without that human life having any input into it. so i'm 100% opposed to abortion. my republican opponent was a former democrat said that he is pro-life and i'm glad to hear that because there was a recent interview of one of his staffers who said that actually he isn't so i'm glad to hear that he is. to get to what my other opponent was talking about with abortion, the leftist rhetoric is harming women, there is no state in the united states where you cannot get healthcare for a miscarriage from an abortion but there are women who are afraid to get it at the same with ivf, that's not an abortion related issue. >> you are both specific limited, mister curtis, we start with 30 seconds for you. >> curtis: the quote was not as you quoted. i wish there were more women in elected office to help us make

this decision and i stand by that. i wish that were true. second of all i think what you are hearing from both of my opponents is why this is so divisive. let's agree to begin with it is very divisive. when you throw out things like i don't support ivf, how ludicrous is that. i don't know anybody who doesn't support ivf and view it as pro-life. i think it is time that we dial down the rhetoric, have serious conversations about how to move forward. >> gleich: my opponent and other republicans introduced legislation that would ban ivf. life begins at conception act. the project 2025 agenda would defund and close planned parenthood around the country. planned parenthood is where people go to receive treatment for stds, get cancer treatment, treat of aryan and other heads of cancers so these decisions are going to have a dire effect on americans ability to receive life-saving or productive healthcare because abortion is

healthcare. >> moderator: we are close to time for our closing statement so if you lightning round questions. 15 seconds each on these. the first one. is the federal government doing all it can to provide assistance after natural disasters? this one goes to caroline gleich. >> gleich: i would say no. we saw 200 americans die in the aftermath of helene. our current politicians have voted against funding for fema. i do not believe we are. we are also not doing enough to address the climate crisis. >> bowen: we are supposed to help each other out. fema is preventing people from doing that and there's no constitutional authorization for fema to go in and take charge and prevent other people from helping so absolutely not. we are doing a poor job. >> curtis: i wish everyone

would watch ron to set his be interviewed about his response. he was ready. 's statements ready. they had tens of thousand years of chilly workers ready to go to work. i suspect utah would do the same things we can't just rely on the federal government. >> reporter: next question, quickly approaching our time for closing statements. day one, if you got elected to this going into office, what would be your first priority, first line of business, mr. bowen. >> bowen: it is important to audit the fed. we have federal reserve organization that has never been audited by congress and handles a lot of money. a lot of potential for corruption. >> curtis: permitting reform, one of the biggest impediments to our national security, our energy future, permitting reform. >> gleich: ending fossil fuel subsidies and making polluters pay for the devastating impact of the climate crisis. >> moderator: we reach the end

of this debate. random drawing held earlier determining the first closing statement would go to mr. curtis. we will go ahead one minute to you for your closing thoughts. >> curtis: thanks to the debate commission and our audience and thanks to the voters of utah. if you watch me closely you know this was not an easy decision to run for the sophists. i wanted to know myself that i could be the type of senator you would like me to be. i want you to know after serious thought and reflection there's several things i'm absolutely certain of. the founders believed that we should serve for a season. if i'm fortunate enough to serve you. my susan will be hallmarked by stewardship and service. i want you to know that your issues will be my issues. your agenda will be my agenda. my voice will be to amplify your voice. my vote will be to reflect your

values. together we can bring washington dc closer to utah's values and more portly make our country the type of country we need it to be for our children and grandchildren. >> gleich: i've had the opportunity to travel estate and hear from you. i've heard you, you are concerned about housing, you paying your rent and your mortgage and about being one health crisis away from losing the roof over your head. i've heard some young people with debilitating anxiety about the future of our planets, the air quality, i've heard the concerns about the attack on public lands and lack of access to lifesaving reproductive health care. you deserve a leader who truly reflects the will of the people. i'm an environmental advocate so i'm all about reuse and recycle but we cannot keep recycling the same old politicians that expect them to get out of this mess. it's time for the new generation to step up.

if you feel like utah is headed in the wrong direction we need to ask ourselves a question. what do you call a politician who has been in office too long? you call them home. representative curtis, time for you to come home, send the next generation in. >> moderator: mister bowen, we end with you, one minute. >> bowen: this is about who will replace mitt romney to represent utah in the u.s. senate. there's a democrat on the ballot lose there's a former democrat on the ballot, who has a republican has refused to endorse his own party's presidential nominee, who like a democrat, like the democrats did, called for his censure and impeachment investigation. 's main cause in the u.s. senate as a republican has been climate change. kind of like the democrats, remember the green new deal? who was one of only a few republicans to side with joe biden in exempting china from some trade tariffs.

and then there's me, a conservative, pro-trump independent american who is for the u.s. constitution, for traditional values, for traditional money and for our traditional freedom. if you want something different than what you've had for the last six years in the u.s. senate i urge you to have the courage to do something different, vote independent american carlton bowen for u.s. senate. >> reporter: we appreciate you being here tonight and for participating. also your dedication to public service and willingness to step up in this matter. we appreciate that greatly. we want to remind all of you that election day is tuesday november 5th. make sure to contact your county clerk to get any questions about making your vote count in this year's election, greatly appreciate weaver state university for donating the browning center for this debate and grateful to the gale miller family foundation, diane banks and the

generous support of utah debate commission. this debate and others from previous years are available online, you can find it at utahdebatecommission.org. i'm glen mills. it has been my honor to serve as your moderator tonight. appreciate the opportunity and want to remind you, get out and vote, make your voice heard. have a great night, every one. [applause] >> with one of the tightest races for control of congress in modern political history stay ahead with c-span's comprehensive coverage of key state debates, this fall c-span brings you access to the nation's top house, senate and governor debates from across the country. debates from races that are shaping your state's future and the balance of power in washington. follow our campaign 2024 coverage from local to national

debates anytime online, c-span.org/campaign and be sure to watch tuesday, november 5th for a live, real-time election night results. c-span, your unfiltered view of politics powered by cable. >> today, watch c-span's 2024 campaign trail, a weekly discussion on how the presidential, senate and house campaigns are up for grabs in the last week, two reporters join us to talk about the issues, messages and events driving the week's political news and to take a look at the week ahead. watch c-span's 2024 campaign trl. today at 7:00 pm eastern on c-span, online, c-span.org or download as our podcast on c-span now, our free mobile air one or wherever you get your podcast. c-span, your unfiltered view of politics.

>> c-span is your unfiltered view of government, funded by these television companies and more including nick co. . >> where are you going? or maybe a better question is how far do you want to go? and how fast do you want to get there. now we are getting somewhere. let's go. let's go faster. let's go further. let's go beyond. nick co. support c-span is a public service along with these other television providers giving you a front row seat to democracy. former senior advisor to president obama david axelrod and karl rove, former senior advisor to george w. bush talk about the 2,024 presidential race.

some of the topics included political polarization, the role of leadership and politics and rise of political violence in the us. this was part of the atlanta festival. >> enthusiastic bunch year. >> i like it. how is everyone doing? love it. my guests here need no introduction, david axelrod, karl rove, really defining leading political strategists of their time and so grateful to have you both here to talk about this important election. several directions we could take this conversation but my first question would be what is keeping you up about this race? what do you think about? >> every single day. the thing that is -- it is an

unpredictable race and the stakes are so large but it is as close as can be. we were talking before about public polls which were all over the place and they play with people's emotions, where we can't lose, we can't win. the truth is it is very very close and we don't even know what will tip the scale. elections, we saw what happened in north carolina where the governor's candidate down there, a potential broader war. so many things can happen that you can't count on if you are running a campaign. you can't predict but you know it will have an impact. >> if you are running mark robinson's campaign you would not have predicted -- >> fiber running mark robinson's campaign, i would jump off a bridge. the change i will explain the

context, leave that to you and google but i'm glad you mentioned the unpredictability. i saw a lot recently about endorsement doesn't matter anymore. with the exception of joe biden's debate and how that monumentally changed the race do you think we are in a moment where kamala harris and donald trump debating actually will inform? >> the race is so narrowly divided that 13% of people say taylor swift would cause them to support harris. 13% is a big number when the divide between the two, in the real clear politics average, she is up by one. 9% and nationwide by 3. 3. if you could affect one% of the electorate if they happen to be 1% of the electorate in pennsylvania, arizona,

michigan, north carolina, georgia, nevada, that is a big impact and that is one of the reasons it is so unpredictable. he has a high floor and a low ceiling. the enthusiasm for her is off the charts mainly as a sense of relief. i was at the democratic convention, it was like going to the first baptist church but it's my fifth democratic convention. at the republican convention i held his. there is a palpable sense of relief at the democratic convention. they all knew instinctively that they were going to lose if it was joe biden and now they had a chance to win so you have an energized, his base is more energized than hers is but she's got more room to grow as she strengthens among black, hispanic, and younger voters but the number of people left

up to grabs are primarily one of 2 universes, low propensity voters only now waking up to the fact that there's a presidential election. one of david's compatriots, very smart guy, said at the democratic convention we are studying those people and they pay attention to politics roughly four minutes a week. and the other group are people who are saying that i don't want to vote for her because she is part of the biden administration as i don't want to vote for him because he is him and how do i make up my mind? >> interesting point. one of the faultlines here is who represents change in this election? trump is fighting to make her the status quo by making her an exemplar of the biden administration and assigning things people don't like about biden to her and she is making him the incumbent, building a race about turning the page on

trump and trumpism. the balance in some ways will tell. >> throughout her vice president see one of the main issues kamala harris had was voters don't know much about her. delving into a biography or assert herself in that traditional way but are we at a point in the race where you feel she is successfully doing more of that? for a lot of major interviews at this point do you think -- >> mentioned that to me. >> do you think that will hurt her at the end? >> first of all, no vice president is really well known. let's start there. the whole argument, all of a sudden she's the decision-maker when you hear the trump campaign told the story.

nobody talks about the pens years or the quail years. vice presidents -- the fact is he wasn't that known. the vice president stands behind the president but are not the decisionmakers. there's a lot to learn about kamala harris. for example, the initial burst of media, her work as attorney general, her work as a prosecutor which frankly she didn't feature four years ago was very important but people keep peeling layers, they want to know what is in your core. i said years ago presidential races were mris for the soul and whoever you are, people want to find out and wants to know. one way you reveal that is through interviews and town halls and unscripted

interactions and she needs to do more of that between now and the election to give people comfort. the country is ready to say goodbye to donald trump. i don't think there's a majority -- [applause] >> there you have an absolute perfect representation of the american electorate. the country is ready to vote against trump. if they want to know she is an accessible alternative and she's made progress, her favorables going up and so on but i do think there are more turns of the wheel that involve unscripted kinds of interactions. >> the race being as close, how confident are you the country really is ready to move on from donald trump or is there immovable base that nothing, debate, interview is not going to shift how they feel? >> the question is where is

trump's ceiling? he has a high floor, we know that but he also has a low ceiling. >> 47, forty eight. let's not kid ourselves, the country is deeply divided and a lot of people have gotten ingrained in that position. they will readily admit people come up to me, there are a lot of trump supporters who have concerns about him but it's the alternative. they feel they are not part of the system, their goals, their interests, there needs are not being met by the political elite and that there is a battle in the battle is media, culture, hollywood, elite business, corporate america and the political establishment against them. they are in flyover country. we've not had -- i was hopeful

that biden would do something to take care of part of that but he didn't. he became not the transitional president, i'm here to turn over to a younger generation of leadership but instead i'm the most transformational president since lyndon johnson and fdr which working out his angst about feeling i was the vice president of the obama administration and he didn't back me for president so i will get back at obama and clinton by saying i more transformational than either of those administrations. do not kid yourself. there will be people who will drag themselves over broken glass to vote for donald trump and the only way to beat them is to articulate a vision. peggy noonan hit it in her column for tomorrow. this is empty versus angry. she did a masterful rollout and i agree with david, prosecutor, attorney general, growing up single mom, this was a masterfully done democratic

convention and a terrific rollout. and presidential campaigns there comes a moment you need to change, you played that for a a while and now you have to play another stanza. the moment for her to stay here's what i'm doing, peggy nails her, this interview she did with the philadelphia tv local anchor, got a question about the economy and when you finish reading the answer, listening to the answer it was not clear what she was doing except she did grow up in a middle-class household and she does care about you etc. . david says it's an mri of the soul. this is like the emperor's new clothes. we are going to see these two candidates at the end of the parade as they really are buck naked, hopefully on a good day and you know, it's time for her to give some newness. trump could have taken her in that dba. it was shocking to me he could

not prosecute the case against her on inflation, economy and the border but instead every time she trolled him he fell for it which shows the lack of discipline. >> he was pavlov committee was the dog. >> it showed her command. >> he demonstrated, she accomplished that in the debate. she commanded the stage. she looked strong, she looked like a plausible president. she wasn't, she spent a lot more time prosecuting him then row feeling herself and that's the question people want an answer. to carl's point presidential races are like paul -- paul volt, than the target raced and the next bar is can you articulate the vision in ways that don't sound canned, that sound organic and real and can you be revealing of your self

so that you don't sound like you are reciting lines, and she will have to make the sale to do that. >> not to say what she's done hasn't worked, take a look at the gap between who do you think is better able to handle the economy, inflation and border was like this with biden and this with her and in fact there's now a couple polls that suggest on the question of the economy people's projection of her being able to handle it is almost the same as their forward-looking projections of how he would handle it. >> think about what it will take for this country to really turn the page on donald trump and the republican party. i think about the 2022 midterm election where in arizona in various states, you would have the donald trump candidate win the primary but they couldn't win the general election. so i remember there was a lot of commentary at that time,

people are moving on, but what was glossed over is candidates like carrie lake are still winning their primaries. in some places quite handily. what is it going to take for republican leadership to move the primary electorate where they think the party should go instead of following it? >> it is to to one. even. i may be wrong about this but assume for a moment he loses. what's the future of the republican party going to be like? there will be a battle. the good news for more traditional republicans is there are a lot of -- unique, who would follow him? don junior? trying to figure out which

girlfriend he has, josh hawley, jd vance. and tim scott or phil in the blank, hard to see they have anywhere near the bill luddy, this is who we saw on television sets, the head over the apprentice, and personnel body, no one can go through what he has gone through and given credit. a couple touch points coming down the stair, he got down the golden escalator and tariffs which he has long been on,

everybody should have ivf. [applause] >> just encourages me. my favorite line of the acceptance speech, going to carry this. very quickly. men will not be allowed to participate in women's sports. when i get up those things are right in front of me linked together in extra rebel you. [applause] >> want to hear my bill clinton? hillary is the most qualified person ever to run for president. [laughter and applause] >> more qualified than i was. a marvelous individual.

>> i am really going to shift the tone here to talk about assassination attempts and political violence. >> we were having such fun. we have to get in the past week we've seen a second assassination attempt on donald trump and gretchen witmer on the stage later. >> guy in alaska who got elected for threatening six supreme court justices. >> what does it say about where the country is at politically? what is it going to take for it to change? >> i was horrified, everybody should be by what happened in butler at the events of last

sunday and we have to be honest, if you encourage, you can't blame the victim here. the fact is that his rhetoric and his appeal has been tinged with permission structure. when you tell people that if we lose you won't have a country anymore, you saw it on january 6th it was his words that precipitated violent insurrection at the capital. and then play the victim. it will not decide the election. the atlantic has been good on

this issue, that is what is at stake. we need leadership that discourages a culture of violence which is antithetical to democracy means settling differences at the voting booth and not through bullets. that is not, proud boys stand up and stand by. and a huge role in that, a challenge to democracy, are we going to legitimate this as a tool, to activate, disturb people who didn't have free axis, to act on these impulses. there's a lot here.

>> i worked in that building, when i worked in the capital. everyone of those sons of bridges who attacked the police to be thrown in jail for a long time. let's be careful. i don't remember the outrage of a friend playing baseball and throwing himself, as a madman attempting to kill people and steve scalise will carry those wounds the rest of their life. i don't remember the outrage. we've gone through this before as a country and it wasn't a pleasant period. anyone alive in 1963 knows what they heard about the news. everybody