special relation and responsibility. >> why now? >> >> italy they will chair the g7 and they are in -- a member of the security council. the g7 and be a member of the united nations security council. next year in march, we will be celebrating 60 years in the eu. it is important that italy as a prominent member of the eu confirms the importance of european integration. this broaderin european framework, we rank among the priorities of the president. >> describe our relationship, italy, -- italy-u.s., how are we working together? in the military, standing side in many theaters. we share responsibility and our

common endeavor to fight terrorism. we want to tackle the global issues ranking from climate change to migration. these are issues where countries of a great tradition like italy share the same interests and share the same approach. week atis going on this the embassy as you prepare for the state did her? -- state dinner? there is a great sense of excitement. we are really excited about this event. we have many, many things to care about. and my staff, we are particularly excited and happy. >> what kind of leader is the prime minister? what should the american people know about her? -- about him? investor: he is a young and dynamic leader. he brings a sense of enthusiasm. personality.alian

i am sure that the american audience will come to know a lot of a young guy who will be here with his spouse. >> americans will see him with his wife. atre will be a long arrival the white house. americans will see the pageantry that goes into a type of visit like this. what is the coordination between the prime minister's office, the embassy, and our government? ambassador: we have active cooperation with our policies and friends at the white house and the secret service. there are so many details to take care of. but it is a happy event, a celebration. we are happy to share with our friends and colleagues. >> any special protocol for the italian prime minister? ministerr: the prime

-- the protocol is particularly complex when he comes for a state dinner. but we will follow all of the details with a zealous spirit. this a celebration of our friendship, a longtime friendship but it is also important to pursue it an agenda for the future. >> what does that future agenda look like? you talked about the military but where else and what will the leaders talk about? ambassador: if i may draw a line among the topics including the many challenges. both the president and the prime minister share the same approach. it means that we do consider requires onzation the part of leaders, great care. we have to harness this process but we are convinced that there are many opportunities ahead of us. minister haveime

any concerns that he will talk to the president about? ambassador: the two leaders know each other well. they have had many meetings. for aferent international including the g7, g 20, and the recent nato summit. what the prime minister will not, a concern, but a deep understanding that in order to tackle the challenges, our countries, our democracies have to build bridges, have to stay connected because integration is the only way to harness this process. >> what do you think the italian people are hoping to get out of this visit for their country, for their leader to come here? will they be watching? ambassador: for sure. italians are excited. when president obama and the first lady together with the

prime minister and his spouse will be seen together at the white house. i think this will be a great image. the four of them will get the and oura strong bond fellow giants will love it. >> >> join us tuesday at 6:30 p.m. eastern for the white house state dinner for italian prime minister matteo renzi. our live coverage includes the north portico arrive or of the prime minister and his wife, dinner guests' arrival to the white house east wing and the grand staircase official photo and the dinner toast offered by president obama and prime minister renzi. former obama white house social secretary will join us to talk about food, decor, entertainment, and protocol for the state visit. we will revisit previous state dinners under the obama administration.

we will talk to the italian ambassador to the u.s., and washington post fashion critic will review first lady michelle obama's fashion of a the years. -- fashion over the years. the white house state dinner there is live tuesday at 6:30 p.m. eastern on c-span and c-span.org. or listen on the free c-span radio app. coming up, a pennsylvania senate debate between incumbent pat toomey and democrat kay mcginty. then to florida where senator marco rubio is running for reelection against congressman patrick murphy. later a debate with ohio senator rob portman who is running for reelection against ted strickland. >> c-span's "washington journal", with news and policy that impact you. coming up this morning, real

clear politics senior elections analyst shawn turned it will discuss his work analyzing the polls from campaign 2016 and the electoral college map as donald trump and hillary clinton look ahead to the map in battleground states. he will discuss the approached -- the approach to polling and what voters should look for. then the -- michael mcdowell will talk about the earliest -- the reports on early voting and concerns about the integrity of the state voting system. be sure to watch washington journal live it 7:00 a.m. eastern tuesday morning. join the discussion. news the nation elects a president, will america have its lady?foreign-born first learn more about the presidential spouses and c-span's first lady now available in. back. everyladies gives readers

first lady in american history. it is a companion to c-span's well-regarded compact -- each chapter offers brief biographies of 45 presidential spouses and archival photos. first ladies in. back published by public affairs is now available at your favorite bookseller. >> first-term pennsylvania senator pat toomey is running for reelection against democrat katie mcginty who has worked in the clinton administration and in current pennsylvania governors tom wolf's administration. this comes to us courtesy of kdka tv in pittsburgh.

ken: welcome to our debate between the candidates for u.s. senate in pennsylvania. i am ken rice. let's welcome the candidates. senator pat toomey and his democratic challenger katie mcginty. of chester county. i will be joined by my kdka tv colleagues, money and politics editor jon delano and lynne hayes-freeland. the candidates will have one minute to answer a question and an additional 30 seconds for rebuttal. the candidates can jump in from time to time with follow-up questions. finally, each candidate will have two minutes for closing statements. up first, a two-part question. as a leader in your party, yes

or no, do you support, as in will you vote for or records others to vote for your party's presidential nominee? and what, if any, are specific issues that you disagree with your nominee? according to a coin flip, ms. mcginty, you go first. ms. mcginty: i do support hillary clinton because she will work for families, the same reason i am in this campaign. guantanamo bay is one issue. i don't think we can afford to close it. senator toomey has refused to answer this question and won't tell the voters why he is still standing with donald trump. we will hear the senator say has disagreements with donald trump and that he is waiting to be persuaded. disagreements won't cut it with someone who has invited russia to in vain our allies, who has bragged about sexual assault.

waiting to be persuaded is political speak for waiting for the next poll. the senator is the only person running for senate who has not told his constituents how he will vote. sen. toomey: because katie is so extremely partisan, she might not grasp the idea that someone might have trouble with a candidate in their own party. i have been willing to criticize donald trump because i think he is a badly flawed candidate. i also know that, if he were president, he would also signed legislation that would be constructive, like repealing obamacare and restoring sanctions on iran. what i can't believe is that katie mcginty can't criticize anything about hillary clinton, including all of her lies. she went around the state saying she was the first to graduate college in her family when she knew full well that she went

back for a graduate degree after coming out of high school. maybe that explains why she is willing to overlook the serial lies of a badly flawed candidate. ken: i will repeat the question, yes or no? sen. toomey: i have not reached a point where i can endorse donald trump. the things i have mentioned. i do also acknowledge that he would sign some legislation that would be constructive. i feel like i am in the same position as an awful lot of pennsylvanians. we have two badly flawed candidates. i cannot believe in a country of 300 million this is what we've got. but katie mcginty, she can't even bring herself to acknowledge the incredible flaws of the candidate of her party. ms. mcginty: i think it is a simple and straightforward question that you have asked. i have answered that question. i will work with a secretary clinton and a president clinton to bring good jobs back to pennsylvania and to grow income.

again, the senator is the only person in the united states of america who has not leveled with his constituents on this simple question. i will yield the balance of my time back to the senator so we can answer that question. sen. toomey: katie started the campaign with a lie that was called "pants on fire" by the observers. another thing i have a hard time understanding is how the corruption of hillary is acceptable to katie mcginty. the corruption of the clinton foundation is unbelievable. we learn more and more about it on a daily basis from these late -- from these late e-mails. perhaps this is from katie's own problem with ethics. ken: one last go at this. will you disclose to your constituents and voters how you will vote? sen. toomey: at a certain point, i probably will. but there is more we need to talk about on ethics. john: in your attack ads, each

of you are referred to as millionaire pat toomey, millionaire katie mcginty. let's give you a chance to respond. your financial reports to confirm that you are millionaires. how did you become rich? senator toomey, did you enrich yourself on wall street and then, while serving on the senate banking committee, co-own a bank that foreclosed on people's homes and approve a law that helped the very banks like yours? is that how you got rich? sen. toomey: absolutely not. i worked in new york in the finance in the 1980's and let -- and the left when i was 29 years old and launched a small business with my brothers. i am proud of the people we employed. what katie mcginty did is

funneled pennsylvania tax dollars to a foreign company to set up shop in pennsylvania, then they rewarded her with a lucrative board seat. they folded, the pennsylvania workers lost their jobs and taxpayers lost their money, but katie did quite well. she is a multimillionaire who enriched herself with this corporate revolving door. it is part of what people are disgusted about in american politics. jon: so you did not get rich on wall street? sen. toomey: i work as hard as i could and certainly made some money. i was a kid in my 20's. i started at the bottom and when i left at 29, i wasn't too much higher than that. jon: ms. mcginty, did you grant millions of dollars as an official to companies that your husband was working for and then joined companies that you regulated? ms. mcginty: the allegations you articulated were false,

misleading, untrue. i am proud of the work i have done in the private sector and business. that is to create jobs while protecting the environment. i think that is important. what the senator has done is different. our senator not only owned and started his own bank, he owned that bank while sitting on the senate banking committee. on the banking committee, he pushed a totally anti-consumer agenda and the senator's own bank was engaged in such predatory behavior that it was illegal in 30-plus states. in a predatory fashion, foreclosing on his own constituents without notice while the senator was making sure that we have an anti-consumer set of rules and regulations that help fraudulent bank practices like those his own bank was engaged in. sen. toomey: this is amazing.

this was like she was the first in her family to go to college all over again. any foreclosures on the part of our bank were foreclosures on corporate loans. that is the case that katie mcginty is talking about. what are the facts in this case? the facts are that when she funneled money to a firm that had her husband on the payroll, the state ethics commission ruled unanimously that it was a violation of state ethics law. she did not like that outcome. they went to court and the supreme court ruled that yes, in fact, it was a violation of state ethics laws. you have repeatedly had this ethical problem. it came up again with the spanish company she funneled taxpayer money to. taxpayers lost their money, workers lost their jobs. katie is a multimillionaire now. ms. mcginty: again, the senator is entitled to his rhetoric but not his own storyline. he has repeated the storyline throughout this campaign that

has been 100% negative and repeatedly chastised by new's organizations for how false his claims and allegations are. the senator knows well that the projects he is talking about was not started by me, but started by former republican governor tom ridge, and that it is a project that has been award-winning, done by a bipartisan, nonprofit, terrific environmental group, the pennsylvania environmental council. >> let's move now to the supreme court. the republican-controlled senate has refused to consider the nomination of merrick garland to the supreme court. at the time of justice's death in february, president obama had nearly a full year left on his term. ms. mcginty, do you believe that the president should get to nominate supreme court justices

for the entire four-year term? ms. mcginty: the constitution doesn't have many enumerated responsibilities for a united states senator, but one of them is that you advise and consent, you hold hearings when the president nominates someone to stand on the bench. senator toomey has been part of a hyper-partisan cabal that, for the first time in our country's history, has refused a hearing to a nominee the president put forward. the president is not asking for a rubberstamp, but a hearing. a full vetting of a person's qualifications. i would stand up and make sure any nominee got that hearing. it is not the first on the senator has done this. he single-handedly held out for 400 days a perfectly qualified judge, judge restrepo. today, the president has nominated someone to be the

first african-american woman to serve on the third circuit, right here from allegheny county, and the senator won't even allow her a hearing. it is wrong. lynne: senator, your response. you certainly pledged initially to keep that seat open until after the new term in january. do you believe that is in the best interest of voters? sen. toomey: back in 2010, when i was a candidate for the u.s. senate, i wrote an op-ed saying why i would have supported judge sotomayor. i knew that i wouldn't agree with her on many things but i thought her record as a judge was solid, she had demonstrated restraint in the limited role of a judge, and i would have supported her. i have worked with bob casey, and senator casey and i have had 16 federal judges recruited, that it -- vetted, and confirmed

because we work together. most of those were democratic judges. i have worked with him and got that done. prior to justice scalia's passing, we had a supreme court that was roughly balance. -- roughly balanced. sometimes it may decisions that conservatives like, other times it was decisions that liberals like, like upholding obamacare. with the passage of justice scalia, the question arises, we only have a balanced court, in which way will it turn? the constitution is very clear that the power to seek a justice -- power to seek a justice -- two seat a justice is a shared power between the president and the senate. the american people will have a say with virtue of who they elect as resident of the united -- elect as president of the united states. i think that is the right way to move forward with the court. ms. mcginty: again, the people of the country did speak, and they elected barack obama as their president. it is the president's not only opportunity but obligation to put candidates forward.

they senator has acted in a totally partisan way and frustrating, the constitution instructs the senate to a sure there are fair and thorough hearings of nominees. i thought it was interesting to hear the senator say that when he was running for office last time he wrote an op-ed that had bipartisan flavor. that is the last we have seen. sen. toomey: that is completely untrue because i worked with senator casey to get 16 judges confirmed, most of them democrats, more than any other state in the union other than california and new york. the fact that the hyper partisan person that i am concerned at how she will behave in the senate is katie mcginty. when she was chief of staff for governor tom wolf, they couldn't

-- the budget negotiations were so acrimonious, they couldn't proceed when she was in the room and they had to conduct negotiations with governor wolf or other staff members. that is the kind of atmosphere we cannot afford to have in washington. ken: is donald trump correct dealse blames dumb trade for wreaking havoc in our economy? and he says that steel jobs could return to this region and manufacturing could drive jobs again. or, is he peddling false hope? sen. toomey: i visited the assembly line at the locomotive plants. i have been to meet with employees. i have that with the folks that have worked making medical devices in southeastern and southwestern pennsylvania. everyone of those areas depends on the ability to sell our products overseas.

96% of the world's population lives somewhere else. i have backed agreements when they are supported by the pennsylvania farm bureau. when they open up foreign markets for our goods, i supported them. when there has been cheating has happened, as has happened in steel, the u.s. steel brought this to my attention, i went to bat for them. that has been my approach, to support trade agreements that expand opportunities and open up markets for all workers. with respect to tpp, this is an agreement that has been flawed. i have been clear about that. ken: let me read definitely redirect you to the question. do you agree with donald trump that towns like ambridge, towns up and down the valley that been decimated by manufacturing jobs,

that donald trump and new policies can bring those towns back? sen. toomey: i believe the right policies can bring those back. one example, we had a tremendous advantage over the rest of our world with our energy. we have natural gas that is cheaper in pennsylvania and then almost anywhere in the world. there are lots of heavy manufacturing injuries that are energy intensive. they need a lot of gas. the point is, if we take advantage of the opportunities we have -- it will be different jobs, different firms, and across the manufacturing spectrum, but we can absolutely have a strong recovery. katie mcginty's policies will be stifling the energy sources that will be so vital to recovering manufacturing. ken: ms. mcginty, what is your opinion of donald trump suggesting that there is hope for steel industries to be reborn in western pennsylvania? ms. mcginty: thanks, but i first want to address what the senator just said. i was proud to lead the charge

to bring 3000 new jobs in the energy sector to pennsylvania, specifically manufacturing renewable energy equipment. the senator is well familiar with those jobs because, while i employed the full spectrum of our energy resources, he had an issue that this was the fact -- that this was renewable energy rather than conventional energy. he led the charge to take away the tax incentives to help those jobs and grow in our own state. i guess he has also been rewarded well for taking those renewable energy jobs away, because the senator happens to be one of the single largest recipients of big oil contributions in the u.s. senate. i think we have every opportunity to compete and win in manufacturing, and here is why. the days of manufacturing just being about cheap labor are gone.

it is about skilled labor plus technology, plus speed to market. that is a recipe for our sweet spot where we can compete and win. ken: yes or no, can better trade deals bring back steel jobs in western pennsylvania? ms. mcginty: i have opposed the unlike the senator who led the charge to try and push it through the united states senate and fast tracking it. opposed it,hy i even the proponents say it will cost us 50,000 good manufacturing jobs a year. the senator flip-flopped on that recently but i think it is just like with donald trump, that a senator doesn't want to be straight about this. my view is, the rules matter, we need a level, fair playing field. when the playing field is fair, nobody can outcompete the american worker.

sen. toomey: the president flip-flopped on trade agreements was katie mcginty. she was all for nafta when the clintons said to be for nafta and when they said it is ok not to be for nafta anymore, they did a 180 degree reversal. i supported a procedure to bring any trade agreement to congress for an up or down vote. let's go back to her claim that she created thousands of jobs. -- she created 3000 jobs. this is her problem with the extreme version of how she approaches economics. it takes massive subsidies to create any of these jobs. taxpayers have to subsidize, in this case, a spanish company to come in here. it still didn't work. the business still failed. we are forced to pay higher electric rates because companies are forced to buy inexpensive electricity in the only person who wins in this is katie mcginty. jon: i do want to follow up on the subject of energy and also

fuels. we know that many folks in western pennsylvania are employed in fossil fuel industries. fossil fuels are used to heat and power our homes and factories. ms. mcginty, are you engaged in a war on coal, believing, as many environmentalists do, that we need to reduce reliance on fossil fuels including coal. what do you say those across the state in the fossil fuel industry that might think their jobs are at stake if you are elected senator? ms. mcginty: let me just say, hats off to two of my six brothers who made a living as coal miners. i started my career as a chemist working with the company inventing coal dust suppressants. i am in favor of full use of i am in favor of full use of energy resources.

we have to tackle climate change. but here is how i would go about doing that in a pro-jobs agenda. in terms of our coal-fired power plants, some of those are 30-35% efficient. i would put people to work improving the efficiency of those plants through combined heat and power, for example. we can own that technology. we can manufacture that technology, and put our people to work. i showed this when i was secretary of environmental protection, where i was taking on the toughest problems including climate change with growing jobs as the solution. you know we look at the clean , water problems in flint, michigan, and right here in pennsylvania. that is an opportunity to put people to work ripping out old pipes. we cannot be a climate denier like the senator is. we have to be honest about real problems and challenges, but let's create jobs in tackling them. jon: as you know, there are many

super pac's that are supporting fossil fuels who have engaged in lots of campaign ads. do you reject the science behind global warming? if reelected, will you make efforts to reduce dependence on fossil fuels? sen. toomey: i am on record on this and have been clear. any objective view of the record shows that the surface temperature of the planet has risen. human activity has contributed to that, but it is a fact that we don't know how much human activity has contributed to it. the cost that katie mcginty and others advocate for incurring is unbelievable, in the trillions of dollars. china and india will do nothing about it and the benefits, if there are any, are completely negligible. the fact is, the president of the united states, barack obama admits that there is a war on , coal.

katie mcginty will not admit it, but she supports policies that will put people out of work. i have met with these guys, seen them, i have looked in their eyes when they say, why is my own government destroyed my job, my career, my livelihood. coal is a low-cost, reliable, domestic source of energy. and i am afraid natural gas is next on their list. katie wants the epa to come in and have a regulatory power over an industry that has regulation by the dep. jon: ms. mcginty? ms. mcginty: this is the old saw we have heard over decades, that if you approach environment, you are anti-jobs. i have found that to be not true. as i think it is -- the senator has been rewarded for his position. putting people to work, that is what we should do. and listen as it relates to assets, i haveas been a person who says let's

regulate it, let's zone it. and by the way, exxon mobil should pay their fair share of taxes here, too. the senator wants to end taxes for corporations. sen. toomey: nobody has been better rewarded for green energy programs and katie mcginty getting rewarded by the companies to which she finals pennsylvania tax dollars. this is what is wrong with corporate crony capitalism where politicians think they ought to allocate resources and pick winners and losers. it is bad for the economy, it is counterproductive for economic growth. it drives of energy bills. we all pay higher energy rates than we otherwise would because of katie's middle-class tax increase in the form of alternative energy. lynne: i want to look at community-police relationships. in many communities, the relationship between police and communities are strained, at best. hillary clinton says part of the problem is about implicit bias.

developing an attitude or stereotype that can influence actions or decisions in an unconscious manner. senator toomey, do you believe implicit bias is real and it is at the root of police-community relationships? sen. toomey: let me just say i have seen as we have all seen disturbing videos, young african-american man being shot under certain circumstances. it looked like something was wrong. i have said, anytime anybody does something wrong, whether the police or any other profession, there needs to be an investigation and people need to be held accountable. what i object to is the notion that the police are some kind of rogue racists causing violence. in fact, they protect us from that violence. and the vast majority of them are good and honest, decent, hard-working men and women who

protect us every day. i stood up against this false narrative that has maligned the police and katie mcginty has propagated that narrative. i will continue to stand up to the people who attacked us and -- stand up for the people who protect us, and that is why i have been endorsed by every police organization that makes endorsement in pennsylvania including the philadelphia police in which ms. mcginty's father served. lynne: do i hear you saying that you don't believe that implicit bias is real? sen. toomey: i am sure that implicit bias occurs. i am sure that occurs. but i don't think it is fair to characterize police generally as racists. i know too many police to believe that. lynne: ms. mcginty, just this past week, the association of police chiefs held a conference. they were introduced to a new method of training that is designed to de-escalate and take a tactical pause before responding. yet there has been a lot of resistance from the fop to this

concept. do you believe that retraining is a proper way to address this issue of bias? ms. mcginty: i want to start my response here, if i can, on a personal note. the senator has run on a campaign not only of his untrue ads, ads that i find deeply offensive and my nine brothers and sisters would as well. there is only one of us on this stage who kissed her dad goodbye in the morning, not knowing when he walked his beat as a police officer for 35 years, 25 as a philadelphia police officer, whether dad was coming home for dinner. if he suggested that i or my family would do anything other than revere law enforcement officers, it is really unacceptable. but let me get to the substance. here is what we need to do. we need resources in our community. we need to make sure we have cops on the beat. my dad literally walked the beat. that is why i have proposed

doubling community policing, where the police and the neighbors built bonds of trust and relationships. and yes de-escalation techniques , are an important part of that. senator toomey has pushed legislation aptly called punish the police, where he has tried to end or severely defund the cops program, and has pushed -- voted to end the program that gives law enforcement critical equipment. that is wrong. that endangers our safety and it endangers good public servants like my dad, god rest his soul. sen. toomey: it sounds like more of how katie was the first in her family to go to college. the fact of the matter is, the police across pennsylvania pay very close attention to the members of the u.s. senate and house. they have looked at my record, they have met with me, and every police organization that makes an endorsement, the philadelphia

police, the state troopers, even corrections officers unions, they have all endorsed me in this race. none of them have endorsed katie mcginty. ms. mcginty: that is not true. i have been endorsed by law enforcement organizations -- sen. toomey: which police -- ms. mcginty: i think it would be well for you to support police officers by making sure they have the resources not to be unsafe on the streets. sen. toomey: and i have supported the grant programs to enable them to buy protective. -- protective equipment i introduced protective legislation, from denying them surplus military equipment, and everyone of them has endorsed me. you haven't been able to name anyone that has endorsed you. ms. mcginty: senator -- you only introduce that when you are running for reelection. your record as a member of our united states congress was to eliminate the program. sen. toomey: so you know better than all the police. ms. mcginty: i will say that the

senator also knows well, crony capitalism, as he has referred to. we saw just recently the senator sitting on the senate banking committee when 80,000 of his own constituents were ripped off by wells fargo. did the senator go to that for -- come to bat for them? or did he go to the bat for the bank? ken: if we want to talk about that later, we will. but i am afraid it is a little bit off-topic, and we need to pause for a quick break. we will continue with the u.s. senate debate with pat toomey and katie mcginty, after this. ken: welcome back to the debate between the candidates for u.s. senate from pennsylvania. incumbent, republican senator pat toomey, and democratic challenger katie mcginty. moving on, candidates, the next question i have is for ms. mcginty. both of you have supported at one time or another, new gun laws. what, in your opinion, is the most effective way to protect americans from mass shootings and other gun violence, without infringing upon the rights guaranteed by the second

amendment, and something with a real, legitimate chance of passing? ms. mcginty: i think we have the chance to achieve bipartisan consensus around some commonsense measures that some 90% of pennsylvanians, including sportsmen and gunowners, support. common sense like close the background check loopholes. common sense, like do not allow terrorists to buy weapons of war in our country. you know i come from a family , where my brothers were hunters. we had guns, and hunting guns in the house. i do not think this is an either/or thing at all. unfortunately senator toomey did , a photo op about one piece of legislation. but when it came to closing the loophole that allows terrorists to buy guns in our country, he voted no, not once, but twice. what i would do is bring people

to the table, and stay at the table, respectfully, with different points of view. and i think we can achieve consensus around those kind of common ground, commonsense measures. ken: how about one initiative that has a chance of passing? you know the history of gun legislation after sandy hook and legislation. give me one realistic solution. ms. mcginty: really, two of them. closing the background check loopholes for criminals and the mentally infirm. it only lost by five votes. yet, senator toomey says the senate has spoken, let's move on. i would stick with that, just like as an urgent priority i most certainly would work to close the loophole that allows terrorists to buy guns. ken: thank you. senator toomey. sen. toomey: i think the most painful meeting that i ever had, probably in my life, certainly in my six years in the senate, was with the parents of the victims of the sandy hook massacre.

the parents who the six-year-old children were mowed down. it was excruciating. one of the things i respect and admire so much about those parents is, when they came to me, they were not asking to have guns confiscated from law-abiding citizens. they were not asking for a ban on firearms. as katie mcginty has advocated. they asked, can we improve background checks? i know that would go over like a lead balloon with my party, but i worked with joe manchin anyway, because it was the right thing to do, and he and i introduced legislation that came closer than anything else in the senate. i'm a big believer in the second amendment. i think it is a personal, individual right, and an important one. i just don't think there's a conflict between the second amendment and a three minute background check. so senator manchin and i have introduced that, and we have had votes three times when we introduce that. when we had a debate this summer about keeping terrorists from buying firearms, i supported three different versions of that

to find common ground, including working with susan collins -- the only bipartisan approach. here is the thing. gabby giffords, democratic congresswoman, she has endorsed me in this campaign, because she has recognized my leadership, and the fact that it has to be bipartisan. but katie's record of being hyper partisan will not get us to common ground. ken: time is up. sen. toomey: katie's record of -- ms. mcginty: it was the right thing for joe manchin to lead the charge, and the senator to lend his name to close background check loopholes. that is why it was such a shame, that when it only failed by a couple of votes, the senator says, the senate has spoken, let's move on. even after grisly horrible , tragedies in san bernardino and orlando, the senator refused to reintroduce the bill, saying infamously, "let democrats lead." you know this is one of those , things where we have to respect the second amendment, and we have to respect grieving parents, including those of the pennsylvania 18-year-old young

lady who was mowed down in orlando. we can act on this, and i will. sen. toomey: as i said, katie takes an extreme partisan deal on this, just like the reason she was excluded from budget negotiations in harrisburg. and she is not going to be able to reach a common -- a place where there is common ground on this. senator manchin and i worked really hard to bring as many people together as we could. we introduced legislation repeatedly. we had three votes on it. and when i saw an opportunity to have a background check on people on the no-fly list, i crafted the legislation to do that. when the democrats refuse to help, i worked with susan collins to get that done. i will continue to defend the second amendment rights of law-abiding citizens, but i will also try to get guns out of the hands of filing criminals, -- violent criminals dangerously , mentally ill people, and people on the no fly list. jon: obamacare means different things to different people. it has delivered health insurance to over 15 million

uninsured through private insurance plans, and expanded medicaid. it has also raised costs. it has ended gender discrimination, outlawed exclusions for pre-existing conditions like cancer, and it has kept young people on their parents' insurance until age 26. if you repeal obamacare, you were people everything, the good -- you repeal everything, the good and the bad. senator toomey, what do you like, what do you not like, and what would you change in obamacare if elected to another term? sen. toomey: let's remember all the false promises made about obama care. we were told, if you like your insurance, you can keep it. we were told that while they were systematically disqualifying all categories of insurance plans. we were told, if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. we were told that, even though we knew that the replacement plans would exclude all kinds of doctors. and we were told we would save $2500 per family on average. all completely untrue. costs have gone through the

roof, options have collapsed. deductibles have gone up. this has been the disaster i was afraid it would be, and the reason is we tried to centralize control of one segment of our economy in the hands of washington bureaucrats. health care is too personal. individuals men and women , sitting around the kitchen table should be making decisions about their family's health care, not bureaucrats in washington. all the tax increases and bedded -- embedded in it, the medical device plans, a whole another wrath of middle-class tax -- raft of middle-class tax increases that katie mcginty supports, we need to go in another direction. i will have a transition for people currently in obamacare. a transition to a competitive, multi-insurance marketplace across state lines. we need to encourage things like portability and renewability of insurance plans so people do not get caught with pre-existing conditions, and we need to ring some of the out

excess cost, like excessive litigation. jon: are any part of obamacare that you like? sen. toomey: there are some features that are encouraging. for one, there has been some encouragement that we move health care in a direction, generally speaking, we're here -- where care is treated comprehensively, and not individual treatment for services. but that is a very small part of obamacare. generally speaking, it is a disaster, and it cannot be fixed because it is flawed at the core. jon: ms. mcginty, same question, what do you like about obamacare? ms. mcginty: we have to bring the cost of health care down. i would be hardcharging to do something the senator won't do, and that is taking on the prescription drug companies. the cost of prescription drugs has gone through the roof, but under the law, we are not allowed to negotiate the cost. that is wrong. no other country in the world does that. we need transparency in costs so consumers know before they have a procedure what it is going to cost. you would almost think the senator was only planning to go to washington. he has been in washington for 18

years, with a republican majority. he's got nothing done on this critical issue. and i do disagree. i don't think we should put the insurance companies back in charge, so that why? so they can charge women more than men? so that they can kick you off your insurance if you have a pre-existing condition, or if your child, god forbid, has a very serious illness and hits a lifelong cap in terms of coverage? that is wrong. i would work to get the cost a commonsense way. that is the agenda, to make sure we have affordable -- jon: but ms. mcginty, you like everything about obamacare? ms. mcginty: i do not like that we are precluded from negotiating the cost and price of prescription drugs. that is absolutely wrong. and i think we need to make sure that there is affordability and choice in health care. but what i know for sure is that the senator has been there for 18 years, and have we seen him

take on the insurance companies? no. have we seen him take on prescription drug companies? no. i will. sen. toomey: what you just heard is katie mcginty advocating that we have even more government control, and it is the government that messed this up. remember these are the people , who couldn't roll out a website. they couldn't. it was a disaster. everything about them has been much a disaster. about 40% of pennsylvanians have a grand total of one choice in the individual exchange market. what kind of choice is that? what kind of competition is that? this is a failure. it has been an unbelievable failure, and we need to go in a completely different direction. what katie mcginty wants to do is expand government control, have a single system, have the government dictate prices. then, we are going to have even worse health care. jon: ms. mcginty, you get the last word. ms. mcginty: i was proud to help expand medicaid in pennsylvania. we have 625,000 people covered, and it was a great deal for our taxpayers.

it was saving $500 million a year. here's what would be a disaster. let's take one piece of what we are talking about here. i come from a family where we have seen and we know what the heartbreak of addiction looks like. you know under this law that , senator toomey would repeal, we finally had parity, if you have a mental or behavioral health problem, that it would be covered. in pennsylvania alone, just with that medicaid expansion that the senator would take away, 66,000 pennsylvanians with mental and behavioral health challenges now have health care. i think that is the right thing to do. we don't just take it away, but yes, i will stand up to the companies to take down the cost. jon: thank you. lynne: i want to continue the conversation about cost, but i want to look at the cost of this campaign. this senate race is the most

expensive race in the country. last week the amount already exceeded $60 million. senator toomey has already said he does not believe in spending limits. ms. mcginty, i would like to ask you, what do you propose is the best way to take money out of politics? ms. mcginty: i appreciate the question. i think it is absolutely urgent. i am proud to be endorsed by an organization called end citizens united. that is an organization that is 100% dedicated to getting that money out of politics, overturning citizens united, that has led this flood of dark, secret money into our politics. in a democracy, there's no room for secret checks and secret money. i would help lead the charge to overturn citizens united, and i would also go further. i think it is time for us to make it easier for people to be engaged in their political system, and to vote, with early voting, or same-day voting and registration.

restoring the voting rights act, for example. senator toomey had a chance, but he voted against overturning citizens united. he has voted for allowing all this dark money, like the koch brothers' money. talk about partisan. the senator has 100% voting record with the unaccountable koch brothers. that is not democracy in action, that is crony capitalism. lynne: senator toomey. sen. toomey: there has been an unbelievable amount of negative campaign ads. no question about it. i'm staggered by the amount of money spent in this race. and we know it, it's not over yet. it is getting hard to watch tv. this is part of the reason why i suggested that katie mcginty and i have five debates. five debates across pennsylvania so we would have a chance to go deeper into the issues than these 30 second sound bites. katie refused. she insisted we have no more than two. she would not do the other three

debates across the state that i wanted to do. i have always preferred more transparency in the system. the simple it to do this is to have all this money got to candidates, and let the candidates be responsible and accountable, and require disclosure. that is what i think would be a much better approach. but the people like katie mcginty, who want to overturn citizens united, let's be clear about what this is about. it was a not-for-profit corporation that wanted to allow people to buy a documentary video about hillary clinton in the last campaign. and the government's position, which katie holmes, is the ds, is the government should be able to ban that and for that it. disallow it. the government's argument was they should be able to ban books if they are about politics or politicians. the democratic senators that katie agrees with, they had a vote to amend the first amendment. the rewrite the first amendment like it hasn't served us adequately. -- adequately for 240 years, to give politicians the ability to

control political speech. that is a bad idea. lynne: we will give ms. mcginty the chance to respond. ms. mcginty: the senator had the chance to vote to get the dark, unaccountable, secret money out of politics, and he voted no. i not only will vote yes, but i will lead the effort so we genuinely bring people's voices back to the center of our politics and democracy. lynne: thank you. >> i think we have a final rebuttal, if you want it. sen. toomey: again, this comes down to whether you think politicians should be able to control speech. that is what katie mcginty supports. i think that is outrageous. if the first amendment is for anything, it is to get people the freedom to criticize their politicians, the officials who represent them. that is what the first amendment is about. it is about personal freedom and the freedom to express your position, whether you like them or not. the idea that we would give congress the power to control political speech is a terrible idea, and i'm not for it.

ken: another quick break. more of this debate in a moment. ken: welcome back to the u.s. senate debate. going to get right back to the questions. you know donald trump has expressed concerns that this election in pennsylvania is going to be rigged. he said he would watch pennsylvania, go down to certain areas, watch and study, and make sure other people don't come in and vote five times. do you share this concern, and based on what evidence, if so? sen. toomey: let me be very clear about this. this is a very important question. maybe one of the most important questions of the evening, in my opinion. we have, for 240 years, we have had the most successful, most vibrant republic in the history of the world. it depends, to a large degree, on the american people having confidence in the outcome of our elections. our elections may not always be completely perfect, but they are legitimate. they have integrity. everyone needs to respect the outcome. i don't know how this race, the

president's race, or any other race will come out, but we need to respect the outcome. because that is going to be necessary to pull us all together on november 9, the day after the election. ms. mcginty: thank you. i think it is a very dangerous and reckless allegation and suggestion that donald trump has been making. you know we have seen this movie , before here in pennsylvania. not long ago, we saw a republican leadership in harrisburg push a voter i.d. law, spent millions of our dollars, efforts to intimidate voters. here is what we found. court proceedings following that legislation, after millions spent, and the court said, show one example of voter fraud. not a single example was identified. not one. look the good people of , pennsylvania take their democracy, take their

commonwealth, and their country, very, very seriously. and i know in this election season and others, people want their voices heard. they will show up respectfully of the process. but i do think this is another one of those reasons why it is important for senator toomey to say, donald trump is unfit to be president of the united states. ken: quick rebuttal, please. sen. toomey: i think i covered the point. the fact is, our elections are a fundamental aspect of our democratic process, one of the most important defining features. and they work. they have worked for a very long time, and we need to respect outcomes. ken: by the rules, ms. mcginty, you have another 20 seconds if you want them. ms. mcginty: i think it is vital that we respect the institutions of our democracy. it is one of the reasons why i am happy to say i don't support donald trump to be president of the united states. i would invite the senator to consider sharing his views with

his constituents. but it is also the reason why i will be a voice to get the money out of politics, to vote, to make sure dark, secret money gets out of politics, that the senator voted against to keep the money in the democracy. ken: thank you. it is time now for the candidates to make their closing statements. the order was determined earlier by coin toss. ms. mcginty, you go first. you have two minutes. ms. mcginty: thank you. thank you to all of you for turning in. i am katie mcginty, running for united states senate, and i ask for the consideration of your vote. i come from a hard-working family. i will tell you my mom and my , dad, both working every day, told all 10 of us kids that we could chase and realize our dreams. that if you are willing to work hard, this is the place where it is about your perseverance, your grit, not about your pedigree, not about your zip code. it is about an american dream that says, put in your 40 hours,

and you will be able to provide for yourself and your kids. if i have the honor of serving as your united states senator, i am going to go to bat for hard-working families. hard-working families who have gotten the short end of the stick, frankly, by our own senator, who started his career on wall street, and in many ways, never left, and still goes to bat for those banks. i am going to go to bat for you, because i know that when we give the good people of this commonwealth and this country a fair, honest shot, nobody in the world can compete with us, and our best and greatest days are ahead. thank you very much. ken: thank you. senator toomey, you have two minutes. sen. toomey: thank you. thank you to kdka. thanks for tuning in tonight. i really appreciate this. it has really been an extraordinary honor to serve as your senator for these last years. i focus on three things. i am a fiscal conservative, so i have been fighting washington's wasteful spending.

i have always been working to lower middle class tax burdens. a second big thing that i have worked on is making sure i'm looking after pennsylvania. whether that is saving oil refinery jobs in suburban philadelphia, or fighting this crazy washington war on energy jobs in western pennsylvania, or the opioid crisis across the state, these things have kept me very busy. i have also been an independent voice, willing to work across the aisle with chuck schumer, on a jobs bill to help encourage job creation, and senator manchin on that ground checks. -- background checks. katie mcginty is not going to be that kind of person with any independence. she was handpicked by the washington power brokers to be a rubber stamp for hillary clinton. she enriched herself with money that originated with taxpayer dollars. she supported middle-class tax increases, regulations that are holding back our economy and , dangerous security issues like support for sanctuary cities. it has been a tough year for

working-class families, like the one i grew up in. and i meet with these families all the time, and i know they just want a chance to be able to see a brighter future for themselves and their family. we can have that future. we want to that if we double down on the failed policies that has given us this weak economy. if i have the honor of serving one more term in the senate, i will be working as hard as i can to create an environment that encourages job creation, job growth, higher wages, and a better standard of living we have been waiting for. ken: thank you. on behalf of everyone at kdka-tv, thank you to the candidates for u.s. senate. thank you for watching this debate. remember, election day is november 8. i am ken rice. i will see you on the news. 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. 2016] >> indiana senator dan coats is retiring, and republican congressman todd young and former democratic senator is ayh aretor evan b irunning for his seat. tomorrow, we have live coverage at 7 p.m. eastern on c-span two. then we take you to louisiana for another debate for an open senate seat. republican state treasurer john kennedy, congressman charles boustany, and democrat carolyn faye art are running. they will be joined by john fleming and foster campbell at a candidates forum at 8 p.m. eastern on c-span two.

>> join us today at 6:30 p.m. eastern for the white house state dinner for italian prime minister renzi. our coverage includes the north portico arrival of the prime minister and his wife. dinner guest arrivals through the white house east wayne. staircase official photos. and a dinner toast offered by president obama and prime minister renzi. former white house social secretary julia will join us to talk about food, decor, and protocol for the state visit. we will look at previous state dinners. we will talk to the italian ambassador for the u.s. and washington post fashion critics will review michelle obama's state dinner fashion over the years. the state dinner for matteo renzi airs live today at 6:30 p.m. eastern on c-span and c-span.org, or listen on the c-span radio app.

>> florida senator marco rubio is running for reelection against congressman patrick murphy, who represents palm beach gardens and port saint lucie and 18th congressional district. this debate was held at the university of central florida, and comes courtesy of wftv channel 9 in orlando. >> good evening, i am jonathan karl. we are here at the university of central florida for this year's first debate between republican senator marco rubio and democratic congressman patrick murphy. tonight's debate is brought to you by wftv in orlando, in partnership with abc news and politico florida. i will be moderating along with the panelists from wftv, and mark caputo from politico florida. by coin flip, the opening statement goes to patrick murphy first. let me explain the rules. there will be questions. you will have one minute, 30 seconds to respond, and then 30

seconds for a rebuttal. the candidates are not allowed to ask questions of each other. that is something you to agree -- you two agreed to. we will be doing the questioning. congressman murphy. rep. murphy: thank you. it is great to be here this evening. i was born and raised in the florida keys. i got my start as an auditor and cpa. i decided to get started in public service because i was tired of the name-calling, the bickering. i'm proud of my accomplishments. over the past four years, i am proud i was able to prevent cuts to medicare. proud of the legislation to help lower flood insurance rates. proud of the provisions i passed on the house intelligence committee to upkeep this country safe. that is exactly why i've been ranked as one of the most independent members of congress, because i work with anybody to solve a problem. you compare that to my opponent, marco rubio, who tells us he doesn't even like the job. which explains why he has the worst voting record of any

senator in florida in nearly 50 years, and still has not served a full term in the u.s. senate. if that's not bad enough, he just doubled down on his endorsement of donald trump, showing he will continue to put his own political agenda in front of what is best for florida. i believe we can do more. i believe we can do better. that is why am running to be senator of florida. rubio: 18 years ago tonight, i married my wife. it was the best decision i have ever made. i want to thank her for working alongside me in public service. many of you know my story already. i am the son of a bartender and a maid. they were immigrants from the island of cuba. if they had found almost any other nation on this planet, there is no way i would be standing on the stage tonight. i have a debt to this country.

i have chosen to repay it through public service. in my six years in the senate. tonight throughout this debate you will hear about the numerous , accomplishments, real things i have done, not just letters, but laws we have passed that have been good for america and good for the state of florida. i invite you to compare that to patrick murphy's record in congress. after four years, he has not a significant achievement he can point to. i look forward to that debate tonight. it is important for our state to know what their choice is this election. >> congressman murphy, hillary clinton's campaign has been hampered by concerns over her use of a private e-mail server. it was something the fbi called extremely careless. we had a recent transcript leaked showing clinton saying, it is important for politicians to have a public and private position on issues. you said you trust her 100%.

but most floridians don't. whyuestion to you is, should they trust you, given your unqualified confidence in a presidential candidate that six out of 10 americans say they do not trust? rep. murphy: secretary clinton has already apologized for what she did. and she made it clear that she regrets that decision. and in hindsight would not do it again. that is a lot more you can say about donald trump. you see i trust secretary , clinton with the nuclear codes. my opponent marco rubio made it clear, he said he does not trust donald trump with the nuclear codes. i do not know what has changed from now until then. but i believe that secretary clinton is as qualified as anybody we have ever had. she will hit the ground running on day one. you compare that to donald trump, who is as unfit and unqualified as anybody we have ever had for this office, who was bragging about sexually assaulting women.

you see the vast amount of women that have come out recently with these charges. it is shameful to me and i do not understand how senator rubio can look himself in the mirror and still stand by donald trump's side. after everything that has come out about him? rubio: if he trusts senator clinton 100%, he is in rare company. not even tim kaine is willing to say that and he is her running mate. i do not trust either one of them. the job of a u.s. senator is to support the president. it is to represent their state and to fight and uphold and defend the constitution of the united states and i am prepared to do that no matter who is elected to the presidency. there is only one person who will stand up to the president of the united states, and that

is me. i have done it consistently throughout this campaign, including taking on the nominee from my own party. rep. king: if you cannot stand up to donald trump as a candidate, how will you stand up to him as the president of the united states? think of what he has done. think of how in -- unqualified he is. he came out and said he has violated the embargo, something you care a lot about. and you still stand by his side. he said that mexicans are rapists and criminals. he wants to deport 12 million people from this country. he makes fun of disabled people and veterans. you continue to stand by his side. there have been 16 u.s. senators that have the courage, the internal fortitude to not only disavow donald trump, but unendorsed him and you doubled down on your endorsement. where is the courage? it proves to all of us that you are going to continue to put your own political ambition in front of what is best for florida. sen. rubio: there is only one person on the stage tonight who has ever run against donald trump -- and that was me.

there is only one person who voted against donald trump, and that was me. there is only one person on stage tonight whose family made millions of dollars in partnership with donald trump, and that is you. >> let's turn to your party's nominee. you questioned donald trump's sanity. you called him a con man and a lunatic. you said he could not be trusted with the nuclear codes. you said he is "the most vulgar person ever to aspire to the presidency." and that was months ago. that was before the current revelations. now as congressman murphy has , alluded to, at least 10 women have come forward to allege they have been inappropriately touched or worse by trump. in ways precisely that he described. so my question to you is how do , you explain to your son and daughters why you believe that a man who boasted of committing sexual assault should be president of the united states of america?

sen rubio: if there are any kids in america who understand what a horrifying choice is in this election cycle, it is mine. they have lived through this election cycle. it is not just my children. i feel terrible for the young people across america. this is the first time i am ever going to vote and what they have before them are two deeply flawed candidates. i stand behind everything i said in the republican primary. this is not the most inspirational choice. there is no doubt there are a lot of things i disagree with in the nominee of my party and i , have taken him on when he says things that are wrong on policy. and i have condemned him when he said things that were outrageous, vulgar, and inappropriate. i will continue to do so. the other party has nominated someone who has violated federal law. someone who destroyed evidence. someone who we cannot trust with classified information. they nominated someone who live to the family of four -- they nominated someone who

lied to the family of four brave americans. on this very day, it was revealed, her state department was trying to get the fbi to unclassifiey certain documents o her e-mails would be compliant. a person who has a 30 year record of scandal and outrage -- that is who they have nominated. this election is a disturbing choice between someone i disagree with on many things and someone i disagree with on virtually everything. it is a difficult choice. that is why it is so important our next u.s. senator is someone willing to stand up and take on whoever the next president is. the only one on the state to will do that is me. >> is there anything that donald trump could say or do that would cause you to rethink your decision to support him to be president of the united states? sen. rubio: of course. a lot of things hillary clinton stands for and does. if he were to do those things, we would have no choice in this election. listen, i think it is clear donald is not my first choice or my 10th choice.

14 million voters have chosen differently. but one of the reasons i changed my mind and ran for reelection, as i knew that no matter who wins this election, you will need people in the united states senate willing to stand up to the president of the united states when they are wrong on policy or wrong in their behavior. i am the only one running who will. i have repeatedly done so when it comes to the nominee of my party. congressman murphy has not once broken with the nominee of his party. when she has been caught doing all these things he has not once , condemned her or broken with her on any of her behaviors. or frankly any of her major policies. rep. murphy: it is disturbing to hear my opponent say this after it came out that donald trump had been taking advantage of women, that he is a serial abuser. senator rubio tweeted something out. 160 gop officials had the courage to stand up and say that

is wrong and unendorsed donald trump. so no this is not just a binary , choice. there are people who have the courage to stand up to do what is best. you do have to look your children in the eye and explain this position. there is a famous quote from james clark, who says a , politician thinks of the next election. a statesman thinks of the next generation. sometimes, you have to think a little deeper. you have to dig inside and think about the consequences of what we are doing, what we are saying, what our candidates represent. it is exactly why i have one of the most independent voting records in the entire congress, because i do not put on blinders and just vote. i do what i think is best. i will always stand up against something i think is wrong. sen. rubio: i think about the next generation. i am thinking about my four children, which is why i do not want to see hillary clinton become the next president. she will redefine the supreme court in a way that will redefine the constitution of the united states for the better part of a quarter century.

i am also thinking about my children because of the iran deal, which this president put in place and you wholeheartedly support. the iran deal delivered hundreds of millions of dollars in cash to the leading sponsor of terrorism. the iran deal delivered hundreds of millions of dollars in cash to the ayatollah in iran. you support a deal you said that would lead to peace in our time. look at the history books. the last person who said that has regretted it for over 80 years. this will not lead to peace in our time. it will lead to a nuclear iran. that is the future i am concerned about. those are the policies hillary clinton supports and so do you. rep. murphy: you said you do not trust donald trump with the nuclear codes. you sit on the intelligence committee. you know what is at stake in this election. donald trump wants to be buddies with vladimir putin. he says there is nothing wrong with him, that he is a good leader. you should know better than that. i work on the intelligence committee. i show up. it is important.

putmy opponent continues to his own political ambitions in front of what is best for florida, in front of protecting our country. sen. rubio: if any of your staff had ever done what hillary clinton did with classified information they would have been , fired and prosecuted. and you still stand with her. i do not trust hillary clinton with classified information. she has proven she cannot handle it. she would expose it to foreign intelligence agencies, what she has. >> you trust donald trump with classified information? [laughter] sen. rubio: i have already admitted to you. these are two less than ideal options we have for this country. i am not arguing this is a race between abraham lincoln and george washington. these are two deeply flawed candidates. it is so important we have a candidate for the senate who will stand up to these people. in this election the only one , who has stood up to both of these candidates is me. congressman murphy thinks hillary clinton can do no wrong.

the vast majority of floridians disagree with that sentiment. >> you said you don't trust donald trump with the nuclear codes because of his temperament. because he is unstable. because you said he is a lunatic. ubio: i do have deep reservations about the nominee of my party. >> do you not trust hillary clinton? sen. rubio: i do not trust hillary clinton on foreign policy. she is the author of the russian reset. i do not trust her on foreign policy because she supports the iran deal, which is delivering billions and billions of dollars to a radical nation led by an ayatollah who has threatened to use nuclear weapons against the state of israel. i don't trust her foreign policy. >> thank you both for being here. congressman murphy, you called for gun buyers to be checked against what is known as the terrorist watchlist. the pulse nightclub shooter was

not on that list when he bought his weapon, and some worry that such a watchlist provision would racially profile lawful citizens and in french their second amendment right. can you explain what attacks this would have stopped? rep. murphy: it is so important that we talk about this. we are here in orlando. from newtown to orlando we , cannot let these tragedies become the new norm. i had a chance to meet one of the bravest people i have ever met. her son christopher was killed in the pulse shooting. christine has found the courage to stand up and look for solutions. if she can find the courage to find solutions we should be able , to stand with her for solutions. that is why i believe that we must close the terrorist loophole, expand background checks to ensure these weapons are not getting in the wrong hands. we should be investing more in mental health.

these are things supported by the vast majority of americans, the vast majority of gun owners. but you think about my opponent, marco rubio, who has taken millions and millions from the gun lobby and doing their bidding in the u.s. senate. and that is shameful. he just dropped a piece of legislation for this so-called terrorist loophole, and it is shameful. andas written for the nra, he is putting it up as if it is his legislation. it would do nothing to prevent these acts of violence from happening again. we can do more, but my opponent has continued to stand against every sensible piece of legislation. things like background checks, closing the terrorist loophole. it is unconscionable to me that in this day and age a suspected terrorist can walk into a gun store, buy a weapon that day, and walk out with it. how in the world are we going to live with ourselves if that is allowed? senator rubio is too concerned with his next election, next

presidential bid, whatever it might be and too worried about , his special-interest donors. sen. rubio: we are here in orlando today. irrespective of our individual and personal beliefs i do not , think there is any doubt all of us were heartbroken. the stories of the people who lost their lives, i recognize in their stories people i know in my family. that are in our community and that we love. let's not forget that what ulse was not a random act of violence. it was a terror attack, a jihadist who pledged allegiance to isis. my law was not written by the nra. it was written by my staffers. in fact, the nra has not even come out in support of the law i have written. it is a law that would say that if you have been investigated for terror anytime in the last decade and you try to buy a gun, that sale will be suspended and the fbi will be notified.

they will be given the opportunity to see what you are up to and investigate your. and if they find that you are up to a plan on terror, they can immediately arrest you. and by the way the law i wrote , has a chance of passing. which is a fundamental difference between congressman murphy and i. i get laws passed and things done. he does not. and we cannot afford a u.s. senator that cannot turn ideas into policy. rep. murphy: i do not think the senator knows what his bill does. in his legislation that was put forward, it says that the fbi has to prove that it is a suspected terrorist. if the fbi knew they were terrorists, they would be in jail. your bill does nothing and it is a sham. it is shameful that you sit here in front of orlando and say you are trying to do something. the audacity you have to say that you decided to run for the senate after this nightclub shooting when you have been one of the most anti-gay senators in to country and done nothing

prevent these tragedies from happening. sen. rubio: excuse me. what is shameful is your effort to politicize the terrible tragedy. a terrorist attack by radical islamic terrorist. it if ithave defeated were not for people like you who continue to support these devastating cuts to our military that you say will make it stronger. that is not what my bill does. anyone who has been investigated for terror -- if you are on the watchlist, it would trigger. the reason why omar mateen was able to buy a weapon, he was no longer under active investigation. if you are suspected of terror in the last decade, the fbi will be notified that you've gone in to buy a gun and will have the opportunity to stop that sale. they investigate what your up to. it does have due process protection. because while this lists are informative, they are not perfect, and there are people in this country who wind up on those lists that end up being cleared. including a journalist at the "weekly standard" in washington, d.c. >> let's stay on the topic of

what happened at pulse. as you know, because you say you met some of the families it was , latin night. most of the victims were hispanic. some survivors and some family members of some victims spoke to me personally about being afraid to ask for help for fear of being deported. people working across our state, including students at this university, share those same fears. some are terrified about what will happen in november. when it comes to immigration reform, what do you say to latinos who say you could have made something happen in your first term, but you simply sold out? rubio: first, i would say we helped scores of families ulse nightclube pl attack. my office embedded two staffers for over a month to help numerous people. i intervened with the director of the fbi because there was an issue in getting aid because the

fbi was involved. literally, their letterhead had the fbi letterhead on it. it impeded the ability to deliver aid. >> people fear being deported. sen. rubio: i am going to get to your question. immigration is not something i read about in a book. nor it is an issue i discovered four weeks ago. that is when patrick murphy's consultants told him he needed to do better among hispanics. this is an issue i understand personally. my parents were immigrants, my grandparents were immigrants. i know people, children included, who are in this country out of status. brought here at an illegally young age. i see the sadness they're going through. i want to fix the problem. we cannot fix it with a one-size-fits-all bill. the votes simply are not there. there is only one way forward on immigration, and it involves a three-step process. step one would be to prove to the american people that illegal immigration is under control.

the second step would be to modernize our legal immigration system so that it is not as bureaucratic and it works better. you do not have to hire a thousand lawyers to help you navigate the process. i know that once we have done those two things, the enormous majority of americans, of floridians, and the republicans would support something very reasonable for people who are not criminals that have been here a long time, and especially with young people who were brought here through no fault of their own. rep. murphy: after hearing your story again, it is even more shocking that you have turned your back on those who trusted you the most. you see we are a nation of , immigrants. that is what built this country. you used to be the champion, part of the gang of eight. and then what happened? you decided to run for president and so you flip-flopped on that issue. you do not support a pathway for citizenship. you no longer support those dreamers. if that is not bad enough you , have doubled down on your endorsement of donald trump, the

man who wants to build a wall? it is shocking you continue to put your own political ambition in front of what is best for florida. sen. rubio: you have never even been involved in immigration reform. you only started talking about it four weeks ago. you might have signed on to some letters, maybe had a facebook page. i am not sure if you have informed people, you voted for the homeland security bill to restart deportation for dreamers. number three, you talk about flip-flops. & murphy in december of 2011, , you changed your name, your party, and moved from south beach to west palm beach. that is not a flip-flop. that is a metamorphosis. [laughter] rep. murphy: you are the one who left florida and spent all of your time in iowa and new hampshire. you have never even met the mayor of tallahassee or tampa. you have never even met them, and that is your home state. so do not lecture me on florida and flip-flops. you are the king of flip-flops.

>> speaking of flip-flops, three years ago, you did vote for a homeland security bill which would have opened the door to the deportation of dreamers. how do you explain your actions then and your words now? sen. rubio: he is running for senate. [laughter] murphy: i support immigration reform, and i always have. i believe in comprehensive immigration reform. we have to make sure there is a pathway to citizenship, to make sure they have that pathway. they have to pay their back taxes and make sure there is the pathway. we have to make sure that those students who are in this country, going to our great universities, do not get deported the day after they graduate. they deserve a pathway to citizenship. >> you support the affordable care act. obamacare. but people have seen their premiums rise. people were told they could keep their plans and they lost their plans.

what do you say to those people and what do you propose to do about this problem? rep. murphy: the affordable care act was a huge step forward for this country. but it is not perfect. there are things we can do to improve it. you think of my opponent. i try to think of moderate reforms to the afford will care act. marco rubio has spent the last six years in the senate trying to undermine that legislation. he wants to take us back to the days where women could be charged more than men just for being women. insurance companies could deny you coverage if you have pre-existing conditions. insurance companies could drop you if you got sick. that is where senator rubio wants to take us back to. i believe there are commonsense reforms we can make. expanding medicaid would be 900,000 people in florida alone. they would have access to health care. but you have to be willing to work across the aisle, find the common ground. there is no legislation in

washington that is ever perfect. but instead of spending all your time for political purposes, trying to tell your base you are going to tear it down why don't , we work for florida? sen. rubio: to say that obamacare has some problems is the equivalent of saying the titanic had some problems. people are losing their coverage. in three weeks, half a million floridians will lose their coverage again. it is collapsing under its own weight. i lead an effort -- they put into obamacare a fund to use your taxpayer money to bail out companies. >> when you were in the florida legislature, ford remained a state -- florida remained a state with one of the highest uninsured rates. how can you criticize obamacare when your solutions have failed?

sen. rubio: the governor undermine the effort for two years. i offered a specific plan to replace obamacare. i have offered a detailed plan. every american will have tax-fre money from their employer, provided health insurance, or have a refundable tax credit to purchase health insurance from any company in america. >> we have to take a quick break. we will be right back. ♪ >> welcome back to the florida senate debate. senator rubio, you had the worst

attendance record in terms of votes of any of your colleagues in the senate in 2015 and over the past year, you have missed a third of all rollcall votes. given that voting record, why should the voters of florida send you back to the senate, especially given this time, you are not even willing to promise to serve your full-term? sen. rubio: i did not like missing votes. i ran for president because i do but believe this country is heading in the wrong -- i deeply believe this country is heading in the wrong direction. i truly believe if we continue on the road we are on right now, we will be the first americans that leave our children worse off than ourselves. as far as my commitment to the office, that is proven by the results i have gotten for the state and country. on foreign affairs, i passed a bipartisan law that takes down human trafficking. that sanctioned hezbollah.

they attacked me by name. i passed sanctions on the dictatorship in venezuela. i passed the v.a. accountability act. we passed the foreign aid transparency act. these are actual achievements. they prove my commitment to the job and to the state and my commitment to my service in the senate. i invite the voters to compare that with congressman murphy's record. he does not have a single signature achievement, not a single law he has sponsored has been signed into law by the president of his own party. rep. murphy: can i clear that up? you have cosponsored two pieces

of legislation that of past the house, legislation that will help our citrus farmers, folks dealing with -- citrus farmers. it will help lower flood insurance rates. i am proud of my accomplishments. proud of what i was able to do in the minority in the u.s. congress. what about the $2 billion i was able to reach across the aisle and find some friends to work with an authorized to help fund the cleanup efforts for the everglades? the intelligence provisions that help protect this country. will you join me tonight and signing a six-year pledge that you are committed to serving this office? >> we have a rule of not asking

each other questions. sen. rubio: i will serve six years in the senate, god willing. being in the minority is not an excuse. europe it was alan grayson, someone -- europe's tenant was alan grayson -- your opponent was alan grayson, who was an interesting guy. i convinced after years of opposition the chairman of the water committee to change his mind and support the everglades planning project. i got more done for the everglades in one day rep. murphy: are you serious? that is laughable. sen. rubio: he was the chairman of the committee. you have someone who was a leading opponent of the everglades planning project and i spent two years talking to him and working with him on it. he featured the everglades as one of the reasons why we needed

to pass the water bill. when your colleagues in the senate trust you, listen to you, that is how you get things done. rep. murphy: your colleagues do not trust you and you are not effective. we cannot afford to have someone in this and at does not know how to get things done. >> are you promising to fill all six years of your term? sen. rubio: god willing. we are going to get a lot done, god willing, over the next six years. >> this means you are not running for president? sen. rubio: i will be senator over the next six years. the everglades is personal.

we created extraordinary memories for me and my family. i want to ensure that 20 or 30 years ago, -- from now, my sons and daughters can have the same memories. >> you described yourself as a small business owner. your company is a subsidiary of a billion-dollar construction firm founded by your father. you call yourself a certified look accountant but you have not been a cpa in florida. your website said you have two degrees from the university of miami when you only had one. have you misled floridians about your experience? rep. murphy: absolutely not. an independent fact checking agency has already debunked these accusations.

the last six attacks marco rubio and his special interest friends have lobbed at me have all been debunked. i am a cpa, i got my license in 2009. i am one of nine cpas in the house of representatives right now. we could probably use a few more cpas. i am proud of my small business experience. i will continue to do what i can to reach across the aisle and solve problems and continue to use my background as a cpa and a small business owner. i am happy to put my resume up against marco rubio, a career politician and lobbyist. sen. rubio: those are not my facts. one of the most respected investigative reporters in the state.

you did not run saying you were a cpa. you never had a license to work as a cpa in florida. you never had a single contract to clean up the gulf of mexico. the company was only open for five months. you did not have a dual degree from the university of miami because they do not give dual degrees. why would someone make something up about the record? because they do not have a real one to talk about. he has yet to cite a single signature achievement. you are not some outsider. you are sitting congressman. we are 40 minutes into this debate and you cannot tell us a single signature achievement. rep. murphy: i feel bad for you, how little you know about business.

the cpa is the same in all 50 states. i understand what small business owners are going through, how tough it is to start a business. i believe we can do more to help those small business owners. that is exactly why i have done so much to reach across the aisle to help solve these problems, help get things done for our country. you cannot even commit to serving a full term. sen. rubio: that is aligned you practice before saying what i said today. in the state of florida, we have laws and it says you cannot work as a cpa in florida if you do not have a florida cpa license. if you worked as a cpa, you did so illegally. all due respect to your family, your father has an excellent reputation, it is not that hard to open a small business when your dad opens it for you.

rep. murphy: i never tried to hide that. the name of the company was coastal environmental. you're trying to make something up, make it as if -- sen. rubio: i am not the one making things up. >> you talk about what you are and what you are not. you are not a scientist. $400 billion in property is at risk because of rising seas and on a dry day, streets in south florida have flooded. that happen just yesterday. what are you going to do to protect floridians from what is an undeniable threat to our coastline? sen. rubio: first of all, what happened yesterday on miami beach was the result of king

tied. -- king tide. if the levels are rising, we should spend money to mitigate that. we funded millions of dollars of projects to prevent flooding. the community i live in used to flood. as a policy maker, you have to show me whether the laws you want me to pass will actually impact the issue you're raising. we want you to pass these laws on carbon emission. how many inches of sea rise will this prevent? nothing, but this will set a good example for the world. it will have a devastating impact on our economy. that is not the approach i want to take. mitigation, and i want this

country to have an all of the above energy strategy. i think it is irresponsible not to say we will fully utilize natural gas and oil and nuclear energy and clean coal technology . we should have the most diverse energy subset possible. >> national geographic named miami as the number one city in the world to be impacted by climate change. senator rubio said he is not a scientist. look out your window. 2-3 inches of saltwater on the roads right now.

go down to the florida keys, the reefs are dying. come to my district, algae, the most biologically diverse estuary in the country. note to the panhandle and you will see -- go to the panhandle and you will see oysters dying. sen. rubio: on the issue of the oyster men, georgia is stealing our water. we will make us -- we will make georgia give us our water and they will pay for it. lake okeechobee, -- none of those to have anything to do with rising sea levels. you are neither a scientist nor a cpa. >> republicans have referred to you as privileged patrick. as someone who benefited from a

financially secure upbringing, how can you address the concerns of the working poor? rep. murphy: everyone knows who my dad is. i believe an attack on my dad is an attack on the american dream. he never graduated college. he was a union carpenter. he worked his butt off every single day and he taught me the value of hard work. my first job was not in an air-conditioned job. my first job was as a day laborer. i never forgot the value of hard work. something my opponent did forget.

we have a senator with one foot out the door who will not show up to work. think about what is at stake. we can do so much more but you have to show up to work. you cannot be in the pocket of special interest groups. when he does show up, he always votes with the koch brothers. if we are going to be serious about solving problems, you have to be willing to show up. get things done. sen. rubio: i have something to show for my hard work. going back to my time in the florida legislature, property taxes in florida are lower the cause of the work we did. we reformed school curriculum in the state when i was speaker and we did it without common core. during my time in the senate, i worked with a democrat from new hampshire to leverage u.s. foreign aid to pressure foreign countries to ensure little girls have birth certificates so they are not trafficked into slavery. if we saved one little girl from slavery, that is meaningful

work. you do not have a single bill you can cite. >> you told me earlier in the year you opposed abortion for women infected with the gun -- infected with zika. your opponent used your words in an ad and you came out with your own spanish-language ad that said his characterization was false. i want to know what your position really is. sen. rubio:'s ad says i want to take reproductive rights away from women and that is false. on the issue of abortion, it is not an easy issue. you talk about a 16-year-old on

the crisis -- with a crisis pregnancy. it is a difficult issue because it involves two competing rights . the right of a woman. in this case, there is another right, the right of an unborn child to live. if i am going to err, i will err on the side of life. this is not an issue of politics. it is something i feel deeply and passionately about. i respect people who have reached a different conclusion. this is how i passionately feel. here is what i do think it's outrageous. people like patrick murphy and hillary clinton believe no abortions should be illegal. what i do not understand is how come the media never plans to these extremist positions -- never plans to these extremist positions on the other side?

rep. murphy: my opponent does not support the right to choose in the case of rape or incest or zika. my opponent supports the defunding of planned parenthood. he supported legislation that was later known as the scarlet letter. imagine a woman, a victim of rape taking a newspaper ad to suggest -- to reveal her sexual history. sen. rubio: no one knew what the law would do. this is the third time tonight that you have implied that i do not respect women. you listed -- look at my record,

look at the things i have done. some of these issues are difficult issues. >> let's talk about donald trump again. think about who my opponent has endorsed to be the next

president. bragging about sexually assaulting women. i do not need to hear a lecture from you about women's rights. women in florida are paid about 85% of what a man makes and you think that is a waste of time. we can do more and we can do better. i believe you have to show up to get things done. sen. rubio: congressman murphy, the women in your office make 85% of what men do. of course, i am for equal pay for women. i have two girls that are 16 and 14. the law you are talking about would have done nothing. suppose you are a small business, or any business, and you have two excellent employees. the woman is much better than a man. another company tries to hire her away and you try to give her

a raise to keep her, you cannot unless you give the man a raise. it had unintended consequences that would not have achieved 30 -- parity in pay. >> there has been a lot of questions about the legitimacy of this election. donald trump has said this election is absolutely being rigged. he is talking not just about media coverage , but saying there is voter fraud throughout the country. do you have faith in the democratic process in the state and in this country and do you believe the voters of florida should have faith in the results on november 8? sen. rubio: absolutely. this election is not being rigged. we have 67 counties in the state, each of which conduct

their own elections. the governor of the state of florida is a republican who said people who run the division of elections. there is no evidence behind any of us. do i believe people should have confidence? yes. this is a state that literally has millions of people who came here because they could not vote in the nation of their birth. rep. murphy: donald trump said it himself. he is unhinged now. he will stop at nothing -- unshackled, unhinged. he was counting at this point -- who is counting at this point? we do respect the election process. we do have fair elections where people are going to show up. senator rubio and i will tell you we will accept the results of this election. unfortunately, you are still standing by donald trump side and that is shameful.

words matter when he is -- words matter when it is the presidential nominee. >> on the question of cuba, congressman, you have praised obama's opening to cuba. given the continued human rights abuses on the island, do you support lifting the u.s. embargo on cuba? rep. murphy: i do support the president's attempts to normalize relations with cuba. i have cousins and aunts who are cuban. i understand. it is a very personal issue for many people. we have had over 50 years of a failed policy that has not worked.

let's give the regime what they fear the most, and that is capitalism. i do support targeted sanctions on the bad actors in the regime. sen. rubio: i am not against changes in policy toward cuba. here is how good the opening to cuba is going. more people are in jail today than before the steel. all 57 people have been rearrested at least once. they are still harboring fugitives. this deal is not working out for anyone except castro and his cronies. >> we turn to closing statements. rep. murphy: thank you for moderating and thank you for being here.

i am proud of what i have accomplished over the last four years, proud of the cuts i was able to prevent from medicare, proud of the legislation i passed to lower flood insurance rates. i will continue to show up. i am proud of my 97% voting record. marco rubio, the worst voting record of any senator from florida in nearly 50 years. one foot out the door. think about what is at stake in this election. the u.s. supreme court hangs in the balance. climate change has to be addressed and my opponent still denies it. i am proud of the endorsements i received from the orlando sentinel, the tampa bay times, the sun sentinel. two of those endorsed my up on it but they also agree he is shirking his responsibilities.

sen. rubio: the hour has passed and you have yet to hear much of a record after four years in the congress. he talked about saving cuts to medicare. he signed on to a letter. i have not talked about that tonight because signing on to a letter -- that tells you everything what you need to know. i want to continue to serve the people of florida. the work i did on behalf of some very important people, they are from puerto rico and they were given some of the most difficult assignments in korea and vietnam and no one recognized them for it. we finally got them the congressional medal of honor. just one more achievement. compare that to patrick murphy's record of doing absolutely nothing. >> that is all the time we have. thank you for watching.

thank you to our host, the university of central florida. thank you and good night. [applause] >> bans "washington journal"

live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. coming up this morning, a senior elections analysis discusses his work analyzing the latest polls as well as the electoral college ma. he will also discuss the approach to polling and what voters should look for when evaluating polls. then, an associate professor from the university of florida talks about the results from early voting. be sure to watch live at 7:00 eastern this morning. join the discussion. watch c-span's live coverage of the third debate between hillary clinton and donald trump. the preview of the debate from the wrist is done at a las vegas begins at seven: 30 eastern.

the briefings for the audience is that 8:30 eastern and the debate is at 9:00 eastern. stay with us after the debate for the reaction. watch the debate live or on-demand on c-span.org. listen with your phone on the app.n radio ohio, senator portland is running against governor strickland. both men served in the u.s. house of representative's. of ohio.te is courtesy in columbus, ohio. >> tonight, 2 candidates, one position as a u.s. senator. tedher portland and