a higher quality product at a cheaper price, you need to have a system in place that encourages competition. that's why we need to actually repeal the affordable care act but immediately have something to replace it with when it comes to competition across state lines. we need to have tort reform. we need to be able to make sure we are doing things to encourage the market to grow. >> mr. glenn, the polling would suggest you have been unable to fund raise to a level that would make you competitive in this race. i asked you about your lackluster fundraising during the primary debate and you said there were these great secret fundraising numbers that were going to come out and prove that i had asked a bad question, that you were in good shape. why mislead republican primary voters before they nominated you? >> you judge things on fundraising. you know what's beautiful? >> it's a question about honesty, those voters were relying on your honesty. >> you're assuming that i'm there because of fundraising. you equate millions of dollars of special interest money and comparing that with

michael bennett. i'm most of proud of the people that have written me a check for $25.73 because they are hurting and that was the last part of their budget that they believed enough in me to give that to me. please do not disrespect all those people. coming there, look at the number of people that have contributed to my campaign, that have used their last bit of dollars because they've been praying over my campaign. they understand unlike my opponent i am going to go out there and talk to them or it i'm going to cry with them, i'm going to pray with them. make people understand they will have a voice in washington instead of having somebody that continues to vote 98 percent of the time with the administration. >> i'm talking about the small donors. i'm asking why did you mislead republican voters into thinking there were these great secret fundraising numbers that were there. you knew that wasn't true when you said it before the primary.

>> the premise of your question is the same, mike. that we misled anybody. we were able to absolutely fund raise. he did a great thing and you know what's beautiful about this whole thing ladies and gentlemen? it gives you confidence in the process that while i raised the least amount of money, i'm here and i beat a lot of opponents read michael bennett is the only person i know they can spend $2 million in a campaign in a primary election and to be the only name on the ballot. this is the way to manage your money. >> our viewers are going to get to choose the next question or at least the topic for it. if you haven't yet, type in 9news.com/votenow and participate live with us to pick the topic. we willdecide between another question on trump and clinton, we also have infrastructure and education . it's 9news.com/votenow. we are going to keep the polling open for just a minute and look at the results again. you want to question about the presidential race, would

you like to hear the candidates on stage talk about infrastructure? would you like to hear them talk about education? we are going to go on to a question about infrastructure which handily beats that believe it or not. this comes from nine news where julie on facebook, it's a simple one. mister glenn, we will start with you. do you have any thoughts on how to fund america's aging infrastructure? >> what we should not do is raise the gas tax, we should make sure the gas tax is being properly applied to transportation projects and we need to make sure more funding that caught up in the federal government is given to the states. if somebody who has been working transportation infrastructure projects since 2003, states are very innovative when it comes to being able to address those issues. all of us i think have been frustrated sitting on i 25 and i 70. give me a raise of hands of people that like that? we clearly have issues we must address and what we need

to be able to do is give states more of an influence over how to prioritize those transportation projects. >> you want to handle more increasingly at the state level. >> there needs to be more collectibility at the state level to do that because they are closer to the source of the issue. they can work with local governments and as a person that's been working as a city councilmember, on a county commission, we work in these issues all the time. we are very creative with coming up with solutions to transportation infrastructure projects. they just need the flexibility more in their hands. >> senator bennet, same question. >> first of all as you may know we finally have funded a long-term highway bill after 23 or 24 short-term extensions, one of which is two months long, all done in the name of fiscal responsibility. i was pleased to have a chance to work with senator gardner to get that over the finish line. what i'm now planning in the

state and bythe way, the taxes are not traveling in colorado. i'll put my record up against any elected official even ones who don't have to go back to washington dc . in terms of my presence all across colorado. when i travel around the state, when i get into these conversations, in the end i say i don't know. you might be right about some of that but here's one thing i do know. because it there's something wrong in our politics in washington dc. we don't have the decency as a generation to maintain the absence of infrastructure, the roads and bridges that are grandparents and had the decency to build for us, much less the infrastructure to build that my kids and your kids are going to need in the 20th century. go stand on the deck of a boat in hong kong and look at what the investment looks like compared to what we are doing. that is why i work with republicans and democrats and independents to draft legislation to repatriate

money that's stuck overseas, bring it back to the united states and build infrastructure. that cannot be done one by one party. >> you are well over your time i asked if your opponent will raise the gas tax, is increasing gas tax off-limits? >> i don't think it makes sense at the moment because we are moving to electric vehicles. we got more efficient cars on the road than ever before. we have to figure it out and my answer your question is my answer to your previous question which is let's find a way to repatriate the $2 billion overseas and bring it back here actually, what you juststated was my position . >> we should not raise gas tax, okay. wanted to make sure. we are good. >> it's an important one. >> i understand. >> i don't believe there's anybody here who believes he wouldraise the gas tax . >> i hope these will be shorter answers so we haven't

time to get to more policy questions but i want to ask you senator bennet, do you believe that a lot of mister glenn's supporters are deplorable as hillary clinton said about donald trump. >> absolutely not. how's that for a short answer? >> mr. glenn, let me ask you. it is on diet undeniable that mister trump's candidacy has inflated racist anti-semitic fervor in america. you can quantify how large that is but we all see it. is that troubling to you and do you blame mister trump for any of that? >> what's troubling to me is senator bennet just admitted about the deplorable comment but when it came time to call the candidate out that said that, he didn't do it so are you willing to do that now? are you willing to go on record now and ask hillary clinton to say that she was wrong? will you say that? >> i didn't have to because she said she was wrong. she apologized immediately. >> ladies and gentlemen, leadership is, you don't need to take a poll, you don't

need to wait, you actually do it when it happens. >> there's only so much time we can spend tonight arguing about what other people said and then apologized. >> it wasn't three words long. the question to you senator bennet, you voted with the democratic party 95 percent of your time. you voted with obama 97 percent of the time. you expect he would be in similar lockstep with hillary clinton and majority leader chuck schumer if they would enter those roles? ask you reviewed this over and over again and this washington math is up to 90 percent or 98 percent or 80 percent. it doesn't capture the bipartisan work that i've done is i've been in the senate and that's why i have a reputation in colorado and across the country for being one of the most bipartisan senators. my commitment to colorado which is a third republican is that i will continue to serve you in exactly the same

way if i am privileged enough to have another term as your senator.my record whether it's the work we've done on immigration or the fda, the farm bill, the work getting rid of no child left behind has been done with republicans. i believe it's my job not just to represent people that vote for me but everybody in my state. darrell ran an entire primary campaign say he was running against democrats. there wasn't a single democrat elected official he could work with red the troutman washington is that republicans have been too conciliatory, too collaborative with the president. they wouldn't vote for mitch mcconnell to be majority leader. republicansin colorado by and large don't believe that and democrats and independents certainly don't. you cannot get anything done in washington . [overlapping conversation] >> i'm just going to ask you a question. i'm going to still answer the question. >> i understand. listen to my question and you

can roll it into your answer. this follows with what he was saying. early in your campaign you said you are tired about hearing about republicans reaching across the aisle. when you talk about not working with democrats, how does that lead to better outcomes especially when you don't know who's going to control the white house? >> both parties have done a poor job with this. i will work with anybody who wants to put the country first and set aside partisan politics. both parties are notorious for doing this. let's do a little math. my opponent here has voted in lockstep with the administration 97 percent of the time but he says washington is broken and is in gridlock. let's use a little common sense. if he's voted with the administration 97 percent of the time on a bipartisan basis, things should be fine in washington, right? that means everything is done. if you have a 97 percent success rate, using your own math and using your own eerie that you've been bipartisan,

we should have budgets pass, we should be able to get everything funded. we should be able to deal with the threats to this country. this is one of the reasons why i want to repeal common core, because obviously we cannot use math here and common sense when it comes to that. >> denouncing reaching across the aisle, how does that do anything about this? x i'm denouncing the whole idea of republicans and democrats pigeonholing each other and trying to use leverage to be able to their way. what we need to do ... >> in the primary you were specific. >> in the primary i was specific with regard to his idea for the republicans to support the iran nuclear deal, to support the affordable air act, to support the epa regulations that are shutting down jobs.

that's his idea of bipartisanship. what i don't see him doing is leading, coming forward with solutions that are actually going to help grow the economy. >> he talks about repatriating money. the best way to do that is reduce our corporate tax rate so now are you going to support a reduction in our corporate tax rate so we can use those. >> that's actually what my bill does. >> let me say colorado ... i've got to move us onto a mother question. this has to do with a similar topic jason on facebook asks , i'm going to read you exactly what he wrote. unity. our country is based on it and our presidential candidates continue to separate our country. i'd like to new what each candidate would do to bring unity to our country. >> jason, thank you for asking a very important question. this is something i'm passionate about. i do not like the tone of this campaign. i think it's important to be able to bring community leaders, law enforcement and

when you start talking about policymakers together because there are real differences we must be able to talk about. i can tell you, i've spent a lot of time in underserved communities and as a person that has been stopped just simply because of my skin color, that's real. there are cultural differences that we must address and we can only do that if we come together. i believe that's what's wrong and what's happening out there, i know a lot of you are frustrated about it, we need to be dividing this country and i hope senator bennet agrees with me that we are going to keep this race not about people's character. we are going to focus on the issues because i don't think that's right. we live in the greatest country out there but we need to be able to respect one another and that's what i'm concerned about. i'm going to hold myself accountable to that jason's question was what will you do to heal the divisiveness and bring unity.>> we need to respect each other and i respect the owners of

colorado because i say the same thing to you in my primary election that i say in the general election. what you just heard up here is the exact opposite of what he said inthe primary election . the reason jason and i care about that is i've worked really hard from the time i've been in the senate to build bridges with people on the other side of the aisle and get results for americans and get results for colorado so there are people with cystic fibrosis and lung cancer, leukemia didn't have drugs that treated their maladies before. you have them now as a result of the work i did with richard burrow and republicans from north carolina. the work i did with lamar alexander. never demonize the other side but working together to make it better for kids in the classroom and their teachers in school. the work i've done at a moment in time we had horrible things on the top of the ticket in the republican side about immigrants in this country. the bipartisan immigration bill. i have tried to set an example. the thing i can't abide is

somebody who just wants their name in lights. who gives a speech and can't work with somebody.>> your overtime and i didn't hear an answer to jason's question. there's a lot of anger about what's going on in politics right now. >> in fairness, i gave you an answer which is we should be sending people to congress that don't play petty political games, who divided but get up every single morning to work withtheir party and the other party to get work done and with me, that's not speculative. that's what i've done over the last seven years . >>. [overlapping conversation] and if the person at the top of your ticket does something wrong and you need to make a statement about deplorable, you need to call them on it. >> this comes with us from our partners on the business journal. he requested that we talk about what voters will still tell pollsters is the number one issue in this race, jobs and the economy. first to you senator bennet.

can you cite to specific bills you would advance that would lead to private sector to create more jobs? >> the infrastructure built i said earlier, had to set apart 30 percent for private partners, that's important for the private sector. and the bill i just mentioned with the fda. the companies developing these new drugs are all private companies. the problem they face in colorado and across the country was they couldn't raise venture capital anymore in the united states. it was all going to europe and asia because it was caused by the fda and i worked with a republican from north carolina to change the way that approval works so in the last four years, the estimates were that one or two drugs a year would be approved. 50 drugs have been approved and we have gone from, i can't remember the number of bioscience companies but 600

to 800, not because of that bill but because we have a thriving bioscience company in colorado that we need to protect. >> the question is from at the lover of the denver business journal. two specific bills you would advance that would lead the private sector to create more jobs. >> this is a clear area where we disagree because my opponent double down on his support for the affordable care act and when you're out there talking small business owners , we need to repeal the affordable care act. and immediately have a replacement in place, that's extremely important. the other thing i'm hearing when i'm not talking to people and you go out to moffat county, when you go to grand junction, they need regulatory reform. the epa regulations, the war on coal is real. they're shutting down an entire industry.

we should be standing up for energy independence, allowing all forms of energy to occur and allow the market to be able to dictate but mister bennett needs to have a war on coal, shut down communities and on top of that, he's going to double down on his support for the affordable care act which then has people trying to incur a 20 or 40 percent premium increase. think about trying to pay your bills when you've lost your job and the insurance premium has gone up 40 percent. these are the real stories i'm hearing from people when i go out and talk to them and not stay in washington dc. >> a lot of folks wanted us to talk about guns a little bit. donald trump has repeatedly claimed hillary clinton wants to abolish the second amendment,something she's never advocated. is that language or do you believe she literally wants to abolish it? >> maybe she shouldn't say that . she has made it very clear and it was very eye-opening when it comes to her debate performance and the types of justices that she would support would absolutely a

fringe upon the second amendment rights for each and every one of you so if you are trying to say she didn't say that, actions louder than words. she continues to say that, she continues threaten the second amendment rights of law-abiding citizens and that's just a reality. >> their interpreting and putting limits on them which exist today, do you think that amounts to wanting to abolish it if you want to limit it? >> i get confused with hillary clinton because first people are deplorable and now you want to abolish things. then she tells us she actually can lose emails and she had a private server. then she doesn't take responsibility for that. she's all over the map. my concern is maybe we should be looking at her credibility. one person that's not standing up and holding her accountable is michael bennett. >> senator bennet, hoping for straight talk on the issue of gun control and not just an

investigative reporter, did some really interesting work around the area of guns and crime, looking at the numbers read it's the so-called assault rifles are always the bogeyman, they are used in 3 to 4 percent of homicides and gun sales .tomorrow, america would have 3 million guns out there so knowing that, honestly, what sort of confiscation would actually make an impact? >> i don't share darrell's position which is that any and all restrictions on the second amendment are unconstitutional. no amendment is absolute. i am a strong supporter of the second amendment but i don't agree with that. i don't agree with the observation that everybody in an audience like this to be able to waive their guns around. i don't think that's great when my kids are sitting in the front row. what i would strongly support is a national form of background check that's modeled on the work we did in colorado. if you look after that law was passed, there were

roughly 300,000 people that applied for guns.2.2 percent of those peoplewere denied guns in colorado and among them were murderers, rapists , kidnappers, domestic abusers and it's hard for me to hear an argument that says we be safer those folks have done. >> it's a significant difference. there are 300 million out there. >> i do think it would make a difference because it's kept guns in colorado out of the hands of people who've committed those crimes. sometimes what you hear people say is none of the laws would have any effect on what happened in orlando or what happened in dallas or what happened there. that's an excuse for not doing anything and if you we can keep the hands on somebody with abackground check and by definition, i want to say this . by definition that means it's not taking someone's guns away. this is when somebody is

applying for a gun thank you. >> we have time for a couple short answer questions before we get to your opening statements. senator bennett could you name an issue which you think is overblown this election year? something we are paying too much attention to? >> i tell you what we are not paying enough attention to and that education and the next generation of americans. when you hear these debates at the presidential level,you hear nothing about what we are doing to support teachers and principals . >> short answer questions. i'm glad you brought up that. i support all choice options and vouchers and i want to know whether or not mister bennett will stand here and support people in the underserved areas that need that. >> we are out of time, we must go to closing. you each get your time by a flip of the coin. senator bennet will go first. >> thank you very much for moderating the debate and thank you to the audience up here and the audience at home. it's been a great experience being your senator over the last term, such a great

privilege every day when there are people back there that my definition can't agree, the other side because they might berepublicans or democrats . i have very little patience for that. i have a track record over the last six years with the track record i have before i was even in politics, when i was in business and superintendent of schools and that's a willingness to work with absolutely anyone for the benefit of the next generation of americans and the people coming after that. this is the most wonderful state in the most wonderful country in the world and when i traveled the state, i am filled with optimism and what i want is a politics that's worthy of the admiration we have of our grandkids. that's an example i've tried to set the first term, it's what i will continue to do if you give me that privilege again. i like very much for you to cast a vote for me between now and november. >> mister glenn?

>> i want to thank all of you very much and i want to thank senator bennet. we were talking about issues and i hope we will continue to show that we can do this in a respectful manner because i am concerned about the tone of the campaign but i am so proud of each and every one of you. i've learned a lot as an air force academy graduates, a retired lieutenant colonel, service is my life. i'm a man of faith and i learned the fact that when i was out there talkingto you, people are going broke . i'm asking you for your vote because you can trust me. i'm going to actually sit down and talk to you and go represent you and come back home and be able to give you feedback but i want you to be able to have confidence in the system. i know you are shaken, i know some people are scared. i'm here to tell you, believe in the fact that your vote matters. no matter what you are hearing at the national level, we live in the greatest country on the face of this earth. i want to thank each and

every one of you, god bless you, god bless the state and god bless the american united states of america. >> we are out of time. our thanks to hickory colorado for providing this beautiful space for the staff, hospitality and their willingness to allow the building to be beaten on by protesters for the better part of an hour. a week from tonight tuesday, october 18 a debate on this year's ballot question and on thursday, october 20, the fifth congressional district debate. michael kaufman and his democratic challenger. now on the nine news facebook page, political experts are beginning to analyze this debate and that conversation will continue this evening on nine news at nine and 10. thank you for joining us tonight. for brandon brenneman and the rest of tonight, i'm kyle clark. good night. [applause]

>> coming up later this evening, more road to the white house coverage with donald trump. his rally in green bay wisconsin. he is trailing hillary clinton in that state by about five points according to real clear politics. we will have that rally at 7 pm on c-span2. ohio republican senator rob portman and former democratic governor ted strickland debate in the president congressional race. he is in support of donald trump and also thought about heroin addiction services, trade policy, money and defense spending. >> with only 24 days left until the election, u.s. senate race in all i'll comes to the forefront with the first of three debates between republican incumbent ron portman and former ohio governor democrat ted strickland. recent polls put portman out

front. baldwin wallace pull released wednesday shows portman 48 percent, strickland with 36 and 17 still undecided. a real clear politics average shows a larger gap portman up by 14 points. the panelists for today's debate include moderator and 21 wf mj anchored darren stier, political writer and columnist david skolnik, 21 wf mj anchor leslie barrett, glenn stevens, us mj reporter and wf mj anchor bob black. this first on our debate will include questions from voters with topics ranging from national politics to the heroin epidemic, social security and affordable healthcare. here's moderator derek stier. >> good afternoon. we come to life from the wf

mj studios. the format for this debate is as follows. a panelist will ask a question of a specific candidate. that candidate has 90 seconds to answer. the opposing candidate receives 90 seconds to respond followed by the initial candidate getting 30 seconds for rebuttal. with that, let's begin. i'd like you to shake hands. opening and closing statements were decided by a coin toss. after portman, two minutes, your opening statement. >> it's great to be back in the valley. i've been here twice the last couple of weeks. once was to go to a y su football game, our penguins beat south dakota. the other was to go to warrenton to visit a steel plant where i got to talk about some of the legislation we pass to bring back jobs. i've been an independent voice for ohio. were going to hear two distinct records today and two distinct policy proposals for the future. i'm proud of the work that we've done for the 45 of my bills that have been signed into law.

i worked with democrats and republicans alike and found common ground to solve problems. that's what i said when i would run for election my first term, that's exactly what i've done. i'm running for people like on the array.i've taken the lead on this issue of prescription drugs the epidemic that has gripped our state. rhonda drake lost her daughter holly to an overdose. she is filled with brief and has put into things that are constructive to write red legislation called the conference addiction and recovery act. it's helping here in the valley and elsewhere. i'm running for people like teresa florez, a victim of human trafficking in columbus who's worked with me and others to pass four different bills that i wrote to deal with human trafficking to help the victims. i'm running for people like mike pence, mike works at the steel plant and told me the other day how important it is that our legislation is helping them keep his job and other jobs there at that steel plant, to level the laying field. this is what i'm proud of. i also realized there's a lot more to do.

middle class is very real and the weakest economic recovery since the second world war. people working harder and yet the wages are flat, even declining on average. expenses are up. the highest expense of all his healthcare. we've seen a doubling practically of healthcare costs in ohio under obamacare. i'm working as an independent voice to fight for these people and will continue to do that if i'm given the honor to be reelected over the next six years. >> mister strickland, your opening statement. >> thank you for hosting this debate. i came from a family that went through a lot of struggles but we survived because we loved and cared for each other. my family lost their first home, destroyed by a flood. the second lost the hard times and the third home when i was about five years of age burned to the ground.

my dad was a hard-working steelworker, my mom raised nine kids and i was the first in my family to be able to go to college. i learned at an early age what it's like to live paycheck to paycheck and how just one bad break can lead to real hardship and that's why i've spent my life as a minister, teacher, a psychologist, a congressman and as your governor fighting for working people. >> he negotiated these job killing trade deals.

he voted 14 times to give china nation trade status. he came to this valley a few weeks ago and put on his hard hat, he had a photo op at a steel plant what he should've done was get down on his knees and apologized to the people in this valley for sending their jobs to places like china and mexico. you will see differences between the two of us. i'm a guy who is always fought for working people. they're doing what they have always done, looking out for the wealthy, powerful, the privileged, the washington insiders and the wall street powerbrokers. >> our first question from the panel is from glenn and it's directed. >> you been characterized as a washington insider with millions of special interest dollars being spent on your behalf. at a time when voters in general say they are tired of the outside influences in politics and public policy, what do you say to the people of ohio to let

them know that you are a senator of the people and not the special interest? i have been an independent voice for ohio and actually accomplished a lot in the 45 bills i talked about including work on the three issues i just talked about, human trafficking, discouraging the drug abuse problem that's happening in the valley and what i've done to bring back jobs and protect jobs. i would ask people to look at my record which is something that i do. when i went to that plant, the steelworkers that were there thanked me profusely for what i have done because i've actually passed legislation that helps make their lives better. i'm proud of that. >> a couple years ago had a case where there was some dumping coming in from six other countries around the world. i stood up for them, supported the case and i won the case. now they are trying to force that case with my legislation called the enforce act. yes we got it in place to give them some breathing room but

then they were moving to circumvent circumvent. i wrote an act to stop that and it's working and they thanked me. they are right now in the process of getting relief thanks to my legislation. i also wrote senator brown the level the playing field act which changes the way you deal with trade cases. tire workers, paperworkers, steelworkers workers, steelworkers in ohio are now all benefiting from that. on the way in, i was recently at a plant, they are all benefiting from level the playing field legislation to actually winning cases. they actually had three victories the summer and the folks told me they are bringing back 70 people thanks to our legislation. what i have done consistently, i work across the aisle and i'm a commonsense conservative that focuses on results.

i'm proud of what we have done to help people. my opponent doesn't want to talk about his record. i don't blame him. i wouldn't want to talk about it either. jobs were lost when he was governor. forty-seven other governors figured out what he couldn't. my record is one of result to help the working people. >> response. >> when i left office ohio had the fifth fastest growing economy in america and i'm proud of that. they talk about being bipartisan. he wasn't bipartisan when president obama needed to fill a supreme court vacancy. he received refused to give him a hearing and a vote. he wasn't bipartisan he was trying to negotiate and iran deal to prevent nuclear proliferation in that country. he wrote a letter to the ayatollah. in the mist of these negotiations, undercutting the efforts of our country in this

incredibly foreign policy endeavor and newspapers across ohio call that disgraceful diplomacy. it was disgraceful in my judgment. he was george bush's trade representative for a while. there was a recommendation from the international trade organization that actually needed action taken against china for manipulating their currency. he said that would be counterproductive. he was in a position to make a difference for the people of ohio and he always cited with the rich and the powerful to the detriment of the people of the state of ohio. that is his record. >> senator portman. >> these attacks are a sign of desperation and i understand what the poll numbers are but it doesn't give you a right to say things that aren't true and you know that's not true.

here is what's true. not only did we have a terrible a economy but we were 48th in job creation, we had higher unemployment than the national average but when he was in the position to do something as the united states congressman, i mentioned i passed 45 bills that have become law. guess how many he wrote that became law, zero. >> thank you senator. >> our next question comes from leslie. this is from mr. strickland. >> in cincinnati there are 174 overdoses in just six days. a couple overdosed in the front seat with a four-year-old child child in the back seat. it's shined a light on how bad the epidemic is right here. as governor, you need services to balance her the reduction. why should voters have confidence in you that you would support addiction services if you were elected to the u.s. government? >> if you look at my time in

office, i think you will see that i increased increased funding for these services. there was a time during the last time when we were facing a recession. we talk about ohio losing 350 jobs, he refuses to acknowledge that america lost over 8 million jobs as a result of the national recession that he had more to do with an eye because he was george bush budget director in the years leading up to that economic collapse. now, i'm very familiar with this drug problem because i lost my great-nephew a few months ago to oxycontin overdose. i was a psychologist before i became a politician. i work with people who suffer from addiction. when i was governor, i started the prescription drug task force because much of this drug abuse begins with prescription drugs initially. when they get hooked on prescribed medication, that is

no longer available or it's too costly than they tend to gravitate toward a drug like heroin. it is a huge problem. if i was in a senate, i would vote for this community to fight it. let me tell you the truth, when it came time to vote for the funding, for the very bill that he boasts about, he voted, he voted against it. that's not unusual because he not only voted and boasted about that, but he boasted about 13 other problems that he said he would address and he voted against the bill. he voted against the funding for his own bill. communities need help. they need resources and funding. if i was there, i would be supporting the funding. >> you're right, when governor was governor, he had treatment

services by 30%. this was at a time when the prescription drug epidemic was getting going in ohio and it has led to the heroin epidemic. i've taken the lead on this issue for over 20 years. i'm still very active in that. i have been to two different firehouses. those people who overdose, sadly, tragically, five or, five or six died of overdoses and the rest were saved by first responders who responded with narcan which is a miracle drug to reverse the effect of those overdoses. they brought experts and from all over the country. it's historic legislation and for the first time ever there taking comprehensive approach on

this issue to turn the tide that has hit the valley and our entire state. the number one cause of accidental death is surpassing car accidents. i am proud of the work that we have done. i know there's a lot more to do. our approach, prevention, education and recovery, providing them with the training they need and changing the attitude that they need about this issue so people look at addiction as a disease. it's needs to be treated like other diseases. it's now being implemented, i just got $37 million that $37 million was extraordinary because there was no normal exceptions to bill like that. normally it's just funding. i was able to get that in there despite others. i believe it's an emergency and must be addressed. >> i applaud the senators calling attention to this terrible scourge of drug

addition. i also think it's fair to point out, i would would ask the fact checkers to look into this. he voted against the defunding his bill. he sent out 14 press releases in the we can half or so before that bill was voted on taking credit for things for money to clean up, 14 press releases and he voted against the funding because he didn't have the courage to bite the bullet and actually support the things that he felt were important. he let others cast their votes to carry the water for him. >> i can respond to that. >> real quick, a follow-up. >> why did you vote against the bill was $70 million for funding for character mark. >> first of all, as they said, i was able to get a lot of great things into that legislation to help ohio and i'm very proud of that.

i did save jobs and i actually added jobs and frankly, the democrats in congress were trying to cut the jobs and move them to another state. i did support legislation to ensure that it could be pre-funded. it did not pass it at that point but i went to the appropriators and said were going to pass this appropriation. let's put some funding in advance. i'm proud of those things. i fought for ohio. the legislation was a grab bag of all kinds of different appropriation bill thrown together and i busted the budget and had $20 billion when he was in the house he voted against it because they don't make any sense. i asked them to take up provisions i didn't like so my provisions could be passed. i knew it was going to pass because the votes were there. there's no hearings at the last minute thing and nobody reads the bills. they lost their pension because the bill from the previous year like this. >> thank you, our next question

is from bob. the fleet of aircraft at the airbase is currently aging and needs to be replaced. thus far the pentagon has refused to offer the c-130. what can you do to get new aircraft assigned to the air base and what can you do to ensure the future of the airbase? >> that's a great question. it is a treasure for our community. it is an airbase that provides an incredibly important capability for our military. it also is the only fixed operation in the country the military. you talk about the zika virus to eradicate mosquitoes, this is

where they play an essential role. i have been very aggressive at the base helping them, recently working with tim ryan. we were able to get $9.4 million into the appropriation bill to create a new firing range out there. i was this there looking at the firing range again and it's dilapidated. and needs to be replaced. the navy, the marines in the service are going to be there and that will be incredibly important. there's an annual bill that directs the pentagon that they have to use ways to find funding for bases like ours. there are four or five bases in similar situations are not many senators cared about it but i was able to get that legislation in. we've given the air force the

authority to update those claims those reserves are awesome but they need to have a better airplane. those that are out there now are two or three decades old. i've taken a lead and i'm proud of it and i look forward to continuing to work for you all. >> they like to filibuster, he's going over his time twice. just let me save the senator likes to make observations about my time as governor. i am happy to talk about that, but i take responsibility for what i've done and for what i haven't done. i think that's what citizens expect out of their senators.

now, he really didn't answer your question. i don't think he answered your question about why he didn't support the very bill that he posts about. he expects others to carry his water, to actually cast their vote and be strong enough and brave enough to actually vote and then he benefits from the votes they cast as he travels around ohio taking credit for it i think it is weak leadership. now, the base is important to you when i was governor i was out there a lot and i went to the secretary of the air force, for example and advocated for the facility in springfield ohio it takes personal engagement and involvement and it takes the ability to work with others and i think i demonstrated that as governor that i would do that and i would put my efforts, my energies and the proceeds of the office in trying to advocate to

the people that i care about. >> thank you. next from the panel, david, this is a question for you. >> you are governor during the great recession. while he shouldn't be blamed for the economic collapse, why did the state leg so behind the rest of the country and their leadership and shouldn't you accept some of that responsibility? >> of course. of course i should accept responsibility and i haven't denied any responsibility for anything i did when i was governor. that's the way i am. the fact is david, we did lose a lot of jobs and we lost more jobs in some states because of the nature of our economy. we are heavily manufactured state and as i pointed out earlier, nafta and these jobs killing trade deal had a particular detrimental benefit on our state. now, i think we need to look at the entire picture while i was

governor. the recession hit 08 and 09 provided by the time i left i left office, ohio had the fastest growing economy in the midwest and the fastest growing economy, or the fifth fastest growing in america. we took a big hit during the recession. everybody knows that. people lost jobs, homes and a lot of people lost hope. i think it's fair to point out that i didn't cause that and that i worked hard to keep our state in a stable position and with the help of barack obama and the stimulus that we got, we were able to invest in like youngstown and other communities across the state so i gave john kasich a recovery economy. i am glad i did that and i did that because i made tough choices and i left office at a time when ohio was on the road to recovery and we are experiencing that today.

>> senator portman, your response. >> it's a fair question. he left john kasich something else. he left them an $8 billion record deficit. he took the rainy day fund from it billion dollars down to 89 cents and of those jobs that left ohio, nine out of ten of them went to other states. he is blaming it on trade agreements. nine out of ten went to other states. we were just in toledo as you know, your colleagues wrote a story about the 15 factories that had left in the last years of his administration and he is quoted in the story is saying you're right, we were too slow to respond. we were not efficient enough to respond. they said we never heard, we never heard from the governor. whenever had any incentive packages for the indiana folks who got a lot of these jobs said we sent packages. i think that's fair to talk

about. i know he doesn't want to talk about his record. i probably wouldn't want to either but 350,000 jobs were lost and 47 other governors figured it out better than we did. this is why, when he talks about working families, i think about them. i think about the people who were left behind in that economy and the jobs that were lost that aren't just numbers. these are people. these are families. these are kids who gave up hope. now thanks to the legislature, they dig wooden tax reform. they have done the things to get the economy moving and it is making a difference. >> 32nd. >> i hope the fact checkers check what he just said about me leaving an $8 billion deficit, absently not absolutely not true. i was constitutionally required to balance the budget and i

balance the budget. let me say, we can go 3000 yards from where we are this morning and we can see where jobs were lost as a result of these bad trade deals and there has never been a trade deal that this man did not cheerlead. he said he has never met a trade deal that he did not embrace. we did have a national recession. it was caused by washington and wall street. you were the budget director for george w. bush in the two or three years leading up to that recession. you need to accept responsibility for that job loss as well. >> we have a couple of questions submitted by voters. where do you stand on raising the minimum wage.

we will start with you senator portman. >> i support raising the minimum wage. i support doing what we do here in ohio. we have a slightly higher minimum wage in ohio than the national average. i support that most important we put the minimum wage on an indexed to inflation. it goes up every year. right now we have a situation where when the democrats are in control as they were with brock obama, they did nothing on the minimum wage. when republicans get control they use it as a battling ramp. high enough increases in minimum wage so it creates of kent job loss. 30,000 jobs were lost in ohio. 7000 nationally. let's do it in a way that creates more opportunity. 50% are young people. there under the age of 24 in

trying to get their start in life and to say that he wants to raise the wage. we need to deal get more people working and have more people participating in the workforce. it's probably the lowest it's ever been particularly only among young men. let's raise minimum wage in a smart way. he has voted against raising the minimum wage. we tried to calculate how much money he makes. hour with his salary and investments and so on. based on a 40 hour workweek, we concluded he makes about $333.57. hour based on a 40 hour workweek. yet there was a bill in the senate to rage the minimum wage to $10.10.

hour. he voted against it. i think when a person works hard, they ought not to live in poverty. think about that. think about that, $330 an hour any works against a person making $10 an hour. i tried to live on the minimum wage. i made it five days. i ate a lot of bananas, i ate off the mcdonald's dollar menu, but i wasn't successful. i had a nephew who came to washington for special training before he went to afghanistan and i decided to take him out to dinner. i broke the minimum wage challenge. you know, there are people who work really hard in every decision they make they have to ask themselves do i have enough money to do this for my kids, do i have enough money to buy this for our family.

i want to raise the minimum wage. >> this is exactly why we need a stronger economy. we don't want people to have minimum wage jobs. we want them to have jobs that give them an opportunity to get an had in life. to start off, that's incredibly important. the legislation he is saying that i should've supported according to the nonpartisan congressional budget office, 500,000 jobs would have been lost. let's raise the minimum wage but i'm for it. let's put it on the index. let's take the politics out of it. let's ensure we do the things to get this economy moving so everyone can have a better wage. >> thank you. our next question comes from mary lou. her issue is when campaigning politicians have been known to make promises they don't keep to get elected and gain votes. she said as an 86-year-old widow i have serious concerns about my safety. if i've over for you, please explain in detail what plan

would you have for keeping our community safer? you may start first. >> 86 years old and being concerned about her safety, that says something about our culture, doesn't it also about our society and what people are concerned about. arms and dads are concerned about sending their kids to school, wondering if they're going to come home safely. there are several things we can do. we can support law enforcement, we can make sure law-enforcement has the tools in the training they need, we can encourage community policing a try to develop a better relationship between the police and the communities they protect, but there are couple of other things we can do that involve gun violence. much of the violence that we experience is gun violence. 33,000 americans lose their

lives each year to gun violence. about two thirds of those, as a result of suicide but we have the second amendment. i believe in the second amendment and i believe we should honor it. i think there are some commonsense things that we can do. we need to have comprehensive background checks and make sure people on the no-fly terror watch list who can't get on an airplane on not to be able to go into a gun shop and buy an assault weapon. contrary, my opponent as voted against those very measures. even the republican bill that was submitted by one of his republicans in colleagues to keep guns out of the hands of suspected terrorist, he voted against because the nra owns him for they have spent $1.9 million to defeat me in this race because they know he is in their pocket. >> senator portland, same question. >> thank you for your question. i'm very proud of the fact that

a paternal order of police has endorsed my candidacy. by the way is not the only union that has. other unions, international unions and others have always supported my opponent in the past, the reason they support me is because i stand with the men and women in blue to make sure we do have safer neighborhoods. one thing they talk to me a lot about is the drug issue. they actually in doors because it's creating so much crime. if you talk to folks in the valley who are law-enforcement and sheriff department and local police, they will tell you, the, the number one cause of crime is related to this heroin and prescription drug epidemic. it affects all of us and our safety. it's also an issue that affects the lives of all of our families in other ways as well, but the crime is one that is sometimes

overlooked. there is also an opportunity to be much tougher on terrorism. i talked to people around ohio say i don't want to semi-daughter to the mall because i'm worried there might be a terrorist attack. it's unlikely, but let's face it. the terrorist attack is greater now than it was after 9/11. this is why we need to be much tougher on terrorism. we have to go after the terrorist where they are in syria and iraq, isis to make sure they don't have a platform to attack us. we need to work better with the communities here to find those who have become self radicalized here. >> thank you. mr. strickland, 32nd. >> second. >> i would just point out that the operating engineers in this valley supported me. i also believe that a single most important thing we can do to cut down on violence is to do something about the proliferation of guns and having guns in the hands of those who shouldn't have it. that would certainly include

suspected terrorists and i think we need a comprehensive background check and those are things they have refused to support. >> thank you. in order to reverse the rotation of questions asked by our panel, we will go back to david who has a question for senator portman. >> until recently, he supported donald trump for president despite never attending a rally for him or for mike pence were quite honestly ever having any intention of doing so. why did it take comments from mr. trump 11 years ago for you to remove your endorsement? as you and i have talked about, i found his comments to be offensive, i found them to be demeaning, degrading to women and for me it was the final straw. i took extraordinary step of saying i cannot support my nominee for president of the

united states. it's not an easy decision for me to make because i am a republican and i believe the policies that the party has with regard to dealing with the middle class, the policies with regard of going after isis are the right policies, but i got to the point where i simply could not support our nominee. i did support john kasich as you know during the primary. i have also stood up consistently when comments have been made that i disagreed with and that has happened frequently as you say. i would contrast that to my opponent. and hillary clinton said half of doll transporters are deplorable , their irredeemable and racist, what, what did he say? nothing. words do matter. words matter for all of us and we are most accountable for the words that we use. when my opponent celebrate of the death of justice anthony scalia, those were his words, when my opponent used fortune cookies in a way to defend asian

americans, handing them out as a political gimmick, those were his words. when my opponent, last week made a remark that was offensive to many people regarding rape, somehow connecting rape to charter schools, those were his words. >> thank you senator. >> we are all responsible for our own words. >> your response. >> i think we ought to be able to trust people that we support for public office and the fact is, for months, about a year and a half donald trump said these outrageous things. he actually stood and mocked a disabled human being and yet they said i disagree with that but i still think you ought to be president. he mocked a gold star family. he said why disagree but i still think you ought to be president. i could go on and on. this man wants to spread nuclear weapons senator portman

supported him. he was too ashamed to stand on the platform but he continued to say i think you should be the president of the united states of america. what kind of twisted logic or twisted value system would lead someone to engage in that kind, i don't know, i don't know know what to call it, disingenuous behavior. now he says he's not going to vote for him but he's going to write in mr. pence. the fact is, i don't think that was an action that demonstrated courage. i think it was cowardice. they should have rejected this man while he was saying these outrageous things and he didn't because he was thinking about his own political career. >> thank you. thirty seconds. >> 's words do matter and he has

a lot to explain just in time that we have been in this campaign together about the words that he has spoken. when donald trump issued those words, i stood up. again, the final final thought were me for these thoughts that came out recently. it's not an easy thing to do given the fact that i'm a republican i'm part of our party and he had won the nomination fairly and squarely and i think his policies are better on rebuilding the military and growing the economy, but for me, i could no longer support him. >> thank you. i do think mike pence would be a great president. >> why wait for his name when it's not even going to count in ohio. >> i want to send a message as to who i would support print i think it's important to do that. i think mike pence is a good man. i know him, i work with him, i've served with him and seen what he has done in indiana. indiana took a lot of ohio jobs when ted strickland was governor. they've done pretty wellin terms of their economy. he has been a good governor.

the issue today is about this senate race. the two opponents here is me and ted strickland. if he wanted to run against donald trump, he should have run for president. maybe he would've done better than bernie sanders, who knows. >> now question for mr. strickland. >> there is much concern over the future of social security in this country with more more baby boomers now collecting benefits and fewer workers actually paying into social security. some republicans are pushing to privatize social security and have it managed by wall street firms. word used stand on how to shore up social security and future funding for the program? >> we ought to raise the cap and bring more money into the system and we ought to strengthen and expand the system into the future. i will never ever, under any circumstances support raising the retirement age or reducing

the benefits for those to receive social security. on the other hand, senator portman has different approach. when he was george bush budget director, he supported supporting privatization of social security. he called it, these are his words, an exciting proposal. i. i think that's a real problem. i think we need to make sure that we can reassure the people of this valley of ohio and of america that social security is a fallen promise. it is the most successful program in my judgment devised by humankind to alleviate poverty and to give people a sense of security when they retire. for those like senator portman who want to privatize it, if they want to raise the retirement age, because he's

unwilling to ask the wealthiest among us to pay a little bit more so that we can ensure the system is survivable and actually grows and thrives into the future. there's a big difference between the two of us. i would never say that privatizing social security was an exciting proposal. i would fight that as hard as possible. >> social security is in trouble. what you just heard is just not accurate. he knows it. i don't support privatization. i never have. the independent fact checkers have looked at what they have an i would never touch the benefits of anybody who has a ready retired or near retired but i would work on a bipartisan basis to make sure it's there for our kids and grandkids. that's the issue before us and it's a real issue, as you say. right now, we, we have more money going out in terms of benefits and we have. taxes coming in.

there is about a $70 billion gap the tax dollars that we all put in the general revenues goes for social security because we are already in shortfall. because for years the trust fund was robbed by the year 2034, the interest on that in the money coming back will be over and social security will have a 25% cut in people's benefits. that cannot happen. we cannot let that happen. it is a sacred promise. i want to keep the promise and that's why i'm willing to work on a bipartisan basis with anybody to save and secure social security for the future. i will make a political issue out of it. i will actually try to solve the problem i believe there should be more testing and those that are wealthier should be able to take less in their social security. i worked to get medicare passed with part d premiums and that's

part of the answer. >> thank you. the rebuttal. >> since he brought up medicare, he said it would be irresponsible not to cut medicare. those are his words. >> irresponsible not to save it. your words were it would be irresponsible not to cut it. now, we have to save social security. i will last them to pay a little bit more. >> we move now to leslie. the question for senator portman >> as a congressman, you voted for nafta. the record of supporting free-trade inter partes nominee has criticized free-trade deals.

i'll trump and labor unions it caused jobs lost and it was the worst deal signed in this country. you agree agree with donald trump? >> i think the record has been mixed. i think it has been resulted in some job loss and some job gain. if you talk to the chamber of commerce, they would say it's been great. they make a point that is accurate that canada is our biggest trading partner which is our biggest partner in the nafta agreement. we send 30% of our exports to nafta countries. it is a big help for a lot of companies. they tell me their job start dependent on it. we need to have agreements that open up agreements for workers and farmers who don't do enough of that. this is where ted strickland and i totally discrete. i've taken the lead.

i'm being tough on china and fighting against currency manipulations and passing legislation to stop china from dumping steel. i've made a difference in the lives of the workers here to save their jobs but i want those expert jobs to continue. they pay 18% more on average with better benefits. we don't export as much a week should compared to other countries. we need to update it and make it better prospered it was done 20 plus years ago. it's the way we get this economy moving again. we send half of our exports to 10% of the world. that 10% are countries with which we have a trade agreement and actually we have a trade surplus with those countries we have a trade agreement with. we have a great deficit with countries we don't have an

agreement with. he refuses to support any trade enforcement. >> is that i have to answer so i'm going to answer, are you willing to get down on your knees and asked the people of this valley to forgive you for sending their jobs to china and mexico? i mean nafta is a big problem. the people of this valley probably, better than anywhere perhaps in ohio in the country understand the effects of our trade deals. chamber of commerce, i care more about what workers think the what the chamber of commerce thinks. donald trump is actually called mr. portman student stupid. he didn't say that but he put it this way. he said people who have negotiated our trade deals are stupid.

senator portman was george bush's trade representative. he actually actually personally negotiated some of these deals and he actually called himself the quarterback. he boasted that at the last minute he was out rounding up the final votes that were needed to get them over the finish line he's got a need to apologize to the people of this valley and the people of this country because he has participated in sending our jobs out of this country. >> as i said, his record is not 1i would be proud of either so he's going to come up with all of these excuses. when he was governor, we lost jobs everywhere, but nine out of ten of the jobs went to other states. that's the reality. when he was governor. believe it or not exports in ohio went down. that's how bad he is about

exports. that never happens. the question for mr. strickland. >> you supported hillary clinton in 2008 for president. your a*supporter of a star supporter of hers now. pull show that secretary clinton and donald trump have very high negatives and cannot be trusted. are voters being forced to choose between the lesser of two evils in this very unusual presidential race? >> in my judgment be answered the question is no. certainly donald trump trump is unfit to be president. he demonstrates that on a daily basis. someone who would threaten to become begin a war because of an obscene gesture, why do i say that? he said iranians circled our

votes and made gestures to our sailors that he would blow them out of the water. he has talked about south korea and japan becoming nuclear eyes. we all know that he is totally irresponsible and unfit to be the president. on the other hand, secretary clinton has demonstrated throughout her life as a young lawyer working for children and since that she understands public policy and as president obama has said, perhaps the most qualified person to be president that we've had in our modern times, president obama indicated even more qualified to be president president than bill clinton was or he was. i think she is a responsible person, she is mature, she thinks carefully, she does not act erratically.

i think she will be a good president. i am proud to support her. >> before your response, let's have a follow-up. >> why do you think her biggest hurdle is trust? >> i think because she has been in the public eye for 30 years and during that time, no one has been committed to and more scrutiny and criticism then has hillary clinton. just a couple of years ago, when when she was secretary of state, she was among the most popular people on earth, including shoes very popular in this country. it wasn't until she became a candidate for president that the extreme conservatives in this country took aim at her and it has had an effect. i will admit to you it has had an effect. i don't think there is any comparison to the qualifications that hillary clinton brings to this office compared to donald

trump. >> thank you. >> your response. >> as you can see, he is going to be a rubberstamp for hillary clinton for hillary clinton. as you know it is the e-mails and putting our national securities at risk. he isn't ever gonna talk about those things. he's not going to talk about her calling over 1 million voters in ohio deplorable, irredeemable, racist, he won't stand up and do that. it's a total rubber stamp. look, i think this race is about our record and i would just say what hillary clinton is supporting in terms of tax increases, so there's a rubberstamp.

he wants the biggest tax increase in the history of our country pretty talked about about how he wants to raise the social security tax. that would be the biggest tax increase. more regulation. were overregulated are ready to the point where factories here are telling me, get them to back off and let us know what's going on so we can be certain about what's going on so we can produce more jobs in activity. he is going to support all of that. there are big differences between us. on helped care he supports obamacare down the line as the sheep. it's been terrible for families. we have seen a 91% increase in the individual market. that's the $200. year for households under obamacare. that's the answer the question i think. >> mr. strickland, 32nd. >> i never took subsidize health care as a congressman. >> he criticizes obamacare.

obamacare has provided health care coverage to an additional 800,000 ohioans. governor kasich chose to expand medicaid. i'm glad he did. i applauded him for doing that. to talk casually about getting rid of obamacare, that would mean 800,000 ohioans would lose healthcare coverage they currently have. >> thank you. >> and i respond to that. >> while he's in accurate about health care. i do not get subsidize health care. second, with regard to obamacare, 800,000, that's not obamacare. it's the expansion of medicaid. you can do with that without the rest of obamacare. it doesn't count the tens of thousands of families who have lost their health care because the affordable care act. they just said 40000 lose their healthcare because the co-op went belly up which is the obama co-op.

look, this is not working for ohio families. their deductibles are up in the co-pays are up. the premiums are skyrocketing, we have to make a change. we need to repeal and replace it with something that works for ohio families. >> thank you. our last question last question today is from a voter. luke clark. he says what mistake or mistakes have you made and what have you learned from it or them. senator portman, let's start with you. >> i've probably made plenty of them but in my time in the senate, i will tell you one regret i have a one mistake i made, i strongly supported the nomination of a guy name ernie named ernie needs to be secretary of energy. i helped him and i believed he was can help us here in ohio. we have a big plant in ohio, it's called the uranium enrichment plant in its the number one employer in southeast ohio. i have spent many, many years helping them be able to save the jobs pretty just got legislation in to save the jobs once more

because the administration has not been helpful. when he came for his confirmation, i said come out to the plant and look at the workers in the eye and help us save this plant which is incredibly important to the economy of southeast ohio and to our nations national security because you need petroleum for the nuclear arsenal and enrichment for nuclear navy. he said yes, i'll come out. he said all help you. he has done just the opposite. i have been very disappointed with the obama administration. once again, they refuse to help us in this latest legislation that i mentioned the continuing resolution that's an effect right now to be able to save 850 jobs that would have been lost right now as we are talking, they would would be gone. i was able to get in along with shared brown where work closely on this issue, i was able to get in language that enabled them to keep those jobs and to get the cleanup of the old enrichment facility moving ahead but he pulled the plug on the new enrichment and has not been helpful to us. frankly i have learned from that mistake. >> thank you.

>> what mistakes have you made in the past and how have you learned from them? >> i'm going to tell you, an action i took as a congressman that i regret. i voted to repeal glass eagle and i regret it. the banks have acted irresponsibly and i now support reinstating class steagall. i've had a lot of things in my life that i've regretted. i probably have not always treated my friends with the kind of respect that i should. sometimes i say things that i later regret, the senator made reference to a comment that i made regarding justice scalia.

i was not celebrating his death. i spoke about what i was trying to illustrate and that was that with the vacancy on the court, the outcome of a particular piece of legislation favored labor and i was glad that decision favored labor but i apologized for that and i tend to apologize for the things that i do in retrospect that i understand were wrong or in artfully stated. i don't think there's anything wrong with an apology and i've made a lot of mistakes, but i always tried to do the right thing for working people. >> thank you. okay, time for closing statements. let's start with you. >> thank you very much for having this debate. i think it was a helpful exchange of ideas and i think we saw a sharp difference between our records, how we approach politics and what we want to do.

you saw with governor strickland, a lot of partisan attacks and the fact checkers can look at some of these things, but the reality is what we need for this is for people to work across the aisle and get stuff done. i've been an independent voice for ohio and i'm proud of that. the work that i've done is really making a difference in the trafficking is increasing. sadly that's because of the dark side of the internet of a website called backpage that i personally, through my subcommittee have gone after them been successful for the first time in 21 years to get the senate to actually put a contempt citation in place for them and we are seeing the reaction right now with the ceo of that company having been arrested. i've taken the lead on human trafficking and other issues related to the most vulnerable among us. that would be those who are in the grip of addiction. i've worked a lot on prisoner reentry.

i've worked on the streets. i have been able to help in terms of protecting our workers here in ohio from unfair trade. that's why they have endorsed a because they know i'm focused on jobs, economic growth and other that have affected ted strickland in the past are now supporting me. :

>> >> my dad was a steelworker. in his eighties never flown on an airplane and decided he wanted to go to washington to same beat take the oath of office. when he got off the plane a reporter put a microphone in front of them i bet you are proud of her son? my dad gave the perfect the

answer. he said i am proud of all of my kids. he was proud of my oldest brother who's served in world war two, my two sisters who works as nurse's aides and rather brothers to pour concrete i share that with you because as i said i was the first of my family to go to college. this state of ohio in this country has been good to be. i have had opportunities by brothers have not had because of education. i want to spend the rest of life trying to fight for people and to ask this man that he knows he will stand up for them and that i will stand up with you. >> moderator: this concludes the first debate

between these two candidates for the senate then next debate is on monday in columbus and another on october 20th. a reminder that early voting is underway and ohio the general election is november 8.

>> welcome to our coverage of the 2016 election. i am dave thompson mitt will meet the candidates for governor. ♪ ♪ ♪ good evening. our guest tonight democrat marvin nelson. libertarian, and republican doug burgum. thanks for being here. opening statement. >> i am from north dakota regionally and my dad worked

at the record most of his life there were hard working people through the depression. and my mom had a strong intuition she saw the furrows on my brow and it gave me great comfort when she was breast-feeding resistor. i have to exciting ideas for north dakota. one is a way to balance the budget so families don't have to be taxed more and also those opportunities n agriculture the accord to sharing with you. >> our second candidates talk is doug burgum. burgum: i am grateful to have the opportunity to be on the ballot to represent the american one dash the