of sexual harassment in the state. senator, i would like to see tonight if you will release that in turn report that was generated so we know it is not a whitewash. >> there was no allegation of sexual harassment. we took a close look at it and took it very seriously and when i heard about some of the things, we set new standards. men and women knew what those new standards would be. we have in the top 10 paid positions in our office, women. women on our staff make $4000 more per year than the men on my staff. i have asked you repeatedly to

tell me how many women are working there and what you are paying them. tell me about the security, how many women are working there and what are you paying them? he refuses to do it. each time he throws another charge at me and refuses to face the music and tell the women and voters of this state the reality and record of his own office. he voted against equal rights amendment, for goodness sakes. in the 21st century will does the equal rights amendment? what are you thinking? >> once again, he's very smooth, he will try to divert from the issues. i am asking for yes or no, will you release that report? we would like to know that. so that we know you are not whitewashing this particular issue. i also mentioned to you and you have disregarded the fact that i told you that the highest paid individual at over wife's asset management in the company that was not a family member was a

woman. >> which one? >> at the derry, four out of the five top managers were women at one point while i was involved in a company. had a policy of supporting women within our businesses. >> it is now your opportunity to ask the question. >> we will have a chance in a few days to vote on some important issues on the ballot in illinois. let me bring three or four of them to your attention. first a chance to increase the minimum wage to $10 per hour. i am voting yes. acondly we will have proposition to raise income taxes on individuals like yourself to provide more money for schools. i am voting yes. we will have a provision that says that no employer can dictate to a woman whether her health insurance includes birth control. i am voting yes to make sure it doesn't happen. how are you voting?

>> mr. over wife's? oberweis? irrelevant.ues are the issue that would have carried the weight of law would have been turn limits that allow the voters in illinois to make amendments that would have eliminated services in springfield for state legislators to eight years. that is something that the majority of people want and would have made a difference, yet the democrats pulled that off the ballot. i believe that this has been a political process trying to energize the democratic base to come out and vote for the issues that are meaningless. i would like to vote on the issues that make a difference. i am sure we will have a chance to talk more about minimum wage, but as you know i propose a bill that makes all kinds of sense that is a compromise bill that would provide a higher minimum wage in illinois for those aged 26 and older.

>> rebuttal? voted against putting this advisory referendum on the ballot where we could speak as a state as to whether women should have the last word in their health insurance policy on the hobby lobby decision came , you could not wait to tweet how happy they were that they took away the rights of women and their families. i think that that is wrong. we have got to respect the rights of women. you have not done that in this referendum and are now telling me you will not even vote for it. >> we are going to seize the follow-ups so the beacon to more questions in. communication is important to both of you. hopefully you can give me a specific answer to the following questions. thering a fellowship to

latinos here tonight watching the debate, they are extremely concerned about the $1.2 trillion in student debt. what would you do in the future to pressure universities to make college more affordable? we know what you have done, but what would you do this time? >> i would support the suggestion that the university should not be receiving pell grant funds until the students have completed the course that ines the university engaged making sure that a student doesn't drop out before they received the money. i would go after for-profit colleges and universities in the state. they have taken 1/10 of those students out of high school. that has to end. i was in touch with the administration today talking about policing that sector of higher education more closely. third, i support renegotiating student loans at lower interest -- interest rates.

it would save 1.7 million of them 2000 dollars per family. we now have a terrible situation . our students are too deeply in debt and their lives have changed because of it. , you are aweis former teacher, what would your strategy before this? >> i do support refinancing, but let's face, those high interest rates are set by senator durbin and his administration in washington. he has been there for 32 years. >> what would you do to address this issue? >> we should lower interest rate to be competitive and i believe that we should allow private colleges and universities to compete he says it is competition that provides a better educational opportunity. if they have a higher loan default rate, let's tighten the standards, but let's not put colleges and universities out of business, as the senator has done. i believe that greater use of

technology, like learning over the web, taking advantage of the best features to teach more students would provide a way to bring down the cost of education . i think we need to move in those directions. flex the next question comes from laura washington. question comes from laura washington. >> voters say that they are turned off by the negative ads in the campaign. in one of yours you accuse your opponent of spying on citizens, putting millions in his own pocket, being the father of d.c. gridlock. what is the factual basis for those allegations? >> public documents show that mr. durbin has its -- received in excess of $9 million in lobbyist and it has clearly influenced his votes in legislation. my family business happens to the ice cream. senator durbin's family business happens to be lobbying and the sale of influence. bad for the is country. citizen legislators like myself

will vote in ways that we think is good for the country and the state. as you have seen tonight, he will say anything if he thinks it will earn him some votes. it does not have to be related to the truth. we need term limits with citizen legislators serving for a limited. , not career politicians who will vote in ways that they think can help them get reelected. >> you are saying that he has received lobbyist funds going to his campaign. the ad implies that they are going into his pocket. >> he has received in excess of $9 billion that he is spending against me in this campaign. >> that is not going into his pockets. >> he has also become a multimillionaire at taxpayers expense. >> i want to point out that you have run negative ads and i want to ask oath of you if you are the negative ads for the rest of the campaign. >> i would like to see this end as quickly as possible. we did not publish our first

negative advertisement until mr. his firstput out negative ad. he had artie spent $1 billion. >> will you both agree to do that tomorrow? >> i'm ready. spent two or has three times as much. >> would you agree to pull your personal negative ads? >> i would change our studio positive ad but it has to be on the basis of equality and that is not the case. senator durbin will be using super pac's to continue to attack us. rights that i hear you both say >> one businessman has

spent over one billion dollars against me to support the candidacy. this is what citizens united has brought us. it was a terrible decision and i support a new constitutional amendment. >> one last comment. an ad like this compared to another with one of your major donors supplying the money for a. pack over of time makes all the difference in the world. >> tomorrow we will not be seeing ads are neither side, correct? >> it takes time to make changes , we don't have another ad and don't have the money to produce it. >> charles thomas? >> african-americans have supported you in overwhelming

majorities in your previous elections. given chronic unemployment and underperforming schools in the black community, why should african-americans continue to vote for you? >> they're making inroads on the south side of chicago. i don't take any group for granted. i don't understand how my opponent can appear in these african-american churches, saying he feels the pain, but opposes raising the minimum wage that they need to feed their. his fishing seems to be unique in this race, he opposes universal background checks.

these people in these same churches are counting on obamacare for the basic health insurance that they have. i have worked hard to help the african-american community and will in the future. >> senator, how do you respond that you aretions buying these votes and supporters? >> some people have indicated that they will support the campaign if they make certain contributions and i have said we are not doing that. right here we have the reverend ira with us tonight. if you talk to him you will find out why he is supporting us. i understand how to create jobs. senator durbin does not create private sector jobs. i have and i will. to gety, education -- good jobs you need better education for the kids, and we can do that through school

choice, yet senator durbin killed a wonderful pilot program and d.c.. when the people hear the story and check to find out it is true , that is one of the big reasons they support me over senator durbin. i think it is critical to give kids the opportunity. example on the south side of chicago where we have a public school and ibm working to supplement their funding and provide them with guaranteed $40,000 per year starting salaries. >> thank you. the next question is for mr. rodriguez. >> let's talk about the minimum wage. statistics from the census bureau show that 23.5% of but he knows currently live below the poverty level. ok? that is a big problem. mr. oberweis, you will probably need the latino vote and african-american vote to win this election. why does it not make sense for you to support an increase in the minimum wage?

>> i believe that you know that i do support that. i sponsored legislation in springfield to increase the illinois legislation to $10 over three years. >> you support only $10 per hour for people over 26 years old. >> let me explain why. the fact of the matter is that senator durbin's bill that he supports, according to the congressional budget office it indicates that would kill between 500000 and one million jobs in this country. my dell, on the other hand, has the advantage of providing higher wage for those who are 26 and older to pay for their own insurance, but at the same time it would not prevent teenagers and young adults from getting entry-level jobs so that they can learn the skills and go on to better paying jobs. it has the best of both worlds. not the job killing factor of but more for the experience.

>> the congressional oversight report, he is right, how can you be sure that raising the minimum wage won't eliminate between half of one million to one million jobs? >> i disagree with their conclusion. they also say that 900,000 people will come out of poverty. this is the single worst idea in the campaign. think about us -- no increase in the minimum wage if you happen to be at a college student trying to avoid college debt? no increase if you are over 26 and are a single mom raising a baby? no increase if you are under 20 and just came out of serving the military as a veteran? this is the single worst idea i have heard and he embraces it every time we get together. we have to make sure that people get a decent wage and that they should not live in poverty if they work over 40 hours per week. i believe that those workers plow the money right back into the economy buying goods and services to create more economic activity, profits, jobs, and

businesses across america. you build the american economy from the bottom up, not with tax breaks from the top down. >> your response to our country's response to ebola. has enough been done to keep american citizens safe? >> i had a conversation over the last few days with the head of the cdc and they are hard at source stop ebola at its in west africa. that would be the end of the problem and that has to be the goal. meanwhile, we must keep america safe. even in chicago we are reviewing all of the processes, the efforts, the equipment, the materials to make sure that we are ready, god forbid anyone of these cases show up. we are checking at o'hare to see if people have a fever when they arrive in this country and if they are they are examined and quarantined if necessary. those are steps in the right direction. what made this problem worse is the fact that the tea party and sequestration over the last 10

years has reduced american investment in medical research by 22%. we should be investing in finding cures for diseases in this country. the people that look at the budget and just see it as numbers and do not understand that medical research is the key to protecting america, putting all timers behind us, they don't understand the value of these investments. >> look, our government has a duty to protect us not only from military threats, but also from health threats. in this case we have unfortunately been very slow to react. mr. durbin has been out campaigning instead of dealing with this issue. long ago we should have established limits on visas, limits on flights to this country, getting better education out. my own daughter is a nurse practitioner. i talked to her the day before yesterday about this issue and they are in the emergency room where they are likely to face this, by the way.

she said that they have not gotten the training, education, or support that they need to get. this is one case where the government should be supporting us and it has failed to do so and i think we need to do much better. not only in this case, but going forward as well. i would suggest -- mr. durbin keeps talking about what a good friend he is to the president, he should be asking the president to do more and to do it now. >> the final question goes to charles thomas. >> the assault weapons ban. we would like to hear the positions of both -- of each of you on a ban on assault weapons. senator? >> i support the ban on assault weapons. these military weapons are designed for one purpose, to kill other human beings in volume. we have seen them misused. i have been hunting. i have been shooting ducks. if you need an a k 47 to shoot a deer or a duck, you should stick to fishing.

the supreme court has already told us that we can draw the line at certain weapons that cannot be -- should not be sold in america. yes, i would vote to ban assault weapons. i will do everything possible to reduce violence in this country. >> does that include banning assault weapons? >> may i finish my answer, please? i have been standing on the corner of 79 camp college broke to call attention to violence and i do what -- will do what i can to reduce violence in this country, but the problem that you're talking about -- our own government did a study and it came to the conclusion that assault weapons are not used in those crimes and did not reduce violence. having said that, however, i will do everything i can, but i want to tell you a personal story as to why i support second amendment rights. 25 years ago my sister-in-law was sitting in her family room and saw kids breaking into her home. she ran to her bedroom to close the door.

the kids broke in any way, it dragged her out into the living to her heada gun and shot her. i listened in court as one kid was telling the story against the other kid of about what had happened. it was one of the most horrifying things i have ever heard. thinking that if she would have had a gun in her bedroom, she might be alive today. >> a quick follow-up? >> that is in no. a ban.not support >> yes, i would support it if there was evidence that it would reduce violence. so far the government has said that there is no such evidence. >> so, you do not support a ban on assault weapons until the government would act i would support a ban if there was evidence that it would reduce violence. the evidence so far is that it does not reduce violence. government. >> any response, senator? >> first, i am sorry for the tragedy that you face in your family.

second, 92 percent of americans believe that a universal background check to keep guns out of the hands of convicted felons and drug gangs and mentally unstable people is a right thing to do. my opponent says it is not. overwhelmingly the american people say there is no place for military assault rifles when it comes to hunting and defense, but my opponent will not bring himself to ban these weapons. it may only save a few lives, but let's save those lives. >> thank you, gentlemen. that brings to a conclusion the western portion of the program. we are now turning to your closing statements. mr. oberweis, we begin with you. >> thank you, kathy. thank you to all the viewers for listening tonight. here are the fact. beginning,rom the the senator is a much better speaker than me, he is smooth and has been in washington for 32 years. unfortunately for and someone is in washington for 32 years, they

lose touch with the people in the streets. i have heard that over and over again on the south side of chicago. they don't see dick durbin. he hasn't been there and does not understand the problems of today. he is not the same man he was 32 years ago when he first ran. it is absolutely important to have limits on how long people serve, the longer that people are in washington the more likely they are to vote for one regulation on top of another, hurting businesses and making us less competitive with other countries. my goal is to get the economy , creatinger by 6% more jobs and opportunities for people. as we create more jobs, people have more money to spend, creating faster economic growth and more job growth. the senator offers more of the same job killing economic environment. that has to change. >> mr. durbin? >> i have commuted every week during my time in washington back home to illinois.

the only permanent residents i have ever had is in the state of illinois, not florida. my wife and i are proud to be residents and voters of this state. when i come home and as i travel across the state in my time in the senate i have heard from people, working families, who want a fighting chance for their own future and the future of the kids. i believe that that means making certain that american company stay in america rather than move jobs overseas. don't create incentives to move these jobs out of the country. give these families the peace of mind of affordable health insurance. that is what we are working towards. my opponent says he will repeal it. i think that is a mistake. i would not be standing here tonight if it was not for a government loan that i took out to pay for my college education. the government gave me the chance. i think i wound up with a good position in life. i am honored to have it, representing this great state. i want every working family to have that same opportunity.

>> thank you, mr. durbin. thank you, mr. oberweis. on behalf of univision chicago, and women voters, abc seven news, thank you for watching. vote on the fourth of november. have a good night. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] tonight at 8 p.m. eastern, the new jersey senate race and debate between cory booker and his republican challenger, jeff bell. at 9:00 a debate between candidates in south carolina's u.s. senate race. tim scott faces joyce dickerson and independent joe bassi. you can follow the c-span coverage on twitter on c-span and facebook.com. in north carolina, kay hagan is being challenged by the republican speaker of the state

house of representatives. enters its final week we spoke with a reporter covering the race. of those key senate races is out of north carolina. jim joins us on the phone, a political reporter from the charlotte observer. jim, where does the race stand? what are the latest polls? >> it is even. there were two polls that came out over the last couple of days and it shows a dead heat. not just within the margin of error, but right on the money that it could go either way. this race has seen more money than any other senate race in the country. over $100 million by our count already. we have seen more television ads for them. >> we are asking viewers to call him right now with the issues

that they care about, what is driving them to the polls in every state across the country. in north carolina, what are the it depends on who you talk to. thom tillis is trying to make president obama the issue. ,oincidently or not but that the threat of isis and ebola, he is tried to make national issues the issue in the race. it is a mere image of each other. host: you have this headline from your stories. hillary clinton, kay hagan, make appeal to women. what role did they play in the senate race? guest: i think they play an

important role. they have lost touch, but they have both been appealing to women, they vote more regularly than most people here. they make up a bigger share of registered voters. candidates have been heavy with appeals to women. t older voters in north carolina? when impact could they host: what about older voters? what outcome could they have? the early data i've seen from early voting says the average age of voters was a bit older. older than it had been during the presidential race. which would tend to favor the republicans, i think. although more democrats have voted earlier this point.

typically favor republicans. host: and white voters. what about the white vote? thom tillis is going to win that. showed -- kay hagan needs more than that. this race is going to be out the margins. women and older voters, african-american voters and young voters. yet to get those people out of the margins. kay hagan has had hillary clinton. perry.llis had rick will that have an impact? caller: it fires up the bases.

you had. and our governor -- you had rick perry and our governor. today, he is in charlotte with senator mccain and lindsey graham. tomorrow, mitt romney. kay hagan hasthat is firing up c base. host: what are you watching for in the closing days? surprises.e october thedoing a story about campaign within a campaign aimed at african-american voters on the radio. there are some pretty inflammatory ads on both sides in that area. host: we will be watching.

vice president obama will be making a brief statement from the government response to ebola after you spoke with usaid outbreak int the west africa. earlier today at the white house said the press secretary that the only way to eliminate the risk is to stop the outbreak of the source and that the men and women who are government employees on the ground in west africa working to accomplish exactly that, the president said he would be calling to offer his gratitude on behalf of the nation. will have live coverage of the market 310 and time. he will be taking a look at coal energy and the effect is having on the midterm elections. our conversation with campaign 2014 continues with mike duncan, the american coalition for clean coal electricity.

let me begin with mitch mcconnell's recent ad that he made, the war on coal. i will show that to our viewers and then talk about it. [video clip] for 13s a coal miner years but like so many of us i got laid off because of the war on coal. i choice was to learn a new career or leave kentucky. senator mcconnell help secure me the dollars to re-secure kentucky coal miners we could get good jobs. it was a lifelong dream to be a paramedic and thanks to mitch mcconnell i'm getting the training i need to fulfill that dream. he is using his experience and clout to look out for coal miners like me. mr. duncan, what is the war on coal? guest: if you live in eastern kentucky or west virginia you feel like you have been through a war because of the proliferation of changes brought about i the administration. life thatanges of

these communities experience. the new regulations that have gone into place. we have lost a lot of jobs and in eastern kentucky with a film was made, over 7000 mining jobs and been lost since 2012. those jobs averaged $85,000 a person and they have been leaving the area and going to western kentucky are going out west to find other coal jobs. we have a depression in that part of the world. host: where else is this issue playing out, the president's climate action plan that he introduced one year ago. guest: it is playing out all over the country because it is a policy issue that has grave implications are those who can least afford it. specifically, west virginia is a good example. the congresswoman has a substantial lead there.

many of the ads in that campaign have been around coal in the way of life. how you see it in other states you are seeing in virginia. as anlespie as use this effective issue in the western part of the state. poll recently. last forhange ranked republicans at 19%. is it enough of an issue for the republican party to get them to vote, it doesn't seem like it. guest: i don't know if it is a national republican issue at this point. both candidates are saying they support role and are taking shots at the administration

because of the regulations. regulations, $357 billion in the annual cost of $41 billion and loss of jobs. these are very real and in some places this is hit more than others. particularly were coal is produced in ohio, pennsylvania, central appellation area and kentucky, but a bigger issue is what this will do to the electricity process and reliability in the country. you're hearing about two dozen 14 but you also here in 2016. host: where is the american coalition for clean coal electricity bringing this message? guest: we are doing it through advocacy. we came out recently with the study by the associates in europe talking about the cost. we are concerned about liability

and affordability. we work in those areas we try to inform people that this will have a devastating effect on those who can least afford it. make above $10,000 ear. people who believe -- $10,000 a year. people who live above the poverty level have to make very expensive -- we're trying to educate leaders, members of congress and individuals. host: i want show you and the viewers what the league of conservation had to say on "the washington journal." favor of theg in plan but he was in carbon pollution is costing billions of dollars a year. [video clip] pollution and other pollutants are costing billions of dollars every year.

in kidss paid on coal to have to miss school because of respiratory illness or asthma attacks. people have to miss work because of respiratory problems or asthma attacks. people even have to pay with their lives. cost to the in clean power plan is at least seven dollars in net economic benefits for one dollar in cleanup costs. that is a great bargain. host: your reaction. guest: i disagree, these are the same arguments we heard when they put in the mercury rules and those be implemented by 2015 and we have lost a third of the coal fire plants in the country. they did not have scrubbers or would not put them on. these are the same arguments they used then to tell us we need to get rid of most of the particulars and we have gotten

rid of more than 90% of the particulate matters and now they are saying that carbon is what causes these illnesses. there is not a direct correlation or a medical study that will show you a correlation. these are the same arguments from the past and they don't take into account, the social benefits of carbon. has been built on the fact that we have affordable, reliable electricity. in the industrial age is we of been able to get increasingly clean. unfortunately, this it ministration has gotten ahead of themselves and they put in a new source for performance standards. meaning that new coal plants won't be built. it's like going from the old cell phones -- i don't know if your member, they were in a bag and weighed as much of the rick -- as much as a brick. to now you have to go something else without anything

in between. that is what new standards have done to the industry. host: it sounds like you don't disagree from curbing carbon pollution but the way that they are doing it. guest: i disagree with their conclusions because even if you take into account and put this rule into effect it has a minimal effect on an international basis. it is like throwing a pebble into the ocean and it would increase the rise of water levels less than three sheets of paper. it would increase temperatures less than 41 hundredths of a degree. .04 of a degree. host: what would you agree to do? guest: we need more research. we need to develop different ways to make our environment more friendly. carbon sequestration is what the president is pushing and that

has not been commercially developed. it will be over a. of time and it will be one of the tools that we have but we need to encourage more research so we can have increasingly clean air. arguably we have the cleanest air in the world in the united states. you are china and the pollutants, i wish that they toe buying our technology put on their coal plants so that the air will be better. here is "national geographic" with a story about coal and they ask, can coal ever be clean? host: -- guest: yes it can be clean, it is increasingly clean now. i am optimistic about the future of coal. i think the ways we're using the 300 year supply of cold that we have in this country, i think it may be burned in the ground and turned into gas. there are other ways of getting at it. all the technology cannot be developed overnight and we are

leading the world with our clean air. geographic writes this. clustering it underground in porous rock foundation sounds doe a tech fantasy, but the has been $6.5 billion over the past three decades researching and testing technology. guest: it is being built by the southern company and as with new technology, there is a cost overrun there but the technology is promising and their capturing co2 and sending it to texas where it is used to produce more energy by fracking methods. we have a plant going online in saskatchewan which is funded by help from the canadian government. answer toot a single this, there will be a series of answers. ron is up first, a

democratic caller. question, why one should america or the world guarantee an outdated energy source that is proven to pollute and degrade the climate just a keep lining the pockets of a few people when we can replace it, jobs wise with clean energy renewables? host: i disagree with your premise, america is the saudi arabia of coal in the world and is part of a good all of the above energy strategy. we believe in all of the above. we believe in gas, nuclear, wind and solar but coal keeps the lights on. coal is the fuel that has acted as the us in the cold this winter and the warmest summer. do not the other fields

perform as well or are not as available for that 24 hours that we need. you probably saw it on the front page of the washington times this morning, clamoring for coal. -- guest: that is absolutely right. we use about 1/8 of the world supply of coal. every powerid of -- t in america of coal, coal is the social equalizer, what we built our society on, and it is what other societies are being built on today. host: --

ohio, a republican, you are up next. people have got to realize that the coal industry is burning in this country now, that our plans have spent grains of dollars and cleaned up a lot. they could do more. could do away with our coal like this guy says, but countries are making the technology better. given this country a chance comment will clean up coal more. host: howdy thing that would happen? -- how do you think that would happen? investedhey have arty in getting coal cleaner than it is. the problem is we have plans out

-- plants now that do not use much. unfortunately, bob is right. the new epa plan by the president to close another 45,000 megawatts, which gets us into a reliability problem in the country, and he is also right a great deal has been toested by utilities increasingly clean the coal used in the country. another 20 billion will be invested in the next five years or so the final implementation. i am optimistic that long-term coal is part of the solution for balanced energy policy in the country. washington times also reporting coal is producing 40% of electricity and demand is expected for it to -- for it to continue to grow. that is according to the international energy agency. peter.

before i make a comment about the coal industry, you have been tempting us with the capital bone of getting ready for rehab. you think you could get the cameraman to zoom in on it so we could see what is going on a little closer? and possibly have a show in the future that maybe you could put a remote camera out there and do an interview about what is going on and how they will do it? it is really interesting. watching it grow every day. host: any thoughts? guest: i would agree. i was sitting here watching and i thought the same. host: mason in dayton, ohio, democratic caller. mike duncan is also the former republican national committee champion. he served for five u.s.

presidents. mason, go ahead. caller: thank you for taking my call. the one thing i am not hearing you say, which is an absolute fact, is eventually coal will run out. it is not there forever. we will have to come up with solutions. while i think it is not a bad idea compared to other fossil fuels to use that as a contemporary measure as we move to other clean energy, we have to look at the cost of coal in human lives. we have seen coal mines collapse, black long, long term negative health effects from coal, and that is an expense we are not talking about, as well as the fact that the resources, instead of putting it into a dying fossil fuel, those resources should be put into renewable, clean energy. in a matter which way you spin this, there is no such thing as clean coal. there isn't. it is one of the dirtiest

substances on the planet. when you talk about epa regulation, you have to realize that because it is a dirty resource and there is greed behind it, we must have regulations by the epa to make sure our water and air and earth is clean. that, thatagainst means your concern is more with money and profits, and not with the individuals themselves. there,there is a lot mason. thank you for raising those issues. believe that we do need environmental regulation in this country. on fireer when it was in cleveland and you cannot see because of the smog in california, so i'm old enough to understand that and i also understand the needs to be a balance and the regulations proposed now do not have a balance. they do not take in to account the social benefits of carbon. we would not have the health standards or the standards of

living in this country that we have today had we not been able to use our fossil fuels effectively over a time. the amount of supply we have for coal is about a 300 year supply based on producing about one billion tons a year of: america. so we do have an abundant supply. i do think coal has been a part of the great past of america. and i think it will be part of the future. because we will get better at this. on a personal note, as someone who's grandfathers have spent time in the coal mines, i understand what they look like when they walk out of the minds every day. but also i understand what the coal did for our family and community and nation. who makes at the american coalition for clean coal question mark -- coal? guest: we are unique. we also have the railroads to carry the coal and many of the

coalties that are in the and the suppliers for the chain of production. that is over 20 years old and we are based here in washington. c six means we are an association and we have to follow the rules. we do not support candidates and we do not have a committee, but -- o advocate encouraging voters to get out and vote on the issue of coal. take a look. ♪ >> hello. . am dale earnhardt junior election day is around the corner. i have met hard-working americans who depend on low-cost energy and their political the -- political beliefs may vary, but they all agree affordable

power is afforded to us all. testing low-cost energy from coal is not a partisan issue and .veryone stands to lose let your voice be heard and be thisto get out and vote election day. learn more about glycol is america's power. host: who are you targeting with that ad? guest: it is on youtube and it is targeted to both republicans and democrats, to the nascar constituency. get a chance to talk to individual americans about coal and explain our story, we think we are making progress.

dale earnhardt has been a great spokesman over the past three years. part of the idea of having him encourage people. he is influential in the nascar community. in baltimore, independent. caller: two questions. could we reduce the cost of energy by having a more efficient power grid, thereby using less fuel, and by having lower costs? second, and i have looked at this and have checked -- tried to find studies as much as i can, while you do say 90% of illusion has been reduced, what that theen shows energy levels are still about the same, and those are actually the things that hurt us. with thet me start idea of the grid here and he is

absolutely correct the united needs infrastructure. one of the concerns we have with the president's plan is by taking off-line so many coal fire plants, we are not sure how they will be replaced. we saw that last winter with the solar vortex. the company and anp talked about the fact that they will be running plants that will be closed in 2016 to meet the demand for extreme weather that we had last year. get moree need to efficient and we need to be able to bring our reserve requirements down on the grid. we do that through investment. closing down the coal plants will put us in harms way later when we have extreme weather conditions in the country. the gas supply was not built to generate electricity through turbines.

there is a lot of supply for home heating. infrastructure in the united states to replace at this point. we're putting ourselves in peril. as far as carcinogens, i have not seen the studies he is referring to. i would be happy to look at those. i know there has not been a between coalation and some of the health effects the opponents of cold talked about. coal talked about. host: when will they make a decision on the president's action plan? guest: we will make a decision for the second rule on the existing plans, december 1. next june, they planned to come out with regulations for the states. you've had over 30 states rejected to various parts of the plant and several attorney generals who already filed suit on this and a indicate they will file suit later.

they passed legislation and say, you cannot do this the way it has been laid out. the building blocks have been laid out in the plan, some people believe they are impossible. for example, the idea of getting more efficiency with the existing plants that we have here that is already being done. very few plants can get more than 1.5% efficiency but the plans call for 6% efficiency. believe there are practical and legal problems with this and we believe there is a huge affordability problem. when will a decision be made? what is the timeline? guest: the administration after they receive all of the comments will be able to rework the plan but they are on a very aggressive timeline. it is a legacy for the president of united states. they would basically have the plan into -- implemented by the states when the president goes out of office.

host: let's hear george. lived in new england. we are here and all your coal plants. stacks in pennsylvania, west -- everywhereyone . we have signs not to eat the fish. there are literally no reptiles here. everything has died. frogs, toads, turtles, most of our fish are gone. trees are dying from i guess mercury, they say. our oceans are full of mercury now. back toced it right have huge coal plants that been built in the last 40 years.

you tell me what you will do about mercury in coal. thank you. mercury rulings go into full effect in 2015. the levels are at what the epa asked the levels to be reduced to. incentive to put more on. it is part of the 20 billion that has been put in place. it is also part of the 20 billion that is being spent now to put the scrubbers on to reduce mercury. >> iowa, a republican there. hi. caller: good morning. i enjoy listening to the show. doing aan, you are great job. in my work career, i have worked at coal generation, at the ethanol industry, and i just wanted to remind all americans. i do not care if your independent or republican or democrat, that the truth is

always in the middle. i get a big kick at people like this last gentleman. i went in new england and went fishing. i am not sure what he is talking about. obviously, the truth is somewhere in the middle. be an expert on computers and other things but i have worked on the regulatory side of companies. what you do not get a good representation out of 20 within -- when you listen to tv shows and read articles in the paper is the regulatory requirements the companies are under. i just want to finish with mr. duncan's comments that, travel. please travel to these other continents. you do not understand how good we are and we will continue to have to leave -- leave this world in pollution control. but we are so far ahead of everybody else.

i think we are making mountains out of mole hills. very important to us and i think it should continue. thank you for your time. thank you. that was a very articulate defense. i have an opportunity to go to china from time to time and observed it firsthand. as part of their five-year plan, they intend to prove particularly in larger cities. they could have improved some time ago. one of the reasons i had trouble with the president's first plan he put out on technology is because if we develop that a $2ology, potentially trillion transfer we could sell to other countries later on. i am hoping at some point we would be able to get back to the develop men business and help the rest of the world with their development. forbes magazine is in

favor of it. plan, a states can choose to close or upgrade coal plants, join a carbon in zero carbon renewable energy sources, boost energy efficiency programs, or take any other step to meet the epa set for each state. chances are, many state strategies will be multipronged. best practices will be exported to other states. guest: i would like to talk to some of the state officers now who are trying to grapple with this. a lot of flexibility. the numbers are not flexible. days are given numbers they have to meet a certain guideline, and itse four building blocks, is almost impossible to put them together. another example beyond the one i

just talked about is the amount of energy reduction that has to be done for this plan to be fully implemented, over half $1 trillion will need to be spent by consumers to have better and efficient compliances and their thesewould help reach goals. we know from studies that that just does not happen. partially because people cannot afford it and partially because they choose to buy the $3000 air-conditioner as opposed to the $5,000 air-conditioner. you look at the building blocks and the goals that have been set forward, states have real difficulty. some states with nuclear i having difficulty because they believe they were not given credit for the nuclear power they have in that state now. the jury is still out and i think you will see some interesting comments on epa. i just hope the epa's listening. host: jimmy in rockville, maryland, independent. caller: good morning.

two comments. the woman in north carolina reminded me of this. pop that was released in the river in north carolina, was that coal plant related? can you elaborate on that? secondly, with people calling in and talking about renewables, i think it is the case with wind that that electricity cannot be stored. they do not have batteries that are sized enough. it is not a reliable source of electricity. could you elaborate on that also , please? thank you. batteriesdo not have now that could effectively store wind and solar power. it it also takes a huge amount of space for wind and solar. that is another problem. we do not always have the grid needed.

we entered into contracts to try to buy some wind and reverse our portfolio and the delivery of that wind was very difficult because it could not be stored. we invest a lot in the country and we will debate whether we will continue to invest in the subsidies for these renewable resources going forward. asked wasquestion you on renewables? i am biking myself. i apologize. let's go to a democratic caller, phoebe. good morning. you're doing a good job, mr. duncan, but i think it will be downhill for coal, or at least i hope so. i lived in an old farmhouse for 30 years and the coal waste -- a coal furnace when we

moved in leave this now for remarks by president obama. >> we know the best way to protect americans is to stop this at the source. the privilege of speaking with some of the men are working to do just that. our disaster assistance response team on the ground in west africa. foremost, i thank them for their dedication and compassion. these are the folks that from the minute we saw this outbreak growing larger than we had seen traditionally were deployed, on the ground, and helping coordinate the countries where the out rake is happening to make sure the response was effective. it is typical of what america

does best. when others are in trouble, when diseases strikes, americans help. no other nation is doing as much andake sure we contain eliminates this outbreak than america. we deployed the team in august. the strategic and operational backbone of america's response. they have increased the number of treatment units and expanded the pipeline of medical personnel and equipment and supplies, they have launched an education campaign and the bottom line is they are doing what it takes to make sure medical personnel and health care workers from all countries have what they need to get the job done. is the good news is it starting to have an impact, based on the conversations i had today with them, they are starting to see some progress in

liberia and the infrastructure is beginning to get built out. that is thanks to the work and dedication of folks from the united states who are leading the way helping liberia and it is critical we maintain that leadership. going to is we are have to stay vigilant here at home until we have stopped the epidemic at its source. we need to make sure our doctors and health care professionals are properly trained and informed and they are coordinated if and when a case crops up in the united states. what is also important is making sure all of the talent, skill, compassion and dedication and experience of our folks here can be deployed to help those countries deal with this outbreak at the source.

announcedy the cdc we're going to have new monitoring guidance that is based in science and tailored to the circumstances of each health worker that may be returning from one of these countries after they have provided the help they need. in fact tomorrow i'm going to meet with doctors and workers who have returned from fighting this disease or who are about to go, not only to say thank you to them, but to make sure we are getting input from them based on the science and based on experience about how the battle to deal with ebola is going and theour policies can support incredible heroism they are showing. so we do want to discourage our health care workers from going to the front lines and dealing with this. our medical teams here are

getting better and better prepared for the possibility of in the unitedse states. in the meantime, we've got to make sure we provide the support of health workers who are going overseas to deal with the disease where it has been raging. that only important two people so far have contracted ebola on american soil. the gallas nurses, who treated a who contracted it in west africa. both of them are do free -- disease-free. i met with one of them last week. she is doing wonderfully. and i just had a chance to get off the phone with amber, who is on her way back home and also, as many of you saw in her press statement today is doing well also.

of the seven americans treated for ebola so far. all have survived. american the only still undergoing treatment is craig spencer, who contracted the disease while working to protect others. we should be saluting her onvice and we are focused getting him the best care possible as well and our thoughts are with him. meanwhile the nations of senegal and nigeria have been declared ebola free in part because outstanding work led in many cases by americans, working in coordination with those countries to make sure we did not see an outbreak. so the point is this disease can be contained and it will be defeated. progress is possible. but we're going to have to stay vigilant and we've got to make sure we are working together. we have to keep leading the

because othere people are watching what we do. and if we don't have robust international response in west africa we are actually endangering ourselves back home. in order to do that, we've got to make sure those workers who are willing and able and dedicated to go over there and do the tough job, that they are plotted and supported that should be the priority. they comee sure when back they are being monitored in a prudent fashion. but we want to make sure we understand they are doing god's work over there. they are doing that to keep us safe. and i want to make sure every policy we put in place is supportive of their efforts because if they are successful,

we are not going to have to worry about ebola at home. america is not defined by fear. that is not who we are. america is defined by possibility and when we see a problem and a challenge, we fix it. react based on our fears. we react based on facts and judgment. and making smart decisions. built this we have country and sustained this country and protected this country. definedwhy america has progress. we are not afraid when challenges come up. thanks to our military, our health care professionals, the men and women i spoke to today in west africa, that leadership and progress continues. we are going to keep on making progress and we are going to solve this problem, just like we

have solved every other problem. it starts with having the confidence and understanding as challenging as this may be, this is something we will get fixed. we've gotart because extraordinary americans with experience, talent, and dedication who are willing to put themselves on the frontlines to get things done. i will have more to say about this tomorrow when i have them here. i want to emphasize how proud i am of the people who are involved in this effort and how confident i am after speaking with them we will get this problem under control. thank you. >> confusion between the quarantine rules and by some states? sense --litary is in a different situation obviously because they are first of all not treating patients. second of all, they are there

voluntarily. it is part of their mission which has been assigned to them by their commanders and by me, the commander-in-chief. we don't expect to have similar rules for the military as we do for civilians. they are by no -- by definition under more circumscribed conditions. who arehave volunteers taking time from their families ,nd loved ones to go over there because they have expertise, to tackle this difficult job, we want to make sure when they come back, we are prudent and that we are making sure they are not at risk themselves or at risk of spreading the disease. things thatt to do are not based on science and best practices because if we do, they are putting another barrier on somebody who is doing

important work on our behalf. that is not something any of us should want to see happen. thank you, guys. >> president obama heading out to milwaukee, wisconsin to ispaign for murray burke who running against got walker and the hill reporting on ebola and air force officials were stationed in germany who say they are implementing extra airmen returning

from west africa more stringent than those recommended by the cdc including check -- checking temperatures twice daily, even if they have no known exposure to ebola. and turning to c-span's campaign 2014 coverage, at 8:00 eastern, debates from new jersey between cory booker and jeff bell and u.s. senatearolina race between tim scott. us on twitter and on facebook as well. hawaii had a recent debate between republican james iona, hannemann.nd mufi it is listed as a tossup. honolulus to us from

and runs about one hour. now and theii news star advertiser, this is campaign 2014, the race for governor, live from the sullivan conference center at the university of hawaii. >> aloha, and good evening. less -- is less than one week away and we are talking about the future of hawaii tonight. >> we are down the home stretch. 20 days until the election. this is the final gubernatorial debate. now you will notice many bodies in the audience. we have invited 32 political science students who have been chosen to ask questions. >> our goal is to keep the conversation going in the right direction. answers will the

be concise and on point. the candidates do not know the questions. >> and of course we have students in the audience who have agreed to be polite and attentive. no outbursts with the exception of right now as we welcome the candidates for our debate. first off, mufi hannemann. duke aiona [applause] and david ige [applause] gentlemen, thank you all for joining you tonight. we know you have seen each other in many forums. we appreciate one last chance to educate our voters. feel free to be seated. mr. aiona you won the draw. i should mention all of our candidateses will have 60 seconds to address the questions. can you identify two programs or

policies of the abercrombie administration that you will reverse or repeal in your first six months in office if elected. >> thank you all for being here and our sponsors. i'd have to say the first program i'm going to look at is the hawaii health care connector. i think that is something that i've heard loud and clear from many across the state. i think many in this building have questions -- questioned the valid of it but also the expense of it and the cost of it. the other program that i would look at and although i support it is the early education childhood program that we have right now. as you know, the legislature approved funding and they approved a pilot program, but it's in limbo in regards to whether or not that will be the program of the future. you have an amendment on the ballot, constitutional amendment floor that you're all going to vote for, but the program itself is something that hasn't been approved and agreed upon by everybody in the educational

field. thank you. >> mr. hannemann, you also have one minute to address this. >> first thank you to hawaii news now and the honolulu star advertiser for sponsoring this town hall. i want to say to the residents in 08 as we brace for another hurricane, prepare for the worst and hope for the best. and our thoughts and prayers are with the president as he gathers around the world with leaders to deal with the ebola crisis. i will not follow through with the health care -- the fact that we spent $125 million for people to sign up. i would like to go forward and cut our loss s but be sure those 10,000 people are taken care of. i feel strongly about education. there have been cuts. why are we cutting funding for the medical school that we're here in tonight?

makes no sense to me. we have a shortage of doctors in our community. we need to restore that funding. also cuts in the education programs. all of those things are something we will work very hard in the beginning to restore. thank you. >> last but not least, mr. ige. >> thank you very much for that question and thank you to hawaii news now for hosting this town hall meeting. it is a very interesting format. i look forward to this evening. i will say a couple things. clearly for me it's about education. it's not so much about repealing as really reemphasizing. it's about empowering schools and really trusting those close to the children to make the decision about how to move the schools forward. i see remarkable transfompleation when we get the right leader into the right school. i don't believe it's a cookie cutter where every school should be following the same step.

it's about working with each community and about being willing to make the investments on what they need to move their community forward. i would like to talk about the constitution amendment. i am opposing it just because i don't believe we have the funds. we need a better plan and the private schools are not in the communities where they need to be. thank you. >> thank you, gentlemen. mr. hannemann, you'll go first on this question. it's about the economy from a u.h. student. >> as the cost of living continues to soar, as it gets more difficult for my generation and future generation to purchase a home and find well paying jobs how will you diversify hawaii's economy and attract high growth industries with good paying jobs here in hawaii? >> thank you for the question. i want to -- we have a wonderful opportunity i believe given what we bring to the table in terms of our knowledge, the people

that live in this part of the world, in terms our relationships. we need to export our knowledge base industries. take advantage of all of you who are graduating from the university of hawaii and say to the rest of the world we are capable of providing that expert sees, be it in tourism, science, agriculture, astron knee -- astronomy, health. tourism has a trickle down effect that helps small businesses. i'm talking about cultural tuferism, health tourism, health tourism. hawaii is a great place to learn and we can create good solid jobs that will make sure when you graduate from school you have a governor with the right leadership to say come home, stay home and we're going to make this a great place to live, work and play. >> over to mr. ige, how would ou diversify hawaii's economy?

>> i think it's fitting that we're sitting here in the cancer center because this building has been at the center of our efforts to diversify our economy. i've been an advocate for technology and economic diverse cation for all of my career, making investments. i've been -- i retired from g.t.e. to take a position in a start up so that i could walk the talk. it really is about empowering -- it's about making and giving our young people the belief that they can be successful. it's about investing in our schools. it's about investing in our university, creating the innovation and auntraw prix nurel spirit. as i talk with people who have done it over and over again, it really is about instilling in the spirit of the young people the belief that it can and will be done in hawaii. thank you.

>> mr. aiona, one minute. >> patrick, thank you for that question because i want you to stay home. i want all of you in this room to stay home. it really boils down to this. i'm the only candidate here who a committed to promoting business friendly environment. it is about getting government out of the way of businesses. we need to expand our economy. how do we do that? with our naturally competitive industries? right here, technology. this would be the perfect place for any technology in the industry. why? because we have the location. we have the climate. we have the people. we have the culture. we have everything we need. there's just two things i need for you to vote for duke aiona. we need to cut the cost of living and we need to make sure our educational system is that much better. if we take care of those two factors, i guarantee you any technological firm or company would come to hawaii, they would incubate and they would be that much better.

>> thank you. i have another idcational related question for mr. ige. it is about tuition. >> i'm a junior at the university of hawaii and i can barely afford tuition, housing and food with the job i work. if tuition continues to rise, i'll probably have to get a second job in order to keep attending and i fear that my g.p.a. will suffer as a result. can something be done so that college can remain affordable for students not just to stay in school but excel as well? >> thank you very much for that question. you know, this has been a question that the legislature has taken up in the last 12 months and it really has been -- as chair of ways and means committee, i did have the university appear before us. it is something that concerns everyone. we did ask and the regents did vote to have a moratorium on the

tuition increases. and our point was what is the reason for you raising tuition? the regents told us we wanted the tuition to be in the median. we told them that's not acceptable. it really ought to be about what you're funding, why you need to raise tuition, why is it that you believe and how would you invest those dollars. would have to say university regents and the -- they have heard the people loud and clear. we will see what the appropriate tuition should be. >> over to duke aiona on rising tuition. >> thank you for the question. first and foremost, i want you to know that i pain with you. i have four children of my own and we've had to go through all of this. we have an innovative program that we want to adopt. it's called early college.

it will give high school students an opportunity to grade from grade 9 to 14 and earn an aa.a. degree as well as a high school diploma without any costs. that can cut down the cost significantly if you want to continue. i would throw this out to the university of hawaii because i said this in other forums. i say the problem we have at the university in hawaii is the politicians insert themselves into leadership. i throw this one out because i heard about this one. why we have this as part of our program, if you enroll for this year, 2014, 2015, that tuition is frozen until you graduate four years from now. we can just throw that one out and give them an idea. thank you. >> i support that because it's already existing in the public schools, kaimuki, waipahu, that's a great incentive. i'm the only person amongst you tonight that's actually done a budget for the executive branch.

you can rest assured when i send that budget down to the legislature, i will prioritize funding so that we don't have to raise tuition. i said as mayor, the number one responsibility of the mayor is public health and safety. the number one responsibility of a governor is education. it will pain me a lot to see our local students want to come to the university and cannot afford it because they can't pay tuition. so it will have the ultimate priority when i send it down to the legislature i will do as what i did as the mayor of the city and county of honolulu. you go downstairs and you make sure that is not going to be cut because it is a priority and that's what you have from me to make sure that our local students can go to the yuste or community college system. >> mr. aiona you'll answer first. this next question comes from kayla. it's about poverty. >> i volunteer at catholic charets and there are so many

families awaiting for affordable housing. i'm really interested, what is your long term plan about the issue of poverty in high? >> kayla, thank you very much for that question. the long term plan is what i stated earlier, opening up high, making it a business friendly environment because for you and everyone else in the state of hawaii it boils down being able to live, work and play in hawaii. if you can get a great education and with that a zwrob that is within this 21st century knowledge based economy, you're going to be able to thrive in the future. so we have two programs i'm going to expand on this later. it's for affordable rental and affordable house how'sing. i'm excited about this. our affordable rental will take 25% -- boom, within six years we've got 2,000 more units for all of you. we're calling this our hope program for affordable homes.

it is sim -- simple. by paying rent you can save to buy your home. i will expand on that. thank you. >> mr. hannemann your plan on poverty. >> we need to make improvement in two areas, how'sing and jobs. together we can identify ways in which we can create more affordable rentals and more affordable how'sing and i think that will take us a long way as opposed to the past. in terms of jobs, yes, we want to provide good quality jobs and that's why the emphasis has to be on a governor's ability to grow the economy, to create more jobs, and athat being said was being aid earlier of able to enable young people or people who still want to be in the workforce, jobs that they'll be able to achieve and aspire to -- that takes someone who has the ability to attract outside

investment to hawaii to stimulate this economy. we have wonderful as assets that we can put on the table. being a strategic location in the mid pacific area. job training and educational skills will help them stay employed. >> mr. ige. >> thank you very much for that question. it really is about grow the economy. i do believe as governor one of the important priorities is really working to grow our economy. that comes in three specific areas. it is about investing in the visitor industry. it does create the lion's share of jobs in our economy. more than 170,000 jobs are created by visitors coming here. and so it's about being smart. d.c. about opening a second international portal at kona airport so we can attract more international visitors. we do know that international

visitors spend money in our economy. it's about the governor being proactive about federal -- the federal budget will shrink over the next decade. we need a governor that's active in pursuing and convincing the federal government that hawaii is a strategic location for investments. and the third really is about is diversification. thank you. >> mr. hannemann, this next questions is for you. it comes from alissa. >> pending the justification that hawaii is an occupied country, how do you address the illegal status of the state of hawaii being that you'll be the executive officer of this illegal extension of american power? >> i really believe that we are part of the united states of america. i appreciation everyone's right for freedom of speech. but at the end of the day i'll stand on the fact that we are

part of the united states of america. we have a constitution that we have to defend. for those who are unhappy, let me reach out and try to collaborate with them so we can feel like one ohana. anyone that lives here should always feel welcomed. anyone that comes here should feel welcomed. i think it's important to understand and appreciate that. that's why i said you need to 's w down the native hawaiian effort wanting to build a nation within a nation. there's still a lot of unrest. there's really no unanimity on what that model should look like. lets take two steps back and try to bring them into the circle of discussion as opposed to ignoring them and making them feel isolated. we need to respect all people's views. >> thank you, your time is up. mr. ige, you also have one minute to address. >> thank you. it is very clear that in 1893 a

grave injustice was done to the hawaiian people. and we have learned a lot. our community has learned a lot about what occurred in 1893. but we can't go back. it's really about how we move forward. the one thing that became very evident in the hearing -- recent heargds by the u.s. department of interior is that there needs to be more conversation within the hawaiian community itself. there needs to be a broader dialog that includes all of the hawaiian community about all options in moving forward on self-determination for native hans. so as governor i would be looking at helping to define that process to facilitate the conversation amongst hans, but most importantly, this is a significant conversation that needs to include the entire community because at the end of the day, we need to move forward as hawaii together.

>> one more minute. >> thank you very much for that question. this shows as a native hawaiian, i understand that for many native hans in their minds, in their sowls, in their hearts there is still a hawaiian kingdom here in hawaii, i acknowledge and respect that. this is why i said in my last forum in regards to native hawaiian sovereignty and goffer nance, i take a native prospective in regards to trying to bring the community together. i think also like my colleagues that -- did not have consensus and was not ready for the community to come together. but it has to be driven by the community. and as a native hawaiian, i want to take responsibility for that. i want to be at the forefront of that. i want to be the mideyateor, the facilitator and bring our hawaiian community together so we can have consensus. until that can happen, that's the only time that we can

develop our consensus in regards governance. >> lets talk about g.m.o.'s. >> mr. ige, hawaii has attracted national attention for several proposed law that would limit the growth of g.m.o. at the county level. on the state level in what way do you think g.m.o. products should be reag lated? >> thank you very much for that question. at the state level i believe a couple things. first and foremost, i do believe the state has an obligation to ensure the health and well-being of our community. we have an obligation to regulate pesticide use and to make sure our public and our people know what pest sides and where they're being aplide and to be sure they're being applied safe safely and within the guidelines of what they were intended to do.

in terms of g.m.o. labeling, i believe labeling is a federal requirement, that the goost controls how the products are labeled. in terms of growing things, i truly support the farmers. i believe farmers should be engaged and allowed to grow whatever crops they feelst most productive for them. we have lots of state land that we can use between organic farmers and g.m.o. farmers to be sure there is no cross contamination. >> mr. aina. >> i'm of the position that g.m.o. should be kept local. i understand what's been going on with regards to the kauai ordinance and the lawsuit that has been heard and i believe it is with the island of hawaii. i understand that. so eventually it seems like it's going to the way back. when it gets to that level, i think what it boils down to is

what do we want in regards to agriculture and food security. are we going to balance it as such we protect food security, we protect our farmers and we make it available to everyone or are we going to limit it? i think the science has been clear as far as what i've seen and up to this point in time i would not be in favor of a total ban on g.m.o. products. >> mr. hannemann. >> i've had a strong history of support for agriculture, dating back to my days -- through the years and even as mayor i was very supportive of agriculture and i support all forms of agriculture. i think it's important to put on the plate in my opinion the science does not support the fact that g.m.o. should be banned. i am concerned about pesticide drift. i think there's certain controls and measures that can be enacted by the department of

agriculture. the department of agriculture is the rodney dangerfield of state departments. less than 1.7% of the budget goes to agriculture. so how can you expect them to do these type of enforcement programs or promote agriculture? i want to bring it up from where it is in the back seat, put it up front, support it and if we're going to label, it should come from the federal government so that we are all on a level playing field throughout america and not just high. >> thank you all. lets talk about taxes. mr. aiona. every governor since george ariyoshi has faced a fiscal crisis. if you run into a fiscal crisis, which of these would you put into place first? >> you know, i'm the only one here who's had the opportunity and experience that to have been through something very difficult on the fifth floor in the executive branch. we saw the bottom fall out of

the economy. some difficult decisions had to be made. in response to that specific question, obviously what i stated earlier. we need to grow the economy. we grow the revenue that way. i'm not an advocate of growing our revenue by way of taxes. i think you've seen that in the last four years. my colleague to the left has increased taxes by over $800 million. that's just not the way to go. we find ourselves right now in this fiscal cliff that's coming up next year in which we are going to have to see how are we going to make it work in government. when you take it to that level, we'll have the only option of raising taxes but that's not my option. thank you. >> mr. hannemann. >> once again you can make promises but have you actually done it while you were in office? as a mayor of the 13th largest city in the united states, i have to make those decisions, where to cut, where to increase revenues and how to grow the

economy. and every year i was a mayor with that great talented team, we had a budget surplus carryover from a low of $134 million to a high of s $423 million. i know how to balance the budget and set priorities. the last thing you want to hear is government is going to raise your taxes. you have to identify inefeshen sees. seeing how we can collectively do things better to help all the counties and the state. but most importantly at the end of the day, make the tough decisions, collaborate with the council to make sure that you have a budget surplus instead of a budget deficit and you're always threatening folks with a tax cut -- tax increase. >> mr. ige, layoffs, furloughs or tax increases. >> i'm the only candidate here who actually had to face the

tough decision and for four years i had to balance the budget looking at whether we do increase taxes, lay off people or cut the budget. and i want to say that i was facing a $1.2 billion deficit, another p larger than any of my other candidates here. most importantly we were able to balance the budget without any layoffs. it really was about focusing on eliminating suspensions of taxes, business to business taxes. it was about increasing taxes on the wealthy about being selective on how you would do that. and most importantly it really was about cutting the budget. i've cut budget requests by more than $1 billion. it really is about having discipline. and i've always believed to walk the talk and to look at what people have done rather than what they say and i have four years proven of what i would do to balance budget. >> i guess they couldn't answer

none of the above. now time for the candidates to ask each other a question. we've allowed one minute response time as well as 30 seconds for rebuttal. we'll start with mr. aina. your question for mr. hannemann. >> we just talked about taxes, mufi, so how can the people of hawaii trust that you will not raise taxes and/or increase the cost of living but yet you did so as mayor when you raised the taxes for rail and now you're promoting a bigger public project called super ferry. can you explain how you're not going to raise taxes when indeed you did raise taxes for rail? >> duke, you have a very selective memory tonight. i did not raise the taxes. did . the state legislature had to raise the tax. i lobby for it because it really believed that we needed it. i also said that we should have the option to do that .5% for things they wanted to do.

you're also missing the fact that your counterpart was a strong supporter. speech, in her initial i'm looking forward to working with the new mayor on a real transit solution for hawaii. don't know what world you're living in back then, but the senator voted for it and a majority of the legislature because we were trying to follow the expressed will of the people. 87% of the people want it. done theou environmental impact study, you would be sailing today. i want to bring that back. that is what we need to do. >> 30 seconds. it's a matter of refreshing the recollection of people not only in this room but the people out there. that you had to approve because

if you didn't approve it, it would never be in the pipe right now. the bottom line is this. you, you andone of your children and her grandchildren will be responsible for that tax imposed by the rail projects. talking about a superferry without any identifiable investor. you have a chance to ask a question. senator, for 29 years in the legislature, you have fashioned yourself to be a collaborative consensus type of leader. things have not gotten better. it's gotten worse. a state hospital crisis. we have the highest electricity prices in the nation. the state of our education system needs some budget fixes right now. sure if you can do

the job for 29 years, that you can fix our problems as a governor when you go to a bigger and greater job. very much for that question. i would love to be able to respond to it. the only i am candidate here that has passed conference of restructuring of our public school system. i am the only candidate here that has passed legislation that allows the public private partnerships for our hospital system. and really cut budget requests because i believe that is what you, the people of hawaii wanted. easy to say and talk when you're not really responsible for things. to be a leader and take a stand. it is hard to be a leader because it's about making things

work. being able to get legislation passed. i am running for governor. >> every time i hear you say i did this, i did this, what about the 75 other legislators that had to help you achieve the things that you said? to thespect public-private partnership, let me be clear. he did not move on a mechanism that would allow those to occur. you can see right now they have two suitors after it, hawaii --ific and kaiser permanente had he done that, we would not have to face what we are looking at now. we will fix that. >> your turn now for questions. >> there have been only two times when the state has failed

to balance the budget. the last two years of your diminished ration. andgave us furlough fridays withheld tax refunds from the taxpayer and you stopped paying bills. to do you decide when support and stand by the governor and when to say you are just an observer? >> let me start with furlough fridays. i find it very interesting that the very union that agreed to furlough fridays is now upset about it. why only now? it took to to agree to furlough fridays. this was not a unilateral decision made by governor lingle . in regards to balancing the budget, let it be known that it is the executive branch that submits the budget. that the legislature approves the final budget so any balancing has to go through the

legislature. 76, why did heof let that happen? did he let the mechanisms not happen? and why aren't you asking these questions as opposed to me? your incumbent is a that administration would be like the abercrombie administration because he is the lieutenant governor. clear that the executive is the one who is tasked with balancing the budget. -- we passed a budget but it is really about a limitation. they decide when and how it should be spent. is, the only two times in the history of the state of for why he that we ended in the red. they have no strategy on how to

stop the spending. they simply stopped paying bills and withheld the tax refund. a a think we are off to pretty good start here, three different men with different styles and a lot of ideas at the table. >> a lot of opportunities to ask questions and we will hear more, maybe even get a cameo from the lieutenant governor. >> we will talk to them after the short break. now, you arei news watching campaign 2014. race for governor. >> running alongside -- you have known them 12 years?

tell us something you might not know about your running mate. >> when david graduated from he was accepted at m.i.t. and never told his parents about it because he had a large family and was concerned about his siblings ability to get the college education at the age of 18. how long they'd known each other and he said a long time. >> before duke was great. -- grey. you figure athletes have a lot of rhythm. i don't think duke knows how to dance. i just watched him. >> wow. do you approve that? so much. how long have you known each other? wax over 10 years. we know he can dance and saying. but what people don't know when

i have worked closely with him is that he really is a humble, warm guy that cares for people. he is really caring. >> thanks to all of you. >> a dance off might be a good way to settle it. i have a question for all of you. be three of you will benefiting from the state and county retirement program for life. and the state afford to keep doing that? what do you support to reduce the cost of government worker benefits? >> people come to the system and .ave promised certain benefits i don't believe we look to cut those benefits from the past. the city and county of honolulu,

they have regularly put in the retirement pension fund. isng forward, i think that where the discussion needs to take place with the public employee unions and the like. and we afford to continue these benefits and the cost that it will take to do that? i expect we can have some good conversations. i've never had an acrimonious discussion with the public employee unions when i was doing collective bargaining at the county level. i just have to recognize with the hope of the legislature that this is something we need to do going forward. >> you also have 60 seconds. for that question again. i have been in the legislature a long time and i am happy to report to you that our pension system is in very good shape today. we have taken action over the last three years to really restructure the pension system to make sure it is sustainable.

we have already reduced the benefits for new employees. after june of 2012. we have asked employees to fund the program. you become state employees, you will have to work a little longer. we really felt those employees that were spiking the pensions it really wasn't fair to the rest of the retirees. we have taken action to ensure the pension system is solvent. >> iq for honoring the one minute light. -- thank you for honoring the one minute light. >> it is an unfunded liability right now when you have the

health side. and you add the pension side. it comes out to about $27 billion. $27 billion. this is what has gotten other cities in trouble that are bankrupt. we can't let that happen. the only problem i have lived with what the legislature has done is the payments aren't going to stop. that gap will grow even more in four years. we have to do something now. more so, i'm not sure the plan is solid enough to weather some of the tough times that we are going to be facing very shortly. in particular, what it does is if we don't have the revenues to pay up front from just the regular budget, we are going to take it from the general fund. and to get a more specific

mr.tion, this will go to ige first. >> i normally leave around rush hour, 6:30 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. and traffic has been getting increasingly worse. it used to take me an hour to get to school and now it takes me an hour and a half. a pass so thatt the truck can service the city? ofi am a strong supporter rail transit system. i have been, from the very beginning, from the very first proposal, i was testifying as a high school student in support because insit program believe transit is a .uality-of-life issue it will definitely improve the quality of life.

it is basically a fiscal issue. i think we need to let the program run. at the current tax doesn't expire. we need to hold the feet to the fire to make sure they give an efficient and effective system. i am confident it will be a success. here we go again. this is a city project. this is not a state project. here we go. coming back to the state to ask when thecrease that city designed this rail project, they said the excise tax would give the cost of the project. they say it will come on time and on budget. it is not on time and it is not

on budget. now they want to extend this? this is what i am talking about. this is the kind of leadership you will have if you vote the same way. raise the gt tax -- g.e.t. tax. no, i would not be in favor of extending it. this is a city project. the city needs to figure it out for themselves. always aas collaborative partnership from the very beginning. that duke lives on that side, this is a community that needs a transit solution. it just boggles my mind that you would oppose it. i think theo say, board and the strong leadership has to ensure everyone that they will do it right. they will be very prudent about the tax dollars we are using for

it. it hundred 65 million dollars in contingency funds to take care of some of these expenses that are coming. i think what we need to do is g.e.t. the10% of the state keeps. is $140 million that goes to the general fund. it is a pure out and outrage. they should give it back to the city because we said we needed that .5% increase to fund the rail system. that is a special fund that won't happen under my watch. about gender harassment and comes from nicholas saint cook. >> despite the recent growth of gay marriage, lgbtq are still persecuted in schools. how we further acceptance of these individuals? >> i will not tolerate discrimination, harassment, or

bullying of it any individual. i don't care what their sexuality is or their ethnic origin is. part of the reason why my parents moved here as immigrant folks is because this is the land of opportunity. you haven't matter if lived here or have come recently. i will be very strong, i will be very vigilant, i will work with the proper authorities to ensure that no matter where you go to school, be it public or private, we need to have a say and make sure we have good laws, rules, and regulations and it shouldn't matter what your orientation is. this is hawaii. we pride ourselves on the spirit and treating everybody with dignity and grace. and it starts at the top as a governor and recognizing that. bullying has been a real big challenge and a hot topic at the state capitol for the last several years.

and we have had several collaborative task forces. it is something i think we can all agree on that bullying is bad and we need to stop it. the challenge i think is how to legislate that and how do you ensure and enforce and pass a law that isn't forcible. worked with the stakeholders, public and private schools to really talk about what efforts they can make to engage students. they can be part of the solution because they are the ones on the front lines. it really is about working with public and private schools as well about how they can help educate the children and teach them appropriate etiquette. a lot of bullying occurs online which is outside of the specific physical location and it is a challenge that i think the whole community needs to get involved with. >> i thank you for that question because it is s