enterprises that will hire more people, lead to higher wages for the american peep and he will make sure we can finance and maintain the great strength that is america. thanks so much, great to be with -- states are, by the way. governors, republicans, and democrats are getting the job done time and again. i salute your team, those of you who are here today, those of you who are fighting, whether you are republican or democrat, fight to take on the real challenges. get the things resolved so that they energy and the passion of the american people will lead to higher wages for the american people and make sure we can

finance and maintain the great strength that is america. thanks so much, great to be with you today. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, governor. we solicited a few questions from our members and i'm goingin -- going to take the liberty of asking you. seemed to have an increasingly important role in guiding strategies. as a former governor and american onto newer, what advice would you give to general counsel to guide them in 2017? mr. romney: i think it is helpful to have a prescriptive -- a perspective of what is

happening globally an international competition. let me tell you a story. arnold schwarzenegger coming to california, this is a republican governor for me. i put up billboards in his state with me and a t-shirt and he says much lower taxes. [applause] i think people in the legal world have the ability to create a perspective on what is happening globally and in competition and technology in the legal environment and they help the enterprise make the choices as to where the investments thrive.

right now, and the -- a very strong pitch to be involved in washington to help people understand. if they want to see their enterprise, add employment and jobs and raise wages that they have to make it more attractive for the enterprise to do that business in the u.s. as opposed to making it less attractive. what has been happening over the last decade or so at the federal level has been making it less attractive. i think legal counsel has the ability to stand back from day-to-day operations of business and gain perspective on what is happening and help inform the board and informed management on some of those issues. >> thank you. very helpful advice. i will go with one more because we have a teeny bit of time left. what is the primary release it -- reason you decided to leave the business world and try your hand at politics?

mr. romney: delusion. [laughter] mr. romney: i am kidding about that. look, i sort of backed into it. i was enjoying my business. i love enterprise and the thrill of being at enterprise that employs people and creates wealth for all of those associated with it. friends of mine in utah where preparing to organize the olympic games in 2002. mired in scandal because there were allegations of bribery to have the games go to salt lake. the governor said would you consider -- my business career was largely with turns -- turnarounds. businesses in trouble that we invested in and then try to turn them around. that i thought was helpful. long story short, i was not a great athlete my sons got five

boys and the kind of athleticism i do not have. when my oldest son had heard i had taken the lipid job, he said dad, i called the brothers this morning and we want you to know there is not a circumstance we could have developed that would put you on the front page of the sports section. [laughter] mr. romney: i did it because i believe the olympics was one of the few places left in the

planet where young people could see the great qualities of human spirit on display. determination, sacrifice, teamwork, sportsmanship, and so forth. when the games were over, we got -- the state got into financial difficulty and the boston globe wrote an article saying it would be nice if the governor who has gone off to help rescue the limits out there would come back here. i was persuaded by a number of folks to do that. i was suddenly in public service. i find the translation to be far more normal and easy than you might expect. people assume if you are in business, whatever you say has to be done automatically by the enterprise, it -- that you are the boss if you are the ceo. you understand that is far from the truth. you have got customers and unions and your board of directors, the bankers, the list goes on and on of people who are your bosses. people inside the enterprise want your job. it is a complicated process. the political environment you are dealing with is a lot like public service.

i found i was able to translate some of those skills to working across the aisle if you will. i love being governor. it was a fabulous experience. we accomplished a lot. i had the good fortune of having my legislature in the opposite party's hands. i speaker of the house was a democrat and the senate president was a democrat. that meant, it taught me from the very beginning, i couldn't force my way through. i had to learn to find common ground. i wish we had more people to work successfully to do that. i did not get everything i wanted done. but i got a lot done. i think some of those skills are essential now. let me just say this. it is an honor to be with you. i wish we had all day. i am optimistic. i think america has all of the elements that are essential for us to lead. i courage you to get involved. it is a great experience for you will of it. [laughter] -- you will love it. [laughter] mr. romney: congratulations to you. let's work together and make

sure america remains the hope of the earth. [applause] ♪ >> after i came up with my idea of reproductive rights, i went and research. i knew i could find the information. that would also help me to figure out what points i wanted to say about it and how to outline my piece. wanted.ould, if you this, piece as dense as

it is a problem of reworking and reworking. when i was coming up with my theme, i was doing research at the same time. i would do research, and the whole process is about scratching what does not work. you keep doing it until you get the finished product. >> tell us what is the most urgent issue for the president and congress to address in 2017. the competition is open to all middle school and high school students with $100,000 awarded in cash prizes. students can work alone or in a group of up to three to produce a 5-7 minute documentary on the issues selected. prizes will in cash students between 150

and 53 teachers. the grand prize will go to the student or group with the best entry. mark your calendars and help us spread the word to student film makers. for more information go to our website. >> in a debate between the new hampshire senate candidates, senator kelly ayotte and maggie hassan answered questions about health insurance, national security, and the environment. of six debatesth planned before the november election. >> tonight, the general election debate in new hampshire.

in our studio senator kelly ayotte and her democratic challenger, governor maggie hassan. this is one of the most negative senate races in the country, from domestic issues -- >> she has stood for corporate social interests to undermine security and put the budget on the back of our seniors. >> this has been a very negative campaign from the governor and her allies, with all sorts of attacks against me. host: to national security. >> the policies she is supporting and continues to support make us less safe. governor maggie hassan she has -- gov. hassan: she has put her party before national security. host: these two candidates do not see eye to eye. the debate begins, right now. ♪

host: good evening, it is debate night and we want to welcome the candidates to our studios and thank them for taking part in the issues. we want to welcome our viewers watching and to the viewers around the country tune in and on c-span. host: the candidates will each be given a question and will have one minute to respond. you the viewers will hear an audio cue and there will be 32nd rebuttals -- 30 second rebuttals allow. the governor will go force -- go first, followed by senator kelly ayotte. we are partnering with the debate coalition. tonight the debate will feature questions posed by more than 120,000 voters in new hampshire and around the nation. paul: we have a lot of crucial issues. we will start with health care and in the news for those that are receiving health care from the marketplace, there will be a rise in premiums. -- says governor maggie hassan cannot stand up to her party. governor, we want to give you a

chance to respond to that ad. gov. hassan: thank you for monitoring. and senator, thank you for participating. and to everyone watching, thank you for watching and engaging in the debate. my husband and i have two terrific kids and our oldest has severe disabilities. and various time spent has been -- tie me spent with doctors. so we know the flaws of the health care system. it is important that we improve the affordable care act, but we

should not go back to a time when people who had a pre-existing conditions could not purchase insurance. we have our bipartisan expansion program in new hampshire, which provides coverage because of the affordable care act. there are improvements we have to make my but i will -- any attempt to take insurance away from voters, something my opponent has said she will do. sen. ayotte: thank you for having us. and for all of the viewers. good to be here with you. this issue is one where we have agreement on two things. first, we need to address pre-existing conditions. and those receiving coverage now, we do not want to pull out the rug from under them. that is why i voted for medicaid expansion for two years so we can work on a solution to give more stability to states to craft their own solution. make no mistake, higher deductibles and premiums, and people were told they could keep their plans if they like it, but costs have gone up. we need more competition and more transparency. i have supported health savings accounts and more competition

and transparency. this is a big difference between us, because she is going to be following hillary clinton's lead on this and she wants to expand the affordable care act when there are so many issues with it. gov. hassan: people should be clear that my opponent has voted to repeal medicaid expansion. she is using washington speak to tell you, because she is willing to give you one more year and then pull the rug out, somehow that is a good thing. we came together and a bipartisan group of us build an expansion program that has added competition on the exchange.

there is more to do to fix the issues and problems and lower the cost, but we should not dop it by taking away health care from people. paul: we will stick with health care. kiki: name three things you could propose to lower the price of health care premiums. senator, we start with you. sen. ayotte: eliminate some of the mandates from washington. you have to give people the ability to have flexibility with different plans. they should have been able to keep their plan if they liked it. we should expand health savings accounts and transparency in the health care system. you should be able to purchase insurance across state lines. there is so much more to do. a one-size-fits-all from washington is not going to solve it for people in new hampshire that have higher co-pays and premiums.

this is an issue for this family struggling. let me go back to something that the governor said with regards to medicaid expansion. i voted to expand it, because i want new hampshire based solutions and new ways to craft ways to better serve people who need help. not just washington telling us how to do it. kiki: governor? gov. hassan: we put together the

medicaid expansion, which she has voted to repeal five times. look, there are a number of things we need to do to lower the health care costs, among them, reward quantity over quality -- quality over quantity and get these drugs to market more quickly. we could also allow the importation of drugs from canada, something she has voted against. it is reflective of her pattern with special interests, and major donors to her campaign. sen. ayotte: i have supported generic drugs to go to market sooner. and we need to address changes with the fda. i support the fair drug pricing act that will require companies to notify us in advance we can

take action. and the governor's favorite talking point is that somehow i am supporting special interests. she is actually raising money for lobbyists and issues criticizing me. gov. hassan: if i could, first of all, the senator has failed to stand up to the big pharmacies over and over again. and she continues to talk about -- the people are so frustrated with the washington that is broken, because of people like my opponent, that stand with

special interests, instead of people in the small businesses of new hampshire. sen. ayotte: think about this, if you are wondering who will make changes to the affordable care act to have more transparency, the governor stands with hillary clinton. this system needs to be changed. and it she stands with her for the florida -- for the iran agreement that is dangerous for the country. that is the kind of work we can do, if we work across party lines. kiki: senator? sen. ayotte: i would support medicare and negotiating. but we need to solve the problem here. this is why i would support getting more competition and more generics to market.

the governor talks about special interests, it is her favorite talking point. look at your television. she was recruited by powerbrokers in washington, harry reid and chuck schumer, who want control and that is why they are spending money from the super pac, and the former mayor of new york city spending on her behalf. i am standing up for you. that is what i will always do, because i think about the people struggling and that is the work we need to do. i have one of the most bipartisan records in the senate and i look for common ground to deliver results. kiki: governor?

gov. hassan: the senator voted with the koch brothers 90% of the time, siding with them for big tax breaks. and she has voted against taxes it for those who are moving jobs overseas. she has stood with wall street, which has given about $2.5 million to her campaign and has supported tax breaks for their ceos. and the sense that washington is not standing up for people, we should be working for families, not special interests. kiki: thank you both. sen. ayotte: i would like to respond. this is her favorite talking point and it is not true. there are no ads on the air from the koch brothers, they have been critical of me because i stood up for new hampshire and climate change. the governor in her time as governor, the largest state contracts in state history, $1.6 billion from one of her largest contributors, where she took about a quarter million dollars to her campaign and the democratic governors association. this is the kind of conduct people worry about. paul: your response? gov. hassan: she knows what she just said is political attack.

let's be clear, the contract was entered into the state before i became governor and she knows that. and the koch brothers, the family has given personally to her, even after she did the kind of -- to pretend that she has strong -- paul: voters got a mailer this week from the republican party and it said, the country needs governor -- saying she has backtracked, integrate mail pieces, and say that a future president trump needs her in the senate. senator, two questions. did your campaign have a hand in the mailer? andy recently said that he would not vote for donald trump after the audio recordings we all know about. but you said you would write in the name, mike pence?

isn't it that still supporting the ticket? sen. ayotte: there are a lot of mailers. i do not know where that one comes from, not my campaign. i will tell you, i have stood up to my party, unlike the governor. and i will put the priorities of new hampshire first. i did that before donald trump was a candidate. whether issues like the government shutdown data i did it. -- shutdown -- i did it. it. she has not stood up to her menominee. she will give you talking points about where she disagrees with president obama, but she has not stood up to hillary clinton, whether it is the iran deal. or whether it is the trillion dollar tax increase that hillary

clinton wants. she has a history of imposing taxes on new hampshire families. gov. hassan: on 35 different occasions, she has stood with donald trump, even as he insulted women, made fun of people with disabilities and attacked a gold star family. when it was clinically inconvenient after the tapes were released, she finally said she would not vote for him, as if she was surprised by those tapes, which reflected who we have come to know as donald trump. and now trying to walk back, her campaign approved the mailer that said she wanted to work with him in the u.s. senate. she wants to create gridlock. i am happy to talk about how i will stand up to my party at any time. paul: senator? sen. ayotte: talk about gridlock, it is like vetoing a budget like she did, because she wanted to decrease taxes on businesses. she vetoed it and now she is taking credit for it.

i will be the person that makes sure our small businesses have lower taxes, unlike the governor. when you think about standing up to your party, the governor has not stood up to hillary clinton on anything of consequence. i have already done that. i stood up to donald trump and i stood up to the government shutdown and i will stand up to democrats if i think they are not doing the right thing. but i also have one of the most bipartisan records paul: in the senate. government -- records in the senate. paul: governor? gov. hassan: let's be clear, she said she was willing to vote for donald trump. i have stood up to hillary clinton and i do not support the proposal to close guantanamo bay. i will continue to fight for the people of new hampshire.

and let's also be very clear, i stood up to veto a budget, because i will always stand up for fiscal responsibility. only in washington dc would you hear a debate about taking credit for something. kiki: governor, lately we have been getting a daily download from wikileaks. the documents reveal disturbing information about the clinton foundation and hillary clinton's time as secretary of state. has it made you rethink your position of supporting her? gov. hassan: i think as senator rubio indicated, it is a mistake to give credence to this wikileaks stream, you are supporting the people that hacked into these records. and i think it is a mistake to do that. i will never fail to stand up to

secretary clinton or my party. i have criticized her for handling her e-mails, that was a mistake and she has apologized for that. what is at issue in this campaign and what it will be about is, whether we will come together as americans and build a future that includes everyone. a place where hard-working families can stay ahead and a middle class is growing and where parents are confident again that their children will have a better future. that is a vision i have been working on with members of both parties and that is the vision that hillary clinton shares, which is why i support her. kiki: thank you. senator, a 30 second response? sen. ayotte: a mistake is when you say 2 plus 2 equals 5. that is what happened when hillary clinton jeopardize national security. this is a difference between us. i will stand up to my own party and to the other side. i have one of the most bipartisan records because i am focused on getting things done, like passing legislation to address the heroin epidemic and making sure it is easier on small businesses with taxes and regulation.

the governor vetoed a budget that did provide reductions for the small businesses, because -- but she wants to take credit for it now. gov. hassan: let's be clear about the senator's record, she voted with ted cruz to shut down the government and when she realized it was hurting new hampshire, then she finally decided to pretend to be part of the solution. she voted to defund planned parenthood six times. she has been standing with mitch mcconnell on the supreme court blockade. she has stood with her party and has made a mistake of supporting donald trump, even when members of her own party and a national security expert said he posed a danger. paul: i do not think we would be talking about this topic, but

the sexual misconduct schedule is front and center in this campaign. a new ad by a group supporting the senator says the governor's husband, principal at the time, covered up a scandal. and it includes the governor speaking to reporters, explaining why she accepted a campaign conservation in her first run from that academy involved in the scandal. governor, your campaign has pushed back against this commercial, saying it is out of bounds. i would like to hear from you on this issue. gov. hassan: this is a personal attack against my family. the facts are that the school and my husband went to the police as soon as they received allegations of misconduct. my campaign donated to charity a conservation from the offender. what is really concerning is how much the senator and her allies want her reelected that they

would stoop to this length, to publicize this tragedy at a school. that they would politicize other things around the opioid crisis, running ads about that in the political campaign, something we are working together on to combat. her allies want her back in washington because they know she will vote with them, with big pharma to protect prices, to vote with the oil and against the environment. they know that she will vote to protect outsourcing, so they get a tax break when they move jobs overseas. that is why they support her and why they are running this kind of despicable political ad. paul: senator? sen. ayotte: we could have kept all of this outside money out of this race. i offered the governor a pledge, a pledge to keep the outside

money out, that elizabeth warren, one of her supporters put in place. and it we could have kept this money out. i think we know why she did not want it out, because we see millions of dollars from terry reed, that recruited her, the powerbrokers supporting her, mike bloomberg, the former mayor of new york city giving over $7 million and federal unions and hillary clinton's super pac, because they know that she will be a rubberstamp. paul: i think we're going back to campaign finance later in the to bake my but quickly -- in the debate, but quickly, talk about the ad. sen. ayotte: i have talked about my record and the governor has not said anything about it. we could have kept the money out.

she will have to address the ad. gov. hassan: money has way too much influence in politics. we could overturn citizens united, something i have supported. i have supported reform since my days in the senate. overturning citizens united, she says would be absurd. she has voted against it. i signed and sent back a pledge. the ads running against the senator address her poor judgment as a senator in the votes she has cast. paul: candidates -- sen. ayotte: you see how she embraces those ads. we could have kept them out. she said the same pledge that was good enough for elizabeth warren, she rejected because that political -- that is political speak for i do not want to see it. -- sign it. paul: thank you.

kiki: many more topics. stay with us. we will be right back after a quick break. ♪ paul: it is debate week here in new hampshire. you are watching the u.s. senate debate. keke: we continue with the drug crisis. governor, outside republican groups have made it a point to slam your record on the heron problem. more people are expected to die this year than last. how do you respond to the

attacks on how you handled the crisis? gov. hassan: a day does not go by where i do not meet somebody impacted by this, a sister of a colleague of mine who is trying to regain the trust of her children, a classmate of my son who died from an overdose. we see the impact all across our state. and since my first days in office, i have worked to address this with drug task force money into trying hard to get medicaid expansion past, because it covers substance abuse. making narcan available to first responders and working to get emergency funding past, so we can get dollars out the door as we have been to places like a bethlehem.

we have to continue to roll up our sleeves every day to combat this. but it is one of the reasons it is so important we move forward and protect medicaid expansion. keke: how much responsibility do you personally take for the fact more people will die this year than last year? gov. hassan: we all want to save every life we possibly can, right? so we have been working hard, everything from medicaid expansion to expanding our drug courts and investing in operation granite hammer to battle a new and deadly form of opioids. the other thing we need is emergency federal funding from the federal government, something all governors have called on and will continue working toward every day. every life lost is a tragedy and we must continue to work together to combat the epidemic. keke: senator, how would you handle the crisis differently? sen. ayotte: this is such an important issue. i think about my friends that lost their beautiful daughter. somebody has lost somebody in the state. i have worked for three years to

a pass the recovery act, focused on the federal level, to help states with recovery. i have been fighting for more funding and working to support emergency funding as well. and also looking at the border, where we see it coming from the mexican drug cartels. we are in the armed services committee trying to get more resources at the border. it is important at the state level, the money that is coming down. i know that there are millions of dollars that have not gone out the door and we need to make sure those resources flow to those waiting to help those who are struggling. keke: is the money getting to the front lines of the crisis? sen. ayotte: i think there have been concerns about not fast enough. $2 million of the $3 million has not gone out the door.

we need to work together on this issue. i will continue to work to get all the resources we can to work together. we have to turn this around for families and continue to support first responders. gov. hassan: the senator just said some things she knows are not true. first of all, we have gotten out of the door about $25 million in contracts for treatment and recovery. we also have almost all of the money allocated, it is already encumbered, which means there are plans to spend it. that is over the course of the year which is how you handle contracts. so these are attacks by her and her allies. it is unfortunate. frankly, if some of them were concerned about the speed of dollars going out the door, they could have taken less than the seven months they took to authorize the money.

keke: thank you both. sen. ayotte: who she is talking about are the legislators that allocated the money and what was recently allocated, based on a recent report, two thirds has not gone out. when she vetoed the budget , she delayed funding. i have been working my hardest to make sure that we do all we can to get help to the state and we focus on prevention, treatment and recovery to save lives. paul: did the veto delay funding? gov. hassan: we kept the government running after i stood up to fiscal irresponsibility. -- responsibility. the lack of safeguards would have made it very difficult to continue our prevention treatment and recovery funding, so we came together, something i wish washington would do more

of, and we put together a compromise with safeguards so we could have the tax cuts and i am glad we are able to accomplish, but also protect those priorities that businesses and families in new hampshire need. sen. ayotte: let's be clear, she vetoed the budget had reductions for small businesses in new hampshire, and called it dishonest. then actually delayed, not only funding going to help address the epidemic on but also help those with mental illness. the thing that is bipartisan about the budget is republicans and democrats came together to override her veto. now she says she was for it all along. that is the doublespeak we do not need. gov. hassan: i want to be clear

that the senator voted to repeal medicaid expansion five times, so for her to talk about being gov. hassan: i want to be clear concerned about funding for behavioral health and substance abuse treatment, when she is willing to take away that treatment for 50,000 people is concerning. paul: i do want to move on to another topic, the broken va system. it has been a topic here and across the country. veterans are committing suicide at a rate of 22 per day. here in new hampshire we do not have a hospital for veterans. paul wants to know, what will you do to end the veterans suicide? sen. ayotte: this is so devastating. my husband is a combat veteran and he served in the iraq war, so we need to do all we can to help veterans. in the senate, i have supported the clay hunt bill to help serve them better with mental health needs, but at the state level we

need to be ensuring, this is something the senator and i have worked on together, we only -- not only fought for the hospital, but for more care in the communities. we need to continue to have accountability act of the eighth - va. unfortunately, we hear of misconduct and i have supported bills that will hold people a re held accountable and also support people who are doing a good job at the va. there is so much more we need to do for veterans and of all the things we need to be doing, those who have defended the nation, they deserve the very best. paul: governor? gov. hassan: i am the daughter of a world war ii veteran, so i have a personal interest in making sure veterans have access to health care, including behavioral health care. we have more to do to end the

terrible scandals around weight times -- wait times in the va. and we need more time to bring forth the whistleblowers on the va. we should have a full-service va hospital and we definitely have to improve things. i am proud of the work we have done, making permanent are ptsd and dramatic brain injury commission. and are asking the question campaign, which has helped community members learn more about who has served in the community, to make sure they are getting the help they need. and we need to make sure that we are protecting veterans from shady, for-profit companies that will prey on them. paul: senator, a quick response. sen. ayotte: yes, this is -- for me, i am the wife of a combat

veteran and i have fought hard for veterans. i introduced legislation to be able to -- back bonuses, it passed to the committee and to hold people accountable who are not serving the veterans. it came to the floor and it was blocked by federal employees unions. guess what? they are putting millions of dollars together and supporting her campaign. the status quo is not acceptable. we must address this for our veterans. so, the governor has not returned money when it has come to all of the millions of dollars that are supporting her campaign. including people who want to keep the status quo. paul: governor, 15 seconds. gov. hassan: i have been fighting for the people of new hampshire and i am proud to stand up from working -- for working men and women.

at the end of the day, the senator accepted money from bridge point university, which preyed on veterans. even presiding on the floor at the discussion of their potentially illegal and unethical behavior, when it was discussed, and said she did not know about it. paul: thank you. keke: a question about equal pay. a new report says, at the current pace pay equity globally is 170 years away. the u.s. came in at number 45 on a list of countries. what would you do to help close the gap? gov. hassan: one thing i have been pleased to do in new hampshire is support the pay equity act. we have equal pay for equal work in new hampshire and it was a bipartisan bill. she voted against equal pay for equal work at the federal level. we should have an inclusive economy that works for everyone.

that is how we build a thriving middle class. i will always stand up for equal pay for equal work and stand up for a woman's rights to make her own decisions, and for family planning access. and i will make sure that we stand up for working families and supported the expansion of pell grants. she voted to make cuts to those grants, allowing students to refinance loans. and our work to hold down the cost of education. we have frozen the cost at our state intuitions and we are lowering the cost at those institutions. we are trying to lower it at the federal level. keke: senator? sen. ayotte: as the mother of a daughter, this is important to me. i like what happened in new hampshire and i thought it was a good solution. i introduced the bill in

washington, because there has been gridlock on this issue. i actually thought this bill was very good. i call it the gap act, and i actually made it stronger because there are penalties in it that will give it more -- that is me looking at new hampshire solutions and bringing them to the capital instead of gridlock. in a situation come of the governor attacked -- situation, the governor attacked me. i worked on a bipartisan basis to make sure that -- it would be preserved. unfortunately, there are so many moves to cut access to women's health care on mammograms and i was glad to fight it. her favorite talking point, pell grants. i have not voted to cut them in any way. in fact, i have voted for

expanding them, working on bipartisan legislation to make them accessible for technical education. and i voted to allow students to make sure that they can have it accessible and lower interest rates. keke: thank you. governor, would you like to respond? gov. hassan: in 2015, she voted for a budget that included $90 billion of cuts to those grants. it would have made it more expensive for students. and the day before, there was an amendment offered that would have allowed her to restore the $90 million of cuts in that budget and she voted against restoring that. that is her record. and like she is trying to run away from donald trump, this is campaign for her is running away. sen. ayotte: let me be clear, read the resolution 11, the governor has not read it.

girl i voted to make sure that no cuts to pell grants took place, but that we look at what is spent every year. i want to do that with every level of spending. you can read it yourself. this is a false attack. i want viewers to be what to read the bill, because i voted on it and i am making sure that pell grants remain strong. and i have fought to major that perkins grants are not eliminated, 5000 new hampshire students impacted by that. paul: we have a lot more issues to get going. when we come back, national security. stick with us. ♪

paul: 12 days until the election. this debate is so crucial. keke: we continue with a question about national security. senator ayotte, you recently applauded efforts from companies like google and facebook for removing the islamic state's presence. where is the line between expressing ourselves and national security? sen. ayotte: i support the first amendment, but when you are amendment, but when you are asking people to commit terrorist attacks, which many of the sites are being used to do that are taken down by the social media sites, that is a line that cannot be crossed. so isis and other groups, these businesses need to take down those sites, because we know they are encouraging violence. this is a serious issue. the line is clear, when you are encouraging terrorism, that is a

position obviously where it goes beyond free speech. keke: governor? gov. hassan: my first job as governor is the security of our state and the safety of our communities and i will always put the security of our country first. at home, i have put more troopers on the road and i have enhanced school safety plans. we have extended active shooter training for law enforcement and we have developed new standards for cyber security in the state, and a trained state employees on cyber security and got rid of outdated hardware and software that makes us of honorable. i am proud -- vulnerable. i am proud of our national guard, the men and women now in harm's way. i support the first amendment, but when terrorists are using our social media and our systems

to promote terrorism and create and develop real threats to our country, we have to take a stand and make sure that we are working with high-tech companies to get these terrorists off of social media and keep the country safe. keke: paul? paul: let's talk about college affordability. this state has one of the highest levels of student debt in the country. it is $36,000 per student. it has gone up 8%. hillary clinton was in the state and calling for debt-free college for state institutions. governor, if you are in the senate next year, is that a plan you will sign up for? gov. hassan: one thing i hear from families and businesses is how important affordable higher

education is. i worked on a bipartisan budget to freeze in-state tuition at public universities for the first time and we actually lowered it for community colleges. and we put together options for public universities and systems, to lower the cost of higher education. that is something i want to continue to work on in the senate. it is a point of difference between senator ayotte and myself. she has voted against allowing students to refinance loans. i have been working to make sure that we lower the cost of higher education and i will continue to do that in the u.s. senate. i think clinton's plan to have a debt-free college at public universities is a very good goal to be working toward and i think we have to come together and get to this issue, because it is for our families and our businesses that need a 21st century workforce.

paul: is that something you will support or is there a different way you will go? sen. ayotte: as somebody that had student loans through law school and then transferred those payments to childcare, i understand this is a big issue. the governor can keep talking about pell grants, but go read, i am actually working to expand these. i am working on them for career technical education. i was also part of a group to make sure that interest rates would not double for those students, saving billions of dollars. you can look at my speech on the senate floor when they were trying to eliminate the perkins grant, i fought it and this is an important issue we need to work on together. we need to understand, how would

we pay for this? making sure we are in a position that we provide affordable education, we need colleges to have more skin in the game and make sure they are working with us instead of increasing prices in a way that will make it unaffordable. i know how important this is to new hampshire families. paul: thank you. we have a lot more to get through. keke: this question comes from a person in exeter. what will you do to keep protection for the public from mass shootings? sen. ayotte: this has been a priority to keep new hampshire safe and serving on the armed services committee, from both obviously criminals and terrorists.

it is important that criminals and terrorists cannot have access to firearms, but it is equally important to protect people's rights under the second amendment. i am proud to have the endorsement of the new hampshire troopers, having worked with law enforcement on keeping the stay safe. i would want to make sure that we fix the system right now in terms of background checks. i support that context. i want to get the mental health records that should be there by law. new hampshire is finally doing that. in addition, if you are too dangerous to get on a commercial flight, you should not be able to purchase a firearm. but if you think you are wrong fully on that list, i supported an effort to measure that there is a mechanism to get off the list. we have to focus on making sure people are safe, but we also have to protect people's constitutional rights. keke: governor? gov. hassan: responsible gun owners have a right to have them for hunting and self-defense. but i also believe we can take

steps to bolster national security by expanding background checks. this is a major difference between the senator and myself. she talked about the no-fly, no buy bill, the united states congress could still circumvent the background checks system under her bill by buying guns online and at gun shows. and isis knows it, they have been telling people in the u.s. that they can just go buy guns online and at gun shows. the senator had a chance to vote to expand checks after sandy hook and she didn't. she had an opportunity after orlando, and she didn't. this is a national security issue and a very concerning record that she has of standing with the gun lobby instead of the people of new hampshire. keke: a quick response.

sen. ayotte: gun-control will not stop isis. but i have worked, i lead a bipartisan effort of bringing people together to address, if you are too dangerous to get on a commercial flight, not being able to purchase firearms. i bring people together on these problems and make sure that we protect the second amendment rights of law-abiding citizens, something i will do. this is an important issue and i have the endorsement of law enforcement agencies in the state, like the troopers association because they know i will work to keep new hampshire safe. paul: i will do a quick lightning round, short answers. do you believe climate change is man-made? gov. hassan: i do. i have been citing climate change in working to improve our environment. the senator, when she ran, doubted weather climate change was real.

i have an endorsement of the sierra club. sen. ayotte: i do believe it is real and the governor again needs to understand, i was the first republican in the country to support the clean power plan. i have crossed the party line to protect new hampshire's environment and it goes back to my time as attorney general. paul: one last question. one of you will lose in november. you have both been in public service, but if you do lose, what will you do over the next year or so? sen. ayotte: one thing i will do is sit down with my husband and my children, figure out what i will do next. i will probably spend time with them first. gov. hassan: this election is not about us. we will be fine no matter the outcome. this is about the people of new hampshire working together to build a more inclusive economy, based on innovation.

that is what the election is about. paul: candidates, thank you. keke: time for closing statements. gov. hassan: thank you again for moderating and for the senator for participating, and everybody viewing tonight. i talked about my dad, a veteran that fought in the battle of the bulge and it was not unusual for him to say, what will you do for freedom today? because my dad and his generation, they believed in a cause greater than themselves, and built in country into one of the greatest powers anybody has ever known. that is the spirit and try to bring to my work, trying to bring people together to get things done. it is a perspective that should

inform our work in washington. this will come down to whether new hampshire will have a senator that will put their interests first, or a senator that will put families and small businesses first. i ask for your vote. thank you for watching. sen. ayotte: thank you paul and keke. thank you to all of you at home who are listening. every day i wake up to fight for a better quality of life for you and your family. i have one of the most bipartisan records in the senate, because i know the only way to get things done is to work together. like the effort i lead to address our heroin epidemic or to strengthen and preserve medicare. and to make college and health care more affordable for our families. as the wife of a combat veteran, i am proud to support those who keep us safe, our military and first responders, those at the

shipyard, there is some much more work to do and it will take somebody who will stand up to both parties when they are taking us in the wrong direction. and find common ground to deliver results for our state. that is what i have done and that is why i am running again. i ask for your vote to continue the work we started together for this great state. keke: thank you both, very much. paul, i guess that is it. if you missed part of it or you would like to check out any of the debates from this week, you can go to our website, nhi.com. or to our facebook page. paul: we hope you found this in formative. stick with us on election night, we will be your campaign headquarters. keke: thank you for watching. have a good night. ♪

>> c-span brings you more debates this week from key u.s. house and senate races. tonight on c-span, the georgia senate debate between johnny isakson, jim barksdale and alan buckley. just before 9:00, democratic congressman and the stored mills debate for minnesota's eighth seat. -- and saturday night at 10:00 on c-span, the pennsylvania senate debate between pat toomey

and katie mcginty. , -- debate in:00 the new hampshire republican race. -- democrat roy cooper and libertarian line cecil. watch key debates from house, senate and governor races. listen on the c-span radio app. c-span, where history unfolds daily. >> today on c-span, washington journal is next, live with your phone calls. at 11:00 eastern, a discussion about stability in the presidential campaign. then donald trump makes a stop in manchester, new hampshire. later, an interview with justice elena kagan. on washington journal, a closer look at the battleground state

of ohio. and about 45 minutes, we will talk to cleveland.com reporter, henry gomez. then the democratic and republican chairs. ♪ morning.d it is friday, october 28. topping today's headlines, the u.s. supreme court is emerging as the top election issue after senator ted cruz and other republican lawmakers suggested they may stall appointments to the court if hillary clinton wins. senator cruz's remarks drew criticism from the white house. josh earnest called it "the same kind of dysfunction that has infected washington for the last six years." clarence thomas